Beauty of Christ

27 August 2017

Dear Phyllis,

Indescribable is the only word in the English that is available to describe the beauty and glory of our Lord Jesus. He is so much beyond our comprehension that it is like a child holding a handful of water and saying he has the ocean in his hand. We might as well go to the top of a small hill, hold a yard stick up in the air and say we are measuring the breadth of the universe as to think our limited intellect can take in the magnitude of who Jesus and His Father are. How I wish I could see, and how I wish I could paint a picture of the beauty of our indescribable Lord. I frequently sit with Bartimaeus holding out our tin cups, begging for alms. But I envy Bartimaeus. When he heard that Jesus was passing by he made such a racket that it caught Jesus' attention, and consequently was healed and got his sight. The last I saw of Bartimaeus, he was leaving town following Jesus in the way (Mk. 10:52). I heard that he was with the 120 in the upper room when the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost and later he became a famous evangelist. I say this because of all the people in the Bible that met Jesus, he is the only one that is known also by his father's name. The only other men we have in the scripture listed with their fathers name are some of the 12. When the Bible tell us that this was “blind Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus” (Mk. 10:46), that is a strong argument that he was a very well known evangelist in the early church. I knew a man in Japan who was an alcoholic but later was wonderfully saved, and became a well known speaker. Whenever he stood to give a message he would introduce himself by saying, “I am Hiroshi the drunk”. I am sure Bartimaeus was known as Blind Bartimaeus. But after he threw down his garment (Mk. 10:50) when he rushed to Jesus, I picked it up hoping that someday I might have his good fortune and Jesus might give me better sight.

In all honesty it is not true, or honoring to the Lord, to say that I am totally blind. The Lord has been extremely good to me in giving a little sight, but when I look at the beauty of the Lord it is like I see men as trees walking (Mk. 8:24). Occasionally I do get glimpses of the Lord and what I see is mind boggling, but then a have a further frustration in being incapable of describing what I see.

The other night I saw a video of Ravi Zacharias in Iraq. What he saw and what he was talking about was sickening. That mess is evil that goes beyond our imagination. And yet in a very perverse way we have to thank God for evil. If we didn't have dark we would never know light. Stars are invisible in the day time. It takes the blackness of the night to reveal the light of the stars. If we didn't have cold we would never appreciate warm. A cheery warm fireplace is no fun on a hot summer day, but it has a marvelous magic to sit in front of it when it is freezing outside. Ravi said one of the pluses coming out of the carnage in Iraq is the heroic, outstanding work being done by Christian aid workers. The evil of ISIS makes the beauty of the love of Christ, demonstrated by Christian workers, shine like you don't see any where else. We would never appreciate the wonder of love and righteousness if we didn't have the hideousness of evil.

Maybe I should thank God for my poor eyesight. If I wasn't so blind maybe I wouldn't appreciate what little the Father has shown me of the beauty of His Son. I love to see fighters (aircraft) and powered parachutes. When I hear a fighter going over low level or hear the drone of a powered parachute, I run out side to get a better look. If trees are in the way, I run to anyplace where I can get a better look. I wish the Father would make a hole in the door of heaven that we might peek through to get a glimpse of our Lord on His Throne. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God” (Mt. 5:8). Then, Lord, give me a more pure heart. Oh that we had the heart to crave a better look at Jesus. My eyes are terrible but that problem isn't as bad as the lethargy of my heart. Perhaps Bartimaeus' beggars garment might do me more good than spending time in a library filling my mind with knowledge. Hang it! I don't care how, I just want to know the Lord.

Four hundred yeas ago a Scottish man wrote, “I went to hear a man preach (Blair), and he told me all my heart. The next Sunday I heard another man preach (Dixon), and he told me of the majesty of God. Then I heard Samuel Rutherford preach, and he told me of the loveliness of Jesus.”. No one has ever seen more or spoken more eloquently of the loveliness of Jesus than Samuel Rutherford. The letters of Rutherford are filled with the Song of Solomon. I know of no other place that speaks more of the loveliness of Jesus than the Song of Solomon. If we accept that the Church is the Bride of Christ, there is no other place that describes to us that relationship. Unfortunately that is a portion of Scripture that most people avoided like it was a traffic ticket. Personally, that is the scripture I turn to when I am the driest and need to drink from the well. The other day I was in a deep quest for a glimpse of Jesus and went there hoping to find something to tell me about His beauty. Apart from a few isolated passages, the only place I found that spoke in any detail about His person was chapter 5:10-16. But to my intense frustration I was reminded again that the entire 4^th chapter is the speech of Jesus telling His Bride how beautiful she is. Many years ago, when I was teaching the S. of S. in the Bible school in Karuizawa, I was bewildered to find so much was devoted to speech of Jesus telling His Bride how much He loved her and how beautiful she is, and so little the other way of the Believer raving about Jesus. By actual word count, I discovered the score was 5 to 1. I thought there must be a serious mistake. Reality is, the Bride is anything but beautiful. I am utterly depressed when I see the unspeakable sin and hypocrisy in the Church. Jesus gave His life for us and we feel strained to give Him the time of day. As I wrestled with this problem and asked the Lord why His Book should read this way, the Lord showed me it is not that we love God but that He loves us. If we get serious and try to put on paper the measure of our love for the Lord, compared to His love for us, the score would be astronomically more than 5 to 1.

