The Right Time - Acts 25:11

Acts 25:11 “If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!” (NIV)

            When the Apostle Paul boldly made his appeal to Caesar, he was setting in motion a whole process that would have global consequences. It was the right of every Roman citizen who faced serious accusations to have their case heard directly by the Roman Emperor. Paul knew that this was also a risky thing to do because if Caesar rejected his appeal, he would be summarily executed – which is what happened to him, years later.

            Paul’s appeal, however, was not to get him out of a life-threatening situation; it was to give him the opportunity of extending his Gospel mission by taking him to the very heart of the Empire – to Rome itself – where Paul could continue his great task of shaping the Early Church. It was remarkably courageous of him to do this and very effective. His influence is still evident over our faith today; his letters that were written from prison contain great advice for Christians and churches all over the world.

            We will never find ourselves in a situation like that of Paul, however, we are all called to share our Christian faith effectively, boldly, and compassionately no matter who we are, where we live, or what we do. Spreading the Gospel of Christ does not require us to be great preachers or teachers like the Apostle Paul, but does involve using our time, gifts, and resources for the life, work, and mission that Jesus began, Paul extended, and we can continue in our lives. Today is a good time to begin; now is the moment of Christ’s calling in our community.

Point to ponder

How does my faith influence others? Am I ready to share Christ’s love with my circle and community?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank You for servants like Paul who pioneered our faith so that one day we would be given the opportunity to accept, love, and serve You as our Savior and King. Be with us today and encourage us to share Your Gospel effectively and compassionately. In your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Come and join us for worship on Sundays at 11:00 AM. You will be made very welcome. 😊

Today’s image is one of John’s lectionary drawings based on Psalm 52. If you would like to view a larger version, please click this link: OliveTree.

Online Devotion: The Contender - Colossians 2:1

Colossians 2:1            I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. (NIV)

            Paul contended for the young churches under his care. He knew that the faith of those new Christians was delicate and that they could be led astray by flattering words and false gospels. He fought for them in many ways and eventually sacrificed his life for the Gospel. He was a remarkable fighter for the faith; he was a strident contender for Christ.

            Sometimes I wonder how Paul would have fared with today’s Church. We seem to have wandered so far away from the Gospel Truth that I think he would stridently confront our mistakes and try to redirect our paths. Unfortunately, he would probably come across as being intolerant, out-of-touch, and imbecilic to most post-moderns. His statements would be ignored and his opinions would be cast aside, just as his written words are somewhat treated today.

            I wish that God would raise up another Paul among us, instead of the ‘Guy Smiley’ preachers that abound in our mega churches. People say that they are thirsting for real, authentic Christianity, but that involves changing a lot of what we have become. If another contender does arise, then she or he will shake the foundations of our cozy beliefs and make us honestly reconsider our ways. It won’t be easy, but then again, the symbol of our faith is a sacred Cross and not a comfy sofa.

Questions for personal reflection

What do I honestly think of Paul and his teachings? Why?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, You chose Paul to contend for Your Church on Earth. Help us to understand why You selected him and what his writings truly teach us about You. Help us to re-evaluate our faith and renew our commitment to You alone. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is currently the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to send him an email about today’s message, send it to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s drawing is one of John’s drawings called “Christ is King.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click on this link: King.

Podcast version

Bible devotion - Faith Under Fire - 2 Corinthians 6:2b

2 Corinthians 6:2b     I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

            I have always admired the Apostle Paul, not just because of his wonderful epistles, but because of the hardships and struggles he underwent and endured. Whenever I hear a fellow pastor or someone else disparaging Paul because of something he wrote that they don’t agree with, I tend to ask whether or not that person has ever experienced anything similar to Paul.  It’s easy to be armchair theologians and cozy cloistered critics; it’s an entirely different thing to be constantly harangued, unfairly attacked, and frequently abused for what Paul ardently believed.

            Take today’s partial verse, for instance:

‘I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.’

On the surface, this appears to be a wonderful scriptural promise, connected to God’s love, favor, and blessing. It reads like an amazing gift of God’s goodness and a surplus of God’s generous grace, but Paul follows up on this verse with a staggering list of hardships, drawbacks, and attacks that he personally experienced and endured. Paul was conveying to his letter readers this one hard-to-accept fact: having faith in Christ is a beautiful gift, but it can also cause us a lot of pain, difficulty, and suffering. Truthfully, for faith to be really effective, it needs to be tried and tested in serious situations and unhappy circumstances. Fair-weather faith has no lasting value; however, faith under fire has the ability to grow, deepen, and mature.

