Our Abundant God

PSALM 65:11
You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance.

Sometimes we see the world through glasses. The glasses of uncertainty, the glasses of fear, the glasses of negativity or materialism – these “glasses” all do us the disservice of lying to us about God! You see, God is the great Creator of all things; the entire world is His creation and His property. So if we look at the world around us and think, Man! Between ISIL and ebola this world is falling apart! I am in big trouble! We are actually saying something about God. We are sayingthat God isn’t big enough, or strong enough, or loving enough to care for his children! That, my friends, is a terribly wrong attitude. The Psalmist shares a very different view: instead of looking at the world around him, he looks at God, and confidently declares that God crowns our year with goodness and dripping abundance!

But some will say, “God will not bless me – I am a sinner, and I keep failing to the same old sin! How can God bless me?” Don’t think that way! The Psalmist tells us why he is so happy and joyous in God’s provision: “When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions….You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds, God our Savior.” The reason the Psalmist is so certain of God’s provision is the abundance of God’s mercy and forgiveness for sins! Think about it – if God would send His Son to shed his blood for us, why wouldn’t he also care for and protect us? And so we can declare confidently with the Psalmist that God crowns our year with goodness and abundance.


~John

God is Moving!

God is Moving!

Greetings from Kyoto, Japan! We hope this autumn finds you blessed and well. Since our last update we have had so many things to be thankful for…

Church

It seems like God has blessed the new church so much. In the last few months a number of people have joined up even though the church’s official start isn't until October. Very exciting for us is that a couple named Drew and Eriko Millar (with baby daughter Mika) have joined as our worship pastors. They are very talented and really have a heart for God and for Kyoto. Please pray for them as they plan a move to Kyoto and Drew searches for work to support themselves.

Another person who joined is Jon Levy. Now, I don’t plan to mention every person that joins the church but Jon is one seriously cool guy! Born and bred in Kyoto to missionary parents, he is a hugely talented professional musician and all round blessing to our church. Please check him out at jonlevymusic.com

In the build-up to our Grand Opening in October we have been eagerly seeking a venue as Mike’s house is too small. We have viewed a few dance studios and believe that we have found just the right place in central Kyoto. A number of pastors and guests from our sister church in the US will make the trip as well as many friends from various churches in Japan. It seems that everyone is excited about a new church plant in Kyoto. We recently hosted a seminar led by Topi Kivimaki, the founder of YWAM in Japan. He, and many others, have prayed for this city for years and they all tell us that now is the time for Kyoto! We feel like there is currently a LOT of momentum! Praise God!

Family

For us coming back from the UK in somewhat disorientated fashion after Maiko was refused a visa (still can’t really believe it!) the church has been a huge blessing to us and we are so thankful to God for this opportunity to serve Him.

To be honest, balancing work, church and family life has been a bit of a challenge for us so please pray that we can get plenty of rest, and that we are able to focus on what is most important.

Daniel has settled very well at school and (apart from school lunches!!) seems to be thriving. He likes music and sports. Sion is still busy speeding around on his balance bike! We are currently looking for a kindergarden for him to start in April but the majority of them in Kyoto are affiliated to Buddhist temples so pray that we can find a good one that is not!

Maiko and I are very thankful to our friends and family around the world for their continued support and prayer. It means so much to us to have people on our side even though we are far away right now. Thank you all!

~Chris

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know

We love him because He first loved us. – 1 Jn. 4:19

Perhaps one of the greatest truths in all of Christianity is that Jesus loves us. He loved us with a greater love than we can imagine while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8)! It is an amazing truth that Jesus loves you for who you are – in spite of our sin, in spite of our shortcomings, in spite of our humanness. We can never earn more love and grace from Jesus Christ!

And here is the great part – Jesus’ love manifests itself in every aspect of our lives. Some people stress salvation from sin so much that they only see Jesus’ love as taking us to heaven some day. While we look forward to the time when all things are made new and sin no longer hurts people, that is only the beginning of Jesus’ love for us! He promises to give us wisdom (James 1:5) so that we can make the best life choices. He gives us food and clothing (Matt. 6:25-26). He takes a personal interest in your life, your success, and your family!

