The clean up and rebuilding efforts continue in Alabama and Mississippi after spring tornadoes devastated the region and Lake View Camp has planned 3 mission trips back to this area to help out; Nov. 28-Dec. 4, Dec. 1-4, and
Dec. 7-11. Call Diana at (641) 780-3031 or email lakeview (at) lakeviewconference (dot) com for more information.

After the Alabama tornadoes in the spring of 2011, Lake View Camp led a team of high school and college students to NE Alabama in June to help with clean-up. After viewing the destruction, we rolled up our sleeves and helped clear debris, build a house, and visited with many victims, listening to stories of pain and loss. The need is still great in this area and after finding some builder-type adult volunteers to lead return groups, Lake View has decided to lead three mission groups back to the south (Alabama and Mississippi). We will be working with the same ministry group we worked with in June as they try to finish up five homes that they have started. We would love to finish these homes before the really cold weather hits. We still have families living in trailers and just getting by. Please come and help!

Trip #1:  November 28 -December 4. This trip will be led by Clarence Rempe and Dean Butler of Pella. Experienced in mission trips, they are excited to join others from the area who want to make a difference. Leaving early in the morning, this group’s destination is Flatrock, AL (a 12 hour drive). All groups will be staying at Life and Praise Church in Flatrock. Even if you want to come and cook, all levels of help are appreciated. We will be doing mainly construction and painting.

Trip #2:  December 1 – December 4. This trip is for the hearty, as they will travel through the night (Thursday) and begin working on Friday’s arrival. A perfect trip for those who only want to skip one day of work but want to lend a helping hand.  Same destination information applies to you as in trip #1.

Trip #3:  December 7 (evening) – December 10. This trip will be led by Jon Van Woerkom of Pella. This trip wants to bless the people of Cary, MS working on roofs and general home repair.

The cost is $155 per person to cover meals while down there, transportation expense, and building supplies.

As you can tell, we are looking for God’s people to do Kingdom work. Shoulder to shoulder, side by side with God’s people, we can make a difference in this world.

Ministry Expo and Pancake Breakfast Oct. 16, 2011

Plan now to be part of this fall’s Expo!  This important morning will include a fun opportunity for you to learn more about the ministry opportunities available at Westview. We are a Serving Church and would love everyone to find a meaningful place of service where you are fulfilled and the kingdom is advanced. Serving in a ministry area that you enjoy is a great way to get connected with other folks who are also interested in the same activities.  So take a few minutes to meet those folks who lead in the various ministries at Westview, and maybe you can find that niche at Westview where you can enjoy volunteering.

It’s also time for a Westview Pancake breakfast! Worship will dismiss early on Oct 16th for time to explore the Ministry Expo tables. Then make your way out to the kitchen to enjoy Westview’s famous chocolate chip, blueberry and plain pancakes along with yummy sausage and juice. Meet your Small Group, or bring the whole family and a friend or two! This is a fun time to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. See you there!

No Discovery Classes will meet on October 16th.

Now through Mon., Oct. 3, there is a truck in the Westview parking lot to collect clothing for the Thrift Shop in Annville, KY, with Jackson County Ministries. Please place your boxes right in the truck.

Items desired: all types of clothing (great need for women’s clothing); small household items (toasters, blenders, small tables, etc.). Please pack in boxes that can be taped or lidded for the sake of transport. Small boxes that can be carried with ease are best.

This area of Kentucky has an unemployment rate close to 20%, and the needs are incredible. Sometimes the thrift shop actually runs out of items to sell.

This clothing drive is sponsored by the Christian Action Commission of our Central Iowa Classis, Reformed Church in America. Trailers are making their way around churches in central Iowa, and in mid-October, they will be delivered with the help of Central College students.

I was in New York and I know you know where you were because none of us have forgotten where we were or what we were doing ten years ago on September 11, 2001. when Islam captured world’s attention through the violent terrorist attack.

As we reflect on the tragedy of 9-11 on this tenth anniversary I feel compelled to remind you of the truth beneath the events of that day and to perhaps better equip you to think, pray and discuss Islam in light of Scripture and world affairs. I am grateful to my friend missionary Mark Winston (pseudonym because he works and lives in a Muslim nation) for his help in clarifying many issues to me which I have included here.

