Sangha

27 December 2015

Dear Phyllis,

Belated, Christ honoring blessed Christmas. Last Tuesday I had what was probably the worst and the best day I have had in Thailand in many years, and preached what may have been the best message of my life. It is not an original message but it may be the best Christmas message I have.

I was riding my Honda bike to school Tuesday morning wondering what I should talk about that day. It dawned on me that it was the 22^ndand perhaps I should talk about Christmas. I asked the kids what was so special this week. There is school on Christmas and it is not a special day in Thailand. But the children finally came up that the 25^th was Christmas. I said, “It is Jesus birthday.” “How long ago was He born?” 2015 years ago. The birth of Christ is the most important event on this planet since Adam first opened his eyes in the Garden. Humanity has measured time ever since as BC or AD. “Who made the world?” God “God made everything. He made the earth, the sun, little dogs, horses, people, and everything.” That was a five minute dialogue with the children.

Then I said, “Suppose you like ants.” Sangha said to me, “No they don't” “No, no. Just suppose they like them.” Sangah said to the children, “How many DON'T like ants” Every hand sent up. I asked Sangha, “Do you know the word suppose?” Apparently not. “Do you know the wordimagine?” I still don't know if he does or not. “Do you know the word think?” Yes “Just tell them to think they like ants.” “But they really don't” Good grief. So I went on, “There are a lot of ants in front of your house and you like to go out and play with them everyday.” “But they really don't like to play with ants.” “Please just say what I say.” I went on with my message that you loved those ants very much, but here was a road in front of the house with a lot of cars. One day the ants started going towards the road and you said, “Ants don't go to the road. It is dangerous”. Would they understand you? No Maybe they can understand English. Try saying in English, “Ants...road...No” Would they obey?” No. “Put up a sign – 'Do not go to road'. Would that stop them?” No. I was having a terrible time. Sangha was arguing about nearly everything I said. I was ready to tare my hair out and go home. Lord help me. Then I said, “Suppose you were God and you could do anything. You could make yourself anything. And you made yourself an ant so you could talk to ants.” Suddenly Sangha gasped, “I've got it! I've got it!” From there on he was good.

I explained how on Christmas this is what God did. To communicate Himself to people He became a Man. What was the message God wanted to tell us? I LOVE YOU. From there I explained the Gospel as clearly as I could that God loved people so much that He became a Man and as a Man He gave His life to save us from our sins. The second half of the message was a clear as it could get.

I thanked the Lord that at least we got the main point of the message across. But I was not prepared for what was coming the next day. When I got to school Sangha said, “I want you to talk to a different class today. I want the older children to hear that message.” Then he told me that he was so fired up that he had called all his staff, of over 25 teaches, together to tell them the ant story and how that is what happened on Christmas day, when the God who created all things became a Man so He could communicate Himself to humanity. I never saw such an excited man in my life. I asked, “What did they think” “Oh they were very impressed. They are all very interested.” 

There is one teacher for whom I have a tremendous burden. I wrote to you about Pak over a month ago. I asked, “What did Pak think about the message?” “She is #1. Of all the teachers she is the most interested.” Ever since I have had this burden for Pak I have been on him nearly everyday, “Tell her I want her to come to my house. We must talk with her” He always replies, “I have spoken with her but she just smiles.” Wednesday I had an inspiration, “You lead her to Christ. You know how you got saved, now you tell her.” It dawned on me, this is what it is all about. I thank God now that she didn't come to our house. The name-of-the-game is for Sangha to be a soul winner. If he can lead her to Christ that will be a greater miracle than for her just getting saved.

Sangha is the greatest gift Jesus has given me in the past two years. I well recall how he was in our house three years ago saying he wanted Jesus but he couldn't because of the school. I told him to ask Jesus to show him some way around that problem. The Lord did show him and he is clearly born-again. He loves the Lord and He loves the Word. Now the next thing is for him to love to see others saved. I never saw such an excited man as he was after that ant story. He gathered his entire staff, told them about it, and apparently got a very positive response. He is not ashamed of the Gospel. But up until now he has never attempted to lead someone to Christ. If this happens, and Pak gets solidly saved, that could make him a soul winning addict.

