Christ as King

28 January 2018

Dear Phyllis,

It is interesting that we know very little about heaven; but what little we do know is of the highest significance. Isaiah, Ezekiel, and John are three that had glimpses of heaven and all three report seeing the same thing. First there is a Throne in heaven. Secondly, there is One sitting on that Throne. And thirdly there are the seraphims with six wings before the Throne worshiping the One sitting on it. Ezekiel and John give us more detailed description of what Ezekiel calls “The four living creatures”. Both Ezekiel and John describe these beings exactly the same way. They have four faces of a LION, an OX, a MAN, and an EAGLE (Ez. 1:10; Rev. 4:7).

When I was first saved I read in the Scofield Bible that the four gospels are written in view of presenting Jesus as King, Servant, Man, and God. Later in talking with Dave Lanum, he confirmed, “Oh yes; that is very clear.” In my subsequent reading, there is no doubt but what that is true. In construction it is necessary to have three views of anything we make – top, front, and side. That is the only way you can know what something looks like. In presenting His Son to us, the Father has given us four views of Christ. In Mathew Jesus is presented as King (lion), in Mark He is seen as Servant (ox), in Luke He is presented in His humanity as Man (man), and more than anyone else John lifts Him up in His deity as the Son of God (eagle). I have no idea who or what these four living creatures are – I am sure they are something beyond anything we have on earth – but I believe they show the character of Jesus. It is only natural that the ones closest to Jesus be the most like Jesus.

I have preached on this several times and wanted to share it with you today, but there is so much material I have decided to do it in four letters. If the four living creatures before the Throne are the most like Jesus, then it is safe to say that these four characteristics should also be reflected in us. The one I want to deal with today is Christ is KING.

We have only the faintest glimpse of what Jesus must have looked like. I don't like pictures drawn by a man who never saw Christ, who lived 1900 years after Christ, and drew a picture of what he imagined Jesus looked like. I seriously question that Sallman Head of Christ is actually what Jesus looked like. Even though God was veiled in flesh as a normal man there must have been a majesty about His being that was unusual. On two occasions when soldiers were sent out to arrest Him, He was totally dominant. The first time the chief priests sent soldiers to arrest Jesus they came back empty handed. The chief priests were angry and asked, “Why have you not brought Him in?” The soldiers replied, “Never a man spoke like this”. (Jn. 7:44, 45) They simply couldn't touch Him. The second time was when Judas brought them to the garden and Jesus asked, “Who are you looking for?” When they said, “Jesus of Nazareth”, He replied, “I am He”; and the soldiers went backwards falling down (Jn. 18:4-6). There was something about His presence that was overpowering.

William Burns was subbing for Robert Murray McCheyne while McCheyne was on a tour to the Holy Land, and a significant revival broke out in that church. When McCheyne returned, and saw what was happening, he offered to let Burns have the church. But Burns declined, choosing rather to go as an obscure missionary to China. The only view we have of Burns after that was when he met a burned out young man from England; and it was William Burns who turned Hudson Taylor around to be the most influential missionary ever to set foot in China. Apart from his encounter with Hudson Taylor, the only other recorded event we have of Burns is from the British ambassador to China. He said when he met Burns he felt like we was in the presence of royalty. Here was a man who personally knew the king of England, and when he spoke with William Burns he felt like he was talking to a man of similar stature.

A true king knows he is king and doesn't need to advertise it. The man who thinks he is king, is arrogant, and will try to impress you who he is. Jesus knew He was king. There was something about His presence that demonstrated what He was inside. There should be an inward quality about any person truly filled with the Spirit of Christ that reflects that kingly stature. Christians are not groveling beggars, but people who are above the world. They don't need to impress anyone. The king lives in them and that allows them to live above the world.

Samuel Rutherford wrote, “The Lord has made me king over my problems”. Amen. We should be. We should not be under our problems but over them. If our problems rule us, we have a problem. If fear is in control of our lives, we will find the devil at the wheel.

Paul wrote, “The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet” (1 Cor. 14:32). One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control (Gal. 5:23). In speaking about tribulation, Paul proclaimed, “We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Rom. 8:37). Paul said he beat his body and kept it under control for fear that he might be a castaway (1Cor. 9:27). If the Apostle Paul was concerned about being a castaway for lack of discipline, what can we say about those who never give it a thought, but allow their flesh to rule them? The Christian life is a battle between the flesh and the Spirit, but in this we should be king and rule our flesh accordingly. The Bible says, “The Lord has made us kings” (Rev. 1:6).

