Stushie’s Stuff

Bill Clinton is offering some advice to Democrat supporters…

…but it just may be too little, too late.

We call them the good old days – times past when life was less stressful and people were more innocent. We remember them fondly in our hearts and for every generation, the good old days is a different decade, a different culture, a different society.

Podcast version here

I find myself revisiting the past by watching old movies, or viewing old TV programs from my childhood, or listening to classic songs and real singers from the past in my car. As I do these things, I find myself wistfully transported back to the days of old and sometimes I wish I was back there still. But time moves on and waits for no one. Eventually, I am brought back to my responsibilities and present day circumstances.

 Bible Verse of the Day

Deuteronomy 32:7     Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. Old hymns cause me to experience the same.

Last night, I was preaching at a senior citizens’ assisted living center where we sung hymns that I hadn’t heard in years. I also read from the King James Version of the Bible and felt the tangible faith of the people present as I intoned the old “Thees” and “Thous”, “heareths” and “leadeths” ( the word check on my computer is now having a fit because it doesn’t recognize any of those words). It was very comforting to feel that some things never change, and that the good old days of the Bible can still penetrate the hearts and souls of people.Like me, you’re probably facing another busy week.

Perhaps you have deadlines to meet or projects to accomplish or targets to achieve. In the midst of all our busy-ness and the stress of trying to keep up, it’s good to know that God never changes, that His words are always relevant, and His love endures forever.

Prayer:                        Lord God, You know what kind of week that I have before me. You already see what things I must do and paths I must take. Help me and hold me; guide me and lead me; comfort and embrace me, step by step and day by day. In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.

John 20:19-29       Jesus confronts Thomas

It was just an ordinary day back in Maybole, Scotland. I had been making house calls in the village of Dunure, which was about 9 miles away from the manse. I was heading home and thinking about what Evelyn might be making for my dinner. The sun was shining and the sea looked beautiful as I coasted my way back home.

When I got to the manse, I expected Lynsey and Lauren to come out to meet me, but they didn’t. I walked through the back door and met Evelyn in the kitchen. I could see in her eyes that something was wrong.

“John, I’ve got some bad news,” she said quietly. “Your Mom is dead.”

I was stunned. I knew that my mom was ill and had been for years, but this was sudden and completely unexpected. I obviously couldn’t take it in, so I think Evelyn told me again. I was quiet and couldn’t think of anything to say. Within thirty minutes, I was ready to head up to Glasgow to be with my family, to be with my Dad. 

All this happened about seventeen years ago, but it was so much of a shock to my system that I can’t really remember what happened over the next couple of weeks. I can recall being with my Dad down at the police station to be with him when a detective inspector interviewed him. Because my mother’s death was so sudden and happened when she was alone, my Dad had to be questioned. The whole interview was surrealistic and it suddenly dawned on me that they were interviewing my Dad to rule out murder. It was an awful feeling and it seemed so unfair at the time because my Dad was still shocked by mom’s death.  He had left her on her own to go and select some library books. When he returned twenty minutes later, he found her slumped over in her chair. She was gone and there was absolutely nothing he could do. The coroner who did the autopsy said that she died instantly from a massive heart attack, so even if Dad had been there, he never could have saved her. She was only 57 years old. 

As I said before, my memory of the whole event, funeral, and family gathering after it is all fuzzy. I can hardly remember any of it, and even today it all seems so unreal. 

Sudden death can do that to people. John House, who is great psychologist, has probably had to deal with this on many occasions. Today, in this passage from John’s Gospel, we see something similar happening to Thomas. He has been emotionally stunned by Christ’s death. He has been totally shocked by how fast things happened during the week in Jerusalem. One day, Christ and His disciples are being welcomed into the Holy City and within less than a week, Jesus is arrested, tortured, put on trial, humiliated, and crucified.  

Thomas, who ran away with the rest of the disciples, cannot cope with what has happened. All his hopes and dreams of being a major player in Christ’s triumphant ministry have been shattered and destroyed. He has nothing left spiritually or emotionally. He is empty and insecure, totally depressed and fearful for his life.

This has been the greatest shock to his system that Thomas has ever experienced, and he just wants to get away from everyone and everything. He just wants to forget about the last three years he has followed Jesus. He just wants to get his life back in order. He just wants to go home. 

