The Ramsey's

The airport bus drove us along the tarmac. How far are we going?  Where in the world is our plane?  The bus finally stopped.  Looking around, we saw it.  Hidden behind the larger jet planes, was a little propeller plane.  I noticed there was no airline name or markings on it at all.  Just a bad purple paint job. Hmmm…This is going to be an Indiana Jones experience I can see.  We climbed the rickety stairs to board the plane and squeezed into our seats.  Ok, let’s go!

Flying in, we hugged the mountains on one side and vast rice fields on the other. The sea of green was a stark contrast to the smoggy gray city we had just left. Looking down, the “runway” looked no bigger than a one-way street. Ha! We’re going to land on that?  As the wheels touched down, I noticed a guy in a lawn chair with a beach umbrella sitting right next to the runway. Hmmm…curious spectator? Or, is that the traffic control “tower”?  Coming to a stop, the Pilot thanked us for flying and mentioned something about thanking Moscow for the plane.  Excuse me, what? 

An eager taxi driver grabbed our bags and we headed to the hotel.  Looking around, I couldn’t help but notice the beautiful landscape.  So green and lush.  Seemingly idyllic, yet you will not find quaint cafes or beautiful hotels here.  There’s no Starbucks and there are no influencers promoting this on Instagram as the latest must see, must selfie location.  No, this part of the world is remote and seems forgotten altogether.  But I know better. 

Later on, we learned that some of the big problems in the area aren’t lack of jobs, lack of food, lack of education, or poverty.  No. It’s alcohol and drug addiction.  Honestly, I wasn’t expecting that.  I primarily associate those problems with the inner city.   Yet, here we were, in a place where there should be organic farms and eco lodges only to realize that the people here are struggling with the same issues as the “developed world”.  How is that?  Why is that?   

I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised.  Even in the Garden of Eden, the most perfect environment ever created,  sin entered.  Truly, no people, no location, no matter how remote or seemingly idyllic, is exempt. It doesn’t matter where you live, what you look like, or what your socio-economic status may be, sin is universal to us all.    And, whether on a remote mountain or in downtown LA, the struggle with alcoholism and drug addiction seems to be everywhere.  

As followers of Christ, we should never take for granted that those around us are fine.  They may not be.  Don’t take for granted that they know there is a God Who sees them, sees their struggles, and loves them.  They may not.  So, with a heart of compassion, let’s go and tell them that although there is a universal problem (sin), there is a universal solution – that is Jesus Christ.   

Many people know and can quote John 3:16 (“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”.NKJV)  Not as many know the verse that follows:

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”  John 3:17 NKJV

Now that’s Good News!

Visiting a friend recently,  she mentioned that their apartment building has a silent smoke alarm. Apparently, they don’t want to upset the tenants. Excuse me?  Isn’t the point of an alarm, to alarm you?  Or, at least, startle you?  She went on to tell me that one evening there was a gentle knock on their door. It was the security guard for the building inquiring to see if they had a fire.  That’s odd, I thought.  If there was a fire, is a gentle knock the best approach?  What if they were incapacitated and couldn’t get to the door?  Would the security guard have just walked away?  Thankfully my friend was able to answer the door.  She was embarrassed, but relieved, to discover it was merely her “high spirited” cooking that had triggered the alarm.   

Laughing about it later, it occurred to me that as followers of Christ, we also have a silent alarm system of sorts. That is, the Holy Spirit.  The Bible describes Him as our Counselor, our Comforter, and our Guide.   He convicts us of wrongdoing. Not to condemn, for we know there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)  Rather, He desires to protect, direct, and to guide us to repentance.  He may tug on our heart with that still small Voice that says “Hey, you need to change course”, “You probably shouldn’t go there”; or, “That’s not a good idea, there’s no wisdom in that”.  

The Holy Spirit knocks gently, but persistently, and He doesn’t walk away, even if we are slow to respond.  We have His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us. (Deuteronomy 31:8) 

Of course, we can ignore the gentle knock.  We can wait until we are choking on the smoke of our own folly and hear the sirens blaring, but why wait?

“For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice:  “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness.” 

Psalm 95:7-9 NKJV    

Oh Lord, help us to hear Your Voice and follow.  Baaaaaaa!

