On Preaching by Eugene Petersen

"But we preach Christ crucified…." I Corinthians 1:23

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Salvation: Catholic and Protestant Debate

Listen to these Catholic and Protestant debates on salvation by Scott Hahn and Robert Bowman. Proverbs 27:17, "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."

1. (Catholic) Scott Hahn vs. (Protestant) Robert Bowman Salvation Debate #1 of 3 - YouTube

2. Hahn vs. Bowman Salvation Debate #2 of 3 - YouTube

3. Hahn vs. Bowman Salvation Debate #3 of 3 - YouTube

“Good works have always been valued more highly than faith. Of course, it’s true that we should do good works and respect the importance of them. But we should be careful that we don’t elevate good works to such an extent that faith and Christ become secondary. If we esteem them too highly, good works can become the greatest idolatry. This has occurred both inside and outside of Christianity. Some people value good works so much that they overlook faith in Christ. They preach about and praise their own works instead of God’s works.” Martin Luther

Ephesians 2:8-10, "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. we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

It Will Pass - Are we Saved by Faith Alone? C H Spurgeon

Japan and the Samurai

“A truly brave man (ie. such as a samurai) is ever serene; he is never taken by surprise; nothing ruffles the equanimity of his spirit. In the heat of battle he remains cool; in the midst of catastrophes he keeps level his mind. Earthquakes do not shake him, he laughs at storms. We admire him as truly great, who, in the menacing presence of danger or death, retains his self-possession; who, for instance, can compose a poem under impending peril or hum a strain in the face of death. Such indulgence betraying no tremor in the writing or in the voice, is taken as an infallible index of a large nature—of what we call a capacious mind (Yoyū), which, far from being pressed or crowded, has always room for something more.” Inazo Nitobe (a Quaker), Bushido, The Soul Of Japan


Check out these videos on the Samurai

The Greatest Samurai - Documentary on the Shogun Warlord - YouTube

Samurai Warrior - National Geographic Best Documentary 2015 - YouTube

The Last Samurai - The True Story - YouTube

Samurai Bow (Ancient Japan Documentary) | Timeline - YouTube

Forging a Katana ( Japanese Samurai Sword ) - YouTube

2 Timothy 2:1-3, "You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus…." 

The Expulsive Power of a New Affection

Thomas Chalmer's quote from one of his sermons entitled "The Expulsive Power of a New Affection"

"It is seldom that any of our bad habits or flaws disappear by a mere process of natural extinction at least it is very seldom that this is done by the instrumentality of reasoning, or by the force of mental determination, but what cannot be destroyed may be dispossessed, and one taste may be made to give way to another and to lose its power entirely as the reigning affection of the mind. The boy, who ceases at length to be a slave to his appetite does so because a more mature taste has brought it into subordination. The young man may cease to idolize sensual pleasure, but it is because the idol of wealth has gotten the ascendancy, so the love of money can cast out the love of sloth. However, even the love of money can cease to have mastery over the heart if it is drawn into the world of ideology and politics and he is now lorded over by a love of power and moral superiority. But there is not one of these transformations in which the heart is left without an object. The heart's desire for an ultimate object may be conquered, but it's desire to have SOME object is unconquerable. The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is through the expulsive power of a new one. It is therefore only when admitted into the number of God's children through faith in Jesus Christ that the spirit of adoption is poured out on us -- it is then that the heart, brought under the mastery of one great, predominate, and supreme affection is delivered from the tyranny of all its former desires and the only way that deliverance is possible. Therefore, it is not enough to hold out to your people the mirror of their own imperfections. It is not enough to come forth with a demonstration of the effanecent character of their enjoyments, or to speak to their consciences of their follies. Rather, make every legitimate method of finding access to their hearts for the love of him who is greater than the world."

Test of spiritual integrity

“The infallible test of spiritual integrity, Jesus says, is your private prayer life.” Tim Keller

Video on prayer by the Tim Kellers. Click here: ティム・ケラー牧師のどのように祈るか - 日本CGNTV :: 世界のための福音の通路 (This is in English with Japanese subtitles.)

Kathy says, 'He wants intimacy with us.' Communion and worship are our goals in our prayer life.

"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Matthew 26:41