Harvest Time TV Weblog

A Heart of Thanksgiving

I recently became aware of something as I completed the final volume of The Bible Story for the Japanese novel series I've been working on for the last four years. I now realize that all during the time I was working on the project, the strain I was feeling every day was also being experienced by my family and staff to a considerable degree. When it was over and I began to relax, the people around me seemed more relaxed, as well. My wife told me many times, "We were feeling it, too!" Now that I'm free of the burden of writing, I can see how so many people around me contributed to the success of the project. And this is true of not just the last four years, either. This has turned out to be an excellent opportunity to reflect upon my life as a whole up to this point.

]]>    One of the programs we produced in our studio last week was one that featured water-color artist Katsuyuki Fujii as guest. Mr. Fujii is responsible for producing the illustrations for the entire novel series -- more than 120 altogether. During the taping, I thought about that and my heart filled to overflowing with thanksgiving.

   Recently I ran across the following story that I'd like to share with you.

   William Stidger was an American crusade evangelist who was active during the first half of the 20th century. One night in the early 1930s, he and a friend went out to eat at a restaurant. The topic of their conversation turned to the fact that virtually everyone's life had been deeply impacted by the effects of the Great Depression. With no income, scores of people had committed suicide. The more the two talked, the more serious their conversation became. Just then, a fellow pastor who was there stood up and cried out, "Ah, I just don't know what to do! In two weeks it'll be Thanksgiving. I want to say something positive to my people, but with this Depression going on, just what kind of sermon can I possibly preach?!" At that moment, Stidger recalled, the Holy Spirit spoke to him and said, "During your life, there have been many people who have blessed you. Why don't you recall their names during this time of trouble and express your gratitude to them?"

   Stidger began to think about that and shortly the name of one of his teachers from long ago came to mind. The lady had been his English literature teacher and had taken a considerable amount of her time to give him extra instruction. Because of her influence, he was able to significantly deepen his understanding of English literature and this had had a profound effect upon his writing and preaching activities. He hadn't seen this woman in many years, but when he got home, he sat down and wrote her a thank-you letter. Within a few days, a reply came in the mail.

Dearest Willie,...

At that time, Stidger was about 50 and had lost much of his hair. There was no one that called him "Willie" anymore. When he read that greeting, it immediately warmed his heart.

Dearest Willie,
I cannot tell you how much your note meant to me. I am in my eighties, living alone in a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely and, like the last leaf of autumn, lingering behind. You will be interested to know that I taught in school for fifty years and yours is the first note of appreciation I ever received. It came on a blue-cold morning, and it cheered me as nothing has in many years.

"I'm not a very emotional type of guy," Stidger commented, "but when I read that letter, I wept out loud."

Next, he remembered a retired pastor friend of his. This man's wife had recently died and he was now living alone. Stidger recalled that when he himself had just started out as a pastor, this older man had taken the time to give him all kinds of encouragement and helpful advice. So, Stidger wrote this man a letter, as well. Two days later, a reply came.

Dearest Will,
Your letter was such a true and beautiful thing. I read it in my study and found myself weeping, overcome with feelings of thanksgiving. I stood up from my chair and called my wife's name. In my joy, I guess I momentarily forgot that she's no longer here. You simply can't imagine how much comfort that letter brought to me. I walked around all day long in the glow it brought to my heart.

   That's the story and I, as well, felt tears come to my eyes when I first read it. A thankful heart is a truly wonderful thing, isn't it?

   In closing, I'd like to mention that our 38th Harvest Time Holy Land Tour departed for Israel on Wednesday and I'll be leading a group of 46 participants around the country until the 24th. Spiritual break-throughs in people's lives are regularly sought for and often occur during these tours. I ask for your prayers upon the entire 10-day experience that many victories would be won. Rich blessings upon you and yours in Y'shua's precious name!

