HomeARC ML 1002
GOOD SHEPHERDS!--By Father David DO1002 22 May 1980
--Read this before choosing your own!
1. IN THE BIBLE ARE OUTLINED ALL THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR BISHOPS, ELDERS & DECONS & THEY ARE PRETTY STRICT. The lives & example & behavior of our VSs, & of course any of our leaders, should be the model for which the others should be striving. They should be such an example & such a model. The two under consideration were to me two of the deadest people in the whole bunch that night! It seems like about the only qualification they had was that they had only two children instead of five! And frankly I think the family would even be better off without VSs than to have a couple like that!
2. SHE DIDN'T IMPRESS ME AT ALL! Here she is on camera, right in front of me! If she had ever tried to make a good impression she should have been trying right then. Instead of that she looked almost embarrassed & like she was trying to cover, she hardly ever looked the camera in the eye, I don't think she ever did! He did, I liked him. Very sweet, a little nobody but a very sweet little nobody, & if they show enough love & sweetness to enough people that would be a big help.
3. BUT SHE IMPRESSED ME AS BEING VERY SELF-CENTERED, SELFISH & not even interested in making a good impression on us! For some reason or other, she had sort of a guilty look & I just wonder if maybe she hasn't--being members of the Old Chain--perhaps at some time or other spoken against us, or maybe doesn't like some of the Letters or something. Either that or she's very shy.
4. YOU CERTAINLY DON'T WANT PEOPLE WHO ARE EXTREMELY SHY. They're not going to be good leaders of people. That other girl, you don't have to tell her what to do. She grabs the reins & goes! Now that they've got a nice place to live, if they don't have a camper or something or some way they can take all the children with them & enough helpers to take care of them, which is quite a handful, they can just leave them at home. You have to have quite a camper to handle five kids & one of them a full-time handicapped child. They & the helpers too would take quite a bit of camping equipment.
5. WE DIDN'T EVEN TRY TO DO IT ALL THE TIME. WE DID IT A LOT OF THE TIME, but for most of the years I was working for Fred where I had to really be on the road doing a lot of travelling, such as VSs would have to do, I had to leave the family behind most of the time, at least most of them or part of them.
6. (MARIA: WELL, WE DO HAVE SOME GOOD EXAMPLES OF LARGE VS FAMILIES TRAVELLING TOGETHER ON THE ROAD: Becky & Arthur with five children & Zacheus & Lamb with their five children in their trailer & van, & we found the best thing for them to do is just to be a good sample of mobility with well-trained children. If they don't even have time for anything else, at least they can be a good sample, & that's is most important.) Exactly! (Maria: showing them their caravan, how they live with their children, singing songs, having dinner with them together & telling of their stories on the road & being an ear to listen & an encouragement for them to try the same.--And they're finding out that that is fantastic!)
7. I DON'T THINK ANYBODY WOULD BE INSPIRED BY THAT OTHER COUPLE OR LOOK UPON THEM AS AN INSPIRING EXAMPLE TO LIVE UP TO. Most of the people I saw there last night impressed me more than they did! They were about the least impressive in the whole bunch. (Maria: Yes, that's true.) Really! For a family, they had the least number of children, for one thing. How's a family of only two going to preach to a family of five & one retarded child & tell them what to do or advise them at all when they don't even know the score!
8. VSing IS THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST REALLY. It's the work of both pastor & evangelist in this case, because the sheep are virtually pastorless except for me & the Letters. So it's the work of an evangelist.
9. IF THERE'S ANYTHING AN EVANGELIST NEEDS IT'S A LOT OF REAL CHARM & DRIVE & PERSONALITY & INSPIRATIONAL ABILITY to really feed the sheep & inspire them & set them an example. You kept asking me, "What do you think? What do you think?" Well, I didn't want to tell you right away because I thought, "Well, I 'II give them time. Let's watch a little more on camera, let's see what else they do. Maybe they'll come back & show what this great talent is that has placed them under consideration for VSs. But when we saw them again they were just as blah as before. He spoke up a little bit, but she hardly said anything unless it was in answer to a direct question.
10. SHE DIDN'T EVEN SENSE THE CHALLENGE OF BEING ON CAMERA, of trying to get across a message, nothing! She's just a little wife & she's managed to have two children. It looked to me like he was taking about as much care of them or more than she was. He was taking care of the great big boy who was acting more like a baby than some of the rest of them. I mean one of those boys of the others girl could have just run circles around him while he was wondering what to do!
11. (MARIA: THEIR MAIN THING IS THEIR FIVE CHILDREN, BUT THAT'S WHAT WE NEED IN THE FAMILY NOW BECAUSE EVERYBODY ELSE'S MINISTRY IS THEIR CHILDREN, too!) Fine! Well, let a young couple stay home with the handicapped child & maybe their smallest baby in their lovely little house & garden to keep the nice home base, & let them get out with the other kids. That's what my folks did lots of times. I don't ever remember getting to be with my folks an awful lot. I can remember more them being gone than being there, much more.
12. THEY HAD TO PUT ME & MY BROTHER & SISTER ON THE ALTAR OF SACRIFICE--their own children--for the sake of other people. Even if the kids aren't with them, even if the kids are at home, the fact that they have them is a testimony & an example that they have done so well. And they can always take at least a couple of them along with them if they've got some kind of a camper.
13. (MARIA: THAT'S WHAT SEEMS SO FAR TO HAVE BEEN OUR BEST EXAMPLE is for them to take the children if they're healthy & just be the example with the children on the road, that's what they've been doing & that's what seems to have worked out the best.) Fine. Most of those kids are old enough to take care of themselves & they could keep the little one that needs special care at home where he could continue to get it & continue at his special school or even put him in a special home.
14. SHE'S GOT EVERY REASON TO HAVE TO DO IT. A MOTHER WITH FOUR OTHER CHILDREN WHO NEED HER TIME & ATTENTION can't be completely tied down every minute with just one. (Maria: Do you think that was just a trick of the Devil to get them bogged down?) It just almost looks like it. It just almost looks like it, but the Lord allowed it. Why did He allow it, that's the point. We need to know something more about them & their history & what was happening at that particular time when she conceived that particular child, what spiritual & mental state & physical state was she in & did he fuck her while she was having her period & simple things like that.
15. WAS IT VIOLATING GOD'S NATURAL LAWS & HAVING TO PAY THE CONSEQUENCES? The Lord could have prevented it but He didn't. For some reason she needed a lesson. Maybe she had too much talent, maybe she had too much personality & too much drive & God had to humble her a bit, pull in the reins & sort of slow her down. That could have been the problem. Well, now it's done.
