The Highway of Holiness

23 February 2014

Dear Phyllis,

I don't know what happened, but somehow I am back on the preaching schedule at our church next door. From August to December there were five months where I was quietly deleted. I had no idea I was preaching today until last night Pammy told me that it had been announced that I would be the speaker today. My heart certainly was not right before God, and it was not out of hours of deep prayer, but the first thing that came to mind was to preach an old message that I was familiar with. This was a word the Lord gave me 50 years ago, and I have had varying degrees of success with preaching it since then. It is Isaiah 35 – The Highway of Holiness.

I start off the message by reading Rev. 12:7 about “there was a war in heaven”, and the devil was cast out. “Woe to the inhibitors of the earth, for the devil is come down unto you having great wrath.”

There was a circus troop traveling around America several years ago. One day the man who was responsible for the animals noticed a box holding a large dangerous snake was damaged and the snake was gone. He notified the manager of the circus who organized the members of the troop to look for the snake. When they couldn't find it, they notified the police who called the radio station. Soon the town was transformed. Mothers rushed outside to bring their children in. Factories were closed and the entire town was a scene of prowling men armed with shot guns and axes looking for the snake. This is dangerous place where we live. The devil is loose.

Before I was saved I was traveling one night by car to Key West, Florida. It was 2:00 o'clock in the morning when we were passing through the Florida everglades. I thought what an unusual experience that was to be passing through one of the most dangerous places in America at 70 mph, where fifty years previously no man could survive in that place. I wasn't saved, but I was praying that we didn't have car trouble or go off the road. We were safe on that road but two meters on either side was filled with every form of dangerous reptiles and alligators.

When I was in service, there was a small library with a few books on survival and E and E (Escape and Evasion). Occasionally, during free time, we would read the testimonies of pilots who were shot down behind enemy lines and managed to work their way home. I wondered at the plight of any poor turkey who was down in an enemy country, with an adversary smarter than themselves hunting them day and night. But, worst of all, traveling with someone who was looking for any opportunity to betray them to the enemy. But that is exactly the situation Christians are in in this world. We have the three enemies of the world, the flesh, and the devil. This world is a hostile environment where we have to live. Everything in it is toxic against our spirits. The devil is smarter than we are, and looking for any opening to roll us up. But worst of all the flesh in us loves the world and is an eager listener to the voice of the devil alluring us into sin. A pretty grim scenario for survival. But in Isa. 35:8 we read, “A highway shall be there, and a way; and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness”.

Roy Hession wrote about this in his marvelous book, The Highway of Holiness. He said there was a hill – a very steep hill. It was so steep you could only get up it on your hands and knees. At the top there was a large, gaunt, Cross. And at the foot of that Cross there was a small door. It was so low you couldn't get in by standing straight up. You had to bend very low to get through that door. But once through, you saw this marvelous highway. As you started along this highway you saw a large sign hanging over it warning the one requirement for passage. “The unclean shall not pass over it”.

I warned the young folks in church this morning that they were at the most dangerous difficult time of life. I thank the Lord that I am passed it and I have no desire to go though that gauntlet again. I did poorly the first time, and probably would do worse if I had to do it all over again. There are two very loud voices that are continually speaking in their ears – the Holy Spirit and hormones. Our dog, Black Canyon, is a wonderful dog, but there are two or three times a year when she becomes extremely difficult. When she is in heat there are hormones in her that give her an irresistible incentive to look for a boy friend. She doesn't have far to look as every male dog on our mubaan (housing area) is at our door day and night. When young people are in their late teens and twenties, there are strong hormones that give them strong attraction to the opposite sex. Every young girl is looking at boys and every young boy has his mind on girls. The voice of the Holy Spirit and their conscience are constantly telling them to stay way from temptations; and their hormones and the devil are unceasingly waving the pleasure of sin before them. It is a grim battle to stay pure; and few survive. Holiness is not a suggestion for survival – it is an absolute necessity.

I was honest in telling them that it was possible to live a dualistic life; to live in secrete sin and yet to pretend to be a fine Christian. But it was impossible to do that without doing terrible damage for their future. Youth is when they are laying the foundation for the rest of their life. The foundation is the most important part of the house. One time I was building a house on a bad foundation. Rather than correcting the house at that point I adjusted the house to the crooked foundation, and paid the price for that at every level above it. When I got to the roof, the roof was out of square. In Thailand many houses are built on soft dirt. You can get by for a while, but sooner or later that foundation will settle and the walls will crack. If they aren't careful about laying a good foundation in their youth they will pay a dear price in life. I said, “If any of you doubt what I say, just talk to any person over 50 who messed up in their youth, and ask them if they paid a painfully price in life.” I told them that I did not have the time to tell them how to live a holy life this morning, but the only way to get to heaven unscathed is to stay clean. The unclean shall not pass over it.

