Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

That hymn never ever ceases to encourage my heart. The depth of the simplicity of it is life-giving. The song says that as we look full in His wonderful face, the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. What a promise, what an undeniable truth. Our troubles are mere memories of an enemy defeated long ago. The evidence of that is the absolutely lackluster pallor taken on by every earthly thing as we lift our eyes above the horizon to gaze at our Savior in His infinite, inexhaustible splendor. Everything falls in the shadows of His glorious grace: our failures, our defeats, our temptations, our fears, our abilities, our self-worth, our idols, our everything becomes as nothing in the light of Jesus' face.

I look up at the night sky, the darkness all around me is thick, and I see the stars, millions and millions of them, and I see nothing but a flickering gleam billions of miles away. They provide no warmth, they provide no comfort, they provide no light to see clear the path of things I must do. But then, as I seek to see, suddenly a faint light breaks over the horizon, and suddenly the far away stars begin to disappear altogether. The futility of trying to live by their light is no longer something I am bound by. And as I consider the depth of this, I realize that the whole earth around me is now wrapped in inescapable light, and the sun above has completely dimmed the millions and millions of things I was looking at before. And so it is with Jesus. His glory, His grace. I look at that, and suddenly millions and millions of things in my life—from my failures to my defeats to my temptations to my fears to my abilities to my self-worth to my idols to my everything—suddenly they all have become strangely dim, and the light of the Son lights my path and reminds me of the futility of seeking any of those pale flickering things instead of Him.

His glory is abundant, and it doesn't take more than a few seconds of thought to be overwhelmed by the wonder of it. Creation. Existence. The majesty of a King who loved His people so much that He died a gruesome death to free them. There is nothing more magnificent than that. How could I let anything in my life compete with the magnitude of God's glory?

His grace is true, and it doesn't take more than a few cursing breaths to realize that I have nothing to stand on apart from His grace. He was raised to justify us, the lowest, most undeserving creatures in existence. He had grace on us. He gave it freely, He gives it freely. How could I let any struggle I face compete with the overpowering might of His free grace?

If you would just turn your eyes upon Jesus, I promise you, the things you were once ruled by will fade into the background, and the light of His glory and grace will illuminate your life in ways you never thought possible. Every shadow in your heart will be exposed, and every tear you cry will evaporate by and by in the intense heat of the light of His face.

'You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt .'

Exodus 23:9

How saddening it is to see the humbly blushing bride of Christ behaving as the self-seeking Eve whose example we've come to detest. It is pride-driven fear that spawns the reaction of the saints to reject others based on their 'estimable' merit. We have become judge and jury. We have proclaimed ourselves to be the supreme decision-makers over those whose struggles we do not share. We have proclaimed ourselves to be God. There is filthy judgment being spewed the world over, which seems to have almost entirely taken the place of the grace we've been given to give. The irony lies in the fact that we have been supplied richly with grace to pour out on others, and have been given no permission whatsoever to pour out the judgment we've laid claim to.

What is it that gives us right standing with God in the first place? Is it not grace? Have we won over the heart of God through our meritorious efforts at righteousness? Have we succeeded in impressing God to the point that He has hand-selected us as the cream of His human crop? No, it is only by grace that we get to stand before the Almighty with perfect confidence. Confidence in what? In the finished work of Christ Jesus on our behalf. His blood spilled covers the blood we've spilled. Plain and simple.

What are the beautiful words of Paul to Titus in the third chapter of his letter? We are to 'Speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.'

This wonderful command is referring not only to the saints, the sojourners, the dropouts who have been called to a heavenly calling, but also to those who've not yet become as we are. Paul exhorts us with the reminder that only when the loving kindness of God appeared on our behalf did we have any sort of hope at all. We should not—no, we MUST not—ever deny someone the love we've been given. We cannot justify withholding the grace of God from someone any more than we could justify standing idly by as a woman is raped and murdered before our eyes. The two are equally evil. Grace is not just an aspect of Christianity, it is the lifeblood of it. To pick and choose whom we will love and whom we will have grace with is tantamount to the mentality of men like Adolf Hitler or any abortion doctor. It is no trivial thing to say 'oh, that person annoys me' or 'that guy looks like a punk' or 'she's really weird' or 'that family listens to secular music, so I'm just gonna ignore them'. Of course most of us would never actually say that, but when pride creeps into our hearts, we start thinking very highly of ourselves, forgetting just how pathetic and worthless we are without the blood of Jesus covering us. But the same blood that has washed us is the same blood that has washed them, and we are no cleaner than anyone else cleansed by it, and we are no better than anyone who has yet to be cleansed. We must stop with our pride-driven efforts to occupy the throne of God and instead humbly accept and pour out the grace we're given. 'If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates (denies grace) his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. ' This is the simplest summary of all this. To deny somebody grace is to hate them. It is time to deny ourselves and show love to EVERY person God has ordained for us to know.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” ~Jesus Christ

