Christian Jihadist

24 April 2016

Dear Phyllis,

Greetings from the rest home. For the past week I have been staying with my good friends, Russ and Mary Alice O'Quinn in Tehachapi, Calif. The most significant thing that happened last week was a warm discussion I had with Russ over my letter to you last week. Russ was highly offended by my thesis that what we need today is an army of Christian jihadists. He strongly challenged that that word should never be used by Christian lips. I like to think that the basis of our argument was misunderstanding and I told Russ if my use of that word would cause a false impression in someones mind then perhaps I shouldn't use it. But my basic theme of Christian suicide bombers was fundamentally Christian. Again Russ was horrified by that term also. I'm sorry but I don't know how else to express it. Russ said there is not one illustration in the Bible of a person who went out on a suicide mission. May I say there is a difference between someone who goes out to kill themselves and others and someone who goes out to sacrifice their lives for the sake of saving others. I have said for years that I want to be a “Christian terrorist”. Again Russ thought that word was totally unbiblical, and I countered, “That is what Jesus said of His Bride”. Twice in the Song of Solomon Jesus said of His Bride, “You are a terrible as an army with banners”(S. of S. 6:4,10). We should be. No Christian should be afraid of Islamic terrorists – they should be terrified of us.

In Russ' defense I should add, Russ is a very fine Christian. If he is not the premier test pilot in America today, he is very close to being the number one man. He showed me his pilots license that is one of only two in the world with a certain mark on it. Russ is not only perhaps the number one pilot in America but he is also one of the finest evangelists and has spoken to thousands about his faith in Jesus. He told me of one four star general who sat next to him with tears in his eyes as Russ shared his testimony and the Gospel of Christ.

But Russ was highly offended with the message of going out to sacrifice our lives. When Russ challenged me that there is not one person in the Bible that ever did that, I could think of One. There was One who was the finest Man that ever walked on the face if this earth whose entire purpose for living was to give His life for the salvation of others. Not only that, but He also said is any man was to be His followers he must have the same commitment. He said, “If any man does not pickup his cross and follow Me he cannot be My disciple” (Lk. 14:27). Incontestably, the call to pick up a cross is a death sentence. But this message has been so watered down today that it is now perceived as being alarming. The gospel message today is that we should be good Christians, read our Bible, and tell others about Jesus; but in the mind of millions (may I say most) Americas we should never tempt God by doing anything dangerous. I was infuriated after 9/11 when we had 100% cancellation of teams coming out from the states to SEA to help us carry Bibles to underground Christians in communist countries, because it was too dangerous to fly on an airplane. The same thing happened again with the SARS epidemic as they were afraid they might catch cold.

My dear friend Luke Kuepfer was lamenting that there was a large community of mature Christians in Sarasota, Florida playing scuffle board while we needed them in Thailand to shepherd younger missionaries. I told Luke, “If a person has that mentality, that that is his goal in life, let them stay in Sarasota and play scuffle board – you haven't lost a thing.” God send us men with burning hearts.

A man was sitting in a restaurant in Laos and, at another table, the wife of the wife of the top missionary in Laos was talking two two visitors from the states. After some time one of the men walked over to the brother sitting by himself, saying, “I understand you are Brother Andrew.” The man answered, “I'm sorry, sir, but you are completely mistaken. Brother Andrew is a tremendous man of God who was the pioneer of the ministry of smuggling Bibles into communist countries. I am just a very average Christian believer.” The visitor went on, “I hear you are the bravest man in Laos.” Again the man replied, “No, I am not a brave am at all. My only distinguishing attribute is that I am the most expendable servant the Lord has in His inventory. This enables me to do a few unusual things.” That is a wonderful attribute.

A few years ago I was talking go a large group of young people from a Bible school in the states who had come out to help us carry Bibles into Vietnam. I spoke to them about three ABILITIES. The first ABILITY is being gifted. The Lord has raised up some unusually gifted people who are a great blessing to the church – Charles Spurgeon, Isaac Watts, and men like that have wonderful ability. But of the three abilities that is the least important. Our greatest need is for ordinary, faithful, one-talent believers with no special ability (Mt. 25:15).

The second ability is supremely important – DEPENDABILITY. The Bible says that “it is required of a steward that a man be found faithful” (1 Cor. 4:2). If a man is not dependable he is disqualified for doing any important ministry. It is important that a man keeps his word. If you can't trust him to do what he says, he is off the list. And when given a task to do, it is vital that he be absolutely dependable.

