I did it again.  Realized there is a popular holiday on the calendar and I have no idea of its true significance.  What did I do?  I googled St. Patrick’s Day and read that most valued of resources, Wikipedia (I’m glad I no longer teach school so I don’t have to read plagiarized Wikipedia book reports, but at the same time, there are some really good articles there…:), and learned all sorts of things about St. Paddy’s Day.  So, here for you, is a quiz…please write the answers in the comments section.  The best answers receive — what else — a GREEN shamrock!:)

1. Why is St. Patrick a “gospel-hero”?
2. What color was originally associated with St. Patrick’s Day (and why was it changed?)
3. What is the significance of the Shamrock?
4. Where did the phrase “wearing of the green” come from?
5. What role does St. Patrick’s day play in the calendar of the Catholic church?
6. What city dyes its river green to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day?
7. If St. Patrick were alive, how much green beer would he drink in Savannah today?

Have a great St. Patrick’s Day, and “the luck o’ the Irish to ya!”

If you want to read an interesting article on St. Patrick and bringing the gospel, check this out:  http://communityofjesus.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/evangelizing-like-st-patrick/

I am, again, amazed by grace!  I’ve been reading Spurgeon again, and just listen to what he says about where he would be without the intervention of God’s miraculous grace!  He might have been the “king of sinners,” but I could make a good argument that I am the “queen”! Read this and take some time today to ponder the greatness of Grace in your life, to consider all the marvelous works God has done in you!

“Sometimes, when I see some of the worst characters in the street, I feel as if my heart must burst forth in tears of gratitude that God has never let me act as they have done! I have thought, if God had left me alone, and had not touched me by His grace, what a great sinner I should have been! I should have run to the utmost lengths of sin, dived into the very depths of evil, nor should I have stopped at any vice or folly, if God had not restrained me. I feel that I should have been a very king of sinners, if God had let me alone. I cannot understand the reason why I am saved, except upon the ground that God would have it so. I cannot, if I look ever so earnestly, discover any kind of reason in myself why I should be a partaker of Divine grace. If I am not at this moment without Christ, it is only because Christ Jesus would have His will with me, and that will was that I should be with Him where He is, and should share His glory. I can put the crown nowhere but upon the head of Him whose mighty grace has saved me from going down into the pit. Looking back on my past life, I can see that the dawning of it all was of God; of God effectively. I took no torch with which to light the sun, but the sun enlightened me. I did not commence my spiritual life—no, I rather kicked, and struggled against the things of the Spirit: when He drew me, for a time I did not run after Him: there was a natural hatred in my soul of everything holy and good. Wooings were lost upon me—warnings were cast to the wind—thunders were despised; and as for the whispers of His love, they were rejected as being less than nothing and vanity. But, sure I am, I can say now, speaking on behalf of myself, “He only is my salvation.” It was He who turned my heart, and brought me down on my knees before Him. I can in very deed, say with Doddridge and Toplady—

“Grace taught my soul to pray,
And made my eyes o’erflow;”

and coming to this moment, I can add—

“‘Tis grace has kept me to this day,
And will not let me go.”"

Last week at the Synergy conference, I discovered a great new resource for women.  A digital magazine and more, FullFill offers women great resources for FREE!  Read the description below, click on the link, and check it out!

FullFill™ is a FREE online resource that mobilizes to women recognize, utilize and maximize their influence for God’s kingdom purposes. Under the leadership of its Publisher, Elisa Morgan, FullFill™ offers a digital magazine with embedded video training – perfect for personal reflection and small and large group training. You’ll enjoy articles on leadership development, spiritual formation and everyday helps from authors such as Margaret Feinberg, Nancy Ortberg and Nancy Beach, Ruth Haley Barton, Carolyn Custis James, Judy Douglass, Fern Nichols and many more. Log on and find resources in your own language to grow spiritually and to invest intentionally all of who you are in God’s world.

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