Every Day Better Then the Last

26 August 2012

 

Dear Phyllis,

 

The other night we were sitting in a fine Italian restaurant having some delicious pizza. I looked across the table at my wife and daughter and thought, “This has got to be the happiest day of my life”. For 30 minutes I pondered on that thought, and came to the firm conviction that it was. There were several reasons for feeling good.

 

August was a tight month for us financially. From day one, I told Pammy, “Please be careful how you spend money. We are tight this month and are going to have to be careful”. But money went like a drop of water on a hot skillet. It had been six weeks since I had heard from Japan giving us some indication as to how much we had in our bank account. By my last calculation we were close to zero, and I told Pammy not to draw anything since the ATM cash at the beginning of the month. We got to the place where the propane for our kitchen stove ran out, and we couldn't cook any more. But the biggest problem was that we were almost out of gas for our two motor bikes, and we couldn't take Annie to school. (She started school as a first year student in kindergarten. Without three years in kindergarten the Thais won't accept a child in 1^st grade.) I was getting tired of the financial pinch. In desperation, I wrote Neil Verwey to see if there was some way he could get a figure as to how much we had in our account there, to see if we could draw some more cash. Neil did, and much to my surprise, we had adequate funds to get back to normal living. Man howdy that pizza tasted good!

 

But the reasons for my conviction that that was the happiest day of my life ran far deeper than just being out of a financial desert. One factor was by running my mind back 35 years when our boys were young. Those were the golden years. I didn't fully appreciate the richness of the moment at that time; but years later when I looked at family albums, those picture brought the most tears to my eyes. Davey and Jay were perfect. It is hard to imagine better boys. We had no problem with either, and both boys were the source of the greatest joys a parents can have. Little did we suspect the horrors that lay ahead. The day came when I could not look at those picture any more as the pain was too intense. That wonderful model family became a nightmare. In my worse imagination I could not envision of disaster that would happen and the disgrace we would be to the Name of Christ. To this day none of that has been reconciled.

 

Now, here I was almost with an identical rerun of the joy of having a family again, and the most adorable little daughter that Jesus has ever created. Annie has got to be the cutest kid in Thailand. Thirteen months ago I couldn't imagine that I would be looking across a table this amazing scene that Jesus has put together. Even in May, when we were at the Baptist convention, I couldn't imagine that the Lord would give us such an adorable daughter so soon. Having gone through that young family scenario once, I could savor the joy of the moment more than what I had 35 years previous. Annie will grow up, and that sweet little girl won't stay that way forever. Time will eventually catch up with me and we will someday both have our feet in the water crossing the River to the City where we are journeying. Not every day is a happy one, but that night had to be the happiest moment of my life.

 

The road to heaven certainly isn't straight, and it absolutely is not flat. There are many unexpected bends in the road. We start out at what looks like a clear shot for the next several years, only to be confronted by unexpected change. Everything looked so stable, and then the bottom falls out, or the roof collapses. The only thing that we can count on in life that is stable and won't change is Jesus. And the thermometer of earthly happiness fluctuates more up and down than the weather in Wyoming. Happiness is not a spiritual expression. Joy is. Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit and should be more constant. Happiness depends on the prevailing circumstances at the time. There are sunny days and cloudy days. But the other night was a marvelously experience, and I couldn't think of a thing that would improve the deep pleasure it was to sit there enjoying delicious pizza with my beautiful family, after just emerging from a tight financial scenario. I felt safe in claiming, “This has got to be it. This has got to be the happiest night of my life.”

 

But there was a far deeper reason to justify my conviction that that night was the best yet. That was founded on a marvelous little word that I got from Neil several years ago. He shared with me his testimony how he was delivered by the word, “Every day with Jesus is better than the day before.”That word brought Neil out of terrible darkness and has been a blessing to me ever since.

 

There are several reasons why  every day with Jesus is better than the day before. One is that we are one day nearer heaven. Now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed. This is one of the chapters in my book The Inverted Kingdom. For the people in this world, life is a journey from birth to the grave. The candle of life is lit at birth and every day it is just getting shorter. Every passing birthday is a mile marker getting closer to death. But for a Christian it is just the opposite. Our spiritual birth begins when Jesus comes in to live in our hearts. What He gives us is eternal life. Eternal life is something that has already begun in us. That life increases and becomes more richer. But we will never know the full joy until we are delivered from this temple of clay. Paul said he was in a straight betwixt the two. He didn't know what to choose. He had a great desire to depart to be with Christ – which was far better. Me too. We sit in an airport boarding area waiting to get on a plane, looking at our watch every five minutes wondering when we will finally get called. I don't see what the problem is in getting your name is called for heaven. Why do people dread that? Inexplicably, I don't have a pain in my body. But if I did feel a sharp pain in my chest, I would say, “I hope this is real.” When going on a long trip, either by my motor bike or by bus, it is always encouraging when I start to see familiar signs that at last I am getting nearer home. Every kilometer in that direction is a blessing.

