Greetings and salutations!

To all my friends, family, and anyone reading this post, I wish you a very Merry CHRISTMAS (more on PC garbage below) and a Happy New Year! The very best of blessings to you and yours during this holiday season! To those celebrating holidays of other assorted religious and cultural association, my best wishes to you as well!

View my 2006 Christmas card online here.

NEWS FLASH

The good news is that I have now officially begun the visa application process which will ultimately enable me to work in Israel. The bad news is that the process will take approximately 3 months and, as mentioned previously, comes at considerable cost. It is more than worth it though – and I have managed to hammer out some critical details with my future employer - details which were previously somewhat vague. In any case I am now hoping to be living in Israel by March of next year.

I will most likely be living somewhere in northern Israel – perhaps Akko or Haifa (one of my favorite Israeli cities). While the northern region is close to Lebanon and subject to rocket attacks care of Hezbollah, it is far from Gaza and the more consistent threat of Hamas. I’m frequently asked if I am at all afraid of living in Israel. I generally respond by pointing out that the odds of being killed are significantly higher in any major US city than in Israel. That being said, I am not ignorant of the realities of life there.

For more information on Israel, click here.
For a review of recent media bias against Israel, click here.
For an amazing account of the real issues at work in the Middle East, listen to former Lebanese journalist Bridgette Gabriel, here.

Of the World at Large

It has not been lost on me that most of the recent content of this category has been to do with the United States. The unfortunate reality is that America is not only the only newsmaker in its own mind but, due to its foolish policies which have essentially become self-fulfilling prophecies, the US is certainly in the spotlight, just not the way it would prefer perhaps.

As hesitant as I am to give much credence to thoughts of White House officials these days, there is one thing that I do consider worth keeping in mind. Not to condone current policies in any way but I think it is important to try and have a sense of the ‘big picture’ and remember that, while things may be horrible at present, we have no idea what impact it could have in the future.

Honestly though, it’s almost getting to the point where I really think the whole Middle East should just be unleashed to have a real go at each other. This would allow them to focus on destroying themselves (as opposed to the West) and allow them to vent any frustration they clearly have. The ensuing chaos might make them realize that hatred is not the way forward, or at least get the (generally biased and somewhat useless) UN and the international community off its ass.

Not entirely unrelated to America, but much more dangerous in a practical, tangible, genocidal sort of way – Iran has been launching a campaign, not to just rule the new, glorious Muslim world, but to capture our hearts and minds with their tolerance, openness, and thoughtful examination of historic events (note the use of sarcasm).

While hosting a holocaust denial conference (NY Times, free membership required) ranks as close to one of the most asinine stunts I can imagine, their Hitler-aspiring president shows that he is not completely without cunning. He used his address at the conference to make a slight adjustment to his remarks about wiping Israel off the map – stating that it would occur, not by violent means, but in much the same way as the former Soviet Union collapsed. I wonder if we really learned anything at all from WWII.

Of Entertainment

There’s actually a hell of a lot of stuff I’d love to go over in the world of movies, but I just can’t be bother at the moment. I do want to take the time to point out a few things though:
You MUST check out this series of Q&A with Sylvester Stallone! Not only is it one of the funniest things I have EVER read, it is also a surprisingly honest and intimate revelation of a man I have found a new respect for. This is one of the later ‘rounds’ but be sure to read them all!

If Stephen Colbert wasn’t already my hero, he would be now! Only Stephen could pull together the coolest year end show involving a shred down with The Decemberists lead guitar player Chris Funk and appearances by Peter Frampton, Morely Safer, Rick Nielson, and the immortal Henry Kissinger. See Comedy Central for clips.

Of Japan

Things continue to go relatively well here. At work, I had my mid-contract evaluation a week ago and that went well. There has been a recent exodus of green tags (trainers) from the company recently so I imagine they’ll be looking for replacements from the purple tag (teacher) ranks. Unfortunately only those who have been employed for more than a year have a shot.

I have gotten behind on some other projects but I hope to tie them up soon so I can dedicate myself to preparing for Israel, teaching myself FrameMaker, and taking care of other things. There’s also a possibility I will be teaching an Alpha Course for my church here which would be very interesting.

It’s been a bit strange witnessing Christmas in Japan. On the one hand, I am far from my family and the familiar trappings of a western traditional Christmas – certainly things I miss very much. On the other, the rampant commercialism of the season has certainly not been lost on the Japanese, who never knew the meaning of Christmas to begin with. I have been able to enjoy myself however, with some Christmas shopping and spending time with Takako and my friends here in Osaka.

Recent trips to Expo Park and Minoo (onsen, monkey preserve) have also been tremendously enjoyable, as was a recent night on the town with Jack and Adam and their significant others. First we hit up this fantastic Korean BBQ place and then we went out with additional friends for some Karaoke in Nishi-Nakajima. I felt it was my duty to introduce some Christmas spirit (Bing Crosby’s White Christmas) and the old faithful (Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody) but Jack really stole though show with his Latin extravaganza. Watch for pics and vids of this evening to be posted shortly.

I almost forgot to mention this hilarious shopping episode from a while back. A good friend of mine had given me 100$ worth of department store coupons as a birthday present. These coupons can only be used at the issuing department store and are not equal to cash value. The department stores being relatively expensive places, I could afford to get a nice toque or a pair of gloves and that’s about it.