For the Apostle Paul, God’s favor was found in a fearless faith, and the day of salvation could even be experienced in times of turmoil and trouble. Perhaps the questions we should be asking ourselves are these:            Is my faith actually real? Has it been put through a crucible?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, thank You for allowing us to believe in You. Deepen our faith, so that we may remain loyal to You, especially in times of hardship, suffering, and trial. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to ask questions or make comments about today’s message, please send him an email to traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of John’s bulletin covers, based on Psalm 30. If you would like to view a larger version, please click this link: Psalm 30.

Christian Chameleons, Oh My!

Chameleons fascinate me. I am amazed by their ability to change their colors in order to blend into the background and remain hidden from both their enemies and prey. I think God must have had a lot of fun when He was making chameleons, and I bet you that they were the last animals to get off from Noah’s Ark because they couldn’t find them!

Podcast version here

They are ugly looking creatures, but they have a remarkable talent. I’ve only seen them at the zoo or on wildlife programs, but I would love to hold one in my hands to see if it would change color and match my clothes.

Verse of the Day: 1 Corinthians 9: 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.


When Paul writes about being all things to all men, I picture him as being a Christian chameleon, who could blend into every level of society. His ministry must have been wonderful to experience because he saw everyone as a child of God in need of salvation. In the Book of Acts, we come across many situations where Paul addresses the poor and the powerful, the weak and the strong, the redundant and the rich. He knows within himself that Christ’s message is for everyone, and not just a select few.

I think that the challenge for us as Christians today is to become spiritual chameleons. We have to seize every opportunity to convey Christ’s message, and relate it to the everyday lives of the people we know. I believe that there is nothing worse than a private, personal Christianity which feeds upon itself and never shares the good news. Too many people use their faith to isolate themselves from the world, instead of taking their beliefs into the marketplace.

When we read the Gospels and Paul’s letters, we realize that Christianity is God’s gift to the world. Our gift to Him occurs when we share Christ with others around us. Today, wherever we go, whatever we do, and whosever we meet, let’s try to be Christian chameleons, blending into all levels of society, bringing Christ’s good news and sharing His joy.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You want us to be messengers of Your word and conveyors of Your truth. Help us today to recognize the opportunities You give us for faith sharing, and to fully take them. Give us the ability to blend into every encounter Your love, Your ways, and Your grace. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Endurance + Encouragement = Unity

A time of exile for the Jews and a prophet named Liberator.
Churches in the Mediterranean encouraged by Paul.
A Knoxville Church called Erin, which is the Charlie Brown of its community
And how the Battle of the Atlantic is an example of rugged endurance.

Endurance + Encouragement = Unity

Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him--the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD--


A long time ago, in a place far away, a whole community was taken from its land and transplanted into a foreign nation. In those days, traveling ten miles away was considered to be a great trek, so to find themselves thousands of miles from home was considered to be the beginning of the end for the people of that tragic Jewish community.

For generations they had lived in a Promised Land, serving a God who protected them. For centuries, this faithful community had believed itself to be invincible, just like their god, so when they were finally defeated and led into away into the bitterness of exile, they were absolutely devastated.

How could this happen to God’s chosen people? How could God allow our enemies to defeat us? How will we ever be able to survive? And how can we sing our songs of faith in a strange and hostile land?

In the midst of all of their confusion, anxiety, and despair, God did not abandon them. Instead, He came with them and inspired one of his faithful prophets, a man called Isaiah, whose name means “Liberator.”
In order to endure as a faithful community, Isaiah would have to preach and teach a new message from God – a message of encouragement and hope, of deliverance and dedication, of freedom and faith.

If the people paid attention to what Isaiah prophesied, then their hope of salvation would one day be accomplished. God would raise up someone from among them who would be full of wisdom and understanding, counsel and power, knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Each of these divine gifts would be essential for the community to survive and continue throughout the generations.

This Chosen One would be given wisdom and understanding, which is often called the gift of discernment in the Bible. He would know the right thing to say and do, as well as being aware of the right time to take action on behalf of God’s people. In other words, he would have a gift of true leadership – of favoring God’s intentions and encouraging the people to build up their faith to overcome their fears.

