The Normal Life

Our moral theorists seem never content with the normal. Why must it always be a contest between fornication, obesity and laziness, and celibacy, fasting and hard labor? ~Martin H. Fischer

We live in a culture of extremes. We have extreme sports, extreme cage fighting – we even have extreme eating contests. And even those events which don’t use the “extreme” label, often go to great extremes. We have pro wrestling, where grown men throw each other off of ladders and beat each other with chairs for entertainment. A typical Nascar race will see the drivers consume 6,000 gallons (22,712 litres) of race fuel. At a cost of $9.71 per gallon, the race burns over $58,000 in fuel alone! Basketball sneakers can cost over $200 a pair, and modern sedans make more horsepower than most of the muscle cars from the 1960s.

This focus on extremes stems from a culture that is always trying to experience something fresh and different. With the magnitude of media only a mouse-click away, everyone is competing for views, clicks, and business. And consumers get tired of the same old entertainment, products, and services. We want more.

Unfortunately, this attitude sometimes spills over into our Christian life. Suddenly, being a Christian isn’t enough. A person has to be an evangelist on TV, or the pastor of a huge church, or be a missionary, or even “get on fire for Christ” in order to be taken seriously. It has to be extreme. And yet, so many of us Christians are not called to this. Some are called to go to the same old boring, low paying job day after day in order to put diapers on the baby. Some of us are called to stay home with an ailing parent. Some of us are called to drive busses, and staff retail clothiers, and clean hotel bathrooms. Sometimes, we can get so caught up with being “extreme” that we think God can’t use us in the place we are right now.

This was one of the problems that confronted the Reformers. At the time, the church taught that only professional clergy could really serve God. Only they were “extreme” enough. To really be a good Christian, a person had to become a monk, or priest, or something like that. The “average pew sitter” was left out. While that kind of thing is rarely taught today, sometimes it is implied by the way we live our lives. Everyone wants to hear the testimony of the former Hell’s Angel contract assassin that is now a missionary to Bhutan with a nice hair cut, a beautiful godly wife, and 12 kids. But no one really wants to hear about the 30-something single mom whose life is a whirlwind of work, daycare, and the occasionally rushed church potluck.

But the truth is, God has called all of us, and has given us both the gifts and opportunities to love him and our neighbor, right where we are at. Notice what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:

“With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.” (1 Thess. 1:11 NIV). Paul urges these Christ followers to follow the Great Commandment by loving others the way Christ loved us. But he doesn’t tell them that this requires some kind of extreme vocation – in fact, just the opposite.

“And to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you.” (1 Thess. 4:11).

Notice that he doesn’t tell the church that they have to do or be something special – God makes our every work special when we do good deeds prompted by faith. We can love God and love our neighbor right where we are at, by leading quiet lives, minding our business, and working hard. In fact, Paul had to warn some believers not to be overzealous about overturning the unjust world order of the Roman empire.

“Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.” (1 Cor. 7:24 NIV)

God loves you and wants to use you right where you are! Who knows – you might be the only source of God’s love for that obnoxious cashier that you work with every day. The point is that you should never think God can’t use you because you aren’t special. God’s plan is to shower you will all the gifts he can (James 1:17, Eph. 1:3), including the gift to share His love and grace right where you are at. Remember, you have the same Holy Spirit that God gave Paul and the apostles! So let your light shine, brothers and sisters, and don’t wait for God to call you to something extreme to start serving Him.

Dude, What's That Smell!?!

The other day I was out for a walk in Kyoto and I came across two such drastically different and yet similar scenarios that I had to stop to take some pictures, and that day inspired me to write this post.

The first scenario I noticed was outside of the famous Toji Temple in the southern part of the city. This Temple is very famous in the world, and is immaculately taken care of. The Temple is also surrounded by a large white wall and a moat. Many people make visits here every year, and many people pray here daily. And yet as I walked beside this temple there was a horrid stench that permeated everything. This stench was coming from the stagnant water that was in the moat that surrounded the temple. And as the people made their way into the temple, I could see them grabbing their noses, gagging, and/or trying to breathe only through their mouths. There was no ignoring the stench!

