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Habakkuk 1:2-5
2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? 3 Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. 4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. 5 “Look at the nations and watch--and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. 2:2 “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. 3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. (NIV)

Things seem to take forever. But, then, when they start to happen, they happen too fast, it seems. Raising two children--and now, in a month, they’ll both be gone. Building on our land--in a year our first 2000-seat auditorium. Getting to write a book--and now, narrowing a list of growing books that need to be written. Working in Vietnam and going to slow--but now, things speeding up in realms I could have never dreamed.

We spend our lives waiting and working, dreaming and hoping--but, regardless, faithful. When all is said and done, it is really God’s show and His call and His discretion. Some of the least gifted become the most successful and the most gifted the least successful. God truly is sovereign--and thank God He is! But, when He lets us see some of those dreams come true, how do we contain ourselves?

It’s been a good trip. I’m ready to pack, get on the jet and head home. I feel refreshed and ready to rock and roll. NO WAY I experienced this because I was so gifted or did it on my own. What an incredible church that doesn’t talk--but acts. What an exceptional staff--if not rare. What an awesome God--He lets us get to be a part.

I was up at 5am this morning, running around Lake Hoa Kiem, and it was nice. I didn’t go as far as I wanted, but got in at least 3 miles and was sweating like crazy. Many of the faces I see there, I’ve seen for years. One face is that of a young boy 15 to 18. He’s a special needs young man. He can’t talk. He is somewhat paralyzed on his left side--he can’t look at you straight on, but from an angle and when he does he smiles. So, for years he’s smiled at me and waved. He runs--unsteady as I see it, but steady in his own sort of gait. He usually goes the opposite direction that I run so we pass one another and he waves. This morning as I was running I sensed someone coming up behind me and then running along beside me. It was him. I grinned at him and he grinned back--made some grunts trying to make me laugh and imitate my running style. I admire him so much. As we ran, everyone waved at him--everyone. Everyone smiled at him and thereby smiled at me, as well. At times, he’d get distracted and be looking somewhere but would then catch up. Other times, he’d go way ahead and realize I was near and slow down to run with me. Once he tried to get me to run in the middle of the road with the cars to avoid all the people on the sidewalk. I shook my head “no.” He did it anyhow. Broken, smiling, warm, running, enduring, endearing--he was all these things to me and everyone else on the lake. Such a broken person. Such a beautiful person.

I thought of the Holy Spirit as I was running. I’m just like that broken young man. Yet, I’m not alone. The Spirit is with me. Sometimes I run off, but I always come back. Sometimes I get distracted, but I always come back. Sometimes I look for a short cut, and it winds up being dangerous, but the Spirit protects me even in my “risky business” and I always come back. The Holy Spirit doesn’t mind that I run weird or have flaws. He sees them all, and He actually winds up using them to His advantage.

If the Spirit is with us, then the Spirit is …

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I just read a remarkable book by Steve Chalke, The Lost Message of Jesus. It’s a powerful book, especially if you love reading about, and living, the Kingdom.  In the last part of the book, Steve talks about the cross—was it an act of love or the act of a vengeful Father showing wrath on His son for something His son didn’t do. Steve opts for a loving God caught in the throes of sinful man.

Having heard so many people who preach with anger and enthusiasm on such subjects as Hell and God’s wrath, I understand why he opts for the loving Father. It seems to contradict all that Christ talked about. Those men who preach with such enthusiasm on such subjects, I believe, are objects of wrath!

I went to the famous verse in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” Propitiation was the act of a sacrifice paying with its life for the sin of someone else.

Can’t deny it’s not there. The old discussion about the potential of Paul creating a different, more legal, version of Christianity doesn’t hold up here because the disciple who knew and loved Jesus wrote:

-1 John 2:2:1 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world . . . 1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

-8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation …

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It isn’t that hard to understand why the Vietnamese government is nervous about Christianity--specifically. They really don’t have that many challenges with Buddhism or animism--because it’s in their culture. I’ve been told by people who know the General Secretary that even he has an altar to his ancestors in his home. The first large-scale introduction of Christianity came with the French Catholics. It was a typical religious Colonial response. Vietnam represented a vast economic opportunity for the French, thus, the Vietnamese must be conquered and their resources captured. Sadly, as the French came with colonialism, the church came, as well, and they were viewed as the same.