This Chosen Servant would also be given the gifts of counsel and power, which is often interpreted as authority. As he encouraged the people to remain faithful to God, he would also exercise his sovereign and divine right to rule over the hearts and minds of the people. His authority came directly from God, and so to oppose or diminish the Chosen One’s teaching or commands, would be to directly oppose God.

And this Anointed Servant would also have complete knowledge and fear of God: in other words, he would revere God and submit fully to His commands and demands. He would not sway to the right or the left of God’s truth. He would set his face like flint and keep a true and absolutely straight course for the sake of honoring God and the saving of His people.

When Isaiah prophesied these things to the captive Jewish community, he was inspiring them to hold on to the promises of God. If they persevered in believing God’s Word to be true, if they kept hold of their faith, if they endured and maintained their reliability of their God, then they would encourage one another with their faithfulness and worship, devotion and dedication. In other words, so long as they let their faith define their community, and not their geographical location, they would remain united; they would stay inspired; they would survive.

Thankfully, the people held on dearly to everything that Isaiah the Liberator preached. And even after they returned to their homeland, they still believed that this Chosen Servant, this Anointed One, this Messiah was yet to come. Their belief became our salvation. Their hope became our faith. Their Messiah became our Christ…and all because those Jews endured in the midst of hard times, encouraged one another in faith, and became the united people of God. As Christians, we owe everything to Christ, but we should also hallow and remember the enduring faith of those Jewish exiles from more than 2500 years ago. Without their devotion, we would not be here.

Now let’s fast forward seven hundred years. God’s people are once again scattered all over the place and so He raises up another Jewish prophet called Paul. Paul’s mission is to establish the Christian faith all over the Mediterranean, beginning in the small Jewish communities and then expanding the ministry to people from all over the world.

Paul’s people face the same dilemma as Isaiah’s – they are small fish in a humongous pond. They believe in One God and in Jesus Christ, His Holy Son. They are energized by the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit; but they are also surrounded by thousands of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian gods and goddesses. How can they compete with centuries of idolatry? How can they survive against the mighty Roman Empire?

Paul’s response is similar to that of Isaiah, only this time, it is directed to the people of God. The Chosen One has already appeared and ascended into heaven. Christ’s faithful followers are now going to become the messengers of His ministry and the servants of His mission. They need to be empowered and encouraged, inspired and united in order to endure. And so Paul writes this special prayer for the Christians in Rome:

Romans 15:5-6 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul first of all states that it is God who gives endurance and encouragement to the faith community. In other words, the source, the sustenance and the sustainability of this Christian community rests upon the favor and will of the Lord alone. Charismatic preachers like Paul and powerful teachers like Timothy may come and go; it is the presence of the Lord that decides if a faith community shall endure.

Secondly, Paul asks God to shower the church in Rome with a blessing of unity as they follow Jesus. In other words, Paul’s not just asking for everyone to get along and be happy together. He’s asking the Lord to encourage, enable, and empower the church in Rome to be truly united in Christ, so that their mission and purpose may be effective. The Mormons say that a family that prays together stays together. Paul beat them to it: he is stating in this blessing that a church family united in Christ, endures for everlasting life.

Thirdly, the whole purpose of being united in the Lord, of being a faithful community and a devoted church family is to bring glory to God and to worship Him forever.

Sixty six years ago, just two days after Pearl Harbor, when this nation thought that things could not get any worse, Adolph Hitler declared war on the United States and ordered that all US ships crossing the Atlantic be torpedoed. He wanted to keep US supplies, ammunition, and troops from reaching Britain. He knew that if America and Britain managed to strengthen their alliance, then the Nazis would lose the war in Europe. During the first six months of the war, Nazi U-boats destroyed 348 Allied ships. In response, the Allies only managed to destroy two submarines. Allied commanders were reluctant to take so many losses, but they endured for the sake of the mission. Even although it took three years to win the Battle of the Atlantic, the unified front of the British, American and Canadian forces brought salvation and liberation to Europe.

But how does all of this affect us here in the 21st century? What has this to do with our salvation and deliverance, liberty and faith? Why is it so important that our folk in this wee church hear and receive this message?

Well, first of all, we’re a small fish in a large pond. We could get swallowed alive by all the big, successful churches around us. We could very easily say that we can’t compete against the Baptists, or football fans, or the way in which society is headed. We could just give up the ghost and put the lights out before we close the doors. But that’s not what God wants…and remember, it’s His presence that keeps us in existence.

