Dear family, brethren, and friends,

I got up before 4:30 A.M Saturday to catch a plane to Narita, Tokyo, Japan, arriving about 1:00 P.M.  Kim Caa and four other brethren met me at the airport.  We drove 4-5 hours to reach Yaizu, Shizuoka where we had supper in a restaurant which is fully automated.  The menu is an iPad and a robot brings the order to the table with the bill.  The bill was read electronically at the counter and I paid with a credit card.  There were  humans in the kitchen.  We arrived at the hotel along the seaside about 10:00 P.M.  Even though exhausted, I walked by the ocean under a full moon in order to gain stamina for the next day’s labor.  It always lifts my heart to see that moon and to know you can see it, too!

So many Japanese people have miniature dogs in public, I asked why.  It is so expensive to live here that couples often choose to have dogs rather than children.  How sad!

Filipinos try to teach Japanese people the gospel, but it is a difficult challenge because they are so work oriented they have little time to study the Bible.  Shinto has been a Japanese religion for centuries, but they are eclectic, embracing Buddhism, Taoism, and ancestor worship alongside Shinto and not taking any of it very seriously.  Robert Nichols told me years ago that the Japanese language does not have a word adequately representing “sin” with its moral essence, although they have a sense of shame about conduct which their ancestors, deities, or family might disapprove.  The rules of what is disapproved can be quite arbitrary and do not signify moral failure.  Communicating that sin is moral failure violating the holiness of God is a difficult challenge here.

The saints meet on the Lord’s Day in a home in nearby Numazu, Shizuoka Ken where Jomer Bato is the local evangelist.  About 30 souls including children gathered today and we studied three lessons before lunch: “When Peter Confessed Christ” (textual study of Matt. 16:13-19), “The Gospel Makes Us Right with God,” and “Finish the Race.”  After lunch the open forum continued for an hour covering a lot of ground.  I will mention a couple of important issues covered.

Many religions claim to fulfill Matthew 16:18.  How can we clarify the true meaning?  First, we must consider whether the passage is interpreted properly in its context.  For instance, the context focuses on the identity and mission of Jesus Christ, not on Peter.  The Catholic Church claims to be the original church based on Jesus appointing Peter as the first Pope here.  This violates the flow of the context.  They claim Peter means a rock and Jesus said, “Upon this rock I will build my church.”  Yes, but Peter means a small rock in Greek while “upon this rock” uses a different word meaning a mass or mountain of rock.  Peter, a mere man, confessed the deity of Christ in verse 16, which is the bedrock foundation of our salvation!

Also, the Pope claims to be the universal bishop of the church, but 1 Timothy 3:1-10 requires a bishop to be married and have children.  Popes are forbidden to marry.  Peter was married and is, therefore, disqualified to serve as a Pope.  Peter did serve as a bishop or elder in a local church (1 Pet. 5:1).

Second, we must consider whether the passage is applied properly.  For instance, denominations often claim all of their separate organizations viewed as a combined unit are the church of Christ.  They attempt to confirm this by claiming that John 15:1-8 speaks of Christ as the vine and denominations as the branches.  No, Jesus is the vine and the branches are individual disciples – the passage speaks of a branch as “a man” and “he,” not man-made organizations.  They misapply Matthew 16:18 and John 15:1-8 to reach a false conclusion.

The church Christ built through the teaching of his apostles follows the pattern of work, worship, and organization found in the New Testament, not the patterns found in the Catholic catechism or denominational creed books.

Someone asked about the meaning and the qualifications of a pastor.  First, we must know it is not a title because Christ forbids the use of titles in Matthew 23:8-10.  Second, we need to learn that elder (presbyter), bishop (overseer), and pastor (shepherd) are synonyms for men who are qualified to lead local churches.  Each term sheds light on the nature of this spiritual leadership.  The qualifications are given in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.  Someone asked how they should be appointed.  Acts 6:1-7 records the process for appointing men who serve the church in such special roles.  The saints search the congregation for men meeting the qualifications.  After each man is examined and determined to be qualified, he can be appointed.  