But he can’t go home because people will recognize him, and he may get arrested by the authorities. So for a couple of days, Thomas is on the lam. He must have hid outside of Jerusalem and got lost in the Passover crowds who were returning home. He was lonely and frightened, possibly angry and sick within himself. He must have felt abandoned and hunted at the same time.  

Eventually, the other disciples find Thomas. He must have been surprised to see them happy and delighted. He thought that they should have been dejected and depressed, panic stricken and anxious. Instead, they are delirious with delight and full of joy. 

But when they explain to Thomas that Christ is not dead, that he has risen, it’s all too much for the disciple. He can’t believe what he is hearing, so he thinks that they are all crazy with grief and totally insane. But they keep insisting that Christ is alive until Thomas finally shouts out:  “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”  

Today is the 76^th anniversary of Amelia Earhart’s solo flight across the Atlantic. She was the first woman to do this, in a time when men were getting all the credit for being heroes of the sky. When she was given the opportunity to do this, the usual Doubting Thomases said that it couldn’t be done. To fly solo across the Atlantic required intellect and skill, focus and determination, energy and strength. A mere woman could not endure such a flight, and anyone who decided to attempt this must be a lunatic. But Amelia proved her critics wrong.

She even flew through a terrifying mid-Atlantic storm, which surrounded her with dark clouds that almost petrified her. “When daylight came,” she later said, “I could see on my wings traces of the ice which had gathered—droplets of water and very small frozen particles. Probably, if I had been able to see what was happening on the outside during the night, I would have had heart failure then and there; but, as I could not see, I carried on.” 

Even in the midst of fearful circumstances, she never doubted her ability to complete the journey. When she was interviewed after her achievement, she stated that “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.” 

When Thomas refused to believe the others, there was nothing on earth that they could do to convince him of the truth. I imagine that all week long, he was in a sultry, sour mood because the rest of the disciples wouldn’t stop talking about Christ’s resurrection. It must have almost driven him crazy, but there was nowhere else he could go.

His fears were more than paper tigers; they were causing him sleepless nights and moments of high anxiety. He was in a crazy situation, amongst crazy people, and he couldn’t escape. He was so emotionally paralyzed with shock and fear that he could not decide what to do. 

And then Christ came back into Thomas’ life, just as suddenly as he had left him. One moment, all the disciples were in the Upper Room praying together on their own; the very next moment, Christ was in the center of the room. 

Now if Thomas had been initially shocked by Christ arrest and crucifixion, this supernatural appearance must have almost caused him heart failure. Jesus was standing before him, just as the others had said. And before Thomas could drop to his knees and ask for mercy, Jesus called to him and said, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”  

I can picture Thomas with his mouth wide open and his eyes as large as the moon. For the second time in a week, he cannot believe what is happening. Slowly, he reaches out his fingers to touch the nail prints in Christ’s hands and even to touch the wound in His side. All of a sudden, it is too much for Thomas, and he falls to his knees, crying out, “My Lord and my God!” 

This is the most important passage from the Gospels about the resurrection for our people today. And I’ll tell you why. In recent years, there has been interest in the so called Gospel of Thomas, which many people falsely believe has secrets about Jesus that the Church wants to be kept hidden. This Gospel was written by a group of people called the Gnostics, who believed that Jesus wasn’t crucified because God had taken Him up to heaven and that it was a ghostly image or a specter, or what we would call a hologram that seemed to be crucified on the Cross. In other words, Christ’s physical body was never there, so He didn’t suffer any physical torment, excruciating pain, or death itself.  This has led many people to believe that the resurrection of Christ was only a spiritual one.

This Gnostic garbage was prevalent in North Africa during the 4^th – 7^th centuries AD. So when Muhammad started to write down the Koran, he was influenced by the false teachings of Gnosticism, so that to this day the Muslims believe that Christ never actually suffered on the Cross. And, as Mark Twain delighted in saying, “Bunkum! Absolute bunkum!” 

And this is further compounded by the fact that even in the PCUSA, we have idiotic pastors who do not believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus, but insist that the Gospel of Thomas should be researched, studied, and read in church in order to bring us closer to the real Historical Jesus who, as one of these pastors recently said, died and His body has decomposed and turned to dust in a forgotten cave somewhere in Palestine. 