In my early years the thing that terrified me the most was false guidance. If you mess up in guidance, everything else is worthless. There was an incident at an air defense base in the states many years ago where a hot scramble was coming out. The scramble alarm had gone off, the pilots ran to their aircraft, and fired up the engines. As the fighters were pulling out to the runway, there was another aircraft on the ground on that radio frequency. As an experiment the pilot of that bird keyed his mike button and made a brief transmission – “Red flight, kill it!” “Ah roger, kill it”, and the pilots turned around and shut down their engines. The ops officer came running out screaming, “Go! Go!” The confused pilots asked, “Didn't you tell us to kill it?” “NO!” Millions of dollars, the finest aircraft in the world, the greatest high tech electronic equipment, and the best pilots in the world all were worthless because of a false transmission. We have every thing in heaven on our side, but it is all to no avail if we miss the will of God for our lives. In my early years nothing frightened me more than this.

Admittedly there are times when guidance is difficult, but in most cases it is pretty plain. The simple test is, where is the glory of God? In what path will Jesus receive the greatest honor and glory? If we use this as our compass, the rest is fairly clear. A friend once told me of a girl who had written him asking advice. She was in love and wanted to marry an unsaved man. Was this the will of God? Then she concluded her letter by saying, “In your reply please don't cite verses XXX, XXX, XXX? I have asked three pastors already and all of them have told me the same scripture.” This girl didn't want to know the will of God. She wanted to make the will of God what she wanted to do.

I knew a lady in Japan who had been in adultery with an unsaved man. She asked her husband if she could go to the states for counseling. She later confessed that her plan was not to go for counseling, but to put out a fleece to know the will of God. Once in the states she was planning to write her lover and invite him to come to the states to marry her. If God worked in his heart so he said yes, then she would know that it was the will of God for her to divorce her husband and marry this unsaved man. Great! It is not too difficult to know the will of God. And Isaiah says of the Highway cf Holiness that“wayfaring men, though fools shall not err there in”. It doesn't take a PHD in theology to stay on the Highway of Holiness. All it takes is a heart that is right before God.

The third point of this message concerns the security of the highway. It is not without purpose that Peter warns us to “Be sober, vigilant, because your adversary the devil , as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). Experience has taught us that he has devoured many. But Bunyan described this best for us in that immortal classic, Pilgrims Progress. In his narrative, Bunyan describes how Christian was making his way along the path to the Celestial City when he was encountered by another man, Mr. Fearful, running the opposite direction, screaming “Stop! Stop! You can't get any further. There are lions in the way.” Poor Christian was terrified, but had no choice. He couldn't turn back. Shortly after that he went around a curve and, sure enough, there were two lions sitting by the way. What could he do? But then there was a voice from the House of Interpreter on the hill encouraging him, “Come on ahead. It is safe. They are chained. You can't see the chains from there but you can from here.” Christian worked up his courage and cautiously proceeded. As he passed between those lions they roared at him so loud he could feel their hot breath on his neck. But once past, he looked back and could see the chains. Consistent with this Isaiah assures us,“No lion nor ravenous beast shall go up thereupon”. ... But the redeemed shall walk there. The ransom of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs of everlasting joy.”

Oh my goodness, what a joy! Here we are stranded in the midst of a hostile world with the devil stalking us daily, but the Lord has prepared for us such a joyous path to get us to heaven. That is the Purity, the Clarity, and the Security of the Highway of Holiness. I make no apology for this word, nor do I lay any claim on this message. It is simply the black and white Word of God. The Lord alone knows what – if anything – was accomplished this morning. Kichikun's wife, Ying, was not there to interpret, and Pastor Kichikun had a hard time interpreting. He struggled at simple words like dangerous and guidance. Fortunately there is another dear sister who is a graduate from Michigan State who helped us out when he got stuck. It is not much fun preaching when you come down hard on a vital point only to have your interpreter look at you blankly wondering what you said.

Pastor Hanook, from Pakistan, contacted me again asking if we could speak some more. Lord willing I plan to see him tomorrow night and discuss the possibility that I might go to Pakistan to help him. I plan to tell him if the Lord would provide finances and a visa, I would take that as guidance to go to Pakistan. These two things look difficult, but if this is of the Lord, I am willing to go. It is wonderful here in Chiang Mai. The Lord knows that I am made of terribly soft material, but I would rather be some place where it is a little more exciting than to sit here with my feet on a couch at a missionary resort.

Lord Jesus, Thy will be done. Please!

