How Long O Lord?

24 Sept, 2000

Dear Ted & Phyllis.

It’s Sunday again. How I enjoy this day! It because Sunday is the day I get a chance to write to my friends on my favorite subject – Jesus and heaven. Even though I only have an audience of two, the subject of our discourse so thrills me I wait all week for this moment to come. What a privilege we have when our Lord occasionally takes us into His private chamber and shares with us things that cannot be seen with the natural eye, and sometimes Sunday is one of those special moments.

Last week I was speaking to Roald and said, “Ted seems to be making good progress on his way to the City.” Ted, Phyllis, I don’t mean to be trite and we can excuse you if your feet are sore. The last few miles may be the hardest but I am thrilled when I consider where you are on the road. Even though I may be substantially behind you I do have this consolation that life is like those moving sidewalks in the air terminals, where – even if you stand still – you are still making progress. But to the weary traveler, after a long flight, there is something stimulating when you hear the pilot change the setting on the engines, feel the nose dip down, and watch the plane descend through the clouds. You know that at last you are starting your approach and in twenty minutes you will be at your destination.

What will it be like when we get to the City!? Surely it must be a little like the tradition in Hawaii where pretty girls greet the arrivals with flower lays to put around the necks of the visitors. There must be a crowd of angels with lays to greet the arrivals. But there will be some other special people among the greeters. After my first term in Japan, it had been six years since I had crossed the Pacific and my sister was hopping up and down waiting for me at LAX. Mary Alice O’Quinn had come out to meet another missionary and saw me in the crowd. She screamed, “Bill Cook and came running to greet me. My sister heard the scream and followed the voice. She got there just in time to see this lady throw her arms around me and hang on me like wallpaper. As I saw my sister approach I said, “Dorie, this is Mrs. O’Quinn, the wife of a dear friend.” Ted, when you get there I know one voice they will hear for a mile. Carol will scream, “Dad!” and a large number of people will push their way their way through the crowd to shake your hand.

How long have you waited for that moment? I don’t know if it is any consolation or not, but we are told that, sometimes, even the souls in heaven have a hard time waiting. We read of the souls in Rev. 6:10 who impatiently raised the question, “How long, O Lord?”, and even they were told to be patient for “a little season”. But they were given special white robes to make the wait a little easier. I know it is hard on all of us, but surely we are given special grace to ease our wait. Phyllis, I liked what you said, “I have never experienced such a felt Presence.” Jesus knows that the wait is hard. He had to wait too, so He gives us special gifts at times like this that others don’t know about. Shortly before we went on furlough in 1980 we had a call from some friends telling us that Mindy Massey had died in childbirth. Jerry and Mindy were very dear friends and had prayed for years for a child. She finally conceived and they were thrilled at the expectation of this marvelous answer to prayer. But in birth Mindy died. I dreaded the moment I would have to meet Jerry and that tortured event proved to be worse than my fears. It was terrible! God had met with Jerry to such a degree that all he wanted to talk about was Mindy's funeral. But God didn't give me any grace at all to listen to it. Then four months later it was my turn. When the Lord took our son, TJ, of all the group of mourning friends that came to the funeral home the night of the viewing, Jerry Massey was the one man I wanted to talk to. We stood there and had fellowship that no one else knew anything about. The dominant feature was not the loss but the grace of God that you couldn’t explain to anyone else.

We are so pushed here that we have outgrown our new building in less than five years. In desperation Roald ordered a tent to be sent out from Norway to use as a soko (warehouse) until we can buy more land and expand. This beat anything I have ever seen. This “tent” weighs over two ton and is so massive I had to get a yumbo (power  shovel – you know what I mean) to put it up. It is covering 150 sq. ft. of our parking lot and will be there for a couple years until we can get up a better building. As a “tent” goes – it is first class; but it is only a temporary structure.