And this incredible love – the love of a doting father – is what draws us to love Jesus. John wrote that “perfect love casts out fear” (1 Jn. 4:18) – and the perfect love of Jesus casts out our fear: we no longer fear death, sin, or the Devil. We know that nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus (Rom. 8:38). This truth gives us great boldness to live our lives, knowing that if Jesus is for us, who can be against us? We have the deep, deep love of Jesus on our side.

Amen.


~John

The Dichotomy of Superheroes

Okay guys, This week I wanted to bring you one of my older blog posts, because this week this idea has just been hitting me again and again, and so I thought I would share it with you all! I hope you enjoy this older post and be challenged by it!

So here I am writing again after a long absence, and I find myself contemplating superheroes and life. Before you dismiss me as a loony, I love to watch superhero movies like the X-men trilogy, Iron Man, all the Supermans, all the Lethal Weapons, Batman (The ones with Christian Bale), and Wanted. I know, I know - Sounds like a big waste of time and it might be but...it is an enjoyable waste of time. But as I have sat drying out my cerebral cortex in front of the boob tube, I am suddenly struck with a ridiculuos thought which captured my fascination almost as much as seeing Angelina Jolie unload a clip while sitting on the hood of a viper during a high speed chase. The thought was simple yet the more I pondered it the more interesting it became and the thought was this: EVERY SUPERHERO NEEDS A NEMESIS!

There are several interesting characteristics which make up a superhero: First, the individual must seperate himself from common, ordinary people through his actions. Then, the individual is seen as being locked into a constant epic battle between the forces of good and evil, and right and wrong both physically and mentally. Psychologically there is a constant struggle between who they really are versus who they pretend to be. The hero will experience hardships, struggles, turmoil, and will usually lose someone or something dear to them. They are not all powerful and usually have a secret weakness. And finally, they will all offer in some way hope and a way of escape from situations and predicaments, and this is opposed to the villian who is only bent on destruction and domination.

Every Superhero has this particular character make-up, but if all the hero possesses are these traits and he doesn't have a nemesis then he is simple a good samaritan instead of a superhero, for the defining mark of a true superhero is the presence of a nemesis. This is the dichotomy of a true superhero. Light versus Darkeness, Good versus Evil, Superhero versus Villain.

Now for the interesting thought: There will always be superheroes and not just in comic books. There have been many superheroes throughout history. For example, the superhero dichotomy can be seen in David versus Goliath, Martin Luther versus the Catholic Church, Schindler versus the Nazis, the apostle Paul versus Nero, King Richard versus the Moors, Jesus versus Satan.

And here is the jest of the rump - As Christians we are called to come out of the world - to be seperate - TO BE SUPERHEROES - we are given a higher calling which doesn't negate our personal struggles, tragedies, trials, but instead magnifies our position as bringers of hope and if we are truly living up to our calling should result in the revelation of our nemesis. As christians we are called to be superheroes to a lost and dying world struggling to cope without hope. And you know what - we make experience heartache and loss in occupying this position, and one day we may even be discriminated against and persecuted but we are assured of one thing and that is we are already more than victorious because of the completed work of Christ.

SO ARE YOU LIVING UP TO YOUR TRUE CALLING OR ARE YOU STILL PRETENDING TO BE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE?

Hello! I’m back!

Hello! I’m back! My thanks to John for keeping up with the blog posts while my family and I were in America for the month of July with our Liberty Church Family as we were working to build better relationships and a broader prayer base.

 

God is so amazing! This past month was amazing on so many different levels, but ultimately this month was about God showing me and my family that He is in control and that He has never let us down and will never let us down!

 

We serve a GREAT BIG GOD, and yet at times, I forget this because I cannot define God and put Him into a box. Of Course, I can always define my problems, and because I can define my problems, I assume they are too big for God to handle because according to my definition my problems fall into two categories – the impossible and the improbable.

 

I have a tendency to be like Peter. You see Christ called Peter out of the boat in Matt. 14:22-33 and Peter succeeded in doing the impossible when his attention and focus were on Jesus, but as soon as he took his eyes off of the Maker of the Wind and the waves, and the Doer of the impossible and improbable, he started to sink.