It is imperative that Christians understand the Islamic roots for these atrocities. They claim that these terrorists are not true Muslims and only represent a minority of extreme fundamentalists. It seems that this message, expressed in the media, has won the sympathy of many Americans.

Indeed, all Muslims are not terrorists nor do all support violence in the name of Allah. However, many Muslims are not aware of the political agenda of their Muslim leaders who base their views on the Quran, Hadith and Shari’a. It has been observed that many Muslim leaders in the public media hence condemned the late Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist acts. Yet in their speeches in mosques they have condoned the attack on America and have seen it as a victory for Islam.

Concerned Christians who work among Muslims feel the responsibility to respond in a way that communicates God’s love without compromising the truth. These are some of the ways we need to respond:

1. Self-examination and Repentance: Whenever we face calamity the Bible instructs us to humble ourselves, repent from our own sins and turn to God (2 Chronicles 7:14.).

2. Compassion and Love: When Jesus saw the crowds in Matthew 9:35-38 he did not condemn them as evil. He had compassion on them because they were “lost and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Likewise we must show compassion toward the Muslims who live in our neighborhoods, work in our places of business and attend our schools. Many Muslims sincerely think that their religion is peaceful. We need to extend hospitality and care to our Muslim neighbors. No innocent Muslims should ever be blamed for the atrocities of Muslim terrorists.

3. Truth in Love: Our love for Muslims is not complete unless we share the truth with them. To claim that there is no connection between violence and Islam is to deny history, Islamic law and even the teachings of the Quran. Many Muslims are not aware of the numerous verses in the Quran and many Hadith narratives which not only encourage but demand that Muslims kill, torture, and harass all Christians, Jews and other infidels.

4. Religious Platform: Muslim activists have been given a platform as high as the White House, as broad as the media, and as deep as many evangelical churches. We urge all leaders in churches and Christian institutions not to give Muslims a platform in their churches or classrooms. If you need a speaker there are many competent scholars of Islam among the thousands of missionaries and Christian workers. Giving Muslims a platform among the Christians is endorsing their religion and giving church members a distorted message about Islam.

With these points in mind carefully consider the following:
Islamic Concept of Peace: Muslims want (more than anything else) us to believe that Islam is a peaceful religion. They base their claim on the Arabic meaning of “Islam.” The word for peace in Arabic is Salaam, not Islam. Islam literally means “to surrender.” Those who faced Muslim invaders were given two choices “surrender or die.”

Those who chose to surrender were given the choice of converting to Islam or paying the Jizya which was a protection tax extracted from those who agreed (by force) to live in submission to Islamic rule. These belonged to the “House of Peace” (Dar-us-Salaam). All others belonged to the “House of War” (Dar-ul-Harb). America and all western countries are in the “House of War” until they are fully under the control of Islam.

Islamic concept of Jihad: Muslim leaders are quick to explain that Jihad does not mean “Holy War.” They stress that the word refers to striving for the cause of Allah by study and personal devotion. This may well be true if only the literal meaning of the word in Arabic is considered.

However, Muhammad’s exhortation to do Jihad is almost always in the context of fighting the infidels, namely Christians, Jews and pagans, by both military and non-military means. Non-military means of Jihad against non-Muslims include harassment, harsh treatment, extracting protection tax, and compelling non-Muslims to convert to Islam. If all this pressure does not bring them to submission, then death is their destiny.

Muhammad also elevated the value for Jihad above everything else except belief in Allah. He taught that Jihad receives the highest reward and is the surest way to gain access to paradise if the “fighter” dies. Survivors are rewarded with material booty collected from their defeated foes. Islamic tradition records Muhammad saying that he desired to return to life again and again just to do Jihad for the cause of Allah (Hadith Bukhari 1:35 & 4:386).

Islam as more than a religion: Whether Muslims are aware of it or not, Islam is not primarily a religion. By their own teaching deen, (religion) is only one aspect of Islam which refers to the ritualistic practices. Other aspects of Islam are Iman (beliefs,) Shari’a (Islamic law) and Umma (the worldwide community.) These four divisions of Islam are fully intertwined.

