Oak Hill Baptist Church

It’s more than a set of beliefs

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Living by faith”

Our Bible verse for today: “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” Romans 8:15 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “It’s more than a set of beliefs, it’s a relationship”

The name “Abba” is an Aramaic word for father but it carries with it implications of both endearment and honor. We often hear it compared to the English “Daddy”, and there is a lot of “Daddy” in “Abba”, but there’s more as well. In Aramaic “Abba” communicates a sense of warmth, intimacy, comfort, trust, and security, but also honor and a commitment of obedience. In the patriarchal world in the times of Jesus an Abba was loved and trusted, and also honored and obeyed.

Jesus used the term “Abba, Father” to address God. By doing so He communicated both His strong and warm bond of love with His Father, as well as His commitment to honor and obey Him. In Romans 8:15 Paul tells us that since we as the followers of Christ have been adopted into the Father’s family, we too now have the privilege of calling Him “Abba”. Likewise, in Galatians 4:6 Paul wrote, “And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying “Abba” Father!”

All of this serves to highlight the fact that Christian faith is much more than just a set of beliefs we ascribe to, it’s a relationship we are involved in. And not just any relationship, but a warm and trusting bond of love with God that brings a sense of trust, comfort, and security.

But sadly, and unfortunately, for many people having faith is similar to having an opinion. It’s simply something they believe to be true. But God intends for our faith to be much more than that. He wants our faith to be transformed from a mere set of beliefs about Him, to a deep relationship of love and trust with Him.

How does that happen? The same way it happens in any relationship. It happens slowly over time. It happens because we spend time with the person and we make the effort to nurture the relationship. The same is true with God. The more time you spend with Him, the more your faith will transform from a simple set of beliefs into a deep and dynamic relationship.

Let me ask you, is He simply your God, or is He your Abba? You may think of Him as God, but He wants to be Abba.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

We need each other

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Living by faith”

Our Bible verse for today: “Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up … And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10; 12 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “We need each other”

In their great little devotional book “Finding God in the Lord of the Rings”, Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware remind us of the special friendship between the two hobbits Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee. Frodo is the main character in this part of the story and he is tasked with accomplishing what appears to be an impossible mission. Fortunately, in addition to his good friend and assistant Sam, Frodo has the assistance of Gandalf the Wizard, Strider the Ranger, and a host of dwarfs and elves. That’s why this volume of the series was named “The Fellowship of the Ring”, with an emphasis on “Fellowship”.

J.R.R. Tolkien was a Christian and he wove Christian themes, concepts, and principles all throughout his fantasy stories. A crucial principle found in The Fellowship of the Ring is how much we need good trusted friends to make our journey with us.

Christian friends and good church family are essential figures in our lives. We need trusted companions to make this journey through life with us. Sometimes we need a helping hand to support us, or an encouraging word to motivate us, or a warm heart to express love toward us, and sometimes we just need a shoulder to cry on.

As Solomon so eloquently expressed it in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 above, we need good companions. And we see that truth illustrated for us all throughout the Bible. Moses had his brother Aaron; King David had his friend Jonathan; Elijah had Elisha; Jesus had the apostles; and Paul had Barnabas, Timothy, Luke, and Silas. Do you have good Christian friends like that? Are you being that kind of friend to others?

If we’re fortunate, we have not just one trusted companion but many. This is where a good church family comes in. However, to develop these kinds of friendships in a church you have to be active in the church – you have to participate in the regular gatherings and in the special events. That’s how you get to know people and grow close to them. And then, once you have those friendships, you have to put the time and effort into maintaining them.

The truth is, we need each other. As Solomon noted, pity the one who doesn’t have someone to lift him up. Having friends like this is a key element to living by faith.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

There will always be unanswered questions

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Living by faith”

Our Bible verse for today: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “There will always be unanswered questions”

You will never have all the answers. Sorry. That’s simply a fact. No matter how much you learn and no matter how spiritually mature you become, there will still be much you don’t know and can’t explain. Are you okay with that?

Yesterday we considered how it is that we become wise in the faith by associating with those who are wise. That’s true. But it’s also true that no matter how wise you become, regardless of how much you mature spiritually, you will still have doubts and questions until the day you cross the thin line between this life and the next and you are in heaven. Wise men and wise women who are strong in the faith have learned to be comfortable with that. They’re okay with not having all the answers.

