April 29, 2020 (Wednesday)
This edited blog was originally written on July 10, 2012 — eight years ago. It is a description of a trip to Tokyo, Japan, fifty-three years ago. I hope you find it helpful.
I recall many Vacation Bible Schools, when we repeated the pledge to the American flag and we also recited the pledge to the Christian flag, which includes the words, “One brotherhood, uniting all Christians in service and love.” All Believers are brothers and sisters in Christ.
An incident from 1967 illustrates this point for me. I was on my way to Naha, Okinawa, to visit missionary Dwight Dudley and his family and to help out a little in their work. It was Saturday night. I had purposely asked for the trip to include an overnight stay in Tokyo, Japan, so that I could attend the Tokyo Baptist Church worship services Sunday morning.
The plane landed at the airport and a bus took some of the passengers to a hotel. On the bus were a couple of people who had attended my alma mater. I tried to strike up a conversation based on our common interest, but they were not interested at all. We all had gone to the same college, but we were strangers, from different generations.
The next day, I went to the Tokyo Baptist Church and met a young man from Hiroshima. We enjoyed a conversation that centered on our mutual love for Jesus Christ. He was a child of God and I was a child of God; we were brothers in Christ.
This was only 22 years after the destruction of Hiroshima by an atomic bomb at the end of World War 2. We were standing in the city of Tokyo, which had been burned to the ground with incendiary bombs during the war. Millions from all sides died in that war and one might expect hostility between an American and a Japanese person, even 22 years after the fact, but there was love.
That love existed because we knew instantly that we were part of the same family–the family of God. The song says, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love..” and that love can be found in Jesus Christ. “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9 NIV).
Please watch this video in full screen:
The Family of God
Words: Gloria Gaither
Music: Bill Gaither
1960s
(1) You will notice we say “brother
and sister” ’round here-
It’s because we’re a family
and these folks are so near;
When one has a heartache
we all share the tears,
And rejoice in each victory
In this family so dear.
Related
Chorus:
I’m so glad I’m a part
of the family of God-
I’ve been washed in the fountain,
cleansed by His blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus
as we travel this sod,
For I’m part of the family,
the family of God.
(2) From the door of an orphanage
to the house of the King-
No longer an outcast,
a new song I sing;
From rags unto riches,
from the weak to the strong,
I’m not worthy to be here,
But, praise God, I belong!-Chorus
I think you may enjoy this song as presented by the original Gaither Trio, recorded many years ago. Please watch in full screen: