Bethel Fellowship International

The following short video film of now deceased BFI missionaries Mike HANAS and Clyde BADE was shot in 1989 during a trip Bade made with Japanese pastor Yoshio TSUZAKA of Fussa Bethel Christ Church in Tokyo to Irian Jaya to see the Biak Bible School and the missionary work in which Mike & Mae Hanas were involved for so many years.

In the video you will see the Biak Bible School grounds, Mike translating for Clyde during a meeting, boarding an airplane, boating up a river into the jungle and what looks like bartering with Irian Jaya aborigines for souvenir weapons.

Noticing the small red flag on the map in the upper left corner, you can see where the small island of Biak is located in Indonesia’s Irian Jaya, the western half of Papua New Guinea.

God and His Bible
by Rev. W.H. Offiler (free PDF download)

Copyrighted and published in 1946 and until now practically unavailable, Bethel Temple founder W H Offiler’s GOD AND HIS BIBLE: Harmonies of Divine Revelation is now made available in a FREE readable, 397 digital-page portable document file.

This book is an in-depth guide that goes along with studying subjects found in the Bible Chart of the Ages, also published by Offiler in 1946. The book was dedicated to Offiler’s wife, who always prayed that God would lead him into all truth.

GOD AND HIS BIBLE: Harmonies of Divine Revelation is a dig-deeper tool the student of God’s Word will certainly want to have in his spiritual toolbox.

In the above youtube.com video, Japan’s Munakata Bethel Christian Center (MBCC) congregants are seen and heard singing “This Is My Story, This Is My Song” as they stand before the altar last Sunday morning , January 31, 2016, offering praises to God for His miraculous provision of Â¥38,985,000 (US$326,000) over the past four years to complete the purchase of the property on which the facility was built 25 years ago — the building and land all without a single bank loan.

Nils & Andrea Olson, BFI missionary-pastors to Japan since 1978, commented, “The classic hymn, Blessed Assurance by Fanny Crosby was a perfect way to express the congregation’s heart-felt gratitude to God and to all those whose hearts were moved by the Holy Spirit to believe and to give so joyfully of their offerings the past four years.”

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

“It began twenty-five years ago when the Holy Spirit spoke and said, ‘Lease property and build’. We stepped out of the boat as it were and began walking on water toward the Miracle Worker. He is the One Who has done this; I repeat, He is the One Who has done this. We shall NOT forget this miracle,” Nils said.

Nils puts his personal signet to a withdrawal slip in the amount of ¥10,985,000 ($92,000) for the final payment of the Munakata Bethel Christian Center land purchase.

Shaking hands on the completion of the land purchase on Friday, January 29, are Nils and the (former) land owner, Akio Ishimatsu, whose mother and father originally leased the property with no monthly lease payments to MBCC in 1991. Pictured to the left of Mr. Ishimatsu are the Judicial Scrivener, Mr. Gonda, and our real estate agent Toshiya Ishimatsu (not related to landlord). An occupation basically found only in Japan and South Korea, a “judicial scrivener” assists clients in commercial and real estate registration procedures.

Now that the land belongs to the church, over the next few months with the help of their real estate agent, Toshiya Ishimatsu, MBCC’s next steps will be to submit necessary paper work for religious incorporation.

All praise and glory to Almighty God, the LORD Jesus Christ!

Nils Olson, BFI missionary in Japan since January 1978, shares the following study.

Man, in his search for God, has always looked up. Yes, we may bow our heads, but we are lifting up our hearts anxiously longing for His aid, for His solution to our problem(s). We are instructed in the well-known Lord’s Prayer to begin by looking up and by saying, “Our Father which art in Heaven . . . ” David began each of his days this way: “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” —Psalm 5:3.

We have been made in the likeness and image of Almighty God, The Creator of all things. His greatest creation of all was Adam and Eve. Each of us is either an Adam, or an Eve, male or female. Since God is One in three persons, The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost, we, too are a three-in-one created being. We have a body, soul and a spirit. In other words we are a special make of creature: we have a body that carries a soul (emotions) and a spirit. We cannot separate either of these three from one another. Just like God, neither of the Godhead can be separated from the other.

We humans can be likened to a triangle with our body and soul (emotions) as the base, and our spirit pointing (looking) upward. Creator God can also be likened to a triangle, but pointing downward to always aid and assist those who call on Him. Look at the following diagram to see the above explanation.