The other day in our NLL devotions a brother spoke from the passage in Phil. 3:21 – “Who will change our vile body that it may be fashioned like His own”. As attached as we are to our present tabernacle, He never intended this to be the final product. Praise God, it is only a temporary soko. Paul spoke of this in 2 Cor. 5:1-4 when he said, “We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in heaven. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven. If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up in life.” Ted, you probably know a little bit about this groaning. I do too – for a different reason. We ache to change our clothes. Admittedly it might be a little difficult getting undressed. It probably is a little bit like what it was when we first went to a Japanese onsen. We felt a little funny standing there in our birthday suit; but we can’t get into our new house until we get out of the temporary soko. Frankly, I would like to get out of here so fast I would love to burn the house down, but the Lord may have a use for this temporary soko and I had better leave it alone until He is ready to move.

I was sitting in a sento (public bathhouse) in Tokyo one day when a 20 year old boy on the other side of me was using my soap. I would use it and set in down, then he would use it and set it down. Each time we made this cycle I was getting more and more upset. But then what really got me was when he finished, he picked up my soap and walked out. I was so mad I was ready to holler at him when I noticed my soap sitting on the other side of me. I have never heard of anyone mistaking somebody else’s clothes, but it would be a terrible thing if we ever made that mistake and walked out with someone else’s pants on. I have heard of mistaking shoes in a genkan. Fortunately I believe when we get to heaven, Jesus, or the angles, will see to it that we get the right clothes and I am sure they will fit just right. My goodness, Ted, you are going to look handsome in your new suit! You might even have to wear a nametag so I will recognize you. Phyllis, you said how much you love this man. I don’t blame you. You sure got a good one, but in a little while he will get even better. One thing nice about heaven is that we will be able to eat all the Arbys we want and not worry about the results. If we thought that was fun, how much better is it going to be when we are free of the restrictions of this present dwelling.

But one of the greatest blessings of the Gospel is that we KNOW all these things are true. The brother who was speaking at the NLL devotions was giving a testimony of his grandmother and the indescribably joy that she has for the future. If nothing else – this alone should give us incentive enough to go to the foreign field to tell others about Jesus. When this brother talked about his Christian grandmother my heart nearly burst as I thought what a marvelous thing that someone told her. Our assurance is something that is utterly impossible for unbelievers to comprehend. And the most amazing thing is that it is all a free ride. I believe our salvation is just like Paul’s experience in Acts 27. When Paul reported, “God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.”, I am sure he spoke also of every one that is in the same boat with Jesus. Surely this is also a promise that the Father has made to His Son. Not that we are worthy or have done anything special, but simply that we are in Jesus Maru. What a word of encouragement! “Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.” Oh, what a benediction! “And so it came to pass, that they ALL escaped safe to land.”

This is probably going to cost me more money for postage but I was so thrilled at that last statement in Acts 27 that I didn’t want to desecrate it by signing my name on the same page.

Phyllis, I was thrilled to see a letter from you in the mail basket the other day, but please rest assured that replies are not expected or necessary. If you are patient enough to read my letters that is all the reward I need. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement but I seriously doubt that very many people would be interested in reading the letters I write. Of course, I have no objection to them being shared with anyone else; but – if there is any blessing or encouragement in them – I believe this is simply a private message that the Lord is sending to you and is little reflection on the turkey that writes the letters. No doubt Solomon had no idea what he was writing when he composed his greatest Song. There is no way he could have known that he was talking about Jesus and His Bride; and was be writing to us who would be coming along 3,000 years later. It is indeed a remarkable thing that God used the mouth of Balaam’s pony to speak to the prophet, but it is no credit to the mule.

Tonikaku, I was great to hear from you and get an update on what is happening in Washington. Rosemary is a heartache that never heals, but thank you for taking her as a daughter. I have been praying much that the Lord would bless her and give her a wonderful husband. She had such an unhappy life she deserves to have a man she can truly love and respect.

I am looking forward to my next trip to Laos in November or December. It would be great if the Lord would give me a pass and I beat you all to the City. If so, I will be standing in the Gate waiting to shake your hand.

Shimpai shinai de; Jesus has done, does do, and will do ALL THINGS WELL.

