Lent Devotions: 39 Steps to Go

Matthew 26:73  After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, "Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away."

The other day I went to my local bank to deposit a check. As usual, the young bank teller asked me to say a few words. “I just love listening to your accent,” she said. I smiled. If I had been given a dollar for every time that I’ve heard those words since coming to the United States, I might have owned the bank by now!

Accents are dead giveaways about where people originate. In the United States, there are many different accents and I like to try to guess which region, state, or city people come from whenever I meet them for the first time. If the Scottish accent is likeable to the American ear, it’s also true that most Scots like to hear American accents. I guess it all has to do with common genes and historical roots.

When the disciple Peter was confronted by a group outside the High Priest’s house where Jesus was being interrogated, his accent betrayed him to the crowd. He must have spoken with a rustic Galilean accent which was easily recognized by the city slickers of Jerusalem. He tried to hide in the courtyard, but each time he spoke, his accent revealed his origins. The fact that Jesus had begun His ministry in Galilee meant it was very likely that Peter had traveled with Him. No matter what the Big Fisherman tried to do to conceal his attachment to Christ, his accent gave him away. Sadly, the accusations all became too much for Peter and he eventually swore that he never knew Jesus. It was the lowest moment of his ministry with Christ.

As we journey throughout Lent, let’s ask ourselves this question: what things do I say or do that accentuates my faith to those around me?

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, speak to our hearts and open our lives to Your bidding. Guide our thoughts and grant us the right words to say that will encourage and attract others to Your Way. In Your Holy 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.

Today’s image is John’s latest pop art version of ancient icon of Christ as teacher. If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7183/6906688623_49b6a85555_b.jpg

Short devotions: In the End Zone - Matthew 24:35

Matthew 24:35            Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

There’s a new television series just started on either the Discovery or History channel called “Doomsday Preppers.” I haven’t watched any episode yet, but the trailers show a whole host of different people across America who are preparing for the end of the world. I guess with this year’s obsessions and superstitions about the Mayan Calendar, a number of folks are going to get anxious over the World’s End. Similar things happened way back in 2000 when we were all told that the Y2K computer glitch would disable machines across the world and our technology would grind to a halt. There were even some folks who sold everything, gave up their jobs, and went to live in cellars, caves, or houseboats in order to survive the coming disaster.

Well Y2K came and went, just as the Mayan calendar will wimp out at the end of this year. People will always believe the worst and anxious folks will always exist.

As a Christian, I take great comfort in Christ’s Words. Even when Earth and heaven come to an end and pass away completely, Jesus tells us that His words will remain. This means that no matter what we or the world goes through, Jesus’ presence and power will still exist. We may not be able to rely upon a Mayan calendar anymore, but we can assuredly depend upon Christ’s Words remaining true for all Time and into Eternity.

So I guess the best kind of Doomsday Preparation that we could all make is getting our lives lined up with Christ and our hearts given over to Him.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You are the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and End of all things. We trust in You and place our faith in Your Words. During these anxious times, keep us close to You. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to ask any questions or make any comments about this message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest impressionistic drawings. It’s called “A Sea of Brollies” and features a large collection of colorful umbrellas being used in the rain. John also humorously called this “A Scottish Summer’s Day.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7175/6821115917_000290f6b6_b.jpg

Halftime devotions: Creating idols - Isaiah 44:

Today’s Bible readings are Isaiah 44:12-17 and Matthew 22:15-22

Isaiah 44:17    From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, "Save me; you are my god."

The absurdity of idolatry is clearly expressed in Isaiah 44. The image is of people working hard in their daily lives and using up all of their skills and energy to produce a metal idol or wooden god. They bow down and worship something that they have created with their own hands. They don’t seem to realize that it is still just a piece of metal or block of wood. The only power that the hand-made idol has is that which is superstitiously conferred upon it by the maker.

Today, we make idols of our gadgets and apps, cell phones and computers. We find it difficult to go through each morning, afternoon, or evening without checking our email, updating our statuses, or texting our friends. We use up more of our energy and time with our digital idols without giving a serious thought as to what this is doing to us emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually. Our hearts and minds are becoming jammed full of trivial messages and our long term memory skills are being hampered. We are all suffering from digital dementia, a forgetting of what’s really important and a diminishing of who we are actually meant to be in God’s eyes.

We laugh at the absurdity of the ancient peoples, who bowed down and worshipped metal and wooden idols, but is the laugh actually upon ourselves? Have we let our progressive gadgets become personal gods and the latest instruments turn into our own lavish idols?

I guess that the challenging questions that we need to ask ourselves are these: how many days in the week can I go without reading or studying God’s Word? How many hours in the day can I go without reading emails or checking my texts?