Oh the pain! I told the Lord, “It is not fair!” Oh grief, that the ocean of His love for us is so deep and our shallow love for Him is measured in tea spoons. Daily, I beg God if there is only one thing that He might do for me, please let it be that Jesus would totally own me and give me a larger heart to love Him more. No man ever had a caving for the Lord like Rutherford and yet his constant complaint was his spiritual poverty. Then he wisely observed that our greatest need is a hunger for God, and pleaded with God to fill him with hunger. If barrenness, blindness, and starvation are the qualifications for a seeker, then I am truly a blessed man.

Oh Lord why should it be that there should be One in heaven that is so wonderful and we sit here like children playing in the sand thinking we are serving God? Oh Lord, speak so loud that the deaf can hear and shine in our hearts to brightly that we might more clearly see the beauty of Your worthy Son. Please, Father, do it for Jesus sake.

                                             bill

Serving God

20 August 2017

Dear Phyllis,

 

Last week a fine pastor in Pakistan, who has a church and childrens home, wrote me asking for help to get in contact with some organization who will help him with his childrens home. The following is my reply to him.

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Dear Brother Hanook.

You have written the wrong man for advice about the childrens home and evangelism. There are two radically different positions about how to serve God. There is the George Mueller/ Hudson Taylor position of faith based ministry; and there is the traditional position that is used by 90% of Christian missions. I wrote a PB letter a few weeks ago in which I discussed the issue of those who are serving God and those who are following Jesus.

In the days when Jesus was here, He had the 12 who were constantly with Him. There is no evidence that the 12 felt compelled to do fund raising. Christ was entirely responsible for their provision. When Jesus invited a man to, “Follow Me”; it was assumed that He would take care of all their needs. The only case of fund raising that I know of in scripture was when Jesus told Peter to go fishing (Mt. 17:27). He said, “You will find a coin in his mouth. Use that to pay the tax for you and Me.” It is conceivable that Jesus may tell someone to go fishing for support, but there is a vast difference between that and someone going out with a tin cup saying, “Jesus told me to get some money to pay for our tax. Could you help us out and give us $50?” Jesus doesn't need to beg for money to pay for His own bills and it is dishonoring to Him to prove to the world that He does.

If someone invited me, “How would you like to work for me in China?”, I would assume if I was going to work for them, then they would be responsible for my support. It is a strange employment, indeed, that would ask someone to work for them and then require them to provide for themselves. I could say, “I am going to work for the Chinese government here in Chiang Mai”; but I better not expect the Chinese to support me if they have never spoken to me about that employment. If the Chinese embassy contacts me and asks me to do something for them; that is a totally different situation. In that case where we have a contract, I can confidently expect to receive money from the Chinese for doing what they ask me to do.

It is not dissimilar for most Christian work. Many people say, “I am going to work for God” and then expect God to pay for it. If the Lord orders it, it is highly probable that He will pay for it. If the Lord has never said a thing about that, then He is under no obligation to pay for what is my idea – not His. This is the difference between those who are “serving the Lord” and those who are following the Lord. Those who are following the Lord are simply obeying what He has told them to do. In that case He is obligated to pay for it. Those who are serving the Lord are sincerely engaged in all kinds of worthy Christian projects where the responsibility for financing it is totally on their shoulders. The problem is that very few people know the Lord. Because we don't know the Lord well enough to follow Him we are left to our own devices to do what we think best.

