A sermon given at Cloverdale Church of Christ exploring how Jesus’s death and resurrection is more than just our salvation. Click here to view the video on YouTube.
~ Clay
Mile Markers for Reflection
He has made everything beautiful in its time.
~ Ecclesiastes 3:11
It is good to take time to reflect on what has been. All along major roadways, there are mile markers which tell you where you are. If you’re like me, passing one usually prompts the mental calculations of how far we’ve come or how far we have left to go. Most of the time, these markers simply help to mark the passing of time (and distance), but eventually, you reach the mile marker you’ve been waiting for. It could be the mile marker for your final destination, the mile marker for a quick meal on the way, or the mile marker for a much-needed bathroom stop.
Sometimes, you reach the mile marker where you need to leave the road you’ve been on and instead travel down a different one. Life’s journey doesn’t always take you the most direct route – it might take several different turns to get where you are going. When I’m driving long-distance, I don’t stop and reminisce when I reach one of these mile marker moments. In life, however, it is good practice to take a moment and celebrate the road(s) that have brought you to where you are before you take off down a new one.
One such mile marker is the completion of graduate school. Harding School of Theology has been such a wonderful experience! After I started my first full-time position with a church, I felt the need to build a stronger foundation for effective ministry going forward. So, I started at HST in 2019, one class at a time, while maintaining a full-time job, family obligations, and everything else. It has been challenging, but ultimately well worth the effort. I have a much fuller understanding of God’s word, what a meaningful faith brings to this life, and how the Church can fulfill its role as the Bride of Christ. Additionally, I have also gained a vibrant community of fellow workers all over the world who love and support each other in numerous ways. You can read more details about graduation weekend on the blog.
In recent weeks, Emily and I have both reached these mile markers as we wrapped up our jobs in education. For the last three years, as I finished my coursework at HST, I have also been serving as the librarian at Parkway Village Elementary. It’s a large public school in Memphis, Tennessee, serving low-income neighborhoods near the airport. I will miss the students and faculty greatly – especially my team of fellow Support teachers (art, music, PE, STEAM, computer, library). What a treasure these last three years have been. God has provided many blessings through what would have otherwise have been “just a job” while I finished my degree.
Emily completed her 29th year teaching Kindermusik®, a music and movement style of teaching that provides foundational learning in a fun multi-generational environment via weekly classes. It takes a team. And what a Dream Team of early childhood educators God has blessed her with over the years! It has been a bittersweet time of goodbyes with all her children and families. It is our prayer that God will continue to use this unique experience and skill set in adaptive ways to love on and reach out to families in the Tachikawa neighborhood community. Please pray that God will guide our path as we explore this possibility and learn along the way. Thank you.
Now it is time to make that turn and travel down a new road. We are grateful for the experiences, skills, and wisdom that the journey to this point has given us. The people that we know and love are the greatest treasure. You all have played such an integral role in our preparation for mission work in Japan, and we will carry you close in our hearts as we head down this new path.
~ Clay
HST Graduation Weekend
The weekend of May 8-9 was special. We headed over to Searcy, Arkansas, for graduation activities to celebrate completion of the Master of Arts in Christian Ministry from Harding School of Theology. I have been working through this degree one class at a time alongside my regular full-time employment for about seven years, and I am glad to finally reach the finish line! Of course, this has only been possible because Emily has been my biggest supporter in helping to make the time to complete coursework across innumerable evenings and weekends. It hasn’t always been easy, but it has been completely worth it.
The first event Friday evening was a hooding ceremony with just the HST students, faculty, and family. It was held in the beautiful Cone Chapel overlooking the front lawn. Dr. Evertt Huffard gave an address and then the graduates each came up to be hooded by Dr. Lance Hawley. It was a very nice opportunity to enjoy a smaller, more intimate setting for recognizing everyone’s accomplishments.
After the hooding ceremony, everyone headed across campus to the adjacent neighborhood where the Huffards hosted a reception. It was a warm, social evening of fellowship and food that included the opportunity to catch up with several who I had not seen in a while and meet a few people who I had only ever seen over Zoom.