Perhaps the most distinguishing ability is EXPENDABILITY. There are some things that are expendable and some things are not. Bows are not expendable – arrows are. Guns are not expendable – bullets are. Mothers, housewives, teachers are not expendable – but donkeys who carry Bibles are. In any warfare there are the front line soldiers who are expendable. These are the marines who stormed ashore on Wake Island and Normandy in the face of withering fire. Somebody has got to do it. In any warfare there will be causalities. You can't fight a war without somebody getting killed. These are the men who were accounted as expendable. During the 2^nd WW, in the early bombing in Germany by the 8^th Air force, the causality rate was 70%. But they kept flying.

We have moved into a phase of world evangelism today that is being played on a stage never before seen. Moslem mothers teach their children to be suicide bombers. From the early age they are taught that the greatest thing they can do in life is be a suicide bomber. Are we raising our children to be missionaries? A good friend of mine was a close friend of Jim Elliot. Pharis also knew Jim's dad quite well. He said after Jim had been killed by the Auca Indians in Ecuador his dad grieved at the lost of his son but he was proud that Jim had given his life that way. We need more Jim Elliot fathers who raise their sons to go out at any cost to win souls for Jesus.

As strange as this may sound this is only basic Christianity. This was the requirement that Jesus set for those who would follow Him. Bluntly stated, the call to bear your cross is a call to shed blood. This is what it is going to take to take the Gospel back to Jerusalem.

All three abilities are important. The Lord has been gracious in raising up highly gifted men with great ability to proclaim the Gospel. Thank God for thousands of faithful servants that are marked by dependability. And thank God for the thousands of workers whose fundamental characteristic isexpendability to win the Islamic world for Jesus.

Joe Carroll told the story of an event that happened during the 1^st WW. The Aussies and Germans were locked in bloody trench warfare. The Aussies devised a plan to dig a tunnel under the German lines and detonate a powerful explosive. Two minutes before the charge was scheduled the captain thrust the plunger down on the detonator and nothing happened. The captain looked at the lieutenant and the lieutenant raced through the tunned. Right on schedule there was a tremendous explosion and thousands of Aussie soldiers poured over the trench to attack the German lines.

It is the mystery of eternity that Jesus should lead the charge and the Son of God be the first one to be nailed to a Cross. Should the servants be less expendable than the Lord? Lord Jesus please give me the grace to follow You.

                                                             bill

Am I a soldier of the Cross a follower of the Lamb:

And should I fear to own His cause or blush to speak His Name?

Should I be carried to the sky on flowery beds of ease;

While others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas?

Yes I must fight if I would reign, increase my courage Lord

I'll bear the toil endure the pain supported by Thy Word.

Back to Jerusalem Movement

17 April 2016

Dear Phyllis,

Last Wednesday my niece, Pam, asked me to speak to their pastor about the Back To Jerusalem Movement. This was particularly significant for me as the top spiritual man of China now lives in Santa Monica, not far from where I am staying with my niece and her family. I have had it much on my heart for many years to speak with Pastor Xu and it now looks like a distinct possibility as I am in contact with his son.

I have written to you twice about the BTJ movement , but at the expense of being redundant let me go over this significant movement one more time.

The Back to Jerusalem Movement originated in the 1920 on the Shandong peninsula of east side of China. A brother, Jing Dianying, saw how Jesus saidthe Gospel must be preached around the world and then the end would come. He observed that the Gospel had come to China from the western nations and felt commissioned of God to carry it by foot back to Jerusalem. The Jesus Family was an indigenous Chinese group of Christians whose motto was Sacrifice, Abandonment, Poverty, Suffering, and Death. If this is what you were willing to sign up for you were welcome to join them. They started walking west in the late 1920, going from village to village, preaching the Gospel, leaving thousands of Christians in their path all over China. By 1950 they got as far as Kashgar, which is the last city on the extreme west border of China. They made application to move on into what was then the Soviet Union; but the communists had taken over Xinjiang province and all the leaders of the movement were arrested and sentenced to 45 years of imprisonment.

