tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56110420268921939772024-03-04T22:40:46.047-06:00Sunrise Houston Japanese Network"...because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the Rising Sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace." - Luke 1:78-79
「。。。これはわたしたちの神のあわれみ深いみこころによる。また、そのあわれみによって、日の光が上からわたしたちに臨み、暗黒と死の陰とに住む者を照し、わたしたちの足を平和の道へ導くであろう」。ルカによる福音書 / 1章 78-79節Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-65098251424301990592014-05-08T09:54:00.000-05:002014-05-08T09:54:56.630-05:00Wilberforce and the motivation for stout-hearted endurance<br />
“Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you?” - John Wesley, writing to Wilberforce.<br />
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There's more than one form of slavery, my friends. Whatever form slavery takes, freedom is a person. Harriet Tubman knew him, <a href="http://www.rejesus.co.uk/site/module/william_wilberforce/">Wilberforce </a>knew him. Do you?<br />
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"You can choose the look the other way but you can never say that you did not know." - William Wilberforce<br />
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Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-67286260743074791582014-05-04T10:19:00.000-05:002014-05-08T10:23:13.807-05:00Dietrich Bonhoeffer and a time to kill<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px;">From Alliance Defending Freedom -</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px;">Today marks Dietrich Bonhoeffer's birthday, a German theologian known for his stand against Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. As we honor the memory of Bonhoeffer, it’s crucial to remember that we also have the privilege and responsibility to engage in the public square. Read <a href="http://blog.speakupmovement.org/university/thought-reform/dietrich-bonhoeffer-subversive-religious-freedom-advocate/">more</a>.</span><br />
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“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” – Bonhoeffer<br /><br />How does one resist tyranny? Would you in good conscience as a believer put the gun to Hitler's head and pull the trigger? After much wraggling, Bonhoeffer decided to go in with an assassination plot and paid for that conviction with his life. Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-67615849498465420952014-04-18T09:43:00.000-05:002014-05-08T10:15:13.457-05:00How not to catch a thief...If you're the victim of a purse-snatcher, don't get rick-rolled and make it <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=572539109454478&set=vb.570231956351860&type=2&theater">worse</a>.<br />
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(from KingBach Vines)Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-54274291773747161952014-04-16T09:32:00.000-05:002014-05-08T10:14:11.462-05:00Host clubs and human traffickingYour <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/04/05/national/host-clubs-a-hotbed-of-human-trafficking/#.U0JwLfmSySr">mission</a>, should you choose to accept it…<br />
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How would you go about seeing kingdom change in this cultural nexus?<br />
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And as a follow-up, this <a href="http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_25482854/trafficked">article </a>is really confusing to me.<br />
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So in 2013, 22,335 calls were logged about trafficking (out of how many unreported?). Since 2011, there have been 17 convictions.<br />
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"Currently, six suspected sex traffickers are in jail, and grand juries are investigating three cases involving multiple suspects. The number of sex-trafficking cases "has picked up, definitely," Correa said."<br />
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I must be missing something. Are they actually patting themselves on the back for an increase in arrests? A whopping six people in jail?!<br />
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Later, "Traffickers prey on the vulnerable, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youths' struggle with their identity and often hostile communities make them perfect victims, Sanchez said. "LGBT populations are highly susceptible," [...] The number of reported cases of transgender victims is small in the Southwest. In 2013, only four cases in Texas involved transgender victims, according to the Polaris Project. In New Mexico, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center received no calls reporting transgender victims."<br />
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Highly susceptible. Transgendered trafficking made up 4 out of 2,236 cases of trafficking in Texas in 2013. Um, say what now?<br />
<br />Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-57066604912189159922014-04-02T09:35:00.000-05:002014-05-08T10:14:37.963-05:00Community tutoring at your neighborhood superhero supply storeOkay, as I transition away from all the fabulous comics action, I'll leave you with this <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/826NYC">gem</a>, the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company.<br />
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Doing good for the community - free tutoring for inner city kids, etc. and quality goods for the caped crusaders. Dream high.<br />
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I don't trust anyone else with my quasi-vigilante needs.<br />
<br />Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-5808306158637689582014-04-01T09:30:00.000-05:002014-05-08T10:13:19.559-05:00Some HFH pre-movie release Cap captions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA-LDsgbF4oo4vnRuMqrarVuigLxLz_UgRAFWw3JCpR81I_KIJGS4GUAL3nSSTw-fvV_v5ISyfg9f_uIcgdzXIYBb-41sD216aAVA4p1mSz25EDqa92Kqy8h-LxbgZ5vnJ24cZ8ZUPM0_r/s1600/cap+motorcycle+michael+golden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA-LDsgbF4oo4vnRuMqrarVuigLxLz_UgRAFWw3JCpR81I_KIJGS4GUAL3nSSTw-fvV_v5ISyfg9f_uIcgdzXIYBb-41sD216aAVA4p1mSz25EDqa92Kqy8h-LxbgZ5vnJ24cZ8ZUPM0_r/s1600/cap+motorcycle+michael+golden.jpg" height="640" width="412" /></a></div>
