Lopburi

Yesterday (Sunday 14th Dec) was our monthly trip to Lopburi, where we lead and preach in church, teach a Bible class, and Lookkaid now leads the children's group too.
(The pic shows some of the children's group giving us a Christmas song in church.)
We feel it's worth the 2 hour drive each way - there are usually 5 or 6 or 7 of us in the car, so that's fun too.
They made a bit of a fuss over us this time, because it is now 2 years since I first preached there. And it is also feeling good just now because the congregation has been growing over the past 2 or 3 months. Usually I'm the only non-Thai person present, but yesterday another (very new) missionary turned up - she's based in Lopburi.
I spoke about the Magi, Matthew 2. The chief priests and scribes knew their scriptures enough to answer the question, but it seems they were not provoked to go to Bethlehem themselves. Didn't believe the foreigners? Scared of Herod? Knew the scriptures but didn't really believe them?

updating

Hmmm ... this blog thing is STILL a new and strange experience!
I've been doing some "gardening" on this blog page ... got rid of a few weeds, put in a couple of new shrubs ... need to water it a bit more.

And some kind people have been asking how all the trouble in Bangkok has affected us. Really 99% of the people in Bangkok are just getting on with life as usual.
Amy had to spend 8 hours on the road each way, instead of one hour in the plane, to get to her work project in Chiang Mai this week. I had one taxi driver say he would not take me to a particular destination in Bangkok - he said it was because of "the mob", but it might have been because he wanted to go the opposite direction to get home for lunch - and the next taxi took me there quite happily.

Of course we are all talking about it a lot. Today is the day when, apparently, the protesters are vacating the airport(s ?).

Meanwhile I'd better get some work done on the Bible study (Exodus) for tonight.

protests in Bangkok

Don't know if you've heard any news of protests etc here in Bangkok? Apart from traffic congestion (even more than normal) I've not experienced anything first hand, but I'm about to go on a hospital visit, to visit a tourist who went to watch protests and had her legs injured when a tear-gas cannister exploded at her feet.

getting personal with Jesus

Christianity is Jesus.

Books about Christian "principles" bug me, because I feel I'm being taught a system rather than encouraged in my relationship with Jesus.

Here in Thailand, almost everyone has a Thai Buddhist mindset, and even Thai Christians lose that only slowly. They are inclined to think of their new religion in similar terms to their old one: a matrix of principles for how to conduct life. Preachers who focus on how Christians should behave, are guaranteed a warm reception; those who venture into the territory of what Christians believe, of how we think, may be viewed with suspicion or seen as irrelevant.

We studied Ephesians 5:21-33 in our Bible study group on Wednesday night, and then quite unaware of that, on Thursday morning a colleague praying with me gave thanks that "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her". He subsequently explained that he feels those words from Ephesians 5:25 are more personal, more intimate, than John 3:16.

Indeed, our Bible study on Wednesday evening was not a study about marriage. Rather, the foundation of the study was 5:32, "This is a profound mystery -- but I am talking about Christ and the church. Throughout our study of 5:21-33, our constant guide was the question: What does this verse teach us about Christ and the church? There were some tender moments as we began to see Christ's love for us -corporately- as more intimate than we often consider.

And so we see, also, that our response should be first and most of all to Jesus the Christ personally. We are to hear and know and follow his voice. To "look full in his wonderful face".

Novice blogger

you can see very quickly that I have not used this blog much ...
it is a challenge for me to understand how to use it
feel free to offer any tips!

Karma, Bono, Christ

Bono (from U2) was quoted thus in his biography...

 The interviewer, Mr. Assayas, begins by asking Bono, Doesn't he think "appalling things" happen when people become religious? Bono counters, "It's a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the Universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma."

The interviewer asks, What's that? "At the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics—in physical laws—every action is met by an equal or an opposite one," explains Bono. "And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that. . . . Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff."

The interviewer asks, Like what? "That's between me and God. But I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge," says Bono. "It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity."

Then the interviewer marvels, "The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that."

"The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death," replies Bono. "It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of Heaven."