Happy Easter!

A few of my favorite Easter songs:

Jesus Paid it All

Jesus Christ is Risen Today

There is a Higher Throne

I pray the joy and hope of our Lord's resurrection is experienced fully by you today. 

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." 

~ Isaiah 53:5 ~

**All songs are from youtube and not my own :)

The Gospel

I love how Paul presents the gospel in chapter 1 of Colossians. 

I hope its simple but powerful message is an encouraging reminder to you 

of what Christ did on the cross for us.

^"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant." Colossians 1:21-23

 

はるがくる! Spring is here!

Tea with Misaki and Christine at しんじゅく!

Tea time with Misaki and Christine

At Afternoon Tea

Reading time at the park

The "jasmine" of Japan, smells amazing!

Plum blossoms

Kakushin- the theme of Change Conference

With team and Gen (Cru staff) at Change conference

At the National Olympic Memorial Youth Center for Change Conference

During our prayer walk at Hitotsubashi University

So many bicycles!

Sakura and the moon

Blossoms in our neighborhood

Young at heart!

Hanami time

March 20th was the Spring Equinox, and with all these flowers blooming it's clear spring is here to stay! I'm loving the beautiful trees that line so many of the streets and fill the parks here in Tokyo. 

What a blessing to get a tastes of nature's beauty even in the middle of the big city. 

I do apologize if all these flower pictures aggravated your allergies!

Fun Fact

In Japan, a dress shirt (button down, collar, you know the drill) is called a Y-shirt. 

 

Good to know, right?

A Big Bite of Humble Pie

Swallow your pride. Pride comes before a fall. Pride and joy. To take pride in something. These idioms dealing with pride are sprinkled all throughout our language. Pride can be viewed as a positive thing, a feeling of a job well done or seomthing we want to share with the world. It can also be a negative, a haughty feeling of superiority that causes us to look down on those around us or think of ourselves more highly than we ought.

Pride has always been one of my greatest sin struggles. It's a dangerous one because it is easy to hide. I can disguise pride behind false modesty and keep my judgmental thoughts inside my own heart. I've also fallen to the low of being too prideful to even admit that I am prideful and that pride can be a sin against God and his creation. Perhaps the biggest sin that comes from my pride is that I often think God needs me in order to fulfill his plans. In ministry this also comes through in me thinking if I do enough I can change people's hearts towards the gospel on my own.

Let me say here and now that is a complete lie and one I believe because I am that prideful. It's a vicious cycle.

God has often revealed to me the depth of my sin in this area but this time around was one of the most humbling. The national Student Impact (Cru here in Japan) conference was held in Tokyo this week and my team attended. I went in not knowing what was going to happen, but expecting to have at least some sort of responsibility or role. When I found out we were literally just there to observe and interact with the students I got frustrated. This frustration evolved into a bad attitude and a bitter heart. Lovely.

After the evening sesion both nights I returned immediately to my room and talked very openly with God about my feelings. At first there was a lot of anger and disappointment. I felt like my time was being wasted, like I was useless, like there was no point to me even being at the conference. Without translation I could only pick out bits and pieces of the talks, I had no diea what I was singing during worship, I could only exchange pleasantries with students because of the language barrier, and I didn't do outreach the second day because of a massive blister on the sole of my foot. Basically I was dead weight.

Looking back a day later it is incredible how patient and gracious God is. It took so many things for me to acknowledge my pride in this situation. I went in thinking I was a necessary presence at this conference to help the students experience God more. I also thought me, myself, and I was an answer to prayer to bring the gospel to Japanese students.

Thankfully God put me in my place. Without me doing anything He showed his glory to over 100 christian students from across Japan as they worshiped him together. Without me they were able to experience real vibrant community with fellow believers and take steps of faith to live for the Lord. Without me, these same students talked to over 500 people, shared the gospel with over 200 of them, and saw 27 people accept Christ in the span of a cumulative 4 hours. All of this kingdom work was accomplished without me. What an incredible thing to witness! What a gift that the Lord would even allow me to be in the presence of so many Japanese students who love him, who want to share him with others. What an honor that he would let me come back to Japan to be a part of this movement.

The last three days I was reminded of how dark my heart is as well as how little I am in comparison to the God of the universe. I was reminded of his infinite grace in our lives and caught a glimpse of heaven as I watched some of his children praising his name and hoping in his return.

It's hard to see such sin in myself and give myself grace. But that is the Christian life. I confess that sinfulness to you and rejoice in knowing that I am washed clean by the blood of Christ. My prayer for myself this week is that I would become more like Jesus and walk humbly in the power of the Holy Spirit for the time I have been given on this earth. I want to exist to serve instead of looking for ways to serve my own prideful heart.

"May I never boast except in the cross of our 

Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been 

crucified to me, and I to the world."

Galatians 6:14

March 11th

 Today marks the second anniversary of the triple disaster that hit Japan. The images on the news brought me to tears then, but there is a different feeling now that I am living here. Also, seeing the area of Tohoku firsthand was a powerful reminder of how much rebuilding there still is and how long and painful the healing process will be.

People across Japan lost loved ones and were deeply impacted by this event. Please pray that the God of all comfort in 2 Corinthians 1 would be made known here so he might enter into the pain and suffering left behind after the disaster. The Japanese people are incredible in their resilience, but it is a heavy burden to bear alone.

Saturday Meditation

"What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath- prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory..." 

~ Romans 9:22-23