DRAMATIC STORY

I am back in Hanoi after a week in Thailand and Laos. This blog will return to more regular posts.

This morning I read again the book of Esther. What a well crafted story. The protagonists gradually come into full view - Mordecai, Esther and Haman. The tension begins to build, the drama slowly unfolds, the Jews appear doomed and then fortunes are suddenly reversed. It is simply a great story! And millions of Jewish people still celebrate Purim.
Two lines in the book have resounded down through the centuries. Lines that call God's people to sensitivity and to bold action. The first comes from Mordecai as he challenges his much younger cousin Esther to risk her life, to do what must be done.
"And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"No one else of God's chosen people was in the position to approach the king as Esther was. Her position gave her special opportunity. None of us will ever become Queen of any country. But from time to time we are in a position to speak important words to someone; or to take specific action of service to someone; or to step into a role of influence - small or great. We have a unique opportunity and we must not miss that opportunity. May God help us to be sensitive to His Spirit; to know when we are in such a position; to take a risk because God has placed us there and wants us to speak or to act for His glory.
The second well known line from Esther is her response to Mordecai. First she asks for all of the Jewish people (who are in danger of mass slaughter) to fast for three days. She then tells her cousin that she will risk her life. Esther realized that Mordecai was right - that in fact it was no coincidence that she was in a position of power at the time when the Jews desperately need one of their people to be there. So she must take the risk and act. "And if I perish, I perish."
Few western Christians are called to risk their lives in representing Christ. Some of us may be called to risk family relationships, losing a sale, a career advancement or a job. But believers in many parts of the world face  much more serious risks as they determine when they are to share the Gospel, or when to actively disciple certain people, or where to go as they share Christ and teach others. They risk beatings, imprisonment and sometimes death. Some of them right now may be facing the challenge and responding to their fellow believers and their family with words like those of Esther: for the sake of Christ and for the sake of lost people they will move ahead acknowledging "if I die, I die."
Pray for those who courageously continue to advance the Good News of Christ.
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Jim Elliot.

Travelling

Just to let you know that I am in the middle of a week of travelling to Thailand and Laos. Internet access has been intermittent. Thus my excuse for not blogging much this week.
Weather is hot year round here in Bangkok. These days it is running between 35 and 38 degrees. That is hot, even in the shade. We decided not to ride on the river or to walk through the park.
Taxis here in Bangkok are choosy - today one driver asked for 200 baht to take us for a 50 (30 baht to the dollar) baht ride. When we refused, he asked us to exit his taxi. The next driver took us. We were refused a ride by another taxi later today. Interesting! Early our first morning the driver had his meter turned off and simply said 100 baht, OK? We agreed although I guessed 80 baht. Sure enough it was actually closer to 70 by the meter. Beware.
We've visited the Bumrangrad International Hospital these past two days. It is quite famous for it's efficiency and competence. It did not disappoint us. In about 5 hours we had experienced complete physicals including for me a stress test; for Jan a bone density test; and a variety of other tests. When we met with our supervising physician he gave us a complete detailed summary of what had been found - at 1:30 pm on the same day (all the blood work had been done and was in the report.)
No wonder internationals (as well as many nationals) have been going to this huge hospital complex for many years.

ONE GREAT PASSION

I admire and greatly appreciate those believers who are strongly committed to a life of evangelism. I am a little jealous and marvel at the way they move so quickly into sharing the Good News of Christ.
I admire those who are moved by deep concern for the poor and vulnerable. In small and large personal involvement in service or in organized approaches to systemic problems, they actively pursue what matters to God.
Others care deeply and work hard to help churches become infused with an awareness that every member of the church is called to live "on mission": to daily represent Christ in the world where they live, work and play.
Yet what should be the one passion that grips all of us, whatever our gifting, whatever our calling? I asked myself that old, yet ever new question again recently as I was preparing a particular message. I remembered sometime ago of hearing that a group of Christians tried to define Christianity in just one sentence; then only one phrase and finally one word. The word chosen that resonates with me - and with Scripture - is the word "relationship".