   Kenichi Nakagawa

The Fragrance of Authenticity

I first heard about North Korea's October 9th nuclear weapons test while riding in a taxi in Ōsaka. I don't know how many times I sighed to myself that day, but I think you can sum all this up as an absolutely insane choice on the part of the North Korean government.

]]> The following day, we had our Getsureikai monthly meeting in Ōsaka. The message I had prepared was entitled, "New Religions For the Internet Age" (which was the subject of last week's blog post). I figured that I might have to change the content of the message in light of the situation in North Korea, so I quickly looked it over. I decided, though, that nothing really needed changing. When you preach biblical truth, your message is always relevant. That's a great thing, isn't it?

Maintaining your sanity in a chaotic age is not an easy thing to do. What can a person do? Yoshihide Matsumura, an expert in detecting counterfeiting operations, was our guest on the program the third week of September. This was one of his comments:

The genuine article has a "taste" of authenticity to it. If you "feed" on the words of the Bible daily, its deliciousness gradually comes through. A counterfeit may initially taste sweet, but that fades pretty quickly. One of the most important rules for life -- whether it's in regard to objects or ideas -- is this: always go after the real thing!

Our greatest need for living in chaotic times, then, is the ability to tell the difference between the genuine and the fake. In Jesus Christ we have this "fragrance of authenticity." If a person would merely consider these words of Jesus with sufficient seriousness, I think it would soon become obvious that Jesus Christ is, indeed, "the real thing":

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6, NIV)

I'm convinced that if one would open his heart to the truth of this passage, this alone would enable him to become a believer in Jesus.

Furthermore, Jesus' disciples had a "fragrance of authenticity" about them. With the exception of Judas Iscariot, all of Jesus' remaining 11 disciples laid their lives on the line and this was their testimony:

For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. (Acts 4:20, NIV)

This is the real thing. The Apostle Paul wrote this:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. (Philippians 3:12, NIV)

   This attitude also reflects "the genuine article."

   The "fragrance of authenticity" also hangs about Christian believers living in these times. On October 2nd, a tragic event took place in the U.S., at an Amish school in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (the Amish are a Christian community noted for their refusal to use modern conveniences as part of their lifestyle). A man named Charles Roberts (32) entered the school, rounded up 10 female students ages 6-13 and went about to execute them all. The result was that five of them died and the others were injured. Afterwards, the assailant killed himself. We later learned that during the ordeal, the oldest girl, Marian Fisher (13), had begged the killer to shoot her first and let the other children go. Her younger sister, Barbie (11), appealed to him to shoot her next.

   One of the families that lost a child invited the gunman's widow, Marie, to the funeral and tried to give comfort to her. The leader of the Amish community announced the creation of a fund to provide support for Marie and her three children.

   People have evaluated the Amish lifestyle in various ways over the years. However, it can't be denied that they are actually living out Jesus' command to love others. Even in the midst of grief and pain, they offered forgiveness, love and blessing in return. There's a "fragrance of authenticity" about this.

   Indeed, in this day and age, there's no other way to survive apart from joining this band of "authentics" ourselves. Have a wonderful weekend in Y'shua's precious name!

   Kenichi Nakagawa

New Religions of the Internet Age

As of October 1st, our new Internet TV website went on-line. We had a little trouble at first with visitors who couldn't create new member accounts, but we got that smoothed out and everything's functioning normally now. Much thanks to the large number of you folks who registered for free accounts with us to watch Harvest Time on-line. This is a real groundbreaking development in Harvest Time's history. It makes me feel like we're really "plugged-in" to the times. Visitors to the site can access and view our programming (with English sub-titles included) from anywhere in the world and at any time of day. We currently have about 200 of our past programs available on-line with plans to make it 500 programs in the near future. We'll also be adding an Internet Radio section featuring various audio presetations, as well. Access it for yourself by going to www.harvestinternet.tv and sign up for a free account.

