Rescued by Jesus. Rebuilt by the Spirit. Responding to God's grace.
I don’t think He wants to “use” me, anyway. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph. 2:10 NIV) Ah, aging. The loss of hearing. Deteriorating vision. The pain in my back, hips, knees, ankles, and heels when I wake […]
Definition of Lament: intransitive verb : to mourn aloud; wail transitive verb : to express sorrow, mourning, or regret for often demonstratively : to regret strongly (from the Merriam-Webster dictionary) I had to write a personal lament for a seminary class. It wasn’t hard. At all. Not after an emotionally draining week. Last Thursday, my […]
What good is faith if it doesn’t inform the way you live? I collect toys. I used to collect so many, it was pathetic. Or awesome, depending on how you look at it. My old room at my parent’s house looked like a booth at Comic-Con, stocked floor-to-ceiling with action figures, vehicles, and playsets, mostly […]
Silence is a gripping novel, and now, a major motion picture. How does its subject matter relate to Ofunato? << Previous episode A few local friends came over to our volunteer base for dinner one night, and one of them started singing the ubiquitous Disney song, “Let it Go,” in an unfamiliar language. This friend told […]
<< Previous episode If God can speak through a donkey, could He speak through a child’s toy? It was a Tuesday morning. I was making the 20-mile drive to work. The radio was off. I needed some silence. I was praying. “God, it’s been nearly a month since my mother passed away. The memorial service […]
What do you do when uncontrollable forces array against your sense of God’s calling? << Previous episode In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. (Prov. 16:9 NIV) Sensing the go-ahead to proceed with this missions trip to Japan, I began the morning of January 2, 2011 by praying about […]
<< Previous Episode I know my story is crazy. I just wanted to remind y’all before we keep going. The next episode of my story marks the beginning of my family’s calling to Japan. It’s an entirely new chapter of my life– it’s almost as though all the episodes leading up to this point are […]
Yet another post about surrender, trust, and obedience. (Are we sensing a theme here?) << Previous episode Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. (Psalm. 20:7 NIV) I have this thing about titles and diplomas. I love them. I covet them. But I could […]
Hearing God is like GPS: when you don’t get any instructions to turn left or right, you just keep moving forward. << Previous episode Tony and I spent the rest of that summer working on the screenplay that we’d been hired to write. I still wondered how this would jibe with my calling to ministry. […]
<< Previous episode When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. (Acts 16:7-8 NIV) April 16, 2006. It was the day of our big premiere. The network marketing team hustled […]
<< Previous episode I was a new believer, on fire for Jesus, eager to do something for God. I talked to pastors to get direction. I read the Bible. I prayed. All the while, I’d ask God what I could do for Him, and through it all, I’d receive no clear answer. Frustrated, I decided […]
<< Previous episode What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities […]
<< Previous Episode Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26 NIV) It didn’t bother me when I first heard talk of my show […]
<< Previous Episode The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord…(Jonah 1:1-3a NIV) In the early summer of 2005, a new executive took over the channel that […]
<< Previous Episode If this relationship truly was from God, He’d have to help us overcome major hurdles. How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? (Psalm 13:2a NIV) I didn’t call Soo the next day, as I normally would have done. We had been talking […]
<< Previous Episode Even after I turned away from God, He redeemed a painful situation and corrected my course. Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:8) Martial arts were a source of pride. I was proud of what I could accomplish through hard work, tenacity, and perseverance. I was finding […]
<< Previous Episode Sometimes, a dream is just a dream. But this one was different. …but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these: […]
<< Previous episode Seeking God’s will was the best decision I’d ever made. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36) I gave up on dating when I was twenty-eight years old. Or, I should say, I gave […]
<< Previous Episode My affinity for violence was rooted in something deeper. In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. (Psalm 10:4) I took a leave of absence from my job in Jakarta and returned to Los Angeles to take some classes in […]
<< Previous Episode But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11 NIV) I was a troubled teen. No need to go into details — all I’ll say is that I used to wear sunglasses and a black trench coat in […]
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV) I fidget with the touch screen at my aisle seat on an airliner bound for Tokyo. There’s plenty of elbow room because no […]