In 1995 Brother Yun was conducting a meeting in central China with a burden for Chinese believers to move out of China as missionaries. At the close of the meeting they were singing a hymn taken from the old Jesus Family hymnal. He noticed an elderly man sitting in the back who was deeply moved. The old man came forward and asked for an opportunity to speak. He said, “My name is Simon Zhao. My brothers and I wrote that song.” He had spent 31 years in prison and was the only survivor of the original movement. He emotionally told how for many years he had stood in prison facing towards Jerusalem, praying that someone would pick up the baton and carry the Gospel on. Brother Yun said that was the pivotal moment of his life. Emotionally he said, “Uncle, we will do it.” The house church leaders in China banned together to form the Sinim Fellowship and surveyed 100,000 Chinese workers who volunteered to give their lives to take out the 10-40 window, which is the area of 90% of the unevangelized portion of the world and the home of the Muslin nations.

I intensely believe the Chinese are correct for three reasons.

First, I believe God speaks to humanity every day through nature that His movement is from east to west. Due to the rotation of the earth, the witness in heaven of the sun, moon, and stars rising in the east, traversing across the horizon, and setting in the west every day is a testimony that God's movement is from east to west.

Secondly, I believe that the testimony of scripture speaks to us very clearly that God's movement is from east to west. There are so many scriptures showing this that space does not permit me to mention them all. But all the movement in Genesis is from east to west; Abraham leaving the Ur of the Caldees, Rebeca going to Isaac, Jacob returning back home, Joseph being sold to Egypt. Perhaps the strongest argument is the layout of the OT Tabernacle and Solomon's Temple. The entrance of the Tabernacle was on the east side, and the Holy of Holies with the presence of God was on the back west. All the moment of the priest coming before the Lord was by moving from east to west. Even in his prayer at the Golden Altar, the priest was facing west towards God. The wise men seeking Jesus came from the east. When Jesus went up to Jerusalem the last time, He traveled from east to west. He came through Jericho and entered Jerusalem from the east. Jesus told the apostles in Acts 1:8 that the Gospel would be preached first in Jerusalem, then Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the world. As we read the book of Acts we see that was exactly the way the Gospel went.

Conversely, the movement away from God is from west to east. Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden east of Eden. When Cain killed his brother he went from the presence of the Lord east of Eden. When Lot parted company from his uncle Abraham he went east (Gen. 13:11). At the time of the Babylonia captivity the Jews were taken east to Babylon and when they returned back to Jerusalem they went west again. In Ezek. 8:16 the Lord showed Ezekiel the elders of Israel in the temple with their backs to the Lord facing east worshiping the sun. The glory of God departed from Jerusalem on the east (Ez. 11:23). When Jesus left to go back to heaven He left from the Mt. of Olives on the east side of Jerusalem, and when He returns He will land there and re-enter Jerusalem through the east gate. The overwhelming testimony of Scripture is that the movement of God is from east to west.

And thirdly, church history is an undeniable testimony that God's movement is from east to west. In the 1^st century we see that the Gospel was first preached in Jerusalem (Acts 1-5), then Phillip took it to Samaria (chap. 8) . The Gospel went up to Antioch (11), the first missionary trip (13), over to Philippi (16), and ending in Rome (28). The Gospel was somewhat dormant in Rome for 1000 years and then went up to Germany in 1200, From there it went to England at the time of the Wesleys in 1715. For two hundred years the British were the custodians of the Gospel giving us our best Christian literature, hymnology, preachers, and missionaries. And then for the 20^th century America was the custodian of the Gospel with the strongest churches, funding, and sending out 90% of world missions. But then in 1970 we saw and amazing thing when the Gospel jumped the Pacific rim and went to Korea. South Korea has now taken over as the number one Christian nation, funding and sending out more missionaries per capita than any other nation. Korea has gone well past America as the leading mission nation. But from the mid 1980s we saw an amazing thing in China, in a moving of the Spirit of God, such as has not been seen on this plant since the 1^st century. With my years with New Life Ministries and working in SEA, I have personally witnessed the explosive expansion of the Gospel and astounding miracles in China. Facts have exceeded exaggerated reports. There are an estimated 130,000,000 believers in China today, and the projection is that in another 15 years China may be the most Christian nation on earth.

What we have witness is a tsunami of the Holy Spirit that began at Jerusalem, went across the Mediterranean, went through Germany and Europe, was in England, America, Korea; and is now that tsunami is in eastern and central China. We are not seeing the revival phenomenon in west China that is happening in east and central China, but I passionately believe we will see the movement of the Holy Spirit move westward into west China and then through Central Asia. There is no question that the most intense target of missions today is the Islamic world. And it is reported that the fastest growing church in the world today is in Iran.