The second stage of this is to say, “The Lord told me to do this”, when He has actually not said a thing. It is extremely dangerous to try to put words in God's mouth and then say, “The Lord said...”. The Christian mission scene is littered with hundreds of cases of bad bills where earnest Christians believed God would pay for it, but in reality He never did. Solomon wrote a wise verse when he said, “Every Word of God is pure: He is a shield to them that put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto His Words, lest He reprove thee and thou be found a liar” (Prov. 30:5,6).

I would encourage you to be a real man of faith and prove the Lord in your endeavors to serve Him. But there is a terrible danger in making serous mistakes in guidance. Paul wrote a wise word of caution when he exhorted, “Let every man think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man a measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3). It is a notable thing to launch out to trust and prove the Lord, but it is an equally fatal mistake to try to trust God beyond the faith He has given you. If God has given you the faith to do something, then do it. If you hope He will back you up, then all I can say is “Lots of luck.” You are going to need it. When I left the US Air Force to stay in Japan as a missionary I had zero backing. I had no one who promised to give me a dollar. But I had $3,000 in my pocket that I got for leaving the service. A friend thought it would be most honoring to the Lord if I gave away all my money and started out with nothing. But I didn't have faith for that. Since then I have stepped out several times with nothing and the Lord has always been faithful. It doesn't bother me much to have nothing, but I have more faith now than I did when I first started following the Lord. I have some amazing testimonies of the Lord providing exactly what I needed. And I have some testimonies where I sincerely believed God would provide and He didn't.

One time was 15 years ago when I tried to buy a truck in Japan. I desperately needed a truck and had prayed a lot about it. I found exactly the truck that I wanted and promised the man to pay him the full price in two weeks. I gave him $300 as a down payment and was sure the Lord would give me the rest in two weeks. The day came that I promised, and God had given me nothing. The man was shocked that I broke my promise, and I was bitterly disappointed in the Lord for failing me. It was one of the few times when Jesus failed to give me what I had asked Him for and was sure that He would do it. Because I had broken my promise I gave the man an additional $500 and he kept the truck. What I didn't know was that within a few weeks I would be fired from my job; I would leave Japan to return to Thailand and never return to Japan to work again. If I had bought that truck it would have been a huge mistake. False guidance cost me $800 but I have always been grateful to Jesus for keeping me from buying that truck.

Guidance is one of the most difficult parts of the Christian life. I heard an excellent message on guidance one night. After the message I went forward to speak to the speaker. I said, “Brother, you have hit on the most difficult thing in my life”. Then he gave me the wisest word I have ever had on that subject - “Don't try to get guidance above your head”. (Don't try to trust God for more than He has given you faith for.) Some people walk very closely with the Lord and it is amazing the things He tells them and does for them. If you are not that close to the Lord and try to be like them, it could be disastrous. The name-of-the-game is KNOW THE LORD.

For your self; I don't know what to say. I understand your heart. I would feel the same way you do. The needs are tremendous. What are we suppose to do? Ask the Lord. 90% of Christian activity is mans work, being done mans ways, by mans means (for God). Nearly all Christian missions are run on a business basis. They are done in the name of the Lord, but they are no different than any other secular organization, like the Red Cross. Take God completely out of the equation, and it would make no difference as God is not involved. It is totally mans organization, done in mans ways. A lot of these organizations are very good doing very good work. If you can make the right connections perhaps you can have a big home and help a lot of Children. But I have zero connections. I don't have any to help myself.

God bless you brother, bill

Wheels of God

6 August 2017

Dear Phyllis,

The wheels of God turn slowly, but they do turn. We live in a world where we want everything right now. We push a button and we want a response. But with God things take time. It seems that one of the basic laws of God is the law of gradual growth. Nearly everything in nature is governed by this law. We sow seeds and it takes time before we see results. Then we have to wait for the plant to grow before we have a harvest. Even the life of Jesus was governed by growth. It took nine months for a seed to become a baby. And it took about 18 years for a baby to become a man. On several occasions Jesus said “My time has not yet come”. Then in John 17 Jesus begins that prayer by saying, “Father, the hour is come”. God waited 400 years for the seed of Jacob to grow to nation of 2,000,000 in Egypt. And God has been waiting for 2000 years for the Body of Christ to be formed among the nations of the world.

Dendo (evangelism) takes time. I knew a man in Japan who did 360 degree dendo. He prayed for his neighbors on all four sides to be saved. Over time God honored his prayer and neighbors on all four sides were saved. I am not up to that but I do believe that we should be a strong witness to the folks who live the closest to us. I don't speak a word of Thai and that restricts my verbal testimony considerably. But the Lord is amazing in giving me a partner who is a non-stop, 24/7, loud speaker witness for Jesus.

