pic: (from left) Michael, Tim, Roseline, Phoebe
では、またよろしくお願いします。
Every 15 minutes, one Japanese die of suicide; every day, 100 Japanese die of suicide; every year, we lost more than 30,000 lives in Japan just by suicide alone.
What could we do? 3 options: 1) Go out there, bring love and hope to people! 2) Intercede for them! 3) Give money to support people who are willling to go!
[Warning to Israel] At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. (Ezekiel 3:16-18)
I had called for intercession for the Unreached nations, Japan, in particular, for the specific stir that He had put in my heart. I was unsure about many things, and I'm still unsure. Yet, there is one thing that I know, it is the love and trust that I have in my Lord. And it is this love that drew me to love Japan, one in His heart. Love became so strong, that Japan became a part of me, just as I'm in Jesus.
In response to all disasters that is striking the earth today, Myanmar, Sichuan, unpredictable movement of tropical cyclone, quakes, typhoon, flood, Tsunami...... causing speedy destruction, and we could only response one by one as they come.
There are destructions by man, too, if not more, equal. Human factors that had caused self-destruction or destroying others, a huge population. In Japan, people needs to be alleviate from the state of depressed. It is the time to either feed them with Good News or they will be fed by all other spiritual forces. （It's time to act, you can do something!)
As in other places, humanitarian aids and cry for social justice is needed to alleviate the situation.
This is the DAY that the nations are at our door step. Reaching out to the nation had been more practical and easier these days. Social justice and human rights of migrant workers had often been neglected in most countries.
The land that breed me and groomed me needs Jesus too. If the Lord had called you to Malaysia, please come. When you come, get in touch with people on the field. Be aware of the news, the needs of foreign and local ministries. The same thing that we should do for any nation that we are going to, be alert, have all the latest developments on your fingertips, move with the time, and train you sensitiveness with the Holy Spirit, so that you know what to do, how to pray, where to move.
Jessica sent me a note earlier, saying that she felt "God's urgency". Yes, there are NEEDS all around us.
Proverbs 30:15-16
"The leech has two daughters.
'Give! Give!' they cry.
"There are three things that are never satisfied,
four that never say, 'Enough!':
the grave, the barren womb,
land, which is never satisfied with water,
and fire, which never says, 'Enough!'
How do we response then? Where should we go?
Let's quiet ourselves, seek Him, and learn His direction in our lives. Let's not settle in our comfort zone, let's not be complacent about what we see. Rise up, at least in your community! Reach out! We need to be sensitive and proactive to lift them out of the trash and ashes!
Move on earnestly, praising Him for the work that God had done and is doing. Move on fast! For the time is near.
I love you. Let's work and gather workers around us to work together to the Harvest! to the END TIME.
Useful links for ministries needs in Malaysia: Tenagalita (Human Rights for Migrant Workers), Malaysiakini (Politics)
This piercing pain pierced me deeply at my soul, and I felt limp for a moment while I was writing this. Every year during the darkness of cold March night sparks fly, as monks shake 2.5-meter-long flaming torches with all their might, and bells and horns echo through Todaiji temple in Nara, Japan.
About 30,000 visitors flock to see part of the two-week ritual on the climactic night of March 12.
The more than 1,250-year-old annual ritual calls for 11 selected monks to cut themselves off from their usual lives and gradually purify their minds.
While the monks with the torches dance close enough to the fire to singe their eyebrows in a closed-door ritual, conducted in the temple's inner sanctum, one of the eleven monks splashes sacred water and others help to dust off the sparks from the floor. The other monks bow thousands of times to repent for people's sins.
According to Buddhist doctrine, people commit myriad offenses due to the ‘Three Poisons’ -- greed, anger and ignorance. When the offenses accumulate, people become unable to see the truth and become ill.
Since ordinary people cannot repent for their sins and misconduct, the monks do so, on their behalf in the ritual.
Source: Yomiuri News, by K. Sakane, 2006-06-20
Some people might think this is creepy. But I guess majority of us here would see this perhaps serve as a great redemptive tool for Good News! These people do acknowledge sins, and believe that there is a need to repent!
Many in the crowd might be there just for fun, but many more would be there simply believing that the Kannon will remove their sins, and they will be heal from sickness and troubles in life. We need to find these people and tell them what is the TRUTH! more
Let's learn together! January - February 2008 Contents