It is amazing how little we trust the Holy Spirit. We think if we don't do it people will never get saved. Sangha credits me for being his spiritual father. But actually I had very little to do with it. I was more of an observer than a participant. I was very impatient that he couldn't understand my message to the children but when the Holy Spirit explained it to him it became life. Now I feel if I don't tell Pak how to be saved she won't be. And if I don't teach Sangha how to do personal work he won't know how to do it. The truth is, in most of this I am more of a hindrance than an asset. The Holy Spirit alone can show us spiritual truth. And when He does it is life. I can teach verses and formulas but unless the Holy Spirit gives the gift to the person they will have nothing to give to others.

I thought that day was one of the worst times I ever had, but in retrospect that may have been the finest message I ever preached. I have never seen such a positive reverberation. Jesus said He would build His church (Mt. 16:18). It is a great honor if He allows us to lay a brick or two in His Temple.

Lord Jesus, give me the faith to believe You will do what You promised You would. And please give us a fruitful New Year,

                                                                                bill

Four Names

13 December 2015

Dear Phyllis,

The other day I was impressed by what volumes are expressed by a few obscure words in the Bible. I noticed how the book of Colossians and Philemon are joined at the hip. Onesimus was the object of Paul's letter to Philemon. Onesimus had been a slave of Philemon who apparently had stolen some money and took off. By Roman law that was a capital offense. Runaway slaves were executed and a thief on to of that, he definitely was dead meat. But after escaping from Philemon, Onesimus ran into Paul who led him to Christ. Paul said he would have liked to keep Onesimus with him but he was returning him back to his legal owner. That was nice but what Paul was asking was ridiculous. It would have been grace for an owner to take back a runaway slave without executing him – but a thieving slave...? What was totally unthinkable was that Paul was asking Philemon not only to take him back and forgive him – not as a slave – but as a brother in Christ. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ could have come up with such an off-the-chart request.

Scholars are pretty much agreed that Philemon lived in Colossae. We know that he had a church in his house and, in all probability, the Church in Colossae was either the church in Philemon's house or that church had grown to become the Church in Colossae. In his letter to the Colossians Paul sends greetings from five people mentioned in the previous letter to Philemon. And one of them is Onesimus who is now one of the main co-workers with Paul. He is going to be one of the two to carry Paul's letter to Colossae. Paul calls him a“faithful and beloved brother” (Col.4:9). Oh my goodness, that no-account, runaway, thieving slave is now one of the major men in the 1^st century church. Obviously Philemon took him back as a family member and he grew tremendously in the Lord. Those who knew him must have been deeply impressed as he rapidly matured as a Christian standing up week by week sharing what the Lord had showed him and done for him. Increasingly he rose to take more and more a position of leasdership in the Philemon's house church. Then Philemon probably said, “Why don't you go and work with Paul?” In Paul's letter he had mentioned that he would have liked to keep Onesimus with him then. Now he comes back as a mature man of God.

The second name that impressed me was Epapharus. He was from that church in Philemon's house and was with Paul. This man is described as one of the great men of prayer in the NT. Paul said, “I bear him record that he hath a great zeal for you” and he previously said, “laboring fervently for you that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” (Col. 4:13,12). What a man of God. He came from Philemon's church and was now with Paul as a prayer warrior.