                                                                                        

                                                                                        With much love and prayers, bill

 

This Man was Born There

17 Sept, 2000

Dear Ted & Phyllis,

This morning when I sat down to have devotions the Lord surprised me by immediately meeting with me. I say surprised, because I badly overslept. Had it been me – I would have either been too busy to meet with someone like myself, or keep them waiting for a while just to teach them a lesson. But the instant I opened the Holy Book immediately the print jumped off the page at me and my heart began to burn. Psalms is not my favorite place but this morning it was Psalm 87. Two things: the first – “the Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.”; and the second – “this man was born there.”

I had the latter phrase underlined in my Bible as it appears three times in this short psalm. It must be important to be repeated three times. It was like someone just discovered gold and couldn’t get over it. They just keep exclaiming. “I found it, I found, I found it!” Then the Holy Spirit took me to John 1:13 – “which were BORN; not of the blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but OF GOD.” Really, we don’t have much to say about where we are born. That is one thing we cannot choose. In most cases we can decide where we want to die or be buried, but we cannot choose where we were born. For those who are fortunate enough to be born in a highly desirable location their birth is a thing of intense pride. Even the Roman Centurion looked with envy at the prisoner when he said, “With a great sum obtained I this freedom.” but Paul could answer, “I was free born. (I was born there).”

Our spiritual heritage is a great mystery that is little understood. We know by the theology we have studied that we are already seated with Christ in the heavens, and we give mental ascent to it; but Heb. 12:21 says we have already arrived at the New Jerusalem. The Japanese translators didn’t have courage enough to translate that verb correctly and hedged by translating it “we are approaching” (chikazuite iru). I challenged a Japanese pastor on this subject and ask him to get out his Greek New Testament. When he read it his mouth flew opened. I asked, “Is that Japanese translation correct?” And he replied, “You are right. The Greek says we have already arrived.” The reason for that is related to the new-birth. When we were born again our citizenship is in heaven and on the birth certificate it says, “Born in Zion”. We must be the envy of all creation. Small wonder the psalmist said the same thing three times in three verses; “of Zion it shall be said, This man was born in her;” and, “The Lord shall count, when He writeth up the people, that this man was born there.”  How privileged we are!

But this psalm starts off with a surprising statement; “The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.” This morning when I read that, I asked the Lord why He loved the gates so much? It would seem that the dwellings would be more important than the gates. If I understand what the Lord said correctly, I believe it is because the gates are where the people enter in. This is something of special importance to the Lord. It is because we were “born there” that it is absolutely accurate to say, “we are going home”. It is not so much of where we are leaving from but where we are going. I may be in Laos, someone else may be in Japan, and a third person may be in the states; if we are all headed to Zion we are “going home”. Certainly it is no cause of sorrow to leave this world. If the Lord ever is merciful and gets some of those American POWs who have been in chains for 27 years out of the jungles of Laos, I don’t think it would be a sad moment for them to “go home”. True, our journey here has been a pleasant one. There have been some sad times but there have also been some very enjoyable times; but our greatest pleasure in this world pales in comparison to the good things that the Lord has in store for us when we get home. One wonders if there can be any higher pleasure than to see the Gates and ENTER IN. Small wonder the Lord loves the Gates so much! Far better than we do, He knows what He has been keeping for us. Just to think that we are getting nearer those Gates everyday should be reason enough to lighten our feet and quicken our steps. Just the distant sight of those Gates and the singing that we can occasionally hear from the City should cure any weariness. Oh, my goodness, this is not wishful thinking – this is a FACT! I wish I could be like Ahimaaz (2 Sam 18:27) and out run you, but I’m afraid you have too much lead on me. But the nearer I get to that City the more I want to be on a dead run.

 Ted, Phyllis, if you win the race and beat me there – I know it would be a distraction – but you might occasionally look down the road and sooner or later I should be puffing along. I want a big hug from you all. We will have time enough to celebrate, but at this point, I can’t imagine anything more wonderful than those Gates. Tears are on my cheeks as I write this letter but they are only for the joy that is set before us.

