"My heart has been misunderstood. I want you to understand my heart." In spite of herself, a humble nun feels ill when she looks at the cross. In the throes of her agony, Jesus speaks to her of a secret that will shake the Christian world to its foundations. What is the hidden cause of the "Cross Immolation Syndrome? that has been sweeping the modern world? A Japanese priest, sister, and the Roman Pope go on a journey of discovery that leads them to eye-opening conclusions about the Jesus they thought they knew. Uncovering a secret more startling than "The Da Vinci Code", a Japanese priest, nun, and the Roman Pope find themselves woven into a dynamic suspense novel that spans Italy, France, and Japan. The Secret behind the Cross takes the discoverers of the secret back 2,000 years to dynamically encounter the living heart of Jesus in a revolutionary way. Excerpt from the book: A few weeks after that, another strange incident occurred. Kokoro was kneeling with her eyes closed at a seat right in front of the altar. After a while, she somehow thought that it was getting bright around her, and she opened her eyes.There, right in front of her, stood the Baby Jesus, carrying a cross on his back! It was the Jesus painted in the painting of The Annunciation, which was hung on the right side of the church. Jesus spoke to Kokoro, who stared at him, her eyes opened wide. "Kokoro, take this cross off my back, because it's heavy." "O.K. I'll take it off for you." She helped the Infant Jesus take the cross off his back without hesitation. It didn't come off easily, but as she repeatedly pulled it many times, she soon was able to take it off. "Jesus had to carry the cross since he was small." As she said so, she felt pity for Jesus, thinking that it must have been hard to carry a cross on his back ever since he was a small child. "Thank you, Kokoro! I feel very light!" The Infant Jesus seemed happy to have his cross taken off his back and to be free. He thanked Kokoro. Kokoro, who held the cross she had taken off Jesus' back in her hand, thought it was heavier than she had ever imagined, and she simply could not rejoice. Jesus asked Kokoro to put down the cross on the floor and play with him, and they played hide-and-seek and other games together. "This was a lot of fun!" she told him when they were finished playing. Jesus was smiling. "I enjoyed it, too. But, Kokoro, this is a secret just between you and me." "All right. But can we play together again?" "We may able to see each other again some day." "When will that be?" Jesus did not answer. He just smiled. Again, when she noticed, she was lying alone, sleeping on the red rug in front of the altar. She looked for Jesus as soon as she woke up, but the Infant Jesus was back in the original painting with the cross and no longer spoke to her. For quite a long period of time, she went to the chapel every day, hoping Jesus would appear and play with her again. However, Jesus never appeared to her again. http://peterchavier.comhttp://goo.gl/RoU8QYhttps://goo.gl/JxecRz

One winter day, Michio Fujiwara, a high school student, finds an oval-shaped medal beside a statue of the Blessed Mary at a church. It is a "Miraculous Medal" of the Immaculate Mary. Fifteen years later, Michio has become a young and spirited artist, painter and sculptor. He creates a replica of Michelangelo's Pieta that is unveiled at a ceremony to open the Museum of the Virgin Mary, and it wins him highest praise. Two years later, however, the statue is vandalized by someone. What is the purpose of destroying the Pieta? Why does Mary in the Pieta keep shedding tears? What was the true grief of Mary as she stood at the foot of Jesus' cross? Mysterious incidents occur one after another in Kyoto and in Italy regarding the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception that hinders the unity of the Christian Church. http: //www.sinkan.jp/radio/radio_1374.html http: //goo.gl/Y5yZk1 https: //goo.gl/JxecRz

After the introduction of the "long-term resident" visa, the mass-migration of Nikkeis (Japanese Brazilians) has led to roughly 190,000 Brazilian nationals living in Japan. While the ancestry-based visa confers Nikkeis' right to settlement virtually as a right of blood, their ethnic ambiguity and working-class profile often prevent them from feeling at home in their supposed ethnic homeland. In response, many have converted to Pentecostalism, reflecting the explosive trend across Latin America since the 1970s. Jesus Loves Japan offers a rare window into lives at the crossroads of return migration and global Pentecostalism. Suma Ikeuchi argues that charismatic Christianity appeals to Nikkei migrants as a "third culture"--one that transcends ethno-national boundaries and offers a way out of a reality marked by stagnant national indifference. Jesus Loves Japan insightfully describes the political process of homecoming through the lens of religion, and the ubiquitous figure of the migrant as the pilgrim of a transnational future.

Steve had suffered under the brutal regime of his Japanese guards. He and his classmates at Chefoo school in China ' for the most part the children of missionaries ' had been interned in 1942. Resentment of the Japanese was a way of life. Could he possibly pray for them? Painfully, reluctantly, he found that he could, and his prayers sank deep. At the end of the war the China Inland Mission was seeking young men willing to go to Japan . Steve trained, packed and went. Thus began Steve's lifelong love of Japan. Over the years he would tussle with a culture where courtesy wins over truth; where suicide is an honourable choice; where to be foreign is to be forever alien. Time after time he would encounter miracles of healing, provision, and protection as God looked after him, his wife Evelyn and their growing family. In a resistant culture he would see many come to Christ. This is the story of how a boy's grudging prayers were remarkably answered.

