HomeARC ML 1398
TEENAGERS!--Where's It At? DFO 1398 20/12/82
1. TEENAGERS CAN BE VERY DIFFICULT, ESPECIALLY AT 16! Can you remember when you were 16? Everybody else in the World can be wrong, but you're always right! Well, it is a very idealistic age & you do usually have pretty high standards, very idealistic. You expect everybody to be perfect, including your parents, & then you find out they're NOT & you can't even TOLERATE them anymore! You find out that they're not perfect & they make mistakes, & you really let them know about it too!
2. YOU'RE GOING TO GET A BIG KICK OUT OF READING MY 16-YEAR-OLD DIARY! (Maria: Whenever I go downstairs, Hope's sitting there laughing away, typing on that diary!) Some of it's really funny because I'm so serious, super serious! I'm like the straight man in a comedy & I say some of the funniest things! I don't intend for them to be funny at all! I was really taking myself seriously. My brother came home from college & he said, "Dave, you shouldn't take yourself so seriously!" Well, he didn't take himself seriously enough--for the rest of his life!
3. (HOPE: YOU HAD SUCH A CONCERN TO DO THINGS IN LIFE! Even on your Summer vacation you said, "Oh, I really wanted to accomplish such-&-such today & I didn't even do it!") I failed so often! It seemed like I seldom lived up to my ideals or my standards. (Maria: You put your doorknob too high!) I was always lamenting because I couldn't accomplish what I wanted to accomplish.
4. THAT WAS A CRUCIAL YEAR OF MY LIFE!--The year I quit High School to go out with my Mother on the road & serve the Lord with her for almost two years before I went back to High School. So it was a very important year, a year of decision, a year of separation between my Mother & Father, who weren't even living together half the time.
5. I'M PRACTICALLY CONVINCED MOTHER WAS HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH DR. KOGER NOW--WHICH WAS FINE! She needed it & Dr. Koger needed it, his wife didn't understand him either. She was an old hard blue-nosed Presbyterian of the old school, dyed-in-the-wool Southern, straight-laced, very strict, formal, lived in a big mansion on the South Side. Just to look at him you can tell he was quite a Lothario-Don Juan, dressed immaculately in that white suit with those flowery ties & that little military moustache! He was really very handsome & I don't blame my Mother for falling for him, that's for sure, just about the time also that my Father was failing her & had kind of drawn into his shell.
6. WELL, I'VE BEEN HAVING TO DIG BACK IN THE PAST NOW FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS. As the twig is bent, so the tree is grown, & the present is built on the foundations of the past. What we're doing in this history is, we're kind of digging up the roots a little bit to show you why things are the way they are today, how you got this way, how I got this way. I was really quite a dedicated little guy!--Always talking about the Lord in my Diary! I think it will be real good for you teenagers!--"Secrets of a Teenager!" How do you like that title? I never kept a diary so well in my whole life!
7. THAT 1935 WAS A CRUCIAL YEAR & THE LORD MUST HAVE DONE THAT ON PURPOSE--the one time in my life I kept a diary from January to July! After that, dear Mother kept me so busy I didn't have time to keep a diary! That's what I'm always complaining about in the diary, that she's keeping me so busy I don't have time to do all my projects & read my two or three newspapers every day! I was even reading newspapers THEN, keeping a scrapbook of news clippings, indexed & everything! I'll bet you those would be something today, wouldn't they? It's all in secular recorded history, but it would have been interesting to see.
8. (HOPE: AND YOU HAD SO MUCH RESPONSIBILITY TO KEEP A SCHEDULE!) Well, I guess the Lord was teaching me that I had to be responsible! After all, I've got a pretty big responsibility today! Thank the Lord it didn't come all at once, it gradually grew! The Lord's planning, the Lord's preparation, His schooling, it's wonderful how He just slowly but certainly prepared me for the job, just really amazing!--And you too! You're still being prepared for the job. And it's only beginning, praise the Lord, there's lots more to do!
9. WELL, I NEEDN'T TALK ABOUT THE DETAILS BECAUSE YOU'LL BE GETTING IT PRETTY SOON TO READ, & it looks like it's going to be 60 pages! I really kept a thorough diary then. That's the only year in my whole life, so don't give me too much credit!--Ha! Well, up till now. But I don't keep as extensive a diary now as I did then, talking about everything that happened & describing it all, now I just keep a list of changes in my schedule all day long & what I did at what hour.
10. ABOUT ALL I'M DOING IS KEEPING AN HOUR-BY-HOUR LIST OF EVENTS, SO TO SPEAK. I seldom ever express any opinions or give any ideas, I leave that for the Letters. My Diary is just more or less stats & a record. But boy, I really expressed my opinion on everything that year! Ha! Even you guys will get a kick out of reading it, you older people, you old folks, you old bottles! And don't you think the teenagers will really be fascinated? I think it'll do them good too!
11. TEENAGERS ARE THE MOST DIFFICULT AGE TO REACH, or they're the most difficult age to keep, because they have gotten to be their own bosses & usually somewhat rebellious & independent & stubborn. They have a mind of their own about what they think should be & should not be & ought to be. Dr. Fakima, a Christian educational psychologist, used to say that a teenager is a little judge! He sits on a little throne & he judges every thing & everybody as to whether they're right or wrong, & there's nothing in-between! Everything has either got to be white or it's black, no greys!
12. TEENAGERS ARE SO IDEALISTIC! In other words, they're not very tolerant, they're not very merciful, they're not very patient. (Hope: Like when you caught your history teacher, Mr. Crabtree, smoking & you said, "Caught him smoking, totally disillusioned me, I thought he was such a good fellow!") But still I went on & showed that I still liked him & appreciated his teaching & he was one of my favourite teachers anyhow. He was a young fellow with a beard, as I recall, & that was very unusual in those days.
13. I CAN REMEMBER ALL MY TEACHERS FROM THE TIME I WAS IN SECOND GRADE! In fact, from the time I was in first grade, because I can remember Mrs. Twitty wanted me to skip second grade! She said, "Oh, you're so smart, you could easily go right on to the third grade & skip second grade!" I said, "Uh-uh, no, it might be too hard for me. I'm not sure I could do the work!"--& I flatly refused!
14. IF I HAD, I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL A YEAR SOONER, & probably the Lord was trying to do it then, because I needed to dump high school a year sooner in order to work with my Mother. As it was, I had to go back to High School again for that whole last seven months. But just think, right then at that early age when it was so easy I could have gone right into third grade! But I was already a skinny little runt--smaller than most of my classmates, who were big tough bullies--& I looked at those third graders & I thought, "My God, I don't want to get amongst those giants! I really will get flattened out!" So for my own safety & security I decided to stay in 2nd grade!
15. (FAMILY: THE MORE WE CAN GIVE OUR TEENAGERS IN THE FAMILY NOW, THE BETTER, because most of the kids that are teenage kids in our Family now were not born in the Family, they joined at maybe 5 or 6 years old, for example. Then their Mother kept having babies, so they never really had personal attention in the Word.) If we keep these teenagers, that will be a miracle, because they did not have the early spiritual background, their first five years, that children born into the Family have had.
16. SO THAT'S GOING TO BE THE FIRST ACID TEST OF OUR CHILDREN, THE PRESENT GENERATION OF TEENAGERS! If we hang on to them we'll be doing well. (Maria: We've had quite a few that have gotten married & have stayed in the Family.) I think that's one reason, the earlier they get married, the better, because that right away teaches you a sense of responsibility & you then begin to realise what a parent is & have a little more patience with your own parents. If you have to go through it you understand your parents better.
17. THAT'S WHY MOST YOUNG PEOPLE START COMING BACK TO CHURCH, AFTER THEY GET MARRIED & START HAVING CHILDREN, USUALLY ABOUT THE MID OR LATE 20s. So if we can get ours married in their mid & late teens, we'll have had the jump on that by about ten years & be a lot more sure of keeping them on the straight & narrow & on the right road in the right spirit & in the right atmosphere. Especially if they marry in the Family--which I can't imagine hardly any of our young people doing otherwise! So far, I think they all have, & we really need to hurry up & grow up some more teenagers so there will be enough to go around!
