Andrew Murray

27 October 2013

Dear Phyllis,

It is a self-evident fact that we all are on a journey. From the moment of the first stirrings of the Holy Spirit in our heart, when we are born-again of the Spirit of God; to the moment we are chest deep in the River crossing over to the City, which has been our life goal, we are somewhere on that journey. Obviously this is all very individual. No one is in the other fellows shoes, or walking at the same place on that journey. This is frustrating. Things that grab my attention at the moment are meaningless to someone who is at another point in the landscape. Forty years ago it was Watchman Nee. I thought his material was the most profound truth I had ever seen. I wanted everyone to see what was becoming so real to my own heart.

Twenty five years ago my friend, Glen Barnes, had a later-in-life experience with the Lord through reading Andrew Murray. Glen was anxious to bring me up to his level that he had just discovered after he was 70, and sent me boxes of Andrew Murray books. I had read Andrew Murray many years before then, but to be polite to Glen, I condescendingly read the books he sent me. Man howdy they were good! When I had read Andrew Murray twenty years before, I didn't see a thing. But now they were pure gold. Ever since then I have drifted in an out of Andrew Murray. Right now I am intensely in.

For the past month I have been feeding on The Two Covenants. I say “feeding” rather than “reading”. This is not a book to be read. I have read it several times, but go back reviewing it, as new revelation pours in on what we have in Christ. Today I wish there was a mountain tall enough to see the whole world, and I had a voice strong enough to reach everyone on this planet. I want everyone on planet Earth to understand what God has done for us today. But that wouldn't do much good, as few are where I am in my journey. Hopefully, I have gathered up my little shovel and pail, and gotten out of the sand box; and have advanced to sitting at a desk learning the ABCs of the Gospel. It is embarrassing that after being saved for 56 years I am just beginning to see what is the fundamental essence of the Gospel. As I wrote you last week, it is not that God is passing out free visas to heaven, but that Jesus came to restore humanity back to God; and He has recovered more than Adam lost in the Garden.

I am beginning to see that Andrew Murray is promoting second-blessing theology. This is a controversial doctrine. This is a subject that has caused me a great deal of grief ever since I have been saved. Depending on what camp you are in, there are several names for this experience. The Pentecostals emphasize the baptism of the Holy Ghost, the Nazarenes have their entire sanctification doctrine, Hudson Taylor had his exchanged life experience, DL Moody, Charles Finney, AB Simpson, George Muller, Ian Thomas, and a host of other outstanding Christian leaders have had post-conversion, life-transforming, experiences. As a young believer I read these books and desperately wanted to have the same life-transforming experience that made these men great. You talk about frustration – for many years I have unsuccessfully sought some miraculous second-blessing experience to make me a great man. No soap. Now fifty years later I am beginning to see things in a new light.

Theologically, I agree with Andrew Murray that the scripture does teach two stages in the Christian life. The most obvious argument is the two crossings of Israel getting getting out of Egypt, and into the Promised Land. The first crossing was going through the Red Sea, which obviously is a type of salvation. That was the exodus from Egypt. If a person doesn't have some exodus from the world, it is highly doubtful that he is saved. What are we saved from if salvation isn't some departure from a life of sin and living in the pleasure of the world? If repentance isn't saying goodbye to sin and the world, it is only an acknowledgment with no intention of changing. The salvation experience is the starting point and the first stage.

But any honest observer must admit that the rank and file of Christians are not angelic. They don't have white feathers, wings, and a harp yet. Worse than that, it is a common complaint of Christians that they have yet to find true deliverance from sin. Romans 7 becomes a comfort to them as they sit down with Paul and confess “The good that I would, I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Rom. 7:20). Andrew Murray points out that, in nearly all his epistles, Paul address Christians that are best represented by the Galatians, who start out well in the Spirit, but then try to become perfect in the flesh (Gal. 3:3). It is almost a universal error of most believers who are so impressed with the remarkable change that has happened after they were born-again; that they feel now, they are saved, they can lead the Christian life. After long years of trying, they come to the conclusion that that is impossible. Andrew Murray laments that the overwhelming majority of Christians in churches are in this half-saved state, of having come out of Egypt, but never finding the true deliverance from the power of the flesh, to live a life above sin in the Promised Land.

The second crossing is going through the Jordan from the wilderness into the Promised Land. This is the second-blessing experience. This is the George Muller, Canon Battersby, Hudson Taylor, etc. experience. This is the testimony of earnest Christians who tried for years struggling to be better, but looked in vain for deliverance from the paralytic power of sin; and then they came into the joy where Christ had set them free. This is what A M describes as the difference between Old Covenant Christians vainly trying to obey the commandments; and New Covenant believers who joyously experience what has been promised them with the law written in their hearts (Heb. 8:10-12). Progressive Christianity has been accurately described as; deliverance from the PENALTY of sin, the POWER of sin, and the PRESENCE of sin. Salvation is deliverance from sins penalty, sanctification is deliverance from sins power, and heaven is freedom from the presence of sin. To illustrate the two stages of Christian service Andrew Murray points to the OT tabernacle with its two compartments the Holy place and the Holiest of all, being separated with the vail. There are those who serve the Lord but never enjoy the inexpressible blessing of going behind the vail to stand in the very presence of the Lord.

And there are those who do.

The one basic common denominator in all cases is the Holy Spirit. It is the relationship of being filled with the Holy Spirit that makes the difference. Tragically there are multitudes of earnest, evangelical Christians who are perfectly sound in doctrine, and yet know little of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. They are people who think that education is the way to advance in the things of the Lord, but they know little of the revelation that comes exclusively through the Holy Spirit, and the power of hearing His Voice speaking to them daily. Paul tells us that “faith comes by hearing”. And that is the Voice of God. It is hard work to grunt hard enough to work up faith for all sorts of things we are asking and believing God for. But when God clearly speaks, we know that we have the thing that we have desired of Him.

It has been a long dusty trek trying to come to grips with the testimonies that I have heard from others, the books I have read, and the truths I have seen in the Bible. But now, as never before, I am coming to a comfortable position that I know what Andrew Murray is talking about. Now I know why Glen Barnes was so anxious for me to read Andrew Murray and enter into the higher spiritual life he discovered after he was 70. At a superficial reading, one might come to the conclusion that Andrew Murray is pushing the Methodist/Nazarene position of sinless perfectionism. But he is too realistic for that. However, what he clearly show is that the scripture does present to us a salvation, and a Spirit controlled life, that is humanly impossible, but it is the heritage of any totally committee child of God.

Very frankly, I have never had a second-blessing experience. I totally agree with Andrew Murray's teaching, but would part company with him on only one point. And I rather suspect, that if I could talk with him today, we would probably come together on that one also. I agree that the scripture does teach two stages of Christian life. But how you get there, is not that straight forward. In my early years I was very strong in insisting on a clear conversion experience. I said, passing from death into life is a black and white experience. You must be born-again, and if you don't know when that happened, it is doubtful that you are. But years of experience, and knowing hundreds of Christians, has taught me that a salvation experience is not that black and white. For the Mennonites this is particularly difficult. For most of those kids, they are raised in such a tight Christian environment that it is almost impossible to get onto sin. From infancy they are raised in a tight Christian home learning and living by the Word of God. For most of them it is impossible to say, “I was into drugs and then Jesus came into my heart to set me free”. There never was a time that they didn't believe. How do they know they are saved then? By the witness of the Holy Spirit in their heart. When did He come in? Who knows; and it is not important. The main thing is not an experience, but a present relationship. This can be instantaneous, or it might be gradual. And sanctification is the same. It is not important that I know the moment I crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land. It is only important that I know I am living there today. For me it has been a gradual eye-opener. But today I see clearly what the Bible teaches and it thrills me so much I feel like I just got saved.

I say I have never surrendered my life to the Lord. I didn't know you were supposed to. When I joined the Air Force I raised my right hand, and swore I would be a soldier. When I did that, I gave myself to the US government. Military life is simple. Life is a simple matter of getting orders and obeying them. I thought following Jesus was the same way. Since the moment I said yes to Jesus, I have never had any other ambition than to know what He wants for me, and do it. A soldier's primary concern is not how the government will provide for him, and what it will do for him. He isn't trying to manipulate the government, but he is devoted to doing his duty. How we got things mixed up to where the main thing in the Christian life is to see how we can get things from God; and little concern about doing the will of God – that is a big mystery to me. But here we are.

Recently Pammy discovered Paul Wilbur. I never heard of him before. But somehow she discovered him on Internet. Apparently he is a well known singer who got saved. The stuff Pammy has had going virtually 24-7 is off the chart. I mean to tell you IT IS GOOD! He has got a few videos of a concert (or concerts – I don't know which) that he did in Jerusalem. I don't know how he was able to sing that stuff. I couldn't have done it. The Spirit of God was so strong in that place I would have been flat on the floor weeping before I got half way through. Praise God we don't have neighbors, or they would think I am crazy. I can't imagine who was in that auditorium. There must have been 5,000 people or more. If it was in Jerusalem – he said he was – a good portion of those folks must have been Jews. Basically most of his martial was Messianic. I can see why the Jews would go crazy listening and singing those songs. A good portion was from the Psalms and would be patriotic for Israel. But that place was standing with up-raised arms worshiping the God of Israel. Me too. I couldn't do less. Oh praise God the day is soon coming when Israel's Messiah will be there in person, and receive the worship the Father has promised Him. Praise God we are one week closer.

Arigato gozaimasu,

                                              bill      

Our New Covenant

20 October 2013

Dear Phyllis,

Well another Sunday is here, which means another PB letter. As always, this puts me very much on my face crying to the Lord for what He would have to say. To start with there are a couple of good reports.

