4 Minute Devotions: Dough Boy

Christ's parable of the woman putting yeast in the dough reminds me of my mother patiently baking steak pies when I was a boy. God has fully prepared our salvation. Are we ready to take that opportunity?

Podcast version here

My mom used to make great steak pies. I loved to watch her make up the dough for the crust and pound upon it until the pastry was ready to be rolled. She would then get out the rolling pin with some flour on it and patiently flatten the dough until it was the right texture for the pie.

It was like watching an artist at work. She rolled the dough smoothly and mixed in the flour at just the right time to stop it from sticking to the table or rolling pin. When she was ready, she would carefully lay the pastry over the pie and then pinch the sides with her fingers. Lastly, she would cut a small hole in the center of the pastry to stop the pie from bursting open in the oven. At this point in the process, Mom would usually be humming as she slid the pie into the pre-heated oven.

For the next hour, the aroma in the kitchen was wonderful - a beautiful mixture of meat cooking and pastry baking. At the dinner table we would all gather round with our eyes fixed upon the pie in the middle, anxiously and ravenously waiting for mom to cut the pie. She never disappointed us. The flavor was always delicious and even although it’s almost forty years since I had one of her steak pies, I can still feel the delicacy of the crust in my mouth, along with the tasty meat on my tongue.

It took a lot of time, skill, and preparation to bake the steak pie, but they were always worth it. This has also become a precious memory to me because it reminds of those rare moments when my mother was healthy and sane.

Matthew 13:33 He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."

When Jesus speaks about the Kingdom of heaven being like a woman using yeast in the making of some bread, He reminds me of the time, expertise, and preparation that God puts into saving the entire world. God didn’t wake up one morning and decide to save us from our sins. He worked across the centuries to bring His plan of salvation to its completion in Jesus Christ, His Holy Son. And because God took so much time to do this, we are the beneficiaries of that divine planning. We feel the true love of God in our hearts and we taste the fruits of Christ’s success in our lives.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You came into the world at the right place and right time. You were given to us by God to draw all nations towards You, so that the opportunity of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life might be ours. Thank You for Your patience and dedication, Your focus and determination in fulfilling this beautiful plan. Encourage us to share this feast of faithfulness and promise of forgiveness to all whom we love and know. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Sunday Sermon: A Holy Helper - John 14;15-21

Yesterday, we held an elders’ retreat here at the church. We’re working on a few important ideas about how to strengthen our church’s commitment to Christ, His Kingdom, and His ministry in this part of Knoxville. It was an important start to a series of quarterly meetings which will help us seek God’s path for our congregation in the years to come.

It’s crucial that all our elders work together by discovering what God’s will is for our wee church. We have to keep focused on what God wants us to do for Him. Too many churches these days are being swayed by the culture around them. They want to fit in with society and use marketing ploys to bring people into their organization, but not necessarily the Kingdom of God.

At the moment there’s a controversy stirring in West Knoxville because an independent church has sent out fliers stating that they will give all their new visitors a $20 gas coupon for coming to their church. I don’t know what their true intent is with this gimmick, but they’re desperately trying to get people to walk through their doors using greed as their marketing tool. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if the church was called The Cas Walker Memorial Church.

15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command.

This is why it is important for our church elders to work on the direction that God is leading our church. If we don’t prayerfully look for God’s guidance, we’ll end up following market trends, which will lead us away from God and stop us from obeying Christ. We have to put Jesus at the center of everything we do. We don’t exist to please ourselves; Christ allows us to exist because we try to please Him.

When Jesus was speaking to His disciples in this passage from John’s Gospel, He was doing it just before He was arrested. He was trying to cram in as many lessons and as much advice as possible before He was taken, tortured and crucified. He knew that it was important to use the intensity of the situation to drive home some very important points that would become the hallmarks of the Early Christian Church. And, in this instance He said to them: if you love me, you will obey what I command.

Now, that’s normally what a mother says to an impatient child, “if you love me, you will do as I say.” Or perhaps a loving spouse may say it this way, “if you trust me, you will support me.” It’s laying down a special condition for the relationship to flourish. It’s not an ultimatum, it’s an invitation. It’s not about control, it’s about co-operation.


On this day, in the same year that our church was founded, way back in 1877, President Rutherford Hayes withdrew Federal troops from Louisiana. It was the last act of Reconstruction after the end of the Civil War. For more than twelve years after the war, the troops were in place to forcefully quell any rebellions, and to make sure that the Union did not fragment again. It took twelve years to maintain that peace and because the majority of Southerners all over the Confederate States laid down their arms, the Union remained intact.

It may not have been a perfect peace – the old prejudices wouldn’t really be removed for another 100 years, but it was a start of American people from all over the States beginning to love the Union and Constitution of the United States. The people proved that they loved America, as we still do today, by upholding the laws of this dear and precious land.

And so it was the same for Christ’s disciples, to prove that they truly loved Him, they had to keep His commands. And the same applies to our church today, which is why our elders came together to seek God’s Will and to follow Christ wherever He wants us to go.

16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-

During our conversations yesterday, our elders were asked the question: why do we want to bring people to Erin? It’s a good question because it makes us focus on what our intent, what our purpose is. Their answers were excellent: we’re here to bring people to salvation, to help them to learn more about Jesus, so that they can go out into the community and bring even more people to salvation.

Other purposes were attached to that answer: to help one another in times of trouble; to show kindness and love to each other; and to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. That last point raised a whole new question: what is the Holy Spirit and how do we seek its guidance?

When Jesus was talking to the disciples, He told them that God was going to give them a special Counselor, one who would be with them forever. The main role of the Holy Spirit was to give directions to the disciples throughout the rest of their lives as they went out into the entire world to preach the Gospel and teach Christ’s truth. The purpose of the Holy Spirit was to coach them day by day, situation by situation, and mission by mission so that Christ’s influence and teaching would grow in the world. And they successfully followed their coach because what started two thousand years ago with 11 disciples and dozens of others has now become a world wide church of 2 billion people.

That’s why it is very important for our church to seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance in all that we set out to do. It’s very easy to let go of God and embrace the world. It’s much harder to follow Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to set the course of where we are headed. But if we want to remain true to the Gospel and loyal to Christ, then we must be open to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in our midst. To do other wise, is to follow a false gospel; to seek our own way is to walk away from Christ.

It’s like the baptism vows that we all took this morning. If we want to see them fulfilled in young Aaron’s life, then Steve and Tracy are going to have to keep coming to church and allowing Aaron to eventually go to Sunday School or Enrichment. But it doesn’t just depend upon them; we’ve got to do our share by maintaining this church, recruiting teachers of faith, supplying our classes, giving our resources, sharing our time and investing parts of our lives with young Aaron. If we do not do this, then how will Aaron grow up to be a Christian, a servant of the Lord, and a loyal subject in God’s Kingdom?

So we seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit in session and throughout the entire congregation to ensure that Aaron, and all other children in our midst will grow in faith and one day, perhaps as a teenager, he will confirm the promises that his parents have made here today. If we allow the Holy Spirit to coach, direct, and lead us, then these beautiful promises will be fulfilled.