18. THAT IS THE ABSOLUTE ACID TEST, WHEN WE START KEEPING OUR OWN TEENAGERS & THE FAMILY APPEALS MORE TO THEM THAN THE WORLD! Most Christian young people have been sheltered from the World for years. I remember it used to be such a scandal in Bible School or Bible College, the first chance these nice little preacher's kids & missionary kids & Christian kids had a chance to be away from Mommy & Daddy & really go wild--& most of them did! The vast majority were like animals let out of a cage & just exploded because they never had a chance to sample the World before, never had a chance to be in it & see what it was like, & they just went crazy!
19. BIBLE SCHOOLS & CHRISTIAN COLLEGES WERE HORRIBLE! They're almost the worst place you can go! You thought you were either in a psycho ward or a reformatory of some kind! They were terrible! I went to a Christian High School, as well as colleges, & later I taught in a Christian School, & we had more reformatory cases & cases that couldn't get along any place else, their parents willing to pay us to keep'm!
20. BUT OUR YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE NOT BEEN SHELTERED IN THAT WAY. They've been out witnessing, litnessing, they've been out in the World--not of the World but in the World--& had all kinds of contact with it, they've seen the other side! By the time ours get to be teenagers they will have probably spent some time in public school & some time even in religious schools perhaps, & have got their fill of both. They've probably also been to church some, so they've had a chance to compare their parents' religion & the Family & our way of doing things with the outside World, the outside church, outside Christians, schools, churches & the works!
21. ... The Christian young people get out into the World & suddenly explode sexually & go hog-wild because they were so held down. [DELETED]
22. THE AMERICAN & WESTERN CULTURE HAS CREATED A SITUATION IN WHICH THE KIDS HAVE BEEN SO HELD DOWN & the lid's been so tight, that when they finally get to where they can have sex or anything to do with it, they really explode & almost become sex fiends or sex addicts!--Like me!--Ha! The inhibitions, the prohibitions, the phobias & the complexes have been so bad that they've become over-sexed, overly absorbed & interested in sex. They have a sexual preoccupation in the System!
23. IT'S BEEN MAGNIFIED & EXAGGERATED FAR OUT OF PROPORTION TO NORMALITY because they've been held down so long & prohibited & forbidden & in secret & "don't look & don't touch & don't talk about it & it's dirty, it's nasty, it's evil, it's bad!"--Until finally when they can get independent enough & loose enough & free enough to investigate it on their own, they just go absolutely wild! [DELETED]
24. WHAT DO KIDS GO OUTSIDE OF THEIR FAMILIES FOR? Well, I'd say sex is one of the first things. Think of the things that are prohibited by parents, prohibited by the home, prohibited by the mores & the morals, so-called, of the average Western Judeo-Christian oriented family & their particular standards. What are the things that are prohibited, they're not allowed, it's a no-no?--Sex is almost the first thing! They start teaching them from the time they're one or two years old that "sex is bad, sex is evil! No no no, don't look, naughty, don't show!" Imagine ingraining that into kids! ...
25. I THINK THAT'S GOING TO BE ONE OF OUR GREATEST ADVANTAGES, because they're going to see that we have greater sexual freedom & can enjoy it without guilt complexes, without feeling guilty or violating the rules, etc. I don't know, maybe that'll kind of take some of the pleasure out of sex for some people, if they don't think it's violating the rules & not a sin!
26. THEY USED TO SAY THAT ONE OF THE SPANIARDS' "SEVEN DEADLY SINS" WAS SEX, or words to that effect, in that famous book, & can you imagine such a corrupt demonic idea as this?--They said that one of the things that the Spanish men enjoyed about sex outside of wedlock was the thrill of feeling they were sending that girl right straight to Hell! How horrible! That's typical of the cruelty of the Spanish nature. Of course, all people are basically a little bit cruel--in the Devil, not in the Lord!
27. BUT SOME PEOPLE CAN'T ENJOY IT UNLESS IT'S PROHIBITED! Like the guy said, "Everything I want or enjoy is either expensive, fattening or illegal!" Some people get a bigger kick out of it if they think they're doing wrong or evil--which is Satanic, absolutely diabolic! That must be really demon-inspired, something really spiritual.
28. IT'S A KNOWN FACT THAT FOR THE WICKED INIQUITOUS SINFUL WORLD, THE MINUTE YOU TAKE THE PROHIBITION OUT OF IT, IT LOSES ITS KICK. That's why England has no kidnapping. When did you ever hear about kidnapping in England? Well, they made it impossible to pay the ransom, for one thing. And they don't have anything like the drug traffic in the U.S., because drugs are legal in England. You can go to your doctor & get'm if you need'm. You don't have to commit crime & rob & steal & murder in order to get drugs.
29. WELL, I DON'T SAY THAT THAT'S THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD, but it's better than having all that crime that they have in the United States. The average U.S. junkie has got to make at least a robbery or a theft or something a day to support his habit. It used to cost $20 a day & I'll bet it costs twice that much now, or maybe several times that much. So they say they just have to live on crime, they have to live by robbing & stealing & burglary & murder & whatnot in order to support their drug habit.
30. YOU SAY, "WHAT ABOUT DRUGS? Aren't our kids going to be tempted to experiment with drugs?" What's your answer to that? (Family: People look for drugs because they're searching for the Truth, but our kids have it!) They're looking for kicks, looking for happiness, looking for release, escape, that exhilaration. We have that in the Spirit, & we've got all the answers in the Word!
31. THERE'S ANOTHER THING, THEY WANT TO GET OUT & GET A BIG EDUCATION OR THEY WANT TO SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE, SEARCH FOR THE ANSWERS. They don't have to go outside the Family to find the answers, they've got all the answers! They don't have to go outside the Family to get sex. [DELETED] (Family: And travel too!) Travel, change! Ah! That reminds me of those seven basic needs of man that some psychologist listed in the newspaper once--one of them is change. Another one was satisfaction--satisfaction of his physical needs, etc., as well as spiritual needs.
32. ANOTHER IS RECOGNITION--DO OUR CHILDREN GET RECOGNITION IN OUR FAMILY? Boy oh boy, we push'm to the front! They get recognition in their busking, in their TV performances, we publish their pictures in our publications, I don't think there are any kids in the World that get as much recognition as ours & are shown as much appreciation! That's another thing, appreciation! They want to be appreciated for what they're doing.
33. ANOTHER ONE WAS FULFILMENT. They want to feel like they're doing something that is fulfilling, carving out a niche in history, a job that's rewarding, fulfilling, satisfying & you feel like you're really accomplishing something. My goodness, what more could they accomplish than they can accomplish in the Family, witnessing & soul winning? That's the most satisfying, fulfilling accomplishment in the World! So that's a good standard to go by for our teenagers, what the psychologist says are man's basic needs.
34. IN CHANGE IS INCLUDED CHANGE OF SCENERY, CHANGE OF JOBS, CHANGE OF HOMES, CHANGE OF SCHOOLS! If you read my diary you'll see that I was always changing. If there's any expression that I repeated & it got so repetitive that it was almost tautology, it was: "I got fed-up with this, I got fed-up with that!" I'll bet I used that expression more than anything else! Fed-up! I'd work at a job for as little as a month & get fed-up & want some other job. Or I'd attend a school less than a year & get fed-up with it & want to quit! Sick of it!
35. I WANTED CHANGE, CONSTANT CHANGE!--SOMETHING NEW, NEW HORIZONS, NEW SCENERY, CHANGE OF SCENERY! Are you guys getting tired of this scenery here? Well, you can always take off! The nice thing about my work is, I'm always working on something new! I have a constant flow of new Letters & a variety of material. I never expected to get into this diary business, this history business, but I just got fascinated with it--now that Maria's almost forced me into it, God bless her!
