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Around the year 400, a young Scottish boy named Patrick was kidnapped from his home in Britain and taken to Ireland as a slave.  After several years, he escaped from his captivity and entered into ministerial training.  Patrick was later called back to Ireland when he heard God speaking to him through a dream.  Even though there were Christians already living on the emerald isle, he is credited with converting the Irish people from Celtic worship to Christianity.

St. Patrick, as he was later called, struggled somewhat in his evangelization of Ireland.  As a missionary, he defied an edict set forth by King Logaire, which stated that no fires could be lit until the fires of a pagan spring festival were lit.  St. Patrick ignored the edict and lit candles on the Saturday before Easter, choosing to honor God instead of the king.  King Logaire heard about the devotion of Patrick to his God and was so impressed that he allowed him to continue his missionary work.

300 years later, Dallan Forgaill, an 8^th century monk, wrote the words to the hymn Be Thou My Vision in honor of Patrick and his unwavering commitment to God.  1200 years after Forgaill wrote those words, it was translated into English by Mary E. Byrne.  Seven years after the translation, Eleanor H. Hull arranged the lyrics to the ancient Irish folk tune called Slane.  This morning, over 100 years later, I sang along to a recorded music video track of the song and was moved to tears.

Lord, may our faith and dedication make such a difference in the lives of those around us that 1600 years from now, people are still moved to tears from the wake of our existence.

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Recently, I read the book Live Like A Missionary by Jeff Lorg.  Within the first chapter, Lorg makes the following statement:

A missional Christian understands God’s mission and shapes his or her life accordingly.  A missionary, in the traditional sense, is certainly a missional Christian.  But so is any believer who strategically shares the gospel (or does other kingdom advancing activities) in his or her circle of influence – even without moving across the country or around the world.

The book is filled with great stories of people who have made the choice to get out of the Christian bubble and impact the world around them.  To me, the greatest example of someone who lives like a missionary is my friend Steven, who serves as a bi-vocational pastor in Arkansas.  Over the years, Steven has served as a children’s home house parent, a senior pastor, and a college dorm parent.  But Steven’s greatest ministry impact upon my life took place before he held any of these positions.  Let me explain:

When Steven and I were in high school, he befriended me and lived a Christian life in front of me.  He took his faith into the halls of public school and shared it whenever he had the opportunity.  His practice of living like a missionary helped me come to the decision that I needed Christ in my life as a sixteen year old.

Thanks, Steven, for living like a missionary.

(Here’s a picture of Steven with his wife Danette, his son Daniel, and daughter Hannah at Hannah’s graduation)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.  John 1:1-3

Recently, I watched a documentary about the beginnings of man.  The show presented the opinion that men were originally creatures only slightly more advanced than the other animals of the earth.  Then, an alien race genetically mixed their own DNA with the DNA of primitive man in order to create a more intelligent slave labor force for mining gold on the earth.

As I watched this documentary, I realized that these theorists had fortunately come to realize that humans had been created by a higher power.  However, they had unfortunately chosen aliens as their creator instead of the Lord God who created all things.

Jesus, our Savior, was with His Father when the earth was created.  The Bible says that all things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.  God created us for a purpose far greater than being gold mining slaves.  He created us for a relationship with Him.

Lord, I acknowledge that You are the Creator of all things.