Proclaiming the Gospel; May 6, 2026

Posted on May 8, 2026 by jgarrott

Acts 5:42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

I’ve recently quoted verse 41, about the apostles rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus, but this verse too is very important. They didn’t just rejoice, they acted, unceasingly proclaiming God’s truth. I like the way the ESV words it: “that the Christ is Jesus.” Many people in that day were looking forward eagerly to God’s Messiah to rescue them, particularly from the Romans, so what the apostles were saying was basically, “This guy you’re looking for? His name is Jesus, and we can tell you all about Him.” They probably wouldn’t articulate it that way, but a lot of people even today are looking for a savior. We can tell them about Him, and that He isn’t just a savior, He’s the Savior, God’s answer for all the sins of mankind. However, to do that effectively, we’ve got to have an active, personal relationship with Him ourselves. Too many church members are “paper Christians,” people who’ve gone through the motions but aren’t actually born again through repentance and faith. We need to examine ourselves on that point first, to be sure that we have an ongoing relationship with the One who gave His life for us, so that we might indeed possess that life through all eternity. Anything less is a huge waste, not to mention, probably self-deception. Jesus said that on His return, He will say to many, “Depart from me! I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:23) When we truly have a relationship with Him, telling others about Him is a joy and privilege, and never a burden.

I’ve never considered myself to be particularly gifted in evangelism, but there are indeed quite a few for whom my input has been decisive in opening their hearts to Jesus as Lord. That said, I have without question failed to make the most of some of the opportunities God has given me. I need to be both available and obedient! I want what was said about the early disciples to be true of me as well. I’m certainly no better than they are! I need to be active in pursuing God’s course of action, and not be trying to figure everything out and dictate things the way I want them to be. God always has the best idea, and it is my privilege and responsibility to act as God directs by His Spirit. If I will do that, then we will become effective indeed in God’s kingdom, destroying the works of the devil and setting people free to speak, act, and believe, so that we will all be set free to delight in the goodness of God.

Father, thank You for this reminder. May I be consistently bold in my proclamation of Your Gospel, knowing that it has the power to transform lives and giving it every opportunity to do so, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Obeying God; May 5, 2026

Posted on May 8, 2026 by jgarrott

Acts 5:29 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!”

This is a principle every disciple of Jesus Christ needs to learn and remember. It’s not that obeying people is inherently wrong. Some people act like it is! Indeed, Paul and Peter – the speaker here – both said we are to obey governmental authorities under normal circumstances. (Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:13) It is a very poor witness when Christians play fast and loose with regulations, like speed limits. However, when what people say conflicts with what God says, God is always supreme. Such cases have sadly become much more common in the US in recent years, with outright persecution arising in such places as Colorado. Petty tyrants hate it when people defy them for any reason! (I have felt quite an affinity for Jack Phillips, for example, since we share a name.) There can indeed be severe consequences for disobeying human authorities, as the apostles in this particular story found, but the rewards are always worth it. It is a major problem when we fail to recognize what God has said or is saying in our own situation. It is only when we are assured of God’s will that we are justified in disobeying properly constituted human authorities. With that assurance, however, we are to stand with Christ, just as the 1st Century believers did, even when it leads to persecution or even martyrdom.

I have never felt persecuted for my faith, and I have a strong dislike for arbitrary regulations. I have long said that Japanese school rules tend to be training in ignoring rules! However, that is a risky position to be in. I am not to be a scofflaw! At the same time, I am to support those who find themselves in conflict with government because of their obedience to Jesus Christ. Refusing to “affirm” something that is blatantly against the Biblical pattern for sexuality, for example, is something we all should emulate. The social consequences, at the very least, can be severe, and we must always speak the truth in love, but none of that is an excuse to not obey God. Slogans like “Love is love” horribly distort the clear Biblical pattern, and I’m not to succumb to “going with the flow” of societal opinion. I am to love people with Jesus’ love, that accepts them as they are but never leaves them as they are. We had a young man who had attended our church several times as a high school student, and when he came back after several years, he told us he had been to Thailand for “gender reassignment” surgery. He asked me if God would accept him as a woman, and I could only tell him that God accepted him as a person, but that God had not made any mistakes in His original creation. I think we were genuinely loving toward him, both before and after his surgery, but lying is not love, whatever people think.