                                                               bill

Fire, Smoke and ...Ability

16 February 2014

Dear Phyllis,

The biggest plus that came out of attending Dr. Jack Green's Baptist church last Sunday was meeting a pastor from Pakistan. We hit it off so big he called me requesting that we have a meal together. Last Wednesday we did get together. He is so absolutely adamant that we are going to Pakistan to minister that he e-mailed his wife telling her that we are coming.

Unfortunately I believe he has made a serious misjudgment in character. He told me several times, “You have passion”. I replied, “Yes there is fire in my heart, but there is more smoke than fire in my mouth.” A lot of smoke but very little heat to cook on. I am more like that fig tree that was in full bloom, with a lot of leaves but no fruit (Mt. 21:17-20).

I believe Pastor Hanook is the real thing. He showed me the scars on his body where we was tortured for preaching Christ. He said, “They tried to cut out my tongue but couldn't”. He told me, “They can cut off my ears, they can cut off my nose, they can pluck out my eyes, but I will never allow them to cut out my tongue. That is for preaching Jesus.” He want us to come work with him. His offer is tempting. I told him if I could, I would go with him tomorrow, but at this point that looks very difficult.

It is doubtful that the Lord will ever give me my request, but the highest ambition of my life is to be a Christian terrorist. Recently I have developed a real affection for the Islamic terrorists. I would love to visit their training camps and talk with those men. I admire their spirit. Of course, I do not agree with their cause, and I do not like their tactics. Their cause is to promote Mohammad, and their tactics is to kill infidels – Christians and Jews. They are murders. But I do admire their dedication and commitment to their cause. I believe to a large degree the Lord has raised up these terrorists to show us what we should be. Our greatest need today is for an army of Christian terrorists. What we need is to tie a bomb of the love of God on our bodies and go to the most dangerous places to see how many souls we can save. If their goal is to see how many they can kill; how much more should we exceed them in our dedications to see how many we can save? And the only way we can do that is by suicide bombers who are willing to give their lives to see other saved. Jesus gave His life for that cause. How in the world is it possible that we should shrink to do the same?

We are utterly without excuse if we are afraid of them, but they should be terrified of us. In describing His Bride in Song of Sol., twice Jesus said “Thou art as terrible as an army with banners (S. of S. 6:4,10). Christians don't think so, but the devil knows this is true. In the early days at Yokota, Ron Blough and I got to bantering each other one Saturday. The result of that was to shame each other into having a street meeting in the bar district. Neither one of us wanted to do it, but we were too proud to admit our fears. We got about a dozen GIs together to go downtown for a meeting. When we got to the end of the bar district street we locked arms and started marching down the street singing Onward Christina Soldiers. It was hilarious. The street was crowded with hundreds of GI s standing there talking to each other or the girls. When we started down the street singing, it was like a fire alarm went off. The entire crowd looked at us in shock. We marched 300 meters to the other end of the street to Kay's Bar – the street was deserted. There wasn't a soul in sight. Every man fled like we were coming with tanks and flame throwers. From that I learned how terrifying Christians are to the unsaved. After that I had numerous occasions of walking up to huge men who could easily kill me and see them tremble as I gave them a gospel tract. When John Paton landed on the New Hebrides Islands near New Zealand the devils knees buckled. Thirty years later Paton had made nearly a clean sweep pf seeing those cannibals saved. There is no reason in the world why we should be afraid of terrorist but there is every reason why they should be terrified of us.

Several years ago we had a large group of students come out from the states to help us with our Bible logistic mission. The last day they were here I had the privilege of speaking to 80 young folks. I spoke to them about Ability. I said the one thing that is the most important qualification in mans sight is almost a disqualification in God's economy. In man's book the primary criteria for candidates is that they are looking for people with abilities to get the job done. God is not. He is looking for weak ones, foolish one, those who are zeros to do His work (1 Cor. 1:27-29). The problem with gifted men is that they think they have what it takes to serve the Lord. God is looking for the weak and foolish.

But there are three abilities that God is looking for in servants to carry the Gospel to the lost. The first ability that is necessary is AVAIL ABILITY. There are a lot of good people that could be useful for the Lord but they just aren't available. “I would like to go to the mission field but I can't because...” We have our ambitions and things we want to do which makes us unavailable for the Lord to use. There are myriads of reasons why people are not available. The only job application I know of in the Bible is in Isiah 6 where the Lord asks the question, “Who will go for us?” It is to Isiah's credit that he could answer, “Here I am send me.” (Isa. 6:8). Praise God he was available. I knew a brother who was a fine missionary to Papua New Guinea. I asked him how he got there. He said he heard of a need for someone to take care of a MK home there and thought, “I am not qualified to be a missionary but I am here; there is no reason why I shouldn't go”. So he did. Some of the best missionaries that I have ever met are people who weren't qualified, but they were available and went anyway. God is looking for a few un-gifted folks who are simply available to go anywhere. But there aren't that many.