The second scenario happened just a few blocks away from the Toji Temple. I was walking down a very narrow street that was filled with various restaurants that were cooking all types of foods from all over the world. The smells were so strong, but the more I walked down the street I began to smell a sweet smell that was overpowering and ultimately permeating everything. The smell was fantastic, and so I began to search for the source. I eventually came to a side street, and a little ways down the street I witnessed one of the most amazing sights. I witnessed one of the largest rose bushes I had ever seen! It was so huge that it was almost taking over the front of this house! And the roses themselves were huge and were emitting the greatest smell ever. Many people were stopped in front of this house, taking pictures, staring in wonder, or just simply closing their eyes and breathing in the amazing scent! There was no ignoring this amazing scent!

The more I considered these two scenarios, the more I realized that these two scenarios really present a very realistic, and vivid picture of our lives. I know in my life that I have wavered from one scenario to the other.

I am sometimes like Toji Temple in that I seem to have all my stuff together. I look very polished and good, and I have a sense of religion surrounding me. People will come to me and start to ask my advice and seek my counsel as a pastor, and I at times develop this very religious posture of perfection and answers, sometimes apart from Christ. I throw around scriptures, and have all kinds of funny stories to relate to people and their problems, but ultimately the situation, and the gratitude and the praise and admiration of people become all about me. And it reeks! People may laugh at my jokes, and nod at the scriptures I share, but ultimately they will leave the encounter with a bad taste in their mouth, and feel no more alive or refreshed then when we first met. In fact they may even feel worse, because I had allowed my own pride to taint our encounter, and the desire to show off my own spirituality became of more importance then glorifying Christ’s name and seeking His glory. How many of you can relate?

In strong contrast to this, let’s look at the beautiful rose bush with it softball sized roses, and see what observations we can make. In the Song of Solomon 2:1 it makes a reference to Christ as a rose and a lily when it says, “ I am the Rose of Sharon; the Lily of the Valley” Isn’t this a beautiful, vivid illustration and picture of Jesus! When we make Christ the center of our being, and live our lives for him as both his servants and fellow heirs, people will notice, because we will be releasing the sweet fragrance of a Christ centered life. And just as the smell of this rosebush was able to completely overpower the smells of all these different restaurants, Christ in us will be evident to the world in all aspects of our lives, and will be able to overcome and be seen in our jobs, supermarkets, schools, wherever. And just as this rosebush and it’s amazing smell were able to draw people through the busy marketplace street to it, where they would bask in its beauty and marvel at its size, and appreciate its unique and amazing smell, so will Christ draw people to himself as they see Christ lived out in our lives. People will find themselves curious as to what makes us different, and they will marvel at our strength despite our personal weaknesses, and they will appreciate the authenticity of seeing Christ being more than a name we spout on our way to church on Sundays, but rather they will see Christ being alive and active living in and through a normal individual like me.

The choice is yours! And the amazing thing is we can change from one scenario to the other in the blink of an eye. Let’s take this picture to heart, and choose to live basking in the fragrance of Christ!

~Mike


Toji Temple:

Rose Tree:

The Greatest of These is Love

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13 is often called “the love chapter” – it is Paul’s final word on love. And while it is often common in pop culture to talk about love and inclusion, Paul’s words are actually very subversive of the world’s way of doing things.

The Necessity of Love

Paul begins by talking about some very impressive spiritual gifts. Speaking in tongues, prophetic powers, understanding mysteries, faith to remove mountains – these are the sort of powerful and charismatic gifts that leave us in awe even to think about! I certainly don’t have faith to remove mountains – and I sure don’t have prophetic powers. Paul is referencing “extreme” gifting for a reason: he wants us to know that no matter how powerful our spiritual gifts, they mean nothing without love. In fact, Paul even says that if he were to be martyred by burning, but lacked love, it would mean nothing!

The Character of Love

Paul makes love sound really, really important. It makes sense, then, to ask “what is this all-important thing called love?” Paul’s answer is profound. Love is the following:

Patient

Kind

Does not envy

Does not boast

Is not arrogant

Is not rude

Does not insist on its own way

Is not irritable

Is not resentful

Does not rejoice in wrongdoing

Rejoices in the truth

Bears all thing

Believes all things

Hopes all things

Endures all things

Love never ends

If that list looks intimidating, it should. Paul’s description of love is deep and wide. In fact, measured against this list, I don’t think I’ve done a loving thing in my life! But Paul’s intent is not to beat us over the head with this, but rather to encourage us to be pursuing love in all we do.