Hans Kung was a noted Swiss theologian and author. Referring to the fact that the Christian faith requires us to be willing to live without having everything fully explained he wrote, “Here we have, not human truth which men can state and understand, but God’s truth, which goes far beyond any statement or understanding of man’s. Faith never becomes clear. The faith remains obscure. Not until we enter into glory will it be otherwise …

In other words, there will always be things we can’t fully explain and questions that remain unanswered. An important part of living by faith involves simply accepting that fact and learning to be comfortable with it. Too many Christians have a shaky and unstable faith precisely because they are unable to get an answer to every question and to erase all doubts. Wise and mature Christians have learned that by its very nature “faith” involves believing in and accepting things that remain one step beyond human understanding.

There will always be unanswered questions. Accept it. Live with it. Learn to be comfortable with it.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

We become like those we associate with

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Living by faith”

Our Bible verse for today: “The one who walks with the wise will become wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm.” Proverbs 13:20 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “You become like those you associate with”

I was taught a very important lesson shortly after I came to faith in Christ. It happened at a men’s conference. The speaker read Proverbs 13:20 (above) and he said, “If you want to become a wise godly man, find some wise godly men you can spend time with and learn from them. Because over time we become like those we associate with.”

I had never heard that verse before but it hit me hard and I asked God to help me find some older men I could learn from and spend time with. In the years to come He brought men like Oren Teel, John Baker, and Dick DeGrow into my life, as well as some others. I also discovered that I could learn a lot and be influenced by authors whom I had never met, but who had a big impact on me through their writings. C.S. Lewis, Henry Blackaby, Philip Yancey, Eugene Peterson, and Dallas Willard all filled that role in my life.

Recently I came across a statement about this that caught my attention. It said, “Learning from others is the great talent of the truly wise.” There it is again. Wise people become wise by learning from others. That’s was Solomon’s point in Proverbs 13:20.

I don’t consider myself to be in the category of the truly wise, but I do know that I’m a better man today than I would have been had it not been for my association with and being influenced by men like Oren Teel, Dick DeGrow, Henry Blackaby, Eugene Peterson, and the others.

This same principle applies to learning to live by faith. If you want to learn to live by faith, associate with those who already know how to do it. Surround yourself with people who live by faith and soon you will find yourself living by faith too. Part of the wisdom of the wise is that they have a deep and settled faith that guides them and sustains them, and they learned how to live like that from others. None of us figures this out for ourselves.

If you walk with the wise you will become wise. If you surround yourself with those who know how to live by faith, you will soon learn how to live by faith too. We become like those we associate with.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Get your heart right, then get moving

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Living by faith”

Our Bible verse for today: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Get your heart right, then get moving”

Last week a friend at church gave me a picture to hang on the wall of my office. It included Proverbs 3:5-6, which happens to be one of my personal life-verses. A life-verse is a Bible verse or passage which is especially meaningful and helpful to you, and which you therefore rely on frequently for guidance, assurance, and peace.

Proverbs 3:5-6 is one of those passages for me. First of all, it reminds me to focus on God first and most. I am to put my trust in Him and to the best of my ability surrender my heart to Him. Then, I must remember that my own thinking often lacks clarity; it is sometimes uninformed or misinformed; and my personal desires frequently get in the way. That being the case, I must genuinely want to know God’s will, seek God’s will, and obey God’s will.

However, what do I do when I have done all of that but I still don’t have clear guidance about what to do? Let’s say I’m in a situation where a decision must be made, action must be taken, and there is no longer room for delay, but I don’t have a clear word from God about what to do or which direction to take? That’s where the true beauty of this Biblical principle shows itself.

The fact is that God wants my obedience even more that I want it. He wants me to be in the center of His will even more than I want to be in the center of His will. Therefore, He has a vested interest in helping me to achieve that. However, He also doesn’t want to have to direct my every step. He gave me a mind, He has developed spiritual maturity in me, and He wants me to be able to make good decisions for myself.

So, in such cases, I make sure my heart is right and that I truly am seeking His will. I spend the time to seek Him in prayer and Bible study. I get counsel from trusted Christian advisors. I carefully consider the circumstances and look for the hand of God in them. I wait patiently for the Lord to speak to me or to show Himself in some way in the middle of all this. And then, when I get to the point that delay is no longer an option, I make the best decision I can and just get moving, confident that God will guide me and keep me from going astray because after all, He wants me to be in the center of His will even more than I want to be there.

