Strong Tower

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I'm reading Psalms this week, and every time I read these soothing words, I find comfort in knowing that God is sovereign. In a time of trouble and crisis, King David cried out to God and he depended on Him for his safety. So many times in the psalms, David referred to God as his "rock," "refuge," and "a strong fortress." I believe David was in danger and in battles so many times more than one could count. He certainly knew who to turn to and who to trust.

At present, we are facing an economic crisis, jobs reduction, and probably a recession. We live in an uncertain time of terrorism and wars. We are nervous about who will be our next president---will this person lead America to greatness or destruction? Will he hold and support our dear values and preserve them? In a time like this, we need to pray and ask for God's leading. Like King David, as God's people, we need God's shield and guidance.

I'm including Psalms 27 and 28 here because they are so relevant to us.

The Lord is my light and my salvation
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life
of whom shall I be afraid?
When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear

Psalm 28 says:

Praise be to the Lord,
for he has heard me cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.

One of my favorite songs from a Christian rock band, Newsboys, is called "Strong Tower." It really gives me a clear picture of God as our Great Protector, whom we can trust in time of need. It is such an inspiring song. I keep it playing in my CD player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRvQGYnMjBk

Have a blessed week!

Top Ten Lies Satan Uses to Mislead Thai People about God (Part 2)

Lie Number Six: The Bible is just a book written by humans. When I was a university student in Thailand, there were missionaries visiting our campus. They showed me some verses from their Bibles. I thought this in my heart. How dare you quote from the Bible? The Bible is just a book written by men! However, later in my life, after I studied the Bible and its amazing history, I found out that The Bible is God-inspired (2 Timothy 3:16). Written over fifteen hundred years, by forty different authors, at different places, under various circumstances, the Bible has one main theme: God's redemption of man and all of creation. Jesus confirmed this truth by saying, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away." (Luke 21:33).

Lie Number Seven: We CAN go to Heaven by ourselves. Satan keeps telling us, "It's ok. We don't need God. We can go to Heaven by our own good deeds." We then think that we are good enough. Why not? We did not kill anybody. We have good jobs. We have a good education. We are respected by our families, our friends, etc. We sometimes give money to charities. We even love animals and pets. However, this is a great lie aimed to destroy us. The truth is we are all sinners. For God, our 'good' deeds are like dirty rags. The Bible says, "all have sinned and continue to fall short of God's glory." (Romans 3:23) And there is none righteous, not even one." (v.10) We all need the Savior's blood to cleanse our sins.

Lie Number Eight: All religions are equally 'good'. They all teach people to be good citizens. I heard this lie so many times hurled at me from Satan. The truth is all religions are NOT equally good. Some led people to commit violence, murder, terrorism, adultery, having many wives, and etc. Some divided people into many classes, resulting in poverty and discrimination. Most of them give rules and regulations that no one can keep! Jesus says this about Himself, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10)

Lie Number Nine: Keep busy with religious duties. The deeds that you have done will help/save you. Satan keeps telling us to be busy with religious duties or mindless ceremonies. "If you are a Christian," Satan says, "you will not be able to perform these traditional ceremonies that you are so used to." The truth is that ceremonies and religious deeds can not save you. Only Jesus can save you. The Bible says, "There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 14:12)

Lie Number Ten: God doesn't love you nor does He cares about you. This is a lie that Satan has used with Adam and Eve since the Garden of Eden. Don't let him use this with you. The Good News is God loves you and He says this several times throughout the Bible:
"I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3)
God is love (1 John 4:16)
Jesus said, "as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you" (John 15:9)
Nothing will ever separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35)
Ultimately, Jesus sacrificed His own life for you on the cross to demonstrate His love for you (John 15:13)

Top Ten Lies Satan Uses to Mislead Thai People about God (Part 1)

As I continued to be a witness for Jesus to Thai friends, my family, and whoever I encountered in my daily life, I observed that Satan often uses these same old lies to confuse Thai people about Christianity. The Bible says that Satan is cunning and full of schemes (Genesis 3:1). I would like to share his devious schemes with all of you so that you will be aware of his plan to destroy mankind. The main reason he wants to spew out these lies is that he did not want you to believe in God. But God is the most wonderful, the most loving, and the sweetest Person you will ever meet. If you never know God personally in your life, you miss out knowing your best friend who loves you and who is dependable and trustworthy. God wants to know you and receives you into His arms. Don't let these lies obstructing you from knowing your Creator and your Father in heaven.

