Free Burma Rangers

28 February 20010

Dear Phyllis,

I have told you about the situation in Burma. It is utterly deplorable! Some time ago I heard so many stories of atrocities that it was making me sick. The Bible says, “Be not overcome with evil but over come evil…” (Rom. 12:21). Amen!!! Let’s do it! We have taken garbage long enough. Why should we be on the receiving end? Why should we always be overcome with evil? Let’s go get them. Let’s overcome evil for a change. Let them be scared to death of us. I want to see the rear ends of those birds in the Burmese army headed south at high speed. Let’s let them take some licks for a while. Jesus never intended His church to be defensive. We are supposed to be the aggressors. We are supposed to be the ones on the offence. The enemy is supposed to be hiding behind a wall afraid of us, and we are supposed to be crashing down the gates – not hiding under a desk. (Mt. 16:18b).

Dave Eubank is a man here I town like there is one in a million. He was an officer in the USA Special Forces and is the kind of man who can walk on water. The man is utterly fearless. Dave was an MK (missionary kid), who was raised here in Thailand, and speaks Thai like a native. Dave got out of the US military service to come back here to Thailand to see what could be done to help the thousands of suffering minority people in Burma. He has started an organization called FBR – Free Burma Rangers. There probably is not another organization like it in the world.

Five months ago I was talking to Dave explaining my conviction that we should turn the table on the Burmese army and let them tremble with fear of us for a change. Dave replied, “I agree. Do you have any suggestions how we can do that?” I said, “I don’t know, but I do believe if we get the Captain of our salvation to go before us, I suspect He has Sword sharp enough to make the Burmese army sweat with fear.”(Josh. 5:13-15).

For the past four months Dave has been deep inside Burma with his wife and children training Karens how to handle themselves and relieving suffering wherever he finds it. As much as possible he tries to avoid confrontation with the Burmese army, but does go out looking for them to document the horrible atrocities they do. He just got back a little over a week ago with an amazing testimony.

Dave is extremely high profile with the Burmese government. For years they have been trying to kill him. About a month ago the Burmese army mounted a strong offensive with the apparent intent of wiping him out. They sent out two battalions of soldiers (about 400 men) armed with AK 47s, grenade launchers, and every sort of arsenal they could carry. For two weeks Dave and the Burmese army played cat and mouse in the jungles deep in Burma. At one point we got news here in Chiang Mai that he was surrounded and the situation looked very exciting.

Then the army positioned themselves to attack several villages. Dave was in an extremely precarious situation. He had extremely little manpower or firepower to protect themselves, but FBR has an inviolable rule that whenever a village is under attack, they will always position themselves between the attacking army and the defenseless village. Regardless of the cost, FBR will not retreat, and the Burmese army must go through them to get to the village.

Dave had only 20 men with him and there were three villages under attack. He split his forces into thirds – two teams of seven and one team of six to be with him. Of the 20 men he had, there were six Karen soldiers who had rifles. In another group they had three riffles but no ammunition. In his own team Dave had little more than his 9mm pistol, two pea shooters and a couple of sling shots. It looked like they were going to have to fight a well armed army of several hundred with little more than throwing rocks.

During this entire time of confrontation Dave had scouts with the Burmese army like fleas on a dog’s back. He knew at all times exactly where his enemy was and which direction they were headed. He said the radio traffic was tremendous. They were listening as the Burmese army was communicating with each other and the enemy was listening as he was in communication with his men scattered over a very large area. The communication was excellent and both sides knew exactly where the other one was.

At one point Dave’s wife, Karen, and his children were in one village that was under attack. But he was defending another village a considerable distance away and could do nothing to protect his own family. He said for four days every morning he had to face the distinct reality that that was possibly the last day they would be all be on this earth together. A few days before that one of Dave’s team had found one man who had been wounded by the army and couldn’t flee. He shouted to his friends, “Run! Run!” Minutes later he was decapitated. The team found the body but never found his head. That was the fate awaiting him, or his wife and children, or possibly all. But in the face of imminent death, Dave said he had amazing peace.

