Columba of Iona: Great gifts

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2

“You, King of glory, know how to give great gifts, and you have promised them; there is nothing greater than you, and you bestowed yourself upon us; you gave yourself for us. Therefore we ask that we may know what we love, since we ask nothing other than you give us yourself. For you are our all: our life, our light, our salvation, our food, and our drink, our God. Inspire our hearts, I ask you Jesus.”

Columba of Iona (540-615) in Instruction 13 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 519.

As I prepare my mind and heart to serve war-weary people in Eastern Europe and Ukraine with the ministry of presence and meetings to explore what it means to build local, sustainable ministry in the crisis times and after, here’s what comes to mind.

The hurting people need Jesus and they need love. And so that’s what I need to pack in my proverbial suitcase, Jesus and love. Jesus gave Himself for us in love and all I need to is more of Him and more of His love. And the same holds true for you.

Your generosity will directly correlate to the great gifts you have received from God. Sit in that idea today. Call to Him. Ask Him to fill you with His love, light, salvation, food, and drink. Only then, can your heart be filled and thrilled to go bless others generously.

I also know that on the altar at Iona, where Columba ministered, it reads, “Stand Fast.” So, once you resolve to receive great gifts and distribute them generously, be ready for difficulties. It will be hard and faith-stretching at times. But know that the God we serve is faithful.

Still praying for funds for Ukraine and other projects around the world. Would you pray with me for God to supply the remaining $53,000 by 30 June? If you want to give, click here. O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!

In the same way, you who are younger must be subject to the elders. And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time. 1 Peter 5:5-6

“Paint your house the colors of modesty and humility. Make it radiant with the light of justice. Decorate it with the finest gold leaf of good deeds. Adorn it with the walls and stones of faith and generosity. Crown it with the pinnacle of prayer. In this way you will make it a perfect dwelling place for the Lord. You will be able to receive Him as in a splendid palace, and through His grace you will already possess him, His image enthroned in the temple of your spirit.”

John Chrysostom (347-407) in Homily 6 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 515.

My wife loves to paint rooms. It adds beauty and color. She’s good at it. And it sets a mood and sends a message of welcome. Then she decorates with simplicity and special care. She’s good at that too.

And then I located this reading. Chrysostom, known for his eloquence, does not disappoint.

His exhortation to us: paint and decorate. This is powerful and timely. Soon, my wife and I head to serve war-weary stewards in Eastern Europe and Ukraine. And what should we say to people trying to rebuild their broken world.

Paint and decorate. Brilliant! “Adorn it with the walls and stones of faith and generosity.”

So, how does this relate to you and me? We must paint our lives with modesty and humility. And adorn them with the best accessories, faith and generosity.

Ponder the implications for your life.

What would it look like to paint with humility and modesty and decorate with faith and generosity? Now don’t just think about it, follow the leading of the Spirit and take action.

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.” Ezekiel 3:17

“Note, that a man whom the Lord sends forth as a preacher is called a watchman. A watchman always stands on a height so that he can see from afar what is coming. Anyone appointed to be a watchman for the people must stand on a height for all his life to help them by his foresight.”

Gregory of the Great (c. 540-604) in Ezekiel as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 501.

With the LORD calling Ezekiel, “Son of man,” it comes into view that Ezekiel foreshadows the work that Jesus would have. In this text, Ezekiel is told to wait for a message then deliver it.

That’s where I find myself today. I am a watchman waiting. I am preparing for my travels from 16 June to 7 July 2023 and not precisely sure what the Lord wants me to say in some of the meetings, so I will block time this week to wait on Him.

Ezekiel had to wait a week for this message. and the message was a warning. Once He got it from the LORD it was not an easy message to deliver. If God has you as a preacher and a watchman, do not cower in proclaiming the truth.

This comes into view as generosity because both the one who delivers a warning and the one who receive it get a gift from God. What is the gift? The watchman gets the opportunity to help others, and the receiver gets the help from God.

On the first Sunday in 2 July 2023 I will preach in Kharkiv. I will be with Andrey Kravtsev. He ministers there. Jenni and I along with Michael and Nina Cherenkov will deliver aid to him.

We will also discuss the formation of an alliance with Christian workers like him across the former Soviet Union. GTP has been asked to help ministries follow standards and rally local support.

I shared this a couple days ago. If you missed it, watch the video here. And please help send us. Make a gift to GTP today. Click here. And say a prayer for me, as a watchman, to wait for the message from the LORD and be bold to proclaim it.

And what about you? Has put you in a key spot to receive and deliver a message? Is it time to proclaim that truth to others? I just might be the most generous thing you do today, this week, this month, even this year.

Not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:4

“It is characteristic of holy men that their own painful trials do not make them lose their concern for the well-being of others. They are grieved by the adversity they must endure, yet they look out for others and teach them needed lessons; they are like gifted physicians who are themselves stricken and lie ill. They suffer wounds themselves but bring others the medicine that restores health.”

Gregory of Nyssa (c. 540-604) in Job as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 488.

