Dear Phyllis,
The other day I was talking with a brother and remarked, “The main point is, we must get people to Jesus.” Surly there is nothing more important than this. I am not interested in making folks Christian. There are a lot of Christians who have never met Jesus. They have become a member of a religion. They have changed their religious philosophy. If they study the Bible enough, they might have proper doctrine; but have they had a real encounter with Christ? I fear there are a number of Christians with correct doctrine who do not have a genuine relationship with the Lord.
My goodness, Jesus Himself told us that in the final day there would be MANY who will say unto Him, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name? and in Thy Name cast out demons, and in thy Name done many wonderful works?” And He will reply, “I never knew you. Depart from Me ye that work iniquity.” (Mt. 7:22,23). Spiritual power and miracles are no indication that a person is saved. Here in SEA we have an abundance of spiritual power and miracles that is openly demonic. You have the same thing in
In any country where Christianity has gone, you will find Christian advocates of odorous doctrine. We have one of the major universities of
But leaving all that aside, the question is, are people truly coming to Jesus? Are they solidly tied to Christ? Many years ago I had a little pamphlet that I used for a Gospel tract that was taken from a chapter of Watchman Nee’s book, Twelve Baskets Full. In it, Watchman Nee told about a time he was talking to a young girl who loved sin. He tried to share the Gospel with her, but she refused saying she loved the world, she loved sin, and had no desire to change. After she had raved on for half an hour about the pleasures of sin, Watchman Nee concluded by suggesting, “Let’s pray.” She was startled. “Who? Me? Pray? Who should I pray to?”
“Just talk to Jesus.”
“What should I say?”
“Just tell Him what you have just told me. He is a friend of sinners.”
Watchman Nee said, “Pray she did; a very unorthodox prayer indeed.” But then after she had told the Lord all about how she loved sin and had no desire for salvation, she burst out, “But please, Lord Jesus, give me that which I don’t want.” And she was saved. In her prayer she met Jesus.
I shared this story with a good friend. Some time later, Sam told me of an incident when he was talking to a Japanese man who was a strong atheist. After a long theological argument Sam suggested they pray. The man was genuinely surprised and asked, “How do you talk to God?” Sam asked, “If there was a God, and you had a chanced to speak to Him; is there anything you would like to ask Him?”
“Well, yes. If there was a God there are several things I would like to ask Him. But how do you talk to God?”
“You just talk to Him liked you talk to me. Let’s practice.”
The man proceeds to verbalize several things that were on his heart. Sam replied, “That’s good. Let’s try that again.”
The man repeated the things he had just said. Then, suddenly, he stopped and bust out, “It’s real! It’s real! There is a God!” Sam was startled. “How do you know God is real?”
“I’m talking to Him!” He had an encounter with Jesus.
Perhaps I told you this story before but it is so good I love to repeat it. Several years ago I had the privilege of hearing Sarah Jepson up in PBI, in
“Now doctor calm down. I have 15 minutes of your time. I will pay for this.” He would sit there with his arms folded, his eyes closed, and smoke coming out his ears for 14 minutes while she shared with him the good news of Jesus. Then she would ask, “Doctor, are you an honest man?”
“Yes, of course I am.”
“Do you keep your word?”
“Yes, of course I do.”
“Doctor, I have a request. Please don’t do it now, but sometime in the near future, when you are alone in a room, I have two prayers I would like you to say. The first one is, ‘God, if You are God, did You have a Son?’ And secondly ask, ‘Was His Name Jesus?’.”
She would leave a name card, pay her $25 (this was 40 years ago), and go to the next one to do it all over again. She said it was amazing the number of Jewish doctors that would call her a few days later saying, “I did what you asked. The answer is ‘Yes’. Now what do I do?”
These people are having spiritual encounters with the Lord. There is a vast difference between reaching a person intellectually and spiritual encounters. The intellectual might touch their mind, but the spiritual will change their heart.