17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.

Finally, after asking the disciples to show their love by following His commands and telling them that they will be gifted with the Holy Spirit, Jesus warns them that the world will not accept this experience. The world will be blind to the presence of the Spirit and will not accept the Spirit’s existence.

This is Christ’s way of telling the disciples that even with the Holy Spirit as their special Counselor, things will not be easy. Just because the Holy Sprit is with them does not mean that trouble will not come their way. In fact, in many cases in the Early Church because Christians were filled with the Spirit, they were harassed and hunted down, persecuted and imprisoned, arrested and executed.

And this should serve as a warning to our wee church. When we seek the Spirit’s counsel and do Christ’s bidding, obstacles and stumbling blocks are going to come our way. Things will not be easy if we seek to accept Christ’s truth, preach the Gospel, and share His message with the surrounding community. It will be hard to do so, because many hearts are hardened against Christ and the world does not want to be challenged by our faith.

April 27th is a date that has seen events which has led to people standing up for their rights and fighting the world.

In 1773, the British parliament passed the Tea Act, which led to the Boston Tea party later that year, which in turn led to the War of Independence.

In 1940, the Nazi leader Himmler ordered the establishment of Auschwitz Concentration camp, which led to the Polish uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto, and the Allied Nations fighting against the fascists, which in turn led to the establishment of Israel for holocaust survivors and displaced Jews around the world.

And in 1989, almost twenty years ago, and how soon we forget, the brave students of Beijing took over Tiananmen Square in China, fearlessly walking in front of military tanks, in a noble effort to bring democracy to their nation. To this date, those same students are imprisoned in terrible conditions, which is one of the reasons that I will refuse to watch this year’s Olympic Games. How can we have an international sports gala and joyfully cheer on our athletes in a land where people of different political persuasions and religions are still being oppressed, subdued, and killed?

So, what have we learned today?

If we truly love Jesus, then we will honestly obey His commands.

When we need guidance for our lives and especially the church, we need to seek the Holy Spirit’s counsel.

And when we obey Jesus and follow the Holy Spirit, we should not expect the world to welcome us with open arms. Instead we should be prepared to stand up for what we believe in and not surrender our faith to the wiles of the world.

For as Christ says: Whoever loves me will be loved by My Father, and I also will love them and show Myself to them. And after all is said and done: is that not why we want to bring people here – to be saved from the world and loved by God? Amen.

Prayer

Daily Devotions: Abundant Life

It’s a question that we all ask at sometime in our lives: “How can I beat death and obtain everlasting life?”

When I was eighteen, I overdosed on tranquilizers and almost died. I was saved by three friends, to whom I will ever be indebted. I spent three days in hospital to get my stomach cleaned out and to check if my organs were still working. What I didn’t realize through my act of stupidity was that I could have permanently damaged my kidneys and other vital organs, which would have meant that I would have unavoidably died days later. Thankfully, and providentially, that did not happen. My life had been spared by the quick action of my friends.

Podcast version here

Through being so close to death, it made me think about Life. I was unsaved at the time, so if I had died, I would have been separated from God forever. I did not know that at the time because I held a kindergarten belief of God in my heart. But when I turned to the scriptures to learn more about God, He startled me with the forthright views of Christ.


Bible Verse of the Day


Mark 10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"



I no longer dabble with death or take my life for granted. It’s given me a different perspective from most people. Life is something to be cherished, but it is also a gift of God that shouldn’t be squandered. The purpose of life is to give it back to God. Everything that we accomplish, all of our achievements, and every resource that we own, are nothing compared to the riches of God’s grace and His everlasting love. That’s why Jesus asks the young man to give up his wealth and esteem – for when he is old and dying, he is going to have to give them up anyway.

Health and wealth won’t last forever, but faith and love do. If we want life, real, abundant, and everlasting life then we need to surrender ourselves to God through Jesus Christ. There just isn’t any other way.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, each day You challenge us to give up our lives and place them in Your hands. In other words, You’re asking us to have faith in You by surrendering ourselves to Your Church and Kingdom. Help us to do this willingly and to at last realize that our lives are gifts from God, which we must eventually give back to Him. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Daily Devotions: Seasoned with Salt

I gave up salting my food years ago. I felt like all I tasted was salt and no matter what type of food I ate, it was too heavily layered in salt for me to get to the heart of the taste. It was hard to do without salt at first because everything tasted different, but I persevered and eventually, after about three weeks, food started to taste wonderful. I discovered that most foods have their own salt in them anyway. Adding more sodium chloride to my plate was doing nothing for the food: all it was doing was clogging up my arteries and increasing my blood pressure. I hardly take salt with anything now, and feel better because of it. Who knows how high my blood pressure would be right now if I continued to salt my food?

Podcast version here

Bible Verse of the Day

Colossians 4:6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

In Paul’s time, salt was important for food because it not only seasoned it, it also preserved it. Roman soldiers were paid with a monthly allowance of salt, which is where the word ‘salary’ originates. In Paul’s time, salt was both an important and essential commodity, which is why he urges Christians to season their conversation with the salt of grace. Even in his time, too many Christians were unyielding and judgmental. For the Gospel message of Christ to be received by pagans and heathens, Paul encouraged Christians not to forget the healing and inspirational message of grace.

There’s an old story told about two pastors in London, England, who were holding revival campaigns at the same time. One of the campaigns was always crowded; the other only managed an average attendance. A reporter went to both meetings, listened to the preachers, and thought that they expressed the same Gospel message of repentance, judgment, and salvation. He wondered why both preachers didn’t have the same large gatherings, so he asked a couple of people what the difference was. They replied: “Both evangelists preach the same Gospel message and talk about judgment, but the more successful preacher seasons his words with grace.”

As Christians, we can sometimes be hyper-critical of other people and are too quick to pronounce judgment, hellfire, and damnation upon other sinners. Our message becomes a tirade of self-righteousness and our hearers just turn off listening. However, if we confront sin and apply words of grace to the sinner, it will be more effective because they will be more receptive to what we have to say.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, there are times when we let You down with our insensitivity and poor judgments. We’re too quick to condemn other people and we make too many rash judgments about their lives. Forgive us for being so unforgiving, and graceless with our opinions. Help us to clarify what Your Gospel is all about to others, and enable us to express it with grace, patience, and love. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Daily Devotions: Tom and Jerry

Do you remember the old Tom and Jerry cartoons? Long before they were deemed politically incorrect because of the comic violence in them, I used to love watching them every night on TV. They made me really laugh, but I especially liked the cartoons when Tom the Cat or Jerry the Mouse struggled with temptation. When this occurred, there would usually be a small haloed angel on the right shoulder and a miniature red-faced devil on the left side of the cartooned characters. It was funny to watch and usually ended with Tom or Jerry giving in to temptation.

