Category Archives: Let’s talk

Those who know Jesus, but don’t know it

“All paths lead to God. All religions are the same. Jesus isn’t the only way.” This is what people say. It makes it sound as if Jesus is only for one group of people. But what if it is the …

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Prove it! Johnna’s Message Shonan Community Church April 23rd, John 20:19-31

Prove it!

What is the force that causes this ball to drop to the ground? (Drops ball) Gravity! What causes an airplane to stay in the air? The rules of aerodynamics. What causes a roller coaster to stay on the

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Book Highlights from The Genesee Diary: Report from a Trappist Monastery by Henri Nouwen

diaryOne of the books I snatched from my mom’s bookshelf before leaving for Japan, The Genesee Diary was a read I was looking forward to mainly because I tend to love most everything that Nouwen has penned.  And this is …

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Book Review: Finding God in Unexpected Places by Philip Yancey.  

finding GodAn excerpt from p. 208 in the paperback version:

“…I came up with a new definition of faith: paranoia in reverse. A truly paranoid person organizes his or her life around a common perspective of fear.  Whatever happens feeds that …

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God is not impressed with me

giving_waterFabio and I preached twice last Sunday – once from English to Japanese and the other with me from English to Portuguese and Fabio translating (with others then translating from Portuguese to Japanese).  I was especially moved by one of …

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Another way to talk about the U.S. race debacle

You know better than I do, the shootings and conversations about race in the U.S. have been heart-wrenching and extremely divisive.  I appreciated this interview (link below) with two Chicago pastors (one is black and one is white, but the …

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Why are you doing this?

Start_With_WhyLately I’ve been thinking a lot about a question that I’m guessing many will ask me once I start telling people I’m quitting my job and moving to Japan.  Why are you leaving your home country with your maternal language, …

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Midwinter, Covenant History and Sermon

Midwinter-edited-249x300A few months ago I went to Denver to take a course called “Covenant History” as part of my preparation for our mission in Japan. As we studied Covenant History we wrote papers and answered questions regarding the same subject.…

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Make your life your mission!

makeyourlifeMake Your Life Your Mission and Your Mission Your Life
Matthew 28:20 and 1 Cor 9:19-23 (especially The Message version)

PART I – Matthew 28:20
Therefore go and make disciples…
Which of the verbs is in the indicative?  We think …

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Agenda Tampa – Fourth Friday Meeting

Hello All –

We’re excited that Fourth Friday has popped up again.
Topic this week: PRAYER – Do our posture and words matter?

We’ll be looking at this passage from Luke 18:11-13

“The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, …

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