In my reading of the Holiest of All I have been deeply impressed by the major difference between the Old Covenant and the New. The Old Covenant was fundamentally external, but the OT Tabernacle illustrated spiritual experience that would be enjoyed in the New dispensation. The Tabernacle was composed of three perimeters that depict three levels of Christian experience. In the otter court yard there was the brazen altar where the blood was shed for the forgiveness of sin. This speaks to us of
Drawing near to God is not a matter of geological movement. Physically you can’t draw nearer. And coming into His presence is not something that can be scheduled for Sunday mornings or Wednesday evenings. Very often in our prayer meetings we say, “Lord, we come into Your presence now…” My foot! That is pure imagination. Drawing near to God is a matter of the heart. It is when our heart becomes like His that we get closer. Having a close friend is not living next door, but when our hearts are one. It is the same way with God. The only way we can draw near to God is by the working of the Holy Spirit, bringing us into conformity, where our heart is truly on the same page with His. But when this happens, we begin to experience the presence of God in a way that totally unknown to the natural man. It is in His presence that we find the fullness of joy (Ps.
Dear Phyllis, this is a subject that simply blows me away. I am stunned beyond words that Jesus has opened a way for us to have access to God that was impossible for Aaron. What kind of a salvation is this!? What kind of a life He is offering us?! I am utterly speechless when I think that by the Holy Spirit I have access to God.
Gomen nasai, this may not make much sense to you, and perhaps sounds a wee bit trite, but there is nothing trite about this to me. Oh that Jesus would take us more into Himself. Lord grant it – for Jesus sake. Amen!
bill
Dear Phyllis,
The other day I was talking
with a brother and remarked, “The main point is, we must get people to Jesus.”
Surly there is nothing more important than this. I am not interested in making
folks Christian. There are a lot of Christians who have never met Jesus. They
have become a member of a religion. They have changed their religious
philosophy. If they study the Bible enough, they might have proper doctrine;
but have they had a real encounter with Christ? I fear there are a number of
Christians with correct doctrine who do not have a genuine relationship with
the Lord.
My goodness, Jesus Himself
told us that in the final day there would be MANY who will say unto Him, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in Thy Name? and in Thy Name cast out demons, and
in thy Name done many wonderful
works?” And He will reply, “I never knew you. Depart from Me ye that work
iniquity.” (Mt. 7:22,23). Spiritual power and miracles are no indication
that a person is saved. Here in SEA we have an abundance of spiritual power
and miracles that is openly demonic. You have the same thing in America
In any country where Christianity
has gone, you will find Christian advocates of odorous doctrine. We have one of
the major universities of Thailand Payap University Payap University Payap University
But leaving all that aside,
the question is, are people truly coming to Jesus? Are they solidly tied to Christ?
Many years ago I had a little pamphlet that I used for a Gospel tract that was
taken from a chapter of Watchman Nee’s book, Twelve Baskets Full. In it, Watchman
Nee told about a time he was talking to a young girl who loved sin. He tried to
share the Gospel with her, but she refused saying she loved the world, she
loved sin, and had no desire to change. After she had raved on for half an hour
about the pleasures of sin, Watchman Nee concluded by suggesting, “Let’s pray.”
She was startled. “Who? Me? Pray? Who should I pray to?”
“Just talk to Jesus.”
“What should I say?”
“Just tell Him what you have
just told me. He is a friend of sinners.”
Watchman Nee said, “Pray she
did; a very unorthodox prayer indeed.” But then after she had told the Lord all
about how she loved sin and had no desire for salvation, she burst out, “But
please, Lord Jesus, give me that which I don’t want.” And she was saved. In her
prayer she met Jesus.
I shared this story with a
good friend. Some time later, Sam told me of an incident when he was talking to
a Japanese man who was a strong atheist. After a long theological argument Sam
suggested they pray. The man was genuinely surprised and asked, “How do you talk
to God?” Sam asked, “If there was a God, and you had a chanced to speak to Him;
is there anything you would like to ask Him?”
“Well, yes. If there was a
God there are several things I would like to ask Him. But how do you talk to God?”
“You just talk to Him liked you
talk to me. Let’s practice.”
The man proceeds to verbalize
several things that were on his heart. Sam replied, “That’s good. Let’s try
that again.”
The man repeated the things
he had just said. Then, suddenly, he stopped and bust out, “It’s real! It’s
real! There is a God!” Sam was startled. “How do you know God is real?”
“I’m talking to Him!” He had
an encounter with Jesus.
