Sunday Reflections (on Monday) and Sermon Link
Easter at ICB was fabulous, but Easter in BKK left a lot to be desired. On the day of our Lord's resurrection the political tensions continued to escalate. There were rumors of a coup in the afternoon. The tanks went out. Our evening worship service was cut short. And lots of people were just a little too skittish to come out. Here are some highlights.
Sunday's Sermon Link
(1) Despite about 50% of our congregation being out of town - we still had about our regular attendance. Easter was one day before the Songkran holiday. Most everyone who has money and time off leaves Bangkok.
(2) Esra played a wonderful prelude for the church service on guitar. Now if I can just get him to plug-in with an amplifier we'll really be in business.
(3) The choir was great and there was great energy throughout the service.
(4) I said a few heretical things during church...
"I think it's a good thing that the Easter traditions of Easter Eggs and Easter Bunny come from other religions."
"If God IS real then there would be free online live internet streams of the US NCAA basketball tournament. And there are!"
"Last Sunday I set up my laptop in the back of the pulpit so that only I could see it and then tried to stream the UNC- Michigan State game last weekend during the worship service.... But I couldn't get a wifi signal."
"Perhaps the missing original ending of the gospel of Mark is part of God's inspiration of Scripture."
"Salvation is NOT about going to heaven when you die. It is about eternal life. In the future and in the present."
(5) And a few not-so-heretical things...
"Jesus Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed."
"If Jesus wasn't raised then Christians are pathetic." (paraphrasing Paul)
"The resurrection means that NOTHING that we do in Christ is in vain." (paraphrasing Paul again)
"The resurrection is tough to believe. I think if God IS real He'd do some things we find hard to believe."
(6) Some people said some pretty wonderful things to me after worship. My favorite was "the resurrection is not supposed to be our end, it is our foundation."
(7) I've never had to call church short due to civil unrest before, but that's what happened last night. The state of emergency in BKK and the PM telling everyone to go home and get off the streets right at 6:30 (when we start).
(8) Thanks to Michael for jumping in and playing guitar at the last minute. And to Marion and Beatrice for provide fabulous vocals.
God is so good. There is nothing in this world like having a friendship with the creator of our universe.
Sunday's Sermon Link
(1) Despite about 50% of our congregation being out of town - we still had about our regular attendance. Easter was one day before the Songkran holiday. Most everyone who has money and time off leaves Bangkok.
(2) Esra played a wonderful prelude for the church service on guitar. Now if I can just get him to plug-in with an amplifier we'll really be in business.
(3) The choir was great and there was great energy throughout the service.
(4) I said a few heretical things during church...
"I think it's a good thing that the Easter traditions of Easter Eggs and Easter Bunny come from other religions."
"If God IS real then there would be free online live internet streams of the US NCAA basketball tournament. And there are!"
"Last Sunday I set up my laptop in the back of the pulpit so that only I could see it and then tried to stream the UNC- Michigan State game last weekend during the worship service.... But I couldn't get a wifi signal."
"Perhaps the missing original ending of the gospel of Mark is part of God's inspiration of Scripture."
"Salvation is NOT about going to heaven when you die. It is about eternal life. In the future and in the present."
(5) And a few not-so-heretical things...
"Jesus Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed."
"If Jesus wasn't raised then Christians are pathetic." (paraphrasing Paul)
"The resurrection means that NOTHING that we do in Christ is in vain." (paraphrasing Paul again)
"The resurrection is tough to believe. I think if God IS real He'd do some things we find hard to believe."
(6) Some people said some pretty wonderful things to me after worship. My favorite was "the resurrection is not supposed to be our end, it is our foundation."
(7) I've never had to call church short due to civil unrest before, but that's what happened last night. The state of emergency in BKK and the PM telling everyone to go home and get off the streets right at 6:30 (when we start).
(8) Thanks to Michael for jumping in and playing guitar at the last minute. And to Marion and Beatrice for provide fabulous vocals.
God is so good. There is nothing in this world like having a friendship with the creator of our universe.
