Statistics on Christianity in Saraburi

A lot of people have asked us how big is our town in Thailand and we finally have the answer. We recently received a CD with a ton of maps and statistics on Christianity in Thailand and we are including below a map of the province of Saraburi.

We live in the district of PhraBaht in Saraburi province, about two hours north of Bangkok. PhraBaht has 72,000 people and 75 reported Christians. The church that we work with in PhraBaht is the only one in the district and there are only 20-30 people in attendance at the Sunday worship service at that church. I know that there are some Christians in PhraBaht who go over the border to nearby Lopburi province to worship but that is still a lot of people unaccounted for. However, I will save for another time my comments on the necessity of cleansing the church roles and making a reasonable judgment about the credibility of a person's profession of faith.

The focus of our church planting work at this time is focused on nearby Nong Doan district, a lower class farming community. Nong Doan has 14,000 people and according the the statistical figures that I received, no Christians. However, I know of two Christian couples in Nong Doan. One travels to Bangkok to worship each week and the other comes to the church in PhraBaht. And then there is another single man who also comes to PhraBaht church each week. I don't know how much he really understands the Gospel but he has made a profession of faith, and he rides his old bicycle in the hot sun two hours each way to come to worship each Sunday. That last fact alone inclines me to think that there may be some genuine spiritual interest there.

For those of you who pray for us and our work in Thailand, I share these statistics to inform your prayers and to give you a visual idea of the geography of where we are. If you'd like to share this map with others or print it out for use in a prayer meeting, you can download the PDF version by clicking here. Thanks for praying.

Click on the map for a larger view

Wanted: Kingdom Families

Some people may think that our family is crazy to take Joshua to the mission field where he will not (as the argument goes) have the privileges and advantages of growing up in a developed wealthy country like America. However, there are many advantages of taking kids to the mission field and there are somethings worth giving up for the sake of sharing the Gospel with those who have never heard and making the name of Christ known in the dark places of the world.

In the Sept/Oct 9Marks e-journal, I recently read an article called "Wanted: Kingdom Families" The authors correct a number of mistaken notions about taking kids to the mission field and present a challenge to parents to be kingdom minded and Gospel centered in raising their families. This article is extremely applicable for all Christian families, whether they are on the mission field or not. What is God calling us to do as a family? How should we be fulfilling the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) as a family?

Renewing My Mind

Since we're back in the States for a few months, I've been taking advantage of the much higher internet speed and abundance of good English language books that are available here. Filling my mind with not only Scripture but good solid Biblical books and sermons is always beneficial to me and is a benefit to our ministry at home and abroad. If I am continually thinking upon God, His revealed will, and the application of that in my life and in the church, then I will be build up in my walk in Christ and those whom I interact with will (hopefully) benefit as well. I wanted to post here the links to a series of four sermons on justification that a missionary colleague recommended to me. Justification is one of those core truths of the Christian faith that is necessary to review again and again. It is also a core truth of the Christian faith that is not talked about much these days or if it is, it is often simplified to "Jesus died for your sins." I found these sermons very helpful and hopefully some of you will as well.

Edward Donnelly - Justification #1 - Its Importance
Edward Donnelly - Justification #2 - Its Meaning and Ground
Edward Donnelly - Justification #3 - Its Source and Instrument
Edward Donnelly - Justification #4 - Its Implications

Transexual Students Get Own Restroom at Thai School

The number of trans-sexual guys in Thailand is enormous as the news video below illustrates. On the one hand, you could say that they are "accepted" in Thai society in the sense that there are no legal barriers to work, educational opportunities, housing etc. but all the straight guys ridicule them as girly men and they get about zero respect. However, when you look at the irresponsible womanizing, drinking, and gambling of many Thai men, I can understand why some boys either consciously or unconsciously end up taking after their mom, auntie, grandmother or whatever other kind, caring, hard-working woman raised them.

"Does God have Good Manners?" (or "Why Christians Don't Grow")

A few months ago I was visiting some new believers with a Thai pastor and other church members when I heard something quite disturbing. In the course of his teaching, the pastor explained that some Christians don’t have changed lives because they don’t yield to the Holy Spirit. He went on to say that God has “good manners” and therefore doesn’t force himself on anyone. If a believer yields to the Holy Spirit, then his life will change in accord with God’s will. However, if he does not yield to the Holy Spirit, then his life will not change and he will exhibit little or no evidence of being a Christian other than his profession to be a Christian.

