Testing

19 July 2020

Dear Phyllis,

There is light in the end of the tunnel. Schools are open in Thailand. Oh, man howdy, it felt good to get back to school. I feared we would all have to wear face masks, but Singha took a courageous stand and everything was as normal. I had written a couple three months ago that I was concerned about Singha as he seemed to be spiritually down, but last week the old Singha was back again and we had a great time talking about the Word. I asked him, “What are you reading now?”. “Job”. Of course. Job is one of his favorite book, coming right after John and Revelation, He doesn't read Revelation to see what the 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, and the 7 Vials are, but he loves to read chapter 19 and 20 to see the end of the story when Jesus comes back and sets up His Kingdom. Who can blame him?

Singha loves Job, but he doesn't understand it. I doubt that there is one Christian in twenty that understands the book of Job. It took me thirty years and I am still getting new light on it now. According to the experience of Job and Peter it appears that the Lord has a fence around His sheep and the devil has to ask permission before he can ding them (Job 1:10; Lk, 22:31).

Many years ago Joe Carroll had a British friend who was the William Hurst of the British empire. His family owned most of the news papers in England. In 1949 his news papers published the breaking news that the Russians had developed and test exploded an atomic bomb, before anyone in the world knew about it. He told Joe that he knew someone who had access to all the hidden information in the world. One day he took Joe in his Rolls-Royce car out in the country to meet this unusual person. Joe said it was a spooky house and the woman had a male assistant. DeCorsy, asked the lady. “Please tell Mr. Carroll something about himself.”. She replied, “Come back later. It will take a couple days to get that information.”. A few days later they drove out into the country to see this couple again. DeCorsy asked, “What did you find out about Mr. Carroll?” She answered, “We were told that we do not have access to Mr. Carroll's file.” They couldn't touch him.

I don't know, but this may apply to all Christians. In the case of Job and Peter we see one of the mysteries of God. The greatest thing that God ever did for Job and Peter was to take the fence down and let the devil have access to them. And I believe this applies to all of us.

Job was a good man. The Bible calls him perfect and two times God said, “There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man”. That is a pretty good testimony. The Lord isn't able to say that about many of us. The devil challenged God that the reason Job was a good man was because God favored him. The devil said, “Take the fence down and let me have at him and we will see how good he is.” Twice the Lord said, “Okay, have at him”. The first time the Lord excepted his health, and the second time the Lord said, “You can have that too”. Job had six severe trial. He lost all his cattle, his sheep, his ten children and his health. Then his wife turned on him, and finally his three friends came to accuse him of secrete sin. His three friends belonged to the Good God society who believes that every thing good in life comes from God and everything bad is from the devil. Or bad things don't happen to good people. God is only involved in the good things in life and anything bad is from the devil. If something bad happens to you it is proof that there is hidden sin somewhere. Get rid of the sin and everything will be straightened out. This was the theory of Job's three friends. Why in the world would the Lord allow such unimaginable tragedy happen to such a good man? That just doesn't make sense. But the greatest thing God ever did for Job and Peter was to take the fence down and let the devil have a shot at them.

Job was a good man, but the number one thing in his life was his integrity. He wanted to be the best man on earth – and he was. He was not going to let anything tarnish his spotless garment. He wasn't going to dable in sin. Let someone else run around and cheat on his wife. Let someone else do crooked business, cheat on his tax forms. Let someone else drink and do drugs. Not me. No, no. I'm going to live above that. And he did. This was not only external, but genuinely internal also. In his final speech in chapter 30, sixteen times he uses the word IF, and sixteens times he says, “IF I have done...”; and then he lists 16 bad acts, and then says “Let the world fall in on me” (that is a paraphrase). Not only that, but he is going to stay true to God. He said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. But I will maintain my own ways before Him”.

One time I was facing a crisis and wondered what I would do if the Lord failed me. Finally I said the the Jesus, “Lord, even if you fail me, I will always be true to You.” I felt like I had achieved a new high level in dedication. You might imagine the response I got from Jesus for that. That was as loud as I have ever heard from the Holy Spirit. And that was as angry as I have ever seen Him. He practically shouted in my ear, “Do you think you are more faithful than Me?” You talk about a chastened repentant soldier; I spent 15 minutes telling Jesus how sorry I was for such a stupid thought. But Job was concerned about his spotless garment, and he said the same thing. After Job's three friends wore out their argument and Elihu correctly unloaded on him, God stepped in and said, “Where were you when I made the world?” After the Lord got through speaking, Job said, “Hither to I have heard about You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye seeth You. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:4,50). Job's trials were the greatest thing that ever happened to him. Had the Lord not allowed the devil to have at him, when he got to heaven he would have been so proud of his integrity his stench would have been so bad you couldn't stand next to him without holding your nose. Job was a radically different man at the end of chapter 42 than he was in chapter 1. For 37 chapters Job was concerned about maintaining his integrity but when he saw the Lord he realized what a foul man he was. What a wonderful change.

Jesus did the same thing for Peter. When Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times before dawn, “Peter said, “Lord, though I should die with You I will not deny You” (Mt. 26:35). And he meant it. When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Peter was the first one to grab a sword and dive into the crowd swinging. He wanted to go down fighting. But when he cowered before a girl, for the first time, Peter realized what kind of a man he was. The medicine was excellent. After the resurrection, the morning at the beach, three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him – using the word agape Peter replied, “(Not really) but I like You – using the word phileo. (John 21:15-17) Peter by the beach was a totally different man than the one who confidently boasted he would die with Jesus at the last supper. The change was wonderful. Had Jesus not allowed the devil to sift Peter like wheat (Lk. 22:31), the arragance of the man would have disqualified him to be the apostle that he was. And again it would have been difficult to fellowship with Peter in heaven. Had the Lord not allowed the devil to have access to these outstanding men, when they got to heaven, they would have had to live in a room for people with bad BO.

I can testify from personal experience that when I went past the ultimate disasters in life, and my world fell in, that has been God's greatest blessing in my life. Had that not happened I would not be where I am today. It's true, folks. It is a fact that God does indeed make ALL THINGS to work together for good for His own sheep (Rom. 8:28).

Thank God for the fence, but thank God for the times when the Lord allows the devil to have some access in our lives.