]]> With all this interest in the Internet, I thought I'd share with you some information I recently came across about a new religious movement just made for the Internet Age. Have you ever heard of "Yoism"? Yoism is a new religion proposed by American psychoanalyst Dan Kriegman in 1994. Here's what it's all about:

The governing principle of Yoism is known as "Open Source Theory." This theory and its application seeks to incorporate various standards and information from a wide range of spheres into itself. Average people participate in the movement to seek out truth and cobble together an authoritative system based upon group thought. One example of how the theory works is the "Wikipedia" website. The number of people who reference the various Wikipedia sites for everyday research is quite large.

Applying Open Source Theory to religion works like this: in traditional religion, doctrine is handed down from authoritative sources and accepted passively by the body of believers. However, with Yoism, participants put their energies together and create the doctrine out of whatever mutually acceptable or beneficial ideas they can come up with.

New religions like this typically take on various forms, but Yoism touts itself as the world's first "Open Source Religion." Of course, in the background of all this is the growth of the Internet itself.

Adherents refer to themselves as "Yoan" and typically reject the authority of traditional religion and, in its place, emphasize such diverse ideas as community, evolution, democracy, environmentalism, development, etc. Open Source software continuously changes and improves as regular folks participate in its development. In the same way, they maintain, adherents of Yoism pool their personal experiences in an attempt to develop their own faith and community scriptures. "The prospects for our pursuit of truth," they say, "depend upon whether or not the diverse life experiences of many people can be fully integrated together."

This kind of new religious thought, of course, is an outright rejection of biblical authority. No matter how much finite thinking you pile up, it will never become the Infinite. The wisdom of sinful human beings will never equal the wisdom of God Almighty. The well-known truth is that the Wikipedia contains plenty of errors. The way things are these days makes one realize how close we're getting to the "Great Tribulation" period of history that the book of Revelation prophesies about.

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. (I Tim. 4:1, NIV)

   It's in times just like these that the necessity of proclaiming the unchanging Word of God -- over the Internet or by any other means -- becomes so very clear. Please pray with us that the Harvest Time Internet TV website would be greatly used of the Lord.

   In closing, I'd like to mention two important items. First, we're still needing more participants for our 39th Harvest Time Holy Land Tour: "New Years in Israel 2007." We have about 10 open slots, so if you're interested, be sure and write us for a pamphlet as soon as possible.

   The other item is an announcement that the final volume in The Bible For the Japanese (sub-titled, The Nations) is complete and will go on sale in bookstores around the country the first part of November (Japanese-language only). Our publisher, Bungeisha, has plans to make all four volumes available in a special boxed set which includes a set of commemorative postcards featuring the book's artwork as drawn by water-color artist Katsuyuki Fujii. I'm so grateful. Rich blessings upon you all in Y'shua's precious name!

   Kenichi Nakagawa

Looking for the Real Thing

During the month of July, the Japanese government conducted some public opinion research related to intellectual property issues. Out of a total sampling of 3,000 adults 20 or over, 1,801 responded to the survey. Some results were as follows:

]]>

Approximately 76% of respondents identified the purchase of imitation or pirated goods as "bad," though about half that number admitted to having done it anyway.

When asked if they knew that this practice is in violation of copyright protections, 75.9% indicated that they did and a whopping 20.5% said that they had no idea it was illegal.

Regarding the purchase of these kinds of articles, 45.5% said they thought it was OK to do so or that there was no way they could see of avoiding it.

Overall, 47.4% of the respondents replied that purchasing pirated or "knock-off" fakes is wrong no matter what the reason.

By age category, the younger respondents showed the strongest tendency toward having a willingness to purchase fake or pirated goods.

Whether it's because these goods can be bought cheaply, or that they're being sold on the open market -- whatever the reason -- the Japanese public seems to have a willingness to allow the sale of fake products.

Yoshihide Matsumura, discoverer of the "Super-K" counterfeit note and president of Matsumura Technology Co., Ltd. in Tōkyō.

