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。

先週の礼拝後に、６月のミニB会をしました。”祈ること”の大切さを皆で話し合いました。いつも思うのですが、姉妹たちがそれぞれ語る証を聴くと、心がわくわくっというか、「うん、うん、」ってうなづいてしまっているんですね。その場にいなかったけれど、神様のわざを、一緒に体験した？みたいな・・・（＾‐＾；）。
ミニB会では、賛美と証とおしゃべりで、あっという間に時間が過ぎてしまいます。月１回ですが、毎回、元気をもらって帰ります。みなさんもぜひ参加してくださいね。次回は７月２２日午後１時頃～２時頃です。

西山

８月１０-１１日琵琶湖の白浜荘で今年のファミリ-キャンプを開催します。皆さん是非参加してください。定員４０-５０名。４つの教会で集まるので、すぐに定員になる可能性がある。森繁さんのコンサ－トをはじめに、気持ちの良い環境で神様との時間が過ごせて、クリスチャンと共に楽しい時間をもち、そして、信仰を強めるチャンスにもなる。見逃さないでね。。。応募締め切りは７月２２日。西山マ-クまたはポ－ル先生まで詳細を聞いてください。。。

昨日は父の日礼拝でした！すでにお父さんを天に送った方々もいらっしゃるでしょうが、私達には霊の父なる神様がおられ、いつも私達を励まし慰め、必要な訓練を与えて下さる事を確認できた感謝な礼拝でした。普段家族の為に頑張って下さっているお父さん達に、感謝を込めて、紅白饅頭が配られました！昨日、来れなかったお父さん達は残念でしたが、今日も神様の恵みが豊かでありますように。ＲＳ

I just re-read this long long sentence by Os Guinness in hi s book, "Prophetic Untimeliness" and was again challenged by the difficulty of living as a true disciple of Jesus Christ in this day and age.

In its place a new evangelicalism is arriving in which therapeutic self-concern overshadows knowing God, spirituality displaces theology, end-times escapism crowds out day-to-day discipleship, marketing triumphs over missions, references to opinon polls outweigh reliance on biblical exposition, concerns for power and relevance are more obvious than concern for piety and faithfulness, talk of reinventing the church has replaced prayer for revival, and the characteristic evangelical passion for missionary enterprise is overpowered by the all-consuming drive to sustain the muliple busines empires of the booming evangelical subculture.

Amen!

The guitarist I have been listening to a lot these days is Glenn Jones. I have known his name for years but have not been too interested in him as I only knew him as the leader of the Boston based band, Cul de Sac. As I have no interest in bands I never looked into his music. However, I have found that he is as good a representative of the "Takoma School" of guitar music as any. (Takoma School is another word for American Primitive Guitar and is taken from the name of John Fahey's album company.)

The two CDs of Glenn Jones that I would recommend would be "Against Which the Sea Continually Beats" and "This Is the Wind That Blows It Out". The name of the first album is taken from a line written on an old map of Martha's Vineyard from the year 1784. The title of the second album is from a poem written by Frank O'Connor in 1936.

Glenn plays both 6 string and 12 string guitar and all of his music is solo. If you have not listened to his music, please give it a try sometime.

This week Reiko and I saw a very interesting documentary on NHK. It was about the people living on an island in Kyushu called Matsushima. What was remarkable to me was the fact that the entire population of the island was Christian. The inhabitants are descendants of the Christians in Kyushu who had to go into hiding during the 1500s.

One of the most prominent buildings at the port is the church. The headman of the village is also the head elder of the church and basically the whole village gathers at the church on Sundays. The main occupation on Matsushima is fishing but all the men rest on Sunday and observe the Lord's Day. I believe that the Hidden Christians of Japan do not have official ties with the Catholic Church and so it is considered a native religion and the Catholic Church does not send a priest to the church at Matsushima. The head elder leads the worship there.

Up to this time I had heard of whole villages coming to Christ in other countries but this is the first time for me to hear about such a thing happening in Japan. Needless to say, Reiko and I were challenged by the faith of this group of Christians who after over 400 years still kept their faith in God the Father and in Jesus Christ His Son. May God continue to lead and guide and bless this village as they live their daily lives centered on faith in the living God.

Our next Tozan Club will be on Monday the 11th of June. With the rainy season approaching I would encourage you all to come and enjoy the mountains while the weather is still nice! We will be meeting at the church at 10 am and will then head to the mountains for a day of hiking. I am looking forward to seeing you all then. Paul