Father, thank You for Your incredible grace. Help me be an instrument of that grace, but never as an excuse for violating Your laws. May I always walk in full obedience to You, whatever the consequences, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Spiritual Growth; May 4, 2026

Posted on May 5, 2026 by jgarrott

Acts 4:13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

Discipleship changes you. That should go without saying, but sometimes we seem to forget it. I say it frequently, but it’s true nonetheless: God accepts us as we are, but He never leaves us as we are. The apostles were indeed “uneducated, common men,” but they had been with Jesus. That experience of walking and living with Jesus had changed them fundamentally, and on top of that, He had given them His Spirit. We too need to so walk with Jesus that we are transformed. The song, Just a Closer Walk with Thee, has been on my mind ever since I woke up this morning, and it fits this perfectly. The closer and the longer we walk with Him, the more we are transformed into His likeness. Some people are frankly scared by that. They are used to themselves as they are, and the idea of transformation is scary. Conversely, sometimes we are depressed at how slowly we change, when we recognize those places in us that aren’t pleasing to God. However, as God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) Like Paul, then, we need to “delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10) We should expect to grow, and indeed, seek to grow, but at the same time, not be impatient with God’s timetable. We can’t accomplish it by ourselves, and need to remember that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)

As a pastor, I need to remember this for myself, and I also need to remember it in relation to the people under my care. There are times when I wish I could mature faster, and there are times when I wish they would mature faster! I am acutely aware that I can’t do it by my strength and wisdom, but God can do it, even using me. Again, as Paul said, “It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13) That’s what spiritual growth is all about. Parents want their children to grow in every way, but all they can do is provide nourishment and guidance. Seeing my children with their children on this trip has been a strong reminder of that. I didn’t do a perfect job, and neither are they perfect, but God is faithful, and growth is happening. I will shortly be returning to my spiritual children in Omura, and exactly the same thing may be said about them. I am to rest, relax, and rejoice in my Lord, allowing Him to grow us as He knows we need it, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the insight you gave me earlier this morning about my daughters. I pray that You would guide, guard, and comfort them, particularly regarding the mortality of their parents. They aren’t used to seeing us this old! I ask Your guidance and anointing for these last 24 hours, that Cathy and I may leave with peace and joy all around, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Kingdom Values; May 3, 2026

Posted on May 4, 2026 by jgarrott

John 21:22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”

This interplay between Jesus and Peter is deeply meaningful, and John is the only person who could have recorded it, because Peter had already been martyred at the time it was written. It is significant that Jesus asked Peter about his love and commitment three times, because Peter had denied he knew Jesus three times. You could say this was a deliberate reversal of that betrayal. It is also significant that what Jesus asked of Peter didn’t deal with him personally so much as it dealt with his interactions with other believers. Being self-centered is never the right course! And that leads us specifically to this verse. We are to be outward-centered when it comes to ministry, but inward-centered when it comes to responsibility and accountability. We are extremely prone to compare ourselves to others, either favorably or unfavorably. Jesus is here saying, “That’s none of your business.” Our focus is to be on our Lord, to be and do what He desires of us. After all, He gave Himself completely for us! Any time we get caught up in a pity party, we need to remember His Passion. Any time we get a swelled head, we need to remember that He created every atom in our bodies, and that it is only by His grace that we exist at all. The differences in priorities and values between this world and the kingdom of God are at times extreme! Recently I have been reminded of the differences between Japan and America, in terms of expectations and everything else, but they are nothing compared to the differences between the world system and the kingdom of God. That’s why we need to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds,” as Paul put it. (Romans 12:2) Otherwise, we will never rise above the world and its muck, to soar into the heights God intends for us.

This is something I have known to some degree for a long time, but God continues to work it into me. I’m very grateful for His patient persistence! I have fought with pride all my life, and sometimes God’s grace in that area has been painful. Pride is certainly an example of being self-centered. I have also been judgmental of others, and not always on the basis of Biblical standards. I have no valid excuses, though I have tried to excuse myself many times. I need to take Jesus’ words to Peter to heart and strive to be fully obedient to Him, focusing on others only in how He wants to bless them through me, for His glory alone.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You are doing in and around me in these days. Thank You that my grandson’s performance in the musical drama was exemplary, and that last night was a fitting climax to that. Thank You for everything You enabled us to do yesterday, and that we get to worship You in a group setting today. Thank You that our trip is drawing to a close, and we’ll be back in Omura this week. I pray that my words and actions, today and each day, would be properly focused on Christ Jesus my Lord, for the blessing of the people around me and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Peace; May 2, 2026

