In with the New Year

This past Sunday we had a pretty good sized crowd at church but were missing some of our regulars. Since it was 5 day long weekend, many people took the opportunity to travel or visit relatives. I preached on our heavenly citizenship and challenged the people to focus on heaven and the Creator of heaven rather than the things of this earth.

Although I've been preaching in Thai for a couple years now, I still make some pretty silly mistakes. This past Sunday I was really nervous as I began my sermon. I tried a new way of preparing my sermon and I think that created the nerves. Anyways I began with an illustration about a man riding a horse all day long. In Thai, horse is maa with a high tone. However I said maa with a rising tone and instead of saying he rode a horse all day long, I said he rode a dog all day long. As soon as the word came out of my mouth I knew I had said it wrong and corrected myself. Everyone had a good chuckle.

At the end of the month we will be having a conference here in Chiang Mai. Many different missionaries and pastors from our work will be here. The weekend before the conference, Lynn Rayburn will be teaching our church about Faith Promise. The weekend after the seminar, Larry Fincher will be giving a parenting workshop. Excited about both seminars and that these men have agreed to do them. It is not too often that I get to sit and listen to someone else preach.