Lie Number One: Christianity is a foreign (western) religion. Christianity is only for American people with blond hair and blue eyes. This is the most outrageous lie. God is the God of all creation. The Bible says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1). And God created man in His image (Genesis 1:26). That's right! God created all of us, whether we are Thais, Americans, Jews, Chinese, Europeans, etc.

Lie Number Two: God does not exist. There is no God. Satan uses this tactic very often to confuse people. If you look around you, you will see that the beautiful, complicated world that we live in testifies that there is a Creator. God says, "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me." (Isaiah 46:9) And "I am he; I am the first and I am the last. My own hand laid the foundations of the earth." (Isaiah 48: 12-13)

Lie Number Three: There is no hell. Hell is something that religious people invented to scare other people. But the truth is there is, in fact, Hell. The word "hell" is used at least 54 times in the Bible. Even in Thai and other cultures, there are some references about a place called Hell. The description of hell from the Bible is gruesome. It says, "they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 13:42) "It (the fire) will not be quenched night and day; its smoke will rise forever." (Isaiah 34:10)

Lie Number Four: When people die, they will go into a state of nothingness or they will be reincarnated as animals or humans. When I was not a Christian, Satan sold me this lie and I believed that after I died, I would come back as another person. But the Bible made it clear that God made us a unique individual and we live only once. The Bible tells us,"And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment." (Hebrews 9:27)

Lie Number Five: Jesus is only a mortal man, just like any other religious leaders. This lie is used a lot with Thai people to dissuade us from believing in the divinity of Jesus. I myself used to think that Jesus was just a human. However, after I read the Bible and put Christianity under close scrutiny, I found out that Jesus is unique. Jesus is God incarnated. Jesus performed supernatural miracles that no one else can do. "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, ..." (Matthew 11:5) The most amazing miracle is Jesus' own resurrection. After being crucified, on the third day, Jesus was raised from death and came back to life.

Wow, do you think a human being can do that? Of course, not! The good news is Jesus is God. He is the Savior of the world who loves you and who cares about you. Don't believe in Satan's lies and miss out His good news.

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Five more lies ---to be continued in Part 2

Nam Prik Ong: Comfort food from My Mom's Kitchen

Whenever I think about my mom, I think about her tasty Northern Thai food. One of my favorite childhood dishes is called 'Nam Prik Ong,' a minced pork dish mixed with tomatoes and aromatic spices. My mom was born in a small province of Northern Thailand and she inherited her cooking talents from my grandmom, who also learned how to prepare this exceptional ethnic cuisine from her mother. When I was young, I enjoyed visiting a village where my grandmom lived. I remembered her spacious home was always filled with a tantalizing aroma of spices and herbs. Her big family, including my uncles and aunts and their families, ate together, and it was fun to listen to their lively conversation.

At home, my mom often cooked an unusally large amount of food for three of us children. She would get up in the early morning and hopped on a bus to the market. On her way back, she usually hired a tuk tuk (a popular three-wheeled vehicle in Thailand) since a tuk tuk had more space for several bags of ingredients that she bought from the market. The tuk tuk driver would ask her, "Did you buy all this for your food shop?" He thought that she owned a restaurant because she bought so much food! My mom would reply with a smile, "No, this is just for my family." The tuk tuk driver would sometimes have to help my mom carry her heavy bags down from his vehicle.

I like Nam Prik Ong because it combines spicy, salty, sweet, and sour flavors in a perfect union. The fragrant smell of Nam Prik Ong comes from dried chillies, garlic, shallots (Asian small red onions), galangal, and sweet tomatoes. Nam Prik Ong is often served with a variety of steamed vegetables such as cabbage, carrot, and long green beans. It is also served with sliced fresh cucumber. You will get plenty of vitamin A from carrot. Cabbage, tomatoes, and cucumber are excellent sources of vitamin C.

