My first time to host a worship seminar in Tokyo (and make a flyer!)

Worship Symposium Series & Conference
Join us on October 28 in Meguro, Tokyo!

Community Arts Tokyo (CAT), an organization started just this year to connect people through the arts, offers a worship symposium series to connect worship teams for the sake of church growth in Japan. Let’s come together and talk about the worship issues that face the Japanese church today.

Schedule:
6:30 Fellowship Time
7:00 Worship led by Shinjuku Shalom Church
7:20 “Worship and the Word of God”
By Nancy Nethercott and Mika Takana on the creative use of scripture in worship
8:00 Discussion Time

Who should attend?
Anyone who wants to connect with worship pastors, musicians, artists, and church members of different churches and denominations for the sake of kingdom advancement in Japan.
No reservation necessary.
500 yen at the door for light refreshments.
Content in Japanese only.

Place: Rental Space Kahoo
東京都目黒区下目黒2-32-2-B1
7 minute walk from Meguro Station on the JR Yamanote Line
For more information please send email to info@communityarts.jp or check website http://communityarts.jp.
This series is in cooperation with JapanCAN, JEMA CPI, JPM and Grace City Church Tokyo.

Future Events:
January 27, 2013 – “Worship as the unfolding of God’s drama”
Speaker: Rev. Makoto Fukuda, Pastor of Grace City Church Tokyo
Special musical guest: Migiwa

April 28, 2013 – “Worship songs born in Japan through synergy of pastor and artist”
Speakers: Makoto Iwabuchi and Rev. Kazuo Sekine
Special musical guest: Makoto Iwabuchi

July 12-13, 2013 – WORSHIP & ARTS CONFERENCE
(Hamarikyu Asahi Music Hall & Shiodome Conference Center)

70 x 7 ~ A look at relationships

Director and Writer: Roger Lowther
Actors: Masumi Kumamoto & Yuya Fukuda

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked,
“Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven times!”
(Matthew 18:21-22)

We spend our lives in a constant cycle of fighting and forgiving, and as such, this work is meant to be looped endlessly. As the segments go back and forth between Scenario 1 and Scenario 2, the two deal with the same issues but respond in radically different ways. If we look, we can find the same tendencies in our own lives but must choose to live a cycle of repentance rather than one of blame.

Scenario 1: A man and a woman never repent and continually bring up things from the past. Their dialogue is full of blame and accusation. They condescendingly try to prove they are right.

Scenario 2: A man and a woman continually repent and do not bring up things from the past. They fight, but they respectfully seek to understand one another. Repentance and forgiveness are offered. No desire to prove either one is right.

Piano in elevator

I don't think I've ever seen piano playing on an elevator before. This was taken in a hotel in Hong Kong. And, no, the elevator was not sideways. I can't figure out how to turn it 90 degrees.

Organ goes on walkabout...

Pictures taken during a video shoot for my new organ music video here in Japan...

Juilliard Group in Japan

Fourteen musicians and one dancer came to help in relief work and church planting June 7-18. They helped us build community through concerts, lessons, masterclasses, and many kinds of events.

I will be giving a couple of lectures in Hong Kong in a week at the University of Hong Kong and at Watermark Church about how arts played a role in the disaster relief and recovery work here in Japan. Below are fliers:

Japanese Flag Prints for Relief

Here are more graphic designs based on the Japanese flag in order to
raise money for the relief and recovery effort in Japan.