In this heartfelt episode, we celebrate the influence and legacy of St. Patrick, a revered figure who played a pivotal role in spreading Christianity to Ireland and beyond. Through a series of engaging stories and scriptures, we explore how St. Patrick’s courage, resilience, and faithfulness led to the transformation of an entire nation. Barbara Carmack shares personal stories that connect her heritage to the broader story of Christian evangelization, offering a poignant reminder of the continuous impact our faith can have when approached with devotion and conviction.
Welcome to Call to Freedom with Barbara Carmack. This is Jimmy Lakey, and I’m delighted that you are joining us for this half hour. You can reach Call to Freedom at Box 370367, Denver, Colorado 80237, or by going to the website at www.freedomstreet.org. If you want to leave a message or order a Word Power Daily Reading Bible Guide or a Freedom Street Express newsletter, you can call us toll free at 1-877-917-7256 and leave your name and address, including your zip code. If you want to talk to Barbara right now, she is expecting your call. You may call that same toll-free number, 1-877-917-7256 to speak to her. And now, let’s join Barbara in the studio.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to Called Up Freedom. It truly was freedom that Jesus set you free. When you give your all to God, and I’m going to be talking about that wonderful, wonderful saint, St. Patrick. When you give your all to God, he makes all things beautiful. All things working together for your good. And you know that that scripture in Ecclesiastes 3 verse 11 is true. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Praise the Lord for his goodness to us today. You are blessed to dispense for in him you live and move and have your being. And if you would like to listen to radio programs, even older ones, ones in the past, you go to FreedomStreet.org and click on radio shows. And you can download all kinds of other things in the resource newsletters and lessons from Darren teaching and also blogs from Kimberly. It’s just got a lot of stuff. So go to FreedomStreet.org and you’ll be surprised how Chris has been managing that site. Oh, today we are celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. And it was such a blessing to spend St. Patrick’s Day with Darren. He was pure. He was pure Irish, both sides Irish. McGuigan’s on one side and Carmack on the other. And Carmack even had a crest from Ireland. And, of course, don’t you remember St. Patrick’s Day when you went to school, especially grade school? If you didn’t wear green that day, they pinched you. They did. So I had a turquoise ring that was just almost pure green and I wore it all the time because then I could pinch them back. And I made it a point not to wear green clothes, just to have that green ring. And they’d say, gotcha. And then I showed them a ring and I said, I got you. And so. We’d go back and forth laughing. That’s the only thing I remember of St. Patrick’s Day until I married Darren. And then it just became a real important date. We’d go to Houlihan’s. Remember Houlihan’s? Oh, loved their corned beef and cabbage. It was so good. And Rachel and I were just talking about loving sauerkraut. It’s just so good for you, too. So I remember that when we were married, we would go celebrating his ancestors by going to the different churches that his father and grandfather pastored in southwestern Colorado. And then we found graves of the Carmack relatives all over the Southwest, New Mexico and Arizona. Those Irishmen covered a lot of territory. They really did. And they did it with enthusiasm. And may the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. Boy, it’s windy today. May the sunshine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again, my friend, may God hold you in the palm of his hand. The palm of your hand reminds me of our wedding day when Darren quoted Isaiah 49, verse 16. And he held in front of the precious little group that we had at the backyard of my mom’s house when we got married. He held his palms out and he quoted, And he said, that Barbara, your name is right beside me in the palm of God’s hands. And I want to read a little bit of Isaiah 49. And God is saying here, Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget. Oh, just love that verse. I love it. Well, today is a feast day of St. Patrick, a saint who is celebrated widely, not just in Ireland, but all over the world. Here lies the story of a remarkable man who faced a truly daunting task, proposing the Christian faith to the pagan Irish almost 1,600 years ago. So dangerous was the task that many questioned the whole point of going to where even the Romans had refused to invade. Such was the uncivilized reputation of the Irish at the time. They’re really tough, tough people. And I guess I’m grateful for that because they have just done so much around the world. This tiny little island of Ireland has just done so much. And it’s one of the most remarkable success stories of the early church, one that resulted not only in the Irish being converted to the faith, but them becoming missionaries of the faith themselves. And here I explore how St. Patrick can help us approach the new evangelization with the hope of the same success in the present as he enjoyed in the past. I also explore how St. Patrick reminds us of a fundamental truth of our faith, that mission matters. Mission matters. And St. Patrick was born in 385 A.D., 300 years after Jesus left, or 300 years. And he was born on the west coast of Britain in the late 4th century, the son of a deacon who also acted as a Roman official. At the tender age of 16, he was captured by Irish pirates. Wow. And brought to Ireland where he was forced into slavery. 