Saturday Night Devotions

 

I Peter 1:20-21

     He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

     Jesus was foreordained to die for us on the cross before the foundation of the world.   When Adam and Eve sinned, God did not rub His hands together and fret about what to do next to restore man’s relationship with Him.  Jesus’ sacrifice to cover man’s sin was planned before man was even created.  Somehow it was better for us for Jesus to come when He did, rather than in Adam’s day, but this verse points out for us that Jesus came to the world for our sake, and He came in accordance with God’s plan which was laid down before the world was made.  We need not wonder if the plan will work.  God knew it would work before He ever made man.  The question is asked, “If God knew in advance that men would sin, why did He create the world?”  Here we have an answer to that question.  God knew man would sin, but He made the plan to save man alongside His plan to create man.  So our “faith and hope are in God.”  Not just because He made us, but because He planned for our salvation since the dawn of creation. 

Here Comes Children Walking on the Water

 

  This Sunday morning Doug and I spent our Sunday at our house church in Plang Yao.  Last night in an unexpected turn of events we wound up having to stay at the airport with our team from Joplin making sure they actually got on their flight.  We finally got them on their flight and arrived home at 2am.  So, with little sleep and little time to prepare due to team duties, we awakened for our Sunday morning with Doug preparing to preach, me getting ready to teach the children.  Our story was about Jesus walking on the water.  All my craft plans went array so, I dug out my old air mattress and exercise sit up mattress and made a boat and some water for the kids to walk on.  Oh the fun they had.  No craft was needed today.   I don't think they will forget that story any time soon. 

  Doug's sermon went well and afterword he felt the Lord urging him to talk together with those there about salvation.  He had been told that 2 were ready for salvation and Baptism.  So the church sat together and talked to the 2.  They both prayed to make Jesus their Lord and will be studying about Baptism for the next few weeks.  Soon we will have 2 more Baptized members of the Plang Yao church.  It was a great day!

 

The Humming Choir

  Many of you know of my love for music and my story about my promise to God that I would never sing a solo in Thailand unless I could do it in Thai with fluency.  The desire to sing in Thai was my motivator for going to language school everyday.  Even when it took me longer than anyone else I knew.  I had  to learn to speak, read, and write Thai well enough to follow a simple hymn. So I trudged along to meet the goal of one day singing with fluency in Thai.  That day finally came after three years of studying and since that day the Lord has blessed me with many musical experiences far beyond what I ever dreamed.  I can now even write songs in Thai.  (that took more than 20 years) 

  One of the things that has boggled my mind is how to teach my Thai national partners to sing.  It has been a desire of mine for some time.  This desire was accentuated by our new house church in Plang Yao.  Such wonderfully dedicated new Christians with a heart to lead worship. It has been so obvious from the beginning how much time they put into selecting the worship songs and how they pour their heart into the worship time.  Yet, how can I teach people who have no idea how to make music with their voices, how to lead with confidence and notes that others can follow easily?  It has been quite a mystery to me for many years.  A few months ago I came home from a Sunday morning feeling desperate for an answer.  So I began to pray.  "Lord, I know your word says we should make a joyful noise unto the Lord -- and they are doing a good job of making joyful noise -- but, Lord, how do I teach them to sing?"  As I pondered the thought I began to realize that these dear ones have never been taught how to sing. Singing is not taught in their public schools at any level.   As I tried to mimic their sounds, I discovered they were talking their songs not actually making notes with their voices.  Their throats were not in the proper position to sing.  How could I teach them????  Then at that moment, randomly I began to hum and I discovered our throats when humming are in the proper position to make notes with our voices.  So I thought, "why not teach them to hum and then add the words and see what happens." 

   Usually when I have a crazy idea, I run it by Doug to get his thoughts.  He indeed thought it was one of my craziest ideas I've had yet.  (I have lots of them)  But he said, "' It sure can't hurt to try." So,  I decided to begin humming choir practice on Wednesdays at TCT.  I was really nervous the first time.  I was even bold enough to think I could teach them three part harmony ( I guess it should be called 'hum-mony').  How crazy is that?  I picked an easy three part counter melody song, "I love the Mountains"  for my first project.  We began by humming the first melody and I explained how to hum and how to make it sound pleasing.  I showed them how it sounds when it is not pleasing.  Then I hummed how it should sound and asked them to copy me.  "Pay attention to what your throat is doing when you hum like me.  Now talk.  It's not the same is it? " I asked.  "Now let's hum through this whole song and see if we can all sound the same.  It was incredible to watch their faces as they began to make beautiful music together.  Then I taught them how to hum three melodies together and have three parts that sound great together.  Again their faces were lighting up the room as they could hear themselves making music together.  I recorded it and played it back for them. Then we added the words.   They were amazed with themselves.  I almost jumped out of my shoes it was so good.  We have had several practices since our first day and each time we get better and better.  We are gearing up to sing in church one day soon. One of the worship leaders in our house church is in the humming choir and has since led worship.  What a huge difference it was to hear her sing with her heart, soul and voice.   It never ceases to amaze me when God answers my prayers in such a way.  I must admit it seemed a bit silly to ask such a thing.  But God, in his loving way, wants to give us the desires of our hearts. Just as He did for me when I was first learning Thai.  I look forward to watching what God does with our humming choir.  What plans He must have.  