Jenni and I will head to Ukraine with Michael and Nina Cherenkov, in part because the adversity our brothers and sisters face there grieves us deeply. To help send us, make a gift to GTP here.

But we don’t have to go to a war-weary land to serve like a gifted physician.

The key is to entrust ourselves into the hands of Jesus and look around us to see the needs of others and consider how me might minister to them with what we have.

It’s the Surrender Novena that comes to mind again: “O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!”

When you pray that 10 times a day, you become free to see and serve those who suffer. Want to grow in generosity? Ask God to sort your situation and show you someone you might serve.

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” Acts 20:35

“Since this house is open to everyone, it receives the sick of every type and condition: the crippled, the disabled, lepers, mutes, the insane, the paralytics, those suffering from scurvy, and those bearing the afflictions of old age, many children… And for all of this no payment is requested, yet Christ provides.”

John of God (1495-1550) in Letter as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 489.

One stop on our journey in Ukraine includes preaching and encouraging relief workers in Kharkiv the first Sunday in July. Specifically we will take financial aid to Andrey Kravtsev.

Watch this 10-minute video to see how he came to Christ and how God has used him to minister to those displaced by the war in Kharkiv and Saltivka in the name of Jesus.

He’s a close friend of Michael and Nina Cherenkov, with whom Jenni and I will travel. Give to GTP here. We will take aid to Andrey and many other Christian workers like him.

We trust Christ to provide for our trip. Andrey trusts God to supply so he can serve the needy for no payment. Pray that relief efforts like Andrey’s can remain open and safe to serve.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20

“There is a time to be born and a time to die… For Saint Paul every moment was a time to die, as he proclaims in his letters: I swear by the pride I take in you that I face death every day… How Paul died daily is perfectly obvious. He never gave himself up to a sinful life but kept his body in constant control… He was always being crucified with Christ. It was not his own life he lived; it was Christ who lived in him. This surely was a timely death, a death whose end was true life.”

Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335 — c. 395) in Ecclesiastes as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 416.

Don’t think me morbid with this post. Hang with me to learn a lesson from Paul and Gregory.

It starts with Christ who gave Himself for us. This inspired Paul to die daily. We get to follow suit. And here’s the reason why. It’s the only way to grasp life. Please hear me. Whatever we hold on to we lose. So, if we try to hold on to life daily, we actually lose it. We only find life when we choose to die daily. This relates to our living and our giving.

That’s why we hold nothing back. Only when we let go of everything (including life and money) do we gain anything.

As I shared yesterday, I am excited that God has opened the door for GTP to work in Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, and Moldova. Jenni and I will serve in Ukraine with Michael and Nina Cherenkov and with GTP partner on the ground Mission Eurasia. See my post yesterday for more details on how we aim to bring help and hope.

Join us. Die daily. And I’ll share our itinerary next week, but right now we need funds for travel and delivering relief, especially with the dam breaking. Click here to make a gift to GTP to help send us. Thanks.

The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:5-7

“The Lord is near, have no anxiety. The Lord is always near to all who call upon His help with sincerity, true faith, sure hope, and perfect love. He knows what you need, even before you ask Him. He is always ready to come to the aid of all His faithful servants in every need. There is no reason for us to be in a state of great anxiety when evils threaten; we must remember that God is very near us as our protector.”

Ambrose of Milan (c. 339-397) in Philippians as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 685.

God has opened the door for GTP to work in Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, and Moldova. The team includes two couples working with our partner, Mission Eurasia, and many national workers in key cities.

Dr. Michael Cherenkov and his wife, Nina, will travel from 19 June to 19 July. I will travel from 16 June to 7 July, and my wife will join me from 23 June to 7 July.

In Czechia and Slovakia, my GTP program work with Gabriel Hakulín of 4D Ministries aims to offer training to equip national workers build trust and grow local giving to strengthen organizational capacities.

For Ukraine, we have been invited to bring hope and help. The hope can be summed up in one word: Flourish. Our partners have already translated the Flourish devotional into Ukrainian and Russian.

We want to give them a vision for flourishing in relationship to Jesus Christ despite the chaos in their present and the uncertainty of their future.

Our help will take two forms: advice and aid. God is forming an alliance of ministries in the former Soviet Union who want to follow consistent standards together. GTP has been invited to contribute as part of the alliance.

We will speak and have meetings or deliver aid in Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Saltivka before heading to Chişinău, Moldova, to encourage God’s servants and refugees.

We said yes to this opportunity for service because we believe God wants us to go and because He is near. He is our protector. And we are confident He will meet our needs through His people and meet their needs through us.

The travel expenses and relief work calls for around $26,000 on short notice. God has supplied about half the funds. Pray for Him to provide the rest and consider your role. To contribute, click here to make a gift to GTP.

This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down. 2 Corinthians 13:10

“There was nothing more capacious than the heart of Paul, for he loved all the faithful with an intimate love as any lover could have for a loved one, his love not being divided and lessened but remaining whole and entire for each of them. And what marvel is it that his love for the faithful was such, since his heart embraced unbelievers, too, throughout the whole world.”

