PB Letters: February 2012

Monday, February 27, 2012

The World

26 February 2012

Dear Phyllis,

It is smoky season in SEA (Southeast Asia). We are getting towards the peak of the dry season. Every year in February and March the hill tribe people living in the mountains burn the mountains. Ostensibly, it is for slash/burn farming. Because they don't have proper fields, for millenniums they have slashed the forests and under brush as much as possible, then burn everything to plant crops. When that land becomes barren, they slash another piece of scrub land or forest to make new fields. They say. No doubt some of that is true, but it seems to me that they burn a tremendous amount of land needlessly. I have been back in the mountains near Burma and seen everything black, and no farms near there. Tonikaku (anyway), the entire Indochina peninsula from Bangladesh to Haiphong harbor in Vietnam is on fire for at least a month and the smoke is tremendous. There is a beautiful mountain about 5 km west of my house that I see every day. But for a month Doi Suthep will be invisible for the smoky haze. Under bad conditions, the viability is less than 400 meters (¼ mile) making it difficult for airplanes to land.

Spiritually, it seems like we are in the smoky season also. Yesterday we were at the wedding of some very close friends. There is a very fine young man that has come very often to speak with me for the past three years. He got engaged with Pastor Bayou's second daughter. Both James and Esther are as outstanding a young Christian couple as you will find anywhere. They have led the praise service at Bayou's church for two or three years. Frequently I have seen them up front leading the praise time with tears pouring down their faces. There is nothing artificial about it. Their love for Jesus is deep and genuine. It is hard to imagine a more beautiful couple to get married. They are the perfect match.

A few weeks ago, my good friend John told me some disturbing news about the wedding plans. Both parents are dirt poor and this young couple have virtually nothing to start out their married life with. A few weeks ago they went out to buy their wedding rings, and bought two fairly cheap ones. Her mother had a fit, and made them take those inexpensive rings back to buy two that were twice the price. That was pointless. All they did was buy an albatross of debt to hang around their neck for months or years to come. That was a preview of coming attracts.

The wedding was gigantic. It was in the chapel of Prince Royal college that is one of the most elaborate chapels in Chiang Mai. They had 300 guests, and invited perhaps the most prestigious missionary in northern Thailand to conduct the service. I have no idea why they asked Allen Eubank to do the service. There are very few people who haven't heard of Allen Eubank, but – to the best of my knowledge – they have never attended his church or asked him to speak at Bayou's church. It must have been for pure status reasons that he was invited. Of course, Allen had on a clerical robe and looked very much like a patriarch.

I didn't like it when I got to the church and saw all the window dressing. But the biggest shock came when I saw the bride. We saw a small crowd of people taking pictures. I saw James in the middle, but I had no idea who was standing next to him. I have known Esther very well for over a year, but I honestly didn't recognize her. She is as pure and godly a girl as you will ever find. But her hair and make up was so thick it would make Tammy Baker look like Mother Teresa. They had done their best to make her look like a movie actress or some super star at a Grammy Award night. I was so stunned that I couldn't look at her face When they played the wedding march, and the bride came in, 299 people stood facing the back as the bride came down the aisle. I was the only one facing forward. I didn't want to look at her.

The whole thing was a production that would have been more in place as a halftime show at the Super Bowel. James and Esther had carried the ball for Pammy and I when we were married last August. They were spectacular in taking care of all the arrangements, the signs, flowers, the decoration, the reception, etc. We were tremendously indebted to them for doing a splendid job. Esther's dad, Pastor Bayun, was our wedding pastor. I had tremendous respect for all of them. I told Bayun, “I wouldn't give a straw for ceremony but I would give my life for reality.” The reverse was true yesterday. Everything was show.

When my niece Pam Gill was married in 1981, she asked me to participate in the wedding. Pam and I have always been close, and it was natural that she would ask me to be part of the wedding. At the rehearsal the day before, the lady taking care of arrangements asked me to do two things. When Pam came down the aisle and got up front, I was supposed to stand and say in a loud voice, “And who gives the bride away?” Then her brother was to stand and say, “I do.” Then they asked me to say an appropriate prayer. When the lady politely explained this and asked me, “Will you do this?” I firmly re[plied, “No.” Everyone was stunned. The lady asked, “Why not?”

“Because I know the answer.” I explained “If you want me to say a part in a play, I will be glad to cooperate. If you want me to say a prayer at a wedding I will be glad to do that. But I can't do both. I can't be an actor in a play and then say a serious prayer to God at the same time. If this is a play and we are acting parts – fine. If this is a serious wedding before God – that is fine. But please let's not mix them” Needless to say, very few people understood my dilemma, and several were deeply offended that I wouldn't do both. Yesterday that would have been no problem. The whole thing was a staged performance and there was very little reality. I believe Jesus was probably in the parking lot.

Last night I had a hard time sleeping, and I had to preach this morning. At 5:00AM their Lord gave me the message – The World.

I began my message by explaining where the devil came from in Erek. 28 and Isa. 14; and how he successfully hijacked God's creation. From Genesis 3 on the world has been his. When the devil offered the Lord all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, Jesus never challenged his claim on the world (Matt. 4:9,10). Jesus later called him the prince of this world (Jn. 12:31) and Paul called him the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4).

In my recent study of John 17 I have been tremendous impressed by the Lord's attitude towards the world and a Christian's relationship with it. Jesus differentiates a clear line between His people and the world. The first time He mentions His people He says that the Father had given them to Him out of the world (rev. 6). In verse 9 when He prays for His own people, He also states that He is not praying for the world. In verse 11 He says He is no longer in the world but reminds the Father that His people are still in the world; suggesting that it is a dangerous place, and prays that the Father will keep them from evil. Jesus said that He had given them the Father's Word the world hated them because they were not of the world; even as He was not of the world (rev. 14). There is more but you can't get clearer, that Jesus draws a line between the devil's world and His people.