Bible Verse of the Day

Job 33:23, 24 "Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him, to be gracious to him and say, 'Spare him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him'-“

It would be handy to have such angels & devils on each of our shoulders. I guess they would keep us away from temptation. The Muslims believe in this, and live their lives in the fear that the divine scales of justice will lean against them because of succumbing to the angel of temptation too many times. Sadly, that’s why some of them strap explosives to themselves and commit suicidal murder. They wrongly believe that their sins are wiped out in the process of killing innocent people.

As Christians, we depend upon Christ to mediate on our behalf. He intercedes for us, asking God to forgive our sins and restore us to His Favor. That’s infinitely much better than having an angel on each shoulder, or blowing yourself up. This is why our faith is missionary – the good news of Christ’s forgiveness is what every person needs in this world, no matter what their faith system is. Christ alone has the power and authority to forgive sin, and Lord knows, we all are in great need of a Champion and Savior.

If you’re feeling guilty about something in your past, or perhaps you’re struggling against temptation, then please allow Christ to come into your heart to influence your life. Believe me, you’ll find that Christ has a lot more peace, love, and satisfaction to offer to you than you are presently experiencing. Just give Him the opportunity and He will help you turn your life around, by putting you on the true path to everlasting love and eternal life.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we struggle with temptation every single day of our lives. We say and do things that we later regret. We make stupid mistakes and disappoint other people. Forgive our foolish ways and enable us to pull down the barriers of pride that keep getting in the way of allowing us to freely give our hearts and lives to You. In your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Sunday Sermon: What The World Needs Now

There’s a new book coming out, called the “Third Jesus.” It’s written by Deepak Chopra who is this generation’s equivalent of Von Daniken. He writes a lot of best sellers about spirituality, especially of the New Age variety, and I have no doubt that this book will soon reach number one on the Times best sellers list.

It’s sad that this kind of junk theology can become so popular and soaked into the precious souls of millions of modern people. They lap up this kind of godless garbage and pore over its contents without opening up the Gospels to find the real Jesus. They would rather read the warped interpretations of a Hindu guru-author whose cosmology makes them feel special. Chopra is a bit like Oprah when it comes to the theological world – it’s all about feeling good about yourself and discovering the god within you, instead of feeling good about Christ and the God around us.

Here’s what Deepak has to say about Christ, or more precisely the Three Christ’s that we know:

First, there is the historical Jesus, the man who lived more than two thousand years ago and whose teachings are the foundation of Christian theology and thought. Next there is Jesus the Son of God, who has come to embody an institutional religion with specific dogma, a priesthood, and devout believers. And finally, there is the third Jesus, the cosmic Christ, the spiritual guide whose teaching embraces all humanity, not just the church built in his name. He speaks to the individual who wants to find God as a personal experience, to attain what some might call grace, or God-consciousness, or enlightenment.

In other words, all that the world needs now is a Hinduistic Cosmic Christ and jettison the Christ whose church embraces and engages the world in the midst of its poverty, brokenness, and sin. For those of you who don’t know, this is classical Hindu teaching where the poor and miserable are neglected, whilst the priestly and noble classes are worshipped and exalted.

Deepak is so far off the beaten track as far as real Christianity is concerned. He’s falling into the old trap of syncretism – trying to get Christ to fit his theories instead of trying to fit his life into Christ’s ways. Deepak may be successful at selling millions of books with his meaningless mumbo-jumbo, but as far as doing the work of God’s Kingdom – well, let’s put it this way: you’ve got to be in it, to spin it.

Let me show you how today’s scripture reveals to us the One Complete Christ, and not the Three Jesus’ that Chopra is promoting.

Look at verse 6:
6 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

What does this tell us about Jesus historically? It reveals to us that Christ was a human being. He was tired and he was thirsty. He had walked for several miles, going from one town to the other. It was the sixth hour, which meant it was the middle of the day. Christ’s energy was sapped from the heat of the mid day sun. He needed to rest his weary feet. He needed to stop and relax for a while. And he desperately needed something to drink.

This is the historical Jesus. This is a man who is weary and exhausted; tired and thirsty; hungry and all alone. What Jesus needs now is a kind word and a smile, and a refreshing drink of cold water.

Now we didn’t need Deepak to tell us that – we didn’t need his convoluted book to let us know that Jesus existed and was a frail human being just like the rest of us. All we had to do was read the Gospel and, lo and behold, there He is! In fact, Jesus is so human, so much of a pathetic, weary man that He has to turn to a woman to help Him out! Just another typical guy, needing a woman to take care of Him.

But what about this Second Jesus that Deepak writes about? What about this Son of God who institutes a new religion for devout believers?

Well, let’s look at the passage again. Jesus asks the Samaritan woman for water. Jews were not supposed to ask Samaritans for anything. It was beneath their dignity. Samaritans were unclean, unwashed, unholy people who were thought of as disdainful idolaters by the orthodox Jews. Because Jesus was a Rabbi, He should never have associated Himself with this Samaritan woman. And even worse, her own people didn’t even associate with her, which must have meant that she was immoral and adulterous, shameless and sinful.

But tired and weary as Jesus was, He wanted to reach out to this woman spiritually. Instead of being annoyed at her, Jesus says this to her:

10 "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

What does this mean? What is Jesus trying to reveal to her? He’s letting the woman know that He is not just a Jewish man looking for a strange woman in a strange land to help Him out. He’s beginning to minister to her, to rouse her curiosity, and to attract her soul to Him. He’s reaching out to this woman, who has been abandoned by her own community, with kindness and compassion, respect and dignity that she hasn’t known in such a long time. He’s having a conversation with her; He’s connecting to her heart and soul, not her body and beauty. He’s helping her to confront her past in order to heal her. He’s intervening in her life, in order to save her from herself.

And this is what Christ does through the church, in the world, generation after generation. His words, His ways, His work continues every single day through the life, ministry, and mission of His church on earth. Our dogma reveals to us that Jesus is the Son of God and through Him alone salvation is found. He institutionalizes and sustains the Church, in order to make the world a better place, a loving place, a compassionate place. What the world needs now is this Jesus who reaches out to the outcasts and embraces sinners, in order to bring them in from the fields of sin to the compassionate Kingdom of God.

You know recently I was upset with an American Episcopal Bishop who apologized to the Hindus in India for the 200 years of Christian mission in Indian society. “There are enough Christians in the world and we are sorry for trying to convert your people to our faith.” What a load of Universalist baloney!

I am not sorry that 200 years ago missionaries went to India to try to convince people that worshipping trees and rivers, stone idols and thousands of god and goddesses was wrong. I am not sorry that Christian missionaries stopped the sacrificial slaughter of babies to appease vengeful gods. I am not sorry that Christians sought to stop the acts of ritual suicide that took place, where widows old or young had to cast themselves onto the burning remains of their dead husbands. And I am certainly not sorry that Christian missionaries worked with and helped the millions of people who lived in the gutters of cities like Bombay and Calcutta and were treated as human filth and manure just because they were born as pariahs – outcastes – who had no chance of changing their inhumane treatment by the other Hindu classes.

