More On The End

24 February 2013

Dear Phyllis,

Well, we had a God night Friday night. Man, I hate that! After the tremendous time we had last Friday I was really cranked up for a great Bible study this week. Things started to go south Friday morning. On our way home from the speaking at the kindergarten, we stopped by the nursing school to see Mrs. Bancha (Boom). She wasn't in, but her husband was teaching a class. When he saw us, he came out, and commandeered me to come in to speak to his class. I had a pretty good time; and then he said, “Let's go to lunch.” That was a good idea. But for the next hour and a half we heard a recitation on how outstanding a man he is, and his wife's brilliance. Listening to that, made me loose some of my enthusiasm for him as a candidate for salvation. Then he said he probably couldn't come to the Bible study that night as his father was in the hospital. That would cut the crowd down by 50%. But dear Singha and Lec would certainly be there.

I really didn't expect them to be on time. They were an hour late last week. But when 8:00 o'clock came again, and nobody was there, I hit the bottom. Thai time. Any time you get there. I told Pammy, “Next week we are going to school at 10:10 for our 9:30 class. We'll just tell Singha this is Thai time.” I was so mad, I turned off the lights, and locked the door. To my thorough disgust, Singha showed up at 8:30 banging on the door. I didn't get up to let him in. Pammy welcomed him, but I wouldn't get up to speak to him. But then he said his wife was sick, and he had to take her to the hospital. And he was so anxious for the Bible study he said, “I don't care how late I am. Being late is better than never.” He had a perfect excuse. He was right and I was dead wrong. The biggest problem the Lord had Friday night was getting me in the Spirit to share the Word of God. The Lord took me complete to zero – and below – and then He worked. What happened after that was truly of God. It was as good as it gets.

I told the folks last week that I am deeply concerned about where we are in the world today. There is much in the Bible that is down right scary. There is a message in Daniel 9 that is the most shocking word I know in the Bible. For his doctoral thesis, Dwight Pentecost wrote the classic on eschatology, Things to Come. I had read the book, and also had the privilege of spending some time with Dr. Pentecost personally in Japan in 1968. In his book he quoted the British author, Sir Robert Anderson, who wrote, The Coming Prince. Anderson had done some calculation that stunned me, and I have given this message several times in the past. The calculation is on Daniel's 70 Weeks (Dan. 9:24).

Daniel had been reading the Book of Jeremiah, and saw the prophecy that the Babylonian captivity would last for 70 years (Dan. 9:2). He looked at the calendar, and saw that time was nearly up. Realizing this, he gave himself to fasting and prayer for Jerusalem and his people Israel. In response to his prayer, the angel Gabriel was sent to Daniel to tell him what was going to happen to Jerusalem and Israel. In that message, Gabriel shared with Daniel the specific time when the Messiah would come, the crucifixion of Christ, the destruction of Jerusalem, the coming of the anti-Christ, and the Millennial reign of Christ (Dan. 9:24-27).

Gabriel started out by saying that “70 weeks were determined upon Thy people and Thy Holy City” ( the Jews and Jerusalem) (vr. 24). The Hebrew word for week is literally seven. So this could also be read seventy – sevens (70 – 7). Or 70 x 7. If that is true, then we have a figure of 70x7= 490.

Gabriel gave two specific dates in that, the clock would start running with the commandment to go back and rebuild Jerusalem, and when the Messiah would come. He broke that segment into two parts saying that it would be a period of 7 and 62 (vr. 25). Adding this together we get 7+62= 69. Or the time from when the clock starts to rebuild Jerusalem unto the Messiah would be 69 weeks (7). Or 69x7= 483.

By reading the Book of Nehemiah we see that the order to go back to rebuild Jerusalem was in “the month of Nisan, the 20^th year of Artaxerxes” (Neh. 2:1, 8). By doing some secular research Anderson determined that that date was April 4, 445 BC.

 

In doing division in mathematics, we have to guess what number will go into another number. By trial and error we are able to do division. If we play that same game, and guess what the numbers given in Daniel 9 mean, we see that the figure of 483 could well mean 483 years. Or it would be 483 years from the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem until Christ would come. That is close but not on the money. But then Anderson did some amazing calculation.

 

The next date is to determine what event in the life of Christ would be His appearance to Israel. There are several events that might be forwarded as possibilities. One, of course, would be His birth. The second might be His baptism, when His public ministry began. A third and fourth might be His Crucifixion and resurrection. But if we search the scripture for the sign that this is the Messiah, we see a reference in Zech, 9:9 that says, “Rejoice O daughter of Zion... behold. Thy King cometh unto thee, He is just having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” Mathew singles this out saying, “All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying...” ; then He quoted Zech. 9:9 (Mt. 21:4). Obviously this was the event where Christ presented Himself to Israel as their king. That date was April 6, 30 AD. The calculation of that is that there are 476 years between the order to rebuild Jerusalem and the Triumphal Entry of Christ. Anderson calculated how many days that was. He multiplied 476 times 365 equals 173, 740. The gap from March 14 to April 6 is another 24 days. And then adding 116 days for leap years. The total number of days is 173, 880. (173740 + 24 + 116 = 173, 880)

There were actual 173, 880 days from the Jerusalem order to Christ.

