Gospel devotion: In Christ Alone - Matthew 5:20

Today’s Bible readings: Isaiah 13:14-22  & Matthew 5:17-20

Matthew 5:20                         For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

It’s an essential tenet of the Reformation: justification by faith, not by our works. We cannot earn our way into heaven. We cannot complete a certain number of good deeds or accomplish a predetermined amount of perfect choices to get us through the pearly gates. Our good works are the fruits of our faith, but not one of them gets us into heaven.

That authority is given to Christ alone. Only He can decide whether or not we will be allowed into God’s everlasting presence. There is nothing that we can do on earth to ensure that we will be welcomed in God’s Kingdom. Only Christ can open the gates; only He can restore us to God.

This is why Christianity is a missionary faith. It’s not a private, personal spiritual lifestyle. We are all supposed to engage and confront the world, especially against those who lead people astray with their false ideas, incorrect opinions, and wayward theologies. We are all sinners, separated from God by our daily choices, imperfect ways, and wrong decisions. The gap between us and God is unbridgeable by anything that we could try to build. In Christ alone, we have a Savior. Only in Jesus, we have salvation, only he can bridge that gap. He died for our sins so that we might be offered the opportunity to be fully forgiven and completely restored to God.

His Crucifixion was no accident; it was predetermined. His sacrifice was no aberration; it was intended. His death was not unfortunate; it was providential. And His resurrection was no myth; it is the most profound reality in the history of the universe.

The gospel message is simple: Jesus died for our sins and if we believe in Him, we will be granted life beyond our own deaths. There is no other way; there is no other truth; there is no other life, save that of Christ, to bring us back to God.

Prayer:                       Lord Jesus, Your own words say it all: we cannot enter heaven unless our righteousness is perfect. We know that we are imperfect and unrighteous, therefore we have no hope of entering God’s Kingdom unless we pin that hope upon Your Cross. Forgive our pride, our indifference, our faithlessness, and our stubborn refusal to accept Who You are, What You have done, and All that You have promised. 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 or ask a question, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is John’s latest Fall drawing. It’s called ‘A Glimpse of Heaven,’ which depicts the famous Glade Creek Grist Mill in Babcock State Park, West Virginia. If you would like to see a larger version of the drawing, please click on the following link: http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6119/6278216565_0e22a63fea_b.jpg

Daily Devotions: Comic Book Christian - Acts 20

Acts 20:3b       Because the Jews made a plot against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, Paul decided to go back through Macedonia. 

Have you seen the new movie “Salt” starring Angelina Jolie yet? It’s actually a very good and highly entertaining film. It’s the usual spy thriller about lies, love, and deception. Jolie plays an American spy who ends up being double-crossed and chased by the NYPD, FBI, CIA, and the Secret Service. The KGB are also after her and the whole movie is about how she avoids capture and manages to save the world from a nuclear war. Yes, it’s a bit far-fetched and could never happen in real life, but it’s a movie, so what do you expect?

When I read about the Apostle Paul and all of his escapades in the Book of Acts, I am constantly amazed at how he survives. He’s blinded, beaten up, and imprisoned. He’s almost lynched and has to escape mobs in various cities. He’s hunted down by religious fanatics who take a divine oath to kill him. He survives an earthquake and is shipwrecked. Wow! Any one of those incidents would have wiped me out, but Paul perseveres and continues to preach all across the Mediterranean.

I guess you could call Paul the New Testament’s answer to a comic book hero. Nothing brings this man down. He is so confident about his faith in Christ that he is willing to face danger wherever he goes.

It makes me wonder what Paul would be doing today if he was still on Earth. How many escapades would he have to face in order to preach the Gospel? How many times would he upset the Church by not conforming to the culture? Which lands would he dare to take the Gospel to? Israel? India? Saudi Arabia? The USA?

But Paul is not here and so the responsibility of taking the Gospel to the world is in our hands. It makes me wonder what faith adventures and witnessing opportunities God will bless us with this week. Will we accept the mission that Christ gives us, or will it seem too hard or impossible to carry out? Maybe when we are given the chance to share the Gospel, we should ask ourselves inwardly: “what would Paul do?”

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, we thank You for the gift of Paul as a pioneer of the Gospel. He led an incredible life and we are so fortunate to have records of his journeys, as well as the letters that he wrote. We know that we can never be totally like Paul, but we pray that we can fulfill the opportunities that You give us to witness to Your Gospel. 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 drawing of the road leading up to the Plantation on Pawley’s Island. If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/4891285135_f7ee928fc9_b.jpg

Free Daily Devotions: Making Jesus Angry - Mark 3 v 5

Mark 3:5              Jesus looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

Injustice mixed with religious hypocrisy was the one thing that caused Jesus to get angry.  His Spirit could not abide heartless people who used their faith as a shield to stop them from being charitable or generous. Religious rules and traditions were meant to make people better, but instead they used them as spiritual tax loopholes to circumnavigate the needs of the poor and to block out the cries of the oppressed.

