Evangelism; May 20, 2024

Posted on May 21, 2024 by jgarrott

Acts 28:24 Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.

I like the way the Japanese puts this: “Some people received what he said, but others did not try to believe.” That’s going to be the case every time we share the Gospel. That’s what human free will is all about. God, since He knows everything from and for all eternity, knows who will believe and who will not, but He doesn’t force anyone to believe, or conversely, keep them from believing. The Bible does speak of God “hardening the hearts” of some people, such as the Pharaoh of the Exodus, but that is simply a matter of confirming an existing inclination. The thing is, we can’t force anyone to believe anything. All we can do is present God’s truth in God’s love, and ask the Holy Spirit to take it from there. We often have trouble with that, so it’s important that the Bible records the “batting average” of people like Paul. If he didn’t have any better results than he did, then who are we to complain? However, one thing is certain: if we don’t share, then no one will believe, because they won’t know what they should believe. It’s like Yongi Cho of Korea said. “We don’t know why more people aren’t healed when we pray for them, but one thing is certain: if we don’t pray, no one will be healed!” We hear reports of God giving dreams and visions to people, particularly in Islamic countries, but those almost invariably tell the people to seek out a Christian, much as in the story of Cornelius in Acts 10. God chooses to use His children to generate more children, but just as the physical birth rate has dropped drastically in many countries, with people just choosing to not have children, so churches are dying out because of Christians choosing to not share the Gospel. If we will be faithful, God is always faithful, but the results are up to Him.

I have long bemoaned the fact that I’m not gifted as an evangelist, but I must never let that keep me from sharing the Gospel however the Lord allows. I’ve learned the hard way that American evangelist­ic techniques simply don’t work in Japan, because of the lack of a general cultural understanding of faith, but I have also seen that Japanese people are capable of as much devotion to Christ as people of any other nation, so I’ve got to keep giving as many people as possible the opportunity to believe. Yesterday’s 40th Anniversary Celebration was an enormous encouragement that God has indeed brought fruit from our labors, and there were quite a few people who seem “ripe for the picking.”

Father, thank You for all You did yesterday. I do ask for increased harvest from all the seed You have allowed us to sow. May Your children wake up to the privilege of bringing others into Your family, for the eternal blessing of all involved, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Obedience to God; May 19, 2024

Posted on May 20, 2024 by jgarrott

Acts 26:19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.”

How many of us are genuinely obedient to what God shows us? Not many people are given as dramatic a vision as Paul was, but God is faithful to guide His children. The thing is, we are too often like rebellious 2-year-olds, and our favorite word is NO. (Actually, we are more likely to behave like teenagers, thinking we know better than God, but the principle is the same.) The thing is, God is love, (1 John 4:8) and everything He tells us to do is motivated by that. And as John says in the very next chapter, it’s reciprocal: “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3) John was just echoing what he had heard Jesus say (John 14:15) and as he had experienced Jesus being. The closer we draw to Jesus, the more we open our hearts to His love, the better we will hear Him and the more obedient we will be. The thing is, Paul, while he was still called Saul, was totally dedicated to God, but in his ignorance and deception he was actively persecuting the very One he loved. He totally misunderstood the character of God, and thought that violence toward those he saw as apostate would be pleasing to God. We might be just as deceived! However, if the underlying love is there, God will always correct us, as strongly as necessary. Saul needed pretty strong correction! However, the track record of his obedience from that point is an example for us all to follow.

I’m going to be speaking on Vision this afternoon. I have never had a vision of the sort Saul had, nor a near-death experience, for that matter. However, I have felt God’s clear guidance countless times, and I am deeply grateful. I wish I could say I have always been obedient! I remember a song from Jesus Christ Superstar, that says, “I don’t know how to love him.” I am still learning how to love my Lord, in response to His infinite love toward me, but I think I have that in common with every other believer; none of us do it perfectly. I take great comfort in what Paul wrote to the Philippian believers: “It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13) And, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6) I am to keep following my physical father’s instructions, giving all I know of myself to all I know of Christ, and trust Him completely with the outcome.

Father, thank You for this reminder. It’s certainly timely! Thank You for all You have enabled us to do in preparation for today, and that You will bring it all to a successful conclusion. Help me and Cathy, particularly, to rest, relax, and rejoice in You throughout today, so that in our focus on You, You may be fully glorified. Thank You. Praise God!

