May the Lord truly bless you all!

Christmas at Kyoritsu Hospital

Dec. 10th, the Abundant Life Christ Church served some patients at Kyoritsu Hospital near Matsumoto station. Others shared the Christmas story and some songs. Above picture: I gave a short Christmas message. Please pray that the staff and patients at the hospital would experience Christ's shalom.

Articles on Christmas...

If your interested in Japan, this is a must read. Japan's first Christmas | The Japan Times “'High-class men and women assembled in great numbers in the priestly residence,' missionary Duarte da Silva writes in a letter about the Japanese Christmas of 1553, also in Yamaguchi City. 'From one in the morning, they listened to stories from the Bible — hearing of the creation of heaven and Earth and of man’s sin, then of Noah’s flood, the separation of languages, the beginning of idol worship, the destruction of Sodom, the story of Nineveh, the story of Joseph’s son of Jacob, the Babylonian captivity, the 10 commandments of Moses and the flight from Egypt, then of the prophet Elisha, Judith, Nebuchadnezzar’s statue — according to the ages — and finally the story of Daniel brought us into the dead of night.' Such protracted instruction in Old Testament storytelling was meant to bring home the necessity of Christ’s advent — which the Japanese converts learned about during the second half of the night."

   "The first of these Christmas plays took place in Bungo — today’s Oita Prefecture — in 1560. People traveled from distant towns and villages to witness the event. Enacted by Japanese believers, the play told the story of Adam and Eve, and a tree decorated with golden apples was placed in the middle of the stage, according to a letter by Juan Fernandez. The set also included a stable and crib to symbolize the birth of Christ. Such was the performance’s hypnotic spell that when Lucifer proceeded to tempt Eve beneath the apple tree, the spectators — men, women and children alike — are said to have burst into tears. The distress escalated to fever pitch as an angel appeared and led Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. For the playgoers, relief came only when the angel reappeared before the first man and woman — wearing the clothing given to them by God — and consoled them with news of a distant day of salvation."

Tim Keller, Christmas is the most unsentimental way of looking at life | New York Post

What a Rabbi Taught Me About Keeping Christ In Christma... | Pivot | A Blog by Karl Vaters

GLS

We had a great ‎Global Leadership Summit last month (Matsumoto area). The live speaker was Shigeto Sanada. He spoke on servant leadership. There were about 70 people there… May the Lord raise up a multitude of servant leaders in this land, not only for the church, but for the nation as a whole.

Grace and Culture

A must read! Why Grace Is Hard for Me as an Asian American Here are some quotes. 'A gift given means a gift must be repaid…. Many Asian-American Christians operate under the assumption that God’s gift toward them must be reciprocated, so as to not be trapped in God’s debt…. My family’s social dynamics, both American and Chinese, generally reflected principles found in Confucian-influenced world views…. “If we were to characterize in one word the Chinese way of life for the last two thousand years, the word could be Confucian.”… Regardless of how right it may feel to one’s Christian faith, trying to repay God for his grace kills faith…. If you want to honor his grace in Christ, see how he has undertaken your infinite debt. No payment needs to be made. Only a life waiting to be lived full tilt the praise of his glorious grace.'

Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Another thought provoking article. Why I've Stopped Saying ‘Church Growth’ – And What I Say Instead | Pivot | A Blog by Karl Vaters

Another article. Anne Lamott writes,“Earth is Forgiveness School. You might as well start at the dinner table…" Fighting with My Husband and the Work of Shalom | CT Women | ChristianityToday.com

Incredible Perspective on the 2016 Election

Please listen to Ernie Johnson's Incredible Perspective on the 2016 Election. This is it's context. Shaq, Chuck, Kenny And Ernie Talk About Trump Winning The Election.

1 Timothy 2:1-3, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior…"

Things that still bother me. A poll [PRRI/Brookings]: Q: Can elected officials behave ethically and fulfill their public duties even if they have committed immoral acts in their personal life? In 2011 30% of self-identified white evangelicals said yes. In 2016 72% said yes. Why this big gap. Another poll [Washington Post/ABC News]: 44% of self-identified white evangelicals think Trump has strong moral character. However, 49% think Trump does not. Are Christians in America losing our "center" concerning morality in America?

