Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Reminder of why we're in Ayutthaya

Tough experience this morning: We arrived at the airport to fly to North America, bags all packed, everything in order, we thought. Even though we have been quite focused on work and getting things in order, we have really been looking forward to 30 days with family. It's been two and a half years since we were "home", and as much as I love my work, I need this time with family.

As an airline official checked our paperwork, I turned to Brenda and remarked, "Next year, several of our passports are due to be renewed." The words were barely out of my mouth when the official said to us, "This passport has expired." We were totally stunned - one of the boys' passports, used in re-entry into Thailand (so required for departure) had lapsed two months ago. Nothing could get us on that airplane now, no matter how much we wanted to go.

It felt like hell. No, literally. No amount of pleading would get us on that plane: and rightly so, since the legal requirements were not satisfied. It didn't matter if we were "good" people. It didn't matter that we had tickets. It didn't matter that we had our bags all packed and who was waiting for us on the other side of the ocean or how much we knew or how often we'd been to church or... I wanted to cry out, "But I didn't know it had expired! No one told me!" but that would be no excuse, and it really was my own responsibility.

I'm no fan of hell. Yes, our family's experience is 'just' a delay of 3 days, not an eternal destiny, but the sad truth is that some people who have been banking on going to heaven will discover all too late that they have no "passport" when they 'arrive at the gate'. Thinking it's all about being good enough, or smart enough, or having made merit or done the right things (such as going to church or another religion's equivalent), there will be a lot of shocked people to hear, "I'm sorry. I never knew you." And whatever else hell might be, it will be the pain of that door being locked forever when you thought you had all your papers in order, but also knew you had ignored a critical but just requirement. If you want to enter the home, you must know the owner, and the owner must know you.

But so many people in Thailand do not know, either through ignoring or rejecting what they've heard or by not really having much of a chance to hear the gospel. I personally prefer to focus on the positive side: The gracious Lord of the universe has issued an invitation that is too good to refuse! Just as our destination (to be with family) is something really, really good, heaven is a great hope, better news than our dull imaginations usually come up with. But there is a serious side to our message: ignoring or rejecting the invitation means being left out. I got just a small taste of that this morning, a reminder of the importance of our message to the people of Thailand. And we need help to spread the news of God's kingdom to the people of Ayutthaya.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Changeling Christians

This morning, I preached on Eph. 1:1-14. As I was preparing, I was a bit torn between wanting to talk about our position as "saints" (holy ones) in Christ, but also wanting to talk about the 6 blessings in Paul's effusive declaration in vv. 3-14. However, this problem was resolved when I realized that all 6 of the blessings relate directly back to our being holy (set apart by God for His sacred purpose).

Paul addressed his letter to faithful "saints". We ought to feel a bit of a start at this - saints? Who, me? Holy? Really? But that is how God sees us in Christ. I expected the Phii Nong to look a bit confused or skeptical this morning when I started off with, "สวัสดีพี่น้อง ผู้บริสุทธิ์ในพระคริสต์" ("Greetings brothers and sisters, holy ones in Christ"), but they didn't even blink - I guess they're pretty secure in God's work in them. A good thing, though it made me wonder if I'd prepared the wrong sermon. I went on to tell the Native American story of "the Changeling Eagle" - an eagle that had been raised from birth as a chicken and thought of itself as a chicken. "Sometimes we are like eagles who've been told we are chickens. And when we forget who we are in God's sight, we lose sight of God's plan and blessings for us, and we start to act like spiritual chickens."

The six blessings of Ephesians 1:3-14 are: (1) God chose us to be holy and blameless; (2) God predestined us (i.e. set us apart) to be His children; (3) God redeemed us and forgave us through Christ's blood (the 'how' of holiness); (4) God revealed the mystery of His will - to bring all things together under Christ (i.e. why He has set us apart); (5) God has predestined us (i.e. set us apart) to be for His glory (again, why); and (6) God has sealed us with His Holy Spirit - the guarantee of all these blessings.

It was pretty exciting for me to see just how this all fit together. (I owe Eugene Peterson for the breakdown of the "six active verbs of God's blessings".) A good principle of interpretation is to use the context to interpret any passage of Scripture. Understanding these blessings - which have a real flow to them - can help us understand our identity as "saints", "holy ones" in Christ, and guard against living our lives as changeling Christians.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Welcome to Ayutthaya Alive!

Thank you for visiting the Ayutthaya Alive! blogsite. The purpose of this site is to inform those who want to partner with us either by praying for God's hand to move the hearts of this province or to come and join us in proclaiming the grace, love, and salvation freely offered to us in Jesus Christ. I strongly believe that God desires to bless His people with His Shalom - lives filled with His peace and demonstrating the restoration of proper relationships between us and our Creator, with fellow human beings, and with God's creation. I believe the Lord wants to bring His healing into our lives for past hurts and sins and present pain and bondage. Our vision is:


By God’s grace we aim to see a movement of biblical Thai Christian communities equipped and eager to participate in the spread of God’s Kingdom throughout Ayutthaya and to  the ends of the earth.

May God bless the people of Ayutthaya!