Here’s where things got interesting. The store was running a promo involving a free stuffed bear to each customer with a purchase over 50$. Takako certainly wanted a bear so we grabbed one but were informed at the counter that the bears were only available with certain (unspecified) items. So in protest we demanded to return our purchase, assuming they would simply surrender the bear or at least give us the coupons back. While they wouldn’t give up the bear, they did something absolutely ridiculous for them but great for us – they refunded my money – in CASH! This allowed me to buy a great deal more stuff at a store of my own choosing – not to mention a nice lunch!

Of a More Personal Nature

First off, I want to address the PC Garbage comment I made at the start of this post. Every year I grow increasingly sickened by the ludicrous politically correct attitude that is plaguing North America. It is this attitude that is allowing the social fabric of ‘civilized’ society to continue to rot. Certainly democratic, secularly governed (lots of room for argument here, I know) nations need to recognize and respect the traditions and beliefs of others, and they have every right to celebrate their cultures in their own way – that is the wonderful thing about being free.

But those fleeing their own homes seeking a ‘better life’ need to get a grip as well! Guess what? America (more of an issue there than Canada) is, historically, a Christian nation. Christians (and lots of non-Christians) celebrate CHRISTMAS (which really is a secular holiday for all intents and purposes anyway) and have been doing so for hundreds of years. If you can’t respect the freedom of the majority to express their seasonal values, don’t expect them to respect yours!

Secondly, I want to address something that is actually old news now but I feel it is important enough to warrant some discussion. I don’t want to get into any endless diatribes on the nature of man or modern religion of any kind, and I know we can drag out countless examples of seeming hypocrisy in all its forms. I just want to focus on this one specific incident for now though.

This November, Rev. Ted Haggard resigned from his position as leader of New Life Church, a mega-church he started in Colorado, and his position as the president of the National Assoc. of Evangelicals, following allegations (which he eventually confessed to, in part) of sexual misconduct and drug use. You can read a CNN report about it here.

In no way do I wish to condone Haggard’s behavior nor do I disagree with the consequential disciplinary actions which followed. Haggard had clearly compromised his moral authority and leadership and clearly a reasonably strong response was required. What I do detest, however, just as much as Haggard’s actions, is the demonizing of him that followed – not only in the media, but by members of the Church at large! Not only were these reactions void of any compassion and therefore totally misrepresentative of Christian values (hypocritical), but they encouraged an ongoing and unrealistic attitude toward issues of sexuality that inarguably harm the Church and it’s membership.

I was glad to see reports from many New Life members standing up for Ted, clarifying that “the church still loves Pastor Ted, still believes in the message he preached…” and that “he will always be a part of the family…” I think it needs to be remembered that Ted Haggard is one among the many pastors who have fallen to various forms of sin. All men sin; this is an unavoidable reality and provides the very basis for the grace of God in which so many claim to believe. Such sin must be dealt with accordingly, and I imagine Ted will pay dearly for his in terms of his personal life, but forgiveness MUST also be applied (“Let he who is without sin…”) by the very brothers and sisters he hurt, because it is the love of Christ that must compel us to show love and allow healing and restoration to take place.

The unfortunate attitude I mentioned earlier pertains to the fact that, in the West at least, when people become Christians they are often told in a variety of manipulative and roundabout ways that they have to fit into this image of perfection and flawlessness. Therefore, when this perfection is unable to be attained (through the inevitability of sin) the accompanying guilt of failure, which has been institutionalized into western Christians, appears. What makes the situation even worse though is that, all too often, rather than absolving this guilt through confession and repentance, ‘Christian’ attitudes encourage you to hide your flaws rather than risk public shaming and condemnation by those who claim to love you.

This ‘code of silence’ only provokes the very kind of scenarios we have seen with men like Haggard - men who know they are caught up in sin but know that if they admit to their problems they will be burned at the stake rather than shown mercy and forgiveness. In the book of James there is a passage that explains that we need to confess our sins to God (no priest required) for forgiveness but we confess to our brothers for healing. John Reuben may have said it best in his book Freedom to Feel; "They'd rather have you lie than bring your failure to the light. Keep your secrets to yourself; it's not about you, but THEM looking right.”

If Christians could stop attacking each other and actually come out and say "Yes, we're hypocrites, but look at the God who takes broken people and makes a mosaic of Himself. Look at the picture of the love of a healing Father who shows us the power of grace," I believe that something would happen in the world that couldn't be stopped. Unfortunately, for many Christians, the only thing they fear more than the world is the Church. The Body of Christ needs to remember the love and compassion they have been called to.

On a related tangent, so much of the Church is scared to death of dealing with anything pertaining to sexuality, so much so that they even back away from anyone who actually tries to shed light on this part of life. That is why I am so glad that an organization like XXX Church exists! Recently covered by major pornography publications like Hustler and Playboy, they are on the cutting edge of a new movement by Christians who recognize that the standard ‘Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell’ policy must be abandoned for a more pro-active mindset. I really encourage anyone struggling with the very real issues related to sexuality to check out their site.

With Hope,
Joseph

Northern Israel | Christmas in Japan | Ted Haggard