   A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of doing a TV program interview with a fellow who's known as one of the world's foremost experts in detecting counterfeit money operations. His name is Yoshihide Matsumura, president of Matsumura Technology Co., Ltd., located in the Asakusa area of Tōkyō. It was a truly fascinating conversation.

   Mr. Matsumura got his start inthe area of counterfeiting investigations in 1987, just before the Seoul Olympics. He had gotten a request from a certain trading company that wanted him to develop and sell them a counterfeit bill detection device. Matsumura took that challenge and quickly came up with a device and, in a short time, sold more than 2,000 of them. The machine, in fact, quickly became a hot item. About two years later, though, a rumor began to circulate that Matsumura's machine didn't work properly. Consequently, sales of his device plummeted.

   In order to develop a more effective product, Matsumura decided that he needed to get hold of some well-made counterfeits. For the next six months, Matsumura traveled to various "danger spots" in East Asia looking for bogus bills. Eventually, he was able to get his hands on four well-made counterfeit U.S. bills. He brought them back to Japan and he and his whole staff spent the next two weeks putting the notes through intense scrutiny. They finally identified a few slight differences. These differences, in fact, turned out to be a kind of code the counterfeiters themselves added to the notes so as to tell their fake bills from the real thing. Matsumura himself coined the name by which these bills would be known: "Super-K." These caught the U.S. government off guard, but as a result of this find, the U.S. Treasury Department changed the currency design they had been using for 70 years. By improving his machine in this way, Matsumura is now able to produce between 500 and 1,000 devices per month. About 70% of these are exported at the request of investigative agencies or central banks in 70 countries.

   Matsumura says the thing that drives him on in this work is the confidence and sense of justice he has as a Christian. "Letting counterfeiters get away with their crimes is unforgiveable," he says. "I can't tolerate anything short of righteous behavior." This spirit is what motivates his work.

   During the interview, I asked him this question: "As a Christian, you naturally believe that the Bible is the authentic Word of God. Why is it that you believe that?" Here's what he said:

When something is the real thing, it has the "taste" of authenticity about it. As you "digest" God's Word day by day, you get an increasingly delicious flavor from it. A fake may initially be flavorful, but quickly becomes tiresome. In life, the most important thing is to always be seeking the real thing, whether that be objects or ideas. Never fall for a counterfeit, even in the toughest of times. If your intention is to pursue authenticity, you may not become wealthy, but you'll never go hungry.

It was a truly fascinating interview. We'll be airing Matsumura's story in two parts, the first segment airs this weekend (third weekend of October in the U.S.) and the second will run the last weekend of October (last weekend of November in the U.S.). You'll definitely want to see these programs.

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. (John 6:27 NIV)

In closing, I'd like to mention that I've been in the U.S. for a series of evangelistic meetings since Tuesday of this week. Please pray with me that the Lord would greatly bless these gatherings in the Los Angeles area. The first will be tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the South Bay Community Church, and the second at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Los Angeles Union Church. I'll be back on the 27th. Rich blessings upon you in Y'shua's precious name!

Kenichi Nakagawa

The War in Lebanon

During the time we were enjoying summer vacation, the Middle East exploded into violence. Now, the fighting that took place along Lebanon's southern border is being referred to as "the Lebanon War." And the tenor of world media reporting on this event has been, quite predictably, virtually monolithic in its criticism of Israel. The Japanese media is no exception. I've read and heard all the commentary of the various experts and pundits in the papers and on TV. Quite honestly, it was all way off the mark and quite discouraging to me personally. I've often said this, but what's really important in any conflict is the ability to read what's going on behind the scenes.

]]>    Another critical aspect is discerning who's playing the "lead" and who the "supporting cast" is. In this case, the supporting roles are being played by Hizbullah and Hamas and Iran is in the lead. At this stage, the supporting players are conducting themselves as if they were in the lead. It looks as if the current cease-fire is a mutual agreement, but there's not a single Israeli that thinks the threat from Hizbullah has gone away. One would do well to think of this as just the end of act one in an epic drama.