Cap is on the way! Early reviews say "Winter Soldier" is one of the best MCU films yet. Now I want to buy a motorcycle...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHE1_6WCLjrLntDmYmHItIwhKYf3DTsWv24rdhGhhEzH5Frn3Rd7bU3230saPuOiJ0f__vK00iZFc55zJwHKLS_DZqibX2flVg7TZUvoWi-plQ61cQ5ESCau0Y1QnceWnWW004ucvgVcSt/s1600/0Spiderman-537-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHE1_6WCLjrLntDmYmHItIwhKYf3DTsWv24rdhGhhEzH5Frn3Rd7bU3230saPuOiJ0f__vK00iZFc55zJwHKLS_DZqibX2flVg7TZUvoWi-plQ61cQ5ESCau0Y1QnceWnWW004ucvgVcSt/s1600/0Spiderman-537-3.jpg" height="640" width="412" /></a></div>
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Better heed Cap and take notes, Spider-Man. Never compromise. Not even for Iron Man.<br />
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"Doesn't matter what the press says. Doesn't matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn't matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world — 'No, you move.' "<br />
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-Captain America (from Amazing Spider-Man #537)<br />
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Here's a fun Throwback Thursday panel from Cap #108 (1968) for ya...<br />
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Cap faces Batroc and must put himself between innocents and danger - which reminds him of the man from Galilee?!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5z75lzvnaqK9DBxqBejZqSp9i-RV3BvyUIkrEHy2f9k2eTMULpUXXfF-f-u7swyn0PWrlpq7YE-AGLWKEVqsyllsuJyQS1lm9ZOj884eHsCTsN8xwxeVe3s784iX9L7oReeexGikj4aiv/s1600/0CAPA122004_col.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5z75lzvnaqK9DBxqBejZqSp9i-RV3BvyUIkrEHy2f9k2eTMULpUXXfF-f-u7swyn0PWrlpq7YE-AGLWKEVqsyllsuJyQS1lm9ZOj884eHsCTsN8xwxeVe3s784iX9L7oReeexGikj4aiv/s1600/0CAPA122004_col.jpg" height="640" width="452" /></a></div>
Cap (#122) does some soul-searching between battles for his identity and place in this world.<br />
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That's it, Cap! Seek the Scriptures, cry out to the Lord and you shall find Him. You might want to talk to some folks like Cannonball or Wolfsbane too about life in the Spirit.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8G6DpZjdYkXAPrPwaX6VUTJCRyqlOXcSq6iRrzly5LN5p_zClEwG2uiyoDEHJosQoeW4kHR9efT2feqZOc9DeYiQ2t5xyhPK7gpAT16HKX8GkL6o-9VTkcjsiozmCyfVJrlYlPWHE8UnC/s1600/0cap+charity.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8G6DpZjdYkXAPrPwaX6VUTJCRyqlOXcSq6iRrzly5LN5p_zClEwG2uiyoDEHJosQoeW4kHR9efT2feqZOc9DeYiQ2t5xyhPK7gpAT16HKX8GkL6o-9VTkcjsiozmCyfVJrlYlPWHE8UnC/s1600/0cap+charity.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Taking the "Mall Santa" concept a few notches up - think of how kids would respond to messages if Cap or Spidey were the ones giving talks at schools.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQReTw7AfXaFZaymV_tUWdXJCspBvMXyZ6EfEBaJpirITZ5qfaXWS70gHZdJUiRmSLB03AnCToQaQXUewkmB_4hCOmP-OiuCTn4_oD7bm7GHPCNeqd4nbYprBJMCKXv55T5CpDCIBnNNV/s1600/Marvels3_Cap.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQReTw7AfXaFZaymV_tUWdXJCspBvMXyZ6EfEBaJpirITZ5qfaXWS70gHZdJUiRmSLB03AnCToQaQXUewkmB_4hCOmP-OiuCTn4_oD7bm7GHPCNeqd4nbYprBJMCKXv55T5CpDCIBnNNV/s1600/Marvels3_Cap.JPG" /></a></div>
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If you've seen him in action, you never forget it. In the darkest hour, Cap gave hope to a generation.<br />
From Marvels #3 (Busiek/Ross).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4AExMnP_xUfNxWeELimJn5rJM6Wae0heS5ILdgvrYDyVk4QFSBaortGvjy-ESZ03ml10PIGIJJigML8THB8VhQIZHQ0HH6NtZHeHF6DSaEsEGLPrEYq-3_Qq1xiy1NDK-AtGzd9Uy6tLG/s1600/amazing380.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4AExMnP_xUfNxWeELimJn5rJM6Wae0heS5ILdgvrYDyVk4QFSBaortGvjy-ESZ03ml10PIGIJJigML8THB8VhQIZHQ0HH6NtZHeHF6DSaEsEGLPrEYq-3_Qq1xiy1NDK-AtGzd9Uy6tLG/s1600/amazing380.jpg" /></a></div>
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Here's a novel approach to crime - have Cap give the bad guy a disapproving look!<br />
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I know it's been something of a binge with the Cap pics this week - maybe one or two more panels to go, I think, in honor of the new movie, unless you have some pics you want to share too!<br />
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When the Fantastic Four are near to giving up hope, the Watcher admonishes their doubting hearts (#72, 1968). <br />
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If you are at the point of despair, that is, of turning your back on God, know this: your adversary is not so dreadful as your fear makes it out to be. But there is One who is greater, who is truly All-Powerful, and you can run to Him for refuge.<br />
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‘Cause, you know, Cap <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSnHM3rn1jc">called it</a>…<br />
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<br />Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-37572295546478124012014-03-29T09:13:00.000-05:002014-05-08T10:11:35.589-05:00The case of the convenient store cowgirlLest you think we're all about bare-knuckled vigilantism here, here's a lady showing us <a href="http://faithtap.com/369/woman-orders-robber-out-in-the-name-of-jesus/#t/369/">how to fight crime Jesus-style.</a><br />
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P.S. - God bless Texas. <br />
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As a follow-up, this child's<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/10-year-old-escapes-kidnapper-by-repeatedly-singing-gospel-song-152042414.html"> close-call </a>with an abductor highlights the power of God in the delivering the weak, the poor, the small, the captive.<br />