 

But then Anderson made a significant discovery. He noticed in Gen. 7 and 8 that the Flood began on the 2^nd month, the 17^th day of Noah's life, and ended on the 5^th month, the 17^th day. That means the flood lasted 5 months (Gen. 7:11 and 8:4). But Gen. 7:24 says that the flood lasted 150 days. This being true, that means that a Bible month has 30 days. This is further confirmed in Rev. 11:2,3 where we see two more periods of 42 months and 1, 260 days. That also comes out 30 days in a month.

If we accept these scriptural figures, we see that there are 360 days in a year; not 365.

 

Going back to Daniel 9 and the 70 weeks we saw the the prophecy was that there would be 69 weeks (483 years) from the Jerusalem order to the Messiah. By multiplying 483 by 360 the figure comes out exactly 173, 880. (483 x 360 = 173, 880)

 

Those are the most amazing figures I know in the Bible. Friday night, when I went through that message with Singha it was like a bomb went off. A shock went across his face. Then I went on to explain that we know for certain that these Bible dates are absolutely accurate. Sixty nine weeks have passed. The Messiah came, and paid the price for sin. Tragically His people, Israel, rejected their king, and the clock stopped. Jerusalem was destroyed just like Dan. 9:26 prophesied. When the clock stopped on Israel, God started another clock. This is called “the time of the gentiles”. During this period the Gospel has been preached around the world for 2,000 years. The Bible gives no indication how long this era will last, but it seems obvious we are desperate;y close to the end. When that time comes, God's Jewish clock will start with one more week left on it. This will be seven years. This is the 7 years of the Great Tribulation. During this time the anti-Christ will be in power. The Bible speaks a great deal of what will happen during that 7 year period.

When I explained all that to Singha he was totally on board. I said, “Do you see why I get so worked up and concerned that we must get this message out?” He was 100% with me. I said, “I must speak to all the teachers in your school. I must give them this message.” He is going to schedule a time for me to speak to them. I said, “We must tell everyone in this muban what they are up against. This is not religion. This is just historical truth and the fact of the future.” I went on to say that there is salvation available for anyone who wants it. If someone is not interested in being saved, that is their call, and they can have what they want. If they want to be saved, Jesus is willing to save them. If they don't want Christ, they can go down with the ship. But this ship is sinking!

 

I only had a congregation of one Friday night, but that one is as serious a disciple as anyone I ever saw. I doubt that Singha is saved yet, but I can't imagine him not being saved in the very near future. And I will be greatly surprised if he isn't a courageous evangelist warning everyone he knows about the peril right in front of them. He is almost like a man who just woke up to discover he is in a house on fire.

 

I don't know if this is the right message to reach the Thais around us, but, to me, if they don't like the message that God is love, perhaps it might help them to realize this world is going to be on fire in the very near future. It was world wide headlines last week that a meteor hit Russia, and 1200 people were hurt. That was major news here in Thailand. That was just a warning shot across the bow. When I read in Rev. 8:8, that a burning mountain with fire is going to hit the ocean, it is hard to imagine that being anything else but a major meteor strike. I was in Sendai to see the catastrophic effect of a Richter 9 earthquake, and the resulting tsunami. If a meteor, the size that is described in Rev. 8:8, hits the ocean, I can't imagine what that tsunami will look like. If that happens in the Atlantic, New York City might look like it did when the Indians sold it for $25.

 

Gomen nasai, but I can't tell you how exercised I am for America. It is like watching the space shuttle on reentry. By all the indicators, there is no way America can avoid a disastrous collapse. The math is irrefutable. There is no way any country can survive a $17, 000,000, 000 debt that is out of control, and escalating at an astronomic rate. There is no way congress can pull the country out of that nose dive. And the Islamic (I hate to use his name) that is the White House has his hand on the throttle, determined to accelerate the debt as fast as possible.

The situation in Iran and the Middle East could not be more precarious. I see no way that anyone is going to stop that scenario from an unimaginable conflict in the very near future. The man Berry (the Islamic) has nominated to be the Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, is outspokenly anti-Israel, and wants to gut the US military. And the man Berry has nominated to be the head of the CIA is a Muslim. I saw a You Tube the other day of his conversion to Islam when he was in Saudi Arabia. If that You Tube is true, John Brennen is as dangerous a man as there is in government employment. Isn't that a lovely situation? The inmates have taken over the Institution, and I see no way out.

