Presbyterian Devotions: End Stoning

Jeremiah 9: 20 Now, O women, hear the word of the LORD; open your ears to the words of his mouth. Teach your daughters how to wail; teach one another a lament.

It was both brutal and harrowing. I wept buckets of tears and left the movie theater angry. In fact, I was so angry that my teeth were clenched throughout my fifteen minute drive home.

Every woman and every man in this land should see “The Stoning of Soraya M.” Women should see it because of the brutal stoning and gender discrimination that is portrayed. Men should see it because of their wicked use of faith to squash human rights and their weakness in standing up against falsehoods.

The leading actresses in the movie, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Mozhan Marnò deserve Oscars. They are strong and beautiful, resolute and courageous. But because this is a foreign movie and Hollywood is so narcissistic, they won’t even be mentioned. And yet, I honestly have never seen a more powerful movie in my life. It has changed me completely.

The movie doesn’t entertain the audience, it educates them. I don’t know if America is ready for this because we’re becoming so tabloid titillated and paparazzi pampered that we don’t know how to deal with serious global issues anymore.

I want to set up a new online ministry called “End Stoning.” I’ll highlight the verse (John 8 v7) from the Gospel where Jesus says, “Whoever amongst you is sinless, let him cast the first stone.” I’ve even set up a new blog at www.endstoning.wordpress.com. I’ll put information about stonings from around the world and list the contact addresses of politicians and leaders that people can write to in order to end this barbaric, satanic, and inhumane religious practice. If you want to help me, then send me an email to traqair@aol.com.

Go and see the movie. Women are lamenting all around the world because of this horrific occurrence. This is not God’s work, God’s way, nor is it God’s judgment. This is about man’s inhumanity to women. This is the 21^st century. This has to stop.

Prayer: O LORD, let Your Spirit move amongst us so that we can begin the work of removing this scourge from the Earth. Help us to do whatever we can to save people from being stoned to death. Educate and inform us in order that we may rescue and liberate those who live under this diabolical tyranny. In Jesus’ 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.

Presbyterian Devotions: Meaningful Membership

Romans 12: 4,5 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

There’s a current trend in Western Christianity of people church-hopping and resisting joining a local congregation. They don’t want to make a commitment to a certain church or denomination because it doesn’t exactly fit their personal beliefs and theology. They move from congregation to congregation seeking to get something, but never really stopping long enough to give something back in return. They are spiritual locusts who feed on what they can get and then move on to another place.

I feel sad for them because they never really get to know the joys of membership, fellowship, and discipleship. To them, Christianity is something to be consumed. While it’s good to be nourished by the Spirit, it’s even better to share those blessings. After all, wasn’t it Jesus who said, “It is far better to give than to receive?”

Membership is originally a Christian invention. It comes to us directly from the writings of Paul. The local church is the Body of the Lord and we are each called to be different parts of Christ. And the different parts of that spiritual body are called ‘members.’

I hope that this trend to be independent and individual begins to diminish. I can’t think of a worse form of Christianity that requires no humility and is always motivated by self-interest. We are meant to be members in the Body of Christ, not individual parts that wander off to go and do their own thing. Christianity works best when people of faith are joined together and serve the Lord by being banded together in a common faith, church, and congregation.

So let’s rejoice and celebrate our church membership. Let’s take time to thank God for this wonderful innovation that was inspired by the Holy Spirit through the writings of Paul so long ago. And let’s also remember, before we criticize Paul for instituting church membership, that he was significantly and deliberately chosen by Christ Himself to do this.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank You for church membership and how it is wonderfully celebrated and practiced throughout the world. We remember those Christians in China for whom church membership can bring imprisonment. We recall those Christian congregations in Iraq and Iran for whom membership can cost them their lives. And we remind ourselves that our own congregations are full of folk who are called to serve You together through the bonds of friendship, fellowship, and above all else, membership. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is 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.

Book about Encouraging Visitors to Become Members

Presbyterian Devotions: Handling the Truth

1 Samuel 3:17 "What was it he said to you?" Eli asked. "Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you."

Did you ever see the movie ‘A Few Good Men?’ it stars Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. It’s a courtroom drama and its gripping climax comes when Tom Cruise is cross examining Nicholson near the end. In a battle of words, Cruise passionately insists that he wants to hear the truth, to which Nicholson aggressively replies: “You can’t handle the truth!”

When old Eli insists that the boy Samuel tells him what God has spoken to him, he wants to hear the truth, no matter what it is. Samuel is reluctant to tell him because it is a prophetic curse upon Eli and his sons. But Eli persists and even curses Samuel with the same fate if he does not tell him what God has said.

I wonder if moments later Eli had wished he hadn’t been given the message. The truth was ruthless and full of judgment upon Eli and his family. Would he have been better off being ignorant of God’s wrathful message?

I try to preach the Gospel from the pulpit on Sunday mornings. Sometimes when I’m looking over a chosen passage, I wish that Jesus hadn’t said what He did. I know that when I start preaching the truth, it is sometimes too much for people in the pews to handle. So I’m left with a dilemma, do I please the people by diluting the Gospel, or do I please Jesus by not mincing His words?

