PCUSA General Assembly

I have spent a little time this past week following the General Assembly of the PCUSA denomination. A good website that I have used to do that is www.layman.org . I think it is a site that more closely reflects my theological position and deals with the issues that I find to be of the most importance for the church. (Just for the record, I think many in the PCUSA heirarchy would describe this site as heretical and closed-minded.)

About the time I think God may tire of the half-hearted Cumberland denomination I find the PCUSA church is still here, which means we should certainly have more time left to turn our ship around.

As I went through the news stories on that site, I was heartbroken, outraged, disgusted and ashamed. I dont understand how anyone with half of a rational mind and Gideons Hotel Bible could align themselves with such nonsense. And yet they do. Sadly, I do. Not directly, but by association.

My denomination longs to experience reunion with our former "family." OK, maybe not the denomination as a whole, (and certainly not me!!!) but many of our denominational leaders and staff persons spend a lot of time pushing for joint projects and activities and opportunities. I heard a little nonsense about our "joint" projects at General Assembly. And for the life of me, I dont get it. WHY? I think the official numbers are something like 57,000 members left the PCUSA church last year alone. Why on earth would we want to align ourselves with a Church whose own members are grieved by their own behavior? Not to go all "Holy-Roller" or anything, but how many times does Scripture warn us about associating with the evil and godless?

Just my thoughts on a Friday Morning.
He Has Made Me Glad! (Though concerned)
jeff

Some quick observations

The first is the Garden. All things considered the garden isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. When I got home from Japan, none of the plants in the picture were visible. After a little weed-eating and a few run-throughs with the tiller, all is well again. I never really expected Miss Bert to get too much gardening done for me given the schedule she was going to be keeping.

The second picture is the best. Because of her STRONG personality, Baylee is usually the one that makes the blog. She's always doing something unbelievable. Hunter, is the more tenderhearted one of the family. He's seldom out there on the cutting edge of thrills. But yesterday, HE RECLAIMED HIS MAN-CARD! Mommy built us a "White-Trash Waterpark" in the back yard. At the end of the slide is a kiddy pool. The sprinkler is wrapped around the pool. It is indeed a festival of water fun. At any rate, Hunter thought he'd add a little action to the waterslide by taking it on a mini-bigwheel.

This could have been one of the most proud moments of my life. Reminded me of the time when I took my bike off the neighbors roof. Look's like the trips to the Emergency Room are about to begin. Awesome.

This week is VBS and maybe tomorrow I'll add a little about that. For now that's all I've got.
He Has Made Me Glad!
jeff

So here I sit, it's a quarter till ONE IN THE MORNING!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! I just want to sleep. My heart, my mind, my spirit and my soul all resound with a mighty "YES, GO TO SLEEP!" But my body, my old nature, my flesh...it just refuses to leave Japan and join the rest of me that is in the States. I have slept a grand total of something like 18 hours since I've been home. Almost a week. I can't take this any longer.

On a positive note, I have had plenty of time for doing other things. And so while I am personally reenacting "Night of the Living Dead," I am also starring in my own short film, "Mr. Get Everything Done!" I'm just afraid that a few weeks from now when I look over all that I've gotten done, I'm going to be embarrassed at the quality of my work. I have a new appreciation for people who live like this day in and day out.

Oh well, time to go read a book and watch a corny movie.
He Has Made Me Glad, Tired, But Glad!
jeff

Home at last, Home at last, thank God Almighty, we are Home at Last!

We have made it back where we belong. Sometime around 1 AM Saturday Morning I pulled the rental van into the driveway. To my delight, there were a few folks gathered at the house to welcome me back. AT 1 AM!!!!!! While it's nice to be loved, I think ya'll need to get a night life.

We were supposed to fly into Nashville a little before 6 PM on Friday and drive home by around 8-ish. Well, United Airlines cancelled yet another of our flights. The only way we were going to get back to Kentucky from Chicago before MONDAY was to rent a van and take matters into our own hands. That's what we did. At 5 PM we pulled out of O'Hare Int. After 14 potty break stops for Reese, Sandra and Joey, we made it. Our luggage hasn't. And more than likely wont. Who know's where its at. All I know is that most of my clothes and all of my souvenirs are gone, for at least the time being. Hopefully we will hear something about them tonight.