In other words, the Islamic world community is a political power that dominates by the exercise of Islamic law that is derived from and founded upon its beliefs. The religious rituals are the external expression of this system that both identifies those who practice them as Muslims and ties them together as a homogenous people regardless of their geographic or racial diversity. This makes Islam a socio-cultural and religio-economic political system. This is where the danger to non-Muslims lies.

Islam’s Global Agenda: Muhammad taught his followers that all religions before him, including Judaism and Christianity, were good in their time. Islam, however, is the final and universal religion. Where Islam is dominant, no other religion is tolerated unless it agrees to submit to Islamic rule. This mindset permeates the mind and heart of Muslims. In fact, people and nations who refuse Islam are considered infidels, enemies of Islam. They belong to the “House of War.”

Muslim clergy and laymen alike are commanded to engage in Daawa (calling people to Islam) which ultimately aims at establishing a universal political system under Islamic law. Throughout history this command has been carried out time and time again beginning with Muhammad himself who subdued all rival Arab tribes. In the first century following Muhammad’s death, his followers stretched the power of Islam far and wide, reaching even India and China.

Today, fifty-six nations have a majority population of Muslims. They all belong to a worldwide alliance of Muslim states. Their major concerns are the consolidation of Islamic power in these nations and global expansion of Islam. Muslim leaders over the last few decades have openly spoken of their goal to spread Islam in the west until Islam becomes the dominant power. It is not surprising that Muslims are politically active on every level, nationally and locally.

Among the most powerful means of expansion have been the large endowments by Arab countries to American universities including prominent institutions such as Harvard University. Not infrequently, American politicians have innocently accepted huge monetary “gifts” to promote Islamic causes. Although we must never deny any religion freedom of expression, we need to beware of political activism that aims at destroying the very freedoms that bring them to power.

Persecution of Christians: It is well-documented that Muslim countries have had a very bad record in regard to violations of human rights. Wherever Islamic law is in effect, we find that many Christians are harassed, persecuted and even killed. From Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States, to Egypt and Sudan in North Africa, to Pakistan and Afghanistan, many Muslim countries have created and enforced intolerable conditions for Christians. Converts from Islam have faced even harsher treatment including torture and death.

Muslims typically are not aware of these facts. It is fair to state that not all Muslims have discovered the political dimensions of Islam. It is significant to note here that not one Muslim nation has been able to hold onto a democratic style government. Democracy and Islam are unable to coexist. Many governments such as Turkey and Egypt have been trying to establish themselves as democratic nations.

They are faced with strong opposition by the fundamental Muslim organizations. Some Muslims in defense of their actions refer to the Crusades and other atrocities committed in the name of Christ. What needs to be noted here is that when Christians commit violent acts they do so against the teachings of the Bible. But for Muslims it is part of their religious mandate.

God Loves Muslims: As Christians we believe that God loves sinners though He hates their sins. We too must distinguish between Muslims as people and Islam as a religion. God is love and has clearly manifested his love for us and for all people of the world including Muslims by sending Jesus to save the world from the grip of darkness. During these difficult days, let us reach out to our Muslim neighbors and friends with the love of Christ.

Jesus taught us to love our enemies. Many of them may be struggling with insecurity and mistreatment by nominal Christians. We need to affirm them that we do not hate them and that we understand that they are not personally responsible. However, no love is complete without sharing the truth that Jesus wants to give them a new life.

Call to Action: It is unfortunate that evangelical Christians have been almost totally silent. It is critical that Islamic teachings be known. This will serve both as a warning against what might happen if Islam wins its public relations campaign, and as a challenge for the church to step up to her responsibility to bring the gospel to the millions of Muslims in North America and the one billion world-wide.

We cannot continue to sit on the sidelines while Muslims gain access to our churches and our government as they promote an anti-American stance. Muslims have been thriving in our free democratic system. Yet in their countries they suppress Christian work and deny Christians the right of expression and assembly.

The attack on America ten years ago was a wakeup call for the Church. We Christians must wake up to this opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ toward Muslims who need to hear the message of hope and salvation through Jesus Christ, the only Savior of the world.

Think about it.