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, some days we live our lives apart from You and end up taking Your grace for granted. We get so obsessed with our communications that we forget about what You are constantly trying to say to us. Forgive us for being distracted; pardon us for making idols out of our cell phones, computers, and stuff. Help us to get back on the path of discipleship that You have planned for each of our lives. In Your Holy 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 (but only after you have fully read, pondered, and studied today’s scriptures) to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is John’s latest winter drawing. It’s called “Snow Barn” and features an iconic red barn covered in a blanket of snow. If you want to view a larger version, then please click on the following link: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7160/6758069389_d5908acd89_b.jpg

2010 Devotions: Leaving Our Nets - Mark 1 v 18

Mark 1:18 At once they left their nets and followed him.

When I was a pastor in Scotland, I loved working with the local fishermen. They were a hardy breed of manly men. They were coarse and rustic, weather beaten and strong. Each week they put their lives at risk looking for a bounty of fish. They worked long hours and in conditions that were sometimes terrifying. Whenever there was a storm at sea in the middle of the week, I used to pray constantly for their safety. On Friday afternoons, I gave thanks to God when I watched the fleet of fishing trawlers return home.

The faith of these fishermen was amazing to experience. Because they put their lives on the line week after week, they had a stronger connection to God than most everyday folk. I guess when you face death each day, then you find God a lot more closer to you. Whenever the church needed help or support, the fisherman families were amongst the first to volunteer. They were the heart and soul of the parish church and, throughout the years that I spent with them, I came to admire and respect their fearless faith and total commitment to God.

I think I can understand why Peter and Andrew, James and John left their nets to go and follow Jesus immediately. Fishermen are ‘all or nothing’ kind of people. Being timid or half-hearted just isn’t a part of their personality. It takes a great deal of courage to be a fisherman and they boldly go where angels fear to tread water. I think Jesus knew this when He asked the Galilean fishermen to follow Him. If they joined His team, then they would give their hearts and minds, souls and strength to His ministry and mission. There would be no half-measures and there would be no holding them back.

We are all called to become disciples of Christ, but sometimes we let other things get in the way. Instead of leaving our nets behind and walking on with Jesus, we keep a hold of them and drag them with us. Christ needs us to let go of the past, so that we can let Him lead us on to a more faithful future. If we truly want to serve Him, then it’s all or nothing.

Prayer:                 Lord Jesus, You called fishermen to Your ministry because You knew that through their commitment You would be able to build the Church. Thank You for choosing them and for selecting us. Help us to give You our all, so that You may become everything to us. In Your Holy 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: Calvinistic creature

Romans 8:31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

John Calvin is 500 years old this month. In fact his birthday took place last week. All over the world, Presbyterian churches were celebrating the Frenchman's birth and how his theology brought Presbyterianism into being.

Calvin was a great teacher and at the end of his classes he used to quote today's verse. I guess that during the uncertain times of the reformation, he needed to encourage his students to persevere. If God was on their side, then the Reformed movement would prevail. 500 years later, we are still here.

But there is a darker and more ruthless side to Calvinism which has marred Presbyterianism throughout our history. I came across an example of this several years ago in the shopping mall. I met a Calvinist preacher who thought that I shared his severe views. He stopped me and asked me to watch and listen to his four year old son.

“Son,” he said, “tell Rev. Stuart the five fundamentals of Calvinism.” The wee boy looked up at me and perfectly recited them. There was no pleasure in his face or brightness in his eyes. He looked absolutely lost and soulless, but his father was beaming with pride. I honestly wanted to punch the other preacher in his face. Those five fundamentals of Calvinism were meant to free us from church tyranny and lead us towards our freedom in Christ. That Calvinist preacher was using the same controlling power and religious fear over his son that the medieval Catholic Church used to abuse and spiritually enslave the whole of Europe prior to the Reformation.

Thankfully, we live in an enlightened age where Presbyterians are taught to love God, mercy, and justice. I hope and pray that one day that wee lad will reject the rigid religiosity of his misguided father, and find the freedom in Christ that his soul truly deserves.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, protect from being over zealous with our faith and keep us free from the snares of religiosity. Help us to seek and experience Your perfect freedom. Grant us opportunities to share the same precious qualities with our families and friends. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

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

Daily Devotions: The Tank Man of Tiananmen Square

Psalm 147:6 The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.

 It was the most courageous act that I have ever seen in my life. It took place twenty years ago today in the Chinese capital of Beijing. A young student was standing in the middle of Tiananmen Square in front of a gigantic military tank. It was the modern equivalent of David and Goliath and the whole world waited to see what would happen. Would the Chinese authorities listen to the protests of the students? Would the liberties and freedoms that the young people protested for, be made available to them?

 Sadly, the students were massacred and the world did nothing. As usual, the United Nations made a formal complaint and there was some talk of sanctions. But it came to nothing and China, as it has done for a long time, got away with human rights violations. Even today, on this twentieth anniversary of that remarkable historical event in the annals of human dignity and freedom, the corrupt Chinese authorities are clamping down by removing dissidents away from the Square and ignoring the rights of the anguished families who lost loved ones. They are also limiting internet access, so that their citizens cannot read any material about worldwide commemorations of this day.