In his first epistle, John warns that we are supposed to stay clear from the world and anything that the devil has to offer with his world. (Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world (1 Jn. 2:15). Then he states that, “if any man loves the world the love of the Father is not in him”. That is a pretty strong statement. But James goes even further. He calls border line Christians adulterers and adulteresses, and then warns that “friendship with the world is enmity with God”. And “whosoever is a friend of the world is an enemy of God” (Jm. 4:4).

What I saw yesterday was the world in it most pure, unadulterated, unvarnished form. I had great respect for brother Bayun. I liked him very much. I rated him as a genuine man of God. But yesterday, both he and his wife came out strongly that they are enemies of God. To put on an extravaganza for his daughter's wedding demonstrates a clear commitment to raise the flag for the world. He obviously has considerably more concern for show than for reality. But tragically, how different is he from the rank and file of most ministers? I ran into this, and people were offended 31 years ago, in John MacArthur's church when I refused to mix theatrics with spirituality at Pam's wedding.

One of the strangest events in the OT was the incident of Achan (Josh. 7). The Lord had proclaimed that Jericho was an accursed city. He warned“keep yourselves from the accursed thing lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take the accursed thing and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it” (Josh. 6:18). That is a pretty serious warning. And that is exactly what happened. What Achan did was exceedingly minor. But the result of it was major. He didn't take a bottle of Johnny Walker whiskey. He didn't pick up a copy of Playboy magazine. He didn't find a cake of cocaine or pot. He didn't even keep a 6” TV set. All he did was pick up a suit of clothes and a little cash. But the Bible calls it a Babylonian garment and a wedge of gold and a wedge of sliver. This is the first time the word Babylon appears in the scripture but we know from the rest of the Bible and the final fall of Babylon in Rev. 17 what this means. It is the spirit of the world. I don't mean to be extreme or suggest that we should dress like we were still in the 18^thcentury. But this business of wanting to appear good is the spirit of the world. Had Achan kept that garment, he would have been the beat dressed dude in Israel. It is that desire for appearance that is accursed of God. And it is most descriptive that the Lord calls the cash “a wedge”. Gold and silver have been a major wedge to separate man from God for millenniums. That gold and silver certainly were a wedge that separated Achan from God. More than that is was a curse in Israel. Having that in the camp cause defeat of Israel before a small force in AI. We would be wise if we learned something from the scripture that is given for our example. This business of showiness and money is deadly to spirituality.

I concluded my message this morning by talking about the man who got executed for picking up a few sticks on the sabbath (Num. 15:30-36). You talk about something extreme; now there is one! He wasn't running a prostitution ring. He wasn't even doing construction on Sunday. He was only picking up a few sticks. But the Lord said to kill him. And they did. Is God that serious about His Word? Yes! He wasn't killed because he picked up the sticks, but because he despised the Word of the Lord (Num. 15:31). If God is that serious about His Word, where does that leave us? That is the mystery. We all have it coming –only a whole lot worse. But God loved this guilty world enough to send His Son to stand in the gap and take on Himself the judgment we all had coming (Jn. 3:16).

If that is what it cost the Father to keep us out of hell and Jesus gave His Blood for us, maybe we should be a little more serious and not be so flirtatious with the world. I am probably a crank, but seeing that godly girl with more grease on her face and hair made more garishly than any prostitute in Chiang Mai really sent me on a trip.

Lord help us to be clean.

bill

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Spiritual Smokey Season

26 February 2012

Dear Phyllis,

Last night I had a hard time sleeping, and I had to preach this morning. At 5:00AM their Lord gave me the message – The World.

Lord help us to be clean.

bill

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Spiritual Fragrance

2 October 2011

Dear Phyllis,

This morning I was speaking at The New Creation Church here in Mae Jo. I had a message that had been burning in my heart for over a week, and I had no question but what that was what the Lord wanted to say to us today. But things got totally out of hand . Thai churches are notorious for starting late. That took a big bite out of the time. The praise service was very good but went on for over an hour. By the time I was introduced to speak I only had 15 minutes left. I feared the message I had would be at least an hour and a half – if I cut it short. To try to get in an hour and a half message in 15 minutes is pretty challenging. When I finally stood up in the pulpit, my opening remark was, “I have no idea why I am here. I had a very good message but left it at the front door.”From there on I was almost speechless.

But I had had a very good time Tuesday speaking to the Bible school. I told the story about the Moravian boys who sold themselves to be slaves to reach those 3,000 black slaves on St Thomas Island. Their parting cry, “May the Lamb receive the reward of His sufferings.” I reviewed the three reasons for evangelism: (1) to make your church bigger, (2) because the lost are going to hell, and (3) for the sake of the Lord. The first reason is self-centered. The second is human-centered. And the third reason is for the sake of the Lord. That theme burns deeply in my heart.

During the praise service they were singing a very fine song with the theme “may

Thailand

receive the blessing of heaven”. As they were singing that I thought, there is something wrong with this picture. The thought came to me; rather than being concerned that the blessing of heaven come to

Thailand

, shouldn't our passion be ; “May Thailand be won for Jesus”? As I thought about this, tears flowed down my cheeks. I pleaded with the Lord that

Thailand

Japan

Vietnam

Laos

China

, and other countries become the Lord's possession. Jesus shed His blood to buy back these countries for the Father. Shouldn't our concern be that they become His possession rather than the blessing of heaven come to

Thailand

They sang another song that basically was alright. It was honoring to the Lord, but the last line said,“when Jesus died above all He thought of me”.Evangelistically speaking this sounds very good, but I really don't think that was primary in Christ's mind as He died on the Cross. I don't believe His main thought was focused on sinners, but a deadly commitment to honor the Father and do the will of God. I suspect that His thoughts were more on the Father rather than being concerned for sinners. This smacks close to humanism. I felt like hitting that hard when I got up to speak, but I only mentioned the first point that our main motivation should be more for the Lord's profit than for what we can get out of salvation.

