In 2007, we launched the Nippon Initiative as part of our church's Something Greater Project. The Nippon Initiative came into existence as the result of a trip Dale and I made there, along with Elliott, in the fall of 2006. Our hearts were overwhelmed with the obvious lack of a response to the Gospel visible there at every turn. We launched the Nippon Initiative with three purposes in mind: (1) to encourage exisiting ministries in Japan; (2) to raise awareness of the tremendous spiritual need there; and (3) to recruit college students and recent college graduates for both short and long term missions among the Japanese. Over the years since our initial trip, God has blessed tremendously with numerous contacts and instances of effective ministry, along with much insight into the work still needing to be done. Today, the sad statistic remains: less than 1/2 of 1% of Japanese people are believers in Christ.
The exciting news is, we have another fantastic team assembled for our next trip later this summer. Pastor Doug and I, and our families, will be leading a group of eight students from Faith Baptist Bible College, along with their missions professor and wife, to Japan from July 13-28.
Dale and I, Elliott, Mindy, and the Baker children leave Indianapolis for Tokyo on July 13. Pastor Doug will be meeting the FBBC students in Minneapolis on July 14 and then heading out from there with them to join us in Japan. Once in Japan, we will be doing some ministry all together and some in smaller separate groups. Dale, Elliott, and I will be returning July 23, several days earlier than the rest of the team, which will be coming back on July 28.
We covet your prayers for this team of young people as we mentor and share with them our burden for Japan. We will be working in several churches and ministering on at least one university campus in Tokyo. Pray that the students' hearts will be open to the Lord impressing them with a strong burden to reach more Japanese people. I know they are excited about the trip on this end of things. They have prayed and worked hard to raise the cost of their expenses for the trip, and they have been studying Japanese culture and history. I believe the Lord is going to give us a very successful time of ministry with them.
Finally, as you pray, please also remember the missionaries and pastors we will be working with. Many of them are discouraged at the slow pace of results there in Japan. Pray that God will richly bless their ministries and that He will allow us to be a source of special encouragement to them.
Your decisions on how to use the liberty you have in Christ affect more than just yourself. That's why "Love your neighbor as yourself" is so valuable as a life-organizing principle. "Love your neighbor as yourself" oozes with relational and social implications. But so does any lifestyle choice based on the values of the flesh.How you interact with popular culture or with the values of the world impacts others and influences their behavior. In the case of the Galatians, their works of discord, dissension, and faction-making (all "works of the flesh" according to 5:19-21a and evidence by their "biting and devouring one another" according to 5:15) brought them and others dangerously close to mutual destruction.The Apostle Paul tells the Galatians to "live by the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh" (5:16). Paul's words do not constitute a legalistic approach to making lifestyle decisions, nor do they allow one based on license. Instead, they form part of a framework for ensuring that our lifestyle decisions are not only good for us, but also truly an expression of love for our neighbor.We will look more closely at what it means to "live by the Spirit" in two Sundays. In the meantime, let me encourage you to raise your own awareness of the impact and influence of your own decisions about how to engage the world.
Poet John Donne wrote the well known words, "No man is an island...." Donne intended to focus attention on the realities of community and human interconnectedness in death, but his words also apply to how we live and to the choices we make about right and wrong. In 5:13, the Apostle Paul tells us: “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature.” The freedom Paul refers to is the freedom of huiothesia--the freedom of a responsible "adopted" adult son or daughter of God. It is not a license to live any old way we please.
We reject legalism as a means of establishing or securing righteousness in God’s eyes, but we also reject license too. We reject any suggestion that since we are forgiven in Christ, it no longer matters how we live.
