Before the World

Who or what is God? How do you define God?

In my home country, heavily influenced by Judeo-Christian thought, many people have a concept of "god," though not all people believe that such a being exists or exactly what such a being would be like. But when we worked in Thailand, we found that the Thai people, in general, don't have a concept of a God as an ultimate being that is separate from the created realm. As such, there is no term specifically for a God. The term they might use for God essentially has a meaning like "lord" and can refer to a spiritual being or an earthly ruler. So when we used the term, we used it with qualifying terms such as "God the creator."

The Bible has many references to God as Creator and, as such, is Lord over all that He has made. It also points out the unique role of humans in the created realm and the fact that these humans were designed to have a relationsip with Him. God is a personal God.

Genesis 1:1 ESV
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:27 ESV
So God created man in his own image,
 in the image of God he created him;
 male and female he created them.

Psalm 24:1 ESV
The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,
 the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
 and established it upon the rivers.

Psalm 100:3 ESV
Know that the LORD, he is God!
 It is he who made us, and we are his;
 we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Psalm 115:15 ESV
May you be blessed by the LORD,
 who made heaven and earth!
The heavens are the LORD’s heavens,
 but the earth he has given to the children of man.

Proverbs 3:19 ESV
The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
 by understanding he established the heavens;
by his knowledge the deeps broke open,
 and the clouds drop down the dew.

Isaiah 40:28-29 ESV
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
 The LORD is the everlasting God,
 the Creator of the ends of the earth.
 He does not faint or grow weary;
 his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
 and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Isaiah 44:24 ESV
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,
 who formed you from the womb:
 “I am the LORD, who made all things,
 who alone stretched out the heavens,
 who spread out the earth by myself,

Isaiah 66:2a ESV
All these things my hand has made,
 and so all these things came to be,
 declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 10:12 ESV
It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

Jeremiah 27:5 ESV
“It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth,
 with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.

Jeremiah 51:19a ESV
Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,
 for he is the one who formed all things,

Colossians 1:16 ESV
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Hebrews 1:10 ESV
And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
 and the heavens are the work of your hands;

2 Peter 3:5 ESV
For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God

When God appears to Moses, Moses asks what God's name is. God introduces Himself a "I am who I am." God is the self-existent One, the One who exists apart from the created realm. (Exodus 3:14)

In Psalm 139, David writes about the awesomeness of God and, in verses 13-16, what that means for us in particular as humans.

Psalm 130:13-16 ESV
For you formed my inward parts;
 you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
 Wonderful are your works;
 my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
 when I was being made in secret,
 intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
 in your book were written, every one of them,
 the days that were formed for me,
 when as yet there was none of them.

This song is based of the thought that God is creator of the world in general and humans in particular, and as such, He is Lord over the world and our lives as well. And in spite of all that God has to keep track of in regulating the universe, He cares for us as individuals. The mix of tenses in the song is intentional.

Before the World
©Edd Russell, Fresno 6/2006

INTRO E B/D# C#m Bsus F#m G#m A2

E      B/D#                      C#m  Bsus
   Before the world was born
F#m G#m          A2   Bsus
        There was You.
E     B/D#                       C#m Bsus
   Before the world was born
F#m G#m A2
You   are   God
     F#m G#m   A2
Before  time began
F#m G#m    A2     Bsus   E       B/D C#m Bsus
You   are    there    al   -   ways

CHORUS 1
                      E B/D# C#m Bsus
And You are Je     -     sus
    F#m G#m   Bsus
Crea  -  tor  of all
                     E B/D# C#m Bsus
Yes You are Je    -    sus
F#m G#m Bsus
Lord over  all

INST:  E   B/D#   C#m   Bsus (2X)
            F#m   G#m   A2

E      B/D#                      C#m  Bsus
   Before the world was born
F#m G#m          A2   Bsus
You knew my name.
E      B/D#                      C#m  Bsus
   Before the world was born
 F#m G#m        A2
You  called me Yours
     F#m G#m    A2
Before  time began
F#m G#m    A2   Bsus E   B/D C#m Bsus
I       am    Yours  al - ways

CHORUS 2
                      E B/D# C#m Bsus
And You are Je     -     sus
    F#m G#m   Bsus
Crea  -  tor  of all
                     E B/D# C#m Bsus
Yes You are Je    -    sus
F#m G#m     Bsus
You  are my God

REPEAT CHORUS 1

INST:  E   B/D#   C#m   Bsus (2X)
            F#m   G#m   A2

F#m  G#m  A2
You    are   God
F#m  G#m    A2
I         am   Yours

END:  F#m  G#m  A2  Bsus  E

Three pillars

This week we are in Sam Roi Yod for the annual gathering of or MB workers from Thailand.  Yesterday afternoon, we had a some time to explore, so we went with a couple of other people to visit Phraya Nakhon cave.

You can't drive to this cave, one either has to take a boat or walk over a hill to a secluded beach, from where you can walk about half a kilometer up the hill to the cave. We opted to take a boat.

On the boat to the cave

Phraya Nakhon cave is the most accessible and most visited of the three main caves in Sam Roi Yod (Three hundred Peaks) National Park.  It has been visited by three of Thailand's kings.

Royal graffiti from 1926

Paraya Nakhon cave does not have a lot of stalactites and stalagmites as compared to some caves, probably due to the fact that the roof has long ago caved in in two places, leaving it open and well lit, for the most part.  But there is an area where there are three pillars, or columns as the covers would call them.

Three Pillars

When I look at the three pillars I am reminded of a couple of important threes.  The main one that comes to mind is how we describe God as a trinity, or one God in three persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.  But the other thing I am reminded of is three pillars of our faith.