This is crazy. The Holy Spirit has been so deeply stirring my heart for the last couple months now, and I was so curious, so eager, so excited to find out what He was planning. I prayed and prayed, seeking counsel from my wonderfully Christ-focused family, and from trusted friends whose aim is the furtherance of the Kingdom of God. After much thought and prayer on the matter, it has become clear to me now that the Lord is...calling me back to America. At least for now, I will be moving back to the U.S. My heart has been so incredibly burdened for the state of the American church and the Godlessness that so permeates the country. While I will most certainly be sad to leave this place and these people, I trust that the Lord is in control, and as we obey His voice and trust His sovereignty, He is glorified and able to better use His church worldwide for the good works He ordained for her. That said, I am looking forward to coming and serving alongside my brothers and sisters on mission in America, and can't wait to see just what Almighty God will do in this next season of life. I thank you all so so much for  your constant prayers and support as I've been here in Thailand, and I can look back on this past year and happily say that it was not in vain. The Lord has certainly blessed this time, and people who had never heard the Gospel of Jesus were brought to repentance and salvation. Hallelujahx100 for the manifold humbling opportunities I was given to serve our Master. I will be living in Bangkok from the 17th till the 27th, after which I fly for the Americas. I will start in Long Beach, staying with our dear friends the Moreys. I'll be there for ten days or so, after which I will spend a spell in Bend, OR and then a little jaunt up to Washington, Lord willing. As of right now, I am not exactly sure what specific mission the Lord has prepared for me in the States, but I am confident He knows exactly what He's doing. I do know that the densest population of Thais in America is found in California, and perhaps in the future the Lord will use me to work down there. We will see! In the meantime, your prayers and encouragement are so deeply felt and appreciated, and have been all the time I've been overseas. I do not see this as the end of mission in Thailand (we have a lot of brothers and sisters out here who need our prayer and support), but for this next season of life, however long, I am USA bound. Please continue to pray for this nation, and for the furtherance of the Gospel world-wide. Much love to you all, can't wait to see you again. Praise Jesus for all things.
Derrick

'...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.'

Hey saints! Are you rejoicing in Jesus?

Sorry it’s been so long since my last update. Things have been relatively as usual out here. Just finished up testing out my little English students for the month of October, won’t be seeing them again till November. It’s been great getting to know them (it’s hectic at that school but slowly but surely I’m getting a chance to build relationships with these kiddos.) I’ve been able to teach about the Creator and Savior, and so has Dave, but of course if you’re not for Jesus, you hate Him, and this has led to a bit of resistance against Dave and me teaching the truth at school. Of course, a school where the kids are required to pay homage to a worthless pile of gold shaped into a man is certainly going to resist the message of truth. We rejoice at the little chances we've had to preach there, and continue to eagerly seek those moments when we can preach Christ.

In other news, Dave and Oy have taken off for the States for a month, leaving me solo out here with the Thai believers. Excited for what the Lord will do with this time, it is clear He’s moving here in Thailand and I’m so stoked to be in the middle of it.

On that note, I’m seeking His will on whether or not I should commit time to helping out at a ‘special needs’ school about 20 miles outside of town. Naturally, I could not think of something I’d rather do out here. It is such a wonderful prospect, but I want to make sure I’m not just calling shots now that I’m ‘on the field’. Gotta follow the commands of the General. Interesting to note, my friend Neung was explaining recently that mentally handicapped people here are considered to be bad luck, bad people because in a past life they did bad things and thus brought their condition upon themselves. That’s what the religion of this place teaches. You tell me it’s working for this place, leave it be? I laugh at that. There’s a million reasons why this pathetic satanic religion is most certainly NOT working for this place, but the rejection of mentally and physically handicapped people is certainly near the top of the list for me. Damn Satan and his deceit. All that to say I am looking into working with these ‘rejects’, and would love your prayer support in seeking God’s will on this.

In my last update I mentioned a young lady who was considering Christ. Praise and exalt Himx1,000,000 as just a couple weeks ago she prayed with Oy and surrendered her life to Jesus, repenting and believing in Him. She is in the fold, and going hard for Christ. She’s in the Word and being discipled by Oy and some of the women in the church. Praise the Lord, He’s mighty to save.

There is also a man who runs the internet café from which I write this update. He has been consistently curious about this Jesus we serve, and both Dave and I have had some long talks with him about the truth, about Christ. He’s been looking into other religions, such as Mormonism, and recently told me that Christianity is the only thing he’s found that makes any sense. I think he may be close to surrender, and so I beg you saints to lift this man up in prayer, that Satan would not tear out the seed that is sprouting in his heart.