   There are several problems connected with the major players in this drama. As the investigation into last year's assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri continues, Syria is afraid that its complicity in that event will be exposed. Likewise, Iran has shown no interest in responding to offers of negotiations with the EU or U.S. about its nuclear power development program. In response to the latter, the foreign ministers of five U.N. Security Council nations plus Germany convened a conference in Paris on July 12th and announced their intention to adopt a resolution to deal with the Iran situation. Consequently, Iran heard about these deliberations and had Hizbullah kidnap two Israeli soldiers the very next day, resulting in Israel's military response. What does the timing of this incident tell us? It's seems clear enough that Iran incited this war in order to force back the world community's scrutiny of her nuclear power development program. And, at least to some degree, it can certainly be said that they succeeded.

   Iran's ultimate goal is to become a super power in the Middle East. To accomplish that, she experiments with projections of her power by using Hizbullah as her proxy. This latest conflict could therefore be defined as the beginning of an Iran-Israel war. It could also be seen as the beginning of an Iran-U.S. conflict, as well. Behind Iran lurks the shadow of Russia, and the influence of North Korea likewise should not be ignored. That North Korean missle technology passes through Iran to Hizbullah is a well-known fact. The expertise that created missles capable of attacking Japan are now being used to bombard Israel. Because of all this, we shouldn't be enjoying the luxury of thinking about the Lebanon War with the detached unconcern that most Japanese exhibit.

   With a rising chorus of voices calling for censuring Israel, securing her position will definitely not be a simple task. Nevertheless, if one will focus on what's going on behind events in the foreground, the true nature of this war can be discovered. The Lebanon war is not something that we as Christians can ignore either. I plan to be addressing this topic from a biblical perspective at our Getsureikai meetings in Tōkyō on Monday and Ōsaka on Tuesday of next week. Please join us at Ochanomizu Christian Center in Tōkyō's Chiyoda Ward, or Hotel Grandvia in Ōsaka at 10:30 a.m. for both meetings.

   In closing, let me mention that our 38th Harvest Time Holy Land Tour will depart as scheduled in November. That tour is full, but if you have an interest in participating in one of our trips, contact us about our New Years 2007 tour. Send us your name, address and phone number and we'll mail you a pamphlet with all the details. Now that things in the area have settled down a bit, the Israelis are hoping for a "tourism boom" to start up. Join us and let's not disappoint them. Rich blessings upon you and yours in Y'shua's precious name!

   Kenichi Nakagawa

Praying for Islam

A few weeks ago, I got a note from one of our former Harvest Time guests, Ali Regeaian. Ali is orginally from Iran. He's a former Muslim believer who is now a Christian pastor here in Japan. At the time he contacted me, he and over 120 other church leaders were in the final week of a 40-day prayer and fasting campaign to intercede for Iran. Although the special prayer campaign is finished, Iran is still very much in the news and prayer for this important nation and her people is very much needed. With that in mind, I'd like to share the following information with you in hopes that it would encourage many of you to continue in intercession.

]]> Why Pray for Iran?
Iran holds a leadership position in the Islamic world, but is presently in a period of crisis. The Church in Iran is quite small but has been recently been growing like never before. Consequently, the danger of persecution has also greatly increased. Large numbers of people have come to faith in Christ as the result of dreams or visions. For this, we should give thanks to God.

What to Pray For
Pray for the persecuted Church of Islam. Ever since the beginning of the Iranian revolution in 1979, the Church has experienced brutal persecution and severe restrictions, and there's every reason to believe that things will get worse for individual Christians.
In the midst of this situation, pray that protection, wisdom, boldness and courage would be given Iranian believers in order to proclaim the Gospel. Pray also that a spiritual revival would break out. The 70 million people of Iran currently have no opportunity to hear the Gospel preached. Pray that each Iranian Christian might share the Gospel with one other person until all the people of Iran have had a chance to hear and understand the Good News, with the result that repentance and salvation would come to the nation. Pray also that God would decisively intervene in the political situation, as well. Ask Him to give the Iranian people leaders who, with true humility, would love justice and mercy.

