Saying Goodbye to 2013 and Updates

29 December 2013

Dear Phyllis,

Well, this is it. We have come to the end of 2013. Amazingly, every economist and prophet I have read in this past year have missed their guess. The US economy didn't collapse, and the Russians haven't invaded. But the downward spiral has increased at a terrifying rate. On Christmas day I was teaching at the children's school, and taught the children Jesus Loves Me. I told them that Christmas was the day when God became a man. What a privilege to live in a country where there is freedom and religious liberty. I thought that it would be impossible to speak so freely about Christ in America. To be honest, we must admit that liberals have accomplished at the ballot box what Russians couldn't do with atomic bombs. Millions of American men have fought for 70 years to protect our freedom, and now we awake to discover that we have lost it. Twice Americans have voted for a man who has a radical communist agenda, and a total disregard for the American constitution. And there is nothing they can do about it for another three years. There is no question but what this is the judgment of God, and the failure must be placed at the door of the church.

But is good here in the Orient. Christmas was wonderful. Christmas morning the Lord delighted me was one of the most wonderful gifts He could have given me. My sight. Man howdy, I had a good time. My home in Karuizawa was the finest place I have ever lived. It was up on a hill, and the view was spectacular. I could see five mountain ranges. On clear days I never tired of gazing off in the distance at those beautiful mountains. But not every day was clear. On rainy days it was just a damp mist with no view. Spiritual things are like that. Some days we can see clearly, and other days, try as we might, but the spiritual view will just not come into focus. Christmas day was like standing with Moses on Pisgah where I could see 100 km. There was a tremendous satisfaction and gratefulness that I could clearly see many things that were just mysteries in years past. Jesus said to the disciples, “Blessed are your eyes for you see things that prophets desired to look upon” Lk. 10:23,24). And we can see more today than they could then. In talking with Singha the other day he told me how thrilled he is that today he can see many things that were just sealed mysteries last year. Looking back over my own life, well do I recall many spiritual truths that I wondered at then, but clearly understand now. Oh sight is wonderful! What a blessing!

The biggest news in town is Paul and Marisa. Paul humbly, and accurately, says he is nothing, and isn't doing anything. That is true, but he does have the privilege of riding a bus that is a Jesus tour, the likes of which, I have never seen. Marisa had radical surgery for cancer two weeks ago and now has to undergo chemo therapy. The health service here in Thailand is very good. For cancer patients undergoing chemo therapy, they form them in support groups, rather than having each woman go through her trail alone. Tuesday Marisa had to go to the hospital all day to get briefed on what she is going to face for the next few weeks.

Paul said, when they got to the hospital the scene was exactly what you would expect in a cancer ward. It looked like death row with all the women sitting there waiting for the executioner to come by and snuff out their life. The women were talking, but mostly about Buddha; and several gals were doing their thing desperately trying to win some favor. Marisa walks in looking radiant like it was her wedding day. Marisa is a walking model of one filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Pet. 1:8). This is not a tenant of theology for her, but a daily reality. The contrast was startling. When they saw her joy they asked, “What are you doing here? Do you have cancer?” Actually her case was the most serious in the room. Marisa explained that her joy was because she had Jesus. Christ had come into her heart; God was her Father, and He loved her very much. She spoke to the gal that was doing her Buddha thing the most seriously and asked if that helped. “No, I am very scared. The more it do this, the more frightened I become.” Marisa explained that she had been a ardent Buddhist, and had done everything that these women were doing – and more. She said, “I prayed to Buddha for 20 years, and had a terrible life. But then, when I invited Jesus in, my life has been filled with joy.” Needless to say, none of these women had ever heard of anything like that. What she was offering was something they all desperately wanted, and she had a room full of seekers. They begged her, “What is your telephone number? Where do you live? May I come to see you?” Marisa passed out tracts to everyone in the room, including the doctors and nurses. That wasn't enough. They wanted more tracts, and asked her if she had anything more to give them. As the deal was an all day affair, Paul left Marisa at the hospital, and went home. He said when he went back at 3:00 in the afternoon he couldn't believe the sight. What had looked like death row that morning was now a scene that looked like they were having a baby shower. Everyone was smiling and laughing. He had never seen such a radical transformation. Days later the telephone was ringing and one lady had become a Christian. Marisa thanks God for the privilege of going through this valley. He has given her a testimony that would be impossible any other way. Sometimes there are people in a boat that you can only reach by sitting beside them. Flying over and calling out to them over a megaphone is very hollow. But siting beside them with the same problem, speaks an irresistibly message.

When I was in pilot training, I had the privilege of attending a Friday night Bible study in the home of Major General Paxton. They were some of the wealthiest people in Mississippi and had a beautiful home on the Mississippi river. Ruth Paxton was one of the finest Bible teachers in the south. She told how one time she and her husband were attending a state dinner in London. During the dinner, someone said something about the end of the world. Ruth bust out, “Oh no! It is not going to end like that.” People looked at her and wondered, who is this woman that knows the future? Ruth took her Bible out of her purse and began to explain end time prophesy. She was unconscious of what was going on until she looked up and saw that nearly everyone in the room had gathered around her listening to her share the Bible.

This is the way it is with Marisa. Paul said it wasn't enough to have event of a life-time in the hospital that day, but that evening they went to a meeting with some Shan people. The Shans are very tough and hard to reach. Marisa was not supposed to speak, but they had a rerun of the hospital again. Paul said people came from all over and sat for hours listening to Marisa open the Scripture. As it got late, they excused themselves, and said they had to go home. There was a loud protest. “No, please don't go home. Please tell us more.” There is no way you can produce a Bible study like that by preparation. That is simply an invasion of the Holy Spirit.

