A Far Green Country

Government Attempts Birthrate Boost with Reverse Psychology

The nation’s low birthrate is an enduring problem, which successive government initiatives have failed to solve. At a press conference last week, the cabinet announced a new strategy, which they hope will have more impact. Noting that sales of kanji instruction books increased when former Prime Minister Aso’s illiteracy became widely known, ministers aim to encourage more procreation amongst Japanese couples by drawing attention to their own lack of prowess between the sheets.

‘I’m absolutely crap in the sack,’ said Culture Minister Shochu Nakayama at the press conference. ‘Sometimes I’m so drunk after a long Diet session that I can’t perform at all. It’s a wonder we ever had a child.’

Read the rest here.

Douglas Wilson...love this guy.

He says in parenting our role "is not to get our children to conform to the standard, but rather to get your children to love the standard & to love the standard intelligently. It's not sufficient to clamp a bunch of rules on them & have them just conform to that rather than fight you. That's not education, that's not biblical child-rearing, that's not what we're after. We want them to think it through. We want them to come to internalize the standard so that the standard becomes genuinely theirs & they can articulate it & defend it & they can teach their kids to love it."

Here's more...

Teaching your kids to dismantle pop-culture:

Paul ends 1 Corinthians (16:22) with a neat chiastic sign-off. Anyone who does not love the Lord is declared “accursed” (anathema) and Paul follows this with the cry of maranatha (”the Lord comes”). Anath-ma/mar-anatha.

Substantively, it is a striking phrase. Anathema speaks a harsh word of judgment; maranatha is, as it were, the Bride’s cry for her Lord to come (cf. Revelation 22:17-20). It is, as it were, the last word of the Song of Songs (”Hurry, my beloved,” 8:14). Putting the two together highlights one aspect of the Bride’s hope: She longs for her Lord to whisk her away as love, but she also longs for her Lord to rescue her from all who “do not love the Lord.” Maranatha is a cry for judgment as much as a cry of love.

- Peter Leithart

When nobody else will say it, you can usually count on 9Marks ministries to say it. Here's a principle I learned that has always bothered me & some insight into the new lingo to continue pushing it:



"Contextualization," a euphemism for "homogeneous unit principle?"

No, the idea of contexualization isn't always euphemism for the homogeneous unit principle. Yes, I’m grateful for the writers who push us to be sensitive and conscientious to our cultural surroundings. But when I hear about multi-site churches deliberately using different campuses (aka churches) to appeal to different socio-demographic groups, it does seem that the HUP has reared its head.

McKinley, here's a freebie for you. This following excerpt comes from Mike McKinley's Church Planting Is for Wimps, which Crossways plans to publish this coming spring:

Not many books or church leaders these days speak anymore about the homogeneous unit principle—appealing to one homogeneous group of people. Somewhere in the 1980s or 90s church growth writers stopped using the phrase because they had heard enough complaining about it being biblically problematic. Still, they needed some way to target particular groups, so they began to speak in terms of “contextualization”—adapting yourself to a context. I don’t want to totally knock the good people-sensitivities involved with contextualizing. But the evangelical fascination with the topic makes me wonder if it’s just an updated version of the homogeneous unit principle: Pick your social demographic and appeal…I mean, contextualize to them.

When we start churches intentionally designed to appeal to a certain kind of person, we fail to heed the biblical mandate to become all things to all people (1 Cor. 9:22). It seems like many churches want to embrace the first phrase without the second. We want to become all things to some people. The problem is, becoming all things to some people, say, by rocking the tattoos and turning up the music often keeps us from reaching all kinds of people. After all, wooing one demographic (like urban young people) often means alienating others (like older people or foreigners).

