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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A Prayer for New Year’s Eve

Lord, make me to know thine end and the measure of my days that I may know how frail I am. Another year of my pilgrimage has passed. I am a year nearer to my death, nearer to Judgment, nearer to eternity to come. Whither shall I flee as the sins of the past year and the transgressions of the years rise to condemn me? Lord, to Thee I flee for refuge in these last hours of the waning year. For the sake of Thine own Son, whom Thou has sent to be the Savior of all men, be gracious to me, and pardon mine iniquity. 

Trusting in the merits of my Savior, I come boldly to Thy throne of grace, in full confidence that there I shall obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of  need. Oh, satisfy me early with Thy mercy that I may rejoice and be glad all my days. May the remaining years of my life be spent in Thy service that, when my last hour shall come, I may depart in peace to enter into Thy joy forever. Amen.

from The Lutheran Book of Prayer, 1951

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Today Matters (Key Ideas) by John Maxwell

I wrote the following post last year, but as I find myself reading Maxwell’s book again, I thought I would share this again. I mentioned yesterday that I was planning on having my two oldest children (15 and 13) read this book. Maxwell was once asked which of his books he would recommend for younger students and this was his top choice (if memory serves). At any rate, the fact that I find myself reading it year after year around New Year’s speaks volumes to me. I really have found it to be a “go to” resource.

By the way, I also just started reading The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, which hits on similar themes, but is by no means the same book as Maxwell’s. I hope to soon share some key ideas that I learn from that book soon.

Hope you find it helpful,
Dale

Key Ideas from Chapter 1 of John Maxwell’s Today Matters

Everything underneath my signature below comes directly from Chapter 1 of Maxwell’s book, Today Matters. I read it seven years ago and picked it up again last week and started reading it.

It’s a powerful book that emphasizes the importance of making and then managing daily choices. I have said often that the hardest part about life or about parenting is that it’s so daily. It’s that daily faithfulness and consistency and intentionality and discipline that enables us to make incremental, yet positive changes in our lives. Conversely, it’s the lack of faithfulness, consistency, intentionality, and discipline that moves us, ever so slowly, in the wrong direction in our lives.

Maxwell’s book does an excellent job of highlighting the various spheres of  life and shows us how we can add value in our own lives and in the lives of others in those spheres. It’s not a hard read at all. In fact, it takes no time to read through a chapter. However, don’t be tempted to “read for speed.” Take your time and ponder the ideas that he shares (and the great illustrations and examples).

I don’t want to twist Joshua’s words at the end of the biblical book that bears his name, but there is a real sense in which we must “choose this day” whom or what we will serve. And while Joshua was declaring that he and his household would serve (worship, obey, follow) the one true God, I think we can certainly say that each day are we called to wake up and “choose this day” what road we will walk down. And then, the next day, we have to wake up and choose yet again… and then do it. We must be purposeful and intentional. We can’t just go with the flow. We can’t just let others decide who we will be and what we will do. We must live our own lives and that living begins with intentional choices.

Enjoy the following key ideas from Maxwell. They are worth thinking about.

Grace and Truth,
Dale

The way you live today impacts your tomorrow.

The problem is that we want the rewards of success without paying the price.

“You don’t win an Olympic gold medal with a few weeks of intensive training,” says Godin. “There’s no such thing as an overnight opera sensation. Great law firms or design companies don’t spring p overnight… Every great company, every great brand, and every great career has been built in exactly the same way bit by bit, step by step, little by little.”

The truth is that people who do nothing more than wait for an opportunity won’t be ready to capitalize on one if it does appear. As basketball legend John Wooden says,” When opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare.” And for those who receive their wish – of a promotion, start-up money or anything else – it rarely changes anything in the long term if they haven’t already done all the groundwork to be successful.

…real, sustainable change doesn’t happen in a moment. It’s a process.

Growth comes from making decisions and following through on them.

People create success in their lives by focusing on today. It may sound trite, but today is the only time you have. It’s too late for yesterday. And you can’t depend on tomorrow. That’s why today matters.

