Jesus Inside

At TREK training, we were blessed to have Kevin Boese lead us in worship once a week. He has just released a full studio album, available on iTunes and kevinboese.ionworship.org, which you should really check out. Anyway, when thinking about the last few weeks, one of the songs Kevin wrote, that we sang at training kept coming to mind: Jesus Inside. The lyrics are as follows:

Highly favored, blessed among women;
God's chosen servant, with Jesus inside.
A common woman, fearful and troubled,
yet trusting, expectant, with Jesus inside.

Glorious, glorious; precious one of God.

Highly favored, blessed among many;
God's chosen servants, with Jesus inside.
Common people, fearful and troubled,
yet trusting, expectant, with Jesus inside.

Glorious, glorious, made in the image of God.
Glorious, glorious, precious one of God.

Glory to glory, Jesus inside.
Glory to glory, Jesus on high.
Glory to glory, Jesus inside.
Glory to glory, Jesus on high.

Gloria, gloria, glory to God on high.
Gloria, gloria, glory to God on high.

Glorious, glorious, made in the image of God.
Glorious, glorious. Perfect one of God.

The event that really led to me thinking about this song surrounds Alison getting lice. After she found out, our neighbor and Alison's language helper, Dtuk, came over and starting helping to de-lice Alison. In the midst of the whole de-licing process of the next two days, Dtuk must have noticed "Jesus inside" of us, because she started asking some questions. She wanted to know why we (not just Alison and I, but our whole team) were so different from other people our age. Luckily, P'Bia (our Thai co-worker and friend) was there to explain to her that what she was seeing was Jesus inside of us; that's what made us different.
Since that day, Dtuk and her two children (Mai and Ban) have come to church every Saturday. Dtuk's husband, Mong, still hasn't come, but he lingers around outside. It has gotten to the point that Dtuk and her son Ban are over here all the time, which we love. It's great that they feel so comfortable here. For example: the other day, I walked down the stairs and found Ban asleep in our meeting room on the couch; and as I write this blog, Dtuk is sitting right next to me, studying English (and falling asleep). This family is big on all of our hearts, and could use a lot of prayer. They are so fun and so kind to us, we love them dearly, and I know that God's love for them is far beyond our own!

Hard Silence

I wrote this poem a few years ago, but it seems rather timely for me right now. I've been struggling a lot with doing my God time the last couple weeks. I think it started as one of those, "oh, I'll do it later" things, but has evolved into something within my heart resisting even when I start to pray. Prayer walking during church tonight was good, and definitely broke away some of that resistance, but I'm still several steps from where I should be. I need to spend some time in the hard silence.


Hard Silence

In the hard silence
Come those moments
The ones you live for
The ones you'd die for
The moments that change you
The moments that renew you
The moments that cleanse you
They come in the hard silence

So take a step back
Let the moment in
Search hard for the silence
That makes you new again
'Cause after you go looking
And calm yourself a while
You'll find that He's there
Waiting in the hard silence

A Meal, A Milestone, A Memory

Yesterday was a day to be remembered. Though Sunday is normally our day off, we were blessed to be a part of the first baptism for the Phuket Life Centre church. We traveled out to a beach on the north end of the island that is part of a national park with many of our regular church attendees and a few other friends to baptize Guy. Those of us that arrived first were able to squeeze in a quick swim in the water before the festivities began. As we gathered together, Greg explained baptism and the reasons a believer chooses to be baptized. Guy professed his desire and motivations to be baptized.

We sang a song of praise, and headed out to the water. As Greg and Chai walked out a way into the water with Guy, other people followed, getting knee or waist deep themselves. I couldn't hear the conversation between Greg, Chai, and Guy, but I could see the brotherhood between them. In a land and time where men of God are rare, here were three men of differing backgrounds, ages, and stories, demonstrating true discipleship and Christly brotherhood. As Guy went into the water and arose again, cheers arose in our group, hugs were had, and smiles spread across faces.

We gathered together to pray over Guy, to pray blessing and protection over him as he continued moving forward in His journey with the Lord.
Then we began to sit down for a meal. I tell no lie when I say that it was very likely the best meal I've had in my time thus far in Thailand. I don't simply mean that the food was great, which it was (som-tum, fried chicken, sticky rice, a variety of fruits and vegetables, and multiple glorious desserts); but in a moment, the beauty of it all overwhelmed me. The joy of the work of the LORD being accomplished, the story of one individual's life and God's calling, the recalling of God's call to and anointing upon each of us, the fellowship of believers (and believers-to-be, but all friends), all amidst the beauty of God's creation. I was certain that within that meal, I had tasted a piece of heaven (and it wasn't just the baked goods).
After the meal, we continued to fellowship together. Some went to the water, some to watch planes land at the airport, some teaching or practicing Thai, and others worshiping God in song. Though the day was long, it was beautiful in every way. I pray that God would bless you and us here with such days, in numbers beyond counting.