ベサニー・キリスト教会
大阪府堺市のはずれにある、泉北ニュータウンのそのまたはずれにある村の小さな教会。
でもそこに一歩踏み入れたら暖かい家庭的な雰囲気にあなたの心もなごむことでしょう。
聖書の中にある、一世紀当時の教会の姿がここにはあります。
まだ一度も教会に行ったことのない方､以前教会に行っていたけど今は行っていない方､どなたでもどうぞご遠慮なくお出で下さい。
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It is that time of year again! This morning I just could not get myself to head in the direction of Mt. Kongo.It is still cold and the leaves are not yet out at the peak.
Instead, I took down my rock climbing shoes and headed off towards Mt. Makio. There, all the leaves were out and the late cherry blossoms were in full bloom. The sky was blue and the sun was warm-a perfect day to start the 2008 rock climbing season.
Because of my weak body, it took me a bit of time to get to the main rock climbing area. However, that was just more time to enjoy the scenery and to take pictures. The rock was just like I remembered it from last year-nice and dry and just waiting to be climbed.
I had a very enjoyable climb up to the main ledge where I enjoyed the view and a cup of coffee for a long long time. I then headed up to the peak to again enjoy the breeze and the view and a second cup of coffee.
I'm sure I will still continue to climb Mt. Kongo but at the same time I am pretty sure that when the weather is good, I will mostly be climbing the rocks at Mt. Makio. After the snow and the cold it is great to enjoy a different kind of mountain and a different kind of climbing.
"The really hard life is the one lived in opposition to Jesus' path. All you need to do is to look at how hard life is for folks who cannot forgive others, who desperately need to be the focus of attention, who have to be in control of everything, who are driven to succeed to prove they are significant. This is the hard life, not the life of self-denial. As one gets good at self-deial for the Kingdom, life gets prgressively easier."
Page 148 of "Kingdom Triangle"
On Sunday the 13th we will be having an English Service. The service will start at 4p.m. From now on we will be having an English Service every second Sunday at 4p.m. Everyone is welcome! We hope to see you there.
On the 8th of April, Reiko and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary by taking a three day trip to Okinawa. It was a wonderful three days of relaxing and thanking the Lord for all these years together.
However, I realized that it was also my 30th anniversary of being involved in Christian Church work here in Japan. I had at first been involved in youth ministry and also in music. However, God clearly spoke to me that the need in Japan was for more churches and that church planting and pastoring was what I was to do. When I was younger, I had decided that being a missionary was the one thing I would not do. However, if I did become a missionary, Japan was the one country I was going to avoid. Finally, if in spite of everything I became a missionary to Japan, church planting and pastoring was the one thing I would not do.Well, God had other plans and in 1978 I gladly entered into my new ministry of church planting and pastoring.
It has been a wonderful 30 years and I can see God's grace throughout. Of course there have been many battles to fight. 20 years ago I had my first fight with cancer and now I am in the midst of the second round. Developing local leadership in the church has taken time and I have made many mistakes. But, overall, more than my mistakes and more than any hard times the church may have gone through, these 30 years have seen the guidance and the power and the grace of God at work.
I am looking forward to God's continuing guidance and can't wait to see what God has in store for me and for the church in the next 30 years. Praise be to God!
Romans 1:16-17
After 30 years Mark Fosson has finally decided to release the album he recorded in 1976 and 1977. At the time, Mark was working with John Fahey and his record was supposed to be a Takoma Records release. However, things did not work out and the master tapes have been sitting in Mark's garage ever since!
They would have stayed there if it were not for Mark's cousin, Tiffany Anders. When she heard that he know John Fahey and had actually made a record she strongly encouraged him to release those recordings. They are now released as "The Lost Takoma Sessions" and are a great example of American Primitive Guitar.
Mark seems to play a Martin 12 string that was bought for him by John Fahey. It seems he used to open for John and so his music has that "Takoma" sound to it.
If you want to listen to some genuine American Primitive Guitar I would strongly recommend "The Lost Takoma Sessions" by Mark Fosson. Happy Listening!
For most people in Japan the appearance of the cherry blossoms is a sign of spring. However, for me, it reminds me that the last snow of the season is probsbly falling up on the peak of Mt. Kongo. This year was no exception. Today (March31) the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. However, as I headed toward Mt. Kongo the weather slowly changed and by the time I got to the parking lot all I could see was fog.
As I started walking toward the peak, the wet ground first turned to slush and then slowly grew whiter and a snowscape started to appear. The closer I got to the peak the more snow I saw and then it actually started to snow. It was strange watching the snow come down knowing that back in Sakai City the sun was shining and people were enjoying cherry blossom viewing.
When I finally reached the peak the temperature was exactly 0. Needless to say, sitting by the stove in the coffeehouse felt awful good. I had brought a book along and so as I drank coffee made with local Mt. Kongo water I enjoyed a nice long rest.
I suspect that this might be the last snow I will see this season and so I am happy that my health and schedule allowed me to enjoy this last sight of, not white cherry blossoms, but white snow on bare tree branches.
It was in the early 70s that I was first introduced to the idea of a "worldview" by Francis Schaeffer. As a result I have tried to develop a consitant Christian worldview for myself and have tried to understand the worldviews of others. However, I am ashamed to admit that I only recently read "The Universe Next Door" even though it was first published in 1973 and is the premier textbook on worldviews. Over 250, 000 copies have been printed so far
In this book, James Sire tells us what kinds of questions need to be answered when looking at a worldview. He covers most of the modern worldviews that we would come into contact with. He covers Christian theism, deism, naturalism, nihilism, existentialism, Eastern panthiestic monism, New Age philosophy, and postmodernism. Because of recent events, I would hope that in future revised editions he might also cover Islam as a major worldview held by a great number of people today.
It is important to realize that we all hold a worldview whether or not we think in those terms or not. James Sire has written a great book to help us understand our own worldview and also the worldviews of others. I would strongly encourage you all to read this important book.
