Hello all!

My name is Andy Duncan. I am an American civilian living in Zama, Kanagawa. I am currently working with the Presbyterian Church America (PCA) and local Presbyterian church Japan(PCJ) to plant an International English speaking church near the Camp Zama base.  If anyone is interested in an English speaking church near Camp Zama and would like to know more about this church plant, I would love to talk with you over coffee/dinner/brunch etc...  I have setup a church planting blog sagaminochurch.blogspot.com

At the blog you will be able to read some more information about myself, my family and the ministry going on here.  Please feel free to contact me at any time.  My cell number is 090-4069-2059 and my email address is andrewduncan7@hotmail.com

Best wishes in your undertaking. I admire what you're trying to do, although I don't live in that area. I was a little puzzled by the boxing vid on your blog even though it's a great KO.

Thai Guy - you seem like a true believer.  If you come to Yokosuka give me a call and we can go out witnessing or something.  080-5444-8691

Hi,

Hope you do well.  You are welcome to visit us while in Yokosuka.  080-5444-8691. 

Bill

Many thanks brother.  There was no real reason for the Manny K.O. video except that I love that shot!  If you know of any people that might be interested please send them my way.

All the best to you and yours in Yokosuka

If anyone has advice on good ways to get the word out to Military folk about this church plant, I would gladly and gratefully take suggestions.

As a non military man, does anyone have any thoughts on how to effectively serve those of the military community? Things to focus on? Needs that need to be met?

Without knowing the specific needs in Zama, here are a couple of things that are popular in Iwakuni...

1) MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers). This is not a "play-date" for kids; it's a mutual support group for moms. Meets maybe twice a month, with child care provided so the moms can relax and make friends. It's an international organization; you can google around & find their website.

2) Ladies Tea. This is very popular here, with a good mix of Japanese, American & filipina ladies meet weekly for tea, coffee & snacks. Meets like 10:30 AM and ends by noon. A lot of good friendships have begun with this group. It's largely an unstructured social group, but lately has included a short Bible lesson, with translator available if the Japanese ladies are struggling with the English.

I mention these two because they are fairly easy to start, with good pay-back. Youth, family and single soldier programs tend to take more work, with a long time to take root.

Many thanks for the recommendations brother.  I would like to be able to setup some of these things for the ladies.  I will be praying about some good ways I can serve the folks here is Zama. 

1 thing I have going for me is that in my case time is not an issue Chaplains and other ministry pcs or go on furlough frequently but I don't have to do either which makes setting things up for the longer term a little easier.  

If you have anymore thoughts, send them my way!

Andy

What goes into starting a Reformed International English speaking church in Japan? What are the necessary components? Let me know what you think!

I'll start....Our focus must be on Christ...the birth, life, death, resurrection and glorification of Jesus Christ. If that is not our starting point we have no church at all! Some might say that is a given but sadly I cannot count the number of churches have I visited where a cultural Christless Christianity is all that is seen. Solus Christus

FYI...Men's Breakfast
On Saturday August 20th we will be having a free men's pancake breakfast. We will have a short (10-15minute) presentation on Sacrificial Living. It will be free of charge and open to any interested men (both English speaking and non English speaking). Please come join us  contact Andy at 090-4069-2059 or andrewduncan7@hotmail.com if you are interested and need directions!

This week was not terribly productive but hopefully my meeting with the Kanagawa presbytery will build on some ground work that has been laid. I will be visiting with some friends who do another ministry to today. They work directly with the Armed Forces and I am hoping they will have some knowledge of the Camp Zama scene. I am still looking for ways to connect with the international community here in my area and I pray for divinely appointed openings. Other than that just I have just been writing sermons in the book of Judges (I hope to complete the entire book by the end of September), studying Japanese and trying to be a good servant for Chie.

Chie is a woman more than capable of handling anything thrown her way and she always is able to take care of herself and everyone around her including me! I am a fighter and have thrown more punches at ( in the past other objects) fighting men than I can remember and in terms of mental toughness Chie ranks right at the top of the list. I have been training her for about 7 years, since the time we met. In that time I have been able to see that handles the exchange of punches with a calm, cool focus that in the same way she handles every other kind of situation. In Philly she was forced into situations that she never asked for but through all of those occurrences she fought, fought hard and won.


Why do I spend so much time on the topic of Chie, fighting and such things? I have been training pretty hard recently and have been thinking about the nature of "fight" both inside and outside the ring, in the street and on the battle field. I have never been to war but living in North Philly is close enough sometimes with guns and knives pulled on me more times than I care to remember. What is fight and how do we as image bearers of God in Christ "fight". In Christ we see a man who both laid down his life and yet foretold a glorious return when he would come as a sword wielding King. James Stuart said of Christ "He was a servant of all, washing the disciples’ feet, yet masterfully he strode into the temple and the moneychangers and hucksters fell over one another in their mad rush to get away from fire they saw blazing in His eyes. He saved others, yet at the last Himself he did not save."

In Matthew 21 we see Jesus in righteous fury send men running in fear, yet 6 chapters later Christ hangs on the cross refusing to save himself. How does this determine the nature of fight? How does Christ's contrasting life guide us in this discussion? Are we to sacrifice like Christin the same way he did? No because we are not the Lamb of God. Are we to fight the Conquering Kingly Christ who will bring vengeance and righteous fury? No because we are not the King. So wheat should we then do?

As the Christian we are to follow and be the body of the King. We are be holy and perfect as He is holy and perfect. It is his position to save the world both through sacrifice and through eventual triumph. In the life of the Christian we must follow in that. In this life of "fight" there will be times of sacrifice where we are called to lay ourselves down both physically and in other ways. In doing this we follow the Lamb! Yet there will also be times in this life of "fight" when we are called to make war both physically and spiritually. In this we follow the King. When called to lay down, we praise God and pray for our enemies in a way that does honor to the Lamb. When called to make war we do it without fear, without discouragement and with a ferocity that does honor to the King.

This week was not terribly productive but hopefully my meeting with the Kanagawa presbytery will build on some ground work that has been laid. I will be visiting with some friends who do another ministry to today. They work directly with the Armed Forces and I am hoping they will have some knowledge of the Camp Zama scene. I am still looking for ways to connect with the international community here in my area and I pray for divinely appointed openings. Other than that just I have just been writing sermons in the book of Judges (I hope to complete the entire book by the end of September), studying Japanese and trying to be a good servant for Chie.

Chie is a woman more than capable of handling anything thrown her way and she always is able to take care of herself and everyone around her including me! I am a fighter and have thrown more punches at ( in the past other objects) fighting men than I can remember and in terms of mental toughness Chie ranks right at the top of the list. I have been training her for about 7 years, since the time we met. In that time I have been able to see that handles the exchange of punches with a calm, cool focus that in the same way she handles every other kind of situation. In Philly she was forced into situations that she never asked for but through all of those occurrences she fought, fought hard and won.


Why do I spend so much time on the topic of Chie, fighting and such things? I have been training pretty hard recently and have been thinking about the nature of "fight" both inside and outside the ring, in the street and on the battle field. I have never been to war but living in North Philly is close enough sometimes with guns and knives pulled on me more times than I care to remember. What is fight and how do we as image bearers of God in Christ "fight". In Christ we see a man who both laid down his life and yet foretold a glorious return when he would come as a sword wielding King. James Stuart said of Christ "He was a servant of all, washing the disciples’ feet, yet masterfully he strode into the temple and the moneychangers and hucksters fell over one another in their mad rush to get away from fire they saw blazing in His eyes. He saved others, yet at the last Himself he did not save."

