Around the year 390, Patrick was born into a Christian family in Britain. At age 16, his village was raided by the Celts and he was captured and taken to Ireland where he was sold as a slave to one of the tribal chiefs. He eventually escaped from his captors and returned to Britain.

Years later, Patrick had a dream in which he saw Irish children begging him to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. He took this as a sign of God’s calling and in 432 he returned to the very land he had once escaped from as an ambassador of Christ.

Little is known about the specific details of his ministry. But here’s what we do know; most of Ireland had converted to Christianity just a few years later. Close to 300 churches were established and roughly 120,000 people had been baptized as Christians.

This work would have an ongoing impact, as Ireland would become the world’s primary center for the translation and preservation of the Scriptures. There’s no telling how many souls were eternally affected as a result of the work that God did through Patrick. Consequently, the church in Ireland decided to set aside the day of his birth, March 17th by tradition, in honor of his service for God’s Kingdom.

Just thought you’d like to know!

Pastor Dan

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Yet again, the Olympics have come and gone. I confess…I love the Winter Olympics. I love trying to explain the events to my kids, I love the passion of the athletes, and I especially love the cool Nordic names.

But something new stood out this time. As each athlete competed, I took special note that each stayed in their own event. Skiers skied, skaters skated, and curlers curled. They stuck with what they were best at and didn’t attempt to be something they weren’t. And you know what, nobody even thought twice about it.

Here’s the spiritual tie-in. Many times, instead of identifying, embracing, and sticking with what God gifted us to be best at, we waste our time trying to be what we aren’t. Imagine a curler suddenly deciding to ski jump! But that’s sort of us when we longingly look at what someone else is doing in the Body of Christ and wish we were them.

God has assembled His team, and enabled each member to achieve excellence in something very specific. Are we? We won’t unless we identify, embrace, and stick with what He’s made us to be. Spiritually speaking, skiers need to ski, skaters need to skate, and curlers need to curl!

But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased…1 Corinthians 12:18

Pastor Dan

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Psalm 119 and Psalm 120 are back-to-back in the Book of Psalms, yet they’re world’s apart in many ways.

119 is the longest chapter in the Bible BY FAR. 120 weighs in as one of the shortest at 7 verses. 119 is overwhelmingly positive as it focuses on the glories of God’s Word. 120 has a distressed tone as it focuses on the wicked schemes of man. 119 is the spiritual summit. 120 is the proverbial pit.

But as different as they are, they both have something in common…the Lord. In 119 He’s mentioned in just about every one of its 176 verses. In 120 He’s mentioned once in the opening verse…but He’s still there.

Here’s the point…the Lord is the one constant through all things. Whether it’s a time of gladness or a time of distress, whether we’re standing on the summit, or plunged into the pit…the Lord is there.

No matter which side of the spectrum you’re on right now, if you’re living in 119 or in 120, don’t forget the Lord is with you!

Pastor Dan

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Yesterday, I called Pastor Ray Bost, who serves here at Calvary Chapel. If someone is sick, grieving, or hurting in some way…there’s a good chance they’ll wind up with Ray. He has an amazing gift of for hearing and helping those in need.

We talked for a while, and just before hanging up I said, “Hey, thanks for WHAT YOU DO.” My gut was checked just then. “That’s not quite right”, I thought to myself, “Make it right”. So I immediately called back, “Hey, thanks for WHO YOU ARE.”

There’s a world of difference between appreciating what someone does and appreciating who they are. When we primarily focus on what people do we lose sight of something much more important…them. We forget that they only do what they do because of who they are in the first place. We forget that the greater value is in experiencing relationship with them than in reaping the benefits of what they can accomplish.

That’s not what God wants. He wants us to primarily value people for who they are. We love the fact that God cares more about us than about what we do for Him (and this understanding actually motivates us to serve Him better). If we’re glad God is more interested in who we are than in what we do, shouldn’t we follow His example when it comes to those around us?

In Christ,
PASTOR DAN

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See if you can relate to this. I’m waiting for something to happen. It’s something that I believe God wants, but it’s also something only He can accomplish. And so I’m frequently asking Him, “How long, Lord? Why this wait?”

I think we’re prone to thinking that waiting is contrary to the will of God. In our minds, we know this isn’t true, but it’s second-nature for us to slip into that type of thinking. But Psalm 110 recently reminded me that my (and your) waiting isn’t contrary to God’s will, but rather it’s probably an evidence of it.

The Psalm starts this way, “The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool.” This is actually a conversation within the Triune Godhead. It’s the Father speaking to the Son, and He’s telling Jesus to wait at His right hand until that time when He decides it’s time for His coronation as King of the Earth.

