Righteous Faith
By Stan Inouye

Stan and Janie Inouye with Tommy Dyo, National Director of Epic (farthest right) and Margaret Yu, National Director of Leadership Development for Epic (farthest left)

This article is the transcript of a devotional that Stan was invited to share at the beginning of the National Staff Conference of the Epic Movement, April 17,2012 at the Atrium Hotel in Irvine, California. Epic is the Asian American campus ministry of CRU (previously Campus Crusade for Christ). The theme title for the conference was "Resilient," the focus being on faith that endures as reflected in Hebrews 12:1-2. Hebrews 11 lists people of great faith who are referred to in Hebrews 12 as a "great cloud of witnesses." Stan was invited to be the speaker during the session entitled "Learning from Epic's Cloud of Witnesses" because he was, among other responsibilities with Campus Crusade, the first National Coordinator of Asian American Ministries. It was especially meaningful  for Stan because he had not addressed  Campus Crusade for Christ staff since he left Campus Crusade thirty-seven years ago.

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Many of Iwa's groundbreaking, countercultural ideas have reached the hearts of people through the writings that Iwa has produced and disseminated over the years. For your spiritual renewal and enjoyment, some of those writings are offered here.

The Prosperous Prodigal
by Stan Inouye

Back in the early ‘80s, Iwa was talking about the elder brother in Jesus’ story of The Prodigal Son as being a key figure for Japanese- and Asian Americans to focus on when everyone else was making the younger brother the center of attention. This signature piece of Iwa shows the elder brother’s rejection of his father’s love and failure to be motivated by love in return, to be a depiction of the unrecognized sin that people of Japanese ancestry and others from shame-based cultures seem to have toward God.

The True Samurai of God
by Stan Inouye

This article explores the Japanese concept of shame as a key to understanding how a meaningful presentation of the gospel to people of Japanese ancestry can be made. Jesus’ sacrifice of his life for us on the cross to purge us of sin and heal our broken relationship with God, is compared to a samurai’s self-sacrificing act of seppuku (ritual suicide or hara-kiri) to erase dishonor and restore harmony to a family or group where shame has disgraced and destroyed.

The Mirror of God
by Stan Inouye

If God created human beings to be a reflection of God’s image, how can the Church, representing a fallen humanity restored by Jesus Christ, fully reflect the divine image of God? This article reprinted from Christianity Today describes how the Church, through Jesus Christ, can repair the mirror of God—humankind’s original one world culture—which was shattered at the Tower of Babel, by honoring and embracing each broken fragment—each racial and ethnic piece.

Cultural Barriers to Church  Renewal in the Japanese
American Community
by Arlene Inouye

In this article, it is asked, "Where is the renewed sense of the church of the New Testament, the whole-hearted worship, the manifestation of the fullness and power of the Spirit, the unity, the spiritual gifts, the evangelism which is a natural outcome of love overflowing" in the Japanese American community? Addressing this question, the article spotlights several cultural and experiential barriers to church renewal and proposes ways to clear the way for renewal to take place.

Closed Set vs. Centered Set Part 1:
A Paradigm Shift In Approaching Evangelism
by Stan Inouye,
Cyril Nishimoto, and
Ellen Fukuyama

This is the first of three articles that came out of an interview with the Iwa staff about the insights on evangelism Iwa would like to share with churches. Here, the staff explains the differences between the closed set approach and the centered set approach to evangelism, and describes how the centered set approach presents a way of seeing and doing evangelism that is completely different from traditional approaches and more consistent with the sensibilities of relational, process-oriented people.

Closed Set vs. Centered Set Part 2:
The Centered Set Approach Seen In Our Life and In Jesus'
by Stan Inouye,
Cyril Nishimoto, and
Ellen Fukyama

This is the second of three articles that came out of an interview with the Iwa staff about the insights on evangelism Iwa would like to share with churches. Here, the staff describes further the relational process that takes place in a centered set approach to evangelism and offers a fresh insight concerning how Jesus’ whole ministry can be considered “evangelism” from the perspective of a centered set approach.

Closed Set vs. Centered Set Part 3:
Implications Of The Centered Set Approach For Churches
by Stan Inouye,
Cyril Nishimoto, and
Ellen Fukuyama

This is the third of three articles that came out of an interview with the Iwa staff about the insights on evangelism Iwa would like to share with churches. Here, the staff talks about how, for churches with a centered set approach, people’s skill sets to do programs and ministries may not change, but their mindsets and motivations for doing them will, and everything they do becomes “evangelism.”

Witness Through "Withness"
by Arlene Inouye

If passing out tracts, sharing the Plan of Salvation with strangers, doing door-to-door witnessing, and practicing other traditional methods of spreading the gospel make evangelism seem at odds with a Japanese or Asian cultural upbringing, perhaps different, more culturally consistent methods need to be found to make evangelism seem more doable. This article offers one—“withness”—a relational practice that Jesus himself used that may fit the culture of people of Japanese or Asian ancestry.

Had Your Feet Washed Lately?
by Stan Inouye

This article explores the idea that effective evangelism flows out of personal renewal in our relationship with Jesus Christ. For that renewal to happen, unlike the Apostle Peter, we must allow Jesus to wash our feet—cleanse, serve, revitalize, and “reevangelize” us.

Sharing Our Faith with Our Japanese Neighbors
by Stan Inouye

This article appeared in the Christian magazine, Radix (Vol. 21 No. 4), in 1993. It delivers the content of Iwa’s study, “Hearing the Gospel With Asian American Ears,” in a conversational form. Exploring a key cultural characteristic of Japanese and other Asian people—“omoiyari” (i.e., empathy)—it provides the rationale for developing a new approach to reaching Asian Americans with the gospel that differs from traditional approaches.