That’s why He got angry in His hometown synagogue. A man with a withered hand, which may have been a form of polio, was in need of a miracle. The pious congregation, especially the clergy, were not looking for Jesus to heal the man. Instead, they were like spiritual vultures waiting to see if Christ would break the Sabbath by working the miracle. They were more concerned about their religious rules than they were for the needs of the sick man. The cripple was being used as a guinea pig to feed the fanaticism of the ‘faithful;’ and this is what angered Jesus.

I’ve read some reports and heard some broadcasters say that we’ve done enough for Haiti over the years with our tax dollars. I even read a statement by a politician who compared giving welfare to the poor to the feeding of stray animals. All I can say to them is this: Christ tells us that the poor will always be with us and we have to do for them whatever we can. Our tax dollars may have helped the people of Haiti in the past, but it’s our charitable dollars that need to do the work now. If we fail to help provide for the least, then as Jesus says elsewhere in the Gospels, we fail to help Him.

As Christians we need to do more than just sit on the sidelines, expecting someone else to give or help. We have to be amongst the first responders in charitable giving and second responders in sustaining the missions that help the poor at home and abroad. If we do this, then both justice and faith will be perfectly combined, just as Jesus did when He actually healed the man’s hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath.

Prayer:                 Lord Jesus, You made us Christians not just for ourselves, but for the sake and welfare of the world. Help us to follow Your compassionate heart and do whatever we can to relieve the suffering of the poor, at home and abroad. 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, pleases end him an e-mail to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Advent Conspiracy - An Advent Devotion - Jeremiah 31 v 12

Jeremiah 31:12          They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD--the grain, the new wine and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more.

My wife Evelyn and I are not giving each other gifts for Christmas this year. We’d rather go out for coffees together, have lunch a couple of times, and maybe go to the movies rather than spending money on something that we don’t need or will hardly ever use. We’ve also decided to use our ‘giftless’ money to help some people in developing countries by sponsoring their businesses.

We do this through KIVA, a wonderful organization that seeks to help people around the world by giving them grants and loans to sustain their farms, stores, and businesses. Thus far, we’ve managed to help about 20 people in Africa, Asia, as well as both central and South America. It’s a gift that keeps on giving and I highly recommend it to everyone who reads this (you can find more information about KIVA on their website at http://www.kiva.org.

As I was watching CNN this morning, I saw a segment about the new Advent Conspiracy movement that is spreading throughout the Christian world. I went to the website a couple of days ago via a Scottish blogger. The purpose of this movement is to draw people’s attention to the fact that we spend about 450 billion dollars each year which 45 times the amount it would cost to give everybody in the world clean drinking water. Half of the people who die in developing countries every year are killed by drinking contaminated water.

The Advent Conspiracy group is trying to encourage Christians to review what they spend at Christmas. Instead of fretting and stressing out over Christmas presents, they want us to emphasize a real Christmas presence in our lives. If we cut down on our frivolous spending and became more intentional with our charitable giving, we could do a lot to solve the world’s problems. The old prophecy of Jeremiah would be fulfilled for the world could become a well-watered garden with people who sorrow no more.

You can watch the Advent Conspiracy’s thought provoking video at the following YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU. You can also see it on their website at www.adventconspiracy.org.

Believe me, once you watch it, Christmas will never be the same again…in fact, it will become a lot better!

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, keep us from being overwhelmed by stress and fatigue this Christmas. Help us to focus upon a real Christian presence in the world, instead of worrying about Christmas presents. In Your Holy Name, we pray for change. 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: Being Saved - Acts 16 v 30

Acts 16: 30 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

I am both humbled and proud of the fact that I believe I was saved in June of 1977. Some Christians are uncomfortable with that term and others look down upon anyone who claims to be saved. I get the impression that they feel as though it’s beneath them to be saved and that anyone who claims this is really spiritually immature and dumb.

I feel sorry for them because they don’t understand what being saved really means, nor have they experienced the spiritual strength that comes with this wonderful event. For me, it occurred when I was struggling with the meaning of my personal life and felt really isolated from the world. For the Philippian jailer, it was both a salvation from death and a spiritual liberation for his whole family.

I believe that being saved by Jesus means being freed from our doubts and fears through becoming reconnected to God’s everlasting love and infinite grace. It also means that I understand that I cannot do anything to earn God’s mercy or pardon for all of my mistakes. I am saved from the eternal consequences of my sins by Jesus, who has died for me and taken my place. Death may come one day, but it will not swallow me up forever. Because I am saved, I belong to Christ for all of eternity.

One of the important membership questions that people are asked before they join our church is this: Do You accept Jesus Christ as Your Savior and Lord? In other words, they are recognizing Christ’s ministry of saving them too. After all, we wouldn’t call Christ ‘Savior’ in our Presbyterian vows if we didn’t acknowledge that we needed Him to save us, now would we?

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You are our Savior and we are all in need of being saved by You. Without Your sacrifice, we would not receive God’s mercy. Without Your Salvation, we would have no everlasting hope. Thank You for saving us and restoring us to the eternal love and grace of God. 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: Spiritual Downpour

How the outpouring of the Spirit in a church in Knoxville is helping a village in Guatemala get clean water.

Isaiah 32:15 …till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.

