Do I really believe

To believe is to act and to act is to show what you are believing in.

"To many of us are far more concerned about our standard of living than we are about others living." Francis Chan

The apostel Paul said look at my life and live as I have lived. Did the way Paul lived his life make sense if he did not believe in eternity with God?

Is the way I am living my life make since outside of a belief that this world is a temporary residence one where I should be active in meeting the needs of people both physically , but only because I care so much for them because i want to share ulitmately, the gospel with them so that I can meet their spiritual need. Dont get me wrong the physicall side is important but when you wiegh it in light of eternity with God or hell, it pales in comparison.

Sept 29th 2008

A day that is another step in my life in the pursuit of honoring and pursuing obediently, God. I have decided to stay in Japan for the next semester. My time in Japan will begin again in January and will probably run through into the summer months.

I am returning home in November 3rd, I will be home to lead the trip to Mexico and to put in order my arrangments for returning to Japan in January. I will then be setting up classes online to do during the next semester. It is my hopes to have that be the beginning of my continued pursuit of furthering my education and my ultimate pursuit of preparation for a life of ministry. I will be seeking enrollment into a school starting in the Fall of 09.

This is all of course dependent upon DV ( deo velencia ) - Lord Willing- This has been a struggle and a joy to be making this decision for the next stage of my journey.

For those of you who read this I just want to thank you for your prayers, support, and the encouragement that comes from knowing that you have been in support of me and the ministry here in Japan.

Please pray for the team which will be going to Mexico. I want lift up the preparations for the trip as well as the hearts of the people who will be going.

God is truly Immanuel

" So if we embrace the Christian teaching that Jesus is God and that he went to the Cross, then we have deep consolation and strength to face the brutal realities of life on earth. We can know that God is truly Immanuel - God with us- even in our worst sufferings."
The Reason for God Timothy Keller

Final thougth about Robert Murry MCheyne

So he died at age 29, hardly a long life, yet he left behind him a legacy which is still being spread today. What legacy will I leave behind? " Wherever the news of his departure came, every Christians countanace was darkened with sadness. Perhaps, never was the death of one, whose sole occupation had been preaching the everlasting gospel, more felt by all the saints of God in Scotland. He (MCheyne) used to say "Live so as to be missed" and none that saw the tears that were shed over his death would have doubted that his own life had been what he had recommended to others."

Not that it is for your personal interests to be missed or you taking the focus but your life lived out for Christ and the impact on others that will be missed.

So I again ask myself What legacy will I leave behind? Will I live so as to be missed?

quote Andrew Murry M'Cheyne

here chew on this one for a while with me

"Our heavenly father has brought us through so many trials and dangers that I feel persuaded he will yet carry us to the end." " Are we not all immortal till our work is done!"?

Musings

So do ever find yourself in the place of contemplation. Trying to present yourself before the Word with the hopes that somehow at some point there will be a challenge through the spirit. This challenge is one that you know the answer to what you were seeking. When one desires to make wise decisions.

Here is a quote I came out of a US Navy chief pinning cerimony on Tuesday, and I said " You know I could of made this my life" The interesting thing was that the response I got was well you know that it is not to late. This was not the response I was expecting since I whole heartedly believe that God has laid on my heart a passion for people. This passion is to be manifested in my life being poured out for the nuturing and spreading of the gospel in the hearts of people.

So maybe it is not the Navy cerimony that would stirr you. WHAT DOES STIRR YOU? Does the fact that you are a child of the King, a brother of Christ, and son or daughter, redeemed in and through Christ, Free of the penalty of sin, given the power to stand, are being freed from the power of sin. Know where you are going when you die.

If some one will dare to take the oath of office into the US Navy to swear that by life or death they will up hold the duty of being in the USN. And they will train and discipline and own and practice and stive for advancement and fulfill their duty

Why then does it seem to be so different, that is in fufilling our duty as slave of righteousness, an ambassador of Christ, and a minister of reconciliation. And our motivation it not just out of duty for ours is far greater. For one has paid the ultimate price to demonstrate the ulitimate perfect love so that we might not just be free but made holy.

Hmmm........

I went on a US Navy Submarine

What you are looking at is what you call the sail of
Submarine. Coming out of the top of the sub are the
periscopes. ( they were not allowed in the picture)
Off of the side of the sail you would find the sea planes
which are used for steering the boat.

Last night I meet up with a guy who was by himself and looking for the NEX ( Navy Exchange).





So I told him that I would take him there, so we got to talking and he told me that he was just in town on leave and that he was on a sub. Come to find out he is on the USS City of Corpus Cristi ssn-705. Anyway so we talked and then he offered to give a tour because I helped him out. So I was totally excited to be able to see what ship life is on a sub. Let me tell you I give those guys props for being able to do that I dont know that I would be able to. They are in some extremely tough conditions. There are even racks( beds) on top of and next to torpedos. There is only one washing machine and one dryer. There are also only five toilets for a boat which carries about 150 men. Anyway here is a picture outside the ship, I could not take any pictures on board for secruity reasons. I did get to look through the periscope and move it around and zoom in that was pretty cool.

Second week of the Truth Project

This week we had twenty people show up. and because of the nature of the navy five of the people who were there last week were gone and we had ten different people showing up for this lesson. During the week I showed the first lesson twice to people who had missed it last sunday.