Perhaps I told you this story
before but it is so good I love to repeat it. Several years ago I had the privilege
of hearing Sarah Jepson up in PBI, in Three Hills , Canada Africa for many years. Then she got retired and sent back to
the states. She had a passion for reaching Jews, and went to New York City New York
“Now doctor calm down. I have
15 minutes of your time. I will pay for this.” He would sit there with his arms
folded, his eyes closed, and smoke coming out his ears for 14 minutes while she
shared with him the good news of Jesus. Then she would ask, “Doctor, are you an
honest man?”
“Yes, of course I am.”
“Do you keep your word?”
“Yes, of course I do.”
“Doctor, I have a request.
Please don’t do it now, but sometime in the near future, when you are alone in
a room, I have two prayers I would like you to say. The first one is, ‘God, if You
are God, did You have a Son?’ And secondly ask, ‘Was His Name Jesus?’.”
She would leave a name card, pay
her $25 (this was 40 years ago), and go to the next one to do it all over again.
She said it was amazing the number of Jewish doctors that would call her a few
days later saying, “I did what you asked. The answer is ‘Yes’. Now what do I
do?”
These people are having
spiritual encounters with the Lord. There is a vast difference between reaching
a person intellectually and spiritual encounters. The intellectual might touch their
mind, but the spiritual will change their heart.
In my reading of the Holiest of
All I have been deeply impressed by the major difference between the Old Covenant
and the New. The Old Covenant was fundamentally external, but the OT Tabernacle
illustrated spiritual experience that would be enjoyed in the New dispensation.
The Tabernacle was composed of three perimeters that depict three levels of
Christian experience. In the otter court yard there was the brazen altar where
the blood was shed for the forgiveness of sin. This speaks to us of Calvary . In the Tabernacle proper there was the service of the priests. This
speaks of those who go on to a higher level of serving God. But the veil was
still there separating man from God. The Day of Atonement, when the high priest
alone was able to enter into the holy of holies, was a faint prophecy of the
day when the veil would be taken away, and man
would have access to the very presence of God. When the flesh of Jesus
was torn, the veil was ripped asunder (Mt. 27:50,51: 2Cor. 3:14 ). But, tragically, very few Christians actually enter
in this higher level of fellowship with God.
Drawing near to God is not a
matter of geological movement. Physically you can’t draw nearer. And coming
into His presence is not something that can be scheduled for Sunday mornings or
Wednesday evenings. Very often in our prayer meetings we say, “Lord, we come
into Your presence now…” My foot! That is pure imagination. Drawing near to God
is a matter of the heart. It is when our heart becomes like His that we get
closer. Having a close friend is not living next door, but when our hearts are
one. It is the same way with God. The only way we can draw near to God is by
the working of the Holy Spirit, bringing us into conformity, where our heart
is truly on the same page with His. But when this happens, we begin to
experience the presence of God in a way that totally unknown to the natural
man. It is in His presence that we find the fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11 ). Why is it that so many Christians are joyless? I
suspect one major reason is because they know so little of the presence of the
Lord.
Dear Phyllis, this is a
subject that simply blows me away. I am stunned beyond words that Jesus has
opened a way for us to have access to God that was impossible for Aaron. What
kind of a salvation is this!? What kind of a life He is offering us?! I am
utterly speechless when I think that by the Holy Spirit I have access to God.
Gomen nasai, this may not
make much sense to you, and perhaps sounds a wee bit trite, but there is
nothing trite about this to me. Oh that
Jesus would take us more into Himself. Lord grant it – for Jesus sake. Amen!
bill
Dear Phyllis,
The other day I was talking
with a brother and remarked, “The main point is, we must get people to Jesus.”
Surly there is nothing more important than this. I am not interested in making
folks Christian. There are a lot of Christians who have never met Jesus. They
have become a member of a religion. They have changed their religious
philosophy. If they study the Bible enough, they might have proper doctrine;
but have they had a real encounter with Christ? I fear there are a number of
Christians with correct doctrine who do not have a genuine relationship with
the Lord.
My goodness, Jesus Himself
told us that in the final day there would be MANY who will say unto Him, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in Thy Name? and in Thy Name cast out demons, and
in thy Name done many wonderful
works?” And He will reply, “I never knew you. Depart from Me ye that work
iniquity.” (Mt. 7:22,23). Spiritual power and miracles are no indication
that a person is saved. Here in SEA we have an abundance of spiritual power
and miracles that is openly demonic. You have the same thing in America
In any country where Christianity
has gone, you will find Christian advocates of odorous doctrine. We have one of
the major universities of Thailand Payap University Payap University Payap University
But leaving all that aside,
the question is, are people truly coming to Jesus? Are they solidly tied to Christ?
