Our Blog

Pastor's Point - July 2022

Dear Church Family,

So, what do you write about the night before having a total knee replacement surgery? It took me awhile to decide but God prompted me to write on thankfulness.

That may seem like an odd topic right before surgery, but scripture makes it plain that we are to give thanks in ALL circumstances.

I Thessalonians 5:16-18 states… “16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

I have so much to be thankful for even as I approach this surgery and the weeks of rehab that follow. In this circumstance God has surrounded me with wonderful people.

My wife Paula and I have been through so much together. She is such a constant support and strength to me. God blessed me greatly when He brought her into my life. She is the perfect wife for me. Her strength and care minister to me and I am so thankful for her giving herself away to help me in my time of rehabilitation. 

My family blesses me constantly. My kids and siblings care, pray, and help me in so many ways. Their unconditional love ministers to me and strengthens me as I face the many different circumstances of my life. 

Our church staff gives so much and does so much behind the scenes that the ministry of Oakhill would come to a standstill if it were not for them. From administrative support to care for our areas of ministries, finances, and facilities, they serve faithfully the Lord and allow me and the other elders to continue in the work of the ministry.

Our Deacon Body consists of men who truly desire to serve the Lord and give themselves away for others. They are faithful, dedicated, and supportive. I can honestly say that I have always been blessed with great deacons at Oakhill to partner together with in ministry.

My church family has loved me faithfully for the last sixteen years. We have seen God move and do so much during that time. As God has moved, we have moved with Him. And my church family has never wavered one time. I am so thankful for your faithfulness and for all the prayers that you have sent my way in preparation for this surgery!

My fellow elders are true blessings from the Lord. Nick Kessler and Mike Schloss could not fit the role of an elder any better. They co labor with me in ministry and are loyal friends who bless me tremendously. They use their giftedness in such a skillful way as they help give leadership to our church. I am also thankful for Pastor Bryan and Pastor BVD, as we labor together day in and day out. Their love for the church and dedication to the ministry is a true blessing to me and is a wonderful blessing to our church family as well. Along with this group I need to include Dr. Todd Linn. He is not serving as an elder in our church currently, but he has served as an elder for several years in ministry before God led Todd and his wife Michele to our church. He and Michele are both faithful members to Oakhill. Todd has gone out of his way to encourage and support me. He is such a faithful preacher of the Word. I am so thankful for Todd, Bryan, and Brian filling the pulpit for me while I am out. I know the pulpit is well cared for and that God is going to be honored in the sermons that they deliver.

I could go on and on. But I need to turn in and get ready for the big day of surgery tomorrow. You know as we raise our kids, we often prompt them to say thank you to people. Occasionally I would say to my children when they were little, “now what do you say?” This was my gentle way to help teach my children manners, but also thankfulness. And there were times that I would explain to them the reason that they should say thank you. As a child they just did not understand in certain situations why they needed to be thankful. The Lord has reminded me that on the night before my surgery I need to be thankful. It is as if He prompted me by saying, “now what do you say?” Thank you!

I love you and I love being your pastor!

Pastor's Point - June 2022

Dear Church Family,

I just want to begin by sharing with you all how much I love our church family!! On May 22^nd I celebrated being the pastor of our church for sixteen years. The time has flown by! I have seen my kids raised, married, and living on their own. I have seen God’s hand of blessing on our church as He has faithfully seen us through all kinds of seasons of life
together. I have watched children in our church grow up and start their families and serve faithfully here at Oakhill. These are just some of the things that really cause me to pause and think about the years of ministry together. Early on in my ministry I began signing all of my letters with, “I love you and I love being your pastor.” That is still true and will never change! From the bottom of my heart, I want you to know that as long as God leaves me here, I will serve and love with my whole heart!!

In my sixteenth year of ministry with you I must say that we are living in unique and strange times. Pandemics, supply chain shortages, runaway prices on food, electricity, and gas, strife, and turmoil in our country, and runaway confusion over things that once were not that hard to understand. We see all around us the devaluing of life, gender confusion, a lack of moral standards, and the death of absolute truth. In the middle of all of this we need to do a few things.

Pray
Instead of being overwhelmed with what is coming at us, we need to humble ourselves and pray.

Allister Begg states… “Prayer is an acknowledgment that our need of God’s help is not partial but total… Yet many of our church prayer meetings have dwindled in size and influence. Ultimately, the explanation can be traced to spiritual warfare. If, as the hymn writer says, “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees,” then we may be sure that he and his minions will be working hard to discredit the value of united prayer. The Evil One has scored a great victory in getting sincere believers to waver in their conviction that prayer is necessary and powerful.”

I am more convinced than ever that we need to spend more time in concerted prayer. It is in praying to our great God that we can know His will, find direction, and live in God’s peace and rest. We need this like never before!!  The second thing I believe we need to do is…

Prioritize
We must live in these unique and strange times by prioritizing our lives. We must live for God’s glory and have as our aim to glorify Him in every aspect of our lives. It matters how we live. There are choices that we must make. There are limited amounts of resources that God gives to each of us. And we are going to need His wisdom as we consider how we manage our time, talent, and treasure. As prices spiral upward, we need to consider how we use the money that God gives us. We will need to prioritize what we spend our money on. As life gets more hectic, busy, and confusing we need to consider how it is we will use our time and our talents. Randy Alcorn states… “If God was the owner, I was the manager. I needed to adopt a steward’s mentality toward the assets He had entrusted – not given – to me. A steward manages assets for the owner’s benefit. The steward carries no sense of entitlement to the assets he manages. It’s his job to find out what the owner wants done with his assets, then carry out his will.” We can best do this when we reference back to our first topic and make our whole life a matter or prayer, asking God to what He would have us Prioritize, and then carry out his will.  And we do all of this for God’s glory and our good. Let’s pray and prioritize like never before and watch all that God is going to do!!

I love you and I love being your pastor!