The third name that impressed me was Archipus. Most scholars are agreed that Archipus was a son of Philemon and Appia. He naturally would have been saved along with his mom and dad. Very naturally he would have had a favored place in the church as the son in that house. That confidence would have been well invested as he obviously was a gifted man and had a significant ministry. But as time passed there was a concern. He began to cool off. Other things began to take more interest and the ministry became secondary. The brethren were talking about it and when Paul wrote his letter back to Colossae he had a special message. Just before the end Paul inserted, “And say to Archipus, take heed to the ministry that thou hast received from the Lord, that thou fulfill it” (Col. 4:17). History does not tell us what happened after that. Hopefully that word of correction brought him to his senses and he was restored back to the prominence of Jesus being number one in his life.

A fourth name is Demas. He too was from Philemon's church and he was with Paul when Onesimus was saved. He was mentioned in the letter to Philemon and again in this second letter to the Colossians as saying “hello” (Col. 4:14). Demas is mentioned right along side of Luke who was Paul's most favored companion. Luke, of course, wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. He was with Paul from Acts 16 to the end. In Paul's last letter he mentions “only Luke is with me” (2 Tim. 4:11). But two verses before then Paul writes one of the most melancholic remarks in the NT – “Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world”. Paul had placed great confidence in Demas. He had known him from the early days in Philemon's house and he had been with him for several years. But the world secretly had first place in Demas' heart and in the end, what had been there all along, came out.

The Bible is full of gems like this. The unspoken testimonies of many of the great 1^st century Christians are put on display in very few words. How amazing that the Lord would lay his hand of a no-good, thieving, runaway slave and make him to be one of the major men with Paul. And a promising young man who had been with him through thick and thin at the last turned his back and loved the world.

We all have seen much of this today. It is bewildering that the guy who led me to Christ was the most outstanding young Christian man I had ever met. When he was 21 Johnny was the best preacher I had ever heard. In every respect he was one in a thousand. He was the one who first invited me to go with him to Stadsklev's house that later became my family. He was the one who said one night at 9:30, “I think I'll go talk to Cook”. He found me in a beer party, called me outside, and challenged me to give my heart to Jesus. I was saved that night. When he was 23 he was having seminars for pastors teaching them how to do personal work. We all assumed he would be a giant of a Christian. But rather than going in the ministry he wound up a senior Captain pilot for TWA. The last I saw him ten years ago, he was just moving into a new apartment and said, “I'm sorry I don't have anything in the refrigerator to drink. All I have is beer and wine”. I thought he was disgusting. His conduct and fellowship was the bottom level of Christian.

As I said last week, “It is not those who sparkle like rockets but those who finish well, they are the ones who win the prize in heaven.”

Lord Jesus, keep me faithful,

                                                    bill

Biggest News

6 December 2015

Dear Phyllis,

A month ago I wrote you, “The biggest news this past week was Paris”. Now today I must wrote “The biggest news this past week was San Bernardino”. News commentators in an attempt to be respectful to the US president call him incompetent. Incompetent is a very complementary word. Personally I feel they are mistaken. I don't feel he is incompetent at all. On the contrary I feel he is highly skilled and successful. I believe he is doing better than anyone could have expected. He has every right to be very satisfied with his accomplishment. To understand this view it is necessary to go back and review his close association with extreme anti-American radicals like Bill Ayers, and his close relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood is a front for terrorists. His uncle is one of the leaders of an extreme Muslim terrorists organizations and has been hosted in the White House several times. When Barack Hussein O (as Rush Limbaugh calls him) went on his apology tour at the beginning of his presidency, the Muslim Brotherhood was an illegal organization banned in Egypt. Hussein O insisted that they be given the place of honor in the front row when he spoke in Cairo. When violent unrest broke out in the Middle East and pro-western governments were toppled, Hussein O hailed this as the Arab Spring. Reality was that this turned out to be a nuclear winter for stability in the Middle East. I would be reluctant to suggest that Hussein O is a terrorist at heart, but it is a known fact that he has strong ties to terrorists groups. And any object examination of his speeches, actions, contacts and obvious mentality would have to admit that Hussein O certainly is a Muslim at heart. It would take 10,000 words to write the introduction to any paper enumerating his philosophy. As complementary as incompetent may be I really don't think he is. I believe he is right on his agenda or somewhat ahead of scheduled. Few would have believed it possible to transform America so radically in seven years.

