Brother Paul in the U.K.

bROtHEr pAul iN tHE U.K.

Glastonbury Tor. Associated with stories of King Arthur. Inhabited since the Iron Age. Location of the first Church and Monastery in England. In very ancient pagan times the hill was surrounded by a lake, making it an island known as: “Avalon.” J.R.R. Tolkien used Glastonbury Tor as the model for his illustration of the hill of “Hobbiton.”

“O give thanks to the Lord; call upon His Name:

make known His deeds among the people.”

-Psalm 105:1

Being truly “robed” is simply the “habit” of being:

R -Renewed in mind,

O -Open in heart,

B -Based in scripture,

E -Evangelistic in practice,

D -Dedicated in prayer to Christ alone.

-Brother Paul

Paul D.J. Arblaster was born in Bloxwich, England. A graduate of the London Film School, he also holds a B.A. from the University of Oregon.

Besides being involved in the international antiques trade and teaching for many years, he has produced numerous documentaries throughout his career.

In the early 1980’s, he Founded an international Christian Motorcycle group, and directed Steve McQueen in Full Throttle to Glory, which was voted among the top ten documentaries on Public Access Television.

Apart from classic motorcycles, antique hunting and Celtic Christianity, his interests include maritime lore, history, and walking ancient pathways with his American wife, Carol. They have three children.

He is the Founder of the Celtic Evangelism Fellowship (CEF).

In 2002 his first book, Celtic Christianity: Yesterday, Today, and for the Future was published.

In 2003 He became a Registered Lay Monk with The Prayer Foundation’s Knights of Prayer Lay Monastic Order.

In 2004, he and Carol went into full-time Evangelism in England with:

Cutting Edge Ministries

Evangelism Support for Local Churches.

CEM is a Biblically sound interdenominational ministry;

an upstanding member of the

Evangelical Alliance.

For three Christmas seasons we were blessed to be able to meet with Brother Paul and his wife Carol here in Vancouver Washington (while they were visiting from England) where they serve in full-time Christian ministry.

We call on all who read this page to support them with your prayers.

Also pray for Lay Monk Denise, who teaches Missionaries’ children in Japan, and who visited us from there with her daughter.

Later, she wrote us that when they had visited a church that used incense in their service, her daughter said to her:

“It smells like the Monks’ house.”

And please also pray for us, and for this ministry.

Excerpted from the book:

Celtic Christianity Yesterday, Today, and for the Future: Gleaning Wisdom from the Primitive Protestants,

by Paul D.J. Arblaster.

_______________________________________________

More Dangerous than Viking Raiders — Our Modern Culture

I am not putting forth Celtic Christianity as some panacea of perfection; it is a process and a tool for overcoming that which may be more dangerous than Viking raiders — our modern culture.

It must be admitted that not all aspects of Celtic Christianity could, or even should, be followed today, but it does offer much we may appropriate as an arsenal to combat the cultural seduction of our time and affections.

The Celtic Church was strongest in the three areas I think most of us would admit are the most needful, and in which we are the most neglectful: Prayer, bible Study, and Evangelism.

Heaven knows we need to be more than conquerors through Christ in these.

Prayer, Bible Study, and Evangelism

When Celtic missionary saints stepped into boats to allow the wind and currents to guide them wherever God willed, they basically put everything on the line and turned their back on comfortable predictibility.

In a sense they became dead to this world.

Christ told us to be willing to risk no less, for ultimately he promised us no loss compared to what we would gain.

We today can take as bold a step without ever leaving our locality; call it the prayer of death (“For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.”).

An old adage is, “Be careful what you pray for, God might just grant it!”

We all have things we enjoy spending a lot of time and energy on that could more profitably be spent in eternal things.

It takes a lot of courage to ask God completely to re-orient us, away from our cultural fixations, and into His value system instead.

If you are willing to have God start this process, it can begin with a very simple, yet dangerous prayer, “Lord, let me lose interest in all temporal diversions.”

If you begin in truth with this step of faith, your life can become every bit as adventurous as the Celtic Saints experiencing God working through them.

Conversation with the Father

In our regular prayers we are often guilty of rushing through into specific requests of God with what is a cursory, but perhaps not very deeply felt, introductory acknowledgement of thanks to Him for His greatness.

Tozer’s classic, The Knowledge of the Holy, along with Keller’s A Shepherd looks at The Lord’s Prayer/Psalm 23 should be read and read again, because one has a tendency to forget the magnitude and anticipation of joy attendant with entering into conversation with the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit.

While He is so high above us, He is also all around us and in us. Dwelling on this great mystery alone is enough to evoke feelings of awe.

–Paul D.J. Arblaster

yOuR COMMENtS (tOM c., MARylANd)

I met Paul and Carol at a Celtic Festival in Elizabethton, Tennessee a little over a year ago. I was attracted to their booth by Carol’s beautiful harp playing and struck up a conversation with Paul about Celtic Christianity.

I was born again in 1963 in Hampton, Virginia and as I’ve matured in my faith I’ve really developed an appreciation for the devotion and personal witness that was so evident in the lives of the early saints.

As I’ve explored my Celtic roots, I’ve become especially appreciative of the lives of men like Saint Patrick and Saint Columba. The values of Celtic Christianity that Paul talked about really fit into place with what the Lord was already doing in my heart, and it’s really made a difference in my life.

My personal prayer life and witnessing have taken on renewed meaning and I’m experiencing a deeper sense of joy and peace. I’m working through your curriculum and participating in the 24-Hr. prayer ministry each morning between 4:00 and 4:30 Eastern Time.

I really enjoy getting up early before the day gets too far ahead of me. The materials on the your website have been really helpful. Thank you so much.

I’m happy to hear that Paul and Carol have been working in England. I bought a copy of Celtic Christianity: Yesterday, Today, and for the Future when I met Paul, and he signed it:

“Hear ye the Word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it unto the isles afar off…”

It sounds like he’s taken that (Jeremiah 31:10) personally to heart.

Wishing you the Peace of God and His Richest Blessings,

Tom C. (Maryland)

GEORGE MüLLER ON GOd's wORd, pRAyER , & ANSwERS tO pRayER

“The vigor of our spiritual life will be in exact proportion to the place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts.”

“I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the word of God, and to meditation on it.

What is the food of the inner man? Not prayer, but the word of God;

and . . . not the simple reading of the word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe,

but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts.”

“This I most firmly believe, that no one ought to expect to see much good resulting from his labors in word and doctrine, if he is not much given to prayer and meditation.”

“The joy which answers to prayer give, cannot be described; and the impetus which they afford to the spiritual life is exceedingly great.”

-George Müller (1805-1898)

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