2015 church celebratory lunch gathering

In Japan, almost everyone returns home for the new year's holiday. Together with those whose home town is Tsukuba, or who didn't return home this year, we celebrated the dawning of the new year with home cooking and Osechi. Also a reminder to those back home, it is winter in Japan during new year's :) 

 The above photo is Osechi. There are many different varieties of osechi. This one is apparently French-inspired. In any case, it was delicious.

The pot in the top half of the picture is wild boar stew. I believe this stuff can't be found in stores. A relative of someone from church over in the Kansai region sent over some game that they caught. Pretty cool. And very tasty too.

The pot on the bottom half  is Zoni. It was very tasty too.

You can see deer meat being cooked in this photo. Deer meat also can't be bought. This particular deer was hunted, again by someone's relative from the Kansai region. Deer tasted very unique. It was very full-bodied and aromatic, even without using any sauce. Very different from pork, which is bland without any seasoning.

Trip to Australia Day 8: Wedding

Congratulations, Darren and Anne :)

Today was the big day. I was on my best behaviour as groomsman. From the start to the end, we the bridal party accompanied the VIPs of the day.

To some people, the customary thing is for the bride and groom to not see each other on the day of the wedding, until the wedding itself. However, in Asian cultures, apparently it's customary to have a tea ceremony and invite all your relatives. I didn't know about the latter until today. It seems my friend Darren didn't know much about it either, being an ABC (Australian born Chinese). But he figured out what he needed to do quick enough.

The tea ceremony involved many greetings, much exchanging of red packets, and delicious lunch catered by Miss Chu. 

After lunch, it was down to business. The photo shoots. Run by Linda Truong.

(The only) One I took myself.

mmmbeeautiful.

In the evening, was the ceremony itself. My highlight was the bridal party procession. Unfortunately, no video, at least from me. But I can say it was fun :) Before the exchanging of vows, we had a sermon preached by our pastor at ALLC. What surprised me, and probably most people in the crowd, was the passage chosen by the couple to be wed. It was Hosea 1.

A surprising passage to be heard spoken on at a wedding ceremony, but one that got my respect. It reminded us of the stark contrast between God's steadfast faithfulness to us, and our repeated betrayal of him. Within that is a reminder of how imperfect we are, and the image of sin that stains the wedding white and happiness. Weddings make people happy. But we know that married life will not always be. It was a refreshing call to reality, that two sinners are getting married, and that will inevitably lead to problems surfacing down the track. At the same time, we are reminded that behind these two sinners is a steadfast and faithful God who will not fail them. And on the darkest of days to come, with God in the picture, they can trust that God will carry them through to the end. Amen :)

Happy new wedded life :)

Trip to Australia Day 7: Catchups old friends and a wedding rehearsal

The day began at the Grounds of Alexandria. This is the place where the wedding is to be held, but this morning, the reason for coming was brunch with a good high school mate of mine, and his girlfriend, whom I met for the first time. Good chat, good food, good first impressions.

Complimentary danishes. On our way out we were stopped by the danishes stall and the guy told us if we sang a Christmas carol, we'd get a free danish. So the three of us sang Hark the Herald Angels Sing. A couple of bystanders even videoed us singing. It was good to sing to the public about the real reason why we celebrate Christmas.

I had a bit of a kick back waiting for the afternoon, when the other people involved in the wedding tomorrow arrived at the Grounds. We had a quick rehearsal, going through what the ceremony would be like tomorrow. The groomsmen and bridesmaids properly met each other for the first time. It went well.

For dinner, I was the guest of another good mate from church. This one isn't getting married (yet). However, he did introduce me to his girlfriend. We went to a chic Italian restaurant called Vapiano. You order the pasta at the counter, and they make it in front of you. It was a nice experience. Sorry, so keen to eat that I forgot to take photos of the pasta itself :/

Photo taken with my friend, with permission, in front of where you order the pasta and watch the chefs cook it.

Trip to Australia Day 6: High school Bible study group

Having had such a fast paced program back in Australia, I took it easier during the daytime today.

From the afternoon, I met up with the guys I used to study the Bible with back at James Ruse. It was good to catch up once again, and to hear where everyone was at these days, and to see everyone staying strong in the faith.

For dessert we enjoyed a nice selection of gelato from the specials range at Messina. I had a great time.

Trip to Australia Day 5: church, shirts shopping, carols

The day after the retreat, and the bonding games, everyone was out cold. But, I really wanted to visit the Australian sister church in the same alliance as my current church in Japan, while I was back. 

