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WHAT TO DO IN A ROBBERY! DO 2244 1/87
1. TODAY WHAT I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT IS SOMETHING WHICH COULD BE A POTENTIALLY SERIOUS PROBLEM! It hasn't happened yet, thank the Lord, & like Mark Twain said, "I'm an old man, I've had many troubles, most of which never happen!"--But it has happened to somebody in the Family, so I need to talk to you about it, & I'm sure the Lord allowed it to happen in order that all the rest of the Family might be prepared for a similar incident.
2. WHAT I HAVE TO TELL YOU IS VERY VERY IMPORTANT, SO I SUGGEST WE HAVE A LITTLE SONG OF PRAISE FOR THE LORD! "Come into His gates with thanksgiving & into His courts with praise" (Psa.100:4), & then have a little prayer with the Lord. Praying is not just to the Lord. Too many people pray, "Hear, Lord, Thy servant speaketh!" When they should say, like Samuel, "Speak, Lord, Thy servant heareth!" (1Samuel 3:10) So let's sing & pray!
3. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SING? IT'S GOTTA BE A PRAISE SONG!--And I love songs about Jesus, don't you? (Fam: How about "Every Day with Jesus"?) PTL! Why don't you start it, that gives you some practice! (Dad leads the Family in a medley of songs: "Every Day with Jesus Is Better Than the Day Before!", "I Love Him Better Every Day!", "Be a Blessing to Someone Today!") My Daddy was the one that first put those songs together! So many church people were just singing about "Get a blessing" & "I want to be blessed" & "Bless me, Lord" etc., which is all right, but not too many church people pray & sing about being a blessing! If you go through the hymnbook, I used to be amazed how few songs there were on service! I don't mean church services, but I mean real service for the Lord!
CHURCH SERVICES AND OFFERINGS!
4. THEY CALL THEM CHURCH SERVICES, but I used to tell people in church, "This is not a church service, this is not your service to the Lord, this is your pleasure, your enjoyment of fellowship & being fed spiritually & inspired! This is a pleasure!" And most church people know it too, they know it's a pleasure & they just enjoy it & sit there & that's it!
5. BUT OF COURSE FOR SOME PEOPLE, GOING TO CHURCH REALLY IS A SACRIFICE, they really hate to sit there through those boring sermons, & I don't much blame'm! But it's not exactly the kind of sacrifice the Lord wants. But a lot of them think that's their service to God, that's their sacrifice, that's their offering.--Especially the more they put in the offering, then they feel real righteous, feel real good! They've really done God a big favour this morning! They not only came to church & suffered the service, but they sacrificed by giving $5 instead of $1! When I was younger, that was a fairly good acceptable average gift, one Dollar in the plate, although a lot of people got by with change. Of course that was when Dollars were worth a lot more! But $5, oh my, that made them feel real good because that was above the average!
6. --LIKE THE OLD JOKE ABOUT THE COLOURED PORTER & THE ENGLISHMAN! Number 37! (Family laughs!) When on the train the Englishman asked the old coloured porter what was the average tip, & the dear Black boy saw his opportunity & said, "Oh, five dollahs, boss, five dollahs!" Well, I understand that's about it nowadays! But it used to be you were doing well to give'm 50 cents. 25 was the minimum, 50 cents was fair, one Dollar was a lot of money! It was worth about $10 then. What $10 would buy today you could buy for a Dollar then! So he saw his chance & said, "Oh, five dollahs, boss, five dollahs!" And the Englishman kind of slowly pulled it out of his wallet & handed it over to him somewhat reluctantly. He said, "Isn't that a rather high average?" "Well," he said, "Ah tells you da truth, boss, you's da first one what's come up to the average!" (Family laughs!) I just can't resist telling you those jokes! I love to see you laugh & be happy!
7. SO ONE DOLLAR WAS AN AVERAGE CHURCH OFFERING, you could get by with that without the dear usher who was passing the waste basket frowning at you! Under a Dollar he might scowl a little. Oh yes, they always check what you put in! They can tell you who the good givers are & who the bad givers are! When the giver would hide it like this, you knew it was only a coin, you didn't have to see it to tell that.--Or when they'd try to stick it way down in the bag like that! Of course, the ushers don't usually let you stick your hand in the bag, they're afraid you'd come out with more than you put in!
