Perseverance; October 26, 2021


2 Thessalonians 3:5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.

We love to talk about God’s love, and rightly so; the Bible is full of it. However, we aren’t so fond of talking about Christ’s perseverance! (The Japanese says “patient endurance.”) We live in an age of instant everything, and I personally think that has contributed to a kind of endemic immaturity in society. Psychologists have long recognized that tolerance for delayed gratification is a clear marker of maturity, but modern society seems to paint such tolerance as a bad thing! This has been a long time coming. I don’t know how many years ago it was now that a major store chain used the advertising catch copy, “So nice to know you don’t have to wait until tomorrow.” The “psychological disorder of the day” is ADD: Attention Deficit Disorder, where we don’t have the perseverance to stay with anything for more than the shortest amount of time. As a society, we are urgently in need of Christ’s perseverance! That’s not at all to say we aren’t constantly to be striving for improvement, in ourselves and in the things around us, but it is to say that we need to come to terms with the reality that things take time, and hang in there for the long haul. Peter famously dealt with this issue, writing, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8-9) What is required is faith that God is still God, whatever is happening or not happening, and trusting Him to work everything out on His schedule, not ours.

This certainly applies to me! We’ve been in Omura for 40 years now, and we certainly haven’t seen the massive harvest that we have desired. However, we have seen fruit, and indications that we have impacted people even when we weren’t thinking about it at the time. In a completely different area, I am impatient for Space X to make their first Starship orbital flight, but Elon Musk is a good example for me, because he manages to make progress in many areas at a remarkable rate precisely because he tolerates failures and doesn’t expect perfection the first time. I need to keep pressing into the things of the kingdom of God, not being down on myself or others because we don’t get it right all the time, but persevering toward the goal that has been placed before us, just as Paul said. (Philippians 3:12-14)

Father, thank You for all that You have been doing in recent days. Today has a fairly packed schedule, but You’ll get me through today as well. Help me indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, trusting You with every detail of my life so that Your plans for me may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Motivation; October 25, 2021


2 Thessalonians 1:11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.

It is good to see the affection with which Paul writes some of his letters, particularly to the Philippians and the Thessalonians. Here, it’s striking that in verse 3 he writes that God has answered a specific prayer he prayed for them in 1 Thessalonians 3:12. They are going through some hard times with persecution, but Paul is feeling very pleased with them, and it shows in various ways. Here, he intensifies his prayers for them, asking God’s blessings on every good purpose and every act of faith. (The Japanese renders “good purpose” as “request/desire that longs for righteousness.”) It was people like this that gave Paul motivation to keep going through all he endured. I wrote about that just two days ago! When we see God working in people because of what He has done through us, it makes it all worth it! The world tries to give us all sorts of goals, involving money, influence, pleasure, and the like, but absolutely nothing can top being aware of being used by God for His purposes in drawing people to Him. When we have that straight in our own heart and mind, it clears up all sorts of conflicts.

I have just had a taste of that, being aware of God using me to touch people in all that went on with the service and then the funeral we had yesterday, and then on top of that, with a phone call with a son in the Lord last night. I almost laughed out loud when he reported to me some of what is going on with him, because of how beautifully God is working things together for great good. I can certainly pray this prayer for him! There have been times through the years when I have indeed thought that it would be merciful of God to take me home then and there, but times like this more than balance that out. It is a confirmation of what Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17) When I can have feedback like this here and now, how glorious will it be when I’m in heaven?! Recently we have had word of two dear friends who have “graduated,” and as I wrote to the husband of one of them, we rejoice with them as they go to their glorious reward, even as we grieve with those they leave behind. There are all sorts of irritations in this life, just as Jesus said, (John 16:33) but every once in a while the Lord reminds us that ultimately, they are no big deal.

