I see it all over the place. It’s on T-shirts, handbags, motorcycles, car windows and wherever else is fashionable. The image of the Playboy Bunny seems to be everywhere in Thailand these days. However, I suspect that most Thais are not aware that it is the official symbol of a well known pornography magazine. A young woman at church was wearing a stylish t-shirt with the Playboy bunny on the front and I asked her if she knew where the rabbit picture comes from. She replied, “No” and I explained that it is the symbol used by a well known pornography magazine in America. “Oh” she responded uninterestedly, “I didn’t know that”. I thought that perhaps I had been unclear in my explanation so I went on, “When Westerners see this rabbit picture they are reminded of a magazine with naked women in it. A pornography magazine.” She still seemed unconcerned that she had the logo of a porn mag emblazoned on the front of her shirt. “Why do you like the rabbit picture?” I inquired further. At this point, I might have guessed her reply. “It’s cute. I like it.”

Why is it that so many people like to worship on high places? This morning, a friend and I hiked up a steep mountain at the end of a peninsula in Prajuab province, Thailand. At the top, there was a glorious view of the surrounding area - ocean to the east, coast to the north and south, and distant mountains to the West in the direction of Burma. But on top of the mountain, there was also a small shrine to the Buddha’s footprint with accompanying Buddha images. Throughout Thailand, there are lots of shrines and yellow Buddhist prayer flags on the tops of hills and mountains. Every time I see them, I can’t help but think of the high places in the Old Testament that the Israelites worshipped on. When the Israelites worshipped on these high places, it was usually idolatrous worship in violation of the First Commandment (and probably the Second Commandment as well).

The other day I received a hostile email, presumably from a visitor to our website who did not like what he read. If memory serves me correctly, this is the first hostile mail that I have received in response to the website although I am certain that there have been others who, upon discovering the website, felt disdain and contempt rise up in their hearts but decided against letting us know their feelings. However, a man with an email address in the Netherlands has written with the following advice:

"go back home you fool and take that jesus with you"

That was the entire content of the email. Unfortunately, even if I were to have a change of heart and heed his suggestion, I have no control over where Jesus goes and what He does. I proclaim His message but that is all. Jesus is in Thailand and I have no say over the matter. Jesus said, "I will build my church and the gates of hell shall prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18). Jesus also knew that this work of establishing His church would not

Following on the heels of my post on "Does Handing Out Tracts Do Any Good?", I wanted to share with you a couple of well written and thoughtful posts over at The Reformed Evangelist blog:

The social dynamics of handing out tracts are a bit different in Thailand than in the West. As I mentioned before, just going out and handing out tracts is not nearly as ideal as sharing the Gospel in a conversation with someone that you already know. However, when someone receives a tract and reads it, it is food for thought and it might get them thinking about things they haven't previously considered. I find most people in Thailand to be receptive to receiving tracts. I say something like "This is free" (แจกฟรีครับ) or "I've come to hand out Good News" (มาแจกข่าวประเสริฐครับ). Occassionally, I've gotten stony faced looks when I go to hand a tract to someone but once I say that it is free, the person smiles and willingly takes it. I've learned from my Thai brothers and sisters that some people are afraid that you want money to make merit in return for receiving a gift of some sort. I've met these folks before. Usually they approach you on the street with some kind of cheap trinket and ask a small amount for it - to help handicapped children or make merit (create good karma) or some such. So, I can understand how some people are leery of receiving something on the street from a stranger. But happily, most people cheer up when told

Before I came to Thailand in 1999, I had never handed out a tract in my life. The practice of handing out tracts is not very common in the U.S. anymore and even among evangelical Christians it seems to be regarded as some kind of weird unnatural activity that only really over-the-top religious nuts engage in. Perhaps the current emphasis on friendship evangelism and building relationships in order to share the Gospel (which is good and proper as the primary method of personal evangelism) has contributed to the disdain which has fell upon handing out tracts. Tracting can seem very impersonal and artificial, but it IS one means among many that God uses to reach people with the Gospel. It really shouldn't be a stand-alone method of evangelism, but just one link in a chain of Gospel sowing that can contribute to people understanding and accepting the Gospel. Granted, lots of tracts end up in the dustbin or along the roadside, but God does use tracts as the following story illustrates. A fellow missionary gave me permission to share this encouraging story:

"This past Sunday two visitors came to church at In Grace Church: Colonel Surasak Banjukaew and his wife, Wanpen. I know them a bit (he attended SEANET this past year), but as I sat eating lunch with them I was able to learn much more about them. Surasak is the founder of a ministry among members of the military and the police force.

John Piper has provided a very insightful reflection on the possible link between seeker-sensitive churches in the West and radical (over)contextualization on the mission field. Read Piper's blog post on "Minimizing the Bible?"

Contextualization is one of the big issues among missionaries because the way mission work has been done in the past tended to be too Western and did not take sufficient account of the need to adapt the way church, evangelism, discipleship, etc. is done in non-Western cultures. However, in some corners of the mission world today, the pendulum seems to have swung in the other direction. In the name of removing Western cultural barriers that would prevent people from coming to Christ, some missionaries (and local Christians) are allowing or even promoting practices that are actually a compromise of the Gospel. Let me give just a couple examples.

I've heard about a missionary in Northeast Thailand who is teaching converts to call themselves "New Buddhists" (new in the sense that they believe in Christ). Okay, so perhaps the offense of being perceived as converting to a Western religion is avoided by avoiding the label "Christian" but there is certainly an equal if not greater