As she saw him enter the court, she led to him the illegitimate sons of Theuderich. When St. Columban saw her, he asked what she wanted of him. Brunhilda answered, "These are the king's sons; give them thy blessing." He replied, "Know that these boys will never bear the royal sceptre, for they were begotten in sin."

- The Monk Jonas, Life of St. Columban (Italian, 7th century)

Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because John had been saying to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her."

- Matthew 14.3, 4

Columbanus and the royal court did not hit it off very well because he would not play their game of "cultural Christianity." These rulers loudly professed their faith in Jesus, then they ruled and lived however they liked, and, typically, that included a generous measure of sin.

Columbanus would be described today as intolerant or, at least, lacking in tact. But he would not bless their licentious lifestyle and he would not honor their corrupt and cruel regime. He was exiled once and a bounty put out on him on another occasion; yet his trust in the Lord kept him in Gaul and safe, until he decided it was time to move on to other fields.

Taking bold stances, based on the Law of God, is not considered an essential part of Christianity in America today. The faith is a personal thing, a private and small thing, that doesn't try to persuade others to change their minds or views. Brunhilda and her son would have felt right at home in most of our churches today.

But that guy out on the front lawn, preaching against our ease and comfort, and the way we lavish our wealth and resources on ourselves in the name of the Lord, and how we have given up on the mission of reaching our communities with the Gospel, one person at at time - that irritating person is Columbanus. Where is he? you ask.

Good question.

Exercise for the Month: Don't be shy about reaching out to the people you've been praying for and telling them so. And ask for a request while you're at it.

Today in ReVision: There We Go Again - Why can't we all just act like the evolutionists we're told we are?

This Week's Download: Impact and Understanding of the Bible: A Questionnaire

New content under Kingdom Civics and Every Thought Captive for this week. Check it out. After all, who'd have thought to find Ghengis Khan on a Celtic Christian website? And what's the New Testament all about, anyway?

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.