Father, thank You indeed for all that You are doing, and for allowing me to be a small part of it. May I be less and less distracted by all the other stuff and more and more available to You for whatever You want to do through me, for the blessing of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Music; October 24, 2021


1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

This last part of this letter has several pithy statements that are justly famous and loved. These two verses stick in my heart and mind because from the 2nd half of verse 23 through verse 24, the Japanese translation I use has been set verbatim to music, and it’s a very catchy tune! At least from the days of David, and probably from the beginning of mankind, music has been used not only for simple pleasure but also to implant truth in our minds and hearts. We speak of “ear worms” that keep running through our minds. When the lyrics are Scripture, that’s not a bad thing at all! Setting Scripture to music saw a real revival with the Charismatic Movement. Some people in more traditional churches were dismissive, calling such songs “choruses” because of their (usual) brevity, failing to recognize that sometimes the theology expressed in their beloved hymns was shaky at best! Certainly there are magnificent hymns that convey Biblical truth, but every musical style can be put to the service of God, and should be. We should use whatever tools are available to do what the Psalmist said – and this too has been set to music! “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)

Anyone who reads my blog very much knows that I come from a very musical family, and I quote or reference songs frequently. I am very grateful for music and look forward to heaven, where even the grass and trees sing to God! (Isaiah 55:12. My wife experienced this personally in her Near Death Experience.) I couldn’t begin to count how many times God has used songs to encourage me, comfort me, and even guide me. I never want to misuse music, particularly since the devil loves to do that. I think that music is right up there with sex in the list of things that God gave for great blessing and the devil does all he can to twist, distort, and profane. I am to use the musical gifts I have been given to bless God and bless those around me, so that God alone may receive all the glory.

Father, thank You indeed for music, and for immersing me in it from before my birth. Thank You for the assurance I have that I will be immersed in it after my physical death, as well! Help me indeed use it as You desire and intend, for the blessing of everyone involved and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Pastoral Ministry; October 23, 2021


1 Thessalonians 3:8-9 For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?

Why would anyone become a pastor? The hours are totally irregular, the stresses are often high, and the pay is seldom high. The answer is right here. The level of satisfaction, accomplishment, and yes, joy, when believers really “get it” and stand firm in the Lord is worth it all! There’s an expression here that translates perfectly into Japanese, but isn’t native to English, that catches it very well. The NIV renders it as “really live,” but it’s a little bit more of “have a reason to live.” I’ve seen a couple of articles recently by Americans who’ve discovered the Japanese expression and concept, and their excitement was a little amusing to me, since I’ve known and understood it since childhood. Paul’s words here give the picture very well, because having a reason to live is certainly something to be thankful for. This also ties into the matter of legacy, because spiritual children beat out just about anything else you could leave behind when you die. Some pastors, even are consumed with buildings and programs and the like, wondering how they will be remembered, when none of that is eternal and human souls are. Paul isn’t saying that the Thessalonian believers are perfect, but he is assured that they are established in Christ, and that’s the important thing. If pastors indeed placed their priority on establishing believers in Christ, churches and society as a whole would be far better!

I’m in the middle of another practicum in this very issue. As I was typing this I had a call from someone who has only just become connected to this church, saying that their 97-year-old mother had just passed away, so I had to call to make arrangements for a casket and hearse and the like, and now we have the issues of when to have the wake and funeral. The members of this family aren’t my spiritual children, since I only just met them, but I have peace that their faith is genuine, including that of the one who has just passed. This is going to be an opportunity to act as Christ’s body indeed, not only in comforting the family but in testifying to the Buddhist relatives who will be involved. I don’t have the wisdom or organizational skills to handle it all, but God certainly does, so I’m to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him. This will be an opportunity for the family to integrate fully into the church, as well as for us all to proclaim our hope of eternal life, and for that I can rejoice indeed!

Father, thank You for all that You take me through, and that You make it all worth it indeed. The scheduling issues loom rather large in my mind at the moment, but I know that You have the perfect plan for that. I pray that everyone involved would recognize and follow Your schedule, with peace and even joy. May we function as the Body of Christ indeed, doing Your will on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Thoughts and Prayers; October 22, 2021


Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Translation is an interesting thing. Often a variety of translations can be entirely justified from exactly the same original. Here, the Japanese says, “Be relentless in prayer.” That carries a slightly different feeling than “Devote yourselves to prayer,” but both seem quite applicable to the subject of prayer. Too often we take prayer lightly, even casually, and don’t stick with it. That’s not a good idea! Recently the expression, “thoughts and prayers” has become common, at least in public news reports, in relation to tragic situations, and that has been ridiculed by some who don’t have faith. To be honest, “sending warm thoughts” has always seemed pretty futile, because it is man-centered. It is when our thoughts are directed to the One who has all power and is defined by love (1 John 4:8) that they make a difference. Prayer, on the other hand, can be incredibly powerful. In my childhood we could pick up the AM broadcasts of the Far East Network from the Itazuke Air Force Base where I and my siblings went to school. It seems unthinkable in the political climate of today, but there was a program sponsored by the Catholics that had the tag line, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” That is an extremely accurate statement! Paul was acutely aware of the value of prayer, which is why he often asked for prayer, as he does right after this statement, and he mentions his prayers for others. Prayer remains a mystery, because why would the omnipotent Creator listen to such as we are? However, there is a huge mountain of evidence that He does listen, proving that He is indeed love, and that somehow our prayers make a difference. We make a huge mistake when we take prayer lightly, or indeed when we make it humanistic with “thoughts and prayers.” That expression is valid only when our thoughts prompt us to pray, because it is the prayers that matter.

As I have written many times, I was raised in a home where prayer was as natural as breathing. That was an incredible blessing, but it carried the danger of familiarity breeding contempt. Even with that background, sometimes I don’t think to pray! I indeed need to be relentless in prayer, alert to what is happening and filled with gratitude toward my gracious Father to whom I pray. I am to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in my prayers, because there is literally no end to things that would benefit from prayer, and God assigns different people to different things. I’m not to feel guilty for “I didn’t pray about that,” but as Paul says here, I am to be alert and relentless so that my prayers may be useful to God in establishing His rule and reign, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this clear reminder. Thank You that You continue to grow me in prayer, so that I may be a relentless warrior indeed in Your army. May my prayers be fully in line with Your will in every detail, so that I may be an effective servant bearing abundant fruit for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Distance Ministry; October 21, 2021


Colossians 1:9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Colossians stands out among Paul’s letters as the only one written to people he had never met. He hadn’t been to Rome at the time he wrote that letter, but he at least knew several people there. His disciple Epaphras had gone to Colosse and evangelized very effectively, and this is Paul’s follow-up to that. He felt responsibility for the Colossian believers, not just because they were his spiritual “grandchildren” but because he was concerned for the Church at large, wanting all believers to be genuine and walk in all that Christ had for them. Prayer is the perfect answer to such a situation, because in prayer we are talking to One for whom time and distance have virtually no meaning. At the same time, it’s very encouraging and comforting to know you are being prayed for, and letters are an effective tool for that. Today, with electronic communications, it’s much faster and easier to share such blessings. As a teacher, Paul didn’t hold back in expressing truth even to people he had never met. This letter was a way of being an instrument of God’s answering the very thing he prays in this verse. Any time we pray we need to hold ourselves available for God to use us to answer that for which we are praying. If you pray a lot for world missions, you need to be willing to go as a missionary, whether or not God sends you. If you pray for people’s physical needs to be met, you need to be willing to share what God has given you materially. James was rather direct about that last point! (James 2:15-16) (Actually, James was direct about a number of things, which is why his letter is so valuable.) That said, often we don’t have the resources in ourselves to meet the needs for which we pray, but we are praying to the Creator of the universe, and He is never short of resources!

I feel this is very applicable to me. Not only have I discovered how much difference it makes for people to be praying for me, (as I have written before) with my blog I am touching many people I have never met. Some of them are already strong believers, some are struggling, and some are simply seeking or even just curious, never having enthroned Jesus in their heart. I am to communicate God’s truth in love to them all, trusting the Holy Spirit to sort it all out and plant it in their hearts, just as Paul did with the Colossians. In doing that, however, I must never forget to pray for them, or for the people in the various groups to which I am invited to speak. As again James said, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16) There is little if anything I can do in my own strength and wisdom, either at a distance or in person, but God is big enough to use me in any circumstances, and I need to be willing and available.

Father, thank You for this Word of encouragement. Help me follow through! I do thank You for the various methods of communication that are available. May I use them effectively by Your Spirit, accomplishing Your will for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Faith vs. Anxiety; October 20, 2021


Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

It seems strange to be writing on a passage that has been so familiar for so long, but I must not let familiarity breed contempt. This passage, properly applied, should empty most of the psychiatric wards around the world, but it doesn’t, because we fail to really believe it and apply it. We fail to believe that anxiety really is a choice, and it is antithetical to faith. When we really believe that God is good, that He loves us enough to send His Son to die in our place so that we can live eternally with Him, then anxiety becomes out of the question. Like the father of the epileptic boy, we cry out, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) We say we believe, and we aren’t lying, but the depth of our faith can really be tested. People all over the world are desperate for the peace that comes only by resting, abiding in Christ. Jesus words right after washing His disciples’ feet are applicable to every truth in the Bible: “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:17) Like James said, failing to apply the truth we know is just deceiving ourselves. (James 1:22)