 

Panic is not the answer. But a clear sounding of the warning alarm is. Many people don't want to live in these days, but it is a great privilege to be here to represent Jesus, and raise His flag against the tide. What an honor! Let's give it our best shot for Jesus this week.

bill

Kimchi Anyone?

17 February 2013


Dear Phyllis,


It seems the worst of winter is behind us here in Thailand. We are back to sleeping without a blanket over us at night, and the day temperature is up in the 90s again. Fortunately, the rainy season isn't upon us yet so we still have blue sky everyday; except the smoke is starting to build so there is no blue sky.


Last Friday we had the biggest break I have had since living in this muban (housing area). I mentioned last week how the Lord led us to become friends with a lovely couple who are highly influential people. Dr (PHD) Bancha and his wife Boom asked me to make a simple shelf for them, and fix some cabinets. I was delighted to have this request as it opened the door to a good personal relationship with them. Friday afternoon I got the shelf installed, and invited them to attend a Bible study in our home that night. Singha and Lec, from the kindergarten, said they would come, and this looked like the seeds to what I hope will develop into a serious muban Bible study. Both couples promised to come at 7:00 for the Bible study. I realized that is us unreasonable to expect anyone to come on time in Thailand but by 8:00 I was thoroughly discouraged. Pammy suggested, “Let's pray”. We did, but I'm sure the Lord was not impressed with my prayer. I simply told Him how disappointed I was, and wanted to quit everything. Then, much to my surprised, by 8:10 both couples showed up. The Banchas brought their two daughters, age 2 and 8, and their daughter's music teacher. By 8:30 we settled down to really get into a serious study. What happened after that was truly amazing. Both couples are totally void of any Bible knowledge, although Mr. Bancha had spent some time in Israel, and had a Christian room mate when he was in college.


I am tremendously exercised over world events at the moments. I cannot tell you how convinced I am that we are right at the wire. I don't believe the end time is near. I intensely believe THIS IS IT. I have a desperate compulsion to warn everyone I meet about what I believe is about to break out world wide.


I vividly recall the day when I was in the Fight'n 40^th Fighter Squadron at Yokota. It was August 1961. I had been on the alert pad for duty that day and was just going home. The maintenance crews were down-loading some missiles, and regs required that a commissioned officer had to supervise it. As I was standing there watching, an airman came running across the ramp with a message from the communication center. We had just gone to an increased state of readiness. Being in an Air Defense fighter squadron, we were the firemen of the world. We were the front line of national defense. If war ever broke out, we were the men that had to stop the bad guys before they could get to America to drop atomic bombs.


There was what was known as the DEFCON code with five states of readiness. Five was “No sweat. Everything is fine, and there is no danger”. Four was “This is a dangerous world, and someone better sit up tonight to watch the candy store”.' We were always at DEFCON 4, which meant that there was a ring of fighter bases with air defense fighters on 5 minutes alert – 24-7 – all over the world. DEFCON 3 was, “This is really serious! There is a strong possibility that war could break out any minute. Everything must be cranked up to max alert”. DEFCIN 2 was, “This is no joke. Here it comes! They are on their way. Enemy bombers are presently under radar surveillance and we are minutes away for mushroom clouds”. DEFON 1 was, “This is it! It has officially started. War is now underway . The 3^rd World War has now begun.”


That afternoon, at 5:30, as I stood there watching the down-loading, we were shocked to hear we had just gone to DEFCON 3. It had never happened before while I was in service. Later during the Cuban missile crises, in 1962, the world went to DEFCON 3. We had no orders, but it seemed like the better part of wisdom to stop down-loading missiles, and put them back on the plane. Ten minutes later another airman came running across the ramp from com center with the notice that we had just gone to DEFCON 2 That had never happened! That meant that war was immanent. Then ten minutes an ashened airman came running saying that they had just received an official notice that we had gone to DEFCON 1. The 3^rd World War was now officially on! All aircraft have in their flight record, various states of flight safety. A red X means that bird is unsafe to fly. We got an order saying, “Even if it is on a red X – FLY IT! We had a max recall and all the pilots came dashing in from home where they were eating supper. Everyone got set up in their own aircraft, and the entire squadron was ready to fly at any moment. Our Operations Officer was trying to get in contact with our headquarters, but 5^th Air Force Headquarters in Fuchu was bedlam. He couldn't get through. We had no idea what had happened. All we knew was the war had broken out. You talk about a tense moment – that was it. Safety procedure with missiles was very strict. But airmen were running across the ramp with missiles under their arms slamming them on aircraft. Safety regulation went up in smoke. Thirty pilots sat silently in the operation room with stress on their faces like you would not believe. The strongest thing that came to my mind was, “It is too late now to talk to someone about the Lord. This was no time to say, “Have you ever heard about the Four Spiritual Laws?” If you weren't prepared for eternity before, it was too late to do personal work now”. Airmen were too busy loading missiles, and pilots were concerned about having to fly combat missions in a few minutes with millions of live depending upon whether or not they could stop enemy bombers.