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When I was scared at night, my mom taught me Psalm 56:3, "What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee..." <br />
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"The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are saved."Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-65568823129428096292014-03-25T03:51:00.000-05:002014-05-08T10:10:42.805-05:00Some good news in the struggle against sex-traffickingSome news we can all feel good about sharing. I know it's just rehashing links and info dumping, but I'll polish it up later... If it helps get the word out there... “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152266675494729">The Locust Effect</a>” and "<a href="http://www.breakpoint.org/tp-home/blog-archives/blog-archives/entry/4/24775">Ending Sex Trafficking in Canada</a>."Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-63846676244523712612014-03-24T03:48:00.000-05:002014-05-08T10:10:12.746-05:00Link on Bullying - what to do, what to do...I was gonna post up a rad poster of Captain America on a motorcycle smacking some bad dudes up-cross the head, but Sherly sent me this<a href="http://thisjapaneselife.org/2013/06/12/japan-ijime-bullies/"> link on bullying</a>, so Cap will have to wait (just two weeks 'til the movie comes out!).<br />
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I know I've posted on bullying before, but this is one of the big issues we want to see changed, so it's always a good time to raise awareness. I just wish I could address each and every student and teacher in Japan about this since they are, by their own admission, clueless about how to go about handling these kind of confrontational situations.<br />
<br />Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-91272560588322349022014-03-23T03:51:00.000-05:002014-05-08T10:11:01.548-05:00Oldcastle’s Journal, Mar. 22nd. <br />
11:05PM. Wound on my foot looks unpleasant, swollen. Insect bite, or whatever it is, kept me from hitting the street last night. Could kick myself. Tonight, the plan is to check out S&D, a local bar that Zach used to work at. Mingle, make contact. Try to be of help to people who don’t realize they need help. At the station, meet up with Zach and a couple short-termers he brought along.<br />
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Once hand-stamped and through the doors, the cacophony engulfs us. We waft through the miasma of smoke, making out shapes of tables in the back. There are a couple guys in plaid shirts idling their time and we hit it off. One of them, Ken, seems interested in our blonde friend, but doesn’t seem to know his chances are tenuous.<br />
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At the front, where the soundtrack is stuck on “tribal caterwauling”, the hunting grounds are whatever space is to be had between tables for gyrations, set up according to the local ordinance. The guys mostly gawk awkwardly around at the edge of the herd, or, steaming with desire, find some girl in loincloth to rub up against. Between the strobing lights, you can see the hollowness in the girl’s eyes. Their bodies want to crash, but caught up in the surge, they push on, convincing themselves they enjoy this routine.<br />
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1:10AM. Talk with two or three other folks as the night wears on. It’s dicey. Two girls at the next table seem worn out and I saddle over to try things out. They’re slow to warm up. Figure I’m there on the prowl like everyone else. Offer to get them some energy drinks and come back with two Red Bulls. It’s an exercise in practice. One of the girls tells me I have a nice smile, so of course I’m unable to smile for the rest of the time. Ken spends most of the time slumped over in the corner.<br />
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2:30AM. Find Zach and his friends talking with a group hanging out outside the club. They’re an assorted bunch. Look promising. But I got stuff in the morning and have to be heading on. I walk with Ken as he looks for a taxi. We cross the footbridge over the street and meet a super-sized Aussie with a prominent midsection and rat-scraggle of a beard. Steve, as he’s called, greets us in friendly, but edgy way of drunkards, holding out a bottle for us. I pass until he turns to Ken, who has a sip. He’s told to drink it all, but Ken demures. “Drink it down or I’ll throw you off this **** bridge,” he breathes, reaching to grab Ken’s jacket. I move in and tell Steve hands off. Then he shrugs and laughs, says he was only joking. Good. I was about make a joke of my own involving the Zima bottle and the bridge of his nose. I make a friendly “see you around” (sunovagun) and walk Ken across the street, apologizing for fat-heads like that. Ken nervously laughs it off. Guess he’ll remember this night.<br />
<br />Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-29276778123592440302014-03-17T03:45:00.000-05:002014-05-08T10:09:46.945-05:00Meanwhile in Tokyo…I already posted about the Korean baby box the day <a href="http://tokyodesu.com/2014/03/17/pictures-ultra-nationalist-demonstrators-overwhelmed-by-anti-racist-counter-protest/">this happened</a>, and I don't like to overwhelm with posts, so I held back on it, but yeah! Isn't it sweet!? So unexpected. Is there a sea change happening in Japan? Would love to see some of that kinda of anti-racist love here in Osaka too.<br />
<br />Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-81778393455115842142014-03-15T03:44:00.000-05:002014-05-08T10:09:14.716-05:00On the Least of TheseI'm not much for the whole arguing and debating thrust for dealing with these critical issues since usually people discredit their stance by their unloving tone and overly logically-driven response, but I haven't posted any articles yet regarding the infanticide epidemic we face, so here's a choice, if somewhat polemic <a href="http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/i-am-afraid-of-this-indisputable-pro-choice-argument">piece.</a> . We are not brains in isolation - it is hurtful to speak megalothymically to each other as if that were so.<br />