The second ability that is primary is DEPEND ABILITY. God needs someone He can depend on. There are many who start well, but when the sledding get tough, many fade away. It is required of a steward that he be found faithful (1 Cor. 4:2). Proverbs says that an unfaithful man is like a broken tooth. You think he good, but when you put your confidence in him, and he proves unreliable, it is like eating with a broken tooth (Prov. 25:19). A man may not be that gifted but if he is dependable that is a wonderful ability.

But the third ability is one that is never mentioned – EXPEND ABILITY. This is going to be the determining factor for tomorrows servants of God. They must be expendable. Psalms says, “As arrows are on the hand of a might man so are the children of youth” (Ps. 127:4). There are some things that are expendable and some things are not. Bows are not expendable – arrows are. Guns are not expendable – bullets are. Hammers are not expendable – nails are. What we need today are expendable servants of God. When Paul went up to Jerusalem he was clearly warned of the Holy Spirit what dire fate awaited him there. His response was, “I am ready not to be bound only but to die at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus” (Act 21:13). He obviously considered himself expendable. I have thanked God that for the past 24 years the Lord has made me the most expendable turkey He has in His inventory. I have lost some of that status for the past 2 ½ years since I have been married, but the Lord knows I am still willing to go one way any time He directs. The Lord would have to provide for Pammy if I go, but I can't stay here forever anyway. Sooner or later we are going to have to say goodbye. I have frequently thought of many of the men who were terrorists on those three planes that got hijacked on 9-11. Some of them were loving family men. The time came when they said goodbye to their wife and kissed their children for the last time. We don't admire them for what they did, but I marvel at their dedication to pay the ultimate price for the sake of the cause they felt was more important.

The problem is that America has been asphyxiated with a Safety First mentality. It has become paralytic to think of safety first. When I was a kid, the only thing we wore was a baseball cap. Today mothers would be horrified if their children got on a bicycle without wearing a helmet. Safety first may be alright in the work place, but it is not healthy to be too neurotic in the home. We have a generation who won't take a chance on anything. Of course there are going to be injuries, but that is part of life. I did the most dangerous things imaginable as a kid, and grew up normal. To eat totally aseptic food is not healthy. Of course there is bacteria in raw food but our systems can handle it. The Bill Rees kids had so many cuts on their hands and bare feet around cow and horse manure that their blood had built such resistance to infection it probably would have cured AIDS.

Safety first is not the number one concern for a soldier. In the early part of the 2^nd WW the causality rate for the 8^th Air Force in England was 75%. If you were air crew in England your chance of getting shot down was 3 in 4. But the German targets were so critical hundreds of brave airmen went up daily to bomb those targets. Most of them did not come home. The Marines at Guadalcanal, Saipan, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, etc. were not thinking of safety first when they stormed ashore those islands. The men at Normandy weren't thinking safety first when they landed in France. The last time I was in China a member of the house church gave me a chart of the missionaries who were martyred during the Boxer rebellion in 1900 in China. In Shanxi Province alone there were 136 missionaries and 53 children killed. I never knew there were so many. The first three missionaries to go to the Sudan were dead within weeks. And yet others kept going. The only way you can do something like that is to consider yourself expendable. Islamic mothers raise their children to be suicide bombers. Do we raise our children to send them out as missionaries?

We have come to a time in history where this world is going to be a very dangerous place. The day is soon coming when Christians are going to have to make the choice of accepting the mark of the beast – 666 – or be beheaded. The martyrdom rate for the CMA in Cambodia during the Pol Pot era was 80%. If I understand the Scriptures correctly, I see where that will not be restricted to a small SEA country, but will be world wide (Rev. 13:16,17; 20:4). The rapture may come before then. I won't comment on that, but it would be hard to tell the Christians in China during the Culture Revolution in 1965 that they were exempt from tribulation. It would be hard to tell the Cambodian Christian that they wouldn't have to pay the price. It would be hard to tell the Christians in North Korea today that they would be exempt from suffering. What makes Americans think that they are exempt from taking a stand or losing out with God?

I don't know about Pakistan. Barring three things – finances, a commitment here in Chiang Mai, and marriage – I would go tomorrow. I admire Pastor Hanook who is there preaching the Gospel everyday. Of course there must be Christians in Pakistan. Pakistan must be won for Jesus. We must win the battle there. Of course there is going to be more blood shed. You can't fight a war without taking casualties and there will be no victory without blood. Jesus shed His Blood and calls us to do the same. Lord Jesus, make us willing.

