by James Hunt | Mar 19, 2015
My wife and I have been busily trying to get our house prepared to put on the market to sell. Of course, the reason for this is because we are moving to Guthrie due to my recent transition in ministry. We have been packing boxes as well as having people come in to do work. We are trying to freshen up the walls with paint and repair little things we’ve put off for too long.
This past weekend we had our heating and air guy come in to replace the motor on our heating unit. He also replaced the metal, overflow condensation pan located underneath the air handler in the attic. There were holes caused by rust that had eaten through various parts of the condensation pan. No doubt, the pan that was first installed years ago used to be very strong. Now I could simply poke my finger right through it with ease.
Rust is an interesting thing, don’t you think? It can take something that has strength and slowly eat it away over time. Bit by bit, rust works its caustic influence like hydrochloric acid until its victim is a shell of its original strength. What formerly was usable now becomes an item to be replaced – something to be discarded.
I think the devil works like this. He tries to take Christians and weaken them slowly over time. Sometimes he comes at us with heavy things that threaten us; at other times he simply eats at our resolve, slowly, irritatingly, aggravatingly making it worse and worse and worse. A confessor of Christ who starts off with confidence in the Lord and passion for Jesus slowly over time through pain, and suffering, and hardship, get weakened.
Sometimes it’s as if we have the corrosion of doubt gnawing through what used to be solidly-steeled faith; a spirit filled with strength.
But what the devil means for evil, God means for good! There is nothing that comes to us in this life that does not first pass through our most gracious and benevolent Heavenly Father’s hand of mercy.
In other words, if we are experiencing challenging things in life, it is because God has allowed them or brought them into our experience. Whereas the devil might be trying to destroy us by eating away at our confidence, God is allowing our confidence to be shattered and our strength to be diminished for one purpose. That purpose is so that we will come to the end of all of our human resolve, and all of our committed will, and all of our self-assured strength and simply glorify Him by relying only on the resources He provides.
I think I’m beginning to learn this. For when I am weak he is strong! Praise the Lord for rust!
“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (II Cor. 12:10).
by James Hunt | Feb 25, 2015
I gave up Lent for Lent! Okay, not really. But that’s how I sometimes answer friends who are engaged in a Lenten fast.
Though I like to think of myself as pretty open to fellowshipping with others not in my Baptist tradition, nevertheless, Lent has been something I’ve been hesitant in which to participate. I guess my hesitation has been rooted in my adverse feelings toward Roman Catholicism; however, to be sure, there is a “whole big church-world” out there of followers of Jesus, including a variety of denominations, who observe the season called Lent.
So, while I’m personally not observing a Lenten fast, I am, however, very appreciative of the spirit behind the season! Growing up in Baptist life I remember Easter as a Sunday of fun as well as worship. It was a time for Easter Egg hunts, Easter baskets, family gatherings, and nicely-pressed Springtime clothing adorned while attending a celebratory worship service.
What I like about Lent is that it’s an intentional effort to mark out an entire season of reflection leading up to Good Friday and then Easter Sunday. It puts a person in an extended time of thinking about the Gospel story.
In a Lenten fast, an observer reflects on how they are sinners and how their time on earth is temporary; after all, from dust we came and to dust we shall return. Lenten observance helps a person more acutely sense a dependence and love of lesser things. It provides a corrective, bringing lesser loves into a secondary place of prominence.
This is a part of the purpose of the Lenten fast – intentionally neglecting the use of something or things that are ordinarily okay to do or enjoy. By this Lenten fast, priorities are realigned, Jesus is worshipped and anticipation of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday builds to a crescendo.
I keep the spirit of the Lenten season, even if I don’t officially participate in a Lenten fast. One way I am leading others to prepare for Easter this year is by encouraging our church to collectively read a book focused on the cross. This will start the week of March 2 and will end March 27, Good Friday. There are five readings a week: Monday-Friday and then a church-wide gathering to discuss the reading on four Sunday nights, March 8-29.
This will bring us right up to a special Good Friday service on April 3 and then a big Resurrection Celebration on Easter Sunday, April 5.
How are you preparing for Easter?
by James Hunt | Feb 19, 2015
For more than 22 years I served in secondary ministry roles in Southern Baptist churches. The first 13 years were served in bi-vocational ministry. The last nine years were served in full-time ministry at a church that will always have a special place of honor in my memory.
I have recently transitioned to become the Senior Pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Guthrie, Okla. One of the questions people have asked me since taking on this new opportunity is, “How is your new role different then what you previously experienced in ministry?”
I would like to share just a couple of observations that I have come to realize in the first few weeks of serving as a Senior Pastor.
Lesson 1: I am NOT the first to shepherd this church, and I will not be the last.
- I need to honor the history of this church as well as the ministries of those shepherds who have served before me.
- One of the biggest blessings that helped prepare me for entering into this new role was the gift of a written history of the church provided for me prior to starting at First Southern. This is an historical document – a written recounting of highlights of the past 125 years of this church’s existence. It is humbling to see how God has used men in the past to lead this church to where it is in the present. It has also helped me gain an acute awareness that my tenure here is temporary. By God’s grace, I hope to make the best use of this moment in time – however long the Lord of the Church allows me to serve in this place!
Lesson 2: I have come to realize that the authority I have is a granted authority – a gift.
- It is not only a gift from the Lord for the specific purpose of leading His people by His word and Spirit for His purpose and pleasure, but …
- It is also a gift granted by the decisive choice of God’s people. It reminds me of Joshua when he took over the leadership of the people of God after Moses’ ministry of 40 years. The people of God tell Joshua that they will follow him, insofar as he follows God and stays true to the Word.