When the Lord was gracious in giving us Ronald Reagan, I said this is a Josian revival. Carter had taken America so low I was ashamed to call myself an American. But for the eight years of Reagan I was so proud that I put up an American flag in my yard. If the Reagan years were indeed a Josian revival that means that everything after that is down hill to the end. The Lord was good in giving us Bush but it was during his term that American blood and resources began to be shed in fighting what is probably her last battle. In commenting on last Thursdays attack in San Bernardino one specialist said this is an act of war. Unquestionably that is true. But it a type of war unknown in history. 9-11 changed America permanently. San Bernardino will have the same destabilizing effect. It is amazing that only two people can have such an impact on an entire nation. The significance of San Bernardino is that it could happen anywhere. And, no doubt, it will happen everywhere. My friend Paul was working with anti-terrorism and was on surveillance of a house in upstate New York. He observed some highly unusual activity and notified the FBI. They checked it out and found it to be a warehouse filled with thousands of military grade weapons. That was just one small house in a small town in upstate New York. The question is, what do they have stored in other places all over America?

Recently I have been much challenged by Josiah. It would appear he was one of the greatest kings in Jewish history. The Josian Passover was the greatest Passover held since the days of Samuel. That is saying something. Even David and Solomon didn't have a Passover as great as Josiah's. His reformation was the greatest ever held. There was no one as thorough in stomping out idolatry as Josiah. He not only cleaned out the Temple and put down Baalism, but he tore down the house of the sodomites next to the temple and destroyed three temples that Solomon had built to three heathen gods. That was amazing. Those temples had been standing since the days of Solomon. And the ultimate was when he went up to Samaria and destroyed Jeroboam's alter at Bethel. 2 Kings 23 is a fantastic chapter.

But the astounding thing is that Jeremiahs ministry began in the 13^th year of Josiah; it went on for the next 40 years, and Jeremiah doesn't say one word about the Josian revival. On the contrary all Jeremiah talks about is doom and gloom. Josiah reigned for 32 years and Jeremiah was a prophet of 19 of those years. I was completely bewildered how it was possible for there to be such a revival and Jeremiah write about only judgment. I got a little light when the Lord showed me that the revival came when they discovered the Book of the Law in the Temple in the 18^th year of his reign. That means for the first five years of Jeremiah's ministry idolatry was business as usual and the sodomites where having parties next to the Temple. They were still burning children to Molech (2Kn. 23:10).

After that great Passover the Bible says nothing about Josiah until the 32^nd year when the Lord told him not to mess with Pharaoh, which he did, and got killed. The Lord gives Josiah high points with the testimony “there was no king before him or after him that turned to the Lord with all his heart” (2 Kn. 23:25)... “Notwithstanding, the Lord turned not from the fierceness of His great wrath wherewith His anger was kindled against Judah because of the provocation of Manasseh” (ver. 26). As great as Josiah was there are two things that stand out to me. One is that all his boys were no good. He had four sons that reigned after him. Two were for only a few months and two reigned for 12 years each. The last one was Zedekiah who was bad and got his eyes put out in Babylon. The second significant point is that when Jehoakim who took over a few months after Josiah, false prophets were in charge and idolatry was already flourishing. Obviously Judah went down hill badly in the later years of Josiah. Or in other words the revival was short lived.

One of the greatest revivals in modern time was the Lewis awakening under Duncan Campbell in 1954. In 1977 I was talking with Allen Redpath, who knew Campbell and the island of Lewis very well, and asked him what ever happened to that island. I was shocked when Redpath told me that the island was a dead then as it was before the revival. He said hundreds were saved and went out as missionaries but the church died out. Something like that must have happened to Judah. Those who win the prize with God are not those who blaze like rockets but those who continue on. That would explain Jeremiah's doleful message. It was great for a while but soon died down. 

