haha...

Nostalgic picture of my taiko group

A testament to the old adage that relationships consist not so much in words, but in meanings.

In other words, I could hardly understand them, they could hardly understand me (much to the chagrin of those who think I'm fluent in Japanese..haha)...but, over time, we began to understand each other. Relationships take time, tests, and testimonies of shared victories and defeats...laughter and tears...smiles and frowns...misunderstandings that birth understandings...and love. Tenacious love.

Without the meaningful contact, purpose, and mutual affinity to want to want to be close that Musashi Kengo Taiko had with each other, the above photo could never have been taken on my last day in Japan. Sure, it was a nice gesture to send me off to the airport, but the tears that followed this photo are etched forever in my memory of a supreme principle I strive to invoke for every encounter I have with people: treat others the way you want to be treated.

I think someone said that a long time before me...

And as you desire that men should do to you, you do also to them likewise. -Jesus
(Luke 6:31)

"Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?..." -a question by Paul to those who already believed on Jesus in Ephesus (Acts 19:2)

~truth only works for the hungry~

When a person is baptized in the Spirit, he receives the Spirit of Christ in his life on a permanent basis (Romans 8:9; Ephesians 3:16,17). He becomes a part of God’s spiritual family, and God’s Spirit begins to guide him. The Bible describes this in several ways: (1) By the Spirit we are born into the kingdom of God (John 3:5); (2) the Spirit adopts us into the family of God (Romans 8:15,16; Galatians 4:5,6); (3) the Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13); (4) the Spirit sanctifies us (I Corinthians 6:11; I Peter 1:2); (5) the Spirit is the seal of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13); and (6) the Spirit is the earnest (pledge, guarantee, first installment) of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:14). In short, receiving the Spirit is part of our salvation. Of course, as Chapter 4 discussed, we should not sharply separate the baptism of the Spirit from water baptism since they join together to complete the new birth and bring all the benefits of salvation.

In addition to being part of salvation, the baptism of the Spirit brings power (II Timothy 1:7), which includes: (1) power to witness and be a living testimony that Christ saves from sin (Acts 1:8); (2) power to overcome sin, live righteously, and mortify the deeds of the flesh (Romans 8:4,13); and (3) resurrection power when Christ comes for His church (Romans 8:11).

The Spirit bring rest and refreshing (Isaiah 28:11,12; Acts 3:19), and gives a sound mind (II Timothy 1:7). The Spirit becomes a teacher, a guide into all truth, and an illuminator of the Word of God (John 14:26; 16:13). He also becomes our intercessor and way of access to God (Romans 8:26,27; Ephesians 2:18). Finally, the Spirit works in our lives to give the ninefold fruit of the Spirit; namely love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentlness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Galatians 5:22,23; Romans 5:5;14:17)

All these works of the Spirit reinforce the doctrine that receiving the Spirit is essential to salvation. Without all the above workings of the Spirit, we cannot successfully live a victorious Christian life that is pleasing to God. Anyone who tries to be saved without receiving God’s Spirit is attempting to be saved by his own efforts and is doomed to failure.

-David Bernard, The New Birth

Do not settle for less that all God has for you, my friend. Empty thyself of thyself. Yearn for that which brings power, life, peace, joy, victory, salvation, renewal, refreshing, anointing....the Holy Spirit. If you long for this, it is not unwise to ask yourself the same question Paul asked to believers in Ephesus (Acts 19:2). I want to be like them - not trapped in my own thoughts or belief systems or even of those around me, but to be open to the move of God founded upon His Word. God can only fill an empty vessel...not one full of itself. Even though they believed, yet there was more to their relationship with Christ then they had experienced...(Acts 19:1-6). They could have held onto their traditions and belief system when confronted with further revelation, or they could have done exactly what they did: believed to the point of obedient action in receiving the Holy Spirit and being baptized in the name of Jesus. (Acts 19:5,6)

There was a man who believed his daddy had an inheritance for him that would allow him to buy a house when he is older. However, his belief never turned into obedient action to go and get the statement, the title, the check at the bank that would give evidence of his belief. One day, he shows up empty handed to buy the house and simply declares to the landlord on the front porch, "I believe with my whole heart that I can buy this house. I've believed it every day of my life. That belief has given me peace, joy, satisfaction...wow! Ok, where are the keys?" Is it any wonder why the landlord laughed and walked away?

Matthew 7:21-27

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
-Martin Luther King Jr.

Dear friends, we must love each other because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God. The person who doesn't love doesn't know God, because God is love. God has shown us his love by sending his only Son into the world so that we could have life through him. This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the payment for our sins. Dear friends, if this is the way God loved us, we must also love each other. No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
-John (1Jn 4:7-12)