After about twenty minutes the major was able to get through to 5^th Air force Headquarters and find out what was going on. It was Korea. Something had broken out in Korea. Relief. At least it wasn't New York, Washington, or Los Angles.


A pilot had made a navigational error in Korea and strayed too far north. When he realized where he was, he made a course correction to 180 (south). But North Korean Migs chased him home. When the Migs penetrated into South Korea, the South Koreans scrambled their Air Force. When that happened, the North sent up all their fighters, and the sky was filled with fighters all over South Korea.


Fortunately, the flight time for a Mig is fairly short. It has about an hour of fuel. The North Koreans ran out of fuel, and the South Koreans decided it was time for kimchi; and the war was over. Miraculously no one got shot down. We were sitting in our operation room waiting for the next instruction when they backed off the DEFCON to 2, and then to 3. And then they moved it back to 4, and said we could go home to finish supper – if anyone could eat.


A couple weeks later I saw a friend who had been in Korea, at the Officers Club at Yokota. In a brief chat I remarked, “I heard you had some excitement at Pad C at Kunsan the other day.” He looked at me grimly and replied, “It was no joke”. For the first time in history they pulled the safety pins on the atomic bombs and scrambled the nuclear strike force. Eighteen aircraft sat on the end of the runway at Kunsan loaded with atomic bombs waiting for instruction to take off and bomb North Korea. That is a story that has never been published.


Somehow I have an ominous feeling that we are months away from something major that will trigger end time prophecy. As we see the events that are happening world wide, to me, it looks like we are watching a missile that has been launched, and it is now streaking across the sky on its course and go BANG. The Lord along knows how much time we have, but it is not idle speculation to suggest we should be busy about the business we have of warning people, and offering them a shelter in Jesus.


I shared this deep conviction I have with the folks last Friday night. There are some amazing things in the Scripture, and the Lord has shared with us a great deal about what is shortly about to happen. But to get to that, it was necessary to lay a foundation about who Israel is, and God's dealing with His ancient people. If anyone thinks things like this can't happen today, all they have to do is look at the biblical record, and human history. What makes people think that America is exempt from the judgment of God is only the most grievous delusion. Dennis Turner told me how he was in a bank in Singapore days before the collapse of the city, listening to a lady argue with a bank teller. He thought in his heart, “Lady, don't you realize that there is a war going on?” Somehow the lady was no more concerned about what was about to happen than if there was only a warning for heavy rain. Jesus told us that in the days of Noah there were wedding parties and everyone was planning on things to keep going on forever – until the rain began to fall. He promised that it would be the same way in the days of His coming. Business as usual. It wasn't business as usual when the Japanese took Singapore. It wasn't business as usual when the rain came down in the days of Noah. And it won't be business as usual when the shattering end time events begin to happen here. I don't mean to be an alarmist, but I can't read the Bible and look at news on my computer without being seriously concerned.


What I'm trying to say is that we had a very good time last Friday night. It wasn't a matter of folks sitting through a boring Bible study looking at their watches. For an hour and a half everyone sat there with a serious look on their faces. At 10:00 o'clock I said, “There are some vital things I want to show you from the Bible ... but that will have to be next week.” Hopefully they will be back next week with increased interest. And I hope they might bring some friends. This could be the seed of a major prayer for a Bible study in this muban.


Kichkun was busy last week and asked me if I would take the message today. Reluctantly, I said I would. I really had nothing to talk about all week. Saturday night I tried to get in touch with the Lord to see what He wanted to say. But I fell asleep before Jesus answered the phone. I called again at 5:30 this morning but was unable to get the Lord on the line. Then at 7:00 I finally felt like I had the thrust of what the Lord wanted to say to us. I decided to continue the series I had started three months ago on the loveliness of Jesus. Oh how I wish I could lift Him up and set before all how wonderful He is! But in this, I feel like a boy trying to put his arms around Mt. Fuji and hold Fuji up to show everyone how beautiful that mountain is. Only the Holy Spirit is capable of revealing to us the beauty of Jesus.


As I have told you several times before, the best description I know of Christ is in the Song of Sol 5:10-16. There are twelve points and three are in verse 10. Previously I covered the fact that Christ is white (clean), and secondly ruddy – His humanity. The third point is that He is “the fairest among ten thousand”. Or a better translation is, that He is the flag bearer. I gave you that message a couple of weeks ago, and won't repeat it now. But it came out quite different than any previous message. I told how the-name-of-the-game is move the flag. To illustrate that I had six young people come forward. Two boys held up their guitars as flags, and we had a pushing contest in the front of the church. I showed how Jesus came to claim back for the Father what had been lost to the devil. And explained how He did it. Then I talked about Jesus moving the flag in their hearts. The Lord helped us in an unusual way. Praise God I believe the Lord got His point across this morning.