At any rate. Thanks for your prayers and support and everything else while I was away. It was a good trip, but probably my only trip to Japan. 14 non-stop hours on the plane is way more than I care to ever do again. I am pretty wiped out. I took the van back to Reese today since I didn't return it to Nashville (Since we dont have luggage yet to pick up) and Reese's dad, who for all practical purposes is a stranger to me said, "Boy, you look bad!" So, I am looking forward to looking bad at church tomorrow and seeing all the folks who didn't want to wait around till 1 AM to welcome me home.

He Has Made Me Glad!
Dont fly United.
jeff

Mission Accomplished Miss Bert!!!!!!!!

Here we go, from top to bottom:

The first picture is our delegation from Covenant Presbytery. This is about the only time we have all been in the same place at the same time all week, so we thought we'd better do something to document our presence.

The second picture is of a Traditional Japanese Drummer. That dude could get it on! In America, we beat our kids for doing the same exact thing this brother was doing in worship.

The third picture is so funny to me. Notice the lady is all dressed up. She's on her way to a very professional job somewhere. But look what she's wearing for shoes....Rubber Boots. Today was a rainy day in the morning, and everybody donned their golashes. It's Redneck Fashion at its finest.

The fourth picture is PROOF!!! I ATE THE YUMMY, YUMMY BABY FISHES!!!!!!!! They looked worse than they tasted. Not as good as the eel from the other day, not nearly as bad as sardines. All in all they were almost neutral in flavor. But I DID IT!

The fifth picture is what every school girl in Japan looks like. They are all required to wear the uniforms. These girls are so cute. They ride bikes, play sports, shop, do everything in these little skirts. And to date, there's only been one moment of impropriety that I've seen. (Which was too funny.)

All in all, Japan is a great place. The people are so driven to succeed that often they appear exhausted, sad, hopeless and distant. But the Japanese Christians are great. They have been set free from the chains of the culture of drivenness. And they show it. I was made aware of a tragic statistic that speaks volumes towards this drivenness. Japan has a suicide rate of something like 30,000 per year. I think we in Kentucky have gotten this one figured out. "It'll Keep!"

I have decided that I will miss this commuter-type lifestyle. I have been enjoying my long walks to and from everywhere. I have enjoyed the train. I have especially enjoyed not having to go nutso on bad drivers. I have really, really enjoyed not shelling out 145 bucks to fill up the F250 with gas.

In a few moments, I will head down to McDonald's, which has become my morning custom, and say farewell to my new friends behind the counter. They have been so good to us. As soon as we walk in the door, they turn over the counter mat and provide us with an English menu. We all laugh and exchange a few "thumbs up" motions. We all point to what we want and they smile in return. On the first morning, they would all peek around the corner and make sure we were still there and doing OK. Now, a week later, we are as normal to their day as rice. I think that other than being loud and gluttonous (compared to Japanese eating habits) the American people called Cumberland Presbyterians have been a very good witness for Christ.

Following breakfast, I will return to my room and pray that the suitcase not only zips, but also holds. That and a quick prayer that I am under 50 pounds. I have used up a lot of toiletries and tossed the containers in the hopes that I can free up a few pounds. I have cut the sleeves off of a couple of T-shirts and eaten (had a lot of help eating) my huge bags of licorice and jelly beans. I think I should be OK on the weight. But that may just be wishful thinking.

After that we will all check-out of the hotel and board a bus for the 2 hour trip to the airport. Because of all the time zones and the flying against the rotation of the planet, our trip will take

-30 minutes to get back to the states. And yet somehow, I will still be on the plane for 14 hours. Gee Whiz. I've forgotten how traumatic that flight was on the way over here. Yikes. If it weren't for my family, I'd just stay in order to avoid the "forever flight."

Speaking of my family, my wife issued the challenge or the double-dog dare or whatever, and I couldn't let it slide. So this morning, after much prayer and meditation, I approached the commode. With determination and drivenness and a bike helmet for safety, I used all the buttons on the control panel. JINKIES SHAGGY!!!!! That's creepy. Way past creepy. Whoever created that thing is a sick, twisted human being. It's just unnatural. But I did it. I'll try just about anything once. So there you go Miss Bert. Mission Accomplished!

