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At Oak Hills this year we have been slowly making our way through the book of Genesis. It has been a rich study of the foundations for this world God has created and for the covenant relationship God has established. When we dig into one part of Scripture, however, it is good to take a step back every once in a while to see the big picture. One of the most important guides for interpreting Scripture is understanding the unity of the Bible. From the beginning to the end, God is guiding redemptive history according to the plans he laid out before the foundation of the world. Therefore, we can ask, and benefit from asking, how does Genesis connect with Christmas? Let me answer that with five words. Creation. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1). In the Fall, all of creation was subjected to futility (Rom. 8:20). In Christ, there is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). Jesus was born in a manger to reverse the curse of the Fall in order to bring about new creation. We can be thankful that the Fall was not the final word about this world. ... Keep Reading

Imitation of someone we admire is an effective way to learn. Children learn much by imitation of their parents. Athletes learn their sport by imitating all-star athletes or coaches. YouTube how-to videos have abounded on the principle that people learn best by imitating someone else. This applies to our spiritual growth as followers of Christ. First and foremost, we ought to imitate Christ, especially in suffering (1 Pet. 2:21). Even though humans, other than Christ, are fallible, we can learn by imitating those who are faithfully following Christ. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” So, let’s learn to give thanks by imitating Paul’s example in his letters. For what does Paul give thanks? As we consider Paul’s habits of giving thanks, we can be inspired in thankfulness. ... Keep Reading

The apostle Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” We could not receive a clearer statement that God wants us, even commands us, to be thankful. And yet, if we are honest, thankfulness is not natural. Like a child who is forced to say, “Thank you,” we may feel entitled to what we receive or we don’t see the goodness in what we receive. So, how do we fight a lack of gratitude and grow in thankfulness? Let me provide a step by step how-to guide for growing in thankfulness. Acknowledge that you do not deserve anything good. This is where the battle must start. Entitlement is the belief that I deserve better. Our culture is saturated with entitlement. In fact, it is embedded in sinful human nature. Is it wrong to desire better? Not necessarily. Is it wrong to believe I deserve better? Yes. Am I too harsh? Let’s allow Scripture to define what we deserve. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Isaiah 64:6 says, “All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” And Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” In light of our sinfulness, we don’t deserve anything. This reality leads the psalmist to marvel at God, “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” Recognize that everything you have is a gift. It doesn’t take long to recognize that we all enjoy good things in this life. If we don’t deserve anything good, why do we receive good things? The simple answer is that God is a gracious gift giver. In 1 Corinthians 4:7 Paul makes this point with two rhetorical questions: “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” And James simply states, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (1:17). And God’s gracious gift giving is not limited to people of faith. Jesus explains in Matthew 5:45 that God gives good gifts to all people, “For [God] makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” ... Keep Reading

If you have spent some time attending a Reformed church, like Oak Hills, or have taken time to read theology from a Reformed background, like R.C. Sproul, you have most likely heard people speak about covenant theology. In some conversations, covenant theology may even sound like some special key for unlocking the meaning of Scripture. J.I. Packer has argued that covenant theology is a way of reading the whole Bible. Is this emphasis on covenant theology created by man to promote a certain theological reading of the Bible or does it spring from the Scriptures themselves? I believe the evaluation must begin with what the Bible teaches about God’s relationship with humans. In Isaiah 55:8-9 God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” This speaks about an incredible gulf between the Creator and the creature. How can a creature ever, on his own accord, bridge that gulf in understanding his Creator? Paul uses this point as an avenue for worship when he extols, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” (Rom. 11:33-34). The gulf between Creator and creature does not even begin to take into consideration the chasm created by sin. David states in Psalm 5:4, “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.” John uses the metaphors of light and darkness to make the same point, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 Jn. 1:5). God is “holy, holy, holy” and “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” Who are we to ever presume to have a blessed relationship with our holy Creator? There are ontological and moral barriers between us and God. And we, as sinful creatures, can do nothing about it. ... Keep Reading

For the last couple of weeks, I have been sharing about my sense of God’s calling on my life. The first is to shepherd the flock of Oak Hills to faithfully follow Christ and live for his kingdom. The second is to proclaim the riches of God’s grace, especially to those unfamiliar with the concept of grace. For the kingdom. Get the Word out. These reflections are one of the results from my sabbatical. While I was in seminary there was a discussion about longevity in pastoral ministry. One of the professors used an analogy that has stuck with me ever since. He described pastoral ministry as trying to guide people across a swampy, miry lake. On the other side of the lake is eternal life in the presence of Christ. While navigating the lake, there are many obstacles and hinderances that can swallow up people in unbelief. The calling of the pastor is to build gospel platforms in the midst of the lake for people of faith to find refuge from the mire and muck. The struggle for the pastor, however, is that while he labors in the muck and mire, even he can lose sight of the big picture, the goal. The professor pressed the analogy one step further. He said the pastor needs to get out of the lake at regular intervals and rest on the dock. This “dock time” is for reflection and refocus on the callings and aims of pastoral ministry and provides the pastor clarity and strength to persevere in his calling. This sabbatical this summer was “dock time” for me and offered me time to reflect on God’s callings on my life. ... Keep Reading

