Church Conflict devotion - United in Christ - 1 Corinthians 12:20

1 Corinthians 12:20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. (NIV)

            We live in a divided world and factional times. Partisan politics are hampering countries across the world from being united and strong. Sadly, warring nations still exist on our planet. Religious schisms and fervent fanatics are ruining our confidence in God. It seems as though we are on a precarious precipice, which is disintegrating each day through personal attacks, constant crossfire, and philosophical wars of attrition. Atrophy is setting in all around us, instead of a brave new world of a golden new age. We are at a crossroads – politically, religiously, and socially. Unless we start working together as one dominant species on one single planet, which is whirling through space, we’re going to end up destroying ourselves and the universe won’t even know we existed.

            Decades ago, I joined the church because I thought it was the best vehicle to change things across the globe. I still believe in that concept, especially when I see Christ’s Church around the world trying to make lives better. Strong, local congregations are the key to healthy, compassionate communities. Sadly, as Christians, we’ve struggled for so long against one another that we’ve missed precious moments and gracious opportunities to spread Christ’s love all around us.

            I think that the Apostle Paul also experienced this kind of divisiveness and disunity among faithful followers, which is why he initially wrote to several Mediterranean church plants. He could see a time when the broken Empire would need a strong, unified church. His emphasis on several parts within one body was meant to show the local congregations that no matter how diverse or different people were – female or male, Greek or Jew, slave or free – they all could work together to form an effective ministry and mission, which would honor Christ’s work and expand God’s Kingdom throughout many regions. That same collective understanding of who we are as Church, as well as maintaining a strong unity, is even more necessary today and essentially crucial for the healing of our broken, divided world.

Questions for personal reflection

How can I contribute to the unity of my local church? How can that unity help my local community?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, You are the Holy One of God in whom our faith should be united. Gather us together in our local congregations, so that we may effectively undertake and fulfill Your mission in our local communities, as well as around the world. In Your Holy Name, we serve and pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to make comments or ask questions about today’s message, please send him an email to traqair@aol.com. John is always delighted to receive your ideas, suggestions, and messages.

Today’s image is one of John’s Holy Week drawings for 2016 called “Betrayed.” If you want to view a larger version, please click on this link: Betrayed.

Meeting devotions: Naughty or Nice? Luke 6:26

Luke 6:26                   Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.

            They are called “Blessings and Woes” in the Gospel of Luke. It’s the Good Doctor’s equivalent of what Matthew wrote in his Gospel when Jesus preached the sermon on the hillside. Most people know the Matthew 5 version; very few have ever read or compared Luke’s version of the same message. Church people tend to want things to be bright and positive, cheerful and light – Matthew supplies that in his record of the Beatitudes. Luke, however, who was a physician, was perhaps more used to thinking in terms of remedies and consequences. His version of what Christ said reads more like a spiritual health warning from God.

            I often struggle with this in the ministry God has given me. There’s a fine balance between preaching, teaching, and writing what people want to hear or read, as opposed to what God wants us to understand. Life is not a game, it’s a gift. Faith is not a spiritual convenience, it’s a constant challenge. The symbol of what we believe in is not a smiley face, it’s a cross. In my humble opinion, Christianity is the hardest faith that anyone can seek to live by; it meddles with our lifestyle choices and interferes with our ideals. Sometimes, as Christians, we have to assertively push back against society and our own community because the wrong ideas and sinful choices are being promoted.

            C. S. Lewis in his wonderful book “Mere Christianity” wrote this: ‘A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world — and might even be more difficult to save.’ Luke’s version of the Beatitudes reminds us that all of our choices have both positive and negative eternal consequences. If we take salvation for granted, we will never be saved. If we live by our own personal creed, as opposed to Christ’s challenging message, we will never see God.

Questions for personal reflection

Where does my faith challenge me most? Do I surrender to Christ’s demands or the world’s ways?

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, being a Christian is never easy and we each have crosses to bear. We sometimes think sin is just ‘being naughty’ and faith is just ‘being nice.’ Within our hearts and minds we know that there’s more to life than just being superficial. Teach us the serious differences between sin and salvation, deliverance and damnation, blessings and woes. 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.