Even though Marisa is his wife, Paul is still bewildered by her everyday. Christmas eve, they were having a special time with their 12 children (these are mostly minority mountain kids living with them). Typically everyone was weeping. But Marisa was crying the hardest. Paul asked if it was because she had cancer, and was in pain. No, she was broken heart'd because Thailand does not love Jesus. She lamented, “Why did Jesus have to be born in a barn?” There wasn't a hair on her head that was thinking about herself, but she was in pain because Jesus suffered so much.

The next day Marisa had to go in for her first round with chemo. She had three hours of IV. The doctor couldn't get the needle in her at first, and was painfully poking. She was smiling. The doctor asked, “Doesn't this hurt?” “Of course it hurt, but Jesus had nails in His hands.” She considered her pain embarrassingly easy. The doctor told Paul he was reluctant to give Marisa that chemo as it was the most potent stuff they had. He said the only reason he did so was because her case was so serious. The briefing was that after six hours the toxic substance would kick in, and everyone would be deathly sick for three days. Retching was unavoidable, and they were advised to eat very little for three days. Of the 20 women, Marisa was the only one who didn't throw up. She was sick, but not too bad. Then the next day, when she was supposed to be in bed deathly ill, she told Paul, “I feel so good, let's go shopping.” Unbelievable. The doctor had given her pills to help her combat her side-effect sickness, but by the end of the second day she told Paul, “I fell so good I am going to throw my pills away.” Ordinarily she eat moderate portions, but Paul said she was eating like a horse. He asked, “Why are you eating so much?” “Because I am hungry.”

Thai food is obscene. Everything is fiery hot. They have some chili here that should be banned for being life-threatening. That is more nuclear than plutonium. If I get that stuff near my mouth it burns my lips. If I get it in my mouth, respiration is over for ten minutes, and it is an hour before I can taste anything. That stuff is so hot, a stick of it placed in a freezer it would defrost the entire refrigerator. Marisa eats that stuff like M and Ms. Who needs chemo with hot chilly like that?

Paul comes by nearly every day to give me an update on what is going on. The cancer is really a minor issue, but the things the Holy Spirit is doing is the main topic of conversation.

The other day the Lord blessed me in a most unusual way. Jesus called me His brother. Oh can you believe that!? The ramifications of all that is involved in that are enormous. Obama has a half brother that he ignores, who is living in poverty. But Jesus is very involved with His brothers. It is the reason He became a man, so He could honestly say that we are His brothers. I was reading in John 20:17 where Jesus told Mary, “Go tell my brethren, and say to them I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to My God and your God.” Oh my goodness, that is bottomless. When I read that, my mind immediately went to Heb. 2:11 where we read, “For which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren”. The reason He can say that is because we are all born of the same Father having the same seed. The Spirit that was in Jesus when He came into this world is the same Spirit that is born in our hearts when we are born-again. This reference in John is the first time that Jesus refereed to us as His brethren. It involves a very deep relationship.

We are indebted to Jesus for bringing to us a new term in the Bible to call God Father. That is a term that is almost entirely missing in the OT. The first time Jesus used that term was when He was 12 in the temple, when He said, “wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?” But then in the Sermon on the Mount He frequently used the term “your Father”.

Of course I have known the theology of this for many years. But to have Jesus personally and directly speak to me calling me His brother, had a profound impact on me. Oh, there is so much of me that is simply head knowledge. But that is not what life is all about. It is not what we know of the Bible, but a daily relationship with the God of the Bible. You can't feel the touch of His hand by reading verses. That only comes by direct contact with Jesus. When we hear His voice saying “Bother” that carries more weight than years of Bible study.

Well, here we go again; closing out one spent year, and beginning a new one. Will this be the year? Let's hope so.

Your brother in the bonds of our wonderful Lord Jesus,

                                                                                             bill

Hang On to Jesus

22 December 2013

Dear Phyllis,

Tradition insists that this should be a Christmas letter. We are three days away from that once-a-year mega holiday celebration, but I am not in the Christmas mood. By way of weather, Thailand is doing its best to join the world in celebration a white Christmas. It never snows in Thailand, but winter has descended upon us in its furry. The temperature here has plummeted to the low 50s F; below which, human life on planet earth might become extinct. At least I would be the first to die. There are no heaters in cars in Thailand, and no stoves in houses. The main hope of survival is in layers of warm clothing. I am wearing socks for the first time since last February. I still sit outside on my chase lounge chair where I meet with Jesus every morning. But I sit here with a winter jacket on.

My letter last week was from Malaysia, where I had gone to get a new one year Thai visa. In it, I expressed my usual apprehensions, but signed off with the expression, “I hope the Lord gives me a one year visa”. He didn't.

Monday, when I went to the Thai consulate, and was told that all they would grant me was a three months single entry visa, I felt like my little boat was a canoe at sea in a typhoon. I am trying to steer a straight course, but my little boat keeps getting spun around, and my compass is swinging back and forth like a chandelier in a Richter 9 earthquake. At this point I can only guess which way is north. Unlike Moab, I keep getting poured from bottle to bottle so many times, the neck of the bottle is starting to look like home (Jer. 48:11).

A year ago I wrote a letter sharing the joy and bliss of having a family again with a wife and a beautiful three year old daughter. I had a wonderful home, I was doing well working with a Thai church, and it looked like, at last, my little ship had come to a peaceful harbor. But then everything came unglued. We lost Annie. Financial disaster struck like mountain falling on us. In July I felt the Lord had closed my time in Thailand and wrote a letter saying I was on my way to west China. My letter next week would be from Laos; the first step of my journey to get there. Then I discovered that that move was impossible. My marriage went to zero; and then came back to life again. Now I am refused a one year visa; this casts a shadow over my future in Thailand again. I don't know.