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Regarding the last post about infanticide, I wanted to give an example of<a href="http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/korean-pastor"> love in action</a>. This is precisely the kind of roll-up-your-sleeves venture that society needs. I don't know why every church doesn't have this. Reminds me much of the early church in caring for abandoned babies in the Roman empire. For more on this, see the film <a href="http://kindredimage.org/the-film">The Drop Box</a>. It's not just Korean, but China also has <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/five-babies-day-left-chinese-citys-baby-hatch-055330333.html">the baby hatch</a>. In the US, one can leave a baby with any police or medical personnel. See the <a href="http://nationalsafehavenalliance.org/">National Safe Haven Alliance</a>.<br />
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“And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.” - Ezekiel 22:30</div>
Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-60192072186474661602014-03-10T03:38:00.000-05:002014-05-08T10:08:24.573-05:00Oldcastle’s Journal, March 9th<br />
11PM. Can hear the street calling. Feeling a little nauseous and try to get in some more sleep. Should watch the crap I eat. <br />
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2:38AM. Eventually get out of bed and heed the call. <br />
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See some of the regulars, but for whatever reason don’t engage much. The line is the same even if I don’t know some of the languages. Maybe Chinese?<br />
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3:32AM. Street corner waiting for light to change. Guy stumbles up to ask where I am from. Says he’s Brazilian, or American, or Canadian, then Brazilian again. Barely coherent. Blasted out of his mind. I can get pieces. Sounds like he came back from a gay bar. Has no friends here. Was sight-seeing for the week. Supposed to fly back in the morning at nine. Problem though. Depending on price, airport is two and a half to four hours by bullet train. Train station is fifteen minutes away by cab, but doesn’t open until six or so. Don’t know the timetable. There are other, quicker ways, but I didn’t bring my pocket wi-fi with me. Nor would he follow the transfers. <br />
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Brain hurts. Numbers not my forte. Flashbacks to math class. Must fight to focus, return to reality. Try to explain the time problem, but he’s headstrong. I’d let him sleep at my place, but the landlady would throw a conniption fit. There’s a 24-hr coffee shop I know or a media café where he could spend the night indoors, but he insists on a cab to the station. And then what? <br />
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He doesn’t speak the language, so I interpret for the driver. Suppose the Good Samaritan or a Boy Scout would have seen him to the station and then waited for the morning train. Hurm. All muddled up. Don’t know what to do. Give him my contact card. Don’t see how to help him much more. Also, have work in the morning. He has enough cash on him. I wish him Godspeed and see the cab off.<br />
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On way back home, it hits me. Wonder what hotel was he staying at last week. And where his luggage was. Hurm. <br />
<br />Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-69640725117462403082014-03-09T03:37:00.000-05:002014-05-08T10:08:07.133-05:00Oldcastle’s Journal, March 8th<br />
12:41AM. Streets are quiet. Nothing much on the police scanner. Leaving the train station, get a text from CK. I tell him to take it easy and rest up since he is still nursing a cold. I’m not doing much better. At noon had lunch to make acquaintances with another fellow traveler. Rest of day is a blur. It’s after midnight getting home. I stop by my place just long enough to pour a glass before venturing out into the demimonde.<br />
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Near my apartment are two subway stations, ten minutes in either direction. The one to the west is the central line, but it means going through Togano, running the Samaria gauntlet of pimps and pushers. Most people avoid it. It’s a menagerie of midnighters, johns, touts, the syndicate, the cops, the bully pulpiteers, the homeless, and rescue rangers like me. All of us sharing the same track.<br />
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The girls are lined up tonight. On every corner they’re waiting. I think I see Aiko near her spot, but I’m not sure.<br />
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In front of me a girl, maybe seventeen or eighteen, with a short skirt pinching the top of her thighs. Knee socks bunched around her ankles. She’s trying to look much younger. Might as well be wearing pigtails. Can’t see her face. On her phone. She’s about to cross the street, but an oncoming taxi blares its horn.<br />
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See a few grizzled fellows here and there huddling in the corners of buildings, but I don’t recognize many faces tonight. One though, I’ve seen him the past few days. The first time he almost seemed to follow CK and me, snarling and flailing his arms against some unseen presence. Yesterday he was on the pavement, lying there wild-eyed. Tonight I pass him arguing with a garbage can.<br />
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Then there’s the syndicate on the sidelines. Try to avoid. By their reckoning, I’m no threat unless I slow down their girls with idle chit-chat. Some of them stand out. Brute violence carved into their face I see one now. Possible Snakehead. Among their kind, especially creative in the kind of depravity they can think up to inflict.<br />