The truth about the Gospel is this: some people can’t handle it, so they shape it into something that makes them comfortable and spiritually cozy. But they ignore this truth – how cozy is the Cross? How comfortable are the calls that Christ makes to us to repent, challenge our ways, and change our lives? A Gospel that is comfortable makes us all spiritual couch potatoes; Christ’s Gospel, which is awkward and challenging, makes us who God calls us to be.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we’ve let society become our Savior and allowed the world to become the Word. We’ve surrendered our souls to coziness and peacefulness, instead of aligning our spirits to the Gospel and You. We honestly can’t handle the Truth and so we make up our own Way, which leads us to no Life. Forgive us and rebuke us; direct us and renew us. 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.

Presbyterian Devotions: Blessings of Baptism

Romans 8:16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

I love the rite of baptism. Whether it’s the sprinkling of water on the head of a bonnie wee baby in my arms or the sacred pouring of water on an adult’s head, I get totally encapsulated by the moment and inwardly rejoice in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

It’s a time of joy and sometimes my heart is fit to burst during the sacred ceremony. On each occasion, the Holy Spirit mysteriously moves within the baptismal candidate and universally declares that he or she is a child of God. We only see the pouring of water and hear the speaking of the traditional Trinitarian formula – I baptize you in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Heaven, however, sees and experiences the whole picture where the baptized person is divinely ‘tagged’ as a servant in Christ’s Kingdom and an heir of God’s blessings.

Perhaps today can become a special occasion when we rejoice in our baptism, whether we received it as a helpless babe or an older person. Or maybe it will be a time when we look forward to baptism, either of ourselves or someone we know. Whatever the case, let’s give thanks to God for allowing us this special process in which we are spiritually bonded to Christ forever, and seek to show the world the joy of being baptized.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You were once baptized in the river Jordan and received the special blessing of God’s pleasure through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Thank You for allowing us the sacred opportunity of receiving the same blessing through our own baptism. Remind us each day of that special moment of joy and help us to go forth into the world as bearers of this blessing. 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 or share a baptismal story, he would be delighted to receive your email at pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is an original illustration called “Spirit Spectrum” by John Stuart. Signed, numbered, and matted limited print editions can be purchased from his art site at http://stushie.etsy.com

Presbyterian Devotions: Calvinistic Creature

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Presbyterian Devotions: Love the Word

1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.

I love the word of God as contained in the Holy Scriptures. Ever since I can remember, I have believed in its truthful teaching and eternal message. I don’t think there has ever been a time when the scriptures weren’t real to me, not even in my drunken alcoholic days. The Bible has always been God’s Holy Word and I take great joy in reading it, hearing it, and drawing strength from it.

Now please don’t get me wrong. This doesn’t mean that I’m a Bible Thumping, Scripture Bashing, Gospel Guru who sits on a self-righteous pedestal and guffaws at the rest of the world. I do have my arrogant and pride inflicted moments like everyone else, but basically I love God and His wisdom, as revealed to us through the Bible.

When my life was at its most self-indulgent and self-destructive, I kept going back to my Gideon’s pocketbook version of the New Testament and Psalms. Somehow the seeds of faith that my Sunday school teachers had planted in my mind and heart were never completely barren. More than thirty years later, I am in awe of what God chose to do and how He accomplished that through His words that were written thousands of years before I was born. And it’s that constant relevance of the Bible that I see enacted in people’s lives everyday that make me love God’s word even more.

So today, let us rejoice in this beautiful revelation that we call the word of God. May it always be an anchor, foundation, and basic cornerstone of our lives.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You have been revealed to humankind for thousands of years through the Holy Scriptures. Your message and ministry are still expressed, embraced, and enacted by millions of people in the world today. Thank You for such a divine, beautiful, and everlasting gift. 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.

Presbyterian Devotions: Real Results

1 Corinthians 9:1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?

Podcast version here:

The apostle Paul went through some really tough times. Apart from being persecuted and hunted down by his enemies, he was also heavily criticized by members of the churches that he had established and developed. It must have been hard for him to receive such complaints, especially when he believed that the Corinthian church’s strength had much to do with his own work for the Lord. I guess that they must have forgotten how much they owed to Paul for bringing them out of obscurity and into the light of steady growth.

This passage makes me wonder what are the results of our own work in the Lord? How many people have been blessed or touched by our words and acts of Christian faith? If we were to take the faith component out of each of our lives, what kind of gaps would there be? We will probably never know, but it is perhaps something that we each should personally ponder: how effective and influential is my faith? What are the results of my work in the Lord?

Yesterday, I received an email out of the blue which touched my heart and reminded of the importance of this devotional work that I do for the Lord. I’d like to share the email with you. I’ve left the spelling and grammar uncorrected because I want you to experience the email the way I did.

Dear Sir John Stuat,

Thank you for your message in Hebrews 10:33 which conforted me

I have read this in Uganda/ Africa having fled my country due to insecurity but am alive with my wife and children now refugees many things have been destroyed but we were not distroyed.

God bless you

Kakule Kisunzu

I do not know who Kakule Kisunzu is, but I am both humbled and delighted that something I wrote a while back has helped him and his family. To me, that is a wonderful result in this work that I try to do for the Lord.

So the question for all of us is this: what are the results of our work in the Lord?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, through Paul’s ministry You have reminded us that our faith is not something that we keep to ourselves. As Christians we are meant to share Your teachings and influence others to come to You. May we take the opportunities that You give us each day to reach out to those who do not know You. May we also see the results of our work in You. 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.