It seems to me that Paul in 1 Corinthians 9 wasn’t saying that he would mimic the people he was trying to reach, you know, with a ripped tunic and Doc Marten sandals; he was trying instead to remove unnecessary offense whenever possible. He wasn’t telling them to sport goatees, he was telling them not to flaunt their Christian freedom in everyone’s faces. He was encouraging the church to be sensitive to their cultures, yes, but by being sacrificial in its love, willing to give up things it might not have preferred to give up. To this day, I enjoy punk rock. I could flaunt the tatts and plant a punk rock church that took its musical cues from Stiff Little Fingers and its attitude from the Clash. But how would this show love for the elderly women in my neighborhood, the same kind of elderly women who welcomed me to [my former church]? It seems like we should intentionally plant churches that will, as much as possible, welcome and engage people who are different and diverse with respect to age, gender, personality, and nationality….

Perhaps you’re thinking, “But young people simply won’t go to churches where the music is not tailored to them.” That may be partly true, but it’s only true insofar as they’ve been in churches with no biblical vision for reaching all people. But what if pastors everywhere decided to stop capitulating to consumeristic demands? What if pastors taught church members to lay down their rights for the sake of people who were different? Pastor, are you afraid that if you tried doing this, you might lose some of your market share?

So then, what should characterize a church plant that wants to reach people from all kinds of backgrounds? Well, it obviously needs to show intentional love to people from different cultures. People from other cultures will know pretty quickly whether they are welcomed or merely tolerated as a curiosity. In our church, we try to be intentional about having members from other cultures involved in leading our corporate gatherings, whether through prayer, Bible reading, singing, or preaching. In addition 40 percent of our elder board is comprised of non-white non-Americans (and that’s not including the lawyers, who should perhaps be their own ethnic group).

Also, the way that we order our gatherings can impact the way international believers feel. Many of the brothers and sisters in our congregation from other cultures were attracted by how similar our services are to the ones in their home countries. The music is different, sure. The way people dress is different, of course. Our services may be quieter or louder than what they’re accustomed to. But Christians gathered in churches in Thailand, in South Africa, in Niger, in Guatemala all do the same things: they pray, sing, read the Bible, and listen to the Word being preached. The more we focus on doing those things, the more “at home” international brothers and sisters feel. The more we import movies and drama and pop-culture into the church, the more specific and targeted our gatherings feel and the less comfortable these brothers and sisters feel.

- Jonathan Leeman at Church Matters blog

Love this song & how it crescendo's to hope in Christ. As always, shout out to K. Qualls!

This is from the biographical talk that I got to be present to hear & that the Lord used to put me on the mission field.

The gospel of Christ is the good tidings that God has revealed concerning Christ. As all mankind was lost in Adam and became the children of wrath, put under the sentence of death, God, though He left His fallen angels and has reserved them in the chains of eternal darkness, yet He has thought upon the children of men and has provided a way of atonement to reconcile them to Himself again.

The second Person in the Trinity takes man’s nature upon Himself, and becomes the Head of a second covenant, standing charged with sin. He answers for it by suffering what the law and divine justice required, and by making satisfaction for keeping the law perfectly. This satisfaction and righteousness He tenders up to the Father as a sweet savor of rest for the souls that are given to Him.

And now this mediation of Christ is, by the appointment of the Father, preached to the children of men, of whatever nation or rank, freely offering this atonement unto sinners for atonement, requiring them to believe in Him and, upon believing, promising not only a discharge of all their former sins, but that they shall not enter into condemnation, that none of their sins or unworthiness shall ever hinder the peace of God with them, but that they shall through Him be received into the number of those who shall have the image of God again to be renewed unto them, and that they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

That these souls and bodies shall be raised to that height of glory that such creatures are capable of, that they shall live forever enjoying the presence of God and Christ, in the fullness of all good, is the gospel of Christ. This is the sum of the gospel that is preached unto sinners.


- Jeremiah Burroughs

In Japan, suicide is on the rise. Nearly 34,000 people took their lives last year alone, according to USA Today. This number is the second-highest toll ever in Japan and ranks Japan at ninth for suicide rates worldwide.