 

Another reason why every day with Jesus is better than the day before is that Jesus is the builder making us into His Temple. He starts out with rough material and begins to chip away. Every experience He sends to us is something from His heart to make us more into the image He has in mind. There is nothing wrong with Christian maturity. And it is an undeniable fact that as we go on in life, we are becoming more mature. Along with the events in life, we should be gaining more knowledge of the Word and the ways of God. Things that were mysteries when we were first saved become clear, and we are able to share with younger believers things that we have learned from the Lord through experience. Everyday is one more day in this process. Therefore everyday with Jesus is slightly higher than the previous one. I certainly have found this true in my experience.

 

It was a wonderful day 35 years ago when I sat at a table in restaurant looking at two wonderful little boys that the Lord had given me. That was a happy occasion. But I honestly believe the other night was a cut above it. Here I was with a fine Christian wife and a beautiful little girl eating pizza in Chiang Mai, Thailand. How could it get better? That had to be the happiest day of my life.

 

On a different subject, 14 years ago met a fellow from Canada in a church here I town. Little did I know at that time what a major relationship this was going to develop into. Over the years John has become one of my closest friends. I have written to you how two years ago he asked me to build him a house. Well, that is not exactly the way it was, but we did start out building his house together. John is outstanding with metal and fiber glass but knew next to nothing about construction. He had two Burmese workers to do the grunt work. I did the engineering and explained to John and the Burmese what to do and how to do it. Somehow, with that combination the house came out very nice.

 

I was not much impressed with John at first. But as our relationship developed, I saw a man with a genuine heart for God, but seemed like he had been on the sideline most of his life. I can report now that I have never seen a man over 60 grow, and go on with God, like this brother. He now looks back with embarrassment and regret at the many years he was a nominal Christian. But John is a born Pentecostal. His mother was a strong Pentecostal, he was raised in a Pentecostal church, and has little experience outside that circle. We have always gotten along very nicely, but he has been vocal in his concern to see me swing over to be more Pentecostal. Time and again he has pleaded with me to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and get the gift of tongues. On that point we have never had real harmony. Yesterday we had perhaps the most amazing fellowship I have ever had with anyone. He gets a lot of Christian broadcast by cable TV, and looks at more on Internet. Recently he got into listening to John MacArthur. MacArthur is one of the fiercest opponents of Characteristic in America. John listened to a MacArthur message on the Holy Spirit and was stunned. It sounded almost like sacrilegious preaching. MacArthur took a very serious stand against most of what John felt was basic Christianity. But listening to that message the second time he was impressed that MacArthur didn't say a thing without giving the scriptural reference for his remarks. That rocked John. He had to admit that every thing MacArthur said was solidly based on scripture. Then MacArthur went on to say most of the dogma of what John considered basic doctrine was either without scriptural justification or something that the Bible speaks very little about. Then John floored me. He said, “I can see now that what I was taught for 50 years was baseless. You are right and I was wrong.” Gong! I don't believe I have ever seen a man make such a reversal of a basic theological position. We have come out at almost the identical position. If anything, I may be slightly more pentecostal than John. I take issue with MacArthur, as it seems to me, that he throws the baby our with the bath. I don't like to go that far. I have too many close Pentecostal friends and have seen too much of Christ in their faith to denounce much of their testimonies. I believe I would take issue with MacArthur on some of his positions on Scripture. But John and I have come out at the identical view of the work of the Holy Spirit. I accept the Bible for exactly what it says. To go beyond that you have to take a strong dispensational view that is hard to substantiate.

 

I share this about John as he is at a major juncture in life. He has advanced cancer and looks like a skeleton. He has been praying very hard for sometime trusting the Lord for healing. We have had a healing meeting for him. Several of us have been petitioning heaven to loan him to us for a few more years. By faith I would like to declare that the Lord has heard our prayers and is going to raise him up. He may. God certainly can. Paul had a friend in the states that had advanced cancer. He was in ICU in the hospital and had only a few more days to live at best. Paul and his family prayed for him, and the next week he had an e-mail from his wife saying he was back at work. God can raise the dead. But He doesn't always do it.

 

John has a tremendous future here in Thailand if the Lord will loan him to us. For the past year he has been going down to the bus station by himself at night to witness to gaijins (foreigners). This is something he has never done in his life. He has several gaijin friends here in Chiang Mai that he is moving towards the Kingdom. He has been a major element in the Thai church where he goes. He has the potential of having a very lucrative business in restoring wrecked Corvette cars. He has a fine family and a beautiful home that we just completed a few months ago. It would be a great loss to me if the Lord takes John to a higher home. But that is where we all are headed.

