Mark 13

3 And as he [Jesus Christ] sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,

4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?

5 And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:

6 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. (Seven (7) Year Tribulation is STILL TO COME).

8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

John 13:19 Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.

In the latter days, there will be a noticeable rise in cults, the occult, false idols, false teachers and deceiving religions and practices:

1 Timothy 4:1-2 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.

2 Peter 2, 1-2 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

Leviticus 26:1 Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 4:16  Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

‘The Beginnings of Sorrows’; In Japan, Greek-influenced Olympics meet another kind of pagan heritage. Greek pagan pageantry encounters a culture with its own deep sense of myth and magic. ‘Doctrines of Devils and False Religions and False Practices.’

July 23, 2021

By Heather Greene

 (RNS) — The lighting of an eternal flame, the spiritual aura of heroism and triumph, the parades at once boisterous and solemn: The Olympic rituals that stir our hearts each time the Games roll around all take their inspiration from pagan Greek religious life, as interpreted by the classics-besotted Europeans who revived the event in the late 19th century. 

Over the next two weeks of the Tokyo Olympics, Greek pagan pageantry will make a temporary place in a culture that has its own deep sense of myth and magic. How the two compare has become a point of fascination among scholars and practitioners of modern Western paganism.

Witches dominate Japanese pop culture, particularly in comic books and animated movies aimed at teens. The manga series “Liselotte and Witch’s Forest” and the television show “Little Witch Academia” are hugely popular. Some, such as the films of Hayao Miyazaki (“Kiki’s Delivery Service”) have become favorites in the West as well.

To most Japanese, however, witches are not real, and those who do identify as witches are often disregarded as “weird,” explained Eriko Kawanishi, an anthropologist and lecturer at the Professional Institute of International Fashion.

Kawanishi has spent the last four years studying the practice of modern, Western-based paganism, witchcraft and Wicca in Japan. She says that, while paganism is noticeably on the rise in the U.S. and other Western nations, it does not have the same presence in her country.

The main reason for this, according to Kawanishi, is the powerful presence of Shinto.

Shinto is the country’s dominant faith, followed by Buddhism. Christianity and other religions make up a small percentage of the population. According to Pew Forum, 57% of the population practices Shinto, and 36.2% identify as Buddhist. Only 1.2% are Christian.

“Paganism resonates a lot with people in the U.S. and U.K. because they feel it is a link to a pre-Christian religion of their ancestors,” said Megan Manson, a British pagan and Japanese scholar, who adopted Shinto while living in Japan.  

“Paganism is often linked to a rejection of Christianity,” said Manson. “Japan was never Christianized.” 

So while Western pagans often have abandoned their birth religion for a nature-based tradition informed by magic and ancient practice, the Japanese have Shinto. “Shinto worship trees, rocks and rivers. (Buddhists) worship ancestors. That is enough,” speculates Kawanishi. They don’t need to look further.

Buddhism arrived in the sixth century A.D. and Christian missionaries arrived in the 16th century. Western occultism and Wicca are latecomers by comparison, not being introduced until the 1980s and 1990s, respectively.  

But Shinto and modern paganism have many commonalities, Manson noted: Both are orthopraxic — focusing on practice and not doctrine. They are also largely animist, with “imminent” deities that live and manifest themselves in the material world of trees and water, rather than monotheistic religions’ transcendent God. Both incorporate mysticism and folk traditions.

Perhaps surprisingly, modern Shinto itself is no older than the Greek-influenced modern Olympics themselves. Though informed by surviving folk traditions, cultural elements and Buddhism, the modern practice of Shinto was first “constructed during the Meiji Restoration of the late 1800s,” Kawanishi explains in her research. 

Of more ancient Japanese religious practices, according to Kawanishi, “no scripture” or evidence has survived. “We don’t know what (the old religion) was,” she said.

But mysticism and magic have always existed in Japanese culture. Visitors to either a Buddhist or Shinto shrine, as an example, can often purchase an omamori amulet, which is displayed at home or worn for protection. 

But Kawanishi also believes that a uniquely Japanese worldview factors into an engagement with Western witchcraft.