Now, we shared all of that to bring out a fascinating insight about winter. Yes, winter. “What in the world, how can this relate to winter?” you may ask. Well, first let’s lay the above triangles on top of each other and see what they look like.

What is generally referred to as The Star or Shield of David may have its religious meanings, but I see something more wonderful than something “religious.” I see the desire of Creator God to be intimately connected to His ultimate creation — Adam & Eve. They fell in sin. That condition was passed on to all of us. “For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God.” The MAN triangle signifies sinful man looking up and calling on God for help to be set free from the trap sin that was laid to capture us and eventually completely separate us from God for eternity.

The GOD triangle seen in John’s Gospel shows us that —

“For God (the Father) so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, (cf. James 1:17 where it says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights . . .”) that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God (the Father) sent not his Son (from above) into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him (the Son) might be saved.” —John 3:16-17. Parenthetical emphasis is mine.

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send (from above, from the Father’s abode in Heaven, — cf. Acts 2:2 where it says, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven [above] as of a rushing mighty wind . . .”) in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” —John 14:26

Very clearly we see the Godhead all involved in humbling themselves downward to man in order to bring them up a notch into relationship with their Creator God.

The MAN triangle in scripture shows some pretty interesting things as well —

In the Garden of Eden Adam & Eve sinned, disobeyed their Creator, thinking only of themselves, bringing into their DNA the sinful nature that has been passed on to each one of us today. We need to look at Genesis 3:6. “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food (the body), and that it was pleasant to the eyes (the soul), and a tree to be desired to make one wise (the spirit), she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

Adam & Eve died spiritually first. Their spirits were “dead in sin”, separated from God. They were cast out of the Garden of Eden. Then at about age 900 or so, they both died physically. And so, the death DNA has been passed on to us. That means each of us has been born with the same sin nature. The only way our dead spirits can be raised to life (born again) is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what John 3:16 is all about. Jesus said, “Marvel not that I said unto you, ‘Ye (your spirit) must be born again.’ ” It’s the dead spirit of man that cries out unto God to be born again for a fresh start, a new beginning with God as Master, and not we ourselves.

The two triangles need each other to be a balanced and complete work of art. That’s one reason God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

Did you know that of the myriad of snowflakes that fall in a winter storm not one is the same. They are all original creations. It almost boggles one’s mind to think that not one is the same. There is yet an untapped mystery in snow. So said God to Job of old — “Hast thou entered into the treasuries of the snow?” —Job 38:22

Now take a look at a snowflake, and perhaps you will see how the above triangles of God and Man can be related to snow. This photograph of an actual snowflake is taken from an online  photo gallery called Sky Crystals.  http://skycrystals.ca/snowflake-gallery/ 

Take a close look. Do you see the GOD and MAN triangles mentioned above? The mystery and treasure of God’s wanting to reach down and help every living person here on the earth is seen in every snowflake that falls during a cold, cold winter storm. Many times  throughout life’s journey we find ourselves in these kind of storms. BUT the message is in each snowflake: GOD comes down to help MAN when he looks up.

King David was in a big, big, and I really mean BIG bind one day. He had been caught after having done something really bad — adultery and murder. Doesn’t seem like it could get any worse, but he looked up and called on God, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy mercies blot out my transgressions (sins) . . . Purge me with hyssop (an aromatic herb of the mint family), and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than SNOW.” —Psalm 51:1, 7.

I think we can safely say that we have all been in some pretty big binds, and even been caught after having done something pretty bad. God will do the same for us, if we simply LOOK UP, talk to God and get our hearts (spirits) right. God has already come down for us. He has already done His part. That happened when Jesus took our place on the cross, died, was buried, rose from the dead, and showed Himself alive. Yes, He has already done His part.

Will you look at this! God says to you, “Come (on) now, (quit bucking me) and let us reason  (argue this out, sit down and talk) together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet (blood-red), they shall be as WHITE AS SNOW; though they be red like crimson, they shall be (white) as wool.” —Isaiah 1:18. Parenthetical emphasis mine.

Many of us have experienced being up a creek without a paddle and looked up, cried out, and asked the LORD for help. Remember we were designed by God Himself  to LOOK UP, CRY OUT and talk to Him. He made us that way.

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.” —Psalm 121:1-2

If you’re up one of life’s creeks without a paddle, it snow joke, God is right there with you!