I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.
Do not be like the horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
Else they will not come near you. Psalm 32.8, 9

Resources for Shepherds
Learning to pray the psalms can enrich your prayer life. It’s a long-standing practice among Christians, though it is largely ignored today. But we can benefit greatly from praying the psalms. So argues Robert Wilken in a brief but helpful article in First Things (summary and link here). For an exercise in singing the psalms, download our free Psalter Psampler (click here). To learn more about praying the psalms, order our book, God’s Prayer Program (click here).

Celtic Christian monasteries served as training centers for missionaries, scholars, and priests. Among the earliest of these was Llanilltud in Wales. Philip Morris provides a useful history of this great “University of the Atlantic” from its inception in the fifth century to the present. You can read a brief review of his book here.

In his book, Shepherding God’s Flock, Joe Stowell argues that shepherds must develop a close and growing relationship with Jesus, so that their ministry flows out of their relationship with Him. If you missed our ReVision series on seeing Jesus, “We Would See Jesus,” you can download all the installments by clicking here.

The Ailbe Seminary
Speaking of shepherding: Jesus, Paul, Peter, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel: What do they all have in common? They all promoted shepherding as the way of making disciples and building God’s Church. This is the theme of our very practical course, “Shepherding God’s Flock.” Watch this brief introductory video. This free course is available to you and your church leaders online and at your pace. For more information, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If you prefer only to study the subject of shepherding rather than work through the course, our workbook, Shepherding God’s Flock, is available by clicking here.

Ailbe Resources and Opportunities
The Visible Unity of the Church Project
We have begun accumulating your ideas about enhancing the visible oneness of God’s people in our communities. Thanks for sharing with us. We welcome more ideas for ways that we can fulfill the prayer of our Lord Jesus in John 17.21. Visible oneness of God’s people is important to the success of our mission. What have you done? What are you planning to do? How can churches work together to enhance our oneness, so that the world will believe that Jesus has come from the Father? Send me your thoughts, links to articles, suggestions for reading, or other ideas and practices at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Watch for our forthcoming ReVision study on “The Visible Unity of the Church.” If you’re not a subscriber to ReVision, use the pop-up at the website to do so by updating your subscriptrions.

The Gospel of the Kingdom
Our newest audiobook, The Gospel of the Kingdom, is now available at no charge by clicking here. If you need a refresher on the Gospel or a jumpstart for your witnessing, this free book can help. 

We’re offering a great deal on our book Restore Us!, which shows you why and how to begin seeking the Lord regularly for revival. Check it out here.

Personal Mission Field
Every believer has a Personal Mission Field. This is where God sends us, like He sent Jesus (Jn 20.21) to bring the Kingdom of God near to the people in our lives. Have you identified your Personal Mission Field? Have you led your leaders and church members to do so? Watch this brief video, then download the worksheet and get started.

Come pray with us!
Why do we pray for revival? How can you begin to pray for revival? Men from around this country and beyond gather regularly to pray for revival, using a psalm to guide us in our 30-minute online group. If you’d like more information, or want to join or start a group, just write to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and I’ll get back to you right away.

At The Fellowship of Ailbe website
Check out all the Ailbe teaching letters at our website, www.ailbe.org. Our writers cover a wide range of subjects, and each one focuses on Christ and His Kingdom as the defining motif of our lives.

Next week in our daily Scriptorium teaching letter, we begin the study of Deuteronomy, one of the most important books in Scripture. Each day’s study offers a psalm to sing and pray in line with the texts studied for the day. If you’d like to receive Scriptorium daily, use the pop-up at the website. 

Our ReVision series is studying the various “ill winds” that seek to fill the sails of our soul and drive us off course from the Lord. Next week we’ll be looking at those ill winds that arise from within the Church. Download all the available installments in this series by clicking here. Update your subscriptions and get ReVision every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, right on your desktop.

The current issue of The InVerse Theology Project introduces you to Colum Cille, the founder of the Iona community, and a great sixth-century saint, scholar, and evangelist. Learn more about him by clicking here. On Monday we continue part 4 of Patrick’s Confession in the InVerse Theology Project. To catch up on all previous issues, click here.

Psalm of the Week
Please feel free to use Psalm 32 in your personal or corporate worship (all psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter, available here):

Psalm 32 (Hendon: Take My Life and Let It Be)
Blessed are they whose sins the Lord has forgiven by His Word!
Pure their spirits are within; them He charges with no sin;
them He charges with no sin!

When in silence I remained, groaning in my sinful pain,
You Your hand upon me lay; all my strength You drained away, 
all my strength You drained away.

I confessed my sin to You; You forgave me, ever true!
Let confession’s pleading sound reach You while You may be found,
reach You while You may be found.

When flood waters threaten me, You my hiding place will be.
O’er them I will rise above, buoyed by Your redeeming love,
buoyed by Your redeeming love.

Teach me, Lord, how I should live; sound instruction ever give.
Let me never stubborn be; let Your eye watch over me.
let Your eye watch over me.

Though the wicked wail and weep, they rejoice whose souls You keep.
Trusting, we exult with praise, joyf’ly singing all our days,
joyf’ly singing all our days!

From the Celtic Revival
Columbanus on the self-watch:

Wherefore let us know nothing more profitable for ourselves than to examine ourselves daily, every day of our life reviewing that dubious life, and keeping account of our words and thoughts, and shuddering at human life, to ponder without ceasing the aforesaid end of that roadway, that is of our life, while we spurn all the pleasures of this world.

  - Columbanus, Sermon IX, Irish, 7th century[1]

An effective self-watch begins with knowing where your time goes. Our worksheet, The Time of Your Life, can help you get a better sense of how your time is used. Download the free worksheet by clicking here.

Read more from the leaders of the Celtic Revival (ca. 430-800 AD) in recent issues of Crosfigell by clicking here. Would you like to learn more about the Celtic Revival? Write to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and I’ll send you our free book, The Celtic Revival: A Brief Introduction, in PDF.

T. M. Moore

It is our privilege to provide resources and opportunities to equip and encourage church leaders in building the Lord’s Church and advancing His Kingdom. Please pray that God will move many of those we serve through this ministry to share with us financially in its support. If the Lord moves you to give, you can use the Contribute button at the website to give with a credit card or through PayPal, or you can send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 360 Zephyr Road, Williston, VT 05495.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All Psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.

[1] Walker, p 73.