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At the end of the night, around 5 or 6, the girls will be dead on their feet. Numb and running off fumes. Some nights, coffee and some grub are too good an offer to turn down. Other times, they rear back defensively, scoffing in a false bravado. Like a stray animal taken in, sometimes biting my hand out of reflex. <br />
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2:03AM. To read Orwell, the life of a backcountry tramp hitching the rails and getting tossed in the clink might seem downright romantic. Suppose it’s because I have a home to return to, a warm bed. Food in the fridge. Even a heavy coat a Korean guy in my building gave me.<br />
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I gerrymander my way past the slums and tenements and near to where even the dilapidated buildings grow spare and trail off into back lots and old railroad lines. “And further still at an unearthly height, a luminary clock against the sky…”<br />
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The Colorado Kid, he’s got his wife and kids. Ramone too. Texas Jack Vermillion got hitched to a nice broad a couple years ago. Me, I got this view here. <br />
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I look out on her. My city. Can almost feel like one could find some symmetry to her jagged edges.<br />
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I’ve been to Manhattan once. Queens, Harlem, Brooklyn, and the rest. Drove by in a hurry. Seemed to be no end to the skyscrapers and the shadows they cast. No shortage of colorful characters either. Luke, Daniel, Colleen, Matt, Frank… Ketch, Marc, Felicia, Jessica… Ty and Tandy, Dwayne and Dakota…<br />
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Not to mention the capes. I’m surprised they don’t trip over each other, all bunched up in the same back alleys, caught up in the same tired dialectic.<br />
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Word on the street is the Soldier was sighted not far from my grounds. Maybe on his way to some G.I. Joe charity event. Hurm. Nice to know he is somewhere nearby, watching from the rooftops. Rogers is different. He inspires. Wonder what he’d say if he saw me making the rounds hanging out with some at-risk runaway over some cheap coffee and runny eggs. I think about it all the way back to my apartment.<br />
<br />Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-60783352565208825182014-03-03T03:36:00.000-06:002014-05-08T10:07:43.790-05:00A message from our spokesman...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In case you were wondering about the name...<br />
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Of course, all our content goes up first at our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/heroesforhireinc">FB page</a>. Give us a "Like" and add your voice to fighting the good fight.Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-70734180622831304912014-03-03T03:33:00.000-06:002014-05-08T10:07:02.979-05:00Calling in the cavalryNice to be able to call the <a href="http://storycorps.org/listen/happy-dodson-and-taz-roman/">cavalry</a>, in this case Bikers Against Child Abuse. Another excellent Story Corp. recording. I wonder though that many times the perpetrator is actually a family member though... <br />
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Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-51378513953527141072014-02-22T03:29:00.000-06:002014-05-08T10:06:31.195-05:00Re: host bar interviews <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='500' height='284' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/bL1pA0McgvM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Here's a documentary about host bars, called "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL1pA0McgvM">The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief</a>." It might sound like a sci-fi title, but it's top-notch, worth watching. So, do it now!<br />
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Comment below. But don't just say, "How sad..." Tell us what can be done. Share your insights. The person with the best response will get a personal thumbs-up or high-five from yours truly.<br />
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In other news, our search and rescue patrols are going well. Will update in due time.<br />
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For something of a more redemptive nature, see the short film <a href="http://vimeopro.com/toygunfilms/paper-flower">Paper Flower</a>. Worth a watch! I hope they make many more films like this, or develop a TV series. If only I were Japanese, I’d act in it for free.<br />
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Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-14620949819285237782014-02-16T03:26:00.000-06:002014-05-08T10:05:14.398-05:00The backside of OsakaSo there's <a href="http://mrstsk.tumblr.com/post/14951319129">this</a>. You can find drive-by videos on YouTube, but I just wanted to introduce this subject of red light districts, like this very traditional style one, basically a relic, in a more gradual way (in other words, more to follow). <br />
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Ramone, Zach, and I did a walk-by around noon the other day to do some assessing and pray the advent of the kingdom. You might call it the meat market. Of all the red/pink areas in this city, this is the one that still retains remnants of a wall around it. We think of it as the fortress. And its days are numbered. <br />
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"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ..." - 2 Corinthians 10:3-5Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-87775491897971113622014-02-15T03:28:00.000-06:002014-05-08T10:05:55.444-05:00Oldcastle’s Journal, Feb. 14th.<br />