Oh, what a wonderful Jesus!

                                          bill

Healing

5 July 2020

Dear Phyllis,

Last week certainly was a big one. There is so much on my mind that I want to share that I have no idea where to start or what to discuss.

Pammy has a pastor friend that knew a minority Christian who had an unusual gift of healing, Reports were that several people with last stage cancer had gone to him and totally recovered, Pammy was very concerned that I go to him and have him pray for me,. I thought, “Why not? Let's give it a shot.” The only day he was available to see me was Thursday so we set that aside to go to Pai to see this unusual man of God.

Pai is one of the more unusual towns in Thailand located 140 km north west of Chiang Mai. The road to Pai is a major national highway but is a road that would make a good documentary film for Lonely Planet or National Geographic. I had been over it once on my motor bike returning from a stay on the west border next to Burma. I knew it was famous as a mountain highway and it certainly was as advertised. It was the most challenging steep, curvy, mountain road I had ever been over. Like there is not one like it in the US. It was so steep in places that I had to drop down in bottom gear on my Honda to make it up the grade. And the curves were so sharp that at times my front tire was scrapping on my license plate. (That is slightly evangelistic.) but driving over it there were times I had to literally look out my side window to see where the road was going. (That is factual.) There are souvenir polo shirts that says the Pai road has 762 curves. That means there are about one sharp curve every 120 yards. At the high point I saw a sign that said the elevation was 1,700 meters (over 5,700 feet). That is pretty high for Thailand.

We left Chiang Mai at 6:00 in the morning, and before we got there several things began to go side ways. It turned out that this was not for a miracle healing but the man who could heal me was a doctor. I asked, “What kind of a doctor?” He was a herbalist. He was a doctor of herbs. Well, that was different. But he was a Christian. It turned out that he was from Burma and couldn't speak Thai but the pastor who was taking us there was raised in Burma so he could talk Burmese to him.

Pammy and I are RADICALLY DIFFERENT. Thai and English are radically different languages, but far more than the language, our basic difference is in thinking. It isn't Venus and Mars. Our differences are more like Venus and Pluto. I have made significant progress in preserving the marriage by accepting Pammy the way she is and not to expect her to think like I do. This has helped me from going crazy but it still is a challenge not to expect her to be a little more like a homo sapien. One big problem is driving. When we were first married all I had was a motor bike and I insisted that I drive and she sit on the back. That was awful. She screamed and was hysterical every 100 meters. In intersection where I had to use maximum concentration she would grab me and almost pull me off the bike. Finally I decide that it was easier for me to trust the Lord than it was for her to trust me driving. In recent years she does nearly all the driving, but the only way I have been able to handle her driving is by keeping my eyes and mouth shut nearly all the time. Pammy has many commendable qualities but driving is not one. Some time ago we were driving down a very steep, curvy, mountain road and she was driving down this dangerous road in high gear riding the brakes I told her it would be better to down shift and use engine braking rather than burn out the brakes. She said, “But when I use high gear the engine doesn't run as fast,” She was not used to driving in mountains and had never heard of engine braking or burning out the brakes. She was driving to Pai and I was inwardly having a cow. Half way there she asked if I wanted to drive. “Yes. Please!” I got behind the wheel and was driving exceptionally cautious. I was driving so slowly that every car on the road passed me. But the guy in the back seat thought I was Evel Kinevel. I didn't know what he was saying but Pammy was laughing the whole time saying he was scared to death.

We got to Pai at 10:30 and discover that we were too late. The doctor was gone. Nice shot. What a bum day! All I could do was keep my mouth shut and not say anything, but Pammy and the pastor decided our best plan was to spend the night in Pai. Angry? Yes a little. I was so square jawed you could check the accuracy of a framing square by putting it by my chin. We went to to a reasonable resort guest house. I was so angry I determined not to get out of the car but sit there for 22 hours to wait for the doctor the next day. Four hours later I thought that was a little foolish and decided to do some walking for exercise.

I was walking down a small country road and passed an unusual, small, housing area. It was brand new and very high quality. And I outside I saw a large sign. Lumin Valley House for God Church. I thought, “My goodness what is this?”. Allowing curiosity to push me past social restraint, I decided to walk in and see who they were. I was walking past a row of houses when a falang (foreigner) lady came out. I said, “I gather you speak English” The next thirty minutes I went out of my mind. We could not have been more on the same page, She was cut out of exactly the same piece of fabric that I was. They lived in Chiang Mai and were just visiting Pai. When she told me where they lived in Chiang Mai and what mission they were with, I shouted, “I lived in that house for three weeks before they came to Thailand” I felt meeting this sister and her husband was the most providential meeting I have had in many years. I felt that was the entire reason why we went to Pai.. They are working with a group that is the closest thing to my heart. I feel this may be a major moment in my life. All the ugliness went out of my heart and I was filled with ecstatic joy. We had a great time in Pai.

The next morning we saw the “doctor” and got three months worth of Burmese herbs. I don't know. He looked like a snake oil salesman to me.. A year ago Pammy met a snake oil salesman who 100% guaranteed I would be healed of cancer in 60 days. I said, “Okay, I will play your game for 60 days”. That was cannabis oil. The cannabis oil was genuine but I wasn't healed. The jury seems to be in that cannabis oil is not effective for cancer. I don't know what to think about this salesman. I wasn't impressed but I am on a strict diet now and have to take these Burmese herbs for 90 days. The biggest take-away from this deal is that it has taken the hospital option off the table. I had told Pammy, “I would like to go a hospital here in town now.” But now that we are on the herb cure that takes the hospital option off the table for the next few weeks.

The Lord alone knows what He is doing with my eye. It has been over 16 months now and I still feel fine. The eye is starting to bother me slightly, and sometimes feels like there is dust in it, but most of the time there is no difference between my left eye and right– except that it is closed. My cheek is a slight concern as that is getting a little worse; it refuses to heal and there is a fairly consistent discharge.

The trip to Pai was unusual. I was very unimpressed with the herbalist doctor. The Lord can use anyone and this may be Jesus way to heal whatever is out of place in my body. I;ll take the herbs but I don't like being off coffee for three months, But meeting those folks from Chiang Mai has to go down in my book as one of the greatest moments of my life when I thought, this is the worse possible day and it turned out that I was slam in the middle of the wonderful will of God. Jesus specializes in things like this and I was enormously blessed.

