Our man in Japan

 The God of heaven will help us succeed. Nehemiah 2:20 Ultimately, Christians need fear neither atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, feminists, socialists, or any other opponent of God's Church. Even the devil himself is limited in what he is allowed to do to us. Any temporary setback is merely that: temporary. While we should be concerned that freedom of religion is being restricted all across the Western world, our enemies will succeed only in sowing the seeds of their own destruction. 

 The men assigned to supervise the restoration of the LORD's Temple. 2 Kings 22:5 It's not everyday you meet the former Dean of a Japanese university..

 Suddenly, a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire.. 2 Kings 2:11 Seems appropriate on St George's Day that this should be the reading. Blake refers to this verse in his famous poem Jerusalem, which Brits sing most years at the Proms: Bring me my chariot of fire! I will not cease from mental fight, Nor shall my sword sleep in its hand, Till we have built Jerusalem In England's green & pleasant land. Now this means different things to both Blake the radical and to Jingoists keen to justify British atrocities. Jerusalem after all means city of peace. The sword we need is the Bible, the Sword of the spirit, not violence. Blake was something of a heretic, but at least he understood true peace is worth fighting for. 

 Ahab tore his clothes & put on sackcloth. 1 Kings 21:27 I stand corrected. According to Wikipedia, an Anglican I respect, Edward Pusey, did wear sackcloth. Along with many Catholic saints such as Mother Teresa. Quite where you buy such garments I do not know. 

 "I have had enough, LORD, " he said. "Take my life..." 1 Kings 19:4 Elijah is dealing with his suicidal despair in the absolute best way possible. Talking to God about it. I'm not saying pills and Drs can't help. Sometimes they can. But material solutions can't easily solve emotional & spiritual issues. You may say, Hell, it's lack of cash that makes me feel like dying. But even so, believe me, I know what it is like to be poor, but depression is still a mental and spiritual issue, not merely a chemical or financial one. Fresh air is free. A walk along the river is free. Suicide is all about despair, and despair is a lack of hope. Now many things let us down in this life: Parents, family, friends, lovers, spouses, bosses, co workers, most importantly, ourselves. One Person will NEVER let you down. Jesus Christ. Hope in Him, get help, and don't hurt yourself. 

Following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out.. 1 Kings 18:28 So called Paganism is cool in some circles these days, but most of these modern day trendies are Pagan Lite.  Now I'm far from an expert on Shinto, so if you are I'd be interested to hear from you quite how far asceticism goes in this country. I've heard about people standing nearly naked under waterfalls as a religious practise, but I think those guys are a particular kind of Buddhist. Catholics admittedly are into mortification of the flesh, or at least they used to be, Filipinos seem to go further than most in that direction these days. Us Anglicans are more used to Jumble sales than whips and hairshirts, I think.  It's easy to make fun of the loonies in this text mutilating themselves, but in one sense they had it right. Old time Pagans understood that blood pacts are important. It is easy to say, 'An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind...

 All Israel is waiting... 1 Kings 1:20 Are you waiting for life to get back to normal? Can't wait for Covid to end? I'm no prophet, I can't see the future, but the Bible is clear. Nations that ignore God suffer God's wrath. Don't expect your life to get better if all you will do with new freedoms is to ignore Jesus. 

 The King told his troops, 'I am going out with you..' 2 Sam 18:2 RIP Prince Philip. 

 One of the greatest fools.. 2 Sam 13:13 I'm calling it. Keir, the new Labour leader in Britain, has shown his true colours. Labour will support Muslims and the gay lobby over Christians and ordinary working people any day of the week. No Christian should be voting Labour this year, or any other year until they give up cultural Marxism, and get back to doing what it says on the tin; supporting those who Labour. 

 Why, then, have you despised the word of the LORD..? 2 Sam 12:9 It's right here as clear as it can be, that disobeying God never ends well, but companies like Twitter think they can reinvent the moral wheel and block Christians they disagree with. We will see how that works out for them. Hint: I wouldn't be buying shares in godless Big Tech if I were you. Short term might be ok, but long term you will absolutely make a loss. 

  The sword devours this one today and that one tomorrow. 2 Sam 12:25 They are shooting kids in Myanmar. See the New York Times today.

 Is anyone still alive..? 2 Sam 9:3 If you have lost a friend or family member recently, to Covid or for any other reason, you have my deepest sympathies.  But at Easter we Christians celebrate the fact that death is not the end, that Jesus has beaten down death with His perfect life. 

 'We are your own flesh and blood' 2 Sam 5:1 Christmas, or at least the Santa version of Christmas, is popular in Japan. Easter not so much. Why is this? Japan loves cuteness, and it is hard to make a man being tortured to death cute. Secular Americans partly get over this by emphasis on 🐇🐇🐇 bunnies instead of crucifixes, and in Britain in my fairly irreligious family there was much emphasis on chocolate eggs. However, even Protestants prefer an empty cross to the Catholic one with Jesus still on it. They would say that Jesus is Risen, and therefore the cross no longer has power over Him. I am inclined to think though, in a world of suffering like ours is, the resonance of the Catholic symbol of God suffering alongside us, with us, is actually greater. So please don't be afraid of the crucifix. Only demons need fear it. To us it is a symbol of Hope. It is why Good Friday in all its bloodiness is still Good.