Invited

Invited

John3:1-21

Afraid and Alone but NIc speaks out…
Nic came to Jesus alone and under the cover of darkness. There seemed to be a light on in Nic’s heart and mind, ...'if Jesus can give sight to the blind, make the lame walk, cure people with leprosy; make the deaf hear; cast demons from people and raise dead people, then all this must be proof that Jesus is from God!' NIc's mind was alight with this possibility-'Jesus came from God'.

Nic’s generation lived with little hope. In 400 years there'd been no genuine prophet form God. Sure they'd been some fakes, but they were soon exposed like all fakes. The zealots pushed the Roman government too far and they were killed. And all this proved that neither the fakes nor the zealots were from God. God simply wasn't talking. Nic lived in the days of silence. As far as we know, God hadn't said 'G'day’ to a single person in 400years.

But there was an emerging light in Nic's mind, 'Jesus comes from God?! If this is true, we're going to get back on track. Will he be a warrior like Joshua or David?; or a wise man like Solomon?; a Super Prophet Man like Elisha...then again, he's got a background in wood work, perhaps Jesus' is going to be a BIG BOAT builder like Noah!’

Most of Nic's friends laughed and strongly disagreed with his insane ideas and radical hope... 'Nic your an idiot! People sent form God don't heal the sick on the Sabbath, which makes God angry; they don't make friends with tax collectors, prostitutes or sinners; and we don't have any real evidence that when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead that Lazarus was clinically dead.

Our cities' most able teachers, doctors and psychiatrists all agreed that Lazarus was just in a coma. Nic, all the above is against you! Yeah, yeah NIc, it's true that Jesus cast out big old demons from people and they were healed, but again our brightest and best said that Jesus is using Satan's power to do that! So it's all explained Nic. Just shut up and get on with life...'
Nic was under a lot of pressure, that's why he came at night. He couldn't trust any of his ‘friends’, that's why he came alone.

What about Us?
Have we ever stood against the criticism of our friends, family, work mates or best friends?
Maybe our stand is for Jesus being the only way, truth and life. Many people today believe Jesus is just one of history's good men. People say all religions are the same...just different paths.
Perhaps our belief in ‘sexual abstinence’ is against our friend's ideas of sex on demand! We believe the gift of sex is reserved for marriage life. But our friends are screaming 'that's a lie...its all about you and your life now. Your body so take it on, everybody else is!'.

Have you ever felt afraid and alone? Nic was alone in his hopes. At least amongst his personal peers. Yes, Jesus had many followers, but amongst NIc's mates, he seemed largely alone.

Jesus invites Nic…
Jesus is full of hope for Nic and Nic's ready for more knowledge about God's kingdom. He's a bit afraid but Jesus can see that he's taking risks to get answers. His friends, his family, his culture...are all screaming at him, 'Nic don't believe, don't get too close to that Jesus freak'. Jesus embraces Nic's mind and heart and neither Nic or Jesus waste words.

Nic states why he believes that Jesus came from God- 'you can perform miraculous signs...this proves God is with you v2. Nic is seeing miracles and he’s asking questions!!! But Jesus replies indirectly to Nic's belief in Jesus' miracles, ' the truth is, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again' v3. You can almost hear Nic, ‘Ha…why don’t you affirm my belief in your miracles Jesus. I’m raising support here!!!

God's miracles are signs that God is here. Yes, yes, Satan can also do miracles so there needs to be discernment. But with this issue aside, miracles are supposed to stir the hearts of men towards belief in the power and possibilities of God now! Jesus made if very clear to Nic that though he had a belief in miracles and in God, just believing that God exists and has power won't get him into God's kingdom.

Delightfully, miracles bring healing, relief and joy on earth now. But the miracles of God were and are supposed to build interest and point people to God's kingdom. God wants to reveal physically and spiritual healing, now and for eternity.

Jesus goes onto say that entering into the Kingdom of God happens through a spiritual birth. We are all born from flesh, but God has another birth for us- in the Spirit. And Jesus Says that ‘unless you are born of the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God.’

Jesus is leading NIc to John 3:16. I’ve never seen the text in this way before. I’ve always seen ‘John 3:16’ as a stand alone statement. But Jesus speaks this truth into the life of a young man who wants something more out of life.

Jesus starts with mystery and metaphor and then invites Nic to believe in who He is- the Son of God; the Savior of the World.

'For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son and who ever so believes in Him shall have not perish but have eternal life...But whoever does not believe in HIm stands condemned already because he has not believed in the Name of God's one and only Son.'
Nic took risks that night. He came with a lot of questions and he left with a lot more. Wonderfully though, Nic left an invited man.

With all Nic’s growing convictions and faltering questions, Nic is invited into the kingdom of God.

Street Basketball…hip hop and hoops

Street basketball in Vientiane

Vientiane has an English news paper called, ‘The Vientiane Times’ (TVT). It is part of the English News Paper network in Asia. The Straight’s Times in Singapore is also part of this network of Asian papers. The news in the TVT is largely local. Occasionally you find out what David Beckham is up too and other riveting stuff. The paper always talks about how good the government is and how much it is doing for everybody. It is just like Singapore’s Straights Times!