The three greatest abilities God is looking for today is simply AVAIL ABILITY, DEPEND ABLILITY, and EXPEND ABILITY. That is what it is going to take in Pakistan. Holy Father, raise up Your laborers and thrust them forth into the harvest;

                                                                                                             bill

Sheldon and Ellen Graber

9 February 2014

Dear Phyllis,

Several years ago a Korean girl was staying at Abba House, just down the street from my house. Every morning she would go for a morning walk and come down past my place. As we chatted, I invited her to come up to sit on my balcony. For the next several day we enjoyed very good fellowship as I shared with her exciting missionary stories. But then one morning I got in a negative mood, and told her the other side of the picture about times when everything went sideways. That morning she left with a heavy heart, and I never saw her again. I often wondered, did I make a mistake in discouraging her. But that is life. The Apostle talks about always always triumphing in Christ (2 Cor 2:14), but at the end of his life, he speaks how all had left him, and the picture was very dark at the end (2 Tim 4:16).

Last week I had the great joy of seeing Sheldon and Ellen Graber again. They just don't come any better than Sheldon an Ellen. They are the finest Christians America produces. They are of the old school of what America was 50 years ago. They are the finest example of what you wish every Christians out of heaven was like. They are not the multi-gifted with 5 talents, but the average American believer with only 1 talent. But the didn't hid it. They invested everything the Lord entrusted to them and made it as profitable as is possible (Mt. 25:14-27). Their son Chad and his wife Jenny are one of the finest missionary couples I know working in China. After passing midlife, Sheldon and Ellen packed up, and came to Thailand to be in charge of the Mennonite Chara Nanny program. The Mennonites had one of the finest programs going in Thailand where outstanding young ladies would come to Thailand to care for abandoned babies for a year or two until they could be sent on to adoption families. I have always said these young girls were the bravest girls I had ever seen. I can't imagine how they ever did it. They would leave everything behind in America to come here and take an infant to be their mother for two years. You can't get a child more deeply in your heart than these girls who were mommy to these little ones. And then the day would come when they would hand over their child to another woman, and never see their little one again. It was as gut-wrenching ministry as I ever saw. And yet a number of these outstanding Christian girls paid the price of having their heart ripped out to provide love for babies that had no other hope. Sheldon and Ellen came out to be mom and dad to the girls and be responsible for this heroic ministry. It was my great privilege to be close friend with them.

And yet the day came when unimaginable disaster struck. A baby came down with convulsions that they took to the hospital. The diagnosis was shaken-baby syndrome. Someone, in a rage, had shaken the baby so hard it had serious brain damage. Sheldon adamantly said that was impossible. It had to be some other cause. But it became a serious police investigation. Right at the height of this serious incident, one girl called Sheldon early in the morning to report her baby had died of SID (crib-death) that night. Sheldon rushed over and took the baby to the hospital in the bed exactly as she had found him. The chief of police had been out on a drug-bust the night before, and came in to receive the report that the ministry that was under investigation for the shaken-baby incident had just brought in another baby dead. Case closed. Obviously this Christian ministry were vicious baby killers. It was impossible to legally prove which girl was the guilty one, but at a minimum they could hold the director of that ministry responsible for irresponsibility. There was the serious possibility Sheldon could go to prison, and to avoid prosecution, the Grabers had to leave Thailand. The babies were taken away, and that was the end of the Chara Ministry.

That is the greatest mystery I have ever seen. It had been three years since last I saw Sheldon and Ellen. They are only here for two weeks to see Chad and Jenny who are down from China for a brief ministry in Chiang Mai. Oh my goodness it was wonderful to see them again. But the wounds have never healed. Though, as an observer, I shared the pain with them, I couldn't begin to place myself in their shoes, who had to bear the brunt of that disaster. They told me, as heart rending as the experience was for them, for the next year or two they shuttled back and forth from their home in Indiana to Pennsylvanian to support some of the girls who had gone through that horrible nightmare without the loving care of the home church that Sheldon and Ellen enjoyed. How could it happen? How is it possible that Jesus would allow such an unimaginable disaster strike one of the finest ministries going? Where was the answer to prayer? Those are questions we all are dealing with. It would seem that there will be no answer until we stand before Jesus in eternity, and He will explain the purpose for it. No doubt He will have a good reason, and we will thank Him in that day. But until that moment, we are left to keep our hands off this mystery, and quietly leave it with the Lord.

