My Times are in Thy Hands

26 December 2010

Dear Phyllis,

It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes I sit down and open the Bible at random; and a verse just leaps off the pager at me. It is almost like God speaking to me in an audible voice. That happened the other day. As I went out on my balcony where I meet with the Lord everyday, I opened my Bible and my eyes fell on Psalm 31:15 – “My times are in Thy hand”. That was a word from God to me.

As we close out 2010 I am intensely engaged in one of the most confusing projects of my life. I am totally restructuring my shop. My dear friend, Dave Moore, is working with me, and when we get finished, it will easily be the finest shop I have ever had. Frequently I scratch my head and wonder, “Why in the world am I doing this?” The only explanation is that I have been forced into it.

When things closed down at NLL in Japan eight years ago, I walked away from thousands of dollars of excellent tools and the best shop I had ever had, to go back to SEA to be a Bible smuggler. I had no expectation that I would ever pick up a hammer again. But soon after getting back to Chiang Mai a brother asked me if I would make some tables for an orphanage. I said, “Of course, I would be glad to, but I have no tools.” Fritz replied, “That’s no problem. I have plenty of tools and you can use my shop.” When I got there I was shocked. He had a lovely home, but his tools were a disaster zone. They were next to totally unusable. I had zero support, and what little money I did have was barely enough to live on. Of necessity, I had to go out and buy a few basic tools to do the orphanage project.

As time went on I found myself acquiring more tools, but I desperately need some place to work. My good friend, Mark, had given me a room to live in, in his warehouse for Bibles. It was a nice duplex house, and they were using the other half as a school for their children. There was virtually no place to work. The only place available was a very narrow section six feet wide and about 25 feet long behind my house. There was a clutter of water pipes on the concrete and the slope was fairly strong. In desperation I decided to make a simple wooden floor over the water pipes and make it level. I made a simple roof over it, a bench for a chop (slide) saw, and at the end of the house I made a small extension where I could put a table saw. It was cramped, but I could at least do some basic work.

A year later they stopped using the other half of my duplex house for a school, and the children no longer needed the playground in the lawn at the end of my house. Marks’s wife, Astrid, asked me to make a large double bed for a new missionary. It was impossible to make that in my close closet shop. As the children were no longer using the swing set and merry-go-round in the playground, I move that, and made a simple wooden platform 8’x 8’ beside my shop to make the double bed on. That lasted for a year, but soon rotted. By that time the simple wooden floor in my hallway shop rotted and had to be replaced. Dave and I cleaned up the water pipes and poured a concert floor over that and a major extension in what was formerly the children’s playground. Now I had a first class shop, but it was still tight.

 A few months ago Mark asked me to make a new kitchen for them. I was glad to do that, but the kitchen was so big I couldn’t make the cabinets in my tight shop. If I was going to do that job I had to make another major extension in the lawn. A couple months ago we poured another major section of concrete. But, of course, it needed a roof. As we got started adding a roof to the new extension the Lord showed me how to tear out every thing we had put in thus far and totally restructure the entire shop. The simple roof we had put in seven years ago was rotted and the termites had totally eaten the posts that were holding it up. All that had to be replaced.

As 2010 closes down I am in the midst of restructuring everything, and soon I will have the finest shop I have ever been in. But why in the world am I doing this at this time of life? I am 75 years old. You would think I was 25 and just starting out in life. I am supposed to be closing things down – not putting things up. As I have wondered at the Lord’s strange guidance forcing me into things I never would have dreamed of, the Lord spoke to me from that verse, “My times are in Thy hand”.

Many years ago I met a dear brother who had gone through the Batan Death March in the Philippines in 1942. As the 2^nd WW progressed, the Japanese took a number to the American POWs and brought them to Japan to use as slave labor digging coal in Kyushu. Jesse Miller told me how they were working 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, digging coal, on one small bowl of rice a day, and 15 minutes break. I told Jesse, “The numbers don’t add up. There isn’t that amount of calories in one bowl of rice to do that amount of work. How did you survive?” Jesse simple replied, “God holds the last heart beat in His hand.” He told me how one day he was talking with another prisoner deep in the coal mine. The other man said despondently remarked, “It is all over. No one is going to come out of here alive.” Jesse replied, “No, my times are in the hands of God, and He will keep me until He is finished.” Ten minutes later, a 40 ton rock fell exactly where they had been standing, confirming that indeed his times were in God’s hands. I recently heard that Jesse Miller went to be with the Lord. He must have been close to 90.

My life came to an end in 1990. When my family collapsed, I lost EVERYTHING. I lost me wife, my family, my home, all my worldly possessions, my ministry, my friends, and my reputation. I literally had NOTHING left but Christ. For the next five years I was homeless drifting around Japan building churches and homes for missionaries and Japanese pastors for free. In 1995 I joined NLL, and for the first time I had my own room and bed to sleep in. Then in 2002, that came to an end. For the past 19 years I have had one request that I have asked the Lord for. Each year at Christmas time, I have pleaded, “Lord, please make this my last Christmas on this planet.” Each year has closed, and I have prayed, “Lord, You didn’t do what I asked You for last year, but please make this my last year here.” This year is the first time I haven’t made that request. I would be delighted if indeed 2011 is my last year on earth, but my times are in the hands of Jesus and I am satisfied to stay here as long as He directs.

I can’t imagine why I am making such an elaborate work shop when I should be hanging up the sign, “Out of business”. I didn’t come to Thailand to be a carpenter. My heart is totally given to promoting the Kingdom of God. I would rather be building His Church than making kitchen cabinets. But this is what He has placed in my hands and the only job I have. I do have an occasional opportunity to preach, which I enjoy immensely. We have a weekly Bible study at Scott’s house, and I do teach Japanese and share the Gospel in the ladies prison each week. There have been a few people saved. But is this a missionary life?

But the Lord has brought me to a time of life where I have never enjoyed Jesus more. Every morning I feel liked a kid on Christmas morning opening packages under the tree.

Many years ago one of my closest friends was Dennis Turner. I didn’t know a man in Japan who suffered more than Dennis Turner. His wife had left him for another woman. He had been ostracized by his home church and the missionary community. He was living by himself in a freezing house in Ina, in central Japan. But what a man of God! His life was Christ! He told me how one day he went into town, and the store owner remarked, “Tana (Turner) san, you must have had some good news this morning. Your face is shinning.” Dennis replied, “Of course my face is shinning. Man, I have just been digging diamonds.” Diamonds they were! Oh the jewels Dennis would find in the Scripture! The man was filled with Christ. He never took a breath but what he was praising the Lord or sharing Jesus with someone. I never met a man who could witness like him. There was nothing artificial or canned about him. Everything that came out of his mouth was life.