See you Sunday,

Tom

Many, many years ago, there was found in an African mine the most magnificent diamond in the world. It was soon presented to the king, William IV of England, to blaze in his crown. The king sent it to Amsterdam to be cut. It was put into the hands of an expert diamond cutter, known as a lapidary.
And what do you suppose he did with it? He took the gem of priceless value, and cut a notch in it. Then he struck a hard blow with his instrument and–lo!–the superb jewel lay in his hand in two pieces! Did he do this out of recklessness, wastefulness, and criminal 
carelessness? Did he secretly despise the king or his empire? Wast it espionage?
No. None of these.
You see for days and weeks that blow had been studied and planned. Drawings and models had been made of the gem. Its quality, its defects, its lines of cleavage had all been studied with minutest care. The man to whom it was committed was one of the most skillful and respected lapidaries in the world.
Was that blow a mistake? No! It was the climax of the lapidary’s skill. When he struck that blow, he did the one thing which would bring that gem to its most perfect shapeliness, radiance, and jeweled splendor. That blow which seemed to ruin the superb precious stone was, in fact, its perfect redemption. From those two halves were 
wrought two magnificent gems which the skilled eye of the lapidary saw hidden in the rough, uncut stone as it came from the mine.
Sometimes, God lets a stinging blow fall upon your life. The blood spurts; the nerves wince. The funding disappears. The position is eliminated. The project flops. The proposal gets rejected. The investment tanks. The test comes back positive. The relationship ends. The rejection letter arrives. The phone doesn’t ring. The security is gone…and your soul cries out in agony. The blow seems to you an appalling mistake or even worse. But it is not, for you are the most priceless jewel in the world to God. And He is the most skilled lapidary in the universe.
Let us be careful of questioning the methods and means of almighty God. We lie in His hands, and He knows just how to deal with us.

Think about it.

See you Sunday,

Tom

The Westview Elder Board is asking for your input. We will keep this page open until 9pm on Tuesday May 3rd. Thank you for taking the time to respond. Your feedback is appreciated.

Please join us in meeting Scott Van Oostendorp on Sunday, May 1. He will be introduced and will share more about himself, then a time for Q&A, all starting at 9:00 in the Worship Center, and then he will deliver our worship message in our 10:30 service. We hope to see you all there!   Note: It is important for the Elder Board to get feedback from the congregation afterward, so we will be asking everyone to provide that via an online survey tool. The survey link will be included in our church bulletin on Sunday and we’ll be asking for all input to be submitted by Tuesday night. We appreciate your investment in this process!

Sunday’s Q & A time will be taped for those who can’t attend this Sunday.   Tyra will have the DVD – please contact her to borrow it.  An audio of the worship service will be on our website.

Click here to download the zip files for the audio to put on your mp3 player/ipod for the prayer path. Audio devices will be available at the event. We encourage you to download and bring your own device.

Download zip file here

When I was in high-school, the cross-country team ran on the golf course. The officials for the race would go out ahead, placing flags on the course to show the runners where they were supposed to run. A certain color indicated “left turn.” Another color meant
“right turn.” Another said “straight ahead.”

There was a race marked out for the runners; and if they had any intention of taking home a medal, they had to follow the race course marked out. You couldn’t decide, “Hey, this is a six-mile race, but I’ve only got four miles in me this morning so, I’m going to take a short cut! I hope nobody minds.”

You can’t look at a particular hill and say, “That hill just looks nasty. I’m not going to tackle that one today. I’ll just skip around it.” You have to run the race marked out for you.

So it is in life. When facing any challenge you’ve got to remember that God has gone before you. He knows your end from your beginning. He knows all the days of your life. In his great foreknowledge, he has gone ahead of you and planted these flags ahead of you. As Hebrews 12:1 says, “…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Think about it.

See you Sunday,

Tom

His name conjures up images of leprechauns, shamrocks, green beer and all things Irish. But the truth is most people have no idea who St. Patrick was and why we celebrate the day that bares his name. And it all started sometime toward the end of the fourth or beginning of the fifth century not with leprechauns or shamrocks but with…pirates!

“PIRATES!” the young man screamed in warning to his family farther up the shore. A small fleet of pirate ships made its way toward the beach, where the small family was fishing. Patrick’s heart pounded in his chest, he had heard stories of pirates who captured slaves and took them “to the ends of the world,” and as he watched, the sixteen year old imagined the worst.

