Tag Archives: hope

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Saint Patrick: Why I now where green.

As a kid, I never wore green on St. Patrick’s day so I could go against the grain, but now as an adult, I try to wear green to honor this amazing man.

  • shipped from England to Ireland into slavery at age 16
  • escapes back to England only to RETURN to Ireland as a missionary
  • began his walk with Christ at age 40–yes it is NEVER too late
  • planted an estimated 800 churches in Ireland
  • one of the greatest evangelists of ALL time
In his own words: 
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.

I bind to myself today
God’s Power to guide me,
God’s Might to uphold me,
God’s Wisdom to teach me,
God’s Eye to watch over me,
God’s Ear to hear me,
God’s Word to give me speech,
God’s Hand to guide me,
God’s Way to lie before me,
God’s Shield to shelter me,
God’s Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.

I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.

Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the poop [deck],
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

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Brennan Manning #4: Abba’s Child

This is part 4 of 4 in the Brennan Manning speaking series from Mariners Church in 1996.  It is AMAZING!  I have been sharing these lectures with men from my men’s group for years, and they ALL have been AMAZED and changed by his beautiful insights, humor, and stories.  If you haven’t heard him speak or read any of his books please start NOW.

Some of my favorites:

Ruthless Trust

Signature of Jesus

Rabbi’s Heartbeat

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Brennan Manning #3: My Journey with Jesus

This is part 3 of 4 in the Brennan Manning speaking series from Mariners Church in 1996.  It is AMAZING!  I have been sharing these lectures with men from my men’s group for years, and they ALL have been AMAZED and changed by his beautiful insights, humor, and stories.  If you haven’t heard him speak or read any of his books please start NOW.

Some of my favorites:

Ruthless Trust

Signature of Jesus

Rabbi’s Heartbeat

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Why do I date other men?

Laughter is often the first response when I share with others that I “date” other men, but they soon realize that I am serious.  I have developed deep, intimate, tell all relationships with several men in my life, and it has transformed my marriage, my parenting, and my life.  It is a fundamental piece of being fully alive.

How do you do this?

1. First: Finding the right man for you.  What does this future confidant look like? 

a. CHEMISTRY: We all know that there are certain people that we have ‘chemistry’ with.  There are some guys that you know that you really enjoy their company, and their personalities mesh with yours.  How do you find them? You have to get involved! Go to men’s group!

b. VOLUNTERABILITY: It takes stepping out–moving beyond your comfort zone and removing your mask.  This is the toughest step.  It will take time to break down the walls that we as men construct to keep everyone away.  You have to start with small forays into sharing a little carve out of your struggles and pains to see how it goes.  If you find the right guy, he will respond in kind, and you both will continue to grow deeper in your friendship.

c. TRUST: You have to set up a wall around your relationship with this guy.  Once you establish that this may be the right guy, and you have started the process of volunterability.  You will need at some point to establish boundaries to protect your ‘secrets’.  This is a verbal agreement to keep what you each share confidential.

2. Second: What do you do with the right guy?

a. TIME: You have to carve out the time to meet.  It is essential that you have an agreement to meet weekly or biweekly.  I have also developed a habit of calling (yes often daily) to check in and catch up when I can’t meet that week or so.

b. TALK: What usually happens when you have the time to meet or talk on the phone? Men talk about…..NOTHING! The weather, sports, etc.  STOP! I need to intentially STOP, and get on subject.  This is key because I STILL do this with my confidants! I find that we have burned through the time we have together by talking about nothing substantial.  Don’t get me wrong, these topics are fun and important commaradirie…BUT it is just what they say it is: SMALL talk.  The BIG talk must be done, and it can be hard work.  Ask and Listen.  How is your marriage going? What was the last fight about with your bride? How are each of your kids? How are you doing with your struggles? etc.

3. Third: Why?

Deep, intimate fellowship with a brother WILL transform your life! It will make you a better husband, father, friend, co-worker, and ‘little’ Christ.

A friend sent me a link to an entry on his blog that describes the importance and power of joining a group of men: “Some Honest Men”  

Try it! And let us know your thoughts.

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Purple People

“Now tell me again who is blue and who is red?”

Racist, stupid, bigoted, evil….these are some of the words used to describe ‘us’ by ‘them’.

Intolerant, arrogant, angry, blind….these are some of the words used to describe ‘them’ by ‘us’.

Something has gone terribly wrong here.

We worship a God who is BIGGER than ALL of THAT!

We follow a God who became a man who was beaten, whipped, tortured, mocked by the ruling government of his day.

We cherish the LOVE of a God who was mocked by guards who made him wear a robe that symbolized royalty, KINGSHIP as they laughted and scorned and cried out, “King of the Jews! Ha Ha Ha!”

The robe he wore was PURPLE: The color of KINGSHIP.

We are NOT blue; we are NOT red.  We ARE the PURPLE people.  We follow and worship the God in the PURPLE robe who loves each of us as if we are the ONLY person in the universe.

Share with us your comments after you listen to Rob Bell’s teaching titled: Beware the Dogs and Greg Boyd’s teaching titled: Defying Tanks.  These are 2 of the MOST challenging sermons that I have heard.  After you listen, PLEASE share your thoughts on some practical and specific ways that we can transform our world!

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Small Group WISDOM from Mark

Enjoy this WONDERFUL interview with Mark regarding how to lead a small group of teenagers.  In this short interview Mark points out some KEY points:

  1. YOU ARE NOT ALONE!  Mark made it clear to his high schoolers that they were NEVER ALONE! Probably the most important point for a teenager to absorb into their souls.
  2. I WILL BE THERE FOR YOU NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY or DO!  As parents our kids especially our teenagers HAVE TO know that we love them no matter what happens, no matter what their choices.