Their joy Christ visited

“It’s Cana of Galilee, the first miracle. Ah, that miracle! Ah, that sweet miracle! It was not men’s grief, but their joy Christ visited. He worked his first miracle to help men’s gladness.” Father Paissy in The Brothers Karamazov

Philippians 2:5-6

“He was pre-eminent in such attributes as are particularly proper to the form of God. Yet he was not haughty in that form; he did not please himself [Rom. 15:3]; nor did he disdain and despise those who were enslaved and subjected to various evils….

He relinquished that form to God the Father and emptied himself, unwilling to use his rank against us, unwilling to be different from us. Moreover, for our sakes he became one of us and took the form of a servant, that is, he subjected himself to all evils. And although he was free, as the Apostle says of himself also [I Cor. 9:19], he made himself servant of all [Mark 9:35], living as if all the evils which were ours were actually his own….

When each person has forgotten himself and emptied himself of God’s gifts, he should conduct himself as if his neighbor’s weakness, sin, and foolishness were his very own. He should not boast or get puffed up….

Through the figure of the members of the body Paul teaches in Rom. 12 [:4-5] and I Cor. 12 [:12-27] how the strong, honorable, healthy members do not glory over those that are weak, less honorable, and sick as if they were their masters and gods; but on the contrary they serve them the more, forgetting their own honor, health, and power….

You are powerful, not that you make the weak weaker by oppression, but that you may make them powerful by raising them up and defending them. You are wise, not in order to laugh at the foolish and thereby make them more foolish, but that you may undertake to teach them as you yourself would wish to be taught. You are righteous that you may vindicate and pardon the unrighteous, not that you may condemn, disparage, judge, and punish….

But the carnal nature of man violently rebels, for it greatly delights in punishment, in boasting of its own righteousness, and its neighbor’s shame and embarrassment at his unrighteousness. Therefore, it pleads its own case, and it rejoices that this is better than its neighbor’s. But it opposes the case of its neighbor and wants it to appear mean….

It ought to be distressed that the condition of its neighbor is not better than its own. It ought to wish that its neighbor’s condition were better than its own, and if its neighbor’s condition is the better, it ought to rejoice no less than it rejoices when its own is the better. ”

Martin Luther on Philippians 2:5-6

A Christmas thought.....

“I never made a sacrifice. Of this we ought not to talk when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His Father’s throne on high to give Himself for us.” David Livingstone

Artists

‘Artists initiate things… An artist deals with such existential questions that there is a hunger for spiritual questions again.’ Christian Nowatzky

The Bible's purpose is to show you how God’s grace breaks into your life...

"The Bible's purpose is not so much to show you how to live a good life. The Bible's purpose is to show you how God’s grace breaks into your life against your will and saves you from the sin and brokenness otherwise you would never be able to overcome... religion is 'if you obey, then you will be accepted'. But the Gospel is, 'if you are absolutely accepted, and sure you’re accepted, only then will you ever begin to obey'. Those are two utterly different things. Every page of the Bible shows the difference." Tim Keller

Three Kinds of Men

"There are three kinds of people in the world. The first class is of those who live simply for their own sake and pleasure, regarding Man and Nature as so much raw material to be cut up into whatever shape may serve them. In the second class are those who acknowledge some other claim upon them – the will of God, the categorical imperative, or the good of society – and honestly try to pursue their own interests no further than this claim will allow. They try to surrender to the higher claim as much as it demands, like men paying a tax, but hope, like other taxpayers, that what is left over will be enough for them to live on. Their life is divided, like a soldier's or a schoolboy’s life, into time 'on parade' and 'off parade', 'in school' and 'out of school'. But the third class is of those who can say like St. Paul that for them 'to live is Christ'. These people have got rid of the tiresome business of adjusting the rival claims of Self and God by the simple expedient of rejecting the claims of Self altogether. The old egoistic will has been turned round, reconditioned, and made into a new thing. The will of Christ no longer limits theirs; it is theirs. All their time, in belonging to Him, belongs also to them, for they are His.

