Our man in Japan

He who would love life, & see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, & his lips from speaking deceit.. 1 Peter 3:10 CNN just logged its lowest ratings in nearly a decade: less than 500,000 in prime time.   

All you who labour.. Matthew 11:28 Sheffield, you sure can pick 'em. One of the former Labour MPs in Sheffield is currently in court for 8 counts of fraud. He seems to have spent 💰 nearly £30,000 of his constituency cash mostly on cocaine. 

Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If I will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?" John 21:23 We see people dying all the time. Because we don't usually see people surviving until Jesus returns, some sceptics say Jesus will not return. This is foolish. Sure it has been a while. Nearly 2000 years since Christ was unjustly killed by the Romans, that we might be saved from our sins. But Saint Peter writes: "Do not forget, beloved, that with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day." (2 Peter 3:8)

In everything give thanks.. I Thessalonians 5:18 Thankfully church fires 🚒🔥 are pretty rare, except in France where Muslims seem to start one every week. 

The kingdom of heaven is at hand.. Matthew 10:7 This snow ❄️🌨️ shows us Who is really in charge. And it is not Kishida.  

The coming of the Lord is at hand.. St James 5:8 We may not get to 2024. 

The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:18 It is time this terrible war in Ukraine ended. Instead now Germany is sending tanks. 

Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.. Luke 6:20 Burundi in East Africa 🌍 is the poorest country in the world by some measurements. There are nearly 12 million people, 93% of them Christians, 2/3rds Catholic. And heaven will be full of Burundians, by the look of it. 

Flee from him.. John 10:5 It seems the shooter at the LA county Chinese dancehall is another angry Asian man.

Jesus said to them, "Come & eat breakfast" John 21:12 I'm good at the easy commandments! 

Rejoice always.. 1Thessalonians 5:16 One of the shortest verses in the Bible. 2 words. Also one of the most difficult. How can one rejoice always? Surely it is unreasonable? What happens if you feel you have nothing to rejoice about? Isn't St Paul being cruel? How can you tell a grieving parent that has just lost a child to rejoice?  You don't. But at the same time, I think Paul understands human nature better than 99% of us. In looking for things to be happy about, we find happiness. Today I may have only 1 yen in my pocket, I may not have any paid work this month, but hey, the sun 🌞 is still shining, & God is still good, all the time. The suicide rate in this country is still over 20,000 and going up. For the sake of your own well being, seek joy in Christ, not in alcohol, nice food, sex, power, wealth, etc. Seeking worldly pleasures doesn't always work. Heck, that often doesn't work. How many rich people kill themselves? More than one. 

In Zion a chief cornerstone.. 1 Peter 2:6 Christ is the central figure of Western civilization. Japan when opening to the West made a conscious decision to adopt Christian technology & science without adopting the religious side. So now we have this inconvenient situation where Japanese kids learn about Kepler & Newton's discoveries without learning why they made the discoveries they did. Same with math: Descartes is cherry picked. Japan gets excited when a modern Japanese scientist wins a Nobel but these Johnny come latelies should be the first to admit they are building on the shoulders of Giants.  To be fair England these days isn't much better. I learnt math, but the history of math I had to study for myself. This New Critical approach is narrow minded. Sure the text is important, but every text has a writer, with a personal history. 

It came to pass .. Mark 1:9 It's a New era in New Zealand! Jacinda is done! The world rejoices! 

No cause for death .. Acts 13:28 Two stabbings, one in London, by a Chinese lecturer of his wife, one fatal stabbing here in Fukuoka by a Japanese man of a women he was involved with. Here we are in 2023 with some men still thinking that they own their women. This is not love, guys. It's selfish possessive behaviour. Even if she is cheating on you, better to walk away than go to prison for years. She isn't worth a life sentence. This is what feminists call toxic masculinity. Women can be incredibly difficult sometimes but picking up a knife 🔪 is never the right answer. Why let the state incarcerate you just because you can't handle your anger? 

Set on fire by hell .. James 3:6 Thank God for the Tory Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack, who has taken the courageous move of calling a halt to SNP trans lunacy. Of course the diabolical Nicky S is not going take this lying down, & is going to waste hundreds of thousands of Scottish £s fighting him in court. Hope she loses, & justice is done.  

The body without the spirit is dead.. James 2:26 Materialists don't understand the basics. 