Global Evangelical Leaders: Trump’s Win Will Harm the Church’s Witness | Gleanings | ChristianityToday.com, 

No, the Majority of American Evangelicals Did Not Vote for Trump

11 Barack Obama Quotes About Michelle, Because We All Need Something To Believe In

You should pray for Donald Trump no matter how you voted - The Washington Post

After Trump….

"We believe the most important political statement we make each week is not announcing to whom we’ve given our support (politically) but proclaiming the King who has given us his very life." Read more: After Trump, Should Evangelical Christians Part Ways? | Christianity Today

Mark Galli quotes Dietrich Bonhoeffer from his book Life Together: “Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than they love the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community, even though their personal intentions may be ever so honest, earnest and sacrificial. God hates this wishful dreaming because it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. Those who dream of this idolized community demand that it be fulfilled by God, by others and by themselves. They enter the community of Christians with their demands set up by their own law, and judge one another and God accordingly.”

Also another Bonhoeffer quote, “It is not we who build. Christ builds the church. Whoever is mindful to build the church is surely well on the way to destroying it, for he will build a temple to idols without wishing or knowing it. We must confess he builds. We must proclaim, he builds. We must pray to him, and he will build.”

Don't be afraid….

"Worry is not believing God will get it right, and bitterness is believing God got it wrong." Tim Keller  Don’t Fear the Future - YouTube. Roundtable video with Tim Keller, Russell Moore and Collin Hansen. Praying Our Fears – Timothy Keller [Sermon] - YouTube Luke 12:32, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom."

Why I Forgave the Man I Once Plotted to Kill | Christianity Today

Ministry in a Multi-faith Society Means Confrontation | Christianity Today

The Gospel for Daily Life: Martin Luther—Biblical Counselor | Biblical Counseling Coalition Quotes from Martin Luther in this article. “Consequently one ought to be disposed to say, ‘It is true. I have sinned. But I will not despair on this account." "You say that the sins which we commit every day offend God, and therefore we are not saints. To this I reply: Mother love is stronger than the filth and scabbiness on a child, and so the love of God toward us is stronger than the dirt that clings to us. Accordingly, although we are sinners, we do not lose our filial relation on account of our filthiness, nor do we fall from grace on account of our sin."

The Awakening….

"When the crisis hit the Episcopal Church in 2003, The Falls Church responded by planting a church among the poor in Washington, D.C. When The Falls Church left the Episcopal Church in 2006 and was sued, they responded by . . . planting another church. Millions of dollars were drained away in litigation before they received a first-round victory in court. Their response . . . was to plant two more churches. Then the positive ruling was reversed on appeal and they were sent back for another trial. They responded by planting another church. This time they lost at trial and they were forced out of their buildings this spring. Their response—you guessed it—has been to prepare to plant another church this summer."

Read all: It Happened to George Washington’s Church

"Awake you that sleeps, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light." Ephesians 5:14

The Awakening of Washington's Church: J.B. Simmons: 9781530686919: Amazon.com: Books

Check these videos out….

A must see movie directed by Mel Gibson on the courage of Desmond  Doss. Hacksaw Ridge: Official Trailer . Here's the award winning  documentary on Desmond Doss - The Conscientious Objector - YouTube

Here's a message by Tim Keller on How to Cultivate Friendship with God “Through prayer we receive friendship with God.” Tim Keller

Here are John Piper's thoughts on St. Augustine. 
The Swan Is Not Silent | Desiring God 

“If you should ask me what are the ways of God, I would tell you that the first is humility, the second is humility, and the third is humility. Not that there are no other precepts to give, but if humility does not precede all that we do, our efforts our meaningless.” St. Augustine

Christianity in Iran, in the U.S.A.

Christianity in Iran and their government. 5 Ways Persecution in Iran Has Backfired A few years ago, an interrogator admitted to an imprisoned pastor, “We know we cannot stop the church. We can only try to slow it down.”

Christianity in the U.S.A. and Trump. 
・Civility in the public square - Redeemer Report, 
・Speak Truth to Trump | Christianity Today, 
・Evangelical magazines decry Trump: ‘Someone who violates all that is sacred to us’ - The Washington Post 
・Max Lucado's Hope for This Election Season, by The Calling
・Refusing to Play the Game, Profaning the Idol of Presidential Politics | The Exchange | A Blog by Ed Stetzer

Some questions. Shouldn't Christians be willing to say NO to Trump and lose the present battle of the 2016 election in order to win the war of our witness for years to come? And who really is our KIng, Christ or Cesar? Is Christianity healthier in in Iran or the U.S.A.?