  Below I will post a video of our humming practice so you can hear for yourselves.  It's not the best quality video but you will get the idea and rejoice in the Lord with us as you listen I'm sure. 

Saturday Night Devotions

I Peter 1:18-19

     Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

     Listed for us here are 2 things which cannot save a man’s soul and the One thing which can.  First of all, “corruptible things, like silver or gold” cannot possibly purchase salvation for a soul.  A man’s soul is spiritual and money is material.  There is just no logic at all in thinking that money, even money given in a religious context, can provide any eternal benefit to a soul.  We cannot buy for ourselves eternal security by saving up for ourselves material wealth.  Money can distract us from God, but it cannot reconcile us to God.  This sounds obvious, yet we have millions of people giving alms and making merit and donating to causes thinking that this avenue provides them with eternal reward.  We must call people from such dangerous reasoning!  Few people would openly claim that money can get them into heaven, but when their only spiritual efforts involve donations and material offerings, their actions reveal their horribly misguided inner expectations.  Only the blood of Christ, the precious blood of Christ, can redeem our life from the penalty of sin and offer us the assurance of salvation in heaven. 

     Secondly, we cannot be saved by “aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers.”  How many millions, goodness, the number is too great to contemplate, how many people aimlessly follow religious precepts, simply because they received the tradition from their forefathers?  Religious traditions cannot save the soul of a man.  There are so many religions available in the world – some of them have been held to for thousands of years.  But the antiquity of a religion does not authenticate its reliability.  Men are not saved just because they are religious, nor are they saved by dutifully (albeit “aimlessly”) following the traditions passed on to them from their fathers.  A man can only be saved by the precious blood of Christ.  By this wondrous means and only by this wondrous means can a man be saved.  Let us awaken the souls of men who are sleepwalking through unthinking allegiance to ancient traditions which are powerless to save their soul.  

The Humming Choir

 

  Many of you know of my love for music and my story about my promise to God that I wouldn't ever sing a solo in Thailand unless I could do it in Thai with fluency.  The desire to sing in Thai was my motivator for going to language school everyday.  Even when it took me longer than anyone else I knew to learn to speak, read and write Thai well enough to follow a simple hymn, I trudged along to meet the goal of one day singing with fluency in Thai.  That day finally came after three years of studying and since that day the Lord has blessed me with many musical experiences far beyond what I ever have dreamed.  I can now even write songs in Thai.  (that took more than 20 years)  One of the things that has boggled my mind is how to teach my Thai national partners to sing.  It has been a desire of mine for some time.  This desire was accentuated by our new house church in Plang Yao.  Such wonderfully dedicated new Christians with a heart to lead worship. It has been so obvious from the beginning how much time they put into selecting the worship songs and how they pour their heart into the worship time.  Yet, how can I teach people who have no idea how to make music with their voices, how to lead with confidence and notes that others can follow easily?  It has been quite a mystery to me for many years.  A few months ago I came home from a Sunday morning desperate for an answer.  So I began to pray.  "Lord, I know your word says we should make a joyful noise until the Lord.  We got that down well,  Lord how do I teach them to sing?"    

A Divinely Inspired Partership

 

 

     A few weeks ago, our mobile clinic team of nationals partnered with an American team from Heartland Worship Center in Paducah, Kentucky as well as with 4 missionary couples from 2 different areas of Thailand.  We made our way up to some small villages in northeast Thailand where the Thai Nyaw people live. The Thai Nyaw people are what our mission board has labeled as a people group that is “unreached and unengaged (UUPG).”  That is they are unreached with the Gospel, and no group with the Gospel is engaging them.  Our mission board has been encouraging our Southern Baptist churches in America to pick a place where we have these UUPG’s  and partner with us to try to find ways to reach them with the Gospel of Christ.  Heartland church has stepped up to the plate.  Beginning last summer they sent their first team into these villages to look for ways to engage them.  This summer they sent another team and asked us to do a mobile clinic with them in hopes of making some contacts with these lost souls. 

  Our first surprise was that a Thai church met us when we arrived.  They had heard of our joint efforts and our desire to reach the Thai Nyaw and wanted to join with us. (It was their heart too).  As an added bonus several of them spoke the language and one of their members was Thai Nyaw.  For three days we worked together in three different villages sharing Christ one on one with everyone who came to our clinics and teaching English via Bible stories to the neighboring schools.  It was a wonderful partnership that started with one church in America, then four missionary couples, and finally a national Thai church.  We saw a tremendous number of people respond to the Gospel during our 3 days with them. 