Holiday for the lonely hearts. Strangely, there’s plenty of snowfall, almost unheard of in this city. May have to buy a heavier jacket.<br />
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11:10AM. Meet with Ramone and Zach at the train station south of the zoo. Straight off, we’re approached by an old man, straggly wisps of a beard, worn out shoes. He’s quick and intelligent, despite appearances, and eager to chat. He’s lived abroad for years. We don’t have time for a coffee, but exchange phone numbers to meet our new friend again.<br />
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Snow is getting slushy outside. A sense of the forlorn and rejected is a fine white powder that blankets the people. A warm and pleasant drowsiness takes them. That’s their hope. The morning after, returning to their hovels and high-rises, they sleep and slumber and try to forget. Stardust and snowflakes. But the track marks are still on their arms, and when the effects wear off, they’re left with a wretched loneliness inside. <br />
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It’s an old neighborhood. The kind where the walls are everywhere, though no one can see them. The original place burned down. They moved it down here. As far as red light districts go, this is the fortress, a hundred and twenty brothels. The mayor serves as a legal advisor to the area. As we walk the streets, we stay alert to any following us. There’s two different gangs controlling these businesses, about three hundred members strong going by the police reports.<br />
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As we pass the windows, it’s difficult to know where to look. Maintaining a sort of respectful, yet cordial distance from the merchandise. Hurm. Well, it’s a scouting mission. Zone recon. The girls sit stoically in the cold, heat fans blazing around them, as the window-shoppers survey. Some are in uniform, others in their delicates. They are young and beautiful. One would never tell by seeing them outside the wall what kind of persona they put on each day.<br />
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Mind is reeling. “Turning and turning in the widening gyre…” We get lunch at a shifty little café and exchange notes. Our small team is ramshackle. Makeshift. Determined. Formidable. Like the Blue Blaze Irregulars. The word will spread. Makes my blood beat hot. Surely some revelation is at hand.<br />
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11:15PM. It stopped snowing. Now a light rain outside. Meet with the Colorado Kid about scoping out Doyamacho and Toganocho. He’s a seeker, but a good hand. Got a good eye for what’s what as well. Lucky to have him with me. I brief him and give some heads up about what to expect.<br />
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12:30AM. Head out on and find some local referral guides. There’s a fetid stench in these kind of catering businesses, another part of this predatory system, but CK and I play our cards well. They’re friendly enough and give us information. <br />
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After we take our leave, we come across some girls with sandwich boards. Younger girls mostly. Once I loosen things up, CK is a natural. They are surprised and eagerly take our Valentine gift bags, happy to talk to people that are not there with money in hand. Chocolate, handwritten note, and contact info is inside. Me and my heart of gold. In all, we chat up with nine or ten folks around the neighborhood. Most of them ladies bar workers. Others are in deep. Wonder if they’re using their real names.<br />
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2:03AM. Pass a drunk slouched by a building. He waves away our help. Others that walk this hour are in their own world, conversing with themselves. The mentally disturbed. The spirit-oppressed. It’s still drizzling. We’re ready to head in. Not much choice - tomorrow is an early day.<br />
<br />Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-34615994703444961702014-02-10T03:24:00.000-06:002014-05-08T10:04:39.237-05:00Men of Valor and SacrificePerhaps the most essential of Japanese proverbs is 出る杭は打たれる。 "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down." <br />
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That reminds me of what the theologian Theodore Beza replied to the King of Navarre in 1562 after a congregation of Huguenots were burned alive in the barn they were meeting in: "The church is an anvil which has worn out many hammers."<br />
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Vice-Consul <a href="http://www.artofmanliness.com/2010/05/02/lessons-in-manliness-chiune-sugihara/">Chiune Sugihara</a>, possibly an Orthodox Christian himself, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/chiune-sugihara-japanese--jews-holocaust_n_2528666.html">risked much</a> to defy his government and issue transit visas to refugee Jews fleeing the Nazi onslaught. Though it flew in the face of the official orders he was given, his courageous actions were bold and daring, resulting in thousands of people being saved from the extermination camps. He was proud to be the nail that sticks up. Oskar Schindler's story has been made famous with the Spielberg movie, though Sugihara and others actually saved more lives.<br />
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Would that every Japanese history include the heroic story of Sugihara with the Jewish proverb, וכל המקיים נפש אחת, מעלים עליו כאילו קיים עולם מלא (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 4:8 (37a). "He who saves a life, saves the world."<br />