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'”  Matthew 22:37 - 40

Loving God, that must be my one great passion. To love God with my whole being; to pursue knowledge and experience of Him like a thirsty wild animal pursues water.

 "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"                                                                                                                                                                    Psalm 42:1, 2      

To enjoy an ever deepening love relationship with God, this should be our foundational passion. To love him with warm emotion and clear thinking; to love Him with devoted will and consistent obedience. 

"You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1

THREE WHO WANTED TO DIE con't

Jonah is the third one who wanted to die. His is the saddest case. It is possible to understand that Moses became very tired, very stressed from leading a nation that was not easy to lead. We can appreciate after several times when they complained about his leadership that he became so totally frustrated that he wanted to quit, to exit, to die. He needed others to come alongside and carry some of the burden that was so exhausting.
It is possible to understand in part how Elijah became emotionally, physically and spiritually whipped. He performed with great courage and faith to defend God's honour and call Israel back to loyalty. I know how it feels to be tired and "down" after strenuous spiritual service. If I multiply what I've experienced by 100 and add a threat to his life and a feeling of being alone, I can sympathize with Elijah's strong desire to retire from the field of spiritual battle; to quit, to die. He needed rest, food, time with God and encouraging news. He needed a new perspective.
But it is not so easy to identify with Jonah's desire to die. Jonah, after first disobeying and running from God, chose to obey the second time God told him to go to Nineveh. He faithfully went and preached the coming judgment of God. To his horror, "the Ninevites believed God." They and their king humbled themselves and repented. (Jonah 3:5 - 10) God saw their change of heart and life and chose not to bring the disaster that He had threatened.
But the Ninevites were enemies of Israel, and Jonah, prophet of Israel was not happy.  In fact he was very angry. He wanted God to judge, condemn and destroy Nineveh. That was why he had run away; it was why he had not wanted to preach to them in the first place. He knew how compassionate God was and feared that Nineveh would repent and be saved.
So Jonah says: "Now, O Lord, take away my life for it is better for me to die than to live." (4:3) God tries to soften Jonah's heart and move him toward compassion. But this short book ends with Jonah still "angry enough to die." Jonah needed a heart operation; a renewed heart; a heart of compassion.
It is possible for followers of Christ to lose their love for people. Sometimes even while serving people and doing the right thing (as Jonah did), we can develop hard hearts. We can love people theoretically and theologically and yet actually not love nor even like people for whom Jesus died.
Are you compassionate as God was - and is - toward those who have not yet believed?

THREE WHO WANTED TO DIE con't

Elijah experienced one of the greatest power encounters found in the Bible. The people of Israel have strayed far from their loyalty to God. They are led by a King and Queen who largely rebel against God and most of them are involved in the worship of the pagan God, Baal.
Elijah confronts King Ahab and challenges him to bring the people and the pagan priests together for a "power encounter". We are not told how many people gather, but there must have been thousands because there were almost a thousand priests involved. You can read this dramatic story in I Kings 18.
Surprisingly, after what is an amazing demonstration of faith (Elijah's) and of awesome power (God's), we find Elijah in a deep "depression".
"He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. 'I've had enough, Lord,' he said. 'Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.'"
God does not answer "yes". He does not take Elijah's life. Instead he allows him to sleep, eat, sleep and eat again. Elijah's physical resources were depleted and God meets this need. Then He provides a special personal spiritual encounter with Elijah. Finally he gives Elijah very encouraging news: there will soon be new kings in the land; he can find a faithful assistant in Elisha and there are 7,000 other people who have been faithful to God in the midst of the largely unfaithful nation. (See I Kings 19)
Elijah needed a new more realistic, hopeful perspective on life. His spiritual, emotional and physical weariness had caused a loss of perspective. So our loving God meets his needs and Elijah is then ready to enter "the spiritual battle".
If you are struggling right now, perhaps your perspective has been distorted. I encourage you to meditate on these two biblical chapters. God will help you to regain a proper perspective. Life and the future is much better than it appears to you right now.