And because there are three classes, any merely twofold division of the world into good and bad is disastrous. It overlooks the fact that the members of the second class (to which most of us belong) are always and necessarily unhappy. The tax which moral conscience levies on our desires does not in fact leave us enough to live on. As long as we are in this class we must either feel guilt because we have not paid the tax or penury because we have. The Christian doctrine that there is no 'salvation' by works done according to the moral law is a fact of daily experience. Back or on we must go. But there is no going on simply by our own efforts. If the new Self, the new Will, does not come at His own good pleasure to be born in us, we cannot produce Him synthetically.

The price of Christ is something, in a way, much easier than moral effort – it is to want Him. It is true that the wanting itself would be beyond our power but for one fact. The world is so built that, to help us desert our own satisfactions, they desert us. War and trouble and finally old age take from us one by one all those things that the natural Self hoped for at its setting out. Begging is our only wisdom, and want in the end makes it easier for us to be beggars. Even on those terms the Mercy will receive us."

From the collection of C.S. Lewis essays, Present Concerns.

For a perspective on Three Kinds of Men, view The Gospel, Moralism and Irreligion by Pastor Tim Keller.

Where is your salvation, your righteousness?

‘If somebody asks [a Christian], Where is your salvation, your righteousness? he can never point to himself. He points to the Word of God in Jesus Christ, which assures him of salvation and righteousness. He is as alert as possible to this Word. Because he daily hungers and thirsts for righteousness, he daily desires the redeeming Word.’ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The cross opens its arms to the four winds。。。

“Buddhism is centripetal　(moving toward the center), but Christianity is centrifugal (moving away from the center): it breaks out. For the circle is perfect and infinite in its nature; but it is fixed for ever in its size; it can never be larger or smaller. But the cross, though it has at its heart a collision and a contradiction, can extend its four arms for ever without altering its shape. Because it has a paradox in its centre it can grow without changing. The circle returns upon itself and is bound. The cross opens its arms to the four winds; it is a signpost for free travellers.” G. K. Chesterton

All men alike stand condemned....

"All men alike stand condemned, not by alien codes of ethics, but by their own, and all men therefore are conscious of guilt." C. S. Lewis

'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.' Romans 3:23

Edwards on Thanksgiving

Read a portion of　America’s foremost theologian, Jonathan Edwards' (1703-1758 Thanksgiving message in 1739.

His text was Luke 8:2-3. “Also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.”

"How suitable and becoming was the behavior of those women that when Christ had been their deliverer from such grievous calamities, they thus showed their dear love and gratitude to him, and fed and clothed him as long as he lived, and prepared for an embalming of him when he was dead. How suitable and amiable was the behavior of Mary Magdalene, that had been a notorious sinner and out of whom Christ cast seven devils, in following Christ ever after wherever he went, to provide meat and drink for him while he lived, from a dear love which she always had for him, and followed him to the cross, and followed him to the grave, and was the most of all in doing him honor at his death."

Edwards applies it to us this way. “We are not only to wait till the poor come to our houses a-begging, but we are to bring ‘em to our houses (Isa. 58:7). … We are not to wait till they come to our houses, but we are to go to theirs. This is said to be pure and undefiled religion (Jam. 1:27).” In serving the poor we serve Christ also.

From article: An Edwards-ian Thanksgiving

John Wooden quotes

Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.

Be quick, but don't hurry.

Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.

You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.

You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one.

Material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord, because He knows what we really are and that is all that matters.

Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.

What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player.

Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.

There are many things that are essential to arriving at true peace of mind, and one of the most important is faith, which cannot be acquired without prayer.

The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.

The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.

Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.

It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.

If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes.

Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

John Robert Wooden, a committed Christian, announced his retirement after the 1974-75 season (his 27th) as the UCLA Bruins' head coach with the winningest record in all of the sport's history. His 885-203 overall career win-loss record (.813) is unequaled. In 27 years as Bruin coach, his teams registered 620 wins, and only 147 losses. He won an unprecedented 10 NCAA championships, including seven consecutive (1966-73). Included in the string is one of the most amazing win streaks in all of sports, 38 straight NCAA tournament victories. There is the all-time NCAA consecutive winning-streak record of 88 games over four seasons, which included consecutive 30-0 seasons in 1971-72 and 1972-73. He also won 149 of 151 games in UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. He is the only coach to compile four undefeated seasons of 30-0 and his teams captured 19 conference championships. Coach Wooden is the first person to be inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and coach.