The Insurrection of Love

The fact is, love as Paul describes it goes against every power structure of the world. Patience is only seen as a virtue because it is seen as waiting for something that improves our life. Kindness is taught as a means of getting what we want. Envy is encouraged in commercials and lifestyle to the point that economists everywhere declare “greed is good.” Boasting is part and parcel of everything from corporate earnings reports to sporting events to business networking events and job fairs. We are irritable when someone else grabs the last Black Friday sale – to the point of fisticuffs and stun guns. We are taught to resent the success of the one percent. Cynicism and conditional favor rule the public sphere and the halls of justice.

Paul’s teaching flies in the face of all of this. God has loved us in this manner, and by faith gifts us with this same love. This is counter-cultural! It is Christ-cultural.

Closing Challenge

Here is my challenge to you today: read and meditate on this passage every day for a month. Think about one specific action you can take each day to display love to others. Pray for God’s grace, and put love into action! You may even wish to journal your journey. May the God of love lead us into all fruitfulness and love. Amen.

~John

Faithful is the One Who Leads

Well, recently I participated in my first Missions Conference with Liberty Church Blue Angel Campus (BAC). Because I was unable to attend in person, the leadership of BAC decided to Skype me into the service to share about the mission and work we are doing in Liberty Church Kyoto. It was a wonderful experience, but I was extremely nervous. The main reason I was so nervous is because I was worried that I would fail to adequately represent the vision and scope of what we believe God has called us to do in Kyoto, Japan. This fear weighed on me so much that it even affected my sleep. I kept thinking to myself, “ If I don’t present it well, the people won’t partner with us, pray for us, or support us.” I was focusing so much on me that I was forgetting about God! And then God brought several verses to my mind: Is. 26:3 “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Then 1 Thessalonians 5:24 “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” And lastly, Matt. 10:19 “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.” These three verses popped into my head and completely changed my thinking. I realized that my job is to keep the Lord first and foremost in my life. This vision I have is not my vision, it is God’s vision! He called me to the people of Japan, and it is God who will have to build the ministry. He will do it, BECAUSE He is Faithful! And I didn’t need to worry anymore about formulating the perfect answers, or making the most persuasive speech. Instead I simply needed to focus on God and tell what God is doing and what we believe God wants us to do. And you know what? It worked! The Skype calls were enjoyable, and there was a lot of positive feedback. God is so Awesome, and as I move forward in this adventure, it is nice to constantly be reminded that God is in complete control, and that He is the one in Charge. Our God is Awesome!

~Mike

Why Our God is Superior

Psalm 82

God has taken his place in the divine council;
 in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: 
“How long will you judge unjustly
 and show partiality to the wicked? Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
 maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
they walk about in darkness; 
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

I said, “You are gods,
 sons of the Most High, all of you;
 nevertheless, like men you shall die, 
and fall like any prince.”

Arise, O God, judge the earth; 
for you shall inherit all the nations!

Psalm 82 is a “weird” Psalm. In it we see God calling a heavenly court together. He calls all the other gods together and reprimands them. “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?” God interrogates these other gods. Then he demands, “Give justice to the weak and fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy.” And then God renders judgment: because these gods have failed, they will die like mortal men. The Psalmist ends by imploring God to rise up and judge the earth.

It is easy when reading this psalm to get carried away with the almost comic-book imagery of God holding a heavenly court. One can imagine a long table, surrounded by Thor, Apollo, and Calypso from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. But what is amazing here is why the one true God is portrayed as being superior. It is not because He is the mightiest – although He is. It is not because He is the most powerful – though that is true. Rather, our God is seen as superior because he defends the weak and powerless! This is the essence of the gospel, my friend. We who cannot in our own strength save ourselves have been saved, by the father of all. He cares for poor, simple men more than all the false gods of the world. He is a God of justice, and mercy, and deliverance. And this is why our God is superior.