God knows I love you all dearly;

 

                                                In our wonderful Lord Jesus, Who made this all a reality, bill

"Cook San, what is God like?"

10 Sept, 2000

Dear Ted & Phyllis,

Please forgive the frequent letters. This is an indication of what bad shape I am in. Years ago I was a terrible correspondent and seldom answered mail; now I have a laptop computer and a lot of time to write but very few people to write to.

I am no example of what a man of God is supposed to be at all. Technically I am the co-pastor of our little church here at NLL and alternate with a Japanese brother preaching every other week. Today was my turn. Good preachers are supposed to spend a lot of time in the study waiting on the Lord and preparing messages. I never have been very good at that although I have spent a major portion of the past 40 some years in a pulpit. In previous years I used to hope the Lord would give me some idea of what the text would be by Wednesday, and for years I used to do mostly exposition preaching where I knew the week before what the text would be. More recently I usually don’t have a clue as late as Friday night what to speak on Sunday, but in those circumstances you are supposed to spend most of Saturday waiting on the Lord for His message.

 

 Recently even Saturdays are given to non-spiritual employment. I was so non-spiritual last night I dreaded the thought of having to speak to anyone on Sunday. I just couldn’t concentrate on anything worthwhile. Finally I gave up trying and went to bed with still nothing in view except that I wanted to speak about Jesus. My dreams during the night were terrible and when I woke up I hoped it was Monday.

In my thoughts I was challenged by a question a 14 year old boy once asked me at a katei shukai; “Cook san, what is God like?” I never forgot that question. There is – of course – no answer. But the closest humans can come is He. 1:3 (speaking of Jesus) “He is the express image of His person” and our Lord said to Philip, “he that hath seen Me hath see the Father”. This is something we can get a handle on. To answer the question, “What is Jesus like?” I decided to go to John for some input. The first thing I came to was the 1^st miracle and that turned on some lights.

I have been working on a book for almost a year and pulled out a chapter to use for a message this morning. I am utterly ashamed that a man could be so nonspiritual and neglect both the preparation of a message and his own heart to the degree that I did and yet have such liberty bringing the Word of God. But I was thrilled with my topic this morning. I didn’t have opportunity to present all that is in the chapter that I have written for the book, but just brought the main point that God saves the best wine for last. I will send you a copy with this letter.

I am embarrassed to tell anyone that I am writing a book. Most people would be shocked or think that is ludicrous, but the Lord has given me a thought that I have never seen in print or taught – yet seems so self-evident that I am bewildered that no one has ever published it. I call the title of the book The Inverted Kingdom. I have noticed that nearly every thing in the Kingdom of God is hantai to the natural laws of this world. The way to go up is to go down; the way to get is to give; the way to keep is to lose; the way to live is to die; the way to be a master is to be a servant; etc. I hope to write 30 chapters – one for each day of the month. The book is no where near exhaustive but is just seed for thought for the reader. I would feel embarrassed to even consider such a task except for your encouragement. Some time ago you wrote, “we wonder when you will write something to be published.” And since going to SEA for the past two years I have written a brief report each time on what happened. Several people have commented on these reports which has encouraged me to be a little more brazen with my laptop computer. I doubt that that this will ever get in print but it is good exercise just putting on paper. I am up to chapter 26 in my book and have another five or six chapters to write. I want to write a couple extra and then have friends read the manuscripts and cull out the weakest ones. I would be curious to see a more exhaustive list made than I have compiled and would be interested in any suggestions from others concerning which ones should be published.

Please don’t feel any pressure from here to respond to this flood of letters. I know it is difficult for you to write and I am not concerned by any lack of reciprocation. If these letters area nuisance just send a card saying moo ii desu and I will try to be a little more enryo, but in the absence of such correspondence I may continue to inundate you as I feel moved in the future. Needless to say you all are in my thoughts and prayers daily. If you ever see anyone that may remember this Japanese nail-bender please give them my warmest yoroshiku in the Lord.

 

                                                            Secured by the Hands of our gracious Lord Jesus, bill