I may be slightly off in this presentation of the history of world missions. Of course you have the southern hemisphere of Africa and South America. But without question the general truth of these three witnesses, of nature, the Bible, and church history is an incontestable fact. This being true, I passionately believe the Lord has raised up the Chinese church to carry the Gospel message westward to the Islamic world, and we are going to see a movement of the Holy Spirit such as has never happened before.

But I believe the Chinese have it wrong on one point. Abraham had two sons. The first son was Ishmael and the second son was Isaac. Ishmael is the father of the Arabs, and Isaac the father of Israel. I believe what we are going to see is the Lord using the Chinese to bring millions of Muslims to Christ. I believe the tsunami of the Holy Spirit is going to go to the Middle East and we will see Ishmael hand the Gospel baton to Isaac for the last mile of the Gospel going around the world – back to Jerusalem. Then Jesus will come.

These are tremendously exciting days. We are presently seeing spiritual activity on a scale never before seen. But from here, I believe we are going to have to do world missions on a totally different level. Todays traditional missionary with a degree from a high level seminary, living in a comfortable house with his wife and family, and driving a new Toyota will not get the job done. It is going to cost a great deal of blood. What we need is an army of Christian jihadist who are willing to strap a bomb of the love of God on their bodies and go to dangerous places to see how many they can save. And if they get killed in the process that is what they signed up for. This was the spirit of the Jesus Family and this is what it is going to take to take the Gospel Back To Jerusalem.

In the wake of that tsunami is terrible darkness. Just as the sun traverses the horizon, darkness follows the light; darkness is falling on formally Christian nations. But these are the days spoken of by the prophets.

Oh Lord give us courage to do our part even if it cost our lives. Lord Jesus, You died for us, please, Lord, give us the grace to give our lives for You. Lord Jesus come quickly,

                                                                                                 bill

Happenings

27 March 2016

Dear Phyllis,

Today is Resurrection Sunday. Hallelujah! If there was no resurrection we might as well hang it up. There is no hope. It's all over, folks. But thank God for the God of the resurrection. And praise God that Jesus is the resurrection (Jn. 11:25). The resurrection and Jesus are one. Thank God the day will come when all that are in the grave will come back to life (Jn. 5:28,29); and praise God that, today, for things that looked like it's all over; miraculously, the Lord brings them back to life. I am perversely encouraged in reading Acts 27 about when Paul was in the storm. Luke honestly writes, “All hope that we should be saved was taken away” (Act 27:20). What a statement! If anyone had strong faith it was the Apostle Paul. He had been saved time and again out of the most harrowing circumstances. Surely he was praying. Surely he believed God would hear his prayer. Surely he believed they would get out of this horrible time. But all hope was taken away that they would be saved. And when all hope was gone, the Lord pulled it off.

We have had an interesting week. A week ago last Wednesday we checked a girl out of the mental hospital to stay with us. Janice (35 years old) had stayed with us several times before but three months ago it was obvious she had serious mental problems and Pammy – along with her father and sister – checked her in to the hospital. We had visited her a couple of times but I was concerned that her eyes didn't look good. But we made arrangements to check her out to stay with us the next week. Thank God Janice has been very good but Pammy bottomed out. Wednesday night things were terrible (big fight). The next morning her sister from Lampan came to get her. I had no idea what was going to happen but two days later she sent me an e-mail saying she had been to a couple of doctors and she came back Sunday evening. Wednesday she stayed in bed all day. That afternoon I went for a walk to see my friends the Moores. While I was there Janice called saying Pammy was bad and hurry home. Dave took me home in his truck and we both were shocked to see Pammy bundled up in a winter parka. It has been 100 F every day last week but she was chilled to the bone. High fever. With considerable effort, Dave and I were able to load her in his truck and took her to the emergency entrance at the local hospital. I had no idea what was going to happen but after three hours the fever was down and they released her to go home. The next day she wasn't good and asked to go back to the hospital. This time they put her in a large ward and 24/7 IV. I was really komatta (big problem). I had two sick women on my hands and the mental one on medication was the best. The doctor said Pammy's problem was her kidneys but Saturday noon she was discharged again, healed. No fever. I have no idea what is going on. The fever was real. That was a fact, but to me the big problem seems to be more attitude than physical. She goes from near death to good health within minutes depending on which way the wind is blowing.