Everything about the life of Christ demonstrated that He was king. He had absolute authority. He could command wind and waves and they obeyed. He could command disease, devils, and death and they would flee. Unquestionably He was in charge. Jesus gave that authority to His disciples, and, to a limited degree, they could do the same thing. Peter and John could say to the lame man, “Silver and gold have I none but such as I have give I unto you.” And the lame man jumped to his feet (Act 3:6, 8). Why don't we do this today? Maybe, because we don't have that to give. If Jesus was king and intends for us to be kings, why is it that we are so void of spiritual authority?

When I had my problem with Rosemary I got together a board of elders of seven of the top missionaries in Japan. Four were field chairmen of missions. In the first meeting we had, they got into a shout-down with Rosemary, demonstrating that there was not one man with spiritual authority. They said, “This is too difficult for us”. Consequently we were sent to a secular counseling agency; and you know the rest of that story. That was the end of my family.

Perhaps the centurion with the sick servant might give us some light on this distressing problem. When he heard of Jesus, he simply asked that Jesus say a word. He said, “I am a man under authority having soldiers under me. I say something and they do it” (Mt. 8:9). He was under the authority of Rome, and he had the power of Rome to back him up. He knew his authority, and he recognized that Jesus had authority. Here he teaches us the spiritual law that the only one who has authority is the man who is under authority. If we were more under authority perhaps we might have more authority.

When God made the world He intended that man should have dominion over it. We lost that authority through sin. Fortunately, Jesus solved that problem through His death and Blood. When the Father presented His Son to us in His Word the first view we have of Jesus is as King. Some day He intends that we should rule and reign with Christ (Rev. 20:4). Perhaps if we walked a little closer to Him today we might be more like Him. Let's pray about it.

                                              bill

God's Will

21 January 2018

Dear Phyllis,

The Lord has only given me one fish at the moment. I am pouring my life into one man – Sangha. He is my chief joy. I spend nearly two hours with him every morning talking about the wonderful works of God. He has a hunger for spiritual things and the Word of God like I haven't seen in a long time. But last week I was clobbering him with everything short of the fence post. I told him there were three areas of life for him. One is his personal walk with the Lord. Secondly is his relationship with the Body of Christ. And the third is his ministry – his reaching out to unsaved. In the first area he is excellent. He loves the Word. He loves the Lord. He is very sensitive to the Holy Spirit. But he has zero church life. He is working on a doctoral degree for his kindergarten. This ties him up every Saturday and Sunday. It is impossible for him to go to church on Sunday. I told him he has not given his Sundays to Jesus.

He countered, “Bill, you don't understand, I have two lives. I have a life that I must live right now. I have a wife and a kindergarten. I have 25 teachers and 300 students to take care of. I have to make money and eat. Later I will go to heaven and be with Jesus, but right now I have earthly things to take care of.” I fired back, “You are dead wrong. You have only one life. Period! You have only one responsibility – to do the will of God. If God has given you a wife and a kindergarten to take care of, that is the will of God for you. But your single responsibility is to do the will of God. If God wants you to have a PHD then do it and get that degree. But if He doesn't, then quit it”. He has been working for three years to get that doctorate. He said there were 35 in his class when he started. Now they are down to 20. They all have to pass a dissertation – to present their research to a board of 10. Last year there were 20 who tried and only 4 passed. His turn is up in April. If he passes it he will have his PHD, but if he fails he has to go on for one more year. That could go on for one, two, or three more years. I told him I would trust the Lord for that. Jesus could easily give him that doctorate, but if that is not the will of God for him then I would quit it. I told him my experience with the Air Force.

When I joined the Air Force I desperately waned to be a fighter pilot. There were 65 of us in my class when I first joined. Eight of us finished together. That is not totally true as in the original class there were some who were going to be navigators. They could not pass the original pilot exam. There were some who went into multi-engine and went to different basses. And there were many who just flunked out. And some were killed. During the year and a half of pilot training it looked like no one would graduate.