Many years ago I had a little pamphlet that I used for a Gospel tract that was
taken from a chapter of Watchman Nee’s book, Twelve Baskets Full. In it, Watchman
Nee told about a time he was talking to a young girl who loved sin. He tried to
share the Gospel with her, but she refused saying she loved the world, she
loved sin, and had no desire to change. After she had raved on for half an hour
about the pleasures of sin, Watchman Nee concluded by suggesting, “Let’s pray.”
She was startled. “Who? Me? Pray? Who should I pray to?”
“Just talk to Jesus.”
“What should I say?”
“Just tell Him what you have
just told me. He is a friend of sinners.”
Watchman Nee said, “Pray she
did; a very unorthodox prayer indeed.” But then after she had told the Lord all
about how she loved sin and had no desire for salvation, she burst out, “But
please, Lord Jesus, give me that which I don’t want.” And she was saved. In her
prayer she met Jesus.
I shared this story with a
good friend. Some time later, Sam told me of an incident when he was talking to
a Japanese man who was a strong atheist. After a long theological argument Sam
suggested they pray. The man was genuinely surprised and asked, “How do you talk
to God?” Sam asked, “If there was a God, and you had a chanced to speak to Him;
is there anything you would like to ask Him?”
“Well, yes. If there was a
God there are several things I would like to ask Him. But how do you talk to God?”
“You just talk to Him liked you
talk to me. Let’s practice.”
The man proceeds to verbalize
several things that were on his heart. Sam replied, “That’s good. Let’s try
that again.”
The man repeated the things
he had just said. Then, suddenly, he stopped and bust out, “It’s real! It’s
real! There is a God!” Sam was startled. “How do you know God is real?”
“I’m talking to Him!” He had
an encounter with Jesus.
Perhaps I told you this story
before but it is so good I love to repeat it. Several years ago I had the privilege
of hearing Sarah Jepson up in PBI, in Three Hills , Canada Africa for many years. Then she got retired and sent back to
the states. She had a passion for reaching Jews, and went to New York City New York
“Now doctor calm down. I have
15 minutes of your time. I will pay for this.” He would sit there with his arms
folded, his eyes closed, and smoke coming out his ears for 14 minutes while she
shared with him the good news of Jesus. Then she would ask, “Doctor, are you an
honest man?”
“Yes, of course I am.”
“Do you keep your word?”
“Yes, of course I do.”
“Doctor, I have a request.
Please don’t do it now, but sometime in the near future, when you are alone in
a room, I have two prayers I would like you to say. The first one is, ‘God, if You
are God, did You have a Son?’ And secondly ask, ‘Was His Name Jesus?’.”
She would leave a name card, pay
her $25 (this was 40 years ago), and go to the next one to do it all over again.
She said it was amazing the number of Jewish doctors that would call her a few
days later saying, “I did what you asked. The answer is ‘Yes’. Now what do I
do?”
These people are having
spiritual encounters with the Lord. There is a vast difference between reaching
a person intellectually and spiritual encounters. The intellectual might touch their
mind, but the spiritual will change their heart.
In my reading of the Holiest of
All I have been deeply impressed by the major difference between the Old Covenant
and the New. The Old Covenant was fundamentally external, but the OT Tabernacle
illustrated spiritual experience that would be enjoyed in the New dispensation.
The Tabernacle was composed of three perimeters that depict three levels of
Christian experience. In the otter court yard there was the brazen altar where
the blood was shed for the forgiveness of sin. This speaks to us of Calvary . In the Tabernacle proper there was the service of the priests. This
speaks of those who go on to a higher level of serving God. But the veil was
still there separating man from God. The Day of Atonement, when the high priest
alone was able to enter into the holy of holies, was a faint prophecy of the
day when the veil would be taken away, and man
would have access to the very presence of God. When the flesh of Jesus
was torn, the veil was ripped asunder (Mt. 27:50,51: 2Cor. 3:14 ). But, tragically, very few Christians actually enter
in this higher level of fellowship with God.
