The Overcomers

Rev 2-3

The book of Revelation is not primarily about telling us the future. It is a book of encouragement for the "Overcomers" or "The one who conquers."--

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Our task together as a church is to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying and act in obedient. I find the phrase "the one who conquers" or "the one who overcomes" rather cryptic. What are we supposed to overcome?

I can think of a few things. The parable of the seed and the soil gave us one outline of the obstacles that we have to overcome.

1) Inattentive ears. The devil snatches the word out. We overcome this by keeping the Sabbath-- making sure our ears are attentive to the Holy Spirit.

2) The hard place. Rocks are hard and will kill tender shoots. This we must endure.

3) Th distractions. Worries and the Deceitfulness of Wealth. These we must remove.

Another obstacle we must overcome may be found in Ephesian 6:12

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

4) Rulers, authorities, kings, Governments, Corporations, societies, nations. These are powers we constantly struggle with and we need to recognize as an obstacle. Against these, we have no earthly power to fight. Only by Jesus who's the King of kings and Lord of lords, do we have any chance. As the rest of Eph 6 says--

13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

May we overcome all these and find ourselves faithful before Jesus. Help us, Lord.

"Forget about His Will For Your Life!"

"To be honest, I believe part of the desire to 'know God's will for my life' is birthed in fear and results in paralysis. We are scared to make mistakes, so we fret over figuring out God's will. We wonder what living according to His will would actually look and feel like, and we are scared to find out. We forget that we were never promised a twenty-year plan of action; instead, God promises multiple times in Scripture never to leave or forsake us.

"God wants us to listen to His Spirit on a daily basis, and even throughout the day, as difficult ad stretching moments arise, and in the midst of the mundane. My hope is that instead of searching for "God's will for my life," each of us would learn to seek hard after "the Spirit's leading in my life today." May we learn to pray for an open and willing heart, to surrender to the Spirit's leading with that friend, child, spouse, circumstance, or decision in our lives right now."

Forgotten God- Francis Chan, page 120.

A devotional question

In one of our morning devotionals, Angela posed a question "What do you think God is doing in Thailand?"

I am sure he is doing a lot. I think there are some great needs in Thailand spiritually. I am by no means an expert, but I feel that there are the following spiritual needs--

1) Thai Christians should frame Christianity in Thai way. Christianity is viewed as foreign. Thai people would then have to reject much of Thai heritage to adopt Christianity.

2) There's a need for a new Thai Bible that's simple enough for normal people to understand. Currently, all the translations I have seen are simply baffling. They contain vocabulary that the vast majority of Thais cannot understand. Simple things like "Golden lamp stand" and "the Lamb" are translated into royal language that robs its meaning to regular folk.

3) Thai Christians need to take care of the poor and do more mission works. Especially men!

Full Days

Our days here in Chaing Mail has been quiet busy, going from one event to another.  We start our days with an scrumptious western 8am breakfast, followed by sharing and devotion.  Then it's off to downtown and lunch.  We arrive at the Children Drop off Center (CDIC) around 1pm to have devotion and worship with the staff at Garden of Hope (TGOH).  The children starts arriving about 3:30pm and the afternoon picks up with a cacophony of screaming and happy kids running around the CDIC and climbing all over us.  Eventually we settle down to a delectable home made Thai dinner.  The night is structured with group activities and English classes with the children.  We eventually make our way back to our rooms between 8:30 and 10pm for a debrief.  I hit my bed shortly thereafter, drained.  However, I'm thankful for the time God has provided.  We are stretched, as expected, by the culture and children.  Thailand is a beautiful place with friendly people.

For picturesw see
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=123345&id=521701464&l=41fb7f1ea7

Too busy to blog

The Garden of Hope Child Drop In Center has a no-photograph policy. As volunteers, we can take photos, but we need to get permission from Mark to publish them. Mark said that this is to protect the identities of the children and not to give unwanted access to pedophiles.

I can definitely appreciate his concerns. The first minute I landed on the Center's front porch, there were 5 curious foreign men asking me if this was an orphanage of some sort. I could be wrong, but I didn't trust the looks on those men.

Our first night at the Center was rather chaotic. We (the Chongs) went to join a 'Beginner' English class. The kids were very wild. The American teacher was the most patient teacher I have met. (I don't know many tough.) The kids adored him. Naomi said it was a raucous. The teacher said that the kids were wild because of us visitors. It was true. The second night, the kids were much much calmer.

We had Thai culture and language training. Mark held the best introduction to Thai culture for Christian perspective I have heard. Very sensible.

The language class was fun for me to watch and help. The tonality was tough for our crew, but they did well. Yumi even used Thai to ask for a child's name at the Center. I'm proud of her.

Kids hunger for love there. And there's plenty of love and kindness to go around.

Going to eat breakfast now. Holly, the American girl who's in charge of the 'Garden' is a super woman. She makes amazing breakfast for us everyday from scratch. For example, yesterday she made biscuit and sausage gravy from scratch. She reminds me of my friend Faith Durand (Hopler) in Columbus. I wish they could meet.