 

Won't it be wonderful when we see Jesus?

bill

Their Talk Outpaces Their Walk

19 August 2012

Dear Phyllis,

This morning I was in for a great surprise. I was sitting in church enjoying what I thought was an unusually good song service. When that time was over, the song leader announced, “Now we will have Ajon (teacher) Bill come and bring us the message.” I said, “Who?” I turned and looked at Pastor Kichikun, and he motioned for me to go forward to speak. That was news to me. Kichikun's wife, Ying, came up to interpret and I said, “Up to 20 seconds ago I had no idea I was scheduled to speak today.”

This was the 4^th time that I had faced that crowd. The church was unusually full this morning. Since Destiny Rescue have joined in with us, our numbers have more than doubled. Destiny Rescue provides the unique opportunity to speak to a majority of girls who are unsaved. My previous three messages have been largely directed at them to make a strong appeal to them for salvation. The first message had been highly successful where five out of twenty girls responded for salvation.

The next time, I preached on the text“No hope” from Eph. 2:12. I painted the plight of those without hope as dark as I could, and spoke at length about the terror of hell. I was deeply disappointed when no one responded to God's grace. I thought, “That is just because Bill Cook had good success with his first message, he thought that a really powerful word would certainly bring in the rest of the house”. The Holy Spirit goes out of His way to avoid blessing that kind of an attitude.

The third time the Lord clearly laid on my heart a message on the Prodigal Son. That was easily the most emotional time I have ever had speaking on that subject. I broke down twice, where – for a moment – I couldn't speak. When it was over, I was so dissolved I didn't wait for the benediction, but quietly got up and went home. I was so burdened for the salvation of those lost girls, that I lay on my bed face down weeping for half an hour. I thought that surly there would be several who would open their hearts to Jesus after a moving message like that. But I was shattered when I spoke with Kichikun later that week asking how he made out with the invitation. “No one”.

After preaching my heart out three times, and be denied the last two, I thought, “What is the use?” Before I was introduced to speak this morning I thought, “The next time I stand before these people I will simply say I have nothing to say to you.” Fifteen minutes I was stunned to find myself on my feet facing them, and said just what I thought – “I have nothing to say to you.” Ying was startled and thought I was going to sit down.

But then I explained the reason for my discouragement. In Ezekiel we read that the worshipers are instructed to leave differently than the way they came in. (“He shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in.” Ez. 46:9) I said, “This is the way it is supposed to be in coming to church. If we leave the same way that we came in, then all that preaching is a waste of time.” Ying was still standing there wondering what was going to happen. To relieve her, I said, “Don't worry; I will talk for 45 minutes, but I doubt that it will do any good.” I explained my dilemma to the crowd and told them after preaching my heart out three times, if that didn't move them towards the Lord, I had nothing that would.

I hadn't the faintest idea what to use for a text for a message. My mind was a total blank. But I spoke about my early experience as a Christian, what a surprise it was for me to discover than a person could know God today, and that God actually speaks to us. Then I challenged the believers, “Does God speak to you? When is the last time God spoke to you? What did He say? What have you done about it?” I told them two times in one chapter in Hebrews the Lord says “If  TODAY you will hear His Voice– harden not your hearts” (Heb. 3:7.8,15). Obviously it is possible to hear His Voice. The Bible would not speak to us this way unless it was possible to hear His Voice. But if we don 't hear His Voice; what is the cause? – hardness of heart. We hear with our hearts – not our ears. And whether we can hear His Voice or not is largely determined by the condition of our hearts.

I had been speaking for about ten minutes and was still searching my mind for a text to speak from. I had no idea what – if anything – the Lord wanted to say to us. But as I was talking about hearing His Voice, the Lord reminded of the text in James 1:19-21 about the five condition of the heart necessary to hear His Voice. At least that gave me an outline to speak from.

The 1^st chapter of James is basically speaking about hearing and doing the Word. Verse 22 emphasizes that we are to be doers of the Word, not hearers only. It is terrible condemnation of thousands of Christian that they are full of the word of God but very poor doers of that Word. For many Christians their head knowledge is much further than their feet. Their talk out-paces their walk.

But that being what it may, it is still imperative that we hear His Word. And to do that there are five conditions of the heart that must be met. Verse 19 says, “Be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. Here we have the first three.