Most people, even if they identify as Shinto or Buddhist, don’t consider themselves religious. Shinto is not expressed as a belief per se but as a way of life. The term literally means “way of the gods.”

While the Japanese word for Christianity, Kiristokyo, literally means “Christ teaching,” Shinto or Shintou means “way.” It is the same suffix used in judo (juudou, the “gentle way”) and Sado, or tea ceremony (sadou, the “tea way”), explains Manson.

She adds, “This word ‘way’ reflects that this is about how you do things, a way of life.” The practice of Shinto is as much or more about tradition, customs and culture as it is about worship and deity, making it adaptable and syncretic.

This concept is what informs the practice of Western witchcraft in Japan. According to Kawanishi’s research, Japanese witches rarely convert to a new religion, but rather adopt aspects of Western paganism to fit with their current lifestyle, beliefs, traditions and spirituality.

One practitioner Kawanishi spent time with, Lumi Tanizaki, created a blended tradition that incorporates both Western occultism and Japanese folk culture. Tanizaki “chose Old Shinto and ‘Jomon faith’” for her inspiration in reconstructing a pre-Buddhist Japanese pagan spiritual tradition, explained Kawanishi. 

Tanizaki saw an analogy between the Celts in Europe and the Jomon in Japan, Kawanishi records in her research. That connection informed the development of her tradition. The indigenous people of Hokkaido (Ainu) are considered to be descendants of the Jomon; however, Tanizaki doesn’t think they “want to be approached from the perspective of modern witches.” She remains respectful.

Not everyone who identifies as a witch is practicing witchcraft or Western paganism.

The population is small but dedicated, blending Western teachings with Japanese folk culture, religion, spirituality and lore. Metaphysical shops, like the one owned by Tanizaki, dot the landscape, and witchcraft books are now being written by Japanese practitioners, such as “Witches and Magic” by international astrologer Ryūji Kagami. 

Those seeking out Western witchcraft and Wicca are not looking for something religious, said Kawanishi. They are looking for spiritual freedom without community and formal ritual. They are seeking inspiration and a personal path.

In the end, Kawanishi said, “Being a fan of anime is much more popular than practicing Western witchcraft. I think for many Japanese, Western paganism is too foreign.”

8 References to ‘BE WATCHING or WATCHFUL.’ ‘8’ indicates that a new ‘era or epoch’ is arriving. Be it the rapture, the tribulation, the year of the Jews redemption or the year of the onset (2028) of the 1000 year millennial reign of Christ (2028-3028).

Matthew 24:42; Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Matthew 25:13; Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Mark 13:35; Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning.

Luke 21:36; Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man

Luke 12:37-39; Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.

 ‘Increasing Like Labor Pains.’ ‘Fearful Sights.’ ‘Perilous Times.’ ‘Men’s hearts failing with fear.’ Great Convergence of Signs.’ REDEMPTION IMMINENT.

In His Service,

Night Watchman

Paul Rolland

Night Watchman Ministries

Make Your Decision for Christ NOW!!!!!!! Time is Up!!!!!!!

Jesus Christ’s Offer of Salvation:

The ABCs of Salvation through Jesus Christ (the Lamb)

A. Admit/Acknowledge/Accept that you are sinner. Ask God’s forgiveness and repent of your sins.

. . . “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).

. . . “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10).

. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8).

B. Believe Jesus is Lord. Believe that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be; that He was both fully God and fully man and that we are saved through His death, burial, and resurrection. Put your trust in Him as your only hope of salvation. Become a son or daughter of God by receiving Christ.

. . . “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:15-17). For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13).

C. Call upon His name, Confess with your heart and with your lips that Jesus is your Lord and Savior.

. . . “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10).

. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (John 1:8-10).

. . . “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (John 2:2).

. . . “In this was manifested the love of god toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:9, 14-15).

. . . “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10).

. . . “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).

. . . “Jesus saith unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6).

. . . “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” (Romans 1:16).

. . . “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts: 4:12).

. . . “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:4-6).

. . . “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

. . . “But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12).

True Church / Bride of Christ Spared from God’s Wrath:

 Romans 5:8-10. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

Romans 12:19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 1:10. And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

1 Thessalonians 5:9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Jeremiah 30:7. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.