Our man in Japan

 We decided to come to Jerusalem to get away from the Babylonian & Syrian armies. Jeremiah 35:11 Happy Harry scored a goal & beat the Germans. Sorry he is playing for Babylon instead of England. 

 They will attack it, capture it & burn it down. Jeremiah 34:22 FRANCE ARE OUT!!!⚽️⚽️⚽️

 The people of this city have made me angry.. Jeremiah 32:31 Amsterdam has to be one of the worst cities I have ever visited. Sounds harsh, but here's Bill Bryson writing in 1992: "Arriving at Amsterdam's central station is a strange experience.. You step out the front door, and there in front of you is -gosh!- every hippie that's left in Europe.. They look much as you would expect people to look who have devoted a quarter of a century to lounging around in public places & smoking dope." Seems to me the Netherlands deserve to be out of the Euros. Never seen so much porn all across the centre of a city in my life. The Dutch are, quite simply, way too liberal. 

 A time of distress for my people, But they will survive. Jeremiah 30:7 Wales losing 4 nil to a team with a cross on their flag? Not their best day, but it could be worse. The people of Miami have something worse to deal with right now. 

 Now stop & think! Can a man give birth to a child? Jeremiah 30:6 So the communists here in Japan are throwing their weight behind the whole LGBT agenda. Cultural Marxism is a thing. T stands for transgender. I would suggest they answer the question here posed by the LORD, speaking through Jeremiah. 

 As bad as the people of Sodom & Gomorrah. Jeremiah 23:14 There are all kinds of words used these days to describe sexuality. But some words like Sodomite have fallen out of favour. Let's remind ourselves this month, particularly, sodomy is nothing to be proud of. 

 Almighty LORD, you test men justly; you know what is in their hearts & minds. Jeremiah 20:12 So here it is, the game we nearly always seem to lose. England v Germany in a major tournament. Even though we are at home, and we haven't conceded a goal, Germany, having lost to France, still have a slight edge according to the bookies. I can't bear the idea of losing to them again, yet when you look at the demographics, there are still more Christians in Germany than in England by about 10%. So why would God help us when so many English men think they don't need Him? 

 I will make them pay for their wickedness. Jeremiah 14:16 As the loony left government of Scotland continues to make holding Catholic values practically illegal in Scotland, it is extremely satisfying to see Scotland unceremoniously dumped out of the Euros by Catholic Croatia. Happy to see England beat the most atheistic country in Europe too: the Czechs. 

 The sky by itself cannot make showers fall. Jeremiah 14:22 There is a basic failure of logic when people trust science over Christianity. Science cannot observe metaphysical phenomena. So science rules out God from the get go, and focuses on what it can observe. Then, as if by magic, it finds processes which do not include God. This is to beg the question. Nothing happens in this universe without God's approval or permission. Trusting in the scientific method, in empirical evidence, is a choice, a philosophical presupposition about the nature of reality. One that is built on false premises. The tiny % of atheists who have actually studied philosophy mostly swear by Hume, the sceptic of all sceptics, but Hume's very scepticism destroys the scientific method itself. 

 The religion of these people is worthless.. Jeremiah 10:3 A lot of people swear by yoga these days, but it seems to me yoga fans are the biggest lot of narcissists going. I do hope yoga girl loses the race to be NY Mayor. Talking of worthless religions, Islam sure didn't seem to help the Turkish national team any. They lost all 3 of their games. 

 The LORD says, "Wise men should not boast of their wisdom, nor strong men of their strength, nor rich men of their wealth. If anyone wants to boast, he should boast that he knows & understands me, because my love is constant.." Jeremiah 9:23-24 I'm neither American nor Republican, but I strongly feel it is time for the GOP to move on from Trump. America must do better. 

 The LORD says, "Yet even in those days I will not completely destroy my people." Jeremiah 5:18 I don't know why everyone is hating on the English team right now. The defence did their job, and have kept a clean sheet for 2 games now. We gained a point. It is true I am disappointed we didn't beat Scotland but as long as we are healthy we have something to cheer about & be thankful to God for. Just don't lose to the Czechs! 

 Even the birds had flown away.. Jeremiah 4:25 There is a lack of ornithological diversity in suburbia, but even here you can still hear crows & sparrows every morning. 

 The LORD will save his people and defeat their enemies.. Isaiah 61:2 Who are your enemies? Most Japanese probably regard the leadership of North Korea as enemies. Some don't like Koreans or Chinese all that much, although before Covid, increasingly Chinese tourism was bringing good business to Japan. Some Japanese might regard all foreigners as their enemies, but that's probably only a tiny %. Although nationalists do well here in terms of votes, I don't think I have had a single person in 21 years of living here say they regard all Brits as their enemies. My father, though, it is fair to say, did regard the Japanese negatively, which was not entirely unreasonable as they did nearly succeed in killing him in the 1940s. He felt their unwillingness to respect the Geneva convention during WW2 was unacceptable. Having lived here, I think his failure after the war was not to distinguish between the people and the fascist government at that time, which was very difficult for ord...