 

He lowered his gaze just enough where he no longer saw Jesus above the situations, in control of the situation, or even present in the situations, and instead he began to define his reality by the boxes he could define – the strength of the wind, the relentless power and pounding of the waves, the impossibility of man walking on water, and the improbability that Jesus had really called him out of the security of the boat into such a situation.  

 

Recently every day has felt like I am being called to get out of the boat and experience Christ in the impossible! And while it is one thing to pray that God will keep me a float, it is another thing to believe that it will actually happen, and yet that is exactly what happens! Jesus miraculously provided the money for us to go to America even though people said we were stupid for trusting in God to do so. Once we were in America, Jesus provided the car, phone, and finances necessary to do the work he had for us to do. And then Jesus provided the finances in a day through the heart and giving of amazing people to pay for our rent for the month of August, and the ability to get me some much needed clothes a day before we had to go back to Japan.

 

This month has been a huge example of the faithfulness and trustworthiness of Jesus in the realms if the impossible, and the improbable! Let me encourage you all – He is no fool who trust in the Love of Jesus to do the impossible and improbable things that Jesus wants him to do, because it will be done not through that man, but through the Power of the Doer of the Impossible and the Improbable! He never fails!

 

~ Mike

Jesus According to Matthew

I have been a Christian most of my life, and like many Christians, I was raised to diligently read my Bible and pray. Unfortunately, this sometimes leads to two challenges. First, I often am so familiar with a passage that I start to day-dream while reading it. Second, I usually use some kind of Bible-reading program which chops books up into pieces. Having a disciplined approach to reading the Bible can be a very good thing, but sometimes it causes us to miss the forest for the trees.

So to combat this tendency, I decided to read through the gospels as if they were stories – no chapters or verses or study Bible footnotes. In fact, some publishers are producing entire Bibles formatted this way (see here for an example)!

I started reading Matthew, and was completely surprised! Matthew begins by explaining the backstory – the genealogy of Jesus, John the Baptist, the calling of the 12 apostles – and then immediately launches into the sermon on the mount. The first real picture Matthew gives of Jesus is about his teaching – and it is the longest unbroken teaching of Jesus on record.

What makes this even more impactful is the content of Jesus sermon. It is all about the Hebrew law, and how it just isn’t sufficient to establish righteousness. In fact, he completely contradicts the Mosaic law, by which his audience thought they could be right with God! The law establishes lex talionis – the idea that a punishment should be commensurate with a crime. If someone assaults you and puts out your eye, their eye should be put out in punishment. But Jesus says, no, instead you should suffer harm without returning evil. These are hard sayings! Jesus even says that we are supposed to be perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect! Obviously we aren’t perfect, but thanks be to God that we have Christ’s perfection. When God looks at us, he doesn’t see our sin, he sees the righteousness of Jesus. That, my friends, is good news.


~John

Persecuted; Not Abandoned

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. – 2 Cor. 4:7-9 NIV 

Paul is probably known as the greatest missionary ever. He was a stalwart preacher of the good news of God’s grace, and even though he faced worse trials than we are likely to, he persevered. And when talking about his own ministry, he points out that the power of the gospel is supernatural – its success certainly did not come from Paul’s own physical prowess! Unlike the Roman emperors of the time, Paul did not spread his proclamation at the point of a sword.

But we might think that this is a fool’s errand. After all, force is the one thing this world understands. Even the government uses force to ensure compliance with laws and regulations. When your kid is being picked on by a bully, you tell your kid to stand up to the bully; not to be a victim. But what happens to the person who refuses to use coercion or force? They get beat up.

But here is the amazing thing – Paul didn’t mind being persecuted! By the power of God’s Holy Spirit, he was able to endure and even overcome these persecutions. He writes, “We are hard-pressed, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not abandoned; beaten, but not destroyed.”

This is the comfort that God gives us – the promised Comforter who holds us up even through the toughest trials. The world is an unforgiving place, but the mercy and hope of God have overcome the world. So let us rejoice together, that God holds us up even through the darkest times.


~John