8. THE OFFERING PLATES LOOKED LIKE SPITTOONS & I SPIT IN ONE ONCE WHEN I WAS A LITTLE BOY! My Uncle, Enoch Trollinger, was quite a worldly guy, he owned a theatre & a dance studio & he smoked & he chewed tobacco & he had a big brass spittoon, a beautiful thing, always there in the room. He'd gotten saved but he hadn't quite gotten dedicated yet, you know? So we were sitting there in this formal church where they were passing the plate--his church, by the way, I think it was--& my Mother heard me clearing my throat, ahem, ahem, ahem!--And she looked at me like, "What's the matter with you?" And just about that time the nice big beautiful brass plate arrived, & patooey! I spit right in it!
9. THAT WAS MY FIRST REACTION TO CHURCH OFFERINGS, & I STILL FEEL ABOUT THE SAME WAY! That's why I call'm the waste basket, because most of it is wasted on buildings & preachers that are hired just to tickle their ears. What some of them need is somebody to tickle their rears & get them off those benches & out serving the Lord! The way I would tickle'm is like that! (Dad kicks foot!) I almost lost my shoe then, it would've hit you right in the eye! Because they waste so much of that money on things that are not necessary. Well, all of that to tell you how to sing songs!
PRAYER LESSONS!
10. NOW THOSE ARE NICE SONGS ABOUT JESUS, BUT I WAS ALSO AMAZED HOW FEW SONGS IN THE HYMNBOOKS WERE PRAYERS TO THE LORD, REALLY DIRECTLY ADDRESSED TO THE LORD! See, I'm teaching you a few things as we go along. You can go to church any time & just sit there & do nothing & learn nothing maybe, but I'm trying to explain to you how to have a meeting! It doesn't matter if it's just two people or three people, the Lord is there, but He gives a lot of instruction in His Word that you should come into His presence with thanksgiving & enter His courts with praise! Come in to thank & praise the Lord! (Psa.100:4)
11. AND THEN AFTER YOU'VE THANKED THE LORD FOR ALL HE HAS DONE FOR YOU, THEN WHAT DO YOU DO?--(Fam: Pray!)--Yes! After you've thanked Him for what you've already got, then you can always pray for what you haven't got. Actually, prayer is not just a one-way street where you're just asking the Lord for things, but it's communion with the Lord, directly conversing with the Lord. You can't have a conversation by yourself! A lot of people have a conversation with the Lord & it's a one-way street, a one-way conversation. They tell the Lord everything they want & talk to Him & they never give Him time to say a word, never give Him time to say anything!--Except they hope He'll say yes, okay. They wait maybe for that at the very end. After they've given Him their long Christmas list, they then hope that He okays it!
12. WHEREAS ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS YOU SHOULD DO IN PRAYER IS JUST PRAISE THE LORD, THINK ABOUT THE LORD, EVEN VISUALISE HIM IF YOU CAN! It's good to do that, to shut your eyes. You don't have to shut your eyes to pray, you don't even have to bow your head, but it helps. To shut your eyes closes out everything else that's distracting & opens the inner eyes of your mind & heart & you can think of Jesus. I think most of us when we're praying to the Lord & we shut our eyes, we think about the Lord & we get a mental image or a picture of the Lord.--Or do you? Or are you thinking about what you look like to others when you pray, or thinking all the time about something else, "I've got to take care of that thing in the kitchen or outdoors", & you're distracted?
13. IT'S ONE THING TO SHUT YOUR EYES & SHUT OUT THE VISIBLE, IT'S ANOTHER THING TO TRY TO CLOSE YOUR MIND TO OTHER THINGS & DISTRACTING THOUGHTS which the Enemy will try to give you. That's why He says, "Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed"--or glued--"on Thee!" (Isa.26:3) You're thinking about the Lord!
14. YOU CAN'T THINK OF TOO MANY THINGS AT ONCE, & psychologists tell us that you can only have one thing at the absolute focal point or center of your concentration. There may be a few peripheral things--that's just a big word that these college people cook up, meaning things around the fringes, around the focal point. I can look straight at the person sitting right in front of me & still see everybody else at the same time, but I can't see them as clearly as the focal point of my vision.
