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December 29, 2005
A Time for Pruning
Around my house, there are several large oak trees. Because these are deciduous trees, you can really tell the coming and going of the seasons by watching the leaves. Just before spring, buds start to appear, then, all at once, new green leaves start coming out in thick clumps. At the beginning of summer, those leaves turn a darker green and you can really sense the power of life in the tree. Then, during summer, the trees provide lots of shade and serve as a natural cooling agent for the property. Once into fall, the leaves turn red and, just before winter sets in, these leaves that have covered the trees so thickly throughout the year all fall off. Every year in December, we have to spend some time raking up the fallen leaves. However, most years, the husband of a neighborhood farming family graciously offers to do this for us and this year was no exception. He once told me that he uses the leaves as fertilizer.
About a year ago, I had someone come in and thin out the branches of these oak trees, which had really gotten too big for the yard. To my uninitiated eyes, it seemed like what the workmen were doing would surely kill the trees. They were lopping off branches right and left until the yard was full of them. When it was done, the trees looked so bare and forlorn. It was a truly pathetic sight. In a very short time, however, they began to bear the most splendid-looking leaves. Critical situations in our own lives have a way of forcing our vital energies into full-power mode so as to carry us through. I hadn't known much about trees before this, but I came to marvel at the power of life within them. I was greatly moved by this experience.
The season for shedding leaves is over for this year. All the trees in the neighborhood are bare, but the trees in my yard that underwent the pruning process are still bearing red leaves. My farmer friend told me that my trees would most likely hold their leaves until sometime next year. The sight of leaves still clinging to trees that had been merely trunks and a few branches a short time before really grabs your attention. I felt myself wanting to call out to them, "You guys are really hanging in there, aren't you?!"
All this reminded me of something Jesus once said that is similar to all this:
"I am the vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful" (John 15:1-2)This passage is a reference to pruning grapes. To the farmer involved in the cultivation of grapes, this pruning process is just common sense. Indeed, it's a necessary task.
All of this, of course, brings me to the situation with television broadcasting in Japan. Harvest Time has been called of God to do TV evangelism and we are keenly aware that the broadcasting environment here in Japan continues to change rapidly. This year, especially, seems to me to have been a watershed year for media evangelism. The following key phrases immediately come to mind and all have to do with media developments during the year (forgive me if some of these sound a bit techical):
Experts are now saying that the Internet is currently in the process of upgrading from "Web 1.0" to "Web 2.0." In other words, the environment of the Internet has so radically changed that the "winners" are no longer just content providers who can garner the most traffic (Web 1.0). The "New 'Net," they say, will revolve around blog-style personal home pages (Web 2.0). The number of these "Web Logs" (or "blogs" for short) on the Internet has exploded over the past months (the one you're reading started in April!). Content location and traffic, then, have begun a major shift away from from portal sites like Yahoo! and Rakuten and toward blog sites of all kinds. These changes have only just begun, but within a few short years, the shape of the Internet and the way it is used will no doubt have changed radically. Indeed, it'll be an age when anyone can be an information provider.
- The merging of the formerly separate spheres of data communication and broadcasting
- Japan Broadcasting Corporation's (NHK) re-evaluation of its system of funding
- Plans to privitize NHK
- An attempt to control radio broadcaster Nippon Broadcasting System by Internet service provider Livedoor Co., Ltd.
- A similar bid by Rakuten, Inc. to control Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS Television)
- The delivery of movies over the Internet by Yahoo!, GyaO and others
- The rapid spread of blogging (spurred on by the popularity of The Train Man ["Densha Otoko"] book and TV series)
In the past, you could kick back and enjoy your success. Doing that now is dangerous since you have to constantly evaluate whether or not you're making progress, or even if you can survive. The inflexible or out-of-step-with-the-times parts of your organization are like limbs that need to be pruned. If you do that, new ideas and energy are released and invigorate your whole system. Here at Harvest Time, we're also facing a season of "pruning." As we get rid of the excess, new "branches" and "leaves" will emerge. This is our goal for the coming year. Specifically, I really want to make Internet TV a reality for us so that no matter where you live in the world, you can watch Harvest Time programs, both old and new, anytime you wish. It seems very likely that this exciting dream will become a reality in 2006. I ask for your continued support of this ministry.