Lord willing, we still have one more week to move the flag for Jesus here. Let's do it.


bill

Welcome to Jesus Land!

10 February 2013

Dear Phyllis,

Last week I had a vision that is probably the greatest challenge of my life. I would like to make a beautiful sign and hang it over the gate to our property – JESUS LAND. I can't imagine a more wonderful declaration. Oh if this is possible it would be heaven right here.

There is such a thing as spiritual atmosphere. We see it clearly in the world of darkness. Consistently, Christians say, when they go into Buddhist temples they can feel the darkness in there. I have been in some bars where you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. Conversely, there are places where Jesus is so present, that it is like walking out of a freezing cold day into a warm room.

There was a great saint of God living in Beijing not too long ago. My good friend Vidar Aronsen knew her well. Mable had been a medical doctor, but during the cultural revolution in China in the 1960s, she got promoted to being a street sweeper. At another point she had the prestigious job of cleaning public toilets. Public toilets in China are the most wretched places I have ever seen. They are simple concrete trenches 45 cm (18”) wide that you straddle to relieve yourself. Mable said when she had that job of scrubbing those filthy places, they were sparkling clean. She wanted to have a clean heart, and scrubbed those vile things as clean as she wanted Jesus to clean her heart. My friend, Mark, had the opportunity of visiting Mable's home one time. He said when he walked in the house he burst out, "Waaa!” It was something like he had never sensed in his life. Another brother said to him, “If you think the atmosphere in here is something, you should have been in her last house. This place is new.”

One of the most dramatic illustrations of spiritual atmosphere I ever experienced was with Ron Blough at Yokota. I was just passing through Yokota one night, and stopped at the chiurch, slightly late for service. I hadn't been there long when Ron said to me from the pulpit, “Bill, would you check outside. There is someone looking in the window.” I went out and saw a man slumped over a motor bike. I went back in the church and told Ron, “I need some help. There is someone outside that I must take to your house.” Another brother went out with me, and we loaded this GI in his car. He was clearly in a trance. His eyes were open, and he would respond to question, but he flat was not there. This was Ken Shu who was demon possessed. Everything was normal until we got to Bloughs house. Ken was like a drunk. I was helping him walk from the car to the house. His head was down but walking normally until we got to the front door. Suddenly, he balked. He looked up and declared, “I can't go in there.” It took a couple of minutes of persuasion before I could get him the house. I wasn't aware of it, but he could intensely sense the presence of the Holy Spirit in Blough's house.

When my boys were growing up, the time came when I decided to make them a world- class swing. I cut down three 10 meter trees and stuck them two meters in the ground. That was an honest 8 meters (25') in the air. Then I made a tree house 5 meters above ground. It was so good I thought, “This is mottainai (a waste) for the boys. I'm going to make this for myself”. Then I realized it was too nice for myself, and decided to make it for the Lord. I called it, my prayer tower. It was fantastic!

We lived on a hill, and it was perched on the edge of the bank. Being on the porch of that thing was like being in space looking off into the distance. I vowed I would sanctify that place and never allow anything up there except that which was totally Christian. I would only take my Bible or Christian books there. I would not sing anything but Christian songs. And I disciplined myself to never think anything unworthy of Jesus while I was up there. If I wanted to allow myself the luxury of a dirty thought, or an argument I with someone, I would put it off until I got down. I kept that place absolutely holy. And I never went up there that I didn't meet with Jesus. Those early mornings up there was like being in heaven. On three different occasions I had wild birds sit on me. Two landed on my knee, and one sat on my shoulder. I never had that any other place in my life.

This is what I want to do with our house in Chiang Mai. I want to make it Jesus Land. I am not sure if this is possible, but it is a worthy challenge. The thing that got me into undertaking is the Lord's Prayer. There is nothing that grips my heart more intensely than what Jesus told us to pray for. There are seven points in that prayer, and I am convinced it is not intended to be a liturgical “Hail Mary full of grace”. The first three points are three Thy s and the next three points are three us s. Thy Name, Thy Kingdom, and Thy will. I can't get past the first three Thy s. Why would Jesus tell us to pray for this if He didn't mean that it would be answered? And yet it is so high, so wonderful, it seems utterly out of reach. Even if it is out of reach, it is still a good goal, and something we should strive for daily.