Last week I told about my trip going to Malaysia. The trip returning home was a tough one. There were no train tickets, and I had to go by bus all the way. The bus was a minivan that was leaving at 5:00 AM. There is a one hour time difference between Thailand and Malaysia, which meant, Thai time, the “bus” was leaving at 4:00 AM. The Lord woke me up at 2:30, so I got a shower and had devotions before getting in the minivan at 4:00. That was the high light of my entire trip. There was a very fine young American couple sitting next to me with whom I had a productive time talking to for four hours until we got to Hatyai, Thailand; where I had to get the connecting bus to Bangkok. That bus turned out to be another minivan, with my legs jammed up against the seat in front of me. It was supposed to leave at 9:00 AM and get in Bangkok by 7:00 PM. If it did, I had a good shot at getting a night bus out of Bangkok, which would get me home early Thursday morning. I will leave out the details of what happened that day, but the van that was supposed to get us to Bangkok at 7:00 finally got there at 1:00 AM. Everything at the bus terminal was closed down. Fortunately I was able to get horizontal on the seats in the waiting room, and got two hours sleep. That was the first time I had been less than 90 degrees straight up since 2:30 the morning before. At 5:30 AM I got the bus for Chiang Mai that got me home at 4:00 PM Thursday evening. It had been exactly one week since I had left for my visa run, and 32 hours since I started on my trip home. It had cost me $300 and one week to get a temporary three months visa. Obviously, I can't do that indefinitely to stay in Thailand. What do I do now?

In my weakness, I had some uncomplimentary thoughts about the Lord. I didn't think that was a real good answer to prayer. But in my devotions the next morning I read of the Bride of Christ saying, “Awake O north wind, and come thou south: blow upon my garden that the spices there of may flow out. Let my Beloved come into His garden, and eat His pleasant fruit” (S of S 4:16). That made a difference, and explained some questions. It takes both the north and the south wind to maximize the fragrance of the garden. And, undoubtedly, the flowers smell the sweetest with the north wind.

Years ago I heard a conference speaker tell how he had moved to a new city, and was shopping in a new super market. He saw on the honey shelf, among the several varieties of honey, there was a jar of orange blossom honey, and another one of thistle honey. To give it a try, he bought some thistle honey; and found it was delicious. He thought, “any bee could make good honey out of orange blossoms, but it took a real bee to make honey out of thistles”.

There may be some glory to God when everything turns out well, but the greatest glory goes to God when the cold north wind of adversity blows upon the garden, and the sweet fragrance of Christ comes out. There is little credit to the Lord when we smile at the pleasant south wind. But if Christ can be honored the most when everything seems to go against us; then that is what is best. After all, the name-of-the-game is not what the temperature is, but what do the flowers smell like. That is why the Lord made flowers – to make the world a more pleasant place. Amy Carmichael, undoubtedly, had her greatest impact for the Kingdom of God when she was confined to her bed in Dohnavur, India. The saints who have had the greatest fragrance for Christ are the ones who have suffered the most. This has reminded me that my complaining smells more like raw garbage than fragrant flowers – and that is not what Christ is after.

This morning Pastor Kichikun asked me to speak 10 minutes on the meaning of Christmas. That was the first time I have spoken in church since last August.

Last week I asked the children at the kindergarten what Christmas was. The general opinion was that it was Santa Clause's birthday. That is the same, as most people in Japan believe Christmas is Santa's birthday. I told the folks, that is the wrong answer. Christmas is Christ's birthday. When I ask how long ago that was, most people have no idea. Then I asked, “What year is it?” 2013. Why is it 2013? Then I explained the advent of the birth of Christ is the division of time for humanity. The history of time is divided into BC and AD. This is the most significant event on this planet since Adam first opened his eyes in the Garden.

The world may not know what Christmas is, but one signal they got straight is that Christmas is a time for giving presents. More money changes hands for Christmas than any other day of the year – world wide. Why is it a custom to give gifts on Christmas? Because it was on that day God gave His greatest gift. What did He give? There was a large poster on the wall with John 3:16 written on it. I said, “The answer to that question is on the wall over there.” God so loved the world that He gave His Son.

Several years ago Gotthold Beck had a man in his church in Tokyo that was a steward working for JAL. Gotthold said, “You must have a lot of opportunity to witness for Christ on those flights”. Ozaki san hadn't thought much about that, but took the challenge seriously. Shortly after that, he was the steward on a flight out of Tokyo on Christmas eve. Japan Air Lines had a special promotion that time to pass out Christmas gifts to passengers. It was Ozaki's responsibility to make the announcement. Shortly after take off, when the bird leveled off at cruising altitude, Ozaki san came on the intercom saying, [“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard JAL flight 307. Tonight is Christmas eve. The Bible says, 'For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end.' (Isa. 9:6). On behalf of Japan Air Line we would like to give each of you a gift tonight...”] Brilliant! Ozaki san could not have done better. He had the Christmas message. JAL passed out small Christmas presents, and God's gift was a small one – about 3 kilograms. But that Baby grew to be the Savior. Isaiah 9:6 certainly is the Christmas message, and tells everything.

I told the folks, “The birth of Christ was the division of the history of humanity, and it will be the division of the history of your life also. Time is divided before and after Christ, and it will the same in your life. When Jesus is born in your heart, your life will start.”

The first thing Isa. 9:6 tells us after it declares “unto us a Son is given”, is that “the government shall be upon His shoulders”. It must be so. If the government is not on His shoulder, He will not be to us a wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. Isaiah goes on to promise us that “of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end”. The significant thing here is that His government precedes His peace. And His peace will extend in your life only as far as His government. I believe it can be safely said that, if we have no peace, it is because the government is not operative in our life.

Of the strife in the Middle East, Rush Limbaugh correctly says, “There will be no lasting peace until one side wins a decisive victory”. Real peace is only possible where there is a clear cut victory. There was no peace in Japan until MacArthur was in Tokyo. When Jesus is comfortably settled in charge of our life, then there will be real peace.