Thank you for your continued prayer, bill

Revelations

28 June 2020

Dear Phyllis,

My times with Jesus every morning continue to be unusual. This is probably the most productive moment of my life. Every morning Jesus takes me into His treasure house and shows me things that cannot be seen outside. As I have frequently said, there is a fundamental difference between soul ad spirit. The spirit is as much different from the soul as the soul is different from the body. Every one understands the relationship between the soul and the body.. The body is simply the vessel or vehicle that the soul lives in. When the soul leaves the body what you have left is a corpse. The soul is the vessel that the spirit lives in. They are as different as water is from air. Fish and birds are different. The environment that they live in is different. The soul lives in the material world and the spirit lives in the spirit world. The greatest enemy of the spirit is the mind. The soul is comprised by the intellect, emotions, and the will. The mind is the intellect. And the intellect can assume two postures – it can be the teacher or the student. By nature the mind want to stand at the white board with the marker in hand as the teacher. But if we can only persuade the mind to sit down as a quiet student and listen that enables the Holy Spirit to share with us things that cannot be understood by the natural mind (1 Cor. 2:14,15).

Recently I have been stuck in Revelation. I read it over and over and each time it gets richer. The other morning I was going over chapter 1 again. I saw John on the island of Patmos and hearing a voice behind him speaking. When he turned around to see who (what) was speaking he saw Seven Candle sticks that were Seven Churches. That was a disappointment. Why in the world did he see seven churches? Because this is the manifestation of God during this age. For 33 years God was manifest in the flesh in Christ, but now, for the past 2,000 years, God has lived on this planet in the flesh of His believers. But then John saw the Son of Man standing in the midst of the Seven Churches. That's better. If that is Jesus I can believe that. That makes more sense. But the first thing John noticed about Jesus was that He was clothed with a garment. I asked the Holy Spirit why John saw Jesus in a garment. He said, “Because that is what Jesus wore”.

In 1960 Joe Carroll was in Chicago speaking at Mid-America Keswick Conference. A lady came up to him and asked if it was cold in Japan. He said, “Yes, it is very cold”. She asked if his wife would like a fur coat. “Yes, that would be very nice. She would appreciate that very much”. She gave him a fur coat that he threw in his suit case to take home. When Mable saw that coat that gasped, “This is a mink coat!” Mable took that mink coat to a furrier in Tokyo to have it appraised and he said, “I will give you $3,000 for it right now”. In todays money that would probably be somewhere between $30,000 to $50,000. When Joe learned that his wife had that kind of an expensive fur coat he said, “You must never wear that thing in public. If any one saw you wearing a $3,000 mink coat we would be finished”. In 1962 they had the World speed skating championship in Karuizawa. People came from all over the world to see this Olympic event. The Olympic officials were staying at the Hoshino hotel and because we were friends with the Hoshinos they gave us tickets to the box seats that were the most expensive seats in the stadium. One day I went with Joe and Mable to the skating championship games and we sat with the elites of Japan. All three of us looked like wood cutters that had just come out of the woods, bundled up with whatever warm clothes we had. Mable had on a ragged cotton coat and a scarf over her head that looked like the cleaning lady in the eki (train station). The ritzy people sitting around us looked at us like they were embarrassed to have us sitting there. Joe turned to me and said, “You wouldn't believe Mable has a $3,000 mink coat on under that cotton one.” There wasn't a woman in the stadium that wouldn't kill to have a coat like that. If Mable had taken her cotton coat off, women would be crowding around to have heir picture taken with her.

When Jesus came here He wore a garment. That is why when John saw the Son of Man standing in the midst of the Seven Churches the first thing he saw was Jesus wearing a garment. But what a garment! The garment that He wore was a poor carpenter from Nazareth. Who would believe under that garment was the Son of God who created the world. But apart from the garment John saw four things about Jesus – His hair, His eyes, His belt, and His feet.

His hair was white which stands for wisdom. His eyes were a flame of fire which is what His enemies are going to see when they stand before Him in judgment. His girdle (belt) stand for the authority that He had both to forgive sin on this earth and as Lord of nature. And His feet were like fine brass. In Moses's Tabernacle and Solomon's Temple the Brass Altar was where the sacrifices for the forgiveness for sin were burned. The fact that Jesus' feet looked like brass means that He has our sins under His feet

When the Holy Spirit showed me what John saw when he saw Jesus standing in the midst of the Seven Churches with a garment on, the first thing that came to my mind was the priest garment. Jesus is, of course, our High Priest (Heb. 5:9,10). The High Priest wore a special garment. The Holy Spirit has made quite an issue of the priest garment in telling us so much about it when He told Moses to make the Tabernacle. We have the details of the priest garment in Ex. 28:1-30. One of the main features of the priest garment is the Breast Plate that he wore upon his heart. On the Breast Plate there were 12 stones.

These 12 stones have always been a mystery to me. We not only see them here is Exodus but they also appear I specific detail in the wall of the New Jerusalem. In Rev. 21:18-20. For years I have seen that these stones are important and have tried to study them but I never could make any sense of them. The other morning I asked the Holy Spirit, “What do these stones mean? Why are they important?” The Holy Spirit answered me in one word - “Gems” They are jewels. That is why they are important. The Lord's people are His jewels. In Malachi 3:17 the Lord said, “They shall be Mine, in the day when I make up my jewels”. They are gems to Him. Oh, me, this turned the lights on! Yes they are. God's people are jewels to Him. They are gems. That is why the priest has a Breast Plate with 12 jewels on it and why he bears their names on his shoulders. Oh, the teaching here is tremendous. Christians here may not look like much to us but to God they are His jewels. Oh my goodness! This blows my mind. How can it be? Jesus came here and He bought some of the most worthless items on the planet with His Blood. I can't believe it. He included me in the mix. I am nothing but one huge minus. I am the epidemy of a looser. I see nothing in me worth salvaging. The only appropriate place I see where I belong is in the garbage can. And Jesus reached in to that garbage can to pull me out. He paid for me with His Blood. (What a bad deal!) And now He calls me a jewel that He wears upon His heart and remembers me before God carrying me on His shoulders. If this isn't a mystery I don't know what is.