Five Minutes a Day
Ali suggested that those who would pray for Iran should pick any three of the requests above and spend at least five minutes a day in prayer, joining with others who are also praying. Just as God had mercy on the people of Ninevah when He sent Jonah to preach to them, He also loves the Iranian people and will show to us, as well, how important they are to Him. Ali added that how we pray for Iran is also important. Don't focus only on Iran's government, he said, but try to focus on the Iranian people themselves. Purging your heart of any fear on prejudice, pray for them with faith and love.

Islam itself was born during the first half of the 7th century on the Arabian Peninsula. Basically, it's a religion of "salvation by works." There is what's called the "Five Pillars of Islam" and those who passionately pursue these objectives are promised entrance into Paradise. They are:

Confess that there is no god but Allah and that Mohammed is his prophet.
Attend worship five times a day.
Give to the poor.
Fast from sunup to sundown during the month of Ramadan (the ninth month on the Islamic calendar).
Go on a pilgrimage to Mecca once during a lifetime.

Ever since the end of World War I, Muslims have typically used a "shift the blame" type of mindset in both foreign and domestic policy. In other words, the basis for policy decisions has been a "we're in this mess because so-and-so did something wrong" mentality. Consequently, Muslim self-perception has come to be characterized by the following:

The decline in ascendancy of Islamic nations around the world is due to American Imperialism and Zionism.
Democracy is a blasphemous concept. To defend against this, the Islamic Fundamentalist Movement must be expanded.
Secularized Islamic societies must be reformed.
Lands taken from Muslims by non-Islamic people must be reclaimed. This is the purpose of jihad ("holy war").

We definitely should be praying for Iran and Muslims whether there's a concerted prayer campaign going on or not. We know that God loves Muslims. According to the prophecy in Isaiah 19:23-25, Muslim people will eventually come to worship the God of the Bible. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all have the same roots in Abraham. That fact alone brings hope. God's richest "shalom" upon each of you in Y'shua's precious name.

Kenichi Nakagawa

Destroying Society with Words

Recently, I received the following e-mail message. I was deeply impressed by it and thought I'd share it with you. It's from a non-Christian young woman living in Chiba Prefecture.

How are you? While I was still in school, I used to watch Harvest Time now and then on Chiba TV and now I've been receiving your e-mail magazine for about the last two years. Living in a world where everything changes so quickly, I've found myself longing for something that doesn't. I'm not a Christian, but I'm a fan of Harvest Time.

]]>    There's something I want to ask you about. Recently, I've been hearing the word "Trinity," which is a religious term, used to describe financial affairs. Since there's a close connection between religion and things like politics or life in general, it seems natural that words like that might be used as figures of speech. However, I've heard Diet members, in truly convoluted fashion, use this concept in their statements. For example, a member of an opposition party was recently criticizing a legislative proposal. Rather carelessly and in somewhat vulgar fashion, he spit out something like this: "Far from being a three-in-one Trinity, these are three completely different things!" I can no longer stand watching the important words we use to talk about our lives be distorted for the vulgar purpose of giving others the impression that one's assertions are correct or for merely trying to become the focus of attention. I heard this statement on the radio quite by chance and I have no idea what the Diet member's name was. I don't say this because I have any special feelings for or against him. There's freedom of speech, of course, but can it possibly be right for someone to use words with such indiscretion and disrespect in public discourse? We have collections of poetry from long ago that show how both the nobility and the peasantry of Japan were people who cherished the importance of words. It's a shame we've lost that.