Posted on May 3, 2026 by jgarrott

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

As many time as I have quoted this verse, in countless contexts and not just messages, I still can’t help writing on it yet again. Jesus has just told His disciples very clearly that He was about to leave them and go to the Father. (verse 28) Despite their relief at being spoken to plainly, this had to be pretty upsetting information. For over three years they had spent essentially their every waking hour with Him, and the idea that that was going to end had to be a tremendous blow. They still didn’t know the absolutely horrible circumstances Jesus’ initial departure would involve, so Jesus was warning them, as gently as He could, so that, as He says here, they could have some degree, at least, of peace. They simply could not imagine, as none of us could have in their place, how it was all going to work out, so He cushioned the blow as best He could with these words. We too need to take these words to heart, because we need His peace no less than the disciples present did. Just a few minutes before this, Jesus had said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27) The disciples were going to have plenty of reason to be unpeaceful and afraid, and here Jesus acknowledges that fully. That’s why it’s so powerful that He tells them, “Take heart, for I have overcome the world.” It has deeply impressed me that He said this before He was scourged and crucified. If He had overcome the world, past tense, why did He go through with all of that? Because it was necessary for our redemption, as He took the penalty for the sins of all mankind on Himself. That should give us the assurance that our sins are paid for, that in Him, we are righteous and holy before God. When we have that assurance, we have peace the world cannot shake.

As much as I love this verse, and as assured of salvation as I am, I still lose my peace at times – though not my salvation, as I started to write. My faith is still imperfect, as is my obedience. I must remember and acknowledge that, maintaining full gratitude for God’s absolutely amazing grace. I am to be an instrument of God’s peace to those around me, and I’m certainly imperfect at that. The more I walk and talk with my Lord, the more accurately I will reflect His character, and that is my desire. Jesus told us to “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” (Matthew 5:48) and the only way I can do that is to be perfectly submitted and obedient to my Lord Jesus.

Father, thank You for this reminder, which also reminds me of how far I have to go! Thank You for the awareness of my own imperfections, and for the awareness of Your grace that overrides all of that. May I apply more and more fully the truth that You have placed in me, for the blessing of those around me and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Inquiring and Asking; May 1, 2026

Posted on May 2, 2026 by jgarrott

John 16:23 “In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”

This verse is famous, but in English it’s a bit confusing. The Japanese makes it a lot clearer. The first “ask” is actually, “inquire,” while the second “ask” is “request.” The disciples were confused by what Jesus had said about “a little while,” and “being seen.” They wanted to inquire what He meant by that, but they would have to find out by experience. Back in verse 13, Jesus had told them that the Holy Spirit would guide them into all truth, so there would be no need to inquire of Jesus in that sense. However, requests were a different matter. I have written on it countless times in the past, but the concept of requesting something in someone’s name was an established thing in those days. It meant acting completely in line with that person’s desires, will, and even personality. We very glibly tack “In Jesus’ name, amen,” onto our prayers, generally with no thought of whether those prayers are in line with Jesus’ character and will. I don’t think that works! We need to be aware that Jesus is Lord, and nothing that conflicts with His desires and purposes is ultimately going to succeed. We aren’t to avoid praying in Jesus’ name, certainly, but we need to be aware of all that it means, both in that moment and going forward into eternity. God knows and desires what is absolutely best for us, so seeking to be in line with that is absolutely no hardship.

I have known this as fact for many, many years, but I’m still learning to practice it in daily living. This trip has been a good exercise in that. A week from now we will be back in Omura, seeking to recover from jetlag and getting back into the rhythm of our “normal” life. However, this trip has been a reminder that our time is in God’s hands, and our lives are to be what God says they are to be. I am not to be anxious about anything (as the Bible tells us in multiple places) but rather rest, relax, and rejoice in my Lord, as He told me personally many years ago now. Right now, we have things on the schedule, as well as various frustrations, but none of that is any sort of big deal for God. His Spirit will remind us of the things we need to know but have forgotten, and His grace and power will carry us through everything on His schedule, so we don’t need to worry about our own schedule. He has shown Himself faithful, not only on this trip but throughout our lives. We need to recognize that fully, and delight in Him in gratitude and praise, so that He may delight in us.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I do ask for clear guidance as to what we still need to purchase, and for whom. Losing that list has stressed Cathy out a lot, but You can enable us to recreate it, as I believe You want us to do. Guide as we go to the bank this morning and then as we go shopping, and then pour Your blessings out on the drama performance this evening. May our grandson and all his fellow cast members not only do their best, but also grow in the process, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Discipleship; April 30, 2026

Posted on May 1, 2026 by jgarrott

John 16:1 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away.”