“Yesterday Ended Last Night.” …no matter how badly I might have failed in the past, it’s done, and today is a new day.

Hoping for a good future without investing in today is like a farmer waiting for a crop without ever planting any seed.

Benjamin Franklin asserted, time is “the stuff life is made of.” Today is the only time we have within our grasp, yet many people let it slip through their fingers. They recognize neither today’s value nor its potential.

If we want to do something with our lives, then we must focus on today. That’s where tomorrow’s success lies.

Here’s the missing piece: The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda.

It all comes down on what you do today. When I talk about your daily “agenda,” I don’t mean your to-do list. …I’m focusing on something bigger. I want you to embrace what may be a whole new approach to life.

Make the Decision Once… Then Manage It Daily

If you make decisions in those key areas once and for all – and then manage those decisions daily – you can create the kind of tomorrow you desire. Successful people make right decisions early and manage those decisions daily.

Benjamin Franklin rightly observed, “One today is worth two tomorrows what I am to be, I am now becoming.”

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Just for Today

I love Today Matters by John Maxwell. I hope to have two of my children read it in 2013. Good stuff for all of us to think about…especially as we approach that time of year when we think about changes we’d like to make in our lives. Here’s a good list from Maxwell at the beginning of his book…

from Today Matters by John Maxwell

Just for Today…

Just for today… I will choose and display the right attitudes.

Just for today… I will determine and act on important priorities.

Just for today… I will know and follow healthy guidelines.

Just for today… I will communicate with and care for my family.

Just for today… I will practice and develop good thinking.

Just for today… I will  make and keep proper commitments.

Just for today… I will earn and properly manage finances.

Just for today… I will deepen and live out my faith.

Just for today… I will initiate and invest in solid relationships.

Just for today… I will plan for and model generosity.

Just for today… I will embrace and practice good values.

Just for today… I will seek and experience improvements.

Just for today… I will act on these decisions and practice these disciplines, and

Then one day… I will see the compounding results of a day lived well.

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My Most Important Resolution for 2012, Part 2

You can click here if you missed Part 1

What does any of what I shared in Part 1 have to do with what I regard as my most important resolution for this new year?

The answer was found in my Scripture reading Tuesday morning.

First of all, Psalm 29:1-2 reminded me that God is a God of glory, strength, and holiness. As I mentioned Tuesday, it is in both knowing about God, as well as knowing relationally the true and living God of Holy Scripture, that leads (or ought to lead) me to worship him.

Conversely, in Romans 1:18-20, the Apostle Paul warns us against suppressing the clear and knowable revelation of God through our wickedness. God, Paul teaches us, has made himself known to all people everywhere and it is only in rebellion that people falsely claim ignorance. Paul says that no one can legitimately make that excuse.

Jesus himself, in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 9:18-20), asks those closest to him who other people believe he is. He then brings it closer to him by asking them who they believe he is. Knowing him clearly and truly mattered (and matters) to our Lord.

In Romans 1:1-4, the Apostle drives home a similar point by teaching us who Jesus is, both as fully human and fully divine. Just as Peter had declared, so Paul also reminds us… Jesus is the “Christ,” the “Messiah” of God and Lord. He is the Son of God and the very center of the gospel of God.

Knowing God and his Son, Jesus Christ, (as I mentioned last time, from John 17:3), is a big deal. One might make the case that it is the only deal that really matters. Whether or not we would want to take it that far, hopefully we would all agree that knowing God should be our greatest priority (In addition to John 17:3, there is also Philippians 3:7-11 and Luke 10:38-42.)

Tuesday morning I needed reminding of that because I all too often take my eyes off of God and turn toward idols of my making. Not only is that sin, in and of itself, (see the first two Commandments) but following after such idols leads me further and further away from God and closer and closer to destruction and despair (whether I realize it or not at the time).

Knowing God is the only thing that can save my eternal soul. It’s the only way to be saved from God’s wrath and for rest, peace, fulfilment, meaning, purpose, righteousness, joy, eternal life, and utimately, God himself. Idolatry leads me in the opposite direction.

