Gone to Japan and back

Some you may already know that I had a business trip to Japan in August. And I did not send a journal entry as is my custom. I have a good excuse for not sending it while there – I was sick over the only weekend I had to write. I do NOT have an excuse for why it has taken so long to write ANYTHING since then, so my apologies.

So here goes:

The company requires that my flights to Japan must go through either Chicago or San Francisco. To make that connection, I need to leave my house at 4:15 in the morning on Monday. A very early start to what will be a long day. It was a tough start as I knew I would be missing the funeral of a friend of nearly 25 years. My thoughts were with her and her family, and all those who mean so much to me.

The flight was smooth and the weather great and clear. We landed at 9:45 AM in San Francisco, early enough for me to get some work done in the International Business Lounge and meet up with my co-worker, Pat, who was going to Japan with me for this trip. We were both seated in the upper deck of the 747 (my favorite seat on these long flights). The new seating configuration of the 747 was impressive – pod-like sitting area, large digital screen, on-demand videos (which are great in that you “pause” the movie or video when you need to leave your seat rather than holding on and waiting for the end of the film), shelves in front of and storage area next to my seat. However the proof is in the comfort, and unfortunately, the lay-down flat seat had a side-to-side “ridge” where the seat folded. I didn’t sleep any better than when in coach with this lump mashing into my side in back all night. When awake the pod is great, but they still have got a lot of work to do if the intent is to help business travelers rest.

The last 1 ½ hours of the flight was rather turbulent, and we landed at a little before 2 PM on Tuesday afternoon. We had a short wait for the shuttle bus that took us to the hotel, and the bus ride was about an 1 ½ hours long. The total transit time from my front door to my hotel room was 22 ½ hours with about 3 ½ hours of sleep.

After we checked in before trying to sleep off the jetlag, we met two more of our co-workers, visiting Japan from our Singapore office, for dinner at a local sushi restaurant. Very local with low tables on raised platforms, no chairs, and removing of shoes before sitting on the floor pads. By the time I headed for home 11 days later, I was really missing chairs at dinner.

Speaking of jetlag, you really can NOT just sleep it off. At least not in one night. This first night I woke up at midnight, 3:30 and then 4:45. The latter is not that surprising as sunrise is before 5 AM so light was already filtering through the curtains, and I normally get up around that time for work when back home.

Our hotel is right next to the Tokyo Dome, home to the Japanese baseball team, the Yomiuri Giants (The Yomiuri Giants are the NY Yankees of Japan having won more pennants and Japan Series titles than any other team in Japan). During the week the Giants were playing one of their arch-rivals, and the hotel was packed most of the week and weekend. The hotel and the Dome seem to act as a buffer between a more traditional Tokyo and the young, hip, and Westernized Tokyo - near the Dome is an amusement park a mall, and several restaurants - Japanese, Italian, deli's, coffee shops, KFC, McDonalds, and Bubba Gumps.

Each day we had breakfast in the hotel executive lounge (usually rice cereal, yogurt, and fruit), and took a taxi to the office. The taxis are quite a cultural experience (they are in Houston, too, but for a different reason). The drivers often wear white gloves and the taxi seats have lace covers. The drivers can open the doors automatically for you with a level near their seat. All of the taxis has GPS Navigation systems, they always give you a receipt when you pay, and tipping (as for most services in Japan) is not expected.

But the best part of getting to the office was the Starbucks right next door!

Our hours were long – usually 10 hours or more. We would have lunch nearby – once a Italian noodle house, once a steak restaurant, once a Japanese noodle house – and they all had chairs.  We chose to walk back to the hotel, which was about a 20 minute walk away, and stop for dinner on the way wherever it looked interesting. We found a tempura restaurant one night, and when we entered the cook (who looked like he was also the owner), said something and waved us back to the door. Before we could move, a woman who appeared to be his wife, said something sharply to him and then guided us to a table for dinner. Maybe he thought we were in the wrong place, but the tempura was good.

By the second day, my allergies were becoming worse and had developed into a sinus infection and possibly a cold. So Friday afternoon I left the office early and went to a doctor recommended by the American embassy. His office was on the top floor of a non-descript building in the Akasaka district of Tokyo. The office was rather small with two “rooms” for examinations. The rooms were divided only by temporary partitions that did not extend all the way to the ceiling. In Japan, pharmacies are not segregated from the medical profession as they are in the U.S. and in other western countries, so the cost of my visit included the doctor’s examination and all medicines he prescribed. He ordered up for me an anti-biotic, two kinds of decongestants, a cough syrup, and a gargle for sore throat. He also had to double the prescription for it seemed that I was just a “little bit bigger” than the size of the average Japanese male. I need to work on that. I did not have any problem conversing with the doctor – his English was quite good – but I was glad to have an interpreter with me for the nurses/pharmacists did not speak any English and I would not have had any idea of how often or how much medicine to take without her. The total cost – examination and prescriptions - was around $80.

We finished more quickly than expected so we walked around the district for a while. The Akasaka, which means "Red Slope", district is a residential and commercial area near some of the government buildings and the U.S. embassy. It is the area where the President would likely stay when visiting Japan. There are very many hotels, stores, and restaurants in the area, including many that specifically cater to the western expatriate community. We passed one pub that could have been plucked right out of Dublin and dropped into Tokyo. One of the hotels in the area has as part of its grounds a large Japanese garden, and we spent a while walking through there and getting some fresh air. Also in the area were several small shrines and one large Shinto shrine and a Buddhist cemetery in the midst of the high-rises.

That evening we met the rest of our work group for dinner at a place called “Ninja”. This was a theme restaurant where the hosts, servers, and entertainers (including a magician in our room) all dressed as Ninja warriors. We were guided through several ninja challenges to see if we were worthy to pass deeper into the restaurant – winding passageways and stairs, hidden doors and bridges, and finally arriving at our special dining room. We had to remove our shoes before we entered the room, which overlooked a secret cave and “underground” river and treasure.

The real treasure was the dinner, which was served in the Kaiseki manner - a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner. Each item served as a "course." We had eight courses: Foie Gras with crackers shaped like “ninja star” darts ; tuna sashimi with avocado; tofu and bamboo soup with soymilk; noodles; tempura; grilled fish (the entire fish); sushi; and dessert.

Saturday morning when I got up my throat was quite sore and my voice very hoarse, but I did not have a fever. We decided on a very simple day with just a little shopping and sight-seeing. All three of us had been in Tokyo before, so this was not a problem. We went to the Asakusa district, where I had visited twice before but neither of my co-workers had ever been. The district is home to the Senso-Ji Temple, the oldest and most sacred Buddhist Temple in Tokyo. A large gate marks the entrance to the Temple grounds and is called "Thunder Gate." It features a massive paper lantern painted in red and black, and this image has become the symbol of the temple. The street between the Thunder Gate and the temple itself is called "Nakamise-dori" and is lined with shops selling souvenirs to pilgrims and tourists. The shops sell fans, key chains, cups, dolls, vases, plates, toys, bread, snacks and other sweets, clothing (kimonos and T-shirts), swords, hair combs, jewelry, purses, cell-phone attachments, you name it and there is probably a shop that sells it. The place was packed, but fortunately because of the summer heat the street was covered by a retractable awning.

As you enter the temple grounds itself, the smell of incense fills the air. A three-foot diameter incense burner dominates the central square and worshippers wave the smoke over themselves for healing. A five-story pagoda towers over the grounds which include the main hall decorated with art and flowers, and several smaller shrines scattered around the complex. Near the entrance of the temple is are omikuji stalls where for a small donation of 100 yen (about a dollar), visitors may consult the oracle. You pick up an enclosed metal container, shake out a labeled stick which contains a number from 1 to 100, and read the corresponding fortune from one of 100 possible drawers. One co-worker received a “bad fortune” warning her of sickness and advising not to travel or to “build a house,” the second co-worker had a sort of good fortune promising good health (she got sick two days later) but warning against travel (she had to fly home to Singapore because of her illness). My fortune – the one who WAS sick – was a VERY good fortune promising good health to come, a safe journey, and good time for business and for “building a house.”