As I close, I am sad to leave the experience behind, yet so glad to get back to the people who love me most. Say a prayer for the travelers today. Knowing that you're doing it, cuts down on my anxiety a little.

He Has Made Me Glad!

Jeff

Fish Heads, Fish Heads, yummy baby fish heads...

OK, as promised here are a few pics from the most awesome restaurant in Japan. The top pic is the normal table set-up once the rice, soup, meat, tofu and accessories arrive. The second picture is just a plate of raw meat awaiting its place upon the hibachi. The last picture however is the one you really have to click on to appreciate. Do that now....those little noodle things are actually some sort of baby fish. Why, tell me why on earth, would someone think of putting those on food. Granted, its tofu underneath and I'm not planning on eating it, but why the little guppies? I dont get it. As for eating a mouthful, I chickened out tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

Today was a huge day. We toured Tokyo. Our tour guides name was Akiko. She was great. Her English was better than any of ours. She'd never been to America, studied Polish Linguistics in the university; yet somehow had great English and a huge vocabulary. Akiko first took us (by tour bus) to a very tall skyscraper that provided a 360 degree panoramic view of the city. This building was the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Observatory. That was cool, for about 10 minutes, and then I was ready to go. After that, we went to the Imperial Palace/Imperial Garden. It is a very historical location here in Japan. It was home to a Shogun and all of his Samurai warriors. It was interesting and there was a beautiful water garden there that has been maintained since the 7th century. It is now the home of the Japanese Emperor and his family. (None of them came out to meet with us today, I was disappointed at that.) From there we went to an authentic Japanese restaurant and had tempura foods (deep fried stuff) that was really pretty good. We had to take off our shoes, sit on the floor and eat with chopsticks. (I still cant hardly use them right, but if you hold your plate to your mouth, the sticks make nice little shoveling devices.) The eatery was located in the heart of downtown Tokyo. After that, we walked a few blocks to the Asakusa Kannon Buddhist Temple and the Nakamise Shopping Arcade. You can look them up for yourself on the net if you want, I'm too tired right now to link them for you. The temple was ok, if you are Buddhist, and I guess its historicity made it interesting, but I'll stick with Jesus.

My funny at the Temple...As we were listening to Akiko make her spiel about the Temple, I noticed a young couple at the incense location. The purpose of the incense is to purify yourself before going inside the Temple. If you have a particular infirmity, you are supposed to direct smoke from the incense to that spot on your body. Then, after your worship in the temple, you are supposed to be healed or restored or whatever. Well, this guy wafted smoke over his girlfriends hair. Then he turned her around and wafted smoke towards her chest. Then they giggled. I think he was making a joke about the size of his girlfriend and was hoping the Buddha could help them out. I laughed. Maybe not funny to you, but its my blog.

The path to the Temple is lined with shops almost like the old time farmers market which we have in Paducah. Only about 8000 times bigger. There were all sorts of traditional Japanese items available for sale. I happened into one little shop and the girl there spoke perfect English. Needless to say, I did quite a bit of business with her, and she was very helpful. I commented on her English and she gave me a big, big discount. I really wanted to get her picture, especially since she had been so helpful and was a tad cute for over here, but my camera battery was dead. I loaded up on souvenirs for the kids and headed back for the bus. We were only given 40 minutes here because we were behind schedule. Partially because Akiko took too much time explaining the history of everything, and partially because Dare Aden got lost earlier in the day and we had to kill quite a bit of time looking for him in the middle of Japan.

Tomorrow is our final day in Japan. We have a morning and an afternoon session as a body, and then it will be time to prepare to leave. Our bus will depart the hotel at 11:30 am on Friday. We will get to the airport in time for our flight. Hopefully, due to all the time change and what not, we should arrive in Chicago by 2 PM on Friday afternoon. From there, its just a hop, skip and a jump to Nashville. If all goes as planned I should be in the long overdue embrace of my family by 9 or 10 Friday Night.