Today’s image is John’s latest waterfall drawing. It’s called “Heavenly Falls.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8020/7593826054_57a16df2f2_b.jpg

Church Devotion: Read Your Bible

Genesis 25:1   Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 

Luke 4:29       They got up, drove Jesus out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. 

Okay, hands up all of you out there who knew that a) Abraham married again after Sarah died and b) that Jesus was almost thrown off a cliff to His death by his own neighbors?

I’m thinking that there may not be many hands up out there and that you are probably surprised by these events. Not many pastors preach on those topics and I can’t ever remember a Sunday school class ever tackling these passages. And yet, these events are written and described in the Bible, so why don’t we know about them?

We’ve stopped reading the Bible, plain and simple. We’ve all the time in the world for a best-selling novel, or checking our emails, or reading our tweets and texts, but when it comes to actually reading God’s best seller, God’s text message – the Bible, we’ve grown careless and inconsistent, making ourselves biblically weak and scripturally ignorant.

That’s why the church in Western society is encountering so much inner turmoil. Mainstream Christians believe that their own life experiences and personal feelings, their own ideas and individual opinions outweigh God’s Word. They want their faith to be relevant, but they don’t want to read the scriptures. They want their culture to be accepted, but they don’t want to accept Christ’s Gospel. In fact, when faced with the audacity of the New Testament message, they want to throw the uncompromising Christ and His First followers, like Peter and Paul, over a cultural cliff. In other words, they want the church to catch up with the world and alter its Christian ways, rather than face up to the world and challenge it to change.

I firmly believe that if people want their churches to grow, they have to re-invest their time in God’s Word. It’s no use hoping for the best and wishing things were different; if Christians really want to be effective and influential in the world, they honestly need to know God’s Book from beginning to end. Anything else will just be superficially experiential and grossly inauthentic.

Questions for personal reflection

How often do I read the scriptures? How can I make this a daily practice?

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, our generation of church going people is guilty of setting aside scripture reading. We may pray to You several times a day especially in times of crisis and trouble, but we are forgetting or failing to read, meditate, and study Your Word.

Forgive our foolishness and keep us from becoming ignorant of Your Ways. Help us to make the time to read the Bible, as well as continually praying. In Your Holy Name, we humbly ask. 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 “Bonnie Scotland” drawing. It’s a winter scene of the beautiful Eilean Donan castle which has been used in many movies. If you would like to view a larger version, then please click on the following link: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8160/7532542862_5b7b31bd43_b.jpg

Lent Devotions: Lent Begins at 40 - Isaiah 51:11

Isaiah 51:11    The ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Millions of Christians around the world will attend worship services to have the sign of the Cross placed upon their forehead using the ashes of last year’s Palm branches. They do this as an act of penance, beginning a forty day journey of humility and contrition, in order to prepare their hearts and souls, bodies and minds for Holy Week and Easter.

It’s also a time when self-importance gives way to a focus upon God. Self-centered sin is cast side, to be replaced with a deeply spiritual awareness of who Jesus was, is, and ever shall be.

Lent begins at 40. The ashes represent sorrow and shame. The forty days are symbolic of Christ’s fasting in the wilderness just before He began His incredible three year journey of preaching, teaching, and healing. The whole season of Lent is meant to bring us closer to God by aligning our thoughts and acts, our words and ways with those of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. If we are successful in maintaining this focus, then Holy Week and Easter will become incredible too.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, as we begin this forty day journey of Lent, be with us step by step and day by day. Allow us the blessing of Your presence and guidance over everything that we think, do, or say. 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 a bulletin cover designed by John for Lent and/or Holy Week. It is called “Purple Reign.” If you would like to view a larger version of the drawing, please click on the following link: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7050/6913397537_14e0996d59_b.jpg

Short Devotions: King of kings - Revelation 17 v 14

Revelation 17:14 “They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings--and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”

Before I became a US citizen, I was a subject of the UK. This literally meant that I was under the authority Queen Elizabeth II’s government and subject to the laws which her Government decreed. Living under a monarchy is not the same as being a free citizen of a Republic. Before any laws are fully passed in Britain, they must be signed by the Queen. Without her signature, the laws are null and void. If the Queen ever refused to sign a law, then a Constitutional crisis would occur that would probably bring about the end of the British monarchy.

