Yay for visual communication!

Finally I have some pictures from Oki to post up. I got to head out to Ie Jima on Thursday and Hazel took about 100 pictures...kudos to the photographer/artist; Hazel-san.

New Students

Some of the new students arrived last night and have been busy getting "acclimated" to Okinawa since. They got up early this morning and walked up and down the 330 and all through Ginowan. This semester looks like it's going to be a blast and I'm glad we have students who are adventurous and eager to try new things.

I wish my camera was working so I could post pictures of the new students, but if anyone wants to see them, you can always check out the e3missions blog as I'm sure Tom will be putting their pictures up soon enough.

Yesterday I was able to travel to Ie Jima (not Iwo Jima), a small island near Okinawa. We traveled there on a fairy and then rode around the island on rented bikes. Awesome stuff. The Island is maybe on 5 km in diameter so we were able to see just about all of the town in a short ride.

I'm doing good and the Lord continues to bless and challenge us in many different ways. Well, take care everyone.

"When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly." 1 Peter 2:23

Prayer

These last couple of days, but especially yesterday and this morning, I've been realizing how decieved I am about life. I won't be able to go too in depth, but after an eye opening dream last night, I realized a small bit of all the spiritual warfare that is constantly going on around us.

Part of my dream...
As if all the muscles in my body were suddenly seized with terror, I found myself laying face down on the ground unable to release myself from this sudden grasp of fear. Mouth open with no words taking form, I heard again the commanding words of the idol before me; "Worship Me!". Two words. Two words that lunged forward with a tenacity unable to be stopped by mere skin and bone. The words cut to my very soul. The words resounded through me; echoing inside the very framework of my consciousness. Fear. Fear was the only thing I was breathing now. As I began to cry out to God, I found myself able to stand up; but this still did little to the fear that had been thrusted into me. As if a seraded blade had burrowed itself into my chest, I stumbled about like some pathetic wounded prey. This fear raped my every thought. Crying to God, the tears from my eyes became to me some small comfort as this blade of fear began to withdraw. I saw a friend. I was nearly consoled by his presence until I heard the words once more. "Worship Me!" A quake of instability struck me and I found myself falling on to this young friend. Once more mind and body are pounded by this supernatural terror... eyes open. back in my room with heart pounding. It was only a dream....

Only a dream. Lying in bed looking into the dimly lit room, I stopped. Bewildered by one thing, I stopped. If dreams are only thoughts, why?... why then is adrenaline coursing so rapidly through my veins? Why then is my heart pounding as my lips are muttering incoherent prayers to God? These questions were only shortly endured as racing thoughts cascaded through my mind. In the midst of all this, the Holy Spirit began to speak to my heart. In clear and unmistakable words, I heard, "Aaron, you need to pray!" The reality of the statement was brought to light by the Spirit as I began to understand exactly what the Lord was saying. The Lord allowed me to experience just a glimpse of the spiritual realm and of the war that is going on all the time. I had only been asleep for 30 minutes during all this dreaming, but the reality of the thing was brought to life by the lucidity of the dream. I need to be praying. "Put on the whole armor of God...praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints..." (Ephesians 6) Let's hear that again. "Put on the whole armor of God...praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints..."....This is a war! This isn't some game I can expect to prance about in! We are saints, called unto God to be holy as He is holy; ambassador's of Christ and joint-heirs with Him; we're a royal priesthood, a holy nation, soldiers in a war for light in darkness... Can I dare think that this branch can even survive apart from the vine?
I am astonished by these verses in Revelation 12, "And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deciever of the whole world...then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus..." (v.9, 17) We're told two major things in these verses; Satan is the deceiver of the whole world (that includes you too Christian), and that he is set on making war against those who hold to the testimony of Jesus (surprise surprise, that's you again Christian). Now, pure common sense would tell us that if Satan, the deciever of the whole world, "a roaring lion" (1 Peter 5:8), is furious and has vowed war against Christians, we should probably prepare to be attacked. Right? Right!? Sure, this sounds good, but you see, this roaring lion is a lot smarter than most give him credit for. As the Word of God has declared, he is a deciever. When was the last time a demon ran up to somebody and beat them up on the side of the street? hmmmm...and the idea of it even sounds funny. And yet we're told that we're entrenched in a war? I have to cut this short because I'm running out of time to write, but know this, Satan's work is in deception: if a person is decieved, guess what, they won't know they're deceived because, and here's that catchy part, they're decieved! The only way we'll ever be able to realize the reality of this war is through spiritual awakening; the gracious act of God alone to open our eyes. God opens our eyes to this war as we are walking in the Spirit, as the verse in Ephesians 6 tells us, through praying always in the Spirit. We can't fight with our eyes closed and we won't even know there's a dang battle going on until our eyes are opened by the Spirit through prayer! Prayer... We must pray! "Aaron, you need to pray!" "(your name), you need to pray!" We're involved in a spiritual war and we're dancing to the soothing symphony of illusion. Satan's painting all sorts of pretty pictures and the heart of God is grieved as Christians, those called by His Holy name, run off to affair after affair with damn illusions! We're getting torn to pieces in this war because we haven't seen it convenient enough to open our eyes and see the war that is ravaging our churches, our homes; our lives! ...Christian. Brother; sister. Pray!