Last Sunday I mentioned the subject of reconciliation with Pammy. This has materialized with positive results. Pammy did return home for the first time in two months Wednesday. Her presents has been a pleasant change in the house in many ways. One of which the house is much cleaner. Perhaps the biggest area of conflict we have is over sanitation. She is clean to an extreme, and I am clean to to an acceptable level of what you might expect camping in the woods. It has been a little difficult for Black Canyon, as she had a significant upgrade in liberty during Pammy's absence, but now some restrictions have been imposed. But still in all, she is a very fortunate dog. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, there were some serious problems that necessitated a change in our living together. Time alone will prove to what degree there has been an alternation there, but, so far, things have been much better. It would not be true to say Pammy is a radically different person, but she does seem to be a better person. Our relationship is more relaxed and communication is on a higher level.

In an unexpected way, the separation appears to have been a plus for the Kingdom of God. Pammy's younger sister visited us a few week before Pammy went home to Lampan. Very much to my surprise, the testimony came out that she was saved the weekend she was here. Pastor Kichikun told me that he led her to Christ. I had no idea that they had such a talk, but the subsequent events have substantiated that her conversion seems to be genuine. Among other things Pammy told me that her sister was a spiritual medium previously, and there has been a real deliverance from demons. Pammy stayed with her sister in Lampan for two months, and reports that her sister is a very solid Christian. Pammy was a great help in getting her established, introducing her to a good church in Lampan, and praying together. If nothing had happened here, it still would have been very advantageous for Pammy to spend these first few months with her sister to get her rooted in Christ.

Another extremely good news is that Singha, the co-director of the kindergarten, seems to be clearly saved. I am not sure how, when, or where he moved from death to life, but there are some highly encouraging signs that he is very much in the Jesus' camp now. A couple months ago I was preaching on the Wedding Supper, and said there were four responses to that invitation. After that message Singha told me that he was somewhere between 4 and 5. (Four being the guy without the wedding garment.) I said, “Hang 4, get into 5!” But then in the subsequent conversation he said that he had accepted Jesus into his heart. Since then I have been tremendously blessed by unexpected indicators. One of which is his establishing a strong schedule of Bible reading. He is reading the Bible three and four chapters a night, and thoroughly enjoys the Word. What a blessing it is to talk with him every day at school about what he was reading last night.

He surprised with with another unexpected stand. Two weeks ago, he told me that the brother of one of their teacher had died, and he was going to his funeral that Sunday. I knew that was almost a guaranteed compromise with idolatry. It would be extremely difficult for him to go to that funeral without bowing before an idol and speaking to the dead. I told him of a couple cases I had dealt with in Japan, where the Lord had intervened in keeping believers from this act of idolatry. When I warned him, and pleaded with him, not to compromise, he said, “Oh, of course I won't bow before an idol. I bow only before Jesus Christ.” Such a statement from a new believer is unusual.

One other incident was a blessing. Singha told me that he started reading Acts. Then he injected a discovery he made from Acts 1 that Jesus is coming back. He never knew that before, and was blown away with the promise; “This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven”. Sangha asked me, “Is that really true?” I said, “Yes, it is a fact and I believe His coming is extremely close.” With that Sangha uttered, “Uuuugh! Look at my arms!” He held out his arms as they were covered with dense goose bumps. I have never seen anyone react so intensely physical over hearing about the return of Christ. I told Him, “This is the Holy Spirit.” And it is.

Gomen nasai (I'm sorry), but I am obsessed with the New Covenant. I wrote about that last week, and it just keeps getting stronger. This week I read the chapter on the Covenant of obedience. Oh my goodness, this is so obvious, and yet so unusual, that I marvel that there is any other discussion. By definition, any covenant is predicated on the agreement that both partners keep their side of the contract. Break the promise and the deal is off. God couldn't have made that any more clear. He promised blessing or curse, depending on Israel's performance. And when the ax fell in terrible judgment, Jeremiah acknowledged in Lamentation, “The Lord hath done that which He devised; He hath fulfilled His Word' (Lam. 2:17). There was nothing wrong with the Old Covenant. The Law was excellent. If everyone kept that, we would have heaven on earth now. The only problem was Israel's inability to keep their side of the bargain. If a New Covenant was to be made, it must correct that which was lacking in the Old. And this is the very essence of the New Covenant. It didn't nullify the Law; it simply made it a doable reality. The key word here is OBEDIENCE.

Obedience was the only thing the Lord required of Adam in the Garden. He only had one item, and was told to keep his hand off that tree. The future of humanity hung in the balance of Adams obedience. Paul wrote in Romans 5:19, “By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous”. Any system of theology that exempts men from obedience is ridiculous. Jesus said, “He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me” . And, “If a man love Me, he will keep My Word” (Jn 14:21, 23). It is impossible to have any vertical structure without someone being on top, and those beneath obeying him. This is true in marriage, business, school, military, law, etc. Without obedience all you have is chaos. And the Kingdom of God is not chaotic.