36. IT'S FUNNY HOW I GOT INTO IT, IT WAS ALL OVER FINDING A DATE FOR THOSE BLOOMING PICTURES! I got to thinking "How terrible, I can't even remember when these happened or where they were taken! I've got to get this all sorted out & all these beads on a string!"--& that's what started me trying to figure out the dates, & that's how you got your "Analog"! I thought, "Well, I'll just take this microphone & start at the beginning!" In fact, I couldn't even stop the tape recorder because it was just rolling on the other side of the room, so I just sat there & started peeling it off from memory as best I could. It's not easy!--You try, let me see you do it!
37. ANOTHER BASIC NEED FOR MOST PEOPLE IS A DESIRE TO BE OF SERVICE OR TO DO GOOD, TO WANT TO BE HELPFUL TO OTHERS, EVEN A SACRIFICIAL SPIRIT! If "greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends," then in some ways the greatest impulse of man, if he has any good in him at all, is to want to be of service, even sacrificial service. (Jn.15:13)
38. LOOK AT THE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE REALLY DOING THAT KIND OF SERVICE, not only missionaries, but those who feel like they're doing that kind of service to God, the convents & the monasteries & the priesthood & the celibacy & all this. Even if it's wrong or for the wrong reason, they're sacrificing & feeling like they're doing service either to God or man or helping somebody or something in some way. It's a basic need God has put in man to want to be helpful & to serve & to help, & we say love because that includes it all!
39. THE GREATEST NEED OF MAN IS LOVE, SO THE GREATEST SERVICE TO MAN IS LOVE! That's why FFing is such a service. It is the greatest most sacrificial service that anyone can possibly give, outside of actually dying, because it is laying your life on the line. You are laying down your life or your wife, for love, love of the Lord. Unselfish love! I'm not just talking about fleshly gratification, but for the love of someone, sacrificial love, even risky love, dangerous love!
40. THEY'RE LITERALLY ENDANGERING THEIR LIVES IN ORDER TO SAVE SOMEONE! That's why it's so effective! I told you the difference between litnessing & FFing, they're kind of two different ends of the stick. We average one salvation out of every 100 pieces of literature distributed, but do you know how many Salvations we average out of every number of men our girls go to bed with?--One out of two! Talk about effective, efficient, effucktive--as I said in the "7 F's"--it works! (See No.1083.)
41. ROY WALLIS & THESE GUYS WRITE BOOKS ABOUT US TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY WE DO THINGS, our motives & motivation & psychology--"Now why did he do that, why did he go into FFing? Oh, it was to capture more important men & get their money & their power & position & influence & blah blah!" That was the furthest thing from my mind when we first started out FFing! I mean, Arthur was nobody! He was a mechanic working with his hands. He was a great big giant of a fellow, but what does this midget need with a giant? It was for Love! They just can't believe we did it unselfishly for love, to the World there has to be some kind of a selfish motive.
42. YOU REALLY HAVE TO BE TRAINED NOT TO LOVE! Children are normally naturally helpful to each other. Most children are not selfish or prejudiced racially or any such thing! Most children don't have those strong selfish tendencies, especially our children. I can't say too much for some of the children of the World, I've seen some real little monsters, as selfish as they could be, throwing fits & tantrums if they didn't get their own way, etc.!
43. BUT I WOULD SAY THAT IF CHILDREN IN SOME WAYS WERE KIND OF LEFT ALONE, perhaps in the Lord's hands, they would just naturally be helpful to each other & try to be friendly. Haven't you seen little one & two-year-old kids out on the street go right up to each other, hug each other & right away cheer up & smile when they see another of their kind, another little midget amongst all these giants! Right? They have an innate desire to be friendly & loving & helpful & unselfish. So that's one of the basic desires & needs, therefore, of man.
44. ANOTHER THING, THEY HAVE TO HAVE SOMETHING THAT IS A REAL CHALLENGE IN LIFE, be it difficulty or even trouble or trial or tribulation or school or job or profession, something that is difficult enough to be a challenge. Psychology teaches this, believe it or not, & they're beginning to recognise these things that the Bible saw all the time, that you need testings & trials & tribulations & troubles, that they bring out the best in you. You need hardships & privation. Like I said in my issue on "Good & Evil," the original title of that was "Necessary Evil," because it helps to really challenge you! A challenge indicates a fight! You've got to have something worth fighting for & living for & even dying for! How often have I said that I'd rather die for something than live for nothing?
45. ALL RIGHT, NOW HERE WE'VE GOT THESE BASIC NEEDS OF MAN, LET'S GO OVER THEM & SEE HOW THEY AFFECT OUR TEENAGERS. Are they going to have to go outside the Family to find them, that's the point! Number one, Change! Ha! If there's anything you get more of in the Family than anywhere else, it's change! We don't even have to enlarge on that, do we? I was changing all the time!
46. AND AS I'VE TOLD YOU BEFORE, THERE'S ONE THING WHICH CHANGE TAUGHT ME: "O THOU WHO CHANGEST NOT, ABIDE WITH ME!" I found that everything in life changes except the Lord. He was always there, always the same, always to be counted on! He was the one thing I could hold onto, if you want to put it that way, that never changed. Everything, everybody, every place, everything else changed but God, & He was always with me, TTL! So what does the Bible say about change? (Fam: "Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God."--Ps.55:19.) Exactly! That's the trouble with the World & the System today, they try to solidify it & freeze it so there'll not be any changes & they'll have absolute security so they won't have to worry about God or pleasing Him or having His help or anything.
47. CHANGES ARE GOOD FOR YOU, THEY MAKE YOU REALLY DEPEND ON THE LORD! Thank God for once we don't have any--at least for a little while--but it's not going to be that way forever! God knows what next year will bring! Are you beginning to plan for that change? When the war comes, that's going to make quite a change in our lives in some ways, but I'm sure the Lord will help us figure out ways to adapt to it.
48. THAT VERY NEED TO ADAPT TO A NEW SITUATION IS A CHALLENGE IN ITSELF! I have gotten to where I enjoy it! I have had change all my life. When I move into a new room, right away I want to start re-arranging & organising things, getting things set up the way I like'm! It's a challenge & I enjoy it! I actually enjoy it! You get bored with the same old thing all the time. That's why I don't come down here too often!--Ha! So the need for change exists--but our Family gets enough change!
49. OK, TAKE YOUR PHYSICAL NEEDS--DOES THE LORD SUPPLY ALL OUR NEED ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES IN GLORY? (Phil.4:19) We don't lack for anything we really need, do we? Food? I don't know of any of our Family who are starving. Clothing? He's promised to supply these things. All these things that the World seeks after, He says, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God & His righteousness, & all these other things will be added unto you." (Mt.6:33) So do we have the satisfaction of our principal needs? Shelter? Most of the Family, I'd say, are living as well, if not better, than most of the rest of the World!
50. SEX? I THINK WE HAVE MORE SATISFACTION & MORE SATISFYING SEX IN THE FAMILY THAN ANYWHERE! Where can you get really satisfying sex without love? We have sexual freedom along with love! The World goes outside of marriage & they pretend & they think they've got sexual freedom & liberty & license, when actually they're bound with that craving for sex. But it is never satisfied, actually, because sex can never be truly satisfying without love! Our girls give in love, in affection.
51. WE'VE GOT THE MOST SATISFYING SEX YOU CAN FIND ANYWHERE! That's why men go crazy about our girls! [DELETED] That was an extra bonus! We went FFing because of love & the desire to love people & help'm & get'm saved. The fact that [EDITED: "some"] had money & power & prestige & influence & were able to do things for us was the furthest thing from our mind, we never even thought about it!
