"Money enslaves men..."

“Money enslaves men- it will work you till you die. And, after it has conquered your poor soul, its haunting laughter can be heard howling through the chambers of hell. And then it seeks out another hapless, unsuspecting victim- an ambitious fellow who wants just a little bigger slice of the good life.” Patrick Morley

”As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” 1 Timothy 6:17-19

Partnership

We are working toward developing partnerships.

 Pastors meeting last month. The Abundant Life Church is a part of an association of churches called JECA (Japan Evangelical Church Association).

Preachers meeting a few weeks ago. The Abundant Life Church, Azumino Family Chapel and Matsumoto Bible Gospel Church regularly share preachers. Through this partnership we hope encourage the pastors and thus their church.


"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now." Phil 1:3-5

"It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Now, dear Christians, some of you pray night and day to be branches of the true Vine: you pray to be made all over in the image of Christ. If so, you must be like him in giving. A branch bears the same kind of fruit as the tree. If you be branches at all, you must bear the same fruit.


An old divine says well: "What would have become of us if Christ had been as saving of his blood as some men are of their money?"


Objection: My money is my own.


Answer: Christ might have said, My blood is my own, my life is my own; no man forceth it from me: then where would we have been?


Objection 2: The poor are undeserving.


Answer: Christ might have said the same thing. They are wicked rebels against my Father's law: shall I lay down my life for these? I will give to the good angels. But no, he left the ninety-nine, and came after the lost. He gave his blood for the undeserving.


Objective 3: The poor may abuse it.


Answer: Christ might have said the same; yea, with far greater truth. Christ knew that thousands would trample his blood under their feet; that most would despise it; that many would make it an excuse for sinning more; yet he gave his own blood. 


Oh, my dear Christians! If you would be like Christ, give much, give often, give freely, to the vile and the poor, the thankless and the undeserving. Christ is glorious and happy, and so will you be. It is not your money I want, but your happiness.


Remember his own word: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."


Robert Murray M’Cheyne

The Gospel-Centered Woman

The Gospel-Centered Woman: Understanding Biblical Womanhood through the Lens of the Gospel. Ladies! Sounds like an excellent book! Here's a book review by The Gospel Coalition  Amazon.com

“The gospel creates the only kind of grief over sin which is clean and which does not crush. It says: ‘Look at Jesus dying for you! He won’t leave you or abandon you–how then can you respond as you are? He suffered so you wouldn’t do this thing! You are not living as though you are loved! As his child! It is not because he will abandon you that you should be holy, but because this is the one who at inestimable cost to himself has said he won’t ever abandon you! How can you live in the very sin that he was ripped to pieces to deliver you from?" Tim Keller

The Puritans called it gospel-holiness.... To the carnal Corinthian church Paul, by the Spirit, wrote this: Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you-- unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.... 1 Corinthians 15:1 - 5

Norikura

Skiing last Saturday, the 9th.

Naho and Hosahna

Joshua

Shane

Norikura is about 1 hour from here. Here Dan, my brother, has his ministry- NorthStar.

'The Top Doc'

"What people didn't understand about Doctor Koop is that he is pro-life in the purest sense of the word: not anti-death, but pro-life. I have seen him with thousands of people- malnourished children, Washington socialites, dying AIDS patients, abused wives, abortion-rights activists- and he treats everyone of them a if he truly believes, which he does, that they are created in the image of God. He'll interrupt his busy schedule to meet with some disturbed person who insists on talking to 'the top doc.' He truly does respect the value of all human life." The Embattled Career of Dr. Koop | Christianity Today

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:26-27

Dr. C Everett Koop, on death and dying, The End Is Not the End

Sled jump

Shane is our artist. A few weeks ago, we had a little extra snow so he made a sled jump (like a ski jump) in our church parking lot.... We are thankful for each one of our children.

Mercy...

“Mercy is a command of God, yet it cannot simply be a response to a demand. It must arise out of hearts made generous and gracious by an understanding and experience of God’s mercy. It is the hearts of the congregation that must be melted until they ask, 'Where is my neighbor?'” Tim Keller, redeemer.com, check also Neighbors

"'Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?' He said, 'The one who showed him mercy.' And Jesus said to him, 'You go, and do likewise.'" Luke 10:36-37