16. THERE WERE SEVERAL WOMEN THERE--& MEN TOO--WHO IMPRESSED ME A WHOLE LOT MORE THAN the couple first considered. But I don't know. I don't know anything about them, their history, or their work or their results or anything. I'm just judging by surface appearance, judging by appearances, but that's just about how the whole Family will judge them, by appearances.
17. MAN LOOKETH ON THE OUTWARD APPEARANCE, BUT GOD LOOKETH ON THE HEART. The whole Family is not going to--when they first meet them--see all their life history & know how good & faithful they've been & how much they've done, this, that, blah blah blah blah blah! The Family is going to look at them, & as my Mother used to say, "First impressions mean so much!"--And their first impression on me was just BLAH!--A dud, particularly her!
18. THEY'LL JUDGE BY SURFACE APPEARANCE & EVERY LITTLE WORD. "By thy words shalt thou be justified & by thy words shalt thou be condemned!" (Mt.12:37.) And you'll have to give an account for every idle word, & it begins here & now with other people. You don't have to wait until you get to the Judgment Seat of Christ, but it's happening all the time.
19. THEY JUST DIDN'T INSPIRE ME AT ALL or turn me on at all! She was just, I mean, like a little mouse. Here she was on TV!--In front of MO himself!--And Maria!--Watching to see what she has! She didn't even try to make an impression. I at least would have given her credit for something if at least she'd put up a bold front & tried to impress people & tried to make a good impression & put on a show, if nothing else, even if it was hypocritical! At least it was something! But I mean she was just blah! She might be a very sweet, quiet, wonderful little tiny mousey housewife & take good care of her children & she might really love the Lord & she might really be loving & have never done anything particularly wrong.
20. PEOPLE WITH NO DRIVE NEVER DO ANYTHING, GOOD OR BAD! What impressed them about that couple? I would like to know! What is it about them that they like? I just didn't see a thing outstanding about her, not a thing, nor her children. They were the same way. I couldn't see any talent, personality or anything about them. He's the only one in the bunch that seemed to have a little bit of initiative & looked in the camera & tried to speak & put something across, but she just wasn't doing anything! And you have no excuse to blame it on shyness.
21. ONE OF THE WORST THINGS A VS CAN BE IS SHY! They can't afford to be shy. As I've always said: Shyness is pride! It's plain pride, & I don't know what the hell she's got to be proud about! Maybe she was afraid to do anything for fear she'd make a bad impression!
22. EVEN IF VSs DON'T HAVE EVERYTHING THEY'VE GOT TO HAVE A FEW THINGS. Might be as ugly as a mud fence, but if they've got wonderful personality, marvellous sacrifical spirit, a real leadership talent & inspirational & all the rest, well, they can get by with their mud-fence face or homeliness. (Maria: But they have to have some kind of sparkle, huh?) They've got to have something! (Maria: Some kind of radiant exuberance.)
23. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE BEAUTIFUL TO HAVE PERSONALITY. On the other hand, there were some beautiful people there that had nothing! They were just pretty to look at, nice ornaments, that's all. Some of the women were beautiful but that's all. They didn't show any kind of push, any drive!
24. IN A WAY THAT'S WHAT MOM & I & THE KIDS WERE, SORT OF VSs OF THE CHURCHES. And boy I'll tell you, one thing Mom had was a lot of drive & initiative & sparkle & fight & fire, & she pushed in where angels feared to tread & she got those kids in wherever she wanted! She didn't have the looks & a lot of other things, but she sure had the managerial ability, let me tell you! She knew how to push around. Well this, of course, is why some people didn't even like her. They said she was too pushy, nervy--the girl with 5 kids.
25. BUT LET ME TELL YOU, WHEN YOU'RE IN THAT KIND OF WORK YOU'VE GOT TO BE PUSHY & NERVY or you won't survive! And the little mousey types of people won't like them either. Little mousey types of people like her will not like people that have got any initiative & any drive--all the things they know they don't have. They'll resent it. It will be offensive to them because they know that they haven't got it. I just can't see those people being VSs, I just can't. I don't know anything about them--history, works, fruits--but you can't lead without drive!
26. I MAY BE COMPLETELY WRONG, BUT ALL I'M DOING IS JUDGING LIKE PROBABLY MOST THE FAMILY IS GOING TO JUDGE THEM--BY APPEARANCE & BY THEIR WORDS, & neither their appearance nor their words impressed me. Neither one. Neither their appearance nor their performance impressed me the slightest bit. And when you're in public work--& VSing is public work--it's like preaching or acting or public performance--when you're going around visiting Homes, even if it's only one Home & one family.
27. YOU'RE ON STAGE NEVERTHELESS & THEY ARE THE AUDIENCE & THEY ARE WATCHING YOU & looking at you to see what kind of impression you are going to make, what kind of performance you're going to give, & "well begun is half done." When you are in public work, if you don't hit'm with a bang & make a good impression first off, if they get a poor impression, it's almost impossible to overcome afterwards no matter how well you do. They didn't impress me a bit.
28. THEY'RE JUST NOT PERFORMERS. WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO? Now what are they going to do? I'm just picturing them. What are they going to do? I want to know! (M: Yes, if their main work is to be a sample & be an inspiration, they certainly don't seem to have what it takes.) They just acted like a private little house, never did anything, never said anything, when here she had the chance to impress MO himself. She didn't turn on the charm, she didn't turn on anything, much less me!
29. ANY ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE IMPRESSED ME MORE, even the girl that put on the little show for me in the bedroom. She wasn't beautiful, no raving beauty or anything, but she had a certain strength of character you could feel coming through & she looked at you & she talked to you & something came across, you felt there was something there with strength & drive & leadership ability. I don't know anything about her, maybe I'm wrong! But that's my impression, my first impression
30. --AND THAT'S HOW THEY'RE GOING TO BE JUDGED, BY THAT FIRST IMPRESSION! I'm sorry, but that's just the way people are & that's the way that kind of a job is. You can't just be a little goodie mousey who takes care of your own children--you gotta be able to take care of yours & everybody else's too!
31. YOU'VE GOTTA BE ABLE TO HELP PEOPLE WITH THEIR PROBLEMS, honestly. The reason we've had trouble is that we had the wrong kind of people. Because the best kind of people would be people who see the problem & can exert leadership & guidance & counsel & know the Lord & the Letters & have some maturity & godly wisdom. You can't deal with problems in your own strength & wisdom. It'd be better if you didn't get involved at all.