I tell the Lord daily, if my life is not a credit to the worthy Name of the Lord – if the Lord is not honored through my life daily – I would rather not live. I plead, if the Kingdom God is operative any place on this planet, please let it be done in my heart. And there is nothing I desire more intensely than the will of God to be done in my heart, just like it is being done in heaven.

God gave Adam a Garden to keep. I believe this same principle and responsibility applies today. If God places us anywhere, I believe it is incumbent upon us to cultivate that place for the Lord. Of course it starts in our individual hearts. But then the next parameter is our family. This is what I desire for my family. I have pleaded with the Lord to please establish His Kingdom under my roof. There was a war going on in Japan for four years. But when MacArthur landed, the country was under new management. Factories started producing goods – not guns. The curriculum in schools was different. Prisons were emptied of Christians and political dissidents. Everything was different because the government was different. This is what I am asking the Lord to do for us. If the Lord would actually do this for us – in very reality – His Kingdom would be functioning in our home; then the sign would be true. The place would really be Jesus Land. Oh Lord, please hear this prayer and let Your Kingdom come to our home!

But I don't know if I have nerve enough to do it. I don't want to put up that sign if it is not true. So much of the time this place is more like the devils nest than Jesus Land. In Jesus Land the devil is run out of business. But we have had a great deal of agony with the devil having frequent access here. I have talked with Pammy about this idea. She is all for it. But it will take an unprecedented amount of cooperation to bring it about. There is no way I can make it Jesus Land. If the Lord doesn't do it, there is no way it will happen. In Jesus Land the devil is unwanted, unhosted, and not permitted. I have trouble enough keeping him out of my own heart, and I sure can't do it for anyone else. I can't change Pammy's heart.

In Bunyan's classic, The Holy War, when Prince Emmanuel breached the wall of the town of Mansoul, the mayor, Lord Willbewill knew he was in deep trouble.He had been a strong ally of King Shaddai's enemy, Diabolus. When Prince Emmanuel hailed that scoundrel before His judgment seat, he fell down as dead knowing he only deserved the death sentence. But much to his total astonishment, Prince Emmanuel freely forgave him, and reinstated him as mayor of Mansoul. I don't want that. If there is any way to get out of it, I do not want to be the governor of Jesus Land. If the Lord makes me governor, there is no way I can keep the devil out and keep peace here. My only hope is what Isaiah 9:6 says that “the government shall be upon His shoulder”. And that “of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end.” If this is true, we will make it.

I don't know the balance. I don't know the difference between my being responsible for my own heart and Jesus being King on the throne of my heart. I don't know the difference between me being responsible for the plot of ground the Lord has placed me over, and Jesus being the governor with the government upon His shoulder. Yet somehow I know that both are true. I don't want to touch the wheel. I want Jesus to drive the car. I want to ride in the back seat. But I know that somehow the Lord has still made me mayor of my own soul.

Realistically it seems a little ridiculous. Is it possible that the Lord might establish His Kingdom in our home? There are two things that encourage me. The first is that Jesus told us that this is what we should pray for. But secondly, because, it looks so impossible. When I look at my own life there is only one reason I can see why Jesus laid His Hand on me 56 years ago, and has kept me ever since; 1 Cor. 1:27 – “God has chosen foolish things”. That is the only possible explanation.

I have found life to be very difficult. It has taken me years to try to figure out why. I have finally come to the conclusion that the reason must be missing parts. I believe the most compassionate thing that many of my friends could say is, “Poor fellow. Bill is a nice guy, but he just doesn't have a full deck. He is just a few cards short of having a full deck of 52.” I had a great passion to graduate from my fathers alma mater of the University of Michigan. It was a miracle that I got in, but probably a mistake. I was just out of my class at Michigan. Once I had to have a letter of recommendation for the ROTC program. I asked my favorite professor to write one. Unfortunately, he gave me the letter in an unsealed envelope, and I took the liberty to read it. He wrote, “Mr Cook is not too intelligent, but he probably is adequate for military service.” Gong. But he was right. And that qualified me for salvation by Christ.

It is hard to imagine a more ridiculous candidate for having the Kingdom of God than my family (marriage). It is more like a war zone than the Kingdom of Peace. But if God delights in foolish things; if He specializes in weak things; if he chooses impossible things to manifest His power and salvation, we might be at the front of the line. This is a tremendous encouragement.

Oh wouldn't that be wonderful?! I don't want it for my own sake. I want it because Jesus told us that this is what we should ask for and strive towards. Why settle for less? Why tolerate the devil in the home? Some people feel the answer is to remove the warring elements, but I feel it is more honoring to God to see salvation than subtraction. Isiah promised, “Of the increase of His government there would be no end.” I don't see that as subtraction. I don't see the working of the Holy Spirit as that of removing so much as He converts.
Tonikaku, that is my vision and prayer,
bill

A Question of Acceptance?