Dennis told me how one morning he was out having his morning walk, and went by a field where an old woman was working. She asked, “Tana san, why did you come to Japan?” The standard answer is, “I came to preach the Gospel”. That is what a missionary is supposed say. But Dennis replied, “Obaa chan (grandmother), I have found that many people have a nayami (sorrow).” The old woman burst into tears and shared, “I have a nayami.” He touched her heart. I never met a man who won souls like Dennis Turner.

One day I said to him, “I would give anything to be able to witness like you.” Dennis later told me, in his heart, he thought, “Man, you are mad. You have no idea the price that costs.” I will never be Dennis Turner. But the Lord has been extremely good to me in bringing into His house of wine (S of S 2:4). I know what Dennis is talking about in digging diamonds. I have no idea what 2011 has in store, but I do know that my times are in His hand; and that is all I need.

Joyfully,  bill

Christmas 2010

19 December 2010

Dear Phyllis,

The calendar on my computer tells me that next Saturday will be Christmas. Apart from the AmericanChristmas carols that we hear in every department store, there is little else around here to suggest that Christmas is near. Up until yesterday, it has been a very pleasant winter. The sky has been cloudless for a month, and the temperature in the 80s almost every day. But yesterday I was surprised to wake up to the sound of rain, and it was so cold and clammy all day that I had to wear a shirt. In northern Thailand, from November until April, it is the dry season. We will go 100 days without a drop of rain or a cloud in the sky. This is really the best time of year here, but it sure wouldn’t remind you of Christmas.

Churches, of course, all crank up with Christmas programs that are primarily designed as an evangelistic outreach. Traditionally, I suppose I should have some Christmas devotion to share with you today. When I think of our Lord’s birth I always marvel at the wisdom of God in how it was engineered.

The Lord certainly spoke a very significant word to the entire world in the birth of Christ. Born in a barn! Who would have ever thought of that?! But the very place of Christ birth speaks volumes.

Perhaps the first message is the accessibility of Christ. You couldn’t find a more accessible place. Had He been born in a hospital, you would have to go through the administration desk first to get to Him. There could be restrictions. There might be a sign No Visitors Allowed. Had He been born in a home you certainly would have to go through the home owner to get there. For children who are born at home, it would be impossible for some stranger just to walk up and knock on the door asking to see the new baby. My goodness, who knows what they might have in mind? They might have a cold, or bring in some infection that would endanger the baby. We have got to be more protective than that. The fact that Jesus was born in an Inn is highly significant. There is nothing more public than an Inn. The very nature of an Inn is that the doors are always open for anyone who wants to come in. But had Jesus been born in a room in that Inn there certainly would have been some restriction. The manager would have said, “I’m sorry, but the rooms are private. We can’t just let anyone enter any room they want.” But there is nothing private about the barn. There were no locks on that barn. There was nothing private about it at all. Any guest, any house maid, any cook, any stranger walking down the street could walk in there any time they wanted, to see the new Baby. Even some shepherds, who were out in a field, could come in the middle of the night and walk right in to see the new Baby. They didn’t have to change their clothes, take off their shoes, wash their hands, or wear a face mask; they could walk right in and see the new Child. You can’t get more accessible than that.

Surely this is the first message the Lord had to say to the world when He sent His Son to live among us. Anyone who will may come. The very life of Jesus began being in the most accessible place God could choose. And, praise God, that is still true today. There are absolutely no restrictions on anyone coming to Christ. As the years pass I increasingly marvel at the unqualified offer, “Whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Rom. 10:13).

 A few years ago the famous serial killer, Ted Bundy was caught and sentenced for execution. Before he was executed, the prison Chaplin led him to Christ. He wanted to give his testimony, but the only man in America he would trust was Jim Dobson. Dobson interviewed him hours before his execution, with an amazingly clear testimony of salvation. The media and millions of people went bonkers over the suggestion that such a serial killer, who had killed over 27 women, could be saved so simply.

Dutch was the director of the infamous Tuol Sleng Prison during the horrendous regime of Pol Pot in Cambodia. He was probably personally responsible for more unspeakable tortures and deaths of Cambodians than any other single person. There were over 18,000 persons brought to that horror chamber – most of whom were innocent. Of the total 18,000 who were brought to that prison, only 12 survived alive. Today the Tuol Sleng Prison is the #1 sickening tourist attraction in Phnom Penh. When the Vietnamese took over Cambodia in 1979, Dutch escaped to the Thai border. Some years later he was brought to Christ by a Baptist missionary. After 30 years, recently, he was brought to trail for his war crimes and sentenced to 40 years in prison. He was the only one of the Pol Pot regime who was truly repentant. He will die in prison, but he is a true child of God, and will spend eternity in heaven. Many find that offensive. But if the worst offenders, as Ted Bundy and Dutch, can be saved, that leaves the door wide open for lesser offenders. You can’t get more accessible than that.

Today, America is one of the most difficult countries in the world to get into – unless you are an illegal Mexican. I would much rather deal with a communist government than with the US Immigration Department. They are just plain evil! It cost $200 just for an interview to make an application for a tourist visa; only to get insulted and refused. And the Immigration Department keeps the money. But anyone who wants one, can have a free citizenship in heaven simply by accepting God’s unspeakable gift of love in giving to us His Son. There is nothing on this earth more ridiculous than that! How can you make it any more easy? How can you make it any more accessible than that?!

And yet, in the wisdom of God, He has perfectly concealed His Son. Years later Jesus would rejoice in spirit and say, “I thank Thee, O Father, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes.” (Lk. 10:21).  Who would ever dream of looking for the Son of God in a barn? The Bible is correct when it says, “Not many wise men after the flesh are called (saved)” (1 Cor. 1:26). God has chosen the foolishness of preaching to save the humble. No man can get into heaven by his brain. It wasn’t to the PhDs in Harvard or the University of Jerusalem, but to shepherds in a field,  that the message came by angels, “You will find Him in a barn” (Lk. 2:12).

 

If there is any message that Bethlehem has to say to us, it is that the one prerequisite for salvation is humility. Salvation is securely hidden from the proud. Only the most humble person would have gone out to seek Jesus in that barn. I am sure a few house maids went out to see the new Child. The wife of the Inn manager probably went out to see Him. But if a guest suggested to others to go see this new Babe, I can well imagine someone responding; “What? you want me to go out there in that barn? My goodness, I would get my shoes all filthy there.” You would have to be willing to get a little cow manure on your shoes if you wanted to see Jesus.