The FBR scouts reported the army was headed north. Dave’s men positioned themselves to protect the village. Then they headed northeast. Again Dave’s men moved in position. Then the army trajectory was headed east. Another move. Day after day went by with this military dance. Dave positioned himself in the forefront expecting only a fierce battle of tremendous firepower coming at him. There was nothing they could do but stand there in front of each village making it impossible for the Burmese army to sack the village without first taking out FBR. Bewilderingly, the army headed south, and then, for the first time ever, they turned around heading west, retiring home without ever firing one shot or hitting one village.

Dave said he was actually disappointed. He never got a chance to be a hero. He was looking forward to an intense fight where he could prove his metal by challenging the enemy with virtually nothing to fire back with. But in two weeks time there never was a fight. After the Burmese army had retreated, Dave went into the villages that they had defended to find them totally deserted. When the villagers saw FBR they came out of the jungles with the rapturous praise, crying, “You saved us!”

 Dave was at a prayer meeting here the other night to share this testimony. In his testimony he said one thing I didn’t care for. He said he prays for his enemies every day. As he was facing immanent death, he prayed daily that, along with his own men, he asked the Lord that none of the Burmese army would get killed or injured. He said that was a little difficult as these were the men who had just decapitated the man his men had found a few days previous. He said he was particularly concerned for the Burmese army as he knew they had to go through areas that were saturated with mine fields. (I thought that he should pray that the bad guys would step on land mines.) Miraculously, no one ever stepped on a mine, and everyone made it home safely. At the prayer meeting Dave said, “I have no explanation for what happened. This was totally unprecedented.” He had never seen the army mount an attack, and then retreat, without sacking and burning the targeted village.

I went over to talk with him yesterday. I said, “Brother, I know what happened. Those turkeys are scared to death of you and too afraid to fight.” Dave said, “I’m sure you’re right. That is the only possible explanation.”

In the days of Joshua, Rahab reported that, “Your terror has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. …As soon as we heard these things our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man.” (Josh. 2:9,11). If that was true in Joshua’s day, where the knees of the bravest man in town banged together like castanets, how much more real must it be in our day? The devil was still in business when Joshua took on Jericho. Since then, Jesus has come and closed him down. In Joshua’s day the Captain of our salvation had yet to come and pull the fangs of the enemy. But today we look back on all that. Our position is infinitely stronger than Joshua’s. Not only has Jesus disarmed the enemy, but He is now presently seated at the right hand of God and ALL authority has been given unto Him. My goodness, what business does His Body have hiding under the desk?! Come on boys. Come out from under the desk. It’s safe out here. The only problem is that the Lord can find extremely few men with guts enough to stand. Dave never had to do a thing. All he had to do was stand there and face the enemy eye to eye, and they took off. Small wonder!

Man howdy, I like that testimony! Lord Jesus, please put some more of that Spirit in the rest of us.

                                                                                        bill

Burmese Girls and Persecution

21 February 2010

Dear Phyllis,

 The other day as I was riding my motor bike home my friend Mark’s wife, Astrid, hollered at me. I turned around to see what she wanted. What a blessing! She had two jewels she wanted to show me. They were two little girls she had just brought home from Burma.

Chula is five and as adorable a little girl as you will ever see. Her family had been driven from their home and village by the Burmese army and had lived like hunted animals in the jungles. At one point she had a stick in her eye which had seriously damaged the nerve to the extent that she has lost sight in that eye. At another point, she had broken her arm in two places. It had been improperly set by a jungle doctor so that it has grown together making it impossible for her to extend that arm. Her family was almost dead from starvation when they were able to make it to an IDP refugee camp. IDP is for Internally Displaced People – of which there are thousands in Burma. These are refugee camps set up inside Burma to help these desperate people who have been butchered and driven from their homes by the Burmese army. Two months ago Chula’s mother had died in childbirth. Her father had seriously damaged his foot to the extent that doctors suggested it would have to be amputated. He was unable to care for his children.  Astrid was able to get this precious one and another little jewel and bring them home to Chiang Mai. It is illegal for these children to be here in Thailand, but Astrid was able to safely get them by several military check points to get them this far.

Once she got Chula to Chiang Mai, she took her to a hospital to see what could be done for her eye and arm. When the doctor examined Chula’s eye, he was amazed that the eye pressure was double normal, causing severe pain. He asked why she didn’t complain about the pain. Chula simply replied that the pain was always there and she thought that was normal.