Jesus didn’t pull any punches. His next remarks after this are downright scary. This is an area in which the Church in some countries really drops the ball, I think. People expect being a Christian to be “your best life now,” all sweetness and light, and so, as in Jesus’ parable of the seed and the soil, the minute difficulties come, they drop away. We aren’t called to get people to say the right words, we are called to make them true disciples of Jesus Christ, and sometimes that can invite martyrdom. In countries like the US, that’s not likely to be physical, but it can interfere with social interactions and job promotions at times. As Paul said, people can’t understand why we don’t participate with them in their debauchery. (Galatians 5:19) We need to understand that we don’t just “accept Jesus as our Savior,” we acknowledge Him as Lord, and that simple fact changes our universe. When we are in His camp, we can expect to be treated as He was. That includes respect and love from some quarters, but hatred and persecution from others. We aren’t to be surprised at that, but like the early apostles, rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer disgrace for His name. (Acts 5:41)

I once baptized a man who never showed his face in our church again after that. I feel sure he thought his baptism would solve all his problems, and when it didn’t, he split. I also had someone complain that I preached too much about commitment, and not enough about “the Gospel.” I wonder what his definition of the Gospel was? I don’t feel like I have suffered particularly for my faith, but I am definitely uncompromising about my priorities, and sometime even people close to me seem irritated by that. I am not to put them down, but continue speaking the truth in love, both verbally and in action. Eternal life in Jesus Christ is certainly worth far more than anything the world can offer, or throw at me, for that matter.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your incredible grace toward me. May I be an effective conduit of that grace toward all with whom I interact, whether they treat me well or not, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Spirit of Truth; April 29, 2026

Posted on May 1, 2026 by jgarrott

John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.”

Two things strike me from this verse. The first is that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. In a sense, all genuine truth is imparted from Him. As Jesus had said earlier, the devil is “a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) He hates truth in all its forms, and is constantly working to deceive and obfuscate. The Holy Spirit, in contrast, always speaks the truth in love. (Ephesians 4:15) When we lie, we are serving the devil. When we speak the truth in love, we are operating in the Holy Spirit. The second thing from this verse is that the Spirit bears witness about Jesus. If something seems spiritual but doesn’t exalt Jesus, then the spirit involved isn’t the Holy Spirit! It’s not wrong to appreciate the Holy Spirit and desire to be filled more and more by Him, but that must always increase our love for and focus on Jesus. There are some churches that seem to reduce Jesus to a secondary role, they are so focused on the Spirit, but I think that’s a deception of the devil. Genuinely being filled with the Spirit means being filled with Jesus, making us more and more like Him. Yes, we are to seek the Holy Spirit and His gifts, but never at the expense of our devotion to Jesus.

I have been involved in the Charismatic Movement since 1973, and was baptized in the Holy Spirit in 1974, and I have seen countless violations of the principles I have just delineated. I can’t say I haven’t violated them myself! However, I have also seen countless believers so in love with Jesus that they radiated His presence. That is my goal! Last night Cathy was used by God to talk a woman down from suicide, and that was totally unexpected. However, it was Jesus, manifesting Himself through her by the power of the Holy Spirit. I don’t know how Jesus wants to use me each day, but I am to hold myself available to Him at all times. I don’t know when or how He will bring me into contact with a need He wants to meet. Whatever and whenever that is, I want to be His agent for His glory.

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. Thank You indeed for using Cathy to save that woman’s life. Thank You for the communication opportunity You gave me while she was on the phone. I pray that I may be sensitive and available to You continuously, doing Your will whether it seems “spiritual” or not, so that the lies of the enemy may be exposed and defeated and people be set free by Your truth, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Love; April 28, 2026

Posted on April 29, 2026 by jgarrott

John 15:17 “This is my command: Love each other.”