15. MY STUDENTS IN SCHOOL USED TO THINK I HAD EYES IN THE SIDE OF MY HEAD, BECAUSE I HAVE 180 DEGREE VISION! A lot of people have tunnel vision, they can only see what's right in front of them. I can see you way off to the side, & I can also notice any movement or anything like that. I can't always exactly read the face of a clock, but I can if it's big enough. Thank the Lord, He's given me broad vision & He's given me distant vision. Thank the Lord I'm far-sighted. It's good to be far-sighted--except when you're trying to read something close up! My eyes are just as good at a distance as they ever were. They're just as good from the front row on as ever, the only trouble is they're not quite as good just beyond the tips of my fingers here, & as I often say, I got my first glasses when my arm wasn't long enough! I couldn't hold the newspaper far enough away to read it, so then I had to get glasses!
16. AS YOU GET OLDER YOUR EYES DO THAT, THE LENS HARDENS IN A MORE RELAXED STATE & USUALLY YOUR VISION GROWS MORE DISTANT. So you guys who are near-sighted can look forward to having a little bit further sight as you grow older. Of course you guys won't have a chance to get older, the Lord is going to come & solve all those problems! But it might do you some good right now, I don't know!
17. ANYWAY, PRAYER! YOU NEED TO CONCENTRATE ON THE LORD! I came here to talk to you about something else, but I'm always getting off into something probably that the Lord knows you need as well! So when we pray it's good to close our eyes. You don't have to bow your head, in fact I'm probably more apt to raise my head & think of the Lord Up There! He's not down at my feet, He's Up There! Of course He's right here, we have a bit of Him in our hearts by His Spirit, but in the Bible it speaks more of the Lord as being in the Heavens & Up Above, in order that you might realise that He's higher than you are, bigger than you are, greater than you are, more powerful than you are, high above these mundane things in many ways, & you need to look up! The Scripture often talks about us looking up. So especially in praising the Lord, I always feel like looking up, even if my eyes are shut. (Psa.5:3)
18. SO CONCENTRATE ON THE LORD! I think last time I even talked to you about praying the Lord's Prayer. You can rattle that thing off without a thought about the Lord! You can be thinking about what's cooking in the kitchen! You can rattle off the Lord's Prayer, & I presume some of you can still rattle off the Rosary, while you're thinking about something else. It's a fact! You can even quote a verse of Scripture that you know real well, like maybe the 23rd Psalm, while you're thinking about, "Well, as soon as I get through with this I can go out & play!"
19. SO IT'S QUITE A FEAT TO REALLY CONCENTRATE, & when you pray the Lord's Prayer or a familiar prayer or even any prayer, or sing a song, that you really sing it to the Lord, you really pray it to the Lord, you have your mind stayed on Him while you're praying & you're thinking about the Lord. PTL!
20. (DOORBELL RINGS:) NOW YOU BOYS REMEMBER SOME OF THESE THINGS I CAUTIONED YOU ABOUT WHEN YOU GO TO ANSWER THE DOOR! Security is one thing I've come to talk to you about today, but we have to put the Lord first & talk about Him & how to praise the Lord, how to pray, because that's the first thing to do in a matter of security, is to praise & thank the Lord for how He has kept us safely, but also to pray that He will continue to keep us safely! The Lord loves us, & we love the Lord, but He likes to have you constantly manifest the fact & keep telling Him you love Him!
WATCH OUT FOR "QUICK CHANGE ARTISTS"!
21. (BOYS COME BACK FROM ANSWERING THE DOOR & PAYING FOR SOMETHING.) PTL! That's not bad! They don't usually need a gun for that!--Although in some places we've lived they almost did! Like that story about Raymond Richey's manager. We had a big dinner in this restaurant, & this little squirt, he was only about so high, but he was a fireball, whew, & he had a little temper! And when he got that bill for that dinner he went up to the cashier & he said, "Look at this, lady! You need a gun! Why don't you get a gun? This is highway robbery!"--The bill was so high!