Other than that, I think I have no new updates. Pray for Thailand, and thank you for reading this, you have to know it blesses me to know of your interest, prayer, and financial support for this mission. Until next time, I love you guys and miss you, hope to see you relatively soon!

Derrick

'Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.' ~Luke 15:7

Goodness it's been a long time since the last update! Warm greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Advocate, who bled a path for us to Himself that we might have right standing with Almighty God. I have to say, this last stretch has been not entirely uneventful. To say the least. So many exciting things are happening here in Thailand, and I am so blessed and joy-filled to be able to be a part of it. 

To start with, the bar ministry that I mentioned in a previous blog update has been going swimmingly. God has blessed the relationships we've built in these places, and I do believe the gears are starting to turn for many of these people. As Galasin is a rather hopeless place, meaning hardly anyone here has any real hope (Jesus), it is not hard to find struggling people who've turned to the bottle, filling the Christ-less void with cheap beer and tobacco tar. That said, it has been a wonderful opportunity to present the real true hope of Christ Jesus our Lord, and to share with them that it isn't over, that they can be saved, and that they don't have to be miserable, apart from God.


Well, at one of the bars I play at, an Australian man stumbled in off the street and just sat there by himself, amidst a bunch of Thais. He doesn't speak Thai, he's middle-aged, and he looked a little worn out. So after the set, I went and sat with him, and we ended up talking for around an hour and a half. He's a philosopher of Jewish origin, and from a young age always believed in the Old Testament God, but never believed in Jesus as the Messiah. 'We Jews are not allowed to believe that.'  We reasoned and reasoned for a long time, and he left and I thought, well, I may have just offended a Jew, but hopefully I have shone the light of Christ into a place that's never felt its warmth. Well, a week later he came back, and he said he couldn't stop thinking about our conversation, and he was just unable to rest on the idea that Jesus isn't the Messiah. So we reasoned through the OT, from creation to Abraham to Isaiah to psalms to prophecies to God's sovereignty, all over the place, and at the end he said, 'I promise you I will look into the New Testament and see if it correlates with the old.' And then, about ten days later he came to me and said, 'Ryan,' (that's what he calls me, I have no idea why), 'Ryan! Yeshua, Jesus Christ, is the Chosen One, the Messiah, the Son of God, the recompense for all nations.' And we talked about repentance and salvation, and he accepted Christ as his savior and is now a believer! Please pray that his life would radically be changed and that the enemy would not interfere with this man's getting rooted. 

At another bar there is a young lady who spends much of her time in that place, where gather all manner of unsavory men. She recently expressed to me how empty and useless she feels ('I'm tired of living for nothing'). She told me she believes Jesus to be God, to be the Savior, and as we've talked more and more about Christianity, she now desires to go to church ('I want to be a Christian too'). At this point I have turned her over to Dave's wife Oy for discipling and a walk-through of the meaning of repentance and belief, as guy/girl outreach has definite limits before it becomes an entirely dangerous situation. Pray for this young woman, she is ready to take the plunge, and this time more than ever the enemy will be attacking her with doubt and all manner of difficulty to take her mind off Jesus.

So there are a couple absolutely exciting updates on the bar ministry side of things. God is so good, and it is such a magnificent privilege to be able to point these people to His salvation. Praise the Lord for the work He is doing!

Dave and Oy are doing well, enjoying marriage and settling into a rather normal routine finally. Dave has been faithfully maintaining contact/relationships with the teenage skate crew here in town, and there have been promising, exciting things happening as a result. It is a real blessing to have these godly people to work with. Dave has been teaching at a local middle school, where I have taken up one day a week to teach English. It's so gnarly working at a Buddhist school, where there at the front sits a big idol which the kids are expected to pay homage to daily. But we are allowed a measure of freedom in sharing the truth with these adorable little kiddos, and for this we rejoice. On a side note, did you know that Thai children are the cutest in the world?

Please pray for growth, maturity, and unity in our church here in Galasin. We continue the outreach in surrounding villages, Baan Sawang and Baan Nankung are primarily where we find ourselves when we go. At Baan Nankung, funds have finally allowed for the construction of a new church building. Hallelujah for His providence. At Baan Sawang, the kids are learning more and more about the Word of God, and are enthusiastic as we teach them the beauty of the Gospel. It's a wonderful thing to see them praying to a God they never knew existed. Please pray for the youngsters in these villages, they are so precious and open to hearing about our Lord. My heart aches to think of the millions and millions of kids throughout this region of Thailand who have not even heard the name of Jesus.