In the second half of Galatians 5:13, Paul tells us to use our freedom “to serve one another in love.” He goes on to explain: “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Think about “Love your neighbor as yourself” not only as a command, but also as a universal principle capable of managing the liberty we have in Christ. “Is it the loving thing to do?” is a capable ally in determining what courses of action we should or shouldn’t take. It is a capable ally in determining how we interact with popular culture. It is a capable ally in determining our priorities, our plans, and our specific choices about what to do in any situation—“Is it the loving thing to do?” In our last study, I threw out two illustrations that I want to bring back up just now. The first was the issue of dressing modestly. I also talked about choosing whether or not to put away your shopping cart in the parking lot of the grocery store. Asking the question, “Is this the loving thing to do”, will help us to determine how best to use the liberty we have in Christ as we make decisions in relation to matters such as these. For example, Is leaving my shopping cart where it might hit and damage my neighbor's car--is that the loving thing to do? Will dressing in this manner promote or hinder my neighbor's spiritual well-being--is it the loving thing to do? We are commanded to take our neighbor into account when making choices about how to use our liberty in Christ. No one among us is an island. Whatever we choose impacts our neighbor in some fashion. It impacts or influences them for their benefit or for their harm. And so we are commanded to take our neighbor into account. Unfortunately, too many people couldn’t care less about how their choices impact and influence others. They say things like, “It’s my choice; it’s my body; it’s my life; it’s my time; it’s my mind…” and on and on. But this kind of thinking is disobedience to the command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
John Donne was right. Every person is connected to both God and others, both to God and neighbors, in virtually everything we do. Accept the challenge today of using the command, "Love your neighbor as yourself", as a universal principal to direct your interactions with others as well as your involvement with popular culture.
Sunday's Mother's Day study focused on Paul's description of Phoebe in Romans 16:1-2 as a saint, sister, servant, and helper. Though each of these are important, sister is the one that caught my attention, especially because of all the fascination with Venus, the pagan Roman goddess, in Phoebe's hometown of Cenchrea.
The pagan Roman goddess, Venus, was known for her beauty and physical charms. Most of the stories about her involve her using those gifts for some immoral purpose. In other words, the people of Cenchrea celebrated Venus and the way she related to people through her beauty and physical charms. By contrast, Paul's description of Phoebe as a sister tells us that Phoebe related to people through Jesus and her faith in Him.Whenever someone is properly related to Jesus through faith, Jesus becomes the mediator of that person's human relationships. In other words, all other relationships get defined through Him. If others around you are believers, through Jesus you become a sister or brother to them. If others around you are unbelievers, through Jesus you are a witness to them. Sister, brother, or witness--these terms involve intentionally looking at others primarily in terms of who they are in relation to Jesus, rather than in relation to our physical bodies, our selfish selves, or the Venus values of the world.
As you think of Phoebe this week, ask yourself this question: Which of my relationships would change, and how, if I were to begin defining all of my relationships through Jesus?
In 2 Corinthians 12:9, the Apostle Paul wrote: "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." In the previous chapter, Paul wrote something similar in verse 30: "If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness."
So how do we know if, like Paul, we too are boasting in our weaknesses in order to experience Christ's power? Here is a list of seven practices/characteristics of people who truly are trusting in Christ's power for life and ministry, rather than in their own. People who boast in their weakness...
1. Trust in Christ alone for righteousness, rather than any merit of their own. “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling” - This is the major point of Galatians.
2. Embrace and pursue values the world disparages, discards, or admires only from a distance. See Matthew 5:1-11.
3. Give generously. See 2 Corinthians 8-9.
4. Pray about everything. See Nehemiah 1:4; 2:4; 4:9; 6:9.
5. Constantly acknowledge the Lord and take into account His perspective. See Proverbs 3:5-6 and Psalm 37.
6. See needs as opportunities to experience God’s grace. See 2 Corinthians 11:30-33
7. Reject “comfort” zones as “power” zones. See 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.
Can you think of something to add to this list? Enter it below as a comment.
Dale and I, Elliott, Mindy, and the Baker children leave Indianapolis for Tokyo on July 13. Pastor Doug will be meeting the FBBC students in Minneapolis on July 14 and then heading out from there with them to join us in Japan. Once in Japan, we will be doing some ministry all together and some in smaller separate groups. Dale, Elliott, and I will be returning July 23, several days earlier than the rest of the team, which will be coming back on July 28.