There is the possibility that I will be able to take it to familys home on Monday nights and start that next week. I am praying that during my time left here I can train and expose the right people to the Truth Project so that they could continue to use this great tool in challenging and training the church.


This is just to add some pictures to the story that I already told you about.
You remember the gal Rebecca, the one who accepted Christ in August. Well here she is getting baptized. She was at chapel on Sunday night last week, and heard that there was a baptism afterwards and God worked in her heart during the service, so after the service she went up and asked the chaplin if she could be baptized, so he asked her the questions to confirm her belief and trust in Christ and told her it was a go. So she got baptised in the clothes that she had on, right there after chapel by Nate Johnson. ( who is a Cadence Maliachi missionary) . Just thought that I would continue to complete the story for you.

some quotes to ponder

Since I am wrestling with some of these I thought that I would share a few so that I would not have to be the only one.

From a book written about the life of Robert Murray M'cheyne (thanks Brian for the book)

"Reading H. Martyn's Memoirs. Would I could imitate him, giving up father, mother, country, house, health, life, all - for Christ. And yet , what hinders? Lord purify me, and give me strength to dedicate myself, my all to thee!"

"journal entry: " Somewhat overcome. Let me see: there is a creeping defect here. Humble, purpose-like reading of the Word omitted. What plant can be unwatered and not wither?"

"journal entry: Self examination. Why is a missionary life so often an object of my thoughts. Is it simply for the love I bear to souls? Then , why do I not show it more where I am?"

"journal entry: Composition- a plesant kind of labour. I fear the love of applause, or effect, goes a great way. May God keep me from preaching myself, instead of Christ crucified."

Theres a few that I have mean chewing on.

This man came to know Christ around the age of twenty and died at the age of 29.

Praise the Lord

So tonight there was an incredible chapel service. First off we had communion which is always moving to stop and reflect on what Christ has done. Then the Malichi missionary Nate Johnson spoke. He spoke from Phil. 3 which is probably one of my favorite passages. He summarized what the last few years of his life have been changing ministries and how in the process of making decisions God was speaking to him and showing him that to follow Christ to really follow Christ means to share in his sufferings. That is that the gospel has always been carried forward through suffering.

Then after the service remember the gal Rebecca ( the one who accepted Christ a few weeks ago) well she was back in town this weekend and is headed back out on Monday. So Sunday night after service we had a baptismal and she snag Chaplin Bradshaw between the sancturary and the baptismal and told him that during the service she felt that God was saying that she should be obedient and get baptized. So right there ten minuets after the service she got baptized making a public professing of her faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Praise God He is so Amazing

Then I found out that when Rebecca gave her testimony of accepting Christ on Friday night at the lighthouse an officer on the Ford was challenged by her testamony. So latter Friday night this gal the officer on the Ford recommitted her life to Christ.

There is an update for you enjoy.

Truth Project in Yokosuka Japan

Today Sunday Sept 7th we started the first lesson of the Truth Project. We had 15 people turn out not including the three of us on staff ( Jim Martha and myself ). So I was excited to have 18 people involved on Sunday morning starting at 10 am. We started by going over the Into to the series and then dove right in to lesson number 1 -Veritology the study of truth. Asking ourselves the question what is truth?

After the lesson we spent 45 min discussing the lesson. There were some great questions which were brought up; it was a great atmosphere of interactive discussion. Wrestling with what is Truth?

A look at Suffering and the Christian life

"Often the things we have to surrender are not easy to give up - things like health, our convenience, our comfort, or our reputation. As my wife and I get older I often wish that we could die around the same time. But the law of averages says that that is unlikely. My wife says it would be better for me to die first because she knows how lost I would be without her. We know that one of us will have to surrender the one who dies first. If through surrender we are willing to accept the possibility of this deeply sorrowful parting we can prepare for in constructively. The surrender will hopefully be an affirmation that no one not even our beloved spouse will take the place of supreme importance that God has in our lives. "

This is a quote from Ajith Fernando in his book "The Call to Joy and Pain"

I picked up this book to try and work through what I see as being a major blindspot in the church today. I don't think that the average believer in the church today has a proper theology of suffering. You might ask yourself you mean suffering is not a bad term or a negative term?

We find in 2Cor 5:18-19 that God has given us the ministry of reconciliation which came by and through and for Christ. It is because of this ministry that we are called amassadors of Christ. Four verses latter in 6:4 Paul continues with: " as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger, by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for our right and left hand" now in light of all this he continues with a list of paradoxical expressions that reflect Pauls view of his suffering for ministry
" through honor and dishonor,
through slander and praise
We are treated as imposters and yet are true
as unknown and yet well known
as dying and behold we live
as punished and yet not killed
as sorrowful yet always rejoicing
as poor yet making many rich
as having nothing yet possessing everything."

"That's the attitude that a biblically grounded theology of suffering produces in a Christian. As I said earlier the happiest people in the world are not those who have no suffering- they are those who are not afraid of suffering." Ajith Fernando same book

Lord create in me a heart of underdstanding when it comes to suffering. For I am a slave to righteousness and as a slave I have no rights of my own only those that you have given me. Lord help me to come and die daily to your will not succombing often to my own selfish desires but rather help me to produce a life that is in selfless, counter cultural and God intoxicated.

" For I am grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken and thus God I want to offer to you acceptable worship with reverence and awe for you my GOd are a consumning fire" (Hebrews 12:28 personalization added)