The first one should be self-explanatory – swift to hear. What does that mean? We must have an attentive spirit. It is not likely that we will hear much if we don't have an attentive spirit. There are several illustrations of this. We can be in a crowded room with many people talking. You are talking to someone when you hear someone three meters away from you mention your name. Immediately your interest goes over to that conversation. You are all ears. A spy certainly is someone who is swift to hear. He has his ear to the ground listening for anything might might be of interest for the case he is working on. In my younger years in Pennsylvania I used to like to still-hunt in the fall. I would walk out in the woods and find a comfortable place to sit down. Then I would be perfectly still. It is amazing what happens when you do that. Gradually the woods become alive with all kinds of animals you never dreamed were there. Then you hear a rustling in the leaves. What is it? Is it a squirrel? A fox? A deer? You listen with intense interest. That is being swift to hear. We should have that attitude every morning when we come to meet with the Lord. “Lord, do You have any thing to say to me today? I'm listening.”

The second point is the reverse of the first – slow to speak. On the birds I used to fly in the Air Force there was only one antenna. It was used for both transmission and reception. But it couldn't do both at the same time. For voice transmission, the microphone is, of course, in the oxygen mask. There was a button on the control stick so that when you wanted to make a transmission you simply pressed that button and everyone for 200km could hear you on that channel. But occasionally the mike button would get stuck. Before every flight the first thing you did was to call the tower to confirm that your radio was working properly. Sometimes we would hear someone call the tower and the tower answer them. But the pilot would keep calling,”Tower, do you read me?” Yes, the tower could hear him, but he couldn't hear the tower because his mike button was stuck. There are some people with stuck mike buttons. They are very anxious to tell you everything on their mind, but it is impossible to say anything to them because they are stuck in a transmission mode. Along with being swift to hear must must also be slow to speak.

The third point is to be slow to wrath. It doesn't say that you can't get mad, but it is important that we aren't too sensitive. Every Christian on this planet is dependent on other Christians to help him in areas he can't see. But there are some Christians that are so sensitive that it is impossible to say anything with out getting a hostile response. One time Ron Blough made a study of ten believers in his church to pick out one thing in each life; that, if they would correct something, they would be a better Christian: chew with their mouth closed, change deodorant, comb their hair, etc. He would tactfully speak to them one at a time, suggesting something that needed correction. He said, without exception, the response in every case was a defensive reaction. People might say things to us that hurts, but it is to our advantage if we can avoid having too short a fuse. We need to be slow to wrath.

Verse 21 admonishes us to “lay aside all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness”. That shouldn't require too much exposition. If we are serious about having a close walk with the Lord, in fellowship with Jesus, daily hearing His Voice; it is imperative that we keep a clean house. We can't keep filthy things in our hearts and expect to get very far with the Lord. Malcolm Cronk was the Pastor of Wheaton Bible Church. He told about one man he had in his church who had been an earnest Christian, but he was concerned as the brother started to cool off. In the Lord's mercy, one day the man had an accident at work that put him in the hospital for two weeks. When Pastor Cronk went to the hospital to visit the man, he was surprise to see a stack of dirty girlie magazines on the stand beside his bed. He asked the man what he was doing with those magazines. The man answered, “Of course I don't look at those pictures of the girls, but there are some interesting articles in there.” Malcolm said, “This is serious. I am putting you on a diet of Bible only until you get cleansed up. I will visit you every day.” The man nearly went crazy. No magazines, no TV, no novels. Nothing but the Bible. For three days he begged Pastor Cronk to let him look at something else beside the dead Bible. But when Malcolm went to see him the fourth day he was greeted by a totally different man. He told how that day had started out like the previous three going nuts staring at the ceiling and leafing through a dry Bible. But then he said, “Suddenly, God spoke to me”; and he burst into tears. He was free.

The fifth point is to “receive with meekness the en grafted Word which is able to save our souls”. I didn't have much time left this morning to develop that point other than to say – holding up my Bible – “This Book is a treasure beyond our wildest estimations. It is greatly to our advantage if we hid this Word deep in our hearts and with meekness take in everything it has to say to us.”

By that time it was 12:00 o'clock. I had been on my feet talking for at least an hour. I don't know if anyone got anything out of what the Lord had to say to us this morning. I can honestly say that, if they did, it is exclusively due to the Holy Spirit using a totally empty vessel. I had absolutely nothing to say when I stood up. In all probability this word will fade in the dust bin like 98% of Sunday morning preaching. But it certainly was a sharp reminder that I need to give more earnest heed to these biblical truths. After teaching others I will be in serious trouble in heaven if I am not a doer of the Word that I shared.

I am sorry that I am late with this letter but I had written a lengthy letter on a different subject, then this afternoon, the Lord suggested that perhaps this message would be more in order. Tonikaku (anyway) that is what happened today.