I sometimes wonder what free born, free-spirited and independently minded Americans think when they read about Jesus being called “Lord of lords and King of kings.” Those terms are so alien to American culture that I wonder if they can really imagine what is being related to them. Lordship and Kingship are ancient terms of autocratic power. To call Jesus “Lord” is to submit your whole self to His commands. To accept Him as “King,” is to place Him at the top and at the center of our lives. There is no such thing as lip-service to a Lord or carefree service to a King. It’s all or nothing. It’s His ways, His Words, and His Works that we honor and glorify.

So today, let’s all ponder what it truly means to call Jesus our Lord and to accept Him as our King. And then let’s try to apply that meaning in our lives.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You rule over the Earth and are the Sovereign of the Universe. You are the Holy Son of God and the King of all Creation. Help us to humbly submit our hearts and lives to You alone. Grant us the faith to live under Your Everlasting Monarchy and Eternal Rule. 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 or ask a question about today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest chess drawings. It’s called “Battle Scarred” and features several chess pieces on a board. If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6087/6117600335_1c11500f3d_b.jpg

Church Meeting Devotions: A Defining Moment - Revelation 5:5

Revelation 5:5            Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."

 

If someone were to ask you how to define the Christian faith, would your answer involve anything that Christ is going to do at the End of Time?

Most people would define Christianity in terms of loving one another, making peace in the world, and trying to follow Christ’s teachings. They may also talk about being forgiven for all of their mistakes and being restored to God’s everlasting love. Hardly any of them would mention the Biblical prophecy of Christ’s unfinished work which will only be completed when human history is ended by God. At that last moment in Time, Christ will step forward to lay claim to the Earth and heartily recognize all of His followers. The work of salvation will be complete and our faith will no longer be needed for Jesus will have returned to this world.

The best way to define the Christian faith is to begin by defining Who Jesus actually is. He is the Savior of anybody in the world who, at any time, place, or civilization, believes that He is the Son of God and that Christ has the unique power to pardon their sins and bring them back into favor with God. Faith in Christ means that people trust Him completely by placing their everlasting souls into His hands, so that when the world finally ends, their eternal life with Him actually begins.

Christians have faith in Jesus to bring history to its final completion. All suffering, pain, and evil will be brought to a swift end when He alone opens the sacred sealed scrolls that usher in the Divine Judgment of the whole of humanity. At that time, Jesus will be both Advocate for His followers and Judge for His detractors. He is entrusted with this responsibility because He perfectly obeyed God while He lived on Earth and completely fulfilled the Divine ransom for all sinful souls through His death on the Cross.

Therefore, the Christian faith is defined as a complete trust in Jesus as Redeemer and Savior, Healer and Restorer, Lord and King. Anything else pales into insignificance because in the end, and at The End, only Christ’s power and authority will prevail.

The challenge that faces people in today’s world is this: are they willing to accept Christ and define their faith through Him alone?

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, we will all witness that last moment in time when You step forward to open the sacred seals. On that Day, we will completely know the truth of all things and the Final destination of our everlasting souls. Remind us that this is not only a new day, but that it could also be the End of Days. Keep us from being distracted and dissuaded of Your concerns. Help us to remain focused and faithful to You alone. 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 or ask questions about today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is John’s latest chess drawing called “Dark Knight.” If you would like to view a larger version of the picture, please click on the following link:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6185/6052095208_108c32b858_b.jpg

Church Meeting devotions: Is Life a Game of Chance? - Ecclesiastes 9:11

Ecclesiastes 9:11 I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. 

Do you ever play games of chance? I’m not talking about betting on horses or playing casinos. I’m talking about those games that we all see at the fairground or a theme park. The ones I like are skeeball and trying to flick the quarter on to a glass table. Sometimes I win; most of the time I lose, and the stall owner knows this when I put my dollars down to play the game. The other one I like is the claw that you see in stores. I’ve won a lot of stuffed animals over the years and I can remember almost emptying a machine in Scotland before the store owner asked me to leave.

According to Solomon, life is a game of chance with no rhyme or reason to what goes on. His conclusion is to eat, drink, and be merry because tomorrow we may die. It makes me wonder that if Solomon knew Christ, would he have changed his philosophy?

