Nine months in West Los Angeles (so far)

Serving the church family in West Los Angeles has been a delight in my role as co-part-time interim pastor. Here are some pictorial memories of the past nine months (or so):
(photos may be enlarged by clicking on them)

 

 

 

 

 

 

      

       

    

    

    

    

    

    

     

Past posts:  In Brazil, car is king.

Christmas. You really have to look for it these days.

If you were to type into Google search, the words, "Christmas in contemporary art," you would get images like these in return.

A closer look will show that none of the photos has any traditional images of Nativity, Jesus, angels, shepherds.  The landscape is bare and barren of biblical significance.

How too the world has become in its observance of the holiday.  While Christmas songs fill the radio waves, they speak of Frosty, of one horse, open sleighs, of what I want for Christmas (is you).  There are very few stations any more which play music with the true message of Christmas, which is the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ.  

  

  

Looking at contemporary images, looking into storefront windows, online ads, watching television, it's evident that we're not going to encounter Christ by casually looking for him.  Finding Christ in this time and culture requires much more intentionality.  We're not going to come across him by happenstance.  

We need the three C's of Christmas.

Commitment
Creativity
Community

Commitment is an easy word to say, but not so easy to do.  Our commitment to anything, whether it's to church, friends, marriage, is going to be seen by the time we spend with them.  Our calendar should reflect practically how committed we say we are.  Let us make our commitment to the spirit of Christmas known by making space for it on our calendar.

Creativity doesn't mean being extreme.  It means using one's imagination to craft special memories. Our recollections of past Christmases aren't necessarily the loudest or that time we shared with one hundred others.  It can be a quiet moment of reflection.  It can mean gathering our special ones together to sing carols by candlelight or a Bethlehem scavenger hunt.  No, I don't know what a Bethlehem scavenger hunt is, but you can create one!  

Community means being with others who honor the holiday.  While there will be no escaping the company party or the dinner at your crazy cousin's place, we can make it a point to spend time with those who share an understanding of the season and who honor it. Without that fellowship and communion, the holiday will go by in a flash and we will wonder what happened and what it was about.  

May your Christmas be filled with the warmth and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Blessings from Pastor John

Click here to support Pastor John's JEMS ministry with a year-end gift.

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O mundo tem ficado vazio de costumes sagrados em relação do Natal.  Quando fizer uma busca de "Natal em arte contemporâneo," em Google Imagens o resulto parece assim:

Melodias de Natal estão no rádio, dentro das lojas, mas elas cantam de Frosty (boneco de neve), Jingle Bells e Mariah Carey cantando "All I want for Christmas is You."  É raro (nos EUA pelo menos) ouvir música que cantam de verdadeira mensagem de Natal, que é o nascimento do nosso Salvador, Jesus Cristo.

 

Não é possível mais encontrar a mensagem de Natal por acaso.  Não vamos encontrar Natal por casualmente olhando para ele. Encontrar Natal nesta época e cultura exige muito mais intencionalidade. Nós não estamos indo para se deparar com ela por acaso.

Precisamos o três ingredientes do Natal. Os três C's.

Compromisso

Creatividade

Comunidade

Compromisso é uma palavra fácil de dizer, mas não tão fácil de fazer. Nosso compromisso com qualquer coisa, se é para a igreja, amigos, casamento, vai ser visto pelo tempo que passamos com eles. Nosso calendário deve refletir praticamente quão comprometido dizemos que somos. Façamos o nosso compromisso com o espírito de Natal conhecido por criar espaço para ele no nosso calendário.

Criatividade não significa agindo numa maneira extrema. Significa usar a imaginação para criar memórias especiais. Nossas lembranças de Natais passados não são necessariamente o mais barulhento ou que tempo que compartilhamos com cem outras pessoas. Pode ser um momento tranqüilo de reflexão. Pode significar reunir com nossos amigos especiais reúnem para cantar canções de Natal pela luz de vela ou uma caçada Belém. Não, eu não sei o que uma caçada Belém é, mas você pode criar um!

Comunidade significa estar com outras pessoas que honram o feriado. Enquanto não haverá como escapar da festa da empresa ou o jantar em casa de seu primo louco, nós podemos torná-lo um ponto para passar o tempo com aqueles que compartilham um entendimento da temporada e que honrá-lo. Sem esse companheirismo e comunhão, o feriado vai por em um flash e não vamos saber o que aconteceu e do que se tratava.

Que seu Natal seja enchido com o calor e a presença do nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo.