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God’s Word of Grace; May 18, 2024

Posted on May 19, 2024 by jgarrott

Acts 20:32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

This farewell address by Paul to the elders of Ephesus is justly famous, because it describes a pattern of ministry that every minister should follow. Ephesus was special to Paul, because he stayed there longer than anywhere else once he started his active ministry, except for Rome, where he was imprisoned. Whether you are called to a traveling ministry, as he was, or to be planted in a specific location, the description from verse 18 on should be fairly descriptive of you, if you are faithful to God’s kingdom and the Body of Christ. It is this verse, however, that jumps out at me, because of the statement of dependence on the Word of God. Far too many ministers, churches, and even whole denominations seem to be losing their mooring in the Bible. When “variant translations” haven’t changed things sufficiently to their liking, they have chosen to ignore or even openly deny the truth of the Bible. That’s essentially handing the keys to the devil, because apart from the gracious Word of God, we have no wisdom or strength to withstand his schemes. However, as Hebrews proclaims, “The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) If we will submit ourselves to what God says to us through His Word, then we will be able to resist the devil to the point that he flees from us. (James 4:7)

This verse really resonates for me, not only because I am 75, and quite aware that my time of personal ministry is limited, but because I grew up steeped in the Bible, reading it through for the first time by the time I was 10. The finest compliment that has ever been paid to me was by one of the members here, a recovering alcoholic, who said to me one day in a Bible study, “You’re addicted to the Bible. I know addiction, and You’re addicted to the Bible.” I wept tears of joy and gratitude. I would say that my highest goal in ministry has been to get believers to love and absorb the Word as I do, because that is the most effective way to connect to the Author. Several people under my ministry have gone into ministry themselves, and my prayer for them is that they too would focus on the Word. I am happy to say that there is indication they have done so!

Father, thank You for Your Word, and for Your incredible faithfulness. Help me indeed impart a love for You and Your Word to all to whom I minister so that we may be faithful servants, giving You pleasure and glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Baptism in the Holy Spirit; May 17, 2024

Posted on May 18, 2024 by jgarrott

Acts 19:6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

I essentially have these seven verses memorized, they were used so often in the early days of the Charismatic Movement. They have been used, not unreasonably, to show that people can be counted as “disciples” (verse 1) without having been baptized in the Holy Spirit. What is overlooked is that they hadn’t even been baptized in the name of Jesus! And this particular verse is often used as a proof text to claim that spiritual gifts will always accompany the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Whereas that is most often the case, I know multiple cases where it didn’t happen that way. One dear lady, who is currently rejoicing in glory, thought that she had not been baptized in the Holy Spirit because she had never expressed overtly “Charismatic” gifts, but she was as magnificent a channel of the love of God as I have ever encountered. Such love would not have been possible without the Holy Spirit! The point is not in specific manifestations, but in openness to God, allowing Him to fill and flow through us however He pleases.

My own experience has certainly cemented my convictions in this area. When I first heard of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, in 1973, I immediately recognized it as Biblical and sought it for myself. However, nothing seemed to happen. The thing was, all the books I had read – They Speak with Other Tongues, The Holy Spirit and You, Nine O’clock in the Morning – all stressed tongues as the evidence, and I essentially was seeking the gift of tongues rather than the Holy Spirit Himself. In 1974 I brought my wife and children to Japan for the first time, and we stayed in my parents’ house in Fukuoka. After my parents left for a furlough in the US, but before my father had the heart surgery from which he woke up in heaven, I invited a young missionary couple to come over on a Saturday night, because I knew they were Charismatic and I wanted help. Alan Hyatt said to me, “How do you receive anything from God? By grace through faith, right? Well, has God promised you His Holy Spirit?” I immediately quoted Luke 11:13 back to him: “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” He then said, “Well then, stop putting conditions on God. Ask Him to baptize you in His Spirit, believe that He is true to His Word, and then thank Him for doing so.” Later that night, sitting on my bed just before going to sleep, I did exactly that, and felt nothing. However, on Monday morning I was sitting on a train in Hakata Station, ready to go to my job teaching English at a college in Sasebo, and it suddenly hit me that I was talking to the man sitting next to me, a total stranger, about Jesus. At that moment Acts 1:8 came to mind, and I realized that God had indeed been true to His Word and had made me a witness by His Spirit. It was a few months later that I received the gift of tongues, and since then I have experienced all of the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 at least once. In consequence, as a pastor I teach that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are very real and are for today, but they aren’t “proof.” For that matter, I have known people who “operated in the gifts” but whose lives were far from God. The essential thing is the submitted, intimate relationship with our Lord.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I never tire of telling of Your grace! I pray that all of Your children would operate in the fullness of Your Spirit, in joyful obedience and fellowship with You, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Preaching; May 16, 2024