After being dismissed, we drove several hours to reach Nagasawa where the saints had rented a hall for a day and a half.  On Monday, 22 souls gathered (plus 14 via Zoom) including visitors from Iglesia ni Cristo, founded by Filipino Felix Manalo in 1914 – they deny the deity of Jesus Christ.  Our first lesson examined “The Truth about Social Media” and then we studied “One True God in Three Persons: Jesus Christ is God.”  

To help the brethren understand the false religions in this culture, I was requested to teach “Buddhism: Highest Hope Extinction?”  Buddhism is a reformed version of Hinduism and shares its faith in reincarnation.  Reincarnation ends only when we reach a stage of extinction as individual persons and are absorbed into the unknown and unknowable essence of all life and of all ages.  (If this sounds like empty jibber jabber, that is exactly what it is!)  The final sermon of the day presented “The New Testament Church” and how it is distinctive from denominationalism.  We were not able to linger for further discussion because we had to exit the hall at 5:00 P.M.

Tuesday 25 people (with another 11 via Zoom) heard a study of Psalm 19 entitled “The Glory of God” followed by the requested topic “Holy Days and Holidays.”  I was able to squeeze in time to answer the question why young people who have not been baptized do not take the Lord’s Supper.  1 Corinthians 11:23-27 shows that we take the Supper to remember Christ died as the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  Innocent young people who have no sins cannot commemorate that sacrifice.  Their participation would reduce the Supper to a meaningless ritual.

At noon we vacated the hall and moved to an apartment of one of the saints where the open forum could continue for another hour.  Here are a couple of the important issues addressed.  Since Jesus sent his apostles to preach the true gospel to all the world in Matthew 28:18-20, why are there so many different religions today?  The answer is that Jesus also said “few there be that find it” in Matthew 7:13-14, meaning few people are truly willing to believe in Christ, repent of their sins, confess his name, and submit their souls and lives to him in water baptism for the remission of their sins.  They have grown stubborn in their love for their sins!  Also, Jesus and the apostles gave many warnings against men who will change and pervert the true gospel, creating all kinds of false religions to deceive people and prevent them from believing and obeying the true gospel of Christ.

A visitor from Iglesia ni Cristo wanted to know how Jesus fulfilled the promise to build his church in Matthew 16:18. Jesus based that promise on the true confession that Peter made in verse 16, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus trained his apostles and they were eyewitnesses that he died for our sins and arose from the dead.  In Acts 2, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to guide them in preaching the first gospel sermon on the Day of Pentecost.  The people who repented and were baptized for the remission of their sins were added to the church of Christ for the first time (see Acts 2:38-47).  If we preach and practice what they preached and practiced, we are added to the same original church of Christ – which simply means he is gathering souls to bring us all to heaven on the last great day!

Although no one was baptized this time, the two baptized last year are still serving the Lord and first-time visitors heard the true gospel of Christ in these sessions.  We hope it will open doors for follow-up studies by the saints here. The seed has been planted, and God will give the increase according to His will.

Wednesday morning, we drove to a beautiful park near Mt. Fuji.  I got a good picture as we approached it, but by the time we arrived a heavy cloud cover obscured it from sight. We enjoyed walking around the large park and finding lunch nearby, then drove several hours to reach Tokyo about dark.  Here I shared the bitter-sweet experience of saying goodbye for now.  We hope to work together on this earth again in the future, but, if not, we will look for each other in heaven.  I exercised, ate supper, and worked until midnight, getting a full eight hours of sleep, a rare accomplishment.

Thursday was my 80^th chance to thank God for my life of earth and to prepare to be with Him in heaven.  I worked on email today, which had fallen further behind because of the poor internet connection in recent days before reaching Tokyo.  Trying to regain my strength and stamina, I exercised twice today and took some rest between sessions of working on the computer.

God willing, tomorrow (Friday) I fly home to be reunited with my beloved Donna and to worship with the saints on the Lord’s Day at the Hebron Lane church of Christ in Shepherdsville, Kentucky who help to make these trips possible.  By the time some of you read this report, I should be high in the sky over the Pacific Ocean on the way home.  May God bless us all as we press forward toward spending eternity with God in heaven!

In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook