ashamed

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