John Chrysostom (347-407) in 2 Corinthians 13 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 368.

Capacious. What a great word to describe Paul’s heart. We might say in modern terms that a generous person has a big heart. But how do we get one?

Chyrsostom offers us a clue. Our love must not be divided or lessened.

I was chatting with my Pinehurst Bible Study brothers yesterday after breakfast. We discussed how the global church seems distracted by social issues.

When that happens, it divides and lessens our love. Don’t let it happen to you.

God, give us capacious hearts, with deep love neither divided nor lessened by any factors around us so that our service is both faithful and generous. Amen.   

For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Psalm 36:9

“Now real and true life is none other than the Father, who is the fountain of life and who pours forth heavenly gifts on all creatures through the Son in the Holy Spirit, and the good things of eternal life are faithfully promised to us men also, because of His love for us.”

Cyril of Jerusalem (313-386) in Catechetical 18 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 331.

I’m safely home from Wisconsin. One memory that sticks with me is the many springs I saw (like the one pictured above). Abundant fountains bubbling up and sharing the gift of cool, clear water.

What Cyril brings to my attention is that the Father is the fountain. He’s the Source of all life, all gifts, all good things. They come to us by the Spirit because of His great love for us.

Here’s the significance of this for our generosity. If we are not connected to the Father, we will not experience life, not enjoy gifts, and have no resources for generosity. We must maintain this connection above all else.

What are you doing to maintain your connection to the Fountain (to the Father)?

But God gives all the more grace; therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, teach me.

From all pride and its effects, deliver me, Jesus.
From coveting greatness for its own sake or to excess, deliver me, Jesus.
From contempt of You and Your law, deliver me, Jesus.
From a puffed-up self-image, deliver me, Jesus.
From claiming to be a self-made man, deliver me, Jesus.
From ingratitude for Your gifts, deliver me, Jesus.
From thinking that I have earned Your gifts by my effort alone, deliver me, Jesus.
From boasting of having what I do not have, deliver me, Jesus.
From excusing my faults while judging others, deliver me, Jesus.
From wishing to be the sole possessor of the skills I have, deliver me, Jesus.
From setting myself before others, deliver me, Jesus.

From all vainglory, deliver me, Jesus.
From craving praise for its own sake, deliver me, Jesus.
From looking for flattery, deliver me, Jesus.
From withholding glory from You, deliver me, Jesus.
From showing off to the harm of my neighbor, deliver me, Jesus.
From presumption and false self-confidence, deliver me, Jesus.
From boastfulness, deliver me, Jesus.
From hypocrisy, deliver me, Jesus.
From the excessive need to be fashionable, deliver me, Jesus.
From obstinacy and contention, deliver me, Jesus.
From disobedience, deliver me, Jesus.

From all false humility, deliver me, Jesus.
From forfeiting my dignity as a child of God, deliver me, Jesus.
From burying the talents that You gave me, deliver me, Jesus.
From an unreasonable fear of failure, deliver me, Jesus.
From avoiding my true vocation, deliver me, Jesus.
From despair at my weakness, deliver me, Jesus.

In the ways of humility, teach me, Jesus.
To know my limits and my strengths, teach me, Jesus.
To acknowledge the depravity of my past sins, teach me, Jesus.
To acclaim You as the author of all the good I do, teach me, Jesus.
To put my confidence in You, teach me, Jesus.
To be subject to You and Your Church, teach me, Jesus.
To be subject to others for Your sake, teach me, Jesus.
To revere Your presence in others, teach me, Jesus.
To rejoice in Your gifts in others, even the gifts unseen, teach me, Jesus.

To do great things by Your help and for Your glory, strengthen me, Jesus.
To seek greatness in heavenly things and lasting virtue, strengthen me, Jesus.
To do my best even when unnoticed, strengthen me, Jesus.
To put my share of Your gifts at Your service, strengthen me, Jesus.
To be neither puffed up by honor nor downcast by shame, strengthen me, Jesus.
To do penance for my sins and those of others, strengthen me, Jesus.
Above all, to strive to love You with all my being, strengthen me, Jesus.
And to love my neighbor as myself, strengthen me, Jesus.

In Your name, I pray. Amen.

Litany of Humility by Joseph Martin Hagan.

In a break between rivers and whilst fly fishing with John Stanley on my Surrender Novena weekend with him, we paused to read this litany. It was a powerful experience for us.

Jesus delivers, teaches, and strengthens us for His generous service when we empty ourselves in humility. He gives us more grace when we come before Him with humility.

What part of this litany stood out to you? Sit with Jesus. Thank Him for bringing that to your attention. Ask Him to deliver, teach, and strengthen you, providing whatever you need.

I needed a weekend of “O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!” If you do too, start by humbling yourself. God opposes the proud but lavishes to overflowing grace to humble.

I make the trek from Soldiers Grove to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this morning, and then fly back to Denver, Colorado, this afternoon. I give thanks that I have been enriched with an abundance of the grace of God.