Indeed, Galasin is in the 'black hole' region of Thailand, meaning it's virtually unreached with the Gospel. 0% Christian. As I've come to find out, packing up everything and heading out to a completely foreign country is not nearly as insane as it sounds. God is God no matter where we are. That said, there are so so so few workers out here, and this harvest is so plentiful, and if you have a desire to get in the middle of a seriously wonderful Gospel-fire, I invite you to come alongside Dave, Oy and myself! Seriously. One month or one year or forever. Whatever. If you're a guy, you can live with me. If you're a girl, setting up accommodation is easier than saying 'accommodation'. God's got something big going on here in Galasin. Come see for yourself!

In closing, I will reiterate the prayer requests I've mentioned, which are:

• Pray earnestly for this new brother of ours, who was saved in a random bar in the middle of nowhere familiar.
• And this young Thai lady, who is so very close to repentance and salvation. The enemy will protest.
• And the kids at the school Dave and I work at, that we may shine Christ all over them.
• And the church body here in Galasin, for unity, maturity, growth, and singular focus.
• For the children at Baan Sawang, who are eager to learn about this God we serve.
• And finally, that the Lord would raise up workers to come out and help with this harvest. As Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (It cannot be stressed enough, Jesus answer for the current deplorable lack of missionaries is to pray earnestly to God, that He will send out workers. Prayer causes this to happen.)

Thank you all who pray and support this mission, it is a beautiful thing to see the church joining together to bring the message of the Gospel to these many unreached. Christ bless you all, I pray for you my church family. I love you all, which is made possible only by the blood of Jesus. To Him be all the accolade and honor and glory and fame in our lives. Hallelujahx100!!!

Derrick 

Here's a link for a quick little glimpse vid of Thailand. More to come real soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7oB26YfnTk&feature=youtu.be

'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'
~Jesus Christ


Hello sisters and brothers!


It's me again, with a quick update on the mission in Thailand. Over the last few weeks some very wonderful things have been happening. As Dave, Oy, and myself get used to the changes (Dave and Oy's marriage obviously changes things up a bit) God has been so faithful to lead us into the paths that He has, and I must say the transition has been almost painless. I'm reminded of Proverbs 3:6: 'In all your ways acknowledge [lit. pursue intimacy with, submit to, know deeply] Him and He will make your paths straight.' Sometimes life can be a bit overwhelming, and you begin to wonder just what on earth you're doing. But God has certain promises in place, and God cannot lie. He cannot lie. Therefore, it has been with great joy that Dave and I both have been leaning on such promises, trusting the Lord to direct our steps for the mission He has us on, and we have seen things happen in wonderful ways.


Just a couple of weeks ago, Dave was asked to start teaching at a local middle school. This, as you can imagine, is a very unique and excellent opportunity to reach out to Thai people, since he will have a long-term relationship with dozens of kids in the community. Praise the Lord for that! In addition, I will be teaching one hour on Monday and Tuesday at the same school, working in an after-school program. As every school is filled with Buddhist shrines and spirit houses, and as every child is expected to pay honor to the idols in place, you can imagine how excited I am to bring the light of Christ in. Please pray that lives would be changed--not just changed, but completely transformed in Christ.


So Dave has been getting closer to finding out what his weeks will be looking like, trying to balance his family life with his work in ministry, and the Lord has been faithful to direct him as he seeks His will. I knew that as he and Oy began their lives together, things would change a little bit, and the Lord would be mixing things up for me. And that is exactly what happened just two weeks ago, when my good friend and brother Neung (who is a part of the church body in Galasin) asked me to begin playing live music with him nightly at a couple bars in town. What a wonderful opportunity for the Gospel! So since then, we have been playing folk/old-style music in these bars, and because the populace generally does not speak English, I am free to sing any song I'd like, which means I get to play songs like 'Come Thou Fount' at a crowded bar for a ton of unbelievers. But the best part is the relationships built as a result. Because of the novelty of having a foreigner playing music at these places, the customers and employees are more than happy to talk to me, frequently asking me to sit with them after the music stops, and it is here that I have had numerous chances to share the Gospel and explain the Christian life to quite a few people. I figure, if they will give me the time of day, I will use it to tell them about Jesus. And it has been wonderful. I have had people shut me up, I've had people hate on me, but I have also had people ask questions, wanting to know more. One man expressed interest in staying in touch because he 'might want to know this Jesus'. So I thank Jesus for opening this new door, one that I did not at all expect a month ago. Please pray that the people reached through our playing music at these places would be brought to repentance and freedom in Christ.


As far as the church here in Galasin, I was very excited to visit the first new church plant I've seen come to fruition since I've been here. And with this new church came three new believers! Praise the Lord for these new saints, and please pray that they would grow strong and not be drawn back into the clutches of the socially excepted religion of demon and idol worship.


I haven't a lot of time right now, so I must be going. Much love to you all, remember the Cross, remember His blood.


In Christ, with love in abundance,


Derrick