I fear we have taken the doctrine of imputed righteousness to an extreme. I am not even sure that the Bible teaches imputed righteousness. We have been taught that when God see us He doesn't see us but sees His Son. Christ is my righteousness. To limited degree that may be true, but I fear we have pushed that beyond biblical boundaries. Somehow in this we tend to think more of an external Christ. One who covers our outside. You can take a leper, and put a clean coat on him, and he will still be a leper inside. God doesn't work that way. He makes us clean inside.

The ministry of Christ is two fold. The one He does in heaven is to cancel our debt by His Blood. This is the doctrine that is so popular today. This is payment. But the work He does on earth is to work in our heart by His Spirit to make us good. This is performance. We talk about payment almost to the exclusion of performance. As soon as you talk about keeping the commandments, the cry immediately is “Legalism!”. They say, “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified” (Rom. 3:20). This is true. But that thinking is the spirit of the Old Covenant. It is something external imposed upon us. But the very essence of the New Covenant is that the law is now written in our heart to the degree that we have a new disposition that loves to keep the law. That is; after I am born-again, I don't have another god that I follow, I don't want to worship idols, I don't want to dishonor His Name. I don't want to kill, I don't want to run around with someone else's wife, I don't want to steal, etc. This is Jesus living in my heart. This is performance. This is the New Covenant. This is Jesus lining in my heart giving me a heart that wants to obey. I love His law. This does not mean that I don't have a struggle with sin daily, but now there is a power that frees me from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2).

Perhaps this is best illustrated by the eagle in flight. God does not delete gravity. The law of gravity is always present. But for the eagle there is another law of aerodynamics. He has wings. There is a law that enables him to soar high over mountains. As long as the eagle is alive he is able to enact the laws of aerodynamics and soar in the sky. If the eagle dies, his ability to stay in the aloft is terminated, and the law of gravity takes over.

This is the glory of the New Covenant. God never canceled the Old, but he did enact a New Covenant in which He has taken upon Himself to guarantee that we can and will be faithful in keeping our side of the deal. But this is a mystery that has been lost today in our excessive emphasis on Jesus paying our debt. We have dismissed the central point that He has come by His Spirit to make us like Himself. Andrew Murray laments this is a truth that has been so challenged that we have postponed the blessing of the New Covenant until another world. Oh my goodness this stuff is hot!

I am extremely reluctant to bring up the issue of money, but a brother wrote me the other day, “If the Lord leads me to send you some money, how can I do it?” Our home church is Amazing Grace Community Church, Lafayette, Tenn. The pastor is Harold Carman. If you feel the Lord would have you help us, your best bet would be to write Harold at haroldgenecarman@gmail.com and he could tell you what to do. Any funds that are sent there are placed in a bank account where I have the ATM card and can draw on it here.

I first met Harold in 1975 when he came to Karuizawa for Japanese language study. In the many years I was in Karuizawa I knew hundreds of missionaries, and I would put Harold in the top 5% – if not at the top of the list. He was amazing. He was in Japan less than a year, but cut a swath for God like few missionaries have ever done. It was a bewilderment, and a heart-break for me, when he left, but he has continued to make a wide path for God in Tennessee since then. They have been extremely kind to us in acting as our home church.

I say I am reluctant to mention money, because this is an area that has been very dishonoring to the Lord by missionary fund raising techniques. I try not to make appeal for funds or needlessly tell stories subtly designed to pull heart strings. In 1974 I met a very fine church in South Carolina where the pastor took me out for a meal saying that their church wanted to support us, and asked how much we needed. I replied, “I am sorry but I can't answer that question.” I told him that if I thought we needed $500, and he gave us that; but the Lord only wanted us to have $300, we both would be out of the will of God. I didn't know what was in front of us in Japan, and he didn't know what the Lord wanted them to do. All I could tell him was to ask Jesus what he wanted them to do and obey Him.

The Lord has wonderfully met our needs, but I do appreciate the privilege of your fellowship;

In the bonds of our marvelous Lord Jesus,

                                                                          bill

Decision Time: Pammy

13 October 2013

Dear Phyllis,

I have some good news and some bad news. For most people, I suspect this will be bad news; but I believe, for the Lord, it is good news. Pammy and I are praying and seriously discussing reconciliation. For the vast majority of my friends I fear this will be a groan from the heart, “Oh no! Not again!”. Had I taken a poll of my friends when I first made the decision to marry Pammy, the overwhelming majority would have voted strongly against it. Very few have accepted that this move was the will of God. One day one brother was talking with some missionaries about that shocking event who asked, “Do you think God really led Bill to do this?” He immediately responded, “Of course not. God isn't that stupid.” While there have been some who have reluctantly accepted Pammy as my wife, yet in their hearts they have been hoping that it would fall through. And when I drew the line, and told her that she would have to leave, there a has been a general celebration. One brother rejoiced and said, “You should see it at our house. It is like Christmas morning over there.” When I told many of my friend that Pammy was gone, “Congratulation!” has not been an uncommon response. The news that she might be back will be very bad news.