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

We sent the remainder of the afternoon at Ueno Park. Ueno Park is a large public park which occupies the site of the former temple closely associated with the Tokugawa shoguns. It was also the sight of one of the final battles that reestablished political domination of the Imperialists and emperor over the shogun. In the park is the statue of Saigō Takamori, the samurai featured in the movie, “The Last Samurai”. He is honored, for while he fought against the Emperor’s army to preserve the samurai way of life, it was his military leadership that helped place the Emperor in power.

The park is now home to many museums, shrines, the zoon, and many homeless people. We also saw many entertainers throughout the park, including Andean musicians. I have been to Peru before, so this was a familiar and welcome sound.

On Sunday, we left the hotel and headed for the train station. I had hoped to attend the English speaking church in Tokyo (I had visited there before in 2007), but they did not start services until 11 AM, and we needed to leave the hotel by 11:30 AM. We boarded the Shinkansen “bullet” train for our trip to the office in Omaezaki about just before 1 PM. The train travels at spends that top 160 MPH on several occasions. They are traveling so fast that when a train goes by in the oppostite direction, you can feel the wind effect and still see the countryside through the windows of the passing express. The interior is as comfortable, or more so, than many airplanes. The seat could be rotated so you could face another party, so the four of us traveling sat face-to-face and visited most of the way.

We passed through a region called the Japanese Alps, and stopped at a station very near Mt. Fuji. The weather was great and we had a fine view of the top of the mountain. We entered a region called Shizuoka and the view was great of the farms and tea plantations on the hillsides.

We arrived at our stop at Kakegawa about 2 hours after we left Tokyo. We were met by a driver from the office and traveled the next ½ hour to our hotel. Being a Sunday AND a holiday weekend (the holiday celebrates the ancestors whose spirits are said to return home for time with their families), most restaurants were closed. So we took a cab to Shizouka Country Hamaoka Course and Hotel - a huge country club – for a Japanese dinner. The server spoke no English, but she had a Japanese/English dictionary so she could read to us what she was serving for each course.

Courtesy to guests is a very big deal in Japan and not only did our server bow deeply to us as we left the restaurant that evening, but even on the trains the conductor will bow as he enters the car and as he leaves.

Omaezaki is the area where we were staying and working for the week. It is on a peninsula jutting out into the ocean, so the sun rises and sets over the Pacific (and we have had some great sunsets). The surfing is supposed to be great, tea and strawberries are common crops, a nuclear plant is along the coast on the way to and from the hotel, and there is an old lighthouse still in use at the tip of the peninsula that dates to the 1870s. We ate dinner one night near the lighthouse – another multi-course Japanese style dinner, including green tea ice cream.

Omaezaki has also experienced seismic activity recently. The day we arrived in Tokyo, but before we had landed, a major earthquake had occurred, centered off the coast in the Pacific Ocean. Our office and many of the structures suffered minor damage – broken roof tiles and things falling off of the shelves – but nothing major. Throughout the week, both in Tokyo and in Omaezaki, we felt tremors or the building swaying at least three times. A bit unsettling experience.

Our last night in Omaezaki we dined at another fancy, “Kaiseki” style restaurant and our courses were: Sea snails (only our Japanese hosts tried these), sashimi of tuna, squid, snapper, and a local fish; roasted potatoes; salad; tempura of fish and vegetables; soup with rice; and green tea ice cream (I really like this stuff).

We took the train back to Tokyo on Thursday evening and had dinner at a hamburger place near the hotel. Ahhh! – hot grilled food and chairs!

I have some pictures of the trip at http://scottshots4.shutterfly.com/393

Sorry I was so late in sending this. Thank you for your interest, love and friendship.

Alan

Thoughts on sheep

A few years ago, my wife and I spent a week in the countryside of England and Wales. We saw a lot of sheep and that got me thinking about Jesus' frequent reference of us as His disciples as "sheep."

It is NOT a compliment.

You could always tell when you were near sheep, even when you could not hear them or see them. Sheep stink. I do not recall Jesus saying anything about how a sheep smells, but I am pretty certain they smelled about the same 2000 years ago as they do now. They really stink.

One evening, we opened our guest window and there was this one sheep standing by himself and bleating very loudly - BAA! BAA! (long pause) BAA! BAA! (another long pause, then repeat again). I don't know what had this one so agitated, but it brought to mind Jesus' compassion, "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matthew 9:36, NIV)

On two separate occasions, we were walking near a flock and as we approached the sheep would freeze in one spot, stare at us intently, and then run in the opposite direction. We cleared two pastures just going for a walk. It reminded me of Jesus' words, "[Sheep] will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." (John 10:6, NIV) The sheep did not recognize us and so they ran.