32. WE WERE FOR YEARS EVANGELISTS: People come to you with their problems & they want the answer & you just can't say, "Well, read the Bible!" You say it, but you've got to be able to quote them the verses they need--that I'd say was my Mother's greatest ministry!--When people came to her with problems & this, that & the other, the Lord would give her verses, Scriptures for them, & she would just quote the Scripture: "Well, there's what the Bible says. That's what the Bible says. That's what the Lord said, that's what Jesus said. What about that?--That's it!" I mean when you quote the authority--Bible or me--then that is it!
33. VSs, PUBLIC SPIRITUAL LEADERS OF ANY KIND, MUST HAVE A TREMENDOUS KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORD & be able to give the Word. That's the ministry of people who are shepherds: They have to feed the sheep. They've got to give them answers, lend a listening ear to genuine problems, but at the same time not meddle in people's personal conflicts or get overly involved in them. All we could do was quote the Scripture, but we didn't take the responsibility. We passed the buck to the Lord & the Bible. And that's what they have to do. (Maria: Exactly!) Then they have to make their own decisions on the basis of the light that you give them & the food & the Word you give them. They have to make their own decision.
34. YOU CAN'T MAKE IT FOR THEM, YOU CAN'T TELL THEM WHAT TO DO. YOU JUST SAY, "WELL, THE BIBLE SAYS SO-&-SO, now what do you think of it?"--You have to do that with teenagers! This is the way we did with our own kids when they finally got the point they were responsible to make their own decisions! You have to say, "Well, the Lord says so & so," or "The Bible says so & so," or "Daddy taught you before so & so, now what do you think you ought to do?" I can't put my finger on it, but that gal, from the moment I saw her, made the wrong impression on me, rubbed me the wrong way.
35. SHE IMPRESSED ME THE WRONG WAY AS SOMEBODY WHO IS VERY QUIET & SHY BUT A BIT SMUG & self-satisfied with herself & her little family & her children, her husband & they're all right & they haven't got any big troubles & they haven't had any big problems or, "Thank God we're not like these other people!"--sort of that sort of impression. And self-centered, concerned about her own little family, her own children only.
36. I DIDN'T SEE HER RUNNING AROUND TAKING A HAND WITH THE OTHER KIDS or trying to help anybody else or sharing or anything else. She was just blah! What kind of inspiration is she going to be? If you ask me, she's definitely an introvert, not an extrovert like the other girl. She has her ministry & one where she fits, & not everyone has to or should be an extrovert & have a tremendous bubbly personality. We're not criticising her for that. And she didn't ask to be VS, so she's not to blame for that. But we're just here using her as an example of what a VS is not.
37. TO BE IN THAT KIND OF JOB YOU MUST HAVE AN OUTGOING PERSONALITY. The other girl was putting out, she was vibrating, she was giving, sharing herself, she was pouring out. That little girl was simply just holding on to what little she had, & God only knows what little she had--we never found out! I mean it! He was very sweet. A little sweet fellow, "We have our children & we're going to try to serve Jesus & we are going on the road."
38. THAT WAS ALL REALLY SWEET & NICE & I would say he would make a very sweet little impression on the people as being somewhat outgoing, as much as his capacity, "I'm sweet & I love Jesus & I have two kids, & this cute sweet quiet little wife here that never causes me any trouble & never does anything in fact, except take care of the kids[DELETED]" That's my impression! I may be totally wrong!--Because maybe she was sick that night or something & couldn't open her mouth or whatever.
39. BUT THIS OTHER ONE IS LIKE SOMEBODY THAT YOU'VE ALMOST GOT TO HOLD DOWN OR SHE EXPLODES! And you just take the lid off & boom! This little girl you'd have to put a bomb under to get her to explode. What kind of an example are they going to be? I can't remember seeing their children perform a bit. Maybe the boy got up & sang with the other children one time maybe, but it didn't make enough impression, it didn't make enough of an impression that I can even remember if he did or not--in a three hour show! I mean they didn't give me a three-minute impression!
40. THIS FIREBALL'S GOT IT! She'd be a good evangelist like Faithie if she wasn't so tied down. She's got it! She may have a lot of faults I don't even know about, but all I know in the few minutes' first impression she packs a powerful wallop & really impresses you, & that's what you need when you're an evangelist or an actor or a politician or circus performer or whatever you are, & that's everything that a VS has got to be--an evangelist! That's what we were for years!
41. YOU'VE GOT TO HIT THEM WITH A SHOW!--& she put on a show! We can't have little mousey people as VSs that never do anything--either good or bad. Just because people never cause you any trouble it doesn't mean they're the best kind of people or leadership. The most outstanding boys in my school classes were the worst! They got in more trouble & did more wrong things, but when they did something right they really did it with a bang!
42. THEY HAD LEADERSHIP ABILITY, THAT WAS ONE OF THE BIG PROBLEMS! They were leading everybody else astray. When I think about my school class I think about two boys--this great big mountain-man Mexican--Oshea was his name--& I think about this other guy, handsome curly-haired, tall, terrific personality, he'd have made a movie actor, from a rich family. And talent, drive, personality--he was putting on a show all the time! That was the problem!
43. I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE SHOW IN MY ROOM, NOT HIM! He & Oshea! Between the two of them why, they gave me a merry chase to try to steal the show from them while they were trying to steal from me! Whew! These boys I had the most trouble with! They are the guys that caused the most disturbance & led the class astray most of the time because they had the most drive, the most leadership ability.
44. IT JUST HAD TO BE TAUGHT & TRAINED & CHANNELLED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. The little blah nobodies who never showed a spark nor nary a sparkle, never let out a peep, never did anything wrong, always got A+ in deportment, got all A's & A+'s in grades, studied all the time, never said a word, quiet, did all the things they were supposed to do & never did anything else either, had no leadership ability, no push, no drive, nothing! I can't even remember them. But those two boys I sure remember! I had to spend more time with them than anybody!--Including that little hot patootie that had already had a baby! Boy I tell you, if I'd walked out of the room they'd have taken over the class--& they sometimes did!
45. BUT I TAUGHT THEM & I FINALLY EARNED THEIR RESPECT & EVEN THEIR OBEDIENCE.--VSs aren't little people who are always goodie goodie & never do anything & even think themselves better than other people & have been in the Family many years... If they've been in the Family so damn long why have I never heard about them if they are so outstanding? You know what I mean? Just because they've been in the Family so long doesn't mean they're outstanding material. Maybe he's a stick-in-the-mud, maybe he didn't have the guts to make a change even if he wanted to. That doesn't mean a thing.
