Our man in Japan

 In those days 10 foreigners will come to one Jew & say, "We want to share in your destiny, because we have heard that God is with you". Zechariah 8:23 Christianity arose out of Judaism. Buddhism arose out of Hinduism. But when you look at Israel & India, which would you say God has blessed more? 

 I will overthrow all the nations.. Haggai 2:7 Is nationalism a good thing? Is globalism worse? The Lord God here in Haggai and throughout the Bible shows He is ultimately the final arbiter of the nation state. He destroys nations which are evil or fail to honor him.  Nationalists do tend to universalize historical contingencies. For example, Japan has existed in its current form only since the 1970s. Okinawa was under US rule until then. You could argue that America had no right to the islands, but China could probably argue it is at least as historically connected to Okinawa as Japan is. ( Look at the map - Taiwan is nearer than Tokyo). Northern Ireland and Scotland are both contested territories in a British context, but the historical details I don't have space for here. The point is, if London or Toyko are unjust, then God will hardly support their territorial claims, and is more likely to help those who honor Him. And given the way Okinawans and the Irish have been treat...

 I will punish the people who are self-satisfied & confident, who say to themselves 'The Lord never does anything, one way or another'. Zephaniah 1:12 Imagine is not a good song. Lennon died young. 

 He sends disease before him And commands death to follow him. Habakkuk 3:5 Not so long ago Muslim radicals in Indonesia were massacring whole villages of Christians. The Western media mostly ignored it. Now Covid is killing 2000 people a day in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country. Any scientific model that ignores God's Almighty power over life & death is not going to solve Covid. 

 You are doomed! Habakkuk 2:9 What are we to think when we see a ghastly regime like China gaining Olympic glory? The Bible makes it clear that evil totalitarian regimes always have a sell by date. They may shine in the sun today, & I have nothing against individual Chinese athletes that have worked so hard for success. But let's be clear: if Xi thinks he can make political capital out of them any successes he has will be short lived. Beijing hosts the Winter games next year, & will seek glory for everything Chinese. But how long this godless murdering leader will survive is in God's hands. 

 Strong as a bull with iron horns.. Micah 4:13 I have actually been to Tokyo Bay. On a ferry. I know these triathalon dudes are kinda iron men, but even so I wouldn't fancy swimming in that water. 😬 Still each to his own. 

 Nations will never again go to war.. Micah 4:3 Alas, the Olympian ideal of a peaceful harmonious world will never be achieved until Jesus comes back. Some hate the Olympics as corporate & corrupt, & I'm inclined to agree with some of their criticisms, but a little perspective is also helpful. I bet the kids of Yemen would rather have territorial disputes resolved through a surfing competetion rather than being shot at on a daily basis. 

 Many nations will come streaming to it.. Micah 4:1 Heaven will be something like the Olympics. Lots of people gathered together from all over the world. Only you don't have to be an athlete to get in. And best of all, no Covid. 

 Jonah was about to faint from the heat of the sun beating down on his head. Jonah 4:8 I walked home from the city library today in the midday heat. Big mistake. Barely made it, & now I have sunburn! 

 Everyone must pray earnestly to God & must give up his wicked behaviour.. Jonah 3:8 The vices- alcohol, drugs, porn, gambling, smoking- are hard habits to break. Better to not develop a bad habit in the first place. My dad gave up smoking overnight, more or less. Most of us don't have that kind of will power, & need God's help. You may say to me- Andy, is smoking really so bad? Surely the only person I'm hurting is myself ? I would say- sure, smoking is legal, but it doesn't just hurt you. All the money you spend on giving yourself cancer, probably, you could have spent helping others. A man who dies at 55 instead of 63, chances are, is depriving his grandkids of time with them. And we know passive smoking is a thing. And when we consider how much money a smoker could have earned while in hospital dying of heart disease or whatever, again, that's a tidy sum wasted, and not going to your family. And most of all, dying slowly of cancer is no fun at all, belie...

 Listen to this you women of Samaria, who grow fat like the well fed cows of Bashan.. Amos 4:1 You gotta like the Prophet Amos. The original fat shamer. These days liberals would cancel him in a NY minute, but telling it like it is should never ever be a crime. 