From square one we have never had a marriage. I was shocked to discover that Pammy had no idea what the wedding vows were, and she was offended when I insisted that she keep them. It is honest to say that for two years we have not had a marriage. If a marriage is a covenant that two people engage to follow, then that simply has not been on the books. What she was after I don't know.

Thailand is filled with ugly old gaijin (foreigners) men dragging young Thai girls around. The department stores are filled with these odd couples. For 99%, what you have is, old men who have had a tough go of it being married to one, two, or three American women who have given them a bad time. After several divorces, they have gotten tired of that rat race, come to Thailand, and found a young girl, 30 years younger, who have been willing to be a foot warmer for these disgusting old men. For the men, they think they have gone to hog heaven. After putting up with a selfish, screaming, wife for years suddenly they have a young girl who cheerfully waits on them. They will cut their meat for them at meals, comb their hair, cut their finger nails, be their sex partner, and keep their feet warm at night. For the girls they feel they are lucky. The name-of-the-game is money. Marriage to these old men is a gold mine for these young girls. In most cases they will get treated better than they would – or have been – by Thai men. And when the geezer dies, his loot will be theirs. The older the better, because they won't have to wait so long.

What Pammy was after, I don't know. Everyone say she was after my money. (?????) I told her I didn't have any. Admittedly she was concerned at first to discover that I didn't have a comfortable retirement and wasn't drawing social security. She strongly requested that I get on social security for a stable income. I have never taken a dime of that and wouldn't if it was offered. I don't believe in living off the government. If I had paid into it, and it was my money, I would take it; but I paid very little before I left the military, and have never paid a dime since I have been a missionary. If Pammy was after money, I must have been a keen disappointment. But there was much of Christ in the picture also.

Recently I have been reading Andrew Murray on the New Covenant. I have been saved 56 years. I am not totally ignorant of the ways of the Lord. And yet day by day truth gets lighter as the Holy Spirit shows me things in a light I never saw before. As I slowly begin to understand what the New Covenant really is, I wonder, “How in the world did we get in this mess of preaching what is universally accepted as the Gospel; when it is totally at variance with the New Covenant.” This cheap, plastic, synthetic thing that is universally accepted as the Gospel is only a minor point in the original covenant. In Hebrews 8:10-12 we see that the New Covenant has four points, and forgiveness of sin is the last one. The message that is unquestionably accepted as the Gospel is that Jesus died for me so I can go to heaven. Basically all that is offered is acquittal. Of course we are concerned about the death sentence on us, and want forgiveness; but that is not what God has in mind.

When God first created man in His own image, He wanted a creature like Himself to whom He could reveal His glory, and would be a reflection is His own character. Sin, of course, destroyed that. Jesus came to restore what was lost. To do this God moved in several stages. His first covenant was with Abraham, that through him He would make his descendants like the sand of the sea, and that through him all the nations of the world would be blessed. The next stage was to the people of Israel when He brought them out of Egypt to Mt. Sinai. This was where the Old Covenant was spelled out in detail, and ratified. This proved to be totally ineffective making it necessary for God to establish a New Covenant. This is what we call the New Testament – the same word – and what is really the Gospel.

In life today the closest thing we have to a covenant is the marriage vows. A covenant is the highest binding agreement between two parties to settle a the issue concerning their relationship. Among men, there are three levels of commitment – their word, a promise, and an oath. God bound Himself to Israel with an oath in establishing His covenant with His people – as if His Word was simply not enough and He couldn't be trusted. Unfortunately a covenant is only effective as long as both partners keep their respective side of the agreement. If one side breaks it, the deal is off.

The terms of the Covenant was the Ten Commandments. The Covenant was simple – you obey my law and I will be your God. There is nothing wrong with that. All God was asking for was obedient children. And Israel gladly replied, “Yes we will”. But there was a serious flaw in the arrangement. Fallen flesh was incapable of keeping God's law; and , in spite of all good intentions, Israel's history and ours has proven that we can't keep our side of the bargain.

Because of mans failure, a new covenant was necessary to provide for what was lacking in the first. The New Covenant didn't throw out the Old; it simply made it possibility to become a reality. The New Covenant provided for what was lacking in the Old. Andrew Murray wrote, “As little as it is impossible for God to be unfaithful and not keep His side of the covenant, the New Covenant promises that it will be equally impossible for us to be unfaithful and not keep our side of the deal.” That rocked me as one of the most radical off-the-wall things I have ever read. But I saw that he was right. He proved his point in many ways.

People think that the Ten Commandments don't apply to Christians, but I believe that keeping the Ten Commandments is the Christian life. Dave Hanson once rocked me with the question, “Are the Ten Commandment a prohibition or a promise?” It took me a long time to answer that one, but the correct answer is that they are a PROMISE.

