Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Into the East

Greetings to you all in the name of Christ Jesus Our Lord!

I hope this first post of the New Year finds you all safe and well, and I pray that all of you have an amazing 2012, in which you grow in the knowledge and understanding of our God and his inspired Word, the Bible. I hope that this year you all live, knowing that each day could be your last (especially if the day happens to be December 21st, 2012).

As the title suggests, I may be heading into the East, by heading west of course, but still into the area we have referred to as the Far East. My younger brothers and I are applying for a six-month internship at our church, which would take us on a mission trip to Japan at the fulfillment of the six months. Please pray that we may be accepted, raise the funds necessary, and that we would be able to be living examples of the love of Christ. Only approximately 1% of the population of Japan are Christian, so what is more important than prayer for us is prayer for the people of Japan.

I pray that everyone on the team can follow the examples of the Apostles and other early Christians, and preach Jesus Christ and him crucified for our sins, and teach the youth of Japan that all are born dead in trespasses and sins, that none are righteous (no, not even one (except for Christ, that is)), and that all need to come to the repentance and forgiveness of sins by grace alone through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone. I pray also that we can accurately communicate what it means to "believe in" Jesus, and finally, that we can communicate the need for them to get a Bible, and read it every day.

That being said, I would highly recommend all of you go and read the Great Commission, it can be found both in Matthew 28:16-20 and Acts 1:6-11. All Christians are called to fulfill this last commandment of Christ, whether it is in your home, neighborhood, school, county, state, nation, or abroad, like Japan.

The goal for this blog, especially in this coming year, as I prepare for the mission trip, will be to help equip you to fulfill this mission, by getting you into the word. You will not agree with everything I say on this blog, I can guarantee you that! But, if you come across something you find questionable, search the Bible and back up your belief! Then come and post it here, so we can all read and learn your views, and then go and back up our beliefs. Please do not let the wall of disagreement come between us, but let the disagreement fuel you on to learn more.

Finally, expect the blogging here to drop off significantly for the next three months. I will try to do one blog post a month if I can, but I'm doing my last quarter at the community college here, and I really need to concentrate.

Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

さようなら,

Joe Anderson

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