The fact that Jesus humbled Himself so low as to be born in a barn is an eloquent testimony of His fundamental character. In Japan the lower members of society bow lower to those of higher rank. It would be culturally wrong for a teacher to bow lower than a student; or an employer to an employee. No one ever bowed lower than Jesus. Not even Moses is to be compared to Jesus for humility. Paul certainly brings this out when he wrote in Phil. 2:6-8 on how low Jesus humbled Himself – even to the death of a cross. He started out His life in a barn, at His peak, He said He had no where to lay His head, He had to borrow a donkey to ride into Jerusalem, died a criminal’s death on a cross, and was buried in a borrowed tomb. Jesus warned us that the servant is not supposed to be above the master. How is it possible that some who claim to be genuine followers of the Lamb suggest that we should live like the richest kid in town???

We would be utterly enraged if someone suggested that our son should be born in a barn. “No way! Do you think I am nuts to let my wife have a baby in a barn. Maybe my son might be born in the hallway of a hospital but he is not going to be born in a barn!”

 Oh how is it that we miss that message? We have glorified the manger scene so much that we have lost the message. This is the life that Christ is calling us to. The suggestion that we should be like Jesus is so unthinkable that it is down right repulsive. But this is the entrance to the Kingdom.

 Perhaps I have told you that I have written two books. One is my autobiography of the First Fifty Years. And the other one is The Inverted Kingdom. I have noticed that most – if not all – of the laws of the Kingdom of God are exactly the reverse of the natural laws of this world. There hardly is anything more eloquent than the very birth of Christ. What a start! But this is the way of the Lord. Perhaps if we took this more seriously, and tried to live accordingly, we too might find Jesus in a deeper way than when we have looked for Him in the rarified atmosphere of success.

 
It is kind of lonely here in Chiang Mai at Christmas. The Lord has been good in giving me a few friends. I didn’t send out any Christmas cards and I didn’t receive any. I have bought no Christmas presents for anyone, and I doubt that I will receive any. This certainly is not a commercial time for me. I will be working in my shop on Christmas. But one of the greatest miracles that has ever happened is real to me today. The very Spirit of the Christ who was born in that barn in Bethlehem has been born in my heart. I don’t know anything more amazing than that.

                                                                                        bill

Koji Sekiguchi

12 December 2010

 Dear Phyllis,

When we were in the states many years ago I used to listen to a daily radio broadcast by a marvelous Assembly of God preacher, DM Ward. He was a man of the caliber of AW Tozer – a very realistic, down-to-earth, man of God. At the time I was listening to him, he had a series going on of testimonies of outstanding Christians he knew. I found those testimonies very helpful. I can’t match the stories DM Ward told, but it has been my privilege to know a number of unusual Christians over the years.

One man who stands out in my life is Koji Sekiguchi. Koji was the closest friend I ever had. He was the best man at my wedding and for years I said he was the most outstanding Christian I had ever met.

Koji was Rachel Sekiguchi’s younger brother. Some time ago, I wrote you the story of Rachel Sekiguchi. She was the high school girl from Oguri that received a tract fourth hand and was marvelously saved. She wound up being a missionary to Brazil, where she has spent her entire adult life.

There were seven brothers and sisters in the Sekiguchi family. Over the years she saw all her family saved, including her dad, who was a Shinto priest. Her elder brother, Takao, was the head elder in my church in Karuizawa.

Koji was about 12 years old when Rachel got saved. As she, very soon, was a student in the Karuizawa Bible School, she influenced the entire family to be associated with the Bible school, and got Koji to come to Karuizawa to live at the Bible school, and go to school in the Karuizawa public junior high and high school.

As a young boy, Koji didn’t care for coerced Christianity, but he was a captive and had no choice. The budget at the Karuizawa Bible School was terribly low. Food was scarce and the rooms were freezing. That was bad enough, but Koji especially resented the imposed day of fasting once a month. More than that he had to stand on the street corner, participating in street meetings. He would stand there embarrassed to tears as his school friends would come by to make fun of him. Christianity definitely was not the life he wanted to choose.

His roommate was Kimura san. I wrote you the story of Kimura san some time ago. He was the Japanese fighter pilot who got shot down by a Christian American pilot overt the Philippine Sea, and then spent seven years as a POW in Siberia. After his release from the Russian slave labor camp in 1952, he returned home to find all his family had been killed during the war. With nothing left in life, he devoted himself to being a Buddhist monk walking around Japan praying for the spirits of his family and friends who had died during the war. One day he was in Karuizawa and saw a group of students from the Bible school having a street meeting. Through that initial contact he was saved and stayed on as a student in the school. Kimura san was considerably older but shared a room with young Koji.

Quite naturally, the young fellow was fascinated by the flying stories Kimura san told with him. This excited a passion to become a pilot himself some day.

After graduating from high school, Koji ran away from home (the Bible school), and joined JASDF (Japanese Air Force). His dreams were becoming a reality. At last he was in pilot training, well on his way to the top in the aviation field. Koji was elated with is freedom from forced Christianity and was now free to enjoy the full savor of a life of sin. But he had one major problem. He knew too much Gospel. He knew the Gospel was true, but wished he had never heard it. All his buddies could go out and have a good time drinking, and with the girls, but he couldn’t. His conscience was making him feel guilty, and terribly uneasy. He was struck in a lose-lose situation. His knowledge of the Bible was keeping him from a life of freedom in sin, and sin was keeping him from the freedom of Christ.  

One day he was sitting in the mess hall (dining hall) talking to a friend, sharing with him his concern. He asked, “Aren’t you afraid of death?” His buddy cheerfully responded, “Oh no. That’s no problem at all. When I die I will just say, ‘Tenno heika sama, banzai!’ (Three cheers for the emperor).” Koji wasn’t sure death was that easy.

The next day he was standing along side the runway watching aircraft take off. There was one T-33 on take off. At the most critical point of getting about 10 meters (30 feet) in the air, suddenly they had flame-out, and settled back to earth. The bird was going too fast to stop, and overshot the runway. The plane went through the perimeter fence and wound up sitting in a ditch just outside the airbase. Koji was the first one at the scene. The pilots were unhurt but the fuselage had been twisted in the crash, and they couldn’t get the canopy open. There is a lanyard on the outside of the T-33 that someone can pull to get the pilots out. Koji grabbed the handle and gave it a might jerk. Nothing happened. The canopy was jammed. The plane had a full fuel load and the wingtip drop-tanks had ruptured in the crash, dousing the area with JP-4 fuel. Some of the fuel got near the hot engine and ignited a fire. The two pilots inside were frantically banging on the canopy trying to get out. Koji was standing on top the fuselage pulling on the canopy and looked inside to see the face of the terrified trapped pilots. The man in the front seat was his buddy he had been talking to the day before. The intense heat of the fire drove Koji away from the aircraft, and he stood 50 feet away watching his friend burn to death in that cockpit. Koji said. “It wasn’t ‘Banzai’. It was just horrible!”

That sobered him up. It was bad enough to watch a man burn to death in a cockpit, but he didn’t want to spend eternity burning in hell. No pleasure of sin was worth that. He surrendered his life to Jesus.

Now he was a Christian, life looked a little less complicated, but another problem came up. He was having serious problems with ear blocks coming down from high altitude penetrations. Of course, all aircraft are pressurized, but there still is a serious change in air pressure from about 10,000 feet to sea level. This was causing terribly painful earaches. The pain was so intense Koji finally had to go to the base hospital to see if the doctors could do anything to help. An examination revealed that the hole in the inner ear, that provides for equalization of air pressure in Koji’s head, was smaller than usual, making it impossible for the air pressure to adjust. This was the cause of the earaches. He was within days of graduation. Because of this medical problem, Koji was grounded. Another crash.

Being eliminated from pilot training, Koji left the Air Force and returned to his roots in Karuizawa. He had gone far enough in training to acquire a commercial pilot’s license, which was a treasure for any young Japanese boy in 1962. They had a special ceremony. Koji stood up and announced, “I have only one idol in my life” – and he burned his pilot’s license.

He got pressured into marrying the English interpreter, Yoshiko, at the Bible school. Nothing seemed to go right as he was struggling to find God’s will for his life. They worked for an apiary honey man in Yokokawa for a couple of years, but that didn’t work out.

In 1968 he was at loose ends between jobs and came up to see me one Sunday. Just at that time I had a friend coming in from the states and had to take two weeks off from the language school to show my friend around Japan. I asked Koji if he would run the language lab for me for two weeks. That job lasted for eight years, and was a major event in both our lives. We became in separable. I never had a closer friend or one that I loved more dearly. We did every thing together. I taught him carpentry and we built the Union Church chapel and several other major construction jobs together.

Then the devil got involved. There were a couple of extremely serious failures where I had to discipline him, but still wanted to maintain our relationship. I had to fire him from the language school but kept him on working full time with me in construction. But the bond was gone. It was like a divorce that was a huge loss for both of us.

After a year of strained relations, I called him in one night to try to find out what caused the break. To this day I still don’t know. With intense pain in his heart Koji said, “Do you remember the time when the students in the language school were coming to me with their problems rather to you; and you were jealous of me?” I adamantly replied, “That never happened! I was pleased that you were doing so well, and everyone respected you so highly. I was never jealous.”

  “Yes you were. I could tell by the look on your face. That hurt me deeply.”

As near as I can tell, it was 100% demonic interference by imagined misunderstanding. But it was a misunderstanding I have never been able to bridge. To Koji it was a very real event. And to me it was one that I could never recall.

That was over 30 years ago. Koji is now 67 years old. He went on to start his own construction company, and has done very well. I have had loose contact with him over the years, and he has gone on well as a man of God. He is a major leader in the church today and has a good tract record in heaven.

 We all have had major upheavals in life that have been life-changing. But over all of them we can write “Romans 8:28”. Through them all we can see the hand of God bringing us to Himself. I am looking forward to spending eternity with Koji;

And with you too;

                                  bill

Glue Lams

5 December 2010

Dear Phyllis,

I don’t know if I have ever told you about the story of my carpentry. I say I was born with a hammer in my hand. My earliest recollection was making things when I was 4 or 5 years old. When I was 9 an uncle died and left me a chest full of classic cabinet maker tools. When I was 12 I had a complete shop with all the power tools. When I was in 7^th grade I had more tools than my shop teacher.

 I have always loved wood. My major in college was wood technology at the University of Michigan, which is a very unusual field of wood engineering. My freshman year at Michigan, there were 5,000 new students, of which there were only 2 of us in the field of wood technology. But when I went into the Air force I put wood working behind. From then on my life was to be flying.

It was while I was in pilot training that Jesus invaded my life. I had no idea what I was getting into when I said yes to Jesus, but when He took the steering wheel of my life He has led me along a path that I never would have imagined. From the first month I discovered that the Bible was true and Jesus was actually living in my heart I have never had any other ambition than to live totally for Him.

When I went to Japan in 1958, the first man I met was Russ O’Quinn, and within three months we started the Church of the Open Door. For the next four years missionary work was my primary occupation and flying was something I did on the side. In 1962 I left the Air Force to go straight to Karuizawa for Japanese language study. From the time I went in the Air Force until 1967 wood working was pretty much on the shelf.

When I was asked to be the director of the Karuizawa Japanese Language school, my first big project was to make a language lab. That involved making four booths for students to listen and speak into a tape recorder, and a master console desk. It really was a pretty major job that turned out well. Forty years later that language lab was still in use.

Then the big moment came in 1969 when I was on the Union Church committee. We had been trying, without success, for two years to put up a new multi-purpose building to use for both the church and the language school. At a committee one day, I suggested, “I believe I could put up that building.” They asked, “How?” I replied I would make curved arch glue laminated wood beams. This was a totally radical approach, but the fellows said, “If Bill can do it let’s let him try.”

Glue lams is a highly technical field, but one that I had studied at Michigan. I wrote to the US Forest Products Research Center in Madison, Wis. for advice, and they suggested I contact their sister organization in the Japanese government. The top authorities in both countries were very polite, but warned that what I was attempting was utterly impossible. To abbreviate that story, the building has been standing for over 41 years and is in as good  shape today as the day we finished it. Through that project I became known as an authority in the field of construction in Japan.

In1972 we returned to the states for furlough, and got stuck there for two years when Rosemary was sick after Dave’s birth. During most of that time we were in Greenville, SC where I was working on Joe Carroll’s new Bible school, putting up several buildings, and in charge of the woodshop making furniture for the school.

In 1974, we got back to Karuizawa to continue being director of the language school; and, again, I found myself actively engaged in doing several major construction jobs. For the next six years I basically wore three hats as I as directing the language school, pastoring a Japanese church, and doing construction at the same time.

When we returned to the states for a furlough in 1980, I was terminated as director of the language school; and a year later, when we got back to Japan, I had nothing to do. While asking the Lord for direction, I was asked to build a church in Tobu, 30 km from Karuizawa. For nine months I built that church nearly totally by myself. Of course, I did it for free, but through that project, Toshiko was generous in allowing me to spend a lot of her money to buy tools. Then when that project was finished we moved down to Ikoma to work with Japan Mission basically, in helping missionaries and churches in construction.