Saturday morning, the HST graduates joined many of the rest of Harding’s colleges for the main commencement exercises in the Benson Auditorium. Nearly 900 people graduated in total this semester, and it was satisfying to participate in the ceremony alongside a room full of people who were (mostly) all younger than me. Of course, with it being Harding the commencement was part worship service. It was a good reminder that God has blessed us greatly for these opportunities and for the ability to pursue them.
After the commencement exercises, everyone headed over to the campus dining hall. The university provided lunch for the graduates and their guests, and we spent some good time together chatting and catching up. I know that some family could not make it for the weekend, but I enjoyed the presence of the many who did. Thank you to all of you who could be there. I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. Fun fact, the picture below is all of us standing in front of the Art building on the Harding campus. Although the building is newer than the one that was there in the mid-90’s, this is where much of my first trip through Harding focused when I earned my BS in Graphic Design.
My journey through this degree at Harding School of Theology has been so very important. The quality and rigor of my studies here have been first-class, and I know so much more about God, His Word, and His Church than I did when I first started. I have completed courses in textual studies, multicultural ministry, spiritual leadership, sermon development, and pastoral counseling. I have gained skills and knowledge that will serve me well as we head toward the mission field in Japan.
My journey with HST has given me more, though. The community of faculty, students, and alumni at HST are a treasure that I didn’t foresee gaining. I have spent meaningful time alongside brothers and sisters from every corner of the globe, seen their hearts for ministry, and been inspired by their determination to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their own contexts and beyond. God works in many ways and through many people, and my time at HST has expanded my horizons greatly.
We are blessed to join with God to work in His kingdom. We are also blessed to share this work with the many brothers and sisters who love Him, too.
~ Clay
Intermission
We are in the midst of a season of endings. Emily and I have both completed our last semester of teaching. One recent Sunday was likely our last chance to worship with our home congregation before we leave, and we were able to share a moment of tremendous blessing as we said goodbye with a small reception in the lobby. We have steadily been filling boxes with items to be sent to Japan, and with each one there is another bit of confirmation that our time in Memphis is coming to an end. I have closed another big chapter in completing my Master of Arts in Christian Ministry at Harding School of Theology. Seemingly at every turn we are closing another door.
Yet, it’s not really an ending – it is more like an intermission. I’m not old enough to remember when a trip to see a movie in the theater routinely featured a break in the middle of the show, but I have attended several broadway-style musicals which featured an intermission. The intermission can feel a little bit odd. The house lights come up and a number of people head for the lobby to grab a beverage, use the restroom, or make a phone call. In many ways, my senses tell me that the show seems to be over. Yet, my brain knows that there is still much more show to come.
Emily and I are experiencing that in-between moment now. Our visa applications are still in process. The calendar still has some days before we head to Searcy for the summer. In some ways it all still feels like Japan is still out there on the horizon. But in other ways, it is starting to feel like it’s all about to happen tomorrow. We hold fast to our faith as the constant thread woven through it all.
Before we know it, this season of endings will have an ending of its own. All too soon, the house lights will dim again and everyone will take their seats as the intermission fades away. A season of beginnings will commence. We look forward to the journey that God has called us to make, and we treasure your partnership in prayer as you journey along with us.
~ Clay
Japan Overview: Summer 2026
We recently had the opportunity to share a bit about our Japan journey during a Sunday evening assembly at our Sponsoring Congregation, the Cloverdale Church of Christ in Searcy, Arkansas. View the video on YouTube to learn a little bit more about our backgrounds, our mission efforts up to this point, and our plans moving forward.
Welcome News: Cloverdale Church of Christ
God is faithful, and you were called by him to partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
~ 1 Corinthians 1:9 (CEB)
We have great news to share! You may recall that the Cloverdale congregation in Searcy, Arkansas, agreed to host our missions fund this past December. It was a temporary first step that allowed us to start collecting funds, especially for those of you needing to take advantage of year-end tax benefits. This arrangement was a gracious gesture from Cloverdale while we continued to explore the possibility that they might become our full-fledged Sending Congregation. I am happy to report that Emily and I have now completed this process with the Cloverdale eldership and missions committee!