There was just one issue. We were in the middle of the country, and I didn't have a car. Who would have come to the rescue other than the man himself, my friend soon to be wed. He offered to drive me back, even though he had no obligation to, and though he was as tired as the rest of us from the day before. So much gratitude.

Unfortunately at the church as well I was too involved in the moment, and didn't think of taking photos. By nature I'm not really a photo kinda guy. But I try.

I couldn't stay back long at church, because we had unfinished business leading up to the wedding - purchasing matching white shirts for the groomsmen. Once again, none other than the groom to be himself came all the way to pick me up so we could look for a shirt together. There I met his fiance, and a mutual friend of mine, for the first time in maybe two years?

When I mentioned I hadn't had lunch, they offered to take me to the best burgers in town: Grill'd.

My first impressions were pretty good. The place had a sort of modern and stylish yet fairly laid back feel to it. I ordered the Summer Sunset Beef burger. Having heard this place being so highly spoken of, I had high expectations for my burger. Here's what it looked like.

So I gave thanks for the food, and dug in. And my first mouthful... was cold and ordinary. Quite disappointed really. I mean it wasn't a BAD burger, but just not the best burger I imagined I'd eat.

When I told my friend that, what did he do? He called the nearest waiter, told him the burger was cold, and took it back to the counter. And the shop, they brought me another burger, freshly made. That certainly went beyond my expectations.

My second experience was much better. I definitely have confidence in placing it up there as the best burger I've eaten. The bun was freshly baked and crisp, the lettuce was crisp, the meat was juicy (and warm), and the sauce oozed out just the slightest when I bit into it. It's not the biggest burger I've ordered, and it didn't have every single one of my favourite ingredients in it, but for quality, I rate it 9.5 out of 10. I give my friend the same rating. Anne, you couldn't have asked for a better husband.

So after that memorable meal, we met up with the others and went shirt shopping, and found a great shirt. What's even greater, is that the guy serving us is the friend of my friend's fiance. He gave us his members 40% discount ^^

On the way out, we were met by this Christmas tree. But it's no ordinary big Christmas tree.

This Christmas tree, and the decorations around it, are entirely made of LEGO.

On our way back I indulged in a $1 frozen coke at Maccas. This is something I've never seen in Japan Maccas before.

An interesting find at a sushi train restaurant in Hornsby. It's a dessert that looks like a mandarin,  with attention to detail right down to the tiny depressions on the surface, and actually tastes like a mandarin too. In all the sushi trains I've been to in Japan, haven't seen one of these before.

At night, I was able to meet all my old church friends from ALLC at the carols service. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had become a join event run by three churches in the area. I had always hoped to see the churches uniting in their efforts for outreach. Speaking with the main pastor involved, it turns out the carols on the oval has been happening for the past seven years, and this has been the second year ALLC has joined in.

The big space in the bottom of the photo, was reserved for the fireworks. I was quite impressed. In a country where there is a total fire ban, they pulled off quite a spectacular display. And I came from a country where there are more fireworks each year than there are people in Australia. (It probably isn't an overstatement, if you consider the single units of fireworks that are used in total over the summer). They had the rural fire service on site as stand by.

Polyphasic sleep cycle - Termination

Today is day 7 of my experimental period. At the beginning, I set myself a 10 day trial period to see how I would cope with the Uberman sleep cycle. As recorded in my logs, I had various achievements and failures, and gained some insights into sleep patterns and diet and mental and physical performance. In particular is how alert I felt over these six days compared to my expectations after reading the accounts of various others on the net who attempted this sleep cycle before me. Something that might sound slightly unusual in light of the above comments, is that I will be terminating my first attempt at the Uberman cycle as of today.

It was more out of necessity than out of my own will. Long story short, I messed up my sleeping pattern again yesterday night, so rather a matter of continuing, I have to start again.

What happened last night, even I'm not sure in detail, but here's the gist of it. After I wrote and published my previous sleep log update at midnight yesterday, I went to have my usual 30 minute nap, setting my countdown timer for 37 minutes. I'm positive that I started the timer before I went to bed, but the next thing I knew, I was awoken by my preset alarm, intended to notify me of my 8am nap… Some might doubt whether I actually pressed start on the countdown timer before I went to bed at 12am, being the reason why I failed to wake up after half an hour, but I'm pretty sure that's not it. In any case, something even curioser is that my 4am nap alarm failed to wake me up as well. In fact, I just so happened to mention in a previous post how the one advantage of the iPhone alarm system is that it doesn't stop ringing until you manually turn it off. So I know that even I didn't start my countdown timer, my preset timer to notify me that it was time for my 4am nap should have kept ringing till it woke me up. But… it didn't. And that has remained a mystery till now. Was it a bug? Is there something about how the iPhone alarm works that I'm not aware of? If anyone has any explanation to offer, I'm keen to hear it. At the end of the day, I unintentionally slept a whole eight hours last night, which makes my attempt a failure.