I commented earlier today about the one thing I miss the most about home so far. The answer was easy. I miss hearing "DADDY" being yelled in my general vicinity. I've been able to at least type back and forth on messenger to Bert, but the kids dont get the typing thing yet. Hunter tried. It's not the same. I love being daddy. It's an awesome job and I'm glad I am blessed to get to do it. Thanks for checking out the blog and keeping me and this trip in your prayers.

Domo Aragoto.

He Has Made Me Glad!

jeff

Food, Fortitude and Finality

The top picture here is my plate from lunch today. The next two photos are of displays in restaurant windows of the food that is offered within. I'd encourage you to click on the pics and look at a close up of this stuff. Absolutely amazing. I hope you can see the egg on the pizza in the middle picture. It's almost like a "Where's Waldo" puzzle. Spend a few minutes and see if you can identify how many things dont belong together in these pics. This place is crazy!

OK, now for the lunch plate. I let peer pressure get the best of me and I followed along with the crowd. Off we went to a Japanese Buffet for lunch. I knew better. I mean, I really, really knew better. But I had to go. The way the place works is, the buffet costs a set price, something like 7 bucks. And it is all you can eat (which isn't all that much!) But the kicker of the whole deal is that you get 70 minutes to eat what you can. Then you have to pay more. Supper meals are an even better deal, then you get 90 minutes. For the record, I was done in about 3 minutes if you dont count the time I spent gagging. You cant believe how nasty this stuff was. And it has got flavors my mouth has never encountered. NEVER! I did manage to think I was getting water chestnuts or something similar. In the picture its on the right side of the plate, almost in the middle. I think it has some yellow looking peas in it. That was my first bite and it ruined my mouth for anything else. I dont know what they did to that stuff, but its wrong. I ended up eating a bit of the fried pork stuff and the tomatoes in the middle were really good. But that's it. I couldn't get the rest down.

Today was also the Official Meeting of the General Assembly. I mentioned earlier in the week that my committee was presenting a recommendation that I thought would be an almost historical moment in the life of the church. Well, it passed. Let me share that with you now:

REPORT 2 OF THE COMMITTEE ON MISSIONS, MINISTRY AND MILITARY CHAPLAINS
Recommendation 2: We recommend that the General Assembly re-affirm the 5-year priority focus on evangelism, directing staffs of the Board of Missions, Commission on the Ministry, Board of Christian Education, and the Publication Board, or their successor entities in collaboration with any other General Assembly agencies necessary, to develop an integrated plan to lead presbyteries and the several churches to engage in evangelism focused on bringing new persons to salvation in Jesus Christ.
The plan shall include, but not be limited to, the Publication Board informing its readers with articles and research on evangelism; the Board of Christian Education identifying or creating curriculum to teach the Gospel to non-believers and to train disciples to reach out to non-believers; the Commission on Ministry offering training to equip pastors and lay leaders in the area of evangelism; and, the Board of Missions engaging the whole church in reaching new persons for the cause of Christ.
Special care should be taken in the development of the plan to include strategies for urban, suburban, rural and international churches.
Work in progress plans shall be submitted to the fall 2008 meeting of the Ministry Council and executable plans shall be submitted to the winter 2009 meeting of the Ministry Council and be posted on the denominational web site. Progress reports of the plan shall be submitted to each of the General Assemblies through the year of 2012.
The intended essence of this recommendation is to call all of the identified agencies and resources of the CP Church to a 5-year emphasis on evangelism focused on bringing new persons to Christ.

Pretty cool huh? The point being:
a. Conversion Evangelism
b. The directing of Boards, Agencies and Personnel to actually work together, at times, to develop a plan that incorporates every facet of the church, and gets them working together toward the common goal of reaching people with the Good News of Jesus.

Not that big of a deal you say? Well maybe not. But it seems to me that getting all of everybody working in the same direction, for the same cause is a big thing in our church. Let alone the fact that this "project" is the very thing that Christ created the church to be in the first place. Only time will tell, but it is an exciting move in the right direction with built in accountability to make sure that the job gets done. Last years assembly approved a 5-year emphasis on evangelism. But all that was done was saying something to the effect that "Ya'll need to do evangelism." This recommendation actually creates an expectation that something WILL BE DONE. Yipee!