My greatest joy in life is preaching. The only reason I live is to serve Jesus and extend His Kingdom. From the time I left the Air Force I have never had any other occupation than a servant of Christ. I planned to be a missionary, but I have learned that being a missionary involves a broad field. Nearly all missionaries teach English. Many work in education, some in the medical field, and a number of other related fields. My lot has basically been in construction.

I will turn off the equipment and lay down my hammer anytime to speak to someone about Jesus. I will put personal work and preaching above any construction job I have. If someone needs help, or has something to be fixed, I will put that above any job I may be working on. But working in my shop is where I spend most of my time.

For some reason the Lord has not chosen to give me much of a preaching ministry. In 1998 I heard of a place in Vietnam where five churches were using one Bible. With that need burning in my heart, I boarded a plane in Tokyo to go one way to Vietnam to help the underground church there. While in the Central Highlands of Vietnam the Lord told me clearly to return to Japan and shuttle back and forth from Japan; working 2/3 of my time as a carpenter with NLL, and 1/3 as a Bible courier taking Bibles into closed countries in SEA. In 2002 NLL no longer needed my service as a carpenter. With nothing else to do, I returned to Chiang Mai, Thailand, where I had been basing out of for the previous four years, to work full time in Bible logistics.

When I walked away from my shop at NLL I never dreamed that I would get back into wood working. But shortly after I returned to Chiang Mai, a Dutch brother asked me if I would make some tables for an orphanage. To do that job I had to buy some new tools. One morning, the father of a man at a men’s early morning prayer meeting, handed me a $100 bill and told me, “This is for a power saw.” It has been utterly amazing how the Lord has provided the funds to get reestablished with a marvelously well equipped shop here in Thailand. This is something I never dreamed would happen. I have never considered my work as anything but a ministry, and therefore have always worked for free. With the exception of a two year period when I worked for Architect Japan building churches, I have never drawn a salary for my work.

When I first got my power tool workshop 62 years ago, I never thought I would be doing that for the rest of my life. When I said yes to Jesus and dedicated my life to being a missionary, I never dreamed that carpentry would be my basic ministry. Over the years the Lord has given me several high quality shops. Three times I have walked away from thousands of dollars of excellent equipment to step out into an unknown future. Each time the Lord has amazed me in providing for an even better shop.

From the moment, that night, when I said, “Yes, Lord Jesus, I will follow You”; there was no way I could have imagined what lay ahead. Since then He has privileged me to do everything from spending several years flying high performance supersonic fighter aircraft, to preaching and ministering His Word in most countries in Asia ranging from Siberia, Russia to Nepal. Nearly 50 years of that time has been spent in Japan, but now He has privileged me to live in Thailand. The Lord has gone beyond my wildest dreams in allowing me to spend many years as a Bible smuggler. I am now one of the most senior experienced men in Chiang Mai in that field. This is perhaps the greatest honor the Lord has given me.

My heart is very much in reaching Muslims for Christ. I would lay down my hammer today if the Lord would send me to Pakistan or Afghanistan. Jesus shed His Blood for me and I will be disappointed if He does not allow me the privilege of shedding my blood for Him.

In Japan I called myself Nazareth Construction Company. Our CEO is Jewish Carpenter. Jesus said, “I will build My church.” It has been an unspeakable honor to be a co-worker with Him in that construction project. But, surprisingly, most of my time is at the carpenter’s bench rather than in the pulpit. I guess it doesn’t matter that much which it is – standing in front of a large crowd preaching the Gospel, or in a kitchen washing dishes – Jesus needs servants to do it all; and maybe the lowest job is the best.

Thank you for your fellowship with me in the service of our great King;                  

                                                                       bill

Prayer

28 November 2010

 Dear Phyllis,

A few weeks ago I wrote you a letter saying the disciples only asked Jesus to do two things for them – to teach them to pray, and increase their faith. In that letter I discussed a little bit about the Lord’s response to increasing faith. But the subject of prayer is perhaps even more basic.

There are few subjects more mystical than prayer. That I can talk to God? That God would hear me? That I can alter events in my own life, the lives of others, and events in this earth by the things I say to God? That is so staggering it is almost unbelievable.  Again I don’t want to get into what Jesus has taught us as to how to pray, but the story He told immediately after His instruction on prayer is an enormously important one (Lk. 11:5-8).

In His instruction in Mathew 6:9-13, of the seven points of the Lord’s Prayer He only pulled one point out for further emphasis. He said if we didn’t forgive others, God would not hear and forgive us (Mt. 6:15). This is terribly solemn.

Thirteen years ago Roald Lidal asked me if I would be interested in going to China to work on Bible logistics. I was thrilled! That was the greatest opportunity of my life.  I was within days of getting on the plane when the man I was to work with in Hong Kong red-lined me. On the basis of a pure misunderstanding he branded me as a womanizer, and said, “China is no place for a man like Cook”. That was the hardest blow I had ever taken from a man in my life. For six months I felt just like I had gone through the new-birth in reverse. Something inside me died.  A year later Brent was coming to Japan for the dedication of a new printing press at NLL. When Brent came to Hatoyama I left for Karuizawa.

For three days I stayed in the NLL cabin in Karuizawa. But the Lord met with me in a most painful way. I read the story of what Jesus told immediately after His instruction on prayer in Luke 11:5-8. A friend showed up at a fellow’s house one night, at a most inconvenient time, and the poor guy had to go to the bread store at midnight to get three loves of bread. That was a dead ringer for exactly where I was. Brent was a man on his journey and he showed up at my door step at a terrible time. I knew I had a responsibility to him, but I had nothing in my house to give him. The Lord told me very clearly that I owed him three loaves of bread.

With the terrible bitterness I had in my heart – that was killing me like cancer – I didn’t need special revelation by the Holy Spirit to tell me that I needed to forgive him. If what Jesus said in Math. 6:15 was true, I was in bad shape. Regardless to what others do to us, a bitter, unforgiving, spirit is something that we simply cannot harbor in our hearts. Brent was wrong, but I knew I had to forgive him. That was the first loaf of bread I owed him. Forgiveness is something we owe to every person we meet on this planet that may offend us.