In Matthew 21 we see Jesus in righteous fury send men running in fear, yet 6 chapters later Christ hangs on the cross refusing to save himself. How does this determine the nature of fight? How does Christ's contrasting life guide us in this discussion? Are we to sacrifice like Christin the same way he did? No because we are not the Lamb of God. Are we to fight the Conquering Kingly Christ who will bring vengeance and righteous fury? No because we are not the King. So wheat should we then do?

As the Christian we are to follow and be the body of the King. We are be holy and perfect as He is holy and perfect. It is his position to save the world both through sacrifice and through eventual triumph. In the life of the Christian we must follow in that. In this life of "fight" there will be times of sacrifice where we are called to lay ourselves down both physically and in other ways. In doing this we follow the Lamb! Yet there will also be times in this life of "fight" when we are called to make war both physically and spiritually. In this we follow the King. When called to lay down, we praise God and pray for our enemies in a way that does honor to the Lamb. When called to make war we do it without fear, without discouragement and with a ferocity that does honor to the King.

The Lord is Risen, Amen and Amen!

Hello all. This was another productive week. I met with members of the Kanagawa PCJ presbytery and had a good meeting concerning my vision for a church plant in Zama, my place in the presbytery and the possibility of being ordained under the PCJ. If that local ordination is a real possibility it would be a tremendous blessing. If ordained locally, I would not have to have my ordination and supervision setup in the States which would in turn mean that I could focus here without being pulled in multiple directions.

We also had a nice breakfast this Saturday with some friends and some new folks who I have not met before. It was originally intended to be a "mens fellowship breakfast". That it seems is a tall order to put together in Japan. Men work too much here. So we opene it up to whoever was able to attend. It was encouraging to have people over to my house and have some fellowship time. When doing ministry in Philly my wife and I constantly had people over but in Japan it takes a little more work to get people to come over to your house. This is necessary ministry so I will endeavor to persevere in this and hopefully the people will come over time. The Lord commands us to be a body, we are to be with one another and in one another and that is what I intend to do.

At the breakfast a lady came to the house and this was our first meeting. She had been corresponding with my wife regularly and was super excited at the chance to meet with us. She is a recent convert and is really looking for Christian fellowship and good Christian teaching in this area. She is thirsty to learn and grow and I am thrilled to have met her. She feels a bit at a loss with some of the learning she receives. She said that it feels somewhat shallow. Oh how I understand that and pray that this will not stunt her growth or frustrate her spiritual desires.

I am still praying for opportunities and avenues to meet English speakers who are looking for a church home in this area. Also I am looking for avenues to witness more regularly and avenues to preach more regularly.

I leave you with a nice Kelly Pavlik K.O.

Head to http://sagaminochurch.blogspot.com

You were bought with at a price! 1 Corinthians 6:20

Hello Sagamino readers! Very good week this week. I was able to met with Sagamino's elder and we discussed ordination and membership in the PCJ. He was very encouraging and seems to think it is a long but very doable process to have me ordained in the PCJ. It seems that what I will need to do is transfer my membership to the PCJ, then have them declare me as a “missionary” as I study Japanese and prepare for my ordination exams. All in all probably a 3 year process. In any other country this would seem like a ridiculously long process but in Japan, it is pretty short.

I also was able to make contact with the JCFN (Japanese Christian Fellowship Network). This is a group that setups up, Japanese people who have been converted to Christianity overseas, with church homes and fellowship groups in their particular area. I hope to meet with some of the representatives this week or at the Tokyo meeting in September. This would be a great ministry opportunity for the Sagamino Church as we look to reach out to English speakers in this part of Kanagawa.

Other than that, the wife and I went out to Shinagawa for a wine tasting event. That was quite nice and not something I usually have the chance to do. By far the best wine I samples was an Italian white wine. I will be buying this by the case I am sure. I was telling some church folk about the event the wine tasting outing and they became a little taken aback that a pastor and his wife would go to a wine tasting. The American temperance movement is alive and well in Japanese churches. That is one part of American church culture that I wish I had left in the States. Wine, beer, alcohol in general is a topic that I spend more time discussing that I think is very necessary. My Christian brothers and sisters I can tell you that the Bible does not forbid alcohol, it does not even look down on it. Rather than condemning, it is quite highly looked upon. Of course there are limits. David in the Psalms, and the writer of Proverbs makes warning that intoxication is dangerous and sinful. The New Testament writers affirm this warning. But with the warnings comes the over abundant mentions of gladness that accompanies drink and fellowship. Certainly alcohol is not a required drink but it is something that is assumed in the average persons life. Wine is a normal part of life for those in the OT, the references are too numerous to mention. I challenge anyone to find an OT book where wine is forbidden. As it comes to the New Testament wine continues to be assumed. Jesus drinks and they even go so far as to maliciously call him a drunk. Paul prescribes some wine for Timothy's stomach pains. The continual feasts mentioned in the letters Paul, John , James and Jude make reference to wine.

I have taken the time to write briefly about this because I fear the combination of Christian, rules and Japanese culture. If ever there existed the ingredients for Pharisaical thinking these 3 are it. The Christian is a person who understands the concepts of laws and rules. We know by the nature of God that he is a God of order, law and rule. It is because of the breaking of law and the rebelliousness of mankind that we are lost and damned outside of Christ. But in Christ and from the revelation of God we know that because we have law and order and rule there is great freedom. God has established a world in which freedom and joy can fully be expressed in the lives of the created order because of the rule and order that has been established by God. Alcohol is something which can be abused. It can be taken out of control its lawful se can be broken but to restrict, to demonize it does lead to honoring God nor does it lead to freedom from sin. In fact, adding to what the rule of God is does nothing but limit the freedom God has designed for us and leads in fact to disobedience because we cannot come up with laws more righteous than God all we do in the end is calling God a liar and rejecting his perfect will. If a person is a recovering alcoholic or just doesn't like the taste of drink please brother go in peace and do not drink. But, if a brother or sister does not have problem with drinking and they are not sinning by consuming it, rejoice and celebrate with them, do not become little Pharisees making rules for others to follow that are not God's rules, but merely your rules.

Now I leave you with Kostya Tszyu's K.O. over Zab Judah

Brothers and Sisters in Christ living here in Japan, How are you?

This was a quiet week lots of Japanese study and sermon writing. I will be heading up to Sendai for some volunteer relief effort work. Sadly, the work will be construction and I am pitifully unprepared for such things. Hopefully I can be of some value picking things up and moving them around. In two weeks I will be speaking on Biblical conflict at the church and hope to have a full message prepared in the next day or two. I was allotted 45 minutes but with translation that means only 15-20 minutes. Outside of that things have been quiet on the home front both wife and baby are good. I did have the opportunity to have a good back and forth discussion with Chie the other day about godly discipline of children. Some brief thoughts on the matter you can read below.

As said, my lovely wife and I recently had a spirited discussion on the topic of discipline. The background for this discussion was that a friend of Chie's recently commented that her child has now reached the 1 year old range and thinks now is the appropriate time begin to think about "disciplining" her child. Chie told me this and asked what my opinion was concerning the matter. Now, Chie knows my thoughts better than anyone and ultimately she knew what my opinion would be on the matter, but she (and I as well) find it very helpful to very concretely talk out loud with one another so as to make explicit our individual and corporate thoughts on a given parenting topic. Ultimately, we agree on the matter of discipline which is very helpful. Readers what do you think on the issue of "Discipline"?. "Disciple" can be a highly contentious topic but that is good, it means we all love our kids and are trying to do our best by them.

When I think on any topic I want my thoughts to be defined by biblical standards and instruction. I think "discipline is very specific on its general understanding of discipline and everyone would do well to simply google "discipline and bible" and look at the various passages that come up. Usually I would not recommend google as a devotional tool but generally looking at the breadth with which the Bible discusses this topic and meditating over it's instruction is very helpful.


