Jr. High view of the world

Yesterday I went to a Jr. High speech competition in Kumamoto. A friend's son was competing and, because I had given him some instruction and pronunciation help, I went to see how he would do. The most interesting thing to me was the topics of the speeches. There were several on dementia, with the rapidly aging population of Japan, more kids are being exposed to problems of the elderly. There were quite a few on various aspects of the environment, recycling, global warming, etc. However, the ones that were the most interesting to me were the ones that spoke about social issues in Japan, things like bullying in schools - a growing problem. This problem and others like it were talked about but a solution was hard to come by. The general consensus seemed to be, "Why can't we all just get along?" There was a call for greater "understanding" of other people and tolerance of other viewpoints. But strongest was the demand that everyone "follow the rules" and conform to society. At least two speeches were dedicated to following the rules of society and gave personal examples of how it had helped them.

While most of us would agree that following the rules is a good thing, this rigid conformity is one of the things that makes our work so difficult. Many people who might otherwise be interested in Christianity are afraid to learn more because it would make them "different". I think that is a key thought and one that needs to be addressed.As a follower of Jesus, I AM different than this world, even in the US where a large number of people would say they are "Christian". The call to follow Christ is a call to a different life with a different purpose - that of glorifying the Father. One reason the church is so important is that followers of Jesus are different and stand out. They need the fellowship and encouragement of others with the same purpose and goals. I believe this is why the New Testament is full of challenges to "encourage one another". We need that encouragement to continue to stand firm and follow Christ.

Conforming to the rules of society won't save us or make us better people. Conforming to the image of Christ will change us and will change those around us.

posted by Norman @ 8:28 AM 0 comments

The pamphlets have arrived...

And they were stacked 6 boxes high in the hallway when I got home today! 5000 pamphlets is a lot of literature when it has to be stored in your house. I managed to rearrange things in our bedroom and stacked them all under the bed. Lest you be surprised that it would all fit, our bed was designed to store things under so it is about 3 feet off the floor. Now we have some info to give to people with our contact information on it. The next thing is a flyer that is 95% finished. So far I have been giving people my business card and a tract or pamphlet with another churches address on it. This is much nicer.

Melodie is sick. Chloe and Cameron had their first visit to a Japanese dentist today. Susan is really tired because Melodie isn't sleeping well at night. I am tired because I never sleep well at night. Hey, pretty normal week in the Smith household.

posted by Norman @ 6:40 PM 0 comments