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"THY TENTS SHALL BE OUR HOME!"--By Father David GP917 Compiled 14/2/80
--The Campers' Creed! (Compiled by Apollos.)
1. FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES, GOD'S MEN HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ON THE MOVE FOR THE LORD: "These all confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth, declaring plainly that they seek a country--a better country, that is, an Heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God!" (Hebrews 11:13,16)
2. GOD IS PROUD OF HIS TRAVELLING PILGRIMS on their constant pilgrimages for Him en route to that Heavenly City!--They were not satisfied with being citizens of this would, with its earthly, carnal, flesh and blood kingdoms of evil men and evil spirits. But rather, they looked for a country made by God, a Heavenly country, a Heavenly City, built by the Lord!
3. For "by faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles (tents) with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder & maker is God!"--Even though he got to the earthly promised land, he never found the place he was looking for, because it wasn't there! This world is not where it's at! (See Hebrews 11.)
MOBILE MINISTRIES PAST & PRESENT!
4. ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB LIVED IN TENTS ALL THE DAYS OF THEIR LIVES!--Think of that! The great Patriarchs, forefathers of both Jews and Arabs, never knew what it was to live in houses, but lived in tents all the days of their lives!--Tents! Not even trailers or caravans or campers!--Just tents!--Not just on a vacation, but all their lives!
5. JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES ALSO SEEMED TO BE CAMPING OUT MOST OF THE TIME, either under the trees or in other people's boats or houses--always on the move for the Lord! And His followers have been moving ever since: From Jerusalem to Antioch to Ephesus to Athens to Rome and into every nation on Earth, spreading the Gospel as they went! (Mt.28:19; Mk.16:15; Acts1:8)
6. GOD'S CHILDREN HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ON THE MOVE, never settling down more than temporarily, seldom building cities, because they know this world is not their home, they're just a passin' through tryin' to get a job done for Jesus on the way! Hallelujah! So keep movin'!
7.CONSIDER THE RECHABITES OF JEREMIAH 35! Through their father, the Lord commanded them, "Neither shall ye build house nor sow seed nor plant vineyard nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents: that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers!" Because of their willingness to dwell in tents when everybody else was living in houses, they were able to quickly escape when the trouble came, and survived!
8. IN FACT, THE LORD HOLDS THEM UP HERE AS A SHINING EXAMPLE TO HIS PEOPLE and promises them, because of their sacrificial obedience, that they would continue to survive, and in spite of everything, "Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before Me forever!" Hallelujah! What an example for us in a Jeremiah time! (They are today's Gypsies!)
9. I AND MY OWN LITTLE FAMILY BEGAN THIS WAY, and my earliest memories are of travelling on the road and camping out with my parents in old cars, tents and trailers, like Gospel Gypsies. My own flesh and blood children can also testify that they have lived in tents, campers and trailers most of their lives. And I believe we can truthfully say, that as long as we kept moving, or at least prepared to move, God blessed us the most.
10. WE SACRIFICED HAVING A BIGGER HOME AND A MORE LUCRATIVE JOB WITH MORE MONEY AND MORE THINGS--WE SACRIFICED ALL THAT IN ORDER TO SERVE THE LORD! We moved into campers and trailers so that we could keep moving for God serve Him full-time by faith, and it worked! At first I used to tell the kids, "Well, at least we've got a car and a little tent.--That's more than the Lord and the Apostle Paul had, so we should be very thankful!"--And later we had trailers and finally our big camper.
11. BUT THOSE YEARS OF HARD LIVING BY FAITH WERE THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF OUR YOUNG FAMILY'S LIFE! And God never failed, thank the Lord! As long as we were faithful and served Him diligently and got out there and witnessed and litnessed and sang and testified and praised the Lord, He never failed us!
12. AND ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES IT SEEMED NECESSARY TO SETTLE DOWN FOR A WHILE for a little rest and recuperation, for the patching of our tents and the feeding of our flock and the strengthening of our lambs, we soon had to move on again--always and without exception, praise the Lord!