Once, while driving along a road next to a field, we saw a flock running from one side of a small plot of ground to the other. Nothing was chasing them - they were running before we pulled up. They were just running - 50 feet to the east, stop, turn, run 50 feet to the west, stop, turn, run 50 feet to the east, stop, turn, run 50 feet to the west, stop, turn, run 50 feet to the east, stop, turn, run 50 feet to the west, stop, turn, etc, etc, etc. We watched then do this for several minutes. On one stop and turn, the lead sheep stopped successfully short of a small ditch. The two behind him were a little slower and when trying to stop, ran into his back side pushing him into the ditch. Sort of like the three stooges in wool. How often do we run back and forth in life without a clue as to why we are running or where we are going (of even if we are going anywhere at all)? Sheep without a shepherd to lead them.

Finally, we visited an abbey on a small island. The monks raise cattle which they use to produce milk and butter for milk chocolate made on the island. They used to keep sheep but the sheep kept wandering off the cliffs on the edge of the island. Dumb. Really dumb. So the monks moved the sheep to safer pasture.

We are the Lord's sheep. Having seen sheep up close, I can better appreciate how desparately we need a Good Shepherd. And also, how much the Lord has entrusted to us to care for one another and "feed His sheep." (John 21:15-17).

God bless

Different Perspectives

One blessing of travel is the opportunity to see something common from another person's or another culture's point of view.

Passions are a part of any belief, and when the beliefs are discounted, slandered, or judged then it is easy for the passions to rise to the surface. The passions are within our control, and so are the words we choose are also within our control.

But also within our control is how we listen to another point-of-view. An example I often recall is in the closing chapters of the book by John Grisham, "A Time To Kill." The all-white jury is deliberating whether to convict or acquit the black defendant for killing the man who was accused of raping the defendant's young daughter. One juror asks the rest of the jury (in the film version, the defense attorney makes this plea) to re-create in the own mind the details of the rape, and then asks the jurors to imagine all of this horror happening to a young white girl rather than a young black girl. This ability to empathize with another perspective enables the jury to vote to acquit the father who was defending his little girl.

For those of us who have grown up with American traditions and judge other cultures against our own, we ought to ask something akin to the above example - what if it were our traditions and beliefs that are continually judged as wrong and unworthy of being followed by others - how would our passions be kindled?

Traveling has not changed my core values - I still consider myself in the conservative political spectrum, and consider myself a consevative Christian. But what has changed is that I now recognize that their other points-of-view out ehere, I am exceedingly blessed in ways that is humbling when I see the rest of the world, and that others may misundestand my points-of-view just as I might misunderstand theirs.

Our passions and our words need to be under our control. And we need to understand how it would be to be treated ourselves the way we sometimes treat our fellow Christians.

God bless

Thoughts on 1st John

This has nothing to do with travel, but I thought it was timely in light of some of the discussions between traditional Churches of Christ and those less traditional.

John wrote this first letter while obviously upset about something - he was upset that his readers were being swayed - or at least tempted - by those who claimed to have a special knowledge of God and so were causing strife among the brothers. When someone is upset, it is not unusual for them to repeat themselves to emphasize their key points. John does this throughout the letter.

It is easy to see this by copying the letter into a word processor and searching for key words or phrases, and seeing how often they reappear. These repetitions help us see what John is trying to tell his readers, and us.

Here are results of some of my searches:

Who is a liar (search for "liar" or "lie")?
1. Those who say they have fellowship with Jesus while they walk in darkness
2. Those who say they have not sinned.
3. Whoever says, "I know Jesus" but does not keep His commandments.
4. He who denies that Jesus is the Christ.
5. Whoever says, "I love God," and hates his brother.
6. He who has not believed in the testimony that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Who knows the truth (search on "truth" or "true" or "truly")?
1. Whoever walks in the light, as Jesus is in the light.
2. Whoever confesses their sins.
3. Whoever keeps Jesus' word.
4. Whoever says he abides in Jesus and walks in the same way in which He walked.
5. Whoever confesses the Son.
6. Whoever abides in the Son and in the Father
7. Whoever loves in deed.
8. Whoever believes in the Son of God.