I sit typing this in a hotel Americans know as the “Hanoi Hilton.” Most of the Hanoi Hilton is gone, only a part of it for tourist. But, in Vietnamese culture, it’s known as a place where, for decades, Vietnamese who challenged the French would go to a famous court across the street from me, then be sentenced and marched across the street to stay in the prison where many American POWs would ultimately stay.

Then, of course, there was our own conflict with the Vietnamese. And, often the Vietnamese that allied with Americans were also Christians--often Protestant Christians. That meant God and politics all got mixed in together.

Why would they call him Savior? This is the faith of the men who drove them to produce for a foreign land. This is the faith of people who used faith for less than noble purposes.

Will they ever call him Savior?
-Only if those of us who know Christ live the radical life of Christ as servants to them instead of making servants out of them.

-Only if they are able to separate the history of the church here from the person of Christ here.

-Only if when we speak of religious freedom--they see we are concerned not just about what concerns us, but what concerns them.

There is not a place in the world where the church has more of an opportunity to be the church than here. But, for that to happen, it will have to be a radically different kind of church.

My purpose in life is simple--not just in Keller, Texas where I live, but here in Hanoi, as well. “To …

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My view of missional may almost be, as they would say here in Asia, a Christian view of yen and yang where opposites are necessary. I learned a long time ago that the global defines the local. The local rarely leads to the global, but when we engage globally, the local most often wind up coming, which was the case with us. In thinking about that and all the meetings and relationships I’ve been in the past week, I am struck by all the people and situations totally opposite of me and my context, yet, I’m here trying to engage them at the point of their context, not mine. It takes me out of my culture, but when I’m back in my culture I see things I never would have seen had I not gotten out of my box.

Missional is exemplified by Christ who left His home, His security, His everything to identify with us--so far from Him. It’s Him crossing a massive expanse for us. I’ve had to do a lot of spanning the past few days, and, though, at times being made somewhat uneasy--at all times recognizing God with us guiding us and pushing us to think differently.

Here are some of the ironies:
-Praying in Dak Lak for the leadership of Vietnam with a group of Vietnamese pastors and diplomats, with our pastors and diplomats, that God would guide the General Secretary and the Prime Minister as they lead the nation. A nation that is officially atheist.
-Listening to officials and others talk about how they all have family altars in their homes. I’ve concluded that Vietnam is an incredibly spiritual nation.
-Being asked to partner with Buddhist to help them engage society.

I could go on. I will only say that when I’m spanning far enough that I have to let go of my grip and hold on to Him to keep from falling. Only then do great things truly happen.

Yesterday, I was in a cab on my way to my hotel from the Noi Bai airport near Hanoi. The cabbie tried to converse with me, but it wasn’t easy. His English was bad.  My Vietnamese non-existent. The World Cup is just huge here. If you sit outside, you hear all the people on the streets cheering when things go good or bad--it’s wild. In trying to identify with him, I actually made things worse! I know nothing about soccer, the teams or any of that stuff. Here’s a recount of a fascinating conversation!

Cabbie: Mr. — you World Cup?
Bob: Yes — good
Cabbie: Urrca r Spam?
Bob: What?
Cabbie: Urrrrca r Spamee?
Bob: No understand
Cabbie — Very persistent: Urcan or Span
Bob: Ukrane Spain?
Cabbie: Yes!
Bob: Good
Cabbie: U Urcan or Spam?
Bob: (What the heck do I know, what the heck do I care!) Urcan
Cabbie: Urcan?!!
Bob: (Here we go again) Urcan — I mean Ukrane.
Cabbie: Spain?
Bob: Spain good — Ukrane will surprise.
Cabbie: No!
Bob: Oh yes — for sure! (I don’t know a thing I’m talking about.)
Cabbie: Me Urcan then.
Bob: OK
Cabbie: Yesterday loose $300--today make it up. (he gets on his cell, he’s placing a bet based on what I said).
Bob: Mr., don’t do that--I know nothing about this.
Cabbie: You know, I know you know.
Bob: Spain good (poor guys’ going to loose again!)
Cabbie: No Urcan win--thank you Mr.

Prayer for the Day:
Father, there’s a desperate Vietnamese cabbie wasting his money. I pray he did OK though I don’t believe in gambling. But if he didn’t, keep me safe from a guy looking for some white guy from Texas!

God is on the move in powerful ways in Vietnam. Government officials and our delegation got up early yesterday and left Dal Lak province after some incredible meetings there and then headed to Pleiku. I wasn’t ready for all I was going to experience.