Have a good week with Jesus,

bill

Gifts God Gives

12 August 2012

Dear Phyllis,

A year ago last June I was on a train returning from Malaysia. When we got off the train at Hatyai to go throug imagration for Thailand, I was standing in line to get my passport stamped and got to talking to a gaijin (foreign) couple. They turned out to be missionaries living in Chiang Mai. That turned out to be a pivotal meeting, and the beginning of a very enjoyable relationship with Gary and Jean Pope. Gary was impressed by a copy of my PB letter and encouraged me to compile them into a book. I first started writing this PB letter to you in 1997 and have written something like 750 letters to date. Gary was interested in compiling all the letters from the beginning, but we have not been able to track sources who have copies of very many. If you know of anyone who has kept a file of old PB letters, Gary would like to hear from them. He recently opened a blog spot with 135 letters that he has been able to compile. If you are interested in looking at it you can find it at http://billcookpbletters.blogspot.com

Last Monday we celebrated another historic event. It was one year ago on the 6^thof August that the Lord provided me with a new partner in serving the Lord. Oh my goodness what astounding things have happened since then. This morning, as I was reflecting on the goodness of God, I was overwhelmed with the inexplicable grace of God that He has shown me for the past 50 years. My life has been very much like a game of musical chairs. The Lord has given me many very comfortable chairs, which has been punctuated by periods where I literally had no place to sit. But each time I have moved from chair to chair, the grace of God has just gotten higher. And most of it has been things I have not sought.

The most blessed man I know at the moment is Paul Almstead. He has got something going like I have never seen in my life. He has got nine children, and a moving of the Holy Spirit that is extremely rare. Paul's secret is a simple, and yet unusual. He simply does not say NO to Jesus. A year ago Paul and his wife were living a comfortable life as a retired couple . First, Marisa's niece called saying she wanted to come live with them. The girl's mother was a hooker, and leading her 13 year old daughter down a very unhappy path. Three weeks after Ng came to live with them, they got another call from Marisa's daughter, who she hadn't seen in 10 years, asking if she could come to live with them. Her father was a ranking Buddhist priest, and Benjuwan was being raised in a Buddhist temple. She too was 13, so they wound up with two 13 year old girls living with them – who became instant Christian the moment they got off the bus. Then a mother asked them if they would take in an 11 year old girl that she couldn't afford to keep. Certainly. Next, they were in a Karen village 80 km from Chiang Mai, and ran into four Karen hill-tribe teenage girls that lived 30 km from the nearest school, making it impossible for them to get an education. Could they live with them in Chiang Mai so they could go to school? Why not? Now they had seven girls. Then one day they got a call from Marisa's son, who was living with a horrible man, who was his father. A year before that, Mo had lived with Paul and Marisa briefly, but was a first class punk. At 16 he was a drug pusher and into every form of vise the devil could provide. He was incorrigible, and Paul ran him off. But this time he said he had repented, changed his name to Mathew, and wanted another chance. Most reluctantly, Paul opened the door for him on a trial basis. You never saw such a transformed boy. Then they took in a 13 year old boy that no one could do anything with. He has been outstanding. Now Paul and Marisa have found themselves being parents to nine children that they have to feed, clothe, and pay for their education. What was previously a very comfortable salary for a couple has turned out to be inadequate for parents of nine teenage children. Paul told the Lord, “Lord, maybe You misunderstood me. I just said I wanted to help the poor –not be poor.” But at the moment they are in the midst of one of the most effective outreaches and blessed people that you will ever find. Everyone in that house has only one string on their banjo, and the only sound that comes out of there is nonstop praise to Jesus. They are experiencing more of the Holy Spirit than I have ever seen. And the way they got there was simply that they don't say NO to Jesus for anything He set in front of them.

I am not Paul and Marisa, but to a limited degree, the blessing that blows me away today is are things I really didn't want. In 1995, after being homeless for five years, the Lord led me to New Life League. Man howdy, it seemed good to have my own room, a good job, and a secure life style. I never wanted to leave there. But then in 2003, NLL had no further need of my service and I found myself going back to Thailand with zero support. My friend, Mark, let me live in a half empty room in his Bible warehouse for free. And the Lord allowed me to engage in a Bible smuggling ministry taking Bibles into Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, and China. This in itself was the greatest privilege of my life. But for 21 years I lived like a POW separated from my wife and family. I greatly longed for the days when I had a wonderful home and a place to invite strangers in to share Christ with them. For 20 years, Rosemary and I had been famous in Japan for having a home with no lock on the door. We started out our married life by taking in a 6 year old Nepalese boy to live with us so he could go to school in Karuizawa. For the next 20 years our life was a constant stream of house guests ranging from students to yakuzas. But when my world disintegrated in 1990, all that was out.

