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June 23, 2006
Israel and Media Reporting
On Friday, June 9th, in the northern Gaza area, seven members of a Palestinian family enjoying an excursion to the beach were killed by an explosion. Immediately, the Islamic fundamentalist ruling party of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, issued a statement claiming that the explosion was the result of a deliberate shelling by Israeli artillery. This news was released to the world's media organizations accompanied by video of a young girl holding onto a dead family member, screaming and weeping. Like most folks who saw this, I, too, couldn't help but feel compassion for the young girl when I saw this.
The next day, Hamas declared that because this attack resulted in casualties, the cease-fire agreement with Israel was void. That same day, Hamas launched more than 10 rocket attacks against Israel from inside Gaza. To almost anyone who has been observing this, Israel looks very much at fault.
The Israeli government promised to investigate this incident. Then, on the 13th, Defense Minister Amir Peretz announced that investigators had found that the explosion was not the result of shelling by Israeli troops. Here's the gist of their findings.
In response to the Israeli government's announcement of findings, the communications minister for the Hamas-run Palestinian Authority critcized Israel by saying, "It's a total fabrication. The Israeli military is just trying to shirk the blame for this."
- Two of the Palestinians wounded by the blast were taken to an Israeli hospital for treatment. However, at the time of their admittance, it was discovered that all pieces of metal had already been removed from their bodies. What's more, it was learned that a Hamas unit had rushed to the scene immediately after the explosion and removed anything that could have been used as evidence.
- The hole left in the ground by the blast is indicative of a land-mine explosion rather than one that is created by an artillery shell. Also, the time of the explosion does not match up with any IDF artillery firings that were carried out on that day.
- The images provided to the media by the Palestinians which linked the attack to the firing of an IDF naval gun in the Mediterranean Sea, were intentionally edited to depict that connection. Israeli naval firing exercises ended more than one hour before the explosion on the beach.
- The most likely cause of the incident seems to be that this was the detonation of explosives that had been buried on the beach by Hamas to guard against possible landings by IDF commandos.
I suppose, by now, we should all be used to seeing this same pattern in the way the media handles this kind of news. The thing that really struck me this time was the trifling way they dealt with the Israeli response as compared to the initial reports about the explosion. News that's critical of Israel always gets a megaphone, but news that supports Israel barely gets heard. It looks like not much has changed.
In closing, I'd like to call your attention to one unrelated item. Harvest Time has just published a new book by recent program guest, Dr. Okio Hino, entitled, Figuring Out Life from a "Philosophy of Cancer" Perspective (Japanese-language only). The content of the book is based upon an interview I did with Dr. Hino, so it's quite easy to read but has real depth to it. To commemorate the publication, we've planned a reception for Dr. Hino. We've asked him to speak and he's now preparing a PowerPoint® presentation for us. The event is free to the public (although we'll be taking a free-will offering) and will be at the Ochanomizu Christian Center's 8th floor chapel (this is in Tōkyō's Chiyoda Ward, a two-minute walk from Ochanomizu Station). It will be on July 10th at 6:30 p.m. I definitely feel like something wonderful will be coming out of this get-together, so please join us if you can. Grace and peace to you in Y'shua's precious name.
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 11:14 PM | Comments (0)
June 15, 2006
Israelology Seminar
This year was the fifth time we've had Messianic Jewish leader Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum come to Japan for one of his Bible seminars. His presentations are always so intense and logically consistent and this year was no exception. The topic title this time was "Israelology: Theology's 'Missing Link'." Dr. Fruchtenbaum explained in detail about Israel's place in scripture, a subject which has never really received a fully-developed treatment in systematic theology. His lectures touched on four areas:
He explained the various covenants in the Bible and how they relate to Israel by the use of a historical timeline and also dealt with the relationship between Israel and the Church. Here are my impressions of how things went.
- Israel in the Past
- Modern-day Israel
- Israel in the Future
- Other Matters Related to Israel.
In Christianity, as in the world at large, there are certain ideas that come in and go out of fashion. I want to focus my attention on the information, movements and activities that have eternal significance rather than on those things that are just here for awhile. When our session was over one day, a fellow came up to me and said, "After today's session, I can see the outline of the whole Bible!" As one who was responsible for hosting this event, I can't tell you how happy those words made me feel. That's precisely the purpose for which we created this event.
- The entire seminar took up 12 hours over the course of two days, but it clearly wasn't enough time to cover the subject. In the Tōkyō meeting, we had to rush through the final section just to finish the material, but in Ōsaka we did a better job of apportioning the time.
- The content of the teaching was heavy stuff, indeed. However, with all the important ideas that were included, not even a moment of it seemed dull or boring. From beginning to end, there was the tension of expectation in the air and each participant paid serious attention to every word.
