What Christmas is All About
One more reason I am living in Japan and not in America. Every year anyone in the U.S. can watch this on live T.V. in the comfort of their own home, in their own language. What a Christmas gift! America, with all of its sins, is still flooded with light. Let's share that light - the light of the gospel - with all the nations this Christmas!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
CHEA Japan Conference
(Church & Home Educators Association) - Nagano, Japan
Noah braved the 7 -8 hour bus ride to Nagano very well. He is learning to sit up by himself ... and suck on his toes! He loves to smile at everyone.
Green Plaza Hotel - Hakuba. This is the beautiful place we got to stay for two nights.
The snowy mountains (Japanese Alps) were refreshing to see.
The kids were all so well behaved and joyful. We were very impressed with all the people we met.
Joshua Harris' brothers, Alex and Brett were there to give some very important messages for young people and for those who raise them. All of the Harris' were or are being home-schooled. In fact, their dad, Gregg, is one of the leaders of the home-schooling movement in the USA.
Here is Gregg Harris sharing a few words. I was very impressed with Pastor Gregg's insight, love for his family and for others and for his strong Biblical knowledge and stance. I had a great time asking him about his family a couple different times during the weekend. Maki had a good time talking with his wife, Sono, who is a Japanese-American.
All in all, 700 people came for this national event. We are feeling more and more led to homeschooling, at least for the first few years of school. We want to be the main influencers in our children's lives as well as get them off on the right foot towards a thoroughly bi-lingual education. As a teacher, I am excited to spend individual time raising up my child(ren) in the way that he should go. Maki also wants to be able to spend lots of time with her children helping them in many ways. We are very happy for this great support system in Japan.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
(Church & Home Educators Association) - Nagano, Japan
Noah braved the 7 -8 hour bus ride to Nagano very well. He is learning to sit up by himself ... and suck on his toes! He loves to smile at everyone.
Green Plaza Hotel - Hakuba. This is the beautiful place we got to stay for two nights.
The snowy mountains (Japanese Alps) were refreshing to see.
The kids were all so well behaved and joyful. We were very impressed with all the people we met.
Joshua Harris' brothers, Alex and Brett were there to give some very important messages for young people and for those who raise them. All of the Harris' were or are being home-schooled. In fact, their dad, Gregg, is one of the leaders of the home-schooling movement in the USA.
Here is Gregg Harris sharing a few words. I was very impressed with Pastor Gregg's insight, love for his family and for others and for his strong Biblical knowledge and stance. I had a great time asking him about his family a couple different times during the weekend. Maki had a good time talking with his wife, Sono, who is a Japanese-American.
All in all, 700 people came for this national event. We are feeling more and more led to homeschooling, at least for the first few years of school. We want to be the main influencers in our children's lives as well as get them off on the right foot towards a thoroughly bi-lingual education. As a teacher, I am excited to spend individual time raising up my child(ren) in the way that he should go. Maki also wants to be able to spend lots of time with her children helping them in many ways. We are very happy for this great support system in Japan.Deuteronomy 6:4-9
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Never Let Go
My brother Doug has a great post for everyone who needs a little encouragement today.
Check it out here.
After that, watch this very inspiring video which encourages us that God will NEVER let go.
"Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of his glory with great joy." - Jude 24,25
My brother Doug has a great post for everyone who needs a little encouragement today.
Check it out here.
After that, watch this very inspiring video which encourages us that God will NEVER let go.
"Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of his glory with great joy." - Jude 24,25
Monday, November 19, 2007
Celebrating Pearl Harbor?
Dec. 7, 1941 - Pearl Harbor - "A day that will live in infamy" - FDR.
This year on Dec. 7, plan to celebrate one of the most amazing stories of inspiration that WW2 affords. - And pass it on to others.
When Japan looked around for a pilot to plan and lead a sneak attack against Pearl Harbor they decided quickly on Mitsuo Fuchida. An experienced pilot and passionate for action, Fuchida was just the man for the plan. Little did the military leaders know that God also had a plan for Fuchida's life; first to become the most famous person in Japan and then to become a radically new man by the gospel of Jesus Christ. His testimony and story would be used of God to lead thousands to Christ!
Read more about the story here and then
listen to Jake DeShazer's testimonies here - The man who led Fuchida to Christ after the war. Please pass these stories on to others on Dec. 7! (Especially listen to #9.)
And for other great stories from DeShazer's life look here.
Dec. 7, 1941 - Pearl Harbor - "A day that will live in infamy" - FDR.
This year on Dec. 7, plan to celebrate one of the most amazing stories of inspiration that WW2 affords. - And pass it on to others.
