Pastor Yakuza
MANY of us have a deep fascination for knowing about the future. Many of us have been trying to find some insight about the future. Many of us have been attracted to a single book which many of us believe contains the wonderful plan for the future. The single book I am referring to is no other than the Holy Bible that has given us God’s answers in his prophetic word.
At least one-fourth of the Bible deals with prophecy. Of the 31,124 verses in the Bible, 8,352 refer to prophecies. And out of 590 significant events predicted to happen, all except 20 have been fulfilled. The astounding thing about the Bible is that no sacred writing can duplicate the amazing perfect predictions in the Bible which come to pass with a 100% accuracy.
*** It is saddening, however, that here in the Philippines, Bible prophecy is a topic that is rarely or never taught by Bible teachers or preached often by Bible preachers even though it occupies a significant portion of the Bible.
*** Many Bible-believing Christians (including this writer) are hungry for more teachings/preachings on Bible prophecy, especially about the end times and about the Book of Revelation. Last Sunday (June 17th), I attended the prophetic conference organized by the Evangelical Ark Mission (TEAM) International. The prophetic conference coincided with the 12th anniversary of TEAM celebrated at the Insular Life Theater, Alabang, Muntinlupa City. The event started at 10 a.m. and ended at 1 p.m. The event ended with the apostolic message of the TEAM head in Alabang, Muntinlupa City -- Bishop Tony Marioghae -- who later unveiled the church multi-million-dollar building project. Bishop Tony Marioghae, a Nigerian, is the presiding bishop of TEAM Ministries International. He holds a diploma in mass communications, bachelor’s degree in political science, master’s degree in education, and four doctoral degrees in various disciplines. His prophetic and apostolic mandate has taken him to many nations where he ministered to millions of people. Tony Marioghae is an author and has appeared on many international TV networks, including TBN Asia where he has a weekly program, spectrum. Bishop Tony is married to a Filipina and they are blessed with two children.
*** The well-organized prophetic conference featured prominent foreign and local speakers. For the first time in my life, I listened to the personal testimony of a former Yakuza gang leader in Japan who later embraced the Christian faith and became a Christian pastor. Bishop Tony who helped organize and establish the TEAM church in Japan as well as the churches in other countries – was instrumental in inviting Pastor Yasuhiro Kanazawa to the prophetic conference last June 17th. (Yakuza is an international organized crime syndicate that originated in Japan.) The testimony of Pastor Yakuza in Japanese was translated to English by Filipina interpreter Nerissa Orpiano.
The testimony was fantastic, short and funny and it captured the audience’s full attention from beginning to end. It was a testimony made lively and humorous by the pastor’s gestures and facial expression. At one point of his testimony, Yasuhiro Kanazawa mentioned that there was a time when all the members of his family were converted to be Biblebelieving Christians while he was still active as a Yakuza gang leader. At this point, our Lord touched his heart and a miracle happened. The Yakuza leader who became a member of Yakuza at the age of 18 became a Christian! At another part of his testimony, he rolled in the floor to dramatize how he fought with another Yakuza leader. No doubt…Yasuhiro Kanazawa’s testimony is very powerful especially to the ordinary layman.
*** Like the others who attended the Prophetic Conference, I was immensely blessed. The praise and worship songs rendered by both local and Nigerian groups echoed the same message – the lordship of Jesus Christ over all peoples and nations. Hopefully, those who attended the prophetic conference have been inspired and challenged to share the gospel more aggressively.
*** By the way, we have already sent 100 copies of the book titled “Preparing for Eternity” by Mike Gendron that we earlier promised to send to our readers. There are still so many readers writing us from Mindanao requesting for copies of the book. We shall be sending additional copies to these readers by next week. “Preparing for Eternity” is a book which challenges us to resolve the question: Should we trust God’s Word or religious traditions? Those interested to receive a copy, kindly email your complete mailing address.
*** This column continues to give out copies of the Holy Bible for free to those who cannot afford to buy their own copies. If interested, please send your letter-request to Ms. Nelly Favis Villafuerte, 5233 LRV Building, Fahrenheit St., Palanan, Makati City. Kindly mention if it is the Tagalog, English, Cebuano, or Ilocano Bible that is preferred.