Targets and Goals-Part 1: Setting the right target

When I was a kid I remember being enamored by those karate demonstrations when we'd see people use various parts of their body to bust apart pine boards.  I thought, "it would be so cool to do that."  But I didn't have much hope that it would ever happen.

I think my hand would break doing this
Photo by Andrew Semprebon

Back then I was pretty much the antithesis of athlete.  I lacked coordination. I did a lot of walking and some ice skating so my legs were okay.  But upper body strength? Let's put it this way--while my classmates boasted about lifting beyond their body weight, I figured I'd be luck to push the empty bar off my chest.

So how was I ever going to bust a piece of wood with my hands?

And yet I found I was able to bust through 3 boards.

It's all about having the right target.

You gotta figure that if you wing your hand at a piece of wood, something's gotta suffer.  So you have to decide if it's going to be the board or your bones.  And if you have a piece of wood and you aim at the center of it, something may well break, but probably not the board.

I learned the secret from a friend who was taking karate lessons.  His instructor would grab some pine and hold it in his outstretched hands about head level and tell his students to "aim for my face".  (Apparently, one student was particularly good and actually busted through the boards and hit the guys face.)

You see, if your object is to just hit the board, then aiming for the board is fine.  But if you actually want to bust through the boards, you need to aim for the other side.

As we enter the last year of our second term with MB Mission, it's time to think about our goals for the next term and our path to getting there.  If we don't get the goal right, we'll just end up hurting our hands.

for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man.
(2 Corinthians 8:21 ESV)

Inviting-Not!

A portion of the road to Wiang Kaen follows the Mekong River.  Perched on a hill on a bend in the river is a stupa and Buddhist shrine.

Interestingly, there is no name of this place posted along the road. There is a staircase from main road up to the stupa (though it does not get used much because it is also possible to drive up).  On either side of the stair case are these interesting statues.  One is a man holding a scythe, the other is a man wielding a club.





 

I'm not sure how the locals interpret these statues.  But what I DON'T read is "Welcome, come on up," or "We're glad you're here."  It looks more like they are saying, "we dare you to come up."  In my eyes, this is anything but welcoming.

What a contrast to how we see God depicted in the Bible.  We have an invitational God.  In the Old Testament, we see God was welcoming the alien and stranger.

He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.  Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:18, 18 ESV)

The temple was to be a  place where everyone was invited to come pray.

these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. (Isaiah 56:7 NIV) 

Jesus welcomed all people.  He invites people to follow him. He invites the weary to come find rest. He invites even children into his presence.

Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:23 ESV)

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28 ESV)

but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”  (Matthew 19:14 ESV)

God is a welcoming God.

But what about us?  Are we as inviting as Jesus was?

I have not seen any strange statues outside our church buildings that would deter people from entering.  But sometimes the buildings themselves can be quite intimidating.  In an historically non-Christian culture like we find in Thailand, very few people would dare go into a church building unless they are already believers or they are pretty much ready to receive Christ.

We believers can be a bit intimidating as well.  Sometimes our speech or behavior can be less than inviting.

I pray that my life would not be like these statues below the stupa, but that it would bear testimony to our God who welcomes all who come to Him.

Put It In Your Pocket

It was probably the year 1992. We had taken a trip in our Ford F-150 to visit one of the Baptist Haiti Mission churches near St Michel de L' Atalaye, Haiti. Some people there were wanting some advice about capping a spring.

While I was I the area, I stopped at an open market.A woman was selling what appeared to be large seeds. I asked what they were, but the name, kakòn, meant nothing to me. I asked what they were for, and she told me they were for treating hemorrhoids. Intrigued, I asked, “how do they work?” She replied, “you carry them around in your pants pocket.

If you don’t ask, you never know.

I bought a seed from the woman and I probably still have it in storage in California.

This past week, Ingrid and I went bike riding down a track through a forest.

Cycling in the forest

Ingrid spotted the remnants of a very large bean pod lying on the ground. I busted a piece open, and there it was—the magical method for treating hemorrhoids.

I don't know if they really cure hemorrhoids or not, but if you swallow this thing, you might get them.

I have since found out that the bean is known as “snuffbox bean” or "sea bean" (Entada phaseoloides). Apparently, the beans were used for toting around one’s stash of snuff in days of yore.

Snuffbox bean pod, high up in a tree--about 2 feet long

Some of the tribal peoples of Northern Thailand use the large seeds for games or for medicinal purposes.

