Loud

'loud clanging cymbals' Psalm 150:5

Tonight I get to listen to the local Buddhist temples making a lot of noise celebrating Pope Gregory's calendar...

Winter

'No fear of winter' Proverbs 31:21

I hope you and your family make it to spring without worry.

Clouds

'snow and clouds' Psalm 148:8

Mostly clouds, so far, but very cold.

Invited

'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb' Revelation 19:9

Merchants

'merchants who became wealthy by selling' Revelation 18:15

Kyushu Denki- isn't it great having a local electric firm who you know would never lie to you?

Blood

'drenched with blood like the corners of the altar' Zechariah 9:15

Heaven is welcoming lots of new Nigerians today.

Joy?

'festivals of joy' Zechariah 8:19

Happy Christmas. I hope this day brings you joy. If not, think of Jesus. Born in a cowshed, His death wasn't much fun either.

Eating

'Even now in your holy festivals, aren't you eating and drinking just to please yourselves?' Zechariah 7:6

Rescue

'Rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.' Psalm 142:6

Amen.

Your

'under your own grapevine' Zechariah 3:10

Freehold is a wonderful thing.

Birth

'the agony of giving birth' Revelation 12:2

Mary had no painkillers.

Darkness

'Darkness and light are the same to you.' Psalm 139:12

What does God see when He looks at us? Light or dark?

There are a thousand dark myths about Winter, but only one Light of the World: Jesus.

Son

'the king's sons' Zephaniah 1:8

Mr Kim was not very nice. But given his Mum died when he was 8, I hope he finds peace hereafter.

Songs

'one of those songs of Jerusalem' Psalm 137:3

'O come Thou Rod of Jesse free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell thy people save.
And give them victory over the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel.'

John M Neale/Henry S Coffin. (trans. from 8th Century Latin)

Peace

'A message of peace' Nahum 1:15

Jesus never killed, and orders his followers to love their enemies.

Guilt

'You freely forgive our sin and guilt' Micah 7:18

Human

'I am too stupid to be human' Proverbs 30:2

The Chinese zodiac has me as a Rooster, while the Western one has me as a Scorpion. Although I do not believe in either, there is no question I can be beastly sometimes.

Living

''Death is certainly better than living like this'' Jonah 4:8

But suicide is not an option. Hell is worse. Not that God sends all suicides to hell- who are we to judge? - but it is not worth the risk. Hamlet had it right-

'..say we end
the heartache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation
devoutly to be wished. To die to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to dream- ay there's the rub
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
must give us pause.'
(Act 3 Scene 1)

If you ever feel like ending yourself- please don't.

Sleep

'I will not let my eyes sleep
nor close my eyelids in slumber
until I find a place to build a house for the LORD' Psalm 132:4-5

You probably work harder than me. But what are you building?

Helpless

'cheating the helpless' Amos 8:5

Newt is being savaged by the left in the US for daring to suggest that poor kids should clean schools.

Meanwhile, here in Japan my 10 year old and her friends provide free unpaid labour for the state by cleaning their school on a regular basis, despite there being 'no time' for daily English classes and millions in Japan out of work. Heck, I've even seen unpaid labour squads of schoolchildren cleaning Shinto shrines, despite this country allegedly being a secular state.

I guess its more important for poor kids to Know Their Place than to learn to talk to foreigners, eh?

If you talk to many Japanese who have been through this system they will tell you they don't like those extremist Republicans in the US. Yet child labour is not even an issue here, as long as its the state that is doing the exploitation.

Songs

'You sing trivial songs' Amos 6:5

If Rihanna had Found Love in the arms of Jesus she would not be in such a Hopeless Place. Her song is popular as many of us make the same mistake.

Christmas is God saying to us, in the words of Stevie Wonder: 'I just called to say I love you.'

Exile

'whole villages into exile' Amos 1:6

After 11 years, I get nostalgia overdrive about small things from home.

Grandchildren

'May you live to enjoy your grandchildren.' Psalm 128:6

Autumn

'trees in autumn' Jude 1:12

The trees here have been looking magnificent recently.

Mist

'your love vanishes like the morning mist' Hosea 6:4

Why God hasn't scrapped Planet Earth entirely and started afresh is one of life's greatest mysteries.

Fools

'Fools vent their anger' Proverbs 29:11

In fairness to Fukuoka Bank, on my 3rd visit I did actually get MY money back. Merry Christmas, bankers everywhere, but please don't forget Tiny Tim.

Love

'Perfect love expels all fear.' 1 John 4:18

Nobody's perfect- except Jesus.

Children

'dear children' 1 John 3:7

'Every year over 700 Christian girls in Pakistan are kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam and married to their Muslim kidnappers...the girls are often severely beaten and raped and held as virtual prisoners.' Barnabas Fund.

Sins

'Jesus came to take away our sins' 1 John 3:5

This is why Christmas is Good News.

Physical

'the world only offers a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see.' 1 John 2:16

Down, Shep!