Hi,
Welcome to the magazine. I've been looking at some statistics on the church magazine recently. - Yes, the evenings just fly by in the Boyds' house these days.
Did you know last week was the lowest clicks the magazine has ever received. And this comes hard on the heels of the news of Broom Church, NMBC and the Tron joining a Euro Super Magazine Group - reprehensible!
It was good to receive news from the Suessmuth family in Japan this week. If you didn't receive that email and would like to get it please drop Sue a note at the church and we will organise that that for you. It's Martina's 10th anniversary in Japan...I pointed out that Martina looks exactly the same as when she went out there, and Stefan is claiming that living with him has kept her youthful! I had hoped that Germany being beaten by North Macedonia a few weeks ago (which I texted him about immediately) would have humbled him a bit, but seemingly not. I have put some of the newsletter below.
There is also news from India which we should pray about - what a situation they are facing. Lis and Shubhro Mullick are in constant contact with that situation and have a prayer update.
Apart from that it's a quiet a week this week...bit of a theme around the Vaccine Passport discussion - and we start with interesting letter from Scott which dovetails well with a link to an interview given by Willie Philip of the Tron Church. And then there is the Ladybird book...
Lastly, don't forget to start booking for services in MAY - all the details are below. And there is a hope of increased capacity!
Enjoy the Mag.
MB
From the Manse
Dear Congregation,
Some of you may be aware that earlier in April an open letter was written to the Prime Minister questioning the fairness of “COVID passports”. This letter was written by a few church leaders but signed by hundreds of “clergy”. I was one who added my signature (https://vaccinepassportletter.wordpress.com/).
There were three main concerns expressed in the letter. I might summarise these with the words, logic, conscience and discrimination. On the last of these three points, the letter said,
“For the Church of Jesus Christ to shut out those deemed by the state to be social undesirables would be anathema to us and a denial of the truth of the Gospel.
The message we preach is given by God for all people and consists in nothing other than the free gift of grace offered in Christ Jesus, with the universal call to repentance and faith in him.”
Admittedly, I have never heard or read any statement by the Government indicating that the “passport” would be necessary for accessing all public gatherings (including worship). However, slippery slopes are hard to get off once on them.
With the authors of the letter, I agree that it would have been utterly incongruous with a Gospel of Grace to exclude anyone from worship because they did not possess the right credentials. From Old Testament through New Testament those without correct credentials are invited to receive the Gospel and cared for.
Secondly, I signed the letter to minimize the possibility of me becoming a “law-breaker” by letting all into worship, passport or not. To consciously break the law of the land should never be a casual decision. As Christians, our default position should always be with the Scriptures and in this case, the apostle Paul,
“everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted…” (Romans 13.1-2). This Scripture is not an absolute, as there are times when we must obey God and not man (Acts 4.19). However, this fact does not give us a trump card to be whipped out and played simply because we feel strongly about a particular issue.
My own view is actually that the creation of such passports may still be necessary, but with a limited and clearly defined purpose (for example, in order to travel to countries requiring them). I believe both the UK and Scottish Governments are currently acting in good faith to get us through this pandemic even when they propose something I think wrong-headed. It is our duty as Christians to pray for these Governments as they navigate their way forward for the benefit of the nation (1st Timothy 2.1-2).
Surely, we must not just settle for easy party-politics, but rather pray for and speak out for the values of the Kingdom of God. Sometimes this will mean we align ourselves with our favourite political party and at other times we will not be able to.
Importantly, as Christians, in any discussion about our leaders,
(private or public) or discussion with our leaders, that discussion should be conducted with charity and grace. We must not simply adopt the present culture which so often operates from political bias and tends towards abuse (Romans 12.2). Would a sanctified starting point not be one of respect, even if it is respectful disagreement?
With warmest regards as ever,
Scott
Vaccine Passport
You may have read of the landmark court ruling overturning the Scottish Government's ban on church services.
A Court of Session in Scotland ruled that Scottish government Covid pandemic regulations, banning church services, “disproportionately interfered” with the freedom of religion secured in the European Convention on Human Rights.
Rev William Phillip of the Tron was asked about this decision but with the main focus of the interview on Vaccine Passports on UNHERD and it's really worth watching. Watch "Priests speak out: the moral case against vaccine passports"
here.
St.Luke's, Hiranpur
You may have been following the news from India this week - a real tragedy is unfolding.
India's healthcare system is buckling as a record surge in Covid-19 cases puts pressure on hospital beds and drains oxygen supplies.
