Sunday Lectionary Devotion: Faithfulness

It's only through God's faithfulness to His Word, that we can ever be restored to His favor and love.

Podcast version here

Lectionary verse: 1 Corinthians 1:9 God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

My faith is built upon the faithfulness of God. If God was ever unfaithful to His Word, my faith would instantly diminish and be destroyed. I depend upon His words being true, which is why I hold fast to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This gets me into bother sometimes, especially with other Christians whose affinity to the faith does not depend upon how truthful God’s Word is, but on how much they believe that God’s Word is trumped by God’s Love. Acceptance and tolerance are the keys to their faith and sometimes I envy them. It would be so easy to give up on God’s Word and interpret things the way that I wanted. Life would be less cumbersome without divine rules, regulations, and readings. I could do as I please, instead of trying to do what would please God.

Now don’t get the impression that I am a sanctimonious, saintly, separationist who delights in being perfect and loves it when other people fail. I am a sinful person, whose mistakes often disappoint God, other people, and even me. Because I hold fast to the faithfulness of God’s Word, it hurts me to hurt Him. My failure to remain faithful, however, does not diminish the truth about God’s Word. He remains faithful, so that when I seek forgiveness, He pardons me through the precious blood of Christ.

That’s why my faith is built upon God’s faithfulness. Left to myself, I cannot always keep His words. At some point, during each day of my life, I am going to sin. My thoughts, my words, or my deeds are going to betray God. Whether it’s intentional or not, the result is still the same: through my selfishness, I have separated myself from God. It’s only through His faithfulness that I can ever be restored to God’s favor and love.

Perhaps you’ve separated yourself from God through something that you’ve done or said. Maybe like me, you find yourself spiritually alone because of selfish and sinful ways. It seems as though there’s no hope, no solution, and no one to turn to, but that is completely wrong. God is faithful and He will find us, no matter how lost, sinful, or unfaithful we have been.

Prayer: Lord God, we all make mistakes and allow our sinful ways to separate us from Your love. We feel alienated and isolated, spiritually crushed and totally abandoned at times. Despite what we do to ourselves, You remain faithful and offer us forgiveness through the holy sacrifice of Your Son Jesus Christ. Help us at this time, to turn to Him and receive Your mercy and grace. In Christ’s Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

Stushie is the writer of the daily 4 minute devotional Heaven's Highway. He also podcasts the devotional, in his Scottish accent, over at Stushie's Stuff. He also creates stained glass designs and religious art and posts them at Stushie's Art.

Sunday Devotions: Entrapment

Sunday Lectionary Verse

Matthew 22:21b Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

Entrapment is something we used to see happening in every Perry Mason, Matlock or Columbo show. Right at the very end of each episode, the criminal would say or do something that would instantly reveal their guilt. There was also a kids' program called Scooby Doo, where the villain was finally unmasked in the dying seconds of the show. All of these programs followed the same formula, so that eventually viewers began to know who the culprit was, long before you got to the end of the show.

Jesus is facing the same kind of classic formula of entrapment in this episode from the Gospel. The Pharisees are out to get Him, so they ask Jesus a trick question. They've worked out in advance that if He says it's right to pay taxes to Caesar, then they could charge Him for collaborating with the enemy and get the people to stone Him. If Jesus answered that it wasn't right to pay tribute to Caesar, they could then report Him for sedition against the Emperor and have the Roman governor execute Jesus for treason. They really don't care how He answers their question; all they want is something to use against Him.

But Jesus knows all about their little game. He's way ahead of them, so He gives them an answer that they haven't anticipated, which astounds them. "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." In other words, pay your taxes and honor God.

As Christians, other people sometimes assail us about our beliefs. If we try to be clever with our answers, we'll end up in a theological tussle or a doctrinal muddle. However, if we are true to Christ and depend upon the Holy Spirit during those moments when we are called to defend our faith, He'll give us the right words to say, at the right time, to the right people.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, sometimes we feel that our beliefs are being personally attacked. Sometimes those attacks come from strangers, but more often as not, those piercing questions and taunting remarks are expressed by other church members and Christian colleagues. Give us the right words to say and keep us from being fearful or unfaithful. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Stushie is the writer of the daily devotional "Heaven's Highway," which is also podcasted at http://www.stushie.libsyn.com/.

Sunday Devotions: The Biggest Sinner in the World

Who is the biggest sinner in the world? The honest answer may shock us.

Podcast version here

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

Here’s a question that we never seem to ask ourselves: who is the worst sinner in the world? We could probably make a list of movie stars, dictators, politicians, and religious leaders and compare our answers, but the true answer would be totally missing: me.

We are only truly aware of the sins that we commit, the mistakes we have made, and the regrets we carry in our hearts. No one else knows the full sum of sins that we commit except ourselves; therefore when we ask who the biggest sinner is in the world, the honest answer is “me.”

Paul understood this simple truth, which is why he writes that he is the worst sinner in the world. He can see before him the past mistakes he made as a Pharisee; he can recognize his pride, anger, and self-righteousness that led him to persecute Christians; he carries the burden of his guilty past within his heart. He knows that he is the biggest sinner in the world and no matter how saintly we revere Paul, he would never take that merit upon himself.

Once we understand that we are each the biggest sinners in our own worlds, we need the biggest Savior in the Universe to forgive and restore us. We cannot do it on our own because we have no clout with God. We each need someone to stand before God to intercede on our behalf. God will not listen or excuse us. We cannot negotiate with God. Only Jesus can stand in the gap and declare us to be His sanctified and forgiven followers. It’s His merits that extinguish our demerits. It’s His obedience that cancels out our rebellion. It’s His sacred holiness that erases our sinful hopelessness.

We go from being the biggest sinners in the Universe to becoming the greatest heirs of God. We are given grace and mercy instead of punishment and wrath. We are granted everlasting life instead of eternal misery.

This is why the Church is commissioned to go out into the world. This is why every Christian is a missionary. Like Paul, we rejoice in our salvation and want to help others receive that joyful experience. We live in the love of Christ and the grace of God. We seek to share these bountiful blessings with the whole world.

So, if you ever hear the question: “who is the biggest sinner in the world?”, then answer “me.” And follow it up by letting people know who the Greatest Savior is in the universe. One day, they’ll want to experience the same.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, none of us are perfect, holy, or sinless. We all make mistakes and commit sins. We all are ashamed of things in the past and fearful of doing things wrong in the future. Grant us Your mercy and grace when we fail and fall. Help us to come to You constantly with our confessions, regrets, and disappointments. Cleanse us of the past and lead us towards our eternal future. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

Stushie is the writer of the 4 Minute Presbyterian Devotional and Christians podcast site "Heaven's Highway."

Weekend Devotional : Dr. Who

Ever since I started watching Doctor Who as a boy, I have loved the notion of Time Travel. Nowadays, as a Christian, I am confident of placing my future in Christ's hands.

Podcast version here

I love the idea of Time Travel. I’ve watched practically every episode of Doctor Who and I think that the new series is absolutely terrific. In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, Doctor Who is a science fiction television series that began in Britain in 1963. I remember, as a six year old, watching the very first episode on a grainy black and white TV, whilst eating Heinz spaghetti and chips (French fries). I was absolutely captivated by the hero, Doctor Who, a Time Lord, who travels throughout space and time in his amazing vehicle called the Tardis. The series introduced me to my love of science fiction, as well as teaching me about British and World history.

Ecclesiastes 8:7 Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come?

I’ve always wanted to travel into the future and see the wonders of the world hundreds of years from now. I know that the environmentalists are predicting gloom and doom for all of us, but I still believe that human beings have the intellect and innovative capacity to reduce greenhouse gases and invent new ways of creating energy. I’d love to see how the earth will look in five hundred, five thousand, or even five hundred thousand years, and see how humankind fares. I guess I’ll have to build my own Tardis if I ever want to see it happen.

None of us know what each day will bring. We can make plenty of plans and be anxious about the future, but as Jesus once said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)

We do not know what the future holds for any one of us, and perhaps we’re better off not knowing anyway. As Christians, we have faith in Christ and the assurance that He holds our future in His Hands. No matter what we experience or endure, Jesus will travel through Time with us. And if we trust Him completely, He will lead us beyond the shores of Time and into the realm of Eternity.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we are glad that You are with us throughout each day of our lives. Your guidance and presence reassure our faith and hopes. As we journey through Life and travel through Time, grant us Your mercy and grace, love and leadership. In Your Holy Name, we follow and 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.

Sunday Devotions: A New Oprah - Christians Beware!

In the next couple of weeks, our church will be studying a book that has been highly recommended by Oprah Winfrey. It’s called “A New Earth” and is written by Eckhart Tolle. He writes about a new evolutionary spiritual transformation that he believes will take place this century amongst enlightened people. He draws from the teachings of Christ and Buddha, as well as the theories of Carl Jung. It’s a typical new age type of book, but his hope is that it becomes sacred scripture in the years to come.

Podcast version here

I’ve read the first chapter and already I’ve come across several areas where Tolle’s teaching misinterprets Christ. He relies upon his own feelings about Jesus as a great teacher and messenger to make his points. He does not proclaim Christ as the Son of God or Lord of all creation. Tolle also avoids calling our mistakes sinful; instead he declares them to be a form of madness which, in effect, does two things: it takes away personal accountability and it discards the need for Jesus to die for our sins.

John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

The book troubles me and I am sincerely sorry that Oprah has become involved and infatuated with this false teaching. It is countering Christ’s message and duping many women into believing the old heresy that salvation comes from within us.