Last year a friend told me of a girl he met who had had a dream about meeting some man with cowboy boots. He said Bill Cook was the only cowboy he knew, and asked me if I would be willing to meet her. I laughed, and said I wasn't interested in marriage, but would be glad to get a meal out of it. When I first met that girl, I said in my heart, “No way!”. She wasn't close to being a candidate. But I thought she might be interested in meeting Paul and Marisa who had an unusual Bible study going in their home. The second time I met her, I was even more convinced that this was not one that I wanted to spend time with. Four times I said a resounding NO. And yet the Lord kept setting her before me. Finally I was confronted by a situation where I felt the Lord had brought someone to me, and it was my call to accept or reject. At that point it was more difficult to say no than to say yes. Pastor Kichikun's testimony was the final vote. That was hard to deny. I accepted a woman to be my partner that I really didn't want. It has been a wonderful year.

I would be less than honest if I didn't say there have been some extremely serious challenges. There have been several times when I have been convinced it was all over. I believe we would qualify as having a dysfunctional marriage. But I also believe that a difficult situation, where the Lord proves Himself, is a better testimony than one with nothing but natural sweetness. My match with Pammy is not perfect. But there are no roses without thorns. If we are looking for perfection, we probably won't find it. If we want to enjoy the beauty and fragrance of the rose we will have to deal with the thorns where it grows. There is no such thing as a lovely white lily that doesn't grow in black dirt. If we want the rose and the lily we must accept that there also come problems.

Another thing the Lord gave me that I really didn't want is my dog. I love dogs. All my life I have had dogs, and dogs were a major part of our home in Karuizawa and Ikoma. During my 21 years as a POW, I greatly missed my dog. We had only been married a couple weeks when we were out visiting with Pastor Kichikun. At one stop he picked up a pup and threw her in his car. I asked, “What are you going to do with that dog?”

“Take her home. She is my dog.” But when we got to our place, the pup got off loaded with the announcement that,“Pammy wants her.” Chotto matte (just a minute). I really wasn't prepared for a dog at that point, and most reluctantly conceded to letting her stay. Black Canyon has been an enormous blessing. I have had some outstanding dogs, but Black Canyon has to rank right at the top. She sits with me for two hours every morning while I have devotions and is the most loving, obedient dog I have ever had.

Annie is a legend. We had no plans of having children, but when we went to the Baptist camp in May, this little three year old girl wound up sleeping with Pammy. When Pammy got her bathed, dressed, and brought her to breakfast the first morning, I was stunned to see something that looked undeniably like a mother-daughter relationship. You know the rest of that story. She has been slow in warming up to her dad, but she melts my heart when she comes up, puts her arms around me, and says, “Daddy, I love you.” Annie is just plain super! She is the most wonderful little girl in the world. There is no way that I could write the scrip for my life, and include an adorable little girl like that.

In my life of musical chairs, the Lord has given to me some of the finest homes I have ever been in. For 15 years I lived in the #1 property in Japan. Joe Carroll bought 1000 tsubo (1 acre) for $2,500 in 1959. He lived in the house for three years, went to the states for furlough, and never came back to Japan. In 1965 I tearfully had to move into it to take care of Joe's property. Over the years I spent $20,000 and converted an inaccessible house into the prime property in Japan by building a long tunnel to get to the top of the hill. I craved that property more than anything in my life at that point; and it was the hardest blow I had ever taken when Joe called shortly before we left for furlough in 1980 saying that the house had been sold.

Shortly before that, I had a vision of building an elaborate prayer tower. It would be a major project and I didn't want to make that investment if I wasn't going to live in that house. After extensive prayer I thought the Lord gave me His answer with the promise, “Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of the hands” (Isa. 65:22). It was a bitter pill when my prayer tower was cut down with a chain saw and burned for fire wood.

Last December Mark moved to the other side of Chiang Mai and closed up everything in this area. I was rocked when he told me he was giving up the warehouse and said I could take it over or return it to the house owner. I didn't think we could carry the rent, but decided to take it anyway. The Lord gave me a vision of making a first-class kitchen for Pammy in the room that had been filled with Bibles. I was hoping to get that done by Christmas, but just drove the last nail last week. This kitchen is easily the most wonderful thing I have ever made. The Lord has fulfilled the promise he made me in 1980 that; “Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of the hands”. I have never enjoyed anything more. I can sit there by the hour gazing at this gorgeous knotty pine kitchen. And last week we had our first guests in for tea, fulfilling a major prayer I have had for 21 years.

Life has been and unending series of the Lord giving and taking away the most precious things in my life. He has given me three homes where I never wanted to leave. How many more times this game of musical chairs will continue is up to the Lord. But at 76 I find myself in the most ridiculous situation you could imagine. Here I am with a 46 year old wife and a 4 year old daughter living in the finest house I have ever enjoyed. This is the story of a man just starting out in life. I know of no place on this planet more strategic and the epicenter of more exciting spiritual activity than Chiang Mai. I loved Karuizawa. I loved Ikoma. I loved NLL. It was death to leave. But the path has led steadily upward. What I have now is something I wasn't seeking and really didn't want. All I have done is to say Yes to Jesus for what he has set before me. Oh how marvelous are His ways and how wonderful are the things He provides!