The New Covenant was first announced by Jeremiah in Jer. 32:32,34. This was confirmed and explained by the writer of Hebrews in Heb. 8:10,11,12. One of the main differences between the two Covenants is that in the Old the law was written on stone, but in the New the law would be written in our heart. The law written in our heart is nothing less than the very Spirit of Christ living in us giving us a new disposition.

More than that, Jesus is called the Surety of the covenant (Heb. 7:22). A surety is a co-signature. If a boy boys a car and his dad is the co-signer, he is the surety of the contract. If the boy fails to pay for the car, the dad is held responsible and has to come up with the payment. Jesus is the co-signer of our New Covenant and he is the one who makes good the agreement. God never intended that we keep the law. His purpose was (is) for Jesus to keep it in us.

Further more Jesus is also the Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 8:6; 12:24). A mediator is one who sets something up and brings two parties together. He is the one who brings us together in our marriage covenant with God.

I cannot expound in a short letter what Andrew Murray clearly explains in a 190 page book. But there is no question that the Gospel is far more than acquittal of our crimes. It is that Jesus has restored humanity to what Adam lost in the Garden – only far more.

When I read Andrew Murray, something in me screamed, “If this is true how can you explain the glaring discrepancy obvious in nearly all Christian lives and the tragic fallen state of the church today?” Andrew Murray himself laments, “The New Covenant remains a sealed mystery, except to only a few souls who are totally abandoned to God, and, like Abraham, believe that what He promises He is also able to perform.”

I believe there are three reasons why the reality of the outworking of the New Covenant is so little seen in Christian life. The first may be our love of sin. We love sin so much we don't want to part with it. When sin has a death grip on a soul, it will defend that sin at all cost.

The second is self-confidence. Like the Galatians, we start out well in the Spirit, but soon attempt to live the Christian life in the flesh. I wonder if this is not the major failure in the church today. It is so common among Christian, and preaching from the pulpit, demanding and promising to do better. There is so much pressure from the pulpit telling Christians how to live, that a vast majority feel that this is what God requires of them. Human nature is fundamental religious being and we think that now we are Christian we can live like Jesus. Lots of luck. It won't work.

Thirdly is iron clad unbelief. We refuse to believe that such a thing is possible, and we limit the Holy One of Israel. Andrew Murray laments that the power of the sin nature is so deeply ingrained with such confidence that this is what the Bible teaches, that the thought of living a life above sin cannot even enter the mind, much less appropriate the blessing of the New Covenant in many Christian lives. And to teach deliverance is assailed as error in many pulpits.

The name-of-the-game of the Gospel is not to get us into heaven; it is Jesus living in our hearts. When I first got saved, heaven was the last thing on my mind. I wanted to know if Jesus could change me. John tells us that there are three ways we know we are saved. The first is because we keep the commandments. The second is because we love the brethren, and thirdly by the witness of the Holy Spirit. (1 Jn. 2;3; 3:14; 3:24) That was my experience. I was amazed, when Jesus came into my heart, that sin quit like leaves falling off a tree. My dirty mouth suddenly quit swearing. In 56 years I have not slipped once in swearing. My filthy sex habits were gone, and for the first time I could live a clean life. Suddenly I had an intense desire for Christian fellowship. I loved the brothers that before I couldn't stand. And like Paul also explains, there was the witness of the Spirit in my heart that I knew God (Rom. 8:16).

I can see where some might be alarmed thinking that Andrew Murray is teaching sinless perfection. Some of his writing looks like it. But in this he is like John who declares that it is impossible for Christians to sin, and yet warns if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves (1 Jn. 3:9; 5:18; 1:8, 2:1). I see that the New Covenant is not that I get a free pass into heaven but that Jesus can live in me today.

Maybe I am wrong, but it seems to me that the Christian life is like flying an airplane. When we see a plane flying over head it looks like he is going in a straight line. But in the cockpit the stick is moving constantly. Even in driving a car, if you lock the steering wheel, you will go off the road. I believe the Christian life is a change of direction. By nature we were all headed south. But when we came to Jesus we turned north. But even so we need to constantly make small corrections all the time. Basically we are headed the right direction but there is need for constant correction.

What is going to happen with my marriage? I don't know. I have told Pammy that it is obvious we can't live like we did before. There never was a marriage. If that is not different, then we will just have a rerun of disaster. But I can't give her a chance to prove herself if I don't allow her to come back home and try again. Will there be failure. Of course there will. But if she is headed in the right direction perhaps we might be able to walk together. The greatest miracle I have ever seen in my life was that Bill Cook was born of the Spirit of God. Jesus came into my heart and made me different. Only Christ can help Pammy. But if He does, I might have a wife. Several have insisted that my weakness is due to loneliness. My answer to that is that I lived successfully alone for 32 years in the Orient. I really don't feel this is the driving force. With God as my witness, I hope it is true that the main spring of my life is a commitment to do the will of God and live for His glory. Where would the Lord be glorified more; by putting her out and welding the door shut; or allowing the Lord to work in both of our lives that from an impossible mess Jesus can be glorified? If the later is the best option, then that is only possible if I open the door and give the Lord a chance to do a miracle in our hearts. I am not guaranteeing what will happen, but my prayers are intensely that Jesus might be the winner in our lives.