As a Christian, I believe that Christ has a plan for my life and every other Christian under the sun. I believe that Jesus still cares about the world and that His ministry is still effectively taking place across this planet. I believe that hundreds of millions of people will do good things in His Name today that will go unreported, unrecognized, and unvalued. And I believe that life is not a game of chance; it is a predetermined journey which will end in Christ’s Triumphant Return when the gift of everlasting life will be awarded to His followers.

Today can be the first day in the rest of our eternal lives if we surrender our hearts and submit our spirits to Christ. Chance has got nothing to do with everlasting life; it has everything to do with Christ.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, Your life and ministry were planned long before You came to Earth. Everything was predetermined by God and You fulfilled all that God wanted and needed You to complete. Our lives have been potentially predetermined by You and there is a purpose for our existence. Help us to be aware of what You want and need us to complete in order to continue Your ministry and mission. In Your Holy Name, we wait and pray. Amen.

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

Today’s drawing is John’s latest chess prints. It’s called “End Game” and features three old men playing chess in the park on a cold winter’s day. If you would like to see a larger version of this drawing, please click on the following link: http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6084/6047493889_86ca7e5e66_b.jpg

Church Meeting Devotions: Fellow Elders

1 Peter 5:1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed:

Eldership is at the heart of what it means to be Presbyterian. All of our Presbyterian churches are led by our ruling elders and teaching elders. They are called by God to seek the Holy Spirit in a particular congregation and to follow that path sincerely, faithfully, and effectively. It’s one of the great strengths of the Presbyterian system and, when it is employed properly, it makes Presbyterianism a great light amongst Christian denominations.

I love being both a Presbyterian Christian and a teaching elder in the church. I feel connected to the apostles like Peter because of the special, mysterious, and holy laying on of hands that is part of the ordination process. I feel connected to the elders around me, both active on Session and pro-active in the congregation. There is a great sense of team work, responsibility, and faith in Christ that we share amongst us.

I also like the fact that Peter refers to elders as being witnesses to Christ’s suffering, which reminds me that being ruling and teaching elders in the church is never an easy process. We think, we question, and we struggle with our faith. We solve problems, seek answers, and look for guidance from the Holy Spirit. We try to keep the church on the right path, just as the world tries to distract our goals and diminish our effectiveness. We are the gate keepers of the faith and are meant to be the visionaries of our churches. Elders are always looking at the bigger picture and what lies ahead. If we only concentrate on the here and now, we will never reach the blessings yet to come.

These are anxious times for our faith, but if our elders across the Presbyterian Church remain faithful to Christ, uphold His teachings, and live according to God’s Word, then we will not only share in Christ’s glory, but we will also be handing over a strong church for the elders yet to be ordained in years to come.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank You for the precious gifts of eldership that You have bestowed upon the Presbyterian Church. We pray that the faithfulness, integrity, and spirituality of our ruling and teaching elders may continue to inspire our people and lead them through these uncertain times into future years of bounty and blessing, discipleship and service for Your Kingdom. In Your Holy Name, we fervently 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.

Church Meeting Devotions: Enduring Forever

Post-modern idealism is heretical.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

I was reading an article yesterday on what has been called post-modernism. It’s a trend that has been affecting our society since the 1990’s. Post modern people think everything is relative and that there are no certainties anymore. What one person experiences, thinks, and believes is just as important, valuable, and truthful as what the next person experiences, thinks, and believes. The hope is that if enough people adopt a post-modern attitude then we will be able to solve all of the conflicts, divisions, and disunity in the world. In other words, an enlightened post-modern humanity can become its own Savior.

And that’s precisely the trouble with this kind of thinking. Christ becomes redundant. He is no longer the Savior of the World, but only another religious teacher. We replace Jesus with our own philosophical and cultural ideals. We idolize humanity and discard the divinity of Christ.

It’s called ‘heresy’ which is a word that post-modernists abhor. How can anyone be called a heretic, they protest, when no one knows the absolute truth? And when people like me write about the insidious nature of heresy in our church, culture, and society, we’re accused of being narrow-minded, arrogant, and insensitive to this post-modern phenomenon that is circulating around the world.