Right now, there may be someone reading this who's having to go through this "pruning" process in your own life. If so, there's one thing that I'd really like you to know: this may, indeed, be a painful experience, but it absolutely will bring forth new power and vigor in your life. Especially when it's God that's doing the pruning, the result is always blessing. So, take heart and rejoice! Simply submit yourself into His loving care.
In closing, I'd like to ask your prayers upon our 36th Harvest Time Holy Land Tour, which departs today for eight days in Israel. We'll be traveling by way of Hong Kong on Israel's El Al Airlines. On these New Years tours, we often have a good number of middle-aged adults that usually don't take vacations. Please pray for safety and blessing upon the trip. Rich blessings upon you and yours for a prosperous New Year in Y'shua's precious name!
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2005
Counting the Cost of Building a Life
The closer we've gotten to the end of the year, the more uneasy I've been feeling. The recent revelations about buildings that were not constructed to safety specifications and how the facts were covered up by contractors is of concern to everyone. It's not merely the problem of people involved in the construction industry. In fact, the whole thing looks to me like an apt summary of the current state of the nation. What in the world has happened to Japan?
Things here in Japan are not too much different from how they were during the time of the Old Testament prophets in Israel. At that time, Israel was suffering from what might be called "leadership degradation." The king perverted justice, the priests were intent upon enriching themselves and false prophets spoke only what the "itchy ears" of the people wanted to hear. In that age of betrayal, the prophets spoke God's word with boldness.
In this degenerate age, then, don't we need to listen to what God is trying to say to us just as much as did people in ancient Israel? He may well be telling us, "Take stock of your life and give an account of yourself to me" (cf. Luke 16:1ff). Even if painful circumstances are rocking our lives, don't we still need to see that as a reminder that it's high time we took a long look within ourselves to see if things there are really OK or not? With these thoughts on my mind, I brought a message entitled, "Counting the Cost of Building a Life" at our monthly meetings in Tōkyō and Ōsaka two weeks ago. My focus in this message was upon Abraham and three characteristics that his life exhibited.
These three characteristics of Abraham's life actually bring to mind the life of Jesus Christ, who came into this world as a descendant of Abraham.
- Abraham was a "transient" all of his life. He never possessed any of the land that was promised to him. In a sense, death was his starting point for thinking about life. This was a characteristic of the tent-dwelling bedouin lifestyle he led.
- He clearly possessed a sense of mission in life. Because he was well-aware of the finite nature of life, he always kept foremost in his thoughts a desire to discover what it was that he was supposed to be doing. Abraham's mission was the priestly task of standing as a mediator between God and the rest of mankind. The sacrificial offering of his son, Isaac, was an example of how he put his sense of mission into practice.
- He had a hope for life beyond the grave. He had every confidence that what God had promised him was not merely an earthly possession, but a heavenly dwelling. Hebrews 11:10 says that "...he (Abraham) was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." Today as never before, this verse urges us onward with such persuasive power. That heavenly city can't be built according to man's design or construction skills. Indeed, it's a structure that's being built by God's own Hand. And, even more importantly, it's a city that can never be shaken. A person who makes that city his final home is blessed indeed.
Christians are both descendants of Abraham through faith and disciples of Jesus. It goes without saying that these three characteristics of Abraham's and Jesus' lives should be our own, as well. During this Christmas season, I determined that I would do a little investigating of my own to see if these three qualities are truly characteristic of my own life or not. This is clearly what's involved in "counting the cost" as we build our lives here on this earth.
- The birth of Jesus itself took place in a temporary dwelling. It happened during a journey and his nursery was a manger used for keeping domesticated animals.