Secondly, we’re a really diverse church. We’ve people from all over the United States and from all over the world in our congregation. We come from different backgrounds and cultures, different generations and families – and that has always been a part of our calling as a church, ever since we were established in 1877. God brings people here to be united in Christ, not because we are the same, but because we each have been called to serve the same Savior, the same mission, the same ministry.

And thirdly, this message of endurance and encouragement needs to be taken up by our church, by our presbytery, and by our denomination. We’re letting Satan divide us, instead of allowing Christ to unite us.

Today in 1965, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” was first shown on TV. It’s become an seasonal classic that has stood the test of time. I watched it once again a couple of nights ago, and once again its message tugged my heart. Charlie Brown tries his best to get a great Christmas tree for his school friends and neighbors, but his efforts, although sincere, end up in failure. He presents a miserable tree to his peers and they castigate him for it. He tries to do the right thing, and the world just picks on him.

And then, a remarkable thing happens. The children decorate the tree with all the stuff that Snoopy has used to decorate his kennel and the tree is transformed. Instead of being divided, all the children are united. Instead of being dejected and rejected, Charlie Brown is lauded and applauded.

Folks, we are the Charlie Brown of Christendom in this community. I would love for us all to be Snoopy, but he belongs to the Pentecostalists. We are trying our best and beginning to make the right moves in our ministries and missions, so that we will make an impact in this community for years to come. We all come here because we’re looking for God in our lives. But we’re also here because we’re looking for God to give us something to do with our lives.

And this is where Paul’s final words of this passage become our blessing for today: he writes

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

If ever there was a verse that we could adopt as our motto for 2008, it should be this one. So let’s claim it for our church today and use it as a church benediction throughout the coming year: May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace as we trust in Him, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Tracing

Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! (NIV)

My Aunt Trudy was a professional tracer. No, she didn’t try to find people who were lost or get information for bounty hunters; she traced blueprints and diagrams for a shipping engineer firm. She must have had a steady hand and a keen artistic eye because tracing was a highly specialized skill.

She worked in the days before copiers and computers entered the work place. Her task was to produce copies of intricate diagrams so that teams of engineers could work on building ships and engines, machinery and special parts. She must have pored over and traced hundreds of documents in any given year.

I like to think that what she did was a form of art and much appreciated by those who used her skills. She probably would have preferred to paint pictures and sketch drawings of her own creation, but she had a large family, so she did what she could with her artistic gifts to provide for all of them.

When Paul writes about the wisdom and knowledge of God, he states that God’s paths are beyond tracing out. He means that God’s infinite ways cannot be copied, no matter how wise and wonderful some people may be. There is a sense of reverence and awe in Paul’s words. When he writes about God, the apostle cannot fully communicate what he means. In other words, God is beyond his knowledge and imagining; God cannot be confined to what Paul thinks and feels about Him.

Only in Christ, do we get a true picture of God and what He is like. And it’s only through Jesus that we can come into God’s presence. We may not be able to trace God’s paths, but we can follow in Christ’s footsteps to find Him.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we all desire to find God and know Him. We all want to rest in His arms and abide in His presence. Guide us to God through Your words and Your Spirit. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Promises, promises

Audio version here.

2 Corinthians 1: 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. NIV

My Grandmother, Rachel Stuart, whom we all called “Grandma,” was a great wee person. She looked like Dorothy’s mother, Sophia, from the TV show “The Golden Girls.” She raised a large family of seven and had umpteen grandchildren and great-grandchildren. My grandparents were married when they were sixteen and seventeen years old, and they enjoyed almost seventy years of marriage together.

Grandma Stuart had a number of sayings, but one of her best was: “He’s a great promiser, but a bad fulfiller.” She usually applied that to national politicians, but she also wanted her grandchildren to learn this important lesson – sometimes what people say they will do is vastly different from what they end up doing.

When Paul writes to the Corinthians about the promises of God, he writes from a background of belonging to a people who longed for God to fulfill His promises. They had waited hundreds of years for a Messiah to come into the world to save Israel, but time after time, they were disappointed. For some, it must have seemed as though God was a great promiser, but a bad fulfiller.