In any case, when I use the word discipline (having biblical instruction as my base) the idea of "training" comes to mind. In contrast, I find that when other people (without specific biblical reflection) use the word discipline images of "punishment" come to mind. I find that the majority of people are wrong on this issue. What does discipline mean? Discipline means simply training to act in accordance with the rules. Discipline is a method, it is a way, it is in perfect form training in godliness. Punishment on the other hand is a penalty given for an offense. Discipline is the broader term and encompasses punishment. Discipline is a way, punishment is an act.

Having worked with kids for 15 or more years now and having recently made my own I have come to see the real need to understand the difference between these 2 concepts. Discipline is a positive thing that should (in an ideal world) happen all day, everyday. We as parents have the God given responsibility to as Proverbs 22:6 says to "train a child up in the Lord". We discipline children, we teach children, we train children in the correct ways they should behave, think, live etc..This disciple/teaching/training should happen proactively before there is a a problem that requires punishment. Discipline includes the act of punishment in response to a childs offense but it is not summed up by the act of punishment. It is quite important to really grasp this because if not then we have a situation like Chie and discussed where the parent(s) see that a child has reached a certain an age and now may begin to try and "discipline" them. By discipline in this sense they seem to mean that all the bad things they do they will now attack and punish. That is backwards. If you discipline proactively, you have a hell of a lot less need for responsive acts of punishment.

I don't like to think of discipline in a negative light. It is a wholly positive thing. Even punishment is not a bad thing. Punishment is a righteous thing that happens because of a bad thing but punishment itself is not inherently bad. We discipline to teach and to train and to keep kids from doing unacceptable things. We punish children once they have actively done those bad things. The aim of discipline should be to avoid the need for punishment in the first place. Of course this is not possible because of the fallen world in which we live but nonetheless that is the aim. I receive discipline so as to live more righteously and punished routinely for my many indiscretions (as well I should be) and the same goes for my little pig, Kiko.

I will give an example which came up recently. Kiko is very outgoing, talkative and happy. She has recently learned she has voice that she can use at various volumes. For the past couple of weeks at around 6am she will start squealing/singing at a horrible obnoxious volume for no reason. She is neither hungry nor sleepy so must being doing it just because she can. This irritates our house as well as every neighbor within the blast radius, thus it needed to be stopped. I started the process of ending this habit rather stupidly. When she would screech I would punish her by yelling "Shut up pig!!!" and making her sad. I soon realized this is useless, dumb and wrong. She doesn't understand the problem and my loud voice is probably more irritating that hers, it also did not correct anything because the problem continued day after day. So i stopped and thought how can I discipline her effectively? She does't need to be punished she needs to learn to shut up her piggy face at this time of the morning. In order to do this I had to get my feeble brain off "discipline as punishment" mode and in to "discipline is training" mode. I don't know exactly what goes on in my baby's head but I do know that noise is made to get attention. This is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself but it needs to controlled. I also know that if I put Kiko in a secluded place for a minute she becomes very quiet. I assume this happens because she doesn't see anyone else and therefore has no one to screech at.So, for 4 or 5 days in the morning when her screeching would start I would isolate her for a bit till she quieted down and then bring her back into the room with Chie and I. If she would scream I would isolate her again. After 4 or 5 days of this, the morning screeching stopped and now Chie and I can have my breakfast in peace without the horrible sounds of pig squealing. Discipline is training not discipline is punishment. It works much better this way!

My basic feeling on the matter is that if you look at "discipline is punishment" as a parent then you will become a parent that uses discipline incorrectly. You will be limiting discipline merely to punishment and thus will not be actively teaching your kid. You will instead use disciple as a tool of vengeance. Our Heavenly father disciple's and punishes us for for our benefit and for our betterment (Hebrew 12:9), we should do likewise.

Now I leave you with a beautiful K.O. compliments of Ray Mercer over Tommy Morrison. Here Tommy Morrison was punished badly for not keeping his hands up!

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters in the Lord!


Japan does a good job of ketting you ease into the Fall. It is a warm 24 degrees today. This week was a slow but productive ministry week. I went to a JCFN meeting this week. If you are unfamiliar with JCFN it is Christian group for Japanese who have returned from studying overseas and during that timehave become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Upon return many Japanese converts feel isolated and often times will turn their back on their new found faith. The JCFN group steps into that gap and looks to minister to students and connect them with churches in their area. I hope to be involved with them more over time and perhaps start a JCFN group here in Machida.

I also had some good one on one time with the pastor of Sagamino Church yesterday while helping move some furniture into his house. We discussed hopes and goals for both Japanese and English ministries as well as other administrative presbytery stuff.

Usually I will spend some time talking about what has been going through my mind during the course of the week but instead this week I will leave you with an excellent video of a talk my good friend Michael Oh gave at the Desiring God conference last week. The video is about an hour but do yourself the favor of sitting through the talk it is 100% on point. You will be cut by listening to it I promise
You can watch the video on the site below:

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource...-the-price

Biblical Confrontation: Part 1
When I say the word confrontation what do you think of? Do you ever think about confrontation and think of it as something that has its roots in the Bible? Many people and perhaps the Japanese particularly think of confrontation as a wholly bad thing. Some people think of it as something to be avoided at all costs. Some people have different problem, they talk about confrontation as a major event that happens very rarely and is not something they need to concern themselves with. Other people fall on the complete other side and think confrontation is something that must be had often, it must be very strong and it must be a real battle where I beat the other person. As Christians our way of thinking should be 100% determined by what the Lord has taught us through his word, so the questions, thoughts and understanding we have about confrontation should be biblically based. What is confrontation in the bible? Is it biblical? If so, where did it come from? Whom did it start with? Is it necessary? is it important? Should I do it? How should I do it? What is the purpose of it? These are big topics and other more godly people are able to speak on this topic...sadly none of them are here so you will have to listen to me. What we look to do today is look to see what the bible says about confrontation, where it began, why it began how it develops through the bible and the purpose it serves the Christian here today in this room.
I: what is confrontation
Let's start simple, what is the basic definition for confrontation? Very simply it is two opposing ideas,people forces directly clashing for a purpose. Is this idea found in the Bible?
II What is biblical confrontation
A: where does it begin:
We all seem to be nodding and acknowledging that confrontation is something found in the Bible. If that is the case where is the first instance of confrontation recorded? Genesis 3:8ff Why did this confrontation happen? Because of sin. Sin entered into the world and God, the perfectly righteous one was compelled to confront both the sin and the sinners. So we can say that confrontation is something that is a result of sin. Does that make it wrong?
B: who initiates the first confrontation
Who initiates the first confrontation? It is the Lord is it not? He searches out the man and the woman as they try and hide. He actively confronts all the parties involved in the first act of sin, man woman and serpent. So, if it is the Lord who does the first act of confrontation we can be very safe in assuming that it is not a wrong or sinful thing. If the Lord does it, it is inherently right, true, holy and good. The Lord can only do things that fit that description.
C: How do we describe this first confrontation and what is its purpose?
As we can see in Gen 3:8ff the Lord confronts Adam, Eve and the serpent for a couple of reasons. First, The Lord confronts in order to acknowledge the presence of sin. Secondly, having acknowledged it, the Lord then looks to attack and condemn it. When he attacks and condemns and
punishes the sin and those involved the Lord then Thirdly looks to find a way to redeem, restore, bring back the relationship with those he has confronted.
D: How should we define biblical confrontation?
So now with a general definition of confrontation that we discussed earlier we can now look to get a more wholistic biblical understanding and definition for confrontation. Seeing that confrontation begins from the Lord, we can say that it is good and necessary. Seeing that the Lord confronted with purpose we can say that it is something that has real meaning. If it is good and has meaning it is something we should be well acquainted with. So how should we define biblical or godly confrontation? BIblical confrontation is a righteous response of godliness to sin in the world that looks to confront, condemn sin while looking to redeem, restore and rebuild the sinner. With that as our working definition of God centered biblically based confrontation we will now go forward and see how confrontation plays out in the rest of Scripture.

http://sagaminochurch.blogspot.com

Amen...and Amen!
Followers of the Christ, how are you? It was a productive week. Started teaching at the university again. Also made some new contacts and will be having a dinner for some local Christians in the area. Today I will continue with Part 2 of Biblical Confrontation.

