From Buddhist monk to Thai gang member to Christian pastor: A reminder that God is still at work
The Daily Article
The Denison Forum
4.9 • 576 Ratings
🗓️ 8 December 2023
⏱️ 6 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
With everything going on in our world today, it’s understandable if it’s begun to feel like we’re living in the end times. Given that temptation, however, it’s important to remember that God’s still moving in ways that resemble Acts far more than Revelation. I needed that reminder this week and found it in the story of a pastor from Thailand. Let’s take a closer look at his story.
Author: Ryan Denison, PhD
Narrator: Chris Elkins
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Somphon Sriwichai profile is worth reading
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | With all that's going on in our world, let's pray that a next great spiritual awakening could be on our horizon. |
| 0:08.2 | In fact, that's one reason why we work hard to follow God's call on our ministry at Denison Forum. |
| 0:15.1 | If you stand with our calling to speak the truth and love to our culture, please offer your year-end gift today by donating |
| 0:23.6 | at the daily article.org. We have a goal of more than $2,500,000 by year-end, and your gift now |
| 0:32.6 | will be doubled by a generous matching grant of $150,000. So please prayerfully consider your gift now. |
| 0:41.4 | Visit the daily article.org to give today. |
| 0:47.9 | Greetings. Today is Friday, December the 8th, 2023. Welcome to the Daily Article Podcast. I'm Chris Elkins with the Denison |
| 0:56.6 | Forum, narrating today's article written by Dr. Ryan Denison. With continuing wars in Ukraine and |
| 1:03.8 | Israel, political unrest, and a seemingly endless supply of reminders that we live in a fallen, |
| 1:10.0 | broken world, it's understandable that many |
| 1:12.7 | have begun to wonder more openly if we're living in the end times. But while those questions |
| 1:17.8 | are worth asking, we shouldn't let them distract us from the fact that God is still moving in ways |
| 1:23.2 | that often resemble acts more than revelation. I needed that reminder this week and found it in a |
| 1:29.5 | recent profile of Pastor Sumpun Sri Wichai's work in Thailand. Shriwichai's story starts when, |
| 1:36.0 | as a baby, he got sick, and both the local shaman and traditional healers failed to help him get better. |
| 1:42.1 | In desperation, his father took him to a Buddhist temple |
| 1:45.1 | and made a vow to the statue of Buddha that if his child was healed, he would dedicate him to temple |
| 1:50.7 | service. Sri which I began to get better shortly thereafter, and when he turned eight, went to live |
| 1:55.9 | at the temple, later joining as a novice monk. Life as a novice was difficult for a child, however, and when he |
| 2:02.6 | turned 19, Shriwich I left and moved back home with his father. Shortly thereafter, he began to |
| 2:08.8 | hang out with criminals, drug dealers, and murderers, eventually joining one of the local gangs. |
| 2:14.5 | His life took a dramatic turn, however, when at 29, he had an unlikely encounter |
... |
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