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November 24, 2005
It's Not Just Their Problem
As most of you have probably heard, the levels of violence which have been committed by gangs of young Islamic immigrants throughout France over the past three weeks have, according to French police officials, finally "returned to normal." I myself came to the conclusion about 10 years ago that something like this was going to start happening. The current population of France is about 58 million. Immigrants from Arab or other Islamic countries now make up fully 10% percent of the total population.
This most recent violence, of course, was not just France's problem. The possibility is real that other European Union countries with similar immigration policies to those of France will, to a greater or lesser degree, be experiencing the same problem.
Even worse, this is not just a concern for Western countries alone. These events will be having a huge ripple effect upon many countries in the Arab-Islamic world, as well (we should keep in mind that the Islamic world is not nearly as monolithic as many of us have often thought it was). The initial government response to the violence was "scatter-shot" in nature and not very effective. On November 6th, the Union of the Islamic Organizations of France (UIOF) issued a fatwa (a directive based upon Islamic law) declaring that participation in the violence is in violation of Islamic teaching. However, there have been several influential Islamicists that have been critical of the fatwa, as well.
If we frame these events broadly, it all boils down to a conflict between the opinions of those who condemn the violence caused by these young people, and those who are critical of French government policy. In terms of which side is right and to what degree, there are a multitude of opinions. What happens from here on out is not something I'd care to predict, but I think, at the very least, the following could be said about the situation:
To bring relief to the tense relationship we have with the Arab-Islamic world, a political-economic approach, coupled with a spiritual approach is necessary. At the root of so much of the anger that Muslims harbor in their hearts is the basic conflict between the Judeo-Christian and the Islamic worldviews. If you take that out of the equation, there'll be no real resolution to the problem.
- Western nations like to point to the well-known slogan of the French Revolution, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Democracy," as the ideal for society. However, the reality is that this doesn't always work and everyone knows it. The most recent violence should serve as the impetus for Western nations (and, in particular, the EU as a whole) to re-examine their immigration policies.
- The Islamic world has gotten to the point where its people must have an internal debate about whether violence and resistance movements are the best ways to solve real-world problems. The latest trends are showing us that there are now voices in the Islamic world being raised to publicly denounce terrorism. They should be welcomed and encouraged.
- If violence breaks out in France again, it would quite possibly spill over into neighboring countries. If that happens, the Western nations will have no choice but to look for ways to dialog with the Islamic world on a whole range of problems, including the current Middle East situation. This would surely be to Israel's great benefit after having suffered greatly througy many years of Intifada attacks.
- Behind the scenes of the most recent violence was the problems of discrimination and poverty. However, if you look at only that as the cause of it all and exclude the religious and spiritual aspects of the situation, you'd be making a serious error. Likewise, you can't overlook the fact that Islam has a very violent side to it.
I've often said that Israel can be thought of as a kind of "litmus paper" that shows the condition of the relationship between God and mankind. We're approaching a time when what happens in Israel will very quickly spread into other countries. More than ever, we don't dare take our eyes off Israel.
As you read this, I will have been in Israel since Monday of this week for our 35th Harvest Time Holy Land Tour. I'll be back on the 30th, so please pray for blessing upon the remainder of the tour and safety as we travel. Have a wonderful weekend in Y'shua's precious name.
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)
November 17, 2005
Overcoming the World...and the Japan Senior Open
Two weekends ago, pro golfer Tsuneyuki "Tommy" Nakajima won the 15th Annual Japan Senior Open tournament at the Ranzan Country Club in Saitama. The Nakajimas are great Christian friends of this ministry and both he and his wife, Ritsuko, have been guests on our program. Japan Broacasting Corporation (NHK) did a time-delayed broadcast on the last day of the tournament (11/6) from 4:30 p.m. on, so I was keen to watch how it came out. Before it came on, I checked on the Internet for the results of his play up to that point. At the 13th Hole, he had taken the lead at 8-under-par. He started the day only four strokes from the lead, so he was in good shape to finish strong. I thought to myself, "It's possible that he could win this thing!" So, I settled in to watch, anticipating a great finish.