"My heart has been misunderstood. I want you to understand my heart." In spite of herself, a humble nun feels ill when she looks at the cross. In the throes of her agony, Jesus speaks to her of a secret that will shake the Christian world to its foundations. What is the hidden cause of the "Cross Immolation Syndrome? that has been sweeping the modern world? A Korean priest born in Japan, a Japanese sister, and the Roman Pope go on a journey of discovery that leads them to eye-opening conclusions about the Jesus they thought they knew. Uncovering a secret more startling than "The Da Vinci Code", priest, nun, and the Roman Pope find themselves woven into a dynamic suspense novel that spans Italy, France, and Japan. The Secret behind the Cross takes the discoverers of the secret back 2,000 years to dynamically encounter the living heart of Jesus in a revolutionary way. Excerpt from the book: A few weeks after that, another strange incident occurred. Kokoro was kneeling with her eyes closed at a seat right in front of the altar. After a while, she somehow thought that it was getting bright around her, and she opened her eyes. There, right in front of her, stood the Baby Jesus, carrying a cross on his back! It was the Jesus painted in the painting of The Annunciation, which was hung on the right side of the church. Jesus spoke to Kokoro, who stared at him, her eyes opened wide. "Kokoro, take this cross off my back, because it's heavy." "O.K. I'll take it off for you." She helped the Infant Jesus take the cross off his back without hesitation. It didn't come off easily, but as she repeatedly pulled it many times, she soon was able to take it off. "Jesus had to carry the cross since he was small." As she said so, she felt pity for Jesus, thinking that it must have been hard to carry a cross on his back ever since he was a small child. "Thank you, Kokoro! I feel very light!" The Infant Jesus seemed happy to have his cross taken off his back and to be free. He thanked Kokoro. Kokoro, who held the cross she had taken off Jesus' back in her hand, thought it was heavier than she had ever imagined, and she simply could not rejoice. Jesus asked Kokoro to put down the cross on the floor and play with him, and they played hide-and-seek and other games together. "This was a lot of fun!" she told him when they were finished playing. Jesus was smiling. "I enjoyed it, too. But, Kokoro, this is a secret just between you and me." "All right. But can we play together again?" "We may able to see each other again some day." "When will that be?" Jesus did not answer. He just smiled. Again, when she noticed, she was lying alone, sleeping on the red rug in front of the altar. She looked for Jesus as soon as she woke up, but the Infant Jesus was back in the original painting with the cross and no longer spoke to her. For quite a long period of time, she went to the chapel every day, hoping Jesus would appear and play with her again. However, Jesus never appeared to her again. http://peterchavier.com/en/ http://peterchavier.com http://sesomang-world.net/tears-of-jesus/

From a world-renowned painter, an exploration of creativity’s quintessential—and often overlooked—role in the spiritual life “Makoto Fujimura’s art and writings have been a true inspiration to me. In this luminous book, he addresses the question of art and faith and their reconciliation with a quiet and moving eloquence.”—Martin Scorsese “[An] elegant treatise . . . Fujimura’s sensitive, evocative theology will appeal to believers interested in the role religion can play in the creation of art.”—Publishers Weekly Conceived over thirty years of painting and creating in his studio, this book is Makoto Fujimura’s broad and deep exploration of creativity and the spiritual aspects of “making.” What he does in the studio is theological work as much as it is aesthetic work. In between pouring precious, pulverized minerals onto handmade paper to create the prismatic, refractive surfaces of his art, he comes into the quiet space in the studio, in a discipline of awareness, waiting, prayer, and praise. Ranging from the Bible to T. S. Eliot, and from Mark Rothko to Japanese Kintsugi technique, he shows how unless we are making something, we cannot know the depth of God’s being and God’s grace permeating our lives. This poignant and beautiful book offers the perspective of, in Christian Wiman’s words, “an accidental theologian,” one who comes to spiritual questions always through the prism of art.

A commemorative look at 50 years of Dr. Cho¿s min-istry of hope, released in time for his retirement this summer. Over the years, as he struggled to bring hope to people and build his church, God taught Dr. Cho not to depend upon himself but totally upon the Holy Spirit. In this book Dr. Cho tells the stories of his temptations and doubts, failures and successes, and how the Holy Spirit was with him in every situa-tion. The teaching in this book will inspire the reader to stand strong in the face of adversity, doubt, and fear. Followers worldwide will add this highly antici-pated autobiography to their collection of Dr. Cho¿s coveted works.