Columbanus (21)

Take heed to yourself and ot the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4.16

Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. Hebrews 2.1

The danger of drifting from our Biblical moorings is always present with us. In our day, when so many dangerous currents of ideology, moral fashionableness, spiritual smallness, and practical indifference swirl and rush around us, Christians are in danger of being swept away from their faith without even realizing it. This is as true for the shepherds of God’s flock as for the sheep.

We need to maintain a careful watch over our thoughts, plans, affections, desires, longings, aspirations, and work (cf. Prov. 4.20-27). Columbanus understood this need, as he taught his novices in Sermon IX: “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 this aforesaid end of the roadway, that is our life, while we spurn the pleasures of the world.”

It’s a good idea to include in our regimen of spiritual disciplines an ongoing self-watch, so that we are diligent in heeding Paul’s exhortation to make the best use of our time (Eph. 5.15-17). A workable self-watch will involve careful planning, waiting on the Lord in prayer, and being accountable to others for our lives and our ways. The pastor who will not practice a self-watch will be in danger, both personally and in his teaching, of straying from the way of the Lord or, at least, failing to realize as much of His fullness in life and ministry. And if he will not watch over even his own soul, how can he be expected to watch over the souls in his care (Heb. 13.17)?

Resources for Shepherds
Our book, Fan into Flame, includes a series of self-assessment tools to help you examine your life and ministry against the teaching of God’s Word. You can order a free copy by clicking here.

Men, you can join us each Tuesday morning at 10:00 Eastern for 30 minutes of seeking the Lord for revival. We pray with men from around the country and other countries as well, using a psalm to guide us and joining our voices to seek the Lord for revival. Just write to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I’ll add you to the Zoom mailing list.

Are you “making the most” of the time God gives you each day? Our little tool, The Time of Your Life, will lead you through an exercise of recording and evaluating how you use your time for a typical week. You can download a free copy of this brochure by clicking here. 

Celtic Christians disciplined their lives for Christ by sharing together in personal rules of life. You can read more about this by downloading a free copy of our book in PDF, Living to Rule (click here).

From the Celtic Revival
Eternal life consists in knowing God and Jesus Christ (Jn. 17.3). But can we really know God? After all, as an anonymous Celtic scholar, writing in the 7^th century observed,

“Therefore He is good without qualification, great without measure, eternal without [limit of] time, pre-eminent without position. Since He has no [fixed] place He is imparted to all His creatures and embraces all His creation. No creature holds Him, no intelligence comprehends Him.”

  - The Book of the Order of Creatures I.2[1]

How do we make sense of the fact that God is both knowable and unknowable? Should this fact make us complacent about seeking Him or spur us on in seeking to know Him more? Subscribe to Crosfigell or go to the website on Tuesday to learn more from this current series, “A Celtic Christian Worldview.”

Check out our Celtic Legacy podcast and the other resources available on our dedicated Celtic Revival home page.

You can also download a free copy in PDF of our book, The Celtic Revival: A Brief Introduction, by clicking here.

T. M. Moore.

Considering Membership in The Fellowship of Ailbe
We pray that God will bring to our Fellowship men who are committed to realizing more of the presence, promise, and power of His Kingdom. If you’d like to learn more about becoming a Brother in The Fellowship of Ailbe, click here to watch a brief video. If you’d like to talk about Membership, write to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and I’ll send you some additional information.

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 Anedot, or you can send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 103 Reynolds Lane, West Grove, PA 19390.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[1] Davies, p. 1