But there is another aspect to this. To be honest, the best Christians sometimes have sleepless nights. It may be easier to talk about this than to do it, but the answer here again is putting the government on Jesus' shoulder. When we do that, our shoulder gets lighter. This is a message to me. I always get more out of my own messages than anyone else in the room. With an ill-defined future in front of me, I must put the government on Jesus' shoulder, and let Him worry about it.

As wonderful as this message is, it still doesn't sink in until we get to the bottom line. If it is up to me to make Jesus to be in charge of my life, and allow Him to steer the ship; all the promises in the Bible would be awfully shaky. If it is up to me to hang onto Jesus, my grip is too weak. But the bottom line assures us, “The zeal of the Lord will perform this.” Oh hallelujah! Praise the Lord! If the Father has gone to the trouble of sending His Son to us, He probably will see to it that His intended purpose will get accomplished. He has promised us that the zeal of the Lord will do it.

I didn't get that far in my message this morning. Kichikun asked me not to preach and keep my remarks to 10 minutes. I sat down at 9 minutes and 45 seconds.

It is good to be home. Have a wonderful, holy, happy, and merry Christmas. The Lord has come.

                                                     bill

On the Visa Run-2013

15 December 2013

Dear Phyllis,

Today I am writing you from Penang, Malaysia. I came down here yesterday by train to get another one year Thai visa. Thai visas are a real pain to get, but I found a visa service in Penang, and have been down here four previous times. Brother Singha of the children school tried to get me a teaching visa, but it was too difficult. But he graciously gave me the money to get a volunteer visa that I have had for five years, sponsored by my good friends the Moores and their foundation, Abba House.

The financial desert continues. Five weeks ago my dear friend, Hirota, sent me a new ATM card from Japan. It never arrived. Three days ago I told him to cancel that one and send me a new one. It usually takes about a month from the time I ask him to get me an ATM card, to the time I have it in my hand. But this time I asked him to send it Fed Ex or some similar way. If all goes well we might have it in a week, but that meant I had to come down here with no ATM card or safety net. I hoped Singha had given me enough for my trip and visa but there was no provision for unforeseen emergencies. Praise the Lord another brother, gave me additional funds hours before I left Chiang Mai. I was so relieved to have adequate resources that I was very liberal with my eating after I got to Bangkok. I spent so much money the first day that I decided to live like a monk until I got back to Thailand. I spent zero money for food the first day here, and plan to live basically out of 7-11 with potato chips and water. I am staying in the cheapest room in my guest house that cost $10 a day. It is an 8x8 (8 feet) room with no AC or window. Previously, I have always rented a motor bike, and ridden around the island, going to deserted beaches to spend the days. This time I plan to stay shut up in my cell and not go out. By doing this, I can basically see my way here for the next three or four days. I got here on Saturday which makes my stay two days longer than usual.

Praise God all has gone well thus far, but I am a little concerned about my visa. I had a very good visa service that, more or less, guaranteed my visa. This time I was surprised to discover that my guest house and visa service had moved. I had considered them a very stable, reliable, outfit. I asked, “What happened to the Banana Guest House?”; and was informed they had moved across the street. That was alright, but the staff is totally different, and it looks like they are going backwards. A change in staff is not a good omen. I hope they can still get me my visa tomorrow.

This morning when I woke up the Lord met me with the most wonderful verse. I opened my Bible at random and read, “I have called thee by thy name: thou art Mine. When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee... Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He... (Isa. 43:1,2,10). All of that 43^rd chapter of Isaiah is fantastic, but those verses were underlined in my Bible and had special meaning for me today. My goodness, what more can the Lord say? How is it possible not to trust Him? I have had 56 years of proving God's faithfulness... and yet I struggle.

I have told you that I am stuck in John 17. I have been there for a couple of months, and there is no end in sight. I am trying to memorize it – not for the sake of memorizing it – but that it might get in my heart. There is nothing like it in print anywhere. Here Jesus shows us the inside of His heart and His amazing relationship with His Father. I believe that we see more of the purpose and objective of heaven here than another place. Here we get an unclouded view inside the heart of God.

Every day different words stand out to me. But frequently they pose more questions than answers. I don't believe you could pick one central word, but the possible list is very small. At the moment I am hung up on the word ONE. Jesus uses it six times (vrs. 11,21,22,23). One major theme of Jesus' prayer is, that it is for His disciples. First He prays that the Father will “keep them through His Name, that they may be one as we are” (vr,11). But in verse 20 and 21 Jesus is praying for those who will be saved through the ministry of His disciples. He is praying for all future believers “that they all may be one. As Thou, Father, art in Me ad I in Thee that they also may be one in Us.” Then He goes on to say, “And the glory that Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one. I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one.”

You can't make it any more clear than that. But that raises a whole bucket of questions. What is He praying about? Where is it? How does that affect us? What does it say to me?

Fifty years ago, ecumenicalism was a major thrust. I haven't heard much about it in recent years, but friends tell tell me that it is back on the radar screen. Fifty years ago the National Counsel of Churches and the Word Counsel of Churches (NCC and WCC) had a big push to get everybody together. In their battle cry, the main theme was John 17. They said Jesus was praying for the unity of all Christians so all Christian should all come together under their roof. Their theme was unity. The way they were going to accomplish this was by subtraction. They would eliminate anything that was a divisive issue. The biggest division in Christianity is between conservatives and liberals. Conservatives believe in the inspiration and infallibility of the Scriptures, and liberals reject the Bible. Conservatives believe in the deity of Christ, and liberals believe that He was just a man. They go bonkers at the suggestion that Jesus was the Creator. In order for Christians to come together they suggested that conservatives abandon their position on the infallibility of the Bible and their insistence that Jesus was God. It is funny how liberals never give up anything, but conservatives must give up their core beliefs. In order to broaden their base, Fuller Theological Seminary deleted their position on the Bible from their statement of faith.

