Really Jesus

The stillness eases my soul. The tree stands proud, its branches garnering the family memories. The snow catches the sunlight reflecting the warm glow, truly a white Christmas. The constant smiles of family members remind me of Jesus, the Christ that was born. The season is finally reaching its apex as people all around the world, Christians or non, celebrate. But is it really Jesus?

There seems to be a disconnect, a separation of the God we believe and the Christ that was born. How do you picture Jesus? Many will describe a scene of angels singing in the fields. Many will recall the manger and the serene display. Mary, Joseph and the three wise men are a staple. Yes, these are part of Christmas. Yes, these remind us of the God we worship, which is a good thing. But no, this is not really Jesus. Jesus was simply a baby, the one and only God, but a baby: A helpless infant with no power to talk or crawl. Nothing about him was anything of a man who came to save the earth. Nothing that makes a man great was apparent. Born in a manger, a son of a carpenter. Simply a baby. Do you realize this?

None the less, he was real. The historical account, the authoritative biblical nerrative and non-biblical, ancient sources say so. He was really born, a baby, God. He smiled, pooped, spoke baby language and cried. He grew older, crawled, stood and eventually ran. He learned motor skills, learned to read, to make crafts. He was man.

But God. The almighty God who spoke to create, who spans the universe. The God whose power moves stars and creates gargantuan explosions like Super Novas. The God who mixed carbon and breathed to create life. The God who set nature to build upon one another. He was God.

He experienced everything we do. All the "goo-goos" of a baby's voice to the curious questions of a youthful mind. He lived to die, a death of a martyr, a savior. Over two thousands years ago he lived thinking of you to give glory to God. His awesomeness contained in one little baby. God is real. Jesus is real. A real man who lived, a real God who lives. 

Is He real now?

When Santa Gives You the Wrong Present

What is your wish from God? Do you find yourself disappointed sometimes that the answer to prayer wasn’t exactly what you had hoped for? Here is an interesting insight I recently shared on Facebook on unanswered prayer.

“First, I find that the modern interpretation of prayer focuses too much on the intercessory genre. As though this is the only prayer, science and other critics weigh much of its “debunking” on this particular type. The Bible is full of other types of prayer that it is hardly fair to base all prayer on this one category. Intercessory prayer is only part of the vast array of prayer and to focus on that and proclaim its seeming inadequacy is rather hasty.

Secondly, who are we to hurry God?  Modern man has made God into a vending machine. We pray one thing and we expect it to be answered in a few seconds (compared to eternity or even the old age of the earth, which I believe). God is not under any constraint to operate under our time line. I propose that prayer has been answered, he has given man the ability to cure small pox, construct buildings resistant to earthquakes and many more things which we take for granted. Many people, including me, proclaim he answers miraculously. However, our western mindset has deemed it inadequate because simply because it does not happen under a microscope. I would gently suggest that the reason prayer is not measureable is precisely because God wants man to have “faith” and not believe in a thing we can measure and see (Hebrews 11:1). Thus, the proclamation that miracles seem to happen in third world countries might carry more weight than we give it. I am willing to accept the many witnesses of people, including non-Christians, that state they have seen a miracle. I can certainly expound on some of real life examples, but that probably would not add to the discussion as critics might undermine those experiences as it did not occur in labs. Who am I to judge their senses as inadequate? I believe in the proclamation of scientists who I have not met as much as the average man who have experienced miraculous things.

Finally, I think the purpose of prayer is skewed. God is not Santa Clause. To utilize a verse from Matthew 7:9 and proclaim God gives us if we ask is elementary in the understanding of the Bible. 1 John 5:13-15 provides a perfect “if” clause to intercessory prayer. It is only when we are praying for things that coincides with His will, is it answered. There is no clause to when the prayer be answered. It is simply answered according to his will. I might add, in his timing. I propose that the purpose of prayer lies somewhere else. It lies in our relationship and our deepening relationship with Him. God does not necessarily care for what we pray, but that we do pray. Just as I enjoyed a cup of coffee with my dad discussing theological topics and drawing our relationship even closer, God invites his followers to draw closer to him. If the answer is a “no” all the more are we to go to God and seek what it is he ultimately wants.”

Check what you are praying for. Many times, the only prayer we pray are ones of want. We wish for something to happen in hopes that God will make our lives a little better. We are disappointed when it is not answered right away as though we know what is best for us! Christmas season has turned into a “getting game” where our goal has become acquiring things as fast and much as we can. Check your prayers; don’t let it follow the same path as Christmas.

Carl's Dusty Corner: God Goes Boom

In this first article written for “The Dusty Corner,” I want to do something incredibly stupid. I’m going to disagree with my pastor. In his sermon in November, he wrote that one of the sins of the ancient tower builders was to build a tower in order to bring God down to our level. Because, he said, it is wrong to bring God down to us.

