Happy St. Patrick’s Day

The post below is three years old, but has lots of good links about St. Patrick and is well worth checking out. At the very end of the post I have included a new video on St. Patrick from the Apostleship of Prayer. Enjoy.

Blessings,
Dale

As I write this I am wearing a green shirt. I began the day in a light blue shirt. But my kids steadfastly refused to stop pinching me until I yielded to the tradition of St. Patty’s Day.

I got to know a little about St. Patrick through two sermons/lectures. One was by Joe Morecraft and the other by T.M. Moore. Both men captured my imagination as they revealed to me more than I ever knew about this incredible Christian man. I’ve provided three short articles and/or devotionals below that will introduce St. Patrick to you. God used him mightily and celebrating his life every March 17 is probably a good thing insofar as it points us to Christ and what one person can do for the Kingdom of God.

St. Patrick: Why His Message Still Matters
Brother Colmán Ó Clabaigh, OSB
at CrossWalk.com

March 17 is upon us again, and all over the world everyone is an honorary Irishman or Irishwoman for 24 hours. St. Patrick’s popularity is a result of the wanderlust of the Irish, and there is no corner of the world in which his name is not honored.

Yet, if his name is known, his story is less familiar and his message often gets drowned out by the parades, the plastic shamrocks and the green-dyed beer.

The little knowledge we have of him comes from two letters he wrote in the course of his missionary work in fifth-century Ireland.

Click here to read the whole article. (also, make sure to check out the great links to more info on St. Patrick at the end of the article.)

In Honor of St. Patrick
by Mark D. Roberts
at The High Calling

Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Most people think of this day as a time for wearing green and that’s about it (unless you’re Irish!). St. Patrick gets relatively little attention on his day, so I thought I might offer a few thoughts in his honor, including a prayer that is attributed to him.

Patrick’s story reads like an Indiana Jones-type adventure. Raised in Britain (yes, not Ireland), Patrick was captured by pirates in A.D. 405 when he was only sixteen years old. The kidnappers whisked him away to Ireland and sold Patrick into slavery. He spent eight years as a captive in this pagan land.

Click here to read the whole article.

Concealing the Gift
by T.M. Moore
at The Fellowship of St. Ailbe

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! We are right to remember this great saint, who labored so diligently in the cause of the Gospel, against unimaginable odds, but with unprecedented fruit. Sechnall, Patrick’s contemporary, was correct in referring to him as the light of God to the Irish. That, indeed, is what he was.

And what about us? Patrick’s mission field was all of Ireland, and he lit up the house with his diligent and faithful work. Our mission field is wherever God has set us, in the places and among the people we see week-in and week-out. Are we shining the gift of the Gospel on the people around us or concealing the gift of God under the bushels of timidity, fear, or simple disobedience?

Click here to read the whole article.

The Lord Bless You,
Dale

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Parenting: The Gospel Matters

As David Powlison says in his Forward to Tedd Tripp’s Shepherding Your Child’s Heart, “most books on parenting give you advice either on how to shape and constrain your children’s behavior or on how to make them feel good about themselves.” Of course, neither of those objectives is completely wrongheaded… they just shouldn’t be a parent’s primary objective. Tripp puts well what should be our primary objective with these words…

God is concerned with the heart – the well-spring of life (Proverbs 4:23). Parents tend to focus on the externals of behavior rather than the internal overflow of the heart. We tend to worry more about the “what” of behavior than the “why”. Accordingly, most of us spend an enormous amount of energy in controlling and constraining behavior.

When we miss the heart, we miss the subtle idols of the heart.

When we miss the heart, we miss the gospel. If the goal of parenting is no more profound than securing appropriate behavior, we will never help our children understand the internal things, the heart issues, that push and pull behavior. Those internal issues: self-love, rebellion, anger, bitterness, envy, and pride of the heart show our children how profoundly they need grace. If the problem with children is deeper than inappropriate behavior, if the problem is the overflow of the heart, then the need for grace is established. Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life and died as an infinite sacrifice so that children (and their parents) can be forgiven, transformed, liberated and empowered to love God and love others.

from Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp

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His Life for Ours

Hebrews 9:26b-28

Hebrews 9:26b-28 – But now [Christ] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. [27] Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, [28] so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

At the end of the ages, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared once and for all to do away with sin by offering himself as a sacrifice – a lamb without blemish. In so doing he ushered in the beginning of the end – the eschaton – the last days. We foolishly think to ourselves that because it is now 2,000 years later, that Christ’s day could not possibly have been part of the last days. But what’s a thousand years to an eternal God? Make no mistake about it, Christ ushered in the last days indeed!