46. WE'VE PROBABLY GOT PEOPLE IN THE FAMILY WHO HAVE ONLY BEEN WITH US A FEW MONTHS THAT HAVE GOT MORE TALENT, drive, personality, ability, leadership & everything else than some of the people we've had sitting around like bumps on a log for ten years! (Maria: So what would you say the main qualifications for VSs are, to sum it up?) I already summed it up, Honey.
47. I JUST TELL YOU THAT THEY'VE GOT TO MAKE A GOOD IMPRESSION ON ME & INSPIRE ME FROM THE MOMENT I SEE THEM & HEAR THEM. From the minute I see them, first of all, that's the first impression, & then from the minute they open their mouth. I can find out more about people by listening to them for a few minutes than for you to describe to me their whole history! (Maria: Do you think it's good to put people on the spot & to say, "Now, you're talking to Dad, talk to him"--or is it better just to let them talk, oblivious to the fact that it's being done for you?)
48. WELL, FOR GOD'S SAKE THEY KNEW THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE TALKING TO SOMEBODY! They were on stage but they weren't talking to anybody! Here was the camera focused on them! At least she knew she was speaking to the whole bunch & the camera--God only knows the whole Family--& she didn't even turn on. She never responded. He did a little bit, sweet little tiny talk. Maybe they thought they'd make good VSs because they don't have many children & he's been in the Family a long time & all that sort of thing. Let me tell you, talent needs no seniority. I mean, there's no seniority to talent--or I should say lack of talent has no seniority!
49. ALEXANDER THE GREAT SAID, "TO THE STRONGEST! TO THE STRONGEST!" When his generals wanted to know, "Who's going to get what? Who is your successor? Who are you going to choose to take the Empire?" He said, "To the strongest!" Well, all 4 of them turned out to be strong, so they fought until they split up the Empire & divided it up between them. But not one of them was as strong as Alexander who could keep it all together.
50. TALKING TO ME PERSONALLY--IT'S LIKE FACING GOD HIMSELF--THEY ARE ON THE SPOT!--If ever it was going to pull anything out of them at all, if they know they are facing me face-to-face & I am listening that's when they are going to do their best somehow. And if they don't, something's wrong. I have the funny feeling something's wrong. I have the funny feeling something's wrong with her. Either she doesn't like me or the Letters, or she's hiding something. That's the way I felt. She just clammed up & kept quiet.
51. I WONDER WHAT SHE DOES?--TALK TO HER HUSBAND WHEN SHE GETS HOME? She reminds me of the kind that probably rules the roost from behind the scenes. She was quite firm & determined & stubborn looking, but like a little tough Irish biddy who probably told him what to do & was the neck that turned the head.
52. LOOK AT IT FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THE FAMILY & THE FAMILIES. Say a VS is going to visit, what is a VS? A Visiting Servant. Well, that's a nice title. "They're supposed to come here & help me cook & keep house & take care of the children & be my visiting Servant." Well, that would certainly show a good example & that would certainly make a good impression, because there's no way you can find out quicker about people than if you follow them round the house all day, keeping house & taking care of their children & helping them to wash dishes & cook meals, you'll soon see how they do things & probably what's wrong with them, if there is anything wrong with them, & with most people there is.
53. WHAT DOES THE FAMILY EXPECT WHEN THEY HEAR A VISITING SERVANT IS COMING? (Maria: Inspiration, fellowship, example...) What would you think? What would go through your mind? (Maria: I'd think, "Oh, I'm going to have somebody to show me how I'm supposed to live & how I'm supposed to do things.") Exactly! "Oh, these must be special people, they must be examples of the Family. They must be outstanding! They must be the top people of the area!
54. "THEY MUST BE PEOPLE WHO ARE TO BE MY EXAMPLES AFTER WHOM I'M TO PATTERN MY LIFE & I'm to look upon as someone to follow & someone to be like & to act like & speak like & witness like & train my children like & do housework like. These must be the most outstanding people in this whole area, to be Visiting Servants!" I'm just telling what I'd except if I was one of our poor little families struggling along.
55. I'D THINK, "WELL THANK GOD, HERE COMES SOME HELP TO SEE WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO BE DOING & looking like & acting like & preaching like & training my kids like & doing my housework like!" I mean, a VS mother should be able to pitch in & help with the cooking, washing dishes, keeping house, training the children, to show them how to do it if necessary! That's the clinical method!
56. THIS WAS THE OUTSTANDING THING ABOUT FRED'S SOUL CLINIC!: It was to teach witnessing, not just with classes & not just with pious platitudes & sermons, but to get out & take you out witnessing & show you how to do it! That was the whole idea of the Soul Clinic method, & we're still practising it. And if the VSs can't practise it, if they are not shining leading examples, shining examples, I mean shining, they shouldn't be VSs!: "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works & glorify your Father which is in Heaven!"
57. THOSE OTHER THREE GIRLS WERE SHINING! Some of those others were shining. I mean, they were bubbling, they were shining, the vibes were terrific! But when those other 2 came on camera, it was like somebody turned out the lights! He had a little bit of tiny glimmer, a slight flicker, but she was completely turned off--& she turned me off too! I never saw a glimpse of what was inside her, not a bit! as far as I'm concerned there must not be anything there, or something bad that she didn't want to show.
58. (MARIA: WALL NOW, PAUL & MARIANNE, THERE'S A COUPLE, THEY DON'T HAVE CHILDREN, BUT THEY REALLY COME ACROSS WELL!) They have a love for children that shows when they handle children. They act like they wish they had children, that if they had them they would be the best father & mother in the World & take good care of them, that's the way they impress you.--And they've got showmanship! They can handle an audience, put on a program. Well, they've got a lot to learn, but they're learning & he's trying & he's effervescing & bubbling & so is she!
59. MARIANNE WAS AS BEAUTIFUL AS AN ACTRESS! The way she deported herself & flung her head around & everything, she was just radiant! She was a shining light & so was he. But they turned the camera on those two little deadpans & it was almost like the light went out! He glimmered & feebly flickered a little bit, but she never even turned hers on, not once!
60. (MARIA: THAT MEANS WE OUGHT TO HAVE SEEK & SECUNDUS ON THE ROAD VISITING!) RIGHT! Absolutely right! People with talent like that should not be burying it under a bushel or letting the children be their bushel! And they are shining examples! just to read about them in the FN inspires the whole World! They at least write! What have we received that these other people ever wrote? What kind of report did they ever write about their exploits & their adventures?