16 years old. Separated from his family and immersed in suffering, he came to know God’s friendship. Why is it that in suffering we usually find God? We find the Lord Jesus in our suffering. Maybe it’s because Philippians 3.10 says that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering. So we understand that it’s in suffering. And he came to know the Lord to identify with Christ’s closeness and to understand himself in a new way. We need to understand ourselves, folks. We know the business of everybody else, but we need to look inside and discover who we are. After six years, he escaped back to Britain and was reunited with his family who begged him never to leave them again. Well, he didn’t have anything to do with it. He was captured by pirates. It was a promise Patrick could not keep, for shortly afterwards he began to sense a powerful call to the return of the land of his captivity and to bring the gospel to the Irish. And I know I’m talking to many Irish listeners today. He sensed this call in a dream with the words, Oh, holy boy, we beg you to come again and walk among us. It reminds me of Paul’s vision to go to Macedonia, doesn’t it? And also, if you know anything about Corrie Ten Boom. She wrote a beautiful book, The Hiding Place. And after she came to America, guess what the Lord told her to do? Go back to Germany. Germany, the country that she had had so much suffering, and the Germany where her precious sister Betsy died. Well, she obeyed the Lord. She went back to Germany after World War II. And there in the audience when she was teaching and telling her story was the guard who killed her sister, Betsy. And afterwards, he came up. And afterwards, she said, I forgive you. Oh. Wow, what powerful, what a powerful moment. Well, Patrick responded to this call, which he believed had come from God, to return to Ireland and began to preach the gospel. In his own words, he explains why he returned to Ireland. For the love of neighbors, sons and daughters. And because of his zeal for God and for the truth of Christ, he left his family and everyone he’d known in Britain and he went to Ireland. They’re in Ireland in a pagan culture. He faced many difficulties and dangers. He was among a people many considered uncivilized and beyond redemption. Have you ever been around people? Well, he’s not worth redeeming. That’s right. Some people think, well, somebody is so rotten, so sinful that God cannot redeem him. You’re wrong. You’re absolutely wrong. There is not one person on this earth that God cannot redeem. And it’s just amazing how we judge and we criticize when God is the one who does that. And he just does not desire that anyone would perish. Patrick suffered persecutions and further captivity, and he expected to suffer martyrdom at any time. He described himself as a lowly, unlearned exile, freely admitting his own limitations. Yet despite these obstacles, Patrick testified to remarkable missionary successes. He baptized thousands and witnessed to how early Christian community in Ireland was increasing beautifully through his preaching. History testifies that Patrick’s efforts began a chain of events that not only led to the Christianization of Ireland, but to the influx of Irish missionaries into mainland Europe, where they made an immense contribution to the project of civilization. Missionaries, including the monastic saints, Columbanus and Malachi, brought key elements of Christian faith that promoted Ecclesia. Now, we’ve seen Ecclesia. We’ve read Ecclesiastes. So I said, what’s Ecclesia? And I looked up Ecclesia. I’m so glad we have online Google because I look up a lot of things. The word Ecclesia may slip right past your ears, but that word means a unity of the body of Christ. Exactly what I was reading in Acts 2 and 3 yesterday, a unity so close that they would die for each other. We need that same unity today, friends. We truly do. And if you’d like to listen to that radio broadcast, you can go to freedomstreet.org and click on March 16th, and you’ll hear that reading. Ecclesia and social unity were absorbed by cultures in a way that fostered education, virtue, and basic human rights. These Irish missionaries preached and taught that faith in the Trinity expressed itself in social harmony. the truth of Christ and the love for God’s people. This was the legacy of these Irish men and women of courage, and it originated with Patrick, their father in faith. Over and over in the centuries, thousands of Irish people brought their Christian faith with them around the world as they left their homeland in search of a better life. And that’s when the Carmacks and the McGuigans and My ancestors came over to America. So many diverse ethnicity. For this reason, St. Patrick is celebrated not just by the Irish, but by churches around the world who thank God for the gift of faith received by their Irish ancestors who brought the faith to other cultures and peoples. after the example of Patrick himself. At this time of opportunity evangelization, what the story of Patrick teaches us with renewed force and effect is simply that mission matters. God in his freedom did not