Usually, tournament results aren't posted on the Internet until TV broadcasts are finished, but that day was different. I checked again a little while later and was surprised to find that Nakajima had indeed won the top prize. I was elated, so I called the Nakajima home. Their married daughter, Yoshino, had come over for a visit and she answered the phone. And sure enough, she confirmed that he'd won.
With that news to cheer me up, my wife made me a cup of coffee and I settled in to watch the rest of the broadcast. Unlike the usual situation, I already knew the outcome, so I was quite composed as I watched. It's quite an amazing feeling. Since I already knrew he'd won, I watched closely to see just how it happened. As the broadcast started, Nakajima was 6-under, picking up a birdie on Hole 13. However, on the 14th Hole (par-5), he drove out-of-bounds and double bogeyed. This put him two strokes from the lead. If I'd been watching this without knowing the outcome, I'd have been so disappointed I probably would've dropped my coffee cup. I kept calm, though, and kept telling myself, "It's OK. He's already won it!" (In the post-tourney interview, Nakajima said that he'd been very discouraged at that point. I could certainly understand how he felt).
Nakajima, however, wasn't the only one to stumble that day. Overnight leader Katsuyoshi Tomori double-bogeyed on the 15th Hole and dropped to 6-under-par. Australian Terry Gale, as well, dropped to third place after he buried his ball in the near bunker on that same hole. That resulted in a tie for the lead. Then, on the 17th Hole (par-4), Tomori bogeyed, dropping to 5-under. This was the same hole that he had birdied on three consecutive days prior to this. From this point on, Nakajima took sole possession of the lead.
At last they came to the final hole. Nakajima finished with par and waited for Tomori. If Tomori birdied, then they'd go into a play-off. If he missed the putt, though, Nakajima would take top honors.
That, of course, is exactly what happened. He finished at 6-under-par 282, clinching his first-ever senior title. After Tomori's final putt, Nakajima grabbed his caddie, Hirohito Kanemoto (also a Christian), and bear-hugged him, savoring the sweetness of the moment. The camera shot showed us only their backs, but it looked to me like Kanemoto had tears in his eyes. The microphones on the course picked up Nakajima's voice shouting, "Thank you!" at the top of his lungs. Afterwards, he commented that he had known Kanemoto for 16 or 17 years and that they were like "two peas in a pod." It was largely because of Kanemoto's help, he said, that he was able to win. Then he added, "This is a special place for me. When I was in the Junior Division, it was at this same Ranzan Country Club that I used to practice tournament play with my father and learned to beat him. And now in winning today, it's the first time that I've cried after a tournament since I became a pro."
The reason for Nakajima's win, of course, was the three chip-in birdie putts he made on that day. One of the newspapers noted that his performance appeared "as if God Himself were helping him out." After he got back home, he said, he told his family, "God really helped me today!" Then they all prayed a prayer of thanksgiving together. Tsuneyuki Nakajima has grown greatly in his faith over the past few years. Please pray that his professional performance would increasingly reflect God's glory.
So, what can we learn from all of this? When you're watching a match in which you know the outcome, you can do so with a quiet heart. The rest of our lives should be like that, as well. If you have confidence in the final victory, then when failure or unexpected trials come your way, you can weather the storm with composure.
Jesus Himself said it best:
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33, NIV)Have a great weekend, and may God's richest blessings be upon you.
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2005
Guilty As Charged
Recently, I've been reading a number of books about Japan's penal system. This, of course, has been out of a sense of necessity for my dealings with the prison inmates that I wrote about in an earlier post (October 20). This is not a subject that I had paid much attention to in the past, but as I began to learn a little bit, I've been shocked by the surprising facts I've discovered. By "surprising facts," I'm referring to the total veil of secrecy that is invoked inside prisons, ostensibly for the purpose of "protecting" the prisoners' human rights. This secrecy is particularly impenetrable for prisoners on death row. Consequently, average folks who don't read books that deal with this topic or read only the information that the prison officials themselves release to the media, have no idea about the actual conditions in which prisoners live.