THREE WHO WANTED TO DIE

Have you ever noticed in the Bible that three believers, are busy serving the Lord, ask Him to let them die. Each of them seem quite certain that given their circumstances, it would be better to die than live. None of them have a painful illness. None of them are facing financial ruin. None of them have been betrayed by a family member. Yet all three clearly indicate they have a strong death wish.
Moses is the first one. He was tired of the complaints from the nation of Israel. They started to complain very soon after the miraculous escape from Israel. The Bible records at least eight times that they complained: when they thought they were going to be slaughtered by the Egyptian army; when they had no water; when they were tired of manna and wanted meat; etc. Each time they did not simply complain to God - they complained to Moses and about Moses leadership.
It must have been a difficult job to lead this large new nation, filled with people all of whom had been slaves. They were new to freedom; new to life in the desert; new to following any leader but Pharoah. What made Moses' job so much more difficult was the fact that they seemed short on thankfulness and quick to complain.
Finally Moses had enough. He complains strongly to God: "Why have you brought this trouble on your servant?What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? --- I cannot carry all these people by myself: the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now." Numbers 11:10 - 15.
Moses needed help. The task of leading this large nation had become overwhelming. He needed associates; he needed to delegate. And God lovingly responds, offering Moses 70 assistant leaders to help him carry the burden of leadership.
Of course Christians can become overwhelmed, stressed out and move toward depression or burn out. Sometimes this is clearly from one main cause: we are working too hard and handling too much responsibility. We need to stop and determine whether this is the case. If so we need to either learn: how we can become more efficient and effective under the work load; or we need to learn to delegate; or insist on the boss lightening our work load; or for the sake of our health, look for another job.
If this is where you find yourself, don't wait until you feel so bad that you would rather die than continue to carry your present load.
Tomorrow: the second godly man who wanted to die.

MISSIONAL THINKING

I am presently attending a gathering of 60 people from many countries. All of them are involved with International missional congregations. The term missional has become widely used among evangelicals only in the last few years. What is meant by missional? Here is one somewhat technical definition:
"A missional church engages the whole church in the whole mission of God for the whole earth through contextualised incarnational servanthood."
Let me put it in different words. Every follower of Jesus is being sent into the world, representing Jesus to serve as Jesus did. This should be the journey of every disciple, every Christian as we respond to the commission of Jesus and the needs of our world. So a missional church does not send out a few people but recognizes that the whole church is called to go into the world together, representing our Leader.
To be missional is to have a way of thinking, a set of perspectives, an orientation and a vision of being involved in extending Christ's kingdom. We pray "your kingdom come" and recognize our need to be actively involved in helping that prayer be answered.
I wish in this blog I could tell you about the groups represented here and the countries they represent. I encourage you to go online sometime soon and deepen your knowledge of what Christians are writing about the missional paradigm and how it changes churches.  

WHO AM I? II

Twice (at least) David asks the question, "Who am I?" The first time (II Sam. 7:18 and I Chron.17:16) he is marvelling at God's blessing. God has chosen him to be king of Israel and is promising to establish his family line forever. This is fulfilled when, a thousand years later,  Jesus, our eternal King, comes - born in the line of David. David marvels that God is blessing him so generously!
Many of us can identify with the sentiment of this "who am I?" In my life I have often felt this way. "Who am I" to be blessed with great health; a wonderful wife for 43 years; for the privilege of serving in full time ministry; for being allowed to serve in Vietnam; etc. The many blessings of God, undeserved, cause us to say to our Heavenly Father - "Who am I?"
In wonderful contrast, the second "who am I" catches us by surprise. King David is preparing great supplies to provide for the building of the temple. It will be known by his son's name: "Solomon's Temple". But David provides huge resource for the temple. After much material has been collected, David publicly proclaims that he is generously giving a huge amount of gold and silver out of his personal treasure. Then he asks: "Now who is willing to consecrate himself today to the Lord?"
The leaders in Israel respond to what is really a challenge to give, with great generosity and joy, giving "wholeheartedly to the Lord."(I Chron. 29:6 - 9)
Then we hear David say: "But who am I and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand." (I Chron. 29:14)
The first time, David marvels at God's blessing. The second time he is marvelling at how he and all the people can give so much because of God's blessing. Their generous giving to God displays God'a rich generosity to them.
When we are able (and of course when we make the choice) to give a generous amount of money, it is only because God has allowed us to have so much money. When we give a large amount of money, there should be no pride. Rather in humility, knowing how many people live in deep poverty, we should be feeling, if not saying: "Who am I, Lord, that I have the resources to be able to give thousands of dollars (or whatever your currency) to the church; to help with poverty and justice issues. I can give this way only because you have blessed me. Many Christians with very limited incomes, give sacrificially - but their gifts are very small. I however have been given so much by You, that I am able to give this much."
"What a privilege, thank you for the privilege it is to be given much so that I can turn and give much". We should be marvelling at, and enjoying the blessing of giving generously! 