- Dr. Fruchtenbaum's purpose in his explanations was to correct what he feels are distortions in the systematic theology of the past. In particular, he attempted to put the realtionship between law and grace in its proper place. Likewise, he tried to show how the idea that the Church is the new Israel, or "spiritual Israel," is not a biblical concept.
- Dr. Fruchtenbaum's seminars have a reputation for being extremely interesting, yet at the same time, difficult to understand. I'm so thankful, then, for all of those who participated (over 100 at each of the two locations) and especially for the way everyone took such copious notes and listened so attentively. Dr. Fruchtenbaum noticed this as well and remarked to me that Japanese Christians have such a wonderful attitude when it comes to learning.
- We live in an age where people value convenience and simplicity. However, the things we truly need don't always fall into those categories. During this seminar, I thought back to my days in seminary. I had several courses that provided me with ideas I could immediately put into practice. However, the value of such things often tend to depreciate over time. After a few years, those concepts are no longer all that useful anymore. There were also some courses that were uninteresting to me and others that were just plain tough. I really struggled with my biblical language studies and exegesis classes, for example. However, what I learned in those classes has turned out to be some of the most useful knowledge I gained. It's the same with information in general. With time, some of it becomes useless and other information always remains valid. What we learned from Dr. Fruchtenbaum falls into the latter category.
We recorded the entire seminar, of course, and will be offering it for sale. The CD set will be ready to ship by the middle of July if any of you are interested in ordering it. One set will consist of eight audio CDs (in English with Japanese translation) with a Japanese-language text and will sell for ¥4,900 (tax included). Contact our office to place an order. May God's richest blessings be upon you in Y'shua's precious name!
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2006
Good Job!
When you engage in discussions about the Church in Japan, someone eventually starts talking about why the total number of Christians in Japan is so small or why Christians don't seem to be able to exert much influence upon society. It's always important to reflect honestly upon your own situation and there's no denying that those issues have to be addressed. However, if you become overly critical of yourself, that could lead to a spiritually unhealthy state of mind. With that in mind, I'd like to brag on Japanese Christians a bit in my post this week.
Thursday of last week was a very busy day for me. We produced four TV programs during the day and then I had to go to Tōkyō that evening and ended up taking the last bullet train out of Tōkyō Station to get home. It was a tiring but very fulfilling day. Here are the kind of folks I was with all day.
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Rev. Ikuo Nishida, pastor of Tōkyō's Hope Chapel and author of 911 for the Deep-in-Debt. |
- One of our program guests was Rev. Ikuo Nishida. He's pastor of Hope Chapel in Tōkyō's Asakusa area and also has a ministry to people who are saddled down with crushing consumer debt. He recently published a book entitled, 911 for the Deep-in-Debt. "Only about 20% of the problem has to do with business practices," he says. "The remaining 80% is caused by spiritual issues." If it were me, I'd be very reluctant about getting involved with a problem like that, but Pastor Nishida comes to the aid of people whose lives are being destroyed by debt and doesn't charge them anything. Way to go!
- The guest we taped next was Hisashi Shimada, who is a business management consultant and a professor at Kyōto's Bunkyō University. He, too, has written a book and it's entitled Living the NPO Life. In it, he proposes a lifestyle direction for 21st-century Japanese people. Shimada worked for Kuraray Co. (Japan's first domestic producer of synthethic fibers) until he was 50 and then changed his focus to research and consulting work. It was a gutsy move on his part.
Recognizing that a society which focuses excessively on economics is severely handicapped, Shimada argues that a truly revolutionary restructuring of society can only be had by concurrent development of the spheres of politics, the arts and human relationships. He made the comment that he didn't see the current Koizumi administration's much-trumpeted "revolution" making any headway at all in extricating itself from an "economics-only" mindset. When I heard that, I found myself shouting "Amen!" without thinking. I came away from this short time of discussing these issues with a tremendous respect for this man who seems to have such extraordinary insight into Japan's future.
- In the evening, I went as an observer to the general session of the Christian Chaplain's Networking Conference at Tōkyō's Takanawa Catholic Church. I'd heard that there are over 200 Christian chaplains throughout the country. This was their third such conference and a little less than 100 of them were in attendance. It was the best attendance they've had since these meetings started. Among the attendees were Catholics, leaders from the United Church of Christ, evangelicals and independents. A few of these men had been serving as chaplains for 50 years or more.
Japan's current prison system is facing big changes in the near future and, no doubt, the need for the work of Christian chaplains will increase. These folks love prison inmates and faithfully share the love of Christ in places that are hidden from the public eye. You guys are the best!