But here’s my two cents on the whole issue: the World has constantly sought to diminish, dilute, and discard God’s Word. Jesus was crucified for His absolutist ideas and uncompromising teaching. The First Christians were persecuted and martyred for their unconditional beliefs and unwavering loyalty to Christ. Do we honestly believe that we know better than those who walked and talked with Jesus? Are we saying that our post-modern views are more valuable than Christ dying on the Cross?

The Word of God, as the writer of Hebrews states, is living and active. It cuts through our post-modern idealism and narcissistic society. It penetrates our self-absorption and disturbs our one world philosophies. It challenges our cherished ideals and upsets our self-centered 21^st century sickness that heretically separates us from God. We don’t like it; we fight against it; and we defiantly won’t embrace it.

But when post-modernism has turned to dust, God’s Word and Christ’s Gospel will remain. And so long as the wheel of Time turns, people of all ages, cultures, languages, and races will come to Christ and accept Him personally as their Lord and Savior. Heretics may come and go, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the Christ of History and the Savior of the World. Kingdoms may rise and fall, ideas and philosophies may emerge and diminish, but Your Gospel and God’s Word endures forever. Forgive us for embracing false ways and preserve from allowing heresy to harm our faith. 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.

Church Meeting Devotions: Picturing the Psalms

Luke 24:45 Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

I regularly suffer from insomnia, so the chances are that you’ll find me reading, writing, or drawing late at night. I do this to keep my mind occupied and to weary my eyes so that eventually I will fall asleep.

For the past two years, I have been working on a special art project. I’m trying to create a drawing for each of the 150 psalms in the Bible. As I read each psalm, I ask God to help me choose the right verse in order to create a symbolic drawing. Once I feel that he ahs shown me what to do, I start putting my crayons onto paper. Each time I finish, I feel fulfilled.

When I first set out to complete the project, I thought it would only take me 150 nights. I was so wrong. It’s probably going to take me about three years to complete the project. Last night I completed Psalm 79, which was a tough one because it’s all about God’s wrath.

I don’t know what I’ll do with the project once I have finished it. In the meantime, I hope that those who come across my picture psalms on the internet will be drawn closer to God. It’s my way of trying to follow in Christ’s footsteps to help people open their minds, so that they can understand the scriptures. Sometimes a picture can convey the message that can’t be done with hundreds of words.

When Christ opens our minds to the scriptures, He does this to affect major changes in our lives. The Bible is not just a collection of ancient stories, it’s a living document that’s meant to shape our ideas, formulate our decisions, and influence our choices each and every day of our lives.

Perhaps you’re at a new crossroads in your life and you need help to make the right decision. Pick up your Bible and look at the Book of Psalms. As you read the personal spiritual trials of people in the past, ask Christ to open your mind to the scriptures. At some point, He will lead you to a verse that speaks to your heart and helps you make the right choice.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You know everything about our lives, so when You give us guidance from the scriptures, You are perfectly and fully informed about our circumstances. We pray that You will open our minds to Your words and our hearts to Your ways. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

If you would like to see the progress that I’m making with the Psalms project, please visit the following link online: http://www.flickr.com/photos/traqair57/sets/72157603288751629/

You can also see my other artwork at http://www.stushieart.wordpress.com

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.

Church Meeting Devotions: Picking on Paul

1 Corinthians 15:2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

It’s very theologically fashionable these days to bash Paul and his writings. I come across many people who want to discard any of Paul’s statements and just concentrate on the Gospel. After all, these people insist, “why should I listen to Paul when Jesus can tell me everything I need to know?”

What they really mean is that they want to practice their faith on very loose terms. Their whole theology tends to be summed up in two neat phrases: ‘Jesus loves me this I know’ and ‘I’m OK ,You’re OK.’ It’s a very infantile form of faith and one that has no merit in God’s Kingdom.

You see if our faith was very simple and agreeable to everyone, Christ would never have been crucified and people like Paul would not have been martyred. We need to take seriously what Christ and Paul both have to say, because they’re working off the same page. Christ dies to save the world and then chooses Paul to spread the Gospel. What Paul writes doesn’t come from him alone – it all originates in Christ.

That’s why when we read a statement like ‘by the gospel you are saved’ with the condition ‘if you hold firmly to the word I preached’, we have to take them both together. The Gospel is not just a collected bundle of holy stories about Christ, the Gospel is an invasive forceful word of God that challenges our lifestyles and changes our souls for all of eternity.