Thank You Jesus,

bill

The Dennis Turner Story

5 August 2012

Dear Phyllis,

It isn't that nothing is happening here in Chiang Mai. Fifteen months ago my friend, Mike, challenged me to walk the streets of our muban (housing area) every Wednesday night praying for every house and resident living here. Since then we have seen some highly significant changes. One is, the Lord sending me a blow-torch evangelistic Christian partner (Pammy). Secondly, is the location of an excellent church in the other half of our house. The next is, the coming of an outstanding NGO, Destiny Rescue, with 20 girls. The marriage of Destiny Rescue and our church has doubled the church and given us a real burst of life. There has been some good preaching, and two weeks ago we had a baptism for 4 new believers. This is just a glimpse of what is going on. But today I want to talk about another friend.

Dennis Turner was probably the greatest witness for Christ of any one I ever met. Being around him was like being with Jesus. He was amazing! It seemed the only reason he breathed was was to get more air to talk about Jesus. It seemed with every breath there was nothing that came out of his mouth but the Word of God. You couldn't get mad at him. To criticize him for speaking so much about the Lord, would be like criticizing someone for breathing. It was so natural, it was just part of him.

One time I was building a camper, and had a couple of Japanese boys helping me. Dennis stopped by on his way home. It was 3:00 in the afternoon – tea time. When we sat down for tea, Dennis was sitting next to one of my helpers. They had never met before. It was beautiful to watch as Dennis talked to him about Jesus. Hiroshi wasn't saved that day, but two weeks later, when he did come to Christ; the first thing he said to me was, “Please call Turner san, and tell him I have accepted Christ.” Hiroshi is a pastor today.

I admired him so much and one time said, “I would give anything to be able to witness like you.”Dennis later told me, when he heard that he thought in his heart,“Man, you are mad. You have no idea what you are asking.” I didn't understand what he was talking about at that time, but later learned his truth. He suffered more than any man I have ever met.

As a young man in England, he was working in a packaging house and saw a scrap of newspaper with Japanese writing on it. He was so intrigued that that triggered an intense desire to learn the Japanese language. That curiosity saved his life. In 1940 he was drafted in the British army and was with Percival in Singapore when it was captured by the Japanese. Just before the fall of Singapore, he was given an assignment to take a box of top secrete equipment and dump it in the ocean. He later learned that it was British radar. That assignment took him out to sea, and he finally wound up in Borneo rather than with the British army that surrendered in Singapore. But he was a POW of the Japanese for 4 years. Because of his ability with the language, he was the camp interpreter, which gave him special privileges. One time cholera was wiping out the prisoners. The Dutch doctor gave him some precious medicine. Dennis protested that there were other men who were much sicker. The doctor replied, “We have got to keep you. If we lose you, we are all dead men.” Because of his ability to communicate with his captors, Dennis developed a relationship with the Japanese soldiers that lasted to the end of his life. After the war, the camp soldiers used to have an annual reunion. I have seen a picture of 60 Japanese soldiers dressed in their uniforms with one British man sitting in the middle.

Dennis credits his salvation to one brave Japanese soldier who studied English so he could witness to the prisoners. He asked Dennis, “Tana san (Turner), are you a Christian?” Dennis laughed. Holding up his Japanese dictionary he replied, “This is my Bible.” But he saw that brave young man get savage beatings time and again for speaking to the prisoners about Christ. That testimony, of fearless courage, spoke a message to Dennis that ultimately bore the fruit of bringing him to Christ.

One time I was with Dennis in the home of one of his former prison guards, who was now the wealthy CEO of a prosperous company in Matsumoto. He said, “Tana san, the prison camp commander is out of prison” The camp commander had been tried for

war crimes, and sentenced to 18 years in prison. Dennis cried, “I must see him!” Minutes later the former guard had the commander on the phone; and two weeks after that Dennis and I drove two days to the Waijima peninsula of the west coast to spend an afternoon speaking to the camp commander about the Lord. The proud Japanese officer was now a broken man living with his wife in a traditional house that looked like a scene taken from 1930 Japan. As I sat there for three hours listening to Dennis share Christ with this man and his wife; I marveled, “What an amazing moment in history!”: as the Lord wrote this appendix to the 2^ndWW.”

Dennis was a missionary with the Plymouth Brethren. They were very traditional Brethren missionaries doing a good job in Guma-ken. His wife was an ultra conservative lady, that looked like she had just stepped out of the 1900s. She wore no makeup, had a very long skirt, high neck line, and looked like an Elizabethan era Christian. Phyllis was a highly spiritual missionary wife, with a worn-out Bible, a deep prayer life, and an unusual soul winner. But she won Japanese girls to the Lord so she could get in bed with them. She was a closet militant lesbian.