LEADING IN WORSHIP MUSIC

In I Chronicles 16, King David is organizing those who should take up different ministry roles now that the Ark of the Lord has been brought to Jerusalem. Once very mobile as the people of Israel moved through their desert years, the Ark now comes to rest in Jerusalem. Soon the tabernacle will be replaced by the temple that David's son will build.
David organizes a variety of ministries to do with the Ark, the tabernacle and the sacrifices. One of his concerns is that a proper amount of praise and worship, accompanied by music, is offered to the Lord. So we read of
"those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the Lord, 'for his love endures forever'. Heman and Jeduthun were responsible for the sounding of the trumpets and cymbals and for the playing of the other instruments for sacred song." I Chronicles 16:41, 42
I guess worship pastors and worship teams, church musicians and singers are the successors to Heman and Jeduthun and their musicians. Whether volunteers or employed by the church this is a more important role than is sometimes understood. Do we think, do we help those who are invited to lead "worship" to understand - that this is a great privilege - to be designated as the special chosen ones "to give thanks to the Lord"?
Of course we all do this every day. And we can do it in small groups with no musicians. However it is wonderful to have musically gifted, godly people who lead us as we thank and praise the One whose "love endures forever." We need to pray for those who have this important responsibility in our churches. And perhaps criticize a little less?

KNOWING WHAT TO DO

Are you facing any significant decisions right now? We all face them at different times. I was just counselling a couple this evening who must make a significant choice soon. They need wisdom.
I am part of a eight person leadership team. We are facing a couple of significant decisions: one coming very soon, another more long range but needs to be faced quite soon. Then there is another decision that friends will soon deal with; a decision that I've been a part of in the past and feel very connected to.
These were on my mind this morning when I read the familiar verse about the men of Issachar "who understood the times and knew what Israel should do." What a great description of wisdom: to understand your era, your culture well enough that you know what those you lead should do.
In our rapid change world; in cultures where values, perspectives, even popular language seem to change far too quickly, it is not easy to understand the times. Many experts now tell companies it is a waste of time to make 5 year plans. Things change too quickly for anyone to think you can know now what your company will need to be like in 5 years.
Every national leader, major company leader, every Christian organization leader, every church leader would like to consistently understand the times and know what to do. Yes she or he would like the insight to know what the right action, the right policy, the right decision is for their people, at this time, in this place.
I'd like to be that kind of leader. You and I would like our countries to have those kind of leaders. Would you pray for your national and spiritual leaders to that end. The Bible encourages us to pray for wisdom. God can provide that wisdom we need - if we humbly ask in dependence upon Him.