Oh, Phyllis, it's true! It's true! It's true! All that the Lord has told us about Himself and us in His Word is true. Gomen, but this is more than I can handle. What will it be when we awake with His likeness in the next world? If what we see in this world is so staggering, that it is almost unbelievable, how are we going to handle it in heaven?

I don't know if any of this makes any sense to you, but all I have to say is, it's sure good to meet with Jesus every morning, to sit and listen what the Spirit has to share with me. It's all there if we only have ears to listen. I'm sure you have your own story to tell.

Hoping to see you soon (in heaven), bill

Another Paul Almstead Story

21 June 2020

Dear Phyllis,

I know I have written to you about Paul Almstead before but he is absolutely one-of-a-kind. He is the most ridiculous man I have ever met. He is easily the most violent man I have ever met and he is one of the most completely given to Christ man in my sphere of associates. When I first met him I said this man is so far to the rear of a line of candidates for salvation that the only way he could contact the front of the line would be by email. His salvation has got to be one in a million. And the things Jesus has done for him are on a page by themselves in heaven.

For twenty years before he came to Thailand he had been a prison guard in New York state. There he was one-of-a-kind, as a prison guard.. He had his own group of special guards, who were good in hand-to-hand combat, that he had put together for riot control in prisons. One day there was a serious riot in a prison 40 miles from his city in Utica. Some prisoners had broken through an inner perimeter and had taken over the prison. The prison was in complete lock down with an out-of-control riot inside. Paul heard of this riot and got his team to go there to help out. When he got there, the guard at the main gate refused to let him in. He said, “I have orders not to unlock this gate for anyone.” Paul answered, “Look, I am an officer and I am telling you, unlock that gate - now.”. Against firm instructions the guard let him in. Before they went in Paul told his men, “This is suicide. There are 300 of them against 30 of us. These men are extremely dangerous armed with knives, clubs and other weapons. Anyone that wants to get off this bus is free to do so. There will be no questions asked.”. Not a man moved. When the guard opened the gate and Paul and his 30 men went inside, suddenly every prisoner fled in terror, running back inside the perimeter and to their individual cells. The FBI and New York prison commissioner had an investigation for this unusual phenomenon. They asked the prisoners, “Why in the world did you run when you saw that group of 30 guards get off that bus, and you had them out-numbered 10 to 1. The prisoners answered, “No, it wasn't them, but we saw the other group of hundreds of policemen. Man, we didn't have a chance against them.”. Every prisoner had the same story. When Paul and his team of 30 men get off the bus the prisoners saw hundreds of policemen behind them, and fled. No one had any explanation for this unusual phenomenon, but today Paul knows why. That was a group of ministering spirits sent forth to help those who will be the heirs of salvation (Heb. 1:14).

Since being saved, Paul has seen an enormous number of incredible miracles, but the most ridiculous one I ever heard happened about two years ago. Paul's mother was unusual. Like she was a leading candidate to be one of the most wicked women on this planet. Paul hadn't seen his mother for 20 years, but when he was in the states four years ago he wanted to look her up and share Christ with her. They were originally from New York state and Paul had no idea whee she lived now. Miraculously he learned she was living in Florida not far from where his daughter lived. He was able to look her up but found that she was a complete psychotic. She had struck so many people that no nursing home in the area would allow her to stay there. She had disturbed so many police stations in that area that they had a special number for her. She was incredible hostile, fiercely anti-Christ, and almost violent when Paul tried to share Christ with her. Nice try, but no deal.

Two years later Paul was wondering what happened to his mother He had no idea what state she was living now, and much less any idea what number to call on a phone. I can't recall how it happened but somehow, calling from Thailand, Paul got a man on the other end of the line in Florida, and asked him if he had ever heard of a woman by the name of Phyllis Almstead. The man answered, “Yes she was a very dear friend. I led her to Christ a year ago”. Paul hit the floor. Here he got a man that he had no idea who he was that said he had led his mother to the Lord. The chance of that happening are considerably less than 1 in 320,000,000, That beat anything I had ever heard. But the testimony was even more stunning.

Paul's mother hated blacks and the man who led her to Christ was a black man. His mother had never allowed him, or anyone else, to call her mom, but the man said she was the sunshine of the nursing home where she was living and everyone called her mom. He said she was always cheerful, loved the Lord, and was a woman of deep prayer. He and his wife visited her every day, fixing her hair, praying and fellowshipping with her. After a marvelous walk for six month Phyllis Almstead joyously went to be with Jesus. The man wanted to tell Paul but he had no idea where he was or how to get in touch with him until Paul was on the other end of the phone line. If that isn't the most ridiculous testimony I have ever heard I don't know what is.

I can't match Paul, but the Lord has been good in revealing Himself to me in miraculous ways. Ten years ago I was in the states driving across Idaho. When I came to Boise I wanted to see my old buddy, Wirt Edmonds. I stopped at a pay phone, called the operator, and asked for Wirt Edmonds phone number. The operator told me that was an unlisted number. Next I thought of his son Robbie. I asked the operator for Robbie Edmonds phone number and she said that there was nothing like that listed. In desperation I thought maybe the phone might be listed under Robert Edmonds and asked the operator if she had that number. She gave me some number that I dialed and asked the lady who answered if that was the Robbie Edmond's residence. She said, “I'm sorry. My name is not Edmonds but Edmondson, but I know Robbie Edmonds. I am a close friend of his sister.” I said, I am trying to get in touch with Robbie Edmonds who was a carpenter in Japan.” “Yes. I know all about that. His sister is my best friend.” She got Robbie's number and thirty minutes later I was in his house drinking coffee. Now you figure that one out. There are a quarter of a million people in Boise, Idaho, and by the operator giving me the wrong number of a person with a different name I got a person who knew Robbie and gave me his number. Oh, Jesus is amazing.