                I disagree. I don’t think it’s wrong. In the exact same passage, right after the haughty declaration of the tower builders about their intentions, the Bible says that God came down to see what they had done. God actually came down to inspect what they had accomplished. The Trinity (as clearly seen in God’s use of ‘us’ in verse seven) did exactly what the people wanted them to do. They built an enormous tower “…with its top in the heavens…” and they did indeed “…make a name for themselves…” The only thing they failed to do was stick together.

                If Mike is right about their intentions (and we have no reason not to believe him) then the tower builders said, “Let’s pull God down to our level,” and God said, “okay.” That was the fatal mistake. They threw their rope around God and, rather than stubbornly refusing to yield, he submitted, he came down, and he wrecked everything.

                That’s the point, I think. Bring God down to our level may be sinful, but it is definitely stupid.

                You see, this universe was not created for God. He didn’t make it to contain Himself. He made it to contain us. That’s why, wherever we go, we can create beautiful things, because we are simply mimicking, in a very small way, God’s own acts of creation. He built the universe by the words of His mouth; we build worlds with the words of our pens. He paints with brilliant colors upon a canvas sky; we paint with brilliant colors the sky upon a canvas.

                Because of this, this universe is too small for our God. God is a doll maker who has built a big, beautiful dollhouse. Of course, we all know what would happen if a doll maker tried to live in his tiny house. He would tear the tiny timbers to pieces. He would destroy everything he made. This is our God and this is what happened at Babel. The tower builders built a bridge to heaven and God came down, but He broke the furniture.

                But, it doesn’t end there, for what God destroys by His presence, He rebuilds with His hand. There are no longer acts of creation. That ended on the seventh day of creation. From that time until now, God has only recreated. When God came down into the garden after Adam and Eve sinned, He broke His relationship with man. Never again would He and Adam wander through the garden like they used to. But, God had to break that relationship, in order to repair it. For, if He had allowed Adam to stay, Adam never would have chased after God. God separated Himself from Adam in order to reunite with Him later.

                Again, look at the Flood. The world was corrupt and evil. God saw this and sent a massive flood, destroying all but a handful of people. Why? So that He could re-establish a godly world afterwards. In fact, I think you will find, where ever God goes, chaos either precedes Him (as it does in 1 Kings 19) or is with Him (as in when God visited the Egyptians and killed their firstborn), but, in both of those cases, as in many others, God rebuilds after. When Elijah experiences earthquakes, strong winds, and fire, God whispers His instruction to him. After God lays Job down low, He builds him back up better than He was. This is because God must break before He can rebuild.

                The ultimate expression of this process is to be found in Christ’s very life. Christ was not a peaceful man. He used a whip to drive out business men and was constantly getting into arguments with various people. Nor was He a violent man, for He often sat with children and had a tender heart to those who are hurting. However, despite all that, God had Jesus’ body torn to shreds and His relationship snapped like a string. Why? So that through Christ, God could rebuild our bodies into what they used to be and to make our relationship with Him what it was back in the garden before all this ridiculousness began. Jesus came to Earth and His presence has not ceased to be felt.

                God came down to the ancient tower builders and broke their little town into pieces exactly so that He could rebuild a world from it, a world he intended to redeem through the breaking of His son.

                Now, of course, I don’t actually disagree with Mike. He wasn’t wrong in any sense. I merely wish to point out that not only is it sinful to bring God down to our level, it’s ill advised, because, when you do, you’re inviting destruction to reign down upon you, because that’s the only way God can rebuild you.

And Christmas Begins

Rarely is the word “thanks” enough. In fact, our gratitude must be expressed in something other than simply stating the obvious. It must be expressed in a motion, an outflow of our emotion. Sometimes all we can do is simply stand facing the creator God. Our hands raised in awe of the one who made it all. Join me this Christmas season and stand, our hands raised and our hearts abandoned. Praising the baby who gave it all. 

When Humility Might Just Be Enough

What is your talent? Have you thought about it? The Bible is clear that we all are gifted to some degree. In fact, you don’t really need to go to the book in order to find the message. Modern society has empowered the youngsters, encouraged them to pursue the impossible. With Disney leading the flock, the messages of, “be all you can be” has become almost a mantra. Although there are positive aspects to this, the message has definitely overshadowed one of the most important aspects of Christian living; humility.

I used to go back to the US for basketball camp in my teenage years. One particular year, I was assigned to a team that was relatively short. In basketball camp, your team is basically your platoon. You eat, sleep and play together throughout the week as you get accustomed to each other’s playing style. The assignment did not bode well for me as I quickly realized I was one of the tallest on the team. As we practiced, it became apparent that our height was going to be our biggest roadblock to success. Fortunately, I had had quite a bit of training in jumping and playing “post” (the center position) that we were not completely hopeless. In fact, I was able to nab quite a few rebounds to keep us in the game. As I felt my confidence building, I noticed one day that a short man was also playing inside with me. I was slightly irritated as I felt his infringement to what I figured was my position. However, as the week progressed, this man kept gaining rebounds and soon flushed me out of my position. As I was internally struggling with this, this man came over and gently gave me a suggestion. I ignored his assistance and soon lost my bid for one of the better rebounders. Afterwards, I asked what his “key” was. He simply stated, “I know I’m short and not that good at basketball. I just thought I would simply use what I have, my stocky body, to my advantage and gain ground. Especially, since I can’t jump.” It made sense.