After devoting seven minutes to that subject I told the folks that my message this morning was to be on spiritual fragrance. In dealing with the subject of spiritual fragrance,I reminded the folks there that we simultaneously live in two worlds. Of course no one will question that we live in a material world. But along with the material world, we also live in a spiritual world. It is hardly necessary to try to prove that point as everybody in

Thailand

lives in fear of evil spirits. The Thais are very conscious of the spirit world. Just as we are related to the material world through our five sense; the same five senses exist in the spiritual world. There are numerous references to looking unto Jesus, or look to the Lord. (Sight) The Bible speaks a great deal about hearing the Voice of God; or God speaking. (Sound) We talk about touching the Lord. (Feel) The scripture speaks of “Of taste the Lord”, “If any man thirst” and such verses that deal with (Taste). And finally there is such a thing as spiritual fragrance. (Smell) The Song of Solomon deals more with spiritual fragrance than any other portion of scripture.

But if a person wants to preach on spiritual fragrance, of course, the basic passage is the gospels account of Mary's anointing Jesus. It is highly significant that Jesus singled out this event and said, “Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” (Mt. 26:13; Mk. 14:9). Of all the events in the life of Christ, this is the only one that He singled out that would go together with the Gospel message. Watchman Nee suggests that the reason for this might be because this is what the Gospel is supposed to produce. Whatever the reason, there is no question but what that events sets forth spiritual fragrance as it is found in no other place in the NT.

In Leviticus, when the first five offerings are mentioned, each time, the phrase, a sweet savourunto the Lord, is uttered with them (Lev. 1:9,13,17; 2:2,9). This issue of a sweet savour unto the Lord is absolutely basic to the worship of the Lord. In Eph. 5:2, it says that Christ “hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour”. And 2 Cor. 2:15 says that “we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ.”

There are volumes that could be said on this subject. That is why I say I would be hard pressed to keep a message on this subject under an hour ad a half. But the first major point is that the sweet savour is inseparably joined to sacrifice. In Leviticus that phrase is always mentioned with the sacrifice. In reference to Christ, again it is that Christ gave Himself as a sacrifice. And in the gospel account of Mary's anointing Christ, what she did was a tremendous sacrifice. John comments that her spikenard was “very costly”. In our offerings to Christ, if it is not costly it is not a sacrifice. Cheap offerings can hardly be called a sacrifice. What Mary did cost her dearly.

To Judas, and several other disciples, they thought what she did was mottai nai (what a waste!) (Mk. 14:4). Is that possible? Is there anything too valuable to be poured out on Jesus? Watchman Nee told of an incident that happened to him at a very low point in his life. Things had been going poorly with his evangelistic work. One day he was discouraged when he met a former professor from his college days. They both were delighted to see each other and went to a tea shop for a chat. The professor asked how he had made out in life. He had little to show for his efforts. Watchman Nee said his professor looked at him with pity and remarked,“What a waste! We had such high expectations for you. You were so gifted and we expected you to do well in life. But now look at you.”Brother Nee said that remark was almost indescribably crushing. And then suddenly he was filled with the spirit of glory. He thought,“How wonderful! What a privilege to waste my life on Jesus!”

When Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and the other three missionary men were killed by the Akah Indians in

Ecuador

in 1956, the world said, “What a waste!” But oh the glory that came to the Lord through their sacrifice! The fragrance of their sacrifice has blessed and challenged tens of thousands. By their sacrifice they accomplished far more than anything they could have achieved had they lived to see 80, and the entire time be devoted to missionary work.

If Mary had not broken that bottle of spikenard and poured it all out on Jesus, nothing would have happened that night. It was because the bottle was broken and poured out that the fragrance filled the room. Brokenness is basic to spiritual fragrance.

In the five references to the expression “sweet savour” in Leviticus 1 and 2, and the reference to Christ in Ephesians and Christians in 2 Cor. 2:17; in each case it is written “unto the Lord”. It is unto Jesus that Mary made that sacrifice, but everybody in the house got blessed. John 12:3 says that “the house was filled with the odour of that ointment”. This is one of the principles of spiritual fragrance. It is not when we pour ourselves out in community service, or humanitarian relief work; but when we are poured out in a sacrifice to Jesus that the fragrance of Christ emanates from our lives.

All that I have said up to now was only to be the introduction to the message that I planed to give at the New Creation Church this morning. I didn't get to one word of it. I never opened the Bible or gave one scripture reference. The message that I had planed to give was the OT sister passage to Marys anointing Jesus. My text was Song of Sol. 1:12; “While the King sitteth at His table my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.”Very clearly, this is the sister passage to what is written in Mathew, Mark, and John. In it we see the law governing spiritual fragrance. There are three things that are common to Song of Sol. 1:12 and the three gospel accounts. One is that Jesus is seated at His table. In both cases it is spikenard. And in all accounts it is the fragrance that goes forth.

One of the points that I like to emphasize in the Song of Sol. account is that it is when the King is seated. It is a real grief to me that we have nearly totally lost any concept of who we are dealing with in our modern Christianity. There is a frightening familiarity with Christ today that I feel is terribly disrespectful and delusional. The flippancy and disrespect we show to our Lord is startling. I respect for Buddhism for their insistence that respect be showed to their idols. If you go into a Buddhist temple, they will not permit the blatant disrespect to their idols that is commonly accepted and normal conduct in Christian churches. The prayers of Christians sometimes makes me wonder who in the world they think they are talking to. Thank God, Jesus is a friend of sinners, but He is not that fuzzy teddy bear that so many Christians toy with. No one knew Jesus better, or was more intimate with Him, than John. But when John saw Jesus in heaven, he fell down as dead (Rev.1:17). This buddy buddy attitude towards Jesus does not bring a person into the awesome presence of the Lord. It is when the King is seated that the fragrance goes forth.

The table of course, speaks of fellowship. We call the Lord's table communion. In any social situation, to be invited for a meal and sit at a table; the whole purpose is for fellowship.