I will be leading a ten week discussion about the book to show people where it dangerously digresses from Christian teaching, in order to help them avoid the pitfall of accepting popular superficial spirituality, as opposed to the deep meaning of Christ’s Gospel.

The discussions will take place at the church on Monday nights beginning May 5 and on Sunday mornings on May 11. I’ll also be starting a new online study class during the week of May 5 -11, so if you would like to be included, please send me an email at pastor@erinpresbyterian.org. Put “A New Earth” in the subject line of your email.

Some people may wonder why I am tackling this. It’s because in every generation, we have to defend our faith from misconceptions, mistaken beliefs, and misleading spiritual teachers. It’s properly called Apologetics, and has been in existence ever since the New Testament was written down.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are our Holy Teacher and Sacred Guide. You are the Prophet and Messenger of the Gospel. But You are also much more than these – You are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, and the Only One with the words of eternal life. Keep us focused on Your ways and keep us away from false teachers and superficial celebrities, whose teachings are not Your own. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Sunday Sermon: What the World Needs Now

Just for a change, I thought I would post a sermon instead of a devotional...especially for those of you who may be up late trying to craft a sermon on John 4.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In other words, they make the connection with Jesus and place their lives and souls into His saving hands.

The challenge we face today is this: are we willing to do the same?

Stushie is the pastor at Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee and writes the daily devotional "Heaven's Highway."

Sunday devotional - God's Truth

Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen. (NIV)

Driving home late the other night, I was listening to a radio host ranting and raving against evangelical Christians. He declared that they had no right whatsoever to say that people of other faiths weren't going to get into heaven just because they didn't believe, serve or worship Jesus.As far as the talk show host was concerned, nobody was excluded and that the God he believed in was non-judgmental. Each time a Christian tried to call in and refute his beliefs, he quickly terminated the call. He was in no mood to be confronted; he wasn't interested giving evangelicals a fair say. After all, it was his radio show and, at that moment in time, he was god of the airwaves

That's the trouble with modern beliefs; everyone has their own individual god. We pick and choose what we want to believe as if God comes pre-packed, vacuum-sealed and perfectly sized from a spiritual supermarket shelf. If we want our perfect God to suit our modern lives, let's just select our own. After all, we are the center of our own universe, so why shouldn't God conform to our personal wee world?

The same old things were happening in Paul's time, too. The apostle, however, was bold enough to confront those beliefs and those kinds of people. "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator." Paul wasn't ready to compromise the truth or let go of God. His way of faith meant he had to battle with his culture, people and trends everyday. If he had simply given in to society or dumbed-down his belief in Christ, we might never have read any of his letters, nor ever have heard the Gospel.

The truth of God challenges every one of us each day. It confronts our decisions. It meddles in our lives. It changes our opinions. God, who truly revealed Himself to us through Jesus, cannot be ignored or re-shaped into something we want to make our lives easier. The whole point about faith is to lead us to something bigger, better and eternal. None of it is a given. We need to meet God on His terms, not on our own. Our only choice is whether we will do it on this side of eternity or not. After death, we don't get to make any more choices. Game over. Christ wins.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, keep us free from making up our own images and worshipping our own ideas about who You are and what God does. Deliver us from pride, conceit and self-deceit, for those temptations have the potential to turn Your truth into a lie. Help us to read Your Holy Word, so that Your sacred ways may be revealed in our hearts and minds. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Sunday Devotional - Dad's Camera

John 5:26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. (NIV)

My Dad loved to take photographs, in and around the city of Glasgow, where our family grew up in Scotland. Practically every Saturday morning, he would catch a bus to go downtown and walk around the city streets with his wee camera. He would photograph buildings and stores, street signs and busy roads. He would make pictures of statues and fountains, churches and pubs, parks and ponds.

When he had the photographs developed, he would write out short comments about the history of the places he visited. He built up amazing scrapbooks of local information. The city that he loved was changing all around him and he knew in his heart that if someone somewhere didn't mark those changes, local history would be lost to future generations.

When my mum died, our family wondered what Dad would do and we worried about him. But then he surprised us all by contacting a publisher to put all of his photographs, postcards and comments into a book. When he died, eleven years later, he had successfully published ten books. All those Saturday mornings had become a bounty of blessings, not just for him and our family, but for the entire city of Glasgow.

So, guess what some of his children are now doing? Going all over Scotland taking photographs and writing short comments about the scenery, history, local stories and people. Perhaps, in the years to come, other books will be written, for just as Dad made a meaningful life for himself, he has passed on and granted that to his children.

I guess the challenge for all of us today is this: what are we going to do with our time and talents in the life and locality God has granted to us?

Prayer: Lord God, You have blessed us with life and we seek to make it meaningful. Help us to discover our talents, so that we may focus upon them, make something of ourselves, and bring all the glory to You. In Jesus' Name, we purposefully pray. Amen.