On a more positive note, Paul came over the other morning out of his mind. He had turned his computer on and the most vile, filthy, things that exceeds human imagination came on. There was only one possible explanation – someone had been looking at filth on that computer. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure who the leading suspect was. As Paul described the horrible scenario he was up against, I tried in vain to think of something positive to say to him. The only thing I knew was that I had a strong compulsion to pray. As Paul and I began to pour our hearts out before the Lord all I could do was to say, “Lord this exceeds my imagination for salvation.” This was so far out of my reach that my mind would not go in gear to imagine any positive resolution. The only acceptable solution I could come up with was death to the perpetrator. And that was not a good idea. Ironically, when we finished praying, Paul thanked me and said for the first time he had a measure of peace. The next day he confronted Marisa's son and told him that he was fortunate that he hadn't seen him the day before because he could not guarantee that he wouldn't have killed him. But that day he had slightly more emotional control. As Paul unloaded on him, the poor lad looked frightened but otherwise speechless. Then Marisa began to sail into him. Of course, one major difference was that Paul's rant was in English, and Marisa spoke Thai to her son. But the effect was astounding. He wound up crying profusely and writhing on the floor pleading, “I'm sorry! I'm sorry!” The confession and repentance was amazing. He frankly confessed to an addiction to porno and pleaded for deliverance. The day before I couldn't imagine salvation, but that day it appeared the Lord had indeed worked deliverance in his heart.

That night Pammy asked me, “How do you reconcile the incident three weeks ago with the angel appearing at Macro telling him and his mother that he was born-again and a good boy?” I hadn't put those two things together, but after Pammy mentioned it to me, the whole thing made sense. I see the angelic visit as an off-set to encourage the boy and everyone else that basically he is a good boy that has had a bad failure; but the Lord has, and will keep, his hand on him.

That incident was surprising, but Paul said the most amazing thing happened shortly after that when he was reading a book. Suddenly the Holy Spirit filled his heart with love for the lad like he had never known. What looked like a hole so deep there was no way out, has turned out to be a tunnel with sunshine at the far end.

It is true that young people (everyone) are exposed to filthiness the likes of which the world has never seen. In the days of Rome, society had developed an insatiable craving for violence and blood. It was reported that one day Nero provided for the death of 5,000 animals and humans in the Colosseum, and the crowd screamed for more. We haven't hit that yet, but even in the days of Nero society didn't have access to vileness at their finger tips like we do today. One wonders how things could get any worse. If we ever needed a present savior to deliver us and keep us in His grace it is now. A cold, or cooling, heart for Jesus is almost a guaranteed ticket to the lake. As Paul and I were praying, in my mind the thing that Paul saw on that computer was so wretched that it seemed as if God had flung it into the pit of hell, hell itself would reject it as too filth to be put there, and you would have to apologize to the devil for sending send dirty stuff to his pit. The only acceptable place I could think of was to fling it into the lake of fire. And, at that, we must thank the Lord that He has made such a place for unthinkable xxxxx things.

A few weeks ago I met some Independent Baptist brethren who invited me to their church. That is my background, and I know exactly who they are. The pastor invited me to have lunch with him a week ago and I promised him that we would visit them today. Pastor Kichikun was not happy that we went church shopping, but I had promised Dr. Jack that we would come. We did. I don't know. Thirty years ago I would have been thrilled to attend such a meeting. It was highly American. More than that, it was 1950 American. There was nothing of present day modern Christianity in it. Pammy loved it. Nearly all the American men had Thai wives and Pammy hit it off big time with Dr. Jack's wife and several other women. She loved signing the traditional English hymns. At this point she is more independent Baptist than I am. Dr. Jack is very desirous to have us be members there and asked me to be his official greeter.

The biggest objection I have, is that it is focused on Americans, and my heart is more into reaching Thais for Jesus. Two years ago I made a commitment to be faithful to Kichikun, and in spite of the strain that seems to have come up in recent months, I am reluctant to back off my commitment to him. I am willing to pray over both options, but at the moment the Lord would have to show me a little stronger that that is where He would have me attend.

The biggest blessing I got out of the service this morning was that I found myself unexpectedly sitting beside a pastor from Pakistan. When he told me where he was from my heart soared. I told him how I had been there four years ago, and my unsuccessful attempt to get back there three years ago. He said if I would try again he would sponsor me for a visa and security. I asked about the situation inside Pakistan today, and he replied it varied from area to area. The northwestern area is controlled by the tribal war lords and the Taliban. Karachi is dangerous. But he said in his area of Punjab it is very peaceful and secure. He said they were doing a great deal of open air evangelism. When I asked him how many they were seeing saved each year, he replied last year he had seen 500 come to Christ. That is what I would expect for Pakistan. He made a very strong appeal for me to come help him in Pakistan.

When I spoke with Sheldon and Ellen Graber, they asked me what I planned to for the future. My reply was, “I have no idea.” A year ago I was on my way to west China to work with the Ughurs in Xinjiang. They still are very much on my heart. But I am now a married man localized in Chiang Mai. I teach 30 minutes every morning at the kindergarten, and Singha is the biggest blessing I have going at the moment. I am working every day at Gary's teaching Lisu men how to do cabinet making. Paul is a major blessing. Dr. Jack would like me to work with him, and now I have an invitation to go to Pakistan again. Thank God I can honestly say I really don't care. The Lord has a spotless blank sheet of paper that He can write anything He wants to on it. The only personal request I have is that I would be grateful if Jesus could use me somewhere to advance the cause of His Kingdom. But that is tomorrows problem.