Joe...

2nd Day...

Feeling rather pampered right now! Great food! Good to see Michelle and Randy again! They really do miss Costco!:) Those big Clorox wipes are hard to find!

Training all day today!! Feels like a bit of Hawaii and Mexico combined! Woke up @1am with a rooster...and some little critter nibbling on our shutters!

Local coffee here is sooo unique!

Have to go now!

Will chat later!

Lillian

Chongs in Bangkok

o

We spent two nights in Bangkok. On Sunday, we hired "Mr Jatujak" to drive us around. We visited "Wat Pra Gaew", which is the major Thai national monument.

Bangkok was chaotic. It has a major trash problem, as people tend to just throw away plastic food containers anywhere they wanted.

After that, we went to visit my childhood home. I wonder if that old house hold a piece of me in it? The neighborhood used to be quieter. The Seri Village had been chopped up into many segments-- completely unrecognizable. I used to ride bike around those streets. Now a new main road had an overhead freeway and looked to be impossible to bike on.

Do places have memory? I have a sense that there is no permanence. There's a sense of loss when visiting a place so foundational to my existence, yet so transient. We are truly sojourners here on earth. The only permanent place is to have our names written in God's Book of Life.

More photos here...

The Faces and Stories behind "Human Trafficking"

There was a time when the term "human trafficking" was a sterile word for me.  Although it sounded like a bad thing, it was void of any color or expression, a topic just beyond the reach of my association or care.  It was a problem elsewhere.  It was dehumanized in my world.

In a recent year, the local public broadcasting channel aired a documentary on human trafficking.  Human trafficking occurs on a broad global scale, even in the United States, and the number of victims is staggering.  As the documentary interviewed the women and exposed their story, I was deeply and profoundly moved by the devastation of human trafficking, especially seen on the faces and in lives of these women.  Some are brutally forced into this trade against their will, and some reluctantly volunteer themselves because it's the only choice.  The exploited are someone's sister, daughter, mother, or wife.  They each have their own unique story.  But the result of being enslaved to the sex trade is universal - it robs the victims of their soul.  They live in a world perpetually deprived of hope, love, and dignity.  I was starting to realize and understand the enormity of the problem.  However, the problem stopped at my tv screen.

Last year, I met Mark and Crista Crawford, and their young son, at a church retreat.  If I did not know they were the founders of The Garden of Hope (TGOH), I would have seen them as an unassuming and pleasant family.  Mark is a calm and stoic man who listens more than he speaks.  Crista is bubbly and engaging, full of warmth.  Together, they seek to give hope, love, and dignity to those enslaved in the sex trade in Thailand.  Their tool is the empowerment in the training of trade skills and employment, and counseling and therapy for their soul.  The provide shelter against the brutality of prostitution.  Their message is there is hope, love, and dignity through Jesus Christ.  With these tools and message, there can be change.

TGOH also runs a Children's Drop Off Center in the redlight district.  This center is a sanctuary for kids whose parents work in the area.  Getting the kids off the street also reduces the chance they will be targeted for prostitution.  The center provides dinner, playing, arts and crafts, and English courses.  It is a place that is safe to be a kid.

The Crawfords gave a call for volunteers to serve in TGOH.  The volunteers would either serve by visiting and engaging the women who prostitutes in the bars, or serve the kids at the Children Drop Off Center.  This was an opportunity for me to put my conviction and reaction to human trafficking into the right perspective.  Despite the enormity of the human trafficking issue, every action starts with one person.  That person can be me.  I can make an impact to at least one child in the redlight district - to play with, to listen to, and to be a friend with.

To read real stories about the exploited in human trafficking, click below:
Christianity Today Article 2/07
TGOH Newsletter

Thailand Trip Fundraising Nears 100% Goal!

With less than 2 weeks left before our Thailand Short Term Missions Trip, we are nearing our goal of raising $20,000 for the team.  At last count, we are at 90% fulfilled!  What a blessing!  We have only about $2,000 to go and the finish line is in sight.  If you want to help close the gap, please give me a shout.  Thanks to those who partnered with us.

The team is busily preparing for the trip and resolving flight issues.  The returning flight back from Thailand was canceled for most of the team members (wife and me on a different flight, so not affected), forcing them to stay an extra day in Thailand.  Hmmm, not a bad problem.

Countdown to the Trip

Shots? Check. (Ow)
Plane tickets? Check.
Insect repellent? Check.

These past few weeks saw us busy in our preparations for the trip. We brushed up on Thai customs (even watched a Thai movie). Our group is starting to get to know each other better and had a fabulous home cooked Thai dinner together. Then there were the obligatory multitude of vaccination shots that sent our heads spinning. The travel nurse punctuated our discussions with dire warnings that there is a chance we may die in Thailand. Not reassuring and we think some medical professional need to brush up on her bedside manners. The next process for Liz and I is to prepare our hearts for the people we'll be serving. God has paved a path of us so far, and we'll be praying he'll prepare our hearts also in serving Him.