When Thomas touches Christ, he is touching a real body that has been miraculously resurrected by God. This whole passage refutes any belief in a spiritual resurrection of Christ.

And I would say to you, and anyone in the world, that if you do not believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, then you are not a Christian. You can be a modern Gnostic, you can be Muslim, or you can be a skeptic, but what you cannot be is a Christian. And where do I get this conclusion from? It comes none other from Jesus Christ Himself, who finally says to Thomas: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  

Those words are meant for us, two thousand years in the future. We have not seen the resurrected Christ and yet we believe in Him. We have not yet touched Him, and yet we believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus. It’s what makes us Christians in the first place, and distinguishes us from other religions. Jesus is our Risen Lord and He is also the God of all creation. He is no paper tiger, or spiritual phantom. Christ is no figment of the true Gospel writers or an apparition of a bunch of hysterical disciples. Jesus is the Resurrected Christ, whose wounded, dead body was raised by the power of Almighty God, whom we worship, adore, and serve, both now and forevermore. Amen.

I love looking at maps. If you want to keep me occupied and quiet for a while, you just have to give me a map and I will pore over it for ages. I love to look at the topography of an area or find interesting back roads to places I want to visit. Whenever I’m driving any distance by myself, I usually travel along the B routes, so that I can pass through some small towns and sight-see.

Podcast version here 

I guess I learned my map skills in the Boy Scouts. I remember one year that I had to hike twelve miles using my map and compass in order to be awarded an Orienteering badge. I was dropped off at a predetermined location early in the morning, and was given 8 hours to complete the journey. I had to follow map co-ordinates and describe what I found at different locations. It was a wonderful experience and I passed with flying colors. Orienteering is a skill that I thankfully still have, although there have been occasions when I’ve had to stop at a gas station to pick up a new map, as well as ask for local directions.

Bible Verse of the Day

Isaiah 58:11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

I also love reading the book of Isaiah, for the ancient prophet says many things that touch my soul. He belonged to a wandering people who, in his time, were exiled in a foreign land. The fact that Isaiah emphasized to them that God would guide them always, was a source of great encouragement for his people. They thought that they were isolated and separated from God; Isaiah reassured them that God had never let them out of His sight, and that He was still in control of their destiny.

We all need to hear words like that throughout our lives. When we go through times of trouble and fear, uncertainty and doubt, Isaiah can speak to us across the ages to reassure us that God will guide us, even through the roughest patches in our lives. We may not know or understand what is happening, but God always knows the way ahead, so we can depend upon Him.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You are our Guiding Light and the Holy One who shows us the path to God. Lead us day by day and help us to confidently place our lives and times in Your Sacred Hands. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen. John Stuart is the pastor at Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.

We should have seen this coming a long time ago.

Hillary Clinton could be suffering from acute denial.

It probably started when Bill was not having sex with other women when he was Arkansas’ governor.

It may have been augmented when Bill was not having sex with Monica in the Whitehouse, whilst Hillary was residing in another wing.

Perhaps it was enhanced when she thought that she would win the Democrat nomination easily.

It possibly became more acute recently when she fantasized about being under sniper fire at Tuzla airbase, even although videotape of the event completely contradicts her fabrication.

And now it is likely that her denial has reached hysterical proportions with her constantly insisting that the elected delegates do not have to abide by popular election results, even although they are bound to do so in the first round of votes at the Convention.

Hillary seems to be sadly suffering from an acute form of denial, which may have morphed into a grandiose obsession of winning the Whitehouse at all costs.

Hillary, please get help. Surrender to the inevitable and step down before you do irreparable damage to yourself, your party, and the nation.

A President living in denial is not what America needs right now.

We’ve already endured eight years of that scenario. We don’t need to go through another four years of the same.

Last Sunday, we had one of our best Easter services ever. A lot of families were in town and it was great to see them sitting together in the pews, praising God for the resurrection of Christ. It was a wonderful worship service. We even had to print extra bulletins and set out more chairs to accommodate the crowd.

Some people are cynical about the Christmas-Easter crowds that show up to church. I used to be one of them. In the past, I’ve been known to preach a hellfire and brimstone service at Easter, just to make the visitors feel guilty. Thankfully, I grew out of that years ago, so now I just preach the Gospel story and keep to the message that God has planned. People have enough pressure going on in their lives. In church, they need to find that the peace of God, which passes all understanding, is still there to be experienced and rediscovered.

