Presbyterian Devotions: The Next Battle - Titus 1:9

Titus 1:9          He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

Do you get the feeling that Paul was on the offensive when writing to Titus? When I re-read this passage, I realized that Paul wasn’t holding back or pulling any of his punches. He’s totally committed to Christ and completely concerned about the church. He’s making Titus understand the serious nature about the current conflict that the New Testament church was experiencing. For Paul, everything is black and white, wrong or right. There’s no middle ground; no room for compromise; no negotiating with the opposition.

As our current denomination sinks lower into a quagmire of its own making, I’m beginning to think that dialogue and conversation are at an end. The ordination debates which are bedeviling our presbyteries have been going on for thirty years. If, after three decades of in-fighting and the loss of 33% of our membership, we cannot see that we are going against the Holy Spirit, then dialogue is no longer of any value. The die has been cast and the numbers will soon be in. Those who seek to get their own way, rather than God’s way, can celebrate all they like, but know this: the conversation is over.

The next battle, and perhaps final battle, is going to take place over the unique Lordship of Christ. Universalism is creeping into our churches and some people, as well as pastors, no longer hold to the essential Reformation tenet that Christ is the Only Savior of the World. They say things to conceal it like: ‘we cannot limit God to what He can do’ or ‘God’s grace knows no boundaries’ or ‘we cannot fully know what God decides.’

In other words, Christ’s role as Savior is set aside and His Cross only offers limited atonement. Jesus is diminished and other religions are given equal respect. The fact that the First Christians were surrounded by many religions and hundreds of pagan gods and yet they still maintained that Christ was the Only Way, Truth, and Life will pale into insignificance in a worldwide religious rush to embrace one another spiritually, worshipfully, and religiously. Any Way, any Truth, and any Life will be acknowledged, tolerated, and accepted as our beloved denomination finally surrenders to appeasement and apostasy.

The conversation is over. The battle is at an end. The war to win wayward souls back to Christ has just begun.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, Your Church has been constantly attacked from within, even from the early days when Paul was teaching and preaching. After this ordination battle is over, Your unique Lordship will be under attack. Help us to learn from this battle to remain resolute, faithful, and true. Grant us the courage to stand up, speak out, and to state unequivocally that You are the One and Only Savior of and in the world. In Your Holy Name, we adamantly pray. Amen.

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

Today’s image is from one of my Holy Week images from 2010. It’s called “Son Down” and depicts Christ Crucified at Calvary. You can view a larger version of this image at the following link: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2704/4442496002_fab6cfb6ac_b.jpg

Presbyterian Devotions: If God Lied...Titus 1:2

Titus 1:2   …a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time…

It all comes down to one thing: does God lie?

I’ve written for months about the struggle that our church is currently experiencing. Very soon changes are going to occur which will alter who we are and what we believe. If find it very disconcerting and am deeply troubled. I’m far from perfect and nowhere near as sinless as I should be, but there’s one clear truth that I have believed in no matter how much of a faithless failure I have been: God does not lie.

In recent times, we have become so used to compartmentalizing truth from feelings, integrity from interpretation, and honesty from our emotions that we’ve deluded ourselves into thinking that God is okay with what we choose to do. So what if God called something abominable in the past, He needs to loosen up and get with the 21^st century program. Who cares if some sins once affected our salvation, God needs to get over it and get on board society’s band wagon!

In other words, God lied. Or He was mistaken or misguided. Or He wasn’t being serious or meant to be taken literally. God lied; He might not have meant it, so we’ll forgive Him and let Him join us.

This is why I am unsettled and troubled. If God lied in the past, then He is capricious and not worthy of our worship. If we are deluding ourselves, then we are on the road to perdition where only repentance can save us.

If God lied, then Christ was forsaken on the Cross and there is no salvation.

If God lied, then Christ’s body turned to dust and there was no resurrection.

If God lied, then we are the most pitiable of fools and there is no point in having or sharing faith.

If God lied, then Christianity is a curse and there is no life after death.

Maybe now you understand my struggle.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You told us that You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. If that is certain, then we are guilty of leading ourselves astray, away from the Truth, with no hope of Life to come. Break down the walls of our convenient compartmentalized choices and make us see the stupidity of our erroneous ways. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

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

Today’s image is John’s latest drawing called “Happy Place.” It’s a rendering of sunrise at Ormond Beach in Florida. If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5186/5561482881_b0270db4e6_b.jpg

An 8x10 inch print is also available which you can view on Ebay at http://tinyurl.com/4h3z468

Top Presbyterian Blogs: A Timely Reminder - Proverbs 6:23 & John 14:6

Proverbs 6:23 For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life.

Somehow this verse from Proverbs reminds me of Christ’s great saying: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” (John 14:6)

It reminds us that in the midst of the unknown and uncertainties, Christ is our lamp, our light to show us the way to live our lives, so that we may one day enter God’s everlasting kingdom.