The next step was to bring all Protestants and Catholics together. To accomplish this the Catholics had to accept Protestants as true Christians and ease up on the Bible. Liberal Catholics theologians were willing to do this. In return Protestants had to give more homage to the Pope. Billy Graham called the Pope the greatest spiritual revivalist of the 20^th century.

May I say, flat out, that none of this has anything to do with the oneness that Jesus is praying about in John 17. He is not praying for unity achieved by deleting basic principles, but oneness in Christ. Time and again He holds up His relationship, His oneness, with the Father. There are few subjects that bless me more than to contemplate on the relationship Jesus had with His Father. You talk about being on the same page; you can't get more than that. They had exactly the same heart. They had exactly the same goals, objectives, agenda, etc. They had the same abandonment and commitment to each other. The Father had committed all things to the Son and the Son lived exclusively for the glory of the Father. There was no selfishness in that at all. It was not a 50-50 deal, but at 100-0, 100-0 deal. Oh how beautiful is this picture!

But this is the relationship that Jesus is praying for that He might have with His own people. He longs to be truly one with His people. There is only one way that that is possible. Both sides must be as totally abandoned and committed to each other, just as He is with His Father. There is no restraint on Jesus side. The problem is on our side. If we were as committed to Jesus as He is to the Father, we would have the same oneness. In His prayer, Jesus prays that “they be one as we are”, “even as We are one” and that “they may be made perfect in one” Jesus holds up the standard of His relationship with the Father as the model He desires for His believers. The only way there is going to be spiritual unity among Christians is when all believers are united to Christ just as Christ is united to His Father. This business of deleting Jesus from the equation to achieve unity is insanity. There must be vertical oneness with God before there can be horizontal oneness among men.

When I see that Jesus is praying that His believers have that same relationship, oneness, as His objective, that makes sense. Why should it be less? If it was less it would not be divine. In Rev. 19:7,8 and 21:2,9,10 we see a glimpse of the Bride. I have no problem believing that she is exactly as Jesus has prayed for. I believe she will be perfect. I can believe that Jesus will have the same relationship with His Bride that He has with His Father. And I can believe that they all will be one in heaven. Jesus with His Bride and the Bride being “one in Us”. Clearly this is the objective, and someday it will be achieved.

But oh, where are we today? I am glad that the Lord is so realistic. In the Pauline and general epistles, in the NT, we see all the writers pleading in the same direction. That means that the churches in the 1^st century had the same problems that plague us today. More than that, when we read of the Seven Churches in Revelation 2 and 3, we don't see anything that resembles what Jesus was praying for in John 17. Those churches, with one exception, were shot through with major problems. What can we do?

I see no solution other than the one the Lord prescribes to the churches in Revelation – repent. Repent of specific faults. If something is wrong, correct it! I can't do that for everyone, but I certainly can take responsibility for the specific sins in my own life. There is no justification for allowing known sin to continue in anyones life. My goal in life is to be so joined to Jesus as He is with His Father. The way that was achieved in Jesus was the the Father was in Him. Praise God, we have the same option. The very Spirit of God dwells in us. Obviously, I am not going to be perfect in the flesh, but as I allow the Spirit of God to have more control of my life, my life will be brought closer to the standard that Jesus has established.

I think the answer to our problem is in obeying what Jesus commanded in John 14:4 “Abide in Me and I in you”. In doing this, Jesus gave us the perfect illustration – the vine and the branches. That is so simple. Obliviously, the branch is powerless to accomplish anything other than to allow the sap of the vine to flow through it. The branch can't grunt hard enough to produce fruit. The branch can't make resolutions to do better. There is only one method. There is life in the vine. That life is capable to producing branches. And those branches are capable of allowing the life of the vine to flow through it so there is fruit. The more we abide in Christ, the more the Spirit of God is able to conform us to what He desires us to be. And as we become more perfectly joined to Jesus the more we will have oneness among ourselves.

There is a oneness in a common purpose. Football fans are certainly perfectly joined in oneness for their team. A spirit of nationalism brings a country together. There are many things that people have in common that bring them together. Mans great goal is world peace. To achieve this there is a tremendous move towards globalization. The ecumenicalists are pointing to John 17 as their reason for uniting. But there simply is no true oneness apart from oneness in Jesus.

Oh my goodness, the Lord speaks to me trough that chapter. And if He is speaking to me about something, that is a pretty good indication that He intends to do that in my life.

Praise God! I hope He gives me a visa.

                                                                   bill

              

From Bad to Worse

8 December 2013

Dear Phyllis,

Last week I wrote my heart was so full I scarcely knew where to start. This week my heart is full again – but with the bad stuff. This past week has been one challenging week. Thursday night, at 3:00 AM, I had a mild panic attack, which is extremely rare for me. I have had very few attacks like that in my life.

One thing I have had to keep in mind is that it takes both the good and bad in life. It takes cold weather to make sweet apples. It takes tribulation to make tough Christians. It takes battles to make harden soldiers. You can't have up if you don't have down. You can't have hot if you don't have cold No one would know what good is if they didn't know what bad was.

Secondly the Lord reminded me of the Inverted Kingdom. If what Jesus said is actually true, then those who mourn are the blessed ones (Mt. 5:4). Jesus said that the first shall be last and the last first. He that loses his life shall keep it, and he that keeps his life shall lose it, etc. James says the the Lord has chosen the poor to be rich in faith (Jm. 2:5), and that the rich should weep and howl for the misery that shall come to them (Jm. 5:1). (I'm not sure this applies to all rich, but to those who misuse it.) Jesus said that the poor widow who put 2 cents in the offering gave more than all the wealthy (Mk. 12:41-44). It would appear that poverty is wealth, and wealth is poverty.