THE KEY DIFFERENCE

Most of us either skip the first nine chapters of I Chronicles, (That is cheating if you are reading through the whole Bible. :) ) or like me, we read very quickly, merely glancing at hundreds of genealogy names. I did that this morning. However I paused several times, including at 5:18 - 26.
In this passage there are two contrasting descriptions of the 2&1/2 Jewish tribes that stayed on the east, the other side of the Jordan. When entering the Promised Land, the men from these tribes who fought the battles prayed and trusted in God. Their prayers were answered and they conquered because "the battle was God's". 5:22
Over a period of many decades, the people changed. They apparently had great leaders who were "brave warriors and famous men". Then comes the sad critique, "But they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers." 5:25 The result: they lost their battles, were defeated by the Assyrians and taken into captivity and exile.
We know the biblical truth of course. God expects from us faith and faithfulness. This passage simply presents this truth through stark opposing examples in two brief paragraphs. Being brave (or talented, gifted, wise, educated, smart, ambitious, driven, etc.) and famous (powerful, important, wealthy, successful, etc.) counts for little compared to living a life of faith, actively dependent upon God.
We ought to pray for (rather than be envious of) believers who gain a measure of what the world deems as significant. We should pray that they remember what counts: actively living a life of faith. And we should remember this ourselves.

LIFE IN HANOI

The weather here has been wonderful for the past two weeks with temperatures in 23 - 28 degree range. With these temperatures our windows are open all day until bedtime. The noise of the night shift on the school being re-constructed beside us forces us to close the windows at night. In fact right now I am about to shut our office window because the noise is at a rather high level as I write (8:00 pm).
I remember many months ago people saying things like "there is always construction going on" or "its always noisy, no matter where you choose an apartment." Over generalizations, true. But not far from the facts. This is simply reality in a city where wealth is increasing and the population is increasing.
On the other hand I enjoyed some lovely peace and quiet yesterday. With a businessman and a leader of an NGO, I ventured to play golf for the second time here in Vietnam. We rented a car with driver for the day and drove for about 90 minutes north west of Hanoi. The golf course is located in what might be called the foothills of some low mountains. It was one of the few sunny days we have enjoyed in the past four months, so it was a treat to walk the beautiful course, surrounded by hills, far from city noise. So a day after rejoicing in our God of the Resurrection, I took a few pause moments to ignore golf and rejoice in our God of Creation. What amazing handiwork we find all over the globe.
Of course we were not allowed to carry our own golf bag. A young female caddy was assigned to each of us - at least the course gives them a pull cart for each bag. Cost of the car and driver (split three ways), greens fees, lunch and customary tip to each caddy, came to about the same as the price of an average Canadian greens fee (and much cheaper than many Canadian courses). Of course we did play on a Monday, when greens fees are half price.

RESURRECTION JOY

Today our small congregation enjoyed a wonderful service, while all of you in North America were asleep. We celebrated Easter giving with a lively offering song played by our Nigerian members. A few of them led us all down the aisle as we danced our offerings to the front, "African style." If you've never enjoyed giving an offering in that way, I hope some day you will.
We also had 16 people offer the traditional Easter greeting: "Christ is Risen! He is really risen! They did it in their 16 different native languages: from Russian to Spanish to Tagalog to Mandarin.
We had a record attendance of 251 adults and children in our new small congregation. Combined with our  sister congregation at the original location, we numbered a total of 535 expats.
We then went to a Korean school building near by, where 140 of us enjoyed pizza, good conversations and some family type games. As an old "gamesmaster" (that was the name someone here used) I led the children, teens and some of the adults in several family type games. I think perhaps the most popular was the tug of war. It is popular in Vietnam and our expat group really enjoyed it. First, children under 12; later 12 - 25 year olds vs. those over 25. Good church family fun.
So we rejoice in our Risen Saviour and in the family of God. May all of you in the West who are soon awaking to Easter morning, enjoy a wonderful Easter today. Christ is Risen!

JESUS IS ALIVE

Someone tells of a pastor friend preaching on the resurrection. Afterward a woman who had listened to the sermon asked "what happened to Jesus after the resurrection". He answered that Jesus ascended back to heaven.
With surprise in her voice she asked, "Do you mean Jesus is alive?" Yes, the pastor responded Jesus is alive. "Well why didn't you tell me that? Jesus is alive!"
For two weeks after that, she kept telling people, "Did you know, Jesus is alive?!"