He walked through the door of the shop unnoticed by most,  but I saw him.  What is he doing here? I wondered.  Quickly, he began walking straight toward me. What are you doing?, I thought.  I don’t want any trouble here.  His beady eyes met mine and he paused briefly as if to determine his next move.  It was impossible not to notice his long, hairy legs, as he continued to stride proudly through the shop.  Clearly, he didn’t belong here.  Who was this ominous stranger?  Ha! He was a massive Huntsman spider measuring at least five or six inches across.  Frightening to be sure.  I kept my eye on him, making sure he didn’t make any sudden moves.  Yes, they make sudden moves.  They don’t just crawl, they run, and incredibly fast.  Some even say they jump.  Definitely not Charlotte, from Charlotte’s Web. He is called Huntsman for a reason.  True, he doesn’t normally go after people, preferring to hunt cockroaches.  But, they do have venom and they can bite if provoked.  That’s why I kept my eye on him.  Finally, he made his way out of sight and under a plant stand.  Threat averted, for now. 

I paid my bill and left the shop.  Walking outside, I was promptly bitten by three mosquitoes.  Tiny, little, annoying, mosquitoes.  The kind you barely see and rarely feel landing on you.  As the bites on my arm began to redden and swell, I began pondering…

Isn’t that just the way of it?  As a follower of Christ, I realized it’s usually not the big things, but more often than not, it’s the little things that trip us up and cause us to fall.  Here’s what I mean.  I may feel pretty good about myself that I haven’t murdered anyone, but have I despised someone in my heart?  Jesus taught on this in Matthew 5:21-22.  He went on to teach about adultery in the same manner (Matthew 5:27-28).  Little compromises.  The things we can’t always see in ourselves and rarely feel as they bite us.   It all begins in the heart.    

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

Proverbs 4:23 NLT

Have you ever not recognized yourself in a photo?  Recently I was looking at a website when I caught a glimpse of someone who looked kind of familiar. I slipped on my glasses to take a closer look and zoomed in on the nametag they were wearing.  “Hey! it’s me”!  The picture was not out of focus or distorted, I just didn’t recognize myself.  How ridiculous!  In fact, I don’t even remember the event at which the picture was apparently taken!  A startling admission. Do I need an eye exam?   A cognitive exam?  A mirror? 

The whole hilarious episode made me think of the passage in scripture when King David didn’t recognize himself either.  You may remember the story in 2 Samuel 12.  Nathan the prophet came to King David and told him about a rich man who had taken his poor neighbor’s only lamb to slaughter instead of one of the many from his own flock.  Hearing about this great injustice, David was outraged!  He demanded that the rich man be killed.  Then Nathan turns to David and says, “Thou art the man”!  (This is where I envision Nathan pointing a long, boney, accusatory finger at him).  David didn’t recognize himself in the story.  But, there was no denying it.  David had many wives, yet he took his friend’s wife, slept with her, and then had his friend killed off to cover it up after she became pregnant.   When confronted by Nathan, David did repent but there were lasting consequences.

The Bible always tells us the good, the bad, and the ugly about everyone, even our Bible “Heroes”.  I like that.  Somehow it’s encouraging to know they weren’t perfect. The Bible also reveals the good, the bad, and the ugly about us if we’re willing to receive it. 

Here’s what I mean. Have you ever sat in church, enjoyed the worship, smiled at the interesting illustrations, and listened to the Word being taught, but then walked out of there literally unchanged?  Why is that?  How is that possible?  Maybe sometimes our mind is distracted or preoccupied and we just sort of “zone out” for a while.  Maybe we are hearing, but not really listening. Or, maybe like David, we don’t recognize ourselves in the story.   Hmmm…

When we read our Bibles, or daily devotions, when we sit in church and listen; instead of zoning out, if we zoom in a bit, who knows?  We may be surprised to discover, ”Hey, it’s me”!  

“But don’t just listen to God’s Word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.  For if you listen to the Word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.”  

James 1:22-24 NLT

Standing in the back, I noticed the slightly heavy, middle aged, gentleman drop down and crawl barefooted on elbows and knees toward the golden statue.  The walls of the temple were covered with frightening images of demons, dragons, snakes, hell.  The towering golden statue had a slight smile and struck a sharp contrast to these images, as if by design.  As if the intent was to communicate to those entering, “Come towards me”, “Bring me your gifts”, “I will save you from the terror”…

I watched as the distraught man prostrated himself before this “god”.  He stayed for several minutes with his face down on the carpet, imploring for favor or forgiveness, I wasn’t sure.  He was begging, just begging for…..something.  I wondered if he noticed, as I did, the gold paint was peeling off around the giant ceramic feet.  Hmmm…I thought of what Shakespeare wrote: “All that glitters is not gold.”  Indeed.