Resting in our wonderful Lord Jesus,

                                                           bill

Man's Way is HOW, God's Way is WHO

2 February 2014

Dear Phyllis,

The other day I got a letter from, my dear friend Luke Kuepfer. Luke was here in Chiang Mai 8 to 16 years ago and is the best man I have met in SEA. It was a tremendous loss to us when he left, but there is no doubt he is headed for the top. Luke is a man who towers above me in every department, but I told him ten years ago that he has the wrong message. I also told him that he wouldn't understand what I was talking about now but perhaps in another 20 years he might agree that God's message is not HOW but WHO.

There are two ways of doing things – man's way and God's way. Man's way is HOW but God's way is WHO. Man's way is by education and God's way is by the Holy Spirit in a man. Both methods work. I believe it can be safely said that at least 90% of Christian activity is done by man's way. This is certainly true in world missions. By far the vast bulk of mission activity from fund raising to evangelism is done by human energy working along man's way of doing things. Obviously it works. There are hundreds of organizations that are self-sustaining and self-perpetuating. The very fact that the world is filled with various denominations and mission societies is a proof that they do propagate. It has been well said that God gives a message to a man. The message becomes a movement. The movement becomes a monument, and then you have a mess.

Religion is something that man has created. Jesus never came to this earth to start a new religion. He came to redeem humanity back to the Father, and to give life to fallen men. The followers of Jesus started Christianity. There is a fundamental difference between religion and life. Religion is in the realm of the soul; life is in the spirit. Religion is propagated by information and education. Life is propagated by birth. We are born of the Spirit of God, and our life is in the spirit. But obviously there is a tremendous overlap between religion and the life of Christ. And the Gospel obviously has its essence in Christianity. You cannot separate the Gospel from Christianity.

Basically I am opposed to formal education; and in this I am wrong. The gift of a teacher is one of the spiritual gifts, so you cannot say that education is not spiritual. Ignorance is not a spiritual virtue. Peter encourages us to add to our virtue knowledge (2 Pet. 1:6). It is universally accepted that Christians should be as educated as possible. Paul did a great deal of teaching. He spent two years in Ephesus teaching in the school of Tyrannus (Act 19:9,10). Certainly you cannot condemn education and teaching. But there is a fundamental difference between those who are taught by the Holy Spirit and those who are taught by learned professors.

For any young man who feels called to the ministry, unquestionably, it is assumed that he must go to Bible school or seminary. Very few denominations would allow a preacher in their pulpit that wasn't a graduate of some accepted school. And certainly 95% of all Christian workers have a formal education.

But on the other side of the coin it is highly significant that many of the most outstanding preachers are not men who have come through the accepted path of seminaries. David Brainard went to Yale but was put out. The world have seen few men of the caliber of Brainard. Charles Spurgeon, Charles Finny, DL Moody, Billy Sunday, John Sung, Watchman Nee, AW Tozer, and Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and many others are all men with no diplomas hanging on their wall. There are extremely few graduates that can come close to these men for their ability, wisdom, spirituality, or effectiveness in bringing souls to Christ. The greatest preacher I ever heard was Joe Carroll, and he never went to Bible school. The greatest Bible teacher I ever met was Dave Lanam. Dave Lanam was a self-taught man.

All these giants of the faith were highly intelligent very well educated men, but they didn't get their education by sitting in a class room. It is generally true that most of these men were exceptionally well read. Tozer and Martyn Lloyd-Jones were highly intellectual, and exceptionally well versed in philosophy, classics, and the highest level of Christian literature. The problem is; that the best way to get this knowledge is by private reading rather than in a lecture hall. Many – if not most – young men these days, after they get out of Bible school ease up on reading, and spend more time on their computer and reading magazines than devouring Christian classics.

It cannot be said that all PhDs are not spiritual. Bob Smith is a notable exception. He was extremely well educated and had all the degrees. He had studied philosophy in some of the most prestigious universities in the world. He could match anyone who wanted to tangle with him on any subject. He was a professor at Bethany Bible college. But he was the most unusual speaker I have ever heard. He would stand up and start to speak in a dry monotone that would make you look at your watch and wonder how long have I got to put up with this. He was the most non-dynamic, unimpressive man I ever knew. But as you listened to this dry man, your heart would burn. After an hour you would beg him to keep going. His preaching would go straight to the heart. But far above his massive intellect, he was a man who deeply loved God, and was filled with the Holy Spirit as few men are. It was not uncommon for him to break down weeping in the middle of a message. He was a man who was mastered by the Word and nearly all speakers today are men who have attempted to master the Word. The flavor of their message is radically different. One speaks to the heart, and the other speaks to the head.