Can you imagine the shock it is to these little girls who have never been out of the jungle, to suddenly be transported to a modern city like Chiang Mai? They had never seen a car before until Astrid loaded them in her car to bring them home. Astrid bought them some ice cream. Chula had never felt anything cool in her life. When that cold ice cream hit her tongue she was frightened. Astrid assured her it was safe. Then the strange sweet taste of ice cream made her brain go into a tail spin. But five minutes later Astrid had a beaming little girl with the remains of ice cream smeared on her face. I asked if she had ever been on a motor bike. Of course not. She was a brave little tyke as I picked her up to place her in front of me on my bike and rode around our neighborhood.

What these preciously little ones are going through is like taking an angel from one planet and suddenly being transported to a totally different world. They had never heard of such a world and had no idea such a place existed until suddenly they found themselves living on this unimaginable planet. To these little girls living in a dangerous hostile environment, with extreme privation, death, and suffering is normal. To suddenly find themselves living securely in a house like they had never imagined existed, with an abundance of food and love is like being in heaven.

On the other side of the ledger, recently I have been reading the biography of Whitefield. I had read many of those biographies 45 years ago but had forgotten the intense persecution men in that day went through. We are all familiar of their tremendous success, but we soon forget the stonings. This has brought me to a renewed realization of what an unreal world we live in. People who live in the 21^st century America, think that an absence of persecution is normal, and are stunned to hear stories of severe problems our brethren are going through in other countries.

Basically there are three areas from which persecution can come. It can be from a hostile government, such as we deal with in communist countries. It can come from religious societies, as they have to face in Islamic countries. Or it can just come from unregenerate humanity, among whom we all live. The government in the days of Whitefield and Wesley was no problem. They did get some static from the clergy. But the mobs they faced were as fierce as any in the world today. Whitefield and his fellow preachers were stoned and beaten on numerous occasions. Women had their clothes torn off them. Houses of believers were virtually demolished. They were dragged though the streets and thrown in the village pond. Some preachers died of injuries suffered from the hands of the mob. This was accepted as normal. It was part and parcel to preaching the Gospel.

This was no different than what is happening in many places of the world today. Twelve churches were burned in Malaysia last month. Last year in northern India there was horrible persecution with several churches being burned and a number of Christians being killed. I personally know of three preachers in Laos who have been murdered since I have been here. I have seen first hand severe persecution in Vietnam with Christians being arrested, tortured and driven from their homes. A friend of mine from Pakistan told me that if he goes home the minimum he would get would be ten years, and the maximum would be life imprisonment.  I could fill pages of stories of persecution going on today. We think this is unusual, but that is exactly what Whitefield, Wesley, and their brethren faced in their days. William Booth faced the same.

I am persuaded that this is the normal Christian experience. Brother Andrew told of the time when he was having a private meeting with some brethren in Czechoslovakia when a stranger walked in. Brother Andrew didn’t know who he was, but it was obvious by the demeanor of the other pastors, here was a man highly regarded. He had just been released from his third imprisonment. In the ensuing conversation this senior saint looked at Brother Andrew and asked, “How many pastor are in prison in your country?” Brother Andrew was embarrassed to answer, “None”. Then the man of God challenged, “What do you do with the Scripture in 2 Tim. 3:12, “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” All Brother Andrew could reply was, “Sir, that is a subject about which we have no understanding in the western world.”

We enjoy our religious freedom, but I feel there is something lacking. Paul warned in Phil. 1:29, “For unto you it is given in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but to suffer for His sake.” And again in writing to the Thessalonians in 1 Thes. 3:3, 4, Paul admonishes, “That no man should be moved by these affliction, for yourselves know that we are appointed to suffer them…we told you before that we should suffer tribulation.” It should be evident from the Scripture that persecution and affliction is not something that should surprise us; but on the contrary, the absence of opposition is something that should be a serious concern.

Who wants to be stoned? Who wants to have the windows in their house smashed? Who wants to have daily threats on their life as they go forth to proclaim the Gospel of salvation? Of course, no one. But the lack of serious threats can prove to be more deadly than physical injury. Our brethren in China are not praying for less persecution, but they are earnestly pleading with the Father to be saved from the deadly disease that has destroyed the church in America.

