4 Minute Devotions: An Old Lie

We all tell lies and have to deal with the consequences. I still am bothered about a lie I told my High School sports coach 35 years ago in Scotland.

Podcast version here

When I was in High School, I belonged to the sprint relay team. It was an honor to be chosen and I loved running around the bends of the 400 meter track. The coach that we had was superb. He was a great encourager and a wonderful teacher. We excelled as a sprint team because of his positive coaching. We all wore gold vests which he gave us, representing the colors of our High School. I cherished mine and kept it, instead of handing it back in at the end of the season. Our coach was so successful, he was promoted as an assistant principal at another school.

The next season a different coach arrived. He was severe and a disciplinarian. He took the joy out of our accomplishments and I eventually left the sprint team. During athletics practice one day, he caught me wearing my cherished gold vest. He grabbed me by the arm and told me to take it off. That’s when I told the lie. I insisted that my mother had purchased me the vest at a sports shop in Glasgow. The coach scrutinized the label and, sure enough, the tag belonged to the shop that I mentioned. He looked me in the eyes and then dismissed me. My lie had me kept me safe. He couldn’t prove it otherwise.

It has been thirty five years since I told that lie and it still bothers me today. I wish that I had told the truth. I wish that I had given back the vest. I wish that I could erase this from my past. I’d even thought about sending money to the school to buy vests for a whole sprint team, but the school was closed and demolished years ago. A subdivision has been built over the running track, so I have to live with my lie.

Hebrews 6:18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.

I am so thankful that God never lies. He keeps His Word. He fulfills His promises. He remains faithful to us, even although we are unfaithful to Him. When the Good Book reveals to us that God is forgiving, merciful, and gracious, it really means it. And when Jesus is described as being the Truth, Way, and Life, it’s not a lie. These things encourage me to try to be a Christian. Where I fail, God succeeds. When I am weak, He is strong. When I feel lost, He still guides.

Prayer: Lord God, we all have regrets, make mistakes, and even tell lies. We are sorry for the disappointments we cause and the hurts that we create. Forgive us of all our sins and allow us to begin again. Grant us Your mercy and grace, Your love and compassion. In Christ’s Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor at Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today's message, send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org

Why I’m Boycotting the Olympics - Reason #3: Christians being targeted

Breaking news from China reveals that authorities are clamping down on Roman Catholics who wish to worship at a Marian shrine during the month of May. The xenophobic Chinese leaders fear Christians mingling together for worship because they are afraid that it might lead to protests.

Here’s what Bernardo Cervella had to write in yesterday’s edition of Spero News

There is a subtle war underway against pilgrimages to the Marian shrine of Sheshan, the national Chinese shrine that is typically visited during the month of May. The war is being waged by the government and by the Patriotic Association (PA). Both "recommend" (meaning: order) that people not visit Sheshan for the entire month of May.

The government cites safety problems, while the PA does not give any reason, but wants to block any mingling among official and underground Catholics, who meet each other every year at the shrine, above all on May 24, the feast of Mary Help of Christians, to whom the church of Sheshan is dedicated. Moreover, this year Benedict XVI has asked Chinese Catholics to celebrate May 24 as a Day of Prayer for the Church in China, praying for its unity and for its persecutors (cf. Letter to the Chinese Catholics, no. 19).

For the entire month of May, the local government of Shanghai has placed restrictions on traffic and the movement of the faithful on the roads to Sheshan, about 50 kilometres southwest of the city.

According to reports sent to AsiaNews, the authorities have also asked the various dioceses, especially Shanghai, Wenzhou, Ningbo - the dioceses closest to the shrine - not to go on pilgrimage this month.

Read the rest of the report here…

Unholy Ban: Why I am Boycotting the 2008 Olympic Games

Audio Version here

Next year, the Olympic Games take place in Beijing, China. Thousands of athletes from around the world will gather together to compete for the highest awards in their individual sports. Billions of viewers will tune in to see their favorite sportsmen and sportswomen, hoping that they will win medals for their country. Throughout the three week event, the world will seem to be at one.

But will it? A couple of days ago, the Chinese authorities declared that no religious icons or items will be allowed in the Olympic Campus. Crosses and sacred medallions, Bibles and Korans will be excluded from the Olympic area. The atheistic Communist government is banning religion from the Games, which goes against the Olympic spirit of tolerance. The Chinese leaders want to impose their will on the rest of the world. Now that they have secured the Olympics in their nation, there seems to be nothing that can be done.

Eight years ago, if the Chinese had announced that they were going to impose a religious ban on all the athletes attending the Games, Beijing would never have been chosen to host the 2008 Olympics. I think that this is outrageous and the rest of the world should protest against this. If China wants all the nations of the world to converge in their capital for these international games, then China should accept all the religious baggage that comes with it. To deny athletes the right to bring along articles of faith that may have inspired them is wrong. The mighty dragon may wish to keep their people mainly atheistic, but they cannot impose their will on the rest of the world. Christians and Jews, Muslims and Buddhists, Shintoists and even pagans all have the unalienable human right of practicing their own religion wherever they are located.

I think our leaders should pressure the Chinese Government into backing down from this denial of human rights. If not, then religious people everywhere should seriously consider boycotting the Games entirely. I, for one, will not be watching the Games or show any interest in them until this religious ban is lifted.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, there are forces in the world that seek to deny religious freedom and any expression of faith. Help us to stand up against those authorities that would seek to deny basic human rights and actively oppress religious people. Give us the courage to profess the truth and not accept these shameful ways. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Munich

Romans 8:6, 7 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. (NIV)

I was in High School when it happened and it deeply shocked me. I couldn’t believe that Arab terrorists had managed to penetrate the Olympic campus in Munich, Germany, and subsequently murdered 11 Israeli athletes. The Olympic Games were meant to be above all of that hatred. Nations were supposed to set aside their differences and compete for medals, instead of being at war. It was a sacred time for all of humanity to showcase the best, fastest, and strongest in the world. But thirty five years ago, on September 5, 1972, all of these noble ideals were destroyed forever.

Ever since then, we’ve all lived under the shadow of terrorism and had to deal with fear. At times, there seems to be no security and that religious madmen threaten our civilization. Bomb plots and terrorist conspiracies still abound. Even today, three people have been arrested in Frankfurt, Germany, for conspiring to blow up a US Airbase. Those sinful minds idolize and worship a savage deity, and as the scripture says today: they are hostile to God.

I don’t know what motivates people into thinking that killing others is a glorious way of honoring God. I don’t understand what goes on in their lives that make them want to terrorize the world in order to appease their tyrannical deity. The god that they worship is not the God that I know. The destructive deity that they zealously proclaim is no part of the Trinity that I love, adore, and acclaim.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the Prince of Peace and we pray that Your mighty peace can be experienced by everyone on earth. In times like these, we regret man’s inhumanity to man. Help us, as Your disciples, to counter terrorism with faith, hope, and love. Grant us the courage to express and share our Christian faith, so that others may be touched by Your Holy Spirit and changed for all of eternity. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.