52. HOW COULD MARIA EVER EXPECT A BUNCH OF WAITERS TO DO ANYTHING FOR HER BUT BE NICE TO HER AT THE TABLE--WHICH THEY WERE! Ha! How's Roy Wallis going to explain all those waiters she fucked in the Hotel Belair--some of them that she didn't even like--just to show'm love! We were in our experimentation days then. We didn't do everything perfect, we didn't always have a success, but we sure found out that Love conquers all & Love is the key that opens every door & every heart, & that Love never fails! Real Love! Not just sex, but sexual love as well, love with sex. That's the pay-off, the best of all! Amen?
53. [DELETED] Outside [EDITED: "our teenagers will"] find nothing but selfish people who just use'm for a plaything & for their selfish satisfaction, here today, gone tomorrow. I hope we don't have any people like that in the Family! I've heard of a few, but they were rare exceptions. Most of our folks have feelings of responsibility & love & concern & care, right?
54. SO, ARE THE BASIC NEEDS OF THE FLESH SATISFIED IN THE FAMILY?--I think more so than outside in the World! And of course when it comes to the basic needs of the spirit, well, we don't even have to go into that! Where could you be better satisfied spiritually than in the Lord? And where could you have greater kicks, thrills, highs, rushes, explosions than in the Spirit? We can get'm everyday, free! No shots, no high-priced habits, all you need to do is just get in the Spirit & explode! Amen?
55.THE HUNGER & DESIRE FOR THE SUPERNATURAL--WE'VE GOT IT! They don't have to go into Witchcraft or Black Magic & all that junk, we've got Goodcraft & White Magic & all the best! We've got the best of everything! Why should they go anywhere else? What else is there? What is there out there? It's a barren desert when compared to the Family!
56. NEXT, RECOGNITION! OUR CHILDREN GET MORE RECOGNITION THAN ANY YOUNG PEOPLE I EVER SAW! They're told how important they are! Instead of like in so many System homes where they're beaten down & told: "Shut up, you little rascal! You don't know anything, I know everything!"--Our children are encouraged: "It's wonderful, try again, that's great, you're doing fine!" We encourage & praise & recognise them, & we mean it because we know it! It's true & we need'm! They're the stars of the show, the belles of the ball! Right?
57. BOY, I'LL TELL YOU, OUR CHILDREN ARE OUR BIGGEST ATTRACTION, & as I said long ago, some day they're going to be our greatest witness & our greatest proof! That's a prophecy that was very quickly fulfilled, I never even realised how much so, what a tremendous asset our children were going to be! In fact, there was one time when I think even Maria questioned me & said, "What good is all this going to do? Here I'm having all these babies & our girls are having all these little babies, & they haven't got time for witnessing or litnessing or anything else but to take care of babies!" Well, now they know!
58. I SAID, "YOU JUST WAIT, BE PATIENT, THE TIME IS COMING WHEN THOSE BABIES ARE GOING TO PAY OFF!--THAT'S GOING TO BE YOUR PAYLOAD!" How do we get on television now? Those babies of yesterday are the children & the stars of the shows of today! Why do they get in the newspapers?--They're the stars, they're the attraction! Even as far as selfishly ministering to our needs or helping us, I think the children are a greater asset than even the FFers! One reason is, there's more of'm!--Ha! Not every woman can be an FFer, we've got to have some mothers & secretaries & a lot of other things!
59. BUT EVERY CHILD CAN BE A STAR OR BE USEFUL IN SOME WAY! Even the little toddlers that stand up there & look funny & grin--the audiences roar! They get their biggest kick out of the little guy who's looking around & doing something funny instead of doing what he's supposed to be doing! I mean, who do the cameramen zoom in on?--The kid that's standing around looking like he doesn't know what he's doing, or the one that's shoving him, trying to make him do what he's supposed to be doing! This is a scream, it's comedy, it's theatre! Even the mistakes are a huge entertainment, the entertainers who don't do what they're supposed to do!
60. OH, OUR CHILDREN GET RECOGNITION, I'LL TELL YOU, THEY REALLY GET RECOGNITION! They know they're important! What is recognition?--To be appreciated, to know you're important. Wasn't appreciation another point? I don't count them exactly as the same because you can be appreciated sometimes without necessarily being highly recognised, but they're closely related. Aren't our children appreciated? (Family: Yes!) Do they know it? Do Mama & Daddy let'm know that they're appreciated & really really thank'm & treat'm & reward'm & love'm & show appreciation for all their hard work & what they do, even in their studies or even the little tiny tots in their obedience?
61. PRAISE IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF CHILD TRAINING! It's far more important than scolding! It's more important to spend most of your time praising a child & encouraging him & thanking him & showing you appreciate'm, than constantly scolding'm for what he didn't do, or did do, or whatever! Do our children get appreciation? Do you think our teenagers are appreciated? Look, we've got teenagers who are TV stars, radio stars, singing stars! They've got it made, they've got everything, recognition, appreciation, encouragement!--Even Fame!
62. WHAT ELSE?--FULFILMENT! Boy, if that's not fulfilment, I don't know what is! A feeling of fulfilment, accomplishment, that they've made their mark in the World, they've carved their niche in the History! "Baby, remember my name! You've heard about me!"
63. I'M ALWAYS REMINDED OF WHAT DEAR OLD DR. A.P. GOUTHY SAID TO THOSE TWO OLD LADIES when they came up after church service & were criticising him for cussin' in his sermon. He was one of the first preachers I ever heard of that cussed as much as I do when he was preaching, saying "God damn" & "Hell" & everything else! Well, there's a time & a place to use it! Some people think I'm really wicked for using language like that, but sometimes it seems like nothing else would really do the job!
64. SO THEY CAME UP & SAID TO GOUTHY, "WE DON'T THINK YOU SHOULD TALK LIKE THAT!" And he said, "Listen, Sister, the World's heard about me, who the Hell ever heard about you?!" He was famous for his cussin', if nothing else! You guys sound like you never heard that joke before! Come on, it's in the Letters, I'm sure! Well, who has time to read old Letters around here anyhow? You're kept so busy reading the new ones you'll never have time to read the old ones till you get to the Millennium!
65. BUT ANYWAY, SOME OF OUR KIDS COULD ALREADY FEEL LIKE THEY'RE FAMOUS & HAVE MADE THEIR MARK IN THE WORLD, carved their niche, & their names are living letters & legends in the Hall of Fame! (Family: Another thing about fulfilment is there's so many different things that they can learn according to their talent.) Anything! We can use any kind of talent, from the lowly gardener & handyman! In fact, I don't even like to call them the lowest!
66. IT'S LIKE A BEAUTY CONTEST, HOW CAN YOU SAY ONE JOB IS NOT AS IMPORTANT AS ANOTHER? How can you say one girl is not as pretty as another? They're all pretty, they're all important! I don't see how those judges ever manage to choose the most beautiful girl when there's hardly an ugly one in the bunch! It would probably be easier to pick out maybe one ugly or homely one, but they hardly ever have one of those! So how can you say one job is less important than another, or there's one ugly job in the Family that's not as important?--When every single job, even taking care of the pool or mowing the lawn or anything else has to be done & what would we do without it?
67. MAINTENANCE MEN, COOKS, HOUSEKEEPERS, CHILDCARE WORKERS, EVERY JOB IS VITALLY IMPORTANT & THEY KNOW IT! Don't you? Even when you're out there mowin' the lawn, don't you know it has to be done? Don't you have a feeling of accomplishment & fulfilment? Boy, I could look back there after I mowed the lawn & feel like I really accomplished something! It's something you can see! There's a lot of things we do we can't really see the results right away, but mowing the lawn you can see right away. Cooking a meal, you get the satisfaction of watching the people enjoy it right away. And you get recognition, don't you, cooks? I try to remember to recognise you & show you're appreciated! PTL?