With all of her affluence, ease, and popularity, the church in America seems oblivious to what has happened to her. By living in an environment where persecution is viewed as an abnormality, the church in America has probably become the most cowardly church in history. Living here in SEA where we are involved with two different cultures at the same time, makes the contrast of these cultures very sharp. One of the most embarrassing things I have ever seen was the response of America to the attack after 9-11. Someone asked George Bush what was the best way to fight terrorism. He wisely replied, “By flying on airplanes, going to ball games, and singing with joy in your heart.” But what was America’s response? Exactly what the terrorist wanted. No one wanted to fly on an airplane although it had never been safer. We were having a large number of teams coming from America to SEA to help us carry loads of Bibles into the countries around here. But for three months we had 100% cancellation. God doesn’t want us to do such a dangerous thing as to fly on an airplane. The same thing happened two years later with SARS. That was too great a risk. They might catch cold if they came to SEA Some Mennonites were a rare exception.

I am presently agonizing over a personal issue where we have one of the most amazing testimonies I have ever heard of, but have been warmed not to mention the name of this man of history publicly. The concern is that if his testimony was generally known, that might tarnish his reputation as a national hero and there have been threats on his life. My goodness, isn’t that the way it is supposed to work?! I wrote a brother and said, “I would rather be dead with a bold testimony than alive with a silent one.” To cower before threats is a disgrace to the Name of Christ.

The rest of the world is normal. The church in other countries is thriving in the face of terrible persecution. Suffering has made them strong and utterly fearless. But in western nations, we have developed an attitude that danger is something to be avoided at all cost, and this has produced a generation of cowards.

Lord, give us some fearless men of steel of the fiber of Whitefield; for Jesus sake.          

                                                                                                                              bill                                             

Kaneko san in last stage cancer

14 February 2010

Dear Phyllis,

 

Scott and I go to the Chiang Mai Women’s Prison every Wednesday. Somehow Scott got me set up to teach Japanese to the ladies in there. The group we are teaching are women that want to learn Thai massage, and they have a few Japanese clients. For the past three years, Scott always tries to have me give some testimony, or strong evangelistic word, as a profitable witness to these women at the end of each class. Last Wednesday he asked me, “Please tell the story about the family in Japan that had problems but when they threw away their idols the Lord healed them”. At first I wondered who that was, and then I thought, “Oh, that is the Kosugis”.

In 1982 we had just moved to Ikoma, and were working with Jim Blocksom doing dendo (evangelism). Jim had gone down to the eki (train station) in Ikoma and passed out pamphlets advertising cheap English. Mr. Kosugi got one of those pamphlets, and thought he would like to learn English for such a cheap price. The next Sunday he came to the meeting in our house, but looked like he has stepped into a nest of rattle snakes. He didn’t realize it was a trap to get him to a Christian meeting. Man howdy, we had 40 new people who showed up that night. I saw poor Kosugi walking around with this distressed look on his face, and went up to speak to him. I said, “Let me show you around. This is my house. I built it myself.” Kosugi was deeply impressed, and said he would rather learn carpentry than English. I told him, “Okay, you come every Saturday and I will teach you carpentry.” That started our relationship.

In the mean time his wife, Michi, started going to Barbra Blocksoms cooking classes, and she was soon saved. Pretty soon they started going regularly to the Japanese church in our neighborhood. Michi was clear in her conversion, but I couldn’t tell if he was saved or not. He looked pretty good, but about a year later, they were having a special dendo meeting at the church, and Mr. Kosugi raised his hand for salvation. He was born of the Spirit of God that night.

Three hours after Mr. Kosugi got saved, disaster struck their family. Their little daughter, Nao chan, came down with rheumatic fever. She almost died. She was in the hospital and had to have a lot of X-rays. Being a little girl she wouldn’t sit still, so her mother had to sit in the X-ray room to hold her. Michi didn’t realize it, but she was two months pregnant at that time, and the excessive X-rays cause her to start to bleed. When they discovered she was pregnant, the doctors advised that she must have an abortion. After all those X-rays there was no way she could have a normal child.

