Daily Devotions: No Breaks for Believers

Acts 18:17       Then they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio showed no concern whatever.

There’s a good discussion on the internet about why do bad things happen to faithful people. After all, if people believe in God, shouldn’t they get some sort of waver on suffering? Atheists especially love to use this as a means to philosophically demean religious people and validate their own non-deist views. I guess that they just use the typical human method of discriminating against those who are different. We all are guilty of that, religious and non-religious alike.

But why doesn’t God protect His people? Surely they above all others should have a guarantee of security? Maybe that’s why the symbol of our faith is actually a Cross and not a Shield. We are all subject to the same level playing field. If a gigantic meteor was to hit the Earth tomorrow, we’d all be wiped out – Christian, Jew, Moslem, Hindu, Agnostic or Atheist. In fact, extinction would affect every living being on this planet.

Today brings no guarantees about tomorrow, but for the Christian the micro-second that life on Earth ends, Eternity with God begins. Atheists won’t know what they’re missing, but that’s their decision.

So party on, believers! Life with Jesus never ends.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You are the Only Guarantee in Life and we thank You for the gift of Eternity. Others may freely and willfully choose to reject what You offer, but we gladly celebrate Your everlasting goodness. In Your Holy Name, we cheerfully pray. Amen.

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

Daily Devotions: Greater & Grander

2 Chronicles 6:18              "But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!”

As some of you know, I write several blogs on the internet.  I do this to widen the message that I feel that God has laid in my heart. Sometimes I get emails from Christians around the globe who write to say how much a particular message has truly meant something to them. Sometimes the message is years old, but through the wonders of the Internet and more especially the work of the Holy Spirit, they latch on to a phrase or prayer that has really touched their hearts.

At other times, I get emails from people who don’t believe in God and who strongly oppose the message. A couple of days ago, I received such an email from a confirmed atheist.  He wrote that he was looking forward to the day when Science would explain everything and that the human need for God would come to an end. I thanked him for the email, but also wrote that the more we learn about the universe, the greater God becomes.

King Solomon in 2 Chronicles put it even better: "But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!”

God is too big to fit into the religious, philosophical, scientific, and theological boxes that we have made. The more we know about God, the even grander He becomes.

Prayer:                 Lord God, You are Almighty and Infinite, All present and All Knowing. As we explore and make new discoveries about the universe, we extend the boundaries of Your power, Your presence, and Your Passion for Creation. Thank You for the fact that these wonders will never cease, both in this world and the next. In Christ’s Name, we pray. Amen.

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

Daily Devotions: Anxious Living

I was reading the other day that film director and actor Woody Allen cannot sleep at night because he suffers from an anxiety about death. He’s an atheist and he can’t come to terms with the fact that his death means the end of all his accomplishments. When asked about death, he says: “The trains all go to the same destination. They all go to the dump.”

I pity him because he’s such a talented and creative person, and you would think that such creativity would help him to see beyond himself. But he has chosen not to believe in God, so he walks around his apartment at night time fretting about death.

For me, faith is real wisdom because it gives us an understanding that we are not the center of everything and that there is a structure, order, and a plan for the universe. God’s creativity is all around me, so I can look at the Smokey Mountains and see His grandeur; I can listen to birdsong in the morning and hear God being praised; I can be in the company of good friends and Christian people and experience God’s presence. Life is good. Death may come, but life goes on eternally.

Proverbs 15: 24 The path of life leads upward for the wise to keep him from going down to the grave.  

The writer of Proverbs knew what he was expressing when he wrote today’s verse. Those who are faithfully wise go onward and upward in life; those who are foolishly miserable end up digging graves for themselves, or just get on board trains that are heading to the dump.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of eternal life and the hope of things to come. Thank You for sacrificing Yourself, so that we may live forever in the embracing love of God. Help us to help others discover this divine happiness. In Your Holy Name, we thankfully pray. Amen.

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

Kicking God Out of Kentucky?

From USA Today

FRANKFORT, Kentucky (AP) — A group of atheists filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to remove part of a state anti-terrorism law that requires Kentucky's Office of Homeland Security to acknowledge it can't keep the state safe without God's help.

American Atheists Inc. sued in state court over a 2002 law that stresses God's role in Kentucky's homeland security alongside the military, police agencies and health departments.

Of particular concern is a 2006 clause requiring the Office of Homeland Security to post a plaque that says the safety and security of the state "cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon almighty God" and to stress that fact through training and educational materials.

The plaque, posted at the Kentucky Emergency Operations Center in Frankfort, includes the Bible verse: "Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

Read the rest of this story here…

4 Minute Devotions: Solomon's Candy

Pessimists like Solomon, try to negatively diminish our faith and deaden our spirits. Christ is the perfect antidote to depressing thoughts.