And how did he do so? As a once-for-all sacrificial atonement for sin. No longer did a high priest have to offer animal sacrifices for the temporary appeasement of God. God’s own Son, our High Priest, settled the issue once and for all by offering himself in our stead.

Because of this, those who are in Christ no longer face condemnation. We all will die. We all will face God’s judgment. But for those who are in Christ, our sin has been covered and our punishment has been taken by Another. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

Christ will come again. Even so, come Lord Jesus. This has been part of the liturgy of the Church for two millennia. At the end of all things, Christ will appear yet again, and with him will come a new heaven and a new earth for those who are new creatures in Christ. He will not return as a Lamb but a Lion. He will not come in humiliation but glory. He will come and claim the victory he won at the cross and gather those who have waited on him, are waiting on him, and those who will wait on him. And he knows each of them by name.

As followers of Christ, and heirs of his covenant, there is a sense in which we have been saved, and a sense in which we are daily being saved as we become more and more conformed to his likeness. But when our Lord and King appears we will be saved in glory and will rule with him in his Kingdom that knows no end. Isn’t this incredible news more than enough to bring us to our knees in humble adoration, gratitude, and submission in the here and now? Where is our boasting? We boast only in our King.

Finally, if Christ ushered in his Kingdom two thousand years ago, and the spoils of his victory belong to those who are in Christ, then doesn’t it make urgent sense that we who are his joint-heirs should labor, as long as it is called today, to extend our Lord’s Kingdom into every sphere of life – so that those who do not presently know him – and the goodness, truth, and beauty of his rule and reign – might have the opportunity to bow before him and call him their Lord?

Let us make great haste, for no man knows the time of our Lord’s reappearing.

Grace and Truth,
Dale

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The Ditches of Legalism and Licentiousness

After my last post, a Christian brother shared with me his struggle to faithfully teach grace to the folks he disciples. I certainly share in that struggle. I have often said that faithful discipleship is a narrow path between the two ditches of legalism and licentiousness.

Of course, I didn’t come up with that. The Apostle Paul had to deal with the same issues. On the one hand he had to warn the Galatians about the ditch of legalism espoused by the Judaizers. On the other hand he had to give an emphatic “NO” to those whose philosophy was… “let’s sin up a storm so that we can experience more of God’s grace.” The narrow path between the two ditches is narrow indeed and Christian history is littered with examples of how individuals (as well as groups of people) have fallen into one ditch or the other. Regardless of which ditch you fall into… you still end up dirty and smelly.

To my struggling brother, and as a reminder to myself, I offer some counsel I once heard. I take comfort in the struggle because the Apostle Paul experienced the same. Grace is a dangerous thing. I think if we faithfully and accurately teach the biblical doctrine of grace, there will always be the risk that someone might distort it in a libertine direction… just as a faithful and accurate teaching of obedience might lead some into the legalistic ditch. I guess, like evangelism, we are called to be faithful… even though we can’t control the results.

I think that those of us who take the ministry of discipleship seriously will always struggle. However, perhaps we can use this struggle between the two ditches… the struggle of the narrow path… to motivate us to be careful, loving, grace-filled, and faithful in our teaching, discipling, counseling, correcting, etc.

I know that walking the narrow path is hard enough for me… and I’ve been at it for some time. I can still remember the early days of my walk with Christ; I often found myself walking a little too closely to one side or the other… and sometimes found myself climbing out of one ditch or the other, cleaning myself off (actually, repenting… and begging for more of God’s Spirit and grace) and then getting back on the narrow path.

This reminder of my own history will hopefully encourage me to be patient with those whom I disciple… especially those who are just beginning their own way down the narrow path. Thank God for his ever-present grace!

Grace and Truth,
Dale

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Freedom FOR Obedience, Part 2

Click here to read Part 1

The Apostle Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:1 that Christ set us free… to be free! That doesn’t sound so difficult to understand, does it? Perhaps not… but it’s a lot harder to put into practice. You see the Galatians had been saved by the work of Christ… but were falling back into some bad patterns of trying to earn God’s favor… instead of trusting in his grace.

They were giving in to the influence and false teaching of the Judaizers who were teaching the Gentile Christians that they could have a relationship with God only by basically becoming Jewish first. They had to be circumcised, obey the Law of Moses, etc. Only then could they properly be ready to come to Jesus.