With no army to protect them (Roman legions had long since deserted Britain to protect Rome from barbarian invasions), Patrick and his town were unprepared for attack. The Irish pirates, wearing nothing but helmets and armed with swords and spears, stormed the rocky beach. The blaring war horns and pounding war drums struck terror into Patrick’s heart, and he ran with his family toward town.

The warriors quickly destroyed the village. Then as Patrick scrambled among burning houses and screaming women he was captured. The barbarians bound and dragged him aboard a ship bound for of Ireland.

Patrick was sold to a cruel warrior chief and druid priest named Milic Moccu Boin, whose enemies’ heads sat atop sharp poles around the walls of his fortified houses in the rugged country of Ireland. While Patrick minded his master’s cattle in the nearby hills, he lived much like an animal himself, enduring long bouts of hunger and thirst. Worst of all, he was isolated from all other human beings for months at a time. Patrick’s grandfather had been a priest, who left him a legacy of Christianity that young Patrick took with him into captivity. He had been a nominal Christian to this point; he now turned to the Christian God of his fathers for comfort.

“I would pray constantly during the daylight hours,” he later recalled. “The love of God and the fear of him surrounded me more and more. And faith grew. And the spirit roused so that in one day I would say as many as a hundred prayers, and at night only slightly less.”

After six years of slavery, Patrick received a supernatural message. “You do well to fast,” a mysterious voice said to him. “Soon you will return to your homeland.”

Before long, the voice spoke again: “Come and see, your ship is waiting for you.” So Patrick fled 200 miles to the nearest harbor where he boarded a ship of traders, carrying Irish wolfhounds to the European continent.

After a three-day journey, the men landed in Gaul (modern France), where they found only devastation. Goths or Vandals had so decimated the land that no food was to be found in the once fertile area.

“What have you to say for yourself, Christian?” the ship’s captain taunted. “You boast that your God is all powerful. We’re starving to death, and we may not survive to see another soul.”

Patrick answered confidently. “Nothing is impossible to God. Turn to him and he will send us food for our journey.”

At that moment, a herd of wild pigs appeared, “seeming to block our path.” Though Patrick instantly became “well regarded in their eyes,” his companions offered their new-found food in sacrifice to their new found Heavenly Father.

Many historians believe Patrick then spent a period training for ministry in the south of France near Cannes. His autobiographical Confession includes very little after his escape from Ireland. He simply writes, “after a few years,” he is back in Britain with his family.

It was there that Patrick received his call to evangelize Ireland—a vision like the apostle Paul’s at Troas, when a Macedonian man pleaded, “Help us!”

“I had a vision in my dreams of a man who seemed to come from Ireland,” Patrick wrote. “His name was Victoricius, and he carried countless letters, one of which he handed over to me. I read aloud where it began: ‘The Voice of the Irish.’ And as I began to read these words, I seemed to hear the voice of the same men who lived beside the forest of Foclut and they cried out as with one voice, ‘We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.’ I was deeply moved in heart and I could read no further, so I awoke.”

Druidism was most dominant when Patrick arrived on the Irish shore once again. “I dwell among gentiles,” he wrote, “in the midst of pagan barbarians, worshipers of idols, and of unclean things.”

Patrick did not require the native Irish to surrender their belief in supernatural beings. They were only to regard these beings in a new light as demons. The fear of the old deities was transformed into hatred of demons. If Christianity had come to Ireland with only theological doctrines, the hope of immortal life, and ethical ideas—without miracles, mysteries, and rites—it could have never wooed the wild Celtic heart.

Predictably, Patrick faced the most opposition from the druids, who practiced magic, were skilled in learning (especially law and history) and were advisors to the Irish kings. Biographies of the saint are replete with stories of those who “wished to kill holy Patrick.”

“Daily I expect murder, fraud or captivity,” Patrick wrote, “but I fear none of these things because of the promises of heaven. I have cast myself into the hands of God almighty who rules everywhere.”

Indeed, Patrick almost delighted in taking risks. “I must take this decision disregarding risks involved and make known the gifts of God and his everlasting consolation. Neither must we fear any such risk in faithfully preaching God’s name boldly in every place, so that even after my death, a spiritual legacy may be left for my brethren and my children.”

