As you read this, I'll be somewhere over the polar ice cap on a 15 hour flight from Delhi to Chicago.

At least I still have some good books to help pass the time. And Tylenol PM.

Our team is both energized and exhausted.

We are most grateful for all your prayers and your blog comments. Our good health throughout is Exhibit A in God's faithfulness response to your intercession.

And we're looking forward to seeing you Sunday for Psalms, Hymns, And Spiritual Songs.

Hinduism is everywhere in India. In particular, roadside shrines attract the faithful. Typically, the entrance to such shrines feature statues of a pair of roaring lions, considered sacred in the Hindu religion. (Interesting -- lions, not native to India, are sacred while the tigers who live here are not.)

The lion is just one of hundreds if not thousands of gods and goddesses of this religion.

So where did all the deities come from?

Two answers emerge from conversation here in India. The first is from the "history of religions" approach: Hindu gods and goddesses are Eastern version of the deities of Greek mythology. When West met East in antiquity via trade routes and armed conflict, Hinduism is the result.

The second answer comes from Christians living in this land: the gods and goddesses are fallen angels implied in places like Jude 1:6. Under this interpretation, when the rebellious angels were exiled from heaven, they took up residence in specific places, India among them. They have enduring but limited power which explains why Hinduism and other religions have miraculous manifestations even in the 21st century.

Answer #1 is obviously the more comfortable to the Western mind, even minds belonging to evangelical Christians. Answer #2 is provocative food for thought for those of us just learning what the spiritual struggle looks like in the unseen world.

I'll keep you posted.

We've spent the last three days making visits to church work going on in various villages throughout the remote ("interior") areas of the state of Orissa in Northeast India.

For the first day, we ministered with the Dalit people who live in the coastal area near Balasore. The drives were long and bumpy, the landscape was somewhat featureless, and in contrast the people were featurefull -- with joy.

Over these last two days we've moved inland, to the verdant hill country known as Kandhamal. Behind that beauty, however, lies danger to Christians: Kandhamal is the scene of deadly persecution of the Christian minority by the Hindu majority in 2008. You can read about it here. Jesus' people in the region are rebuilding their homes, lives, and churches. It was truly a privilege to share in ministry with people of such faith and courage.

Some highlights from our ministry in India's "interior":

• Many of our new friends had never seen Westerners in person before. As our own Ron Dozier said with a smile, "How great is it that I'm the first white man these folks have seen?!"
• On a couple of occasions, these people of faith have been under the misconception that we "come bearing gifts" -- of money or goods. Nevertheless, they hid their disappointment well.
• A couple of scenes of incongruity . . . at our first village, which has unreliable electricity and no plumbing, we saw a smattering of satellite dishes. Then today, at a village literally "at the end of the road" one of our hosts was wearing an AC/DC shirt. I ALMOST started singing "Highway To Hell" for him but then thought better of it.
• Instead of a sermonette today, we held an impromptu healing service. Both Ron and I had felt a longing for exactly this kind of ministry, and we sensed divine timing.
• In one of the Kandhamal villages, former Hindu persecutors are now living for Jesus and worshipping in the church. Meeting that family alone was worth a trip halfway around the world.
  

This portion of our journey has been head-spinning, overwhelming, exhausting, and invigorating.

But enough of all that. Here are the top five things I'm noticing about India:

1. Brakes are optional when driving in India, while horns are mandatory.

2. Everywhere American pastors go here, they will be given: a) a seat of honor; b) a lei for the neck; c) a bouquet of flowers, and d) a half cocunut with a straw to drink the juice inside. And coconut juice does not taste like the coconut in an Almond Joy. Not even close.

3. Due to the effects of air pollution, heavy rain, and different construction standards than we have in the US, even new buildings look old. It's sad to look at plaques on buildings that look as if they are 50 years old or more, only to read that they were dedicated in 2000.

4. Where's the beef? It's not here. Duh. Cows really are sacred. Get used to chicken & rice.

5. The caste system is never far from people's minds, hearts, or actions.

So yesterday I spoke on two very different occasions to two very different congregations about two very different subjects.

In the morning, it was at the United Church in Bhubaneswar, a city of 1.3 million people in northeast India. I delivered the morning sermon to a crowd of about 300 educated, polite, and urbanized Indians. Some things I noticed . . .

• I guess the church world is flat, too: this congregation's hymnal is the old (I mean old) Cokesbury version still in use in rural US churches and campgrounds. In fact, it's the same hymnal we used at Midway United Methodist Church in the 1990s -- the church's name comes from its location "midway" between Monroe, NC and Pageland, SC. In other words, a world apart but a hymnal the same as Bhubaneswar. I kept hoping they'd pull out "Jesus Saves! Jesus Saves!" but "Blessed Assurance" was as close as we got.
• I'm not sure that people knew what to make of my sermon, which came from John 4:4-26 and featured a riff I've used before: Jesus exposes who you are so you will discover who he is. Like I said, the group was polite, but not overly expressive. I found out later that's the DNA of this church.
• The special music was God's Still Workin' On Me, another staple of rural American churches.
• In all, the gospel in this church seems highly Anglicized & Americanized -- Indian people celebrating forms of worship (and even church governance) developed here in the US about 60 years ago.

In the evening, I spoke at the graduation ceremony for the Orissa Follow Up Bible College in Balasore, about a three hour drive from Bhubaneswar. As soon as the Good Shepherd team arrived on campus, we were greeted with indigenous Indian singing, given a lei to put around our necks, treated to a foot washing, and handed a bouquet of flowers.

I later learned that this is the same honor-filled welcome the Christians at the Orissa Follow Up give to their friends from the Dalit caste. Why is that notable? Because Hindus regard the Dalits as untouchable So those the Hindus will not touch, the Christians lavish with honor. Is it any wonder the Dalits leave their Hindu gods to follow Jesus?

Some things I noticed from speaking at the graduation ceremony . . .

• Graduation talks should be short and sweet. This one was short; I'll leave it to others to decide if it was sweet. I used several verses from Proverbs to give one of my favorite "one points" ever (learned from another pastor): wise people know what they don't know.
• It was the first time I felt comfortable speaking a sentence at a time and waiting for my words to be translated by the man standing next to me.
• The worship here was contextualized, not Anglicized. Meaning: it had all the hallmarks of Indian culture, from style of music to the cadence in speaking.
• Most of the graduates will be heading back to their remote villages to lead house churches they have planted.

Long day. Good day.