68. IF THAT ISN'T FULFILMENT, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS! WHAT CAN THEY FIND BETTER OUT IN THE WORLD?--Scoffing, sneering, unappreciated, forget it! If I want recognition, I sure wouldn't go out there! They'd give me too much recognition! I may not be famous out there, but I'm infamous, that's for sure! Where could our teenagers find any more recognition, fulfilment, appreciation, satisfaction & all the rest than in the Family?
69. A DESIRE TO BE HELPFUL--IT'S REALLY A LOVING INSPIRATION, A NATURAL INBORN LOVE THAT GOD PUT IN YOUR HEART to want to be friendly, to be helpful. As the old saying goes, "To have friends you must be friendly!"--Of course there again you have the selfish motive that they're always implying. But we're not friendly for the sake of getting friends, we're friendly for the sake of making friends! Right? If they're friendly back to us in return, well, that's the payoff, that's double blessing! PTL!
70. WE GET A BLESSING JUST OUT OF BEING FRIENDLY, JUST OUT OF LOVING, EVEN IF THAT FRIENDSHIP OR LOVE IS NOT RETURNED. Of course, it's much better when it is, but at least we have accomplished our purpose, we've fulfilled our obligation to others when we love them & are friendly, even if they don't repay it. As I've often said, we are ministers both of salvation & damnation! Witnessing never fails, it either saves'm or damns'm, one or the other! It never fails, because you bring them to a decision & they have to make a choice. Anything else?
71. (FAMILY: THE TEENAGERS IN OUR FAMILY CAN GET ALL THEIR BASIC NEEDS FULFILLED & ALL THE BENEFITS WITHIN THE FAMILY APART FROM THE WORLD. They don't have to have Worldly music or Worldly sex, it's all in the Lord!) Right! All of these cravings & desires for satisfaction, we've got it all! We've got everything, praise the Lord, even our own music!
72. WHAT ABOUT EDUCATION? Well, you can start'm out on the Komix! Then you can tell'm, "Well, read the latest MO Letters, & when you've got all those read, you can start on the old ones!" I doubt if our children of today, such as David here, will even finish reading all the MO Letters before the Millennium! I don't know if it will be possible! One reason is, right now I'm producing daily about all that you & I both can read right now, not to speak of all the old ones. So I don't think they'll ever get finished reading MO Letters!
73. SO IF THEY WANT AN EDUCATION, WE'VE GOT IT! WE HAVE AN UNLIMITED EDUCATION, not only in the MO Letters but from our teachers & childcare materials & now our textbooks. We're developing our own textbooks in every subject, practical subjects, everything!--Even math & science & history & biology & whatnot! What do they have to go outside & get a secular education for, that's full of lies & poison & untruths & evolution & all kinds of pollution? Who wants that kind of an education when we've got the Truth, the whole Truth, & nothing but the Truth right here! [DELETED]
74. WHERE CAN THEY EVER GO TO GET A BETTER EDUCATION THAT WILL ANSWER ALL THEIR QUESTIONS, SOLVE ALL THEIR PROBLEMS, ANSWER EVERYTHING, THAN RIGHT HERE IN GOD'S WORD & IN THE FAMILY! Why should they ever even look anyplace else? I really don't think our teenagers will, do you? They may look outside to see what's going on out there, but if anything, the World is going to suffer by comparison. I know it did in my case! When I had to go off to school, that's when I really began to appreciate my Family the most, from the first grade on! Even the first grade was full of a bunch of little hellions, toughs, bums & bullies & guys that beat me up, & it was like Hell on Earth! When I went home after school it was like Heaven! Compared with those people in school, even some of the teachers, my parents looked like angels!
75. I KNEW I HAD THE BEST LIFE, I KNEW HOME & MY PARENTS & THEIR RELIGION WAS THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD & I HAD THE BEST THING GOING! Nothing the World had to offer appealed to me at all, not at all!--Except one thing that they didn't allow in our churches & my family--sex!: "No no no, prohibited!" And honestly, if you want to know why I went outside & went to see so many movies & all, that's about the only place you could ever see a naked girl or a near-naked girl or sexy things happening. I had to go outside of my home & outside of my family, really, to get sexual satisfaction & learn about sex & things like that which were taboo in the home & in the church & in the family & weren't talked about. I had to more or less get my sex education outside of my family, that's the one thing where they really neglected me.
76. OUR FAMILY NOW? GOD FORBID THAT ANYBODY ELSE SHOULD EVER HAVE TO GO OUTSIDE THE FAMILY TO GET THEIR SEX EDUCATION OR TO FIND OUT ABOUT SEX OR EVEN ENJOY SEX! I think we probably have more sex than any family in the World!--And enjoy it more! You've heard about the guy who said, "I'm having more & enjoying it less!"--We're having it more & enjoying it more too! PTL? Honestly now, don't you think so? (Family: Amen!)
77. DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH CHALLENGES IN THE FAMILY?--Enough trials, tribulations, problems, fights, battles, troubles, persecution, hardships? Do you have enough problems to have to seek solutions for? Battles to figure out how to win? Well, I wouldn't say that we have more than the rest of the World. The Lord does say, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all!" (Ps.34:19), but I wouldn't say that the Worldling has any less. Many are the afflictions of the unrighteous, but he's got no God to deliver him!--And "the way of the transgressor is hard!" (Pr.13:15; 11:6,8)
78. SO I THINK WE HAVE PLENTY OF CHALLENGE, ENOUGH TO SATISFY ANYBODY, ENOUGH TO GO AROUND! Are you challenged enough each day with each day's work, each day's labour, each day's childcare, each day's class of teaching little ones, each day's new meal, new lawn, gardening, pool, shopping? I mean, we have all kinds of challenge! Our work is a constant challenge!
79. EVERY TIME I SEE A NEW LETTER IT'S A CHALLENGE! Like now, I get so excited I almost knocked my watch off my wrist! I made a quick left turn once in Miami--in the old days before you had turn signals & you just had open windows & you had to hand signal--I threw out my hand like that & my watch flew right off my hand out into the middle of a busy street! I went back & found it & it was a nice mass of watchworks!--Ha! Anyhow, I get kind of excited! You're a challenge! Every time I come down here & look at you, you're a challenge! But you're a nice challenge!
80. (FAMILY: ANOTHER ADVANTAGE OUR TEENAGERS HAVE IS THAT THEIR PARENTS ARE CLOSER TO THEIR AGE.) Yes! They're young! (Family: Also, you're trying to buck the System at that age & drop out, but there's nowhere else that you can buck the System compared to us! There's no place else to go!) Exactly! I mean, the Apostle Peter really summed it up! It's not that he wasn't looking around for someplace else to go, it's not that he hadn't thought about it, but after looking around he said: "Well, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou alone hast the Words of Eternal Life!" (Jn.6:68)
81. IT'S NOT THAT OUR TEENAGERS AREN'T GOING TO LOOK AROUND! I want them to look around! I hope they look out there into that cesspool & that pit & see what a stinkin' Hell of a God-damned mess it is so they'll never even want to think about it again! That's one thing about the backsliders, "The Benefits of Backsliding!" (See No.312.) Boy, I'll tell you, if you're not already convinced, just backslide & you'll find out! That'll convince you quicker than anything!
82. JUST GO BACK & GET THE COMPARISON LIKE I DID A FEW TIMES--I got out of the Lord's will, got in the army, got a job, wanted to get away from my Mother & home & see what the World was like, blah blah! Well, I found out & in a hurry! I hadn't been away from home two weeks & I was ready to come home! Really, not more than one day! I think that first night I spent in that army tent with all those foul-mouthed wicked filthy dirty [EDITED: "ACs"] was enough to cure me for the rest of my life!--Ha! [DELETED]
83. (FAMILY: ANOTHER THING OUR KIDS HAVE THAT THE KIDS IN THE SYSTEM DON'T HAVE IS COMPANIONSHIP.) Amen, fellowship! That must be one of the ones we missed. Oh, that's what the psychologist called it, a feeling of belonging, being a part of something. Fellowship! All of these things, in a way, can be summed up in one thing, & that is your need for love & your being fulfilled with love. Love is the great need, love is the great answer, but it has its various aspects.