And in the Bible, sittingis the posture of rest or completed action.In Heb. 10:11, 12, we read of priests standing offering sacrifices that can never take away sin. The reason they are standing is because they are engaged in an impossible task. But “this one man (Jesus) when he had offered one sacrifice for sin sat down”.His job was done. The scene of Jesus sitting at His table does not mean sinless perfection, but there is such a thing as being right with God. Jesus is comfortable in our hearts. If He is seated, then the fragrance of Christ goes forth. The OT law of spiritual fragrance is simply the King being seated at His table; it is then that the spikenard sends forth the fragrance.

This is the message that I wanted to give this morning but I never got to say a word of it. I don't know, maybe if I get invited back again sometime, I might get into a little of it, but I can't imagine dealing with this subject in less than an hour.

But may God be gracious and allow the fragrance of Christ to emanate from our lives to the people around us this week.

bill

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Back to Jerusalem

19 February 2012

Dear Phyllis,

There is a dear brother here that I meet with each week for lunch. Last week I got to talking to Gary about the Back to Jerusalem Moment. He suggested, “Why don't you write this up in a letter?” I'm sure I have, but it may be well worth while to reemphasize it from time to time. There is no topic that I feel more keenly than this.

Spiritual things come in waves. In my brief walk with Jesus for the past 55 years I have seen several. There are major international movements and many smaller local movements. They arrest peoples interest, and there is a great deal of enthusiasm for that particular message for a time. But like waves on the ocean, they all have their high points and then fade away.

Pammy's circle of friends are enthusiastic Christians, concerned for revival in Chiang Mai. They have sponsored several large meetings to promote revival. I am sympathetic with their cause, but have serious reservations about to what degree these are really sponsored by the Holy Spirit. To me they have the flavor of earnest Christians trying to do God's work mans way. Yesterday they had their annual “revival” meeting and got a high voltage speaker from Singapore. He was a very good speaker and had a lot of unusual testimonies, but as I listened to him, I had a strong impression that I was watching a rerun of an old movie under a new name. His message was “We are now in the Third Day Church”.This caught my attention as it was a new expression for me. But as I listened to him, I thought,“Naru hodo (I see), but I have heard all this before.” I felt terrible. Everyone was supposed to be exploding with joy at the announcement that this is the Third Day, which will be characterized by an amazing unprecedented, city and nation transforming revival. Chiang Mai is going to be transformed and Thailand will become another Korea sending out thousands of missionaries. There were probably 50 or more pastors of small struggling churches, but soon these churches will become mega running into the thousands. The speaker had seen it in his church in Singapore, and it could happen anywhere “if only a pastor has enough faith”. The more he spoke the colder I got. Of course, anyone who questioned this message was full of unbelief hindering God.

There were several things about his message that I didn't like. One of which was a strong conviction that his message on faith was fundamentally wrong. Perhaps the biggest things was that I have heard all of this about the sweeping revival that was going to transform America, Japan, and other places, but I have watched the unchecked deterioration of these countries for 50 years. Perhaps I may be wrong, but one other feature that disturbed me was, that in all of his message he said nothing about the Lord Jesus. He talked a great deal about power. We all need power to do healing, miracles, and great and mighty wonders. That sounded good, but he said nothing to elevate Jesus or make Him higher.

I sat there listening to him from 10:00 in the morning to 4:00 in the afternoon getting cooler and cooler spiritually, and warmer and warmer with anger. We didn't go back for the evening meeting. I am sure this was a keen disappointment for Pammy's friends who are so concerned to see revival in Chiang Mai. I want to see revival also, but I don't think this is the way the Holy Spirit is going to do it.

I say all this because it gives me an increased conviction that the Back to Jerusalem movement is incontestably correct. I intensely believe this for three reasons.

First of all I see in nature that the loudest message God has ever given man is, that His movement is fundamentally from east to west. Because of the rotation of the earth, ever since the first dawn of creation, man has watched the sun, moon, and stars rise in the east and steadily move from east to west. If there was nothing else in nature, this should be one message man should understand that God's movement is basically from east to west.

Secondly, I see this clearly in scripture. I have never heard a message or read anything on this subject, but I see a clear message of a directional orientation in the Bible. Nearly every major event from the beginning of Abraham's leaving the Ur of the Caldees to follow the Lord, to Israel's entering into the promised land, the return from the Babylonian captivity, Christ's Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, to the final return of Christ; every thing is a movement from the east to the west. Another major message is the layout of the OT Tabernacle and the Temple. These were laid out from east to west. Every morning from the days of Moses to the Crucifixion of Christ, the priest entered from the east and proceeded west to come before the Lord. The entrance was on the east side and the Holy of Holies was on the west. And the movement of the Gospel on the book of Acts was clearly from east to west, beginning at Jerusalem and ending in Rome.

Conversely, in scripture, we see the devils movement is from west to east. Adam left the Garden east of Eden (Gen. 3:24). When Cain went from the presence of the Lord, he went east (Gen. 4:16). When Lot separated himself from Abraham to go to Sodom, he went east (Gen 13:`11). When the Lord told Ezekiel to bore a hole and look inside the Temple to see what was going on in secrete in there, he saw the elders and priest with their backs to the Lord facing EAST worshiping the sun (Ezek. 8:16). When the Jews went to Babylon they went east. Very clearly in the Bible the Lords movement is from the east to the west and the devils movement is reverse – from west to the east. We will see in a minute that the movement of Christian mission has always been from the east to the west. But today the greatest menace in Christian (?) nations is the occult which is eastern religion coming to America – west to east.