So in response to these Judaizers, Paul says to the Galatians… and to us… you’re free! It’s Jesus plus nothing! You don’t have to earn God’s favor… he’s already poured it upon you by sending Christ. Christ has already done the work that you can’t do yourself. He’s already won the victory on the Cross. All you have to do is trust that work… depend on Christ alone for what he’s done for you.

That’s what we’re celebrating today when we participate in Holy Communion. We celebrate God’s grace… Christ’s work… in and through the provision and power of God’s Spirit. We don’t have to hop back on the treadmill of performance-based living.

Just imagine if God did grade us by our performance. Would there be any rest or peace in that? You would always be worried about how well you were doing… each and every second of each and every day of each and every week, month, year, and so on.

You see… that’s slavery. That’s oppression. That’s bondage. There’s no freedom in that. And so, part of the freedom that we have in Christ is freedom from the bondage of sin. We’re no longer under the curse of the Law. We no longer have to worry each and every day if we performed “well enough” and met all the demands of the Law. Isn’t that good news!?!

But we’re not just free FROM the bondage of sin and the curse of the Law. And please hear this… because this is important…

We are free TO…

This is key because when some folks talk about freedom in Christ, you almost get the impression that what they’re really saying is this…

“I can do anything I want to do now because of God’s grace. Because of what Christ did on the Cross, it doesn’t matter how I live. We no longer have to think in terms of obedience.”

But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Please hear this…

In Christ, we are now free to become all that God created and redeemed us to be.

Before that… we could never pursue or achieve this because we were enslaved to sin. Now we’re slaves to Christ and he’s a good Master. He knows and wants what’s best for us… and through life in his Spirit, we’re able to pursue and achieve it.

Now… what I’m about to say may sound like I’m contradicting myself, so stay with me so I can make my case. There’s a line that I absolutely love from our Communion Liturgy… which we’ll say together in just a few minutes. It goes like this…

“Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

One of my favorite books on Ethics takes its title from this idea. It’s called, “Freedom for Obedience.” (not freedom FROM obedience) Here’s the idea…

Because I’m free in Christ. Because God’s Spirit lives in me. Because I’m no longer in bondage and enslaved to sin and the curse of the Law. I’m now able to express my love to Christ and for Christ by obeying him. And I don’t obey him out of drudgery… because I’m afraid I’ll go to hell if I don’t. No!

As our liturgy says… I can now obey Christ JOYFULLY… with a heart full of LOVE and GRATITUDE!

Can you imagine any better existence than that? Beloved…that’s what I want you to focus on this morning as you come to the Lord’s Table. Yes, Christ has died for you. Yes, your sins are wretched in the sight of God. Yes, God is a holy God who hates our sin. All of that is true.

But in spite of all that, (and because of all that) to paraphrase the Apostle Paul and the theologian Karl Barth… God has still said YES to us in Christ. He has lavished grace upon us.

To be sure, we must respond in trusting dependence to what God has done in Christ. He will not force us to accept the freedom that he offers us. But when we do, he declares that we’re no longer slaves to sin and death. We’re now free in Christ. And that’s worth spending some time in prayer thanking God for this morning.

Grace and Truth,
Dale

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Freedom FOR Obedience, Part 1

The following was preached on Sunday, July 1, 2012 at Southside UMC.

Well, this Wednesday is July 4^th – or what we know as Independence Day. It’s the day that we remember the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It’s that time of year when we make more of an effort to remember our country asserting’s its freedom from the kingdom of Great Britain.

Suzanne and I used to have four small prints by Norman Rockwell that captured the very essence of what our founders had in mind by such a Declaration of Independence. They’re perhaps Rockwell’s most famous paintings and are called The Four Freedoms.

1.)    The First is called Freedom of Speech. It’s a scene of one ordinary man standing up in a great assembly hall with all sorts of folks present. The idea is that in our country, that man has just as much a right to be heard – to speak his mind – as anyone else in the room.

2.)    The Second is called, Freedom of Worship. This is a painting of folks praying reverently and freely before God… without fearing for their safety. In much the same way that we have no worries or fears that at any moment, the secret police are going to break into our worship service and cart us off to prison for assembling together.

3.)    The Third is called, Freedom from Want. This scene shows what looks like a beautifully prepared Thanksgiving Dinner Table… with all the family present. Ideally, in our country, you can pursue your dreams and calling and sufficiently provide for your family without the fear of having it taken from you unjustly.