Like Paul, I had numerous incidents where the angels in charge of me before I was saved, had work to do. Before I went into the Air Force I wanted to get a pilots license. I was 20 years old and went to our local airport that was nothing but a grass strip. I got my student license and soloed so I could fly by myself. One Sunday morning I decide to do some flying. No one was there but I had a key to the hanger and got our little Piper Cub out of the hanger. We were low on fuel and our fuel pump wasn't working. I decided to fly down to our nearest airport in Towanda to tank up. There was a slight overcast but that didn't look too difficult. Because the clouds were only a few hundred feet thick and it was bright on the top side, it was too difficult climbing through them topping out at slightly over 1,000 feet. Under me it was a solid undercast that looked just like a bed sheet. I knew Towanda was about 30 miles south, so I took up a compass heading of 180 and flew for twenty minutes. But getting down wasn't that easy. My instructor, Mr. Evert, told me, “Never fly in clouds. If you get in a cloud you can't tell up and down”. I didn't know about Mr. Evert but I had never had a problem telling up from down and was sure I knew better. There was a small hole and I tried to circle down through it. In a second I learned the greatest lesson of my life. Mr. Evert was right. I lost all control of the airplane. I knew I was in a spin but I had no idea which way the bird was spinning or how to correct it. Pulling back on the stick only intensified the spin. In God's amazing grace I fell out of the clouds at about 700 feet slam in the middle of a narrow valley with mountains in the clouds on both sides a quarter of a mile away. Had I come out 460 feet to either side that would have been the end of my journey on this planet.

We may not realize it but Jesus has been with us, unseen, for all of our lives and has promised to stay with us until we meet Him in His home – and our future home.

Have a good week, bill

Fellowship

14 June 2020

Dear Phyllis,

As I have mentioned several times, morning devotions have been unusually good lately. The other day John corrected me and told me the proper noun to use. The biblical term is not devotions but FELLOWSHIP. The other morning I read, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ”. When I read that I thought, yes he's right. This is fellowship. In the spirit world time and space are not a factor. Things that happened 2,000 years ago may be present tense. The things that John wrote to his contemporaries in the 1^st century are just as applicable today as they were when he wrote. I don't know how many kilo meters (miles) he was separated from the brethren he was writing to, but certainly space didn't matter. He spoke in specific terms saying that the reason he was writing that letter was that they might have fellowship with him (them). Today we have fellowship by telephone and email. But he spoke of real fellowship with distance believers in his day. More than that he said that. The fellowship he was enjoying was with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

If we could talk with John today we might say, “John, you had the most unique opportunity. You knew Jesus three different ways. You knew Him when you traveled and worked with Him for three years in Galilee and around Judea. You spoke with Him several times after the resurrection.. And now you are talking about present tense fellowship with Him after Pentecost. Of the three periods which has been the best fellowship?”. I am sure there would be no question, he would answer, “Oh, you can't compare it. Before we knew Christ after the flesh; now we know Him by the Spirit.. This is much better.” May I say from personal experience, he's right. It's real. I know what he is talking about and I enjoy it.

There is a fundamental difference between Bible study and fellowship. You can go in a library and read a book. You can take notes and compare various books. But fellowship is sitting talking to someone over a cup of coffee. It is not a monologue. Fellowship is a dialogue. It is a two way conversation. It has frequently been said, “When we have devotions we should do more listening than talking”. Amen. Oh, the fellowship is terrific. This is the difference of what I have enjoyed for 63 years. I have always profited much from devotions. I have learned a great deal about the Bible. But now I am enjoying more fellowship. Oh it's good! Enough said.

Last week I wrote about bones. That is not too spiritual. I would like to just share a couple things I have seen in the Scripture that is more doctrinal than spiritual. I have felt for several years that Revelation is not lineal. It doesn't go in a straight line. I have never heard this from any preaching or books – I don't know, maybe it is there – but I don't recall hearing it. But I am totally convinced that the 6^th Seal (Rev. 6:12-17) and final 7^th Vial of wrath (Rev. 16:17-21) are the same event. I don't know how you can come to any other conclusion. They are describing the same thing – earthquake, mountains and island disappearing. More than that; the 6^th Seal talks about stars falling on the earth and the heavens departing like a scroll. You mean to tell me this is the start of the seven years of tribulation? Beyond that we see that the terrible destruction of natural phenomenon in the seven trumpets and the seven vials do nothing to alter mens reaction to move them towards repentance. After six trumpets we read “they repented not”. After four vial the scripture says twice that they blasphemed God and repented not (16:9,11). And after the 5^th and 7^th vial they still blasphemed God. The 7^th vial is the last one when it is all over. But what we see with the 6^th Seal is totally different, Here we see everyone looking for a hiding place and crying to the rocks and mountains to fall on them to hide them from the face of Him that sits on the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. If the 6^th Seal and 7^th Vial are the same thing, why the difference? Jesus is here. Earthquakes and tsunamis don't move men to repentance, but when Jesus shows up in person then they change their tune and start looking for a place to hide. The 6^th Seal has got to be Jesus coming back as told in Rev. 19:11-21.

There is another eschatological argument that I would like to consider. There is a great deal of debate about dating Ezek, 38 and 39. There are three positions – at the beginning of the seven years of tribulation, in the middle, and at the end. For years I have leaned more towards the beginning because it take seven years to clean up the mess (39:9).

But from 39:17-20 there is an unusual statement. The Lord said, “Speak unto every feathered foul and to every beast of the field, come to My sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you: even a great sacrifice that ye may eat flesh and drink blood.”. This is almost the same thing that we see in Rev. 19:17,18. “An angel cried saying to all the fouls that fly in the midst of heaven, 'Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God that ye may eat the flesh of kings...'.” Further more Jesus said, “For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together” (Mt. 24: 28; Lk. 17:37).

In the Bible the most insulting thing that can happen to a person is to have their body eaten by buzzards and wild dogs. This is what Goliath said to David. “I will give thy flesh unto the fouls of the air the beast of the field”. And David said exactly the same thing back to Goliath (1 Sam. 17:44,46). This is what Elijah said to Ahab; “The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Him that deith of Ahab in the city shall dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fouls of the air eat”. This is what Rizpah did not want to happen to happen to her sons (2 Sam. 21:10). This is the most insulting thing that can happen.

