Sunday, May 13, 2018

My church future

Today is Sunday, Mummy's day.
I spent this afternoon chatting with a young guy, 20 years old.
He is studying "The purpose driven church" from Rick Warren.
I have some objections to Saddleback church (the Rick Warren's church) and his book; anyway, after some chatting, I noticed he was trying to diagnose the problems in our church.
Our church is targeted to nikkeis - japanese descendants; it is not growing and the elders are dying. I said many things to my young friend:
- The temple of Jerusalem was the great church in the Bible, but it was destroyed in 70 aC. All the churches such as from Antioch, Ephesus, etc. did not last to our days. The Lord creates and destroys churches. The prophet Jeremiah preached the destruction of Jerusalem and offended many Jewish leaders. We have no basis to argue that the Lord desires our little church to go on. Christians were fleeing from Jerusalem due to persecution and in this process they spread the gospel to us, gentiles.
- Our little church needs a revival from the Spirit.
- Our little church needs to repent. We need to put off our masks and confess our sins to the Lord.
- You are worried about our church future, but sensei (pastor)'s children and siblings are not. I am not telling you the church problems, but  isn't it strange this lack of support from the closest people?
I said many things, and here at home, I concluded that my young friend should ask questions such as:
- What does the Lord expect from my life?
- How should I deal with my parents?
- Do I have Lord's peace and joy?
I really found some nobility when he considered our church's problems, but a better question is: what do the Lord expect from me now? Although, I would really appreciate that all church live the Word on a daily basis, I stopped worrying about our little church future. The thought: "Jesus in me" turns myself into a church, my family into a church, so I have closer churches to worry about. Besides, I do believe that my Lord may easily replace me to another local church. Meanwhile, I hope to be blessed and to bless this little nikkey church.

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