mover and shaker

...through a mutual japanese friend, i had coffee today in downtown osaka with someone i would not have imagined meeting...he is an accomplished businessman who is also a new christian eager to study the bible and live out his faith in and among his many social circles...

...literally, he's a real mover and shaker...a former professional kick-boxer, currently he is a leading "body designer" in japan, owning a number of exclusive fitness clubs and spa clinics...drawing from his training and lifelong passion for athletics (his father was an olympic pentathlete), this billy blanks (of tae-bo lore) of japan has a super-saturated work schedule, appearing weekly on television, performing fitness shows throughout the year, and personally training thousands of clients from ceo-types to his primary demographic - female office workers...

...this is what his performance shows look like...

...despite his aura and accomplishments (i couldn't help but notice people frequently doing double-takes as they passed by our table), i found him to be a most humble, winsome, considerate, and patient man...and his virtual fluency in english was an added plus...

...we touched base by phone right before christmas...he wanted to meet me "as soon as possible" because he is so excited about the christian faith and eager to grow in the word and he "felt a good vibe from me"...we planned to talk for an hour or so, but we ended up spending over three hrs in deep conversation...

...as our conversation naturally unfolded, we hit many difficult issues...he raised so many challenging questions...for some of them, i said that i would think about it more and resume our discussion when ready...but, on a few topics, such as the nature of sin, guilt, the jealousy of God, and the coexistence of shinto home shrines, God used our conversation -- without me knowing -- to help him make breakthroughs regarding some christian themes with which he had been wrestling for decades...wow, i remarked, when he shared that...how awesome is God to do that...and God really provided me with unplanned but effective analogies to convey some of these ideas...

::: this may open up new vistas in our work here...would you please join me in praising God for this new friendship...at the end of our meeting today, this man expressed strong desire to meet with me regularly in the coming year, eager to walk together through the bible and pray together...he even mentioned utilizing my legal background, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there...please join me in praying that God would use our friendship to mature us both "to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (eph. 4.13), so that he could use his professional stature for the kingdom of God in japan :::