Calvin's Call to Missions

Many people are surprised when I tell them that reading Calvin is some of the sweetest, most devotional stuff that I read in seminary...most of those people have never read Calvin and/or have a distorted view of who Calvin was in the first place. I absolutely LOVE John Calvin's writings, and to tell you the truth, wouldn't mind if seminary consisted of Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic bible study, English bible study, and a study of The Institutes of the Christian Religion. But...its probably a good thing that I'm not the one who sets seminary curriculum.

Anyway, I read this passage a while back, and even though it isn't explicitly about world missions, it is its foundation; in fact, it is the foundation for all of Christian life. Calvin writes in Book III, ch. 18.6, 'On "treasures in heaven"',

"If what Christ says is true--"Where our treasure is, there resides our heart" [Matt. 6:21]...believers ought to see to it that, after they have learned that this life will soon vanish like a dream, they transfer the things they want truly to enjoy to a place where they will have life unceasing. We ought, then, to imitate what people do who determine to migrate to another place, where they have chosen a lasting abode. They send before them all their resources and do not grieve over lacking them for a time, for they deem themselves the happier the more goods they have where they will be for a long time. But if we believe heaven is our country, it is better to transmit our possessions thither than to keep them here where upon our sudden migration they would be lost to us."
The Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 827

I pray that we (especially me!), as believers, can believe this...the truth that is at the center of all of Scripture: our King is bringing a kingdom that cannot be shaken! Therefore, for the believer, until the King appears, life is about establishing His kingdom through our time, money and prayers.

Takraw...I can watch, I can't play.

Thai Language

Many people have asked us about the language in Thailand...which many seem to think is Taiwanese, which I guess is understandable. But most people just want to know how hard it is. Not very...its not Japanese or Mandarin, but its challenging. Here's a little video about the language. Its actually kind of boring, so just the first minute will give you a good idea of what we'll be learning:

Hold the Rope: August

August Newsletter

Songkran Festival...

Want to know how laid back and fun loving Thai people are? In April, everybody in Thailand has a week-long water fight...so beware if you want to stay dry while visiting Thailand in April (actually, I'm not sure staying dry is possible in Thailand). Here's a little taste:

Thai Pizza...

Here is our dear friend Naamfon eating at The Pizza Company with us. Thais seem to really like pizza, judging from the number of Pizza Company or Pizza Hut restaurants in Bangkok, but the common Thai way of eating it is to douse it with ketchup...hmmm.

Seminary as it should be?

Sorry for the length of this, but its worth the time. Richard Pratt, an adjunct professor at RTS and the founder and director of Third Millennium Ministries (http://thirdmill.org/), wrote this about seminary training as it is today:

"If I were king and could wave my magical scepter, I would radically change the basic agenda of seminary.

After 22 years of teaching in a seminary, I slowly began to realize something. We were not preparing the kinds of leaders that evangelical churches in North America need. Let’s face it; evangelicalism has seen better days. God is at work in many places and in many ways, but on the whole, the news is not good. Our numbers are dwindling; our theology is unraveling; our zeal for Christ is dissipating. Now more than ever, we need seminaries to give the church leaders who are empowered by the Spirit for radical, sacrificial devotion to Christ and his kingdom. And they’d better do it quickly.

I was recently in China, talking with the president of a house church network of more than 1 million people. He asked me for advice on preparing the next generation of pastors. I looked at him and said, “The only thing I know is what you should not do.” He smiled and asked, “What’s that?” My reply surprised him. “You should not do what we have done in the West. The results of that approach have become clear.”

The agenda of evangelical seminaries is set primarily by scholars. Professors decide how students will spend their time; they determine students’ priorities; they set the pace. And guess what. Scholars’ agenda seldom match the needs of the church.

Can you imagine what kind of soldiers our nation would have if basic training amounted to reading books, listening to lectures, writing papers, and taking exams? We’d have dead soldiers. The first time a bullet wizzed past their heads on the battlefield, they’d panic. The first explosion they saw would send them running. So, what is basic training for the military? Recruits learn the information they need to know, but this is a relatively small part of their preparation. Most of basic training is devoted to supervised battle simulation. Recruits are put through harrowing emotional and physical stress. They crawl under live bullet fire. They practice hand to hand combat.

If I could wave a magic scepter and change seminary today, I’d turn it into a grueling physical and spiritual experience. I’d find ways to reach academic goals more quickly and effectively and then devote most of the curriculum to supervised battle simulation. I’d put students through endless hours of hands-on service to the sick and dying, physically dangerous evangelism, frequent preaching and teaching the Scriptures, and days on end of fasting and prayer. Seminary would either make them or break them.

Do you know what would happen? Very few young men would want to attend. Only those who had been called by God would subject themselves to this kind of seminary. Yet they would be recruits for kingdom service, not mere students. They would be ready for the battle of gospel ministry."