No one questions Rev. 19:11-21 is Armageddon (Rev. 16:16). This is the ultimate battle. This is where the anti-christ will gather all the armies of the earth to fight against Jesus. Everyone is agreed that Rev. 19 is the final battle and the ultimate 2^nd coming of Christ. This is where it all ends. The devil will have his man on top for seven years to run the world. This is the anti-christ. We all know about him. And the final conflict will be when he has all the armies of the world gathered together to physically fight against Jesus. This is Armageddon. And on the basis of what Ezek. 39 and Rev. 19:11 it seems to me that this is what God calls His great sacrifice to the buzzards. I find it difficult to separate these two event. To me they are exactly the same thing. That means that Ezek. 38 and 39 is Armageddon. This is what God has saved for the armies of the earth – to get fed to the buzzards and dogs. And, man howdy, are we close. It could be well within the next ten years.

This is what Dan. 2:35,44 is talking about when the little stone will hit the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar's dream image: “And in the days of these kings (the ten toes) will the God of heaven set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed” (verse 44).

On a personal note, we are asking Jesus what He wants us to do about my eye. I have three options: return to the states to go to a VA hospital, have surgery here, or let Jesus take care of it by Himself. For a year we have had the first option of VA at the top of the list. But three doors have been closed. The states are shut down, no discharge papers, and the Institute has been closed for me to stay there. That leaves surgery here or just keep waiting on Jesus. I am open to either. We are seriously considering going to a hospital here soon, or maybe just keep looking unto Jesus if He wants to deal with it by Himself. In the mean time I remain in excellent health and rejoicing in the Lord more every day. Oh Jesus is wonderful and I greatly enjoy His fellowship every morning.

And thank you for yours, bill

Burial

7 June 2020

Dear Phyllis,

The other day Pammy asked me what I wanted her to do with my body (dead). For the past year I have thought about that. In California when you get a drivers license you have to make a check what you want officials to do with your body if you get killed in an auto accident. There are three options – nothing, organ transplant, medical research. Neil and Peggy Verwey opted to give their bodies for medical research; so as soon as they disrobed their earthly tabernacle, their son, David, called the university who immediately came to get the cadavers and that was the end. I had put that on my California drivers license.

That is extremely noble but I am not sure that is the biblical approach. Abraham bought a burial site for Sarah; she was buried in it, he was buried in it, Isaac was buried in it, Jacob was buried in it and Joseph was buried in it. But there is another story that I want to share with you that has two or three important lessons.

In the days of David there was a three year famine (2 Sam. 21). Three years is a long time for the Lord to turn off the faucet in heaven. Obviously David had done a great deal of praying and the Lord told him a surprising answer. It was because of a minor, foolish, thing Saul had done 40 or 50 years previously.

When Israel invaded the promised land they wiped out Jericho and Ai. Everyone was terrified. The town of Gibeon came up with a clever strategy and sent a delegation to make a treaty with Israel saying that they had come hundreds of miles away (Jos. 9). No body thought about asking God about it and Joshua made a treaty with them. When they discovered that these fellows lived just a few kilo meters down the road they said, “Those liars, let's wipe them out.” But Joshua said, “We can't do it because we signed a treaty and we can't break our word.” Nearly 500 years later, Saul, in his fleshly zeal for God, decided to wipe them out.. Another 50 years after that God turned off the faucet in heaven and the Lord told David the problem was because of what Saul had done to Gibeon.

There are two or three points to this letter. If there is a message here it is that God holds us responsible to keep our word. God keeps His Word and He expects us to keep ours. If there ever was a time when anyone could be excused for breaking a promise it was here. This is the lowest level of responsibility that there is. Israel had ever reason for not honoring their treaty. These rascals had lied to them, the Gibonites had tricked them into making a treaty and Israel could be excused for not honoring it. But 500 years later; in his ill directed zeal for God Saul decides to wipe out some remnants that Joshua had left; 50 years after that God turned off the faucet in heaven. David prayed for three years and finally God said, “It is because of what Saul did to the Gibonites” (2 Sam. 21:1). You talk about an extreme illustration, now here is one.

And the second point is that God keeps balanced books. This has got to be one of the stranger stories of the Bible. Another message for us here is that God does not forget. One of the last words written in the Bible is “AND THE BOOKS WERE OPENED” (Rev. 20:12). It's all there. Everything you have ever done in your life, it's all there. God has a video of every actual event. If we have videos to use in courts here it is a safe bet He has good copies stored there. And everyone is going to have a chance to look at everything they have ever done in their life.

There is an enormous amount of injustice in this world. I told you last week how my stomach just churns over the unbelievable amount of criminal activity that Hilary, Brennen, Comey, etc (endless) did for years and got by scott free. While Trumps friends get raided in the middle of the night, put in solitary confinement, and bankrupted fighting false charges. Oh where is justice? I know the answer but I don't like it. The Lord said, “Vengeance is Mine” (Rom. 12:19). God swings the hammer of justice – not us. Jesus assured us that in the end the books will be settled. He promised us that in the day of judgment everyone will have to account for every idle word (Mt. 12:36). That is pretty serious. Every word that comes out of our mouth will receive an appropriate reward. Andrew Wiseman is one of the most evil men who ever served in the Justice Dept. He has a lot of pay-back coming. Hilary will get more than an orange jump suit. I want to see it now, but Gibeon had to wait 50 years.

David went to Gibeon and asked. “What can I do to make up for the injustice done to you?”. They said, “We want seven sons of Saul”. Saul had a wife, or concubine, Rizpah, who had two sons; and his daughter, Michal, had five sons by her second husband. Michal was Davids first wife, but that was a fool thing she did in mocking David when he danced before then Lord (2 Sam. 6:16-23). She paid a dear price for it. David gave the seven men to Gibeon and they strung them up. Justice was served, but the faucet still didn't get turned on.

There is a sub-point here in that God honored Rizpah. She said, “I'm not going to let the buzzards and wild dogs eat the bodies of my sons.”. She spread a sheet on a rock and slept there day and night to protect those decaying corpses. David saw what she did and thought, “There is one more thing that I can try”. When Saul fought with the Philistines and got killed on Mt. Gilboa, the Philistines cut off his head and hung his body, and the body of his son, on the wall of Bethshan. When the citizens of Jabsh-gilead heard about it, some brave men went at night, took the bodies down, carried them back, cremated the decayed bodies, and buried their bones under a tree in Jabesh. They had been there for probably 30 years.

