curry

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::: "when you make a pot of curry at the beginning of the week, say, on monday," our japanese friend tells us, "that pot tastes better with each passing day as you recook it under high heat"...our friend is right: by friday, a monday-made pot explodes with flavor...

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...from september 24 to oct 1, i attended the lausanne younger leaders gathering in kuala lumpur (http://www.lausanne.org/Brix?pageID=15907)....and, like a pot of curry, the gathering just got better with each passing day...

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...the ingredients for combustion were there...500+ younger leaders (ages 25-35) from 110 nations gathering to form a weeklong learning community...with plenary sessions providing key talking points, the task of constructive exchange took place primarily in mentor-facilitated small groups of 5-8 participants...

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...in seven days, God brought my small group of five brothers (including me) to the point of genuine christian brotherhood......amazing to see how God can unite five people who are so different...

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...philemon, a husband and father of three, runs an orphanage in kenya and preaches regularly in his anglican church...with 60 children looking to him as their father figure, philemon has a wise and warm spirit...

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...a husband and father of two young children, traore is a professor of biblical studies/exegesis and local pastor in burkina faso...a servant of sweet humility...

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...a practicing cardiologist, tim (below left) is pastoring of a thriving church plant in melbourne, australia, and thinking effectively about reaching the lost in a post-christian milieu...yoon (below right), our group facilitator, is the national director of navigators in s. korea...his passion for his family and ministry (life-on-life discipleship) fuel his life...

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...a week after my YLG experience, i'm still unpacking...as i sought God's spirit of revelation and wisdom during the gathering, i need His guidance and grace even more as i process going forward...this global community of learning has forced me to wrestle with the implications of the whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world...and as this relates to our specific context of japan, here are some issues i'm starting to process:

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• the whole church: what does the "whole" church look like in japan?

• do prevailing teachings/models of ecclesiology in the japanese christian community help or hinder a movement toward a "whole church"?

• how much does japanese thinking -- with its emphasis on inside/outside (uchi/soto) social affiliation -- affect the biblical promise and praxis of john 17 unity?

• the whole gospel: how is "gospel" defined and directed in japan?

• using the classic trifold theological framework of Christ as king, priest, and prophet, to what extent, if any, does the church embody the prophetic ministry of Christ, esp. relating to (1) annual abortions numbering in the millions, (2) sexual deviancy in japanese society (e.g., objectification and exploitation of women and girls both within japan and in south asia)? how and in what ways can the church awaken from her silence?

• the whole world: what does the gospel's "ministry of reconciliation" look like in japan?

• given japan's often antagonistic history with her neighbors in asia, how has the japanese church embrace (and extend) the potentiality and power of its role as bold catalyst for pan-Asian social and political reconciliation? in other words, will the church use its voice in parliamentary halls as well as in pulpits?

• does this catalytic (or prophetic) role stand as a necessary prerequisite for the church's role and credibility as a humble missional force in asia and the rest of the world?

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