We have seen in both nature and the Bible that God's movement is from east to west, but the third incontestable proof is church history. The book of Acts shows that the early movement of the Gospel went exactly as Jesus said in Acts 1: 8. It began in Jerusalem and expanded to Judea – Acts 1-7. Then it went to Samaria – Acts 8:(5). From chapter 11 on, it began to go to the uttermost parts of the world; going first to Antioch – Acts 11. In chapter 13, Paul and Barnabas set out on the 1^stmissionary journey and went to Cyprus – Acts 13:4. On the 2^ndmissionary journey Paul got as far as Galatia and then wanted to head back east towards Asia (what is now Turkey), but was forbidden of the Holy Spirit. Then he had the Macedonian vision to head west to Philippi – Acts 16. At the end of the book of Acts we see Paul in Rome – Acts 28.

Church history is nothing but a continuation of the Acts of the Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts we see the Gospel going as Jesus told beginning first at Jerusalem and heading to the utter,most part of the earth – going from Jerusalem to Antioch, Ephesus, Philippi, and on to Rome. All of this is clearly from east to west. For the next 1,000 years the Gospel was more for less dormant in Rome until the time of the reformation under Luther. At that time the center of Christian activity moved further west from Rome to Germany. For the next 200 years most of the movement of the Holy Spirit was in Germany, largely through the Moravian. But then at the beginning of the 18^th century the center of the Gospel moved from Germany to England under the Wesleys. For the next 200 years, England was basically the custodian of the Gospel. Then at the beginning of the 20^th century the Gospel crossed the Atlantic to America. For the 20th century the US has been the strongest bastion of the Gospel carrying the vast bulk of world missions. This is an over-simplification, but it is incontestable that for 2,000 years the center of Gospel strength ad activity has moved steadily from Jerusalem to Rome, Germany, England and on to America.

In 1970 we saw something unprecedented when the Gospel jumped the Pacific rim and an amazing revival broke out in Korea. Today Korea is the most Christian nation in the world and has moved up to the #1 spot as the number one nation sending out more missionaries and funding more mission activity than any other country. America is now #2. But then for the past two decades we have seen something totally unimaginable in an unprecedented movement of the Holy Spirit in China. With my association with New Life League, I can testify from first hand observation and experience of the astounding spiritual awakening that has, and is, taking place in China. I have heard first hand of weeping pastors in China pleading for tens of thousands of Bibles. I have seen millions of Chinese Bibles pouring off the astonishing presses at NLL in Hatoyama. I have seen an enormous number of containers leaving Yokohama for China. The testimonies coming out of China are like the book of Acts, and it is arguably greater than anything Paul ever saw. There is no question that Asia is now the hottest spot on earth for the Gospel. But most of the intense activity of the Holy Spirit today is in eastern and central China. Here in Chiang Mai we are due south of Kunming in Yunan province My personal travel and activity in China has been in western China. Most of my friends are working in this area. We are not seeing the amazing phenomenon that is happening in eastern and central China today, but the tide is rising.

Without question, what has happened is that this world has seen an irresistible tsunami of the Holy Spirit that started at Jerusalem. It swept across the Mediterranean, it moved across Europe, it went across England, and went to America. In the past four decades we have seen this tsunami move to Korea and now in China. Jesus said that the Gospel would be preached around the world an then the end would come. Based on the trajectory and its path for the past 2,000 years, I am totally convinced that this tsunami will keep heading west, and in the very near future we will see a moving of the Holy Spirit in Islamic countries that will eclipse anything previously done.

The Chinese church feels singularly commissioned of God to carry the Gospel back to Jerusalem and they are presently sending out thousands of missionaries. There is a major focus on the 10-40 window. This is basically the Islamic block countries. It is significant that the Chinese are the only ones who are capable of doing this. Through years of persecution, the Chinese church has become tough and utterly fearless. American missionaries do not have the heart or courage to face danger or death. The Chinese do. Americans are a liability in the Middle East but the Chinese are welcomed.

There is a correlation between the core of the Holy Spirit activity and world power. The countries that have been the custodians of the Gospel have also become the leading world power. There is little doubt but what China is rapidly becoming the dominant economic power in the world. China is rapidly on the rise and America is fading like a falling rock. Along with her commission by God to carry the Gospel back to Jerusalem I believe we are going to see China become perhaps the major world power to enable the church to do it.

As the sun, in its daily course, brings light where it is presently shining, but leaves darkness after it passes by; so the tsunami of the Gospel has produced the same phenomenon. When the tsunami pass on westward, terrible darkness has engulfed the countries that once had a strong Christian foundation. North Africa and the Middle East once had very strong churches. The Seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 were located in what is now Turkey. Countries that once saw wonderful revival in Europe, England, America are now in the throes of increasing darkness. If the present demographic shift continues at its present rate, very soon France, England and other European countries are likely to become Islamic states.

Forty years ago there was a major movement in the states of Later Rain. We were told of sweeping revivals that were going to transform the churches in America and make America like the New Jerusalem. The church was going to become perfect to welcome Jesus back. I haven't heard much of Later Rain in recent years but I do know that most of its main prophets are gone from the scene.

What I heard Friday that we are now in the time of the Third Day Church was a new message for me but it sounded very much like an old story with a new name. I would like to see sweeping revivals, but I seriously doubt that this message is going to bring it. On the other hand I do intensely believe that what we have seen for the past 2,000 years of the westward movement of the Holy Spirit will continue until the Gospel gets back to its starting point in Jerusalem. And I believe this could all happen very quickly.

Even so come quickly Lord Jesus,

bill

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Prayer Walking

12 February 2012

Dear Phyllis,

Six months ago my friend, Mike, challenged me to walk with him every Wednesday night around our muban (housing area) praying for every street and house here. I don't know if it is an answer to that prayer or not, but amazing things have happened since then. Spiritually we are miles down the road from where we were a year ago. One of the first major changes was when the Lord sent in a blow torch of an evangelist to live here (Pammy). She is the most aggressive witness for Christ I have ever met. Secondly. Pastor Kickstand church has moved in, so we now have a church in this muban.

