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May 25, 2006
Remembering the Days of Youth
Last Thursday (5/18), I got together with some friends from my college days and we had a really great time. Our Alma Mater is Hitotsubashi University in Tōkyō. The school had an English Club in its International Studies Department at that time and all of us were members during our time spent there. Club members had tradionally thrown heart-and-soul into the production of an English drama presentation. Even years later, this performance is always one of those unforgettable college memories.
At the time I was there, our International Studies Department advisor was an American fellow named Claude Holman who worked at the U.S. military base in Tachikawa. He really liked the students at Hitotsubashi so he volunteered to help us correct our English pronunciation and speech manuscripts, and he also showed up to help oversee our drama practices. I myself stayed at the Holman home in Tachikawa several times. The American-style meals I had there were so appealing to a poor and always-hungry college boy like me. Anyway, Mr. Holman spent 30-some-odd years helping college students before returning to the States to care for his aging father. I found out that he'd been living in a small Kentucky town called Dawson Springs. He recently came back to Japan for a visit and six of us got together with him to talk about "old times."
We all went out to the Nishi Azabu area of Tōkyō and gathered at the home of Dr. Iwao Nakatani, the current president of Tama University. I was the youngest one there, the others beings two or three years my senior. One of them currently holds an ambassadorship, another is a professor at Kyōto University, a third is a branch manager of a linguistics education institute and the fourth is an executive at the Shizuoka Gas Company. Apart from the rather generous bulge around his middle, Mr. Holman was just like we remembered him. Our conversation quickly went back 40 years or so. It was an incredible experience that was part class renunion and part cross-industry idea exchange. I asked Mr. Holman how he came by the great "volunteer spirit" that he'd always exhibited. "Dawson Springs," he replied, "is a small town with a population of about 3,000. The whole town is filled with the volunteer mindset. I grew up in that atmosphere."
All of us found ourselves saying things like, "Time really flies!" or "Life is so short." That, of course, is all so true. One of us also said, "When you're young, you understand with your head that life is short, but it doesn't really sink in. If you can meet a mentor that will make you think about things at that point in your life, it's such an advantage."
The fact that, as a college student, I was able to meet fine leaders, upper classmen and friends like these has been a tremendous blessing in my life. But even more than that, my greatest blessing has been that I was able to meet my Creator while I was young. My present worldview and the foundations for living that I now have were all formed at that time. I couldn't help but recall the wise words of Solomon in the Old Testament:
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them." (Ecclesiastes 12:1)As we parted, each of us spoke a personal word of gratitude to Mr. Holman. I said to him, "You've sown many good seeds during your life. I can see now that as time has gone by, an abundant harvest has been the result. I'm so thankful for your generous heart." He replied, "It's been my great joy!"
As I boarded the last bullet train back to Mishima, I couldn't help but think about what a refreshing evening it had been. I'm so blessed! May your weekend be a blessed one for you and yours, as well. Shalom in Y'shua's precious name.
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)
May 18, 2006
Turning Losses into Gains
Last week on Thursday was our TV production day for May. Of the four programs we taped, one of them focused on the Child Sponsorship program of World Vision Japan. Every year about this time we make it a point to zero in on the needs of the world's children and feature the work of World Vision Japan.
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Gospel singer Yuri Mori and World Vision Japan staff member Keisuke Noda were our guests on Harvest Time during our studio tapings in May. |
Ms. Mori lost her younger brother in the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. That painful experience is even now guiding the direction she's been taking in her music ministry activities. In February of this year, she embarked on her second "Thailand Concert Tour," focusing her attention on visiting the areas of southern Thailand that were so devastated by the Indian Ocean Earthquake and tsunami of 2004. Her special ministry focus on the tour was the children whose lives were so affected by that event. She spoke so movingly of her experiences during the program.
Mr. Noda and his wife lost their 16-month-old son to kidney failure in 1993. It was through that loss that he came to know God's love and was led to faith in Christ. He was baptized the following year and five years later, he began working on staff at World Vision Japan. The loss of his one son led him to be part of an operation that has arranged for the adoption of tens of thousands of children around the world.
At the end of the program, my message focused upon how important it was for individual Christians to have "vision" in their lives. Without a vision for living, none of us can move forward. When our vision grows dim, we face a crisis. The same can be said for Harvest Time. How about you?