It’s been several years now since the Lord told me specifically and personally to rest, relax, and rejoice. I’m still learning! I love to be in control of things, but with control comes responsibility. I am fully accountable for things that are in my control, but I’ve got to be at peace with the vast majority of things that are not in my control. The hardest part comes with the things that I would like to be in my control, but aren’t. I am to apply myself faithfully and diligently to the various tasks at hand, but recognize constantly that the power, the ability, to do them comes from God and doesn’t originate with me. I am to be a faithful steward, just as Paul said. (1 Corinthians 4:2) That includes stewardship of my body, my time, and my thoughts. It’s that last bit that this passage is dealing with. When my thoughts go astray, I’m to choose to bring them back into line. It’s spiritual warfare, again just as Paul said. (2 Corinthians 10:5) As the hymn says, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus.” The devil does all he can to steal, or at least damage, my peace. It must be my choice to submit to God and resist the devil, (James 4:7) because only then will I walk in the overflowing blessings that God has prepared for me.

Father, thank You for this reminder of truth that I have known for a long time. Help me indeed walk it out in every detail, so that Your purposes for me may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Living in God’s Grace; October 19, 2021


Philippians 1:7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.

Philippians is the warmest of Paul’s letters to churches. That’s probably related to the very dramatic way the church was started, as recorded in Acts 16, but clearly the people of that church felt very warmly about Paul as well. The verse ahead of this, about being confident that God would complete His work in the believers, is a very famous one that I frequently write on the flyleaf of Bibles I give to people when they are baptized, but this verse caught my eye for a different reason. We sometimes separate our lives into different categories, such as “serving God” and “taking care of business.” Paul here mentions being imprisoned, where he could do very little, and proclaiming the Gospel as a bold witness, and clearly lumps both together as instances of God’s grace. I think we need to realize that every facet of our lives is included in God’s plan for us, and is an opportunity for Him to work in and through us. It was precisely when Paul was imprisoned, greatly limited in his activities, that he wrote most of the letters that form so much of the New Testament. It is risky for us to exclude any part of our lives from our active dependence on and obedience to God. Psychologically speaking, men tend to be more likely to compartmentalize their lives than women are. Sometimes it can be very helpful to “leave work at work” in order to relax and relate will to your family at home, but taken too far, it can blind us to all sorts of things. We need to remember that we belong to God, and He loves us as His children, all the time, and not just when we are “doing something religious.”

I have known this as objective fact for a long time, but I still tend to grade myself as to whether a particular activity is “spiritual.” The thing is, I am a spiritual being inhabiting a body, so everything I do is spiritual, in one way or another. Getting a good night’s sleep is as important as standing in the pulpit. I do a wide variety of things, giving some people the impression that I am terribly busy, but I actually have less rigidity to my schedule than most people, I think. That makes it all the more important that I submit every part of my schedule to the Lord, for Him to use me as He sees fit. Since I live in the church building all sorts of lines tend to get blurred, but I need to keep the awareness that every moment of my life is at God’s service, and a demonstration of His grace.

Father, thank You for Your amazing grace that indeed touches every moment of my life, every part of my being. Help me be active in allowing that grace to flow through me whatever I am doing, even if it looks like I am doing nothing! May I be a good servant, a child who does exactly as You desire, for the blessing of all I touch and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Spiritual Warfare; October 18. 2021


Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

This whole passage could hardly seem more timely for any aware believer today. The world is a mess, and the spiritual warfare is becoming more and more obvious. In America the fight seems pretty intense, but the devil was laying the groundwork for that in the universities from over 100 years ago. He was able to do that because the believers, the Church, seemed largely asleep to it all. That’s why this verse seems so extremely appropriate. It is a command. We often don’t think we can choose to be strong, but the strength involved here isn’t merely human, it’s divine. In Christ we can indeed choose to be strong, and we urgently need to do so. We have far too many “doormat Christians” who have no idea how to fight! I’m not talking about martial arts and the like, but the spiritual warfare that is discussed in the following verses. Defensive armor and the sword of the Spirit are mentioned, but any military in the world knows that you have to have physical strength and endurance to be able to handle those tools. I wouldn’t want to be in a physical contest against a seal team member, for example! Physical strength isn’t the issue in spiritual warfare, but spiritual strength certainly is, and far too many Christians are spiritual wimps. Just as getting into physical shape requires consistent choices, and sometimes hard ones, getting into good spiritual shape requires adjusting your priorities, placing Christ first and foremost, valuing intimacy with the Holy Spirit above the world’s pleasures. Such choices are subject to our will and so can be commanded, as Paul does here. Like good soldiers, we need to salute and say, “Yes, Sir!”