This has been the case for the last decade as Japan's economy continues to weaken and spiral downward. Since 1998, there have been over 30,000 suicides each year, reported the Japan Times.

Takeshi Takazawa with Asian Access (A2) said two factors contribute to this.

"This basically shows the hopelessness. They think killing themselves is better than continuing life, so they basically give up," he said. Also, many feel isolated, without anyone to talk to or show support.

Asian Access in Japan is trying to turn this number around.

Takazawa said the church in Japan needs to reach out to society, rather than waiting for the hopeless to come knocking on the church doors.

"We're encouraging our Japanese pastors to become a true bridge to those people who desperately need hope and salvation of Christ," he said.

One way they did this was by sending several pastors to the U.S. through the pastor's vision tour. These pastors visited Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington, as well as Vancouver, B.C. and according to A2's Web site, "had a very fruitful time."

Takazawa said Seattle area is one of the least-evangelized places in the U.S. Thus, the pastors observed the unique models and approaches evangelists used there and were taught how to use them in Japan.

The pastors realized two main issues they needed to address in Japan as a result of the conference.

First, Takazawa said, "[The] Church needs ears to listen to society. The answer is Jesus Christ, always, but what questions are they asking?"

Second, they became aware of the need to create multi-site churches. Rather than keeping the church in one location, the church would go to the searching and allow them to connect on a deeper level.

Pray for the church in Japan as they seek to reach out to lost and hopeless individuals. Pray that they will reach people before they feel the need to end their lives.

To learn more about the ministry of Asian Access and how you can get involved, click here.

- from Mission Network News

"What you do is what you're seen like...If you commit a mistake...there is a discipline structure for dealing with people who sometimes go astray. We have a focus & a vision of our path & if you do something wrong we need to discipline you...And you take that as a child who gets disciplined by his father or his mother & you don't resent that because it's necessary...(Without it) then everybody would just do what they want. Then instead of having direction & focus...every member would be going their own direction...there would be no direction, no identity if everybody did his own thing."


- Duke, 18th Street Gang Member (if you decide to watch this the language is foul...as are many other things - quote above is found on part 2)

How is it that the 18th Street Gang come closer to Scriptural principles than the church?

For about the last year I've been cutting my own hair. The good news is, that at least 60% of the time, you can't tell. I've learned some things along the way, & sacrificed looking my best for few bucks.

One of the things I've learned is that right after a fresh cut, in the beginning, I can get away with some pretty major mistakes & it not be noticed. But a few weeks later, after the hair starts to grow back, bad blend jobs, gaps, missed places, all become much more noticeable. If you cut your own hair, you've always got to be willing to shave it - to be ready to go back to square 1 to even everything out...sometimes, it's the only way to fix a hack job.

I think church planting is the same way. If you skip out on some clear teachings on the church in the beginning, you might form a group, you may get a church off the ground, you could even have the appearance of going strong. But if your entire strategy, or essential elements of it, are built in ignorance of the Word, or you look at what the Word says, look at the culture you are trying to reach, & think your idea is better, you're working on a hack job. Some people may like a mo-hawk or a "dumb & dumber" "do", so it is possible to be self-deceived that all is well.

But sooner or later, as things grow, if at the base, the foundation, things aren't on an even scale with the Word of God, even fundamental things like preaching, pastors, male leadership, are explicitly set aside for the wisdom of man, the only way to make it right is to repent & return to the Word. In other words, take the guard off, oil up the blades, & buzz it right down to the base.

The 2007 Miss Universe was Riyo Mori from our home of Shizuoka City, Japan. Even though this feature talks about Tokyo, the first & last part of this video shows Mori-san in Shizuoka City & talking about her home. It is interesting to hear the Japanese refer to the city as "countryside"! You also get some insight into Japanese ancestor worship.

Sovereign Commander of the Universe,

I am sadly harassed by doubts, fears, unbelief,

in a felt spiritual darkness.