First, God.  God is the center of our faith and it is all about the worship of Him.  God is central, not us.  God existed before there was anything and will keep on existing through eternity.  That's a long time, especially in light of our relatively minuscule lifespans.

Second, the Word of God, or scripture; the Bible.  It is though the revelation from God that we know more things about God than we can just glean from observing creation--although there is quite a lot that can be ascertained about God from observing the things around us. As Paul writes, "For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen because they are understood through what has been made." (Romans 1:20, NIV)

But God to chose to reveal Himself to us through the prophets and through Jesus and so we have recorded many things about God.  As the writer of Hebrews puts it, "After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets, in these last days he has spoken to us in a son..." (Hebrews 1:1, 2a, NIV). While we cannot know everything about God (for we are not God), we can know some things about Him.  If there is revelation, we can know some truth.  (If there is not revelation, Christianity is a farce.)

Third, the Church, the Body of Christ.  While Jesus ascended to heaven, He left behind the church as the visible representation of Christ in the world.  As Paul writes, "Now you are Christ's body, and each of you is a member of it." (1 Corinthians 12:27, NIV) I won't go into detail about this other than to say how amazing it is that God chooses to use differently gifted, ordinary people to do His work in the world.  We don't always get it right, but when the church functions as one body with Jesus as the head, amazing things can happen.

God is there.  God revealed Himself though the scriptures and through His Son, Jesus.  God continues to be present in the world today as the church.  Three pillars of the faith, of which I am reminded by the three pillars in Phraya Nakhon cave.

Of Whom Shall We Be Afraid

What strikes you about this photo?

 

Is it the lean of the spirit house?
The gaudy green color?
The desecration of a natural area by a man-made object?

To me, one of the interesting things about this spirit house (and many others) is the presence of a ladder.

The spirit house is a structure built to make offerings to the land-spirit in return for using the land.   They are present in most yards and agricultural fields. Devoted worshipers will leave fresh offerings every day.

But why the ladder?

Does the spirit actually need a ladder to get in the shrine?

In a similar way, old traditional Thai house were built on stilts with a ladder to get in.  The ladder could be pulled up to keep the spirits from getting in the house.

I don't know about you but to me, a spirit that needs a ladder to get to the shrine does not seem terribly intimidating.

Mind you, I take the spirit  world seriously and don't want to trivialize their power or presence.
 
But whom shall we fear?

Jesus said: "I'm speaking to you as dear friends. Don't be bluffed into silence or insincerity by the threats of religious bullies. True, they can kill you, but then what can they do? There's nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands." Luke 12:4-5 (MSG)

Many are those who go about their days without giving a thought to God.  They are concerned about things of this life: what to eat, what to wear, how to be safe, etc.  Concerned about their earthly existence, they buy car insurance and wear a seat belt.  But they neglect their soul.

Here in Thailand, people will make offerings at various shrines and temples, trying to placate a plethora of deities, yet not acknowledge the God who created us (though some may add an image of Jesus to their shrine as if to hedge their bets).

Of whom shall we be afraid.

King David wrote:

  The LORD is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The LORD is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?
  When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.  
  Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.  
  The one thing I ask of the LORD— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD’s perfections and meditating in his Temple.  
  For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock.  
  Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me. At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the LORD with music.
   Psalm 27:1-6 (NLT)  


Don't be afraid of the one who needs a ladder,
Fear the One who created the world on which it rests.

A New Word

God.

How can we describe God?

How can we talk about God to a people who don’t even have a word for God?

I mean the kind of God who isn’t just a minor being like us, but that we can’t see.

Not the kind of god that can be confined to a building.

Not the kind of god created by a craftsman.

But the God who created the craftsman everything else in this world and who is over everything in the universe.

THAT kind of God.

We had the opportunity to introduce God to some school children last week during an English camp at Wannasorn Wittaya school in Wiang Kaen.  Many of these children have no sense of God in the way that we would.  An Action Team of six people helped us with this (Kelly, Samyo, Samson, Josh, Kim and Lorren).  Ingrid’s sister and niece (Ruth and Kaira) also helped out.

One of the ways we teach English is by telling stories.   Listening to and retelling stories gives people a chance to see how words connect together to convey ideas.   This is especially important in a country where children are taught lots of words but cannot think for themselves to create a new sentence.

The story we taught this last week was the creation story.  It’s a good teaching story because it has a nice pattern (Day 1, Day 2, etc) that help the children be able to put it back together.  AND it also tells them about a different kind of God than ones they have heard about.

Christina taught the creation story.  She was helped by Samyo and Lauren from the team.

Samyo, Christina and Lorren telling The Story

We also taught using music, since music helps people retain words.  Samson and Kim did a great job getting the kids singing and dancing to English words.

Kim and Samson following the lyrics

Ingrid and Ruth helped the children do crafts.  The children learned new words and got to practice using them in sentences (e.g. “May I have some scissors, please?”).  Pat, our office administrator in Wiang Kaen, also helped out.

Ruth, Pat and Ingrid helping with crafts

Children also were able to practice English in the context of playing games.  Josh and Kaira took the lead here with some help from Boonsert, a intern from Laos who knows a little bit of English (along with Lao, Khmu, Korean and some Thai).

Kaira and Josh supervising games

At the end of camp, we had a closing ceremony.  Even the teachers couldn’t help but join in as they danced to the lyrics of the Chaa Chaa song.



In the end, about 180 school children, along with their teachers, got to have fun while learning English.

And they learned a new word.

God.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1