4.)    The Fourth and Last painting is called, Freedom from Fear. This is a touching picture of a mother and father tucking their children into bed. It brings to mind that the children are being put to bed in the security and love of their home without either the children or the parents riddled with fear.

These four paintings by Rockwell made such an impact that President Roosevelt spoke of them in his State of the Union Address in 1941. In that speech he referred to them as four essential human rights that should be universally protected. He said they should also serve as a reminder of the American motivation of fighting in World War 2. Roosevelt later said, “In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.” (from Wikipedia)

And so, let this be a reminder to us that July 4^th is more than a day of hotdogs and pool parties and fireworks. (Don’t get me wrong… I love each of these parts of our celebration!) Instead, as we gather for these things, let us do so in remembrance of what our precious American freedoms really mean… and let’s express gratitude to God for them. Because they are really are gifts… and not everyone around the world has them.

I think the desire for human freedom is deep within every person. No one wants to be enslaved and in bondage to other people, governments, ideologies, personal problems, or anything else for that matter. I think that’s one of the reasons a movie like Braveheart spoke to so many people. It was a story primarily about a desire… and consequently a fight… for freedom.

I think one of the reasons we want freedom is because very few folks feel like they really have it. And the Bible confirms that feeling by reminding us that we’re all born into slavery. We’re born into the bondage of a cruel taskmaster called SIN.

And it was in response to that taskmaster… that human condition, that God sent our Lord Jesus Christ… to deliver us from this slavery… just as he delivered Israel from her Egyptian oppressors. This is one of the primary reasons why the Apostle Paul wrote his Letter to the Galatians. It’s often been called the Charter of Christian Freedom. It’s called this because in the pages of this letter, the Apostle reminds us of the freedom that was won for us by Christ.

The Apostle reminds us of the freedom that is ours as children of God. And you could say that our Scripture this morning is the theme not only for the whole book of Galatians, but for the whole of the Christian life…

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)

Paul packs an extraordinary amount into this one verse. He shares with us a statement of freedom as well as the implications of that freedom.

We’ll take at what Paul understood that freedom to mean… and what it did not mean… next time.

Grace and Truth,
Dale

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The Need to “Go Deep” in Youth Ministry

Here’s a very brief, but also very helpful, discussion on ministering to students…

Also… I am sharing a couple of things below that I’ve posted before on this same subject (about five years ago). However, the key ideas are still very much on point.

Good Doctrine Makes Better (Teenage) Saints

It’s so vital for Christian parents to work extra hard to make sure that their kids (and even the kids of the covenant in their local church family) are raised on and saturated with biblical truths.

Today was the first day of school for our kids (we educate our children at home if you’re new to the blog). Our oldest three (which even includes our four year old) each have their own Bible curriculum that I teach them and discuss with them one-on-one each day. We may not be guaranteed that our kids will turn out like Piper and Sider suggest (see below), but kids have a much better chance when their parents disciple them…whenever and wherever the opportunities present themselves.

PS – George Barna has also been reporting these same findings for several years. In fact, the quote by Sider in the article below sounds identical to an article I read by Barna a couple of years ago. That may be Sider’s source.

Here’s a snippet from Piper’s article…

Here it is again. More evidence from surveys what the Bible makes so plain: superficial, non-doctrinal, non-serious Christians sin pretty much like the world; but more serious, more doctrinally oriented Christians lead lives that are morally distinct. Two years ago Ron Sider flagged this in his book The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World?

 

Now a new book by Mark Regnerus called Forbidden Fruit: Sex and Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers gives the same bleak picture of so-called “evangelical teenagers” who sleep around as much as unbelievers. But again the book points out that “the 16% of American teenagers who say that their faith is ‘extremely important to their lives’ are living chastely” (Gene Veith, “Sex and the Evangelical Teen,” World, August 11, 2007, p. 9).

Click here to read the whole article.

ALSO – From Barna.org

What is the connection between childhood faith and adult religious commitment? Parents and religious leaders are naturally interested in knowing if spiritual investment in young lives pays off in the long run. 

A recent study conducted by the Barna Group provides new insights into this age-old question. The survey asked adults to think back on their upbringing and to describe the frequency of their involvement in Sunday school or religious training. The Barna researchers then compared those reported early-life behaviors with the respondents’ current levels of faith activity and faith durability.

Click here to read the whole report.

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