After doing almost legendary work here in Chiang Mai, my dear friend, Luke, felt he needed more education. He went back to the states to get more degrees and be better qualified to minister. I am sure he has accumulated a great deal more information now than he had eight years ago but I wonder if he is more filled with the Holy Spirit. Sitting in a class room is not the best place to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

The problem with too much education is that it causes many to think that they have all the answers. The most dangerous man I ever met was Bob Unger. Bob was a professional golfer on the PGA tour. He got saved, left golf, and went to seminary when he was in his 30s. He was the assistant pastor at the Greenville Christian Fellowship. I had just returned home from Japan for a furlough, and he thought I was a alien from otter space. I said things that turned on the alarm system for him, and he told Pastor Joner that he thought I was off the rails. For the next six months he tried to straighten me out. One time I told him, “Bob, quit it. You act just like a kid nine months out of seminary (he was). You have all the answers, but none of the experience.” At the time Bob had good standing at the church, but later they had to ask him to leave.

One of the problems in Japan is that they have the highest educated pulpit in the world. That is; the pastors in Japan have the highest education ratio for the size of the churches in the world. The Japanese, of course, put a very high premium on education, and it certainly shows up in the churches. But this has not produced more power of the Holy Spirit. We all have the tendency to think that everyone is interested in the thing that interests us the most. Because a very high percentage of pastors are academician they think that everyone in their church would enjoy the same. Consequently a large portions of the preaching in Japan sounds very much like lectures in seminaries. At such times the power of the Holy Spirit is noticeably absent.

On the other end of the spectrum was Uncle Buddy Robinson of the Nazarenes. Buddy Robinson was a drunken cowboy with a speech impediment. When he got saved he wanted to be a preacher, so he bought himself a black suit and a large Bible. He rented the school house, and put up signs that there was to be a special meeting. Cowhands and folks from miles around came to hear this spectacle of the uneducated cowboy. When he started to speak the place was hilarious. Everyone was rollicking with laughter at that stupid cowhand with his speech impediment trying to act like a preacher. In his frustration, Buddy began to cry. As the tears coursed down his cheeks, the snickering calmed down, and the school house grew quiet. Poor Buddy stood there in his pulpit unable to communicate the message of life that had saved him, but soon cowhands took off their hats and began to go forward. The power of God came down on that meeting and some of the hardest men in town were saved. You don't get that with a fancy diploma hanging on your wall and a lot of letters after your name.

One of the hottest acts in Chiang Mai that I personally know is Paul and Marisa. Both of them are at the end of the line of folks you might expect to get saved. They both came from seriously flawed backgrounds. Neither one has spent one hour in Bible school, but the Lord has His hand on them like nothing else I know in town. I told you how Marisa went to a pre-chemo therapy session in the hospital, and the place looked like death row. Several hours later Paul went back to pick Marisa up, and he said it was like a baby shower. Two weeks later the same thing happened again. She has gone to the women's prison, and an hour later women are gathered around her straining to hear every word she says. Even the guards are impressed, and stand there listening. She can hold a crowd spell-bound for an hour at a lick and a loud protest when she quits. We have many very good pastors and missionaries here in Chiang Mai, but I challenge anyone who can come close to the amazing anointing she has and what it is producing. You can go to seminary for twenty years and have so many letters after your name that it take two sheets of paper to write your name and there is no way you could get 1/10th the power Marisa has.

The reason I told Luke that God's message was not HOW but WHO is because I have seen 30 years of that. I attended the missionary conferences in Karuizawa for 30 years and saw the fundamental emphasis of speakers coming year after year telling us how to do it. All the missionaries in Japan are frustrated and are desperate to know what works. They come each year with notebooks to learn how. And I have yet to see anything works.

The only exception I know in the missionary scene in Japan is Gotthold Beck and his work in Kichijoji. That is the only work I know of in post-war Japan that has gone forward just like it is supposed to. One time I asked Gotthold how many churches he had. Astonishingly he responded, “I don't know, but I do know that I have over 70 men who preach regularly. None of these men are Bible school graduates but they are producing results that is not being duplicated anyplace else in Japan.

This is one of the secretes of the revival in China is the house church movement where they have a huge number of lay-preachers who don't have the education, but are seeing astonishing results. It might be that God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and maybe the world by wisdom knew not God but it may please God to save by the foolishness of preaching (1 Cor. 1:27,21). I don't think that is what they are teaching in most seminaries.

But maybe I am wrong.

Jesus is still Lord,

                                          bill