The Lord blessed me and gave me to gift to do well. I can say that it was the Lord, because as I passed through various stages of training there were some things I just flat could not do. Then suddenly, the Lord would give me the gift and I would become outstanding. I had a few remarkable flights and had the reputation of being one of the top pilots in training. I had the highest flying scores in my class. After 17 months of elimination training I was down to one last test. I had to pass the 60-4 instrument flying test. I had done extremely well on the mid-term test and it was only a question of how high my grade would be on the final. There were some who had made it that far but couldn't pass the 60-4 and washed out. If I passed that, my goal was in hand. I would get my wings and commission as an Air Force officer. If I failed it, I was out of the program. The squadron commander was my test pilot to take the test. I did well on most of the requirement, but had to successfully make an ILS (Instrument Landing System) – to land the bird totally on instruments. As I lined up for the ILS suddenly, I had a total mental blank. That was the first time I ever had that experience. I didn't know a thing. I couldn't read a compass. After wandering around aimlessly the instructor said, “I'm sorry, Cook, but if you had been by yourself you would have been killed.” I was the first man in the class to fail a 60-4. That was the first time I ever had a failing flight. The rule was you were allowed one failure, but if you failed the second time, it was all over. They gave me a practice flight and I did well on that. Then a couple days later I tried again. This time I flew with an instructor I had never met. Things went reasonably, but for the ILS we went up to Little Rock, Arkansas. That was a strange field where I had never been. As we got to high key and stated the let down, suddenly another plane blew a tire on the runway closing the field. Planes were sent all over Arkansas. I was assigned to some odd ball radio fix I had never heard of. I found the frequency on my chart and headed for the fix, but when I got there I didn't know what to do. After flying around like a sun flower the instructor said, “I've got it. You're busted”. I failed my second 60-4. It's all over. I'm out of the program. The 20 minute flight back to our base was the longest flight of my life. I knew it was the last time I would be in an airplane. But I believed in miracles. As soon as we landed I was going to call every Christian in Greenville and ask them to pray for me. But I didn't know what to pray for. It looked like God had closed the door of flying for me. If it was not the will of God for me to be a pilot was I willing to wash dishes in the cadet mess hall? What a battle! There was a war in my heart. Finally, as we landed, I said, “I will call every Christian in Greenville, but rather than asking them to pray for a miracle that I get my wings I will ask them to pray that I can accept the will of God for my life – even if it means washing dishes.”

We hadn't been on the ground 30 minutes when I was called in the commander's office. He handed me a slip of paper and said, “Cook, sign this”. I thought, “Oh my goodness, they are putting me out of service already”. I looked at the form and saw it said, “60-4 satisfactory test”. I looked at the commander and asked, “Sir, what is this?”. He said, “ILS is not required on a 60-4 test”. He had found a loop-hole in the regulation and graded me on everything I did well and deleted the ILS that I failed. He said, “You passed your first test. Forget about today. That was just flying time”. I didn't earn my wings – God gave them to me.

This is a huge issue for Sanha. He has spent three years trying to get a PHD. To quit it at this point would be an enormous decision. But is this the will of God for his life? Oddly enough this concept of only one responsibility in life – to do the will of God – is new to Sanha. But in this he is not alone. I told him that I believe 95% of Christians believe that they have two lives – one that they live now and the future one in heaven. What they are saying is, “Lord Jesus, thank you for dying for me and giving me eternal life. But Lord Jesus, please wait for another 30 or 40 years. I will see You in heaven, but right now I have my own life to live and other responsibilities.” The number one concern in everybody's mind is what am I going to eat, drink, or wear? That is the most important issue in this life. But Jesus told us, “Don't worry about it. Seek first the Kingdom of God and the Lord will take care of our daily necessities (Lk. 12:29-31)”. Doing the will of God is everything. But that is the rub. We have our own life that we want to live. If the will of God is in a different direction, then there is a problem.

This was an enormous crisis for me. If the Lord did not want me in a cockpit, but it was His will that I be a dish washer, was I willing to do that? I didn't like it, but when I gave that to Jesus He gave me the best life possible. There have been many tests along the way since then. A lot of things have happened that I wish had gone the other way, but as for God, His way is perfect (Ps. 18:30). My life is behind me now. Nothing is a major crisis. Doing the will of God is the only thing I am interested in. But for Sanha, at this mid point of life, his future is hanging in the balance; and if the will of God for him is in a different direction than what he has his heart set on, that is a huge issue. I have no idea how he will do on his dissertation, but I would be surprised if he passes it. I suspect that would take a miracle. But God could do it.