When Japan looked around for a pilot to plan and lead a sneak attack against Pearl Harbor they decided quickly on Mitsuo Fuchida. An experienced pilot and passionate for action, Fuchida was just the man for the plan. Little did the military leaders know that God also had a plan for Fuchida's life; first to become the most famous person in Japan and then to become a radically new man by the gospel of Jesus Christ. His testimony and story would be used of God to lead thousands to Christ!
Read more about the story here and then
listen to Jake DeShazer's testimonies here - The man who led Fuchida to Christ after the war. Please pass these stories on to others on Dec. 7! (Especially listen to #9.)
And for other great stories from DeShazer's life look here.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007
The Future of Justification
John Piper's new book is available to purchase or to download for free here.
John Piper's new book is available to purchase or to download for free here.
Monday, November 12, 2007
How did Thanksgiving Day become official?
Several presidents proclaimed individual days of thanksgiving for God's goodness to them, starting with George Washington.
Abraham Lincoln realized the need for Americans to turn back to God with a full heart. He gave this address to announce the new annual American holiday.
Lincoln's Thanksgiving Address
It is the duty of nations as well as of men to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.
We know that by his divine law, nations, like individuals, are subject to punishments and chastisements in this world May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins; to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?
We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has grown.
But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.
Intoxicated with unbroken success we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole of the American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every pad of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.
-President Abraham Lincoln
16th president of the USA
Several presidents proclaimed individual days of thanksgiving for God's goodness to them, starting with George Washington.
Abraham Lincoln realized the need for Americans to turn back to God with a full heart. He gave this address to announce the new annual American holiday.
Lincoln's Thanksgiving Address
It is the duty of nations as well as of men to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.
We know that by his divine law, nations, like individuals, are subject to punishments and chastisements in this world May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins; to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?
We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has grown.
But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.
Intoxicated with unbroken success we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole of the American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every pad of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.
-President Abraham Lincoln
16th president of the USA
Friday, November 09, 2007
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Japan and Evangelism
YouTube popularity is exploding in Japan, comments the Christian Pacific Rim Media blog:
click here to read more
YouTube popularity is exploding in Japan, comments the Christian Pacific Rim Media blog:
“YouTube’s user base is growing more quickly in Japan than any of the other major websites, including Yahoo Japan, Amazon.co.jp or Wikipedia.org, according to the latest report by Internet research firm NetRatings Japan. Even though it does not have a separate Japanese-language version, YouTube recently achieved its 10 millionth Japanese visitor after just 14 months.Implication: If more and more Japanese are going to YouTube and viewing videos, how could we use this low cost medium to reach Japanese?”
Also very important in Japan is the Manga-style comic and animation. So short animation clips in Manga style could be very significant. There are many Manga comics online in English and Japanese as well as many Manga video clips. Rox35Media run an animation competition for mobile devices, and also training around the world in Christian comic production, cartooning and now also animation.
A Manga Bible has been published by New Life League Japan.
click here to read more
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Finding Answers Amid Life's Greatest Losses
Ravi Zacharias with another great message in front of 7,000 at Virginia Tech University.
Ravi Zacharias with another great message in front of 7,000 at Virginia Tech University.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Thursday, November 01, 2007
The Golden Compass
"There will be a new children's movie out in December called "The Golden Compass". The movie has been described as "atheism for kids" and is based on the first book of a trilogy entitled "His Dark Materials" that was written by Phillip Pullman. Pullman is a militant atheist and secular humanist who despises C. S. Lewis and the "Chronicles of Narnia". His motivation for writing this trilogy was specifically to counteract Lewis' symbolisms of Christ that are portrayed in the Narnia series.
Clearly, Pullman's main objective is to bash Christianity and promote atheism. Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview that "my books are about killing God." He has even stated that he wants to "kill God in the minds of children". It has been said of Pullman that he is "the writer the atheists would be praying for, if atheists prayed."
Click here for more
"There will be a new children's movie out in December called "The Golden Compass". The movie has been described as "atheism for kids" and is based on the first book of a trilogy entitled "His Dark Materials" that was written by Phillip Pullman. Pullman is a militant atheist and secular humanist who despises C. S. Lewis and the "Chronicles of Narnia". His motivation for writing this trilogy was specifically to counteract Lewis' symbolisms of Christ that are portrayed in the Narnia series.
Clearly, Pullman's main objective is to bash Christianity and promote atheism. Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview that "my books are about killing God." He has even stated that he wants to "kill God in the minds of children". It has been said of Pullman that he is "the writer the atheists would be praying for, if atheists prayed."
Click here for more
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