Of course they refused. The doctors told them, in that case, the only other alternative was for her to have three months hospitalization. Kosugi san had been saved two weeks, and now both his wife and daughter were in the hospital for three months.

 One night I stopped by the hospital to see Michi, and told her the story about Kaneko Miyazawa.

In 1981 we had just gotten back from the states when I was asked to build a church in Tobu, near Karuizawa. A lady living in Tokyo had been saved and donated some money to build a church in her hometown of Tobu for a witness there. Her brother and sister-in-law were members of the Sokagaku-kai – a very militant sect of Buddhism – and lived close to where I was building the church. They were very friendly people, and Toshiko made arrangements for me to have my noon meals with them everyday. I enjoyed the meals and the fellowship, but I had to eat in front of their butsudan (a large box where they worshiped their idols). Everyday when I would quietly say table grace I would pray, “Lord, burn that butsudan”.

After I finished that church, we moved on down to Ikoma. About that time Kaneko san came down with brain tumor. Through her illness she got saved; and even her hateful husband came to Christ. She had surgery and was in and out of the hospital for about a year fighting a losing battle with brain cancer. Finally there was nothing more that medical science could do for her, so they sent her home to die.

 About that time I was back up in Karuizawa for a few weeks building a missionary house. The Miyazawas heard that I was in the area, and sent a message saying they wanted to see me. One Sunday afternoon I went to see Kaneko san in their home. She was in last stage cancer, and about two weeks out of entering the gate to heaven. Her hair was gone, her head was swollen, and her brain was like tofu. But she was exceptionally good the day I saw her. We had wonderful fellowship in Christ and rejoiced that she had been saved since the last time I saw her.

On the way out, I saw they had closed up their butsudan and weren’t worshiping idols any more. I asked her husband, “What are you going to do with that butsudan?”

“Oh, we’ll throw it away.”

“I have come in a truck. If you like, I can haul it away for you.”

“Onegai shimasu (please do it). Let me help you with this junk.”

The next day I joyfully burned the butsudan at the job sight where I was working.

 Six months later I saw another friend from Karuizawa and asked when Kaneko san had gone to be with the Lord. After we burned the butsudan, she was miraculously healed, and was going back to church.

The Kosugis had never worshipped idols but after they had become Christians his father had hired a carpenter to put in a kamidana (god shelf) in Kosugi’s house. His father was a member of Mahikari, a very high voltage Japanese sect that could do amazing miracles and healing. Kosugi didn’t want to offend his dad by having that kamidana taken out of the house. But after I told Michi the story of Kaneko Miyazawa, she panicked. Early the next morning she called her husband and pleaded, “Please call Bill, and have him tear that kamidana out of our house.” At 7:00AM Kosugi called me and asked if I could come over to do that job. Oh, that was fun! I tore the last nail out of the house and burned that kamidana in my barbeque.

Then Kosugi’s father came to the hospital and wanted to pray for Nao chan and Michi. Kosugi took a strong stand and refused to have his father touch either his daughter or wife.

 That was 27 years ago. That fetus that was supposed to be aborted turned out to be a healthy little boy. Hajime kun in now 26. Nao chan, who nearly died, is 30. I believe she is serving the Lord with music in Okinawa. Kosugi and Michi have been rock solid Christians for 27 years. He is one of the top elders in their church. And the last I heard was that his father was going to church with them.

I had a really good time sharing that story with the ladies in the prison last Wednesday. There seemed to be unusual conviction written on the faces of several as I told them about what Jesus did for the Kosugi family.

Perhaps I should apologize to the devil, as I wasn’t very respectful when I told the ladies how two Christian families burned their idols and the Lord marvelously blessed them.

 Taking a strong stand for Jesus is no guarantee that you won’t have problems. The Miyazawas didn’t have much choice. It was a simple matter of life or death for them. Kaneko san and her husband could have either chosen to follow the devil and gone to hell, or to turn to Jesus and have eternal life. And when they turned, of course, the butsudan was out. But with Kosugi, it was a matter of taking a strong stand against his father, and refuse to compromise on any issue. As a result his whole family has been saved and his father is being brought into the Kingdom.