If I am right that Reagan was a Josian revival that is very frightening. Ronald Reagan was fantastic! He was one of the greatest – if not the greatest president America ever had. Much of his staff were Christians and they say Bible studies and prayer meetings were common in many departments. As great a man as Ronald Reagan was his impact went only as far as his hand could reach. The slaughter of babies continued as it had ever since the Supreme Court made a law legalizing it. Reagan couldn't stop it. Pornography continued to gush out. Reagan had a commission on pornography and Jim Dobson was on it. But they couldn't stop it. Demonic rock music continued its meteoritic climb and he couldn't stop it. Reagan was a tremendous breath of fresh air but America continued its fatal plunge that started when five evil judges ruled that the Word of God and prayer to Jesus was banned for the US education system and many public places. Evil judges ruled that the Ten Commandments and other witness of the Bible were removed for government buildings. From 1981 to 1989 were possible some of our greatest years. The spirit of America returned to America. We walked with our heads held high, but I fear God had pulled the plug and there was no recovery.

What has happened since then was unthinkable in 1989. No one could have imagined that 26 years later the Supreme Court would make a law that sodomy and sexual perversion would be the law of the land and Christians could go to jail for not cooperating with it in their business. And the president would have the White House light up with rainbow colors celebrating the triumph of unmentionable immorality and sexual perversion. No one would have believed that the Attorney General of the USA would be a lawless man who spent more time prosecuting outstanding sheriffs than terrorists. No one would believed that we would have an administration that refused to close our borders allowing millions of illegal immigrants in and then there would be illegal foreigners suing states to grant them drivers licenses, the federal government granting them rights to vote, free education, food, and housing. In every other country but America if illegal foreigners are found they are either put in jail or deported. But in America they demonstrate for rights. And in 1989 who would believe that the man at the helm as the leader of America would be a Muslim at heart with an agenda to bring America down?

As we look at the political situation it is tremendously encouraging that there should be such a slate of truly outstanding men campaigning for the presidency. Any one of the top eight men would be incredible. Three are born-again deep men of God. What a salvation if the Lord would give to the states a man like that to take the helm. But if Ronald Reagan was indeed a Josian revival that means he was the last one. I fear there are many disastrous things that could happen. Ben Carson has suggested that it is not inconceivable that there may not be an election in 2016. That is highly possible. There are several things that could bring America down before then and it is a wonder that it hasn't happened already. There is a very large pool (cease pool) of the American population that are totally illiterate of history, politics, or morality. The only thing on their mind is drugs, sex and a free handout from the government, and they will support the candidate who will promise that. There is a strong possibility that the Republican establishment may mount an anti-Trump campaign blocking him as a candidate – pushing him to start a third party. If that happens the bad guys win. There are a lot of bad things that could happen in the next year. We are totally cast upon the grace of God. But if God has pulled the plug on America the day of grace is over and the thunder of the judgment of God may be upon us.

It makes me sick to my stomach every time I see a victory for evil. The Lord has reminded me that there is a lot of far more bad things to come. Very soon the very incarnation of the devil himself will win a resounding victory and there will be great celebration. Perhaps we should join in the celebration too – for a different reason. When that happens we know that he won't last two terms. He only has seven years. God has set the limit on that. And that is the beginning of the clock to Armageddon. Praise God! That is when Jesus wipes out evil and His Kingdom will be established on this earth. Oh praise the Lord we are close.

I might be completely mistaken. The Lord may have another 100 years for America and we could see a real man of God turn everything around. We could see evil people swept from power. But I doubt it. But praise the Lord, our Father has written the script and I am sure it will play out exactly as written. Someone once asked John Wesley what it would be like at the end of the world. He answered, “The end of the world... man, the end of the world will be the glory of God.” Amen!

Even so come Lord Jesus... quickly;

                                                                                     bill