Pammy volunteered to have Janice live with us. She has a big heart in being willing, and desirous, of taking needy people in. But – without exception – every time we have had people, there has always been problems. The worst was when we took three year old Annie in to be our daughter and then Pammy wouldn't come home nights to take care of her own daughter. Consequently we lost Annie. He had another boy from Sweden with us last month, but last lasted a few days before there was a huge eruption. I have very serious misgivings on how long Janice can stay with us. There is an enormous problem there now. I am really in a tough spot as Janice has no place to go and Pammy is not in a position to meet her needs. Last week it looked to me like Janice was going to wind up in a zoo, or worse, Pammy was going back to Lampan, and I was looking somewhat longingly at the east shore of the pond. If someone would send me a plane ticket and an invitation to speak somewhere, it would be difficult not to take that as guidance to head for America.

I married Pammy because I felt that Jesus had brought her and set her before me. It was my call to accept what He placed before me or reject it. It was easier to say yes to Jesus than no. I didn't seek it, I didn't ask for it, and I didn't want to marry her. I did it as an act of obedience to Jesus. But, man howdy, this has been a challenge.

Pammy is an extremely strong will woman. She has had her own way all her life and it is next to impossible for her to be under authority. I made a vow to God and to her to be her husband; to love her, protect her, and provider for her – and I mean to keep my vow. The vow was “for better or for worse”. Good health and proper conduct have nothing to do with it. Regardless of the performance of the other partner wedding vows are one way. It is not 50 – 50. It is 100 – 0. But to expect Pammy to perform according to the scripture is like asking the legless to walk. Of course God is able to give grace to anyone to do His will, but there are millions where this doesn't work out. To the bitter end, Rosemary was never able to accept that our marriage was the will of God. She never had one gram of love for me. She asked the Lord to give her love for me but when He didn't she knew it was not His will for her to love me, and, obviously, He had directed the divorce. (Don't argue with me about the theology. I'm not saying I agree with this but that is the way it was presented and worked out. The Christian counselors at Link Care agreed with Rosemary.) In Pammy's case it seems cruel to force her to be something that is totally against her DNA. She does not want out but she is deeply disappointed that the Lord did not give her a husband who would be more supportive and help her in her ministry. It is death to her to have to sit down and let someone else be in charge. Over a year ago she blew out with the Thai pastor of the church where we were going. I agreed that it was not wise for her to continue going to that church. She had led a number of people to the Lord and wanted to start her own church. I said NO, but the Philadelphia Home Church came into being anyway.. After six months it started to look reasonably good and I said I would be the pastor. But that didn't work out. Finally it ground down to zero and for two months no one showed up. I went back to work with Pastor Kichikun. When Pammy was in Lampan two weeks ago I took the sign down and explained to her why. The other night she challenged me, “Who gave you the authority to take that sign down?” I replied, “Who gave you the authority to put it up?”

Last night we had two of her sisters, a brother-in-law, and an aunt stay with us. None are saved. I thought it would be best to stay here this morning, and have our own service to allow me to talk to them about the resurrection. It was the most ridiculous Resurrection Sunday Service I was ever in. I sat there like a trained dog waiting to be called to jump through the hoop while Pammy did her thing. No one was singing or cared to do anything. Finally Pammy called on me to give my message. It was one of the more pained moments of my life. Fortunately I have had experience enough to be able to handle it but it was a message like you never heard. Bless her heart, she simply cannot translate. I will say something like, “Jesus rose from the dead” and Pammy will go on for ten minutes talking about anything that might be associated with the resurrection. Even after reading two or three verses she will go on for five minutes expounding on them. Conservatively, her talk is four or five times longer than mine. And to deviate in anyway from what she wants to do is an act of war. I have no idea how long my message was. At times she would get involved in an extended Thai conversation with her sister and I have no idea what they are talking about. I asked, “Would you like me to continue my message or shall we quit here?”

My heart goes out to her. She feels terribly oppressed. By asking her to toe the line is torture. To expect her to act like a submissive wife following me is like asking a dog to climb a tree.

Today is Resurrection Sunday. Time and again I have seen Jesus bring life out of impossible situations. Paul gave up all hope they would be saved. I sit here with water pouring over my head and wonder where this ship is going?

Father, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy Kingdom come (PLEASE); Thy will be done in this house just like it is done in heaven. Lord if You would do this for us we will be saved. If not I would rather die than dishonor Your Name further. May Your Son be glorified in me, in my body, in Pammy, and Janice. Show us Your way and Your salvation. Lord, please do it.

                                             bill