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Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-59513915188447598582014-02-05T03:21:00.000-06:002014-05-08T10:36:25.718-05:00Putting on your big boy pants<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This guy… Theodore Roosevelt’s biography reads like a larger-than-life litany of manly courage. He explored Africa, the Amazon, and the Dakota Badlands. He won the Medal of Honor, Nobel Peace Prize, and title Chief Scout Citizen. With a photographic memory, he was one of the most well read presidents. He hunted down outlaws, cleaned house when it came to political cronyism and the corrupt NYPD, patrolled crime-ridden New York streets late at night, led his Rough Riders in an uphill charge at San Juan on foot, sparred in jujitsu three times a week with Japanese in the White House, not to mention packing heat as president. Once a guy tried to assassinate him, shooting him point blank. Roosevelt just shook it off and went on to give a speech with a hole in his chest.<br />
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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt<br />
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"The nation must make ready the tools and train the men to use them, but at the crisis a great triumph can be achieved only should some heroic man appear." - Theodore Roosevelt<br />
- Theodore Roosevelt<br />
<br />Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-40262600133242510582014-02-03T03:17:00.000-06:002014-05-08T10:03:07.443-05:00Empty hearts and hostess clubsIf you ever wanted to poke around inside a guy's mind regarding <i>mizu shobai</i> (besides the obvious), but didn't have the chance or couldn't speak good enough Japanese, here you go: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpSAzRfhtRQ">What a guy thinks about going to a hostess club</a><br />
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Honest, yet heartrending, answer. Somebody get that dude a Bible stat!<br />
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Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; For emptiness will be his reward. - Job 15:31<br />
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Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways! "You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes. - Haggai 1:5-6<br />
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For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. John 1:16<br />
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Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.” John 6:35-36<br />
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On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” - John 7:37-38<br />
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"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” - John 10:10<br />
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Come, all you who are thirsty,<br />
come to the waters;<br />
and you who have no money,<br />
come, buy and eat!<br />
Come, buy wine and milk<br />
without money and without cost.<br />
Why spend money on what is not bread,<br />
and your labor on what does not satisfy?<br />
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,<br />
and you will delight in the riches of fare.<br />
Give ear and come to me;<br />
listen, that you may live.<br />
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,<br />
my faithful love promised to David.<br />
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Seek the Lord while he may be found;<br />
call on him while he is near.<br />
Let the wicked forsake their ways<br />
and the unrighteous their thoughts.<br />
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,<br />
and to our God, for he will freely pardon. - Isaiah 55:1-3, 6-7<br />
<br />Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-34807399621151231432014-01-29T01:33:00.001-06:002014-01-29T01:33:21.945-06:00Oldcastle's Journal, Jan. 28thOldcastle's Journal<br />
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Jan. 28th. <br />Most of the usual crowd over at the Kiwi's. Near 11, we call it a night. The city is quiet, uneventful. A little colder coming back. I usually try to avoid taking the train, but tonight no choice. Strangers forced close to each other. I feel their eyes on me. I glance back at one. The passenger shifts in the seat uneasily. Someone coughs up a fit. The devil's weed. I sit with LJ and discuss the nature of damnation. We agree to disagree.<br /><br />11:27PM. Come across someone's keys on the street. Someone probably dropped them in their alcoholic stupor. LJ mentions something about the moral imperative. I agree and head to the nearest police box. No one there. Typical. Across the street some girls standing around next to the menus. After some time, one of the older ones crosses over, cautiously. It makes me think of a wounded stray looking for some food.<br />
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Her voice is weak and cracked, but there's something else behind her tone, almost maternal. I decline her solicitation, citing my creed. Brief but cordial religious discussion ensues. Language skills rusty. I fumble for the words. In the end, she asks my business and I explain about the keys and she - Aiko, I learn - compliments me on my Good Samaritan deed. Hurm. We decide it best to leave them on the desk in the police box. I bid her a goodnight and take my leave. She won't be returning home until late. It doesn't occur to me until later to offer her my spare hand-warmer.<br />Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-59093804121154678982014-01-28T21:06:00.001-06:002014-05-08T10:32:53.836-05:00Cross and Shield<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="userContent">This evening I was handing out flyers in the
park in Sannomiya and came across three 20-something guys talking
amongst themselves. I offered a flyer, briefly mentioning about the
program and free English, etc., but one of them coldly move<span class="text_exposed_show">s
his hand in a slow and deliberate dismissive motion, pushing my arm
back. I told them there was no reason to be rude about it, that a
simple “No, thank you” would suffice, and then left. <br /> <br /> It’s not