   I apologize for dropping this on you out of the blue, but I'd really like to hear your opinion about this. Please take care of yourself. I hope you'll keep instructing us with words that are filled with wisdom.
   This lady isn't a Christian, yet she was fully aware that there was something wrong with a careless use of the Christian technical term "Trinity." She also expressed her apprehensions about how the language of the Japanese people is being degraded. I think it's wonderful that she's aware of a problem that even Christians are often unconcerned about.

   The term "Trinity" itself does not appear in the Bible. However, that doesn't mean that the concept is not a biblical one. The truth is, it's just the opposite. In order to express the nature of God as it's revealed in the Bible, the term Trinity is utilized. A good definition of Trinity might be something like this: "God in His essential being is one. Yet within that oneness exist the three distinct personalities of Father, Son and Holy Spirit." The doctrine of the Trinity forms the core of the Christian faith. It is so important that Christianity stands or falls by it.

   Politicians here often use this expression, referring to some combination of elements as a "Trinity." Coming from them, it sounds so silly, evoking the image of a grouping of three fruits or vegetables for sale in a market (or perhaps three rice dumplings on a stick!). The fatal flaw to this wording, however, is a lack of understanding about the meaning of the second character in this four-character term. "Trinity," in Japanese, is sanmi-ittai and the second character, mi (also pronounced kurai), has to do with rank or position. In this case, it's a reference to the character of God, who exists from eternity past to eternity future and is at work as complete master of all spheres of life. With this in mind, the term is hardly suitable as a slogan for the latest version of structural reform policy that politicians can use as they please.

   It goes without saying that politicians who let this phrase slip so glibly from their lips bear responsibility for the degrading of our language. Yet, the mass media, as well, who so uncritically mimic politicians' use of the term, also deserve some of the blame. In other words, both these parties seem to lack the slightest interest in examining the definitions of the words they use. If you put forth an argument without defining your terms, what do you think will happen? Both parties will be using the same words, but will be talking about completely different things. For example, people who teach heretical ideas will use the words of Jesus Christ to support their positions. However, when you examine what they mean by the words they use, you discover a Jesus that's very different from the one in the Bible. Just because they use the name of Jesus is no reason at all to trust them.

   An argument advanced with undefined terms (or with little thought given to the meaning of the words used) will not produce logical thinking. And, of course, there's no future for logical thinking in a culture that has collapsed. There are many opinions regarding the merits or demerits of the Koizumi government. However, I think I can reliably say that the "one-phrase response" that's so characteristic of this administration has really wrecked the Japanese people's political senses. For a politician, words are life itself. A government weakened by the words it uses, however, can do little more than march along in a toy-soldier-like manner. Just thinking about this scares me.

   We're starting to see indications that Japan is becoming a society where logical thinking has collapsed. I remember the shock I got when I read the best-selling book, The Fool's Wall, awhile back. Among other things, the author went about disparaging the whole idea of holding to a "one true faith," seemingly unaware that his unbelief constituted a "fool's wall" of his own. Indeed, the more I read, his argument seemed more akin to the story of The Emperor's New Clothes than anything else. HIs main insistence was that there's no such thing as absolute Truth. Of course, he contradicted himself royally by insisting upon the absolute correctness of his premise. This is like spitting into the wind. That a book like that could become a best-seller gives a hint of what a strange society Japan has become. Could it be that an author with acknowleged self-contradictions is testing the discerning powers of his readership? If that's the case, the popularity of this book is clearly a first-class illusion -- and that's all it is.

   I'm thankful for the valuable comment from this lady in Chiba. It caused me to think again about the importance of words. You strike me, madam, as being someone who's not far at all from finding God. I pray that through the Bible, you might truly find that which is eternally unchanging. Rich blessings upon all of you readers, as well, in Y'shua's precious name. Shalom!

   Kenichi Nakagawa

Japanese-Israelism

Have you ever heard the term "Japanese-Israelism"? There are a good number of varieties of the concept, but basically it means that the Japanese race and the Jewish race came from a common ancestor. In other words, the Japanese people are the descendants of one or more of Israel's 10 lost tribes (here's one example of a website devoted to the idea).