Beginning July 1st, we will officially be a part of the Cloverdale missions team. God be praised! The Cloverdale family has a strong emphasis on missions which includes many years of experience with Japanese missions in particular. In addition to coordinating our working funds, this congregation will provide mentoring, oversight, and encouragement as we partner together to spread the Gospel in Tachikawa, Japan. As a result, we will spend much of our remaining time in the US in Searcy getting to know the members at Cloverdale as best we can. We are excited!
With a Sending Congregation fully in place, we have now been able to submit our applications for the first step toward getting Japanese visas. We sent applications and supporting documentation for the Certificate of Eligibility to Nao Fukushima in Japan, and he was able to take them to the immigration office on our behalf. The Certificate of Eligibility is a type of pre-approval process required for a long-term residential visa. Our certificate applications have been processing for almost four weeks now. We’ve been told that it is a 1-3 month process, so I am hopeful that we will hear something soon. Once our certificates are approved and received here in Memphis, then we can take them to the Japanese Consulate in Nashville to apply for the actual residential visas.
And, with visa applications in process… it’s now officially time to start packing! We don’t feel like we have just a whole ton of stuff, but trying to separate what goes from what doesn’t can be a little overwhelming at times. Sometimes it feels like I’m choreographing a giant, slow-motion dance number. This piece needs to be done before that piece can be processed. That other pile needs to be sorted before these items can be packed. Oh, and what are we going to do with all this stuff in the corner? It all makes me thankful that our particular circumstances don’t involve things like selling a house or trying to pack up kids and/or pets. Whew!
We are scheduled to fly to Japan in the first week of August, but we are hoping to be able to send most of our stuff with the movers around the end of May or beginning of June. That will, of course, depend on whether or not we successfully have visas in hand by that time. They estimate that the transit time (including warehouse transfers and clearing customs) will be between 60-75 days. Sending our things at the beginning of Summer will mean that we won’t have to wait so long for it to be delivered when we arrive in Japan. It does mean, however, that we will essentially be living out of our suitcases for June and July. It’s a lot to keep straight, but we are confident that God will work it out – He certainly has done so to this point!
~ Clay
A Season of Waiting
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
~ Isaiah 30:18
It is March! That means spring is close at hand, and it seems like everything around us is starting to wake up after a long, cold winter. One such indicator is the buds forming on the sakura (cherry) trees. To say that the Japanese people enjoy sakura season would be an epic understatement. For them, it is an annual obsession which the whole country heartily enjoys. Sakura Forecasts have already started appearing on the evening news. They break it down in detail for each area of the country when to expect the “first bloom” and “peak bloom” so that everyone can make plans to spend time enjoying outings to see the flowers. It’s one of those annual reminders that signals a shift from one season to another and many people eagerly wait for the sakura blooms to come again.
Waiting is hard. Sometimes, like with sakura blooms, we spend much more time waiting for them to arrive than we do actually experiencing them. Then, when the fleeting blooms have run their course, we are faced with having to wait another whole year for them to arrive again. We do enjoy the shade of the tree’s green leaves during the summer months. Also, the cherry trees provide homes and food for a number of creatures in the neighborhood. We just don’t seem to get as excited over those benefits as we do when the flowers bloom.
And yet, the cherry tree is hard at work all year long. It is making progress towards growth and strength during the summer months that will make the blooms possible. It generates next year’s buds during the fall season and then encapsulates them to protect from winter weather. Even during those cold winter months, the tree is focused on conserving its energy and gathering its strength in the root sections. In fact, some arborists suggest that a cherry tree that does NOT experience at least one deep chill during the winter won’t be able to reach its full potential bloom in the spring.
Seasons of change and renewal happen in our lives as well. They are exciting and fresh when the “blooms” happen, but for long stretches it can feel like those dark, cold weeks of winter when not much appears to be happening. I chose the picture above because it shows the first bloom opening in the midst of a branch full of buds that aren’t quite ready yet. When we see the buds appear, we know that the flowers are not far off and we begin to anticipate the beauty they will display.