Vision...When it's time to carry out the work of giving aid to the poorest of the world's children and serving our neighbors in general, we believe and are committed to obey God's Word when it promises that love will conquer all obstacles.
- ...provides the eyes you need to catch sight of ideals to strive for in the reality of daily life.
- ...supplies the power needed to spur people on to action.
- ...gives one the power to believe that love will conquer all.
All of us were in tears as we finished the program and we think that you, as well, will be greatly moved when you see it. It will be airing during the second weekend of June in Japan and in July in the U.S. I hope you'll be watching for it. Rich blessings upon you all through the weekend in Y'shua's precious name. Shalom!
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)
May 05, 2006
Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum
As we've done every year for the past several years, we'll be having Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum back for a teaching seminar this summer. Arnold was born in Siberia, emigrated with his family to the U.S. after World War II and is currently director of Ariel Ministries based in San Antonio, Texas. This year, he'll be leading a study for us entitled, "Israelology: Theology's Missing Link." Theological studies up to this point in time have pretty much failed to give the subject of Israel the kind of systematic placement that it warrants. Because of this, studies in this area could well be referred to as theology's "missing link." This year's seminar, then, will be very much like a comprehensive survey of all of Dr. Fruchtenbaum's previous seminars with us.
As an evangelist, I can say that no one has had a greater impact on my ministry thus far than Arnold Fruchtenbaum. Therefore, I'd like to touch on what the distinctive features of his ministry are in this week's post.
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Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, director of Ariel Ministries in San Antonio, Texas |
- Those of you who've been to one of his seminars will know this, but there's never any superfluity to what he has to say. He never even gives any introductory comments but just launches abruptly into his lecture. He's a man who has given his whole life to the task of teaching the Bible. In particular, he is unrivaled in his committemt to interpreting the Bible from a Jewish perspective.
- His knowledge of the Bible is well nigh genius level. The entire Bible is in his head. He can quote chapter and verse of virtually any passage without having to open his Bible. I am a first-generation Christian in my family and have been to seminary and studied the Bible. However, Dr. Fruchtenbaum is different. Within his veins flows the blood of ultra-orthodox Jewish rabbis stretching back several centuries. With his massive knowledge of the Old Testament and Judaism as a base, he is then able to discuss the New Testament with striking clarity.
- The number of Japanese Christians who have become interested in Jewish traditions and ways of thinking has significantly increased in recent days. That's certainly not a bad thing in and of itself, but without some caution, such a trend could easily turn into the error of thinking that becoming more Jewish means becoming more "spiritually-minded" or that this is a way to receive greater blessing from God. Not all Jewish traditions are biblically-based. For Gentile Christians to know what things are biblical and what things they ought to put into practice requires a carefully discerning eye. Even after a thorough investigation, the problem of how much one understands the relationship between "Law" and "Grace" still remains.
Of all the Messianic Jews (Jewish Christians) I've me thus far, Arnold Fruchtenbaum's handling of this link between Law and Grace is the most persuasive approach I've ever heard. Once you've heard his teaching, you have an understanding of just how harmonious the whole Bible truly is. Personally, it's this reason why I say that he's had more influence upon me than anyone else I know. - I whole-heartedly recommend that you attend one of Dr. Fruchtenbaum's Israelology seminars, especially if you are someone who...
- ...wants to understand the relationship between the Old and New Testaments
- ...wants to know what it means to read the Bible from a Hebrew perspective
- ...wants to know what roll the Jewish people play in God's plan for human salvation
- ...wants to know more about what Messianic Judaism is
- ...wants to understand the connection between Israel and the End Times prophecies
Here's the schedule for this year's seminar:Tōkyō Seminar Date: June 5-6
Place: Ochanomizu Christian Center (8th fl. chapel)
2-1 Surugadai, Kanda
Chiyoda-ku, Tōkyō 101-0062
(10 minute's walk from Ochanomizu
Station on the JR Chūō Line)
Time: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. each dayŌsaka Seminar Date: June 8-9
Place: Ōsaka Christian Center
2-26-47 Chūō-ku
Ōsaka-shi 540-0004
(10 minute's walk from Tamazukuri
JR Station or five minutes from the
Tamazukuri Subway Station, exit 1)
Time: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. each day
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 01:01 AM | Comments (0)