On that note, I'm going to take a break from this sleeping six times a day temporarily. The reason is mainly pragmatic. Tomorrow will be Sunday again, and I'm going to visit Shin-Funabashi Christ Church for the first time. What's the big deal with that? Aside from the fact that the service goes from 10:30 to 12:00 (which is when I need to be taking my nap by, which will obviously not be happening if I'm still in the church service), the pastor of the church is apparently a long-time friend of my pastor at the church I'm regularly attending, Tama Church, next to my university TUFS. I found out from him shortly before I came to my dad's. Praise God for the way the Gospel links people together! So since I have to start the sleeping routine from ground zero again anyway, it can wait a day so fellowship tomorrow doesn't get interrupted by my strict sleep routine.

Having said that, I haven't given up on trying to establish a polyphasic sleep cycle completely just yet. That's just not my style. There may be a day when I give it up, because life circumstances force me to, or because of another clear reason why. But just because I feel tired, or in this case, because of a mistake on my part that led to the failure of my experiment, is not enough for me to give up.

In fact, in these short six days, I've learned a lot from the mistakes I've made along the way. Apparently Coke was also an accidental creation, but is now regarded as black gold by many. Similarly, my mistakes that have cumulated in the termination of my first attempt at the Uberman sleep cycle, have served as a stimulus for me to retry with renewed fervour. Of course, whether my life circumstances make it practically feasible to do so is another question. Reading the sleep logs of other bloggers who tried sleeping polyphasically failed simply because their lifestyle wasn't forgiving enough to give them a chance to do the transition. For the time being, I still have a bit of time left before the new semester begins. While it's still holidays, I still have a chance to get used to it, so I'm going for it. I can't live with myself if I didn't keep trying until I could honestly say I followed my intended course and legitimately failed. Specially not when progress in these past six days have hinted at so much promise.

So it's a goodbye from me for now, but not forever. Be on the lookout for my attempt at the Uberman sleep cycle, take 2.

Apologetics seminar in Japan

Yesterday, I was invited by a Thai friend from the same program as me, to attend an apologetics seminar held at Fuchu Calvary Chapel. It was delivered by a special guest from Hawaii with an Okinawan name and lineage called Pat (sorry, I forgot his last name >.<). He was apparently well versed in the area of apologetics, and the title he earned was proved true by what he taught today. Coming from Australia, it wasn't the first time I'd heard or read these things, but since coming to Japan, it has been my first time. Having already been 9 months, it was a welcome refresher for my faith also, being reminded that it's by faith we are saved, and that the faith we have in Christ is sure faith. I thought I would share here what I learned, for everyone's edification.

Historical reliability of the gospels

Jesus' ministry is commonly held to have taken place between 30-33AD. Some skeptics assert that the gospels do not represent the oldest record of Jesus Christ, but that they were written after the lifetime of the eyewitnesses. The implications are that they are not eyewitness accounts, but mostly legends and mythology.

According to historians, it takes 120 years after a major event for legends and myths to develop. That is because all the eyewitnesses must die first. However, if the accounts were written in the lifetime of the eyewitnesses, they are not legend or myth, but actual records of what happened. That's because the eyewitnesses can affirm or deny the things that have been written down. Made up accounts of what happened wouldn't last very long once the eyewitnesses found them.

The earliest biography of Siddhārtha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha, comes 400 years after his life. That means much of what is written about Buddha is actually based on legends and mythology. And many people think the same way about the gospels.

What is worth noting, is that we have strong evidence that the gospels were in fact written by eyewitnesses. That means these accounts are not legends or myths; they are true stories.

Dating of the gospels

• William F Albright, a Jewish non-Christian dean of archaeology, concluded that every book of the New Testament was written by a baptized Jew between AD40-80.
• Bishop John Robinson, a liberal critic and founder of the "Death of God" movement, changed his position on the date of the gospels at the end of his life, newly asserting that the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were likely all written between 40-65AD.
• Traditionally, the gospels are dated as follows:
• Mark, 60AD
• Matthew & Luke, 70AD
• John, 70/90AD

