Fooling

'If we claim we have no sin we are only fooling ourselves..' 1 John 1:8

Ungodly

'ungodly people will be destroyed' 2 Peter 3:7

God have mercy on us all.

Refused

'You refused to worship the God who gives you breath and controls everything you do.'
Daniel 5:23

It is still not easy to find a 2012 diary published here which doesn't have 'Buddhist' lucky days in it. The day of the terrible tsunami- March 11 2011- was not the worst day in the Buddhist calendar for March- so how much use is this scheme? Please don't give money to people who make false predictions.

Peter

'We were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes..'

2 Peter 1:16-17

Mean

'what it means' Daniel 2:36

Theological liberals and agnostics love to critique the Bible using supposedly historical techniques. When I was at high school I studied the book of Daniel using these 'advanced' techniques, known as higher criticism. Let me tell you how it works:

Daniel interprets a dream. He correctly predicts the end of the Babylonian empire. The higher critics assume because he got it right that the book was written after the fact, not before. Really scientific, eh? If a prophet correctly predicts the future they move the date of the book, not admit that Daniel may have been divinely inspired. Sorry guys, but it just ain't playing fair or open-minded.

They do exactly the same thing with the New Testament. Jesus correctly predicts the fall of Jerusalem decades beforehand. The critics assume the Gospels were written after 70 AD. Hello!? Is it beyond all possibility that God knows the future? He is God, after all. The critics presuppose true prophecy is impossible and thus completely misread the texts.

It may well be reasonable to question allegedly supernatural occurances such as prophecy. But 2000 years later, when Christianity is still here and global to boot, it is arrogant to say you know better than the people who were there at the time. If Jesus isn't the Son of God, why are we still talking about Him, and celebrating His birthday?

Language

'train these young men in the language' Daniel 1:4

So, 11 years in Japan, still wrestling with the language while trying to teach my daughter English.

Today I was reminded that the Chinese/Japanese character for household '家' is literally pig roof.

In English too pigs provide linguistic inspiration. Pig out over Thanksgiving, anyone? I ate too many birthday chocolates myself.

Crooks

'When crooks are in control it's best to hide' Proverbs 28:12

Of course there are worse forms of government than flawed democracy.

Wise

'A rich person is wise in his own eyes' Proverbs 28:11

Democracy sucks. Candidates think they know the answers, people wise enough to know their own ignorance don't run for office.

'Those who govern ought not to be lovers of the task' (Plato)

Anguish

'Look here, you rich people: weep and groan with anguish because all of the terrible troubles ahead of you.' James 5:1

The poor may look powerless but they have friends in Very High Places.

LORD

'The LORD is my God!' Psalm 118:28

Even when Jesus was being crucified his enemies continued to mock Him. We don't know their names.

Deeds

'Can't you see that faith without good deeds is useless?' James 2:20

Mother Teresa, one of the greatest women of our last century, was Catholic, not Buddhist. In fact, if you compare her life with one of the most respected Buddhists of our day, the Lama who ran away from Tibet when the tanks arrived, you will see that she instead walked towards the danger of the slums and away from a more comfortable life.

Rich

'Isn't it the rich who oppress you...?' James 2:6

Fukuoka Bank won't let me close my account with them, even though I had ID and a Japanese seal in my name. It's not like there's much chance of me being mistaken for someone else either- I can go weeks here without seeing another white person, let alone someone with my sirname.

Thieving Bankers.. getting rich on our money. Do you think if I go to the police anyone will get arrested? You can bet if it was ME that owed THEM money they'd drag me through the courts...

Childlike

'The LORD protects those of childlike faith.
I was facing death and he saved me.' Psalm 116:6

Kids these days are pretty streetwise, and many are much too cynical to believe in a Big Daddy in the sky that sends angels in times of distress.

So instead of angels we have teen pregnancies, abortions, suicide, matricide, patricide, fratricide, rape, prostitution, cyber bullying, sexting, childhood obesity, anorexia, childhood ritalin, childhood alcoholism, drug addiction, self harm, Columbine, and other things you will read about in the news next week. Great, isn't it?

My experience is that the words of the Psalmist are true. I was a kid once. God got me through it mostly unscathed. The damage I did manage to inflict on myself was my fault, not His, as sometimes I ignored the warning signs.

Land

'I will completely destroy the land and demolish her pride'
Ezekiel 33:28

So my choice at the supermarket today was onions from Hokkaido or carrots from Nagasaki. As I have not yet purchased my own personal geiger counter (a must have fashion item in Japan these days), I was unable to acertain which was less radioactive, so went with the carrots, as my daughter is not a big onion fan anyway.

Dystopia, thy name is Nippon. If you would have told me in 2001 that I would be worrying about radiation poisoning when shopping, I would have said you'd been reading too much science fiction... but yesterday when I purchased a drink at 50% off, I peeled back the sticker to find the kanji 東京　-Tokyo- had been conveniently hidden. I threw it away.

Yet all the while outside the sunlight on the river, the clear water where fish are swimming, the clear blue sky. Everything looks perfect. The most upsetting thing about radiation is you can't see it, smell it, taste it. It is invisible. Just like God.

Human

'human desire is never satisfied' Proverbs 27:20

Much has changed since the Bible was first written, but people have not.

Fleeting

' the fleeting pleasures of sin...' Hebrews 11:25

Christ

'When Christ came into the world...' Hebrews 10:5

Are you looking forward to Christmas? Or do you wish it was Dec 26th already?
Even here in Kyushu, Christmas is difficult to ignore- we already have a picture of AKB girls in Santa outfits trying to sell stuff for the local store.

But Jesus did not visit Earth to make money out of us. There was no glitter when He was born. Far from having a party, Joseph was in Bethlehem to sort out some goverment forms. (see Luke 2)

Back

'You will look back on all the ways you have defiled yourselves and will hate yourselves because of the evil you have done'. Ezekiel 20:43

I am not proud of what I have become. But if you are proud of who you are, do you really know thyself?

Destroyed

'they were finally destroyed by their sin' Psalm 103:46

Truly

'A truly good friend will openly correct you' Proverbs 27:5

A con man in Tokyo has been robbing my mother-in-law and her family blind for decades.

Destroyed

'the power of a life that cannot be destroyed' Hebrews 7:16

My computer keyboard is falling apart. My jaw feels like it is decaying never to be sound again. The world's economy is trending ever downward. But there are reasons to be cheerful: Jesus, though tortured to death, is now beyond the reach of his enemies. His resurrection power is infinite, and He wishes to share it with us.

Bruised

'they bruised his feet..' Psalm 105:18

So it has been 4 days since I last saw the dentist- how long should you trust a man when pain persists?

Perfect

'a perfect high priest' Hebrews 5:9

Priests are not perfect. Neither are Christians, but Jesus is.

Heart

'unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes...' Ezekiel 6:9

Guilty as charged.

Fear

'Son of man, do not fear them or their words.' Ezekiel 2:6

FDR almost got it right. Only thing we have to fear is God himself.