 Does disaster strike a city unless the Lord sends it? Amos 3:6 God knows exactly what is going on in Tokyo. 

 Glorify the King of Heaven. Daniel 4:37 People who will quite happily watch episodes of Star Trek involving all manner of improbable or impossible future tech will suddenly screech to a plausibility halt when the word heaven is mentioned. Why is this? Is it so far fetched that an Alien Ruler from another dimensional realm has communicated with us through a Carpenter from Nazareth? God is transcendant, but He is alien in the sense that His thoughts are not our thoughts. If He reveals Himself to us in Ways we do not anticipate or choose, in the words of Pope Francis, "Who are we to judge?" 

 When my sanity returned, my honour, my majesty, & the glory of my kingdom were given back to me. Daniel 4:36 What happens when a king goes mad? If you are a student of history, you will remember that George 3 of England went a bit doolally, and America revolted & became independent. Now it seems to me America is reaching full circle. Biden, who doesn't seem entirely compos mentes, is running everything over there, or is he? The Dems support crazy policies like getting rid of policemen & pretending men are women and vice versa. Meanwhile here in Japan a lot of people feel it is somewhat insane to have a huge international sporting event at a time when Tokyo is in a "state of emergency". I love sports but clearly we don't need any additional deaths. What is important to remember is however much lunacy seems to run things in Washington, London or Tokyo, God is ultimately in charge, & He is just. 

 A divided empire.. Daniel 2:41 Pope Benedict encouraged the use of Latin. Now Pope Francis is restricting it. To be honest, I'm not a trad Catholic, this is not a hill I choose to die on, but I know my brothers & sisters who are, are hurting right now. I tend to favour them over Francis on most things, but on this I will quote St Paul: "In church worship I would rather speak 5 words that can be understood, in order to teach others, than speak thousands of words in strange tongues" 1 Corinthians 14:19

 There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. Daniel 2:28 Who doesn't love a good mystery? I've been reading a few lately. Crime isn't my favourite genre tho- it focuses too much on the darker side of life. Plus I feel most mystery writers are more concerned with plot than believable characters.   Catholics swear by the rosary- a collection of mysteries based on New Testament. Each day has 5 mysteries, & Friday is the Sorrowful mysteries: the suffering & death of Christ. Morbid? Perhaps a little, but when something terrible happens, like these floods in Germany, people want to understand why. God always knows the answer. 

 Take a male goat without any defects & offer it as a sacrifice for sin. Ezekiel 43:22 So, 8 days to the Olympics. In sporting circles, there is a lot of talk these days about the GOAT- the greatest of all time. Now you may have an athlete or ball player in mind, but I'm here to tell you: Jesus is the greatest man of all time. Michael Jordan, Pele, etc, can't walk on water. 

 There they washed the carcasses of the animals to be burnt whole as sacrifices. Ezekiel 40:38 Animal sacrifices is an alien concept to most of us in 2021. And that's a good thing, in many ways. Killing a cow or a pigeon for many vegans is barbaric even for us to eat. How much more then the idea of a sin offering? The whole Jewish Temple which Ezekiel describes here was destroyed by the Romans around AD 70. Since then, Jews no longer kill animals as the Levitical law requires. Christians see Jesus's death as the perfect sacrifice that replaces the need for animal sacrifices. 

 Watch, mortal man. Ezekiel 40:4 I think so much of the fear & hysteria regarding Covid is basically people not dealing very well with their own mortality. So 4 million have died? We all die. Now or later. What's the big deal? If you are going to heaven, what is the problem with arriving a little earlier than expected? If you are going to hell, ten more years of old age ain't gonna help, just prolong the inevitable. Old age is a kind of hell anyway, or at least purgatory, depending on how unhealthy & isolated you are. 

 I turned away from them and let their enemies defeat them.. Ezekiel 39:23 I suspected Harry Kane flirting with the Rainbow mafia wouldn't end well. Cometh the hour, cometh the man, & today that man was Gianluigi Donnarumma, the Italian goalkeeper. Pickford did a great job for us all tourney but he can't do it all on his own, fellas! Credit to England's defence too that only conceded 2 goals the whole tourney. They didn't let us down today. Maybe Rashford can come back from this to manage the England squad to World Cup victory in  the 2040s? God knows, I hope so. 🥈⚽️🤔

 I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. Ezekiel 39:5 The internet is full of a billion chattering voices, saying conflicting things. Who should we listen to? God has spoken through the Bible. And unlike most of us, He never lies. He never makes mistakes. He never makes promises he can't keep. He rules. People who don't understand these things probably should be taken with a large pinch of salt most of the time. 