What we know (search on "know" or "knowledge" or "known")?
1. What John has proclaimed to us - the life of Jesus.
2. We have fellowship with the Father and with Jesus.
3. God is light.
4. If we walk in the light, as God is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
5. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
6. We have an advocate with the Father.
7. Jesus is the propitiation for our sins.
8. If we keep Jesus' commandments, we have come to know him.
9. If we keep Jesus' word, the love of God is perfected in us.
10. We ought to walk in the same way in which Jesus walked.
11. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
12. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light.
13. We know our sins are forgiven for Jesus name's sake
14. We know Him who is from the beginning.
15. We have overcome the evil one.
16. We know the Father.
17. We are strong.
18. The word of God abides in us.
19. If we love the world, the love of the Father is not in us.
20. Whoever does the will of God abides forever.
21. We have knowledge because we have been anointed by the Holy One.
22. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.
23. We know the promise that Jesus made to us-eternal life.
24. Everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Jesus.
25. We are called children of God.
26. Jesus appeared to take away sins.
27. No one who abides in Jesus keeps on sinning.
28. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous.
29. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil.
30. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning.
31. We should love one another.
32. We have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.
33. Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
34. We are of the truth.
35. God knows everything.
36. Whatever we ask we receive from God.
37. Whoever keeps Jesus' commandments abides in Him, and He in them.
38. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.
39. He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.
40. Whoever knows God listens to the letter John has written.
41. The Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
42. Love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God.
43. God is love.
44. God sent his only Son into the world.
45. We ought to love one another.
46. No one has ever seen God.
47. God has given us of his Spirit.
48. The Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
49. Everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning.
50. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
51. The Son of God has come and has given us understanding.

What is right? What pleases God? (search on "right" or "command")

1. Believe in the name of the Son Jesus Christ.
2. Keep His commandments.
3. Love one another.

It is my guess that we do the first two very well. It is the latter than Christians have struggled with the most. It only takes a quick look at how Christians have misused the name of Christ through the Inquisitions, the Crusades, the opposition against the Reformation, multiple divisions of Christ's body through the centuries, and even modern day "Demas" lists to see how we do NOT love one another. We see too much "our side" and "their side."

I think much of 1 John is similar to Paul's thoughts to the Galatians in 3:26-29. To paraphrase, "We are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of us who have been baptized into Christ have clothed ourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, Democrat nor Republican, American or European, rich or poor, male nor female, educated or uneducated, 'our corner' or 'your corner', for we are all one in Christ Jesus. If we belong to Christ, then we are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

As I mentioned before, the main theme of John's first epistle seems to be who is of Christ and who is not (IOW, who we should fellowship with). What is right? What pleases God?

1. Believe in the name of the Son Jesus Christ.
2. Keep His commandments.
3. Love one another.

John seems to be explaining to his readers, "Who is a true Christian."

1. We should not sin, but still we do.
§ 1:8-10 – the liar claims he is without sin. We confess our sins
§ 2:1-6 – Jesus speaks to the Father on our behalf, and we walk as Jesus did.
§ 2:29 – we do what is right. We are born of Him.
§ 3:4-6, 9-10 – we live in Him and do not continue in a lifestyle of sin
§ A true Christian knows that sin separates us from the Father. We all sin, and Jesus speaks to the Father in our behalf when we sin. When sin becomes our lifestyle, however, we no longer live in Him. A true Christian does not continue in a lifestyle of sin.

2. We know the truth of Jesus.
§ 2:18-23 – We know Jesus has come in the flesh
§ 2:26-27 – Our anointing from Him teaches us all things.
§ 3:7-8 – we know he who does what is right is righteous
§ 4:1-6 – we know that not every spirit is of God, and we know Jesus came from God
§ A true Christian knows Jesus came in the flesh and that Jesus is the Son of God. We should not believe every spirit, because some spirits deny either of the previous truths. Any spirit that denies either of these is the anti-Christ.