61. IT'S ALMOST LIKE HE KNEW THAT SHE WAS A DRAG. I would call her a drag! An absolute drag. Now that's my impression! Maybe I'm totally wrong. Maybe it was just her off-night, but when you're in a VS kind of business you can hardly afford an off-day or an off-night either! I was in evangelistic work for all my life & with my Mother & my Grandfather before me & I know!
62. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE PERFORMERS! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE ABLE TO TURN IT ON! Whether you feel like it or not, the show must go on! Just like the circus or the movies or acting or whatever it is--you have got to be an enthusiastic, driving, shining example!--Whether you feel like turning it on or not, you've got to turn it on anyway!
63. BUT SHE LOOKED LIKE SHE DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO TURN ON, there was no fire there, no life there, no sparkle & no nothing. Just dead, except she looked a little grim & stubborn, & Lord forgive me if I'm wrong, she looks like the kind who probably does a lot of talking at home to her husband & tells him how to run things. Well, that's a talent some women have. Some women don't have to turn it on in public, they turn it on at home on their husbands & they needle them & hen-peck them & push them, & then expect that when they snap their fingers in public they will jump through the hoop & perform! The neck that turns the head. I mean, there's nothing wrong with the neck, you need a neck to turn your head especially a head that doesn't know how to turn itself!
64. AS FAR AS IMPRESSING ME SHE WAS A DUD, AN ABSOLUTE TOTAL DUD, & HER CHILDREN TOO! Her children were both just like her!: No sparkle, no life, no fire! They were just like big lumps, just big lumps. One of those other kids along side her boy was like the difference between a rock & a plant. They could have just run circles around him!
65. WHAT WOULD YOU EXPECT? You are the Family. You'd expect them to be the greatest people in the area, the most shining example, the ones who have done the best & know how to raise their kids & keep their house & live by faith & train their children & perform in public & let's face it!: Our business is witnessing, & to witness you have got to turn it on & to shine a light, & you've got to do it before others in public.
66. EVEN IF IT'S ONLY ONE PERSON, YOU'VE GOT AN AUDIENCE & YOU'VE GOT TO PUT ON THE ACT & you'd better make it good or you're not going to make much of an impression! People judge you by what they see & hear, & they haven't got a life time to live with you to find out. They can't see how you live at home. In most of my life & my Mother's & my Grandfather's they only had about a week or two to make an impact on people that would last them all year, & in fact if you didn't make an impact--Boom!--on the first night, there wouldn't be anybody there the next night!
67. YOU HAD TO SOCK IT TO THEM EVERY NIGHT & MAKE AN IMPRESSION & AN IMPACT & WAKE THEM UP OUT OF THEIR LETHARGY & their dead sleep like most church people are in--& probably a lot of our families who've gotten separated & back in the System, back at jobs & back in the same old rut & routine again. They're going to sleep again, dead gain, just like the churches, & you've got to come there like a bomb, like an atom bomb & blow things apart!--Literally! You have to come there & wake them up, set them on fire, inspire them! (Maria: And all in a visit of a couple of hours to one or two days at the most.) That's all the time you've got!
68. WELL, LET ME TELL YOU, WE ONLY HAD TWO HOURS IN ONE NIGHT TO DO IT & if we didn't make it the first night, only their loyalty to God & the Lord & the pastor & the church building got them back the next night. You had to go over & make an impression & wake them up & excite them & make them eager to come back & see what you had to say the next night, or you were dead & better get out of the business! You had just two hours the first night to make it, or you were finished!
69. IF YOU CAN MAKE THAT GOOD IMPRESSION THE FIRST NIGHT & YOU CAN KEEP IT UP FOR A WEEK OR TWO, YOU WILL HOLD YOUR CROWD. In fact, we usually built up a crowd, it usually got better because the people were sold! From the first night on, they began to bring in their friends & family & relatives & neighbors, "Hey, come with us to the meeting tonight!--They're terrific!"
70. IF YOU'RE ON FIRE, THE WORLD WILL COME OUT TO SEE YOU BURN! But my God, if you're dead like dead cold ashes, in fact not even ashes--I don't know if she's ever been on fire!--If you're on fire, the World is going to see you burn, if you're on fire! She had no fight, no fire, no nothing! She was just cold & dead as far as I was concerned, isn't that the way she impressed you? (Maria: Yes, yes she did.) She wouldn't even look me in the eye. She was even afraid to look the camera in the eye.
71. LET ME TELL YOU, WHEN YOU ARE A PUBLIC LEADER YOU ARE NOT ON CANDID CAMERA BUT A WIDE OPEN CAMERA & you are supposed to know it & you're supposed to turn it on & set'm on fire! Light your fire! Light their fire, & turn on the light & let them see it! "Let your light so SHINE before men!!"--She wasn't shining, she was dead & cold, blah!! He flickered & feebly flamed a little bit, & that's about all. A little bit of a glimmer.
72. (MARIA: BUT IF, LIKE THE MOTHER WITH THE FIVE CHILDREN, YOU CAN LEAD & TRAIN & TEACH CHILDREN & GET THE CHILDREN TO FOLLOW YOU, then you've got everything, you've got everything a VS needs, because you've got showmanship, you've got capability, you've got teaching talent.) Exactly! But I couldn't see a thing in her kids. That big huge lumbering lump of an eight-year-old boy didn't shine a bit! He acted, in fact, or rather spoke like a great big baby. He sprawled on top of them like a great big baby would. He didn't even act like an eight-year-old, he acted more like a four-year-old! Really! (Maria: I know, I was shocked, yes!) He was no example of anything at all! He didn't show us a thing, not a thing!
73. WHEN WE WERE ON THE ROAD YEARS AGO VISITING THE CHURCHES, I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TO GO TO THE MEETINGS! Mom didn't even have to be on the platform. We had done our work by the time those kids hit that platform, & they showed what kind of parents they had! The people must have been wondering what kind of parents they had, I'm sure, to be such amazing kids! And our job was done!
74. YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, YOUR KIDS WILL SPEAK FOR YOU! (Maria: Yes, exactly!) And her kids didn't tell me anything. That great big one is just a big lump of a baby, he hardly says a thing. He has a deadpan expression. He looked like he was a poor little scared kid most of the time. He had no drive, no leadership.
75. LET ME TELL YOU ANOTHER THING: YOUR KIDS ARE GOING TO BE THE LEADERS!--Your kids are going to be leaders of their kids, & if you are going to go visit them, your kids are going to be showing their kids their example & what our kids ought to be like, & they are going to follow your kids more than they are you, & if your kids have no light, no life, no fire, no drive, no shine, no nothing, what have they got to offer to other kids? Kids follow kids! That's why we have a Family!--Youth followed youth!
