The wholly alien righteousness of Christ

“Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives. Many… have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine, but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their sanctification for justification… drawing their assurance of acceptance with God from their sincerity, their past experience of conversion, their recent religious performance or the relative infrequency of their conscious, willful disobedience. Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther’s platform: you are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only grown for acceptance, relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude.”

Richard Lovelace

"...All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God set forth a propitiation, through faith, in his blood..." Romans 3:23-25

Repentance

“Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ…willed that the whole life of believers should be one of repentance.” Martin Luther

"Repent and believe the good news!” Jesus Christ, Mark: 1:14

To God, to Christ

"There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in - that we do it to God, to Christ, and that's why we try to do it as beautifully as possible."

Mother Teresa

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31

"Pain is actually a gift."

“She (comedian and television host Stephen Colbert's mother) taught me to be grateful for my life regardless of what that entailed, and that’s directly related to the image of Christ on the cross and the example of sacrifice that he gave us. What she taught me is that the deliverance God offers you from pain is not no pain — it’s that the pain is actually a gift. What’s the option? God doesn’t really give you another choice.” Stephen Colbert

In 1974, when he was 10, Colbert's father, a doctor, and his brothers Peter and Paul, the two closest to him in age, died in a plane crash while flying to a prep school in New England.

“There’s a common explanation that profound sadness leads to someone’s becoming a comedian, but I’m not sure that’s a proven equation in my case.... I’m not bitter about what happened to me as a child, and my mother was instrumental in keeping me from being so.” Colbert

Read more. How Many Stephen Colberts Are There? - NYTimes.com

Flutist Song Solnamoo

Jan. 15th, flutist Song Solnamoo played over 30 minutes of the most beautiful music at Zentsuji Baptist Church. He also gave testimony of Christ's 'amazing grace' in his life. The Lord was honored and I was moved. He has written the music for various Korean dramas that are very popular in Japan. He's also played solo at Carnegie Hall. This was a special concert for my wife who also plays the flute. Please listen. YouTube

Your cross

“Confessing Christ and preaching the gospel are two ways of expressing the same action; either way one says it, it will be a dangerous activity, because it will bring hate, persecution, and even death to the confessor. This is the cause for which Jesus called His disciples to suffer and to sacrifice themselves.

To take up your cross and bear it means to voluntarily and sacrificially involve yourself in the job of building the church of Christ. It means that the main occupation of your life will now be witnessing Christ to others, making disciples, and teaching them to do all that Christ has taught you to do. This will of course consume your time and your material sources. It will most likely provoke ridicule and derision from others. It might demand that you leave your own country for the mission field, and it might even cost you your own life. This is your cross, and this is how you become a partner with Christ in fulfilling His purposes for mankind.”

Josef Ton

"And Jesus said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."　Luke 9:22-26

Buddhism and Christianity

January 8th, we went to a conference for evangelical churches in our Kagawa prefecture. I would guess about 50 or so pastors and believers attended. Professor Yamato brought out how some 1000 years ago Japanese Buddhist priests- Honen and Shiran- proclaimed a salvation by grace. Interesting! He also pointed out that they have no Christ or cross and emphasized Ephesian 2:8-9, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Christ's grace moves us to work.

In line with the truth of the gospel

“Christian living is a continual process of bringing everything in line with the truth of the gospel.” Timothy Keller

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." John 10:10-11

Takamatsu Zion Church

January 8th, our family worshipped at Takamatsu Zion Church, about 1 hour from Takase. Naho was baptized in this church and her relatives now worship and serve here. The Lord seems to be doing something very special among them. We praise Him for His goodness.

Kind to everyone

“I’ve decided I’m against abortion. I think it’s murder. But I have a dilemma in that I much prefer the pro-choice to the pro-life people. I’d much rather eat dinner with a group of the former.” Andy Rooney

“Be careful, lest fighting the dragon you become the dragon.’ Friedrich Nietzsche

"And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth." 2 Timothy 2:24

Abundant Life Church

I spoke at Abundant Life Church (Matsumoto, near where they had the Olympics) on January 1st. May parents started this church and Jon, my brother, is continuing the work. I spoke on how the missionary & pastors are to disciple, equip and entrust the ministry to God's people (Matthew 28, Ephesians 4 and 2 Timothy 2).

As I referred to the priesthood of the believer, I quoted 1 Peter 2:9-10. "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." Wow! What mercy! What a privilege!

Your preaching

"If your preaching of the gospel doesn't provoke the charge from some of antinomianism, you're not preaching the gospel."　　Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The Japan Alps

After Christmas (Dec. 27- Jan. 4), we went to Nagano- where I grew up. Pict: The Japan Alps remind me of some of the scenes in Lord of the Rings. We spent some time with Jon and Dan, did some 'business,' and served at Abundant Life Church. It was a 'busy' time, but good. The above picture was taken from the parking lot of the Azumino Family Chapel- a church started by our parents and continued by Jon and team.

As Christ loved us

“If they come [into poverty] by a vicious idleness and prodigality [laziness and self-indulgence]; yet we are not thereby excused from all obligation to relieve them, unless they continue in those vices… If we do otherwise, we shall act in a manner contrary to the rule of loving one another as Christ loved us. Now Christ hath loved us, pitied us, and greatly laid out himself to relive us from that want and misery which we brought on ourselves by our own folly and wickedness. We foolishly and perversely threw way those riches with which we were provided, upon which we might have lived and been happy to all eternity.”

Jonathan Edwards

"All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along." Galatians 2:10

The sinner

”We all carry about in our pockets His very nails.”

Martin Luther

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, the sinner.’" Luke 18:13

Pict: I am told that Mel Gibson (in his movie the Passion of Christ) is holding the nail and hammering it into Christ. Gibson is saying that his sins put Christ on the cross.