Families are left pleading for their relatives who are desperately ill, with some patients left untreated for hours. Crematoriums are organising mass funeral pyres. On Friday India reported 332,730 new cases of coronavirus, setting a world record for a second day running. Deaths were numbered at 2,263 in 24 hours.
As you can imagine this has been very upsetting for Lis and Shubhro Mullick to have to deal with as they are still in Scotland. They continue to have a huge input to the work across there via the internet but are finding the news of some of the decisions being taken there very hard to take.
This week they have sent out a further update to ask for prayer, for those in St.Luke's, Hiranpur and the surrounding area.
You can access the latest prayer news from Spring 2021 and the Covid update here.
News from Stefan and Martina in Japan
For us this anniversary reminds us of God’s faithfulness and support over the last 10 years. In hindsight these 10 years were definitely not always easy. There were many challenges, disappointments and discouragements. But He was always faithful! In times of joy as well as (or: especially) in times of difficulties. We are thankful, that Martina was able to grow in her faith over these years and that she was able to share Jesus with so many of her friends. May God use all these seeds in the hearts of our Japanese friends.
At this point we also want to thank all of you for your faithful support over so many years. It is a privilege to serve alongside you here in Japan. Without your prayers, words of encouragement and financial support we would not have been able to share the Gospel with Japanese college students over so many years. May God bless you for your support.
On 9th April we celebrated the first birthday of Jonas. We are thankful to God that he protected him during his first year in this world (completely marked by the worldwide pandemic). Jonas really is a blessing for us as a family as he is a very joyful and smiling little boy. Daily we wait for him to start walking. Lasse is definitely a big motivation for him.
Lasse is so looking forward to go to kindergarten after he turns three in May. Although his Japanese still needs some improvement, it doesn’t hinder him to be a good playmate to his Japanese friends. Please pray that he would not be overwhelmed in a bigger group, especially when he feels misunderstood. Also the Timing regarding Kindergarten is still unclear. It depends on when we can go to Germany for our Home Assignment this summer. Please pray for wisdom on that matter.
Originally we wanted to start our Home Assignment in June. But the current Corona situation in Germany makes us wonder if a later start would be better. We definitely want to go sometime in the summer but the exact date will be decided when we have more clarity about how the situation in Germany will look like in July or August. Please pray for wisdom in that. After we postponed our time in Germany already 2 times for 6 months we really get tired of waiting. In the same time we want to stay thankful for the relatively save situation here in Shizuoka and want to trust God’s perfect timing.
From our One On One's
Kota is a former BEST student who graduated last year. As many young Japanese he is facing many challenges: Long working hours, often just one free day per week, no opportunity to share openly, pressure for conformity and success, ... Kota especially suffers from these difficult circumstances and is searching for joy and fulfilment in his life. He therefore started to read many books about that topic. We are very thankful, that he trusts us as a family and enjoys our times together. We experience that he can openly talk about his challenges with us and we are glad that we could encourage him whenever we met. Two months ago we started to read the Bible together. Please pray that Kota realizes that he is loved by God and that the Gospel really is the hope and joy that he is searching for. God really seems to work in his heart. So prayer is very important right now.
Thanks
For Martina's 10 year anniversary in Japan (God's guidance and protection, deep friendships, financial support over such a long time)
For Yuka, Wakana, Shuhei and Kakeru who signed up for GajiBai
That our families were protected so far from a Corona infection (Germany & Japan)
For more time to invest in students individually
For great relationships with last year's graduates
Requests
For wisdom regarding the timing of our Home Assignment
That God would give us clarity about how much we need to be involved in BEST
For good One on Ones with Michi, Kota, Noa & Nozomi
That the GajiBai gatherings would help us to share the Gospel clearly and relevant with these four students
For Kota who is searching for fulfillment in his life
Ladybird Book of Maxwell
Registering for Worship
Please continue to book for Sunday Services. (If services are oversubscribed, places will be allocated as fairly as possible on a rota basis, and you do not need to worry that you are taking a place away from someone else.)
The cut-off for registering for places on Eventbrite for Sunday worship each week is 11pm on the Thursday before
If there is space for you to attend in person, you will receive an email from Eventbrite on the Friday morning immediately prior to the Sunday (this is in addition to the original Eventbrite confirmation email that you have registered for places).
Please do not attend if you have not received this second email.
The services will continue to be live-streamed - click here for the church page on YouTube.
If you have any difficulties with the booking process or have any questions, please contact Lorna Hamilton on 07736 420564 or the Church office.
Wednesday at 7.15pm - 8.30pm
Look out for the Zoom link in your email inbox for this meeting.