I was bitterly disappointed when Mark told me last December that he was moving to a different area of Chiang Mai, and pulling everything out of here. The first blow was that it meant that we had to pay the rent for our house. Previously, this had been his Bible warehouse, and we lived in a corner of it free. But this has become an enormous blessing. With his moving out, that meant that the entire house was ours now, which enabled us to have a proper home. The change has been radical. The biggest factor is that Pammy now has a first-class kitchen. It still isn't finished, but enough has been done to make women scream with envy when they see what she has. Hopefully, when I get it finished, she will have one of the finest kitchens in northern Thailand.

This is a duplex There has always been some single girls who lived in the other half, and more recently, Mark has used it for his Bibles. When he pulled out, that meant the other half was open for rent. Kichikun leaped at the opportunity to rent it for his church, and a place for four of his boys and an elderly lady to live. We love it. They are excellent neighbors and it has been a huge boon having more Christians in this muban.

Today was our second meeting in this new location. It was excellent. There are several young boys who have been coming to my shop for the past three or four years to make swords and guns. I have always wanted to speak to them about the Lord, but have been unable, due to my linguistic handicap. Pammy has stepped forward, and has prayed with all of them for salvation, but we have never been able to make the next step to get them in church This morning they sat beside me. I was thrilled.

Last week, as I sat in church, I thought of all the people we know here that I want to see in church. The church is here now, but how to get them past the front door is the trick. It came to me very strongly that evangelism begins in the kitchen. That is the reason I am so pushed to build a first-class kitchen for Pammy. When we get that done we plan to have stacks of neighbors in on a regular basis for meals. I am sure they would be delighted to come to eat at such a place. By establishing strong relationships with them, the next step to get them to come with us to church should not be that difficult. And with the children coming to church, there is a certain amount of pressure for their parents to come to see what is going on. I am very encouraged. This is the best shot for seeing a number of people saved of any place I have ever lived.

Pammy goes with us on our weekly prayer walking. Along with her stopping to talk to people along the way, she has asked us to pray for a number of folks. I have never done this before, and would feel odd, except, with her bold style of witnessing, it doesn't seem that much out of place to lay hands on and pray for people standing in front of their houses.

This morning Pastor Kichikun had asked me to speak. Usually the Lord gives me a message of what He wants to say to us, but this week I couldn't get a thing. As late as last night I still couldn't come up with a text of something I felt the Lord wanted to say to us. But for the last three weeks I have been feasting on John 17. There is nothing like it in the Bible; and nothing like it has ever been written in any language of men. John 17 has baffled and challenged me for years, but I have never attempted to speak on it. I am not sure if it is possible to speak on that text. When I left for church I felt like my heart was burning, but my head was like a jewelry box full of all sorts of jewels, but no order to make a message out of them at all. I told the Lord He was going to have to take the things He wanted to emphasize and sort it out as I spoke. It is possible to hold up a jewel, but how can you comment on it, or make it luster to others. It is possible to take a phrase like, “All mine are Thine and Thine are mine; and I am glorified in them”. The truth is profound, but what more can you say? When I stood up to speak, I apologized for not having a message to bring to them. But I did have a number of things about which I feel very intensely. During the song service, Col. 1:16 came to my heart, and so I began my message by reading Col. 1:15-18. The point was; all things were created by Him and for Him.

When we consider the enormity of God's creation, we are less than a grain of sand in the ocean. For millenniums man thought that the sun, moon, and stars revolved around the earth. The suggestion that they are stable and the earth revolves was a radical concept. As late at less than 600 years ago, no one was sure what the earth looked like. Half of Columbus's sailors were in fear of sailing over the edge of the earth. It wasn't until 1502 AD that Magellan proved that the earth was round by sailing around it. Today we have telescopes that peer into space to see galaxies billions of light years away. We are only beginning to understand a small portion God's creation. If we only had telescopes, it would be difficult for me to believe that a God who made all that could be interested in man. But when we go the other way and look into microscopes, we are beginning to suggest that infinity may go inward as well as outward. When I was in college, science said that the three parts of an atom were the smallest portions of matter. Today we know that there are an unknown number of sub-atomic particles. Neutrinos are so small they can pass clear through the earth without striking an atom.

Man is right in the middle of this. Where did all that come from? Who made it? God! How is it possible to know a Being like God who made everything? Jesus is the image of God. One time I was in a home meeting in Japan. A 14 year old boy asked me, “Cook san, what is God like?” In John 14:8 Phillip asked the same question. Jesus answered, “Phillip, have I been with you so long, and yet you still don't know Me? He that has seen Me has seen the Father.” Col. 1:16 tells us that Jesus made all things. More than that it also says that He made them for Himself. Man was created to have a relationship with God. To make this possible God became a man in Christ. When we look at Jesus we see what our relationship is supposed to be like with the Father.

It is only when a man is under severe pressure that you can see what is actually inside him. A man may profess to be brave, but it isn't until you put him in real danger that you see how brave he really is. By His prayers in John 12:27 and John 17, the Lord has given us a clear window to see what was in Jesus' heart when He was under the, most intense pressure. The scene in John 12 was six days before the Crucifixion. Jesus knew what He was up against in less than a week. He said, “Now is My heart troubled. What shall I say? Father save Me from this hour? But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father glorify Thy Name.” The prayer in John 17 came about two hours before the arrest. Again Jesus prayed, “Father the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son that Thy Son may glorify Thee.” The honor and the glory of God was the dominant factor in the heart of Christ. The only way that the Father could be glorified was that Jesus must be equipped to glorify Him. I told the believes this morning that if God was going to be glorified in their lives, the only way that was going to be possible would be if the Holy Spirit would so work in their lives to make them Christ-like. If God does not make them like Jesus, there is no way He can be properly glorified in their lives. That is the reason God has made them.

Then Jesus went on to pray, “As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him.” We see an interesting glimpse into the heart of Christ in His use of pronouns in the first three verses. He didn't use the first person pronoun. Jesus thought primarily of Himself in reference to His relationship with the Father. Rather than saying “ME” He said “Thy Son”.Rather than saying “I have power to give eternal life” He said,“Thou hast given Him power ...that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him.” There is nothing independent in this. He thinks only in terms of His relationship with the Father.