Adjusting

Kayo: "How is it being back in Okinawa?"

Aaron: "It feels like nothing has changed; but everything has changed!!"


Explanation = ...

It's been a blessing being back on Island. I can remember when I was a student here last year and how it seemed like in everyway the Lord was confirming in my heart that I would be coming back. It seemed like every time a "missions" oriented verse would come up, it would be like once again I'd hear the call that I'd be coming back for a season; that I'd be coming back after Bible College. But what is amazing is that it was only a few weeks after I left that I began to seriously doubt that I would ever be back here. I was so certain of my need to go to school and this and that and whatever; Japan seemed like only a fading dream or some nice thing once upon a time, only to exist in memories. It's amazing how faithful the Lord is despite my doubts; despite all my shameful reservations and stubborn hesitations, He is yet faithful to confirm even that which I may cease to believe!

I would like to continue on this thought before I get back to talking about what it's like being back....

Only days after I left Oki last December, I had reconstructive knee surgery which kept me in bed (kind of) for two weeks. After that it was still another 3 or 4 weeks before I could walk again due to meniscus damage and repair. Over those days I had far too much time alone with my racing thoughts and it wasn't long before I came to this great realization that I really needed to "get realistic" with my life. I began doing all kinds of college searches and contacting places etc., because I was certain that, although I would finish up Bible College, I needed to get serious about going to college and preparing for a career path of some kind. I began to completely dismiss even the idea of going back to Oki, thinking that my motivations and plans and ideas were all childish and selfish. It wasn't until I was back at school in Murrieta before I realized that I had been floundering about spiritually and needed to repent of some things in my life. With school back on track in Murrieta, although it wasn't always in bold print, I began to see once again that the Lord was leading me back to Oki. I was greatly encouraged by Pastor Miles, who I was a T.A. for, when he began to share with me about the way the Lord had worked in his life in past years since Bible College. He told me, "The Lord kind of brought me to a place where He said, 'Alright Miles, what do you want to do?' And so after praying about it, I just went about serving the Lord in ways that were on my heart to serve Him." The simplicity of Pastor Miles' encouragement was confounding, and yet it was exactly the thing I needed to hear. The Lord was desiring me to step out in faith, trusting in His promises and leaving it at that. Simple.
So, now, after many months and consistence in putting the patience of the Lord to the test, here I am, back in Oki, no idea what things are going to be like or how classes are going to go, but just waiting, trusting; seeing what the Lord wants to do. I'm tired of my doubts and have become increasingly irritated with my racing mind, all I want is to trust my Lord as a child trusts his loving father. And so I will. I'm going to wait. I'm going to stop with all this nonsense of questioning deterring obedience. Our God is worthy of so much more. If I should wish to have at all a measure of a sound conscience, I must venture all for Christ: He alone is worthy of all my life...