Podcast version here:

In a couple of weeks, a small team from our church will be visiting a village in Guatemala. The group is on a mission to begin the process of providing a clean water well for the town. It will be based in a school that our church has been supporting for several years. The team members have been specially trained for the project and hopefully within a short time, the villagers will soon be able to drink and wash with clean water.

Clean water will help the children and their families live longer and better lives. It will enable the school to gain extra funds, for the locals will pay, just like ourselves, for clean water. It should have a remarkable social, medical, and economic impact on the whole community. Not only will the well save lives, it will positively change them.

At the same time as the Guatemalan villagers receive and enjoy their well, our own congregation will be looking for a similar spiritual experience. Our building and campus needs to be renovated, so our people will be called upon in this generation to sacrificially give in order to build a well of God’s Word that will influence, attract, and encourage new Christians in our community for years to come.

We await the coming of the Spirit amongst us with the same excitement and enthusiasm as the men, women, and children of that little Guatemalan village. As they receive the blessings of water, we hope to simultaneously receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to make our church a fertile field of faith for the future.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You are the Water of Life and we thank You for allowing us the resources with which we can help a far away village receive the blessing of clean water. At the same time, we praise You for our own challenges and ask that You help us to focus on the spiritual future of our community. 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.

4 Minute Daily Devotions: Caledonia

2 Timothy 2:16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

Yesterday, Evelyn and I received a letter from a long-standing friend in Scotland. The writer was informing us of what was happening in the town that we served and ministered to for nine years. She was keeping us up to date on people that we knew, and of events that we once participated in. At the end of the letter, she once again asked us to come back to Scotland. The Scottish people need strong ministers, she opined, because we’re losing our Christian faith.

I’ve watched this happen to Scotland ever since we left. What was once a strong Christian country has become a secular, humanistic nation. Gone are the days of Scottish churches raising amazing missionaries like Mungo Park, David Livingston, Mary Slessor, and Eric Liddel. Instead, the churches are declining and Scotland is sadly becoming a godless nation.

I would love to go back on a mission to rekindle the faith, to replant churches, and to raise a new generation of fearless Scottish Christians, who could win Caledonia for Christ again. But it seems that the line in the sand is being drawn here in America. To me, the United States is the last, great hope of keeping Western Christianity alive.

I believe that godless chatter has made Scotland more and more ungodly. It sounds harsh, but sometimes reality is that way. My work over here is to consolidate faith and strengthen the local church because one day, Christian missionaries may be raised up amongst us who will go over to Scotland to reclaim that precious kingdom for Christ. That is one of my deepest hopes for the future.

So this morning, I humbly ask us to pray for Scotland and its cherished people.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, in the midst of these godless times, raise up Christian leaders and missionaries whose hearts are on fire for You. We pray especially for Scotland and its entire people. We ask that You will send revival to the church, faith to the fearful, and hope to the helpless. Turn the tide of secular humanism and allow that dear nation to rekindle its Christian love and service to Your Kingdom. 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.

4 Minute Devotions: The Quiet Life

Paul urges us to lead a quiet life, minding our own business, and working with our hands. It's a Christian pipe dream, because the world always invades our space. In China, a Christian businessman has been arrested for national security reasons because he was letting other Christians worship there. The crime is punishable by death.

Podcast version here

1 Thessalonians 4:11 Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you.

It sounds like the ideal way to live a Christian life. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all just get along together? Leading a quiet life and minding my own business seems like an idyllic way of existing. No squabbles, no arguments, no worries, and no concerns. Just keeping your head down, working at your business, and getting on with life. It would be heaven on earth.

But then reality invades my world and I realize that this is just a Christian pipe dream of Paul’s. Life is far from quiet and is in fact much too noisy. No matter how hard I try to mind my own business, someone always says or does something that affects me. And often, when I go to do my work, something occurs which changes my schedule and I have to set aside the projects I wanted to accomplish. I would love for Paul’s Utopia to exist, but unless I joined a silent monastery in a far off place, I’m never going to accomplish it.

I’m also reminded that Christians around the world don’t have it so easy either. Take Alimujiang Yimiti for example. He was quietly working at his business in Uyghur, China in September last year, when Chinese government officials closed it down. They stated that he was using his business as a cover for “preaching Christianity among the Uyghuri people.” Four months later, Alimujiang was arrested and accused of “subversion of the national government and endangering national security.” This crime is punishable by death. Ali has been in prison for six months awaiting trial.

So much for just living a quiet life and working with your hands! Ali became a Christian more than ten years ago and has been an active member of the growing Uyghur Church.

We Westerners get so upset in our churches when things don’t go our way, but I really wonder what we would do if we were threatened with arrest for national security reasons just because we are Christians? The things that are perhaps important to us pale into insignificance when we put them beside what Alimujiang and thousands of other Christians in China are enduring.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we all want our lives to be smooth and trouble-free. We want our needs to be met and our desires to be fulfilled. Sometimes we forget that our wishes and ways are not what You ask of us. Sometimes we need to be reminded that faith isn’t a leisure pursuit or a group activity; it’s a serious life commitment and one that others are being imprisoned, tortured, and even killed for, across the world. 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