Konbanwa! (Good evening!)
Today was quite an eventful day for the team, both at the church and around Osaka.
We began today with our usual team meeting, where Adrian shared with us of the need to guard against partiality when sharing the Gospel. He explained our tendencies to share or gravitate towards specific people, forgetting that the Gospel is meant for all people. Although it seems to be easier to befriend certain types of people, we must remember that God's love extends to everyone.
After our meeting, we joined the church in their prayer meeting. They asked for our prayer requests and we split up into groups to pray for the church, our ministry, and our futures. We were all extremely encouraged by their faithfulness to lift up any need to God in prayer.
Today was quite an eventful day for the team, both at the church and around Osaka.
We began today with our usual team meeting, where Adrian shared with us of the need to guard against partiality when sharing the Gospel. He explained our tendencies to share or gravitate towards specific people, forgetting that the Gospel is meant for all people. Although it seems to be easier to befriend certain types of people, we must remember that God's love extends to everyone.
After our meeting, we joined the church in their prayer meeting. They asked for our prayer requests and we split up into groups to pray for the church, our ministry, and our futures. We were all extremely encouraged by their faithfulness to lift up any need to God in prayer.
Before heading out to see more of Osaka, we were able to enjoy a nice sushi lunch with church members. Any time spent with HBC members is precious, as we learn more about their lives and see their dedication to the Lord lived out in faithful ministry. Kondo Sensei shared a brief history of his pastoral ministry at HBC and the different trials that they overcame to establish the Bible as the ultimate standard for the Christian.
We then traveled to Umeda, where Osaka Station is located, to look for the Christian bookstore, Oasis. We learned more about the spiritual state of Japan during our brief time perusing the books at the store. Kondo Sensei explained to us that though the store is evangelical, they still carry books from Catholics, Charismatic prosperity gospel, and much more. Japan lacks a strong, Biblical Christian influence that distinguishes the true Gospel from all other forms of false hope. Only through the faithful preaching of God's word as the inerrant and infallible Word of God can people learn to discern truth.
For the rest of the afternoon, we were able to hang out with an old friend, Kenta. For those who followed the blog two years ago, he is a friend of Takashi Kondo and we were able to share the Gospel with him in 2012. We went bowling, ate dinner at a Okonomiaki restaurant and were able to catch up and build new friendships. Will and Michael ended up having a good Gospel conversation with him during our train ride back to HBC.
It was a long, but profitable day. We were encouraged not only by church members, but also by God's sovereign planning to bring us to old friends who need the Gospel.
We then traveled to Umeda, where Osaka Station is located, to look for the Christian bookstore, Oasis. We learned more about the spiritual state of Japan during our brief time perusing the books at the store. Kondo Sensei explained to us that though the store is evangelical, they still carry books from Catholics, Charismatic prosperity gospel, and much more. Japan lacks a strong, Biblical Christian influence that distinguishes the true Gospel from all other forms of false hope. Only through the faithful preaching of God's word as the inerrant and infallible Word of God can people learn to discern truth.
For the rest of the afternoon, we were able to hang out with an old friend, Kenta. For those who followed the blog two years ago, he is a friend of Takashi Kondo and we were able to share the Gospel with him in 2012. We went bowling, ate dinner at a Okonomiaki restaurant and were able to catch up and build new friendships. Will and Michael ended up having a good Gospel conversation with him during our train ride back to HBC.
It was a long, but profitable day. We were encouraged not only by church members, but also by God's sovereign planning to bring us to old friends who need the Gospel.
Please pray for:
- Compassion for students and church members we talk with
- Boldness and courage to speak the truth in love
- Salvation of Kenta and Yumi
- The Word of God to be exalted and obeyed in Japanese churches
- Compassion for students and church members we talk with
- Boldness and courage to speak the truth in love
- Salvation of Kenta and Yumi
- The Word of God to be exalted and obeyed in Japanese churches