Bênçãos do Pastor John

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In Brazil, Car is King

A bit of satirical reading for you:

The foreign visitor to Brazil (or Argentina or Paraguay or Peru) needs this minimal bit of advice:  Car is king.  

Whenever you cross the street, you take your life into your hands.  

What that means is that the pedestrian does not have the right of way.  Say, for example, you are waiting for the green light so you can cross the street.  You have to remember that car is king, even if you're planning to use the crosswalk.  This means that the car making a turn on your green has the right of way.  

Are you stepping off the curb to jaywalk?  Good luck with that!  Remember to look both ways and make the sign of the cross (Signum Crucis) for insurance sake.  

In the USA, you only have to stick your foot in the direction of the street to cause cars to come to a stop.  It's courteous.  It's civilized.  

But I think that people have forgotten that physics is still in play.  A car weighs what?  2 tons?  That's two tons of metal, plastic, rubber and glass traveling at speed and having to stop at your convenience.  The other factor not to be ignored is the driver.  Who knows who's behind the wheel?  Somebody who is late for work?  Some guy who just had a fight with his wife and is upset with the world?  Some woman with a blood alcohol level of .11?   Is blind in one eye?  Is distracted by the seven kids she's ferrying to soccer practice?  Is searching for Cat Power on his iPod?  

This message is for you folks who cross the street with no sense of time or space.  For those who saunter leisurely across the street.  For those in your fashionable lycra running suits who cross against the light without really understanding that the 18-wheeler's back tires are smoking because the driver is trying to keep from grinding you into meat paste.  

Yeah, you! The guy with the iPhone, texting your girlfriend as you cross the street.  You, the person who is so concentrated on plinking on his/her keypad, and doesn't realize that people are waiting for you to cross so they can complete a turn.  

You, the one holding the hand of your baby who is just learning to walk.  Guess what?  The crosswalk is not a guaranteed safety zone to teach toddling and shouldn't be the stage for the world to see that your offspring can walk 100 feet an hour.  

You kids, talking, laughing and paying no attention - who start crossing as the light turns yellow and don't speed up one bit to clear the intersection.  Well, I know you don't care.

I want to invite you all to Brazil.  I dare you to do that stuff down there.  

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Past Post:  No glamor, just grace.

Not bidding for sainthood. Just simple humanity.

You've heard it. Usually at funerals.  Friends are asked to share a eulogy, usually their thoughts or remembrances of the dearly departed.  And I know how hard that can be to get up in front of a crowd of people, with emotions stirred and unstable.  Nerves also kick in.  A little note page is unfolded and away we go.

Invariably, on all but very rare occasions, you will hear comments like, "She was always smiling."  "She never complained."  "He had nothing but good things to say about people."  "She was always so sweet."

I think to myself. Wow, this person is a saint.  She ALWAYS smiled?  She NEVER complained?  What? She never got upset when the toilet backed up all over hallway carpet and down the stairs?  She was smiling even through that root canal?  She didn't complain when she had to work those eleven hour days? Really???

In my occasional role conducting funerals, I've coached folks who are encumbered with the responsibility of delivering the eulogy.  "Please," I say to them, "don't use the words 'always' or 'never' in your description of them.  Because it's rarely, if ever, true.  And it also carries the sense that you're trying to single-handedly get them into heaven."

This was brought home to me early in my ministry when I pastored in San Diego.  A young woman had passed away of a particularly painful disease, and her good friend brought the eulogy.  I distinctly remember the words, "Despite the daily battle with pain, she never cried. She never complained."  Wow, I thought.  That's a strong woman.

But after the service, as we were having lunch together and all the funerary pretense was dropped, this same friend, talking to her friends laughed as she talked about how the deceased woman monku'd (complained) all the time.  It was in direct contrast to her comments during the eulogy.  And to be fair, this was another example of an extreme.  As unlikely as it was that she NEVER complained.  It was also unlikely that she complained ALL the time.

I don't know what it is about death.  It may give us a momentary glimpse of a person's value and importance in our lives.  As you watch television interviews and hear people talk about someone who was taken abruptly by death, you will invariably hear those words:  always and never.  

I will bet you money!

As author Wendell Johnson says, "Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use."

My own medicine

After receiving the news regarding my kidney situation and the impact on my overseas travel, I probably need to hear some of my own teaching from Scripture.  

Changes in lifestyle, in financial status, in employment, in family, in health, can lead to struggles with uncertainty about the future and depression.  A message recently preached on depression may be helpful to you if you are facing this challenge.

May God bring encouragement to your heart today.