Biblical Confrontation Part 2
III: Confrontation Continued through Scripture
After Gen 3 where is the next confrontation seen? The very next chapter. Unfortunately, confrontation even though it's origin comes from the Lord is quickly twisted by sin and is turned into something evil as well as righteous in the lives of sinners. In chapter 4 of Genesis we read the story of Cain and Abel and see both an evil confrontation, a confrontation that has comes in sin, and another righteous confrontation that comes from the Lord. Can someone quickly summarize the story of Cain and able for me? Today we can't thoroughly study the differences we see between righteous confrontation and sinful confrontation in Gen 4, but it is worth thinking about on your own. Here we see sin infected relationships that end in death and separation because of confrontation and the Lord's confrontation which follows a pattern similar to the definition we set out before. Following this chapter, almost every chapter of scripture that follows with deal with either righteous or sinful confrontation. When you have time, look at the books written by the OT prophets they are nothing but books of confrontation. Because of time we will look at none of those and will jump directly to Jesus.
It would be difficult to find a more confrontational man than Jesus. Even in birth he was confrontational. Jesus would sometimes go out of his way to be confrontational. There are 2 major confrontations from the life of Jesus that show godly righteous confrontations on 2 different ends of the biblical confrontation spectrum. These righteous acts of Jesus are done in different ways for different reasons but nonetheless they represent the need of and possible uses for confrontation.
A: Jesus confronts Pharisees
The first of our examples from our Lord Jesus will come from his many interactions with the Pharisees. Generally speaking, how would you classify Jesus' interaction with the Pharisees? Most of the
time Jesus goes out of his way to fight with the Pharisees? Why does he do this? It is important to note that Jesus could have preached his gospel and had significantly less confrontations if he had chosen to do so. Jesus however, often times makes sure to be in a position where the Pharisees will be directly attacked by his words. It cannot be said that Jesus was a victim in this sense, many times he initiated the fight. Mark chapters 11 and 12 are good examples of this. Let me summarize: Jesus and the disciples go to Jerusalem. They make their way to the Temple and see the money changers and other merchants. Jesus in an act of righteous wrath runs everyone out of the Temple. He and the disciples leave the city but come back soon after and go immediately to the Temple again in order to find the Pharisees who ask him the question "By what authority do you do these things?" How does Jesus respond? After this Jesus goes on to tell the story of the Vineyard owner, can someone summarize the story? Here Jesus in no uncertain terms confronts the Pharisees in such a way that through the parable he calls them, and the Jews who follow them, murderers of God's prophet and even His Son. What is this teaching us about biblical confrontation? 1) There is a place for seeking out confrontation with those who are enemies of God. 2) There is no "nice" culturally acceptable way to confront. When Jesus confronts, he does not hide his speech behind flowery language or nice customs. 3)When Jesus confronts he does so directly and with purpose. 4) Christ's confrontation was not merely to condemn but to teach, instruct and build up the knowledge and faith of the disciples who were watching and learning from everything the Master did.
B: Jesus confronts woman at the well
Our next example from the life of Christ can be seen in John 4 and the story of Jesus confronting the woman at the well. Can anyone summarize that story for me? Here Jesus takes very much a different style of confrontation. This confrontation was much more personal, much more interactive and done for a different reason with different motivations. Jesus here wishes to reveal and condemn the sin of the woman and the woman's wrong beliefs but, this confrontation was done with the purpose of building her up in order to make her a child of the Lord, a follower and disciple of His. What should we notice in this confrontation? 1) Jesus goes out of his way to initiate the confrontation. 2) The woman although being confronted does have a lot of opportunity for dialouge and response. 3)Jesus guides the confrontation so that while beginning somewhat hostile it ends in a very loving way. 4) The confrontation ends with the woman being convicted of sin and in following Jesus.
Studying these two and other confrontations of Jesus will make very clear the place confrontation should have in the lives of people who say that they believe in and in fact follow Jesus Christ

A lovely Fall morning Today. My wife and I have been reading through Galatians for our Morning devotional time. I am Always struck by the opening of Galatians 3. The tone Paul uses would be immediately dismissed in many of the churches today, particularly those in Japan. He starts with "You foolish Galatians". But, how else can the Galatians or anyone else for that matter be described who would abandon the hope of the gospel of grace and justification through faith alone. "Foolish" is the only adeqate word. Today I conclude with "Biblical Confrontation" Part 3

