Dressed in White

All of this week, some of the people here in southern Thailand are celebrating a festival that makes us want to weep. The world looking in calls it the "vegetarian festival" which sounds innocent enough. This is not Buddhist. It comes from Chinese spiritism. It is demonic and ugly. Many of the tourists think it is neat to sample the vegetarian foods and go see the parade. That is where the fun stops.

The parades are filled with people dress in white. Some are flogging themselves bloody. Some have knives or poles poked through their cheeks. It is an effort to atone for their sins. They dress all in white for ten days to purify themselves, eating no meat. Certain people are selected to bear the punishment for the people in their village. They are usually dressed in red. Then spirits are called to enter the bodies of these people to help them through the torments that they inflict upon themselves.

So this week, as I drive down the road and see all of the people dressed in white (little kids too), I am praying for them. Will you join us in praying for these people? May the Lord open their eyes and their hearts. May they respond to His Word and find the hope that they need. May they find the one who has already paid the price for their sins so that they don't have to.

Religion or something more?

In working among the Buddhists here in Thailand, one thing that becomes crystal clear is that God calls us to a relationship with himself and not religion. By religion I mean this....the world thinks of Christianity as one of the main religions of the world, along with Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and a variety of others. What are these religions but an expression of a worldview with its practices and rituals, commandments, doctrines, and beliefs.

One thing I hear over and over again from the Buddhists is this: "All religions are the same. They teach us to be good people." To the average Thai Buddhist, it all boils down to this - My religion helps me to be a basically good person and avoid more suffering in life. The Thais will often compare their priests to our priests (mostly Catholic), their buildings to our buildings, their rituals to our rituals, their teachings to our teachings, etc. Why should they change if we are offering them religion?

So.... how are they different? The Bible teaches us it is not about rituals, or buildings, or even good works. The most important thing is for us to be reconciled to God - that God is drawing us back into a right relationship with himself. He is calling us to love him and to seek him. And He has opened the way for us to get back to Him when Jesus died on the cross.

It seems to me that the pitfall for all of us (including Christians) is this. We want to make a religion out of it. We want to reduce our relationship to God to rituals: get baptized, go to church (sometimes), try to do good stuff. This is not God plan for you. He has so much more to give you than that.

I write this as I am praying for some of my friends out there on both sides of the planet. As I consider all of these things, I realize that the one thing that is important is to "love the Lord your God with all of your heart." Seek after him. Let him be to you a Father, and that you may be to him a son or daughter.
May God bless each of you.

Finding Belief

Yesterday, a local pastor and I went out to share the gospel together and to follow up on responsive people in the village of Ko Khiem. What a blessing! First, we met a lady in her 50's named Ba Lang. She told us that she first heard the gospel from her granddaughter who attends church in Bangkok. She then heard the gospel at our mobile clinic in June. She has never had a Bible or any other Christian literature. She has never seen the Jesus Film. Yet, she told us that she does believe.

Then, about three houses down, we met a young couple who sent in a response card to ask for the Jesus Film. I spoke with the young man named Eng. He told me that he and his wife have watched it, and that they believe it is the truth.

Praise the Lord! As I looked in the young man's eyes, I sensed that he was truly believing. My heart went out to him, because I think that he feels he is alone.
Please join us in praying for Ba Lang and also for Eng and his wife. Pray that the Lord will open up their hearts and homes to receive him. Pray that through these homes, the Lord will send out His light to the surrounding community and that many people will respond to the Word.