It will be great to see Jesus in heaven, but it is almost better that we can walk with Him right now. Lord, help us to be Your followers.

                                                          bill

New Church Blessings

14 January 2018

Dear Phyllis,

We are in a transition period looking for a new Thai home church. Seven years ago when the Lord used Pastor Kichikun to be the medium to convince me that it was the will of God to marry Pammy I promised Kichikun that his church would be our Thai home church. I have more or less been faithful to that commitment, but three months ago Pastor Kichikun closed the church to go into a broader type of ministry. That has left me on the street looking for a new place to go.

A month ago I decided to checkout a church a close friend had started in Chiang Mai. I have known James for ten years and have great respect for him. It had been at least two years since the last time I was to his house but, generally, knew where it was. I was riding my motor bike and turned in on a road that I thought would lead to his house. Thirty minutes later I had been on every side street in that part of the city and still looking. I knew he had rebuilt his home and now had a church there. At last I rode past a very good looking church that looked like this could be it. I walked inside and asked if this was James church. Wrong place. The service started at 10:30 and it was now past 11:00. I thought shigata ga nai (nothing I could do about it), I might as well stay here. What I was in for was an amazing surprise. There were two or three people there who spoke adequate English to give me a simultaneous interpretation of the service and message. I was highly impressed with everything I saw and wondered, “what kind of church is this?”. I was so blessed I wanted to raise my arms in worship God but wasn't sure if that was safe in that church. It was as biblical as you can get but it seemed very few were raising their arms in worship. In the meal after the service I learned that the elderly falang (foreign) lady had started the church 30 years ago. Beverly was from Canada and had married a man from Burma while in Bible school in Ohio. They had been missionaries in Thailand for 40 years and her husband had gone on to be with the Lord six years ago. I said, “Man howdy, this is the finest church I have been in in Thailand”. I didn't plan to make it my home church but wanted to speak with Beverly some more and went back the next week. And last week I went back to the Beulah Christian Church for the third time. I was in for a major blessing.

I got to church ten minutes early and saw a falang man there with a small Jewish cap on his head. Ben was from Canada and Beverly had invited him to come to Chiang Mai to hold a week of special meetings explaining the importance of Israel. It was great to have a foreigner there with whom I could talk to in English. Ben and I hit it off right from the beginning. He told me that he was with an organization that had formerly been called the American Mission to the Jews. I told him forty years ago I met a brother in Denver who was with the America Mission to the Jews. He burst out, “I know Eleazar, his wife, children, and grandchildren”. I thought, “Oh my goodness I haven't thought or heard about Eleazar Urbach in 37 years. I met him in Dave Hyde's church in Rogen, Co. The whole story came back like it had just happened last week.

Eleazar had been born in Poland, and when Hitler began rounding up Jews in Poland he and his brother had gone east to Russia to escape Hitler's Gestapo. The Russians were very hospitable and sent them to government housing in Siberia. After spending five years in Russian gulag in Siberia, he and his brother were able to escape and walked from Siberia to Afghanistan. That was a two year journey and his brother died along the way. From Kabul Eleazar was able to fly to Israel, and got there just in time for the war in 1948. After just missing the holocaust in Germany and five years in a gulag in Russia Eleazar was looking for a more quiet life. He had an uncle who had immigrated to Brazil and that looked like a safe place. He was able to make his way to Brazil, and after getting there he found a good job working in a meat packing plant. There was a Christian man working there who befriended Eleazar and invited him to go to a Christian meeting on Saturday night. Eleazar had no particular religion but was delighted to go to any place that was social. The Christian message meant nothing to him but the main feature of the meeting was some very good cake they had after the meeting. The cake was the main attraction that kept him going each week. He became such a regular, that one night one of the attendees asked him if he was a Christian. Eleazar had never given any serious thought to becoming a Christian. The only reason he was there was to get the cake, and simply as a conversational response, he off- handedly replied, “Yes I am a Christian.” With that verbal confession, suddenly, the Holy Spirit fell upon him and Eleazar Urbach was born-again of the Spirit of God. Up until that time I had never heard a testimony like that. After being clearly saved by Jesus, Eleazar returned to Israel and from there made his way to New York. In New York he joined the American Mission to the Jews where he was later assigned to Denver. Eleazar told me that he was a close friend of Miriam Reid, the Jewish lady I had led to Christ in Japan in 1960.