- Jesus, as well, knew what His mission in life was. His task was also a priestly work in that He came to make atonement for the sins of mankind. The fulfillment of that was His death on the cross.
- Even more, He focused steadfastly on a hope for life beyond death. It's just as Hebrews 12:2 says: "...for the joy set before him (Jesus) endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Speaking of "counting," I'd like to mention in closing that December is a busy time for us here at Harvest Time in the area of year-end financial accounting. I ask you to remember us in prayer, seeking the Lord with us so that His blessing might be upon our financial situation. Rich blessings upon each of you as you celebrate the Savior's birth. Merry Christmas in Y'shua's precious name!
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)
December 15, 2005
Dr. Okio Hino
Last Thursday was our TV production day and it was truly a stimulating and enjoyable experience. Two of the four programs we recorded made up a two-part series of interviews with Dr. Okio Hino, professor of pathology at Juntendō University's School of Medicine. Many of our viewers will remember Dr. Hino from a program we did with him last June entitled, "A Philosophy of Cancer." Here are the reasons we decided to have him back on as a guest.
Recently, cases of lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos have increased to the point where this problem can no longer be ignored by society at large. Dr. Hino has been on the front lines in the attempt to devise effective treatment. I was especially interested in asking him about this work.
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Dr. Okio Hino, professor of pathology, Juntendō University Medical School, Tōkyō. |
Also, in October, Dr. Hino published a sequel to his first book, A Philosophy of Cancer (March, 2004), which is entitled, Be a Fire-starter. Of course, I wanted to talk with him about the contents of this new book, as well.
We taped these programs in a bit different fashion than we usually do. Ioanna Sillavan started us off with an introduction and then we cut to a different part of the studio where Dr. Hino and I sat on stools and talked together. By doing it this way, we used all of our time on-topic and skipped any superfluities. I figured this would allow us to really dig in to the substance of our topic. With that as our intent, I think we more than accomplished our task, if I do say so myself.
In terms of the content that you'll see in the programs, I'd like to list a few of the things I learned from our discussion.
- Cases of mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer believed to be caused by asbestos exposure, began to show up in the latter half of the 1970s. A long incubation period is required before symptoms appear, often taking 30-40 years before the disease can be diagnosed. Expectations are, then, that a large increase of these cancer cases will begin to show up sometime around 2025.
- Juntendō University was the first health care institution to establish an asbestos-related illness outpatient clinic. For a teaching hospital, this was accomplished with exceptional speed. It offers the kind of rapid decision-making that's often so necessary with these cases.
- As a pathologist, whose normal job responsibilities required him to handle with dead bodies, Dr. Hino began spending time at the clinic with these patients. This in itself was rather extraordinary. He said he found himself talking eye-to-eye with these patients, often for more than an hour at a time. By splitting his time between his regular work and contact with these patients, Dr. Hino said he discovered that he was able to help them lose a lot of their anxiety about their condition. Giving patients a sense of well-being, he said, is a doctor's job. He said that he now finds himself able to relate to each of them individually and can do so in an unhindered fashion there at the clinic. What really matters, he added, is not so much what they talk about, but WHO it is that talks with them. This, he said, is the most important thing he's learned.
- We've all heard about cases of patients wanting to sue their doctors. However, Dr. Hino believes that doctors can learn so much from their patients if they'll just pay attention. He related that he often felt so emotionally immature compared to these cancer patients. The maturity they gained through suffering, he said, often makes him feel like a child in terms of his own understanding of their needs.
- Dr. Hino's first book, A Philosophy of Cancer, he said, has been getting a good response from not only the medical community, but from other spheres of society, as well. Many have been responsive to his perspective of looking at all of life through the lens of cancer pathology -- using the "micro" world to think about the "macro" society around us. In order to solve problems, people look for concrete images to help them. Cancer pathology, he said, is something that can offer that very thing.
