Before coming on the race, passages in the Old Testament about idol worship and sacrifice to idols seemed like a dull story. A dry history lesson. You know it happened once upon a time, and that was that. It was in the past, we've moved on.
Books like Jeremiah, Hosea, Isaiah, and others that speak prophetically to Israel about how they have turned away from God to other idols were okay to read, but just didn't seem that relevant.
In the New Testament, there are similar passages where Paul talks to different churches about turning away from idols. And other Scriptures where apostles address issues about whether or not it is okay to eat food offered to idols. There is another section of verses that talks about a city having an altar set up to “an unknown god.”
All these Scriptures were okay. Like I said, maybe dry and dull at best. You know it is true because all of Scripture is God breathed, but there are books that you really want to dig in to, and others that you just pass over because you think they are less relevant for your life.
The World Race will never let me read the Bible the same way again.
One thing I never expected on the World Race as how the Old Testament and passages in the New Testament that spoke about idol worship would come to life, and how they would bring new revelations and new truths to my life.
Scripture is coming alive for me in Asia.
Thailand was the first place that I really noticed it. Physically. All around there are “spirit houses.” Colorful little boxes on pedestals that look like really large, fancy bird houses. In front, people will place bottles of red Fanta and other sodas or drinks, along with flowers, bread, bananas, and other foods. There are large buddahs everywhere, huge statues looking out over cities to small statutes in obscure places.
In Cambodia there were more spirit houses, and many temples, or wats, scattered throughout the countryside. Small temples to large ones, new and ancient. The land was full of more spirit and idol worship.
Here in Malaysia, you have a spiritual melting pot as well as a cultural melting pot. Chinese spirit and ancestral worship, the official Malay religion is Islam, and then you have Hindu thrown in as well. This makes for a variety of temples, spirit houses, and a wide display of idol images everywhere you go. Red Chinese spirit house temples full of incense and offerings. Large Hindu temples, colorful and adorned with elephants, horses, and other gods, filled with food, drink, and incense offerings. Mosques and temples on most street corners, the call to prayer rings out often on loudspeakers. And homes are draped with flower garlands, full of pots with incense sticks, and rooms set aside for gods, idols and offerings.
This country has brought my mind to a screeching halt, and has me backpedaling into Scripture. Reading passages that speak to Israel, beseeching her to turn away from false idols, idols that are made from mans hands that cannot hear, speak or act. Talking about idol worship, and forced religious law. I read through passages in Acts that talk about idol worship in the New Testament, and if a Christian can eat food that has been offered to idols or not.
Back home, these kinds of passages were ones that I skimmed over, and dismissed as irrelevant to daily life. But that is not so. For the rest of the world, or a large part, this is very relevant. Very real. You come across homes full of false idols. You go into restaurants and shops with idols. You see food piled in front of altars, and wonder where it goes that night before offerings are brought the next day.
The World Race has brought a whole new dimension to the way that I am reading Scripture. It has shed so much light into passages that once seemed dry and old. These are real issues that much of the world is still facing, and will continue to face.
Pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who daily go into battle against these spiritual forces. Who come face to face with idol worship, and try to spread the gospel to people who believe that there are many gods, and perhaps “an unknown god” that they can somehow appease to provide protection and blessing.
Pray for freedom. Pray that God would continue to open all of our eyes to the extreme relevance of the Bible throughout all of history.
Oh what an exciting adventure this is!
This last picture is of our team sharing the gospel and giving Bibles to a group of migrant workers from Nepal who did not have a Bible. God is good!