 So much for the Chinese Government’s promises of allowing their people civil liberties to formally protest against the corruption of their leaders. So much for the commitment that was made during last summer’s Olympic Games which hypocritically portrayed China as a modern freedom loving nation. People are still being oppressed, imprisoned, violated, and executed in China and what does the world do? It turns a blind eye for fear of annoying this despicable and dishonorable dragon.

 Today I will be praying for the humble people of China. I will ask God to sustain them and to cast their wicked government to the ground. I will pray for Christian pastors in Chinese prisons and for their families to be protected. I will honor the memory of the Tank Man of Tiananmen Square, who faced up to his oppressors and showed the world that human beings have an unalienable right to be free.

 Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You stood up to the corrupt authorities in Your own time and confronted both the political and religious hypocrites who were oppressing Your people. It cost You everything.

Remind us that we as Christians are called not only to follow You but to confront evil and injustice in the world. Give us the courage to speak out and against those governments of China, North Korea, and Myanmar who control their citizens through acts of terror, fear, and oppression. In Your Holy and Powerful Name, we pray. Amen.

 If you want to see what actually happened on that historic day, visit the following Youtube video.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ToqbHQXg2c

 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. He’d love to hear your thoughts on this very important anniversary.

4 Minute Daily Devotions: Crossless Christians

Luke 14:27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

We live in a cross-less society, where people are not willing to carry their own burdens or endure any trouble. Even some Christians want their faith to be light, worry-free, and non-challenging to their life-style choices. It’s as if we’re saying to Christ and His first disciples, “that cross carrying stuff is old-fashioned. We want to emerge as new Christians, who are free to reject what we don’t like of the old ways and re-invent our faith. We want it all to be light and fluffy, likeable and popular. We don’t want to carry nasty crosses anymore.”

The trouble is this: when we do that, we’ve become a New Age religion and no longer cross-carrying Christians. We want our faith to be convenient instead of persistent. We want it to be experienced on our terms instead of Christ’s. Rather than place Christ at the center of all things, we want Him to be focused on us. We want Jesus to like us and love us, laugh with us and live with us, instead of confronting and challenging us, or converting and changing us.

Sometimes I wish that Jesus had never said things like ‘anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.’ I wish that He had uttered something like ‘disregard your crosses, have fun with Me, and you can be My friends.’ But He didn’t. Christ knew that life was hard and that in every generation Christians will be faced with two choices: to throw off their crosses and go their own way, or to wearily pick up their heavy burden and plod on, following Jesus all through life.

Having faith in Jesus is never going to be easy, but one day we will get to lay our crosses at His feet and enjoy His peace forever. But if we want it all now, we will never experience that everlasting joy and peace.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, sometimes we want to give up being Christians and just fall into line with the rest of the world. It would be a whole lot easier just to ignore Your words and to go our own way. Instead of feeling guilty, we would be unburdened and could live our lives free from any commitment, challenge, or change. But You have called us to carry our crosses, to endure the world’s dislike, and to experience the cost of faith. It isn’t an easy path to follow, but we pray that You will enable and empower us to keep on going, so that we may emerge as real Christians and not phony disciples. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

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

4 Minute Devotions: In Limbo

Psalm 91:14 "Because He loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges My Name.”

After Christmas, there is always that in-between time when we all reflect about what’s happened throughout the year, and then anxiously anticipate what lies ahead of us. We may get nostalgic or melancholy, depending upon what has occurred throughout the last twelve months; we may also be fearful and uncertain about the New Year.

Throughout this limbo of a time, I like to look at different Bible verses to see if I can come up with a motto for myself and the church that I serve. I was taught this by a ministerial friend in Scotland, who served his parish faithfully and pastorally. At the beginning of each year, he found a special verse and encouraged his congregation to embrace and apply throughout the New Year.

This morning, I came across one that might fit the bill, although I have not settled on it. Because I love the psalms, I tend to choose motto verses from the plethora of God’s promises that are contained in that precious part of the Bible. Today’s verse, Psalm 91 v 14, is all about reassurance which, during these uncertain times, we all need to read, hear, and experience.

I like the fact that the verse begins with God’s love, then continues with deliverance and protection, and ultimately ends with an acknowledgement of faith. It contains all of the elements that I personally have experienced from God over the many years that I have been a Christian.

I do not know what 2009 will bring, but I believe that God’s promises will accompany me, no matter what happens, where I go, or what I do. I guess that’s what faith really is – relying upon God throughout each present day and knowing that He holds the future in His hands. May you also experience the same.

Prayer: Lord God, we thank You for loving us, and for delivering us from all sorts of problems or troubles. We claim Your promises because we know that Your word is forever true. Lead us and carry us throughout the coming year, to the glory and honor of Christ’s Everlasting Name. Amen.