I am reading Psalm 71 every day this year. Last Easter we were honored to host house guests who are missionaries to Japan. The husband/dad had gone to high school with Brian 40 years ago. He married a Japanese woman. They have two children.
Ministry in Japan is difficult. My assessment of the church in Japan is this; Japanese are a very proud and self reliant people. They are efficient and capable. They really don’t need answers to life’s problems. Their way has worked for centuries.
I lived in Germany for two years. Germans are similar: talented, hardworking, clean, efficient, gifted, self-reliant. I got the same vibe in Japan. The society works well. There is a very strong mindset which is hard to divert from.
Mavericks aren’t welcome.
For anyone to choose Christ in Japan is a cultural death sentence. There are about 1 million Christians in Japan, out of 130 million. This number grows slowly. There is definitely growth. People are recognizing their need for the truth of the Gospel.
To become a believer is courageous. Those who do are very strong believers. They have made a huge choice. Often they lose family and friends for Jesus. Faith choice comes at great cost. Japan is mostly atheistic in belief systems, but there is still a huge faction paying respect to the dead and to the ancient religions, Buddhism and Taoism, the teachings of Confucius, and various other religions. Christianity is the marked minority belief.
So, my friends, who are missionaries to Japan, understand difficult ministry.
I was blessed to get to know these friends over the holiday weekend that they visited. Before they left they gave me Psalm 71 as a word of encouragement for me. I read it several times over the rest of the year, but decided to read it daily in 2025.
What a blessing this Psalm is!
It encourages and strengthens. I plan to share a verse every day over the next 24 days (24 verses) on social media.
I think it’s a good plan. We need to encourage each other in this dark spiritual climate. Things may look chaotic, perhaps to some the world looks brighter, but to many things are spinning out of control.
We await our King, but the world awaits theirs. That beast system is coming, even as Scripture has prophesied. There will be a ruler, a Christ figure, who is the antithesis of our Lord and Savior. This person will set up a hopeful kingdom but it will ultimately fail.
According to the symbolic plan that the Lord gives us in the array of feasts ordained from the time of Moses we believers will not see that kingdom. We will be feasting with our bridegroom in glory.
We will be celebrating God’s Kingdom with Him, the marriage supper of the Lamb.
This is the plan.
Looks like it will happen soon, too.
MARANATHA!