Speaking at Manno Christ Church...

I spoke at Manno Christ Church last Sunday from Matthew 11:28-30. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

The last illustration I gave by Steven Childers may interest you. “A man was hiking. He saw a house on the other side of the field. Next to the house was a man ferociously pumping water from a well. The man continued to pump water even more ferociously. It was as if he knew no tiredness. He never slowed down. He just wouldn’t stop, but keep on pumping the water…. It was amazing what he saw, so he drew closer to the man. As he drew closer, he realized that the man was not really a man, but a piece of wood that looked like a man. The arm that looked like it was pumping water with great speed was connected to the handle of the pump by a piece of wire. The reason the water was flowing out was not because of the wooden manikin. The well was a deep fresh water well that even with out a pump the water would have overflowed. In reality it was the overflowing water that was moving the manikin." Childers added, "To all those who seek to be close to Christ, the Holy Spirit will be abundantly poured out. The only thing we must do is 'put our hand on the handle of the pump'"

To be open I am tired in many ways. I also need to do the same.

The Triune God

"The God we know is the Triune One- the Father, Son and Holy Spirit united together in perfect love. Because God is 'community'- fellowship shared among the Father, Son and Spirit- the creation of humankind in the divine image must be related to humans in fellowship with each other. God's own character can only be mirrored by humans who love after the manner of the perfect love, which lies at the heart of the Triune God." Stanley Grenz

The Blind Side...

The Blind Side is an excellent movie of vital Christianity. It is a true story of a white evangelical couple who pick up a young black man and sincerely love him. This year he is the potential NFL rookie of the year with the Baltimore Ravens. I love sports, but especially when it glorifies my Lord. Just watching the trailer brought me to tears, but Naho and I hope to see it when we are in the States next month.

"Sandra Bullock..., while getting to know the Tuohys during the filming process, found her own preconceived notions about Christians challenged. 'One of my biggest issues has always been people who use their faith and their religion as a banner but don't do the right things, yet still go, 'I'm a good Christian and I go to church and this is the way you should live your life,' said Bullock. 'And I'm like, you know, do not give me a lecture about how to live my life when you go to church every week but I know you are still sneaking around on your wife. And I told Leigh Anne in a live interview, one of my largest concerns getting involved with this project was that whole banner-waving thing because it scares me, and I've had experiences that haven't been great with people like that. I don't buy a lot of people who use that banner as their shield. But she was so open and honest and forthright with me I thought, wow, I've finally met someone who practices but doesn't preach.... I now have faith in those who say they represent a faith.... I finally met people who walk the walk.'"

Sandra, sorry, but it is important to who both 'walk the walk' AND 'talk the talk.' You have though underlined something that we evangelicals need to be aware of.

For the details check out this article on the movie by WORLD Magazine The Blinded Side and another article on the backround of the story again written in WORLD Magazine Family man. Check out the trailer: The Blind Side.

Elementry school 'marathon'

Last Thursday, the 12th, the kids ran in their school marathon. Here Joshua is running his last stretch. Joshua placed 11th in the 4th grade. His shoe came off. Shane placed 3rd. The next day he started 'training.' And Hosahna placed 1oth. I was proud of them all.

Totally different

'If there is social injustice, say there is social injustice. If we need order, say we need order... But do not align yourself as though you are in either of these camps: You are an ally of neither. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is different from either- totally different.'　Francis Schaeffer

Worship is....

“Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness, nourishment of mind by His truth, purifying of imagination by His beauty, opening of the heart to His love, and submission of will to His purpose. And all this gathered up in adoration is the greatest of human expressions of which we are capable.” Archbishop William Temple

The Savior... waded through hell itself

‘Fairly often I meet people who say, "I have a personal relationship with a loving God, and yet I don't believe in Jesus Christ at all." Why, I ask? "My God is too loving to pour out infinite suffering on anyone for sin." But this shows a deep misunderstanding of both God and the cross. On the cross, God HIMSELF, incarnated as Jesus, took the punishment. He didn't visit it on a third party, however willing.