What could be more “God’s will” than that? And yet, there’s this element of waiting present. This encourages me, because if Jesus is waiting then it helps me to accept that my waiting isn’t contrary to God’s will in my life. When God does something significant in our lives, it almost always involves the discipline of waiting. That’s just how it is, and it’s just freeing to know and embrace that.

So if you’re waiting for something, and find yourself frustrated or questioning, “Is God really in this”, remember that Jesus is waiting right along with you and that the Father will be faithful, not just to Jesus, but to you too…and that’s worth the wait!

Pastor Dan

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Last Tuesday, I personally experienced the power of relationship. The tragic events in Haiti were unfolding on every news and media outlet. A land well-acquainted with disaster was plunged into something so horrific that it seemed surreal.

To be completely honest, that’s how most mega-disasters hit me, as something surreal, something so huge I can’t even begin to relate to it or the people it effects. But this was different. My precious friend Eddy Gehy (a former student of mine) serves as a pastor at Calvary Chapel Prot-au-Prince. My relationship with him changed my response to this tragedy. I had personal stake, I was vested…I couldn’t eat or sleep until I knew his condition.

After 48 hours of uncertainty, word came through the Facebook grape-vine he was O.K. But the lesson wasn’t lost on me; one real relationship made all the difference in the core of who I am. This wasn’t just another global disaster, it was intensely personal.  And my response was correspondingly different. It made me wonder how different my life would be and how different I would be if I had more relationships like this one.

Relationship is powerful, more powerful than I think any of us realize. So is it any wonder that it’s the thing God calls us to invest in (with Him and others) more than anything else?  Let’s invest!

PASTOR DAN

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Few things bother me as much as losing control of my car on an icy road. As a former Michigander, I know that sick, sinking feeling of losing traction and helplessly sliding around on the open road. That’s what happened yesterday as my kids and I ran an errand.

My winter driving instincts kicked in, and I began to educate them-aged 5 and 8-on how to regain control of a car on the ice. But then I hear my son’s little voice say from the backseat, “But the best thing to do is pray, right dad?” “Uh…yeah.”

God can use the simple faith of a child to teach you a powerful point, which He did yesterday. So often, when I start to lose control in other areas of my life, my first instinct isn’t to pray. But as my son reminded me, there’s nothing more powerful than prayer when you start to lose control.

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Suitcases: check. Directions to Grandma’s house: check. Weather forecast: check. Presents: check. Kids: check. Joy: oh wait! That’s how the checklist read in my mind as I loaded up my family to spend this Christmas Season in Detroit with our family. I had all the practical things in place, all the stuff that you’re supposed to have in order to have a very Merry Christmas.

But wait, what about joy? You know, the thing that’s supposed to drive this festive engine. Truth is, it was a little lacking, and I know why…with all the added activity my time with Jesus was getting squeezed. It was a reminder to me that talking ABOUT Jesus (i.e. Celebrating Christmas) can’t take the place of talking TO Jesus. After spending some time in His presence, I can now put a check next to joy on my mental checklist.

I pray you and your loved ones would experience Jesus’ joy in full as you celebrate His birth and experience His presence!

Pastor Dan

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That’s what I think of when I reflect on what’s happening through the on-line ministry here at Calvary Chapel. “Wait…what do URL’s and logins have to do with ravens?” 1 Kings 17:6 tells us that God sustained Elijah in the wilderness by using ravens to feed the prophet. There are a lot of modern-day Elijah’s in this world. For whatever reason, they find themselves disconnected, isolated, and in a spiritual wilderness…and I have seen first-hand how the Lord has used our on-line services to spiritually sustain and nourish them. It’s humbling to see how God is using our Facebook page, our Live Prayer feature, and the other lines of on-line communication to take care of His people. Please let us know if you have any suggestions that might help us be better ravens.

In Christ,
Pastor Dan

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I finally learned what that statement means. My 5-year old son had somehow gotten a splinter wedged in his palm, and it was dad to the rescue. With tweezers in hand, I fished it out while tying to cause my son as little pain as possible. He let out a shriek that was almost superhuman. Oh yeah, it hurt. But it hurt me too. Knowing that I brought pain to my son (even though it was necessary) did something inside me, it broke my heart.  And then it hit me, “What must it have been like for the Father to see His Son dying on the cross?” My son’s splinter experience was nothing compared to the pain and agony Jesus endured. And the way I felt must have been nothing compared to the Father’s heartache a His Son ultimately suffered under His own hand (Acts 2:23). When we think of the cross we tend to think in terms of Jesus doing all the suffering. A splinter showed me that’s not the case. Any thing you’d add?

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