13. BECAUSE IF YOU'RE DOING A GOOD JOB, YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO BE ABLE TO STAY TOO LONG IN ONE PLACE. The Prophets and Apostles were always on the move! They were constantly getting run out, kicked out, thrown out, driven out or stoned out of one city after another, including Jesus!
14. IN FACT, I'VE NEVER BEEN ANY PLACE YET THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE TO LEAVE.--JUST REMEMBER, IT'S ALWAYS COMING! So I still think one of the safest things you could do is to be mobile with a trailer or camper and go from city to city, because they always eventually reject you, the people and the churches.
15. JESUS SAID IF THEY PERSECUTE YOU IN ONE CITY, FLEE TO ANOTHER! (Mt.10:23)--Keep moving! He is always telling us that we must be always prepared to move and will always be on the move if we are to remain His Gospel Gypsies, strangers and pilgrims on the Earth, always seeking a better city in a better country until at last we find His perfect one! Hallelujah!
BACK TO THE GARDEN!
16. Although man's first trip was a sad one when he was exiled from the Heavenly Garden of Eden out into the cold cruel world because of unbelief, sin and disobedience, BY FAITH, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND YOUR OBEDIENCE, YOU CAN AGAIN JOURNEY BACK INTO A GARDEN OF EDEN, a Heaven on Earth amongst the beauties of God's Creation, by travelling and camping for the Lord!
17. IT'S "BACK TO NATURE," back to the woods, back to the land, back to the fields and back to the way man lived for thousands of years before all of these modern luxuries were invented, the way that most people lived until only a couple hundred years ago, and in fact, the way much of the primitive Third World still lives!--Living on the land and off the land and with the land, like the American Indians, Gypsies, nomads and natives of many lands.
18. TRUE, THEY ARE POOR IN SOME WAYS, BUT RICH IN FREEDOM!-- And healthier and happier than modern man cooped up in today's cliff houses, holes and burrows, a slave to his machines and meaningless drudgery!
19. IN FACT, IT'S JUST ABOUT THE GREATEST LIFE IN THE WORLD TO BE A CAMPER AND LIVE OUTDOORS! It makes you feel like Adam and Eve out on the grass under the trees in the first Garden of Eden! You're getting back to nature and back to creation and back to God. It's really a return to the simple life of true happiness in God and love for fellow man!--In the peaceful, natural, beautiful and unspoiled, unpolluted surroundings of God's creation! Hallelujah!
20. AND IT MAKES YOU FEEL SO CLOSE TO HIM!--You just know He lives and cares, for you can see all His gorgeous handiwork and provision for all your needs and enjoyment all around you!--All the marvellous bounteous balance and beauty of His Nature!--Everywhere, that is, that man hasn't already spoiled, damaged, polluted or destroyed!--Which is out camping away from filthy, destructive, violent man! Like the poem says: "Where all is pure and beautiful!--And only man is vile!" Amen!
FLEE THE CITY!
21. AND JUST AS THE BEDOUINS, GYPSIES, JEWS AND THE POOR HAVE SURVIVED THE RISE AND FALL OF EMPIRES AND THE SUPER-POWERS OF THIS WORLD, SO CAN YOU--by going back to the land, the soil from whence man came and where the poor farmers will again survive the clashes of empires and the coming great war for oil which will destroy the cities of the West!
22. BECAUSE WHILE CAMPING YOU ARE USUALLY OUT IN THE COUNTRY or the forest, by lake or sea or river or spring or somewhere away from the target areas. You are more independent, and your water supply is usually more independent. You are not as apt to be as affected by bombs or even fallout as in the city or big towns.
23. SO GO BACK TO THE FARMS AND VILLAGES AND SMALL TRIBAL LIFE ON THE LAND BEFORE THE CITIES FALL! Or get yourself a tent or camper and head for the hills!--Or be sure you've got enough gas in your tank to make is soon! Keep your tent, trailer, camper, truck or bus ready, so you can move at a moment's notice! Remember the Rechabites! Because they promised to live in mobile dwellings all their lives, and thus be always ready to move to survive, God promised to keep and protect them forever.--And so He has! (See Letter No.301:40-51 and Jer.35:1-9.) (They're today's Gypsies!)