Patrick was as fully convinced as the Celts that the power of the druids was real, but he brought news of a stronger power. His most famous writing Lorica, “Patrick’s Breastplate”, a prayer of protection, expresses perfectly Patrick’s confidence in God to protect him, “from every fierce merciless force that may come upon my body and soul; against incantations of false prophets, against black laws of paganism, against false laws of heresy, against deceit of idolatry, against spells of women and smiths and druids.”

Apparently it worked! King Loiguire set up an ambush to kill Patrick, but as the bishop walked the trap, all the king could see was a deer. Thus the Breastplate is also called the Deer’s Cry.

There were other confrontations between Patrick and the druids, but scholars wonder if it was as dramatic and magical as later stories recounted. One biographer from the late 600s, Muirchœ, described Patrick challenging (much like Elijah the old testament prophet) druids to contests at Tara, in which each party tried to outdo the other in working wonders before the audience:

“The custom was that whoever lit a fire before the king on that night of the year [Easter vigil] would be put to death. Patrick lit the paschal fire before the king on the hill of Slane. The people saw Patrick’s fire throughout the plain, and the king ordered 27 chariots to go and seize Patrick .

“Seeing that the impious heathen were about to attack him, Patrick rose and said clearly and loudly, ‘May God come up to scatter his enemies, and may those who hate him flee from his face.’ By this disaster, caused by Patrick’s curse in the king’s presence because of the king’s order, seven times seven men fell. … And the king, driven by fear, came and bent his knees before the holy man . …

“[The next day], in a display of magic, a druid invoked demons and brought about a dark fog over the land. Patrick said to the druid, ‘Cause the fog to disperse.’ But he was unable to do it. Patrick prayed and gave his blessing, and suddenly the fog cleared and the sun shone. … And through the prayers of Patrick the flames of fire consumed the druid.

“And the king was greatly enraged at Patrick because of the death of his druid. Patrick said to the king, ‘If you do not believe now, you will die on the spot for the wrath of God descends on your head.’

“The king summoned his council and said, ‘It is better for me to believe than to die.’ And he believe,” as did many others that day!

Yet to Patrick, the greatest enemy was one he had been intimately familiar with—slavery. He was, in fact, the first Christian to speak out strongly against the practice. Scholars agree he is the genuine author of a letter excommunicating a British tyrant, Coroticus, who had carried off some of Patrick’s converts into slavery.

“Ravenous wolves have gulped down the Lord’s own flock which was flourishing in Ireland,” he wrote, “and the whole church cries out and laments for its sons and daughters.” He called Coroticus’s deed “wicked, so horrible, so unutterable,” and told him to repent and to free the converts.

It remains unknown if he was successful in freeing Coroticus’s slaves, but within his lifetime (or shortly thereafter), Patrick ended the entire Irish slave trade.

Patrick concentrated the bulk of his missionary efforts on the country’s one hundred or so tribal kings. If the king became a Christian, he reasoned, the people would too. This strategy was a success.

As kings converted, they gave their sons to Patrick in an old Irish custom for educating and “fostering” (Patrick, for his part, held up his end by distributing gifts to these kings). Eventually, the sons and daughters of the Irish became ministers, monks and nuns.

From kingdom to kingdom (Ireland did not yet have towns), Patrick worked much the same way. Once he converted a number of pagans, he built a church. One of his new disciples would be ordained as a deacon, priest, or bishop, and left in charge. If the chieftain had been gracious enough to grant a site for a monastery as well as a church, it was built too and functioned as a missionary station.

Before departing, Patrick gave the new converts and their new pastors a compendium of the Holy Scriptures.

Despite his success as a missionary, Patrick was self-conscious, especially about his educational background. “I still blush and fear more than anything to have my lack of learning brought out into the open,” he wrote in his Confession. “For I am unable to explain my mind to learned people.”

Nevertheless, he gives thanks to God, “who stirred up me, a fool, from the midst of those who are considered wise and learned in the practice of the law as well as persuasive in their speech and in every other way and ahead of these others, inspired me who is so despised by the world.”

Over and over again, Patrick wrote that he was not worthy to be a bishop. He wasn’t the only one with doubts. At one point, his ecclesiastical elders in Britain sent a deputation to investigate his mission. A number of concerns were brought up, including a rash moment of unspecified sin from his youth.