Pammy is amazing. I didn't ask for her and I didn't want her. I said “No” four times but the Lord prevailed and we were married six years ago. I have never seen anything like her in my life. She isn't perfect, and there is much I wish was different, but I can't fault her enthusiasm for the Lord. To ask her not to witness would be like asking her to stop breathing.

I have lived in my present house for 15 years. The Lord has given me three houses to live in. One was in Karuizawa, one in Ikoma, and now one in Thailand. The location of this house is unique. I am at the end of a dead end street with huge rice fields on two sides. Needless to say I am not close to the people who live across the rice fields but I do see them out in the field occasionally and have prayed for them on and off over the years. After I was married I used to wish Pammy would have more of a witness to these neighbors. From time to time they do stand right next to the wall between us and I have asked Pammy to come out to speak them. Last week Tong and his wife were out working on the small dike between the many little flooded plots where they plant rice. Pammy talked so long to Tong while his wife was working that I got angry. I knew she was talking about the Lord but I thought his wife may not be too happy to do all the work while her husband was standing there talking with the neighbor lady. But the next day I was stunned to hear what came out of that conversation. It was a very involved testimony that bore all the marks of the hand of God working over a period of time.

A year or two ago Pammy saw a man working in a rice field a kilo or two from our house. She walked out in the field to give him a tract. The man took the tract home, gave it to his wife, and told her about the odd lady who had given it to him. Unbeknown to me Pammy had been over to Tong's house across the rice field a couple of times and talked to him about Jesus. Typically for Pammy, she not only talked to him but she prayed for him to get saved.

She embarrasses me. Time and again she will be talking to total strangers, and then grab me saying, “We have got to pray for him”. Then she will pray for 15 minutes that they get saved.

Ironically Tong knew the wife of the man where Pammy had given a tract to him a year or so ago. Tong told the lady how Pammy had prayed for him and he felt so much better. She said “That is interesting. That lady gave a tract to my husband and he told me about her and what she had said.” Without knowing any of this, Pammy was up in town last week and stopped in a shop to buy some food. Of course she witnessed. And the lady in the store said to her, “You gave a tract to my husband a year ago, and the other day Tong was in here telling me how you had prayed for him and he felt so much better. I want what you did for Tong.” Needless to say Pammy prayed with her. The husband isn't saved yet but no doubt will be soon. After she led the store lady to Christ, on her way home, Pammy stopped at Tong's house to tell him about it. It seems that Tong is saved and the man I prayed for 15 years ago is now in the Kingdom.

The story was so involved Pammy had to tell it to me two or three times before I finally figured out the details of three people who lived far apart that all came together to show the Lord's amazing hand on a witness that happened over a period of a year or more. I had no idea Pammy had been over there but I am thrilled now to hear that Pammy has been in Tong's house (it really is a long ways from here) and knows his wife and son so well.

I have been deeply concerned about my son David. Twenty five years ago he cut the cord on me and launched out on an independent life that involved a great deal of sin. He has been my number heartache as every indication was that he wasn't saved. Dave has been the object of a great deal of prayer. The other morning as I was praying for him I was reading the experience of the nobleman of Cana who came to Jesus pleading that He would come and heal his son (Jn. 4:45-54). Jesus told him, “Except you see sign and wonders you will not believe”. That didn't help anything. But it didn't slow him down. He pleaded, “Sir, come down ere my son die”. Then Jesus spoke the magic word: “Go on home. Your son lives (he's fine)”. The man believed what Jesus said and the boy was healed. When I read Jesus' words, “Thy son liveth”, a peace came over my heart that Dave will be okay. There still is little indication that Dave is saved yet. (In 25 years he has never written me one word about the Lord). But everything he has written gives strong evidence of the hand of the Lord upon him. If Jesus is concerned enough about him to do the things that He obviously has done, that gives me strong reason to believe that he will be saved. When I pray for him now the only thing that will come out of my mouth is, “Thank You, Jesus”. Hang the evidence. I am grateful for it, but the only thing that matters is whether or not Jesus has spoken. I believe He has. In Jesus' words there is life. And I like to believe that in the very near future I will see a dramatic change in direction when His Voice starts to be heard in Dave's heart.

It takes time. We want to see it all right now, but in the long run I believe we will be surprised at what God has been doing all along; only that He has been operating by His law of gradual growth.

It has been a real good week. I trust you had one too.

See you next week, bill