After David had given the seven sons of Saul to the Gibeonites who strung them up, but there still was no rain, David said, “Let me try one more thing.” David went to Jabesh, dug up the bones of Saul and Jonathan, took them back to the land of Benjamin, and buried them in the sepulcher of his father Kish. They had a proper funeral – and AFTER THAT GOD WAS INTREATED FOR THE LAND (2 Sam. 21:14). That turned the faucet on.

The point is this; perhaps God is more concerned about the bones of His saints than we think. Perhaps God doesn't think it is honoring the bodies of Christians to have med students play with them and discard the left over fragments in dumpsters in medical schools. I admire Christians who donate their bodies for medical research, but I am beginning to question if maybe Jesus would appreciate it if we were a little more honoring the remains of the bodies where He used to live. British Christians wanted the body of David Livingstone sent back to England. The natives cut his heart out and buried it in Africa and then did an amazing thing in carrying his body several hundred miles to the coast to be sent back to England.

I don;t know. Pammy doesn't have to worry about my body for quite a while, but we will have to make that decision someday. Praise God it won't be long before all the dead in Christ will be raised and that is the main thing. It won't matter where we left our bodies.. We will get them all back restored in better shape than when we left them here.

Thank the Lord, bill 

Lavinia McCart and Others

May 31, 2020

Dear Phyllis,

Oh my goodness, God is good! Almost every morning the Father lets me climb up and peek in the window of heaven. Inasmuch as what I am seeing is indescribable I won;t try. All I can say is that Jesus is wonderful and all that our Father tells us about Himself is true. No I am not a mystic. I am not seeing visions, but I mean to tell you that the Word is good and has become extremely real to me.

Last Monday was Memorial Day in the states. Fox News was wall to wall coverage as to how we should remember the service men who have fallen. That strikes me as odd because that is only one side of the coin. I am all for being grateful for the fellows who sacrificed their lives so that we could live ours. That is a whole lot better than the fellow who said, “Let someone else do the fighting. I'm going to stay home”. And I believe in honoring the memory of those who have done well before us.

When Brother Yun visited Norway he said he wanted to see the grave of Marie Munsen, who was so mightily used of God to bring massive revival to his home province of Henan in China from 1927 to 1937. No one had ever heard of Marie Munsen. When Yun finally found her grave sight he was stunned to see it was overgrown with weeds. He demanded the Norwegian Christians, “Clean up this grave site or I will have stone cutters walk here from China to make her a better tomb stone.

When the biographer of Charles Finney went to Oberlin College to see the grave site of the founder, Charles Finney, he was stunned that no one had ever heard of Charles Finney. He grubbed around on campus and finally found a grave stone all grown over with brush saying Charles Finney. He went to the president of Oberlin and demand that they properly clean up the grave site of the founder.

I enjoy remember my mother. Her funeral was one of the pinnacle moments of my life, As I sat there looking around that church I couldn't believe my eyes.. My mind went back 40 years before when I first got saved and my mother was heart broken. She was a very active religious liberal Christian. When I said folks who don't believe in Jesus are going to hell, she cried, “But so many of our Catholic and Jewish friends are such good people”. I replied, “Yes, hell is full of good people”. And then when she was in her late 60s my mother met Jesus and became a howling Pentecostal. The last 18 years of her life she was a blow torch for Jesus. It didn't matter who it was, no one could talk to her five minutes without hearing how wonderful Jesus was. And now at her funeral as I looked around; my mother had been saved, my sister, all her children and everyone in that church were born-again Christians. Oh my goodness I couldn't believe it.

I like to remember my sister. I remember when she was deeply involved in the occult and taking her three children in with her. Then she got saved and all all her children had come to Christ and were going to good churches, I like to remember what the Lord did for my mother and sister, but most of all I like to remember where they are today and I am going to see then again, pretty soon.

One of my favorite momeries is my secretary Lavinia McCart. Lavinia was one of the saddest sisters I ever knew. Like all girls, she had dreams of getting married and having her own family. But it never happened. Lavinia lived a very lonely, sad life. She died a sullen, dejected soul in a nursing home, But oh, when she opened her eyes in the City; you talk about a happy camper, there wasn't a more joyful saint in heaven. Jesus gave her a stunning gown and she was a gorgeous woman. In life Lavinia was very plain - bordering on slightly ugly - but in heaven she was one of the most beautiful women there. All her class mates who married the sharp boys, had fine families and lived fulfilled lives as missionaries, all these gals had plain cotton clothes and sat in the back row in heaven. But Lavinia was up close to Jesus. Lavinia could only rave, “Oh thank You, Jesus, thank You Jesus, You chose the best part for me”. No I'm not Todd Bentley. I haven't made trips to heaven and come back to tell you all what I saw, but I am sure the image I have in my mind of Lavinia is accurate

I'm all for remembering the dead and honoring their sacrifice, but it seemed strange to me as I looked at Fox News on You Tube, that somehow by remembering them, that gave the dead more comfort. Offering flowers and burning incense to the dead isn't going to make them more comfortable where they are today. Rather than remembering the dead it might be more profitable to think about where they are today I thank God for for those brave men who .stormed ashore in Saipan. Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Omaha beach in Normandy. No doubt these were really good men, They certainly paid a dear sacrifice, and their mothers and wives paid an even higher price. Thank God for them. But in the light of eternity what is the difference between getting killed at 21 and going to hell; and living to 81 and going to hell. In eternity there isn't much difference.

The most bewildering phenomenon in the world today is that people have done such an amazing job of shutting reality out of their minds. The most established fact in the world toady is that there is an end of the road for everyone breathing air. The most unavoidable event in life is death, and yet multitudes – perhaps most people – block it out of their minds like it won't happen. Then when it does happen, the survivors say, “Oh well, let's get on with life”.

There is nothing wrong with remembering the sacrifice of those who have stood up and stepped forward to fight evil, But rather than thinking about where, how, and why they gave their lives it might be a little more profitable to think about where they are today, Some are in heaven and some are in hell, They might have got short-changed 50 years of living on this earth but where they are today is where they will be for eternity.