have to involve us in his work of salvation, but he chose to do us. He chose us. We didn’t choose him. He chose us. He desires that all people share fully in his divine life and asks us to help offer what what he wants to give. God has given us the dignity of being partners with him in bringing his saving love to the ends of the earth. Therefore, in many ways, the salvation of others depends on our response to be people of mission and vision. Patrick speaks of his mission as this holy and wonderful work in his pastoral care for others. He dedicated himself to the Irish lovingly and joyfully, participating in their salvation and maturing in Christ. Through God’s loving call and Patrick’s generous response, the saving message of Christ not only transformed his life, but an entire nation. Through his ministry, Irish men and women carried God’s saving love everywhere they went into the world. And this includes your ancestors and my family, my Irish family of Carmack that came over. St. Patrick’s had a valuable influence and immeasurable influence on these people. And they realized that they were vessels freely offered to bring people hope in Jesus Christ. That is the mission of the body of Christ. His story warns us never to underestimate the personal and unique task God has committed to each of us to evangelize wherever we are. We each have a blessed mission to remind those around us of the sacrifice that was nailed to the cross for everyone, including the Gentiles. When you feel like you have little to contribute to this evangelistic mission, remember Patrick and his willingness to give his life, if need be, for the sake of the gospel. It’s so important that we remember these wonderful people from the past, clear 1,600 years ago, but clearly still influencing nations around the world. Our memory verse for this week. is a lot about life. It’s John 6, verse 63. It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. And in the living translation, John 6, verse 63 says, the spirit alone gives eternal life. That’s right. So many people say, well, there’s nothing after death. You just go in the grave and you die and the worms eat you up. No, no. There are so many scriptures when we’re apart from the body, we’re up with the Lord. The moment we depart from this body, we are with God. And those scriptures are so important because Jesus goes on to say here in John 6, 63, the words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life, even in the living translation. But some of you don’t believe me. And there were those who left because they did not believe Jesus Christ. It’s so important that we believe him, friend, and give him all the glory for what he’s going to do for us. In the Passion, John 6, verse 63 says, Holy Spirit is the one who gives life. That which is of the natural realm is of no help. So you can just tell me about all your degrees that you got from the universities and all the achievements that you’ve made in your life, and they amount to nothing. And when you die and all those wonderful accolades and the plaques and all the awards, you know what? The next generation really doesn’t care about it, and they’ll probably throw it in the trash. So don’t put a lot of value on everything that you’ve done in this life. Jesus goes on to say, the words I speak to you are spirit and life. But there are still some of you who won’t believe. In fact, Jesus already knew from the beginning who the skeptics were and who his traitor would be. I remember going to the Statue of Liberty when we were in New York City with Kurt and Kathy Grosser. Wow, they showed us all over the city of New York. And it was important that we go out on a ferry and see the Statue of Liberty. And then we went on to Staten Island. And on the Statue of Liberty… On the footstand, it says, give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door. And the golden door is the United States of America. For millions and millions of people, it is the golden door. So the poem by Emma Lazarus was cast onto the footstand of the Statue of Liberty as an aid to the Jewish people who were coming homeless and tempest-tossed. My ancestors came over in steamers and landed at Ellis Island with the hopes and dreams of having better lives in this land. We were talking about this with my friends Jeff and Karin, and I asked him, why do you think it’s so different now? He said, because those people there wanted to assimilate into society and become Americans. The people now who come across, especially the illegals who came across, they want to change this country. They want their country to come into America and become their country. So we need to really pray that this country will always be a land of freedom. My friend living for Jesus has always been a struggle coming against those in opposition to our testimony. It is so worth all the struggle to see people come to Jesus. And I’m so grateful for that. The power of God over adversity is really important. In Exodus 15, verse 11, God is saying, or Moses is saying through God, who is like thee, O Lord, glorious in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders. This was sung after the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea. And then in Exodus 15, 1 through 2, after they came over on dry land and then the waters of the Red Sea came back together again, The people were singing, I will sing unto the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and the rider fell into the sea. Oh, beautiful old chorus. And in Psalm 20, verse 7, some trust in chariots and some in horses. We can never trust in all of the great technology we have. But we will remember the name of the Lord, our God. In Psalm 27, verse one, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 34, four tells us, I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all of my fears. When we come against adversity, the first thing we must do is recall, recall, recall, Recall from our heart. Recall scriptures, scriptures that we have memorized. That’s so important. So I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears. Isaiah 54, 17. When you’re up against a struggle, when you’re being sued in court. Lift up this verse. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. And every tongue that accuses me in judgment, I condemn. So you condemn those people that are voicing against you. Every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication or innocence is from the Lord. The Lord will carry out the vindication. And this is Isaiah 54, 17. I use that one a lot. Habakkuk 3, verse 18, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. I will rejoice in the God who is my strength. He makes my feet like Heinz feet and makes me walk upon my high places. We’re never under the circumstances, friend. We’re always in those high places with God. Romans 8, verse 31, if God is for me, who can be against me? In 2 Timothy 1.7, God has not given me a spirit of fear. Fear does not come from God, but he gives me a spirit of power, a spirit of love, and a spirit of a sound mind. I have the mind of Christ. When you come up against some threats from the enemy, say, I have the mind of Christ. Get away from me, Satan. I have the mind of Christ. You can’t touch me. You cannot touch my mind. You cannot touch my spirit. You cannot touch my soul. And that’s from 1 Corinthians 2, verse 16. And then finally, Revelation 2, 11. And they overcame him, Satan, the enemy, by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. And they didn’t value their lives even to the death. I had to say those because St. Patrick… gave his life, gave his life to tell other people about the Lord Jesus Christ and bring them to salvation. God has something beautiful planned for you. And here is a flashback of the Wells family.
SPEAKER 03 :
Why complain about your clothes and your shoes? Why complain about your teacher and your rules? Why complain when so many have no home? Why complain when you have one of your own? Just be thankful for the good things that you got. Oh, be thankful for the good things that you’ve got. The good things that you’ve got are for many just a dream. So be thankful for the good things that you’ve got. Why complain about the way that you look? Why complain about the scolding that you took? Why complain when so many cannot run? Why complain when you’re having so much fun? Just be thankful for the good things that you got Oh, be thankful for the good things that you’ve got The good things that you’ve got Are for many just a dream So be thankful for the good things that you’ve got Just be thankful for the good things that you got. Oh, be thankful for the good things that you got. The good things that you got are for many just to three. So be thankful for the good things that you got.
SPEAKER 01 :
I’m emotional. So be thankful for the good things that you’ve got. The good things that you’ve got are dreams for many people. So just be thankful for the good things that you’ve got. Oh, and I praise God for Kimmy and Dana. Dana was five years old and Kimmy was eight years. And they just were so precious. We did it at the Gaither Studio. And my goodness, they just stood there and did the whole album without any notes, without any words. And I praise God for those wonderful memories that they have. I want to take you to John 8, our reading for today. Jesus is talking about being free, being free in the spirit, no hangups, no condemnation, no inferiority, no fear, no guilt, no unworthiness. Oh, we’re free in Jesus Christ, my friend. If you abide in my word, Then you are truly disciples of mine and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. That’s verse 32 of John 8. Memorize that they answered him. We are Abraham’s offspring. And of course, these are the Pharisees and have never yet been enslaved to anyone. Is that is it that you say you shall become free? They were so enslaved. They were so in bondage. by the traditions that they lifted up more than the son of God. And Jesus answered them, truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. And the slave does not remain in the house forever. The son does remain forever. If therefore the son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. He spoke this right in the faces of the Pharisees because he knew the tradition of the men that they spoke of was making powerless the word of God to the people that he was trying to teach. So we’ve got to get rid of that tradition. We’ve got to get rid of the tradition of man. We’ve got to live free in Jesus Christ so we can tell our friends, tell those around us, there is such freedom in him for you have been called to freedom, brothers and sisters. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another, serve one another. So good being with you today. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. God bless you and keep you and take joy.
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