I've never tested the hemorrhoids treatment (and I hope I never have to want to), so I can't say for certain that it doesn't work.  But field of ethnobotany (the study of how indigenous people use the plants around them) has always fascinated me.  God gave us an amazing variety plant resources for us to use for food, tools, medicine and other things.  How people even came to know the beneficial properties of plants is amazing.  And it saddens me when I see these plants lost to needless destruction.  Many plants may have properties which can be used in the world of medicine, but if those plants become extinct, the resources are lost.

Recently, a verse in Revelation 22 caught my attention for the first time.  The Tree of Life, we read in Revelation 22:2, has leaves that are used "for the healing of the nations."  What an interesting picture.  The old world is gone and there is a new heaven and a new earth.  But there is still water and there are still trees that contain healthful benefits for mankind.  (I'm not sure why the nations will still need healing in New Earth but I'm sure it's related to a metaphorical aspect to this passage.)

From the very beginning, God gave us plants for our health and well-being (Genesis 1:29, 30).  And in the New Earth, He does the same.

Praise God for the amazing way he provides for us.

Keeper of the books

Good Friday.

What's so good about it?

The other day I was looking up a word in my Thai-English dictionary and my eyes caught an adjacent entry that piqued my interest.  This began a chain of looking up words that help explain other words until I came across this one:

เจ้าพ่อเจตคุปต์

Which roughly translates: guardian spirit that keeps the thoughts

Transliterated it comes out something like Jao Paw Jettakoup

Jao Paw Jettakoup is one of five idols in the City Pillar Shrine in Bangkok.

Image credit:
http://2g.pantip.com/cafe/gallery/topic/G11881443/G11881443.html

The job of Jao Paw Jettakoup is to remember all of the bad deeds people have committed and to recite them to the god of hell after the person dies. (It's probably not a good idea to try to bribe him to edit the record.)

Many Buddhists here in Thailand believe in the existence of an account book called the Account of Good Deeds and Account of Sin (บัญชีบุญบัญชีบาป).  When a person dies, that account book is opened and the good deeds are weighed against the bad deeds to see what kind of punishment a person will get. They also believe that merit made on behalf of the dead person will be taken into account, which probably accounts for many of the merit-making activities in Buddhist funerals here.  (Note: not all Buddhists believe this, some believe one's fate is determined by an automatic cause-and-effect process that does not involve a deity as a judge.)

For most of us, the existence of such a record book would not be a good thing.  If the book was something tangible we might go through a lot of effort to seize and destroy the book--or at least edit it--but in the process earn a bunch of entries on the "bad deeds" side.

This is where Good Friday comes in.

By His death on the cross, Jesus is able to take away the sins of those who believe in Him.  This is why, when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he cried out, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)  It's as if  by submitting to crucifixion, Jesus earned the right to take an eraser to the Account of Sin.

That is Good News!  That is why it is called Good Friday.

The Cross - Good News for us

The Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world.

David writes, "as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:12, ESV).  Jesus is able to take the one side of the ledger and heave it as far as the east is from the west.

Good News!  Good Friday.

When I think about this Buddhist concept of a Book of Deeds, I am reminded of Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:4.  Love, he says, "keeps no record of being wronged".

Jesus tells us that "God is Love."


There is no reason to take an eraser to the Book of Deeds if you don't keep such an account in the first place.

This is what Love does.

This is what God does.

  Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
  God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (1 John 4:7-10, NLT)

Good News!  Good Friday.

So we compare:

Jao Paw Jettakoup-the one who ensures none of your bad deeds is forgotten.

Jesus Christ-the one who ensures none of your bad deeds is remembered.

Which will you choose?


Good News!  Good Friday.

Transplant

Sugar Maple-Exotic Ornamental in BC

Strange.

I grew up in the northeast USA.  It is the region to which sugar maples are native.  But most of the photos I have of sugar maple leaves are from British Columbia, where it is planted as a non-native ornamental.

Native Range of Sugar Maple
https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_2/acer/saccharum.jpg

It is interesting how some things can be  planted so far from their native habitat and yet thrive.  It could be the favorable environmental conditions, the genetic makeup of the individual plant or a combination of the two that makes it possible for a plant to be alive and healthy so far from home.

We, too, are living like exotic transplants far from our native lands and cultures.  How is it that we can thrive under these conditions?