Posted on May 17, 2024 by jgarrott

Acts 17:30 “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”

From every perspective this was a masterful sermon, beautifully reasoned and contextually grounded, even using cultural references with which his hearers would have been familiar. And he didn’t pull any punches, because here he explicitly expresses the command to repent, which all too many preachers avoid for fear of offending. At the same time, the response was hardly overwhelming, counted in verse 34 as “some,” with two mentioned by name. The point is, words are essential for communicating the Gospel, but they aren’t sufficient in themselves. Particularly where there isn’t a cultural framework for Christianity, demonstrations of the reality of the message are desirable at the very least. As it says in the last verse of Mark, “Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” (Mark 16:20) Even if you hold that the very last part of Mark was added by some copyist, this certainly expresses the experience of the early Church. Jesus Himself stressed the impor­tance of congruity between a preacher’s words and his lifestyle, saying, “By their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:16) American English uses the two terms, preacher and pastor, as though they were completely interchangeable, but I don’t think they are. The New Testament speaks often enough of preaching, but it doesn’t give “preacher” as a job title. Far too many preachers are impressed by their own words, and don’t really express the fruit Jesus spoke of.

This hits really close to home, because I am certainly a man of words. It is a bit of a joke with people who know me that I can have trouble shutting up! I do tend to like the sound of my own voice, but I have learned that, apart from the love and grace of God, it is no more than “a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1) Crafted sermons can be impressive without power, and I don’t want that. I have been used in prophecy, but in only a few miracles. I can’t generate any of that on my own, but I don’t want to substitute words for power. I have experienced God speaking through me countless times, though mostly not in a “prophetic” format, and it is indeed addictive! I want to be a faithful mouthpiece for my Lord, in public and private settings, and I want my life to reflect His presence and character so that nothing will detract or distract from His words through me. That requires that I listen to what He is saying, even when He is using my mouth to say it! And I must remember, as Paul did, that I am no more than an earthenware pot in the process. (2 Corinthians 4:7)

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the opportunity I have to speak twice on Sunday, in the morning service and in the afternoon celebration. I ask for Your anointing as I prepare those notes, that I may say exactly what You want said and no more, for the blessing of all who hear and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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More Cross-cultural Evangelism; May 15, 2024

Posted on May 16, 2024 by jgarrott

Acts 14:15 “Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.”

Following on yesterday’s reading, this is another example of contextual evangelism. You could hardly imagine more contrasting circumstances! If Paul and Barnabas had been humanly motivated they could have played along with the crowd, getting a lot of physical benefit from it. However, they were completely sincere, motivated by the Holy Spirit, and it brought them a lot of trouble. When Paul recognized a divine appointment and healed  a crippled man (verses 9-10) he had no idea what would happen next! It led to Paul’s being stoned, to the point of a near-death experience. The experience itself, reported in 2 Corinthians 12, was doubtless an incredible blessing, but being stoned to the point of death is something no one would choose! This is again a story of cross-cultural evangelism. The people of Lystra were total heathens, worshiping the Greek pantheon and knowing nothing of the Torah. It would have been easier for Paul and Barnabas to skip over them, but they recognized that God loved those people too, and so felt compelled to share the Gospel with them. This verse certainly illustrates the difficulty of that! They were scattering seed on totally unprepared soil, (Matthew 13) hoping that at least something would happen. I would think that the man who was healed did eventually become a true believer, but we have no clear record of that. There was enough of an uproar that I would imagine the soil was broken up somewhat, but the point is, Paul and Barnabas were faithful to do as God led them, and leave the results up to Him.

I find a lot of empathy with this story. I’ve never been stoned, either with rocks or with drugs, but I certainly know the feeling of scattering the seed of the Word on unprepared soil! We mark 40 years this month of ministry in Omura using the name, Shinsei no Sato, on top of about 2½ years before that of officially being deno­minational. (Incidentally, the church name means, “Home of New Life.”) I could hardly say the harvest has been abundant, but some of it has been very real, and I can say with certainty that there are people who are spiritually alive today who would not have been apart from our having ministered. Japan has long been called “a graveyard of missionaries,” because of the very poor response to the Gospel, but that clouds the fact that there are very vibrant Japanese believers, and God isn’t through with this nation. I am never to give up, but keep working on the soil, scattering seed and watering it, so that God may provide the harvest.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for what I was able to do in our vegetable garden yesterday, that illustrates this very point. I got a row of beets planted, and the soil looks to be in better condition than it has all the years I’ve been trying to grow stuff there. I do ask for a good harvest of beets, but far more than that, I ask for a great harvest of souls, not just in Omura but across the nation for all of Your workers, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Cross-Cultural Evangelism; May 14, 2024

Posted on May 15, 2024 by jgarrott

Acts 13:38-39 “Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.”

