Blog

We hear an assurance of pardon for our sins every week during our worship at Oak Hills. Some may wonder about the value of such repetition. Does it seem to be too remedial? What place does assurance have in worship? Does it have any value in our spiritual growth and well-being? Let me identify seven values of hearing the assurance of pardon on a regular basis.... Keep Reading

I read a discouraging article last week titled, Evangelicals are Losing the Battle for the Bible. And They’re Just Fine with That. The author traces current opinions and statistical trends regarding Christians’ attitudes toward the Bible. Here’s a sampling of what he reports:... Keep Reading

I really like the story of Stephen found in Acts 6 & 7. Here is a man selected to serve as a member of the first “deacon board” and “to serve tables,” as the disciples said (6:2). And yet (hmm… I use the word “yet” as if this is unexpected, unusual, or even inappropriate) Stephen was a man “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (6:5) and “full of grace and power” (6:8); he performed “great wonders and signs among the people” (6:8); and the people “could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking” (6:10). Acts 7 is a recorded sermon that Stephen gave before the Jewish high priests and Pharisees. Stephen was a remarkable man of God! I pray that I could be, and that our elders and deacons would be, like Stephen.... Keep Reading

Easter is about five weeks away. As a pastor, there are a lot of things on my mind in order to prepare for Easter. I’m mapping out my sermons for the month of March to deepen our understanding of Christ’s sacrifice and our enjoyment of all God has done for us through Christ. I’m working with a team to develop the best “advertising” strategy for our community. I’m discussing with our deacons and elders a list of projects we’d like to complete to “beautify” our building before Easter. I’m also thinking about our special worship gatherings, especially Good Friday service and Easter morning worship, prayerfully considering what would be both edifying and uplifting for our congregation.... Keep Reading

The season of Lent begins this week with Ash Wednesday services and culminates with the celebration of Jesus' resurrection on Easter. Perspectives on Lent are almost as diverse as the number of denominations there are among Christian churches. Some love Lent as a season of humility, confession of sin, repentance, and preparation for celebrating the hope and joy of the resurrection. Others equate Lent with a legalistic works-righteousness practice promoted by the Roman Catholic Church.... Keep Reading

The conversion of the sailors in the story of Jonah is astonishing. We can assume that they were experienced sailors on the Mediterranean Sea. Who else plans to travel the entire length of the Sea from Joppa to Tarshish? Yet they encounter a storm they could not manage. They were afraid, truly terrified. This is where we get a window into their religious beliefs and transformation. At the beginning of the crisis, they practice their known pagan faith by crying out to each of their gods (Jonah 1:5). Having sailed the expanse of the Mediterranean, they would have been exposed to all kinds of belief systems, espousing many different gods. Crises have a way of trying the fortitudes of our beliefs.... Keep Reading

John Piper’s book, Let the Nations Be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions, begins with a note on worship. This opening paragraph may be one of the most quoted paragraphs from all of Piper’s writings. It is worth reading again: “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.”... Keep Reading

The book of Jonah has one of the most curious endings in the entire Bible. The last verse contains a question for Jonah from God: “And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” There is nothing recorded after this. How did Jonah respond? Did he continue in his callous response to the pity of God? Some even ask, will Jonah be in heaven? Scripture never answers these questions.... Keep Reading

This past Sunday at Oak Hills we considered Jesus’ teaching on prayer in Luke 18:1-8. Luke gives us Jesus’ aim for his teaching in verse 1: “he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” Jesus desires us to be persistent in our prayers, even for things that seem impossible in our view (i.e. the justice for a widow). In fact, it is necessary for his followers to be persistent in prayer.... Keep Reading

“Why do we even need to pray?” That was the question my friend posed to me in the wee hours of a new day, after we had spent the whole night with our church family praying for our youth pastor, whose life was hanging in the balance after a drunk driver hit his vehicle head on. I was in no mood for my friend’s theological ponderings at that hour. He was wrestling with the age-old mystery of the relationship between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. I was focused on praying for a successful surgery to patch the aorta of a dear friend (yes, it is as crazy and miraculous as it sounds).... Keep Reading