Cool Water Blog

The Japanese have shown great interest in Christianity several times during their history. But each time, various things happened to block the progress of the Gospel. Now, once again, there seems to be an awakening of an interest in Jesus and the Christian message. The people showing interest are still a small percentage of the […]

Yesterday we had an excellent baptism explanation meeting. Keiko’s Alpha Course group is nearing completion of the course and several people were asking about baptism. Even though I am on sabbatical, I had stopped by the church office for some other things when Keiko saw me and asked if we could have a baptism explanation […]

On a lighter note, I laughed when I saw this truck today. It was way too warm out today to be eating hot sweet potatoes off the truck; that is winter food! Of course, in the USA, you don’t often see a truck with an open charcoal oven in the back, but here they are […]

The weather was warmer today in Osaka and we got a little rain, so it feels like spring is coming soon! In between proof-reading a sermon translation with Yuko and reading some Good News, I took a bicycle ride to Osaka Castle Park. In Japanese history, there is a Christian woman called Lady Gracia whose […]

Japanese people often insist they are not religious, but shrines and temples are everywhere and they do a booming business. Here is a photo of the Tenmangu shrine and also a photo of the place where prayers are hung on wooden tablets.  At this shrine and at this time of year, the prayers are almost […]

During our sabbatical from OIC, Karen and I plan to visit various Osaka churches and deepen relationships with the wider Christian community in our area. Yesterday, we visited Hope Chapel Osaka and heard an encouraging message from a young Japanese man named Ryo. Pastor Jeff also shared a few words and I made a plan […]

At OIC, we have a church artist – a Japanese woman named Noelle who paints and often donates art for use as birthday gifts, Christmas presents, and sermon illustrations. On the average, Japanese people are more visually-oriented that Westerners and art is a powerful way to share the gospel. I was reminded of this yesterday […]

Japanese study is a more or less permanent part of life. Of course, as your level goes up, the type of things you study change – in the beginning you are just learning greetings and polite words, later (15 years later in my case), you are trying to find the best ways to phrase things […]

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“Like a cool drink of water when you’re worn out and weary is a letter from a long-lost friend.” (Proverbs 25:25, The Message) “Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.” (Proverbs25:25, NIV, 1984) As I begin this new blog, my thoughts are on you, the reader. I pray that […]