Idolatry is a wide and comfortable road in which I will never be judged or condemned by the world around me. In fact, I may even be well thought of on that road. The road of idolatry, however, leads to destruction, regardless of how popular or how numerous the crowd is that walks it.

Knowing God (and seeking to know him better and better – in the fulness of all that that means) can be narrow, hard, trying, and certainly unpopular. Yet it is glorious and life-giving.

I resolve in 2012 to put my eyes back on God and his Son, Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith. I want to truly know him. That’s what it means to really live. Other resolutions are fine… maybe even good. But I need to make sure that the “good” doesn’t become the enemy of the “best.”

Only one resolution comes with a guarantee… with a promise… and that is to know the one true God and his Son, Jesus Christ, whom he sent.

Thanks be to God,
Dale

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Redeeming the Time (Some Thoughts for the New Year)

Ephesians 5:15-17

Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, [16] making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. [17] Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Scripture says that we are like vapors – here today and then… POOF…gone in an instant. Some of us may live to the national average or even past it. Others will not live that long. Whatever the case may be, Scripture affirms that “man knows not his time.” Therefore, since no one knows when he will be called home, doesn’t it make sense to make the most of each day – as though it was our last day? 

We are sometimes asked what we would do if we only had one week or one month to live. We generally give a sweet, sentimental, or even a profound answer that stresses the urgency of the hypothetical predicament about which we are being asked. And yet, so often, we never “live out” the answers that we give because we suppress the truth of reality and thus mistakenly believe that we have an infinite supply of time and opportunities waiting before us.

This is folly, unwise, and terribly unrealistic. It’s the very reason the apostle stressed what he did in our scripture.

Paul tells us immediately to be careful how we live. He says we need to be wise, not unwise, and that we need to make the most of every opportunity that comes our way. John Wesley and George Whitefield both called this “redeeming the time.”

It’s been calculated that the average person watches six years worth of television over the course of her lifetime – and four months tying her shoes. Do we really want to leave that kind of legacy to our children? Worse, do we really want to stand before our Lord one day and tell him that we buried our time and talents underneath the sofa cushion – right next to the crumbs of potato chips and lost change? That will hardly be the “first-fruits” of a life well lived.

Our very lives are a gift from God. We are to be stewards of them. In a real sense they are not our own. If we would offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God, then we must daily put ourselves back on the altar before him – to consecrate ourselves to him.

There is cost involved here to be sure. To give ourselves to the Lord in this way will require sacrifice, commitment, and self-discipline. To redeem the time we have been given, to make the most of every opportunity, we will need to work hard and replace some poor attitudes, ways of thinking, and habits with good ones.

Instead of listening to music in the car, (which is not inherently bad, by the way), we might listen to a sermon or instructional tape. Instead of sleeping in, we might get up a bit earlier and spend time with the Lord – in his Word and in prayer. Instead of watching TV all night, why not pick up a book that will build you up in the faith or help you improve your life in some way? Instead of filling your life with busy work, why not build relationships with family and friends? The list could on and on, but you get the point.

It’s been often said that no one, at the end of his life, looks back and says he should have spent more time in the office, or in front of the TV, or at the mall, etc. These things are not necessarily worthless, but they are fleeting.

Why not redeem the time that you have been given by using it wisely? Why not make the most of every opportunity God will give you today… and tomorrow? Our lives are short enough already. Let’s not fill them with trinkets when we have the opportunity to offer the Lord the sweet scent of a pleasing sacrifice.

Grace and Truth,
Dale

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The Battle Between Your Present and Future Self with Daniel Goldstein

I’ve said for years that “morning Dale” hates “night-time Dale” because morning Dale wants to get up early and pray, read, exercise, etc. But night-time Dale is too self-absorbed and selfish to care very much what morning Dale wants. Geesh!

This video is very interesting in helping us think about something very similar, but on a much grander scale. Very worth watching.

Cheers,
Night-time Dale

Thanks to TED for another great TED Talk.

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