 Nations that do not serve you will be completely destroyed. Isaiah 60: 12 The Nazis rejected and persecuted the Church, but by 1945 Germany was all but destroyed, and was split in 2 for over 40 years. Germany today is reunified and prosperous, but I can't help but feel many Germans have again forgotten God. Getting humiliated by France at a football tourney is small beer compared to what could happen if they don't change their ways. 

 The tall men of Seba will be your slaves.. Isaiah 45:14 My Oxford dictionary defines a slave as: 1) a person who is the legal property of another & is forced to obey them 2) a person who works very hard without proper renumeration or appreciation.. 3) a person who is excessively dependent or controlled by something... St Paul says: Surely you know that when you surrender yourselves as slaves to obey someone, you are in fact the slaves of the master you obey- either of sin, which results in death, or of obedience, which results in being put right with God. (Romans 6:16)

 Proclaim the good news! Isaiah 40:9 Happy to see England with a win in the footy. Happy to see Raheem with his first goal in a major tournament. But this is only good news for us English. Jesus brings Good News for everyone, even Croats!

 The glory of the LORD will be revealed, & all mankind will see it.. Isaiah 40:5 Every morning the glory of the Lord is revealed in the wonders of Creation: birds, mountains, flowers, trees, animals, the sunrise itself. But Christians understand that God revealed Himself in a unique Way in the Person of Christ.

 The LORD will make you go through hard times, but he himself will be there to teach you. Isaiah 30:20 Teaching hasn't made me rich, but any teacher worth his salt isn't in teaching merely for the money. The fact is, I'm not a good teacher: my pride, anger & all the other Deadly sins constantly get in the way. But I know a guy who is the greatest teacher who ever lived: Christ Himself. I don't know Him as well as I should after 40 or so years of being a Christian (I was baptised Anglican as a baby, but I don't remember much about it) but I do know He's on your side, if you will just listen to Him. 

 A stupid person is evil & does evil things; he plots to ruin the poor & to prevent them getting their rights. Isaiah 32:7 I went to a local dentist today. I was refused service and no reason was given. Not the first time it has happened either. #whiteprivilege. 

 Protect us like a tree that casts a cool shadow in the heat of noon, & let us rest in your shade. Isaiah 16:3 With temperatures reaching 33 C in Japan yesterday, this verse stands out. Long before A/C, shade was & still is a blessing. Even though these days in contemporary English, to "throw shade" is seen in negative terms. Isaiah is a tough read to be honest. The longest book in the Bible, it is not easy to get through without some knowledge of the political background. But it does have some of the most beautiful poetic language, and is rightly called the 5th Gospel because of its uncanny predictions of Christ's life 600 years or so before His birth. 

 An army with no cowards in its ranks. Isaiah 14:31 The Chinese army is the largest army in the world. Meanwhile Biden seems concerned with making the US Army more woke. I wonder how that will work out? If I lived in Taiwan it wouldn't make me feel safer. Even Japan benefits from America's nuclear umbrella... for now. For how much longer, only God knows. 

 He will let them live in their own land again.. Isaiah 14:1 After 21 years in Japan, I want to go home. 

 All the people are godless & wicked, & everything they say is evil.. Isaiah 9:17 Facebook is more evil than Trump. 

 Make your plans! But they will never succeed.. Isaiah 8:10 For those who trust in science over Christ, please note: A) Covid is looking more & more like a Chinese Fukushima. I got laughed at last year for saying this. Seems I was right.  B) Just as widespread vaccines are available, along comes a new Nepal mutation that is difficult to vaccinate against. Put your trust in God, not fallible humans. 

 You are doomed, you sinful nation, you corrupt and evil people! Your sins drag you down! You have rejected the LORD, the holy God.. Isaiah 1:4 Is the post Christian West doomed? The short answer is yes, if we fail to repent.  Before you mock the words of Isaiah as scaremongering, remember a prophet is proved true or false by the events of history. And bear in mind after Isaiah first wrote this, Israel was destroyed as a nation for nearly 2000 years. His words were proved true, and that's why Christians & Jews still read him today. 

 My life has been useless, but in it I have seen everything. Ecclesiastes 7:15 There are whole continents I have never visited: Africa, South & North America, Australasia. Yet we see a little of life there through books, TV and movies. I think Solomon here is talking about how experienced he felt he was in terms of human situations. I have lived 50 years but I don't feel I have seen everything yet! God of course is the only One to see everything clearly. St Paul says "what we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face to face". (1 Cor 13:12) 

 A live dog is better off than a dead lion. Ecclesiastes 9:4