84. LIKE EVERY BEAUTIFUL JEWEL, IT HAS MANY FACETS & YOU LOOK AT IT FROM MANY SIDES & SEE DIFFERENT LIGHTS & COLOURS. And every picture that you see in an art gallery, you stand in a different position & get different impressions of it. Or like the five blind men & the elephant, there are all these different ways of looking at things. Everything has a different impression on different people, a different way of looking at it, & we're really looking at love, in a sense, from all different sides & its various facets & fulfilments & all the rest.
85. SO WHAT WAS THAT LAST ONE?--FELLOWSHIP OR THE NEED TO BELONG. Oh, that was a part of it: The need to be accepted! I think he lined that up with the need to belong, to want to be accepted. That was something that I never got in school outside, was acceptance. If you read my diary, the only people that accepted me were my teachers, the rest of them hated me!
86. THEY HATE YOU IF YOU'RE BRILLIANT & MAKE GOOD GRADES IN SCHOOL! They hate you if you're a good boy & you get along good with the teacher & you don't cut up & make a disturbance & a fuss & whatnot. They hate you! Why? Give a Scripture Jesus gave! (Family: "If ye were of the World, the World would love his own; but because ye are not of the World, therefore the World hateth you.") (Jn.15:19) Exactly! They knew! They may not have understood why, but they knew I wasn't one of them, therefore they hated me. I was not of this World, I was not one of them, & they hated me.
87. I'LL TELL YOU, I FELT THE NEED OF BELONGING, & THANK GOD MY OWN FAMILY, MY MOTHER, FATHER & CHURCH FULFILLED THAT NEED. I felt like I belonged to something, as well as the great Family of God. And if nothing else & nobody else, I belonged to the Lord! The need of belonging. Where can they go anywhere else but to the Lord, as the old song says, to ever find anywhere where they fit & can feel they belong & are needed & accepted like they are in the Family?--The Family of God! Right?
88. WE ALL NEED TO BELONG TO SOMETHING, TO FEEL LIKE WE'RE PART OF SOMETHING. God put that in our hearts, to be a team, to belong to each other, to be a Family, to be related, to have fellowship, communication, communion, right? It's very necessary, you really need it. Where are our teenagers going to find that outside? The World will never accept them! They'll never get along with the World if they stick to their guns & stick to their convictions & their salvation & their faith. They'll be just like me: I was like a square peg in a round hole out in the System, especially in those God-damn high schools!--And they called me a square sometimes too! They were Hell on Earth as far as I was concerned.
89. TO ME, THE PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS OF THE UNITED STATES ARE A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE HELLISH SYSTEM! They are Hell on Earth & full of hellions & the God-damned damned in their very worst savage form at that age! They are savages, cruel, merciless, horrible! No wonder those guys went out from there & went into the most hellish wars the World has ever known! They made'm! That's the only thing that satisfies'm! Take the counterpart, take the opposition, what is the Devil compared to God? What are some of the names of the Devil?--Liar, Destroyer, Devourer, Accuser! He is not satisfied until he is lying & destroying & devouring & killing & doing everything hellish & horrible he can think of--along with his people!
90. JUST LIKE THESE SCIENTISTS ARE DEVISING THESE MONSTROUS WEAPONS THAT ARE GOING TO DESTROY MILLIONS! Why do they do it?--They're demon-inspired, they're devil-possessed! They're the children of their own father the Devil, just the opposite from us! They have hate, they have a desire to destroy! Just like some of those guys I had to put up with in high school, all they wanted to do was fight, do mischief & cause trouble! I'll bet half of them are in prison right now, or were. Probably most of them are dead!--Or in the wars.
91. NOT EVERYBODY HATES WAR, DID YOU KNOW SOME PEOPLE LOVE WAR? The Devil & his children love it! Some of the men in the wars actually got what they called a "bloodlust," where they enjoyed killing & they loved to kill & they couldn't be satisfied unless they could just kill, kill, kill, kill, kill! They loved to slit people's throats! They had a bloodlust & they loved to see blood, they loved to let blood! Think of it! There are people like that! Bloodthirsty, that's the word I was trying to think of, they're literally bloodthirsty! God's Word says they're not satisfied unless they shed blood. Their feet run swiftly to shed blood! (Isa.59:7; Rom.3:15) They enjoy it! Don't think everybody doesn't like war & doesn't like killing, there are some people who enjoy it! There are people who love it! The Devil's own God-damned children! Whew! That's the antithesis of it all, the opposite of Love!
92. THE WORLD IS SO MUCH THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYTHING WE ARE & STAND FOR & BELIEVE & PRACTICE! How could our teenagers ever find any kind of satisfaction or any kind of enjoyment or any kind of reward or anything whatsoever out there in that God-damned stinkin' slimepit, the vomit of this World! I'll tell you, I knew I was well off! I was mighty thankful for a family & my faith. You could even see evidence of it in my Diary. I said, "How could they be so silly?"--talking about some of those educators. "Ridiculous," I said, "to propound such foolish theories & talk about things like that!"
93. AS A 16-YEAR-OLD BOY I WAS POOH-POOHING MODERN EDUCATION & THESE MODERN THEORIES, recognising how sly & insidious they were & how they were already deliberately seeping in & creeping in then! Think of it! In those days it was the law to read the Bible & pray & the public school was ostensibly Christian, you might say. Today it's against the law to have Christmas, have anything to do with religion, mention the Name of Christ, have Bible reading, prayer, anything! It was creeping slowly, a growing paralysis, & now it is in complete control!--Along with the [EDITED: "ACs"] who did it!
94. MODERN EDUCATION IS TOTALLY DIABOLICAL, DEVILISH, ANTI-CHRIST, DEMONIC & IS DOING NOTHING BUT DESTROY FAITH, IF THERE WAS ANY, IN SOME OF THESE KIDS! Some of you people come from other countries where they at least taught Bible in the public school & had religious classes or at least some form of religion--they don't do that in America! They don't let you off from high school, not one class, to go to a class in religion. They did well to let you off on Good Friday! If the World went on long enough they probably wouldn't even observe Christmas any more, wouldn't even make it a holiday. In fact, I heard they don't in Russia.
95. BUT THEY CAN'T AVOID IT, THEY CAN'T IGNORE IT, THEY STILL CELEBRATE SOMETHING, EVEN THE JEWS! They found they just couldn't keep the Jews from celebrating at that time, so they call it Hanukkah, & they have a candle-lighting ceremony that I think involves a tree. They put up decorations & do almost all the same things that Christians do, except they call it "Happy Hanukkah!" They dug up some old Jewish feast day & made that a substitute for Christmas, because they just had to have something! The people just demanded something! After all, they couldn't have the Christians having something they didn't have & all that joyous celebration! They even give gifts to each other at Hanukkah! Right at Christmas time! (Family: Isn't it right before Christmas too?) Yes, it's usually sometime just before Christmas. [DELETED]
96. WELL, HAVE WE ABOUT COVERED THE SUBJECT? I mean, if you consider the opposite, consider the alternative, what have they got outside the Family that they can't get more of inside the Family? (Family: I was thinking one other thing is a goal & a vision.) Yes, I think that was one of his points. Some of these points I think maybe we have duplicated somewhat, but I think a goal was one of the things he mentioned.
97. YOU HAVE TO HAVE SOMETHING TO DRIVE AT, SOMETHING TO ALWAYS BE STRIVING FOR! Maybe that's part of challenge, but like the Bible says, "Without a vision the people perish!" (Pr.29:18) You have to have some vision of what you're aiming at. If you're shooting a gun, you've got to have something to aim at. If you get out & get in your car & drive away, you're supposed to be going someplace & have some idea where you're going, a goal.