Bible Verse of the DayNehemiah 8:10b This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”  When Ezra and Nehemiah brought out the Laws of Moses and re-read them publicly in the ruins of Jerusalem, the people thought that they were in for a rough time. Instead, Nehemiah encouraged them to celebrate the day as a resurrection of their faith. He urged them to go home and party with their families, and to share whatever they had with those who had nothing. It must have been a wonderful time of renewal for the Jews, bringing them a new hope to rebuild God’s Holy City and giving them the courage to re-dedicate their lives to God.

I think that’s what Easter brings to some people. They come to church to be with their family, and also to get reconnected to God. They want to go home knowing that God loves them and that Christ has forgiven them. They want to feel welcomed by the church and blessed by His people. And for those of us who have faith, we’re meant to share it with those who have little or none. To me, that is the message of Easter – a celebration of Christ that we don’t keep to ourselves.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, thank You for calling many people to church last Sunday. Thank You for touching their hearts and bringing them back to worship You. Continue to affect and influence their lives with Your ways and words. Help us to share what faith we have with all those who have little or nothing when it comes to believing in You. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Hillary attacked Obama about his ties with Jeremiah Wright today…

Watch out, Hillary! This may backfire on you…especially with that new book coming out about the elite religious group on Capitol Hill called “the Family” that you are a part of.

It’s a question that we all ask at sometime in our lives: “How can I beat death and obtain everlasting life?”

Podcast version here

When I was eighteen, I overdosed on tranquilizers and almost died. I was saved by three friends, to whom I will ever be indebted. I spent three days in hospital to get my stomach cleaned out and to check if my organs were still working. What I didn’t realize through my act of stupidity was that I could have permanently damaged my kidneys and other vital organs, which would have meant that I would have unavoidably died days later. Thankfully, and providentially, that did not happen. My life had been spared by the quick action of my friends.

Through being so close to death, it made me think about Life. I was unsaved at the time, so if I had died, I would have been separated from God forever. I did not know that at the time because I held a kindergarten belief of God in my heart. But when I turned to the scriptures to learn more about God, He startled me with the forthright views of Christ.

Bible Verse of the Day

Mark 10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

I no longer dabble with death or take my life for granted. It’s given me a different perspective from most people. Life is something to be cherished, but it is also a gift of God that shouldn’t be squandered. The purpose of life is to give it back to God. Everything that we accomplish, all of our achievements, and every resource that we own, are nothing compared to the riches of God’s grace and His everlasting love. That’s why Jesus asks the young man to give up his wealth and esteem – for when he is old and dying, he is going to have to give them up anyway.

Health and wealth won’t last forever, but faith and love do. If we want life, real, abundant, and everlasting life then we need to surrender ourselves to God through Jesus Christ. There just isn’t any other way.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, each day You challenge us to give up our lives and place them in Your hands. In other words, You’re asking us to have faith in You by surrendering ourselves to Your Church and Kingdom. Help us to do this willingly and to at last realize that our lives are gifts from God, which we must eventually give back to Him. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

It’s official. Hillary Clinton told lies when she addressed a meeting in Philadelphia, dramatically telling them that both she and Chelsea , and the rest of her group “ran with our heads down” from the plane to avoid sniper fire at the Tuzla Air Base.

She told a lie. A clearly thought out lie. A deliberate, deceitful lie. An orchestrated, previously planned lie. A typical Clinton lie that we have all heard for two decades.

Videotape from the event contradicts her story. If she had told the same story in court, under oath, she would have been charged with perjury.

And now she compounds the lie with another lie.

“I say a lot of things — millions of words a day — so if I misspoke, that was just a misstatement,” she said.

When people misspeak, they get a couple of words wrong. When they make misstatements, they usally get names or figures wrong. But when people recount to the world, in dramatic form, an imaginative event in order to get their votes, that is a downright lie, because it’s meant to deceive voters and cheat them of the truth.

This is typical Clintonesque politics and the challenge for us is this: are we still willing to be lied to by the Clintons, or have we risen above their despicable, lying politics, and look for leaders who are truthful?

4000? – to some people, it’s just another number…