So the question becomes: what did it cost your kind of god to love us and embrace us? What did he endure in order to receive us? Where did this god agonize, cry out, and where were his nails and thorns? The only answer is: "I don't think that was necessary." But then ironically, in our effort to make God more loving, we have made him less loving. His love, in the end, needed to take no action. It was sentimentality, not love at all. The worship of a god like this will be at most impersonal, cognitive, and ethical. There will be no joyful self-abandonment, no humble boldness, no constant sense of wonder. We could not sing to him "love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all." Only through the cross could our separation from God be removed, and we will spend all eternity loving and praising God for what he has done (Rev 5:9-14.)

And if Jesus did not experience hell itself for us, then we ourselves are devalued. In Isaiah, we are told, "The results of his suffering he shall see, and shall be satisfied" (Isaiah 53:11). This is a stupendous thought. Jesus suffered infinitely more than any human soul in eternal hell, yet he looks at us and says, "It was worth it." What could make us feel more loved and valued than that? The Savior presented in the gospel waded through hell itself rather than lose us, and no other savior ever depicted has loved us at such a cost.’ Tim Keller

Let their table be made a snare

“’David saith, Let their table be made a snare’. I think the religious situation in this country [England] is mainly to be explained by ‘affluence’, the ‘table’. ‘Never had it so good’, you see, the table is full. Plenty of money in our pockets, plenty of drink, motor-cars… ‘let their table be made a snare’. And off they go in their cars on a Sunday to the seaside or the mountain-top or to play golf or to do this or that – ‘let the table be made…’ The table being made a snare. The very blessing of God is becoming a curse. Poverty is a terrible thing but, you know, affluence is a more dangerous thing in a spiritual sense.” D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The church

“The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members.” Archbishop William Temple

Keep my eye simply on Christ

"If I may speak my own experience, I find that to keep my eye simply on Christ, as my peace and my life, is by far the hardest part of my calling … It seems easier to deny self in a thousand instances of outward conduct, than in its ceaseless endeavors to act as a principle of righteousness and power." John Newton

The battle of the Peanuts!

Shane (8) made a great birthday present for me. The peanuts are battling. Can you see the faces and the armor? The twigs are the swords. I'm a little biased, but I think he was very creative.

Remember Christ

“’If preaching is so central, how can so many Christians listen to it for decades and not be transformed?’ Part of the answer may be…, [there is too much] preaching that moves too quickly to what we should do before establishing who God is and what he has done for us.” Craig Larson

(The heart and soul of our preaching must be “Remember Christ.”)

Counterfeit Gods

For Christmas, I asked my parents to get me Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller, Dutton. Please read the following excerpt.

Pastor and write Tim Keller quotes Archbishop William Temple, "Your religion is what you do with your solitude."

Keller explains, "In other words, the true god of your heart is what your thoughts effortlessly go to when there is nothing else demanding your attention. What do you enjoy day-dreaming about? What is it that occupies your mind when you have nothing else to think about? Do you develop potential scenarios about career advancement? Or material goods such as a dream home? Or a relationship with a particular person? One or two day dreams do not indicate idolatry. Ask rather, what do you habitually think about to get joy and comfort in the privacy of your heart?"

For the remedy Keller quotes Colossians 3:1-3. "'Setting the mind and heart on things above' where 'your life is hid with Christ in God' means appreciation, rejoicing, and resting in what Jesus has done for you. It entails joyful worship, a sense of God's reality in prayer. Jesus must become more beautiful to your imagination, more attractive to your heart, than your idol. That is what will replace the idols of your heart. If you uproot the idol and fail to 'plant' the love of Christ in its place, the idol will grow back."

Keller concludes with a quote from John Newton. "If I may speak my own experience, I find that to keep my eye simply on Christ, as my peace and my life, is by far the hardest part of my calling … It seems easier to deny self in a thousand instances of outward conduct, than in its ceaseless endeavors to act as a principle of righteousness and power."

Read the whole of the above article How to Find Your Rival Gods, Christianity Today.

Happy Birthday to Me!

For my birthday, Oct. 21st, Naho took me out on a lunch date at a 'sushi bar' (above) and we went to Baskin Robbins for some good American ice cream. Thanks Naho.

December ~ Takase Church

Monday, Oct. 19th, we had a talk about Takase Church during our time of our departure in December.