Jesus is the Son of God and we are His church in the world, which is called to reach out into the world to bring His Gospel of repentance and restoration, compassion and confrontation to all people. The Historical Jesus is the same as the Institutionalized Jesus - we just have to keep reading the real Gospels, instead of the book-marketing baloney that Deepak Chopra and his New Age, Prosperity Gospel cronies keep churning out.

Finally, we come to this Third Jesus of Chopra’s book – the New Age Cosmic Christ – the One who speaks to individuals who want to have a consciousness of God, but as Chopra said on CNN the other day – not necessarily as part of a personal relationship, more of a spiritual awareness that God exists. In other words, giving us the ability to know of God, but not to be influenced, guided, or even judged by God.

When Jesus speaks to this woman at the well to engage her in a conversation and to eventually confront her sinful ways, He does so in order to affect a godly change in her life. He’s not doing it to pass the time of day or to wile away the hours in small talk, Jesus speaks directly to this woman to get her reconnected to God, to redeem her from her foolish choices, and to restore her to God’s love and favor.

Christ doesn’t talk to her to make her aware that God merely exists; He talks to her because, although God is displeased with her sin, He has not stopped loving her. This isn’t about merrily co-existing in the universe as Creator and creatures; this all about the reason why God created us in the first place – to have a loving, caring, and everlasting relationship with Him. That’s why Jesus says He has Living Water – water sustains all life on this planet – but God’s Living water in Christ sustains all eternal life in the Universe!

13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

This is the Cosmic Christ that Deepak mentions, but not a Cosmic distant, uncaring, uninterested Christ – that’s Hindu theology – this is the One, True and Living Christ – who gets thirsty on a hot day, who preaches to lost souls, who offers eternal salvation to all who come and drink with Him! There is no such thing as a Third Jesus – just as there is no such thing as a third World, another false Hindu theology – we’re all part of One World and we all are called to believe in One Christ – historical, traditional, and cosmological – all Three in One!

The rest of John Chapter 4 deals with the confrontation and conversion of this Samaritan woman. In Christ, she finds what she truly needs – the love, mercy, and forgiveness of God. She takes this message back to her own people, who have shunned her and made her an outcast. Eventually, her own people are converted as well. They say to her: "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

In other words, they make the connection with Jesus and place their lives and souls into His saving hands. The challenge we face today is this: are we willing to do the same?

Stushie is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee

Erin Church: Sunday Sermon: Mary's Boy Child

Matthew 1:20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

When my mom suddenly died seventeen years ago, our whole family was shocked. She was only 57 years old. Years of smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day finally caught up with her and she took a massive heart attack, which killed her instantly. My dad had just stepped out to go to the library, which was just a five minute walk from our house. He was gone for 20 minutes, choosing books for my mom to read. When he arrived back, he found her slumped to the floor and there was nothing he could do. He called the emergency services and when the paramedics arrived, they just confirmed what he already knew. She was gone.

The effect on our family was a mixture of shock and relief. We were shocked because of the suddenness of her death, but we were relieved that her years of physical pain and mental torment were over. Mom was in a better place, surrounded by loved ones and angels. Her days were over and our lives had to go on.

All my brothers and sisters had their own families and partners to look after, except for my youngest sister Jane. She was fifteen years old when our mother died. She was the only one of six children who was still living in our family home. She missed mom terribly, but the rest of us didn’t realize that. We all reckoned that Jane was old enough to take care of herself. We didn’t know that she felt a great emptiness in her life. We didn’t understand that she had suffered a great loss.

Just after she turned sixteen, Jane dropped a bombshell on our whole family. She announced that she was pregnant. She wasn’t going to marry the father and she would look after the child on her own. She would be a young unmarried mother and she was determined to keep the baby. Having an abortion or putting the baby up for adoption was not something that she was willing to go through. She was pregnant, she wanted the baby, she wanted to love the child unconditionally and fill the emptiness of her heart with the baby in her womb.

My brothers and sisters all wondered how our Dad would react. We could picture some sort of Victorian melodrama occurring with Jane carrying her child in her arms and being forced out into a snowstorm for bringing shame upon our whole family. But my Dad stepped up to the plate and handled the situation beautifully. He accepted Jane’s situation lovingly and never once criticized her for her. He welcomed his grand-daughter Daytona and was proud to hold her in his arms on the day she born. It never crossed his mind to abandon his youngest daughter Jane. And, because of that paternal acceptance, Jane, despite being so young, became a marvelous mother.

Why am I telling you all of this? It’s because I find a parallel with my dad’s response to Jane’s situation and Joseph’s treatment of Mary.

Mary was just a teenager, betrothed but not fully married, who was expecting a baby. She was a child having a child and in her culture it was a recipe for disaster. People still belonged to the Stone Age in Mary’s time – in other words, a young girl in Mary’s condition could be stoned to death for bringing shame to her betrothed husband, and all the families involved. The whole community would be enraged by such a disgrace. She would either become an outcast, destined to live her life as a prostitute on the margins of society, or, she would be cut to pieces, bashed and crushed to death with rock and stones. The outlook for Mary and Mary’s boy child was not wonderful. Whatever happened to her and the baby all depended upon Joseph’s response to the situation.

His initial reaction was to send her away quietly and not bring attention to her situation. Either he was trying to avoid public humiliation or there was something else more powerful than the avoidance of shame. I think that Joseph truly loved Mary and despite receiving bad news about her pregnancy, he did not want any harm to come to her. He may not have been the father of the child she was carrying, but he still loved Mary sufficiently to protect her from the religious zealots who would probably want to kill her. Theological bigots and spiritual fanatics would have demanded that Mary’s impurity be purged from their midst. They would not have listened to any story about angels or the promised messiah. All that they would have seen was a pregnant teenager who sullied the community’s reputation and totally disrespected the laws of God.

Sixty one years ago today in 1946, one year after the end of World War II, the University of Tennessee issued a statement on behalf of their basketball team. They were due to play Duquesne University, but they refused to do so. Why? Because Duquesne had informed UT that they might use a black player in their game. Instead of recognizing that times has changed and that during the war, people of every color across the United States had fought together to rid the world of a fascist monster, our beloved University allowed the bigots and racists to dictate the sports policy of our basketball team. The game was never played because racism had sadly won the day. No one was willing to show acceptance and adopt an attitude of gratitude for the freedom that had been won for all the people in the world. Thankfully today, when our UT basketball team plays there are people of all colors on the team and amongst the crowd. Racists may still exist, but their voices are not adhered to anymore.

Joseph’s love for Mary caused him to do what was morally right rather than being religiously right. He wanted to make sure that Mary and her child would be given a chance to survive. He did not want to cause any fuss or shame; he was disturbed by the situation, but he was perturbed.

And then God did a beautiful thing that shows us how much He loved Joseph. He sent an angel to Joseph in a special dream, who told him not to be afraid and confirmed all that Mary had told him. God loved Joseph so deeply that he didn’t want him to be disturbed by the situation. God took time to reach Joseph in a unique and individual way, where no one could distract or dissuade Joseph – in his dreams. Think about it folks – the most isolated time that we all experience is when we sleep. We are at our most personal time when we dream. I cannot dream for you and you cannot dream for me. We dream alone – it’s that sacred time when our souls are in a holy state where time, space, and matter cannot touch us.