Here we have an example of Paul’s preaching to Jews and “God fearers,” those who were actively studying and following Judaism. This statement would have made very little sense to people who weren’t trying to follow the Law of Moses. This is why it is very important to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit at all times, because something that might touch one person deeply could be meaningless to another person with a different background. Cross-cultural evangelism can be very challenging! Preaching to people with at least a cultural understanding of the Gospel is frankly much easier than trying to communicate with those who have no foundation for understanding the idea of a personal Creator who cares about His creation. Even in Islam, which is certainly monotheistic, there is no idea of a loving heavenly Father. I have read or heard multiple testimonies of former Muslims who said that Islam by definition means “submission,” and there was no joy in it. And then there are atheists, who need to be shown that the complexity of the universe, and of life itself, logically requires a Creator, a guiding Intelligence, before going on to explain the love of that Creator. The task can be daunting indeed, but God will give wisdom to those who ask for it, because He “wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)

As a child of American missionaries in Japan, and a pastor here myself, this is an issue I have been aware of all my life. I went to seminary in the US, and sad to say, the Personal Evangelism course I took has been completely useless here, because Japanese culture has no framework for the techniques I was taught. That’s not to say that Japanese can’t be saved, by any means. Rather, it means that boiler-plate techniques, such as I see being used on YouTube, simply don’t work here. 50 years ago I was with a very well-meaning young American missionary who was “evangelizing” a high school student on the street, and he got him to express agreement with all the tenets of the Gospel. The only problem was, the high school student was just being polite, and his words meant nothing to him. I’ve got to express the Gospel on the basis of relationship, and that can be hard work. One of my major frustrations is that people look at me with admiration, considering me to be very good, but because I’m a Caucasian they see me as “other,” and don’t think they could have the relationship with God that I do, and so don’t reach out to receive. That’s why I desire so earnestly for the believers in this church to wake up to their own responsibilities and opportunities for evangelism, because they are automatically several steps closer to those around them than I could ever be. If I didn’t know that God is capable of anything, I would have given up a long time ago!

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for Your faithfulness over the years. This coming Sunday we are celebrating 40 years of using the name, Shinsei no Sato, and You have indeed touched many people in that interval. Thank You for all the seed that has been plan­ted, and especially for what has come to fruition. I pray that there would be more and more harvest, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Discrimination; May 13, 2024

Posted on May 14, 2024 by jgarrott

Acts 11:18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

This was an absolutely shocking moment for the Jerusalem church. I can imagine the scene. The Japanese says, “they were speechless.” I would guess so! This turned their lifetime preconceptions on their head, and they had no choice but to accept it. And 99% of the readers of my blog are beneficiaries. There are probably some who have not yet acknowledged Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, but I would guess they are a small minority. I pray that they would join the majority, even today! I also have friends who are genetic descendants of Abraham, and they likewise have experienced the “repentance that leads to salvation.” No one on either side of the divide had imagined a level playing field, but that is what Jesus created through His cross. Paul goes to some length about it in more than one of his letters, but most Gentiles simply ignore the issue, to their loss, I think. Most Gentiles don’t realize how big a privilege it is to be accepted as a spiritual descendent of Abraham. If a Gentile had been the first to say all the things Peter and Paul said about all this, it would be dismissed out of hand. However, they were both devout Jews, and Paul was the equivalent of a PhD in Jewish theology. I look at it all as being examples of a Japanese proverbial expression: “acorns comparing height.” We see our differences as huge, but from God’s perspective we’re all the same size. Discrimination isn’t just wrong, it’s stupid!


I have dealt with racial discrimination in one way or another all my life. I’m grateful that by the time I entered a US military dependents school, Truman had fully integrated the Armed Forces by presidential fiat, and also that my parents taught me that people might look different and/or have different gifting, but we were all of equal value in God’s eyes. As a Caucasian in Japan, I have experienced a great deal of discrimination in one way and another, sometimes to my emotional hurt and sometimes to my advantage. I’ve learned that I can’t complain about the one while taking advantage of the other! I resigned my only US pastorate because they wanted me to resign from the area ministerial association, because it was interracial, and they felt that my participation would signal that Blacks would be welcome in our church, and they couldn’t agree with that. Right now our church has people from Japan, America, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China in it. We are aware of differences in culture and language, but even more aware that we have only one Savior, and we are all from one human race.

