Remember Saint Patrick: According to tradition, Patrick died March 17. Many think the year was 461, but we don’t know for certain. While today’s trite celebrations may leave much to be forgotten, for those who love Jesus and the advance of his gospel, Patrick has left us some remarkable things to remember. And to learn from.

What Evangelicals Can Learn From St. Patrick: To our shame, most evangelical Protestants tend to think of Saint Patrick as a leprechaun. As we watch the annual drunken parades and pop-culture consumerism of the March holiday, no one could seem more removed from biblical Christianity than Patrick. And yet, Patrick’s life was closer to a revival meeting than to a shamrock-decorated drinking party named in his honor.

7 Things You Might Not Know About St. Patrick: I am a servant of Christ to a foreign nation for the unspeakable glory of life everlasting which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. ~ St. Patrick

St. Patrick: Reclaiming The Great Missionary: Today most people know St. Patrick for green beer, banishing snakes from Ireland, using shamrocks to teach the Trinity, or his walking stick growing into a living tree. Indeed, none of these legends has anything to do with the real Patrick. However, the factual accounts of Patrick, missionary to Ireland, are even more compelling than the folklore. Telling the true story of Patrick provides an inspiring lesson in God's grace and mercy.

Happy St. Patrick's Day: Instead, I pray you'll see this day as a reminder of the value of bringing Christ to the lost through prayer, suffering, sacrifice, and loving your enemies.  And above all, I pray it's a reminder of the value and glory of God Himself who loved a small country of barbarians enough to make sure even they would come to know Him. 

Christian's Who Changed The World (Arthur Guinness): People today tend to have a negative view of big business. Corporations are seen as only being concerned with maximizing profits, generally at the expense of workers. The idea that a company could benefit not just itself but its workers and even the society as a whole (aside from the benefit that comes from its products) is foreign to our thinking. And for many, the idea that a brewing company could be a major force for good in the world is even more unthinkable. That is only because we do not know the story of the Guinness family.

St. Patrick: A Model For Missional Living: Bob Thune from the Acts 29 Church Planting Network did a sermon on St. Patrick. Give it a listen.

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Early Post of Weekly Once-Over (11.27.2013) - Have a save Thanksgiving

Thankful For The Gift or the Giver?: If the foundation of our thankfulness is that we get God, then you and I will give thanks always for everything, because we're always getting God. However, if the foundation of our thankfulness is the gift, and not the giver, then our gratitude will ebb and flow based on how much of our true treasure we are getting.

A Table Of Forgetful Remembrance: On some level, every gathering of family around a table is a shadow of this idea of remembrance, a time when we recall our collective history, making days like Thanksgiving ones we anticipate with a mix of joy and dread, depending on who will pull up a chair to the feast. Why? Because our collective history is often dotted with land mines—difficult personalities, past hurts, broken relationships.

Proud People Don't Give Thanks: Desiring God put together a 10 minute clip of a sermon by John Piper he did nearly 30 years ago. This is definitely worth listening to.

Giving Thanks In Hitler's Reich: The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. 

The First Thanksgiving: McKenzie concludes with the observation that, unlike the Pilgrims, we are too comfortable in this world. American Christians today rarely hunger for heaven. The Pilgrims, despite any of their faults, help us remember that we must “set [our] minds on things above” (Col. 3:2) and “lay up treasures in heaven” (Matt. 6:20).

Sabbath Rest and the Moral Limits of Consumption: Each year it seems like the Christmas season starts a little earlier. I'm not talking about the four weeks of Advent or the Christmas season that begins on December 24. The church calendar and the liturgical year remain the same. It is, rather, the Christmas shopping season that seems to be pushed forward bit by bit with each passing year.

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