When it comes to living by faith, do your very best to seek God’s will in every way you can and then be obedient to it. And when you have to take action and you can delay no longer, but you still don’t have a clear word from Him, make sure your heart is right, make the best decision you can, and simply get moving.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

It’s a settled fact

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Living by faith”

Our Bible verse for today: “So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “It’s a settled fact”

Before we continue our thinking about how to live by faith in actual practice, day-by-day, there is one more point that needs to be made regarding the nature of our faith. Our faith in the existence of God, and our faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, is a settled fact for us.

We began our study this month by considering Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” In other words, our faith is based in a reality that we know to be true even though so much of it cannot be verified by our physical senses. In today’s verse the Apostle Paul said something similar when he reminds us to focus not on what is seen but on what is unseen. We have faith in the reality of God and of the spiritual dimension, and we don’t need to actually see it in order to believe it.

We have also spent a couple of days thinking about “blind” faith, and whether or not belief in God and in the Christian faith falls into that category. I hope you have come to the conclusion with me that it most certainly is not blind faith.

The evidence for God’s existence, and the pure beautiful logic of placing your faith in Christ, makes the truth of the Christian faith simply a settled fact for us. Jesus modeled this certainty for us in His own life. When we examine the Gospel accounts, we realize that Jesus never argued in favor of the existence of God. In all that He said about God, Jesus never felt it necessary to try to convince anyone that God exists. Everything Jesus said about God was based in the understanding that God simply “is”. For Jesus it was a settled fact and therefore there was nothing to argue or debate about. God was simply there. Period.

I hope at this point in our study your faith in God is exactly where Jesus’ was. God simply is. Period. There’s nothing to argue or debate about. It’s a settled fact.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

But wait, maybe it is blind faith

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Living by faith”

Our Bible verse for today: “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “But wait, maybe it is blind faith”

This morning I want to return us to our discussion from yesterday regarding blind faith. In that devotional I made the case that real faith in Christ is not blind faith. Instead, it is a well-informed and thoughtful decision based upon a preponderance of good evidence. Placing your faith in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and then living a life as a faithful disciple of His, simply makes good sense.

But sometimes Christians are in fact guilty of having blind faith. Some Christians are not thoughtful. Instead, they’re thoughtless. They spend little time trying to understand their faith and not only can they not do a good job of explaining what they believe, they also can’t really explain why they believe it. They’re simply believing in something they have been told they should believe in, but their faith isn’t any deeper than that. That’s awfully close to being blind faith.

Christians also sometimes demonstrate blind faith with respect to cultural and political issues. They allow themselves to get caught up in and carried along with cultural trends, without really giving much thought to how those trends and practices correlate to Biblical truth. Likewise, Christians sometimes get so deeply immersed in radical political movements (on the left and on the right) that they end up endorsing extreme views or actions that are inconsistent with Christian faith and practice. That too can result from blindly following without really thinking.

In Romans 12:2 the Apostle Paul gave us a rule-of-thumb that should be applied to all of life. There he urges us to not simply conform to what others are thinking, saying, and doing, but instead to use our minds, engage our intellect, and compare everything to Biblical truth. Then we can make wise choices about our beliefs and conduct that truly do honor God and which are consistent with His Word.

Let’s not be too quick to give ourselves a pass and conclude that we’re not guilty of blind faith. Maybe, sometimes, we are. But God expects us to be wise, discerning, and intelligent individuals who think for ourselves and who do not blindly follow crowds or trends.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Is it blind faith?

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Living by faith”

Our Bible verse for today: “The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps.” Proverbs 24:15 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Is it blind faith?”

According to the dictionary, the term blind faith means to have unquestioning faith in something or someone when doing so is obviously wrong and despite strong evidence to the contrary. This is what happens in cults of personality. The members give unquestioning loyalty and obedience to a leader despite numerous obvious reasons that they shouldn’t. It’s also true of groups like The Flat Earth Society. There really is a group that truly believes the earth is flat not round and they cling to that belief despite all evidence to the contrary. That’s blind faith.

So, is Christian faith blind faith? In yesterday’s devotional I made the statement that sometimes we have to have faith first and we experience second. Therefore, we have to step out in faith even if we don’t have full understanding. Is that an example of “blind” faith?

The answer, of course, is “no”. That does not constitute blind faith. On the contrary, as we have been learning all month, God has provided us with an overwhelming amount of evidence to support our call to faith. So much so that the leap of faith which is sometimes referred to really isn’t a leap at all. It’s more like a small step over a thin line. That’s why Jesus said multiple times in the Gospels that even a small amount of faith is sufficient to get us started on the path to God.