Paul firmly believed that Jesus was the Messiah and that God fulfilled all of His promises through Him. The Christ that the people had been looking for, was the person they crucified. The Messiah that they had all been hoping for, was the Resurrected Son of God, Jesus Christ.

After two thousand years, we still wonder if God will fulfill His promises and when Christ will return. The world needs Christ the Peacemaker, Judge, and Savior to come back into history and put an end to all wickedness, war, and waste. Faith is required for those who wait expectantly for Christ to return - a faith that believes God is not just a great promiser, but a true fulfiller of all that He has said. Or as Paul so effectively wrote it: ‘no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.’

Prayer: Father God, Time to You is a mere twinkling of the eye, but to us who wait on earth, it can seem like ages. We know that You have Your own plans about when Christ will return to earth. Grant us patience and enable us to live each day as if it will be the moment of the final fulfillment of Your great and everlasting promises. In Christ’s Name, we expectantly pray. Amen.

Weekend Screensaver - The Martyrdom of Thomas

Stained glass mosaic design of the martyrdom of St. Thomas. He was killed by being pierced with arrows whilst he was kneeling in prayer.

Giving

2 Corinthians 8:10 And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.

I don’t like to talk about money from the pulpit. Ask our Stewardship committee. They’ll tell you that I have a hard time asking for general contributions. I don’t know if it’s a Scottish thing or a John Stuart thing. Either way, I have to be totally convinced when it comes to asking.

It’s not that I don’t appreciate stewardship. I really do like the positive attitude that some people have when it comes to sharing and giving of their time, talents, and money for God. I think it’s because I grew up in a deprived household with a poor family. My Dad was too proud to ask for help, even when he was unemployed for almost a year. During that tough time, I can remember going to school with holes in my shoes, trousers, and shirt. I couldn’t accept invitations to go to friends’ birthday parties because we had no money to buy gifts. It was an awful year.

Anyway, I think that’s why I find it difficult to ask for money from the congregation. Paul, however, didn’t have any qualms about this. He felt that giving was the best expression of faithfulness that any church could display. That’s why he writes directly to the Corinthians about their contributions to the church in Jerusalem. The previous year, they had been amongst the first to give and were bursting with enthusiasm about how they supported the whole church. A year later, they seem to be dragging their feet about fulfilling their pledges and promises which, in turn, concerns Paul. If they are not giving as they should, then they are backsliding in their faith. As an old pastor once said to me, “You can’t be devoted to God and steal from Him at the same time.”

So, I guess this devotional is about stewardship after all. Paul’s advice about giving is something we all need to revisit. And during this special time, this Holy Week, shouldn’t we all review what we give to the church because it was established by the One Who Gave Everything for us?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You call us to be disciples of faith and stewards of Your Kingdom. You know what we give and our motives behind our giving. Challenge us about stewardship and change us if we allow pride to get in the way of our giving. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Competence

2 Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.

There’s a great website at www.despair.com where all sorts of photographs are given humorous tag lines to act as de-motivational messages. It’s well worth a visit and it may cheer up your day, especially if everything you are trying to accomplish is going wrong today. One of the photographs that I like is of a skier who is falling through the snow, whose arms and legs and skis are flying all over the place. Beneath the photo, a caption reads:

INEPTITUDE: If you can't learn to do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly.

In other words, it’s not a matter of competence – just make sure that your confidence is high.

When the apostle Paul writes about ‘competence’ in his letter, he’s talking about what we accomplish and achieve for God. We don’t do it for ourselves and we are not meant to seek any glory as Christians. Everything that we undertake, do, and fulfill in the Lord’s Name comes from God. His is the victory, we are just vessels. His is the glory, we are just servants. Our attitude should be one of humble gratitude – we are grateful to God that He has used us for His works, His ways, His ministries and missions. As Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church continually points out – it’s not about us – it’s about God.

Wherever you are and whatever you do today, do it for the Lord. And where you experience success, praise God for the gifts He has given you to accomplish your feats. Without those blessings, we would all be incompetent. So let’s learn to do things well for the Lord, and let’s learn to enjoy them humbly.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You have called upon each of us to live our lives according to Your ways. You have blessed us with guidance, direction, and purpose. Anything that we accomplish is because of You. In everything that we experience success, You are the prime reason, mover, and motivator. Thank You for sharing Your gifts of goodness, faith, and love with us. May we all accomplish much for You and God’s Kingdom this day. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.