Drawing near to God is not a
matter of geological movement. Physically you can’t draw nearer. And coming
into His presence is not something that can be scheduled for Sunday mornings or
Wednesday evenings. Very often in our prayer meetings we say, “Lord, we come
into Your presence now…” My foot! That is pure imagination. Drawing near to God
is a matter of the heart. It is when our heart becomes like His that we get
closer. Having a close friend is not living next door, but when our hearts are
one. It is the same way with God. The only way we can draw near to God is by
the working of the Holy Spirit, bringing us into conformity, where our heart
is truly on the same page with His. But when this happens, we begin to
experience the presence of God in a way that totally unknown to the natural
man. It is in His presence that we find the fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11 ). Why is it that so many Christians are joyless? I
suspect one major reason is because they know so little of the presence of the
Lord.
Dear Phyllis, this is a
subject that simply blows me away. I am stunned beyond words that Jesus has
opened a way for us to have access to God that was impossible for Aaron. What
kind of a salvation is this!? What kind of a life He is offering us?! I am
utterly speechless when I think that by the Holy Spirit I have access to God.
Gomen nasai, this may not
make much sense to you, and perhaps sounds a wee bit trite, but there is
nothing trite about this to me. Oh that
Jesus would take us more into Himself. Lord grant it – for Jesus sake. Amen!
bill
Dear Phyllis,
I wrote to you about James a
few weeks ago. He is that very fine Thai brother starting out serving the Lord.
He got canned from the organization he was with and came to me asking advice as
to what he should do. He has the heart, vision, and gifts for being a very fine
servant of Christ. I told him, “Don’t worry about finances. If God orders something
that means that He is responsible to pay for it. You worked for AI before and
they supported you. Work for God and He will support you.” He decided to start
his own mission and called himself Youth Evangelism Ministry – YEM. He made up
a broacher hoping to raise funds to get his ministry off the ground. I warned
him about tin-cup fund raising. Much has happened since then.
He was working with a very
fine church as the song leader. The pastor wanted to take him on as full time
staff. This looked like a pretty good deal except their vision was not a direct
overlay, but there was so much in common that I advised him to go along with
the pastor as far as possible. Where he felt the Lord had spoken to him
specifically about some other aspect to do that on his own.
One major point was that he
wanted to have a home to help minority boys who had no place to live while they
go to college. He had five boys he was responsible for when he was with AI.
When he got put out on the street the boys said they would move out also. He
wanted to have a house for them but that would cost about $130 a month. The
pastor didn’t share that vision quite as keenly but did say they could stay in a
room at the church. James also wanted to work on college campuses and the
pastor was asking him to work on the same four college campuses where he
already had meetings. I asked, “What’s the problem? Do it!” I could see James
as an excellent youth pastor for the church and I thought the pastor was a very
reasonable man. I don’t know him well but he seems to be a first-class pastor.
James is over to see me for an hour almost every night.
The first problem was money.
John was very supportive of James wanting to have his own ministry but strongly
advised him to do it through the church where there would be accountability. The
pastor was agreeable and they set up an account for James in the church. The
Lord gave him $850 the first month – which is quite a lot of money. But then
James said the pastor was using his money for church things. We checked on that
and the pastor had a good explanation in that he had spent it on things for
James. He also promised to keep his hands off James’ money. There is a lot I
don’t understand but it suspect most of it is misunderstanding between the
pastor and James.
The second hurdle was more
difficult. James came to see me saying that the pastor wanted him to cancel all
the meetings he has going in four universities and start new ones. Why? He said
the explanation was that the present meetings were not church oriented. None of
the young people going to James’ meeting go to that church. The pastor doesn’t
want any meetings where the students are going to another church. That was a
little depressing.
I can understand the pastors thinking,
but he is dead wrong. I don’t know so much about Thai but that certainly is
100% Japanese thinking. It is because of that self-oriented, vacuum cleaner,
attitude that the church in Japan Thailand
An hour later I was genuinely
surprised at the counsel I gave him. Basically what I advised him was to bow
the knee. Not because the pastor is right and James is wrong, but for the sake
of Christian character development. I told James this was the most important
thing at this stage of the game. I can see James as being a very effective
mission leader, but the first step to leading is to learn to be a good
follower. I told him he could step out on his own and refuse the discipline of
the pastor. The Lord might bless him in doing so, and he might have a
successful ministry, but he would get seriously short-changed in what he might
have learned through suffering. It is like death for him to consider closings
the meetings he has had going for over a year. It is like death for him to be restricted
to staying at the church and doing odd jobs when he would rather be out
witnessing for Christ. He still feels there have been some shortages in money.