Podcast version here

Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten.

Do you get the feeling that someone must have swiped Solomon’s candy when he was a baby? I don’t know about you, but reading Ecclesiastes is sometimes like listening to too many Leonard Cohen songs; you eventually can’t take any more depressing thoughts and you need to get out into the world to enjoy life again.

In this passage, Solomon sounds like so many atheists today: there is no hope, there is no point, and there is no purpose to life. Instead of being magnificently created creatures that are expected to enjoy God’s creative wonders, we are, according to Solomon, destined to become dust. Instead of holding on to the assured hope that Christ has paid the price for our sins and brought us eternal life, we’re all headed to the gloom and doom of oblivion as far as atheists are concerned.

I don’t know about you, but I reject Solomon’s pessimism and atheistic angst. I experienced the Living Christ long ago in my life and I have seen too many faithful, inspiring moments in other peoples’ lives to make me want to throw in the existential towel that Solomon is waving. Life is all about faith, not fads or fashions; it’s all about eternal hope, not hopelessness or helplessness.

Solomon, like Leonard Cohen, might be handy to have around during those moments of loneliness, self-doubt, and morbidity that we all experience, but you wouldn’t expect either of them to be the life and soul of the party when it comes to celebrating our faith in Jesus. He lifts us up with joy and leads us to a higher plane and a greater life than we could ever dream or imagine.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the Living Hope for our broken world and the Light of Joy for our inward darkness. You reach into the depths of our souls and transform our weary spirits with Your mercy, grace, and love. Create within us new hearts and help us to reach out to others with our faith. In Your Holy Name, we joyfully pray. Amen.

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

Atheists – The Real War Mongering Killers in the World

A lot has been said attacking religious people in the world for causing wars and killing people. Atheists are quick to point out the European wars of religion, the Crusades, Armadas, and other historical conflicts which testify to the evil of religion and that all rational people should divest themselves immediately of maintaining faith in God. All of humanity’s woes, they preach, can be traced back to the offenses of religion.

Oh yeah? So we should become rational, 21st century enlightened atheists and ditch religion, because atheism is going to save the world?

In the 20th century alone, over 50 million people were slaughtered by atheism.

Adolph Hitler, Nazi atheist, murdered six million Jews because of their religion and possibly 3 million more people who were gypsies, minorities, handicapped, and homosexual.

Josef Stalin, Communist atheist, massacred over 20 million people under his dictatorship.

Mao Tse Tung, Chinese atheist, murdered up to 23 million people under his atheism.

Phol Pot , Cambodian atheist, killed over 3 million people under his atheistic regime.

Do you see a pattern here? The atheists are telling the world that religion is wrong and that belief in God leads to wars of religion.

And yet in one century, atheists managed to kill more than 50 million human beings in the pursuit of atheism.

Give me God any day, compared to the rational tyrants of atheism.

Britain Becoming An Atheist Society

London • Freedom from religion in Britain is becoming as important as freedom of religion, according to a United Nations investigation into religion in the UK.

In a 23-page report published yesterday, a UN rapporteur claims the 2001 Census findings that nearly 72 per cent of the population is Christian can no longer be regarded as accurate. The report claims that two-thirds of British people now do not admit to any religious adherence.

The report also calls for the disestablishment of the Church of England. The role and privileges of the established Church are challenged because they do not reflect "the religious demography of the country and the rising proportion of other Christian denominations."

The report also warns that measures to combat terrorism in Britain could be undermined because of discrimination against Muslims.

According to the report into the freedom of religion and belief in the UK, there is an "overall respect for human rights and their value." But the report warns that Muslims in particular face screening, searches, interrogation and arrest.

Read the rest of the article here…

Kentucky Atheist Sues Over Son's Catholic School

A father in La Grange, Ky., is in court trying to keep his son from attending a Catholic high school. David Ryan, the father, is an atheist and the mother, from whom he is divorced, is a Roman Catholic. Their eighth-grade son attends a Catholic school in Oldham County.

Ryan's attorney Edwin Kagin said when Ryan and his wife got divorced, a judge ordered their son to continue attending a Catholic school. Ryan, however, wants his son to attend a public high school next year, so Friday, he took the issue in front of a judge in an Oldham County courtroom, WLKY.com reported Friday.
"David feels the orientation and the indoctrination of the church school is harmful to his child," Kagin said. According to court documents, Ryan believes the religious school will attempt to indoctrinate his son into a belief system he as a parent rejects.