God isolates Joseph in his dreams and helps him to confront his worries. The boy child that Mary is carrying must have a protector. If Mary is cast out, who will keep her and the child safe? And how will Joseph be able to live with himself if he is the agent of their abandonment. This dream, this wonderful, miraculous dream is a life changing moment for Joseph and much more besides. The entire history of the whole world rests upon Joseph accepting guardianship over Mary’s Boy Child.

Way back in 1776, six months into the War of Independence, Thomas Paine wrote those powerfully inspiring words: “these are the times that try men’s souls.” On this very day, Thomas Paine’s words were printed as a pamphlet and distributed throughout the Thirteen Colonies of the newly formed United States. After reading it, General Washington ordered that the pamphlet be read to all of the army under his command. It was a glorious success in rallying the troops. They were in the midst of a dire situation. They need something to give them a reason, a purpose, a vision of why they were fighting.

Close you eyes and listen to the words of the first paragraph. Picture yourself as either a trooper in Washington’s Army fighting for independence, or as a woman struggling to keep her family safe during the uncertainty of war.

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us – that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right not only to tax but “to bind us in all cases whatsoever,” and if being bound in that manner is not slavery, then there is no such thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious, for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.”

Those words inspired thousands of men to re-enlist in the Continental army and to keep the struggle for independence alive. The new fledged United States would be protected by the individual commitment of patriots all across the country and keep the war going until freedom, which Thomas Paine called a “celestial article” was won.

Joseph’s soul underwent the same kind of trials and tribulation. He either had to enlist into God’s service and become Mary’s protector, or he could freely choose to abandon her completely. Before he decides this, the angel in his dream tells Joseph that the child will be called Jesus which means Savior, Deliverer and Liberator all rolled into one. The stakes are now higher than before. Joseph will no longer be just looking after Mary and her boy child: the whole nation of Israel now depended upon his acceptance of this crucial role.

Now why didn’t God just take over everything, cast Joseph aside and surround Mary and Jesus with thousands of angels to protect them? Why is God giving Joseph the opportunity to do something that He could easily do with His Almighty power? This is where God works in mysterious and poetical ways. It all goes back to the Garden of Eden. Eve causes humankind to fall into sin by firstly yielding to temptation. When Mary accepts God’s child Jesus in her womb, Eve’s sin is eradicated and God redeems woman-kind. Adam’s sin was not so much that he accepted the forbidden fruit from Eve in the garden, but that he failed to protect her from the serpent and morally abandoned her. When Joseph accepts the role of protecting Mary and Jesus, Adam’s sin of forsaking his wife is eradicated and God redeems man-kind. It’s what I call gender redemption. I guess God would call it the balancing of history, and the reconciling of human-kind.

Christmas is less than two days away and when we gather with our friends and families, we will remember Mary’s Boy Child with all of the love and adoration that we can muster. But let’s also take time to remember Christ’s earthly parents and how their decisions to accept God’s will changed the world and changed our lives. Their devotion to one another and their dedication to bring God’s child into the world; their courage in the face of humiliation and shame; their faith in God’s word and His promises are great examples of how simple, lowly people can aspire to overcoming their circumstances, and applying noble characteristics of duty and responsibility, devotion and respectability that make all the difference to their dire situation and to the lives of all those around them.

We thank God for the blessings of our salvation through Jesus Christ, but we are also grateful to Mary and Joseph for accepting the roles as parents to the Boy Child who would restore everlasting hope to the entire world. In Christ’s Name. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee

Erin Church Devotions: Real faith

Audio version here

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote to you about Pastor Daniel, an evangelist from Indonesia. He, along with 40 other Christian leaders, has been sentenced to five years of imprisonment, just because he prayed for the Muslim community to be open to Christ’s Gospel. I informed you that I was handwriting a letter to him in phonetic Indonesian, so that his family and friends could hold on to their hope in Christ.

Two weeks have passed and Daniel has received over 1400 letters from pastors and people around the world. The authorities are beginning to sit up and take notice. Daniel’s family are heartily encouraged by the amount of international support that he is being given. It truly is a wonderful way of sharing and expressing the Gospel to people in other lands. I hope and pray that Daniel and the others are released soon.

Daniel is a God-fearing Christian, who takes Christ’s message to heart and is unwilling to compromise its integrity. A week on Tuesday, I am going to our local Presbytery meeting and already I am feeling torn by it. Two new pastors will be presented at the meeting for approval. I’ve read their statements of faith online and once again, I am bewildered. I’ll have to ask one of them what is meant by salvation and is Christ the Only Savior of the World. The other one does not mention God as Father, nor of Christ as being His true Son.

It may just be a slip of the pen or keyboard, and to other people this will not seem important, but when I think of Pastor Daniel languishing and suffering in an Indonesian prison for not compromising his faith, I feel really ill at ease with those pastors amongst who all too readily set aside traditional beliefs and replace them with what they’ve learned from seminary professors, instead of holding fast to the words and teachings of Christ and His apostles.

I’ll probably endure some criticism again for asking these questions and voicing my concerns, but it will be nothing compared to what Daniel is experiencing. I hope and pray that my passion will not overload my reason; and that my heart will not overwhelm my head.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the Son of God and He is Your Almighty Father. We are adopted as daughters and sons of God through our allegiance to You and by Your sacrificial death. Help us to value our salvation and keep us revering Who You really are. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Verse for the Day:
Titus 1:4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Tertullian Revisited: Chapter 8 - We are Faith Finders, not Spiritual Seekers

Some people believe that the purpose of life is to seek the truth. Christians and heretics abide by this concept, but differ in regard to the outcome. True believers find the truth and stick with it. Heretics find the journey more appealing and continue the process of seeking. Instead of affirming the faith, they seek to confirm their own love of the journey by continually seeking new questions, ideas, and opinions that lead them down a narcissistic blind alley.

Christ invites us from the scriptures to both seek and find. Christians and heretics alike begin their journey here.

Jesus asked this of His disciples and contemporaries, who were searching for the Messiah. He was pointing them to Himself, to show them that the centuries old search for the Anointed One was complete.

Some did not know that the Messiah was amongst them; therefore Jesus was asking them to make their search during His lifetime. He was showing them that the journey would lead to Him alone.

God revealed His presence to the Jews over several centuries. In Christ, God gave the last revelation that personal faith journeys would require. The Jewish search for the Messiah was over. The plan of salvation was made complete in Christ.

Christ referred His people to the Holy Scriptures. The sacred clues were there, in both the law and the prophets. Moses and Elijah testified to Christ’s coming into the world. Thus, when Christ asks His people to ‘seek and find” He is telling them to study the scriptures, read God’s word, and figure out that Jesus is the Anointed One.

For those to whom this was not clear, Christ asked them to knock on the door of faith and understanding, which would be opened to them. For those who were unclear about Christ’s divinity, He was again pointing them in His direction.