Father, thank You for the ground indeed being level at the foot of the cross. Help me proclaim Your Gospel effectively to all, regardless of background or ethnicity, so that as many as will may indeed repent and believe for their salvation, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Spiritual Power; May 12, 2024

Posted on May 13, 2024 by jgarrott

Acts 8:19 He said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Simon’s mistake here is sadly not unusual. He saw spiritual power as something external to be manipulated, and obviously, as something to be bought and sold. Peter’s response is understandable! Spiritual power by definition doesn’t originate with people, but with either God or the devil. In neither case does material wealth have anything to do with it. In both cases, the desirable, valuable thing is the soul of the individual. If we want the power of the Holy Spirit, we need to be submitted to Him for Him to use us, not the other way around, the way Simon was thinking of it. Obviously, submitting ourselves to the devil in order to get that sort of spiritual power has absolutely tragic consequences, and as the Faust story, and others like it, illustrate, that never ends well. As came out two days ago, God’s power never originates with us, but it can and does operate through us when we are yielded to Him. As Jesus said so famously in Acts 1:8, the power of the Holy Spirit is primarily for us to demonstrate Christ, to testify of His power and love and goodness. That’s what Philip had been doing, and as a result many believed and opened their hearts to Jesus as Lord. God does not give His power to inflate us, and that is what Simon wanted.

I can’t say I am entirely untainted by Simon’s motivation. My flesh would like to have the reputation of being “a man of power,” and that is entirely unworthy. I’ve got to seek to be a vessel, a tool for God to use, and not put myself forward. I’m not to hesitate to step out when God says to do so, but doing it on my own will result in failure at best, and major damage at worst. I have seen God work through me, at times miraculously, and I would like to see much more of that, but “works of power” are not to be my focus. I am to be focused on my Lord and submitted to Him, whether He chooses to use me or not. After all, anything temporal is insignificant compared to the eternal glory that awaits me. I need to be as absolutely convinced of God’s power as Peter was, and just as submitted to Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You are doing in, around, and through us. Thank You for the new, “mystery” health challenge my wife is having. The cause is indeed unknown, to the point that I don’t know where to take her, medically speaking, but nothing is unknown, or even difficult, for You. However, pain is pain, and I do ask Your relief for her, whatever the source. May she and I both be honest with You and with ourselves and with each other, so that Your truth may be manifested in and through us, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Obeying God; May 11, 2024

Posted on May 12, 2024 by jgarrott

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

This verse is the foundation of the long and honorable tradition of civil disobedience, but there has also been a great deal of misuse of it, ignoring its foundation: obeying God. People have used this verse to dress up and justify their own, entirely selfish actions, and God will not honor that. As we have seen in countless political “movements,” human motivation quickly descends into violence. Those who do that cannot rightly claim this verse! The thing is, when we really think about this verse, “obeying men” includes obeying our own flesh, and we are all very prone to do that. We are to be aware of our bodies in order to be good stewards of them, but letting our bodies be in control is hedonism, and that very quickly descends into moral, emotional, and physical chaos. The principle of obeying God first and foremost of course applies in the spiritual realm as well. As James famously said, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) Without obedient submission to God, we are the devil’s toys, manipulated however he pleases. There is no peace and joy in that! So to come back to Peter’s statement, we are never to break laws or disobey authority on our own, but we must remember that God’s laws and His authority are supreme. A prime example in recent years has been doctors who have refused to perform procedures, such as abortion or “gender reassignment surgery,” because of their conviction that doing so would be in violation of God’s order. They can rightly claim this verse!

I don’t think I’ve ever been in a situation of civil disobedience, and I am grateful for that. I perhaps came close when I steadfastly resisted all the pressure to receive an mRNA shot, but at least in Japan the pressure was largely social rather than legal. I have worn masks a great deal over the past four years. Those were largely useless and thus silly posturing, but wearing them was no more than minor discomfort. Here in Japan, medical facilities still largely require them for all who enter, but even that is finally relaxing. On a deeper level, I have obeyed my body rather than God on countless occasions. I am still learning to submit to God! Thankfully, I’ve come a long way on that front, but like Paul, I can’t say I’ve “arrived.” I must maintain humility before my Lord and listen to His Spirit at all times.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for how far You have brought me, but keep me from prideful carelessness. May I always be actively obedient to You, for Your purposes to be accomplished on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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