IV: What Does this Mean for Us Today?
The question we must now answer is, how does this effect me? What does learning about and understanding biblical confrontation mean for me, the Christian in Sagamino Church? What does that mean for my life as a follower of Christ? In Lev 11:44 God says to the people beholy like I am holy. Jesus comes and claims to perfectly represent the God the Father because he is one with the God the Father
John 10:30. Because of Jesus being God and the fact that Jesus calls people to follow him as seen in Matt 4:19 and 19:21, we can see our need to immitate Christ and be holy like he is holy.
One thing that is important is to not allow confrontation to be something big and large, something only done by Christ. When you look at Confrontation like that it becomes very easy to separate ourselves from it and to see confrontation as something that is very separate from our normal lives. Confrontation is not something that we reserve for big moments of opposing the devil or opposing false teaching, certainly it can include those times, but it is not limited to them. The life of Jesus does set the example for how we should confront but Jesus' life and ministry are different than ours we have wives children husbands etc..We are not the saviour of the world we are christians living out the lives of created people in a fallen world. Our focus is not Christs' focus. Looking at the letters of Paul give a little more day to day feel of what confrontation is but we don't have time to look at those now. So, back to the question, what role does confrontation have in the life of the Christian here today? Let me start with 2 examples one good confrontation and one bad confrontation.
A: Good Confrontation
While living in Philadelphia I was the pastor of a small international congregation. I had various responsibilities and one of them was to lead a weekly bible study. This was a bit of a burden because it was a week night. I was still in seminary and had various responsibilities. So, I would take every opportunity to find an excuse not to go. Eventually one of the members said to me that I was letting the people down and was not fulfilling my role as a leader. This came from a guy who is a devoted believer and knowledgeable Christian. He was right and his confronting me directly on this issue convicted me and the problem was immediately resolved. In this instance the confrontation was godly because it was direct, it was done in prayer and love and was done so for my growth and the growth of other believers.
B: Bad confrontation
On the other hand I recently heard a story from a church in Japan. In this case One of the church families daughters is getting married and planning a wedding. The church has actively supported this marriage, provided counseling and is looking to be heavily involved in the ceremony. The bride and groom are both believers and all should be well. One issue arose concerning the serving of alcohol at the ceremony. They planned to offer alcohol during the meal and at the after party. This news was generally accepted by the church members but one couple would not accept this. They sent out a general email to everyone in the church stating publicly that if alcohol would be served they would refuse to come. They said they were unwilling to change their position and they stated the issue was 100% biblically in their favor and to act any other way would be unchristian. This is bad confrontation. Why is it bad? 1) Their opinion did come from a careful reading and prayerful consideration of the Bible. Regardless to your position on alcohol it is not an issue that is so clear as the person made it seem. It is also not an issue that is terribly important in the scriptures. 2) This confrontation was not done prayerfully and in love. This couple took it upon themselves to publicly denounce an action of a private member which was wholly separated from issues pertaining to the church. The wedding is taking place in a private hotel with mixed guessed from various backgrounds both Christian and non Christian. The people confronting
did not come with an ear to talk or listen. They did not have any interest in building up other believers. This confrontation was done because of a Pharisaecal need to be obeyed. This confrontation resulted from people thinking of themselves too highly and thus confronting not for anyone's betterment but only because they were "correct". 3)This confrontation had no motive to sanctify or build up the people involved or the other believers. It has no value in teaching non Christians outside the church. This confrontation was mere grandstanding. It was a confrontation that was meant to hurt, not to guide, instruct or build.
C: Who should we confront?
This question is relatively simple to answer. Who has been effected by sin? Everyone. So everyone needs to be confronted? Everyone. That means me, you Pastor, your husband, wife, your children, your boss, absolutely everyone. Christ said follow me in everything. Did Christ confront? Yes. And because he did so must everyone who says that believe and follow him.
D: Why should we confront
Quickly to wind us down, why should we as Christians confront? First because our Father in heaven does so. he has done this since sins enterance into the world. Secodly because our savior Jesus Christ confronts as we can see from every portion of the scripture. Thirdly because the Holy Spirit our teacher confronts. Someone please read John 16:7-8. If God the Father, Son and HS confronts we can be sure that although our confrontation will be done because we are not God it is nontheless something we should do.
E: How should we confront?
Because we are the image of God and reflect his righteousness we must confront. How should we confront? It should be done carefully, prayerfully, in love and with a purpose as we talked about before. It should not be done as many Japanese people do it. Here is a good time to reflect on your own motives and ways of confronting. Japanese confrontation usually takes the form of passive aggressive confrontation. The Japanese will make undercutting side comments where the listener is supposed to read the air. This is not biblical confrontation this is sneaky underhanded and hurtful confrontation/ If this is your style it needs to be prayerfully killed and replaced with the biblical model. Also, my christian sisters, confrontation is not nagging. Chie and I have had this disussion before many times. To nag nag nag is confronting an issue in an inappropriate way. This is because it is indirect, done out of a motivation to be obeyed and generally over an irrelevant issue. Confrontation is necessary part of life but should be reserved for issues of importance and clear biblical necessity. Nagging however is a tool for usurping control and getting what you want not getting righteousness where evil was before. My brothers in the Lord, confrontation is not kingly pronouncements . It is not you sitting on your throne as a fat little king making demands on those around you or demanding to be obeyed because you are the man. It is not you making declarations about whatever you feel you think should happen. You need your wife and children just as much as they need you. God forbid I should make pronouncements with my family thinking that my opinion on all things is righteous law. You are not a mini-god over your family.
Men, you are a servant to your family and must confront your wife and children as fellow believers who have a position of authority.
V: When Should you Confront?
Lastly, when should you confront another person? This can be difficult to know. Not every second of your day should be conflict and confrontation, this makes you a bully and ungodly. It should also not be something that happens once every 50 years. There are 2 things that need to be considered when confronting. 1) Prayer and communication with your God is necessary. Pray for wisdom and pray for a loving goal and loving means for confrontation. Pray for the wisdom to know if this confrontation is needed and needed now. 2)Knowledge of the Scriture is necessary. You must know your bible, your word of God. It is your infallible gateway to the mind of God. It teaches you how to think about what is going on in your life and teaches what you need to know about confrontation, what cases require confrontation and in what cases we are we commanded to confront.
I close with the words of a wise pastor I worked with in Philadelphia named Paul Tripp. He said From God’s perspective, the only reason we confront one another is that we love the Lord and want to obey him. Our failure to confront one another biblicaly must be seen for what it is: something rooted in our tendency to run after god-replacements. We confront unbiblically (or not at all) because we love something more than God. Perhaps we love our relationship with this person so much that we don’t want to risk it. Perhaps we prefer to avoid the personal sacrifice and complications that confrontation may involve. Perhaps we love peace, respect, and appreciation more than we should. Here is the principle: To the degree that we give the love of our hearts to someone or something else, to that degree we lose our primary motive to confront. But if we love God above all else, confrontation is an expression and extension of that love."

Morning All,
The first chilly day of the Fall. The cold always makes me long for the humidity of Thailand. I was not built for the Fall/Winter seasons.

In any case, the week went well. I continued discussions of of an English speaking congregation with representative individuals. I am hoping to meet with more members of the Kanagawa presbytery soon and continue laying the ground work . I hope to be meeting up with some interested expats in the area about church planting on Sunday. Additionally, I hope to be able to find some way on to the local campuses in the Kanagawa area. Student ministry here seems vitally important because during college is the one time in the average Japanese persons life they have the time to really think about the meaning and existential importance of their life. Exchange students who come to Japan from other countries with a Christian background would be very interested in gospel preaching church I am sure.

Plans continue and I keep praying for opportunities to share the gospel where I am able. Out of the blue this week a student of mine asked me if I had seen "The Passion". I was completely taken aback by that question because a Japanese student asking a relative stranger about this kind of topic is very rare. This student is a Christian and was thrilled to learn about my involvement with the Church. It is too bad there is no way for us to connect because of the 3 hour distance that separates us. I pray for that student and those students like them that know Christ. Give them teachers Lord. Give them fellow believers to guide them Lord!Give them more of you Lord!

As I was thinking about this student today, during breakfast my wife told me the story of a mother she read about on line. This woman lives here in Japan. She is a new mother but told an online forum that she has no love for her child. This woman told readers that she "cares for" the child meaning clothing and feeding but has no interest in nor love for the baby. She leaves the baby to cry for hours not having interest in coddling nor loving the child. This has made a child that is extremely quiet but also one that is nervous and tenses up at when others try to touch or engage her. My heart sinks to read such things.

Where is the love of sinful men and women? Where is the love in my own heart? As this child cries alone with no love so too, many Christians here and around the world lack the love of caretakers. They cry inwardly seeking the love of God to come through the God appointed channels yet because of sin, selfishness and apathy it does not come. Some churches boast of having 10 pastors and yet here there are some Christians alone with none or at least with none that can truly bring them to the Lord. There are children with 2 parents and houses full love and joy yet there are others like the one I was told of today, where there is house of cold detachment and resent. God forgive us Christian leaders who know of these things yet offer no love to those brothers and sisters throughout the world who need the love of Christ shown to them through God's chosen pastoral leaders. God forgive we parents who love ourselves more than anything and leave young children to be over run by the misery of this life. God forgive me for every opportunity I have let slip by o love the Children of God within the church and without. Ephesians 5 1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.We are beloved children, how dare any not receive their God given right to the the infinite love of Christ. How dare I and other so called leaders of the church with me not show the world, the children of God, the ones for whom we are charged to care the infinite love of Christ. Time, prayer, affection, kindness, discipline, sacrificial giving, these are the things that we in the positions of authority must give to all, particularly to those who are of God's family. How to do it? How to do it here and now? How to do it effectively? Christ, give the Spirit abundantly so that these things might be done and open my heart to give your love which in and of myself I am unable to do.

I leave you with Brendeis Prescott's K.O. over Amir Kahn

Head to http://sagaminochurch.blogspot.com/ for more information about me and the church

If your interested in helping with a church plant in Zama contact Andy Duncan at andrewduncan7@hotmail.com or 090-4069-2059
http://sagaminochurch.blogspot.com

Good Evening All!
I usually write my posts on Friday mornings but I will be a bit busy tomorrow so I decided to post a little early. Not as active of a week as I had hoped but that is the way things work, some days you have more time than you want or need and sometimes you can't find 5 seconds to spare. In the words of my home country しょうがないね！

I was thinking this week about last Sunday's Bible study get together. It was great to have the folks come over and celebrate. The fellowship of the saints can be as pleasing to the Lord as any other act of worship if done in ways that honor our Heavenly Father. That is why Christ spent so much time meeting with people and breaking bread!