For the last couple of weeks, I have been sharing about my sense of God’s calling on my life. The first is to shepherd the flock of Oak Hills to faithfully follow Christ and live for his kingdom. The second is to proclaim the riches of God’s grace, especially to those unfamiliar with the concept of grace. For the kingdom. Get the Word out. Before I share about the third and final calling, I want to use this space to talk specifically about church planting. A couple weeks ago the elders invited Ted Powers to visit Oak Hills for the weekend. For over four decades, Ted has been involved with church planting. He has served as the coordinator for church planting with Mission to North America and presently serves as the Director of the Midwest Alliance, a group focused on supporting church planting. Ted met with the elders on Friday evening and Saturday morning to lead us through a Primer on Church Planting seminar. Church planting is one avenue to live “for the kingdom” and “get the Word out.” Ever since I arrived thirteen years ago, I have desired to see Oak Hills involved in church planting. The elders have shared that desire with the congregation over the years as a long-term goal. To be honest, however, we have done nothing over the years to move that goal from the “long-term” category to an actuality. Furthermore, we have not had any clear idea of what it would look like for Oak Hills to be involved with church planting. Therefore, we decided to invite Ted, who has extensive experience in church planting, to meet with us and walk us through the process of church planting. ... Keep Reading

Last week I started to share about my sense of God’s calling on my life. This is the one of the fruits of my sabbatical, as I took time to reflect on what God has equipped and gifted me to focus on. I was ordained for gospel ministry fifteen years ago. My sense of calling has not changed much over these years. This time of reflection, however, has provided me the opportunity to refine my focus on God’s call on me. I shared last week that my first calling is to shepherd the flock of Oak Hills to faithfully follow Christ and live for his kingdom. I summarize this calling with the shorthand, “for the kingdom.” I want to live for the kingdom. I want you to live for the kingdom. I want Oak Hills to expend all its ministry efforts and energies for the kingdom of Christ. The second calling I sense on my life is to proclaim the riches of God’s grace, especially to those unfamiliar with the concept of grace. Here is another way I have articulated this: provide excellent and clear teaching of the Reformed faith especially for those not from a Reformed background. ... Keep Reading

As part of my sabbatical this summer, I took time to reflect on God’s calling on my life. I wrote fifteen years ago, “God has given me a passion to communicate the fullness of the glory of the gospel of Christ so that people would be passionate in living for Christ in their local community and throughout the world, drawing others to the beauty of the gospel. I desire to be used by God to build up and equip his saints for the work of ministry and to mentor and train future leaders of his church.” I am thankful to be able to say that my sense of calling has not really changed over these years. The challenge, however, is maintaining a focus on and commitment to one’s calling. As the old adage says, “Keep the main thing, the main thing.” There are many things in our day to day lives that can distract us from the chief priorities to which God calls us. Therefore, we all need times to reflect and reevaluate our callings and our use of time. Coming back from my sabbatical, I have refined my sense of call into three areas. I want to share these with my church family over the next few weeks, because they, Lord willing, will shape what we do at Oak Hills. First, I am called to shepherd the flock of Oak Hills to faithfully follow Christ and be used for the kingdom. The primary means to accomplish this aim is to proclaim the fullness of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. ... Keep Reading

As we study our way through the book of Genesis on Sunday mornings at Oak Hills, I am addressing some common questions here in the Touchpoint. Last week I addressed the question about the historicity of Genesis and the Old Testament. In a nutshell, we considered what Jesus said and believed about the Old Testament. Jesus accepted that the Old Testament was historically true, inspired by God, and authoritative. Today, let’s address the question of the profitability of studying the Old Testament. There are Christians, even prominent Christian leaders, who have said followers of Christ do not need the Old Testament today. Underneath this claim is bad theology. Those who ignore the Old Testament believe that the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament or that God dealt with people in a very different manner in the OT versus the NT. They would believe that Jesus initiated a new era of God’s work and everything prior to Jesus has become irrelevant. Let me start with the apostle Paul’s statement about the Old Testament. He says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Keep in mind that when Paul wrote this letter in the mid 60s, the New Testament was not complete, nor had it been collected together into a single document. Paul’s letters were brought together and circulated by the end of the 1st century, but in his lifetime there was no such thing as a “New Testament.” So, when Paul says, “All Scripture…” he is speaking about the known Scriptures of the time, which we call the Old Testament. Paul says the OT is profitable and needed to equip each of us for every good work. In the prior verse, Paul says the OT is able to make one “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (v. 15). We would be foolish to dismiss Paul’s affirmation of the Old Testament. ... Keep Reading

As we study our way through the book of Genesis on Sunday mornings at Oak Hills, there are several questions that swirl in the background. Is this true history or is it just myth or legend? Should we receive Genesis as the inerrant word of God? Is the study of Genesis profitable for New Testament followers of Christ? Many in this age of skepticism question the historicity and trustworthiness of Genesis and, even, the whole Bible. Even some Christians have made public statements that followers of Christ do not need the Old Testament. How should we respond? Let made address the trustworthiness and historicity of Genesis today. Some of the most common questions about Genesis relate to whether or not Adam and Eve were real people, the dating of the events, and the historicity of a global flood. Many of these questions have been spurred on by the scientific revolution over the last few centuries. The premise has been that the Bible cannot be reconciled with science. Now, I will not use this space to explain how the Bible and science can be reconciled. There are many scholars who have addressed this issue much more ably than me. I believe another underlining issue for the doubts about Genesis comes back to authority. What authority will we submit to and believe when wrestling with questions about the Bible? On what, or whom, will our faith, or beliefs, about the Bible rest? I want us to rest in none other than Jesus Christ. What Jesus believes about the Old Testament, and Genesis specifically, should carry the most weight in our assessment of the Bible. So, what did Jesus believe about the Old Testament? ... Keep Reading