Our man in Japan

 Do not be fooled by a woman's beauty.. Sirach 25:21 There's a man in America who was tricked into sexual contact with another man, who was trans. He was so angry he killed him. He is now facing up to 19 years in prison. Murder is wrong, obviously, so is fornication, but a minimum sentence of 11 years is way too long given he was tricked. A wife who kills her husband can be out in 4. How is this justice? 

 Happy the man who lives with a sensible wife.. Sirach 25:8

 Many have been led astray by their personal theories.. Sirach 3:24 Better to trust God, and His Word. 

 Man in his wickedness is able to kill but he cannot bring back the departed spirit or rescue the snatched soul. Wisdom 16:14 A British teen was killed in Kabul by ISIS it seems, amongst the 170 or so dead. It is time Biden resigned. 

 When a violent man turning in anger strayed from Wisdom, he perished in his fratricidal fury. Wisdom 10:3 The basic mistake Islam makes is associating violence with holiness. 

 They may see & sneer at him, but the Lord will also laugh at them when they have become a useless corpse, a loathsome & dead thing forever. Wisdom 4:18-19 Lots of people love to laugh at Christians. Some comedians make careers out of it. Good luck with that. 

 In the eyes of the unwise they appear to be dead. Their going is held as a disaster; it seems that they lose everything by departing from us, but they are at peace. Wisdom 3:2 RIP Charlie Watts. His jazz work seems lacking in appreciation compared to his drumming with The Rolling Stones. 

 And yet these thinking people are unable to abandon gods that are completely devoid of sense. Baruch 6:41 It is election season in Japan. As a non citizen, I can't vote. The current leader of the ruling LDP is very unpopular because of the lack of control over Covid, but the main left opposition party is even less popular. To me, the LDP isn't wrong about everything. The Japanese are a literate, intelligent people, BUT for reasons of misguided patriotism they are stuck with an influencial Shinto clique at the top of the ruling party. Which quite frankly is holding Japan back, and not solving anything. My advice to the Japanese, this election, is if your local pol is still convinced Shinto is good for Japan, he or she is not worth voting for. 

 People of all nations will be converted and know the true God. Tobit 14:6 There will be a happy ending for Afganistan one day. We may not live to see it, though. 

 It is not good that man should be alone.. Tobit 8:6 The Taliban and modern secular feminism represent two extremes regarding the position of women in society. I believe Christianity offers a third more positive middle way. To destroy a women's freedom, personal autonomy and chances of fulfillment through a career and education as Islamic fundamentalism does, is not good, and is rightly condemned by liberals everywhere. However, these same liberals are willing to turn a blind eye to the great evil of abortion, which is practically a sacrament in modern feminism. Surely a woman can find balance, positive relationships, and yes, marriage to a man, and the joy & fulfillment of motherhood without destroying another life, often female, before it begins? The Church offers a multitude of positive roles for women. Marriage is a sacrament that most women find fulfillment in. It is not for everyone, so again, the religious life as a nun, chosen willingly as answering God's call, also...

 Tortures beyond all imagination.. 2 Maccabees 7:42 Why read an old book like the Bible? Because people haven't changed. There is a picture in the NY Post yesterday of a small lad in Kabul with blood all over his head, being carried, unconscious or lifeless. 

The king of the world will raise us up.. 2 Maccabees 7:9 The Islamists may have added another domino to their sizable collection. Certainly China is already seeking influence on its Western border. But is this going to help Islam in the long term? No. In the short term this is unquestionably a huge failure for the secular West, but God has a longer view than most of us and He absolutely knows what He is doing. Unlike Biden. 

 The Lord God sees all, & in reality, has compassion on us. 2 Maccabees 7:6 So a small Japanese lad died in a mudslide this week along with his mom and older brother. An atheist would be quick to regard this as evidence that there is no God. I am convinced that is an emotional reaction rather than a logical one. It is no question hard to watch innocents die. But let's be clear. Heaven where the kids are now is a much better place than this vale of tears. The person who is certainly suffering right now is the poor lad's grandfather, the only survivor in that household. I hope God assures him that the people he loved he can meet again soon. I pray he finds the faith he needs to help him through this ghastly tragedy. Faith can be a consolation at times of grief, as it was for my dad when my mum died of cancer, because it reassures us that our sufferings are not meaningless. And before you are quick to blame the Christian God for anything here, let me remind you that most Japan...

 God..does not abandon his people. 2 Maccabees 6:16 Unlike Biden who has abandoned Kabul to its fate. ☹️ Worst President since Carter? But it is worth remembering that when Iran was taken over by Islamists in 79 or so, it seemed like a big defeat for the west. Nowadays in Iran militant Islamists are in a minority, Christians are growing by leaps & bounds, and most ordinary Iranians just want freedom. 