It might be alright to show a little patriotism. America has much to be proud of. She has a remarkable history; going from a few merchants and rugged backwoodsmen to being the number one super power in the world. She has grown from a tiny seed to being the dominant tree in the forest. But today America is deeply divided. It is no longer a matter of a difference of opinion, but deep deep settled hatred. I despise those vile, evil people in government. And they despise Trump. I can't stand to look at the faces of the cheerleaders for satan on CNN. MSNBC. the New York Times, etc. I have begged God to give that evil woman who wanted to be president a private room in government housing and a stunning orange suit. But her crimes still go on unrewarded. All I know is that God said. “Vengeance is Mine”, and obviously God is simply giving her more rope to dig deeper into hell to get a seat further up front where the fire is hotter, the worms more numerous, and the darkness a little thicker.

I was looking at a You Tube of Dave Rubin interviewing a black man who had been a football star and an ex-police officer, and now an activist for Trump. That black man certainly was colorful, being raise a pure product of his cultural environment in a bad black community, But midway through the interview the black man said. “Man, when I got SAVED everything turned around”. Whoa! What did he say? Rubin said. “Tell me more about this transformational experience.” What a testimony! He told about responding to an invitation to go forward and praying at the alter. Then he said, “When I accepted Jesus in my heart. Suddenly I quit swearing, all the deep hatred went out, and I had a love for everyone. Man that felt good!” That is the kind of political interview I like.

It might be alright to remember the heroes of the past and salute the flag, but if we could turn down the National Anthem a little bit and turn up “Jesus shall reign where er' the sun doth his successive journeys run...”; maybe we might move a little closer to sanity.

Gambarimasho (let's let it all hang out) for Jesus,                                                           bill

Fellowship with the Real Believers

May 24, 2020

Dear Phyllis,

This is my forth letter to you this week. I sent you one yesterday. I have two more ready to send. (I'll send them tomorrow>) And this is the forth. But my heart is exploding and this one can't wait.

In the 1950s Russia was occupying Romania. One Sunday when a Romanian church was having worship service two Russian soldiers walked in with rifles and demanded, “We will give you 15 minutes. Anyone who will not deny Jesus, we will kill you”. A number of people suddenly remembered that they left the stove on in the kitchen.. Several other suddenly recalled an important meeting they had and left. It didn't take long for the crowd to thin down. After 15 minutes there were still a few who defiantly refused to move. The Russian soldiers demanded, “Are you ready to die?”. “YES” Then the soldiers threw down their rifles and said, “We are Christians too. We just wanted to get rid of the hangers-on so we could have fellowship with the real brothers.”.

Oh praise God I had fellowship with the real brothers this morning. I met Pastor Phirat of the Beulah Church last week and was surprised to learn that they were open for Sunday morning service. I said, “I heard you were closed.” Every church in Thailand is closed for two or three months. Pastor told me, “We were closed the first Sunday but we have been open every Sunday ever since.” It had been two months since I last went to church. I got on my motor bike to go to church and took a face mask with me. I was startled when I walked inside and saw the hand full of believers sitting there without face masks. Oh what a joy! I knew I was in a room with the real Body of Christ. Oh my goodness, the song service was something else. I can't recall ever being in a better one. Then the pastor called on me to pray. I could hardly get a word out of my mouth. Finally I was able to say, “Father, it's real! It's real! It's real! Oh, thank You for calling out a number to obey and follow Jesus.” I don't know if anyone understood my prayer in English, but I hope our Father heard how grateful I was to be standing in the midst of the real Body this morning..

At the end of the service I said I wanted to give a testimony. I told the story of the Romanian Church and the Russian soldiers; and what a blessing it was to meet with real believers this morning. Then I told them that life is full of risks. I had no business riding my Honda this morning. I'm 84 and only have one eye. It is really dangerous for me to ride that bike. But hang it! I'm going to church. I told the folks there that I had had the privilege of spending 15 years taking Bibles to Christians in dangerous countries and could tell them stories that they would not believe. I mentioned a couple of stories of what it is like to follow Jesus in a country where you might get killed for your faith.

I told them about the time when we had the SARS epidemic here in SEA. I had come down from Japan to carry Bibles into Vietnam and Laos. We were having fairly large groups of young people from Bible schools in the states to help us with that mission, but for six months we had 100% cancellation because it was too dangerous. If they got an an airplane there was an outside chance that they might catch a cold. God doesn't want us to do such a dangerous thing and best we stay home.. I cannot express to you the emotional overload I got from that. In 2011 I was in Japan for the tsunami that knocked out the nuclear reactor at Fukushima. I was in Sendai, 60 km from Fukushuma. I was stunned at the huge exodus of missionaries that left Japan for fear of nuclear radiation fall-out. Some missions pulled all their missionaries out. I said, “Thank God, and thank you for leaving. Please don't ever come back again.” The Japanese couldn't leave. They went on with their lives as usual, and were bewildered to see the missionaries living next door to flee. So much for soldiers for Christ.

The pastor had a good message this morning from Isiah 40:29-31. He said, “One of the ways to mount up on wings of eagles was to expect good things from God”. In my testimony I praised the pastor for his message but added. “There is one more way to renew your strength and mount up on wings of eagles, Just say HANG IT. I DON'T CARE. Good thing or bad things, it doesn't make any difference. I am going to obey and follow Jesus regardless of what happens.”. That is the attitude we need. I don't care what the risk is. I don't care what happens – good things or bad – I will follow Jesus.

Actually the risk wasn't too high this morning. The chance of dying from Covis-19 in Chiang Mai is 1 in 1,000,000. I believe the chance is much higher that I might get bit by a cobra or struck by lightening, but even so I will take the risk and go on with life. What a joy to sit in church with 15 other people who were breathing fresh air and shaking hands. Oh it was refreshing.

Probably in a couple more months the rest of the church will come out from their homes and fellowship with us, but I doubt that the reality of the presence of the Lord will be as real as it was this morning.

Jesus is sifting the wheat. The day is coming, and it can't be far from here, when there is going to be a real price to pay for wearing a Jesus pin. I love John Newton's 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? (I won;t quote the rest of that but it is great.) Oh thank God if there is an opportunity to stick our necks out 10 cm (4”) and run a risk for Jesus. Lord help us to stand up when we face 666.

I believe the faces we see in heaven may not be the same crowd we see in church each Sunday. But it sure was a blessing to meet with the few this morning. May God bless you and give you the opportunity to have fellowship with the same.

                                                            bill