The usual Bible study was preempted by a celebration of one of our regular attendees having been baptized in her church. I personally took a bit of issue with this baptism because as far as I know this person was baptized by the Catholic church as a child. As a Reformed believer I hold to the belief that was held to by the Reformers, Catholic baptism is a legitimate expression of baptism and therefore a recepient of that Catholic baptism need not be re-baptized or "immersed truly for the first time", they are already members of the visible church and have lawfully received that sacrament. The reformers strongly rejected the idea of re-baptism and I agree in that theological teaching, I very much reject the idea but, I do not reject the brother or sister who does hold that belief.

As I think about the reason for last weeks celebration it makes me think about the topic tolerance.
I mention this story not to discuss baptism as such, but to note that although I strongly disagree with the practice of re-baptism, I do not feel the need to break fellowship over it. It may seem odd to hear thoughts on tolerance from a "conservative evangelical" but I feel that it is important. Reformed theology and the reformed churches that carry on that tradition must walk a delicate line. On the one hand we Reformed believers must hold to our beliefs. Our fathers fought and died holding to these beliefs, even more we contend that this belief system most accurately reflects the true teaching of scripture. So it is something which must be held with the greatest severity, but on the other hand we are called to love. Paul teaches and contends with many over beliefs of the faith. He is most contentious but still fellowships with those whom he vehemently disagrees. Read Romans 2 for a good example. Even more so Christ when told of people outside his own ranks of apostles were casting out demons in his name does not command that they be stopped but rather says "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me,for whoever is not against us is for us." Mark 9:39-40. I do not think the interpretation dhould be stretched too far but certainly there is an undeniable element of desire for unity. If they come in Christ welcome them as a brother or sister. Certainly there will be time for working through theological differences and there may come time when confrontation is needed but if they come in the name of Christ and if they proclaim Christ and reach out the the right hand of fellowship. Shake my brothers and sisters, shake and glorify God through your fellowship. I pray I have honored the Lord through my desire for gospel and theological purity but I also pray that I have done this with love and with a desire for unity in Christ. Read the book of Ephesians and pray for a Spirit of unity for brothers and sisters outside of your weekly Sunday meeting.

Now I leave you with a series of very intolerant straight right hands thrown by Mayweather Jr. K.O.ing Sharmba Mitchell

If your interested in helping with a church plant in Zama contact Andy Duncan at andrewduncan7@hotmail.com or 090-4069-2059
http://sagaminochurch.blogspot.com

Good Morning All!
I am glad it's Friday. My wife has been working hard all week and she could use the weekend! We are planning a Thanksgiving dinner at our house. If your interested in joining us, contact me for details andrewduncan7@hotmail.com or 090-4069-2059

I have been writing and laying out my thoughts for my continuing series in the book of Judges. I love preaching from the OT. I actually find it much easier than preaching from the NT. Most of my sermons actually are form the OT. I feel the church has so abandoned the OT in preaching and reading that they don't truly understand the NT anymore. The OT, to put it very lightly is very important! It is essential we know and understand the OT. To just be a NT Christian, as many are, means you only know and care about part of the story. When the NT writers quote OT if you do not know what they are quoting or where they are quoting from or what context they are talking about how do you expect to understand what you read? When NT Christ discusses his work and his role and his person in the book of John if you do not know the OT you cannot truly understand what he is saying. The richness and the depth of the Scriptures require that you understand both NT and OT. If you are a hidden Christian in North Korea with only scraps of the NT or a small NT translation obviously my words do not apply but those Christians here in Japan or in any other location that has free access to the full word of God, shame on you for not taking in the full word of God. The God of the OT is is the same God of the NT. Many try to dismiss the God of the OT not liking what is written but we as believers cannot do this.In John 10:30 Jesus Christ says that I and the Father are one. He is one with the God revealed in the Ot. To understand Christ you must understand the Father and vice versa. Please my brothers and sisters in the Lord do not limit your knowledge and understanding of God by limiting what you portions of scripture you choose to read. I know my knowledge of the OT is woefully inadequate and something tells me yours probably is as well. Let us recommit ourselves to not exclude any portion of Scripture. 2 Tim 3:14-16
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God[ may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

I leave you with a great K.O. from Hozumi Hasegawa

Friday! November in Philadelphia is cold and snowy. November in japan is relatively warm with cool nights. Tokyo wins. We are planning our late Thanksgiving Dinner for the 26th of November. If you are interested in joining us drop me a line at andrewduncan7@hotmail.com



Last week during the Sunday bible study the group took a diversion from its normal outline to help a fellow member work through and issue that they had been having. It was a modified counseling session with me leading the discussion. What a fantastic time it was to work with this person in their time of difficulty. In times past this sort of engagement would not be known as counseling but in todays terminology that is the easiest way to describe it. This type of counseling interaction is so needed in the church and in the culture today and as a believer it seems to me that all Christians should be in a position to offer wise counseling to brothers and sisters in Christ during their time of need. Additionally,this is a marvelous act of Christian charity that can be given to non believers who are searching for answers that only Christ can give.


My approach to counseling was large in part taught to me through CCEF while attending seminary. The approach to counseling is based off of Reformed theological convictions about God man and the nature of the relationships that exist in light of the fall and the sin in everyone and also the grace and love of God. The type of counseling taught here looks to attack root problems by walking people through not just the problem at hand by the underlying situations, sin and problems that created a given problem. This type of counseling is unique primarily because during the counseling a counselee will have to deal with the sin in their own heart, mind and soul not being allowed to work through an external problem but being brought through a process where they see themselves in the situation not merely as a person above it.


This is just a blog post so probably not the best arena for really laying out a full discussion on biblical counseling but I will give a brief outline of my thoughts and point to some resources for your perusal.

1)Biblical counseling is not just saying "Trust on God", or "God is in control". This is certainly true but it is a meaningless statement in so far as it does not deal actually with the problem, the situation, the person at hand. Certainly any Christian would say, God is in control, repeating that for them is of no real value, more must be said so that the person in their time of need can see how that is in effect here and now. They have real problems that need to be dealt with in a real way now so the counsel you as a Christian should offer should be counsel that can have impact if at all possible here and now.


2)If it is not just saying little cliche's what is real Christian or biblical counseling? 1)It is counseling that is Christ like in its form. I lack the space to lay this out here fully now but, Christ never deals with a face value problem he deals with the heart of the matter. Read John 4 and the story of the woman at the well. You will read how Jesus interacts with a woman in the story yet never deals head on with the supposed problem he is always attacking issues and problems that lay behind the face value problem that is presented. Why do Jesus do this? He does it because a problem is deeper and has a root which must be unearthed before any meaningful change can happen and before he can do His restorative work. 2)Biblical counseling must be willing to lead the person to deal with sin in such cases that a person's sin is a problem. True counseling as Christ gave it was hard, it cut and it hurt the person but in doing so, Christ showed love that looked to restore, redeem and rejuvenate a person not just for a moment but for eternity. 4) As I have already said but should emphasize, counseling the Christian should give looks to give specific help for this problem now. The person in need has come seeking for answers, perhaps you can't give them a to do list but nonetheless you should be in a position to begin a process where they can make steps toward finding resolution and furthering their relationship with the Lord, bringing them closer to Christ and helping them see the work of the Spirit in their lives.