I certainly wasn’t pleased at the time, but I think it was God’s good grace to me that I got my draft notice back in 1970. I knew it was God’s grace that I was assigned to Hawaii rather than Vietnam, but I didn’t recognize that the training itself was valuable to me spiritually. Getting out of training, I was in the best physical shape of my life, and I was prepared to use a wide variety of weapons. Rappelling out of a helicopter was actually fun! Part of that training was in taking orders and responding immediately. Of course, that places heavy responsibility on those giving the orders. On the human scale, sometimes those orders were good and sometimes they weren’t, but to come back to the subject of spiritual warfare, God only gives good orders. In the Church, people in positions of responsibility need to be careful they only repeat God’s orders, and not generate orders out of their own imagination and desires. As I’ve been writing this I have become aware of various areas in which I could certainly be more spiritually fit. I’m not to just acknowledge that but act on it, as James said. (James 1:22) In the Army I rose to E5 (sergeant), but there are such things as battlefield commissions. I have no real idea what my rank would be in God’s army, but I know that my focus must be on my Supreme Commander, to obey without hesitation or complaint.

Father, thank You for this call to attention. Thank You for the many things You are doing in and around me. Help me be fully obedient and effective as Your agent, so that indeed the devil’s works may be destroyed (1 John 3:8) and Your name acknowledged as holy as Your rule and reign is established and Your will done perfectly, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Infinite God; October 17, 2021


Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

This doxology has an idea in it that is of extreme importance, but that we have great difficulty accepting, and that is the point that God is able to do “immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.” We choke at that! Human religion is generated out of human imagination, and produces merely human results. We frankly don’t like to admit that God is far above, far greater, than all of that. It comes back to Isaiah’s description of an idol maker, carving an idol and praying to it, all the while using the rest of the same piece of wood for firewood. (Isaiah 44:13-17) We are so foolish! If our God is not transcendent, we are doing no more than worshiping ourselves – which we love to do! When we pray we need to realize that whatever we are praying about, it’s no big deal for God. He doesn’t rubber-stamp human prayers, but somehow He includes them in His overarching plans for the universe, and that in itself violates human logic! Power and ability are never issues with God. This doxology comes right after Paul’s prayer that we may “know [God’s] love that surpasses knowledge.” (Ephesians 3:19) Everywhere we turn we run into the reality that God and everything He is and does are beyond human comprehension, so we are totally dependent on Him revealing Himself to us. Actually, the whole Bible is a record of that. It is a testimony to His love that He has gone to such lengths to reveal Himself to us, even to the point of sending His Son.

Growing up in the home that I did, I thought I knew God and His love pretty well. I only knew the smallest fraction! My intellectual pride wanted to define God, and time and again He has shattered that definition. Just recently I have learned of people that I thought had died as unbelievers were actively seeking God as they neared the end. I may yet meet them in heaven! Yesterday I watched a testimony of a near-death experience (NDE) that certainly had some unconventional theology, but I can’t say that man didn’t have a very genuine encounter with God, and he was an adamant atheist before he died that first time. He is certainly a transformed person now! I know in my mind that God is both infinitely smarter and infinitely stronger than I am, but my stupid human pride doesn’t want to live that way. I am not to proclaim anything that isn’t in the Bible, but I need help in recognizing the boxes into which I’ve tried to put God, even while saying that we can’t put God into a box! Pride indeed makes us stupid. In full humility I need to recognize and receive all that He has been trying to show me all along, so that I may be transformed into the son, the servant, the instrument that He desires, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. I have used this passage countless times in talking with others, yet need to internalize it better myself! Help me be done with limiting You in any way, so that You will be free to use me or not use me as You desire, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Praise God!

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