Is this really the best way to explain why professing Christians fail to show any evidence of love for Christ or obedience to his commandments? I have another theory as to why some professing Christians don’t show any evidence of conversion. They were never truly converted to begin with!! Some may say that this sounds judgmental but I believe that there is sufficient Biblical support for such a conclusion.

The Bible has absolutely no category for people who have trusted in Christ as Savior but have not repented (turned) from their sins and made a decision to obey Him as their Lord. In Matthew chapter 3, the Pharisees and Sadducees are coming out to receive baptism from John the Baptist but John rebukes them and tell them to "bear fruit in keeping with repentance." (Matt. 3:8). Profession of allegiance to God must always be accompanied by repentance. A profession of faith is not genuine if it is not joined together with repentance. The book of James is even clearer. James writes, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:14-17). If someone truly has faith, then that faith will be visible in his life. If there is no evidence of a changed life, then there was never any heart change to begin with. If there is no obedience to God, then there is no love for God. If that sounds harsh, then listen to the words of Jesus. Jesus said rather directly, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15). A few verses later, He expresses the same truth in the negative “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” (John 14:24). A person who does not obey God does not love God. And, if a person does not love God, it seems very difficult to make the case that such a person is a true Christian. Jesus himself said that a person’s external words and actions show what is in a person’s heart. “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.” (Matt. 12:33). If a professing Christian does not show any fruit, then we must seriously question whether that person has truly understood and embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ.

“But,” you may object, “Some people grow more slowly than others and nobody obeys God perfectly. Everybody still has sin in their life so let’s not be too hasty in saying who is and is not a Christian.” Granted, we can never know another person’s heart perfectly, but Scripture teaches that all believers are “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Eph. 1:13) and that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22-23). Scripture does not say that SOMETIMES the Holy Spirit produces these qualities in a believers life. Scripture states plainly that the Spirit produces these qualities in a believer’s life, without qualification.. The implication is that ALL these qualities will be present in the life of the believer. Regeneration and renewal of the believer is the work of the Holy Spirit (Titus 2:6) and He will carry out this work in the life of all true believers. If someone lacks the fruit of the Spirit, then that person most likely lacks the Spirit. If someone lacks the Holy Spirit, then that person is not yet a believer for the Spirit indwells all believers (Eph. 1:13).

The apostle Paul wrote letters to churches that had a multitude of besetting sins, compromise with the world, and gross immorality. However, he also had confidence that these believers were being molded by the Holy Spirit and that God would finish his work in the lives of these believers even though they still had sin in their lives. To the Philippian church, Paul wrote “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) Of course, no one will be perfected in holiness this side of heaven, but all Christians should be evidencing these qualities (Gal 5:22) in increasing measure. Very few new Christian believers evidence a radically changed life overnight. Change is a process. When someone becomes a Christian, he should begin to evidence an increasing measure of the fruit of the Spirit. Some people change quickly and some more slowly but over the course of time, there should be measurable change. I was chatting with a member of the Thai church that we work with and he said plainly that since he became a Christian six years ago, his life hasn’t changed any. That statement sent up a red flag in my mind. I don’t want to jump to conclusions and prejudge him because perhaps I misunderstood what he meant. I need to do some follow up to figure out whether he meant what I think he means. I am concerned though because I am aware of some of the serious sins that are still present in his life and often times he seems to regard his sin quite lightly. It concerns me to hear a professing Christian say that nothing has changed in their life since becoming a Christian, especially when he doesn’t seem to be properly disturbed about the continuing presence of serious besetting sin in his life. The Bible takes it as a given that God changes lives, so all Christians should show at least SOME evidence of a changed life.

It deeply concerns me that a fellow Christian, a pastor nonetheless, would be content to explain away the disobedient lives of professing Christians by claiming that God has good manners. It is insulting to God to say that God is powerless to change the life of a person who has professed faith in Him. God always completes the work of salvation that he starts in a person, and sanctification (a progressive growth in holiness) is an integral part of that work (Romans 8:29-30). Regardless of whether someone professes to be a Christian or has prayed a prayer to receive Christ, we need make a realistic assessment of their relationship to God by looking at their lives. If there is a noticeable lack of the fruit of the Spirit, their conversion needs to be called into question. If we fail to make a realistic assessment of where a professing but unrepentant Christian stands in relation to God, then we do a disservice to that person and dishonor God.