Here are a couple of resources:

1) Christian Counseling and Education Foundation CCEF

2)Paul Tripp Ministries: Here


I leave you with with a very loving K.O from Chris Arreola

Happy Thanksgiving. I have officially missed my 2nd American Thanksgving...very sad! But hey, life goes on. We will be celebrating at my home in Zama if anyone is interested in joining us. We have about 15-20 people coming so the more the merrier. Email me if your interested and I'll send you the directions.

Thanksgiving is always associated with family and now being a father it has a special significance that it did not have before. I was able to write a letter to my daughter before she was born and I thought, it being a sentimental time of year, why not post it. For those fathers out there, need for us to love our children beyond our sinful abilities is pointed out in the letter to the Colossians. God forgive us fathers for our multiple failures but thanks be to that merciful father who cares for our children beyond what we can ever do through the love of Christ. Loved in Christ! That is how we should father our children.

A letter to my unborn child:
Any hip hop fan will note the reference in this blog posts title to a song by the same name by Tupac Shakur. It may seem odd to reference a Tupac song in this instance but, as chance would have it, the song recently turned up on my MP3 player while I was working out. The song lyrics got me thinking about the my baby’s coming birth. What do I want to tell my daughter now If am not able in the future? What are some things I want her to understand about the time of her birth and her fathers thoughts on the matter? It is in that vein that I write this letter. Below you can read my thoughts, hopes and prayers for my daughter:



To My first child Sophia Kiko Duncan
On the day of your birth, I plan God wiling, to be in the front row holding your mothers hand welcoming you into the world. What my initial reaction will be, I do not yet know. What will go through my mind as I first lay eyes on you I cannot yet conceive. Yet, as I sit in this rocking chair penning this letter, I can think of three things that I would like you to understand.
First, as your father, I must say now on the day of your birth that I make no excuses for the many failures I will commit. I will not be the father I should be because I am not the husband nor man I should be. For this you have my sincerest apologies. Your daddy is a sinful man and deserves more criticism than he receives in regards to how he lives, what he does and what he does not do. I see perfection and know all too well my own short comings. It is my duty to to be perfect and as God as my witness I will look to be be the perfect father, husband and man I should be. Yet, as you read this, you know I will never have been able to meet this standard. Nonetheless, from the day of your birth, it is your job to hold me accountable as your father, to show me how to love, serve and honor you in the ways I should.
Secondly I do not want, for one second of your precious life, for you to believe that I have ever worried about you. There is no fear in this man in regards to you. Doubt, concern, trepidation all vanish from this man when you enter his mind. You were conceived in love and given as a part of this family at the perfect time and in the perfect way. The timing and plan of our Almighty Father continues to awe me. The grace I have received and the love you conjure completely outshine any darkness that otherwise haunts me. Although, I should be concerned with the many things that will come with being your father, I am not. I have no fear for you or about you. You are a gift entrusted to your mother and I for a time. As I think about you how could I have any feeling but love, confidence and hope.
What I do need to express before this letter comes to completion is utter joy in the present and tremendous anticipation for your arrival. I have nothing but hope for you. Sophia, your mother and myself as a family are a family. Only thoughts of appreciation and gratefulness enter my prayers of thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father. Christ is the leader, head and base of this family. Because of that I can wait expectantly on you birth and life. In all, your mother and I, feel ever expanding fulfillment as you enter our lives. You Sophia Kiko Duncan are loved more than you know. Your father and mother eagerly look ahead and imagine who you are and what you will become.
Every year on your birthday you will receive a letter. I pray that they will remind you of the love we share, and the hope. Let these letters spur you forward for a life of glory. A life in which you glorify Him and are glorified in Him.
Your Father
Andrew William Duncan

Week 25

Blessed be the name of the Lord. It is far too cold for my liking. December is upon us and for the next few months, there is nothing I can do to stop the winter. In any case, last weeks Thanksgiving was a great success. We had about 20 people over at our house. I hope to be able to throw more party's like that in the future. As for Church planting news, it is still slow but I pray that the Lord would build in me patience and perseverance during this time and that He would work things out in His own time. I also hope to meet at some point with some folk who could get me on a local campus for some campus ministry. It would be great to start something at the beginning of the new school year here in Japan which will start in April.







At Thanksgiving there were lots of laughs and lots of time for fellowship. At the event we had some brothers and sisters in the Lord and some not yet brothers and sisters. During the evening I had a god chance to talk through the place of the gospel in the modern world and I had the opportunity to give a defense of the truth of Christ. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us, rather it commands us in the following way, " But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." It is the duty of every Christian to be able to explain not only what they believe but also why they believe it. Are you able to do both? Sadly the more Christians I talk with, the more I see this command being neglected. If you ask your average non-christian on the street what their opinion is of the Christians ability to explain their belief system, I would be led to believe that most would say that average Christian is totally unable to explain both what they believe and why they believe it. Brothers and Sisters, people are dying outside of the Lord, they live lives without true meaning and live lives that are intellectually devoid of the God of heaven and earth who gives wisdom and knowledge, yet we Christians are the ones who sound foolish. Why do we sound foolish? It is because we we have no idea what we believe and cannot express our faith in any kind of meaningful way. We have allowed the Christian faith to become some mindless brainless feeling or hope. Christians will say "Invite Jesus into your heart" and the non-christian will ask "what does that mean?"Sadly the christian does not really know and therefore can give no answer. The non-christian will ask "why should I believe?" and the Christian will have o real answer. This friends is not good. We must be able to explain the gospel that we believe and the reason we have hope in this gospel of grace, in this life of Christ and in this God-Man Jesus Christs' glorification. Certainly there will be some naturally gifted by God in the areas of wisdom and knowledge with regards to philosophy and science. Some other brothers and sisters will not be so gifted or will not have had the education in these areas that is as extensive, but that does not mean that any brother is less required to answer these questions and fulfill the command of 1 Peter 3:15. We are all to be trained and brought up in knowledge of our faith, hope and savior. The world is looking for answers and we are the one's with the answers but if we are to underdeveloped in basic areas of Christian doctrine and apologetics, how can we be of any value to the non-christian and how can we answer the questions they need answered? If we can't answer the questions then who will? If we cannot bring the words of life in an intelligent manner who will? If we do not, we stand responsible for our failure to love the lost in this world!

I leave you with a first round K.O. by ""El Inca" Edwin Valero

If your interested in helping to form a church plant near Zama base contact Andy 090-4069-2059 andrewduncan7@hotmail.com

Hello All. Not much to write about this week. Work took up more time than usual and I was breaking the baby into a new routine which also took more time than expected. I did have a chance to meet with some brothers in the area and have been in contact with others. I will be meeting with some church folks tomorrow. Praying for contacts to be built up and to be using my time wisely. I did have some time to think about the parenting model we see in Christ. I look at the care provided by our Lord and then look at the care, or lack thereof, that I provide my daughter...Below are my thoughts on the matter:

In the gospel according to John, Jesus often remarks about his exclusive ability to be the protector, savior and leader of his people. For example, John 14:1-2 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?” Really, all of John 14 is about Jesus making deliverable promises to his disciples, his followers, his loved ones. That is fatherly care! Jesus states to those who are His, that he can, He is able, He will do.
In contrast, as I look at my daughter joyfully crawling on the floor looking up at me with a her love, affection and trust I realize that I can offer her no assurance in and of myself. I cannot tell her what will happen next in her life or mine. I cannot tell her things will be wonderful always. I cannot tell her that I will be here tomorrow. I cannot tell her even that daddy will always be a good daddy and love her. I know myself and I know how very insufficient I am. It breaks my heart but as I think about her life in the years ahead there will be much that I have to watch and let her experience on her own because I have no ability to help her with it. She will not be loved by everyone, perhaps not even by most people. She will be hated unfairly, bullied, lied to, rejected, hurt in physical and emotional ways. I can prevent none of this from happening. I can offer her no assurance whatsoever and it breaks my heart. I can try as hard as I can to be absolutely definitive about one thing or another, but… I know that at the end of the day all I can say is what James says in James 4:15 “You ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’

Father, please give my daughter what I cannot and Christ through your Spirit give and do for her and with her what I cannot. Lord, I love this child more than life itself, be to her what you are to me and be a better father to her than I can ever be. Forgive me my infinite failures and give me the grace necessary for this task of loving this child which is not ultimately mine. This is your child, let me love what you have given to me because she is with me only for a time. Kiko is my beloved gift and responsibility but is your daughter eternally.