Emily and I are in the midst of a season of waiting as we prepare for mission work in Japan. Yet God has been working in us and through us all along. He has been faithful in walking alongside us each step in this process, and as we draw nearer to our target date we can’t help but feel like we are starting to see some activity in the “buds” along our branches. We are encouraged by ongoing conversations with a potential sending congregation. We have begun assembling the necessary paperwork and accompanying documentation for applying for visas. We have even gotten a small start on cleaning out attic spaces and organizing our belongings into different categories like “take to Japan” and “pass along to others.”
But we are also mindful that there are some important steps that still need to be completed. A formal agreement with a sending congregation is still at least a couple of weeks away. Our paperwork for living in Japan is still incomplete and cannot be submitted yet. We have reasons to believe that God is making a way for these to happen soon, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t still waiting. So, we are trying to remain focused on waiting with the right mindset. We trust God to provide, and He has an infinitely better understanding of all of this than we do. We look forward to being able to share good news with you all in the very near future.
Looking Back, Looking Forward
Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,
his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
~ Psalm 105:1-6
A number of the Psalms encourage the practice of looking back. We gain proper perspective when we take a moment to reflect on where we have been and how that has helped shape who we are now. It is important, as Psalm 105 shows, to also remember God’s providence throughout. By properly reviewing the past, we develop an appreciation for what God is doing now. Importantly, we also cultivate a proper mindset for joining God in the future.
Not long ago, we began a third year of sending monthly newsletters. Recently, I took a little time to look back over the first 24 newsletters and reflect a little on where we started and how we have seen God along the way. That first message, February 2024, went to just 36 subscribers. In contrast, this month’s message will go out to more than 250! God has blessed us with such a cloud of witnesses and we are grateful to each of you who pray regularly regarding the work in Japan.
Similarly, our website launched in October 2023, just a few months before we started sending emails. It contained a few static pages of information and a couple of blog posts. That first month logged six visitors who read a total of 15 items. It is amazing to see how God has blessed these efforts! The information pages have increased in number as well as content, and I have somehow managed to publish more than 60 blog entries. It is even more humbling to realize that in the last 30 days, 112 visitors viewed 210 items. Since the website launched, a total of nearly 2,000 visitors have viewed over 4,900 items. Whew!
Looking back is helpful when we remember that it is God who gives these blessings. Emily and I are not the reason for this growth. Instead, we point to our Father in Heaven and give Him all of the glory. Your love for us is evident through your prayers on behalf of the people of Japan as well as your frequent encouraging comments. The numbers and statistics really just confirm what we already know God is doing through each of you.
Ultimately, this looking back should lead us to look forward. With your help, through consistent prayer, encouragement, and financial support, Emily and I have been able to begin realizing our goal of starting full-time mission work this August. We still have several important steps to complete in the coming weeks, but we are confident that God will continue to provide. We are eager to join with the work being done in Tachikawa, Japan. May God’s name be praised for what He has done AND what He will be doing through us all as we continue in the Son’s footsteps.
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.
~ John 15:15-17
~ Clay
Winter’s Communion
The winter months of January and February can seem dull and muted. Most of the earth seems to be in a state of waiting. The trees have shed their green leaves. Most of the flowers have disappeared while waiting for Spring. Many animals even tuck themselves away to wait for warmer weather. The days are shorter and the sun’s rays are weaker due to their low angle.
People are not exempt from this. We experience a lull in activity and thought during these months too. Many people experience fatigue, mood changes, and feelings of hopelessness due to decreased sunlight disrupting their biological clocks. Others are simply trying to recover from what feels like running a gauntlet from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year’s – especially if you have kids!
Our spiritual lives experience these seasons of quiet as well. We contemplate and remember Jesus each Sunday morning as part of the Lord’s Supper, and it can be a challenge to keep these thoughts fresh and meaningful week in and week out. When you add in the factors above that come with the winter season, a meaningful communion time each Sunday can prove elusive for many.
Winter comes right between Christmas and Easter. During the Christmas season it is easy to remain focused on the birth of Jesus. We see nativity scenes in people’s yards. We hear about Mary and Jesus in songs. We sings hymns and carols throughout the season. The beginning of Jesus’s life on Earth seems to be all around us in December. During the Easter season, our thoughts are focused on the cross and the empty tomb. We dwell on the sacrifice of Jesus to pay our debt. We relish in His resurrection and the conquering of death. Easter Sunday is a declaration of the events surrounding the end of Jesus’s earthly life and a glorious celebration of what comes next for those who believe.