Now, for the final meal of the day. Our youth advisory delegate, Noah Quinton, mentioned that he saw a pretty neat restaurant that was authentic Japanese food. I'm telling you, I THOUGHT I learned my lesson. But I decided to give it one last chance. Thank God I did! If I had to spend the rest of my life in Japan, I at least would not starve. Tonights meal was incredible. It went like this:
We walked in the restaurant and were greeted by a hostess. She spoke no English. No problem. We deduced that we were to remove our shoes and place them in a locker. Noah, however, wears a size 15, so he had to use 2 lockers. One for each shoe. Then we were escorted to a table by the window that appeared to require us to sit on the floor. It was actually a seating platform with a sunken floor, so we really weren't on the floor. Out the window you could see for probably 20 miles. Solid skyscraper type buildings the whole distance. This city just amazes me. Next, we were brought a bunch of bowls. One had Japanese veggies, one had some sauce, one had tofu with these miniature dead raw fish that looked like little white worms. We were then brought a plate of raw meat, a bowl of rice and bowl of egg-drop soup. In the center of our table was a recessed hibachi grill. You cooked your meat on the grill and then ate all the other stuff with it. It was awesome. Probably one of the best meals of my life. I made the statement that it was a shame I was eating this meal with 2 other guys, because this would be the ultimate date meal. It would be worth bringing my wife back here just to eat at this place once and then go home. I can't explain how awesome it was. At any rate, we all ate everything but the tofu and dead baby fishes. That was just wrong. I refuse to eat anything that still has its eyeballs staring back at me. The meal was finished with a stone cup of fishy tasting water and then a nice bowl of ice cream. I forgot my camera, so I intend on going back again tomorrow for another meal and I'll try and get some good pictures.

All in all, today was good. We used the train system without a guide. We endured a long day of Assembly business. And I finally found authentic food worth eating. Good times. Though I am missing my home, my family, my church and all things familiar. Ahh, but my time in Japan is running out. 2 more full days and then the long, long, long journey home provided our travel agent has gotten our flights properly arranged.


He Has Made Me Glad!
jeff

Day 5 - Japan - A Day of Awesome-ness!!!!!

Today was a full day of GA Business. At least for my committee. Most other groups got all of their business done early, but not us. While I would generally begrudge spending long hours at Committee Business, I was glad and thankful to be a part of the work of my committee. Should our recommendations be approved, a whole new course for the Cumberland Church will be set. It will actually be a very historical moment, but until it is presented on the floor of the Assembly I think I'll just keep it in my heart. I will share it at a later date, regardless of the outcome in Assembly tomorrow.

But on to other awesome stuff. The top photo is the Tama Center Parthenon. It's like a great big public building. It is where our meetings are being held part time. I guess because I got more sleep last night than any other night thus far, the next picture is ME AT THE TOP. Sort of Stallone-ish dont ya think?

The Third picture is of a the Lee's. Ji Eun (Sarah) and her husband David. Sarah is a pastor in Laos. I didn't even know the CP Church existed in Laos until I met them. They are really, really neat folks. And from what I have been able to gather, they have an amazing ministry. Though there are only about 30 members in their church, they are already sending out missionaries to other places. They work to convert a person and then once they are believers, they work to disciple them, with the final product being a mature Christian who goes out and repeats that process with another. Just amazing. Here, the American church dumps tons of money into evangelism studies and programs, and we're minimally successful at best. This one lady, following the example of Jesus, will be directly responsible for sending God only knows how many missionaries out into the world. Oh, how i wish we had the humility and the faith to simply trust in Christ like she does, rather than rely on all the wisdom of man.

The final picture is sort of my exclamation point on awesome for today. Bethel College's Renaissance Choir. These guys just never cease to amaze me. The picture was taken during a bluegrass number, I thought some of the folks at church would like that. The really neat part about Renaissance tonight was that everyone was showing up early for worship because it was threatening to storm. That meant that Renaissance' practice and warm-up time was invaded. Rather than get all huffy or ask everyone to wait outside, they just put on a "show." They did what they do best, they sang their hearts out to Jesus. It was off the cuff, unrehearsed and fantastic. My personal feelings are that at the present, Bethel College is one of the Big Bright Spots in the CP Church. I think a large reason for that is Renaissance. You can disagree all you want, but the proof is in pudding.

All in all, Japan has been a really good experience. This is the CLEANEST city in the entire world. There are 30 kajillion people who live here, and only one public trash can. And yet there's not any garbage anywhere. Not even a cig. butt. In fact if we get food to go, we often have to bring our trash back to our hotel room to toss it because there's nowhere out on the street to ditch it.

I do have one little complaint though. Somebody needs to show the Japanese people what real toilet paper is like. This stuff here is like a fraction of the thickness of American Kleenex'. It takes about 87 yards of the stuff just to get a good nose blowing wad that keeps your fingers snot less.

I'm going to bed. Still haven't got over the plane trip here yet!
He Has Made Me Glad!
jeff

Sunday Worship---Day 4 of Japan

From top to bottom, the first photo is Minister Yoshimasa Niwa, the second photo is of two young girls holding a smaller girl that wouldn't even acknowledge that I was alive. And the third picture is one of 6 other tables just like it loaded with Japanese "Pot Luck." (Emphasis on the luck part)

Our day began early at McDonald's again, (Just like today will soon begin) with a few McGriddles and hash browns. From there we were greeted by our escorts, Takishi Kanazashi and Tomoko Kasahara. They were really neat, neat people. Takishi is a very accomplished international musician. His wife is not a church goer, and you could see a little bit of sadness in his eyes as he shared that fact with us. Tomoko is a young lady who wants to come to America and see a farm. She's been formally invited to New Hope. The worship service was very much like our worship services, except the baby's yell in Japanese. Though Baby Japanese does sound a lot like Baby English.

Following the service we were asked to leave the church. That's not what they meant, but that's how it came out. So funny. While we were standing around outside, inside all of the pews were rearranged and wha-la, we were in the fellowship hall. There were 7 tables, (one of which is pictured above) loaded with food. Correction.....Japanese food. I loaded up my plate, returned to my spot and prayed the great missionary prayer that I learned on my trip to South America: Dear Lord, I'll get it down, if you keep it down. Remarkably, I picked good!!!!!!!! None of the stuff that I got was too un-tastey. Although one of the singers from Bethel took this sort of raw wan-ton looking thing, tossed it in her mouth and then gagged it right back up into her hand. That was nice.

Dusty, just so you know, I've tried about 14 dozen different Sushi rolls. I will never find one, that is to me, in the edible department. There is just something about that flavor that I can't get beyond. We were served those on the plain a few times, and have been served them at every meal so far here. I have been fair. I have tried and tried them. It just aint gonna happen.

We did have fresh cherries from a local cherry tree. Tokyo is very famous for the Cherry Blossom Festival that takes place in the spring. Those were the ticket. The fruit here is fantastic. Again, not quite as good as Colombia, but not bad.

Following lunch, an elder in the church served as MC for all sorts of fun and games. We all had to show on the Map where we were from. Then we had to tell about ourselves and all about our trip. Then we had the girls from Bethel sing again. Good stuff. I have never enjoyed a special music any more than I did during our "gong show." When they found out I was a minister they almost fell out. They thought I was a student at Bethel University!!! I am so young!!!!!!!Sweet!!!!

Committee meetings began at 4. I am on the Committee dealing with Chaplains, Missions and Ministries. We took a break at 6, and then resumed until 8:30 PM. I fell asleep 4 times after our supper break. Jet Lag Rules! Our committee generally is one that has very little business to attend. However, given last years proclammation that the church enter a 5 year period of Evangelism Emphasis, we are taking it upon ourselves to encourage all of the Church Boards and Agencies to work together to produce a plan that goes beyond "telling everybody to do evangelism." Part of me is excited, for this could truly be a great turning point in the life of the church. Part of me is heartbroken. Any church that has to make a special announcement regarding an emphasis in evangelism has obviously strayed far, far, far from the heart of God.

