Living in Thailand, I have talked with a few people about the idea of karma as it relates to what happens when you are “reincarnated.” Buddhists believe that what is done in this life will affect your quality of life in the next. For instance if I am wealthy and able to travel in this life, I may have been an angel in my past life. If I suffer hardship, disease, poverty etc. in the life it was because I did not acquire merit in my past life. If this is not a true representation of karma teaching, it is at least “street theology” from a smart Thai person who considers themselves a Buddhist.
In contrast, Christians believe that we have one life which will soon pass then we will stand before God our creator for judgement. Humans stay human always and only come around once. We don’t believe it because it pleases our ear the best, but because we believe it is true. (Hebrews 9:27)
As I was talking with my friend one day I asked her why most of the rich and globally mobile people of the world were not Buddhists? I didn’t say none of them were, but most are not. Many are a variety of other faiths or have no faith at all. My reasoning went like this, “If I lived a good life in the Buddhist way, gaining merit for myself by doing various good deeds specified by Buddhism, and I came back as a rich Westerner who has no faith in Buddhism or who doesn’t live in a Buddhist majority country, isn’t that counterproductive?
Shouldn’t karma automatically know that I would not be thankful enough to come back as a stronger Buddhist, even as a Buddhist teacher or monk.” Why did I get to come back as a flaming capitalist living in America or Europe or a Saudi Muslim oil billionaire? Of course, I ask these questions “tongue in cheek.”
My other question was, “Isn’t harder to have compassion on someone who is suffering if you believe they actually deserve what they are getting because of their bad deeds in a former life”, to which my friend had no reply except for acknowledging that it does seem that bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people in this life and that it didn’t really make sense.
Finally, I wanted to know if Karma is true then why has the world’s population continued to grow every year? Where are all of the new souls coming from? With all of the bad in the world continually growing and less people turning to Buddhism globally for the help needed to gain a better life next go around, you would think we would have more animals and LESS humans!
Think about the monks who recently got caught up in sex scandals (see article below). Clearly in the Thai Buddhist mind they were well on their way to gaining Nirvana, but then they broke their vows and essentially wiped out their “merit bank account” practically guaranteeing that they come back as an amoeba, a protozoa, or some other sub creature! Now they have to start all over climbing the karma ladder when they were oh so close!!
To be fair, Christians do believe in what we call the “law of sowing and reaping” which basically says that we will reap what we sow, whether in this life or at the judgment of God. If we sow to the sinful nature we will reap death, but if we sow to the Spirit, we will reap life. This article sums up the Bible’s teaching best:
Job 4:8 says, “As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.” Psalm 126:5 says, “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” Luke 12:24 says, “Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!” In each of these instances, as well as all the other references to reaping and sowing, the act of receiving the rewards of your actions takes place in this life, not in some future life. It is a present-day activity, and the references make it clear that the fruit you reap will be commensurate with the actions you have performed. In addition, the sowing you perform in this life will affect your reward or punishment in the afterlife.
This afterlife is not a rebirth or a reincarnation into another body here on earth. It is either eternal suffering in hell (Matthew 25:46) or eternal life in heaven with Jesus, who died so that we might live eternally with Him. This should be the focus of our life on earth. The apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 6:8-9, “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
We must always remember that it was Jesus whose death on the cross resulted in the reaping of eternal life for us, and that it is faith in Jesus that gives us this eternal life. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Therefore, we see that the concept of reincarnation and karma is incompatible with what the Bible teaches about life, death, and the sowing and reaping of eternal life.
To me, this is what makes sense.
What about you? How do you view it? If you have a belief in karma determining your lot in a next life, how do you answer my honest, though tongue in cheek, questions?
We have finally transitioned into our new home and have wi-fi…woo hoo! It only took about a month.
Alot of my time has been spent making this new house a home for my wife and boys and I feel like I have accomplished that goal… (three pats on the back for me) I can honestly say that even though our new place is not like our former home, there is much more peace here. After four moves in seven months, I am glad to just finally be done with all of the lifting, painting, purchasing, cleaning, and organizing.
I am taking it all in stride though. Everything in this first year has been a lesson for me. I can see the hand of God in all things these past few months, even in what seems to be like delays and distractions. I am really learning alot about myself, trust, patience, perserverance, faith, and all of those other life lessons we might love to skip out on if possible.
What always keeps me pressing forward, besides the grace of God and my awesome family and friends, is the cool things that are happening in the lives of Thai people around us. Here are a few recent things:
-New believers are being baptized,
-People are hearing the Gospel for the very first time…ever,
-University students from other nations are being saved,
-Prisoners are experiencing the freedom of Jesus,
-Doors of opportunity are opening in new villages,
-Wisdom for new outreaches is being received,
-Thai People are testifying of God doing miracles for them, and
-Underground believers in a restricted nation are being encouraged in practical ways.
So for these reasons and more, we continue to press on for the hope what is yet to come for this place.
What is it that has motivated you and driven you through the difficult times of transition in your own life? I would love to hear…
During one of our stops, we were clandestinely brought into a home where a group of believers meets. There we met with a group who had been faithfully meeting for some time. Their desire was to eventually be recognized by the government as an official church, so they made an application. They had not heard anything as of yet, but they told us that they had been working hard to demonstrate that they were a group that could be trusted in their community. Our Lao contact felt that while this was certainly to be respected, he encouraged them to stand firm in their faith no matter what the outcome. They were already a “church” that had been accepted and received by Jesus Christ. They were accepted and authorized by Him!
As we spoke with them, we could not help but overhear a loud wailing coming from outside. The members seemed to try and ignore it, but it was nearly impossible. As our friends talked in Lao and Thai, we were getting a little lost in translation. Eventually we were able to hear the story of what was going on. read more…