Health Update

A tradução portuguesa está escrito em baixo.
La traducción al español se escribe abajo.

I had an appointment with my kidney specialist last Thursday.



As I've shared over the course of the last few years, I have been amazed at God's care and provision as I've dealt with both back and kidney issues. I was diagnosed with 4th stage kidney failure back in 2006.

Each year that has gone by without significant changes has been very much attributable to your prayers. Even with physically (and spiritually) intensive mission trips taken twice yearly, the decline in my kidney function has been minimal.

However, it looks as though the new year will bring changes. My kidney function numbers have dropped significantly. Kidney function is not recoverable in my case (chronic kidney disease). Therefore my nephrologist is recommending that I begin dialysis sometime after the beginning of the year. 

The other issue is that with dialysis treatment, once I begin, the treatment will require visits to the dialysis center 2 or 3 times a week. The nature of insurance for this type of disease is that I would be unable to travel outside of the US.

My doctor is also recommending that I forego my January mission to Argentina. The primary concern is my project being in two very remote areas outside of Buenos Aires city, it would make accessibility to a hospital an issue if a medical emergency came up. I am in agreement.

I would appreciate your prayers as I consider how I am to repurpose and reposition my ministry with JEMS. Discussions with Pastor Rick will begin after his return from sabbatical.

* * * * *

Encontrei com meu nefrologista ontém. Desde 2006 tenho sofrido com uma condição chamado falência renal crônica. Agora o médico está falando que estou começando com falência renal aguda. Depois do ano novo, tenho que começar tratamento de diálise. Quando começar esse tratamento, continua para sempre. Pois o seguro de saúde não cobra tratamento fora do país e vou precisar fazer 2-3 vezes por semana, vai ficar impossível para viajar mais ao Brasil. 

O médico me avisou para não arriscar mais minha saúde com uma viagem em janeiro. Principalmente sabendo a situação em Argentina que o lugar do acampamento e da creche fica longe do capital Buenos Aires. Se tiver alguma emergência médica durante o projeto, vai ficar difícil para mim chegar num hospital na hora adequada.

Por isso, acho melhor para mim não participar. Falando nisso, agora eu tenho que conversar com a JEMS sobre o futuro do ministério na América do Sul. O papel de meu ministério vai mudar numa maneira imensa como eu não poderia viajar mais fora dos EUA. É provável que eu vá começar tratamento de hemodiálise em janeiro ou fevereiro.

Peço suas orações que eu não fique deprimido. Se tiver perguntas, por favor entrar em contato comigo.

* * * * *

Como he compartido a lo largo de los últimos años, me he quedado sorprendido por el cuidado y la provisión de Dios como yo he tratado con los dos números anteriores y los riñones. Me diagnosticaron insuficiencia renal cuarta etapa en el 2006.

Cada año que ha transcurrido sin cambios significativos ha sido en gran medida atribuible a las oraciones de los amigos. Incluso con viajes misioneros física (y espiritual) intensivos toman dos veces al año, el descenso de mi función renal ha sido mínima.

Sin embargo, parece que el nuevo año traerá cambios. Mis números de función renal se han reducido significativamente. La función renal no es recuperable en mi caso (insuficiencia renal crónica). Por lo tanto mi nefrólogo está recomendando que empiezo a diálisis después del comienzo del año.

El otro problema es que con el tratamiento de diálisis, cuando que comience, el tratamiento requerirá visitas al centro de diálisis 2 o 3 veces a la semana. El seguro para este tipo de enfermedad es que yo sería incapaz de viajar fuera de los EE.UU..

Mi médico también está recomendando que renuncio mi misión de enero a Argentina. La principal preocupación es mi proyecto de estar en dos zonas muy remotas fuera de la ciudad de Buenos Aires, tendría acceso a un hospital en un problema si una emergencia médica se acercó. Estoy de acuerdo.

Mi gran tristeza es que no voy a ser capaz de visitar por última vez. Es una gran pena. Los amo a todos ustedes y voy a extrañar muchísimo!

Le agradecería sus oraciones ya que considero como soy de reutilizar y cambiar la posición de mi ministerio con JEMS.

Abrazos,

Pastor John

My grace is sufficient for you . . .

I received news this evening about the home-going of Mrs Miyeko Takaya. Miyeko is predeceased by her late husband, Rev Roy. They were both instrumental in my return to ministry. They initiated the process to invite me to serve as part-time English department pastor of the Japanese American Christian Chapel or Celebration in Camarillo. I am so grateful for their trust and investment in my life, my memories of their friendship and kindness. May God bless the family.