The Jewish people experienced a sacred privilege – that of being chosen as the Covenanted People of God – but when they rejected Christ as their Messiah, they were no longer blessed as the Only Chosen Ones.

God then extended His grace to those who lay outside of His Holy Covenant. He permitted the Gentile nations to receive the good news of Christ and be part of the Gospel promises that Jesus obtained through His sacrificial death on the Cross.

The Gentile nations knew nothing of Christ until Jewish disciples walked beyond their borders to broadcast the Gospel throughout the earth. Just as the Jews themselves had been scattered across the Mediterranean, so was the New Testament of God carried, expressed, and shared to the Diaspora.

To those who sought to find the truth and know Him better, Christ invited them to ask of Him. Since the truth was to be found in Him, He would personally answer their questions. For true believers this is acceptable; but for heretics, this is too simple.

Christ spoke first of all to Israel. He was called to be Messiah of His people, and then Savior of the world. He was sent to bring back those who had fallen away from God and return them to the faithful flock.

So, this invitation to “seek and find” is initially to be understood as a call to the Jews to look no further than Jesus to find the Christ. His ministry was to reach out to His own Chosen people; it was only later that the bread from the Master’s table would be fed to the Gentiles.

Only at the last, before His Ascension, did Christ tell His disciples to go out into the world, to teach and baptize people of other nations. And with the presence of the Holy Spirit, they were to engage in evangelism for the same purpose as His Ministry to the Jews: to enable those who were seeking the truth to find it in Christ Jesus.

The apostles were ordained by God, sent out by Christ, and anointed with the Holy Spirit to tell the world that they had found the Truth. True believers joyously welcome this and accept that the message of the apostles is one that we should readily accept. Heretics, however, do not accept this Christ given authority and question the reliability of the apostles. In effect, heretics question the work of the Holy Spirit, which is an unpardonable sin.

The Lord has not left us to work out our own salvation. His words are meant to bring us to Him. Originally, they were addressed to His own people, but throughout the centuries and across the nations, His words of invitation are meant to bring closure to our spiritual seeking and make us finders of the One, True and Everlasting faith – that Jesus Christ is the Anointed Lord of the Universe, and He is the Only Savior of humankind.

Ben Franklin's Certainties: Death & Taxes...and one other thing

Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

On this day in 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote the now famous statement that “there is nothing certain in life but death and taxes.” I guess if he was more of a Christian, he would have written something like: “there is nothing certain in life but death, taxes, and the assurance of salvation through the grace of Jesus Christ.”

The role of the church is to express the message of salvation to every generation on earth. Our daily purpose as Christians is to convey our faith through the things that we say and do. It’s not always easy, and all of us fail from time to time, but if our hearts are truly centered on Christ, then we will show others our faith in attractive and compelling ways.

Each of us has been given the beautiful and precious gift of life to make a difference in the world. Added to that gift is faith itself, which we are meant to share with others, especially those who are near and dear to us. In recent years, all of us have found it tougher to express our faith because of the negative impression that the Church has had on our society. Christians are perceived to be holy whiners who complain about the world, but never do anything effective to change it. We are treated as if we belong to another age, which we have brought upon ourselves because of our indifference to the world. We try to be exclusive, detached and elite, instead of rolling up our sleeves and working with people who are hurting, fearful, and struggling with life.

I think it’s time to re-impact our community with Christ’s message. It’s time for all of us who claim to be Christians to review our lives and ask ourselves these questions: if my salvation through Jesus means everything to me, then what’s stopping me from sharing that joy with others? How can I become an effective witness to Christ amongst the people that I know and love, amongst those that I meet and work with?

If we make time to do this throughout the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, then we will make a difference in the community. And that means someone near and dear to us will begin to realize that there’s more to life than death and taxes: Christ’s grace to us is the greatest gift of all and the most blessed certainty of life for those who are His.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us the courage to make the most of the opportunities that You give us, to share and express our faith with other people. Help us to respond to the calls that You make of us this day to help those in need, to support those who are struggling, and to share the good news of salvation to those who have forgotten this certainty in these uncertain times. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Going to Hell the easy way: Playing Games with our Faith

It’s not what we want to hear – that the Lord blesses and curses. We just want the good parts of the Bible to apply to us and reject the rest. Our generation of Christians is pampered compared to previous ones. We want things the easy way; we want our faith to be unfettered by commandments, demands, and curses from the Lord. We want God to accept us and never want Him to change us, before we will accept Him. We want to make God into our personal assistant, dumping our burdens on Him, and fully expecting Him to bail us out. Instead of revering the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, we want the genie from Aladdin’s lamp. In other words, we want to be in control of every part of our lives.

It doesn’t work that way and never has. We fool ourselves everyday if we think that God doesn’t judge our deeds. And if we turn off just because we read in the Bible something we don’t want to see, or hear from the preacher words we don’t want to accept, then we’ve become the biggest fools in all the centuries of Christendom.

I see people playing with their faith instead of practicing it. I watch folks indulge themselves at this time of year, instead of giving thanks and being grateful to God. I look at our depraved society and it sickens my heart, not because I’m better than anyone else, but because I’m part of the disease itself.

I want to tell people about Jesus and how stern He could be at times, but people don’t want to hear it. I want to preach a Gospel that demands an unconditional surrender to God, but people don’t want to do that. I want to shake up the whole of our civilization and shout out: “Don’t you realize we’re all going to Hell in a hand barrow?” but nobody wants to listen to that kind of Holy Roller talk anymore. We just want to be happy and have a good time. We just want to say to God on Judgment Day, what happens on Earth, stays on Earth.

I won’t play this game anymore because I love the people around me. I won’t dance with the devil any longer in order to keep the peace. I’ll do what the Lord calls me to do – to prepare people for His Coming and to help them get ready for judgment. To do anything less is to disobey God. To do anything other is to come under His curse.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we don’t want to think about judgment or accept Your non-compromising Gospel. We want to be happy, not harassed by You. We want to feel good, not to face God. We want to get to heaven, but none of us wants to die to our sins. O Lord, help us and save us; rebuke us and restore us. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor at Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Daily Devotional: Seeing Jesus - the work of the church is to bring others into God's Kingdom

John 12:21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus."

This is one of my favorite verses from the Bible because it encapsulates the work of the church. Congregations can get caught up in building programs, financial campaigns, and missional projects, but in the end, if no one comes to see Jesus, then they’re busy doing nothing.

Churches exist to bring people to Christ. They have no other function. Christians can do as much good in their lives and strengthen their community through acts of kindness and well-being, but if no one comes to Jesus, then the deeds are empty of any eternal blessings. This is why it is so important to remember that our faith is missional. We seek others to tell them about Jesus. We try to fill our sanctuaries with those seekers of Christ, not to boost our numbers, but to get more souls into heaven.