My heart is full of evil surmising and disquietude,

And I cannot act faith at all.

My heavenly pilot has disappeared,

and I have lost my hold on the rock of ages;

I sink in deep mire beneath storms and waves,

in horror and distress unutterable.

Help me, O Lord,

to throw myself absolutely and wholly on thee,

for better, for worse, without comfort and all but hopeless.

Give me peace of soul, confidence, enlargement of mind,

morning joy that comes after night heaviness;

Water my soul richly with divine blessings;

Grant that I may welcome thy humbling in private

so that I might enjoy thee in public;

Give me a mountain top as high as the valley is low,

Thy grace can melt the worst sinner, and I am as vile as he;

Yet thou hast made me a monument of mercy,

a trophy of redeeming power;

In my distress let me not forget this.

All-wise God,

Thy never-failing providence orders every event.

sweetens every fear,

reveals evil’s presence lurking in seeming good,

brings good out of seeming evil,

makes unsatisfactory what I set my heart upon,

to show me what a short-sighted creature I am,

And to teach me to live by faith upon thy blessed self.

Out of my sorrow and night

give me the name Naphtali -'satisfied with favour'-

help me to love thee as thy child,

and to walk worthy of my heavenly pedigree.




- from Valley of Vision

http://www.o-cha.com/discovery.htm

Here's footage from the earthquake we were awoken to back in August. This camera is on top of a building about a 3 minute bike ride from our home. In fact, if it were angled slightly more left, you could see our condo.

1) Do you feel love from your spouse? (Sample size = 3,208)

Male (1,602 respondents)

Yes - 16.0%

Somewhat - 47.4%

Not really - 25.0%

Not at all - 15.1%

Female (1,606 respondents)

Yes - 18.9%

Somewhat - 42.7%

Not really - 23.3%

Not at all - 29.1%

2) Could you look after your spouse full-time? (Sample size = 3,208)

Male (1,602)

Yes - 31.2%

Somewhat- 51.6%

Not really - 11.8%

Not at all - 5.4%

Female (1,606)

Yes - 19.9%

Somewhat - 48.6%

Not realy - 20.5%

Not at all - 11.0%



- from whatjapanthinks.com

Catholicism is dangerous primarily because it is faith in Christ + works.

However, the longer I live overseas the more I think we're all quite Romish.

What is it for you?

Christ + the American dream?

Christ + stuff?

Christ + sports?

Christ + gadgets?

Christ + comfort?

Christ + body image?

For me, these days I believe it is Christ + desire for ease.

Praying for Christ alone to really mean Christ alone.

Humility is not simply feeling small & useless - like an inferiority complex. It is sensing how great & glorious God is, & seeing myself in that light. Humility in Scripture is the fruit of grace, not of fear. It is God's love which makes a man truly humble. Now, Scripture emphasizes these aspects of the Christian life to show us the depth & length, the breadth & height of the love of God. When we see that we are humbled by the knowledge that God cares so much about us.

This should lead us to a steadier assurance. Lack of assurance is often caused, like a sense of inferiority, by being too taken up with ourselves. But our assurance does not lie in what we are, be we great or small. It lies in what God has done in his plan of salvation to secure us to himself.


- Sinclair Ferguson, The Christian Life, pg. 25

Douglas Wilson speaks with atheists & agnostics at Colombia University after his guest lecture in their club.

COLLISION: Doug Wilson outtake from LEVEL4 on Vimeo.

1. Because homosexuals are adopting at a frenzied pace

2. Because Mormons are adopting at a frenzied pace

Romans 2:4 – “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”

I am often astonished at how well fear of being shunned and desire to conform work so well to keep a relatively safe and functioning society in Japan. Is there any other country in the world that has been so God-less for so long and had such prosperity and peace as Japan has?

I believe this is a major stumbling block for the Japanese. “Why do we need God,” they seem to ask as they remain less than 0.5% Christian. “We have one of the cleanest, safest, wealthiest, & most beautiful countries in the whole world. What could ‘God’ add,” they think.

