Ireland, Missions
Today was great! Tomorrow begins a very busy ministry schedule so today we filled up our collective batteries visiting some significant ruins from Ireland’s great history.
We visited Kells, one of Ireland’s oldest monasteries, then headed over to Trim to visit Trim Castle. Lastly, we stopped at Bective Abbey, a 12th century monastary, and spent some time praying. What an amazing place to seek God!
Check out the video and pictures below. More great stuff coming tomorrow!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JsXwEWbd0E]
Apparently digging up graves was a problem in Kells
Steeple entryway in Kells
The team near Trim Castle
Bective Abbey
Tree at Bective. Reminds me of Psalm 1:1-3.
Missions, social justice
There is a group of interns that I have the honor of meeting with on a regular basis. We pray together, read the dead guys, and hold each other accountable. For a few months now, we’ve been mulling over Isaiah 58. It’s really gotten a hold of us! Break the chains of injustice, set the oppressed free, and feed the hungry. It’s a picture of God’s heart and a list of things that we should be doing if we call ourselves believers.
It’s so easy to look at the massive need in our world and become totally overwhelmed! But God doesn’t ask us to fix it all, he just asks us to do something. So my four interns decided to sponsor a child in Kenya (that’s her picture above). They combined what little spare income they had and gave it to an orphanage so that a little girl can have food, shelter, and clothing. It’s an incredible honor when we act and become the answer to someone’s prayer. I know what you’re thinking, “So what. It’s only one little girl. What kind of difference will it make in the long run?”
Consider the following story by Loren Eiseley. My youth pastor used to tell it to me when I was a teenager:
Once, after the tide went out, there were thousands of starfish laying out on the beach. They were dying because there was no way for them to get back into the water. The sun was rising and the poor starfish were literally baking in the heat. Running along the beach was a little boy. He was frantically grabbing the starfish and tossing them back into the ocean. As he continued along the beach, he met an older man. When the old man asked what he was doing, he explained that he was saving the starfish from dying on the beach. The man replied, “Are you crazy? The beach goes on for miles and there are thousands of starfish out here. How can you think you can possibly make a difference?” The boy reached down, grabbed a starfish, tossed it into the ocean, and said, “It made a difference to that one!”
I received a new picture, the other day, of our little starfish named Doris. She’s wearing a school uniform and has the most beautiful smile on her face. It was a $360 picture and was worth every cent! As you wonder if you can possibly make a difference in a world with so much poverty, disease, and hunger please realize you can. You may not be able to save the world, but you can make a difference in the life of a starfish or two.
Ireland, Missions
Sometimes people ask me why I have such a burden for the country of Ireland. I don’t have any Irish blood in me, that I know of. No relatives who came to America during the potato blight. The truth is, I owe much of my spiritual heritage to the Irish. It was the Irish who kept Christianity alive during the Dark Ages (not to mention literacy and art). It was the Irish who had a very large part in bringing Christianity to America. Most of what we call the “Bible Belt” today was originally settled by Irish immigrants.
Without launching into a history lesson, I’ll just say things have changed tremendously in the last 1,200 years or so. Western Europe is post Christian. The cathedrals are all but empty and very few evangelical churches can afford land. Most pastors there work a full-time job elsewhere because churches are woefully under-funded.
My heart is to support and lift up the arms of Irish pastors. That’s why I continue to go back. Ireland was once the primary missionary sending force in the world! I owe them. I want to see their effectiveness and influence restored.
I’m in the process of raising money to take a group of interns to Ireland to serve local Irish churches. You can be a part of that by clicking here.
From a ninth-century Irish hymn…
Blessing and brightness,
Wisdom, thanksgiving,
Great power and might
To the King who rules over all.
Glory and honor and goodwill,
Praise and the sublime song of minstrels,
Overflowing love from every heart
to the King of heaven and Earth.
To the chosen Trinity has been joined
Before all, after all, universal
Blessing and everlasting blessing,
Blessing everlasting and blessing.