76. OUR KIDS WERE SUCH AN INSPIRATION & SUCH SHINING LIGHTS WITH SUCH DRIVE & LEADERSHIP ABILITY & ALL THE REST, THEY LED THE WORLD! They grabbed the hippies & took off!--And they just went after them because they liked what they saw. I mean those people, I would be ashamed to let anybody know that they were supposed to be leaders! I would say, "Well, they make a nice little quite family, nice they're in the Family, that's lovely." Thank the Lord they love the Lord.
77. (MARIA: SEE, IN THEM WE'RE CONTINUING THE HOUSE OF SAUL, even though they may have had a great renewal & change of heart, still just the fact that they were Rachel's people even if they were tremendous people, that's going to stand against them.) You can hardly use anybody of Rachel's people but what the Family always has a slight reservation, a slight doubt, they're always going to have a bit of a critical eye wondering, "Well, when is the weakness going to show up, when is the Rachel-training weakness going to show up?" (Maria: And they're going be afraid, "Well, maybe they are leading me astray.")
78. AND EVEN WE WONDER WHEN SOME OF THAT IS GOING TO COME OUT, especially people that we don't live with & aren't acquainted with & haven't had much personal contact with us & we haven't had a chance to train personally & set an example personally for like we have several members on our staff who were formerly Rachel's people but we have taken them in & retrained them.
79. (MARIA: IT'S SORT OF LIKE THE DEVIL HAS STILL GOT A LITTLE WEDGE IN WITH FORMER CHAIN LEADERS, even if they maybe have had a great conversion, if they've not been retrained with care & patience, it's still like we're giving place to the Enemy to let the House of Saul live in our midst.) Especially if Rachel had her evil influence on them & any personal contact & spoke against us or the thing came on down the chain line & reached them with something critical or something bad. It might always be a wedge in their eyes & a wedge in their minds & a little weakening wedge of doubt, a little wedge of critical spirit. Well, something is wrong with her. She just rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, she was a real nice sweet little mousey girl, but she just hasn't got what it takes for a VS.
80. REMEMBER, ALL THOSE EARLY YEARS I NEVER SHOWED AT ALL! They never even knew that I existed. Most of them didn't even know what I looked like. We went to church & I stayed out in the Cruiser! Mom went in & sat down in sometimes the front seat so she could keep an eye on the kids & make sure they were doing OK: she was the coach. I was the trainer & the teacher & she was the coach, & she went in with them.
81. SHE WAS THE PROMOTER, SHE WAS THE BOOKER, SHE WENT IN & RAILROADED THESE PASTORS INTO HAVING SERVICES, & I mean she was a pusher! A lot of people accuse her of being too pushy--well she is pushy! But you've got to have some push to get into churches! They've had everything & they expect everything, but she got in & she got the kids in! "Well, try'm one night, just one night!"--I'm convinced she must be part Jewish. I told her that once. I said, "You've got the nerve & the push of a Jewess." So she got them in.
82. AND BY THE TIME SHE GOT THEM IN & ON THAT PLATFORM THEY STOLE THE SHOW! They hit that church like an atom bomb! They just about blew things apart & set the kids on fire & even a few of the older folks who were sincere & really knew they needed something. And boy, they made bitter enemies just as fast, people who didn't want to be set on fire & didn't want a firey church, didn't want to witness, didn't want to win souls, didn't want any change or revolution at all, they liked the status quo. Those turned on us right away, just like the Scribes & the Pharisees! (Maria: See what little children can do!)
83. BOY! I MEAN, OUR CHILDREN ARE OUR WITNESS TODAY, & you've got to have children that are a shining example of what a child ought to be like, what kind of witness they ought to be like. I wonder if that child even has the nerve to get out & pass out lit? He didn't impress me at all! Poor fellow. He looked kind of frightened & worried & shy, sort of like her. I may be wrong, but that was my impression, & that's the impression that's going to count with the Family & the people they visit.
84. EVEN IF THEY WERE VOTED IN BY POPULAR VOTE, I TELL YOU, YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GO BY A POPULARITY POLL! Because if the people are dead & cold & they don't want to do anything, they are going to vote for the ones who are not going to disturb them or upset the status quo! If after our kids appeared on the platform, if you're going by a popularity poll, probably the only ones who would have voted for them were the kids who wanted to get out & get on fire, but the already dead, "Let-the-Dead-Bury-the-Dead!" parents probably would have voted almost unanimously against them!
85. THAT'S WHAT THE LORD SHOWED ME IN THAT CHURCH YARD THAT NIGHT--THEY WERE ALREADY DEAD! They didn't want you to wake them up. They didn't want you to resurrect them. That's the way they wanted it. Honey, if the majority of those churches that we went to had wanted our kind of religion & to do our kind of way, then it's just as well it didn't happen. We'd be there yet. We'd have been so popular they would have wanted us to stay! But instead, we got thrown out of almost every church. We were unpopular with everybody except the ones who wanted to do something & get on fire & witness!
86. YOU CAN'T GO BY ANY POPULARITY POLL! I mean, pastors in churches, they have to win the popularity poll, & you know who the people vote for? (Maria: The one who's going to let them sit around.) Exactly! The one that's not going to disturb them or wake them up! That's who they're going to vote for. Somebody just like them: Nice quite little people who mind their own business & don't cause any trouble. "That's the kind of pastor we like! They're our examples. They're just like us. We'll vote for them."
87. BUT THIS FIERY GAL!--SHE'S GOING TO HIT A PLACE LIKE A STORM & UPSET THE APPLE CART & TURN THINGS UPSIDE-DOWN LIKE FAITHIE! (Maria: Make people jealous!) Make'm jealous, make'm mad!--If they don't accept it, it's going to turn them against them. And those little meek mouses, they wouldn't turn anybody against anything. They just turn me against them because they have no life. Because I'm on fire & I can't stand people who haven't got any fire!
88. (MARIA: ANOTHER REASON FOR NOT VOTING FOR COUPLES WITH LOTS OF CHILDREN is because "Well, we're in our own little home & we want to be selfish & we want the VSs to come around minus children & just pay attention to us.") Yes. "But we don't want a whole passel of kids like that here upsetting things!" Exactly! "We've got to have people that have the least number in the family we have to feed!--With the fewest children & who mind their own business & keep quiet & don't disturb things!"