What the Japanese do not understand is that what they enjoy on earth has been from the riches of God’s kindness and forbearance and patience, something designed in love to lead them into repentance.

The next verse in Romans 2 states, “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.”

The sun may one day set on earth on the Land of the Rising Sun in judgment and wrath for years of rejecting Creator God. But whether or not the country continues to prosper, each Japanese will sooner or later see the sun set in their own lives, and when that day comes, the chance to repent and believe sets with it.

Please pray for repentant, faithful hearts in the people of Japan.

They don’t, with only one exception. All the bad things, with one exception, that have ever happened have happened to bad people, which makes the question moot. The only time a bad thing happened to a good person was at Calvary, and the Good Person volunteered for the bad thing, for that which was set before Him. That leaves us with a much more honest question- why bad things happen to bad people. With respect to those outside the kingdom, the simple answer is this- justice. That is, no one on this side of death has ever experienced suffering that was fitting with their sin. All those outside the kingdom experience, no matter how difficult their lives might be, grace on this side of death. Every sin we commit is worthy of eternal torment. Even the worst suffering here on earth is temporal torment.

Why then do difficult things happen to redeemed people? As I write my wife has recently been found to have cancer on her spine. That cancer has led to a compression fracture in her back. Far worse, today we learned that the woman who committed to bless us with her unborn child has reneged on her commitment. She reneged even before we could inform her of my dear wife’s health issues. Why did God bring this to pass? The short answer, which is true despite accusations that it is pat, is for our good and God’s glory. The redeemed never experience hard providences because of justice. That which is due to me, my wife and my children has been paid two thousand years ago on Calvary. Justice was served at exactly the one time that a bad thing happened to a good Person. For us, then, every hardship is not the even-ing of the scales of justice, but the labors of our Father to cause us to grow in grace and wisdom.

I am, to be frank, reeling under these hard providences. I am watching my wife suffer, and going through the adoption equivalent of a still-born child. But I am standing because I know my heavenly Father, who loves me with a perfect love, is about the business of making me and those I love more like Jesus. I am at peace because I know that what I suffer is far less than I objectively deserve, all because Jesus suffered exactly what I objectively deserve. The great mystery is not that I should suffer. That makes perfect sense given my sins. The great mystery is the great mercy that I receive. Why have I been blessed with a heroic wife? Why have I been blessed with a covenant community like Saint Peter church? Why do I have such God honoring, God reflecting olive plants around my dinner table in my children? Because once a bad thing happened to a good Man.

I am grateful for the prayers of God’s people. I am needful of those prayers. Please pray that Denise would be strong and healthy. Please pray that the birth mom who committed to bless us with her child would carry out that commitment. But my heart’s desire is that all who so pray would learn these simple truths- that we suffer less than what we deserve, and that this is so because Christ suffered for us. Give thanks that a bad thing happened to a Good Person. And pray for grace for bad people like us.

- by R.C. Sproul, Jr.

With regard to Japan’s history of organ transplantation, the first Japanese heart transplantation occurred in 1968. The public promptly accused the doctor of murder although the prosecuting authorities did not follow through with a prosecution. Japan barred organ donations until 1997. Period. Barred. None. Nada. Even from adults who were brain dead! In July 19, 2009 (that's this year), Japan agreed to allow organ donation for brain dead children .

Until 1997, Japan barred organ donations from even adults who were brain dead. A law enacted that year lifted the ban but continued to prohibit children from donating, citing their inability to make such a mature decision. It also only authorized organs to be taken from patients who specifically gave their consent — contributing to a severe shortage in the country. The law passed . . . will give relatives the authority to consent to donations in cases where the patient’s own intentions were unclear, according to the document, which was posted on the legislature’s Web site. It will take effect in the summer of 2010, a parliamentary official said on condition of anonymity, citing policy.