For the last several years, Japan's prisons have exceeded the maximum inmate capacities set by law. One can easily imagine that this puts unbearable stress upon not only the prisoners, but also upon the prison staff. Japan's prison system, in fact, is on the verge of total collapse. If you read the opinions of specialists in the field, you will find a large number who charge that the basic problem is that the current penal code has become totally unworkable. Surprisingly, the current code was enacted in 1908 and was amended for the first time only in May of this year. Where the law was ambiguous regarding day-to-day operation of prisons, policy has been to leave it up to the respective wardens. Consequently, when the warden changes, the rules change. In effect, the warden has absolute authority within the prison walls. Administration of Japan's penal systems requires foundational change -- indeed, a revolution is needed.
Just as I was thinking about these things, I ran across a news article about two prison guards at the Nagoya prison unit who were found guilty of killing an inmate and given suspended sentences. This isn't the first time for this kind of thing at the Nagoya Prison. Cases of prisoners being beaten by groups of guards appear to be a regular occurrence. In December of 2001, a 43-year-old inmate was killed with a high-pressure water hose. In May of 2002, a 49-year-old prisoner died while hand-cuffed and in September of that year, a 33-year-old inmate suffered serious injury under similar conditions.
In response to the verdict rendered against the prison guards in this most recent case, Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura said, "We have to take this matter seriously. I think we'd be remiss if we didn't look carefully at the conditions that brought this about." In a similar vein, the Justice Ministry's Correction Bureau chief, Yoshinobu Onuki, commented by saying, "This is very serious. We need a proper system of prison administration that citizens can have faith in."
At a separate press conference, the defendants' lawyers referred to the decision as "unreasonable beyond all expectations" and said that they'd be announcing their plans for an appeal at the beginning of this week. Personally, my own thoughts about the decision are mixed. In the first place, prison guards aren't allowed to have sympathetic feelings toward the inmates they have contact with every day. Painting all prison guards as cruel and merciless executioners is clearly an erroneous approach. There may be some who are like that, but the vast majority of them are people who are sincerely trying to perform their duties to the best of their abilities. Within the prison confines, absolute obedience to the guards is required of inmates. In the same way, those in charge of the prison demand obedience from the guards and other staff members. This makes things very difficult for both guards and inmates. The guards spend their days performing their duties in a unique environment that's completely cut off from the outside world. They are the ones who deal with the inmates, but I don't think they have much room for exercising personal discretion.
In this most recent incident, if we conclude that the prison guards were found guilty of what were merely individual crimes, then this is an extremely unfortunate affair indeed. Looking at it that way, however, seems to make the ruling amount to little more than cutting the tail off a lizard. What is needed is to look closely at the whole affair and try to determine where the root of the problem is. I wonder just how much bureaucrats in the Justice Ministry, investigators in the Prosecutor's Office and judges in the courts know about the daily realities inside prison walls? Do they have any sense of just how much of a crisis Japan's penal system is in? Unfortunately, I have little confidence that they do. What we should be asking ourselves more than anything else is whether this is the kind of penal system that we want for the 21st Century or not.
As an aside, it should be noted that at Justice Minister Sugiura's first news conference after assuming office last month, he declared that he personally would not sign any execution documents. Sugiura is a lawyer and also belongs to the Ōtani Sect of Pure Land Buddhism. No doubt, this statement was a reflection of what he believes. However, after gauging the effect of his comments as Justice Minister, he retracted the statement an hour later, saying that he had only expressed his "personal view" on the death penalty.
The international movement to abolish the death penalty has been influential in causing two-thirds of the world's nations to outlaw capital punishment. However, the trend within Japan has been a hardening attitude toward those on death row. In a government survey conducted in February of this year, the number of people expressing support for capital punishment exceeded 80% for the first time. This result seems reflective of deepening public alarm over recent serious crimes, but it is in opposition to the international trend -- some would call it an aberration.
This is merely my personal opinion, but it seems to me that this hardening of heart in favor of the death penalty stems mostly from the fact that prison operations in Japan are shrouded in secrecy. We just don't know what's going on. For example, if a system of captial punishment is actually functioning, then an "executioner" must be present. For us, this may be little more than an academic argument, but for a prison guard who must actually carry out an execution, it could be an unbearable part of his work responsibilities. Usually, when one person takes another person's life, there is a motive that drives that person to kill. However, a prison guard would be forced to kill, absent any justifying motive at all. I've heard some people assert that nobody wants the death penalty to be abolished more than those prison guards. I can certainly understand that sentiment. Still, we ought to know what they know:
We've never really been informed about these things. We ourselves need to delve into and grapple with the arguments about what's right or wrong with the penal system in general and with the system of capital punishment in this country. Recently, radio broadcaster, seminary professor and author Steve Brown, in a message entitled "Forgiven and Forgotten," said this:
- After the death sentence is rendered, what is life on death row like for those inmates?