You might remember to pray for us. Arigato;

bill

Ticks

6 October 2013

Dear Phyllis,

This is very non-spiritual, but the biggest thing in my life for the past two weeks has been ticks. They are like the plagues of Egypt. I have had dogs all my life but this is a new experience.

Shortly after we were married the Lord gave us a lovely little puppy, Black Canyon. I suspected that the dog would be a major domestic problem, as I doubted that Pammy would have the same attitude towards raising dogs that I did. To me, dogs are like children, and have nearly all the privileges of children in the house. Pammy won round one as we discovered as soon as we brought Black Canyon home that she had fleas, and got relegated to be outside for a while. But as we got on top the flea problem, I was pleasantly surprised that Pammy's heart softened up to where Black Canyon had more privileges in the house than I thought I could negotiate. For two years Pammy's heart has moved up and down in what Black Canyon was allowed to do in the house, but basically she has had a very fortunate dog's-life.

Thais are very dog minded people. Dave Moore once remarked, “Is the a house in Thailand that doesn't have at least two dogs?”. Dogs are everywhere, and very few are tied up. The muban (housing area) where I live is really a very nice neighborhood. The people are all very friendly, and we have extremely few problems. Nearly all the dogs run freely. Black Canyon has the run of the entire muban with many friends she plays with everyday; and – to a large degree – she was allowed to be with us in the house. It would be hard to desire a better life.

Several months ago we realized that Black Canyon had acquired a large population of ticks, which caused a reduction of liberty in the house. Upstairs and the kitchen were generally off-limits. We did our best in trying to get a handle on that problem, but still noticed a number of ticks on the floor in the house.

After Pammy left two months ago Black Canyon's status was radically up-graded. She became my sole companion. She is the only one there when I came home at night. She is the only one with me as I eat supper, and she choose to sleep beside my bed on the floor beside me. Ever since she was a little puppy, she has always sat with me on my chase lounge chair in the morning for my time of devotions. This is a ritual we both enjoy very much. She is my only companion in the house.

In spite of my best efforts to control the ticks, I consistently got 20 to 30 ticks off her every night, and the house was alive with them. Singha, from the kindergarten, gave me some effective trick powder that has helped considerably. I give her a bath once a week with dog anti-tick soap, and the tick powder has cut down on the population 90%. But the house is like a farm or a zoo for the ticks.

There seem to be two categories. There are the large juicy blood suckers that are the size of water melon seeds. And there are smaller little black ones that look like sesame seeds. They are 2-3 mm (1/8 inch) and very hard to kill. The only way you can kill them is with your finger nails. Squashing with your thumb doesn't do a thing. The big juicy ones are almost gone. I seldom find one, but the little back ones are like pepper on mashed potatoes. I find them almost any place I look. The other night I thought I better check my bed before I went to sleep. I found 10 of them on the bed. Then I checked my pajamas and got 6 off them. It is not uncommon to feel something crawling up my leg; and, on more occasions than I wish, I find one crawling on me. I have had to scrape some off with my finger nails. But I think I am winning, and day by day there are fewer. I have been too poor to buy a can of bug spray, but I do hope to get one soon. If I can get some spray and clean the house, I believe I will generally be on top again.

There is another strange phenomenon that has happened in that I have come down with a number of bug bites on my body like I have never had before. For some unknown reason, most of these bites are in the part of my body where the sun never shines, and it never gets tanned. I have to inspect a lot of these sores with a mirror. I don't know what is causing these sores but I hope I can get rid of them soon.

Along on the medical front, this past week has been a bit challenging. Fifty years ago I severely damaged my kidneys by Spartan living. I was like the man who trained his horse to live on only fresh air and exercise. He cut back on hay, a little less each day, until he got the horse trained. Tragically, after all that effort, the horse died. I was doing the same thing trying to see how little I could eat and still stay alive. I was doing quite well until I collapsed. I wound up in the states for a medical furlough. The doctor told me that I had a lifelong problem with my kidneys. The Lord healed me, and I generally have been fine ever since. Ten years ago I was coming back from Laos when I started to have a crisis of having to go to the bath room every 15-20 minutes; and there simply was no holding it. I was passing blood with each trip to the toilet. It was a long night on a VIP bus from Udon Thani in far east Thailand to Chiang Mai, but I felt much better the next day. Ten days ago I had a similar attack where I was going to the bathroom every 15 minutes passing blood each time. I stayed home the next day, and felt fine. But then Wednesday it kicked up again. The second time it was worse. I have been working at Gary's house which is about 20 minutes away. I left work early, and was concerned whether or not I could get home on my bike fast enough. As a safe guard I stuffed a large wad of rags in my shorts as a poor mans Kotex.. That was a good move as I didn't make it. But by resting and refraining from coffee, my problem has cleared up. Everyone is insisting that I go to a hospital, but Jesus is a much better physician than they have in the hospitals, and He is much cheaper. Really, I am fine today.