Empowerment is sometimes beneficial, but how about your limitations? Knowing your limitations can be even more beneficial. Consider the Parable of the Talents in Mathew 25:14-30. We learn in the parable that each man was given a certain amount, and the amount differed. The master eventually returned to find that two of the three invested them well and one did not. The point hinges not on the fact that they had much talent, but simply that they used it well. Each of them was also under no delusion that they had more than they really had. They simply examined what they had and used them. We must do the same. We are given a certain amount of talents/gifts. We should be honest to ourselves to see what they are and what they are not. Once we recognize our limitations, perhaps we will be more inclined to appreciate others who have what you don’t. Perhaps we can set aside our pride in comparing the amount of talent others have and work hard in investing what we have. We can simply look forward to the day when the Lord to states, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Modern society has a tendency to empower each of us too much. We forget that we are limited beings. In fact God loves using the humble to shame the wise (1 Corinth 1:27). In our sermon we learned the pride of the people of Babel. Remember that we can avoid that fate by simply acknowledging God’s work in us, rather than pride in our own talents.

A Piece to the Puzzle

Sometimes a song is the missing piece. A simple song by an artist not so famous. This particular song was made without the knowledge of what we are discussing in our service. Yet God moved them to create a song that coincides with what we are talking about. Enjoy God’s wondrous works and his ageless message.

It is amazing that the words spoken by these men (one of my favorite bands) fits so perfectly with our message.

Here's the group picture from our 6th Hope English Service! Thank you all for coming, it was so good to see all of you there.

Missed the Train, Caught the Sunshine

Patience is a tricky discipline that we so easily discard in our lives. The sermon yesterday focused on a promise fulfilling God. We learned from the stories in the Old Testament that God’s timing for keeping his promises do not necessary correlate with our own timing. Unfortunately, our society has become used to receiving our fast food, well, fast. Patience, it seems, has been readily disregarded in exchange for “efficiency” or “entitlement.” We feel that we deserve to be treated according to how we feel is the correct way and the correct time. Some practical ways we see this is in our need for better things. We need the new iPhone now. We can’t miss the early train. We must receive our shipments today. The restaurant meal is too slow. Our lives are captured by “business hours” as though each day loss could cost millions of dollars. We feel that something that “takes forever” is a great loss to us.

One Sunday, my wife and I were running a little late for Church as we walked down our hill in an effort to catch the train from Ichibu station. Our house is located roughly fifteen minutes away and thus usually takes some time management to effectively catch the train. Being that I am a person who likes scheduling things, I was a little worried that we were going to miss the train. Sure enough, we arrived at the station precisely as the train was pulling away. We had to wait another fifteen minutes before the next train arrived.  My frustration was not hidden well in my words and my wife noticed. I was about to lash out when I realized something. That day was one of the first days it cooled down from the overheated Nara summer and the sunlight cast through the trees created a still early Autumn morning. My wife was beautiful as always and my daughter smiled cheerfully as they sat on the platform waiting for the train. My words that I was going to speak could have ruined this gorgeous, God created morning and for what? My “objective” which I thought was more important than the “stage” God had set. I thank God for stopping me. I could have completely missed that wonderful fifteen minutes God had orchestrated to sit and enjoy my family.

Sometimes our objectives are not God’s. Sometimes our timing is not God’s. Patience is a virtue in which we “get to” exercise in order to enjoy life. We truly don’t need the new, hot item, the food to arrive now, receive something in the mail today, nor catch the earliest train. We don’t need to hear the answer from your friend, go to the mall nor get our “alone time” now. My wife states that this last point is a hard one. As a mother of an infant, she feels as though she is in a rush to get the baby to bed in order to have her “own time.” She feels impatient when the baby does not operate on her time.

This lack of patience in our society has had grievous consequences. We have people in major debt, divorces and generally anger filled people due to not being able to wait it out. People cannot control their emotion and fights break out between friends, couples and family members. Again, for what? So that we can get the hottest item? To manipulate our relationship in the way which pleases us?

God operates on ‘God time’ precisely so he can teach us. In fact, we don’t have this patience naturally, that we have to exercise it in order to gain the skill. If you observe a baby, this is readily apparent. The baby is constantly in need and crying to be fulfilled in his or her own terms. Each biblical character we talked about yesterday, Noah, Abraham and Gideon were tested in their patience and faithfulness. They learned to exercise it in order to see the bigger picture, God’s picture. Will you exercise this patience so you won’t miss a great morning?