We will begin meeting in a few hours and will go until the wee hours of the night, or until we are through. Hopefully, we will all show up with a unified vision from the Lord for what is to take place. Assembly officially opens for business on Tuesday Morning. My committee is pretty neat. We have a minister and an elder from the Hong Kong Church, A minister and her husband (as translator) from Laos, and an elder from the Hispanic Church in Boston. Rather than the usual make up of Good 'ole Boys from West Tennessee. With the good sleep that I finally got last night, I should be a little more "into" what is going on today. Please pray that God pours out His Spirit on us. It would be so awesome for this Historic Meeting of GA to become historic for more than just the "Japan Factor." May this be the GA where the Church experiences a "pentecost" of sorts that drives us with evangelistic fervor into the future.

That's about all for now.
He Has Made Me Glad!
jeff

Japan - Morning of Day 3

Here's me and the two little girl scouts that were directing us to the location of the Koza CP Church. I was really missing my own kids about this time, so I'm chalking this one up to the Lord taking care of my "Daddy" needs. I am missing my home today. Have been on instant messenger since about 3 AM. I still cannot sleep over here.

I've talked to Drew and he assures me that all is well, as i I could do anything about it if it weren't. Have talked to Bert today as well. Sounds like she is doing well managing everything. I hope she has time to tend the garden, because it has got to be looking pretty rough by now.

I have seen the same spool on CNN at least 3 times this morning already. I was hoping I could watch American tv on the computer, but all of the main networks dont allow viewing from locations outside the US.

I will be going to worship in a few hours at a local church. That should be exciting. Then the business of GA committees begins in the afternoon and will hopefully conclude for the day around 9 PM. I have been so tired that 9 PM is going to be tough to get to. I am hoping that tonight is the night I get my sleep habits back. Who knows though. I think after all is said and done, Karaoke is on the agenda for this evening. I've been practicing my John Denver. "Life aint nothin' but a funny, funny riddle.......Thank God I'm a country boy." Ought to be a dandy, at least in my mind.

I do have a prayer concern that I'd pass along. My brother Jason told Bert that his wife, Kelley, may be headed in to the hospital to have their baby. She has been having some blood pressure issues, but that's all I know. The baby wasn't due to arrive until sometime around the 17th. Pray that all goes well for them. I was really hoping to be home for this, but....

At any rate, I will post more later. Keep all of us Americans in your prayers. This is a radically different way of living than any of us are used to.

He Has Made Me Glad!

jeff

Japan - Day 2

Well, as expected, today was massive. The opening worship service was a good one. Renaissance from Bethel College provided one song for us. (Can you imagine the logistics of getting 37 people to Japan?) As always, they did awesome and I hit Peter up to make a return to New Hope this fall. A choir from Japan presbytery also presented special music during the serving of Holy Communion.

Following worship, Assembly business began. Rev. Jonathan Clark from Winchester, TN was elected moderator. Rev. Carrol Richards from Lincoln, IL was elected vice-moderator. We heard several presentations from different denominational representatives, and while it was informative, it was not very exciting. My body is struggling with adjusting to the time change thing. I have never experienced this before, it's like someone has set the parking brake on my life.

The most notable feature of my day was the train riding. I'm almost certain I couldn't do this in the US where I could actually read the signs. Here, the only thing to do is find someone who knows where they're going and tag along. That's a great plan unless the ding-dong in the front is just as confused as you are. It took us 3 different trains to get to Koza Church.

Upon our return from Koza, we stopped off at the "Grocery Store" and bought some things. I also got my gifts for the children at church. I'm excited about them and can't wait to pass them out next Sunday. Following that we went to supper. We decided to give McDonald's a rest and went to a local Italian eatery. I will not be back again. The 3 of us had the rib eye. It came served with cold potato wedges and mixed veggies. The food wasn't so bad, but the atmosphere was pretty tough. The only description I can give is that it was 5 times as chaotic as any Chuck E. Cheese I've ever been to. And there weren't any games. It is now 8:19 PM Saturday night in Tokyo. That makes it 6:19 AM Saturday morning back home in Paducah.

This has been quite an adventure. Thankfully, everyone in this monstrous city has been incredibly helpful, polite and kind. I am about to pass out from exhaustion, so I will end for today.
He Has Made Me Glad!

McDonald's and my Toilet

Well, here it is as promised. The top picture is a general view of the toilet in my room. The bottom picture is the control panel on the toilet. Yes, I said control panel. I'm not sure what all these things do, and I certainly dont intend to find out, but it looks like some of the most fun a guy can have without a helmet, a fishing pole or bullets.