It reminds us that Christ’s teaching is all the truth that we need to know in our lives. If we follow His commands and apply His teachings, we will be content and know that we are doing what God wants of us.

And it also reminds us that by allowing Christ’s Life to influence our own, He will not only accept us, He will also correct us so that we will not stray from His embrace, His encouragement, and His empowerment to challenge our ways and positively change our lives.

Isn’t it wonderful that Christ is our reliable Guide, True Teacher, and great Lover of our souls?

Prayer:             Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last. Amen    Charles Wesley

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

Today’s image is John’s latest drawing in his “Bonnie Scotland” series of prints. It depicts the beautiful West of Scotland coastal town of Oban, which is also the Highland capital of Scotland’s Gaelic speaking people. The initial print of this drawing (#1 of 25) is currently being auctioned on Ebay. If you would like to view the details and see a larger version, please click on the following link: http://tinyurl.com/48uj8da

Presbyterian Blogs: Church - Country Club or Culture Club?

2 Timothy 2:13    If we are faithless, Christ will remain faithful, for He cannot disown himself.

Over the years, I have heard some people criticize churches by calling them “country clubs.” What the critics mean by that is that only those with the right background, faith structure, and set of beliefs are allowed into these congregations. Those churches are criticized for looking after themselves and trying to make everyone else fit their expectations. Much of the current ordination debate that we’re having and the different camps that are emerging seem to fit this type of mentality – on both sides.

Some churches are country clubs, sticking to the established rules, the old money, and traditional values. Other churches are becoming culture clubs, driven by what’s fashionable in society, seeking to be loved by everyone, and yearning to be relevant. Both types are being faithful to themselves. Both are also being faithless to Christ.

At times I worry about the future of the Church. Because of the faithlessness that’s being espoused by both sides, the Western Church is losing its voice in the world. We’re so busy contemplating our theological navels that we’re missing the point: Christ needs followers of His way, not borrowers of His Name. Our acts of self-righteousness and point-scoring agendas do not glorify Christ in any shape or form. We may win battles against each other, but at the same time we belittle Christ’s mission to the world.

Thank goodness then, that when we are at our most faithless, Christ remains faithful and will not disown Himself. He can do without the Western church and our centuries-old denominations getting in His way. Without us, Christ will still get His mission accomplished, but without Him, our country clubs and culture clubs have no future at all.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, we are so out of step with You because we are marching to our own tunes. We are fickle and faithless, self-righteous and self-centered. We are allowing our agendas to destroy ourselves. We even foolishly think that without us, Your Work will never be completed.

Forgive us, Lord, for focusing on ourselves instead of Your mission. Pardon us for protecting our own rights and beliefs, instead of spreading Your teaching. Help to recover our senses and realign our hearts and minds, churches and congregations with Your Holy Spirit. In Your Sacred Name, we earnestly pray. Amen.

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

Today’s image is from one of John’s vacation drawings of last year. It depicts the Scots Kirk in Savannah, Georgia. If you would like to view a larger version of the drawing, please click on the following link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4817326616_ef7ff6f6bf_b.jpg

Presbyterian Blogs: Love and Hardship - 2 Timothy 2

2 Timothy 2: 3 Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

There’s a new book out that I’m reading which has created a lot of controversy in the Christian media. It’s written by Rob Bell and is called “Love Wins.”  I must admit, I had never heard of Rob Bell until I saw his name appear on some Christian websites and blogs that I read on a regular basis. The writers were very scathing about this pastor and were condemning him for being a universalist (someone who believes that everyone gets into heaven, no matter what they do or believe).

Rather than rush into a decision, which was hard for me, I decided to read the book. I downloaded it to my Kindle and started it last week. Sadly, right from the very start, Pastor Bell seems to be going in the wrong direction. I guess I’ll only know where he ends up once I complete the book.

One of the problems that Bell’s book raises for me is that old issue of “I’m OK; you’re OK.” I’ve come across this several times in different books like Eckhart Tolle’s New Earth and William Young’s “The Shack.” Hardship and conflict are to be avoided by respecting everybody’s beliefs and not criticizing their understanding of God. We are all meant to get on together, loving one another unconditionally and creating harmony by not upsetting one another. Unfortunately, this is a cultural denial of what actually exists and a path which leads to spiritual oblivion. As Jesus Himself put it so succinctly – it’s a case of the blind leading the blind into a ditch.

Christianity is a hardship when it’s lived out properly. There are no short cuts to peace nor avoidance of conflicting issues. In fact, Christ’s teaching did not bring about harmony for Himself, but ended up putting Him on a painful and shameful Cross.