God has given us so much convincing evidence! He created us with a sense of eternity in our hearts; He revealed Himself in His creation; He gave us the miracle of the Bible; then there’s the powerful proof that comes from millions of transformed lives over thousands of years; and we haven’t even talked yet about the physical evidence proving that Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected.

Believing in God and having faith in Jesus is anything but blind faith. Quite the contrary. Prudent people do what Solomon wrote about in Proverbs 25:15, they give careful thought to the evidence and they arrive at intelligent conclusions. It’s simple-minded thoughtless people who have blind faith and are consequently easily led astray. True believers in Jesus are prudent people who gave careful thought to the evidence and came to the only conclusion that makes good sense. No, that most certainly is not “blind” faith.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Why do you not eat and drink?

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Living by faith”

Our Bible verse for today: “Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Why do you not eat and drink?”

In the devotional book “Finding God in Narnia”, the authors relate a scene from the fifth volume in the series, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”. At one point in that story C.S. Lewis created a scene that was reminiscent of his own tentative journey to faith in Christ. In that scene, Edmund and his companions had been on a long journey, drawn in search for something related to Narnia (heaven) and Aslan (a Christ-figure), and yet unsure of themselves. Finally, they arrive at a mysterious island, tired and famished, where they find a beautiful table ladened with heaps of food and cool inviting wine.

Yet, rather than partaking of the feast set before them they hesitate, unsure of themselves, suspicious and convinced that what they’re seeing is too good to be true. So, they sit there – mouths watering, stomachs grumbling, wanting so much to indulge and yet unwilling to do so because they didn’t fully understand. Finally, out of the shadows approaches a lovely young woman (an angel), holding a candle. Perplexed, she looks at the weary, hungry travelers and asks, “Travelers who have come to Aslan’s table, why do you not eat and drink, is the food not to your liking?”

The seekers had found the very thing they had been searching for but once they did, they were afraid to partake of it because they didn’t fully understand it. What they needed to do was trust and partake – and once they did, they found that the feast was indeed very, very good.

C.S. Lewis created that scene as a reflection of his own journey to faith in Christ. Christianity sounded too good to be true to him and so, he doubted. But then he found Psalm 34:8 to be true. Once he put his doubts aside and began to partake of the feast that is a relationship with God, he discovered that life with God is indeed very, very good. “Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him.”

Yesterday we learned that living by faith involves taking control of our will and making ourselves do the things necessary in order to experience God and to grow in our relationship with Him. Once we do that, we then discover the truth that we must trust first and experience second. Once we take that initial step of faith, we quickly begin to experience the joys and wonders of life with God, and then we want more and more of it.

Psalm 34:8 really is true. Taste and see that He is good. If you do, you will quickly want all of Him that you can have.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

It’s a matter of the will

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Living by faith”

Our Bible verse for today: “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” Psalm 5:3 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “It’s a matter of the will”

More than twenty years ago an old friend gave me a wonderful little devotional book as a gift. The title is “Disciplines of the Inner Life” by Bob Benson and Michael Benson. On the flyleaf in the front of the book, to set the tone for the study, they offered this observation, “If you wish to live richly, deeply and spiritually, you must cultivate the “world within.” It is a thrilling world … with the Heavenly Father as our companion …”

They go on to say that, “Down through Christian history various spiritual principles, rules, disciplines and practices have aided the believer in the quest for a deeper knowledge of God.” The rest of the book is all about putting those time-proven principles and disciplines into practice.

One entire section of the book is dedicated to identifying and overcoming common obstacles to developing that deeper life with God, and the number one obstacle is gaining control over your will. Our human will is a stubborn thing. We want what we want and we are usually determined to have what we want, and one of the things our nature leads us to want is the path of least resistance. That means avoiding things that are hard or which take extra effort (like developing the habit of getting out of bed early to spend 30 minutes with God in prayer and Bible study or, being in church on Sunday instead of doing something else or going somewhere else). Gaining control over your will, disciplining it and making yourself do the things you know you should do, is a key element to living by faith.

Now, as we will learn in coming days, once we develop the habit of practicing the faith on a regular and consistent basis, we discover that we love living this way and we wouldn’t want to go back to our old habits. But initially, breaking old patterns and developing new ones can be hard work.

Coming to faith in Jesus is relatively easy. Living by faith is much harder. It’s a matter of gaining control over your will and training yourself to do the things necessary to experience the spiritual growth you need in order to live by faith. We’ll think more about this tomorrow.

God bless,
Pastor Jim