Part of our thriving here is due to the environment.  The climate is generally nice (except for smoke season).  I enjoy being near the mountains.  The people are generally nice.  The food is good.

I think our "genetic" makeup helps us to thrive as well.  We enjoy exotic places and things, having been brought up in families that traveled a lot, either as part of vacations (my family) or migration (my wife's family). (Though I admit I took a pass on the partly gestated egg we were served in Hanoi last week.)

But I can't say we are thriving in all aspects of our lives at all times here. Sometimes things related to work can make life a bit difficult (today has been been one of those days) and a such times, seeing a picture of a sugar maple leaf with its fall clothes on can make me a bit homesick.

Sugar Maple in it's Natural Range in Connecticut

But then, even back in North America, life wasn't always idyllic or easy.  And I have to remember that I am just a sojourner in this world.  I get to spend perhaps a few score years here before going to my real home.  And if I am going to thrive in this world, then I need to keep an eternal perspective.

Peter writes: "Friends, this world is not your home, so don't make yourselves cozy in it. Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul." 1 Peter 2:11 (MSG)

We are strangers in this world, but by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit we can still thrive.  And while life as an exotic transplant may sometimes be stressful due to being in a different environment, still, like that sugar maple growing in British Columbia,  we can bring beauty wherever we are.

I am reminded of a hymn, which, interestingly, I first learned in Haitian Creole.  Even to this day I sometimes find myself singing the tune in that language.  

The World Is Not My Home

This world is not my home I'm just a-passin' through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

     Oh Lord, You know I have no friend like you
     If heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do?
     The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
     And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

I have a loving mother just over in glory land
And I don't expect to stop until I shake her hand
She's waiting now for me in heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

Just over in glory land we'll live eternally
The saints on every hand are shouting victory
Their songs of sweetest praise drift back from heaven's shore
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

© 1937, Ren. 1965 Albert E. Brumley and Sons

Or, if you prefer the version I first learned:

Le Monn Se Pa Lakay Mwen

1.

Le monn se pa lakay mwen,

Nan syèl la m prale

Trezò mwen ak kè mwen

Anwo yo tout fikse

Mwen tande zanj yo

K’ap rele mwen ale la

E mwen pa kab santi’m

Twòp alèz isiba

Refren/Kè (Refrain)

Jezi ou konnen, ou se sèl zanmi mwen

Si ou pa pran’m nan syèl,

O Seyè sa m’ap fè?

Mwen tande zanj yo k’ap rele mwen ale la

E mwen pa kab santi’m twòp alèz isi-ba 

2.

Mwen konnen mwen pa diy (dign),

Mwen se yon vil pechè

Men mwen gen tout espwa’m

Ke Jezi se sovè’m

Se Jezi kite mouri

Sou lebwa kalvè

E li te sove nanm mwen pou letènite 

3.

Mwen gen kèk byenneme

ki devanse’m deja

Yo nan bra de Jezi,

E y-ape tann mwen la

Mwen gen pou rete,

Lite kon yon bon sòlda

Men Jezi, lè ou rele’m,

M-a vin avèk jwa

Together Again - if only briefly

I was very tired.

My plane from Hanoi to Bangkok, left late, and after getting to the hotel in Bangkok, I spent the first while dispatching mosquitoes, so I finally got to bed at 00:45.  Then I left the hotel at 6 am to go back to the airport. So I only had about 4 hours sleep.

Getting to Chiang Rai, I needed to do some shopping before the 2 hour drive home.  Then I needed to get some materials ready before our "kids" showed up at 3.

But there was no way I wanted to miss this.  Three young woman who just graduated from High School were coming to our afternoon gathering where we study English and the Bible and it would be the last time having them together with us for a while.   Coupled with this is the fact that we had not even seen them much lately because one of them had been away for the semester and the others had been busy with college entrance exams and interviews-a very time consuming activity here in Thailand. Now it was time to celebrate their graduation from high school.





Ching is is the comedian of the three and makes sure there is always laughter.  She wants is to be a teacher and her hope is to go to a university in the the Bangkok area.

Lai is one of 5 students on a special scholarship where she has attended a school (that is under the patronage of the princess) in the Bangkok area for her senior year.  Two of those five people will be selected to study English and perhaps another subject in India.  If she is selected to go to India, she will leave in May.  If not, her scholarship will allow her to study in Bangkok.  She returns to Bangkok this week for more interviews and tests.