I had gone through this seven years previously with Rosemary. When she chose to give her body to another man, and then left me under the most excruciating circumstances, I was a wee bit of an unhappy camper. For sometime I wrestled with the issue of whether or not I needed to forgive her. Does God forgive unrepentant sin? I still don’t know the answer to that question, but I don’t think He does. Rosemary was clearly unrepentant of adultery. If God didn’t forgive her, should I? What happens when someone seriously sins against you, and never apologizes? Do we need to forgive them? After months of agony, I came to the conclusion that the answer was yes – not for their sake but for our.  I knew I had to forgive Rosemary or it would kill me. Jesus didn’t qualify the nature of the offence in Math. 6:15. He simply said if we don’t forgive others, God will not forgive us our sins against Him.

At the worst time of my life, Dave Hanson flippantly said to me, “Why don’t you forgive your wife?” My response was a replica of Hiroshima. I roared, “I HAVE FORGIVEN HER! I HAVE FORGIVEN HER UNTIL I AM EXHAUSTED!!! DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE LETTERS I HAVE WRITTEN?” Dave quietly replied, “I am not interested in seeing the things you have written or said with your mouth. I can tell by your spirit that you haven’t forgiven her.” Three points. That was a shot right between the eyes. For the first time I knew he was right.

I knew the story Jesus told Peter concerning forgiveness in Mt. 18:23-35. A man owed his master a fortune, but his master freely forgave him. Then he went outside and met another guy who owed him 15 cents. He grabbed the poor turkey by the throat and throttled him. He refused to be merciful and forgive him. As a result, the unmerciful servant got called back on the carpet, and turned over to the tormentor.

I saw in that parable that there are two types of salvation. The first is to be forgiven personal sins. But the second type of salvation is to be saved from an unforgiving spirit. I knew I was as dependent on the Lord to save me from an unforgiving spirit as I was for forgiving me of my sins in the first start. I told the Lord that it was totally an act of grace on His part when He saved me from my sin many years ago, and I was as helpless to save myself from an unforgiving spirit as I was to get saved initially. If Jesus didn’t save me, there was no way I could be saved. I told the Lord if He had a sign up sheet in heaven for candidates for salvation, to please put my name near the top. I honestly don’t know how, when, or where, but I do know that somewhere along the line Jesus did – and has – saved me from an unforgiving spirit. Now I was back at square one with Brent just as I had been with Rosemary. I knew I owed Brent forgiveness.

The second loaf of bread was equally obvious. It doesn’t take a deep theologian to know that the second great commandment is to love our neighbor (Mk. 12:31). I knew I had to love Brent. No way! Oh, that seemed repulsive to think of actually loving him. I had about as fat a chance of loving him as I did to forgive him.

A friend of mine was going to a liberal church before he was saved. He heard a message on how we should love our neighbor. Tom was working in an accounting office and hated the guy at the desk next to his. After that message on loving his neighbor, Tom purposed in his heart that he would do that. And he did. The next morning he went to work and loved the guy – for 15 minutes. After that the rage in his heart was so intense he had to go to the water cooler to cool off. So much for loving the unlovely.

But I also knew that the Holy Spirit is able to shed abroad the love of Christ in our hearts (Rom. 5:5). I had experienced this several times previously where the Lord gave me genuine love for people that at first I really didn’t like. The whole point of the parable of the man at night was that someone showed up with needs that he simply could not meet. He had to go to the bread shop to get three loves of bread. I knew the second loaf of bread that I owed Brent was to love him, and that was something I flat did not have in my house.

The third loaf of bread is something that we seldom think about, but I feel is quite important. That is to trust them, or believe God for them. Paul said to the Thessalonicans, “I have confidence in the Lord touching you…that ye will do…” (2 Thes. 3:4). This is a tough one, but this is the greatest thing we can do for others – believe in them. Not that we trust them; but we trust the Lord to work in them.

In 1959 Dave Wilkerson was in New York having a dendo (evangelistic) meeting for the street gangs. They were the most dangerous animals in the city. Astonishingly, he decided to take up an offering, and asked the leaders of the two warring gangs to be the ushers to take up the offering. It doesn’t get any stupider than that. They everlastingly took up a big offering – at knife point. After they gathered the loot they went back stage, and one gang leader said to the other, “Ok, let’s get out of here.” Shockingly, the Mau Mau gang leader replied, “This the first time in my life that anyone ever trusted me. I am not going to let him down.” And Nicky Cruz was saved that night. It wasn’t the Gospel message that Dave Wilkerson preached, but the fact that he trusted him was what saved Nicky Cruz.

A friend of mine had a 14 year old son that was as bad as he could get. He was into drugs, sleeping with a 14 year old girl, and every vise he could get into. I was amazed at Dick’s tolerant attitude. I thought he was dead wrong. I would have killed the kid. Amazingly, Tim and his wife (his girl friend) turned out to be the best Christians of all the children. When Tim got saved he said, “Dad, the thing that helped me the most was when you expressed confidence in me when you had no reason, whatsoever, to do so.”

When I first got into my hell hole with Rosemary, I nearly lost my mind. My behavior was so bad my friends would have been justified to have me committed to a mental hospital. I was working on a big construction job in Karuizawa. The job foreman called the office and said, “Cook san is sick. Send up another carpenter.” My friend, Robbie, was furious. He replied, “There is nothing wrong with Bill at all. We don’t need another carpenter.” That was the greatest help I had at that time. Robbie’s confidence in me strengthened me more than anything else.

This is a strange story that Jesus told right after his instruction on prayer. There certainly are people who show up in our lives at terribly inconvenient times, with serious needs that we simply do not have the stuff in our house to meet. Thank God there is a Bread Man who is the Bread of Life to whom we can go to get three loaves of bread.

                                                                                              bill

PS: God has given me real love for Brent. I thank God for him.

Josh and Yoe

21 November 2010

Dear Phyllis,

This past week has been interesting. Monday morning a friend called and dropped a bomb. He had a nuclear problem in his house and asked my advice.

Josh has a 21 year old son that is about half saved. The boy has made a profession of faith but shows little evidence of a serious commitment to follow Christ. Unfortunately, he has a weak drive- engine to do anything in life. He is seriously under-motivated and has never held down a responsible job. But recently he came up with one factor that has highly motivated him. He has a sweet little girl friend.

 Josh was pleased to see this development as she seemed like a very good influence on Yoe. They started taking Sui to church with them and about two months ago Sui went forward to accept Christ as her savior. More than that, since then, she has shown solid evidence that she is a girl with a real desire to seriously follow Christ. It looked like Sui was going to be a big plus to their family. Josh was pleased to have her spending a lot of time there, but drew the line that she was not to go in the boy’s bedroom.

About a week ago Josh got up one morning and notice two pairs of shoes outside the door of his son’s room. The door was locked but he was able to get in the room. Two naked youngsters were lying in bed.