 To have them also profane the temple in Jerusalem & dedicate it to the Olympian god. 2 Maccabees 6:2 Yes, the word 'Olympian' actually appears in this English translation of the Catholic Bible. But make no mistake- in Maccabees the invading pagan Greeks are the bad guys, imposing their dubious customs on the Jews by force. Now in 2021 the Jews have obviously made their peace with the Greeks (who are now mostly Orthodox Christian) & send a team to the Olympics. But what does Olympian actually mean? Is it some fast dude? A very strong woman? In this context it means from Mount Olympus. Greek myths are still with us in many ways. Homer was required reading for my English degree, as his texts form the basis for much subsequent Western art. I'm not sure how familiar the Japanese are with pagan Greek culture, but the thing to remember here is the made up Greek deities are capricious. Totally unlike the True God of the Bible who loves us and blesses us with everything goo...

 "They themselves were put in a difficult situation, for those who they took as models & whose customs they wanted to imitate in everything proved to be their enemies & tyrants" 2 Macabees 4:16 Who is your model? Whom do you wish to be like? Christians understand the best model for humanity is Christ Himself, with saints like Max Kolbe whose feast it is today also providing good examples. If, like this Jake guy in Plymouth, you choose as your model violent characters like the Terminator and other incel killers, you are likely to end up dead at 22. With the probability of worse to follow. 

 Filled with terror & fear.. 2 Maccabees 3:30 May God have mercy on the souls of the dead in Plymouth. 

 Everyone clearly recognized the power of God. 2 Macabees 3:28 These days many people deny the power of God. It is probably because of this increasing secularization that the global pandemic has arisen. I said 18 months ago that shutting churches was not the way to solve this, and lo, things have gotten worse, not better. 

 He spent much of his own wealth to procure arms.. 1 Maccabees 14:32 The American right may swear by their guns but I'm very blessed to have lived in countries where I've never needed to buy a weapon to defend myself or my family. 

 "Caused great havoc in the country." 1 Maccabees 13:32 Islamic apologists would like you to believe the Taliban have nothing to do with Islam. Is that really true?

 They burned the city.. 1 Maccabees 11:48 Today Japan remembers the bombing of Nagasaki by US forces in the 1940s. In Coventry UK, there is a ruined Cathedral, left there to remember when it was bombed by the Nazis. I visited it when I lived in Birmingham, slightly to the West. I've also visited both Hiroshima & Nagasaki. Most of us want peace, but on what terms? How many Taiwanese would have to be killed by communist China before you would be willing to help them? How many Afgani women need to be raped or killed by the Taliban before you are willing to pick up a gun in anger? I still believe the Catholics are right when they teach that some wars are just. I was a pacifist when I was younger & more idealistic, I even worked for Pax Christi, the Catholic peace organization, but not all wars are the same. When is it wrong to protect the vunerable? Peace in Japan has led to prosperity & decades of co-operation with the Americans. Peace in Korea at the end of the Korean War...

 The fruit of the trees.. 1 Maccabees 11:34 Am I the only one who thinks GM apples don't taste as good as the ones God designed? 

 Ptolemy then entered Antioch and took for himself the crown of Asia. 1 Maccabees 11:13 Asia is the largest continent, and it has never yet been fully Christian. Who has the crown of Asia today? Japan, India, and most of all China are major political and economic forces in the region, but even Xi doesn't get everything his own way. Biden leaving Afganistan is a recognition once again that the US cannot enforce its will so far from home. We see more clearly than ever the limits of American power. Reading Maccabees as I am for the first time fully, we see the same struggle for geopolitical power, using the technology of war and the devices and deceptions of diplomacy. The tech has changed: nuclear weapons instead of elephants(!), but people's egotism and drive for power has not. In this age where science is considered important and history is not, I suspect we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. History shows us that God's people, though often defeated in the short...

 They passed through the city over the bodies of the dead. 1  Maccabees 5:52

 Don't we all have the same father? Didn't the same God create us all? Malachi 2:10 Some people say "Black lives matter". Some say "White lives matter". Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan. 

 I will test them as gold is tested. Zechariah 13:9 The same people who are happy to test children and students are sometimes reluctant to accept the idea that God tests us. Or they somehow see this as evidence of a sadistic flaw in God's character. Does a headmaster set tests to psychologically break people? Or to assess how much they have learnt? 🤔

 They paid me 30 pieces of silver as my wages. Zechariah 11:12 If you don't know that this is the sum of money Judas got to betray Jesus, you do now. And this is the sum Japanese & Olympic officials deserve today for selling out women and women's sports to the transgender movement.  Just because left wing ideologues in New Zealand can't tell the difference between men & women, it doesn't mean Japan had to go along with it. Since when does New Zealand tell Japan what to do? Aren't Japanese women oppressed enough by men already without giving them even less opportunies than they already have? 

 Tyre.. has piled up so much silver & gold that it is as common as dirt! But the LORD will take away everything she has. Zechariah 9:3-4 Is China the most advanced civilization on the planet? The leadership of the Chinese Communist Party would like to think so, & will no doubt use their Olympic medals as propaganda to that effect. But God will have the final say.