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Thanks. We are on the same page.

I'm not sure what you mean here. What have I said that needs to be clarified with "far more fundamental things"? This is all true. Again, this is all true, and you do seem to understand evangelism in a "Gospel resistant" culture, as the missiologists call it. During our 33 years in Japan there...

I'm not there and cannot imagine what you are going through. But remember: 1. You have to obey the command of Jesus we know as the Great Commission and tell people about Jesus, no matter who tries to stop you. 2. You can rejoice when they persecute you. That is the promise of Jesus Himself in...

I just read in a book about pastoring that Martin Luther prayed 4 hours a day when things got difficult. I must admit, that's a lot more than I ever prayed in difficult situations. But it does help me remember that God used Martin Luther in a mighty way, in spite of his faults.

I don't think the typical conservative missionary willingly participates in idol worship, but I have known missionaries to ignorantly do so, participating in heathen festivals, for example. Or, I knew a missionary wife who started taking lessons on the Japanese tea ceremony (chado), only to...

Pray, pray, pray. That is how you win Buddhists to Christ: get on your knees to the Lord. I would not consider that to be a sacrifice to idols, but simply an overture for friendship. Give the monk a Bible! Many religionists, even if not Christians, have curiosity about what they think of as...

Are those mary jane plants on the windowsill in the classroom pic? Confused

Good point. And as a missionary in an idolatrous culture, I had to learn that idolatry is really the worship of demons, something I never thought of before seeing idolatry in action.

Good post. And of course, our presuppositions must be based on Scripture. There is so much about demons in Scripture it is hard to see how anyone could deny demon possession.

I agree completely. And, as the USA becomes more and more pagan, we will see more demonic activity. Having said that, here's a thought. The world's population now is much, much greater than it was in Bible times, therefore the ratio of Satan's forces to the world population is now quite...

There are factors not mentioned in the survey: geographical location, situations, culture, etc. Of these, perhaps culture is most important in modern times. If a tribal culture believes in demons, there will be incidents of possession. For example, in one of my books chronicling a tribal Bible...

Standing outside and handing them Gospel tracts as they come out is good aggressive street evangelism.

Having been a missionary to a Buddhist country, I understand your query. We wish to reach even the Buddhist priests. The problem with your scenario, is that I have never found false religionists to be open to the Gospel message when they are practicing their own religion. For example, once down...

The coffee setup is wrong except for the big coffee machine. The hermetically sealed drink container and the little plastic stir straws did not exist yet. Also, pretty sure that the foam cups and their plastic lids did not exist.

I remember the day Emperor Hirohito died, or maybe it was the day after. I was headed up into Tokyo from Yokohama to teach at a Bible School. Nothing seemed unusual, but the news that the Emperor had died was out there. I had to transfer trains between stations at the city of Machida when I...

It's a great discussion.

I have to backtrack on one thing. It was Uchimura Kanzo, another Japanese Christian leader in the days of WW2, not Nitobe Inazo. Concerning which factor was stronger in the Japanese surrender, two of my scholarly sources apparently gave both events equal footing in the Japanese decision to...

One thing not mentioned yet is the Japanese philosophy of bushido (武士道), meaning the "way of the warrior." The classical book on this is Bushido, by Japanese educator Nitobe Inazo. He was a Christian and brilliant, but hugely nationalistic, so that he once said, "I love 2 'J's', Japan and Jesus...

Thank you for the kind words. I simply saw the post and simply did not notice that it was not to me! Regardless, I stand by all that I wrote, even if it was not written to me. :) The average modern Japanese in the neighborhoods opposes any kind of offensive war. There are rightists who would...

Let me explain what was going on before the A-bombs and the Japanese surrender. First of all, on the warmongering side were the State Shinto advocates. This was the doctrinal source of the war, a belief that Japan was destined to rule all of Asia. This included military members willing to commit...