Acts 5:29-32, Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Counter-intuitive

Five encouraging articles, though what is said or written will most likely be quite counter-intuitive.

・Vimeo “Russell Moore on the Most Encouraging Thing about Today's Evangelical Landscape”, 
・How Christianity Flourishes | TGC, 
・Why the Whole Church Needs Psalm 137, Violent Imagery and All | Christianity Today, 
・Christianity, the Friend of Liberalism, 
・Nurse Says Baby Who Survived Abortion Cried While Left Alone in a Steel Pan to Die | LifeNews.com

Mrs. L.M., a former anesthetic nurse, describes what took place when a 28-week-old baby was born alive during an abortion in France. The abortion took place in 1987. The mother was HIV positive. L.M. says: It was in a maternity of Paris suburbs (South) in 1987. I was an anesthetic nurse at the time and I intervened in monitoring the epidural composed by the Anesthetist…Gynecologists convinced [the mother] to abort but the baby was born alive. Midwives simply put it in an empty box, naked in a stainless steel tub, cold, without any care. His mother was conscious during labor and delivery of the baby; she was crying and wanted to see her little one but the doctors decided that this child should die. They did not give the child to the mother to spare her. This baby was viable, he was breathing on his own and cried vigorously. I honestly think it was just left to die of cold … it was horrible…! We were harnessed in our gloves, overshirts, headwear, masks, “overshoes” because we were afraid of getting AIDS, and the baby, naked, abandoned by all, and so vulnerable. He took a long time to stop whining.

Piper and Racism

Look at John Piper's racist past, repentance & then family - YouTube

“Every aspect of the way God views and saves sinners is designed to undermine racism and lead to a reconciled and redeemed humanity from every people group in the world.” John Piper

'Opening his mouth, Peter said: "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him."' Acts:34-35

Articles to read….

Teacher 'serenaded' by 400 students amid cancer battle dies - CNN.com,  Ben Ellis - Student Worship (R.I.P) - YouTube, Singing Man: The Story Behind the Viral Video of Ben Ellis
Here are some of Ben Ellis last words, 'I love you. I believe now more than ever that God is good, and that He is with us. I am full of hope, peace and joy. I wish all this for you. Look to Jesus to know, to believe, and to be filled.'

Same-Sex Marriage vs. the Real Thing: A Gay Man’s View of the Big Picture | Public Discourse

Evangelicals, Republicans, and a More Excellent Way on Refugees | The Exchange | A Blog by Ed Stetzer

1 Cor 12:31, " And I will show you a still more excellent way…" Chapter 13, real "love."

Hikikomori….

According to a Japanese cabinet survey released Wednesday, there are currently 541,000 young Japanese aged between 15 and 39 who lead similarly reclusive lives.

These people are known as hikikomori -- a term the Japanese Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry uses to define those who haven't left their homes or interacted with others for at least six months.

Read more Why won't 541,000 young Japanese leave the house? - CNN.com

Watch: Hikikomori - YouTube

"Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Ephesians 5:14

Other social needs int Japan. 'Children's Cafeterias' Combat Poverty, Neglect in Japan - ABC News

The Cleaned Soul

Listen to Sinclair Ferguson preach from Psalm 51, The Cleaned Soul « TGC | The Gospel Coalition

“As the early church fathers delighted in saying, Christ took what was ours so that we might receive what was His.” Sinclair B. Ferguson

Psalm 51:1, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions." 

'No, I didn't!'

Kayla Mueller Defended Christian Faith to ISIS Executioner 'Jihadi .. | abc7.com



Here is how firm Kayla stood for Jesus and sacrificed herself for others.



Former hostage Daniel Rye, a Danish freelance photographer, recalled how Mueller turned the tables on the men in black. 

"One of the 'Beatles' started to say, 'Oh this is Kayla and she has been held all by herself. And she is much stronger than you guys. And she's much smarter. She converted to Islam.' And then she was like, 'No, I didn't,'" Rye told ABC News.

"Julia" has revealed in a "20/20" interview how Mueller -- who was frequently raped by al-Baghdadi -- passed up a chance at an escape in order to increase the odds for the Yazidi teens who were able to sneak out of the ISIS kingpin's house late one night in a flight to freedom.

