On Saturday, I saw a musket-carrying man leading his traditionally-dressed Irish family through Brookside’s annual St. Pat’s Warm-Up Parade. I also saw a young man a Scottish kilt. These were amidst the sea of green-clad parade attendees. Face paint, shamrock earrings, leprechaun ears, “Kiss Me, I’m Irish!” t-shirts, and clover glasses were the rage at this year’s parade.

Somehow, I’ve accidentally stumbled upon the parade in back-to-back years now. And the only thing it warms up is my irritability with St. Patrick’s Day. Were people less obnoxious with their dress, I’d be fine with the holiday.

[Did I bash St. Valentine's Day too? Sorry for the pessimism].

Though subtle, I am wearing green today. Because I’m festive? No. Irish? Goodness, no. Agitated when pinched? More than you know.

Regardless of my annoyance with St. Patrick: the day, I am a fan of St. Patrick: the man. And, thus, here are three-hundred and seventeen (tricked you) Pat Forde-style facts on him (and, maybe, a few on his day).

At birth, St. Patrick’s given name was Maewyn Succat [1]. The Englishman [2] was a Christian missionary to Ireland [3] in the fifth century [4].  His first visit to Ireland was as a slave to pirates [5] at the age of 16 [6], and he escaped after six years [7]. Though his father was a Catholic deacon [8], Patrick didn’t believe in God as a boy [9].

Upon his return to Ireland in 432 A.D. [10], St. Patrick used the three-leaf clover to teach about the Divine Trinity [11]. While ministering in Ireland, He was known for doing Mark 16:18, banishing snakes from Ireland [12]. His ministry was immensely effective, as he’s commonly credited for Ireland’s conversion from paganism to Christianity [13].

St. Patrick’s day was first celebrated in the early 1600’s [14] as a Catholic feast [15]. Originally, the Irish wore blue in celebration of the holiday [16]. Funny how things gradually evolve through history, as St. Patrick’s day is now a major drinking holiday, with estimates in Guinness beer sales for March 17, 2010 totaling more than 13 million pints [17].

Any missionary with a particle of ambition wants to be like St. Pat. How could you not? Patronized by the Catholic church, credited with an entire nation’s conversion, and granted a day in celebration of your life–– success. Though the festivities surrounding St. Patrick’s day can be fun [if you're an obnoxiously-dressed parade attendee or drunkard], it’s tragic–– to the saint and his God alike–– to see how far the day has plummeted in its celebration.

Is St. Patrick honored or dishonored by the holiday? I wonder… I guess it depends on the celebrator.

I know one group that the saint is particularly, and undoubtedly, honored by–– those evangelizing Kansas City today during the parade. Every year, IHOP sends a parade team to share the gospel with Kansas City. Atop the float is a worship team and a preaching St. Patrick, followed by hundreds of dancing, worshiping IHOPpers. Before the parade, the team enthusiastically evangelizes to parade attendees. Year after year, people (sometimes hundreds) come to Jesus. And, by this, St. Patrick is honored to have his day.

In closing, watch this.

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Guest Post: Andrew Chen

About a month and a half ago, my good friend Andrew Chen posted the following post on his site (see blogroll). I love his heart for justice, his motive for making this shirt, and his creativity. I own a ‘Nothing But The Blood’ shirt and dig it. If you buy one, you’ll dig it too.

[By the way, soon, a lot of you will be receiving an invitation to my wedding that was made by Andrew].

Nothing But The Blood

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A few months ago, while spending time with Jesus, I felt a tug on my heart about His passion for justice. At that time, the Holy Spirit struck my heart with this message and gave me this image.

I’ve been waiting for the Lord to show me what to do with these T-Shirts since November. After events and encounters that the Lord has been highlighting to me over the past few months, I’ve decided to debut this project on the internet to raise funds and encourage intercession for two specific areas:

1. Adoption
The impact of Derek Loux’s passing stirred my heart to sow into the movement of adoption that he spent His life serving. The Lord’s desire to defend the poor and the fatherless has been gripping my heart. The Josiah Fund is an opportunity to partner with the Lord and believers to serve special needs orphans in a community of prayer.

2. Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts
The sobering events surrounding the Haiti Earthquake were an intense reminder that the day of Christ’s return is drawing near. In the coming crisis, there will be no hope of compassion or justice apart from Christ. While we have the opportunity, we should desire to see the Church cultivate a heart that stands with Christ in prayer, love and humility, ready and able to to do the work He has called us to. In this time of Haiti’s crisis, I want to sow into the mission of preaching of the gospel and the defending the poor and afflicted.

This project will be maintained through F!GHT, a small ministry/clothing company to the underground music scene run by my friend Stephen and I. You can help partner with this effort by purchasing a Nothing But the Blood Shirt or spreading the word.