We held it at a nice coffee shop- Sun Port and ate a light lunch.

My Uncle Shigeo, Nelson & Easter, Naho's mother- Fumiko, Naho and I especially talked over how we would get our Filipino friends to the church.

Lord willing, Uncle Shigeo will be the leader.

Nelson will read the sermons I have prepared. Easter will lead the singing.

Naho's mother- Fumiko- will be a great prayer warrior and moral support to Uncle Shigeo and the whole group.

Please pray that the Lord would rule in all things, that Christ would be glorified and His kingdom go forward mightily, especially among the Filipinos, while we are away this December.

The hardness of God...

"The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and his compulsion is our liberation." C. S. Lewis

Wednesday!

After a few days of heavy spiritual struggle, the Lord let us experience some very real advances in His kingdom.

Above: Naho and I distributed gospel literature to Nio. We have covered most the the town now. Please pray for the kingdom of God and His grace to come and advance there.

We had lunch and spent some time in 'discipleship' with our Filipino friends, Nelson and Easter. They are the key to serving the Filipinos in Nio. Please pray for all of our 'growth in grace.'

Later Nelson and his wife ministered to Evelyn (2nd from right) whose husband passed away. Please pray that Jesus particular grace would abound to Evelyn in this time of sorrow.

Conversion of Augustine of Hippo

“I cast myself down I know not how, under a certain fig-tree, giving full vent to my tears; and the floods of mine eyes gushed out an acceptable sacrifice to Thee. And, not indeed in these words, yet to this purpose, spake I much unto Thee: and Thou, O Lord, how long? how long, Lord, wilt Thou be angry for ever? Remember not our former iniquities, for I felt that I was held by them. I sent up these sorrowful words: How long, how long, "to-morrow, and tomorrow?" Why not now? why not is there this hour an end to my uncleanness?
 So was I speaking and weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart, when, lo! I heard from a neighbouring house a voice, as of boy or girl, I know not, chanting, and oft repeating, "Take up and read; Take up and read. " Instantly, my countenance altered, I began to think most intently whether children were wont in any kind of play to sing such words: nor could I remember ever to have heard the like. So checking the torrent of my tears, I arose; interpreting it to be no other than a command from God to open the book, and read the first chapter I should find. For I had heard of Antony, that coming in during the reading of the Gospel, he received the admonition, as if what was being read was spoken to him: Go, sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me: and by such oracle he was forthwith converted unto Thee. Eagerly then I returned to the place where Alypius was sitting; for there had I laid the volume of the Apostle when I arose thence. I seized, opened, and in silence read that section on which my eyes first fell: Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, in concupiscence. No further would I read; nor needed I: for instantly at the end of this sentence, by a light as it were of serenity infused into my heart, all the darkness of doubt vanished away.”


The Confessions of Saint Augustine

How have we learned Christ?

"How have we learned Christ? It ought to be a startling thought, that we may have learned him wrong. That must be far worse than not to have learned him at all: his place is occupied by a false Christ, hard to exorcise! The point is whether we have learned Christ as he taught himself, or as men have taught him who thought they understood, but did not understand him... The Christian religion, throughout its history, has been open to more corrupt representation. Have we learned Christ in false statements and corrupted lessons about him, or have we learned himself?" George MacDonald

David Livingstone on Motives

“Some of the brethren do not hesitate to tell the natives that my object is to obtain the applause of men. This bothers me, for I sometimes suspect my own motives.

Man is a complex being and we greatly need our motives to be purified from all that is evil.

On the other hand I am conscious that though there is much impurity in my motives, they are in the main for the glory of Him to whom I have dedicated my all.”

David Livingstone, missionary and explorer of Africa

In memory of.....

In memory of Ralph Cox, Don McCalpine, David Martin and other missionaries that have gone before us. They are most blessed as they are 'in the habitations of [God's] glory and dominion.'

Stella Cox quoted this in her letter recently, "It cheers us up to think of things of heaven, because all that we desire await us.” R.A. Torrey

“Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening into the house and gate of heaven, to enter into that gate and dwell in that house, where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light; no noise nor silence, but one equal music; no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession; no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity; in the habitations of your glory and dominion, world without end.” John Donne, 1572-1631