"So how is it being back in Okinawa?"

ii desu. Totemo ii desu. This is still the same Okinawa. Still the Lord is working each day. Still His servants are here laboring. Still the soil of hearts needs is to be tilled. But, as in the words of some man enlightened to a good degree of understanding by the grace of God, "You can never step in to the same river twice. Either the river has changed or it is you who have changed. You can never step in to the same river twice..." Life is in a flux. : )

It's good to be back. Anyone who reads this, please pray that the Lord would, above all other things, glorify His name through my life. That suffering as well as blessing, would be to the end of bringing honor to the name of Christ; that the Lord might redeem His name on the earth and, in the well prayed words of a good friend, "get salvation for Himself"... God Bless you guys.

-Aaron

Arrival in Okinawa

Although all my senses cooperating together agree that I'm now sitting back in Okinawa, it is still far to surreal to completely accept. Perhaps this is why I make a good traveler; it takes me a couple of days to realize that I'm actually gone. : )

The trip went quite smoothly and I was able to get plenty of sleep on the flight to Taiwan. I met some neat people along the way and I thank you all for your prayers. It feels like so much has changed and happened since my departure in December, but yet Okinawa has been faithful to her identity and is still very much the same home it once was. My battery will be running out shortly, so look forward to more updates coming soon. Once again, thank you all for your prayers.

Pics from this summer.

So this summer was generally a more relaxed, more work oriented summer... The pics I'm putting up in this first blog are only through June I believe.

First, Dougie-fresh and myself. This was taken at Calvary Chapel Living Water by Tommy while he was in town. Doug and I have both been praying about going back to Okinawa ever since we left. It looks like I'll be going out this semester, but the Lord has other plans for Doug and he might be heading out to Oki for the spring semester.

Here's a pic (below) of the family (except Adam) dressed up for a 50's themed Birthday party for a family friend who was, coincidentally, turning 50. Fun stuff. Even though everyone was told to come dressed up, we were just about the only one's dressed up... : ) This summer I spent much more time with my family than I have in previous summers.

Here's our first litter of puppies all grown up. They're 1/2 poodle, 1/2 maltise (maltipoo's). The one on the left is Ciesel, the one on the right is Sandy. They were our first puppies and definetely a load of fun to be around. I think the puppies made me appreciate much more the innocent things in life.

To the right is my Dad driving our boat on lake San Antonio near San Luis Obispo. We spent a week in central California just boating and relaxing with a close group of family friends.

While we were on vacation, we had the opportunity of learning about our white-man heritage. : D Here are the guys all lined up shooting clay pigeons off the back deck with 12-gauge shotguns. This was the first time Adam and I ever fired a shotgun, so it was both exciting as well as a learning experience in the power of guns.

A friend fixed up our jet-ski's and for the first time in 7 years we were able to take them out on the water. These things were a blast! At first it was really hard to balance it in the midst of all the boat wake, but soon we learned about standing on the sides of the jet-ski, (as Adam is doing in the picture) which gave us far more stability. With the jet-ski stable, the fun really began. After the week, there weren't any serious injuries and only a few bumps and bruises.

While we were heading back home on Sunday, there was a fire just off Interstate 5, so we tried to find an alternative route through the hills coming in to L.A. When we had been driving on the freeway, Aariel saw signs about a Lake Pyramid approaching, and although she kept asking and persisting that we stop off and take our boat out one more time, my Dad just wanted to get home. Well, it turned out that the side road we tried to shortcut the freeway with led right to Lake Pyramid, so we ended up cruising around for a couple hours. It was a really nice vacation and I especially enjoyed the fellowship with brothers and sisters I don't get to see very much. It was a little crazy at times with all those people staying in that one house, but the Lord gave us patience. : )

*That's the limit on pictures for now, so look forward to the next post recapping my work life and other times of summer.. : )

"We have our beliefs, but we don't want our beliefs... God of peace, we want you."