Mari Yamaguchi, Japan Lifts Child Organ Donation Ban, Associated Press, July 19. 2009.

There is a discussion of the evolving law of Japan here. So, if you need a transplant and you live in Japan, either you sought an international transplant, or you die.

My sister stated on her adoption blog, "I also feel like there is something missional about international adoption. I don’t know how to put my finger on it." It reminded me of another blog post I had read last week from Jeremy Hasinks, associate pastor at Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Lexington, KY:


Where does adoption fit in your local church’s mission to reach the world with the gospel?

The task of rescuing orphans is often relegated to a small minority of folks in the church usually made up of those who have adopted or those who are in the process of adopting. These folks are embraced and encouraged for doing a ‘good thing,’ but no one knows to see what they are doing as a part of fulfilling the church’s commitment to the Great Commission.

One reason for this is that we fail to see adoption as God’s mission in the world. God’s mission in the world is to form a family for Himself called the church. The church is made up of people from every tribe, language, nation, and people. (Revelation 5:9) This family is created not according to the flesh, but through adoption.

In Ephesians 3, Paul refers to this plan or mission as a mystery once hidden in God but now being revealed in the world. We join God in His mission of adoption by delivering the good news to the nations that they can be adopted through faith in Jesus. As they hear and believe our message, God’s mystery is unveiled to the cosmos. As this happens Paul declares, “the manifold wisdom of God is made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 3:10)

God’s mission is to declare His wisdom by adopting the nations. We join God in this mission as we preach the gospel and gather His church from the ends of the earth.

So what’s the connection between world mission work and rescuing orphans?

If God’s wisdom is made known through world missions, it is the same wisdom that reverberates when our churches take part in rescuing orphans. When a church helps bring to a family a new son not according to the flesh but according to adoption there is a reflection of the same manifold wisdom that is displayed in through our participation in the world mission.

Let me be clear, preaching the gospel brings about eternal salvation to those who hear and believe. The only hope for the over 6,000 unreached people groups around the world is that churches would be planted and reproduced through the proclamation that salvation is in no other name but the name of Jesus. God’s mission will not be completed primarily through families adopting orphans from around the world, but through world mission efforts. And yet, a commitment to join God on mission should cause us to be like God on mission.

Our mission work declares that we believe the gospel transcends our culture. Adoption declares that we believe the gospel transcends our flesh and blood. As former Gentiles, we work to see the nations represented in our congregation. As former orphans, we work together to see former rescued orphans in our families. This is the wisdom of God displayed in missions. It is the same wisdom displayed through adoption.

Every time you see a family standing at the front of your church ready to give their life to the cause of Christ around the world, there you see a church’s commitment to the wisdom of God. Every time you see a couple standing in front of your congregation holding the hand of a child who was once abandoned but now has a father, there again you see a church’s commitment to the wisdom of God.

The local church that embraces the wisdom revealed in the world mission will seek to echo such wisdom by making adoption and orphan care central to their mission strategy. Why? Because it is not their plan or programs to which they are committed. It is the wisdom of God revealed in the gospel to which they are committed. They seek to proclaim this wisdom in every way possible including the most vivid declaration of rescuing orphans.

A church with a heart for the nations should be able to see the faces of the nations each Sunday morning as they gather for worship. They will be able to look around and identify not only former Gentiles from all over the globe, but also former orphans, spiritually and even physically. In doing so, they are saying to the heavenly hosts, Satan’s legions, and all the forces of darkness arrayed against them, ” Mission accomplished!” (At least, in an already not yet sense)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8286627.stm

Maybe it's because this guy looks like a villain from the Batman series. Maybe it's just the mustache. Maybe it's the spooky lighting. Perhaps the way he's all jacked up on Mountain Dew. Or maybe the fact that he seems to be eager to back-hand his children, but though I agree with the Bible verse about children obeying their parents in the Lord, I don't think I'd want to see this guy execute his interpretation on any child!!