But the point of eternal life is that they might be brought into a relationship of knowing God. Jesus doesn't give us salvation to keep us out of hell. He doesn't give us salvation so that we can have a prosperous happy life. He doesn't give us salvation so that we might be exempt from trouble and problems. The purpose of salvation is that we might know God and Jesus Christ.

I have an unusual testimony. I was saved when I was 21 in pilot training in the Air Force. Many people think you have to have some crisis in life to get saved. I was virtually at the pinnacle of life with no problem at all. The thought of eternity or life after death never crossed my mind once. I wasn't even concerned about sin. I was rather proud of my sin. But there was something in my heart that I had a desire to know God – if such a thing was possible. A friend told me, if I would give my heart to Jesus, Jesus would change me. I couldn't believe it. But I did. And Jesus did. It was a gigantic moment in my life when the realization struck me that I knew God. And that has been the driving force of my life ever since.

At the close of His life Jesus prayed,“I have glorified Thee on earth; I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.” Can you say that? I told the folks this morning that I hoped when they came to the end of the road that they would be able to look up to the Father and say, “I have glorified You on earth; I have finished the work which You gave me to do.”And the only way that is possible is by living one day at a time doing the will of God and allowing God to be glorified in us. If we are not doing that on a daily basis now, it will be impossible to say it later on.

I sat down almost in tears. A visitor was there taking a video of the services. I hope he never shows that message to anyone. I am so frustrated. I see things in Christ and am utterly incapable of expressing them in words. I told Mike last night that I had to preach this morning, and had no idea what to say

. He said, “That shouldn't be too serious a problem for you. Just open your mouth and let it ramble.”I did. I was able to ramble on for 50 minutes, but what I said, so poorly expressed the marvel of what should be said of Jesus, that I blush to think I ever tired.

The Lord alone knows what is going on here. Maybe that prayer walking is helping. One thing is certain; we are a long ways down the road from where we were a year ago – in a very good way. It appears that we have tremendous potential to see a serious harvest of souls in this muban. If we only have the right heart attitude and allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in us, maybe some of what Jesus was praying for in John 17 might be fulfilled here in Thailand. And I am sure that is what He desires world wide.

Gambarimasho (let's give it our best shot),

bill

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Visiting the Heart Specialist

5 February 2012

Dear Phyllis,

It's 5:00AM Sunday morning. I just had some brief devotions. Sundays are becoming increasingly hectic these days making it difficult to get my weekly letter off to you.

In a serious attempt to get this one off on time I want to get started now. Very little earth shaking events have happened this past week. The most traumatic one was when I accidentally erased my letter to you last week, and – as there were a couple of things that I did want to share with you – I am going to try to reproduce it now.

A week ago I was speaking to Pammy's friend, Keosiri's Saturday morning group, in Ban Suwan. My text was, “This is My beloved Son: hear Him!” (Mk. 9:7). In it I told an interesting testimony that I had heard many years ago at PBI (Prairie Bible Institute).

Sarah Jepson was speaking, and shared the story of a close friend of hers who had been a missionary to Africa, but sent home for retirement. This dear sister had a burden to reach Jews and went through the New York Yellow Page phone directory making a list of all the Jewish heart specialist doctors in NY. She would make an appointment to see a doctor. When she would sit down with him, the doctor would ask, “Now, maam, what is the trouble with your heart?” She would reply, “Doctor, I didn't come here to talk about my heart but your heart.” The doctor would predictably explode and roar, “You stupid woman, get out of here!” She would say, “Doctor, calm down. I have 15 minutes of your time. I am going to pay for this, but I want to tell you about Jesus Christ and how you can be saved.” For the next 14 minutes he would sit there doing a slow burn while she spoke to him about the Lord. Then she would ask, “Doctor are you an honest man?”

“Yes, of course I am!”

Doctor, do you keep your word?”

“Of course I do!”

“I have a request. Sometime today, or in the near future, when you are all alone in a room, I would like you to ask two prayers. Say, 'God, did You have a Son?' And secondly,'Was His Name Jesus?'”

She would leave a name card, pay her bill, and go on to the next doctor to do it all over again.

Sarah said her friend told her, it was amazing how many doctors would call back a few days later, saying, “I did what you told me. The answer is Yes. Now what do I do?”

I told the folks that Saturday, “There are two things God wants of you. He wants you to know that Jesus is His Son; and, secondly, He wants you to hear Him. It is interesting that the first public confession of who Jesus was came from the mouth of the devil. In the first meeting that we are told of, with Jesus preaching in a synagogue, there was a demon possessed man who cried out, “I know Thee, who Thou art, the holy one of God.” (Mk. 1:24). I told the folks, “If you know that Jesus is the Son of God, the only difference between you and the devil is whether or not you will hear Him. And hearing means to obey.”

That night Pastor Kichikun called me saying he was sick and asked me to speak the next day. For that message, I spoke from my favorite book, the Song of Solomon. There is no question but what the central character of this marvelous little book is Jesus. And this is the account of His relationship with His Bride. Realizing this, a Christian can honestly read this as a first person account of the Christian life, and his relationship with Jesus. In it there are three verses that appear to be identical– S. of S. 2:16, 6:3, and 7:10.

In the first one (2:16) we read, “My Beloved is mine and I am His.” How we used to love to sing, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine; oh what a foretaste of glory divine!” Praise God that is true! What an awesome privilege it is to be able to say, “Jesus is mine!” The full impact of that never really hit me until one night I was in Syracuse, NY. Rosemary was sick in the hospital. There was another fine lady in the same room, and I would meet her husband every night during visiting hours. One night, when we were leaving, I got to talking to him on our way out sharing with him a few things the Lord had done for me. He was Catholic, and had never heard anything like that in his life. I will never forget how we stood there in that parking lot, and he looked at me with the most intense expression on his face, and said, “If I had a God like that I wouldn't have a problem in the world.” That remark hit me like a hammer. He was right. What an awesome privilege we have! What more could you ask? God has given us the supreme gift of heaven when He gave us His Son. With a God like that, who could ask more? I told the believers at Kichikun's Life in Christ Church,“If you can honestly say, 'Jesus is mine', you are one of the most privileged persons on this planet”.