3 February 2013

Dear Phyllis,

I have come to the position that the message of surrender is about as ludicrous a message as it gets. Joe Carrol used to say, “The central issue today is not whether you have accepted Christ, but has Christ accepted you.” Amen! How we ever got into this mess is beyond me. Somehow the Gospel message got turned around to make God the plaintive pleading with criminals to accept His offer of forgiveness. That is mind boggling! When Apple came out with their latest version of I pad people were lined up at stores at 1:00 o'clock in the morning to get in line to buy one. At 9:00 AM when the stores opened it was a dog fight to get inside to buy an I pad before they sold out. It would be like a salesman going out side with a carton of them pleading with customers, “Excuse me sir, I have a free I pad here that I would like to give to you. Would you please accept my offer and take an I pad?” Finally after a great deal of persuasion, the sales person is able to bring the customer down to his knees to surrender and accept a free I pad.

As young man, when I became a Christian, I first thought the Lord must be very pleased with Himself that He got such a fine man to be a follower of Christ. I was several cuts above the average, and it would be good to have such an outstanding man to proclaim Jesus. Oh my goodness, I blush in my sleep today. It wasn't long before I discovered that life wasn't that way. As the Lord began to open my eyes, I saw how lucky I was that He let me in. But now I wonder if He didn't make a mistake. I don't have any trouble with surrender today. I have almost gotten past the point of pleading with Christ to accept me.

After my life collapsed 23 years ago I was talking with a fine Japanese brother. He flippantly remarked, “Why don't you surrender your life to Christ?” Ordinarily that should have been a very insulting remark. My goodness, I had given up a promising career as an officer and pilot in the Air Force to serve the Lord. I had been serving the Lord on the mission field as dedicated as possible for 30 years at that point. I thought I had surrendered several years ago. But when he raised that question why I hadn't surrendered, I was surprised by my own reaction. I burst into tears and blurted out, “Because I don't know how! I have been trying to surrender for 30 years and I don't know how to do it.” Since then I have been pleading with the Lord to show me how to surrender. But recently I have gone past that point.

The other day, in my mind, I saw myself standing in line with a number of people offering themselves as candidates serve the Lord; everyone hoping He would accept them.
The guys in that line were applicants to be a candidate. This was quite a bit different from the usual invitation to surrender to give your life to be a missionary. Jesus wasn't pleading for candidates to come forward. The guys in that line would have rushed forward if the chance had been given. In the days of our Lord here on earth, we read in Mk 3:13, “He (Jesus) goeth up into a mountain and calleth unto Him whom He would...and ordained them to be with Him.” No doubt there were a great deal more than 12 to choose from. There were probably hundreds of desirous young men who would give anything to be chosen as one of Christ's disciples. In speaking of priest, Heb. 5:4 says, “No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God.” This certainly was true of the of both OT priests and prophets. They didn't have aggressive Jewish young men who said, “I am going to be a prophet.” There were a lot of self-appointed prophets, but there was a basic difference between the self-appointed ones and the ones ordained of God. I see no place to indicate that this system of selection has changed to operate in the NT era. The other day as I was standing at the end of this imaginary line I thought of my own qualifications on why the Lord should accept me. When I looked at my application form, I was embarrassed that I ever stood in that line, and got out. Now I have placed in a request to heaven; I have asked the Lord if He would give me a broom and let me sweep out His cow barn. That would be the greatest honor I could think of. Oh, I would be grateful if the Lord would let me do this.

I wonder what I am doing in Thailand. It would be a bad stretch to call myself a missionary. I certainly am not retired. I am not employed or working for a living. I do teach a little. This past week has been an excellent week teaching at Annie's kindergarten. Annie, of course, is gone. But it has been good to be back talking to the children. Sangha is somewhat back in the line as a possible candidate for salvation. He was at church today.

A week ago last Saturday, I spent four hours talking to an outstanding couple. The man is a professor at Mae Jo University, and his wife has a nursing school. Boom (Mrs.) called last week asking me to speak to her school and said they have some carpentry work they want me to do. Yesterday Pammy and I went over there to talk to them. This could be a very positive contact. I met Mr. and Mrs. Bancho at the sports day through the directors of the kindergarten. Boom said her daughter had gone there three years ago and they have been close friends with Sangha and Lec since then. I promised to do what I could to help them with some carpentry. Their cabinets are terrible. I may have to make a whole new kitchen for them. I plan to tell them straight out that I am not in this for money. The only reason I get up each morning is to tell others about Jesus. If this isn't the reason we live, why – pray tell – are we still on this planet? They probably will give me something for making some things for them but I would be equally willing to do it for free.

