“I was originally OOO… but!”
Through a revolutionary encounter
Stories of people whose lives were changed

“You say that meeting Jesus is no different?
“The amazing changes continue even now.”
From a loner, a success-obsessed office worker, and a mother with many shortcomings
Become a proud servant of this world.

Here are the stories of those who experienced a revolutionary encounter.
Although they all looked different, their lives were equally difficult.
Although I have lived a decent life as an 'ordinary person', at some point in my life, I would suddenly feel fear, and I would live a life without myself even though it was my life, and I would suffer from the gap between my ideal of wanting to succeed and reality.
Our lives are lived with at least one sense of anxiety and lack.
But at some point in my life, I met Jesus.
That revolutionary meeting changed the next 10 years and is rewriting the next 20 years.
Those who once struggled to care for themselves now take the lead in helping others, and even when faced with the same anxiety and need, they are now able to pray and accept it.
Also, in all of this, there was a community that became a true family through faith.
How such amazing transformations were possible is captured in this bold sermon about the lives of seven ordinary yet extraordinary people.
Do you think meeting Jesus won't make a difference? Even now, the transformation of those who have met Jesus continues.
The changed life is real and the change is still ongoing.
If you want to join in that change, this book will give you a glimpse into what a true Christian lifestyle is.

The changes that took place among them were deeper, more real, and, above all, ongoing.
The more I preached, the more I wanted to convey their stories vividly to those who were curious about Jesus and wanted to know what the 'real' life of believing in and following Jesus was like.
This book is the final book in the 'Encounter Series' trilogy.
If the first book, "You Don't Change If You Don't Meet," was about biblical figures who changed after meeting Jesus, the second book, "Encounters Never Stop," was about biblical figures who didn't change easily even after meeting Jesus.
Now, the final book, "Asking About That Encounter," is the living story of people who met Jesus here and now and were transformed over the past 10-20 years.

---From "Encounter is Revolution"

I was a little afraid that if I kept living like this, caught up in my daily routine, I would just become a doctor, get married, make money, and then die.
And now I feel like the idea of ​​'I can do it later' no longer works.
“I didn’t really know God, but somehow I felt like all of this I had didn’t come from me, like I had received too much, and that I should live a life of giving, but I felt like I could never do it with my own will. I was afraid that if I just lived like this, I would live with my eyes wide open in the greed for more, and die in vain.”
---From "I Was a Model Student"

I was sitting in a corner reading John Stott's "Why I Became a Christian," and the expression "the Hounds of Heaven" came up early on.
The thought that occurred to me at that time was, 'Ah, I thought I lived diligently on my own will, but at every moment, Jesus was watching over me, guiding me until now, and came all the way here to persistently knock on the door of my heart.
Now I've been bitten by this hunting dog.
I thought, 'I can't run away.'

---From "I Was a Model Student"

I prayed to God for the first time in kindergarten.
'If you can somehow get me out of this just this once, I will live like a human being and not cause any trouble in the future.
I prayed, 'I will leave behind all the futility and nonsense and just live looking after my child.'

---From "Enjoying the Vanity"

What the pastor and the members of the home church showed me at that time was, of course, that although they fought among themselves, 'If this community is similar to the kingdom of God, I want to go to that kingdom.
It made me think, 'Really! Powerful!'

---From "Enjoying the Vanity"

Not only churches, but also missionary organizations are very welcoming when new students first come in.
That experience was truly amazing.
There were very few people who welcomed me so warmly, showed interest in me, and greeted me first.


Q.
How did you feel at that time?

I thought, 'Who am I to be treated so well? What are these people?'

---From "I Was a Loner"

Then, out of the blue, I met Jesus.
Without realizing it, I began to feel that He was in my heart, and it no longer felt awkward for me to confess to the Lord naturally.
(…) It’s a sad story, but I lived like a zombie, following the world’s logic.
I wasted the time and talents the Lord gave me.
I wrote it solely for myself, as if the time and talent given to me were mine.
As a result, my life was filled with nothing but absurd ambitions.

---From "I thought it would be great"

As we live on this earth, we experience our own deficiencies and the deficiencies of our neighbors.
Don't be fooled by the world then.
The world makes people with deficiencies feel relative deprivation by comparing themselves to others, but don't be fooled by that.
Some people are lucky enough to live without any lack.
The world tells them, “Don’t worry about other people’s needs and just focus on your own happiness!” But don’t be fooled by that either.
Both are cheats.
---From "Deficiency was Fate"

As I was organizing the seven 'meetings', I realized that God is much more wonderful than I knew!

An encounter between God and one person.
‘That meeting’ is life, revolution, and art.
In worship, 'that encounter' enriches the worship congregation, just as the five loaves of bread fed five thousand people in the wilderness and left twelve baskets behind.
The rich 'That Encounter and Worship' was compiled into a book.
Rather than simply an interview, it was captured in a three-dimensional way so that readers could feel the ‘encounter’ shared in the space and time of worship.
I hope you read it while imagining a worship service where there is an encounter.

---From "Honest Encounter, True Worship"