Interesting, huh?

Cosmic Restoration Coming...

Sorry for the long quote, but I love this book (The Resurrection of the Son of God by NT Wright) and as I'm finishing up a paper on Isaiah 60 and Revelation 21, I've been so amazed by the promise of universal, bodily, earthly restoration that God promises to His people. We will not float around as mere spirits in some sort of ethereal paradise, but God will come here to establish His Kingdom on the Earth. This coming (or appearing) of God on the Earth means universal restoration of the pre-fall (the "fall" as in Genesis 3) creation. No more pain and suffering, no more injustice, and no more separation from God in any way for all who trust Him.

NT Wright, who I agree with on this issue (though I think he's wrong on the issue of justification), writes about how the incarnation, life, death and, especially, the resurrection of Jesus opened the door for this type of universal cosmic restoration that is to come:

"The historical question is further sharpened by what happened to the portrait of 'Messiah' in early Christianity. Despite what scholars have often said, it was not abandoned, but nor was it simply adopted wholesale from existing Jewish models. It was transformed, redrawn, around Jesus himself. The early Christians maintained, on the one hand, the basic shape of Jewish messianic belief. They reaffirmed its biblical roots in the Psalms, the prophets and the biblical royal narratives; they developed it in biblical ways (such as the belief that Israel's Messiah was the world's true lord;...). At the same time, on the other hand, they quickly allowed this belief to be transformed in four ways. It lost its ethnic specificity: the Messiah did not belong only to the Jews. The 'messianic battle' changed its character: the Messiah would not fight a military campaign, but would confront evil itself. The rebuilt Temple would not be a bricks-and-mortar construction in Jerusalem, but the community of Jesus' followers. The justice, peace and salvation which the Messiah would bring to the world would not be a Jewish version of the imperial dream of Rome, but would be God's dikaiosune [righteousness], God's eirene [peace], God's soteria [salvation], poured out upon the world through the renewal of the whole creation." NT Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God, p. 563

Holdin' the Rope

Here's a way to think about partnering with us...simply adopt one of these little boxes. I really wanted to have different Thai emblems (like elephants, sticky rice, mangos, etc.) represent the different amounts because its just funnier to ask people to "adopt a mango", but I'm not that technologically savvy. The Thais also have boxes, though, so one could make the argument that we're asking you to adopt specifically Thai boxes, not just generic ones.

So, check it out. The "X"s represent boxes that have already been adopted...

Remaining Support Graphic

Nothing to do with Thailand...

well, except that there are Tigers in parts of Thailand. I'm just fascinated with them and really liked this video.

Leadership Bio: Pat

This is one of my favorite pics from my time in Thailand in 2009. I'm not sure that Kiki really likes these kinds of photos, but my dream is that one day I'll have a large missionary family who will all do poses like this for Christmas cards to send back to the U.S.

Anyway...the Thai man in this picture is a young man named Pattarachai Moongkolkoolpongsal, or "Pat" for short. He came to Bangkok from the Northern part of Thailand and is an Ahka, which is a sub-group of Thai people. He is currently studying at Bangkok Bible Seminary and interning at New City Fellowship (the MTW church plant) with the hope that he will take over as pastor whenever he graduates from seminary. A gifted preacher and a gentle and wise-beyond-his-years man of God, Pat will hopefully be my long-term partner in planting churches and training pastors in the greater Bangkok area.

Pray for Pat as he finishes seminary while preaching, sharing the gospel, and leading University Christian Fellowship at Ramkhamhaeng University in the Bangna area near our church. Pray that he would be constantly refreshed by the Holy Spirit and pray that God will continue to give him a desire to plant churches and disciple men in the Bangkok area for years to come.

Toilets in Pain

We're pretty much easing into this support-raising thing until now...and we're about to begin sending out letters. We've got a few things in the works that may put our pledged support over 10%...but until we have a little more to post, I thought I'd add a shot or two every now and again from our favorite international pastime: finding and photographing weird/funny signs.

I'm here at B&N with our future teammate, Lisa. We are discussing support raising and the joys of discovering how hard it is to network with so many people! It is one of those fun share the joys and challenges with a Christian sister.

best two weeks of the year...

The next two weeks are some of my favorite of the year at Belhaven. I love the chance to spend two weeks investing in the RA's on my team as individuals and building a team together. However, this year is the last year I get to have a team of RA's... They will be special as all teams are but they will also be special as my last team. I hope that I will never stop using the team building and discipleship gifts God has given me, but it is hard to imagine a better job than the one I have right now! What a blessing to love one's job...

SO, the blog is probably going to be updated by Trey till about the end of August bc I will be loving the business of my job too much to be writing on here very often. ;-)

These are pictures from last year's team... Sorry Lydia, I had a hard time finding a pic with your eyes open...