For years Dennis refused to believe the obvious about his wife. But the effect of it was devastating on him. He was close to a nervous break-down, and went to a doctor for medication. One time they were on vacation in Karuizawa, and, in the middle of the night, Dennis had a Righter 9, rip-roaring, anxiety attack. He got up in terror with every nerve in his body screaming,“Flee!!!” He sat down at the kitchen table with three options. The first was to get in his car and drive to the end of the earth. Everything in him demanded that this was his only choice. The second option was medication. The third option was the Word of God. Against every instinct in him, he picked up his Bible, and opened it at random. His eyes fell on Ps. 55:6 – “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! For then I would fly away and be at rest.” As he read that unusual psalm he thought, “Great day, this man had exactly the same experience that I am!” He read that psalm over and over, until a quietness came over his soul, and went back to bed in peace.

One afternoon he was in Karuizawa, sharing with me the horrible situation going on in his home. His wife had her sex lover staying with them, and enjoying a very active relationship. In agony he sighed, “What can I do?”

“Kick out the lesbian lover”

“How?”

“You're a man. Do it!”

Will you do it?”

“Yes.”

So we went together back to his home in Ina, three hours away.

Shortly after we got there, Phyllis was in the kitchen fixing supper, cutting up carrots with a large knife. She asked Dennis, “Why is Bill here?”

“He came to take Teriko away.”

In measured tones, she turned to him and said, “If Teriko leaves, I will kill you with this knife.” He came in the living room and apologetically said, “I'm sorry, Bill, but we can't do it.” Fortunately, a month later he was successful in putting Teriko out of the house.

In desperation, he took his family back to England, and did everything humanly possible to save his family. They were living separately, which was a bad testimony to their Christian brethren. The head of his group wrote him a rebuke saying that, on the basis of 1 Pet. 3:7, he thought they should dwell together. Dennis wrote back sardonically, “And where should the third person sleep? Should she sleep on my side of the bed? Should she sleep on Phyllis' side of the bed? Or should she sleep between us?” Thus was the ridiculous help he got from the Christian community. A Christian psychiatrist advised him to go back to Japan, and watch his wife with a telescope; which he did.

For the next 24 years he lived in Ina. For several of those years his daughter, Christine was with him, which was a tremendous help. But for many other years, he lived a deserted, lonely, life by himself. His support was desperately low. The house was colder than a meat freezer in the winter time, and he suffered terribly, emotionally and physically. But his walk with the Lord was amazing. One morning he went into town to a store, and the owner remarked, “Tana san, you must have had some good news this morning. Your face is shinning.” Dennis replied, “Tozen (naturally). I have been digging diamonds all morning.”

His freshness and genuineness was unique. His house was out in the country, and every morning he would go for long walks. One morning, he was passing a field where an old woman was working. In conversation, she asked, “Tana san, why did you come to Japan?” The standard answer is, “To preach the Gospel.” Or, “To tell people about Jesus.” But, uniquely, Dennis replied, “Obaa chan (grandmother), I have found that many people have nayamis (sorrows).” The old lady burst into tears and said, “Tana san, I have a nayami.” He had touched her heart.

And thus it was that he touched the hearts of hundreds of people with sorrows and suffering. He had a major ministry visiting hospitals talking to people in ward rooms. Heaven alone records how many he led to Christ. He was always the favorite guest in our home, as I knew that he would share Christ with other people that we had staying with us like no one else could. I considered his friendship and fellowship one of the greatest privileges and treasurer I had.

And then one day a shocking letter came from England. His wife had repented. He had lived by himself for 24 years praying for her deliverance – and won. That is the greatest testimony of hanging in there, to save a marriage, and winning, that I have ever heard. He returned back to England to spend the remaining years of his life with his wife and children. Some time later I received a letter from Phyllis such as I had never seen. I could scarcely reconcile the contents to the letter with the signature at the bottom. She honestly talked of her years of failure, and said she was devoting the rest of her life counseling younger women not to destroy their marriage and family as she had.

The bottom line was the day when I got a package in the mail of a video his daughter, Christine, sent me, of her father's funeral. I wept as I looked at it. What a testimony! Here was a man who had suffered like no one I had ever known. He had suffered terribly as a POW of the Japanese. He had suffered indescribably as a desperate man trying to be a missionary while fighting an unimaginable struggle in his domestic life. He suffered as a man generally rejected by his missionary brethren. He had suffered 24 years of privation and loneliness in Ina. And at the end of his life he stood on the winners platform by lying in a casket surrounded by his weeping wife and children; and yet celebrating his triumph of faith, and a united family.

Oh, I can't wait to embraces this dear man in heaven, who stands there with a multitude of souls that he bought with his amazing testimony.

bill