- I realize that the authority to lead in this church at this point in time is a great privilege – a gift from God and a gift from God’s people. This is a stewardship I do not take lightly. This is also not a right that I demand! Rather, I receive it humbly and ask Jesus to walk with me and to lead through me.
- How does lesson two impact my sermon preparation and delivery, for example? I ask the Lord of the Church what it is that He would say if He were personally standing before His Bride that meets at First Southern. My weekly ongoing prayer goes something like this, “What are the messages You want me to deliver this week, Dear Lord Jesus?” Then, I ask Jesus to stand with me – right beside me – and deliver His message through the proclamation of His Word.
- It is a granted authority. This is not my church. This is the Lord’s church, and I am His chosen (very weak and undeserving) vessel to serve under His authority and under the authority given to me by the church in which I serve.
Well, these are just a couple of the lessons I’ve learned so far. I’m sure there will be many more to come. All glory to God for His grace! Please pray for me and for God’s glory to be on display at First Southern Baptist Church.
by James Hunt | Jan 27, 2015
I am neither a health nut nor a runner. At least that’s how I used to view myself a few years ago. I weighed in 30 pounds heavier back then!
“Pre diabetes,” my doctor confidently told me after a blood test in October of last year. This was highly annoying on two counts:
- I had already lost about 20 pounds and had maintained the weight loss, pretty much, for a couple of years.
- I like sugar, honey, bread, and all things sweet!
But, I took him seriously. After all, my dad developed diabetes as an adult. It’s my hope to avoid the same, if possible. So, with that in mind I ramped up my dedication to exercise. I also cut out sweets and watched for other types of sugars subtly hiding in other foods I enjoyed.
I’ve lost about 10 pounds more. This morning, as I type, I know that in just a little while I’ll leave the house to go to my first 5K run. Apparently, I’ve become one of those people! You know, the health-nut-runner-types I used to smirk at.
Why take my health so seriously? Because I want to be around to run the race of life God has ordained for me. The glory of God shining through me by loving my family, serving the church, and showing mercy to the suffering is my heart’s desire.
Running a mile, two or three (3.1 miles = a 5K), for this runner is a challenge. After about mile one I kind of wish there weren’t two more to go. Sometimes I stop and walk for a bit and then continue running; but, I keep moving forward enduring to the finish. It’s not easy to keep going when my body is wishing for an easy chair and a bagel.
The race of life can be like this. We move along at a fairly nice pace with our jobs and families and then hardship comes. It can take the form of an illness, a fractured relationship, or even self-induced challenges – consequences of poor choices. We get tempted to shrink back into our easy chairs and coast throughout our lives. Fatigue and discouragement can knock our resolve to serve Jesus backwards into complacency.
We are encouraged, however, in Hebrews 10:36 to move forward in the race of life:
“You have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.”
God expects those who are in Christ to endure the race of life living for Jesus, serving Him with joy and faithfulness. Though hardships may tempt us to slow down in our service to the Lord Jesus we continue to run the race to the end. After all, Hebrews 10:39 goes on to say:
“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”
I realize not everyone can physically run a 5K. Friends of mine have knees that are damaged or other physical limitations hindering them. It very well may be that I mess up something and am prevented from future runs. My ankle, which I broke about nine years ago, sometimes reminds me that it’s suffered hurt in the past. I feel a bit of strain in it even this morning; so, I get it. I realize it’s a grace-gift of God to be able to run today. The truth is, this is not about a physical race, or weight, or pre diabetes; rather, it’s about running the race of faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
Will you run with me?
by James Hunt | Dec 23, 2014
It was the night before Christmas in 1974. I was six years old, and my brother was eight. We were wound up tighter than a thread caught in a vacuum – twisting with excitement about what treasures we’d discover under the tree the next morning. Our minds were filled with wonder as we tried to figure out what our parents bought us. Mom, especially, worked hard every Christmas to deliver anticipation for the big day. We were just young boys in our adolescence, wishing Christmas would come in a few minutes; but, alas, it was bedtime.
Drifting off to dreamland with the parental reminder that Christmas will come faster if you go to sleep, our dreams began to process our hopeful delight.
Get up! Come look! Hurry! said my brother who’d awakened in the early dawn. Sleepily getting up, I quickly came to my senses and followed Philip to the living room.
There they were in all their glory! Two of the most beautiful and unanticipated gifts boys had ever seen. My bike was red. That’s all I can remember. It was red! I couldn’t take my eyes off it. That beautiful bike was the world’s greatest treasure – the best thing I’d ever been given!
That it was a cold wintery day in the mobile home park in a suburb of Denver, Colorado, was not an adequate deterrent to this writer’s adolescent drive to try out the new wheels. It was not long before we were bundled up in our winter’s finest and on our bikes in the snow. The problem? I didn’t know how to ride a bike. I’m not sure if my mother kept a log of how many times I got up on the bike only for the wheels to flip out on the icy snow. I fell often as I recall. But I was determined to learn. And learn to ride a bike on a blanket of snow is exactly what I did that Christmas so long ago. I may have slipped too many times to count, but I finally learned how to navigate on the slippery terrain.
I’m 40 years older now and a tad bit wiser. There are other things I treasure more than a bicycle these days. Don’t get me wrong; I do like getting a nice Christmas gift! I simply realize that like that red bike – now existing only in my Christmas past – the temporal things of this life are just that: temporary. The greatest gifts are the treasures of family, health, vocation, and friends. The best gift of all, of course, is the red-stained cross of my greatest treasure, the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s a red Christmas gift worth keeping!
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21, ESV)