Today, I take to heart the sufficiency of God's grace in my life. The fact that I am able to serve in ministry with all my history and the broken pieces of my past is evidence not only of God grace, but of the kindness of people like Roy and Miyeko who permitted me to return to serve the Lord.

All that I'm able to do - as a pastor, as a missions strategist - is directly a product of God's grace in my life.

The reality of evil

It has been a blessing in my life that I have never had to say the awful words, "My friend was murdered."  I suppose that this is the benefit of living in the US, in a fairly stable community environment.  Other people in other places and countries are not so fortunate to make that claim.  

This changed for me on Monday, October 26th.  As I read through my Facebook newsfeed, I came across a puzzling post that someone had just written in Portuguese, "Go in peace, Sayuri."  The post was referencing a friend of mine from the Amazon region of Brazil, from the Japanese colony of Tomé Açu.  "What?"  I thought.  That expression is generally reserved for someone when they die.  Concerned, I began looking through various profiles of friends and family and found words like, "Unexpected.  Horrible. Barbaric.  Brutal."  With a growing dread of what those words were referring to, I turned to Google and entered my friend's name.  

There it was.  Online news articles referring to the disappearance and murder of my friend, Karina Sayuri Konagano.  I sat at  my desk in the JEMS office and cried.  I had just seen her in August.  In fact, although her city of Tomé Açu was four hours by car from Belém where I was serving, I made a special point to visit that town because I wanted to see her as well as to encourage others in that farming colony.  We met, together with her sister and father, at the agricultural fair.  The photo is from that visit and that event on August 1.

Such a great person!  She loved God and loved people.  That smile would dazzle you, and her laugh would set off a roomful of smiles.  There was so much hope for her future.  She was in a special relationship with another friend of mine.  All that was shattered this past weekend.

The news reports say that whoever killed her also burned her body.  Who does that?  

We read daily in the papers about the reality of evil.  It has struck very close to the Christian community in northern Brazil through the horrific death of Karina Sayuri.  While I feel absolutely devastated by the news, I cannot imagine how her family must feel.  

They buried her today in accordance with Brazilian law.  But justice remains to be pursued.  The way that we overcome evil Paul says is to overcome it with good.  "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."  (Romans 12:21).  

At times like this we can feel helpless and hopeless, but we are not without either.  Both help and hope may be found as we go to the Lord in prayer.  This is where evil is overcome, as we bow before the throne of grace.  I invite you to join me in praying for 1) the Konagano family as they mourn and struggle with the loss of their beloved daughter and sister.  2)  for law enforcement to apprehend the perpetrator of this awful crime that justice might be done, and 3) for the dear Japanese Evangelical Church of the Amazon, where Karina Sayuri was a member.  I am sure that they have been rocked by this despicable expression of evil.

I was blessed to know Sayuri's kindness, goodness and warmth.  Many today are feeling her absence.  

If you think of it, please pray for her parents (Michinori and Amelia) and her two sisters.  The sisters served with the JEMS team at camp this past July.

The Psalmist provides a lesson about evildoers in Psalm 94

1 The Lord is a God who avenges.
    O God who avenges, shine forth.
2 Rise up, Judge of the earth;
    pay back to the proud what they deserve.
3 How long, Lord, will the wicked,
    how long will the wicked be jubilant?

4 They pour out arrogant words;
    all the evildoers are full of boasting.
5 They crush your people, Lord;
    they oppress your inheritance.
6 They slay the widow and the foreigner;
    they murder the fatherless.
7 They say, “The Lord does not see;
    the God of Jacob takes no notice.”

8 Take notice, you senseless ones among the people;
    you fools, when will you become wise?
9 Does he who fashioned the ear not hear?
    Does he who formed the eye not see?
10 Does he who disciplines nations not punish?
    Does he who teaches mankind lack knowledge?
11 The Lord knows all human plans;
    he knows that they are futile.

12 Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord,
    the one you teach from your law;
13 you grant them relief from days of trouble,
    till a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not reject his people;
    he will never forsake his inheritance.
15 Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,
    and all the upright in heart will follow it.

16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
    Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?
17 Unless the Lord had given me help,
    I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
    your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
19 When anxiety was great within me,
    your consolation brought me joy.

20 Can a corrupt throne be allied with you—
    a throne that brings on misery by its decrees?
21 The wicked band together against the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has become my fortress,
    and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.
23 He will repay them for their sins
    and destroy them for their wickedness;
    the Lord our God will destroy them.