We stopped and visited a newly built church. I had previously met the young pastor in DC. His church has close to 2000 and he’s doing an incredible job. His deacons and leadership were there to greet us and it was a powerful time together. We then had some official meetings and afterwards visited a Catholic church that was pretty awesome. It was built as one of the traditional long houses in Vietnam of one of the minorities. They have 2000 a week in their worship. The Priest was very impressive. They met us in traditional dress with drums and symbols and played as we walked in. Later, we ate, some drank rice-wine--I didn’t, was told it was the fastest way to hepatitis! They circled around us while they played. Then, they began to invite us to play with them. There was a young 32-year-old guy I had visited with a lot with the government about God, religion, and his views on faith--a kind man. He told me he had none. But as we began to eat and laugh and dance, I noticed he was walking in the circle beating the drum having fun. He came over when he was finished and sat down beside me. I told him, “Oh, I thought you weren’t religious--you looked pretty religious to me!” He said, “I don’t know or understand much about this. All I know is that when I stood and began to walk with them and laugh with them, I became one of them. This is something deep, deep in the heart.”

As I watched everything taking place and knowing the context of the country and the tribe, I thought, “This is faith.” It’s bigger than any of us, can’t be stopped--and it’s when we stand together. When we stand together, we are all equal before God and one another--we are part of the family.

Today, I had, perhaps, one of the top days of my entire ministry. For the first time since working in Vietnam, I met with a group of pastors with the government to discuss what is going on here. There really has been progress.

Last year, there were only 3 recognized churches. There are now 29--with 300 meeting and 4 in the process of building buildings. It was incredibly moving to listen to their stories and hear how God has worked. I had to fight back the tears and finally excused myself--just listening to their stories and sitting in their presence was too much. I came back and then we talked for over an hour. I’ll write more on all this later. Visited one church with over 2000 in attendance. They just built a tin barn to hold them 2 years ago--about to build another--it will cost $70,000 for 2000 seats. Things ARE changing here. Will write more later.

Since October 2004, laws have passed to provide for more religious freedom in Vietnam. I have been meeting with their government leaders, as well as with pastors, and things are moving in the right direction. To get to one pastor we had to 4-wheel for four hours, cross a raging river in canoes, and then trek in a beautiful tropical sauna for 2 hours to a village where we met the pastor. His story of faith was very powerful. The same was true of another pastor who was barely 20, yet, had a church in his house and knew of 6 other chapters associated with his church. One village had 1000 people and 17 churches that the government allows to meet in the house. I could have paid on the spot to build a chapel--but why? The church was decentralized, healthy, and impacting.

I’m glad it’s opening up, but I want it to keep its purity and innocence. There are many complicated issues here. When a Hmong follows Christ, other family members often try to take their land because they are no longer worshipping their ancestors and it is a sign of disrespect to them. These things can all be fixed, but it will take a lot of effort on everyone’s part to make it work. Very sleepy--but on a train all night and leave for the central highlands in a few hours.

Will try to write more later.

For religious freedom to mean something there must be some form of separation of church and state. I was in seminary in the 80’s when faith and politics merged pretty dramatically. Why shouldn’t they? Morals and ethics should be legislated when you see things happening that are obviously wrong and against God. I had to make some shifts and find my way through all the views.

First, I had to understand that separation of church and state did not mean faith did not play a role and thereby could not and should not speak to society at large. Not only was that contrary to the writings of the founding fathers of the United States, it was not practiced that way.

Second, separation of church and state allowed for freedom of all religions. Since there was no state church, each person was motivated by what Roger Williams wrote about as “freedom of conscience.” As Christians, we believe men should not be forced to obey God. They should be challenged, and each person left to his/her decision. Christ never forced anyone. Religious freedom was there--you just lived with the consequences of your choice! I was thinking this morning, while running here in Hanoi, there was no religious freedom in the Old Testament--something to think about.

Third, separation of church and state is critical if we do not want more religious wars. Islam has its own issues with some of its extremist at this point. Historically, we have all had to deal with this. I remember being in Westminster Abbey in London and seeing many kings in their tombs and Sarcophagus--some with a sword in one hand and the cross or Bible in the other. Today, I fear, there is much speculative theology from evangelical ranks that is driving foreign policy. To me, that’s scary. If Christians can wield their influence over our government and her leaders to start wars based on “opinions” on the second coming of Christ, what makes us different than jihad extremist?

For all its faults, when I look at the world struggling with these issues, I’m grateful we have the things in place that we do in the US. I want to accept what I believe the truth of God’s Word teaches--not necessarily what the fickle majority believe at various times through multiple fads.

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