There are some Christian pastors here in Japan that hold to this view and it seems as if lately, a good number of believers are being strongly influenced by the teaching of this theory. In general society, as well, there are a couple of publishing firms that seem to be taking full advantage of the commercial value of public interest in Japanese-Israelism.

]]>    About 15 years ago, I wrote a book entitled A Jewish Primer, in which I developed a rebuttal to both anti-Semitism and the idea of Japanese-Israelism (the book is currently out of print). Unfortunately, this theory seems to have gained in influence over the course of the years. The concept seems to hold undying fascination for certain groups of people, but in terms of helping one gain a biblical understanding of Israel or elucidate the essential elements of the Gospel, it has no value whatsoever. In fact, there's a real danger that a person's preoccupation with this idea could cause the line between what's essential and what's not to become very much blurred.

   For this reason, I've had some real concerns about the spread of this idea. Lately, however, I've run across some balanced thinking on the subject and have been much encouraged by it. In particular, Myrtos, a Christian publisher that specializes in things related to Israel and Jewish culture, published an article in their June newsletter that was a big help. It was entitled, "Where Did Japanese-Israelism Come From?" (Japanese-language only). The article was denoted as having been written by the Myrtos staff, but my guess is that it was authored by their editor-in-chief, Kazumitsu Kawai. In a limited amount of space, the author was able to marvelously summarize the whole subject and I was deeply impressed by the depth and persuasive power of his opinion. In fact, we got their permission to reproduce the article and we'll be featuring it through three issues of Israel Today, starting with this month's issue (Japanese-language edition only).

   At the end of the article was a section entitled, "Evidence for Japanese-Israelism." It deals with the following items:

The idea that the Japanese language resembles ancient Hebrew
Physical evidence for a connection between the Shintō religion and ancient Judaism
Support for Japanese-Israelism on the basis of biblical prophecies

The author summed up his conclusions in a section entitled, "The Problems with Japanese-Israelism." I quote him as follows:

It's quite possible that Japanese-Israelism is in some way connected to "Jewish Conspiracy Theory" thinking. The lessons of the past teach us that with an erroneous understanding of history, even the idea of "Jewish parentage" can be turned into anti-Semitism under the right conditions. I feel that it's my duty to point out the problems with the theory, among which are: mixing historical fact with fiction, hindering a correct understanding of the Jewish people and promoting prejudice, spreading a distorted understanding of the essentials of the Christian faith, and distorting Japanese history.

   For those of you who have an interest in this subject, I'd definitely encourage you to read the article and take some time to dig more deeply in it. The truth is, to this very day, no scholarly investigations of the theory have ever turned up any credible evidence in support of it. I can't urge you enough to be very wary of the whole idea, no matter how interesting it may sound.

   I pray that your summer has been going well and that it's been a time of hearing God's voice for direction in your life. Rich blessings upon you and yours in Y'shua's precious name.

   Kenichi Nakagawa

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.

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.

   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."

   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

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:

Israel in the Past
Modern-day Israel
Israel in the Future
Other Matters Related to Israel.

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.

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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.

   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.

   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

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.

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.

Business management consultant Hisashi Shimada, author of Living the NPO Life.
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

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

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

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.

   This year, we had Gospel singer Yuri Mori and World Vision Japan staff member Keisuke Noda as our guests on the program. The taping went very well and I was quite pleased with the outcome. One reason for that was because both of our guests told us how their own experiences with loss had led them to become involved with the Child Sponsorship program.

   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...
...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.

   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.

   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

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 SeminarDate: 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 day

Ōsaka SeminarDate: 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

Cost is ¥10,000, which includes a complete text for the course (Japanese-language only). The entire seminar will be in English and translated into Japanese. For any of you who may be interested, please write us for a pamphlet or to sign up for a seat at the seminar. They're filling up fast, so apply soon. I hope to see you there. Shalom!

Kenichi Nakagawa