Remember Us.
*Update: This recently released news story from Compass Direct matches with the first hand story I just shared about persecution, threats, denial of medical care, schooling for children, etc: Click Here to Learn More.
“One brother asked for us to come. This brother NEEDS us to come.” This is what our Lao contact said to us as we headed to our new destination to encourage a family that was facing real life persecution for being Christian.
The villagers had already shut off access to water and kept their son from attending school as a way to force them out of the village. The boy was now very sick and needed to see a doctor, but the village doctor refused to see him and the drug store owner refused to sell the parents medicine. As the parents searched desperately for a solution, they contacted their brother in Christ to come and help them.
This would be one of many real life dramas we would encounter on our journey throughout the countryside of Laos. read more…
Once we decided to go to Laos, it seemed like everything tried to work against us to keep us from going. My friend Freddy got a high fever and a very bad stomach flu the day before we were supposed to leave. My landlady had also just told us that we would have to move within ten days which was only a couple of days after I was set to return from the trip. It seemed that hell was breaking loose on us at once. We came to the conclusion that this resistance was even more proof that we were doing the right thing in taking this trip.
The night before we our meet up, we prayed for Freddy’s healing. He got up the next day and headed up to meet us in Udon Thani. As he soldiered forward, he progressively got better. Before leaving, I had talked with my wife about our situation and we both felt we would deal with the situation when I returned. In some way, I knew that everything would work itself out. And eventually it did. After I returned, my landlady gave us another month and a half in the house before we needed to move which was just enough time to get into our next home.

Getting Ready to Cross the Border
Freddy came to Thailand from Cambodia with the intention of going into Laos. When he mentioned the trip to me, I felt strongly that I wanted to go, so I began to make plans. Freddy found our Thai contact through a friend of a friend from Cambodia. This Pastor then connected us with our contact in Laos. Freddy also invited an older Thai man who spoke good English to come with us as our interpreter. One brother who was thinking of coming with us backed out at the last moment and it turned out to be a good thing. We would not have had a seat for him in the truck we traveled in. We later saw that if another one of us would have backed out of the trip, it would not have been possible for the rest of us to go. Everything had to line up so that this trip could be accomplished.
Once we arrived at the border, our interpreter was only able to get a three day visa because his passport was within six months of expiring. Another hurdle for us to overcome that cut our trip by a few days from our original plans. After we met our contact in Laos, our plans changed on the spot. We were going in the exact opposite direction that we talked about going. Not only that, but our ministry plans had changed and both Freddy and I were beginning to feel that we might have to separate and go our own way. read more…







The Thai people have been dealing with Buddhist monk scandals for a while now. But scandals involving alcohol, drugs, sex, and these men of the orange cloth have been popping up with more frequency lately.
I recently returned from a trip to the country of Laos where I was able to see and learn so much. I want to invite you to come with me into this modern day story of those who are paying a high price for their faith in the Lord Jesus.