- When the day of execution comes, how do the prisoners behave when they "yield their necks" to the rope?
- What is a prisoner's last moment like?
- After execution, what kind of injuries did the prisoner's body sustain?
- How is the body disposed of?
Let me give you one important principle: before you decide on something, define what the problem is. To put it another way, once you've clearly defined what the problem is, you can generally start dealing with it. If you leave a problem undefined, it leaves you uneasy and your nerves get shot. So, when it's time to take action on something, it's absolutely essential that you define your problem.If we take these words to heart, then our task should be to find out what is wrong with Japan's penal system. Definition makes resolution possible. This principle holds true for all areas of our lives, as well. Why is it that we're unable to live abundant lives? The Bible's answer is clear:
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24, NIV)God's grace be upon you and yours in Y'shua's precious name!
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 05:46 PM | Comments (0)
November 02, 2005
Cult Religion and Healthy Faith
In the middle of October, we hosted the "Cult Religion and Healthy Faith" Seminar in Tōkyō and Ōsaka, featuring Rev. Hisoka Murakami as speaker. As I explained in an earlier post, Rev. Murakami is pastor of the Kyōto Assembly of God Church and has also been serving as a spokesman for the victims in the Central Church of Holy God sex scandal which was brought to light last April. We didn't have the numbers I was expecting (there were a total of 120 for the two locations combined), but most of the ones who came were folks who were facing serious problems or had friends or family members in trouble. They listened to the speaker's comments very closely and there was a pretty spirited give-and-take in the Q&A session that followed.
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Rev. Hisoka Murakami, pastor, Kyōto Assembly of God Church |
Session 1: Balancing Evangelism and Pastoral MinistriesPersonally, I thought that Session 2 was the most interesting. In particular, Rev. Murakami explained about the process through which mind control takes over a person's thinking:
Session 2: The Age of Temptation
Session 3: The Keys to the Kingdom
A realization that information control is the first step in the process of mind control is key. Nobody is immune from the possibility of mind control. No one can say, "Hey, I'm in no danger!" The best way to protect yourself, however, is Bible knowledge. Only through daily intimacy with the Scriptures and a strong grasp of the entirety of God's Word can one gain power to discern spiritual counterfeits. The Devil, of course, can quote Scripture and we should not forget that. His quotations, however, are always taken out of context. Once you gain an overall understanding of Bible teaching, absurd interpretations of Scripture will be easy to spot.
- Knowledge (Information) Control
Outside information is cut-off and only favorable information is shared. Only certain parts of the Bible are taught so as to control the hearers' ability to reason through an issue.- Emotional Control
Guilt and fear are imparted. At this stage, those who are being controlled are greatly impacted. Those who oppose the teaching or activities of the organization are regarded as enemies and fear of these enemies is implanted into the hearts of group members.- Action Control
The final step in gaining rule over a person is in exerting control over his actions. Without the leader's permission, the individual is not even allowed to read a book. All contact with outside influences is forbidden and decisions regarding employment or marriage must be approved. Obedience to the leader is demanded as evidence of authentic faith. Once it reaches this level, the individual is fully under the influence of mind control.
The mission of Harvest Time Ministries is to proclaim the "whole counsel" of God's Word. So that we may continue to do this, I ask you to pray for me and all of our staff members. For those of you interested in getting an audio CD of the "Cult Religion and Healthy Faith" Seminar, we are making them available for purchase from Harvest Time (Japanese-language only). In addition, the third volume in my novel series, The Bible Story for the Japanese, subtitled The Messiah, will go on sale the second week of November. Please pray that this book, as well, would be greatly use of the Lord to draw people to Jesus.
As always, leave your comments for us below. Rich blessings upon you in Y'shua's precious name!
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)