One evidence of the reality and power of Jesus is found every time we hear baptism testimonies and see people baptized. Today here in Hanoi, on Easter Saturday, we baptized 17 people, ranging from age 9 to age 64, coming from 11 different countries. Several of them told in powerful, emotional words how changed their world view; their life is now - because of their faith in a living Saviour.
There are of course many proofs of the resurrection. They present solid, historical evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. However most relevant to many is the kind of life changing evidence seen on the faces and heard in testimonies of changed lives - lives from all over the world.  

HOW DID IT FEEL?

I was meditating today on Christ in the Garden, followed by the arrest and the mock trials. I marvelled again at the appalling weight of Christ's anticipated suffering. How terrible it must have appeared for the courageous, purpose driven, perfect God-man to pray with such agony in the Garden. Our Saviour knew what lay ahead.
Jesus mentioned several times that his desire, his purpose on earth was to do the Father's will. (John 4:34; 6:38). He moved purposely toward fulfilling the Father's will. Yet at the end of his life, with the horror of the Cross looming just hours away, He prays in agony. His strong wish, his desperate prayer: if it was possible to be spared what lay ahead. We thank God that Christ chose to do the Father's will to the very end. "The bitter cup, he drank it up."
On this Easter weekend we pause to mourn the fact that our sin necessitated His death. We pause to identify in some small way with the awesome physical, emotional and spiritual pain involved. And we are filled with praise to Christ for paying such a painful, exceptional price. 

TWITTER AND GOD'S PRESENCE

Does this make sense to you? (See yesterday's post.) Since a tweet is limited to 140 characters, it seems to me to parallel brief prayers breathed silently to God. If some can tweet 5, 10 or more times each day to otherS, why can't each of us discipline ourselves to be regularly connecting with God?
I realize that for mature Christians, this is very common. Thinking tweets will be of no help - in fact like me you've probably never tweeted. However there are 450 million tweeters at last count. At least a few million of them are young Christians. I think for them, this image may be of great help. Many more of them are familiar with a twitter account than with a vine and grapes; grapes that they have only seen in the produce department of a grocery store.
The Presence of God. I wish I always was fully conscious of His Presence. I would be slower to speak many times. I would be slower to voice a criticism; slower to gossip and slower to listen to gossip. Yes if we lived actually always aware of God's Presence, we would realize the absolute necessity of dependence upon Jesus if we are to live in a way that is absolutely pleasing to God.
Of course whispering prayers throughout the day does not guarantee we will stay connected to the Vine. But it surely helps. An entirely different way of stating this - yet covering very similar ground, is found in the familiar words of Paul: "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17 

JESUS AND SOCIAL NETWORKING

I preached on "I am the Vine" this past Sunday. In the early verses of John 15, Jesus uses the word "abide" or "remain" numerous times. The picture of Christ as the vine and his followers as the branches emphasizes the strong connection we must cultivate if we are to be productive, fruitful Christians. In fact Jesus says "Without me, you can do nothing." We need His fellowship, His life, His power, His wisdom if our lives are to have any lasting value.
So I posed the question, how do I remain in Christ? "Abiding in Christ" sounds so wonderful, but also so poetic. How does it actually "work"? The way Jesus speaks about this, it must mean we are responsible to do something. And since Jesus talks about "no fruit" branches, "some fruit" branches and  "much fruit" branches, it is clear that we must make an effort to abide if we are to bear much fruit.
So what should we do to stay closely in fellowship with Jesus. Of course we must obey his commands. Jesus tells us that repeatedly. I can't be disobedient and live in warm fellowship with Him. And I must take time to listen to Him (reading the Bible) and talking to Him (prayer). This helps me stay aligned with His perspectives and His truth.
To use modern terminology: I need to daily read his blog (Scripture reading for the day) and send my blog to Him (my longer prayer of the day.) This should take at least 15 minutes for the new believer or harried and hurried mother of pre-schoolers. It should grow into a much longer time as believers mature and discipline their lives to provide more time.
However we need to add to this the 24/7 "practice of the presence of God". We cannot depend on a Sunday check in with God to get us through the week. Nor should we depend on a daily blog exchange though this certainly can increase our "remaining". What we need is to include Jesus in our daily thoughts, interactions and actions during the day. We need to follow the example of many people who use facebook and/or twitter to write numerous messages to their friends during the day.
You don't do this but some people do. "I had a good breakfast today." "I walked to work and it is a lovely day." "My boss just came in demanding more paperwork. I am angry." "I had a great conversation with my co-worker over lunch." And the tweets or facebook postings just keep coming.
Now if some people do that to keep in touch with their friends, why shouldn't we keep "reporting" to Jesus that way. Not once or twice a day, but many times a day. "Practicing the presence of God." If we do this we will experience much more of the "remaining" that Jesus tells us we need.
To be continued.