- It doesn't matter who you are, we all need encounters with people that help to set the course for our lives. When Dr. Hino was a young man, he met a pastor that he greatly respected. This pastor always spoke so highly of Shigeru Nambara, the former chancellor of Tōkyō University. As a result of that encounter, Hino said that he began studying the life and works of Nambara. To a large extent, those studies determined the course of his life. It was an encounter, he said, that he continually gives thanks for even to this day.
- As a pathologist, Dr. Hino takes death as the starting point for looking at all of life. When you die, he said, all you need is a cemetary plot. The only things that will remain with you in the next life will be the noble and courageous things you did in this life.
- What we really need in these times, he said, are professionals with "guts." In order to have that, you need a dynamic exchange of ideas between people from diverse fields. When you have such interaction with people from other fields who have mastered their areas of expertise, he added, it gives birth to a tremendous amount of energy.
This discussion we had about life and the times we live in was so very stimulating to me personally. I'm sure you'll want to watch these programs, as well. They are scheduled to air the second and third weekends of January. Please make a point to tune in. If you can't get our program where you live, both of these shows should be posted with English subtitles as "Video on Demand" offerings at our website later that month. They'll be entitled, "Getting Help for the Asbestos Problem" and "More About a Philosophy of Cancer." I hope you'll take the time to watch them.
In closing, I'd like to mention that really good responses to the publication of The Messiah have started to come in. As I mentioned before, this is the third volume in my novel series, The Bible Story for the Japanese. One reader wrote in to say, "I wept all the way through it!" Another said, "I felt like I was back in New Testament Times. This one was even easier to understand than the fist two books."
This series, for all practical purposes, represents my "life work." I sincerely wish that as many people as possible would read it and that all who do would encounter Jesus Christ. Please pray that this book, as well as the other two, would be greatly used of the Lord in evangelism among the Japanese people. Rich blessings upon you in Y'shua's precious name.
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)
December 09, 2005
Life Is a Journey
I shared with you a little last week about the recent 35th Harvest Time Holy Land Tour and I'd like to add a little more this week. As always, everyone on the tour got along so well with one another and, even more importantly, there were so many spiritual blessings on the trip. When we began, there were two members who were not yet Christians. One of the two was a lady who decided to trust Christ as her Savior while we were at the Wilderness Tabernacle and later received baptism in the Jordan River. The other was a fellow who said he decided he needed to follow Jesus when we were on the Via Dolorosa, at the place where Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry Jesus' cross (Matt. 27:32). Consequently, all 44 tour members were able to particpate in the Lord's Supper when we took it at the Garden Tomb on our last day.
A 10-day Holy Land tour is, in a sense, like a compressed version of life itself. Indeed, the unexpected often occurs and when it does, events often mirror life. It really seems as if "the journey is life and life is a journey."
After we got back to Japan and I went back to the office, almost immediately, more "unplanned things" began to happen. If nothing else, you learn the truth about how God works through that on a Holy Land tour, but it's not always easy to apply it to the regular routine of daily life. It keeps me praying, "Lord, give me wisdom. Give me power to act!" If you're one of those who is dealing with the unexpected, I urge you to consider each "closed door" to be the prelude for another one that's about to open. Don't you think that's reason enough to lift your head and keep pushing forward? Have a great weekend in Y'shua's precious name!
- Due to a scheduling change by British Airways, our trip departure was moved up one day. Everyone on the tour was able to adjust their schedules, so this became no obstacle for us. There was one thing, however, that was greatly affected by this change. I usually try to arrange things so that we're Jerusalem on a Sunday. This time, however, we were there on a Sunday and Monday. Because of that, we were unable to visit the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu (which commemorates Peter's denial of Christ three times -- cf. Luke 22:54-62). In place of that, we spent more time at the Temple Mount. We were also able to observe a Bar Mitzvah (coming-of-age for boys) ceremony at the Western Wall.