Date of the gospels: internal evidence

• In all four gospels, Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple (occurred 70AD) but its fulfilment is not mentioned once. This was the most important building in the history of Israel, and its absence in the accounts suggests the books' completion prior to the event.
• We know Paul was killed by Emperor Nero in 64AD, so his letters have all been written prior to that time.
• Paul quotes the gospel of Luke (1Ti 5:18), meaning the gospel of Luke was completed before Paul died.
• Acts never mentions the Jewish War (66AD), when the nation of Israel was completely dismantled.
• Acts never mentions the death of the three most important early church leaders, showing that Luke completed the book of Acts before 62AD

Date of the gospels: external evidence

• There have been over 5000 Ancient Greek manuscripts discovered to date
• The Rylands papyri found in Egypt, dated 120AD, contains a fragment of John. To reach Egypt by that time, it must have been written much earlier.
• Clement of Rome 90AD and Ignatius 107AD quote many of the books of the New Testament as Scripture
• Polycarp 120AD, disciple of John, informs us by his writings that the canon we have today had already been confirmed in his time

Archaeology and the gospels

• Luke names 34 countries, 54 cities and 9 islands very accurately
• He also mentions the names of government officials, whose names sounded very strange for people of that time, but recent archaeological evidence affirms all of their existence
• William Ramsey spent many years in Israel trying to prove Acts was unhistorical, but at the end of his studies, he highly appraised the calibre of Luke's writing, and became a Christian
• John mentions the pool of Bethesda in his gospel, and we have discovered this pool recently in israel

The historicity of Jesus

His existence is recorded in secular history records, both Jewish and Roman. The notable thing is, these people were enemies of Christianity historically. By their acknowledgement that such things took place, the enemies of Christianity affirmed the accuracy of the gospels.

The Jewish Talmud (completed 300AD) speaks of a historical Jesus and tries to explain Jesus' miracles by attributing them to sorcery and magic. What is interesting, is that by not denying these phenomenon, it affirms that they really took place. Also recorded is Jesus' crucifixion, and the death of five apostles. Thallus mentions in his third book that the earth covered by darkness when Jesus was crucified. Tacitus (115AD) through calling Christians evil by documenting all that they were doing, affirms that the events and the people of the NT were real.

In court today, if your enemy affirms your story, that is the most powerful evidence.

Q&A Session

Using the conclusion we established in the first session, namely the historical reliability of the gospels, we proceeded to answer mostly prepared, and some impromptu, questions on the topic of apologetics.

1. Why do Christians do wars?

The use of force is necessary to keep the peace. In the book of Revelation, it is written that Jesus will one day return and wage war against evil. If the Son of God must use force to defeat evil and bring peace, so must we.

At the same time, the Bible gives guidelines on when and how to use force. Violence must be as a last resort, and even then, only proportional means to win, and not to decimate the country, and the civilians must be spared.

Some people use Matthew 5:38-42 to argue that Jesus preached pacifism, by insisting that one must not lash back against a wicked man. However, this teaching does not prohibit the use of violence. In Jewish times, a slap on the right cheek means "I despise you", in this case, for being a Christian. So the passage actually says that if you are despised for being a Christian, don't fight back, turn the other cheek instead. It does not prohibit the use of force to stop someone who is defenseless from being harmed.

However, the Bible does not endorse murdering people who are not Christians. Sadly, this has happened in history. That is man's fault, it is directly in contrary to God's commands, and it should never have happened.

2. Doesn't a monotheistic belief cause people to be narrow minded and intolerant?

This question strikes close to the heart of the Japanese people, who believe a polytheistic belief is more welcoming and less exclusive.

Firstly, it is correct to say that a monotheistic belief is narrow and exclusive - because that is the nature of truth. Truth by its very nature is narrow and exclusive. It excludes all other possibilities, by calling them fallacy. So it can be said that anyone who believes the truth is narrow minded and intolerant of what is not truth.

Accordingly, when the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Son of God, any religion that denies that is wrong. And if Jesus is the Son of God, and he taught that he is the only way to life, then every other way to God is wrong.

3. I can believe in God, but I can't accept why I need to believe in Jesus.

The bible teaches that God has given us the perfect law, and put it in our hearts. Romans 2 says that Christians and non-Christians alike have the moral law within them. Everyone knows we have not lived perfectly according to God's law, and that makes us all sinners.

Someone needs to die for sin, but no one except God is perfect enough to be able to. However, God cannot die. So Jesus came to earth as a man, in order to become the perfect sacrifice for sin, and to die the death we deserve in our place to pay the price. No other religion can offer that, and that is why we need to believe in Jesus.

4. Why do people suffer if there is a just and loving God?

If God doesn't exist, life is ultimately without meaning and without purpose, and your suffering means nothing. But because God exists, our life has meaning and purpose.