I have been in a terrible financial trial for many months. In July Pammy drew two months support out of our account. That meant that I had to go two month with nothing of my regular support from Japan. The other day Singha gave me an envelop with “for rent” written on the outside. I have no idea how he knew what my rent was or that I had no money. But that covered the rent. Then the other day a man stuck a paper on the post in front of my house. I asked Singha what it was. He said it was an electric bill. The electricity had not been paid for two months, and, if I didn't pay it that day, they would disconnect my meter. He asked me if I had money for it. Silence. He asked me several times how much money I had. I really didn't know what to say. Finally he demanded, “Show me what you have in your wallet.” I showed him 90 baht. The bill was for 485 baht ($17). He then gave me 500 baht and told me to pay the electric bill. The Lord has been good in meeting my needs.

Gary asked me if I had any money in Japan. I said I didn't know but I planned to send Hirota an email that night. He said, “Why don't you call?”. That seemed impossible. Then he pulled something that must be one of the greatest technological miracles of the past decade. He got his computer and asked me Hirota's number. I told him it wouldn't work, but he gave me a head set with a mike. Seconds later a voice on the other end said, “Moshi moshi” (hello). I couldn't believe it. Oh my goodness, it was just like being back in Japan talking to Miyuki. Another miracle was that she works every day, but happened to be home when I called.

Miyuki is one of the greatest Christian women I know. I have told you about her before. She is one of the greats. Watchman Nee said the greatest problem in the church today is the fact that the people with one talent aren't using it (Mt. 25:14-30). Miyuki is a faithful two talent Christian. She is not outstanding. She can't sing, preach, or lead a meeting. She has never done anything like that. But she is one of the most rock solid faithful believers I have ever met. And she has one of the most unusual testimonies.

Miyuki was a career woman with no interest in marriage. She had been in business, and – through no fault of her own – the business went belly up, and she got stuck with a terrible debt for bankruptcy. She was at a cross roads in life, and had to start all over again. She didn't want to make a mistake the second time, and decided her best bet was to inquire through a reliable fortune teller. She had a close friend, Kajino san, who had got stung badly by a false fortune teller. She felt Kajino san was the best person she could ask for an introduction to a trustworthy fortune teller. Kajino san told her the best fortune teller she knew was Bill Cook in Ikoma. Miyuki called me and came for a fortune teller session.

When she showed up at the house, I asked her what she wanted. She told me her circumstance, and wanted someone to give her reliable advice about what path to choose in life. I told her, “You have come to the right place. I know the best One you could possibly ask”; and I introduced her to Jesus. Miyuki was going to New York in three weeks to be the manager of a Japanese restaurant for six months. I told her to come every night until she left for the states. I was planning on leading her to Christ the next night, but when I asked if she wanted to accept Jesus, she told me she already had. “When?” “Last night. I did want you told me.” I couldn't remember that I had told her that much but obviously there was enough in the conversation so she had asked Jesus to come into her heart to be her savior.

Hirota had been coming to our house for about six months before then, and Kajino san had asked Hirota to take Miyuki out to Ikoma to see us. I had no idea the interest he had in her, but soon he was on her like a bird dog on a pheasant. He wrote her every day when she was in New York . After fulfilling her contract in New York, Miyuki returned to Japan, but had no place to live. We invited her to live with us. That was one of the best moves we ever made. Hirota was out to our house every night holding her hand as they sat in front of our fireplace. He was determined to marry her. She had no interest, but she saw in the scripture that God made woman to be a help-mate for man, and Hirota was a man who needed help. Simply in obedience to Christ she married him.

What a mess! You talk about a dysfunctional marriage; now there you have one. It would be hard to get worse. Miyuki said if she wasn't a Christian that marriage wouldn't have lasted six months. They are totally different. She is as responsible a business person – or in anything else – as you will ever find. And he is as irresponsible as it is possible to be and still stay out of jail. He had his own business, but seldom went to his office or answered phone calls, His irresponsibility drove her mad. The rascal was a 12 year old spoiled boy in a mans body.

But Miyuki was determined to honor Jesus. She supported her husband and placed herself under him. By doing so she made him to be a man of God. She had no interest in cooking or being a house wife, but she has become a legend as one of the finest cooks you will ever meet. Her meals are five star. And their home is as Christ centered as you can get. They have one of the best marriages I know. Not because they are a good match, but because only Jesus could make it work – and He has.

Yesterday I used my ATM card for the first time in many months and I hope I am out of the wilderness for a while. Thank God.

                                                                                 bill