Paul also gets it right when he states “otherwise you have believed in vain.” People are constantly diluting the Gospel to suit themselves and end up with no salvation. They believe what they want to accept, and end up with a cozy version of an uncomfortable faith.

So the challenge for us today is this: what Gospel do we believe in? Our own or Paul’s?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we are so fiercely independent these days that we become indignant when Your teaching or Paul’s writings interfere and meddle with our lives. We sometimes resent the constraints that the Gospel places upon us, but instead of accepting Your words, we make up our own ideas and opinions. Forgive us, Lord, for disrespecting and disassociating ourselves with You and Your Chosen Apostle. Help us to honestly reevaluate our commitment to You, Your Church, and Kingdom. 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.

Church Meeting Devotions: Faithful Foundations

Psalm 11:3 When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

Our modern Western Church is facing a dilemma and we are at a turning point in our history. For centuries, Western Christianity has been one of the most dominant forces on the planet. Much of history has been shaped by the ideas, beliefs, and teaching of the Western Church, and our modern civilization would not exist today without it.

The crossroads that we have come to has a lot to do with our foundational beliefs. People no longer apply them in their everyday lives. In fact, we have so “dumbed down” the teachings of the Church that many of our own people would find it difficult to recite the Lord’s Prayer, list the Ten Commandments, or even name all the Twelve Disciples of Jesus. It’s almost as if we’ve given the importance of those sort of things over to the church professionals and so long as they don’t meddle with our individual rights, opinions, or beliefs, we can all live in harmony.

Sadly, that was the condition of the Church before the Reformation. People let their priests hold the keys to salvation and biblical knowledge. Church people tolerated ignorance and illiteracy, placing too much authority into the hierarchy of the church, rather than paying attention to the substance and foundations of the Christian faith.

I have been a pastor for almost 25 years and I would love to say that Christians have become more dedicated, influential, and effective. Sadly, the reverse is more often true: people talk the talk, but really don’t care to walk the talk.

If God allows me to pastor for the next 25 years, then I think I’ve got to work on establishing foundations of faith in the lives of the people I serve. It may not be as exciting as being innovative or creative, but it will have a lasting effect. After all, if the foundations of our faith are being so easily destroyed through our desire to be accepted by the world, then what is the point of being a Christian? To make a difference in the world, we’ve got to be different.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to focus on the foundations of our faith. Give us the grit and determination to follow through on applying our beliefs in our everyday encounters and circumstances. Re-teach us the merits of our faith and put us back on the right track. In Your Holy Name, we earnestly pray. Amen.

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

Church meeting Devotions: The Tank Man of 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.

Church Meeting 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.

Church Meeting Devotions: Effective Preaching

Hebrews 10:35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

I’ve been preaching for more than thirty years and throughout that time, some people have asked me how can I stand up before other people and preach the Word. They often tell me that they are terrified of speaking in public, so they wonder how I do it week after week.

The secret is twofold: firstly, preaching is not public speaking. Making a speech before your business associates or presenting a project to a group of peers is entirely different. That’s part of a marketing transaction or a management structure. You present what you know and hope that everyone buys into the product. The success of the presentation is based upon how effectively you manage to persuade potential customers or team members. It’s a sales pitch and although some Christian writers would have us believe that preaching is the same, it isn’t.

And that brings me to secret number two: effective preaching depends upon the presence of the Holy Spirit, not the oratory of the preacher, nor the content of the sermon. I’ve heard some life changing sermons given by the meekest of preachers. They have not been dynamic or extroverted, but their words have been endowed by the Holy Spirit. True preachers do not believe in themselves; instead they have confidence in God and present their sermon through the power of Christ living in them.