The Beginning

Let me give you the scenario: Up until 4 years of age, I was in a continuous battle with brain cancer and spinal meningitis. I was blind in one eye, and had 1400/20 vision in my other eye. I was the guinea pig of countless experimental surgeries and procedures, and everyday I had to struggle with rehab. I wasn’t expected to live long, and yet at 4 years of age I became convinced six things were going to be true about my life :

1. I was never going to date
2. I was only going to marry a Japanese girl
3. I was going to be a Pastor
4. I was going to live in Japan
5. I was going to be a Pastor in Kyoto
6. I was going to bring good news to the Japanese people

People didn’t quite understand me, because I wasn’t suppose to live, and my family was either not Christians or new Christians. Everyone thought it was simply the ramblings of a crazy sick kid, but to this day God has been faithfully leading me in my life, even when I wasn’t conscience of His presence. He has to date helped me to realize in full the first 4 of the six statements, and even now the last two are coming forth into realization. And when I look on this in my life I am amazed, because every time I came up to a major roadblock in my life, God has positioned and maneuvered me through the seemingly impossible obstacles along the way. Does that mean that my life has been easy? NO! Just the opposite – every time I threw in the towel, God worked me back into the ring.

So why am I writing this? I am writing this as my first blog post on this website, because I am standing at the threshold of point number 5 in my life. I am surrounded by a wonderful family, an amazing Church (Liberty Church), and I have wonderful friends and teammates who have come along side of me in this adventure! I am a lucky man, and yet as I stand here ready to wade into this adventure, I am surrounded by doubt, fear, and uncertainty. Did God really say? Did God really bring us here? Is this where I am supposed to be? Do I really think I can make a difference? There are constant struggles with finances, work, and I can’t even speak the language fluently! Is this where I am supposed to be?

Then I remember a quote that the famous missionary, Alexander Mackay, once said,

“A powerful nation has to be won from darkness to light; superstition and idolatry have to be overthrown; men have to be taught to love God and love their neighbor, which means the uprooting of institutions that have lasted for centuries; labor made noble, the slave set free, knowledge imparted, and wisdom implanted; and above all, that true wisdom taught which alone can elevate man from a brute to a son of God. Who would not willingly engage in such a noble work, and consider it the highest honor on earth to be called to do it?”

I am not good enough for this work, BUT God is, and I have not been the one ordaining my life, healing me, restoring me, and pushing me forward. I gave up many times, but God is and always has been faithful! My desire is to live with complete abandon for Him, to give my all and leave the rest to Him. You don’t need to be perfect to serve God, you simply need to be willing, and for all my faults, at least I am and always will remain willing. So I thank God for allowing me to come to this wonderful country of Japan, and to the beautiful city of Kyoto in order to share Him with the amazing Japanese people. Not because I can, but because God Can and Will!

- Mike

Play the Man!

Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that which seemeth him good. And Joab drew nigh, and the people that were with him, unto the battle against the Syrians: and they fled before him.
– 2 Sam. 10:12-13 (KJV)

Today there is an increasing interest in masculinity, manliness, and what it means to be a man. There are blogs on manliness, blogs dedicated to beards and shaving, a resurgence in masculine clothing and consumer products, and of course, football. Men everywhere are looking for role models, inspiration, and examples of what a “real man” looks like.

The book of 2 Samuel tells us a story about Joab, the chief general of King David. The Syrians have created an alliance with the Ammonites, Israel’s neighbor, against Israel. Joab gathers the army and exhorts them to “play the man.” The pep rally works – David’s army destroys 700 Syrian chariots and 40,000 foot soldiers.

But as Christians, we wonder – how do we “play the man” as Christians? Surely manliness is more than knowing a single malt scotch from a single barrel bourbon. Surely it is more than being able to throw a baseball, ride a bull, or calculate pi to fifty decimal places. How do Christian men approach the question?

Interestingly, Paul uses an exhortation that is quite similar to Joab’s. Paul writes to the church at Corinth, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Cor. 16:13-14. But Paul’s exhortation is not to kill our enemies or even to do any specific actions. Paul didn’t tell his men to wear plaid or lift weights or go hunting. No, his exhortation was centered on character.

This is where all kinds of men get it wrong, but especially Christian men. We may not be able to control the vocation God has called us to; we may not be able to control the cards we are dealt. Some of us are crippled; some of us are sickly; some of us are impotent. Some of us are very smart; some of us are very not. Some of us don’t like cigars, and some of us would rather drive a Prius than a monster truck.

But “playing the man” for Christians means faithfully fulfilling our vocations, being strong in our faith, and doing all things in love. That might be a paradigm shift, but we do not war according to the flesh. No matter how strong you are or how prepared you are for the zombie apocalypse – none of that will help you “play the man” in your faith. Rather, it is the heart of a servant, the character to carry on, and an attitude of love that will set you apart as a Christian man. Let us all strive to be watchful, to stand firm in faith, and to do all things in love.

-John