"I told Kayla we want to escape and I asked her to come with us. She told me, 'No, because I am American, if I escape with you, they will do everything to find us again'," Julia told ABC News.

"It is better for you to escape alone. I will stay here," Mueller told Julia, according to the Yazidi girl.

2 Timothy 2:12a, "If we endure, we will also reign with him…."

"Don’t you dare think you can ever destroy my plan for your life." God

Here is the conclusion of Tim Keller's sermon "Healing of Sin - Part 2", from Psalm 51. Keller refers to Matthew 1:6, "And Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah…."

"Yet, of all of the wives David had and of all of the children David had, why did God choose Solomon, the child of David and Bathsheba, to be the joy of David’s life and to be the one who kept on the messianic line and through whom comes Jesus? Why is it that David and Bathsheba, still called Uriah’s wife, is in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1?

"It’s God’s way of saying, 'If you sin, my dear children, there will be consequences, and maybe very long-term ones, but you never, ever, ever go on to plan B. I am so wise and so sovereign, and I love you so much, I will weave even your failures into plan A. I will continue to work through you, even in greater ways, after your sin. Don’t you dare sin. It wrongs me, and it will hurt you, and there will be consequences, but on the other hand, don’t you dare think you can ever destroy my plan for your life. There is no plan B.' Solomon!

"To paraphrase the Westminster Confession, 'As there is no sin so small but it deserves destruction, so there is no sin so great that it can bring destruction upon those who truly repent.'”

Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life by Timothy Keller on iTunes, Free Sermon Resource | Gospel in Life - Sermons, Books and Resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church

Engaging people in the sex crazed culture of the USA: Keller, Moore, DeYoung on How to Speak to Our Culture About Sex

"By his wounds you have been healed."

Here are some articles that might interest you.

My pastor (my senior year high-school), Jacob DeSazer, returned to Japan to love his enemies, much like my father, Calvin F. Junker. A Doolittle Raider's Story | Return of the Raider

Exclusive Video Premiere: Churches Take on the Billion-Dollar Industry Making the Poor Poorer | Christianity Today Churches in Texas are fighting the predatory loan industry.

Trump needs to take note of Bushes attitude toward people who disagree with him. Why George W. Bush stood there and took the wrath of a soldier's mom. Listen up, Donald Trump. - Chicago Tribune

1 Peter 2:23-25, "When he (Christ) was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."

Who guarantees you a purpose?

Steve Addison shares his struggles with depression. 

Rod just looked at me and said, “Who guarantees you a legacy? Who guarantees you a purpose? Where did you get that from?” I’m  the missionary, right? But he reaches into the drawer of his desk and pulls out a pocket New Testament and starts reading me verses about the love of God. He said, “This is all you got. This is all you can claim.”

Listen to his struggle and hope here. What Depression Taught Me about My Legacy | The Local Church

Romans 5:8, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Chapel Concert

"I am."

The story goes that early in the 20th century, The Times of London sent out a query to famous writers, asking, “What’s wrong with the world today?” The great Christian apologist G. K. Chesterton replied, “Dear Sir, I am. Yours, G. K. Chesterton.” 

Read more: Whom Should We Blame for the Violence? | Christianity Today

Blaming others is the direct result of sin. Genesis 3:12-13, 'The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."'

Bryan Stevenson: "Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption"

You must listen to this amazing lecture on justice by Bryan Stevenson: "Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption" - YouTube

Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others."  Jesus Christ

“Mercy is most empowering, liberating, and transformative when it is directed at the undeserving. The people who haven’t earned it, who haven’t even sought it, are the most meaningful recipients of our compassion.” Bryan Stevenson

“The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.”

Grace, Justice, & Mercy: An Evening with Bryan Stevenson & Rev. Tim Keller Q &A - YouTube, Doing Justice and Mercy – Timothy Keller [Sermon] - YouTube, 
We Need to Talk About an Injustice | Bryan Stevenson | TED Talks - YouTube

More: Evangelicals Ignore G.O.P. by Embracing Syrian Refugees - The New York Times

Where Shrines once thrived...

The red-roofed temple at the top of the hill closed about a decade ago, and now Yoshihiro Shibata can’t even remember its name, though the 54-year-old dairy farmer has lived in this picturesque village all his life.