So this Sunday, when your pastor steps into the pulpit, or stands behind a lectern, or walks across the sanctuary floor to present his or her sermon, open your hearts and minds to this important question: what is the Holy Spirit communicating to me through this sermon? I guarantee that if you have confidence in seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance at that time, you will be richly rewarded through what the preacher offers with the sermon.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank You for the power of preaching through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Open our hearts and minds this coming Sunday to what You want us to hear. Help our preachers to seek Your favorable and guiding presence as they set out to preach God’s Word to God’s people. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

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

Church Meeting Devotions: Prison Wall

Isaiah 61:1b He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…

Podcast version here:

I didn’t know it at the time, but my name and telephone number were etched on to a wall inside a cell of the local police station. At some point, I must have helped someone in the Scottish town I was serving, and he or she had marked it on the wall. Perhaps they had been drunk and disorderly, or had been caught stealing lead from the church roof or shoplifting. Whatever the circumstances were, I may never know, but years later, when I returned to Maybole, someone told me that my name was still etched on the prison wall.

I can remember a time when I received several calls from a few shady characters in the town. I helped them as best as I could, but I didn’t realize that the manse telephone was being circulated throughout Maybole’s underworld. It was just a small town of 6000 people, but we did have a few frightening families and unsavory personalities. I guess they latched on to me because of my own alcoholic background.

I love the fact that Christ can be our Deliverer when we are prisoners to sin, addiction, and darkness. He has the capacity and power to set us free from the shackles of our problems and the chains of fear that we all experience from time to time. Isaiah’s prophecy reveals to us a Savior, who is very much in control of the world and in whose justice, mercy, and grace we can all rely.

We don’t need a number etched on our self-imposed prison walls to liberate us. All we require is Christ in our hearts and He will see to the freeing of our souls.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we all commit crimes against God which we call sins. Sometimes those past mistakes depressingly imprison us, shackle our souls, and shatter our dreams. Come to us, Lord, and free us from our fears, release us from our anxieties, and cleanse us of our sins. In Your Holy and Liberating 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.

Church Meeting Devotions: Stomp!

Psalm 67: 3 May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you.

I went to see “Stomp!” last night at the Tennessee Theater in Knoxville. It was absolutely incredible. The performers and dancers were fantastic and their rhythmic use of paper bags, brooms, and metal chairs was totally amazing. I came away from the theater completely astounded and ever since then, I’ve been tapping and slapping rhythms all over my house, my car, and my office.

I often wish that church could be like that on Sunday mornings. I’ve tried over the years to encourage more participation in worship by our church people. I feel that the more they put into praising God, the more that they will get out of it. I think way back in the days of the psalmist, worship must have been more celebratory and theatrical than it is now. I sometimes wonder what the original psalmists would have thought about our neat and tidy hymn and prayer sandwich services. They were more into an all day event with trumpets and harps, tambourines and horns. They certainly wouldn’t have been anxious to get out after an hour in order to get to the restaurants before the bigger churches finished their worship!

The old Hebrew word for praise is ‘yadah,’ which actually means to hold out your hands and lift them up to God. What I saw at “Stomp!” last night was yadah in action. I definitely think that if more modern worshippers were to allow themselves to praise God by lifting up their hands and exalting the Lord’s Name, they would feel freer and closer to God. Who knows, maybe this Sunday “Stomp!” will come into our sanctuary and the Spirit will lead our people in pure and powerful praise.

Prayer: Lord God, over the centuries You must have seen some amazing, diverse, and incredible worship services from different cultures, nations, and denominations. Your Spirit astounds us from time to time with energy, vitality, and presence. Help us to be more open to praising You in freer and more faithful ways. 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.

Church Meeting Devotions: Sacred Memory

Psalm 44: 1 We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago.

Podcast version here

Modern technology is absolutely amazing. For the last fifteen minutes, I’ve been watching the Scottish Health Secretary deliver her statement about the swine flu to the Scottish parliament. I couldn’t believe that I was watching it live on CNN, but that’s the beauty of the internet. Things that are happening now across the Atlantic Ocean can be heard and seen live on a computer over here. The world gets smaller each and everyday.

I loved listening to the real Scottish voices again. My own accent has changed over the years – I’ve softened it and slowed it down. My fellow Americans can’t detect the changes, but folks from the Auld Country can spot it a mile off. They can definitely hear an East Tennessee twang mixed with a Scottish burr.