Description from F!GHT Clothing Humanity is no stranger to pain. The deceit, disaster and wickedness increasing in our world leaves countless lives battered, broken and desperately in need of healing and salvation. As we continue to witness devastation in our lives, it is becoming apparent that human kindness is not an endless resource. But though our compassion has a limit, the love of Jesus Christ endures without end. While love grows cold around us, there is a tender call resounding from the words of God to the hearts of those He loves, “Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. Show kindness and mercy to one another. Go into the world and proclaim the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes will be saved.” Today there are approximately 150,000,000 orphans in our world; over 5,000 are added to that number daily. In the United States, 50% of children live in a home without a father. In recent days, the cataclysmic earthquake in Haiti left 100,000 dead in moments. 1/3 of Haiti’s population has been directly affected and the death toll is suspected to climb to 500,000. Pain, suffering and brokenness surround us, and though we relentlessly strive to mend with kindness the affliction in our world, our efforts alone are mere band-aids on the fatal wounds of sin and adversity. Our only lasting hope for real peace, justice, truth, and love is found in Jesus Christ alone. With F!GHT, we want to take seriously God’s call to lay down our lives to serve the afflicted and preach the good news of Jesus and His kingdom. It is burning in our hearts to rally one another to follow Christ in a prayerful labor of love. Our mission with Nothing but the Blood is to help deliver the glorious hope of eternal life with Jesus and the compassionate endeavor of critical support and relief to orphans and those affected by the earthquake in Haiti. 100% of the profit from these shirt sales will help fund the rescue and adoption of special needs orphans as well as the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. With equal passion, we want to urge everyone who loves Jesus to talk with Him about justice. Discover the depth of His love toward the lost, poor, and fatherless, then take up His cause. A fistful of dollars will reach the end of its usefulness, but the lovingkindness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ will never fail.

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Many of you are aware of the recent happenings here in Kansas City at the International House of Prayer’s school of ministry, IHOPU. But, if you’re not, julestompkins.com isn’t too keen on secrets, so let me fill you in…

November 11

Last November, some significant things began to take place in a first-year IHOPU class. The Holy Spirit began to stir students in a significant way. As His presence increased, students were set free from a whole assortment of issues–– eating disorders, depression, self-hatred, suicidal thoughts, bitterness, anger, shame, and more. Physical healings, too, began to take place that day.

What began on November 11 at IHOPU has yet to cease, resulting in over 1000 baptisms, hundreds of salvations, and an innumerable amount of physical and emotional healings. Since November 11, every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (save a few holiday interruptions), IHOPU hosts a six-hour Student Awakening meeting. At each meeting, there has been a heightened sense of the Lord’s presence and more and more testimonies are recorded each night and thousands of visitors have made their way to Kansas City to experience this move of God.

Bizarre things have happened. We’re talking healing from dyslexia (more than a fwe few times), porn stars saved, healed, and delivered, freedom from decade-long eating disorders, and deliverance from drug and alcohol addictions. People have been set free from same-sex attraction and addiction to pornography. Individuals who were raped or molested as children have been restored and set free from shame, forgiving their offenders. And, my own fiancé was healed of a benign tumor, which literally dissolved completely after some girls prayed for her in IHOP’s Global Prayer Room.

Truly, this move of God has been remarkable. Click here for a video of the highlights so far. You can also view all of the testimonies on IHOP’s YouTube channel.

Just in Time

Last September, one of IHOP’s key leaders, Daniel Lim, shared a message that called praying people across the nation to contend for revival in America. In the message, he shared some staggering statistics. Only 4% of those born in 1984 or later, he shared, are currently Bible-believing, churchgoing Christians. This is down from 65% of those who were born between 1927 and 1945 and 35% of those born between 1946 and 1964. (An excerpted article of of the message can be found here).

Now, at America’s doorstep seems to be one of two fates: complete apostasy or revival. At IHOP, we’re believing for the latter.

What if the Lord duplicated the move we’re experiencing here? What if it caught fire and similar moves began on other college campuses across our nation?

Daniel Fast

Yesterday, our community began a 40-day Daniel Fast*. After some collaboration and confirmation, our leaders called the IHOP community, along with ministries and campuses nationwide, to spend 40 days in fasting and prayer for revival in America. Immediately, there was agreement from many of our nation’s key Christian leaders and they called their spheres to the fast, as well.

Below is a video that gives further explanation to the fast. I encourage you to watch it.

IHOPU’s third and fourth year students are in Boston–– the city with a more concentrated number of higher education institutions than anywhere in the world–– for the next 40 days, praying and fasting for the Lord to turn the hearts of America back to Him. For more information on this, visit jhopboston.com.

If you’re intrigued by the 40-day Daniel Fast, join in. You didn’t miss the starting gun… Start now. And start however you’d like–– if it’s coffee, sweets, Facebook, or television, He’ll take your sacrifice. You, too, can ask the Lord to turn our nation around.

(*For more information on Daniel Fasting, read Daniel 1:8-13 and Daniel 10. Also, you can check out these resources:

-Jentzen Franklin
-Daniel-Fast.com )

(**Let me know if you’ll be joining in or have any questions or comments).

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