Needless to say there was a problem. Josh sent out of his mind and threw both youngsters out of the house. Yoe was thrilled. When he got out of the house, he and his girl friend moved in with another Christian family who took them in. Now he was on a honeymoon where he could sleep with his girl friend every night, openly, with no restriction.

I advised Josh that I really didn’t think it was wise to reward fornication with such a blessing as to be able to do it freely. I suggested that serious discipline was imperative. His wife is very tender and soft on her son, and doesn’t want to see him hurt. Josh took the matter to the pastor, and made it a church problem. Indeed it is a church problem. By definition, this is a church problem when any church has members openly living in sin. Yoe was also a member of the worship team playing his guitar for Sunday morning worship.

The first recommendation was an immediate marriage. I was opposed to that for several reasons. One was Sui is only 15. But a more serious reason was that I felt it imperative that severe discipline must be implemented. If Yoe is ever going to be saved, he must learn one of the first lessons of life – that is; there are serious consequences for sin. Sin is not the doorway to blessing. Unless serious discipline – with real pain – is implemented, it is dishonoring to the Lord and disastrous for the offender.

Josh asked, “What can I do that would bring real pain?” I suggested, “The most painful thing that could happen to him would be to deprive him from seeing his girl friend?” Josh asked, “How can I do that?”

“Have her live with you. Put the boy out on his own”

That seemed like a huge plus-plus solution. The girl comes from a terrible broken home and has, virtually, no responsible parents. She was living with an aunt. She would love to live with the Josh family. She gets along very well with his wife, and Noe would be an excellent Christian mother for Sui. Josh is an American, but the family is Thai. If Sui lived with them, that would give her an excellent foundation as a Christian, and she could learn English free by just living in that home. She shows signs of being a very obedient young lady who would bloom in that environment.

Yoe needs to be on his own to prove himself as a responsible young man holding down a job, and submitting himself to church discipline. Josh suggested to the pastor that the young couple should be disciplined openly in the church. Yoe should be put off the worship team. They should be required to publicly confess their sin before the church and repent. Their sin is not only against God but also against the church. Then there should be a three month moratorium imposed where the young couple were forbidden to have any contact with each other. After that time, they could have limited social contact. But if they failed, and secretly met before the probation period was over, the probation would be extended.

At first, the pastor balked against openly confessing sin and thought three months was too severe. He would accept two months prohibition. But then the devil took over.

Yoe kicked the slat and threatened if he could not see his girl friend every night he would run with bad buddies and get into drugs. His mother caved. She would rather see her boy sleeping with his girl friend every night than out on the street. If marriage would fix that, then immediate marriage was the only solution. Apparently the pastor caved also. Josh and I had many lengthy talks last week. He is a real man of God, but resignedly said, “You are right, but this is Thailand. The Thais don’t know what church discipline is, and this is the way they do it in this country.” My response was, “Yes, I know. And this is the reason why the church is a mess, Christ is dishonored, and extremely few people are being saved here.”

 I like the pastor very much. He is a very sincere man, and I believe he has a real desire to do the right thing and honor the Lord. But the culture seems to be the overwhelming factor. The Lord has brought him face to face with a black and white issue. How he handles this will determine, to a great degree, what will be the future of his church and ministry. If he passes the test, there will be great blessing. If he fails the test, he will go the way of thousands of other spineless pastors who run a religious club where the devil is in charge.

Effectively, what has happened is that the devil has taken over. Rather than the pastor steering the ship, the devil has taken the wheel and presented two options. In order to save the boy, he must be exempt from discipline, and sin must be rewarded. If discipline is implemented, the boy will follow the devil and go out on the street. This seems to be the way the scenario is going. The pastor must accept one of the devils options.

But to accept either of the devils options would be disastrous. Leaving apart the damage this will be to the entire church – where the door is swung open for unrestrained sin – the option for no discipline, and an immediate marriage, would be unbelievably disastrous for both the boy and the girl. He has declared that he will not accept church discipline. To back off, would be to encourage him to live a life of defiance to Christ. He can call the shots and the pastor will back down. Marriage with, free sex every night, might keep him off the street for six months, but when that gets old there is nothing in his character to hold him on course for life. By being exempt from discipline he is being deprived from the most important lesson he needs in life.

Beyond the terrible consequence this will bring on the church and the boy, I feel it is a tragedy for the little girl. At the most critical period of her life, she has a tremendous opportunity to live with a Christian family. She could continue her education, experience the love of Christ in a family, and learn English – which would give her huge advantage in life. Instead of that, she will find herself married at 15 to a young man who refuses discipline, and is highly irresponsible. What are the odds for a happy marriage? Fat chance!

If the pastor would take a stand, and challenge the devil’s threat of the boy going out on the street, he really wouldn’t be loosing a thing. The boy out on the street doing drugs may be closer to salvation than playing guitar on the worship team in a church where the love of Christ is presented with the wonderful license to live a life of unrestrained sin. Excusing sin certainly won’t bring salvation. During one of their times of discussion, the pastor confessed to Noe that he already has four couples in the church who are living in fornication. He thought it might be a move in the right direction if at least one couple actually got married.

As I read the Bible, Jesus never preached a message on the love of God as presented in churches today. The first message Jesus ever preached was REPENT! (Mk. 1:15). He told the wonderful story of the Prodigal Son. But the boy only got restored to the father after “he came to himself” and went home (Lk. 15:11-25). Even John 3:16 is followed by the melancholic warning that men prefer darkness to light, and the certainty of condemnation of those who do not respond appropriately to the Gospel (Jn. 3:18-21).

 If the Bible is correct in what it says – “Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers…shall inherit the Kingdom of God.” (1 Cor. 6:9,10); what – pray tell – does that say about thousands of folks who do these things in the church today? I feel salvation with sin is a very questionable salvation indeed. I really wouldn’t care for that kind of salvation.

 Church discipline is an enormous problem today. It is exactly the same scenario that anyone has in a home where children are deprived of discipline. We have proven with a generation of a wild, animalistic, nation what happens when this basic element of life is deleted. And, tragically, thousands of impotent churches are in the same state of disarray.

May God help us to all tighten down in our own individual lives,  bill

                        

                                                                                               bill

Heart and Soul

14 November 2010

Dear Phyllis,

In my daily devotions last week I read a tremendous exposition of Heb. 10:5-7 – “A Body Thou hast prepared for Me… I am come to do Thy will, O God”. I wonder if there is any spiritual truth more neglected, and yet more needful, for the church today than these two thoughts.