One very impressive thing that happened was a Torah reading by the son of a Messianic Jewish couple from the U.S. who had joined us for the tour. The boy had just completed his own Bar Mitzvah recently. This was one of those "unscheduled blessings" that we experienced.- Usually, there are a good number of rainy days in November and that makes for some cold weather. This time, it had rained for several days prior to our coming, but the weather was absolutely perfect the whole time we were moving around the country. Every day, the weather was warm and the closer we got to Jerusalem, the hotter it got. For the most part, we ended up not needing the coats we'd brought in anticipation of colder weather. This was a very pleasant miscalculation on our part. The dry climate and the sand in the air irritated my throat a bit, but it never became serious and I was able to carry out all my duties as tour leader. For that, I'm thankful.
- Because I wasn't feeling well at one point, I postponed our baptismal ceremony at the Jordan River for one day. We took that time to visit the Hula Valley and were able to observe a huge flock of cranes. As soon as we stepped off the bus, we saw that the sky above us was filled with thousands of cranes flying wildly about. It was a scene impossible to describe in words. The next day, we went to the Jordan River, but I was unable to get into the water. I asked two pastors from the U.S. who were with us on the tour to perform the baptisms and they enjoyed the experience thoroughly. I can't count all the ways that it happened, but it truly seemed that for every door that closed on us, another one opened.
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)
December 01, 2005
Blessings Out of Zion
This week, I'd like to share with you a little from last week's trip to Israel. We left from Narita International Airport on November 21st, with 27 participants from Japan and another 17 from the U.S. who met us in London. This made a total of 44 on the tour. One of the great things about Christian groups is how readily people accept each other. It only took us about a day to bond with each other.
We got to our hotel in Tel Aviv early on the 22nd. After breakfast at the hotel, we started right off with a trip down to the southern city of Beesheba. Nobody looked like they were really worn out from our long flight, so from the very beginning, we hit the ground running.
Beersheba, if you remember from the Bible narrative, is where the story of the Patriarchs began with Abraham. There's a place in the modern-day city of Beersheba that's known as "Abraham's Well" and that's where I brought my first message of the tour. The message the Lord gave me that morning was one I entitled, "Life Is a Journey." Below is the gist of what I shared with them.
After I brought this message, we all had a meal in a bedouin tent and then had fun riding camels around in the desert for about 30 minutes. It was a wonderful experience and made us all feel as if we'd jumped back into Abraham's time. At the end of the day, we gathered at the Jordan River for a baptism ceremony. One of the ladies on the tour had already made her decision to follow Christ and wanted to be baptized that day.
- A Well
In a place where it doesn't rain much, a well is a necessity for life. Abraham got his water from this well. In our own lives, as well, we are in need of a "well" that doesn't run dry. For Christians, that well is Jesus Christ Himself. As we draw near to Christ, we can drink from the abundant "spring of water welling up to eternal life" that He offers (Jn. 4:14).
- An Accepting Heart
Bedouin people have always received desert travelers into their homes unconditionally. If they refused, the traveler would most likely die. This is, no doubt, the source of the well-known bedouin hospitality. In our lives, as well, this hospitality of heart is a necessity. I'm not the only one going through a rough time. Indeed, life for all of us is a hard journey.
(Photo courtesy BiblePlaces.com)
- A Tomb
Abraham purchased the cave at Machpelah in Hebron to bury his wife, Sarah. This became the only real estate property that Abraham ever owned. This tomb was an expression of Abraham's hopes for a world to come. We, as well, need a hope regarding life after death. Blessed, indeed, are those who confess that they are but "aliens and strangers on earth" whose real home is in Heaven (Heb. 11:14).
Every day of the tour was like this -- just full of wonderful and memorable experiences. We got back to Japan safely on the 30th. Thank you all for your prayers for us. In ways that may never be known to us, lives were changed for God's glory. Likewise, may the Lord's richest blessings "...out of Zion" (Ps. 128:5) be upon each one of you in Y'shua's precious name!
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 09:54 PM | Comments (0)