He was a character. Every fiber in his body was on fire for Jesus, but he was more Jewish than a rabbi in Jerusalem. He had a long beard that made him look like an OT prophet. In private he wore a cowboy hat but he would put on a highly rabbi looking Jewish hat to go to the Denver airport to witness to Jews. He was an outstanding Bible scholar and a very good preacher. In hearing his testimony and looking at his life I marveled at the grace of God to take a man from Poland, who should have been burned in a holocaust furnace, take him through five years in a Siberian gulag, and then walk from there to Afghanistan. And the unbelievable testimony of his conversion over a piece of cake.

I hadn't heard a word about Eleazar Urbach since I met him in Rogen 37 years ago. It was a special blessing to hear from Ben how Eleazar has gone on faithfully proclaiming Jesus for so many years and all his children and grandchildren were serving the Lord.

Ben told me that he was brought to Christ when he was 20 in Canada, and his father was a holocaust survivor who miraculous survived after being in an especially horrible prison in Germany during the war. His parents were originally from Hungry and had made it to Canada shortly after the war. Man howdy did we have a great time fellowshipping. I was able to fill him in on some Messianic things I knew and he shared some things that were new to me.

There is no question but what God is winding the Jewish clock to start it ticking again in the very near future. Any Christian who is not excited about Israel is either ignorant of scripture or just uninformed. Or worse yet – just plain not saved. It is highly significant that there is such a rising crescendo of antisemitism world wide. Europe is becoming as dangerous for Jews as it was in the 1930s. Obama was intensely anti-Israel and was responsible for the first UN condemnation of Israel promoted by the US. Nearly all UN countries are singularly united against Israel. Even in America, in liberal circles, there is an anti-Semitic spirit like we have never been seen before. Daily, as I read the Scripture, the Holy Spirit is showing me the prominence Israel has in the heart of God.

I believe the sun has come down on America. The American society has changed so much I find it difficult to imagine there is any way it can be saved. I wonder about Japan. I would like to hope the Lord would yet save thousands in Thailand. I passionately believe there is great hope for Islamic countries. Israel is in for one more hard time of tribulation but they will survive and Jesus will be King. Surely these are the days spoken of by the prophets. Oh hallelujah, what a time to serve Jesus! Arigato gozaimasu,

                                                     bill

Forgive and Forget

7 January 2018

Dear Phyllis,

Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu (congratulations it has opened) I know today is the 7^th but it is still the first Sunday in January. Akemashite is the the Japanese equivalent of our “Happy New Years” and traditionally it is said to everyone for the first week. New Years is probably the biggest event of the year in Japan and is a time of very through house cleaning. For a good portion of December most companies have bonen kais which are kind of a drunken blowout party to forget and forgive grievances over the past year. Christians don't have bonen kais, but it is a good idea to stop and take stock from time to time to see is there is any resilient bitterness in our heart. Bitterness not only defiles many (Heb. 12:15) but can sometimes be fatal.

One of the strangest unreported case of bitterness in the Bible is Ahithophel. Ahithophel is known as the Judas of the Old Testament. He was a counselor to David's but the man who turned against him at the time of Absalom coup (2 Sam. 15, 16, 17). Ahithophel obviously was a member of David's inner circle. It is safe to assume he had been with David for many years. They has seen the good times and the bad times together. He was a man that David turned to for good advice how to handle difficult situations, and he certainly was a man who had David's undivided confidence. They must have been very good friends.

Ahithophel had a son that proved himself to me a very courageous warrior. 2 Samuel 23 is the chapter that lists David's mighty men. He had his top 30 who had distinguished themselves as being real heroes of Israel. Then there is a long list of men who made it to honorable mention and were members of David's personal guard. Ahithophel's son, Eliam, is mentioned there as being one of this elite corps (2 Sam. 23:34). Eliam was probably a general that was in charge of several thousand men. Within his division he had an outstanding soldier that he was particularly fond of and gave him his daughter for his wife. This was Ahithphel's grand daughter. No doubt there was a special relationship between grandpa and his granddaughter. When her dad brought her to Grandpa's house it must have been a time of great joy. And it is safe to say that Grandpa was one proud man the day of her marriage. And he certainly had every reason to be proud of his grandson-in-law. His grandson's name was Uriah.