Anyway, I buy the V.T. to find out what’s happening around town and in Laos. The other day I saw an article about a Street Basketball competition. The article explained that it was the first time Lao basketballers were coming together for
‘3- on- 3 matches.’

I’m currently helping to coach the junior basketball side in Seth’s school. I’m helping one other dad from the Philippines. Both our sons are in the team and we meet on Wed arvo from 4-5.30pm. The boys don’t play competitively at the moment or against other schools. We meet up to have fun, exercise, develop skills and build character.

The two ‘Basketball dads’ decided to take their sons to watch the ‘3 on 3 game’. The games were ‘supposed’ to begin at 8.30 and go through until 5pm. Everything was going to happen in the city car park.

The organisers set up several large speakers and a stage in the carpark. The half size court was sectioned off and eventually they rolled out the goals.

There were lights, sponsor and banners. The largest banner was “LAO COFFEE”. I was so glad it wasn’t ‘Lao Beer’. The Lao Coffee crew happily served free iced coffee in ‘Starbucks’ style cups. Sigh, the free bees didn’t last long. I felt the choice of venue was great as they were able to grab the attention of locals and tourists. There was a good crowd and a carnival like atmosphere.
Unfortunately, when we got there at 9am the organisers were still assembling the mobile Spalding basketball ring. The entire ring and stand had been delivered in a box, which was still in pieces on the ground in the middle of the car park. The sun was getting hotter by the minute and there was a need to push the day’s plans back. We chatted in the shade while the ring was assembled. Seth and CJ (Seth’s friend) threw stones at a swarm of dragon flies and other boy stuff…

The comical relief came via the 8 to 10 guys in the middle who screwed, banged and hammed the goal post together. They huffed and puffed as they erect the goal post upright. They were armed with nicely chromed spanners and a small English ‘how to do it’ manual.

The growing crowd patiently waited for 2 and ½ hours. The excitement level hit a peak when they erected the posts! I tried the “OZZIE OZZIE OZZZIE” but it didn’t work; neither did the Kallang WAVE…oh well.

While we were waiting I managed to have a conversation with a couple of the players- Bee and Sai. They are both Lao boys around 19 years old.

Bee studied Chinese in Beijing for four years and is currently studying marketing in a Vientiane College. Sai studied Chinese in Vientiane and is currently studying international trade in Vietnam.

I was blown away to learn that Sai can read and write Vietnamese and Lao and can speak Chinese and English. I was so impressed. We used English and Chinese. My Lao is still only ‘noi neng’ (little bit).

I noticed dried blood and a cut on Bee’s ear. Being the big nose that I am I asked him about the cut. He and Sai laughed. Sai explained that Bee’s girlfriend got angry with him and smashed a bottle over his head the previous night. Sai said ‘she was really angry’. Bee nodded in agreement but went on to explain that he will make up with her soon…He admitted that sometimes he’s ‘a bit stupid’.

I gathered that Sai was some sort of ‘Youth Ambassador’ in Laos. He had just come back from a trip with 28 other youth to 6 Asian Nations. The trip was sponsored by an NGO. Sai had visited Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei and Japan. He said it was a good experience and he had learnt a lot.

Our conversation was drowned out by thumping hip hop music…and there was a string of ‘colorful’ words I’d never think of teaching in my English class!!

HIP<>>>
The day was getting really hot. When the teams gathered together in the middle of the court there was an overwhelming level of ‘testosterone’. On a testosterone meter I’d put it at a ‘very dangerous’ level. Many of these guys were wearing the latest NIKE and Adidas tops. All of them had their long NBA shorts. Their hair styles would rival anything coming out of Buggis or Hip Hop fashion in L.A. The HIP HOP girls were there to tell us that US culture is alive and well and everybody seemed to be ‘lovin it’.

These funky, styled, educated guys were pumped to play their first 3 on 3 street basketball comp. The crowd and the hip hoppers were on their side. They screened nicely, shot long three-pointers and several even managed to slam dunk regularly. Seth and I left quite satisfied with the spectacle.

That night we drove by the spot at about 8pm and they were still running, jumping and having fun. The HIP Hoppers were no where in sight. I asked God…’what can I do encourage the enthusiasm and perhaps make the game more accessible to non-hippy hop, style-o-milo type Lao youth? I wonder….



ian

our jumbo look alike...

we spend a lot of time at this little shop eating 'fir'. That's like really nice noodles! We stumbled across it one day and keep going back.

They don't have the Koppee C kosong but you know...can't complain. If anybody sees Aini please send her our love...we really miss the jumbo community.






The money here is called 'kip' pronouced 'gib'...U 1$ will give you 10,000 gip! so yes, our life 'ambition' to be millionaires has come true...everytime we change 100 we get a million...we will need big when we go buy our Bug...We've found something and they want '1,300 US...We're getting it checked out and praying . So exciting to be getting 'our own' Bug...

we're back online...for a while at least

This little piggy went to the market and didn't make it...happy CNY.

Sorry we've been out of action for a while...we 'exceeded' our sending limit at work- which is 1gig. So wow...we really appreciate 'unlimited' in Sing...we are trying to get hooked up at home so we can keep closer through mail and skype...love you all.