For people in western cultures it usually isn’t a matter of literal idolatry, but we all face decisions of compromise. Regardless of what the issue is, there is no question but what the safest answer is to stand with Jesus. Sometimes the battle maybe a tough one; it could get costly. But one thing is certain – at the end of the day there will be no regrets. We pray that some of these ladies in the Chiang Mai Women’s Prison may make that choice and see what a benefit it is to follow Christ.

When you see Jesus, you might mention to Him that we need His blessing there to see some of these ladies come out of darkness into His amazing light.

Arigato gozaimasu (thank you), bill

Half Saved

7 February 2010

Dear Phyllis,

Several years ago a couple of fellows came from the States to help us build a church in Tenri. Roger went back home and said, “There is a strange man in Japan, Bill Cook, that talks about people being half saved. He is a nice guy, but I don’t know what he means about being half saved.” Yes, I use that expression a lot.  Actually, I got it from AW Tozer. He used to talk about the “half-saved cowboy evangelist” I know that is like talking about being half pregnant. I know a person is either saved or they aren’t. But to explain the reason for using that expression there are two factors. The first is a definition of salvation. The second is our human view of a person’s salvation. By our use of the word, there are two different meanings. One is our experience here on earth, and the other is our status in eternity – whether we go to heaven or hell.

Watchman Nee said that there is a difference between salvation and our citizenship in heaven. The correct use of the term should mean our salvation from sin. When the angel told Joseph to “call His name Jesus”, he explained the reason for that was – “for He shall save His people from their sins.” (Mt. 1:21) This is the primary meaning of salvation. My goodness, if there isn’t some salvation from sin what kind of a salvation is it? And yet, where is the man who doesn’t have some weakness? John honestly wrote, “If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 Jn. 1:8). Joe Carroll said, “You believe Jesus is the Son of God and He died for your sin. You have accepted Him as your savior and are trusting Him alone for your salvation; and there has not been a significant change in your character and conduct; in all probability you are deceived and still on your way to hell.” That one rocked me.

From our perspective, sometimes it is hard to tell who actually is saved and who isn’t.

Recently I have been listening to some messages by Otto Koning – Bill Gothard’s “Pineapple man”. Otto Koning was a missionary in Papua New Guinea working among naked savages. He said it took him years before he had acquired enough language to communicate with those natives. Before he had made much progress with the language, he had the agonizing experience of being with a badly frightened 12 year old boy, Tada, who was dying. All he could do was hold the young fellow’s hand and tell him to say “Jesus”. The lad repeated “Jesus, Jesus” several times and went out into eternity.

After he had learned enough of the language to be able to communicate the Gospel, the next road block he ran into was that they simply did not believe him. To explain what he was up against Otto used a very helpful illustration. He said, “Suppose a UFO landed in your back yard and a little green man got out. The little green man said to you, ‘If you through away your Bible and everything you have, I will give you eternal life’. What would you do? There is no way I would accept what that little green man said  and throw away my Bible and everything else.” That was the scenario those natives were dealing with when the white man showed up and told them to throw away all their objects of demon worship. How could he prove to them that what he said was actually true?

 As he was desperately praying for some break, one day, the worst man in the village, showed up saying, “From now on I am going to take Jesus’ hand and follow Him”. Otto was shocked and asked the man what made him suddenly change his mind. Baida told him that he had been with about 20 other men wailing for a man who was dying. The man seemed almost gone, when suddenly he sat up and called for his wife to come and wash him. He said he had seen heaven and was going there, but it was such a  beautiful and clean place he didn’t want to go there so dirty. As his wife was washing him, he said, “All that Tuan (teacher) Koning has told us is true. I saw Tada (the 12 year old lad). He is there. Kane and Moto, they are there.” After his wife scrubbed him clean, Sunumi laid back down on the grass mat: with a big broad smile on his face he died. Otto said he hadn’t had any clear converts yet, but Sunumi and the other three that he mentioned seeing in heaven were the ones that he thought might be secret believers.

