Well, I again find myself with a lot of questions about the church in Japan…and this is mainly because 1. that is where I am 2.the Church has not grown so much these past 500 years. There is no easy answer for that, nor is there just one answer. But it is something that isContinue reading “Japanese church and generations”
Author Archives: sqduble
Fake repenting
I get to sit in on meetings with lots of pastors and other church folks. This isn’t a criticism of something that I come across everyday, but recently met some people who would continually talk about “needing to repent”, but used the word so lightly that I am not sure if they really meant whatContinue reading “Fake repenting”
Evangelical…what is that?
Today for the message at church I touched upon what the meaning of “evangelical” is since it’s a term that has recently come up in Japanese news. From my own recollections as well as a helpful article by John Stackhouse Jr. pushed me to speak of the differences between evangelicalism from the global perspective, andContinue reading “Evangelical…what is that?”
A strange time to be an ex-patriot
Ex-patriot always strikes me as a strange word. If I hadn’t already known it to simply mean “American citizen living abroad”, then I would think it is something like “someone who is no longer a patriot (loyal member or fan)” and therefore “anti-American” in some sense. I personally am not “anti-American”, but I honestly amContinue reading “A strange time to be an ex-patriot”
Cults and Words
I received a letter and a phone call from a relatively new convert to the 新天地 group, which is called Shincheonji Church of Jesus in English. Perhaps I’ll go into more details sometime in the future as to what this group believes and practices, but I want to concentrate on my interaction with the youngContinue reading “Cults and Words”
Execution (not of people, just tasks)
. So many times I find myself with the “right ideas”, yet feel lost getting from point A to point B. I suppose I might be able to get myself across the way, but as a pastor, leading people, creating structures and then helping through the transition is so much larger of a task. Recently,Continue reading “Execution (not of people, just tasks)”
Worship, part 1
I should probably review some other posts and check if I wrote on this topic before, but my computer monitor is broken and any kind of extra activity takes much longer that it should. So I shall trust my memory. Worship is one of the main values of our church, but when we here “worship”Continue reading “Worship, part 1”
Freedom part 1
Well, i think i just told some people that I have a blog and then immediately did nothing for a while. Not a good strategy. Next Sunday, I need to speak on “freedom” for the message (I am speaking from 2 Corinthians 3:17), but even before that, I need to think over what exactly isContinue reading “Freedom part 1”
Intermarriage between faiths…
This will not be a long post, but should be the first post of quite a few. Here in Japan, and working in a Japanese church, one of the issues that the church is facing is in regards to the intermarriage between two people of different faiths. I am doing some reading right now inContinue reading “Intermarriage between faiths…”
Church arguments
I think a majority of church arguments stem from conflicts over how much weight a person is pulling, how much a person is doing and participating in the church’s endeavors. Depending on the church of course (I can’t imagine this being an issue in many Catholic churches). But often times protestant churches, especially here inContinue reading “Church arguments”
Quinby 