98. HAVE WE GOT A GOAL IN THE FAMILY? Have we got pretty much a vision of what's to come & what's gonna happen & what's gonna happen to us & how to get there? I think so! In fact, I know so! PTL? TYJ! PTL! Hallelujah! We have a goal! We have such a goal, higher than anything this World could ever attain!
99. THEY SHOUT "FAME!" DURING THAT SONG & IT'S ALMOST LIKE THE VOICE OF THE DEVIL! It's not a part of the lyrics, it has nothing to do, really, with the song, it's not incorporated into the rhyme or the rhythm or anything! It's just like the Devil's lie shouting out: "Fame! I'm it! Fame!"--when that's not where it's at at all! But isn't that what they're all seeking?--Fame? And boy, if there's anything more fleeting than fame, I don't know what it is! Here today, gone tomorrow! Look at the people who've had it. Look at all these worldly musicians, they're the saddest lot in the World!--Drug addicts, nearly all of them die young, fed up! They have gotten there & found out it didn't satisfy.
100. LIKE LORD BYRON SAID, "I'VE DRUNK EVERY FOUNT OF PLEASURE & QUAFFED EVERY CUP OF FAME, & YET I DIE OF THIRST!" It never satisfies. Their goal is fame, or riches. Some of you know, who had rich parents, were they happy? Were they satisfied? Did they reach their goal? They never reach their goal! When the rich get rich, what happens?--Then they want to get richer! And if they get as rich as they possibly can get, then what do they want? They want to get power! And if they get powerful, then they want to be more powerful! Until it erupts, finally, in the ultimate--war!
101. MOST OF THE WARS WERE NOT THE POOR FIGHTING THE RICH, THEY WERE THE RICH FIGHTING THE RICH, USING THE POOR! There are very few poor people in the World who really want to fight or kill or leave their farms & their families to go away & be drafted into the army. There are some bloodthirsty people in the World, but thank God they're the minority. I think most people would rather stay home with their family & have peace, etc.
102. WHY DO YOU HAVE TO GO TO WAR? Well, some of you guys who got drafted like me know why, they made you! They said, "You go to war & shoot our guns for our purposes!"--Which we didn't know what they were!--Killing people we didn't even know! I said, "Why should I want to kill the Japanese? I've got nothing against the Japs! They never hurt me, they never did anything to me!" Whew! Boy! My officers nearly exploded when I said that! I said, "I don't want to kill'm, I love'm! If anything, I want to give'm the Gospel!" Some of those officers, if they could have, would have gnashed on me with their teeth when I said that! "You're not a patriot! You're a traitor to your country! Rarararara!"
103. MOST PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO REALLY LEAVE THE SECURITY OF HOME & LOVED ONES & PEACE OR JOB, EVEN AS BAD AS THE WORLD IS! They don't want to get into something worse, which is war, & get killed or injured or suffer the Hell of Hell on Earth! War is Hell on Earth! Why do they go?--Because the rich ones make'm! Don't tell me there aren't slaves today, the poor are still slaves of the rich & rich governments who tell'm what to do & how to do it! They put a gun in your hand & send you to the front & say: "If you don't go, we'll shoot you in the back!" That's what they told us in the Army!
104. THEY USED TO READ US THE ARTICLES OF WAR EVERY WEEKEND, & THAT'S ONE OF THE RULES: "If you don't go, if you don't obey an order, if you don't take that gun & go out there & shoot somebody, kill somebody, we'll shoot you!" That's what's in the Articles of War & what they told us! Those poor soldiers go out there at the point of a gun! If they don't shoot to kill, somebody else will shoot to kill them! Kill or be killed!--Not just by the enemy, but by your supposed friends, your own country! They'll shoot you if you don't go out & fight their wars for'm! So what kind of an appeal has that got? I don't see anything out there that should appeal to our young people at all!
105. (FAMILY: ANOTHER THING IS HAVING PARENTS THAT REALLY UNDERSTAND YOU, so that even if a teenager did go astray, the parents wouldn't lose hope & throw'm out, like happened to so many of us. There was no communication.) The parents in the Family have love, understanding, communication. They can understand you much better, what makes you that way, what makes you have even perhaps some of these temporarily devilish desires or inspirations or mischievous spirits & whatnot. They have the answers, they understand. That's a good point. In a sense, that's a part of being loved, of belonging, being accepted for what you are.--To be loved.
106. I THINK ALMOST THE GREATEST DESIRE IN EVERY HUMAN HEART IS FOR LOVE & TO BE LOVED, AND WHERE CAN THEY FIND MORE OF THAT THAN IN THE FAMILY? Where can they find, first of all, more loving parents? I hope they are, they should be! Where can they find brothers & sisters more loving & understanding? Where can they find more people that are willing to lend an ear to their problems or troubles & pray with them about it & try to find the answers & the solutions? Where can they find more understanding & love than in the Family?
107. LET'S NAME'M OFF THE POINTS REAL FAST IN SUMMARY: Love! "And the greatest of these is Love!" Love & understanding. Change, Satisfaction, Recognition, Appreciation, Challenge, Fulfilment, Desire to serve & be helpful to others, the need to be Accepted or feeling of Belonging. (Maria: The need to be Needed too is somewhat similar to that.) Yes, everyone wants to be needed, accepted, a feeling of belonging, Fellowship, Companionship. A Goal!
108. MY GOODNESS, WE'VE GOT ABOUT 11 OR 12 REASONS WHY THE FAMILY WILL APPEAL MORE TO OUR YOUNG PEOPLE & OUR TEENAGERS THAN THE OUTSIDE WORLD! Can you see how the Lord is leading us along these lines? I didn't come down here to give you a speech, but the Lord is wanting to talk to our teenagers & to tell them these things they need to know, to remind them that they're not going to find anything better out there. That's not where it's at, it's all right here! We've got it all! There's nothing they have out there better or more than what we've got. In fact, the World can't even hold a candle to it! Nothing!
109. THE WORLD CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO HAVE WHAT WE'VE GOT TO OFFER, what the Lord has to offer, what the Spirit has to offer, what the Bible has to offer, what the Letters have to offer! We've got everything! The Lord has just poured it on, heaped it on! Looking out there, ugh! It makes you want to spit by comparison! Do you think if our teenagers take a good look at the rest of the World they'll want to go? (Family: No!) Well, they might want a change, they might want to go live with Uncle So-&-so or Aunt Somebody instead of living with Mom & Dad all the time. Well, that's natural, but I think it will be within the Family.
110. WATCH OUT, THOUGH, IF THEY WANT TO GO HOME TO GRANDMA & GRANDPA just to get a new bicycle or to be able to go to the movies all the time or sit & watch television all the time or have a lot of money to spend on drugs or something like that. Well, I'd consider them a real genuine backslider who's not Family at heart at all, a real reprobate. If that sort of thing appeals to them more, the luxuries & the pleasures & the supposed security of back home in the System with relatives who spoil them, what are they doing in the Family?--And the relatives will spoil'm, of course, they'll give'm anything, do anything for'm to get'm out of the Family, if they're as demonic & devilish as so many are!--Give them any kind of bait, any kind of bribe or reward to entice & tempt them away.
111. WELL, HAVING NOT HAD ANY, THEY DON'T KNOW WHETHER IT WILL APPEAL TO THEM OR NOT. Like Ho said when I started to give him some food he'd never had before: "I know I don't like it, Daddy, I never had any!" Well, they may feel just the other way around: "How do I know I don't like it? I never had any!" Well, just let'm get a taste! Let'm go ahead & go home & that'll cure'm! If they've got the real thing & really got the Lord, that'll cure'm!
112. HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE BEEN A BACKSLIDER SOMETIME? I was! Everybody's been a backslider in their heart at least sometime, looked back or wanted to go home or something. But how many got cured by backsliding? Not very many. Maybe you didn't leave the Family, but who knows? Well, it always seemed I had to learn things the hard way & I really had to backslide in the worst kind of a way! High school was the law, I had to go. Army was the law, I had to go, but let me tell you, it sure cured me! I can't think of anything worse than the U.S. Army! I never wanted any of it again.
