Japanese Christian Martyrs Honored

We don't often think of Japan as being a part of the Christianized world, but it is.  Back in the 1600's there were so many Christian sin Japan (mainly due to the work of the Jesuits) that it became a political problem for the then warlords.  The city of Nagasaki was founded as a Christian city.  Our brothers and sisters were terribly persecuted as the warlords sought to eradicate Christianity from the island.

Pray for Japanese Christians, as they seem to honor God as a tiny minority in a land that has lost it's way spiritually.  The majority religion, Shinto, is a system of manners and superstitions that brings little enlightenment to those who follow it.  There is a reason why alcoholism and suicide are such large social problems in this land of the rising sun.  May The Son rise in Japan!

The Shack:
"Paradigms power perception and perceptions power emotions. Most emotions are responses to perception--what you think is true about a given situation. If your perception is false, then your emotional response to it will be false too. So check your perceptions, and beyond that check the truthfulness of your paradigms--what you believe. Just because you believe something firmly doesn't make it true. Be willing to reexamine what you believe. The more you live in the truth, the more your emotions will help you see clearly. But even then, you don’t want to trust them more than [the Holy Spirit]."