-"Four Word Letter: pt. 2", mewithoutYou





I have often wondered and reflected upon why I can never keep a consistent journal. There have been many attempts at such a task, but it seems that ultimately, as I have have discovered, the task is doomed before it's inception. It is upon this matter of why no journal of mine has succeeded that I wish to address my thoughts, and in such examination, hopefully realize and rightly respond to the greater undertone of decay which has eaten away the foundation of many of the tasks to which I have set myself to.





There is much pride in the hearts of men... Sadly, even this statement is a cleverly devised understatement of the reality it's author refuses to fully accept. Consciousness, as in this case meaning the awareness possessed by the author of his own pitfalls and depravity, is alone no evil thing, nor can it be considered good of itself, but is a mere tool given by the hand of God that revelation of one's true condition might be received, and, prayerfully, rightfully responded to. Not far unlike consciousness is the general spectrum of knowledge itself. Knowledge, of any certain thing, seems to remain stubbornly neutral on all occasions, never to act out of it's own volition, but is, as consciousness, a mere tool, a loaded gun if you will, with which the possesser may effectively use to his own ends. This matter of consciousness has cleverly worked it's way in to my thoughts because in the process of introspection and examination of motives, it is impossible to avoid the night and day distinction between the consciousness or knowledge of something, and the action or response or use of that knowledge...





Too much on my mind...





As a child, I can recall the familiar mantra that was persistently plugged into my mind: "Knowledge is Power". Although it has taken some time to really come to agreeance with this statement, I believe that it is, despite my limited understanding, very much true. The footnote my childhood educators neglected to include with this mantra, (probably due to nievete and not so much negligence) however, is the age old motif cited so well in Orwell's Animal Farm, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely". I do believe that our good friend Hitler himself realized the truth in those three words of our childhood education. Knowledge of something is only the fuel; only God knows what a man might do with enough fuel. And so it is not knowledge itself that will help any man, though it is, no doubt, a necessity (the fuel), but it is the right application of that knowledge. And since "the heart of man is deceitfully wicked above all things", I suggest that we are absolutely hopeless in our total and complete depravity as blind and dead sinners, left only to destroy ourselves and those around us if given the opportunity. But; and here is the best part to which all God's redeemed can proclaim a most assured amen; But God has so desired the salvation of men that He should open the eyes of the blind and raise to life the dead in His work of regeneration that His redeemed might realize their depravity and fall upon Christ alone to save them. There is no hope aside from God's grace....








: )








Now, from a third lens, let's look at what just happened here.





- Aaron sat down to write a blog entry


- Aaron forgot what he wanted to write about (apparently this came after he gave the mewithoutYou quote)


- Aaron began to write about why he can't keep a journal


- Aaron's writing was off in la-la land about consciousness or something


- Aaron ended up getting on to the matter of total depravity


- Aaron wants to write about "reforming" his theology


- Aaron doesn't want to write about "reforming" his theology


- Aaron begins to examine Aaron examining Aaron, and write's a recap of the blog entry...





Conclusion:


I have discovered why Aaron can't keep a journal. His thoughts are inconsistent and scattered, lacking any sort of focus and, more unfortunately, the ambition or motivation to focus those thoughts. The result of this; no consistent journal. Why does he lack the ambition or motivation? Or why does he feel that a journal must be anything special? Pride. Purely so. It would appear that he cares too much about the perception others have of him to actually sit down and let out information which may conflict, and thus possibly contradict, with the opinions they've gathered upon outward observation. He lacks motivation because in fact the writing of the blog is for his own selfish ends of entertaining ideas and feeling a sense of pride in the entertainment of ideas. He lacks the eloquence and precision and mind that he selfishly wishes he had. He is, above most all other things, a proud man...





(there was a train of thought running somewhere in this blog)





But now on to important things.





I would like to start keeping this blog up almost daily...



And so with that, I will soon begin my next blog detailing some things that have transpired over the course of this summer.