Today’s psalm is all about communication, too, but not the live internet version. It’s all about how sacred memory is passed on from generation to generation. Tribal stories and folklore faith were transmitted across the centuries in order to convey a dependence upon God in times of trouble, crisis, and war. The prayers of the people, the psalms of their poets, and the utterances of their prophets and priests kept them connected to the One, True, and Living God. Their sense of belonging to God was sustained by their commitment, devotion, and loyalty. Today, we are the benefactors of their faithfulness and we continue carrying the torch of faith by retaining and sharing those sacred memories of long ago.

Prayer: Lord God, thank You for the faithfulness of countless numbers of people who have received and passed on their faith to us. Help us to continue this wonderful way of communicating faith to our families, our friends, and our community. In Christ’s Name, we lovingly 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.

Church Meeting Devotions: Earth Day

Isaiah 54:5 For your Maker is your husband--the LORD Almighty is his name--the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the Earth.

Today is Earth Day and all around the world various people are celebrating this new tradition by bringing attention to the plight of the planet. Some protest and environmental groups will be petitioning their governments to reduce carbon emissions and end global warming. Others will be celebrating the diversity of customs and costumes around the world.

I like the idea of Earth Day and I think that Isaiah gets it right when he reminded his people long ago that the Lord is the God of all the Earth. This means that we are just tenants and not owners of the globe. Kingdoms and governments may think they possess their own parts of the world, but God is the Sovereign of the whole planet. Everything belongs to Him.

I’ve started to boldly capitalize the letter ‘E’ in the word Earth. That reminds me that this planet is a precious jewel in God’s eyes and that we as human stewards should do our utmost to look after it. Respecting the environment, recycling our waste, and reflecting upon the wonders of this Earth is a good place to start. Life on Earth may be the most precious gift in the entire universe. It’s time that we chose to really respect that amazing gift of grace which our God has created.

Prayer: God who made the Earth, the air, the sky, the sea; Who gave the world its birth, please care for me. In Jesus’ Name. 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.

Church Meeting Devotions: Peer Pressure

(It's getting harder to preach the Gospel these days - even in the Church, of all places!)

Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by whom we must be saved.”

Podcast version here

I’m having a tough time relating to my peers. It’s always been hard because I didn’t go to an American seminary, so I’ve no class fellowship to identify or connect with. I also was brought up in old-school Presbyterianism, so my Scottish Calvinist background doesn’t help me get close to my progressive Presbyterian associates.

At times, I feel like a fish out of water and I wonder if my family and I would have been better staying in Scotland. And then I remember that I am called by God to be here, so there must be a reason that I am constantly crying in the wilderness and feeling out of place.

I’m a Gospel preacher by trade. I owe everything to Jesus and because of that I’m not willing to give up on His ways, His teaching, or His Lordship. Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not perfect by any means, but I believe that Christ is. And I fervently believe that everything which the Old & New Testament reveal about Christ is completely true, unchangeable, and unarguable.

There’s a lot of pressure put on Christian people to give up part of their beliefs by equating Christ with Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, or even Krishna. Religious people are all part of one theological soup that tastes of God. The Gospels are just another batch of sacred documents which tell us tales about a great teacher called Jesus. Other religious documents from all over the world are supposed to be just as insightful, instructive, and important about showing us how to find God.

I’ve even got peers, who are Presbyterian pastors, who don’t believe in the Resurrection, nor do they think the Gospels are trustworthy. They follow their own path and sadly they take other people with them down a dead end.

When Peter the fisherman stands up fearlessly in front of the Sanhedrin and boldly declares that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by whom we must be saved,” I believe him. He’s just a fisherman from Galilee, putting his life on the line, and courageously preaching the Gospel. He’s out of place in Jerusalem. He’s crying out for Christ in a theological wilderness. He’s declaring the divine truth and does not care what his peers, elders, and leaders believe. Peter has given his life, heart, and soul to Christ. He can do nothing else but preach the Gospel.

I choose to be like Peter because I want to serve the Lord. I will always preach the Gospel because I truly love Jesus. And whether my pastoral peers like it or not, I will keep the New Testament Christ in my heart because I know of no other Name through whom humanity can be saved.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we live in troubled times and the Church is causing a lot of trouble for herself by mincing Your words and devaluing Your truth. Help us to get back on the right track. Grant us the courage to remain loyal to You and to the Gospels that reveal Your ways, Your words, and Your holy works. In Your sacred Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment upon today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org. Please feel free to forward this message to your friends.