89. JUST BECAUSE THEY ONLY HAVE TWO CHILDREN & THEY ARE FREE DOESN'T MEAN A GOD-DAMNED THING!!! I don't care if you've got ten children, if you've got the fire! I don't care if they've got no children--like Paul & Marianne--if they've got the fire! To inspire & set on fire! Just because they are free & they only have two children doesn't mean a thing! Whew! Lord help us!
90. LET ME TELL YOU, IN THAT KIND OF A LIFE AS AN EVANGELIST, THERE IS NO BEHIND-THE-SCENES! You are on candid camera all the time! You are on stage most of the time & on candid camera all the time! You are on stage most of the time & on candid camera the rest of the time! People are watching you out of the corner of their eye! You know the impression she gave me--she was hard! She looked like a tough little rascal to have to wrestle with at home, & she was doing her best to cover it up in public. (Maria: People are going to be eavesdropping outside your door at home & peeking in your keyhole & a lot of other things.)
91. I MEAN, "BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM!" (Mat.7:20). This other gal has not only stood the test of time but she has got the fruits! She's even been able to stand a handicapped child & still come out as gold! That just thrilled me to see her still bubble & enthused, & it hasn't dampened her enthusiasm for serving the Lord, hasn't slowed her down to speak of, she just sparkled & shone when she was up there in front of that group & didn't let it bother her, even if there were a bunch of critical ones sitting around thinking, "Well, you've got a handicapped child! The Lord didn't curse me with a handicapped child." She didn't let it bother her. If it did, she didn't let it show. She just turned it on. The advantage of a handicap, in spite of the handicap.
92. LET ME TELL YOU, YOUR KIDS WILL SHOW WHAT YOU'RE LIKE! They are your product. My kids never went anywhere but what they set the place on fire! Nearly burned it down or got driven out of town, just like me! They hit the place like a storm, like a bomb, & the people who liked it woke up & followed. But there usually were only two or three in the whole church who wound up really liking it. We were booked for two weeks in one Baptist Church & after the third night they cancelled the meeting, they told us the next night was our last night, say good-bye! And usually they couldn't stand me more than one night! They nearly ran me out of the church before I got done!
93. NOT ALL THE MOUSEY DO-NOTHING NOBODIES ARE GOING TO LIKE THAT KIND OF PEOPLE. They don't want you to wake them up, they don't want to be disturbed, they don't want to change. They're going to vote for someone who's going to cause them the least trouble & cost the least money too, that's another point. Whew! I'm telling you, an evangelist & people that have got fire, like Faithie, like my kids & like me, most people can't even stand to live around them very long! I gotta give Juan credit for being able to live with Faithie for as long as he has, it's like living with a bomb going off all the time & a fuse is always ticking! You've got to be able to take it!
94. WELL, MICE'RE NOT MY IDEA OF THE SHINING EXAMPLE OR INSPIRATION! They didn't inspire me one damn bit! They left me cold, flat! Absolutely flat! In fact they offended me. Not he, but she particularly. You mark my words, there is something wrong with her, something wrong with her spiritually or otherwise, because I had a real funny feeling about her like she was hiding or covering up something. Maybe that's why she didn't want to look the camera in the eye, she knew if she looked me in the eye I could see straight through her!
95. THE STARS OF THE SHOW LAST NIGHT was that complete family unit--mother, father & children who made a terrific impact! Nobody else came up to them. That's the kind of VSs they should have. They are the natural leaders of the outfit. Going by some kind of popularity poll is not the way to do. You've got to go by the leading of the Lord. Going by a popularity poll, that's the way dear old Carter tried to run things, get everybody's opinions. Well, that's fine, but he lost!
96. IT'S INTERESTING TO KNOW WHAT PEOPLE'S OPINIONS ARE, BUT IT MAY BE THE WRONG OPINION! I'm just judging by what I saw & what I heard & from my experience over the years in a similar type of work--those are the ones that would go over! Forget the rest of them, especially that little mousey couple! They have a history of problems, & people are probably going to look at them & say, "Who are you to come counselling or lecturing or advising me or show me any kind of example when you've had so many problems!"
97. (MARIA: THE BEST RECOMMENDATION WE GOT FOR THEM WAS: "The bird whose pinion was once broken with God's grace will fly even higher than ever before! So we feel like they need a chance to fly again as they seem to really want to do their best.") I'll believe it when I see it! Well, let's wait till we see it. (Maria: "They were really broken & wanting to start all over again.") You don't start the bird off with a high flight as a test trial. Let's wait till they make a few low flights first to see if they make it. It's ridiculous!
98. PAUL & MARIANNE HAVE GOT WHAT IT TAKES, they've got the drive & the talent & the flair & the personality & the example & the showmanship ability & the know-how & the motivation & the faith & everything else that it takes. They've got it, But I just don't understand how they could see anything in those people! The fact that they're free, mobile, have only two kids & aren't bad, all that doesn't count one God-damn bit! Honestly, not a bit.
99. IT'S THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES WHO COUNT, & if you've got the right people with the right faith & everything, as I think this other couple has, the Lord will supply all the other things. He'll supply helpers to keep the home base going with the handicapped child & he'll supply the caravan & he'll supply whatever it is.
100. I'LL TELL YOU, THERE MAY BE SOME OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO WANT VISITATION & WANT SOMEBODY TO COME AROUND TO SEE THEM & HAVE FELLOWSHIP, but there'll also be people who don't want you coming around nosing into their business & seeing how they live! We found both kinds of people in churches. The kind of people who really were hungry & wanted help would invite us out to dinner, but the kind who didn't want us to see how they lived & were selfish wouldn't! They didn't want us to pry into their private lives & see what they were really like, & they were usually the ones who needed help the most, but they didn't want it, like the Scribes & the Pharisees.
101. ANYBODY GOING AROUND VISITING THEIR HOMES IS GOING TO BE INVOLVED TO A CERTAIN EXTENT. As I say, it's not up to the visitor to make the decisions, it is up to the visitor, evangelist, preacher, prophet, etc., simply to preach the Word. (Maria: Give'm the MO Letters.) Just like you do parents with your teenagers--give'm the Word! Whether it's Bible or MO Letters, give'm the Word, & then let them make their own decisions; & not start interpreting them for them if they don't know the situation. I mean, give them the Word & the Letters & that's it! Tell them where it is, "Here, here it is!"
102. THE ONES THAT REALLY IMPRESSED ME LOOKED OLDER. They looked mature, they looked experienced, they were confident, they were poised, they had possession of their faculties & their position & showed an assurance, while those other two looked insecure & looked unsure of themselves & didn't give you an impression of confidence & sureness. Let me tell you, you've got to have it, you've just got to have it!