Jesus said to them again, 'Peace to you!..' John 20:21 Reagan proved peace sometimes can come through strength. But Biden is no Reagan or even JFK, a man he admires much more, and neither is Kishida. Kishida is playing a very dangerous game, embracing very tightly friends oceans away while clearly ticking off enemies much closer to home. The fact is, Russia didn't need to be our enemy. It is Kishida that has made the largest country on earth's former PM talk today about Kishida's humiliation at the hands of Biden, & urge him to commit seppuku. Kishida lacks wisdom & finesse, quite frankly, & I fear it is the ordinary people of Japan who are already paying the economic price, & may end up paying in blood. Sunak is not much different. Poking the bear 🐻 has never been a wise move. Reagan got away with it only because the Polish Pope (and ultimately God Himself) gave him a major assist. 

Sees the wolf coming.. John 10:12 The boy who cried wolf 🐺 is a famous story in the West. A shepherd boy keeps crying 'Wolf!' when there is no wolf, so when the wolf actually does come no one believes him, & he is eaten. Being a Christian in the 21st century is a bit like that, only not in the way you probably think. Atheists think when we warn about Satan & Hell that we are making it all up. Guess what happens when they find out we are telling the truth? Hopefully, they find out in time! Before it is too late.  

Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.. James 2:13 Thomas was a young lad wanting a career in the Royal Marines. On a night out in Bournemouth, a pleasant seaside town in SW England, his friend got into an argument with an Afgan asylum seeker, over a bike. Thomas tried to act as peacemaker, and is now dead, stabbed to death by the Afgan.   

He calls his own.. John 10:3  Diamond of Diamond & Silk is dead at 51. God rest her. 

Do not be deceived.. St James 1:16 Better to trust the Bible & the Church than some loser on the internet who is sure he knows better. 

Those who rule.. Hebrews 13:24 I actually feel sorry for Prince Harry. He has been in the media spotlight since day one, he lost his mum at a very young age  partly due to a media frenzy, so what if he is earning money now from a book? It won't bring Di back. I just think he chose unwisely when he married. It's never a good idea to marry a divorcee, but his father did, & now he has too.  

By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish.. Hebrews 11:31 Christianity has always offered hope for outcasts. Which is probably why yazuka are converting ahead of "respectable" men in Tokyo ministries. Same in India: untouchables convert ahead of Brahmins. Good news meanwhile: world secularism reached its peak in 2010. It has already fallen off in terms of figures since then. 

Woman, why are you weeping?  John 20:15 106 people were murdered in London last year, 60% were stabbed to death. The Proud Met call this "fantastically safe". 

The Lord appeared to him in a dream .. Matt 1:20 Some dreams are from God. But it is best to check with the Bible to make sure. 

Good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. Luke 2:10 It is Orthodox Christmas Eve in Russia today. Meanwhile the Western Church celebrates Epiphany. Japan celebrated a secular Santa orientated Christmas, but Catholics here delay Epiphany til this Sunday. Given that Epiphany is all about 'wise men from the East' (Matt 2:1) it is sad Epiphany is not more well known here. It seems the K pop song is more popular than the feast! James Joyce went back to the Greek meaning of the word, 'reveal' which has led to modern usage of "sudden and great revelation or realization"(Oxford), but the Church uses the word Epiphany to specify the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, ie everyone outside Israel. What the world needs now is an Epiphany more than ever. In secular England today is known as the day Christmas decorations should be down by, and the "Twelfth Night" (after Christmas) has its own Shakespeare play, but again England desperately needs ...

You have need of endurance.. Hebrews 10:36 I hope Rishi wins the next election, but I really don't think making math to 18 compulsory is the way to go. I have always felt more choice in education is better. Less options for pupils is just creating headaches for them & for teachers. I chose to do Pure math & stats at A(dvanced) level but I have never needed it since, even when I trained to be a math teacher. How is forcing girls to do math to 18 not a form of intellectual rape?  Currently only 16% of female A level students choose math. 

..There is a reminder of sins every year . Hebrews 10:3 Who is struggling to keep any New Year resolutions? It's only day 4, but it is not going well. 

They will by no means follow a stranger.. John 10:5 Any so called Christian or Catholic who supports abortion is a stranger to me. 

Deliver us from the evil one.. Matthew 6:13 Another Islamist attacks police in NY on New Year's Eve. I can't see how Islam is good in the way it seems to encourage violence. The late Pope Benedict spoke out against Islam & was proved right by the violent reaction to his speech. I think it is only a matter of time before we have an Islamist terror incident here in Japan- several Japanese have already been killed in Egypt, Algeria, & on 9/11. 

On the first day... John 20:1 Happy 2023, everyone! We made it! I always find it somewhat amusing watching Japanese Buddhists, Shintoists & agnostics celebrating the Catholic calendar like they invented it.