I said, “Hang it! Take the short end of the stick!” I know it is not right but
it is good to suffer.
Maybe it is because I am
older now, and it is easier to be deprived, but I see suffering as one of the
most valuable experience the Lord deals out to us. Jesus was made perfect through
suffering and we seriously short-change ourselves if we try to exempt ourselves
from the thing that was so necessary for Jesus (Heb 2:10 ). [Of course Jesus was perfect, but His character had
to be developed just liked His body and mind had to develop.]
As I was talking to James, I
thought of the frustration of Jesus through His years of silence. It was
strongly in His heart to serve His Father when He was 12 years old (Lk. 2:42 , 49, 51). What must have been burning in His heart
when He was 18, when He was 20, when He was 25, and when He was 29? He must have
had a great desire to be about His Fathers business, but He quietly stayed in
the carpenter’s shop making shavings. During that same period, He watched His
cousin, John, launch out and became a huge national icon as a major prophet.
They were virtually the same age, but John must have preceded Him in the
ministry by ten years. That certainly was one type of suffering.
The story of David is
recorded in 1st Samuel and 2nd Samuel. 1st
Samuel is the story of David up until he became king and 2nd Samuel
is his life after he was king. Of the two, my favorite book is hands down 1st
Samuel. Without a question David’s greatest moments were when he was living in
a cave running from Saul. After he was king, life was certainly better, but he
made some grievous mistakes that are so bad I dread to read them. The years of
suffering were the best years of David’s life.
Joseph is perhaps the most
perfect type of Christ in the Bible. He was marvelous as the Prime Minister of Egypt Egypt
I gave James the illustration
of two women. For instance; both were committed Christians and highly gifted in
serving the Lord. Both had difficult husbands who were restrictive on their
ministries. One woman was quietly submissive and accepted her husband’s
limitations. The other was defiant. She said, “Hang you Jack! You’re not going
to tell me what to do. I’m going to serve Jesus and if you don’t like it you
can stuff it!” I asked James, “Which one is the most honoring to the Lord?” Of
course the first one. I told James there are a lot of women out there that are
just like the second woman. They may have a productive ministry, but they have
a hard, nasty, defiant, spirit. They are loud-mouth, boisterous, self-willed;
and they are a disgrace to the Name of Christ. Having a successful ministry
is not the main thing. Having the right,
Christ-like, spirit is the thing that is precious to God.
As I approach my more senior
years, I see Christ-like character as an extremely valuable commodity. I believe
character is far more important than a predictive ministry. I have seen enough
of life to know that many ministries have some of the most lamentable leaders
at the top. God will certainly use them, but in heaven I fear they will be
standing at the rear of the line.
In talking with Mark about James’ problem, he strongly disagreed with me. He said, “If the
pastor is that kind of a man, who thinks only of his own advantage, it s wrong
for James to submit himself to him. He said, if James already has well attended
Bible classes going in four universities he should tell the pastor, “Gomen
nasai (I’m sorry) but I am not going to cancel them just because they don’t
come to your church and I am not going to devote myself to promoting your
ministry. I am here to serve Jesus.”
I know exactly what Mark is talking about. Thirty years ago I would have said the same thing. But
the problem is that Mark doesn’t’ see the character issue as clearly as it do.
It is very American to be independent. And it is more typical of younger men to
say, “If I can’t have it my way I’m not gong to do it.” (Mark is nearly 30 years younger than me.)
I believe the day will come
when James will be a mission leader. I believe he will be a very good one. But
if suffering was necessary to produce the marvelous character in Joseph and David;
and the Captain of our salvation was made perfect through suffering; I believe
it is highly doubtful that we will be like Him if we prefer to exempt ourselves
from the very thing that was so needful for Joseph, David and Jesus.
Just a few thoughts. What do
you think Phyllis?
bill
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