PROMISES & PROPHECIES FOR GOD'S PILGRIMS!
24. ARE YOU A STRANGER AND PILGRIM ON THIS EARTH OF WHOM GOD IS PROUD and not ashamed to be called your God because you desire a better country? Are you heeding God's warnings and preparing to save your family, even if it means forsaking all and not even knowing where you're going? Are you willing to camp out in tents because you're looking for a better Heavenly City?
25. THEN HE'S GOT A WHOLE NEW WORLD FOR YOU!--Why don't you start today! You can save your life and your health and your wife and your wealth all the way around in camping! It's really the healthiest, freest, most economical way of living there is!
26. "Morning comes, on the road again,
--Happy Caravan!
To another mountain, to another land,
Bringing peace to man!
Mountain children, yes they're mountain children!
I will bless My Family!
Mountain children, mountain children,
GYPSIES OF THE LORD!"
27. THE FIELDS ARE ALREADY WHITE UNTO HARVEST, but the labourers are few. Pray the Lord will send you now, and go! God bless you!
28. (PROPHECY:) "THE FAVOUR OF THE LORD IS ON THY SIDE, FOR THOU HAST SOUGHT A CITY, AN HEAVENLY PLACE!
29. "EVEN AS THE JEWS AND THE RECHABITES and the early Christians and Gypsies were strangers and pilgrims and were not systemites, were not in the System, even as the Gypsies today, even so have I called thee that thou might be free unto Me, to serve Me, even so have I prepared for thee in the time of trouble that is ahead.
30. "YOU MUST PREFER THE LIFE OF THE PILGRIM AND STRANGER and the fugitive to the life of comfort and ease, home and loved ones! Ye must move continually. Ye are pilgrims and strangers. Different places is good. Keep moving.
31. "GIVE KISSES TO THE THINGS WHICH I HAVE PROVIDED FOR THEE TO ESCAPE FROM THE WRATH TO COME, that thou mayest be delivered in the time of trouble. Thus I have prepared a way of escape, if thou art faithful with these frail vessels that shall bear thee afar.
32. "LIKE ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB, WHO LIVED IN TENTS ALL THEIR DAYS...never, never too long and too much in one place,"--Hallelujah! Amen?
33. "LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL!--
THE DAY OF MARCH HAS COME!
HENCEFORTH IN FIELDS OF BATTLE,
THY TENTS SHALL BE OUR HOME!
Through days of preparation,
Thy grace hath made us strong!
Lead on, O King Eternal!--
We lift our Battle Song!"
Hallelujah! Thank You Lord!
WE HAVE DONE IT BEFORE, AND WE CAN DO IT AGAIN IF WE HAVE TO, TO OBEY GOD'S COMMANDMENTS AND TO SURVIVE TO SERVE HIM! (318:102)
REFERENCES
(The paragraph numbers of "Thy Tents Shall Be Our Home" are listed below, giving the original MO Letter references where their contents may be found.)
1. 150:3
2. 150:3; 551:82; 57:3
3. 46:25
4. 807-4:22
5. 150:8,9
6. 150:5.
7,8. 129:66
9. 129:72; 150:12; 172:63
10. 835:46,47,53
11. 835:54,55
12. 129:72
13. 848:118
14. 659:26; 848:116
15. 333C:18; 317C:9
16. 150:4
17,18. 807-1:7,8
19. 807-4:18,12; S:4
20. 807-3:18
21. 318:109,110
22. 812-4:7
23. 318:111; 854:1; 318:108; 301:43,44,48
24. 333C:24
25. 333C:24; 807-4:21
26. 298:37
27. 333C:24
28. 128:11
29. 298:43
30. 160B:11
31,32. 838:12,16
33. 110:18
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