Outside, we saw some people purchasing silver and golden leaves whereon they wrote their prayers and requests.  Later, the monks will hang them on the many rotating towers glistening in the sun.  Others were throwing their money into a well, of sorts, trying to get their coins to land in the ceramic “god” hands for their requests to be received.    

My observations did not leave me feeling superior, but rather sorely inadequate.  In the few moments I have here, how can I possibly communicate that there is a true and living God not made of clay and gold paint?  He doesn’t require appeasement with money, flowers, or gifts.  You don’t need to write your prayers on a tin leaf.  He hears you.  You don’t have to chant or burn incense.  He sees you.  He knows you, and wants you to know Him too!  It doesn’t matter where you live or what culture you were born into, He is near, He loves you, and He died to set us free.  

Later in the day, we had an opportunity to share that truth with one.  Just one, but that one is precious in His sight.  Thanks to all of you who are praying for us, and for the many “ones” across the world.

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.  And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything. Rather, He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.  From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.  God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us.”  Acts 17:24-27 NIV  

It’s been fun reacquainting ourselves with Hanoi.  Many of the old places we used to frequent are still there, plus new ones to explore.  All of these are opportunities to meet people and form new relationships.

With that in mind, we decided to walk to a little restaurant we knew of down an alley, not far from our apartment.  Approaching the front door, a man came out and asked “Do you have reservations?”   Hmmm…not a fancy place.  We looked around.   It was completely empty except for the servers who were standing there ready to serve.  We replied, “Uh…no we don’t.  Is that ok?”   He said, “Well, ok.  Would you like to sit outside?”  Well, not really, I thought.  It’s too hot and humid.  I asked, “May we sit inside?”  He said, “okay” and opened the door for us.  So…what was that all about?

We kept laughing at the awkward situation. I think he was probably told by his employer to ask everyone, but clearly it didn’t matter if we had reservations or not.  There was plenty of room for us.  As we sat and enjoyed our food, more and more customers began to come in.  He continued to ask each and everyone if they had reservations.  No one did.

When we first approached the door and he asked us if we had reservations, for a moment, I wasn’t sure he was going to let us in.  Having walked all the way over there, were we now going to be turned away?

As followers of Christ, we can be confident that at the end of this life, we will not be turned away.  We will be welcomed into Heaven.  The moment we give our life to Jesus and put our trust in Him, our reservations were made.  

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 NKJV

“Whoever… party of 1?  Please come in” :)

It was noon on Good Friday.  A fitting reminder of His grace that brought us this far.  Happy to be back in Hanoi, but exhausted after 20 hours of flying, we were a little anxious knowing we still had to get through the COVID checkpoints and Immigration.  But, taking our documents without question, the official slammed his stamp down onto our passports.  30 days have been granted.  30 days.  “We’ll see”, I thought.

Without a word we loaded our bags into the prearranged vehicle and headed away from the airport toward the city.  The sights and sounds, although familiar, were somehow different.  The gray skies seemed more solemn now.  Like the rest of the world, Vietnam has struggled through the global pandemic.  Businesses have closed,  Apartments stand vacant as 80% of all foreigners have left.  Streets once crowded with motorcycles, cars, and pedestrians all moving in one giant mass, now are strangely wide open.  Hmmm…

Our apartment was a welcome sight.  The building manager ran outside to welcome us, smiling from ear to ear and shaking our hands over and over.  Dragging our heavy bags up to the 4th floor, we had no idea what we would see after two years of heat and humidity had taken their toll.  On the surface, everything looked fine, but opening the closet… ugh! Mold!   It’s not good to breathe this stuff.  We knew we couldn’t unpack our bags until the moldy clothes were removed.  Some could possibly be washed, others tossed.  Too tired to deal with it, we left our bags in the middle of the floor and walked to a favorite cafe.  After a hot shower and a meal, all we could do was collapse into bed.  Eleven hours later, we awoke.  And so it begins…Now what?  

A favorite verse stays in our minds.  “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)   Yes!  He will direct our path.  But, as the saying goes…“You can’t steer a parked car”.  And so it begins.  One day at a time, one step at a time.  It’s just that simple.  Offer yourself willingly to Him and let Him direct you.  He will.  He always does.