My good friend, Gary, asked me the other day if I knew how to hang doors. He is in the process of building a house and had seven doors that needed to be hung. What a mess! I have hung a lot of doors over the years and these were as challenging as any I have ever done. The Lord has helped us, and things have turned out better than what I had hoped for. But Friday I was trying to cut out the holes for the door knobs and struck something metallic that destroyed my hole saw. That's fun. I don't know how I am going to get those door knobs on but I will probably have to use a jig saw. I was so drained Friday night that I just wanted to go home and go to bed.

This is supposed to be the dry season in Thailand. We will go for an honest three or four months with almost zero rain. But last week was almost like the wet season with rain for three days. Wednesday night Gary invited me to shower and get cleaned up at their house, and then go out with them for a meal. I was looking forward to that when I heard thunder off near our house. I had lost one computer to rain, sitting on the balcony of our house, and my present computer was on my chair there. I told Gary that I had to go home immediately. For the next half hour I cheated death on my motor bike. I enjoy riding motor bikes very much, but some of that charm is wearing off. Riding in a hard storm at night makes viability impossible. The rain stings my face and wet glasses are like driving a car with no windshield wipers. The only way I could see was to get between two cars where the lights of the car behind me shown on the car in front. I could see the blur of the car in front. But if the car behind passed, then I was back to looking at two dim blurry tail lights. And at high speed I was pushing the traction of my bike tires. I had to go through three traffic signals, but the storm had knocked out the denki (electricity) so the lights weren't working. You talk about a dog fight – like you never saw one. At the last light there was a terrific traffic jam of hundreds of cars going in all directions trying to get through that intersection. I got beside the front tire of a large truck who was trying to force his way through the traffic coming from the left. He would inch forward until he got that lane blocked so he could get through. When at last he got the traffic blocked from the left I had a clear shot to get by, and breakout into an open road. I began to accelerate when suddenly a car came out from behind another car directly on my right. I never saw him until he was inches from my right handle bar. I have no idea why he didn't kill me. I was still shaking when I got home ten minutes later soaking wet. It still makes me sick to my stomach to think about it.

I am presently dealing with spiritual problems like you would not believe. This would drive me nuts except it looks like an old movie. I have learned over the years that the lines in spiritual problems are no so clear. It is not so black and white. To each of the warring parties it is black and white. They are right and the other person is wrong. But to the neutral observer it is maddening. It has been accurately said that Christians can be worse than unbelievers. That is true. A Christian will do things out of deep convictions even if they are wrong. They do it because they think they are right. The worst treatment I have ever had in my life has been at the hands of outstanding Christians. It would almost be easier if we had to deal with hostility of open persecution than blood-letting between Christians. Christians in China said, when they were in prison, the church was one. There are no denominational boundaries in prison. But when they got out, they squared off fighting with each other over doctrinal issues.

The all time most famous rift was between George Whitfield and John Wesley. I read a letter that Wesley published against Whitfield that was shocking. But Wesley felt he was doing the will of God in publishing it. Tragically the fight between them was over Calvinism. From a biblical position, you could lay up an argument that they both were right. But that didn't help the anguish that thousands of believers had to deal with that fight. Fierce conflict have gone on since the days when Paul and Barnabas couldn't agree about John Mark (Acts 15:36-40. But most cases today do not have such a pleasant solution. I have two friend who are warring with each other. In both cases their vocabulary is inadequate to describe how bad the other fellow is. Both men call the other one an enemy agent. I am in the middle, and believe I understand both men. I don't believe the Lord views these men the way they view each other. And, of course, both men are grieved that I am still in fellowship with the other “devil's man”.

The spiritual environment here is as clear as a London fog. There has been a number of outright lies told. This makes it difficult to believe anything from that quarter. And yet I am not in the business of running people off for occasional failures. In most spiritual conflicts there are incidents where one could point to places where the other person lied. The simple solution is Mt. 18:15-17; first, one on one direct confrontation. If that doesn't work, then take two or three others to confront the offender. If that doesn't work, then take it to the church. And if that doesn't work, then kick the offender out. Unfortunately that only applies in horizontal offenses. You certainly couldn't do that with Wesley and Whitfield. Paul didn't suggest doing that with the immoral bird in 1 Cor. 5. There is a difference between offenses between brethren and church discipline like adultery. Tragically church discipline is almost unheard of these days. Few pastors are willing to do it, and fewer still have the spiritual qualifications to effectively implement it. I felt Rosemary might have been saved if she had been properly dealt with by a spiritual body. Unfortunately the men who were our board of elders did not have the spiritual credentials, and their solution was psycho therapy and secular psychology. It didn't work.

I don't know what I am dealing with here. The entire picture is incredibly confused. The only thing I know is Jesus. If Jesus doesn't save me I ain't gonna be saved. But I told Him the other day, that His very Name means savior. This is my hope.

Thank you for standing with us,
bill