Kagin said the case has larger implications. "The issue really does become one of what does church-state separation mean?" he said. Kagin said part of Kentucky's constitution reads, "Nor shall any man be compelled to send his child to any school to which he may be conscientiously opposed."

Reported at www.ReligionAndSpirituality.com

Beware the Golden Compass

Audio version here

There’s a new movie coming out just before Christmas called “The Golden Compass.” It’s a fantasy movie based on a best selling trilogy by the author, Philip Pullman. It’s the usual good vs. bad story, with the heroes winning the day. The only trouble with the book is this: the Church is perceived as being bad, whilst being a free spirit - without being encumbered by God – is the ultimate good.

In the first book, the clergy are portrayed as being kidnappers of children, who want to enslave their spirits to serve the Authority, which is God. The whole series is about rebelling against the Church and ultimately killing the Authority, in order to achieve true freedom. There’s a subtle message of atheism being glorified and religion being diminished in the book. Philip Pullman is aiming the series at children because he wants to mess up their relationship with God and lead them into the lonely wilderness of atheism and chaos.

You may decide to take your kids to the movie or read the books for yourselves. That is your own free choice. But don’t do it without evaluating your relationship with God and Christ’s Church first. If your faith is ambivalent and your notion of the Church is flimsy, you may put your beliefs on the line and end up disregarding God’s sovereignty. You may also be putting your kids in harm’s way and leaving them with more doubts about God, Christ, and the Church.

Whatever you decide, remember that Pullman has his own agenda, which certainly isn’t God’s. He wants God dead in the hearts and minds of people, so that we can live in a free-spirited world where anything goes. We had that once before, in the centuries preceding Christ. Human sacrifices, paganism, and dark forces ruled the hearts and minds of men during those times: are we sure that we want to regress back into those days, or do we instead choose to remember that God rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of Christ?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, grant us the rare gift of discernment in our lives, so that we will make better choices. Help us to know what to do about this movie and these books. Keep us from being persuaded by the hidden messages that we may encounter. Help us to deepen our faith in You by remembering that the seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas are times when we honor and glorify You. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Blogachute #3!!!

It’s Friday lunchtime! – which means blogachute! Time to jump off the blogplane and freefall into cyberspace until I land on the ground.

Today’s freefall takes us into the world of atheism, spiritualism and a lot of New Age stuff. I guess if we want to be relevant in today’s world, we need to know what we’re up against. After all, Paul preached on Mars Hill using the statue of an unknown god.

8000 feet - http://atheist1.com/blog/

A resourceful website for people who want to get rid of their religious burdens by turning away from God. I didn’t realize there were so many books! Maybe I should stock up on a few and review my systematic theology. Argumentative site, but applies comment moderation. I’ve asked a couple of questions here, but they never show up.

7000 feet - http://churchofintegrity.blogspot.com/

Lots of huggy, touchy, feely stuff going on here. Respect and tolerance for one another, although the blogger questions existence of God and the purpose of religion more than a few times. I guess this is how the other side think.


6000 feet - http://www.non-violent.com/

Otherwise known as Maryilyn’s Non-Violent Planet. Lots of great Peace Movement links and resources here. Nice philosophy going on, too. I like the layout and graphics. A cyber-encyclopedia of pacifism.



5000 feet - http://members.aol.com/AngriesOut/index.htm

Sounds a bit corny and looks a bit dated, but website is a great resource for family life and strengthening relationships. Lots of counseling tools and perhaps small group study stuff here. Definitely a bookmarker for Family ministries.

4000 feet - http://www.coloringtherapy.com/

An interesting site about the therapeutic use of coloring. You have to purchase the designs, though. Some ideas about transcendental meditation – I thought that went out of style when the Beatles broke up. I guess not.


3000 feet - http://www.expressyoursoul.com/

Website of Dr. Joy Lynn Freeman – a healing arts coach/consultant whose into yoga, dance, and creativity. Very pleasing and aesthetic site to view. Some of the links are painfully slow to view – or maybe it was just my computer. New Age stuff doesn’t go down well with my e-machine.


2000 feet - http://www.john-paolucci.com/

This blogachute jump is getting weird and wacky, almost like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or Milo’s journey in the Phantom Tolbooth. This website is about controlling the universe through your own thoughts. Sounds a bit like that new book “The Secret.”

The human imagination is a wonderful vehicle for endless creation.


1000 feet – back on course - http://www.labyrinthonline.com/

The definitive website about labyrinths. I walked one about three weeks ago and fell in love with the spiritual journey. Great site for history, meaning, and resources on labyrinths. One day, all our churches will have one – although some folks think that Presbytery is a bureaucratic labyrinth…but that’s me getting polity political…heheheheheh..

Zero feet – back to terra firma, as well as opus major