His Confession, in fact, was written in response to this investigation. Reeling from accusations, Patrick drew strength from God: “Indeed he bore me up, though I was trampled underfoot in such a way. For although I was put down and shamed, not too much harm came to me.”

If Patrick was not confident about his own shortcomings, he held a deep sense of God’s intimate involvement in his life. “I have known God as my authority, for he knows all things even before they are done,” he wrote. “He would frequently forewarn me of many things by his divine response.”

Indeed, Patrick recorded many dreams he regarded as personal messages from God. And scattered throughout his Confession are tributes to God’s goodness to him: “Tirelessly, I thank my God, who kept me faithful on the day I was tried, so that today I might offer to him, the Lord Jesus Christ, the sacrifice of my soul. He saved me in all dangers and perils . …So, whatever may come my way, good or bad, I equally tackle it, always giving thanks to God.”

According to the Irish annals, Patrick died in 493, when he would have been in his seventies. But we do not know for sure when, where, or even how he died. His feast day is recorded as early as March 17, 797, with the annotation; “The flame of a splendid sun, the apostle of Ireland, may Patrick with many thousands be the shelter of our wickedness.”

While it is difficult to separate fact from fiction in the stories of Patrick’s biographers. It is historically clear, however, that Patrick was one of the first great missionaries who brought the gospel beyond the boundaries of Roman civilization. According to tradition, he had established bishops throughout Ireland.

Patrick was a terrific model for all Christians. He engaged in continuous prayer. He was enraptured by God, nature and loved Scripture. He also had a rich poetic imagination with the openness to hear God in dreams and visions and a love of nature and the created.

He is, then, most worthy of the appellation saint, as one “set apart” for a divine mission. As such, he became an inspiring example. Hundreds of Celtic Christians, in emulation of Patrick, left their homeland to spread the Love of Christ to Scotland, England, and continental Europe.

It is a legacy Patrick was proud of: “For God gave me such grace, that many people through me were reborn to God…”

Patrick, is remembered today as the saint who drove the snakes out of Ireland, the teacher who used the shamrock to explain the Trinity, and the namesake of annual parades in New York and Boston. What is less well-known is that Patrick was a humble missionary (this saint regularly referred to himself as “a sinner”) of tremendous courage. When he evangelized Ireland, he set in motion a series of events that impacted all the world. It all started when he was carried off into slavery around 430 A.D.

So today, when people are celebrating with parades, wearing of the green, and drinking much green beer you will know at least in part the great man who’s life we celebrate on this day.

Perhaps, the reason St. Patrick’s Day might have become so popular is that it takes place just a few days before the first day of spring. One might say it has become the first green of spring.

Think about it.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

Tom

It was June 18, 1815, the Battle of Waterloo. The French under the command of Napoleon were fighting the Allies (British, Dutch, and Germans) under the command of Wellington. The people of England
depended on a system of semaphore signals to find out how the battle was going. One of these signal stations was on the tower of Winchester Cathedral.

Late in the day it flashed the signal:

“W-E-L-L-I-N-G-T-O-N—D-E-F-E-A-T-E-D- -.”

Just at that moment one of those sudden English fog clouds made it impossible to read the message. The news of defeat quickly spread throughout the city. The whole countryside was sad and gloomy when they heard the news that their country had lost the war. Suddenly the fog lifted, and the remainder of the message could be read. The message had four words, not two. The complete message was:
“W-E-L-L-I-N-G-T-O-N- – -DE-F-E-A- T-E-D- – -T-H-E- – -E-N- E-M-Y!”
It took only a few minutes for the good news to spread. Sorrow was turned into joy, defeat was turned into victory!

So it was when Jesus was laid in the tomb on the first Good Friday afternoon. Hope had died even in the hearts of Jesus’ most loyal friends. After the frightful crucifixion, the fog of disappointment and misunderstanding had crept in on the friends of Jesus. They had “read” only part of the divine message. “Christ defeated” was all that they knew. But then on the third day–Easter Sunday–the fog of disappointment and misunderstanding lifted, and the world received the complete message: “Christ defeated death!”

Defeat was turned into victory; death was turned to life!

Remember this next time you find yourself in seeming defeat. Because that same Jesus is with you.

