During this affliction.....

"During this affliction I was brought to examine my life in relation to eternity closer than I had done when in the enjoyment of health. In this examination relative to the discharge of my duties toward my fellow creatures as a man, a Christian minister, and an officer of the Church, I stood approved by my own conscience; but in relation to my Redeemer and Saviour the result was different. My returns of gratitude and loving obedience bear no proportion to my obligations for redeeming, preserving, and supporting me through the vicissitudes of life from infancy to old age. The coldness of my love to Him who first loved me and has done so much for me overwhelmed and confused me; and to complete my unworthy character, I had not only neglected to improve the grace given to the extent of my duty and privilege, but for want of improvement had, while abounding in perplexing care and labor, declined from first zeal and love. I was confounded, humbled myself, implored mercy, and renewed my covenant to strive and devote myself unreservedly to the Lord."　Bishop McKendree

His toothache...

“His toothache means more to him than a famine in China that kills a million people. A boil on his neck interests him more than forty earthquakes in Africa.” Dale Carnegie

God prepares great men

“God prepares great men for great tasks by great trials.” J.K. Gresset

People want to believe in lasting marriages

"People want to believe in lasting marriages, and they want to believe that a person can be your complete opposite and they can still complete you. And then, when something like this happens (infidelity by her husband Jesse James), especially to Sandra (Bullock), it makes you feel like, if she can't make it work, how can I?" celebrity blogger Cara Harrington

Philippians 4:13 "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches

“I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, then all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love openness and the willingness to remain vulnerable.” Anne Marrow Lindbergh

Talking to yourself

'Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them but they are talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this: instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” he asks. His soul had been depressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says,: “Self, listen for moment, I will speak to you.”' D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

John Piper expands on this quote, paraphrasing from Romans 8:31-25, in his sermon on Psalm 42. "Listen, self: If God is for you, who can be against you? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for you, how will he not also with him graciously give you all things? Who shall bring any charge against you as God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for you. Who shall separate you from the love of Christ?"

Read the sermon by John Piper: Spiritual Depression in the Psalms.

Doctor Numahara

Doctor Numahara (left) gave Nelson and Easter a printer for their new House Church in Nio. Nelson hopes to use it for Bible study hand outs in their own Cebuano language. We visited Doctor Numahara's church last Sunday, the 14th. He was leading the service.

Tears...

“Tears... are not, as unfortunately they are often perceived, a negative aspect of the spiritual life, a way of merely regretting past sins or ongoing weaknesses... They... are at once a foretaste of death and of resurrection.” John Chryssavgis

Where will you look today?

During the war in Vietnam, Army Lieutenant Daniel Dawson‘s reconnaissance plane went down over the Vietcong jungle. When his　brother Donald heard the report, he left his job as a captain of an oil survey ship, sold everything and left his wife with only $20. His wife Jeanne said, “I am lonely for my husband and I am afraid, but I want him to get Danny back. I wouldn’t give up either.” He bought passage to Vietnam. There he equipped himself with a soldier’s gear and wandered through the guerilla-controlled jungle, looking for his brother. He carried leaflets picturing the plane and describing in Vietnamese the reward of $685 and $1,370 for news of the missing pilot. He got no help from the US government. He became known as Anh toi phi cong— the brother of the pilot. Don’s mother said, “Either his father or brother would do the same for Don.”

A Life magazine reporter described his perilous search in the article, “BROTHER OF THE PILOT SPREADS THE WORD.” The article includes his diary: "I have gone through V.C. roadblocks. Met face to face with V.C. soldiers, but never turned back... It is a miracle that I have not been blown up, or shot in the head by a sniper, or ambushed, or taken in a roadblock, or captured on a bus where there are so many people you can't shoot until it is too late... I truly believe if the V.C. really wanted me alive or dead, they could- and still can- capture me almost any time they so desire. I believe I am the first American ever to live withe V.C. and not be bothered... I must stay longer in Vietnam now that I know what I am doing and have a better chance of getting Danny out of the jungle before the rainy season comes. Please God, give me more time... The chief wanted to know why don't I live in the compound where it is safe.I told him that I had not come here to sit in a safe place where no one can reach me... If my brother Danny is alive and they don't give him to me, then I shall surrender to the Vietcong on the condition that I stay with my brother. And if they will free him, I shall agree to do anything they want of me so long as Danny can go free..."

“Has Jesus found you like the lost sheep and borne you home on his shoulder? Then consider the demand this parable puts on you. You have tasted of heaven’s grace. You know the embrace of your Father’s love. You know that he rejoices over you with singing. What does heaven’s joy, his joy, over lost sinners mean to you? You say, 'It means that I, too, must welcome sinners, be ready to eat with them, even as I have been brought to his table.' Is that enough? The true Son, who knows his Father’s heart, did not simply share with sinners his robe, his ring, his sandals. He went to find them to bring them home. Where will you look today?” Edmond Clowney from his message Sharing the Father’s Welcome

Upon a rock for 10 years.

"It's like that saying, 'Ishi no ue ni mo san nen. *(Upon a rock for 3 years.)' Expect to work hard at something for three years before seeing a result. In the small communities in Japan, if you're not willing to put in the years, you won't make it. It's more like, 'Ishi no ue ni mo ju nen. *(Upon a rock for 10 years.) ' A 10-year effort is needed. The first thing the locals asked me when I moved to Norikura : 'Are you going to stay here until you die?' " Dan Junker

Dan is my younger brother. Read the article about him in the Japan Times "Authenticity is all for mountaineer: Son of missionaries who was born and raised in Japan finds connection in Nagano village." Please pray for his ministry.

* Parenthesis is mine.

Pound the Gospel into your heart

“You’ve got to pound the Gospel into your heart every day, by grace, by prayer, until it catches fire.” 　Tim Keller

Click here >>> Free Sermons by Tim Keller

Study universal holiness of life...

"Study universal holiness of life. Your whole usefulness depends on this, for your sermons last but an hour or two; your life preaches all the week. If Satan can only make a covetous minister a lover of praise, of pleasure, of good eating, he has ruined your ministry. Give yourself to prayer, and get your texts, your thoughts, your words from God. Luther spent his best three hours in prayer."

Robert Murray McCheyne

The Journey 7

Here are some more pictures of our Journey　in the States. Our last two weeks were in Petoksey, MI.

We enjoyed the worship service at Trinity Church.

Hosahna had a lot of fun with Lydia- her cousin.

I had a nice date with Naho, walking the streets of downtown Petoskey.

Joshua and the kids had a lot of snow fun.

I was able to introduce Japan and our work to Dad and Mom's cell group.

We made back to Japan on January 6th without any hitch, I think.

The single most crucial strategy

"The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for the numerical growth of the Body of Christ, the renewal of existing churches, and the overall impact of that Body on the culture of any city…. Nothing else—neither crusades, outreach programs, para-church ministries, mega-churches, consulting, nor church renewal processes— will have the consistent impact that dynamic, extensive church planting has. This is an eyebrow raising statement, I know. But to those who have done any study of the subject, it is not even controversial.” Tim Keller