As we seek options for securing a longer visa stay, we’ve already connected with old friends and are meeting new ones daily.  I’ve been invited to talk to an English Center class on pronouncing American English and common idioms based on scripture.  (Like “The writing is on the wall.” or “By the skin of my teeth”)  These students are not believers, so we are thankful for this opportunity to form new relationships and introduce scripture.  We can’t speak very good Vietnamese, but we can speak English!  A good reminder…give Him what little you have and let Him use it.  Great is His faithfulness.  

When living in Asia, we are aware to be on the lookout for fake food.  It’s a real problem.  Rice could actually be plastic or paper, eggs could actually be a resin compound, and honey may just be corn syrup.   As horrible as that all sounds, I have to admit that there’s some “fake food” in America too, but at least it’s edible.  Here’s what I mean.

Recently, we’ve been trying to adopt a more plant based diet. I’ve got “rice” that’s actually cauliflower,  “noodles” made from zucchini, and Impossible “Burgers” in my freezer.  I’ve got “yogurt” made from cashews and “milk” made from almonds in my fridge.  My latest purchase was a “hot dog” made of tofu and blended spices.  I like to call it a Not Dog.  When you put it in a bun and bury it under condiments, you can barely tell the difference!  

All these fake foods have one thing in common…they appear to be one thing on the outside, but are something else entirely on the inside.  

In Scripture, you could make the case that Judas was the biggest Not Dog in history.   On the outside? A devoted disciple.  On the inside?  A treacherous traitor.  But before I congratulate myself on not being like “that guy”,  maybe I should consider…

Am I… a Not Dog?  

Do I sometimes smile and act like everything is great, when actually I’m hurting inside? Not Dog!  Have I ever been in church singing a worship song, but my mind is wandering somewhere else?  Not Dog!  Have I ever tried to go along with a crowd, hide my beliefs and who I am in Christ, preferring to just not say anything “controversial”?  Not Dog!   

Hmmm…I guess if we’re honest, we’ve all been a Not Dog at one time or another.  I guess it’s human nature to want to appear better than we actually are.  But with Christ, we don’t have to.  

In fact, I’m reminded of this verse:

“Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭51:6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I have over a million dollars in my desk drawer right now.  Yet, I couldn’t buy a cup of coffee with it. Let me explain…

The money I have in my drawer is a currency that is not accepted here in the U.S. because it’s foreign, it’s Vietnamese.  Although I’ve got plenty of it, it’s useless to me here.  I keep it in the drawer waiting, waiting, waiting for the day when Vietnam will open its borders and allow us to come back in.  Hopefully, that will be soon.

That got me thinking.  Because of all the uncertainty in the world today, many people are trying to secure their future by building their savings, investing in real estate and stocks, etc.  There’s even “cryptocurrency” commercials on TV trying to get people to invest in that.  I think it’s interesting that the root word there is “crypt”, literally a place where dead people are buried.  Hmmm… I’ll admit I don’t fully understand it.  (Does anyone really?) To be clear, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with investing and planning ahead.  We should be good stewards of the resources God has given us. But those resources are just tools.  Maybe Bitcoin is great. I don’t know.  It seems like some are trying to obtain and hold onto things that are literally worthless in heaven.  Yet, many of the things that God truly values don’t seem to hold much value here on earth.  

You may not own any stock.  There may be times when you don’t have two nickels to rub together, and you’ve never even heard of cryptocurrency.  But, in the end, I’m not sure that matters much.  Our future is secure the moment we believe and receive Jesus Christ as our Savior.  (see John 3:16)  In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-20 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”  No, He wasn’t talking about cryptocurrency.  

As followers of Christ, how do we do that – build up treasure in heaven?  Well, people are what God seems to value most.  That’s why Jesus came – to save people!  So, I think when we serve God and others, we’re storing up treasure in heaven.  When we share our story of how we came to know Jesus and help others to know Him too, we store up treasure in heaven.  When we help out in Sunday School or with childcare, we store up treasure in heaven.  When we use our earthly resources to help others in need; or to help a missionary go out into the world, we store up treasure in heaven.  When we care for the sick, feed the hungry, encourage the downtrodden, or visit the forgotten, we store up treasure in heaven.  Yes, God loves people and ultimately, only the things done for the glory of God will last and that’s the only “currency” that’s worth anything in His kingdom.  

One day when the “gates” are finally opened, I wonder will I be rich, or poor?  Hmmm…What’s in your wallet?

“Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”  Matthew 6:21 NLT