Think about it.

See you this Sunday,

Tom

PS – bring a friend

It was Monday night, August 3, at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. At the track and field stadium, the gun sounded for the 400-meter semifinals. About 100 meters into the race, Britain’s Derek Redmond crumpled to the track with a torn right hamstring.

Medical attendants rushed out to assist him, but as they approached Redmond, he waved them all aside, struggled to his feet, and crawled and hopped in a desperate effort to finish the race.

Four years earlier he had also qualified for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea. Ninety seconds before his heat he had to pull out
of the Olypics because of Achilles tendon problems. Following that injury, he had five surgeries. Yet somehow he had qualified again for this 1992 Olympics, and he’d just suffered a career-ending injury.

But he said to himself, “I’m not quitting. I’m going to finish this race.” He works his way, hopping, crawling at times down the lane.

Up in the stands, a big guy wearing a T-shirt, tennis shoes, and a Nike cap that said “Just Do It” across the front barreled out of the stands, hurled aside a security guard, ran to Derek Redmond’s side, and embraced him. He was Jim Redmond, Derek’s father.

Jim was one of these sports dads who changes his whole life for the sake of his athlete child. He changed jobs. He moved to find
the best training for his son.

Now, arm around his son’s waist, Derek’s arm around his dad’s thick shoulders and neck, they continue down the track.

Mom and sister were watching this race back home on television. His sister, who was pregnant, went into false labor. Mom is weeping. There, at the stadium, the crowd is standing, cheering. Derek and his dad work their way around the track until, finally,
arm in arm, they cross the finish line.

If that’s the way an earthly father responds to his son who is determined to finish the race no matter what the price, how much
more does God, our heavenly Father, run to the side of his son or daughter who says, “I’m finishing. I don’t care how much it hurts.
I don’t care if I’m hanging on a cross. I’m finishing.”

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, Hebrews 12:1

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Revelation 3:11

No matter what you are facing, whatever you do, don’t give up!

Think about it.

See you Sunday,

Tom

This week I was ministering at a Pastor’s Retreat and I overheard one of the pastors speaking about his appointment to a new church and the pastor did not feel the placement exactly suited his abilities.

I overheard him complaining about it to another pastor that he, “didn’t do the small church thing.” After a short pause I heard the other pastor say, “You know, the world’s a better place because Michelangelo did not say, ‘I don’t do ceilings.’ ”

Her comment stopped me dead in my tracks. I had to admit she was right.

If you and I are going to be faithful to God’s calling on our lives, then we had better understand that.

I reflected on the attitudes of some of the prominent people throughout the Scriptures and the history of the church. It was through uncomfortable circumstances, impossible odds and incredible personal risk that they and their worlds were changed. In the margin of my bible I found the following, to whom credit is due I have no idea but I just had to share it with you…

The world’s a better place because a German monk named Martin Luther did not say, “I don’t do doors.”

The world’s a better place because an Oxford student named John Wesley didn’t say, “I don’t do preaching in fields.”

The world’s a better place because Moses didn’t say, “I don’t do Pharaohs or mass migrations.”

The world’s a better place because Noah didn’t say, “I don’t do arks and animals.”

The world’s a better place because Rehab didn’t say, “I don’t do enemy spies.”

The world’s a better place because Ruth didn’t say, “I don’t do mothers-in-law.”

The world’s a better place because Samuel didn’t say, “I don’t do mornings.”

The world’s a better place because David didn’t say, “I don’t do giants.”

The world’s a better place because Peter didn’t say, “I don’t do Gentiles.”

The world’s a better place because John didn’t say, “I don’t do deserts.”

The world’s a better place because Mary didn’t say, “I don’t do virgin births.”

The world’s a better place because Paul didn’t say, “I don’t do correspondence.”

The world’s a better place because Mary Magdalene didn’t say, “I don’t do feet.”

The world’s a better place because Jesus didn’t say, “I don’t do crosses.”

And the world will be a better place only if you and I don’t say, “I don’t do …”

Take a minute and look up Genesis 22:2; Joshua 11:15; 2 Kings 18:6 and Hebrews 5:8.

Incredible, isn’t it? That the changing of our entire world might reside just outside your comfort zone?

Think about it.

Tom