There was a time when Israel's army was out for war but David stayed behind in Jerusalem. One night David was walking on his roof and looked down to see a beautiful lady taking a bath next door. He asked, “Who is that girl?” His servant answered, “That is Eliam's daughter” (2 Sam. 11:3) (Ahithophel's granddaughter). You know the rest of the story. That is one of the darkest pages in the Bible. While her husband was off fighting, David took advantage of Bathsheba, got her pregnant, and then had her husband killed to cover his tracks. You talk about a bad one to handle. That would have been pretty hard for her father Eliam to handle and it would have been particularly bitter for Ahithophel to realize what his very close friend David did to his granddaughter and his grandson-in-law. And then for the next several years when he visited David; to see his old friend sleeping with his granddaughter knowing he had murdered her husband - how do you forgive something like that? Ahithophel no doubt knew Nathan's judgment against David that the sword would never depart from his house and another man would have sex openly with David's wives (2 Sam. 12:10-12).

It is difficult to imagine that there wasn't real tension between David and Ahithophel for the next several years. When Absalom got in his heart to pull a coup against his dad the man he turned to for advice - how to pull it off - was Ahithophel (2Sam. 15:12). After David fled Jerusalem, Ahithophel advised Absalom to set up a tent and have sex with his father's concubines on the roof so everybody could see it (2 Sam. 16:21,22). After that when Absalom asked him what should be his next move, Ahithophel's advice is particularly blood chilling. He said, “Let me have 12,000 men. I will catch him at his weakest moment and kill him. Then I will bring everybody else back to you” (2 Sam 17:1,2). That probably would have worked except God had other plans and confounded Ahithophel's advice with Hushai. When Aithophel saw that things were going against him – like Judas - he went home and committed suicide.

Everybody is critical against Ahithophel and he has gone down as one of the traitors of history. But when you look at the big picture it is not difficult to understand how there could have been real resentment in his heart against David for what he did to his granddaughter and her husband. This is not to excuse him but there are times when it seems offenses have gone past the line and this is inexcusable. The drunkard who kills an innocent person with a car. Or, worse yet, the rapist who rapes little children, tortures, and kills them. How do you forgive them? I don't know. I have had my problems trying to find real love and forgiveness for people who have done dirt to me. At one time I told some missionaries that I had forgiven more sin than Jesus. That got a lively response. I asked, “Does God forgive unrepentant sin?” I don't know. That could be argued both ways. I said, “Look, I have forgiven my wife for adultery but before God she has never truly repented. Has God forgiven that sin?” I don't know about God, but the Lord did show me that I had better get my own heart cleaned up and get that cancer out of my system. Bitterness and unforgiveness will kill anyone who harbors it too long.

There are no Christians who don't know that the Lord commands us to forgive those who sin against us. The very words of the Lord's Prayer says, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”. Or in other word we are asking God to deal with us just like we deal with those who sin against us. We know this but in practice we hope that will never happen. The very fact that there is such horrible controversy in Christian circles proves that something is out of place.

In 1990 I had just been asked to leave Link Care where I had been sent to get healed from some unknown problem by two years of psychotherapy (that is of the devil). After three weeks they felt my presence was detrimental to my wife's healing and they told me to leave. That was the end of my family. Dave Hanson came to pick me up to take me to his house. I hadn't seen Dave in ten years and it was the first time since my marriage had gone south. I hadn't been in the car three minutes before I unloaded on Dave - big time. After I raved on for fifteen minutes Dave, passively said, “Why don't you forgive your wife?” That was the wrong thing to say. I exploded! I roared, “I have forgiven her! I have forgiven her standing. I have forgiven her sitting. I have forgiven her on my knees. I have forgiven her orally. I have forgiven her in writing. I have forgiven her until I am exhausted. Do you want to see the letters I have written?” Dave quietly replied, “I don't care what you have put on paper. I can tell by your spirit that you have never truly forgiven her.” Three points! That one never touched the rim. That shot went straight to my heart. For the first time I knew he was right.

But then I realized it was impossible. At last I prayed, “Lord Jesus the first time You saved it was totally an act of Your free grace. There was nothing I could do to save myself or talk You into saving me. Now I need to be saved from an unforgiving spirit. Lord if You don't save me there is no way I can be free from this spirit. If You have a sign-up sheet for candidates for salvation I would be grateful if you would put my name towards the top.” I have no idea how or when He did it but I do know that He has done the miracle and saved me.

It sure feel good to be saved. Thank You Jesus.

                                                             bill