The people I've talked about above are the servants of God who minister to the people of this age as priests and even prophets. As I rode on the train back to Mishima Station, I looked back upon the blessings of the day. The feeling that welled up in my heart solidified itself into this one thought: "Christians in Japan are doing a great job!" And how thankful I am that they are. May God's richest blessings upon them and you, as well, in Y'shua's precious name.
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 12:58 PM | Comments (0)
June 01, 2006
The Da Vinci Code Whirlwind
In my April 20th post, I talked about the recently-published Gospel of Judas. I mentioned that it was written by a heretical group known as the Gnostics and that it offered no threat whatsoever to orthodox Christianity. The next big thing to grab the public's attention, however, has been the release of the movie version of the best-selling novel, The Da Vinci Code. It showed first at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17th without much critical acclaim, but box office receipts from its general theater release have been pretty good so far.
The book, a mystery thriller by author Dan Brown, has become a fiction best-seller all around the world. The story revolves around a murder committed in Paris' Louvre museum which leads investigators to uncover a shocking truth being concealed by a super-secret society. The supposed "truth" that they uncover is that Jesus Christ didn't die on the cross, nor did He rise from the dead. Instead, He married Mary Magdalene and they had a daughter. This daughter went to France and became the ancestor of a line of French kings. This whole matter, they discover, was hidden centuries ago and the idea that Jesus Christ is God was created at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD to cover up the truth.
The whole story is a thoroughly groundless and wildly fanciful tale. The foundational ideas that Mr. Brown used in his novel were borrowed from Gnostic teachings and from the thinking of a heretical teacher name Arius. Yet, no matter how often or how loudly one might insist that this is merely fiction, there are still those who will be unduly influenced by the erroneous theories contained within it. Therefore, real discernment in dealing with this material is definitely needed.
If you take a close look at how the mainstream media handle things like The Judas Gospel and The Da Vinci Code, as well as how people react to it in general, you quickly come to the conclusion that this world typically responds to material of an anti-Christian nature by taking an immediate and active interest in it. The fact that people have a greater interest in a lie than they do in the truth is evidence of the sin nature in all of us and is "par for the course" in this world. We must be ever vigilant and alert so that we, as well, do not get swept away by the currents of the age we live in.
Personally, I think Dan Brown's whole approach smells of fraud. His deception lies in the fact that he comes across to his readers as the author of a thoroughly historical novel, when all the while he's only writing fiction. Readers who have no understanding of the background of Christianity fall for the illusion that whatever Brown has written must be the truth. That's the really scary thing about it.
A true historical novel, put simply, is this: a piece of literature that mixes the author's creativity with well-known and established historical facts. As a rule, any work that distorts or alters historical facts cannot rightly be called a historical novel. To do it correctly, an author must look at his material, first of all, as a historian and examine in detail the events, background and customs of the period he wants to depict. He also examines archeological, geographical and other works that shed light on his subject. Distorting historical facts just to make your story more interesting breaks a cardinal rule that no self-respecting historical novelist would ever violate.
The first person to witness the reality of Christ's resurrection from the dead was the woman known as Mary Magdalene (cf. John 20:1-18). Because there are already a good number of historical novels that deal respectfully with her person and don't make such preposterous claims, one can only be astounded by The Da Vinci Code's treatment of her. The book's story line suggests that Jesus and Mary were married or were lovers. Why this approach? In my opinion, this is predominantly a failure to read the Bible from a Hebrew perspective.
A writer wanting to tell an original and interesting story will unconciously tend to reinterpret the Bible narrative through the lens of modern society. However, the Hebrew culture of Jesus' day and the loose moral standards of modern Western culture are fundamentally different. It's totally unthinkable to suggest that Jesus, who was always trying to clarify the heart of the Mosaic Law and taught the importance of living by it, could have had a secret intimate realtionship with Mary Magdalene and still be the promised Messiah of Israel. For Him to have done so would have made Him the most shameless hypocrite who ever lived. If His disciples, then, risked their lives to follow such a fraud, the entire New Testament comes off as nothing more than a ridiculous farce.
My prayer is that you would not let superficial phenomena like this monopolize your attention. What's needed more than anything else in this day and age are eyes that can see through the surface distractions of life to what's going on behind it all. May the Lord bless and protect you from every device of the Enemy as you seek to be salt and light in this dark world. For your own investigations, below are some links to some useful Da Vinci Code websites. As always, leave your comments or questions about this post by clicking on the "Comments" link below. Shalom in Y'shua's precious name!
Kenichi Nakagawa
- The Da Vinci Code: A Biblical Response
- Breaking The Da Vinci Code
- Decoding The Da Vinci Code
- Jesus and Da Vinci
Posted by HarvestTV at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)