Jesus was overjoyed when Andrew and Philip brought the Greeks to meet Him. It meant that His ministry was beginning to travel around the world. That’s why He says it was for this reason that He came. His ministry was to teach the world about God. His mission was to die for the world. On both counts, He succeeded, which is why He is elated at this point in His life. God’s plan of salvation is working. God’s Kingdom is being extended outside of Palestine.

So, the challenge for all of us today is this: what am I going to do or say today that will encourage others to seek and find Jesus? Who am I going to contact or meet today that needs to hear the Gospel? What am I going to do today to extend God’s Kingdom outside of my own personal world and bring it into someone else’s life?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You have called all of us to do Your bidding and to serve Your will. Grant us the courage to express our faith today to all whom we meet. Give us opportunities to talk about You, Your church, and Your mission, so that others may seek You, too. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Daily Devotional - Doctrine - a dirty word or a sure way to salvation?

1 Timothy 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. (NIV)

Doctrine is a word that we don’t use very often these days. We tend to associate it with the word ‘dogmatic’ and so it has some negative connotations for a society full of free-spirited people. The New Testament Greek word for doctrine is didaskalia which means teaching and learning. It’s not meant to be a negative word – it’s supposed to positively encourage us to learn more about God through the life, ministry and works of Christ.

I’ve been a pastor for over twenty years and throughout that time, I’ve watched society sadly reject Christian doctrine, only to replace it with individual ideas and personal opinions. People who hardly read the Bible make up their own ideas about God. Even church people, who do nothing to grow spiritually, carry around quaint and quixotic superstitions in their hearts and heads. They think that their own ideas are going to save them; they erroneously believe that God will accommodate their self-made teaching and personal doctrine.

The scriptures were given to us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so that we might not depart from the truth. And the proper teaching of this truth relies upon our devotion to Christ and a proper understanding of the scriptures. If we make up our own beliefs, then we have no salvation. God will not set aside His Son in order to accommodate us. That would exalt us and diminish Christ. We would be in danger of making ourselves our own gods first, and then placing Christ at the bottom of the pile.

So, perhaps we all need to really reflect upon what we actually believe. And then we should ask ourselves this tough question: are my beliefs based upon Christian doctrine, or are they something that I have made up to accommodate my personal feelings instead of the Christian faith?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to understand how important doctrine is for our salvation. Teach us Your ways and enable us to learn what is sacred, holy and true to You. Give us the courage to set aside our own ways, in order to let the Holy Spirit fill our hearts and minds with Your ways. In Your Holy name, we pray. Amen.

Saving

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Titus 3:4, 5a But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

The most enduring moment in the movie, “Saving Private Ryan” comes at the very end. Ryan, now an old man, is visiting the graves of American troops in France. As he stands before the crosses of his rescuers, he bursts into tears and asks his family, “Have I been a good man?” He wants to know if he has lived a life worthy of being rescued; he needs to know that those who died to save him did not die in vain.

I guess the same question could be asked of ourselves, for we also have been rescued and we owe our faithful lives to the death of one man. Jesus died for our sins and we know that none of us are worthy of this grace. We may accomplish great things in our lives, we may do good things and fulfill lofty ambitions, but none of it counts against Christ’s sacrifice. We cannot do anything to make things even with Jesus. We cannot work our way out of needing His salvation. In the end, we will always owe more to Christ than we can ever possibly give. At the final moment of our lives, it will not be our goodness that will rescue us from oblivion; it will be Christ’s mercy and grace that will pull us through death to eternal life.

This is what being saved means. This is why we hope. This is why we have faith in Jesus.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, our lives are made eternal in the precious moment that we give them to You. Our souls are saved forever when we acknowledge You as the Savior of the World and the Lord of our lives. Help us to share this Good News, so that others may not worry about death, but instead they may also glorify Your goodness and experience Your mercy. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Meeting

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1 Timothy 1:15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst. (NIV)

I’m meeting with the care team sub-committee of the Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry this morning to have a discussion with them about what happened at the last Presbytery meeting. If you read these devotionals on a daily basis, you may remember that I asked several questions of a candidate for ministry, whose answers revealed that she would not be bound by the scriptures, nor would she confirm that Jesus is the only way to salvation.

Both of those answers perplexed me, for what is the point in being a Christian pastor if you don’t believe fully in Christ, nor do you fully trust the scriptures about Him? I feel as though that seminaries are beginning to universalize faith, and that the current theologians who teach our ministerial candidates are so far off the orthodox mark that we should seriously begin to question who is teaching what to our future pastors.

Now already I can hear some people saying, “That would be a witch hunt. You want to condemn those who have given their lives, intellect, and academic skills to theology and make them conform to your standards, John.”

No, I don’t, because like Paul before me, I am one of the worst sinners in the world. I don’t want people to follow the Gospel according to John Stuart, I want them to follow the Gospel according to Christ, as written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Not one of the Gospel writers believed that Jesus was any less than He declared Himself to be. Not one of them would have glibly cast Christ aside in favor of appeasing other faiths, other deities, other gods. If that was the case, they would never have spread the Gospel and the Jesus stories would just have been circulated locally. Christ would just have been another Palestinian prophet, a religious rabble-rouser who was squashed by the politico-religious system of His day.

Like the present Pope, Benedict XVI, I can say this: I trust the Gospels.* To me, there is no other legitimate source of my faith other than Bible. I may not be able to live up to the demands of the Scriptures (who can?), but my faith is bound up in them. The Christ of the Gospels is the One I worship, proclaim and follow. He is the only source of salvation. He is the only source of truth and meaning.

Whatever the outcome of the meeting this morning, I thank God for the opportunity of witnessing to Christ with my peers. I may not be the best pastor in the world, and I fall short of God’s expectations, but that will not disbar me from declaring that Christ is the most perfect, holy, and sacred Savior that the world has known, knows today, and will ever know. In Christ, I stand. I can do no other.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, give our people hearts that are loyal to You, and faith that witnesses to Your True Power. We admit that we are all sinners, in need of forgiveness, and in need of salvation. Help us to give up our proud and stubborn ways. Grant us the courage to declare Your Uniqueness, Sovereignty, and Authority over all religions, over all creation. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen

* as written in his new book, “Jesus of Nazareth” – Joseph Ratzinger –we’ll be studying this at Erin later this year.

Rehab

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1 Corinthians 4:2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. (NIV)

I like Michael Vick as an athlete. I think that he has been given an extraordinary amount of talent that is largely unequalled in the NFL. I’ve watched him since his playing days at Virginia Tech and I believed that he would have become one of the major sporting heroes in the United States this decade. I have been deeply disappointed in what has been revealed. I find it hard to believe that’s someone with so much talent, so much wealth, and so much potential would waste it all on illegal betting and savage dog-fighting.

I hope and pray that Michael is rehabilitated whilst he is in prison. I watched his public apology yesterday and I believe that he meant what he said. He’s a young man and if he keeps himself reasonably fit in prison, he may still have something to offer to his sport. Everybody deserves a second chance. My prayer is that Michael abandons his foolish ways and becomes a better person.