 I will take away your stubborn heart of stone. Ezekiel 36:26 So, I'm 51. I really would like to have made more spiritual progress at this point than I have. But as long as we are alive, we are all works in progress. Heck, Catholics talk about Purgatory continuing after death. I've not made my mind up about that one. In some sense, it is profoundly depressing to think that suffering continues after death. I'd much rather go straight to heaven when I die. Protestants keep it simple with just heaven & hell. But on the other hand, the fact that those of us who are far from perfect still have a shot at escaping hell is profoundly Good News. 

 This is what the Sovereign LORD is saying. "One disaster after another is coming on you. It's all over. This is the end. You are finished. The end is coming for you people who live in the land. The time is near when there will be no more celebrations at the mountain shrines, only confusion.." Ezekiel 7:5-7 Another Japanese mudslide, more deaths. May God have mercy on the souls of the dead, & be close to those missing them. It seems someone was breaking the law & dumping on the site. That said, this is an unpopular view here, but I see no long term positive future for Japan if it insists on sticking with Shinto. So called natural disasters and idolatry are intimately connected as Ezekiel makes clear. 

 You have followed the customs of other nations. Ezekiel 5:7 I have not seen the pen, despite scouring the internet for it. It sounds like Denmark were unlucky. But I am happy England are through. 

 Four living creatures.. Ezekiel 1:5 We may not all receive a supernatural vision like Ezekiel did, but God still reveals Himself through His Creation. On a short walk this morning I saw 3 cats, 1 little doggie, a collared dove, several pigeons, numerous sparrows, quite a few ants, a woodlouse or two and a bewildering variety of grasses, plants & flowers. One cat (I do have a fondness for cats) was lording it over an empty supermarket car park in the same way a lion might over African savanna. 

 We are sick at our very hearts.. Lamentations 5:17 The Christian message of sin needing atonement at the cross of Christ is not a popular one in secular pluralist societies these days, but it is the Truth. 

 The Law is no longer taught.. Lamentations 2:9 Kids need education, not political indoctrination. The Bible is taught in every good school. 

They live in other lands, with no place to call their own Lamentations 1:3 Even when England win I have no one to celebrate with. My Japanese wife hates football. 

 The LORD Almighty says, The people of Israel & Judah are oppressed. Jeremiah 50:33 There is a lot of negative chatter about whites these days. Talk of privileges & microaggressions. I just said hello (in Japanese) to a Japanese family this morning on my walk back from the supermarket, and got completely blanked in return. Is it racism? You never know for sure. The Japanese for sure have a mostly good rep internationally for kindness & many do live up to that positive stereotype, but not all, by any means. It will be interesting to see how the mostly secular international press cover the Olympics. Will they be giving Japan a free pass, or are they going to ask hard questions? I suspect most of the coverage will be somewhat superficial. Most reporters can't speak Japanese for starters. 

Babylonia, you are filled with pride, so I, the Sovereign Lord Almighty, am against you! Jeremiah 50:31 Many English fans seem to be getting ahead of themselves. 

 Solemn promises to the Queen of Heaven Jeremiah 44:24-25 This chapter, like Revelation chapter 12, has starkly different interpretations depending on whether you are Protestant or Catholic/Orthodox. Catholics argue that Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Protestants agree with that bit) so his mum Mary is Queen of Heaven, as in a Queen Mother. Protestants see this 2nd title as pagan, and still condemned as it is here in Jeremiah. As an Anglican, I'm free to take either view: High Church Anglicans side with the Catholics and venerate Mary & the Saints, Low Church Anglicans usually side with Protestant suspicions regarding Mary. Your Mariology is pretty important. It boils down to authority. Who speaks correctly on this issue? I have to admit at 51 I still don't really know. This is why I still haven't left the Anglicans. I see good in Catholicism, Orthodoxy and evangelicalism, so I'm unwilling to say categorically that any of them are wrong. There's no question in my...