I am really struck by how much Jesus focused on love with His disciples. He taught the multitudes, including them, many things, but when it was just Him and the 12, He really homed in on love. As I keep being reminded, that’s not simply a matter of feelings, and it’s certainly not a rejection of holiness, but a deep, bedrock reality that’s hard to overstate. I’m convinced that God chose Greek as the language for the New Covenant precisely because it has different words for different kinds of love, and few other languages have that. They range from storge, which is essentially like, to agape, which is God’s unconditional love. We spend our whole lives learning what agape is all about, and we won’t have it perfectly until we are before the throne in heaven. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t experience or even express it to a degree here. In fact, Jesus Himself referenced that in verse 13: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Right after that, He proclaimed that His disciples were His friends, and then demonstrated that by going to the cross for them. We take love too lightly! Jesus wanted His disciples, then and now, to recognize His love for them and allow that love to flow through them to each other. As came out a couple of days ago, that is to be the distinguishing characteristic of a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

I have been bathed in love since before my birth, and I’m grateful not only for the love but also for the awareness of it. I see so many people who are largely unaware of the love that actually surrounds them. Part of that is from their distorted definition of love, equating it to pandering to their selfishness, when agape isn’t that at all. As a pastor and simply as a believer, my task is to express God’s love to everyone around me, whether they receive it as love or not. And sometimes they don’t! On this trip we have had many opportunities to express love to many people, and they have reflected it back to us. Cathy has expressed love to many total strangers in airports, and they have generally responded very well. And of course, our interactions with family and close friends have been precious. We have one week to go on this trip, and I look forward to the love that will flow in every direction, as well as the love that will greet us when we return to Omura. I am to be an agent of God’s love at all times in every place, building up the Body of Christ for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for these days we have with our older daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter. May we not be greedy, but rejoice to be part of the flow of Your love, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Joy of God’s Word; April 27, 2026

Posted on April 28, 2026 by jgarrott

John 15:11 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

The Upper Room Discourse, that Jesus said to His disciples just before His period of intense suffering that we call His Passion, is absolutely loaded with deep, powerful teaching that He wanted them to have to protect them from all that was about to happen. That is to say, it wasn’t to load His disciples, including us, with all sorts of rules and regulations, it was to give us His joy, to a degree the world absolutely cannot understand. If you can read the Upper Room Discourse without getting happy, you really haven’t read it! God, incarnate in His Son, is telling us how to receive and operate in His power and holiness and love, and that is absolutely astounding. We get bogged down with all the junk in this world, sometimes literally, with all our material possessions, but if we will take in all that Jesus says to us, we will be liberated from all that, using the material as tools rather than being controlled by it and walking in the Spirit, just as the song says: “Walking in the Spirit, abiding in His mercy; in the presence of the Lord is great joy.” God doesn’t want to burden us, He wants to liberate us from all the chains of deception that the devil piles on us. It wasn’t accidental that Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John ) We need to read the Bible not as obligation, but with joy and anticipation, as delicious nourishment for our spirit, soul, and body. As Jesus quoted to the devil, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4, Deuteronomy 8:3) We should rejoice in the incredible blessing it is that God makes His Word available to us in the Bible.

I first read through the Bible by the time I was 10, and I still read it daily. It is a joy indeed! I certainly didn’t grasp all of it as a child, because I don’t grasp all of it now! Every time I read with expectation, God meets that expectation abundantly. As a pastor, my greatest desire is that each of the people under my care learn to read the Bible that way, to know that God cares enough about them to speak to them individually, personally, through His Word. That is a joy the world cannot touch, and I want those in my care to experience it, just as Jesus says in this verse. The SOAP method of personal devotions, as taught by Wayne Cordeiro, has been very helpful in my own life, with Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer being the steps to apply when reading, and I am mystified as to why some people seem to resist doing it that way so hard. They either see it as obligation, or they want to be spoon-fed with what someone else got from the Bible. As a matter of fact, I do make my own devotions available as a blog for others to enjoy, and have over a thousand subscribers, but my prayer is that they would discover how to take it in for themselves, to be the strong children that God desires.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Wayne’s faithfulness to share the reading method You showed him. I do pray that more and more of Your children would have Your joy in taking in Your Word, for their eternal blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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