In the Song of Sol. verses 2:16 and 6:3 appear to be identical. I had the folks read both of them, and nearly everyone agreed that they were. But there is one significant difference; 2:16 says “My Beloved is mine and I am His”, but 6:3 says “I am my Beloved's and He is mine”. The order has been changed. This is Christian maturity. We are not critical of babies and children when they think first of their needs and possessions. And it is only natural for new believes to be overwhelmed with the miracle that Jesus is their savior. But as we go on with the Lord, there is something even more wonderful. It is not so much that Jesus is mine , but the miracle that I am His. There is nothing unusual that I should choose Jesus. If you had a shot at something like that, who wouldn't choose Jesus? But why in the world He chose me is something that simply blows my mind. Tozen (naturally) it is the right thing that I should say, “Yes, I accepted Jesus”,but it is an inexplicable mystery that He choose me to be His possession.

There are two things about that statement – “I am His” – that blows me away. The first is that I am His selection. And the second is that I am His possession. As I go on in my walk with the Lord I find my greatest comfort is knowing that I am His. When I think of my possession I can be concerned about keeping it, but when I realize I am His possession, then the responsibility reverts to Him, and His care for His own. To realize that Jesus is the good Shepherd and He takes good care of His own sheep, is the answer to all my needs. I love my dog and never let my dog go hungry. How is it possible that Jesus should not take better care of His own sheep?

As I go on with the Lord I find myself being less focused on myself and my concerns, and more focused on Him and His concerns. It is not so much, what is my possession? as it is what is His possession? First of all, knowing that I am His possession gives me a serious responsibility to Him. If I am self-employed, then I only owe it to myself. But if I belong to someone else, then I have a responsibility to my employer. This means I must be more careful about how I spend His time and His possessions. And His concerns become my concerns.

In the Song of Sol. verses 2:16 and 6:3 appear to be identical. Verse 7:10 is still on the same theme, but much different. Here it says, “I am my Beloved's, and His desire is towards me.” Here my possession is not in the equation. It is simply I am His and His desire. Very frankly, in my walk with the Lord I have gotten to verse 6:3, but verse 7:10 is beyond me. We sing the children's song, “Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so”. That is fine. But realistically...? People say to me occasionally, “Jesus must love you very much.” No way. I can't see a reason in the world why Jesus should love me. It simply amazes me that He put up with me, but that His desire should be towards me...? How can it be?

The most bewildering verse I know in the Bible is S of S 4:9 - “Thou hast ravished My heart, My sister, My spouse.” It is a great mystery that God loves sinners. Humanity should stand in wonder and awe at Rom. 5:8 – “But God commandeth His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners (criminals against Him) , Christ died for us.” Who in the world can take that in?! That goes totally beyond anything that is reasonable. But that Jesus should say to us, “Thou hast ravished My heart, My sister, My spouse.”...? The first time I taught the Song of Sol. I ran into that verse and pleaded with the Lord for an explanation. At that time, the Lord took me back to Gen. 45:1-5, when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. What a terrifying moment that must have been for them. But for Joseph it was heart wrenching. He simply grabbed them and wept on their shoulders. He had a deep love for his brothers, and longed to be with them. Joseph never cried on the shoulders of the Egyptians, but when his brothers showed up, that tore up his heart. When I read S of S 4:9 I wondered how Jesus could say such a thing, but then I stood with Joseph's brothers as they saw Joseph weep. I realized that I was more guilty than they were; but –like Joseph – there was something inside of Christ that was beyond me. There is nothing in me that would make me appeal to Christ, but there is something inexplicable inside of Jesus that He loves me.

The Gospel of John is arguably the most amazing document ever written. In the entire book, John never once mentions his own name or uses the first person pronoun. He calls Peter, Andrew, Thomas, etc by name, but never mentions himself. He always refers to himself as “that disciple”, or “another disciple”, but never says “I”. But from chapter 13 on, five times, he refers to himself by another title. In verses 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7 and 21:20 He refers to himself as “the disciple WHOM JESUS LOVED”. And in the last reference of himself he re-accounts the event that happened at the Last Supper when he was“leaning on Jesus' breast”.

Obviously this was the most dominant thing in John's heart. There was a tremendous awareness that Jesus loved him. How did he get that way? When I consider the sinfulness and deadness of my own cold heart; then I look at the Lord and realize the terrific price He paid for me; that the Father would place on me a price tag of the Blood of His Son; and that Jesus paid that price in the full; all I can do is wonder and worship.

The Christian life starts out with the joyous declaration, “My Beloved is mine and I am His”. It progresses to “I am my Beloved's, and He is mine”. But the culmination is in, “I am my Beloved's and His desire is towards me”. John came to the overwhelming awareness that he was a disciple whom Jesus loved. Theologically I have no problem in accepting that that is what is what the Bible teaches. But realistically it seems beyond my grasp to lay hold of this. It is here that I stand with the man in the hospital parking lot in Syracuse who said, “If I had a God like that I wouldn't have a problem in the world.” I stand beside him and say, “If the light of this truth would ever break through the darkness and hardness of my heart to know that He loves me and His desire is towards me; poverty, tribulation, trials, problems would all fade away.” There are moments when it does. Now and again we do get glimpses of light here.

Robert Murray McCheyne wrote,
“When I stand before Thy Throne,

Dressed in beauty not my own;

When I see Thee as Thou art,

Love Thee with unsinning heart;

Then, Lord, shall I know;

And not 'til then how much I owe.

Oh, what will it be like, then?

bill