3. His Spirit is in us.
§ 3:21-24 - We know Christ lives in us by the Spirit God gives us.
§ 4:13-16 – We know we live in God and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit.
§ A true Christian has the Spirit that God gave us.

4. Call to purity and eternal life
§ 2:15-17 – if we love the world – cravings of sin, lust of the eyes, boasting of what we have done - the love of the Father is not in us.
§ 2:24-25 – if we remain in the Son and the Father, we are promised eternal life.
§ 3:1-3 – because of this hope, we purify ourselves.
§ A true Christian lives a life that is called to purity

5. The new command
§ 2:7-8 – a new command, yet an old one we have had since the beginning. A new command seen in Jesus.
§ 2:28 – We continue in Jesus.
§ 3:11-15 – We should love one another. Failure to love leads to death.
§ 3:16-22 – Love is Jesus laying down His life for us, so we should lay down our lives for each other
§ 4:7-12 – Everyone who loves has been born of God
§ 4:16-21 – God is love, so we love
§ God loves us, so the true Christian loves each other. We see God when we see love in each other.

Look at the Good Samaritan. Who is my neighbor? How do I lay down my life for my brother?
§ A living sacrifice – Romans 12:1
§ An active faith – James 2:14-26

What is right? What pleases God?

John said that he has written these things in this letter, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life."

John says we have confidence before God of our salvation:

1. There is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ (4:15; 5:1, 5, 13)
2. We keep His word and commands (2:3-5; 3:24; 5:2)
3. We walk after the example of Jesus (2:6)
4. We love the Father and His will, rather than the world (2:15-17)
5. We habitually practice righteousness rather than sin (2:29; 3:8-10)
6. We love the brethren (2:9-11; 3:14, 15, 18, 19; 4:8, 11, 12, 16, 20; 5:1)
7. We are conscious of the dwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (3:24; 4:13; 5:10)

These can be summed up in two points:
1. Live the fruits of the Spirit – love one another to the point of laying down our lives for one another; and do what pleases God – do what is right.
2. Profess in Jesus Christ as the Savior – anyone who does not acknowledge that Jesus Christ came in the flesh and also in God's one and only Son in whom we have faith of atonement of our sins does not have God, is the anti-Christ, and is not a Christian.

(sounds a lot like the two greatest commandments Jesus taught about – "Love the Lord your God with all you heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as your self – on this hang all the Law and the prophets.")

We measure all who call themselves Christians by these two standards – their lifestyle and the stance on the divinity of Christ.

But how doctrinally correct must we be to have confidence before God and know we are true Christians and thus saved? John lists nothing other than the two above points.

How do I apply the words of John to my life? I believe a few items that I consider the basic essentials:

I believe that Jesus is the Son of God (Matthew 16:16).

I believe that Jesus poured out His blood for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28).

I believe that we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:4-10).

I believe that our faith must include turning from trusting whatever we did in our old life to trusting in Jesus (Acts 2:38).

I believe that our faith must include being immersed in water in the name of Jesus as a representation of His death, burial, and resurrection to be raised to a new life so my sins will be forgiven (Acts 2:38; Romans 6).

I believe that there is one God the Father, maker of heaven and earth (Genesis 1 & John 1).

I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Word, who was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man (John 1, Matthew 1, Luke 1).

I believe He suffered crucifixion, was buried, rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven, and will come again to judge the living and the dead (1 Corinthians 15: 1-8; Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:9-11; 2 Timothy 4:1).

I believe in the Holy Spirit whom God has promised to give to dwell in the hearts of all Christians (John 7:38-39; Acts 2:38-39; Acts 5:32; Romans 5:5; Romans 8:9-11; 1 Corinthians 6:18-20; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 3:14-21).

I believe in the one Church, the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 5:23).

I believe in and look forward to the coming resurrection of the dead and eternal life (1 Corinthians 11:26; Hebrews 9:28).

My beliefs are founded upon what is written in the word of God and only on what is written in the word of God rather than on the traditions of man or human logic (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 15:1-6, Psalm 19:7-11).

I strive to handle any issue not found expressly in the scriptures in a manner that does not produce contention or division (Romans 14).

We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But we have confidence in our salvation when we believe Jesus came in the flesh, that Jesus brings eternal life, we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, and we live a lifestyle consistent with what pleases God.