113. IF I EVER CAME CLOSE TO ANYTHING THAT WAS A TEMPTATION TO WHAT I MIGHT HAVE BRANDED AS BACKSLIDING, IT WAS TO GO BACK TO COLLEGE. I even went one time after everything else & I signed up at UCLA. I had all the credits, the qualifications, everything accepted & I was starting at UCLA. You know how long I lasted in classes at UCLA?--One day! Then I signed up at Westmont College thinking, "Well, here's a good Bible College, I can go to Westmont! My Dad's the Controller & everything's set, here we live & why not?" You know how long I lasted in Westmont?--Exactly one week!
114. LISTEN, BROTHER, I HAVE BEEN THROUGH AT LEAST SEVEN DIFFERENT COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES--IN THE FRONT DOOR & RIGHT OUT THE BACK DOOR!--Ha! I got satisfied in a hurry! I've lost track of how many Bible Schools I went to. I got so fed up with those things I usually wouldn't be there more than a few days! I made one trip all the way up to Seattle, Washington to go to the Alliance School up there, the only one they had in the whole West, & I literally went in the front door & out the back door! I couldn't even stand to stay there overnight, the atmosphere was so dead! It was so out of the will of God I could not stand it!!
115. THERE WAS ALL MY STUFF STACKED ON THE PORCH OF THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE, A TON OF SLIDES & EVERYTHING I HAD! I thought, "My God, what can I do? How can I go back now?" I signed into my room, went to the dormitory, looked at that place & I thought, "My Lord, they expect me to stay here for the next four years?" I was used to the battlefront, the fight, the battle! I was already in the thick of it!--Why sit around in that cold refrigerator on ice for the next four years?
116. I TOOK ONE LOOK AT IT, I ATE ONE MEAL WITH'M & I WENT OUT & CAUGHT THE NEXT GREYHOUND BUS HOME! I told the express company just to go there & pick up my stuff & send it back, when they'd just delivered it! I didn't stay one night! One good dose, just the sight of it, just to give me the atmosphere of it, the feel of it was enough! It was just like the old lady who said: "I may not know when it am, but I sho knows when it ain't!"
117. SO I THINK THAT OUGHT TO CURE ANY OF OUR KIDS! IF THEY DON'T KNOW WHERE IT AM, THEY'LL SURE FIND OUT WHERE IT AIN'T, & IN A HURRY! If they go back with any of those ungodly rich relatives that offer them everything to backslide, just wait'll they try it. Like that old coloured boy said to the German in the army, it's a horrible story, one of those sick jokes! Remember? The German had him finally with a bayonet & said, "Now I've got you!" And the coloured boy, who'd been fighting with a razor, said, "Yeah? Just wait'll you shakes your head!" So just wait'll they try it! They'll find out that's not where it's at. Let's hope they don't lose their head!
118. SOME PEOPLE HAVE GONE BACK LIKE POOR ESAU & MISSED THE BOAT, missed the golden opportunity, missed not only the blessing but the birthright, missed the whole thing! And even though later he repented & sought it carefully with tears, it was too late, it was gone forever. Some backsliders have gone back & missed the boat entirely & never had a chance to repent or return, because as far as God was concerned they were not worthy. "He that having put his hand to the plough & even looking back is not worthy!" (Lk.9:62)
119. WELL, I LOOKED BACK, I EVEN WENT BACK! I wasn't worthy, but at least I repented, so there's hope even for the backslider, thank God! The benefits of backsliding! But there are some people who have gone back & they never could make it back again! They missed it entirely & never made it again. It was too late! They missed the boat, the Revolution has passed them by, the Family has passed them by. They're so far behind & such old bottles, they don't even know which end is up! They're probably bottoms-up & dry as a bone!--Old bottles, did you get the simile? Sometimes maybe you don't always follow exactly where I'm at!
120. YOU GUYS SEARCHED & YOU LOOKED & YOU TRIED EVERYTHING, YOU WERE OUT THERE, YOU WERE IN IT, YOU OUGHT TO KNOW! WHAT WOULD YOU TELL OUR TEENAGERS TODAY? What would you recommend to the teenagers of the Family? (Family: It didn't work for me & I looked for a long time.) (Family: It's Hell on Earth compared to the Family!) (Family: Nothing better than the Family!) (Family: Don't waste your time!) (Family: Don't bother to try it!) (Family: It's all here, there's nothing better than the Family!) (Family: It's awful!) (Family: You can try every game in the book, but there's nothing better than the Family!) (Family: I have everything, so I don't have to look for anything.) (Family: I've tried everything, & nothing's better than the Family!) (Maria: This is the best, I'd tell them what you just told them!)
121. LET IT BE ESTABLISHED BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES! (Mt.18:16) We've got the witnesses, we've got the testimony, here you are, Teenagers! Here's the testimony of the young folks who were out in it, the hippies, drug addicts, vice addicts, even criminals of yesterday! Did it satisfy? (Family: NO!) Did you find happiness there? (NO!) Is that where the answers are? (NO!) Did you find any goal? (NO!) Salvation? (NO!) Satisfaction? (NO!) Maybe you found a challenge, how to escape the cops or something like that! Maybe you even found a feeling of belonging & acceptance amongst other horrible creatures of the same kind!--Ha! I can't say that the World has none of that at all, there's a certain amount of comraderie amongst thieves & whatnot! But is it anything like the Family? (NO!)
122. HONESTLY NOW, I WANT YOU TO TELL THESE TEENAGERS! WHAT WOULD YOU ADVISE THEM? To go out & try it? (NO!) Is that where it's at? (NO!) Wouldn't you advise'm to stay in the Family, find your goals & everything in the Family?--Your satisfaction, your recognition, your acceptance, your changes, your thrills, your kicks, the works, in the Family, amen? In the Lord! In His Word. It's got all the answers, TTL! We've got everything! TYJ! Praise God? (HAL!)
123. WHAT CAN WE MORE SAY? PTL? IS THAT ENOUGH GOOD ADVICE TO OUR TEENAGERS? Well, teenagers, I'm looking around here & we've got samples of folks who used to be teenagers. When you were a teenager, if you'd found something like the Family, would you have joined it? (Family: Oh, yes!) In fact that's what you did! How many of you were teenagers when you joined the Family? Look at that, how about that!--Only three folks here, besides me, that were not teenagers when they joined the Family!
124. YOU WERE A TEENAGER, & YOU JOINED THE FAMILY! MY GOD, WHY?--'Cause you were out there all your lives & you know what it's like. So what would you advise them to do? (Family: Join the Family!) Praise God! In fact, if you're born in it, never leave! There's nothing better than the Family, praise God!
125. TECHI REMEMBERED THAT SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO FINISH THIS FOR DADDY! Triangles! Oh my, I was reading in my diary all about how I studied geometry in high school! When I look back now & realise the stuff I studied & how hard it was, I'll bet you the high schools that I went to in that day were the equivalent of the colleges of today! Really! At least the way I took it, seriously, & really studied & learned! I'll bet I learned more in high school than most kids learn in college today! That's what I used to say about Coreen Linger: "My God, if she could get a B.A. degree, anybody could!" She didn't know as much about things as I did!
126. OK, LET'S PRAY, SHALL WE? TYJ! Amen! PTL! ([EDITED: "Fam:"] Thank You Jesus for a good day, & help us to have a good night & sleep well [DELETED] in Jesus' name.) Amen! [DELETED] So shall we pray the prayer that the Lord led us to pray? (Prays the Lord's Prayer, Ps.19:14 & "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.") In Jesus' name, bless & keep us & give us a good night's sleep & thank You Lord for everything, in Jesus' name! TYL! ILY! GBY!--OK, Teenagers? What about it? Where's it at? Where are you?
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