If this is true then I am a very rich man. I have looked at the bottom of the barrel so long that, if seeing were sandpaper, I would have worn a hole in it. Several years ago a friend asked me to make a tree house for his children. One day I had to walk two kilos to buy 50 cents of screws. As I was walking I was thinking about how poor I was, and what a tough life I had. As I was walking along the Lord spoke to me and said, “I am allowing you to walk in Jesus shoes.” I thought that is true. Jesus didn't ride around in a Toyota pickup truck. He didn't have a shiny Honda motor bike. He walked everywhere He went, and when He went into Jerusalem He had to borrow a donkey. I was the only turkey in Chiang Mai that didn't have a car or bike. It was a privilege to walk in Jesus shoes. But I told the Lord, “That is wonderful that You are teaching me to walk in Jesus shoes, but if You do, then You must change the size of my foot. The shoes don't fit.”

My friend Steve just got back from a wonderful time preaching in Nagaland. That is one of the most unusual places on this planet. They have had three revival in the past 100 years, and Nagaland is one of the most Christian places the world has ever seen. They are close to 100% Christian, and probably have sent out the more missionaries per capita than any nation today. Nagaland is in the extreme northeast corner of India. They are in India by gun point, but ethnically they are closer to the Burmese, as they are on the west border of Burma. The British divided the country but they couldn't change the people. One hundred years ago they were head hunters, but today they are missionaries. I was there for a missionary training school five years ago, but was never invited back. Steve had a great time and they invited him to come back in three months.

That reminded me of the basic course of my life. I have been run out of every place I have ever been. There has never been a place where I have ministered, and after a successful time, was invited to go to a higher position. I have always been showed to the door. I don't know anyone who can match my record.

A few years ago I was invited to go to Mae Sai to teach in an Akah Bible school. There was a very fine Akah brother up there who had a Bible school for Akah's living in Burma but could come over to Mae Sai daily for school. The first two weeks were wonderful. Solomon was thrilled with my teaching. The talk was that he wanted me to move to Mae Sai to live there teaching full time in his school. I have always wanted to do something like that, and it looked like my day had finally come. Then the third week, I was speaking to the students talking out of my heart telling them of problems they were going to face when they got out in the ministry. I said one of the stickiest problem was the male-female relationship, and I told them of issues I had had to face. After the first session, Solomon turned to me and pleaded, “Uncle Bill, please don't tell stories like that.” I apologized, and the next session I apologized to the students if I had said anything unwise. But again warned that that is a very dangerous issue. We got right in the middle of the next class when Solomon stopped interpreting, and told the students, “That is all for today.” Then he said to me in great stress, “Please go home.” That was a first time experience, but consistent with every place I have ever been. I didn't get thrown out of Nagaland, but I was never invited to come back.

The Lord has privileged me to be in a large number of places and do a lot of unusual things. But over each ministry, the portfolio reads “Failure. Closed down. Put out”. I don't know of anyone who can come close to my track record.

I don't know what has happened next door, but obviously there is a problem. I have known Pastor Kichikun for five years, and we have always had high respect for each other. Two years ago I made commitment to work full time with him in his church. For the previous three years I had been a frequently invited guest speaker. I have always had very good times speaking in his church and felt my messages were well received. He was pleased with my decision to work full time with him, and I was virtually an assistant pastor with him. I was scheduled to speak once a month. and sometimes when he was gone, I would speak two or three times a month. He had me be one of the top speakers at the Baptist National Conference a year and a half ago. That was a great privilege. He was in our home several times each week, and we enjoyed a very warm relationship. I have never had an issue with him or quarreled over anything. But since last August things have obviously cooled down. It has been five months since the last time I spoke. It has probably been two or three months since he has been in our home. Last week he asked if I was going to be here next year. Of course I am. I live here. Then he embarrassedly asked if I could help out with the church suggesting that I might speak once or twice. That was not a genuine request, but only a social remark to say something proper at an awkward moment. I don't know what to do. I don't want to pull out, but at the same time I feel like an embarrassment to be there.

The accumulative pressure of many things is hard on me. I feel like an unwanted guest at the Lord's table, and certainly one that the Lord has placed at the end of the line of favored servants. But I don't want to accuse the Lord unrighteously.

Ten years ago I was driving the NLL van to the eki (train station) to pick up a man. It was a nice day and very little traffic The road in front of me was clear for 400 meters except there was a coat or something in the road. As I went by I heard a slight thump like I had run over a rock or a bolt had come up to hit me. When I got to a curve 200 meters ahead a man stepped out in front of me to stop me. I had no idea what he wanted, but he surprised me by asking, “Do you have any insurance. This is a serious matter. We are going to have to call the police.” I thought, “What in the world is he talking about? Is he drunk?” Then shortly another man came up out of his mind. He was shouting, “An apology is not enough! An apology is not enough!” I was thoroughly bewildered. Then he pointed to my side mirror that was bent back.. I had struck him. Oh my goodness! I had struck a man! They were demanding that I take him to the hospital. I protested that I had to go to the eki to meet a man who was waiting for me. But as soon as I got him I would take the poor fellow to the hospital. Without waiting, they got in the car and demanded that I take them to the man's house. He went inside and came back with a pack on his arm. They kept muttering among themselves, “Gaijin da. Gaijin da.” (He's a foreigner.) Finally they said, “Go on.”

I went to the eki to pick up the man, and as soon as I got him to NLL, I immediately went back to see the victim to take the man to a hospital. When I got near the scene of the accident I saw them getting in a taxi. I got out of my van and went to speak to them. The fellow simply coarsely said, “Go on.”

I felt terrible. But the biggest problem was my relationship with the Lord. I always pray everyday before I start out and look dependently to Jesus to keep me from accidents. I try to drive responsibly, but I realize there are an enormous number of unseen things that can happen to you. If the Lord doesn't keep me, I am in bad trouble. But this was a very clear failure. I said to Jesus, “Lord, if this is what You call protection, I am finished.” Forget it! That is the end of me driving in Japan.” Oh my goodness I was put out. I thought, if Jesus takes His hand off me, it is all over.