We know that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mk. 12:30). For years I wondered why the heart and soul should be presented as if they were two different organs. In the Scripture the heart and soul are often synonymous. They both our inner being that lives in our outward physical body. Of course it is imperative that our inner being be right. If our inner being isn’t right there is no way that the conduct of our outer being will be proper. The conduct of our outer being is simply the expression of what is inside.

 We know from the first three references to the heart in the Bible that the function of the heart is intellect, emotions, and will (Gen. 6:5, 6 & 8:21). But the soul is the organ by which we are related to the earth with our five physical senses – touch, taste, smell, sound, and feel. It with both our heart and our soul that we are to express our love for God. Tragically, it is also with our heart and soul that we gratify ourselves, and this is where sin dwells. The battle between sin and righteousness is fought here.

In Paradise it was in the body that sin entered the world and it is here that sin still reigns. It was to conquer sin that God gave to His Son a Body. And it was by His Body that Jesus overcame sin and put it away. If we are truly Christian it is necessary that sin not reign in our body also. This was the whole reason why Jesus came – to save us from sin (Mt. 1:21). My goodness, this is His very Name – Jesus! If Jesus doesn’t save us from sin; what, pray tell, kind of salvation is that?!

The fact that we have a body is tremendously significant. This is the basic thing that distinguishes us from angels. Angels have all the functions of a heart. They have emotions, intellect, and wills. The one thing that they do not have is a body. They are spirits that exist without a physical body. When God created man He went one step higher. Because of this the body is uniquely significant. It is with our body that we honor God or dishonor Him.

The most significant thing that God ever did was when He created a Body for Jesus. This was truly an astounding event. The Creator dwelt in a human body just like we have, with all the limitations that are upon us. His Body was subject to development and growth just like ours. He was limited in space like us. He could only be in one place at a time. He was limited in physical strength. The Cross was too heavy. He couldn’t get it in the air. He was subject top fatigue and hunger. And His Body was capable of being wounded, marred, and bleed just like ours. Praise God, it was through His Body that Jesus triumphed. It was because of what He did with His Body that He was able to open for us paradise. Had He not been victorious in His Body and shed His Blood for us there would be no salvation today. It was by His Body that Jesus undid the damage incurred by Adam. It was by the use of His Body that Jesus performed the will of God. The thing that made the Body of Jesus so unique was that this was the first time – and only time – that the will of God was perfectly done with a human body.

John warns us not to love the world (1 Jn. 2:15, 16). The reason for this is because the devil owns and runs the world. It is his domain. The devil only has three things on his shelf for sale and this is all the world can offer us – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. This has been accurately expressed as pleasure, possession, and position. This is exactly what the devil used to entice Eve out of the will of God in the Garden. She saw that the forbidden fruit was good food, pleasant to the eye, and something to make one wise (Gen. 3:6).

It was in these three areas that the devil tempted Jesus. The first was pleasure (bread), the second was possession (the whole earth), and the third was to prove His position (supported by angles) –  (Lk.4:3, 5-7, 9). The great triumph of Christ was in two aspects; He refused what the devil had to offer to gratify His Body, and secondly He gave His Body as a sacrifice to God.

The whole purpose of Christ’s coming was to restore to the Father what He lost in the Garden. That was to bring man back to God. It was in a Garden (Paradise) that humanity was lost and it was in a Garden (Gethsemane) that humanity was restored. The deciding moment came when Jesus determinedly said, “Not My will, but Thine be done”, It was by choosing to do the will of God with His Body that Jesus won.

We must use our bodies to accomplish the will of God. We cannot accomplish the will of God by wishful thinking. The only way we can do the will of God is physically. Jesus accomplished the will of God by physically offering His Body. Paul exhorted us to do the same in Rom. 12:1 – “present your bodies a living sacrifice unto God”. The only reason I have a body is to present it to God to be used as a vessel for the Spirit of Christ to live in. And if Jesus actually lives in our bodies, does that not make it doubly important how we take care of His temple?

Why is it we think we can honor God and totally exempt our body? Paul’s great desire was that God would be glorified in his body (Phil. 1:20). He was concerned that he might be a cast away if he didn’t bring his body under subjection (1 Cor. 9:27).

Somehow we have come to an entire generation who think there is no connection with their body and obeying God. We let our bodies go rampantly, totally, out of control. For untold hundreds of thousands of Christians, their bodies are an irrefutable billboard that they are dominated by their flesh. We get alarmed if someone is addicted to drugs, alcohol or pornography. And we think that food addiction is a virtue or a matter of humor. I am totally mystified by obese Christian leaders who claim to be Spirit filled. Can someone be mastered by alcohol and be Spirit filled? Is it not true that to be filled with the Spirit of Christ He must be the Lord of our body? Self-discipline is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23) and self-discipline is clearly measured at the waist.

We are shocked, and naturally alarmed, when we hear of well known pastors, evangelists, and Christian leaders who get caught in serious secrete sin. There is no question but what a man can be a highly gifted speaker, or a deep Bible teacher, and yet harbor unmentionable sin in his private life. When this comes to light, there is a huge scandal. Any addiction is sin. All the bells and alarms go off when a man is caught in sex sin, porno, alcohol or drugs. And yet food addiction, which is probably more dangerous, gets a free pass. The difference is that food addiction is so public there is no way it can be concealed, and so many people are in bondage to it, that no one has the courage to speak against it.

The difference between the bedroom and the dinning room is privacy. Should not Jesus be Lord of both? Hopefully, most Christians at least try to maintain a minimal standard of moral purity in their private life. Tragically, for many they fail. But obesity has been so widely accepted as being socially acceptable that it is politically incorrect to even suggest that there should be some restraint at the dinner table. My goodness, obesity is even a civil liberty issue in the states today, and CNN intentionally hires some of the fattest, sloppiest, women I have ever seen to be TV anchors. Years ago you had to be attractive to be an airline hostess, but even airlines hire ugly slobs today. Free sex has gained social acceptance and obesity stands next to it. Hopefully, most churches take some kind of a stand in suggesting free sex is wrong, but the roof would collapse if preachers would take an equally strong stand against gluttony.

God gave Jesus a Body by which He did the will of God. The same is irrefutably true for us also. We are to express our obedience and love for God by our souls which is the use of our five senses. Smell, sound, sight, touch, and taste are all supposed to be properly employed. Why in the world is it that we are so deeply concerned by the misuse of one faculty and totally ignore some other? If the misuse of our eyes is wrong, shouldn’t it be equally serious to misuse our taste buds? If one is deep sin what should we say about the other?

Jesus shed His Blood to deliver me from sin in this body. May God so possess this body that the devil has no access and the will of God is perfectly done each day. bill

Lord grant it!  Please!

                                     bill