unusual to get remarkably curt and insolent responses, but I did wonder
as I walked away what I should do if they came at me. I’m not much of a
fighter – little skill and less training. Should I just dodge back and
away (I’m good at that), or see what I could do with a few preemptive
blows to the soft spots to take the fight out of them? Pretty sure that
would have landed me in the clink by the Japanese police. </span></span><br />
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<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZNWWg0Q__U"> Here’s</a> what a bantam Steve “Lionheart” Rogers did when faced with a
never-do-well. Words like intrepid, dauntless, stout-hearted, and
resolute also come to mind. </span></span><br />
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<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show">Now <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucb3Ck8YVWo">that's</a> showing what us little guys can do!</span></span><br />
<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show">And speaking of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=510486538975511">little guy</a>.<br /><br /> But then, I can also imagine what the late
David Wilkerson would have done, and witnessed the fire from heaven fall
and bring them to their knees in awe of God.</span></span><br />
<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent">In case any of you are unfamiliar with Wilkerson, here’s the movie <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWbWfD6ZQv8">The Cross and the Switchblade</a>, which covers his love-wins-out-style clash with New York gangsters. (The link probably won't stay up long, but you can search YouTube.)<br /><br /> In 1958, he felt called to go to <span class="text_exposed_show">New
York to preach to a gang, facing death head on, along with starting a
street ministry for drug addicts. Later he founded Times Square Church
among the strip clubs and crackhouses, similar to Jackie Pullinger’s
<a href="http://www.rejesus.co.uk/site/module/jackie_pullinger/P2/">work </a>with St. Stephen’s Society reaching out to Triads and opium dens in
the Walled City of Kowloon of Hong Kong. <br /> <br /> I'm really excited
as I see some ideas and people and plans coming together to impact the
streets of Osaka. What do you think of their lives? Do you know any
other people doing similar work?</span></span></span></span>Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611042026892193977.post-40732258809533149552014-01-28T20:49:00.000-06:002014-01-28T20:49:11.844-06:00The Endgame<span class="userContent">Talk about standing up against the System and
leaving a legacy. So many good quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr. Maybe this one will
suffice for now: <br /> <br /> “Cowardice asks the question: Is it safe? <br /> Expediency asks the question: Is it politic? <br /> Vanity asks the <span class="text_exposed_show">question: Is it popular? <br /> But conscious asks the question: Is it right? <br />
And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither
safe, nor politic nor popular – but one must take it simply because it
is right.”<br /><br /> Do you have a favorite quote by MLK? What do you think is his greatest legacy? <br /> <br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/35177221">MLK's "I Have a Dream" Speech</a><br /></span></span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0"><span data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.0"><span data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.0.$end:0:$0:0">I
always think of MLK's namesake, Martin Luther, especially in his
trying, yet courageous defense at the Diet of Worms in 1521, where he
concluded:</span><br data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.0.$end:0:$1:0" /><br data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.0.$end:0:$3:0" /><span data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.0.$end:0:$4:0">"Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either</span></span><span data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.3"><span data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.3.0.$end:0:$0:0">
in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have
often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I
have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot
and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go
against conscience. *Here I stand, I can do no other. May God help me.
Amen."</span><br data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.3.0.$end:0:$1:0" /><br data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.3.0.$end:0:$3:0" /><span data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.3.0.$end:0:$4:0">He
was soon after declared an outlaw and could have been killed on sight
were it not for Frederick of Saxony's daring plan to stage a kidnapping
en route and secret him away in Wartburg Castle.</span><br data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.3.0.$end:0:$5:0" /><br data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.3.0.$end:0:$7:0" /><span data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.3.0.$end:0:$8:0">*Attributed/apocryphal.</span><br data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.3.0.$end:0:$9:0" /><br data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.3.0.$end:0:$11:0" /><span data-reactid=".h.1:3:1:$comment10152234431438619_33645524:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:3.0.3.0.$end:0:$12:0">While
we're on the subject, it might be noted that MLK's theological views in
seminary papers were patently heretical. Still, his stance on racial
justice and peace was heroic. He stood up to the terrorists, men with
badges and Bibles, shook his fist in their faces, prayed for them, and
took a bullet for it.</span></span></span></span></span>Daniel Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534137798416242938noreply@blogger.com0