103. IT'S LIKE MY MOTHER SAID, "NEVER ASK THE SHEEP!" It just shows you how wrong they can be. Sheep don't know what's good for them. The Shepherd has to make the final decisions. Never ask the sheep. You can sometimes ask the sheep just to see how they feel & maybe to get some reaction on what kind of impression they do have. But when it comes to the decision, I mean, it's not a democracy. It's dictatorship of the Spirit, & leadership has got to know the mind of God & do what's right, even if he's the only voice for it & everybody else is against him! That's one thing that went wrong with some of our common little Homes, the sheep didn't know what was good for them & chose wrong.
104. THE LEADERS OUGHT TO KNOW, THEY OUGHT TO KNOW WHAT'S BEST! They shouldn't have to ask the people. A leader is not supposed to hear from the people, he's supposed to hear from God! They should only hear from the people in the matter of deacons--material things, money, facilities, logistics. The people have to earn the money to foot the bill, so they should have something to say about that!--But when it comes to the Word or leadership or the elders or spiritual guidance, then the people have nothing to say about it. They can all be wrong.
105. THE COUPLE THAT IMPRESSED ME I'VE HEARD ABOUT FOR YEARS! I never heard of the others! Her name has cropped up in the news ever since Faithie first hit London! She was there from the beginning! She's got what it takes! Just because she's got a handicapped child, she shouldn't allow that to be a drag.
106. MY FOLKS HAD TO LEAVE US AT HOME & GO THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY TO CARRY ON MEETINGS FOR MONTHS while we were under the care of governesses at home! I didn't like it, they didn't like it, but God liked it because where they went the people needed it. And they had taught & trained us well enough that we were able to take it & stand it, so I'm still here to tell the tale! If you have trained your children right & they know that you love them, they'll be able to take it like little soldiers that their mothers & daddies are away, & even their brothers & sisters if necessary.
107. THEY'VE GOT A NICE PLACE THERE THAT THE LORD GAVE THEM BY A MIRACLE, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT'S GOD'S WILL FOR THEM TO STAY THERE! It may mean it's God's will for them to base there & base their family there & their handicapped child there & his nurse & her husband there to take care of things, but it doesn't mean that they have got to stay there themselves, even if they can only travel part time! I'd rather see them out part-time than this other couple out full-time! I mean she & her family could do more good in a few days, a few hours, than those others could do in a whole year!
108. THE VSs HAVE GOT TO BE SPIRITUAL LEADERS! They're not just going around checking up on their finances & if they have enough to eat & so on. The spiritual leader is going t be concerned about that too, but they are going to be concerned mostly about the spiritual, because if the spiritual is OK everything else will be all right too. The Lord will take care of them.
109. SPIRITUAL LEADERS ARE NOT TENDING TABLES, SPIRITUAL LEADERS ARE MINISTERING THE WORD OF GOD! They're supposed to be able to tell the people what to do, what the Word says to do, & to guide them spiritually. But then they have to make their own decision, they can't expect the VSs to make all their decisions for them & solve all their problems!
110. WE WERE YEARS IN EVANGELISTIC WORK & I'VE HEARD MY MOTHER COUNSEL BY THE HOUR, but she simply hammered away on the Word: "Well, the Bible says so & so, what about that? The Bible says so & so, what about that?" "What should you do? Here's what it says! What should you do? You make your own decision from that." My Mother constantly passed the buck to God & the Word & said, "Well, there it is. It's your business to obey the Word, that's what it says."
111. VSs HAVE GOT TO BE LEADERS! PROVEN LEADERS WITH FRUIT! And this other couple are proven leaders & they have got the fruit to prove it! Some of the best of which is their children, & that's the best fruit you can have, as well as years of service. (Maria: We have so few people that we can use as VSs, that's why we've had to put real restrictions on them now because you can't have people that are poor samples running around trying to teach other people when they have great personal problems themselves. But yet the VSs are one of the things the Family wants the most & keep asking about! Sometimes I think it's a little like when the people insisted on Saul as their king, even though he was a poor sample to them. He gives them their desires but sends leanness to their souls. On the other hand, we do have some exceptional VS couples.)
112. WELL, PROBABLY RACHEL GOT RID OF THE BEST LEADERSHIP & I GOT RID OF HERS, THE REST OF IT, SO WE DON'T HAVE MUCH LEFT! (Maria: Yes, yes, that's right. They forced the other ones to backslide practically, & then we trounced on them, her bad leadership.) Somebody who is really spiritual & had been really Spirit-led & Spirit-filled, with drive & leading of the Lord, obedience to God & the Word--nobody like that could hardly stand working with Rachel or under her, so they left, & her kind of leadership is not the kind we want. So I got rid of the in them RNR, & we just practically don't have very many left! We had to fall back on nothing but the Letters to be the leaders since then.
113. BUT WE HAVE A FEW OUTSTANDING LEADERS! The people who now ought to be VSs are people like Seek & Secundus. They are tried & proven, inspiring, their reports in the FN inspire everybody! Everybody would be inspired to see them. They can go out & put on a show & just thrill the people! Now what's keeping them from it? And what about Zatthu & Morningstar in Australia? I mean, our families with children are our examples now, they are our witness! You can't have a better example than that: Good kids are real fruit!
114. I MEAN LET'S FACE IT!: THAT WAS THE BIG IMPRESSION THAT DEBORAH MADE, THE EXAMPLE SHE WAS. There she was with five or six children & that was enough example in itself, that she managed to have those children & keep them fairly well under control & teach them reasonably & the fact that she even had'm! She was a shining example! She had the drive & the flash & the sparkle & the leadership & everything! Her problem was that she just didn't have enough respect for her father & enough faith in his Word, like her Mom!
115. THE VS PROGRAM CAN EITHER BE THE BEST OR THE WORST, they can either do a lot of good or a lot of damage, depending on the VSs. (Maria: Yes, exactly!) And VSs can do more damage than good! It's really pitiful. (Maria: Uh-huh, right.) But good VSs really are a help. (Maria: Like Nahum & Joan, Micah & Deborah, Andre & Maria & of course Keda & Yasuko, we've got some real good ones!) Paul & Marianne & other people like that. (Maria: Oh yes, we've got some of real quality!)
116. THANK GOD FOR THE GOOD LEADERS WE DO HAVE! We just need to find'm & give'm a chance to prove it!--Amen?--Are you one? We need you!--Prove it! GBY! WLY! GBAKY leading the Flock!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
