But we preach Christ crucified...

"No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home, and never preach again until you have something worth preaching." C.H. Spurgeon

"It is rare for any movement of God to continue in its fervor for more than 3 generations. If the living person Jesus continues to remain the center you have a fighting chance that everything you’ve righteously worked hard to build may continue for many generations. The foundation is secure. This will require, however, constant reformation on your part. This is why the reformers of the 16th century believed in semper reformanda (always reforming). We continually need to make adjustments to keep Jesus the center of our sermons, church, and our very lives. Thankfully, we do not have a far away God, we have a near God with a living Savior." Tim Kimberly, Preaching Morality vs. Preaching Christ | Parchment and Pen

"But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." 1 Corinthians 1:23,24

Azumino Family Chapel...

Sunday, I spoke at Azumino Family Chapel on grace and gifts.

"All these (gifts) are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills." 1 Corinthians 12:11

But thou wast weak.

“The other gods were strong, but thou wast weak.

They rode, but thou didst stumble to thy throne.

And to our wounds, only god’s wounds can speak-

And not a god has wounds, but thou alone."

Edward Shillito, "Jesus of the Scars"

"But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:5 

Shillito was an English minister who survived the horrors of artillery, machine guns, and trench warfare during World War 1.

Sports Day...

Shane and Hosahna had a Sports Day at their Namiyanagi Elementary School last Saturday. They're in there somewhere.

Relay! Hosahna's in the pink.

Shane's race. I think he's on the left.

When we remember what a great pit we were pulled from

"When we go out to serve others, we will often find ourselves taken advantage of. It’s unavoidable. Yet when we remember what a great pit we were pulled from by the Head of the Church, and what it cost the King in His self-sacrifice, we will be rebuked, humbled, and given persistence to pull others from the same pit… This is the supreme cause of diaconal blindness in the local church. We have forgotten how great our own sins are, and feel, perhaps unconsciously, superior to the ‘unwashed’ sinners around us…" 

Jack Miller

"He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy...." Titus 3:5 

Shrine festival....

 A few days ago, the local shrine, Taga Jinja, had a local festival. This parade came before our church.

"Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we are indeed his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."
The Apostle Paul, Acts 17:22-31

Toru Hashimoto

Toru Hashimoto is the mayor of Osaka and flexing what seems to be unusual influence in Japan. He has started his own national party in a wave of popularity. There is an unusually high percentage of Japanese that like him. It may be more of a reaction against the poor showing of the present political parties ruling Japan though. 

But, the concern is that he seems to be anti-Christian. The reason I say that is because Christians in Japan often refuse to sing the Japanese national anthem "Kimigayo" and bow to the flag. Some of the words in the song seem to declare the emperor to be a god, singing praises to him. The flag seems to point out that he comes from the sun-goddes, Amaterasu Oomikami.

And Hashimoto is requiring his city employees-teacers of Osaka to sing the national anthem and bow to the flag. The Japan Times Online

The danger is that, "even when he (Hashimoto) flexed his ultranationalist muscle for the first time, creating legislation that would require Osaka teachers to stand and sing whenever the Kimigayo was played, the public barely blinked."

He has also said to his city employees, "You have no fundamental human rights."Japan Today So the issue goes well beyond the rights of Christians....

If there really is an anti-Christian trend, the church in Japan needs to be ready. And the church in around the world needs to pray. Japan in the past, during the Tokugawa era and World War 2, severely persecuted Christians. It could happen again.

Here are some articles concerning this subject. Old guard see despot in Hashimoto , How did we end up here, in 'Hashimotopia,' 2022?