Sometimes fallen idols make the best witnesses of God’s redeeming love. When I read Paul’s letters in the Bible, I’m reminded that he originally persecuted the church and may even have killed some of Christ’s followers. On the Damascus road, things changed for Paul in a mighty way. The Lord revealed Himself to Paul and showed him the error of his ways. Paul was given a second chance and he embraced it.

We all make mistakes; we all fall short of God’s expectations; we all are in need of redemption and rehabilitation. Christ comes to us in the midst of our troubles and crises to release us from our addictions, obsessions, temptations, and miscalculations. He has the power to renew our lives; He has the ability to restore us to God.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You died for our sins so that we might not be defined by our mistakes, but rather refined by Your grace. Help us to turn away from those things that potentially lead us away from God. Grant us mercy when we sin. Give us hope to make our lives better again. Release us from our past regrets and guide us to a future glory. In Your Holy Name, we earnestly pray. Amen.

Burden Bearer

Christian at the foot of the Cross where his over-bearing burden fo sin falls from off his back.




Stianed Glass design for John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.

Grace is Amazing

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John 1:16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. (NIV)

For a while, Grace was a popular name for girls in Scotland, especially among those who are now Baby Boomers. I used to wonder if the name Grace was chosen for spiritual reasons, because Billy Graham’s revivalist meetings were taking place in Scotland when these girls were born. Maybe Grace was chosen as a name because everyone was rediscovering the hymn “Amazing Grace.”

Then I realized it was probably something else, or rather someone else who caused the name Grace to be popular in Scotland: Grace Kelly. She was idolized by people throughout the world and when she married Prince Rainier of Monaco, her life was a fairy-tale come true. Perhaps Grace was chosen as a name for all of those Scottish babies long ago because their moms wished a happy, successful, and beautiful life for their daughters.

The Greek word for grace in the New Testament is charis (cha-rees), from which we get the word charity. It describes an act of graciousness that has been divinely influenced or inspired. We often talk about our God given rights, but in this case, we are talking about God given guidance which influences our thoughts and hearts into showing mercy, lending support, and offering help to people. This grace is often applied in circumstances where our help, charity and love is largely undeserved or unexpected.

That’s exactly what God offers to us through Jesus Christ, His Holy Son. He grants us a grace that can never be equaled. God’s grace sustains the universe and maintains our lives. God’s grace forgives our sins and redirects our ways. God’s grace gives us a divine opportunity to be restored to His favor and everlasting love. We deserve to die for our disobedience, disrespect, and distrust of God. Instead, through Jesus Christ, God offers an undeserved way out of oblivion, a merciful path to heaven. That’s why an ex-slave trader like John Newton could write a hymn called “Amazing Grace.” It is totally unexpected; it is completely undeserved.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are our grace, our mercy, and our love. Even although we are completely unworthy and undeserving of salvation, You offer us forgiveness, restoration, and eternal peace. Enable us to grasp this grace and to cling to the charis that You give to us. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

Would Christianity survive without the Bible?

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Colossians 2:17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. (NIV)

Someone recently posed the question: could Christianity survive without the Bible? That’s a tough question to answer. For three thousand years, God’s people have looked to the sacred scriptures to build a foundation of faith and tradition in order to give their lives meaning and purpose. The stories of the Bible have become timeless examples of how ordinary people overcome their troubles in extraordinary ways. How solid would our faith be without the heroic exploits of Noah and his ark; of Joseph and his brothers; of Daniel in the lions’ den? These ancient tales of faith have inspired generations of God’s people in every country and culture throughout the earth.

But what if the Bible suddenly disappeared from our world? What would happen if we as Christians could no longer read the Gospels? What would our faith become? Could it survive?

If we look back to the faith of the first Christians, we come across an amazing fact: they didn’t have any scriptures to sustain their beliefs. The Gospels were written thirty years after the Church was established. The Old Testament wasn’t canonized in its present form until AD93. This must mean that the first Christians established their faith on maintaining their relationship with Christ. Their reality of faith depended upon their connection to His Spirit and not to words written on a scroll of papyrus.

I’m not advocating that we do away with the Bible. It is very important as a guide book for how we ought to live our lives, but in the end it will not be our knowledge of scripture that will get us into heaven. It will be our living, day-to-day relationship with Christ that will secure our salvation. He is the Eternal Word of God – the true Word that is alive, dynamic, and everlasting. Jesus is not someone who is confined to the pages of history, nor is He a mere character in a holy book. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, in whom our faith abides and through whom Christianity survives. The scriptures are a shadow of the things that were to come, and as Paul would say, “the reality, however, is found in Christ.”

Books will one day turn to dust, and even our computers will become redundant and decay, but the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ, will never pass away.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank You for the scriptures and for the many things with which they teach us about You, about Your messages, and about Your mighty deeds. These sacred words bring us closer to You, but they are not the source of our salvation. Only Your Spirit can connect us to God; only Your power can restore us to His favor. Enable us this day to grow closer to You in prayer, in devotion, and in service. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Dusty Shoes

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Mark 6:11 “And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them." (NIV)

I’ve only once shaken the dust off my feet where I felt I wasn’t welcome. It took place many years ago while I was still a student minister in Glasgow, Scotland. My brother-in-law, Billy, went to buy some record albums (I told you it was a long time ago) with a voucher that my wife and I had bought him for Christmas. Because he was using a gift certificate, the store owner charged him extra, even although the certificate had been purchased in the very same store. The owner said that he was not allowed to apply the discounts that the record companies gave for cash sales. Billy was being charged the full price for the albums that he wanted, not the regular price that he expected.

I was livid when I heard this and marched down to the store. I must have argued with the owner for about thirty minutes. If I had given Billy cash he could have purchased more for his money, but because I paid for a gift certificate, he was being penalized.

Usually the customer is always right, but in this particular case, the store owner wouldn’t budge. I can remember storming out of the door, but before I did, I wiped the dust of my feet in a fit of self-righteous indignation. I felt sure that God would intervene and close the store. It never happened. I think the record store, which may now sell CDs and DVDs, still exists.

When the disciples were given Christ’s instructions to wipe the dust from their feet, it was to be used sparingly. Only in those places where they were spurned or the Gospel was rejected, was this action to be taken. It was a mark of judgment upon that place. It was an eternal indicator that God’s favor had been shunned.

I guess the nearest that we ever come to experiencing this occurs when people reject Christ in their lives. Their hearts are hardened against His words of reconciliation, forgiveness, and salvation. They don’t want to accept who Christ is, or what He says, so their souls are bereft of His grace. Instead of receiving the everlasting blessings of His sacrifice, they insist on paying the full price, which means that their souls are lost forever. That’s why it is so important to share our faith with our loved ones, our neighbors, and our friends. Without Christ, they are doomed. With Him, they are saved from themselves.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we don’t like to think about salvation not being applied to everyone. We know that there are people in our lives who reject You because they don’t want to accept You in their hearts or humble themselves before You. Help us to find words and ways that will challenge and change their ideas and opinions about You, so that they may also receive the eternal gifts of love, happiness, and peace that only You can give to them. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.