Community

2 weeks ago I attended the Acts 29 church planting boot camp in San Jose on June 3rd and 4th. I was excited to learn more about the spread of the good news across the Bay Area and how to be a steward of the deposit entrusted to us (2 Tim 1:14). I definitely feel convicted that there are not enough gospel-centric churches in the Bay Area and that the Bay Area is in need of more churches that will go and plant other churches that will go and plant more churches.

It was also a pleasure meeting other brothers and sisters passionate about His glory being known and magnified, and I felt encouraged by the testimonies and convictions we exchanged. The worship was also amazing, courtesy of a band called Zimmerman. Definitely check them out! http://www.zimmermanband.com/

Some of the speakers I listened to before at The Gospel Coalition Conference back in April such as Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, Jeff Vanderstelt, and D.A. Carson. (I also met Steven Chin at the conference who is in the video above and a pastor in the Boston area). D.A. Carson, research professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and one of the most noted New Testament scholars alive today, made up roughly half the talks at the Acts 29 conference.

In one of his talks Carson asked the audience to think about their church and ponder how many people would they actually be friends with at their church if it weren’t for the gospel. Me being the weird idiosyncratic person that I am, the answer for me is probably countable on my fingers! Carson’s question really pierced me in realizing how the Christ really brings believers together as one body and family of God. People from all ages and backgrounds are reconciled together through the reconciling work of Christ.

Communities truly testify to the power of the gospel. They are an amazing blessing that believers have to enjoy and a powerful witness to those who do not yet believe. I realize though that this is something that many in Japan do not have the privilege to enjoy in the way we do in the United States. Even in the Bay Area where we meet and have conferences just to talk about how we need more Christ centered communities in the area, the same could be said ten-fold for Japan.

Please pray for the community of believers to multiply across the Japanese nation!


Kevin



Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
Hebrews 3:12-14 ESV