Obviously, I had to keep driving, but where does prayer and the Lord's protection come in? For the next several weeks, every morning before I would start, I would pray, “Lord You can do anything You want. If You will protect me fine. If You want me to have an accident, then whatever You want.” That is pretty unorthodox prayer, but what else could I say? If Jesus heard prayer and kept me safe, that was fine. But if that wasn't what He had in mind,I was prepared to accept anything that He allowed to happen.

I wrote Neil Verwey about my problem, and he wrote back, “Bill, it was setup, and the Lord protected you.” I answered Neil saying, “I wish you were right, but I believe I really struck that man and the Lord did not protect me.”

Shortly after that I was in the hospital for 42 days. When got out someone told me there was a notice on the bulletin in the NLL dining hall saying there were two men running a scam pocketing a great deal of money from their victims. These men had been arrested and the police were interested in anyone who had had experience with them. I went to the police station, and told them my experience. They showed me a book with a hundred pictures of men. I picked out two, and the police told me I had picked the right ones. Then the police kept asking me, “Did you give them any money?” I replied, “No, I would have if I had any money, and they kept muttering, 'Gaijin da'.” They had ripped off some victims for thousands of dollars.

Neil was right. It was a setup and Jesus had protected me. I suspect that is the way it works in life. There are times when it looks like the Lord has taken His hand off us and allowed the bottom to fall out. But in retrospect we will see that He had His hand on us all along giving us the thing that we needed at that time. Regardless if it is raining here it is always a good day at 40,000 feet.

Paul and Marisa are going through it. The doctor told Marisa the other day, “It doesn't look good.” Fortunately that doesn't apply. Jesus holds the last card in His hand, and He will see that all will turn out for our good and His glory (Rom. 8:28).

Shimpai shinai de (don't worry). Jesus hasn't changed. He is still wonderful, and I am still in Him,

bill

Marisa and Paul: Faith

1 December 2013

Dear Phyllis

Sometimes Sundays are feast or famine. There are times when I sit down to write you, and have nothing to say. And at other times there is so much I scarcely know where to start. Today is one of those days that, if I wrote a letter longer than Obama Care, I couldn't get it all in. Perhaps the number one item this past week has been Paul and Marisa. I mean to tell you, they are one unusual family. They were as messed up as it is possible to get, and now they are a center piece for heaven.

It would be difficult to find a more amazing model Christian than Marisa. Two weeks ago, a biopsy confirmed that she had cancer, which required immediate surgery. At first it was scheduled for Friday. She was disappointed as she was a counselor for the Franklin Graham dendo meetings, and desperately wanted to go. Then, miraculously, the Lord provided the top cancer surgeon in northern Thailand to do the surgery; but that could only be done on Tuesday. Praise the Lord! Now she could go to the meetings. While all her family and friends were devastated over her illness, she was thanking God for this opportunity to demonstrate how wonderful it is to have the Lord at such a catastrophic time. Friday night, their recently adopted son, Joseph, came down with a bad fever. Her problem with cancer was minimal, but the fact that he was sick, was such a concern that she scarcely slept all night. She was exhausted Saturday night, and Paul suggested that she should stay home from the meetings. Marisa replied, “No, I want to work for God”. Fatigue was not the issue. Her desire to serve the Lord was dominant over everything. After her surgery, she was in petty intense pain. She cried and thanked the Lord for that experience as she said she never knew how much Jesus suffered for us. Her recovery was surprisingly fast and, she was discharged from the hospital Friday. She was previously schedule to lead the church service Sunday. I couldn't imagine anyone even going to church five days after major surgery – much less – be the song leader for the service. She thought it was a great opportunity to prove to others how wonderful Jesus is. Marisa had a mastectomy with the lymph nodes removed. Now she has to have radiation. It is important that she builds up the muscels in her shoulder around her arm pit for that radiation; but physical therapy is very painful. The doctor was amazed that she had nearly full movement with her arm so soon. She cheerful replied, “That is because Jesus is wonderful”. Indeed is His! The most amazing thing of what He has done is the miracle of transforming a woman who was a total mess to be a model Christian with no thought of herself. Everything that has come out of her heart has been a concern for the glory of God or the needs of others. I haven't heard of one word she has said about herself or her needs.

That is only half the story. The other half is Paul, and what the Lord has done for them. They don't come much worse than Paul was. He was a first class rat of the worst order, being unfaithful to his wife and a bad alcoholic. Today he is as transformed as you can get. His love for Marisa, his faithfulness to her, and his militant concern for her, is off the scale. Hours before surgery on Tuesday, there was a mix-up in the hospital over money, and a postponement for the surgery. Paul went out of his mind. He was downright violent at the registers office. He was shouting, “I don't care about money! My wife has cancer. Do you understand that? We are not postponing that surgery.” “Please, Mr. Almstead, calm down.” “I don't care! Call the police. I am not leaving here until this thing gets settled, and my wife has surgery”. He won. Paul stayed with her day and night in the hospital. He said he scarcely slept for four days.

Finances were a roller-coaster. At first the surgery was going to cost 60,000 baht ($200). They didn't have that money. There was no food in the house. Then the price went to 80,000; and – with the stay in the hospital and all the treatment – it would probably run over 100,000. And they would not release Marisa until the bill was paid. Paul had money coming from the states, but it would take a week to get here. Paul was almost beside himself wondering how they were going to get out of that jam. They are members of the Chinese church in Chiang Mai, which is probably the finest church in town. The church stepped forward, and said they would cover the bill, so Marisa could go home. Marisa had some land in Nakhon Sawan that she has been trying to sell for ten years. She sold it twice, but the buyers never paid her for it. The day she got out of the hospital the land was sold and she got 100,000 baht that day. You figure that one out. Then when Paul went to pay the hospital bill, he was stunned that the total was only 66,000 baht. Someone said, “That is impossible. Someone has made a mistake.”' But that is what he paid, and now they have more money than they know what to do with.