GO SLOW

Today we went for a walk to a park we have never visited. On the way we saw a golf driving range and detoured to visit it. For all you golfers - they had constructed a good sized net (in a city of course the range has to be enclosed.) It had only six tee boxes on each of two levels. They looked like what we  might see at any western golf range. The 200 meters of enclosed "fairway" was mostly weeds. The manager apologized and said we've only been open one month - grass will come. I asked about a golf shop (could I buy a glove if I came back to use the range?). He said "no money right now - maybe later". Charge for a bucket of 100 balls: only $4.00.
After visiting the range and the park, we started toward a lunch destination. We thought we would take a short cut and wander through some alleys. These wind everywhere off the main roads. Some have small cafes, hair dressing shops, small grocery stores, etc. The smaller ones lead only to homes that of course are tightly packed together, and normally are one to four storeys high. These lanes are too small even for the smallest cars to enter. They are just big enough for a motor bike and a pedestrian to pass each other. Some are dead ends - we walked up two or three of those. But eventually we came out on the main street almost exactly where we wanted to be.
Last week we enjoyed a visit with our landlord (it was time to pay our rent - six months at a time!). He told of recently doing some consulting in an ethnic, mountainous area of the country. In one place they are planning to build a new road around the side of a steep mountain. The car took his group part of the way, but could then go no further.
So how was this Vietnamese executive from Hanoi to continue his "inspection"? Not on an ATV. Not by motor bike. Not by bicycle. No, it was suggested, the best and safest way to continue on this very narrow "road" was to hop on a water buffalo! So he did! Maybe slow, but very safe. Wish I'd been there.

HOLY WEEK

We know every week is a holy week for those who daily walk with the Living Christ. However for the church around the world, this week is special. Today is Palm Sunday. Today at our Worship Service we sang several songs in which we repeated the transliterated word "Hosanna".
On this day, 2000 years ago, Jesus entered Jerusalem to shouts of "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" The crowd was recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, the long promised Sent One from God. The crowd was rejoicing that the Messiah had come!
And five days later, this Messiah was executed on what we call "Good Friday".

I have been keeping a mild daily fast this Lent Season, as I have usually done over the past decade. It is enough of a fast to act as a regular reminder that Jesus, in this season, was moving steadily closer to the Cross. This morning, before going to our morning church service, I could not help but wonder: what was it like for Jesus to see and hear this "Hosanna" adoration, this Messiah recognition; knowing that soon - in less than a week - in this same city, the sentence of death would be pronounced to the cheers of a crowd and the pleasure of religious leaders.
How steadily during his three years of ministry our Lord moved toward the Cross. On several occasions He told his disciples He would "lay down his life for the sheep." Yet entering this awesome week, this last week of His Incarnate life, the time was so very short. And surely the emotional pressure, the mental tension must have been building.
Would Jesus have liked to walk away and avoid the cross? Of course. His prayer in Gethsemane makes that clear. Yet He did not flinch. He had come to do the Father's will and He would do it. He would die for you, for me, for a lost and wounded world.
This week, as we move toward Good Friday, I hope you will pause more than once to reflect on our Saviour's experience. This was not, nor should it ever be, a normal week! This is the Holy Week.