I'm getting ready to head out on public transportation and take the train to the Koza CP Church for the opening worship ceremonies of the Assembly. I and some other's just finished eating breakfast at McDonalds. The girls working there were funny as they would continuously peek around the corner to make sure we were still there. Reese got the "SUPERSIZED" diet coke with his meal. It was a grand total of about 4 ounces of beverage. They had to break out the English Picture Menus because of their recent increase in American Customers. I will try to get a picture of them sometime in the next few meals. They seem to be enjoying us as much as we are enjoying the fact that our systems are already familiar with the food.

Have a great day, night, or whatever it happens to me.
Missing home and the family like never before.
He Has Made Me Glad!
jeff

Japan- DAY 1

OK, I am here. It has been the most unbelievable, unforgettable, Hand of God sort of day. Let me explain.

I crawled out of bed just hours after crawling in on Thursday morning at 3 AM, Nashville time.
Went to the Airport and was told that our flight was cancelled. I thought the lady was joking, but quickly found out that joking wasn't a part of her nature. Thankfully, one of the sweetest ladies in traveling history spent about an hour getting our group of 8 folks rerouted through another airline. I was supposed to head to Washington, D.C. and then head to Tokyo around the world to the right. However, I went to Dallas and around the world to the left. Sort of. Now here's the crazy part. We wound up getting a shorter flight by about an hour. If you've ever spent 13 hours straight on a plane, that last hour becomes very important. But the cool part was, our new flight took us right over the Aleutian Islands and the Bering Sea------------You know, Home of the Crab Fishing Documentary, Deadliest Catch. Talk about a sweet little touch from the Hand of the Father. We didn't really see much because it was pretty cloudy, but we're able to see a little bit of the retreating ice pack. That was way cool.

I kept catching myself singing on the plain to Dallas. We were seated right in between the engines. "Yes, I'll sing the wondrous story." Apparently isn't everybody else's favorite tune. But it helped me get over the jitters

On the big plane we were served 3 meals. All of which would rank in the "close to Nasty" department. The first meal included a little sushi. YIKES!!! I wanted a new mouth after that one. The big plane was a 777 and here's the stats from our flight:
From Dallas to Tokyo it is like 6450 miles.
The plane hit a high speed of 600 plus MPH.
The outside temp was a toasty -78 degrees.
The Altitude was 38,000 feet.

Pretty cool. And when you think about how the bathroom on the plane is situated, you come away smiling and proud of the fact that you went to the bathroom in speeds of over 600 MPH. That is awesome.

Thankfully, on the big plane we had lots of movies available. I watched 4 on the way over:
The Other Boleyn Girl. A Crappy waste of time.
The Spiderwick Chronicles. OK, but borderline new agey.
Fools Gold. OK.
Second Hand Lions. WAY GOOD.

The Assembly doesn't start until tomorrow morning (Tokyo Time) Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of Paducah. That is making it hard to keep in contact with home. Especially since I was too tight to spend the money on the thing for my phone to make it work over here. I'm stupid. In the future, always pay to have your phone working when you go out of the US.

I'm Jet Lagged out as I write this, it is after 1 AM. Have only slept about 4 hours in the last 48. My hotel is very nice and I will try and get a picture of the toilet. That thing is more high tech than the space shuttle. McDonalds, Wendy's, Subway and a Donut Shop are within a block of the hotel, so, while Japanese food is NASTY, I will not waste away to nothing. My first purchase with yen in Japan was a meal at McDonalds

I've rambled enough for today. Hopefully will get my act together, get some sleep and do this right tomorrow.

He Has Made Me Glad!
Jeff

Oh, I forgot a big funny. When I finally found a restroom in the airport in Japan, I was doing my thing and felt the mop hit my foot. I looked up and there was the cleaning lady. Mopping away. While 20 men utilized the urinals. Talk about WEIRD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The stalls we're even crazier. I've been using the bathroom all of my life, and I still have no clue what your were supposed to do in those. They just had like a porcelain hole in the floor. CREEPY! They have certainly taken something that God made easy and upped the level of difficulty.