This has been an incredible testimony, but they still are a long ways from being totally out of the woods. Marisa still has chemo and radiation in front of her, and there are many test that have yet to be taken. There will always be that shadow over her for five years before they know that she is completely out from under this death threat. But Jesus is certainly with them holding them up, and proving Himself to them and others in a wonderful way.

This past week, in the classroom With Christ in the School of Prayer, the Lord spoke to me about being a friend of God. Oh my goodness. What volumes could and should be written about this subject. It is highly significant, when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, after His initial instruction, He told them an amazing parable (Lk. 11:5-9). The key thought in this parable is friendship. The Lord used that word four times. There is the man who goes to a friend at midnight to get bread, the man himself is a friend, and he has a friend who has come to him. In His teaching on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus emphasized the fatherhood of God. He raised the rhetorical question, “Ye being evil know how to give good things unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?” (Mt. 6:33). But here He is referring to friends. Fatherhood is based on birth, but friendship is based on conduct. Jesus said , “You are My friends if you do whatsoever things I command you” (Jn. 15:13). Being a friend is a special relationship. It was one of the most wonderful testimonies of Abrahan that he was known as a friend of God (Jm. 2:23). God doesn't have very many friends. But if someone is His friend that puts him in a special category. In His teaching on prayer, it is a blessing that Jesus should suggest that when we go to God we might go as one going to a friend. And it is a friend with whom we have the liberty to go to, even if it is midnight.

The second thing that Jesus taught us by this parable is that our chief concern should not be for ourselves, but the needs of others. If someone banged on the door at night and said, “Hey, buddy, I'm hungry and we don't have any bread in the house. Could you let me have a loaf so I could fix a sandwich.”. It isn't very likely that he would get a positive response. But when we come with the needs of others, that is more likely to ring a bell in God's heart. I doubt seriously that we would get much good teaching from Jesus if we asked Him how to pray so we could have new cowboy boots or a better car. That is not what prayer is for. Our ordinary concern should be the needs of others.

And the next thing our own poverty of not having enough to help them.

I'm sure I told you this story before, but there was a man in Hong Kong that dinged me harder than any man I ever met in my life. Several years ago he was coming to Japan for the dedication of the new NLL printing press. I couldn't imagine talking to him, and took off for Karuizawa until the celebration was over. While I was staying in the NLL cabin in Karuizawa the Lord clearly spoke to me through this parable. It hit me as a dead ringer. I read how the friend came at midnight on a journey. That was my friend from Hong Kong coming at a most inconvenient time. The problem was, when he showed up, I knew what my attitude was suppose to be, but there wasn't a thing in my house that I could offer to him. A man couldn't get more poverty struck for grace than I was. I couldn't imagine myself saying hello to that dirty bird, much less, shaking hands, and being friendly. I would walk a mile in the wrong direction rather than meeting him on the street. You talk about someone being hard pressed to have some grace in their heart to give to another – I was the poster boy for bitterness.

Of course, I know Christian doctrine. I know you are suppose to forgive, and love even your enemies. But I was slam out of Christian grace. As I was on my knees in Karuizawa dealing with the Lord – or rather the Lord was dealing with me – Jesus showed me that I owed Bob three loaves of bread. The first loaf was forgiveness. The second was love. And the third was to trust God to bless and use him. I knew I owed him that, and, at the same time, I knew that I didn't have it in my heart to come up with the goods. It was midnight that Jesus spoke of in the Bible, and it was midnight in Karuizawa that I was on my knees pleading with Jesus to open His house to let me have what I needed to give to Bob. Very much against my desire, the next day I drove back to Hatoyama (NLL), and was able to shake hands with Bob, and say “God bless you”.

The surprising thing about this parable is the rebuff. Even though the man is a friend, he replies, “Go home! I'm in bed.” But Jesus told us to keep knocking. This is one of the most important lessons in the Christian school of prayer.

My favorite lady in the New Testament is the Syrophenician woman of Sidon (Mt. 15:22-28). She had a demon possessed daughter, and came desperately to Jesus for help. At first she couldn't get passed the front desk. Then she made such a commotion that she was ruining the vacation for Jesus and the disciples. They came to Jesus and pleaded, “Please tell that lady to shut up and go home.” (vr. 23). After a long time of no response, Jesus finally said, “I'm sorry, lady, but I am only sent to the Jews.” At that she fell down worshiping and just plain begged, “Lord, help me!” Then, of all things, Jesus said, “It isn't right to take bread from children and give it to dogs.” Wow! That has got to be the crudest thing that ever came from the lips of Christ. But what a response! She came right back, “True, Lord! But even the dogs get the crumbs.” (The crumbs are good enough. Please give me the crumbs.) With that she took the Lord's heart by storm. Jesus didn't say that insulting word to put her down, but to bring out what he knew was in her heart. When she took that hardest blow and came up smiling, she proved she was the all-time champion. She rang a bell in the heart of Christ the likes of which no one else did in His life. He exclaimed, “Oh woman! Great is thy faith!!!” There never would have been that magical moment if it had not been preceded by that horrible time of proving. In my mind, she hit the highest note in the New Testament.

It isn't that the Father is trying give us a hard time. And it isn't that he is reluctant to give us the goods we need for others. But He wants to do a work in our hearts by making us seek harder; to be more persistent; to refuse to take no for an answer for the grace we need to serve others. What the Lord is teaching here about prayer is a mild form of what the lady enacted in Sidon.

Thank God for needs. Thank God that we are komaru (big problem). The Lord is certainly proving Himself to Paul and Marisa. You don't get big victories without big battles, and you don't get big rewards with out big testings. The Lord is making Paul and Marisa very rich.

Oh how good and great is our God!

                                                          bill