Since I couldn't find 'Nam Prik Ong' in any Thai restaurants in the US., I cooked this dish by myself at home. I thought of my mom as I blended garlic, shallots, juicy tomatoes, and pork in a hot wok. To give a final touch to the dish, I garnished it with fresh cilantro sprigs that contrasted with the vibrant red color from tomatoes. I am not as a good cook as my mom but the result of my experiment was fantastic. Together with a scoop of steamed jasmine rice and a glass of Thai iced tea made this a perfect dinner that reminded me of my mom's love and her unique heritage.

For delicious Nam Prik Ong's recipe, click here.

God of this City

My friend forwarded me an e-mail from Thailand that is so encouraging that I need to share. It is about a song from a Christian rock band named Bluetree from Belfast, Northern Ireland. The song is called God of this City. This amazing song was written in Pattaya, Thailand.

When you listen to this song, you will feel the power of God surrounding you and experience true worship. Why? The inspiration behind the song is awesome. In November of 2007, Bluetree was invited to play at "Pattaya Praise," an event organized by a missionary group from Belfast. The band did not know anything about Pattaya when they arrived. But Pattaya is a popular beach city in Thailand where prostitution thrives and where Western tourists go to enjoy drinks, dances, and scantily-dressed bar girls in nightclubs. So, needless to say, the band was shocked, depressed, and disgusted to see this horrible, dark place. I know their feelings, I was in Pattaya about five years ago and experienced the same depression. I saw young Thai prostitutes everywhere hanging out with foreigners. For a Christian, it is hell on earth.

The turning point came when a nightclub owner heard about the band and invited them to play at his nightclub! The band (with a heart to serve God) accepted this guy's invitation and courageously went to the nightclub and played worship songs there. In the middle of people drinking and dancing, God inspired them to sing God of this City on stage. The Holy Spirit was with them and poured upon them. So the song came out and they kept singing and playing all night. The lyrics of this song say it all. Despite horrible things that happen in Pattaya, God is above it all. He has a plan for Pattaya and He will help its people. Hallelujah. The band said God is the God of all cities, including where you live. There will be a big change. God's people are making a difference in the world. The gospel will be preached. Lives will be touched.

God can turn the ugliest thing around and transform it to be the most beautiful thing. From the darkest place on earth, God's light shines through. Jesus said, "Behold, I am making all things new." (Revelation 21:5) He is making all things new, indeed.

To listen to God of this City (Chris Tomlin's version), click here .

It is (NOT) Hard to Say I'm Sorry

Have you ever had a song played in your head and its crazy tunes stuck in your brain forever? When I was young, I heard this popular song, Hard to Say I'm sorry, from Chicago repeatedly from our radio. Before I knew it, I started to sing along at the top of my lungs. It was about a guy whose girlfriend was leaving him. This poor man found out that he couldn't live without her but at the same time it was hard for him to say he was sorry for what he had done to her.

Often in our Christian life, we hurt somebody, act inappropriately, or judge wrongly. We do not exactly live in God's will, but we are too proud or too ashamed to say that we are sorry about what we've done. However, the bible is all about being humble and repenting of your sins. Saying that you are sorry to God and to your friends and turning your life around are noble characteristics of a Christian. It is an act that pleases God. The bible says in 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

I know that repentance is not a popular topic to discuss among Christians. Most Christians tend to think that repentance is only for non-believers, and as for them, it's a one time thing that took place when they received Christ. But repenting should be our state of mind, something that we practice daily as long as we live on this earth. Peter says this so eloquently in 1 Peter 5:5, "clothe yourselves with humility toward one another." James teaches us to"confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed" (James 5:16).

Did you hurt somebody that you love? Did a loving Christian brother or sister try to tell you to change something that is wrong in your life but you came up with long excuses? Did you take feedback well from your family or from your pastor? Today, instead of trying to defend yourself, listen to what they say, turn around, and say to them, "I'm sorry. You are right and I'm wrong. Will you forgive me?" I believe that you will build a better, stronger relationship when you say you are sorry.