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.