As we continue our journey though Lent, we should become aware of the fact that truly following Jesus will bring us into conflict with our culture, society, and civilization many times. The challenging questions for us today are these: which side of the conflict am I on? How much hardship am I willing to accept? Am I ready to surrender myself to Christ, or am I only too willing to appease my peers?

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, being one of Your followers is never easy. The path to heaven is littered with many false trails and dead ends. Only You are the True Way to salvation. Only You have the right and the power and the authority to forgive our mistakes and restore us to God’s Love. Keep us focused upon Your Teachings and help us to endure the hardship of being unpopular to the rest of the world. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

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

Today’s image is another of John’s digital glass representations of the Psalms. It’s based upon a verse from Psalm 105. If you would like to view a larger version, please visit the following link: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5019/5539089558_b31c75e062_b.jpg

Top Presbyterian Blogs: Passing It On - 2 Timothy 1:14

2 Timothy 1:14           Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

In the midst of the present theological wars, it’s very easy to become weary with Church World. We never seem to have any peace because someone or some group somewhere wants things to be different, relevant, and post-modern instead of keeping things sacred, divine, and eternal. I know that I am struggling with this and so are many in the congregation that I serve. Christianity is a hard faith to truly practice and live by in today’s society.

I also find it intriguing that when Paul is writing to Timothy, he is urging him to guard the faith. This is only about 30 years after Christ was crucified and resurrected. With a faith so freshly born and the gospel so newly written, you would think people would be more secure with what they believed. However, it seems that the New Testament Church was also divided and so, to sustain Christ’s Peace, second generation Christians like Timothy had to maintain guardianship over the essential tenets of the new faith.

I heard a pastor once preach that if no one in the present generation shared the faith or spread the gospel, then within four generations Christianity would die. I don’t know if that’s true because it’s never been truly tested, but it does lay an onus on every Christian to pass on the faith to the next generation. What makes it all the harder is that we have to do this on Christ’s terms, and not our own.

So today the challenge is this: to whom, in the next generation, have we shared our Faith?

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, sometimes we forget that the Christian faith is not a private or personal matter. You called upon Your followers everywhere and in every time to go out into the world to share the Gospel. Forgive us if we have failed to live up to that challenge. Help us, in the life time that we have left, to faithfully share Your Good News with the upcoming generations. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

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

Today’s image is one of John’s latest Psalm drawings. It depicts a verse of Psalm 102. If you would like to view a larger version of the drawing, please visit the following link:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5292/5519117740_cf1a7fa46f_b.jpg

Presbyterian Blogs: Patrick Power - 2 Timothy 1:7

2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Today is St. Patrick’s Day, so we’re supposed to wear green, put on a shamrock, and go around saying, “Erin Go Bragh! (Ireland forever)” in our best Irish accent. All over Ireland and in different cities around the world, people will be singing in the streets, drinking green beer, and celebrating their Irish connections. My granny was Irish, so I guess I can join in the fun at any time.

Originally, this day was a church holy day, set aside to commemorate the ministry and mission of Saint Patrick who brought Christianity to Ireland. He lived in the 5^th century AD. As a boy, he was kidnapped by raiders and sold into slavery to an Irish chieftain. Patrick spent six years of his young life herding sheep and learning the Celtic language. He escaped from captivity and when he returned home, he decided to commit his life to God.

When Patrick was ordained, he decided to go back to Ireland as a missionary. He wanted to bring the light of Christ into the hearts of the same people who had kidnapped and enslaved him. During his ministry he endured many hardships and fierce opposition. Eventually, his persistence paid off and Ireland became a Christian country before he died on 17 March, 493AD.

Patrick was a powerful missionary whose zeal for Christ defeated the superstitious paganism which had enslaved the hearts, minds, and spirits of the Irish for hundreds of years. His ministry was so effective that the next generations of Christians under his leadership crossed the Irish Sea and brought the gospel to another pagan country: Scotland.

Perhaps in the midst of our revelry today, we should also take up the cause that Patrick espoused. If we are given the opportunity to share our faith with someone else at work, school, in our neighborhood, coffee shop or even on the internet, then let’s pray that we do it boldly and powerfully, effectively and wisely, lovingly and faithfully. Who knows, perhaps what we say about our Christian faith to someone else today may have an even greater effect to someone else in the future.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You have blessed us with a Spirit of power, love, and self-discipline to overcome our weaknesses, timidity, and faithlessness. On this day of celebration, help us to be captivated by the spirit of St. Patrick, so that we may share the glory of the Gospel with someone else. Grant us the courage to express our faith clearly, candidly, and compassionately. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

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

Today’s image is one of John’s Irish drawings. It depicts the beautiful shoreline of Keem Bay in Ireland. If you would like to view a larger version of the picture, please visit the following link:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/4409459421_667037da34_b.jpg

John has a limited number of 8x10 prints available of this beautiful drawing. If you would like one, just contact him by email for information.