I leave you with a K.O from Ricardo Mayorga

If your interested in helping to form a church plant near Zama base contact Andy 090-4069-2059 andrewduncan7@hotmail.com

Beautiful Weather. Japan's mild winter make it almost bearable. This week was hit and miss for most anything productive. I had a fair amount of time consuming busy work to do and a fair amount of time was wasted traveling by train. Such is life...sometimes things need to get done.


I was thinking as I left work the other day about Paul's description of his manual labor whilst preaching the gospel In Thessolonica. 1 Thessalonians 2:9 "Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you." Paul, the itinerant preacher, worked a day job! How novel! Of course he mentions how he could be paid or rater receive living stipends for his work in preaching the gospel and how others did in fact receive monetary re-numeration for their preaching but nonetheless he forfeited his. Why did he do this? So that no one could accuse him of dishonest gain , so that he would be a burden to no other brothers in the church and so that no one could hold money over his head to make him quiet his attacks or use money as leverage against him.


Why do I bring this up? Here as we sit in Japan, with churches half filled and budgets stretched to the breaking point, I wonder if it is time for we the leaders of the church to once again grab our tools and start our day jobs. How much of the churches money is spent between the building and the pastor? How much of that money could be used for evangelistic or deaconate purposes? I have difficulty seeing how "missionaries" can feel comfortable receiving high, sometimes absurdly high, salaries for their "strenuous work" while their members work 2,3,4 times as hard for significantly less money? These working brothers and sisters are then asked to give time and money on top of difficult work and low salary, very often these sacrifices tor are never asked of we, the pastor class.


Now, as a full time pastor, it will reqquire a fair amount of sacrifice to pull off working a day job or some kind of part time job, but are we the pastorate not called to be leaders in the church, the ones who set the tone. If we cannot set the tone in working sacrifice how can we expect our people to do what we will not?


I leave you with a workman's K.O.from Bernard Hopkins

Happy Friday. It's a National holiday in Japan today, I believe. I think it is the Emperor's B-Day. Christmas is coming and the family will be traveling.  I have been corresponding with some folks in the Zama area about the church plant plans and will be joining the Sagamino Pres church next week. I continue to try and get a prayer meeting going on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning at various locations in Zama. As of yet, it has no attracted other participants but the waiting is part of the game.

My lovely wife and I recently had a spirited discussion on the topic of discipline. The background for this is that a friend on Chie’s recently commented that now that their child has reached 1 year old she will now begin to think about “disciplining” her child. Chie told me this and asked what my opinion was concerning the discipline matter. Now, Chie knows my thoughts better than anyone and ultimately she knew what my opinion would be on but she (and I as well) find it very helpful to very concretely talk out loud with one another about our individual and corporate thoughts on a parenting topics. Ultimately, we agree on this which is very good. Readers what do you think on the issue of “Discipline”?. “Disciple” can be a highly contentious topic but that is good, it means we all love our kids and are trying to do our best by them.
In any case here are my thoughts…. When I use the word discipline, the idea of “training” comes to mind. In contrast,when other people use the word discipline images of “punishment” come to mind. Being a contentious person I find that the majority of people are wrong. What does discipline mean? Discipline means simply training to act in accordance with the rules. Discipline is a method, it is a way, it is training. Punishment on the other hand is a penalty given for an offense. Discipline is the broader term and encompasses punishment. Discipline is a way, punishment is an act.

I have come to see the real need to understand the difference between these 2 concepts. Discipline is a positive thing that should (in an ideal world) happen all day, everyday. We as parents have the God given responsibility to, as Proverbs 22:6 says, “train a child up”. We discipline children, we teach children, we train children in the correct ways they should behave, think, live etc..This discipline/teaching/training should happen proactively before there is a a problem which requires the act of punishment. That being said, in the real world discipline includes the act of punishment as a response to a childs offense but, discipline is not summed up by the act of punishment. It is quite important to really grasp this because if not then we have a situation like Chie and discussed where a parent(s) see that a child has reached a certain an age and at that point “discipline can begin.”   This a backwards way of thinking about discipline. If you discipline proactively, you have a hell of a lot less need for responsive acts of punishment. The tot even ( if disciplined correctly) at 6 mo, 1year, whatever age, has been actively taught about the good and the bad, the wright and the wrong and knows the lay of the land at a basic level. They are less accustomed to living as tiny tyrants because they have been positively and proactively disciplined from jump street.
I don’t like to think of discipline in a negative light. It is a wholly positive thing. Even punishment is not a bad thing. Punishment is a righteous thing that happens because of a bad thing. Punishment itself is not inherently bad. We discipline to teach the correct ways of life thought and action. We discipline to train and to keep kids from doing/thinking unrighteous things. We discipline children before a sin and we punish children after they have actively done a bad thing. The aim of discipline should be to avoid the need for punishment in the first place. Of course this is not possible because of the fallen world in which we live but nonetheless that is the aim. I currently receive (and have  always received) discipline so as to live more righteously. I am punished routinely for my many indiscretions (as well I should be) and the same goes for my little pig, Kiko.
I will give an example which came up recently. Kiko is very outgoing, talkative and happy. She has recently learned she has voice that she can use at various volumes. For the past couple of weeks at around 6am she will start squealing/singing at a horrible obnoxious volume for no reason. She is neither hungry nor sleepy so must being doing it just because she can. This irritates our house as well as every neighbor within the blast radius, thus it needed to be stopped. I started the process of ending this habit rather stupidly. When she would screech I would punish her by yelling “Shut up pig!!!” I soon realized this is useless, dumb and wrong. She doesn’t understand the problem and my loud voice is probably more irritating that hers. So, I stopped and thought how can I discipline her effectively? She does’t need to be punished, but she does disciplined. She needs to learn to shut up her piggy face at this time of the morning.
So, in order to do discipline correctly, I had to get my feeble brain off “discipline is punishment” mode to “discipline is training” mode. I don’t know exactly what goes on in my baby’s head but I do know that noise is made to get attention. This is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself but it needs to controlled. I also know that if I put Kiko in a secluded place for a minute she becomes very quiet. I assume this happens because she doesn’t see anyone else and therefore has no one to screech at. So, for the past 4 or 5 days in the morning when her screeching would start I would isolate her for a bit till she quieted down and then bring her back into the room with Chie and I. If she would scream, I would isolate her again. After 4 or 5 days of this, the morning screeching has finally stopped and now Chie and I can have our breakfast in peace without the horrible sounds of the pig squealing.
Discipline is training not discipline is punishment. It works much better this way!
My basic feeling on the matter is that if you look at “discipline is punishment” as a parent then you will become a parent that uses both discipline and punishment incorrectly. You will be limiting discipline merely to punishment and thus will not be actively teaching your child. You will be using the holy concept of disciple as a tool of vengeance. Our Heavenly Father disciple’s and punishes us. This is for our benefit and for our betterment (Hebrew 12:9), we should do likewise.

I leave you with K.O.'s from Kirkland, Mitchell and Jacobs