June has been one of the most faithful participants in our Saturday afternoon sessions this past year.  She wants to be a lawyer and hopes to do her pre-law studies in Chiang Mai.

Because of these three young woman and others like them, Saturday afternoons have been one of our favorite times of the week.  And while it was really great to be together again, it was hard to say goodbye afterwards because we likely won't all be together again.

As we presented them with a small gift, one of them noted that there was nothing they give to us in return as a way of saying thanks.  But perhaps it is us who should be thanking them for helping bring joy to our lives and giving us something to look forward to each week.

We will certainly miss them.

And I would say to them, if you want to show thanks to us, you can do it like this:

• study hard (เรียนอย่างขยัน)
• use your life to bless others (ใช้ชีวิตเปินพรให้คนอื่นๆ)
• follow Jesus (ติดตามพระเยซู)

For the past few weeks, we have been talking about "true love".  One of the scriptures we have looked at during these studies is the two great commandments, which contain the second two items in the list above.

³⁷And (Jesus) said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  ³⁸This is the great and first commandment.  ³⁹And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” - Matthew 22:37-39 (ESV) 

พระเยซูทรงตอบเขาว่า “จงรักองค์พระผู้เป็นเจ้าของท่านด้วยสุดใจของท่านด้วยสุดจิตของท่าน  และด้วยสุดความคิดของท่าน  นั่นแหละเป็นพระบัญญัติข้อสำคัญอันดับแรก  ข้อที่สองก็เหมือนกัน คือ จงรักเพื่อนบ้านเหมือนรักตนเอง” - มัทธิว 22:37-40

Alive!

 ​​​​​​​​The grass withers, the flower fades,
        but the word of our God will stand forever.
                                                                Isaiah 40:8

First a cousin.

Later a sister in Christ.

Now we rejoice that Pat has gone to dwell forever with the one who has been the object of her praise and worship for many years.

Pat and I grew up living less than 20 miles away from each other, though in separate towns, in central Connecticut.

We were not only close in distance but also close in age, being born only a couple of months apart from each other.

We mostly saw each other at family gatherings, though it was always a special treat when we went to visit their house, because they had a swimming pool.

At about 5 years of age, sitting across from each other. 

I didn’t see or hear much from my cousin after high school.  She had gone off looking for something and ended up finding Jesus and a husband.  But I really knew little about where she was or what she was doing for many years.

But then our lives intersected.  We ended up moving to Bakersfield, California, only 50 miles from where Pat was then living near Lake Isabella.

Steph, Pat, and Don (and Josh's legs)-sometime in the early 90s

It was a difficult time in the lives of both of our families.  We were in the process of adopting a child, an adoption that, in the very last minute, did not materialize.  Pat was recently separated from her husband and trying to get established on her own.  In spite of her own difficult circumstances, she was a great encouragement to us.

We saw each other a lot that first year we were in Bakersfield.  We traveled to Lake Isabella almost every weekend and ended up putting in a vegetable garden in her back yard. We had commonalities in that we both played guitar and liked similar worship music.

It was fun to be a part of her family as she raised her two children to love Jesus as much as she did.

Eventually, we moved away from Bakersfield to Fresno, but we stayed in touch and were glad to celebrate her reconciliation to her husband—a testimony of her great faith in Jesus and her love for her husband.

Reconciliation Celebration

Our lives continued to intersect in Fresno as we were both involved with a movement to get the good news of Jesus Christ to those people in the world who have not had opportunity to hear about Him.  Our common interests brought us together at missions conferences.

Later, after moving to Thailand, our paths would again cross as we served in our different roles for a common purpose: Pat with Global Teams and ourselves with MB Mission.

Pat with Steph and Frank visiting us in Bangkok

Pat's life wasn't without struggles, but she faithfully served Jesus through it all.

Pat was able to be at her husband's side while he battled cancer.  But Jesus called Don home a few years ago.  Only in the past two months did she marry again.

Today, we received word that Pat has gone to be with her first love.


This isn’t the first time that Pat has died.  Many years ago she made the decision to die to self and live for Jesus.  And while she may no longer walk the dusty streets of earth with us, she is more alive than ever in the presence of Jesus.

We will miss you here, Pat, but glad that you are home.

Thank you for touching the lives of so many with the love of Jesus during your sojourn with us.

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives.  Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.  Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.
John 12:24-26 (NLT)