  As we met together and prayed and shared what we had seen God do with our time together, all of us were overwhelmed by the reality that God had directed each of us to be here at this appointed time.  Heartland church and the national church were so excited to learn that even their ideas of how to reach people for Christ were so similar.   The fellowship we shared will be a treasured memory for all of us.  Pray for these people that what they heard that week will penetrate their hearts and souls.  And in the days ahead, as the Thai nationals and the Heartland team return to those villages, we pray that God will go before them and prepare the hearts of these people for further understanding and discipleship.     

The Thieves’ Forest Has Been Penetrated!

 

  If you read back in our August 2013 newsletter which you can find on our blog under the tab, “past newsletters,” you will find a story with the title, “The Dawn of Worship.”  You will even find a video of the first baptism in Huay Gae.  In our prayer request section of the blog there are some requests for our Thursday night meetings out there.   Next month we will have a mobile clinic there and in 2 weeks we are having a special program for all the kids.  Last Thursday we had 4 groups running at the same time in this area that once had no believers at all.  It was quite exciting.  Everyone was too busy to take pictures.  One group was having adult Bible study with our Lab manager Khun Dong and his wife Khun Teaw.  They now have 8 adult believers.   In another corner was my TCT staff witnessing to our new group of workers in Huay Gae, they now have 12 women learning about God.  In another corner was Dr. Doug teaching his new youth Bible study.  He has 5 teenagers coming to learn about Jesus.  In the parking lot of the town’s central pavilion, where all the adults were meeting, 2 clinic staff members, Khun Wan and Khun Goon were teaching over 30 children.  Over 50 people in all!  All of this happening in the midst of what once was called “the thieves’ forest.”  Even here, God’s Word is winning souls to Himself!  Please pray that the Spirit will continue to call people.  Pray specifically for the English program there on July 24^th.  Pray that many will be drawn to the Lord. 

Saturday Night Devotional

I Peter 1:17

     And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 

     Earlier we were taught that the proper response to gaining salvation is for us to live holy lives.  Here we see that the proper response to knowing God as our Father is to fear Him as Judge.  We do not abandon righteous living just because we are assured that our soul is saved, and we do not abandon fear of God our Judge, just because He has become God our Father.  In fact, we fear Him all the more because not only do we have a healthy fear of His judgments, but our love for Him now makes us fear His displeasure even more than we would have feared His punishments.  Oh how we long to see His smile toward us!  We know Him so well and love His acceptance and His approval so much!  But by knowing Him so well, we know how much He hates sin.  And so we live with healthy fear, knowing how prone to sin we are.  The verse calls on us to live in fear of God not just for a little while, but “throughout the time of your stay here.”  Not only do we avoid punishment by living in proper fear of the Lord, but we are promised great blessings by doing so.  David says, “Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways.  When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.   Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord (Psalm 128:1-4).”  What a wonderful antidote for an unhappy family life!  If our marriage is marred and our family is dysfunctional, perhaps it is because our home has lost its fear of the Lord.  Unwholesome fear leads to nervousness, worry, and withdrawing from the people around us.  But David tells us that a father who fears the Lord is blessed with joy in the fruit of his labor, happiness in his marriage, and laughter at the dinner table.  No wonder Solomon said, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Proverbs 9:10).”   

Saturday Night Devotions

I Peter 1:14-16

     As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

     The mandate has been handed down clearly to us.  The bar is set high, and though we find the standard extreme, we cannot pretend to misunderstand.  “Be holy.”  Peter has been speaking of the glory of our salvation through Christ, and here he tells us our proper response to being saved – “be holy.”  We have been saved by the grace of God and have thus become His children.  Since, then, we are children of God, Peter calls on us to be “obedient children.”  In ignorance and rebellion some men tolerate lives full of sin; some men tolerate occasional sin, and others tolerate “small sins.”   But we cannot claim ignorance, we are plainly told here what our Father desires from us – He desires for us to tolerate no sin, but to be holy.  Our holiness is to match our Maker’s holiness.  Though we cannot equal Him, we must imitate Him (Matthew Henry).  We cannot excuse away any sin as reasonable, excusable, or permissible.  We have been saved by grace and have become children of God – so be holy!  Just as any good son is naturally inclined to imitate a good father, we are spiritually inclined, and here doubly commanded to take after our Father in matters of holy living.  In Psalm 22:3 David acknowledges God’s perfection and sings out: “You are holy.”  And as God’s child he cries out to his Father for help in Psalm 86:2 saying, “Preserve my life, for I am holy.”  God is holy, and as His children we must be holy too.