 

Otto Koning said he was rather skeptical of that weird story, but Baida and all the other 20 who saw that amazing scene were instant converts. Twenty years later Otto was back in that area for a visit. Baida’s two sons were pastors of two churches. Baida met him with his grandchildren. The little boys had never seen a white man before and were frighten when they saw Otto. Baida told his grandchildren, “He is alright. This is Tuan Koning. He is the man who told us about Jesus.” Baida was still faithfully loving and serving Jesus.

Those natives in Papua New Guinea – with their close relationship with the spirit world – have much to tell us about the things of the Lord. One significant thing was the apparent fact that, although Otto was not able to explaining systematic theology to the 12 year old dying lad, by just calling on the Name of Jesus; that was adequate to get him into heaven. And although those early secret believers didn’t have a clear testimony for Christ, yet, somehow, their simple faith got them a place in heaven.  

I have no problem accepting Otto Koning’s testimonies are very valid. But I have some serious questions about some of the major big name Christians in the western world. I say all this because I feel it is hard to evaluate some people's salvation. Orthodox theology certainly isn’t going to get anyone into heaven.

Jesus told us that the only way to be certain you have a seat at the Table at the Wedding feast is that you must have the wedding garment (Mt. 22:1-14). The wedding garment is, of course, Christ. A person must be clothed with Christ – not religion. There are some whose testimony aren’t too spectacular that may be saved. And there may be some well known preachers who may not be saved. That is why – if a person is questionable – I say they might be half saved. And there may be some Christians we will see in heaven who aren’t so real well saved from sin now.

I have a dear Japanese friend, Rody, who is the #1` western cowboy in Japan. I remember the night Rody surprised me with the testimony that he had accepted Christ as his savior. Rody never got established as a church-going Christian. But twenty years ago I stopped by to see Rody one night. He surprised me by saying he was going to America the next month. This was particularly amazing because he had not been to America in many years and I was going to the states the next month for the first time in eight years. I asked, “Where are you going?”

“Denver.”

“Really! I am going to the states and I will be in Denver next month.” We talked about getting together but parted before I got his schedule or he got mine.

Dave was in high school in Hudson, a town about 40 miles east of Denver. When he came down to Los Angeles to meet me, he said, “Dad, the Denver Stock Show is next week.” Man howdy, I wanted to see that! We drove from LA to Dallas and back to Hudson. The next day Dave took a day off from school and we went into Denver to see the Stock Show. The grounds there are enormous. The parking lot alone is so big you have to take a bus to get from one end to the other. There must have been 20 gates. We went into a lobby to buy a ticket. While I walked up to the ticket window Dave was walking around. Suddenly he cried out, “Dad! Rody!!!” Rody had come to the Stock Show grounds with four other Japanese to buy a ticket for the rodeo that night, and they were just going back into town. I bought the seat next to his! Figure that one out. What are the chances of something like that happening? He spent the day with us, and all he could do was shout “Thank You, Jesus!” all day.

A few years later, I was in Sasebo building a church, and Rody called me. He said, “Bill, it happened again.” Rody was in Denver on business and had an appointment to meet a man for supper. The business engagement got cancelled and he had a blank night on his hands. As he was wandering around the hotel wondering what to do, he walked past a room and saw a sign “Christian Cowboy Meeting”. He thought that might be interesting, but then decided that his English wasn’t good enough to go to a meeting like that. He walked back and forth to the door three or four times. Finally he decided to just peek inside. When he opened the door and stepped in, the man up front leading the meeting saw him and came back to greet him. Rody didn’t have his glasses on and couldn’t see the man’s face that distinctly. But the man walked up him, threw his arms around him, and cried, “Rody!” It was a man he had known in California many years ago, who was unsaved at that time. Neither one knew the other one had become a Christian, and that was the first time they had met in 11 years.

I don’t know. Rody is about 3/4 saved. Probably most people wouldn’t be much impressed with his testimony, but I believe he might have just enough of Jesus to get into heaven. I believe the Lord in the most unusual ways has revealed Himself to Rody. Fortunately, the Bible does talk about some folks getting into heaven by the skin of their teeth (1Cor, 3:15). Most of their life will go up in smoke but “he himself shall be saved”.

 I believe the Lord is merciful enough to allow some simple folks in and strict enough to shut some fancy ones out.

Tonikaku, I’ll be looking for you at the Table,     bill