So, if Christmas is focused on the beginning of Jesus’s incarnate life and Easter is focused on the end, then how should we approach this weekly time of reflection in the Lord’s Supper during the months in between? I suggest one option is to focus on Jesus’s ministry. The life and teachings of Jesus are what happened between His birth and His crucifixion, and the words of Jesus, as recorded in the Gospels, make a great starting point. Jesus himself begins this way in Matthew 5:
He said:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
May your winter’s communion times be special and fruitful.
~ Clay
Language Spotlight: Kōfuku (Happiness)
Note: As I continue to learn the Japanese language and culture, these Spotlight posts seek to highlight things I find curious, interesting, and meaningful. The relationship between language and culture runs deep. In fact, there are many points where it gets hard to tell one from the other. “Language is not merely an indifferent mechanism for cataloguing men’s experience but the language itself affects the cataloguing process…. The language system of each culture is a fluid factor in culture; it varies with each generation and serves as clue to its thinking as well as actually coloring and molding this thinking.” In other words, if I am going to learn how to reach Japanese people, I need to understand how Japanese people think. The process of how they think is intimately intwined with the language they use. Unfortunately for us, it goes far beyond simply using “Google Translate” to come up with the right vocabulary. Language embeds the foundational concepts of culture into everyday interaction. So, deeper we go into this wonderful world of language exploration! Much of this information comes from Charles Corwin’s Biblical Encounter with Japanese Culture (Tokyo, 1967).
Kōfuku (幸福) is comprised of two characters in kanji. The first character can represent “lucky” while the second character can mean “blessing”. The original words behind this one had to do with one’s arrow hitting the mark. In an ancient hunting and fishing society, successfully taking prey or making a catch meant food, health, and prosperity. We tend to think of hunting and fishing as more skill-based activities today, but the Japanese sense of this idea leans more toward the hunter or fisherman finding his quarry because of “good fortune” rather than skill or hard work. To be sure, skill and hard work are highly prized in Japanese society, and one is expected to employ both earnestly in order to expect good results. But one’s luck is given more weight.
The Japanese concept of happiness inherits these ideas. It is primarily a way to express that things have turned out well, or that one has achieved a “full” condition. It has also evolved to include a good aspect found amidst a disaster (what we might recognize as “a silver lining”).
With respect to the Old Testament, the word “happiness” does not occur in a noun form. This can perhaps be traced to our English nuance in which “hap” seems to introduce an element of “chance” into the meaning. We use other words like haphazard and happenstance in this way. So, biblical translators almost always chose the word “blessed” instead to convey the Hebrew conviction that man comes into happiness not by chance but by Divine help.
In the New Testament, the idea of happiness remains rooted in God’s blessings, but with an added eschatological element. One may be happy based not only on possession of the quality or experience of current life, but also on the present or future rewards that come with it. The Beatitudes are a prime example. On the surface, they appear as a paradox. They renounce the very things that most people seek and think are required for happiness (wealth, power, joy). Instead, those considered “blessed” or “happy” in the Beatitudes have sacrificed their natural desires. They have given up many things that seem desirable to the natural heart, and embrace many other things that make most people wince. But just as Jesus himself experienced glorious exaltation after emptying Himself, His followers also take up their own crosses in order to receive the inheritance of the earth and a great reward in heaven.
Japanese kōfuku is strictly a happiness which consists of material benefits, fullness, wealth, and a happy turn of events. It speaks of a mystical play of events turning out in one’s favor, either positively in material blessings or negatively in the avoidance of an impending disaster. The concept of happiness is so fixed in Japanese thinking that its importance is raised almost to the ultimate in values, or the measure of all things.
Biblical concepts of happiness instead develop an emphasis on blessing over current experience. This is possible because of the promise of Jesus. There is a circle of blessing: it flows down from God the Provider to men, who in turn bless God by giving Him due thanks and worship, and the circle is completed with a heavenly life of eternal rewards.
~ Clay
Fowlers in Japan 