“The income of the temple depends on the number of residents, and there weren’t enough to keep a monk here,” he said, looking around the deserted grounds nestled amid the village’s lush landscape of tea plants and hydrangeas, bamboo and pine trees.

The local Shinto shrine is barely hanging on. With only about 250 households left in Hara-izumi, which is technically part of nearby Kakegawa city, the village no longer has enough men to hoist up the traditional float and parade it around during the shrine’s annual festival.

“They just set it out there and it doesn’t move,” Shibata said. In a few more years, even that may not be possible. “We’re supposed to lose half our population in the next decade.”

Please read: As Japan's population shrinks, bears and boars roam where schools and shrines once thrived - LA Times

Please pray for the Norukura Fellowship. Up in the Japan Alps, northern Matsumoto, is a fellowship of about 20. The worshippers are primarily of North Star. Ask the Lord that they would be able to reach out to the local people with the message of 'Christ our hope'. 

Why Politics Can't Save Our Politics

"Insofar as both liberalism and capitalism tend to devour and erode the institutions and communities that made them possible, they end up parasitically consuming the host and thus engendering their own demise, starved by their own hunger.

"We want the fruits of stability without its demands; we want the free-flying feeling of liberation without the anchored foundations that launched us. 

"'To learn from nostalgia, we must let it guide us not merely toward 'the way we were,' but toward what was good about what we miss, and why.'

"The creative way forward, then, is to recover a culture of solidarity in the face of atomistic individualism and an abstract state.

"Social conservatives must therefore make a positive case, not just a negative one. Rather than decrying the collapse of moral order, we must draw people's eyes and hearts to the alternative: to the vast and beautiful "yes" for the sake of which an occasional narrow but insistent "no" is required. We can do this with arguments up to a point, but ultimately, the case for an alternative that might alleviate the loneliness and brokenness evident in our culture requires attractive examples of that alternative in practice, in the form of living communities that provide people with better opportunities to thrive."

from Hope in the Ruins: Why Politics Can't Save Our Politics | Comment Magazine

Joni Eareckson Tada

I sure hope I can bring this wheelchair to heaven.

Now, I know that’s not theologically correct.

But I hope to bring it and put it in a little corner of heaven, and then in my new, perfect, glorified body, standing on grateful glorified legs, I’ll stand next to my Savior, holding his nail-pierced hands.

I’ll say, “Thank you, Jesus,” and he will know that I mean it, because he knows me.

He’ll recognize me from the fellowship we’re now sharing in his sufferings.

And I will say, ”Jesus, do you see that wheelchair? You were right when you said that in this world we would have trouble, because that thing was a lot of trouble. But the weaker I was in that thing, the harder I leaned on you. And the harder I leaned on you, the stronger I discovered you to be. It never would have happened had you not given me the bruising of the blessing of that wheelchair.”

Then the real ticker-tape parade of praise will begin. And all of earth will join in the party.

And at that point Christ will open up our eyes to the great fountain of joy in his heart for us beyond all that we ever experienced on earth.

And when we’re able to stop laughing and crying, the Lord Jesus really will wipe away our tears.

I find it so poignant that finally at the point when I do have the use of my arms to wipe away my own tears, I won’t have to, because God will.

Hope...the Best of Things: Joni Eareckson Tada: 9781433502194: Amazon.com: Books

More: Why Joni Eareckson Tada Thinks You Should Go See the New Pro-Suicide Movie, “Me Before You” | TGC

Leading Rabbi comes to Christ

This is a must see: Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri Who Believed in Jesus - YouTube

Some 10 years ago, Israel's leading Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri came to believe in Messiah, Yehoshua Jesus. It seems there was a massive media cover-up in Israel, the international and also evangelical media…. Many of his disciples have come to Christ too though…. After checking it out in the internet, I believe he actually came to salvation through Christ. 

Please check it out for yourself. The Rabbi, the Note and the Messiah - Israel Today | Israel News, KELLNER: Did a prominent rabbi find Jesus — and does it matter? - Washington Times, Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri Reveals Yeshua is Messiah! - YouTube

Here are some more links: Herman and Sharron - "The Rabbi Who Found Messiah" Carl Gallups - YouTube, Messiah of Israel Ministries - Home

Romans 11:25-27, "Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob, and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins." 

"When I am weak I am strong."

Please listen Tim Keller sermon Who Will Convert the West? - YouTube. 

What kind of people will convert Japan? In Keller's illustration from D. Martyn Loyd-Jones, elderly preachers say concerning a popular young preacher, "I'm not sure he's been humbled yet."

"When I am weak I am strong."2 Corinthians 12:10b

Here's more: Tim Keller - How To Change Deeply - YouTube

Praying about revival

"Does it grieve you my friends, that the name of God is being taken in vain and desecrated? Does it grieve you that we are living in a godless age… But, we are living in such an age and the main reason we should be praying about revival is that we are anxious to see God's name vindicated and His glory manifested. We should be anxious to see something happening that will arrest the nations, all the peoples, and cause them to stop and to think again." D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Isaiah 64:1, "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down…."

Also please listen to this Podcast. Why We Need Revival Today, Gospel Coalition

Movie "Silence"

"Silence" should be a thought provoking movie, coming out this fall. The movie includes one of my favorite actors Liam Neeson (Les Miserables). Liam Neeson Talks About Filming Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence’ | Variety. 

I've read the book by the Japanese writer Shusaku Endo. It's troubling in some ways. How does one handle the silence of God? Reminds me of Psalm 39 (Heman's Cry of Darkness). 

Ps 39:5b, "…Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!.."

Here's more: Martin Scorsese's Silence to get awards season release - Collider - YouTube

In Japanese: スコセッシ監督、遠藤周作『沈黙』を映画化、２０年越しの願いが実現へ : 文化 : クリスチャントゥデイ

Motivation for obedience….

What should be the motivation of Christian obedience? Please listen to this: Q & A with Tim Keller, 4 | Desiring God 

"In the long run, beauty is your motivation. But in the short run, do it because it’s your duty to do the right thing." Tim Keller

Psalm 119:57, "The LORD is my portion; I promise to keep your words."

Prayer of Thirst

One of my favorite passages is Psalm 42, 43. Please enjoy Tim Keller's sermon Prayer of Thirst . 

"This is a prayer for the depressed, who’s tears have been her food day and night, who feels like God has forgotten her, who keeps asking herself, “why, my soul, are you downcast?” But in the transparency about his spiritually numb state, the psalmist thirsts for God as a dear pants for water. As we wrestle with faith in the disturbingly dark moments of our soul, this psalm calls us to put our hope in God, to praise him because he is our Savior, who thirsted for us on the cross that we might find ourselves satisfied in him, who’s love directs us to the spring of living water welling up to eternal life."

Psalm 42:5, "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God." 

Endurance……...

Here's a good sermon on pastoral endurance. “Endurance Needed: Strength for a Slow Reformation and the Dangerous Allure of Speed” — Mark Dever (T4G 2016) on Vimeo

“But if you define success in terms of faithfulness, then you are in a position to persevere, because you are released from the demand of immediately observable results, freeing you for faithfulness to the Gospel’s message and methods, leaving numbers to the Lord.” Mark Dever

2 Timothy 2:12 "If we endure, we shall also reign with him…."

Liberal Intolerance

Here's a thoughtful article. A Confession of Liberal Intolerance - The New York Times

And here's a quote: It’s important to have a frank discussion on campuses about ideological diversity. To me, this seems a liberal blind spot.

More: Liberal Nicholas Kristof Admits There is Conservative Discrimination on College Campuses | LawNewz

Real Time with Bill Maher: Ben Affleck, Sam Harris and Bill Maher Debate Radical Islam (HBO) - YouTube

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Listen to Steven J. Lawson's lecture on Martyn Lloyd Jones. And here are most of Loyd-Jones' Sermons.

“Prayer is beyond any question the highest activity of the human soul. Man is at his greatest and highest when upon his knees he comes face to face with God.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Ephesians 1:16-17, "I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him...."

Amazon.com: D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Books

Couples that pray together….

The Data Don’t Lie: Couples That Pray Together Actually Do Stay Toge... | Christianity Today 

Here's a key quote. "The best religious predictor of being happy in a relationship is praying together as a couple. Taking your faith directly into the domestic sphere seems to reap real benefits for black and Latino couples. And evidence says that’s true for basically everyone in the United States."

Matthew 18:19-20, "Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."