James 1:2 tells us to endure trials of various kinds with joy, because it builds our character to be more like Christ. In the Hebrews 5:8, it says Christ learned obedience through suffering, so we should expect to go through the same thing.

Some skeptics ask question of why children who are born crippled have to suffer and live meaningless lives. But how do you know they live meaningless lives? Some of the greatest lessons we have ever learned come from people who have suffered tremendously. Nagai Takashi from Nagasaki who suffered radiation position from the bomb and was paralysed for much of his life, but through his suffering he wrote several inspirational books that are read all over the world. Furthermore, Christians look forward to that day when Jesus comes back, because there will be no more suffering.

On the other hand, what message does an atheist have to give to these crippled people? They offer no substance, no hope, and no meaning, not just for cripples, but for anyone. Just suffer in a meaningless life, die and disappear.

How do we know the Christian gospel is truth, and not just a fairy tale? Because our faith is based on a real Jesus who really rose from the dead. Only Christianity can offer any message of hope for those who suffer.

5. What will happen to someone who dies without ever hearing the gospel?

This is possibly the most difficult answer for Japanese people to hear. It is not an easy answer to stomach, but sometimes truth is just that.

Romans 1:19-23 says every passing day points to a creator, from the telescope to the microscope. How much more complex is the human brain than a computer, which no one would ever believe came about sponaneously or accidentally?

Romans 2:12-16 says that everyone has the witness of God through their conscience, and we all know right from wrong. For example, murder, adultery, and stealing are universal sins unanimously considered to be damaging to society. The biggest sin of all, is denying the creator God who made us and gives us purpose in life. And for those who don't believe in Jesus and accept his death on the cross for their sin, they will be condemned to hell.

Having said that, Acts 10 mentions a God fearing Roman soldier named Cornelius who didn't know Jesus but wanted to know God. In the end, God used Peter to share the gospel with him, and he believed. Whoever wants to know God, God will somehow get the message to them.

Hebrews 9:27 tells us that there are no more chances to repent and believe in Jesus after you die.

6. I have mounting doubts even after say I believe. Does my faith need to be reevaluated?

Doubts are actually a good thing!

"The unexamined life is not worth living." - Socrates

For us Christians, the unexamined faith is not worth living.

God is big enough to answer any questions we have concerning him. Other religions say don't ask, just believe, but Jesus and the apostles invited others to ask questions and seek answers. So when you have questions, it should motivate you to seek answers! Many Christians who do not ask questions about their faith, are those who fall away when their faith is challenged.

7. Why are there so many divisions within Christianity like Catholicism and Protestantism? Which one is right?

Truth is measured by the Bible, not by man-made parameters. We measure whether a church or a denomination is consistent by the Bible. The Bible, God's truth, is never wrong, but human interpretation is not perfect (1Corinthians 13:12, this world is like seeing through a mirror unclearly).

We do not have perfect interpretations so we do not have perfect understanding. But we should agree on the essentials such as there is one God, the Trinity, and the Son of God Jesus Christ. On the non essentials, denominations are allowed to disagree like how to conduct baptism.

As for Protestantism and Catholicism, the former initially came about as a result of the latter drifting away from Biblical teaching. If you read up on Martin Luther (not Martin Luther King) in the 16th century, you will learn why. I didn't bother writing down what's already on Wikipedia.

8. How do people who lived and died before Jesus came to earth get saved?

Just believing in God through our knowledge of the creation and our conscience (Q5) is not enough. We need special revelation to know God, and that special revelation came through the nation of Israel.

Israel had the system of offering sacrifices for sin. That sacrifice was an unblemished lamb that would shed its blood for the sins of the people. The lamb itself did not save people from sin, but it was a prophetic symbol of the Saviour whom people would put their faith in.

Foreigners outside of Israel still had a chance to hear the gospel. Many came to Israel to learn about God. In other cases such as Jonah, God sent a prophet from Israel to reveal himself to the foreign countries.

9. What age of children are saved?

The Bible talks about an "age of accountability". After a certain age, children are able to understand and respond to God's expectations. In Israel, the Bar Mitzvah ritual takes place at 12 years of age, but that is more tradition and not something taught in the Bible. The bible doesn't specify when exactly the "age of accountability" is. The actual timing may depend person to person.

10. Will a spiritual revival come to Japan?

400 years ago, Christianity thrived in Japan (Edo period). As we study the lives of the Christians back then, they were faithful to Christ, enduring persecution and even dying in his name.

An age of revival may not have yet come, but before one will come, God's people must be faithful to God's call in the Bible. Revival begins in God's household. Let's pray for revival to sweep Japan, and pray that it would begin within.