22. YOU'VE GOTTA WATCH OUT ABOUT GETTING CHEATED IN BIG CITIES! And of course, in Third World countries, they're so poor they'll cheat you anywhere if they can. They're desperate for money, they're not paid enough, a lot of times the prices aren't high enough to really pay for the work like they should, so they try to squeeze a little extra out here or there, read the price wrong. But they are artists at it in New York City & some of those big cities!
23. I REMEMBER WHAT THEY USED TO CALL THE "QUICK CHANGE ARTISTS"! I went up to a theatre booth one time in New York & gave the lady a 20-Dollar-bill, & she gave me back $5 & some change. I said, "Wait a minute, lady, I gave you a 20-Dollar-bill & you only gave me change for a 10! Come on, fork it over!" Well, thank God this was one lady who didn't want any trouble. Sometimes they'll argue with you about it. Maybe it was the look in my eye that scared her, I don't know, but she said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't notice", or something. She knew what she was doing, she just probably found a lot of country suckers that didn't know any better & would take it & forget it! Because some of them will argue with you & swear up & down they know how much you gave & you have to make a big stir to get it back, call the manager & call the cops & everything else! So you've gotta be careful about these quick change artists & cheaters. In a lot of poor countries because they're so poor, they've got to make it any way they can, & if you're dumb enough to be a sucker & let yourself be cheated, well, that's your fault!
24. I LIKE TO GIVE MONEY AWAY--BUT I DON'T LIKE ANYBODY TO STEAL OR ROB ME OR CHEAT ME! I'd rather just give it! If they need it, I'll give it! That's the difference between Christian Communism & the Russian kind. They put the gun to your head & say, "I want to share your wealth!" We say, "Here it is, I want to share it with you in love!" The Communists say, "What's yours is mine & I'm going to take it away from you!" The Christian says, "What's mine is yours & I'm going to give it to you!" But you can't always necessarily do that, & that's another thing I came to talk to you about today!
"YIELDED, WAITING & STILL!"
25. WELL, WE NEVER SANG OUR PRAYER YET, HOW ABOUT SINGING A PRAYER? Can you think of a prayer song, a song that is a prayer directly to the Lord? (Fam: "Make Me a Blessing!") That's a good song, very good! Let's pray it straight to the Lord! And it's about service too, which is very rare in hymns. Do you want to lead us, Son? (Family sings:)
"Make me a blessing, make me a blessing,
Out of my life, let Jesus shine!
Make me a blessing, O Saviour, I pray Thee My Saviour!
Make me a blessing to someone today!"
26. YOU'RE ONE OF THE FIRST ONES I EVER HEARD PITCH THAT RIGHT! Most people don't pitch it that high because they can't sing that high! But you've gotta put some umph into it when you've gotta sing high! I notice most people pitch things too low, & especially for children. Children have high voices & they can sing better at high registers. But I notice even when teaching children, people will put it down in their range about two steps lower than the key it should be sung in. GBY, Son! Maybe you used to be a singer or something, I don't know. He sure is an awful good cook! PTL!--A good helper in every way, GBH! Sweet spirit!
27. WELL, EVEN ONE PLACE IN THAT IT ALMOST SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE SINGING ABOUT THE LORD INSTEAD OF TO THE LORD. Can anybody think of another prayer song? (Fam: "Have Thine Own Way".) That's a beautiful one! Of course, we oldtimers, church people like me & Mama & a few of you, know all of these songs. Of course, the Catholics are church people too, but you sing a whole different set of songs. We who were formerly Protestants & went to church, we have a whole hymnal liturgy that maybe some of you don't know, but we have tried to teach you to sing a few hymns. We don't want you to get to Heaven & feel like a stranger amongst some of those church people! Frankly, I think most of the church people are going to feel like strangers to the vast majority of people who are There who they didn't even think were going to get saved!
28. BUT THAT'S A GOOD ONE, "HAVE THINE OWN WAY, LORD!" Shall we sing it? And then maybe I'll be satisfied to go ahead & tell you what you came for. PTL! (Family sings:)
"Have Thine Own way, Lord,
Have Thine Own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay!
Mold me & make me after Thy Will!
While I am waiting, yielded & still!"
--PTL! TYJ! What a difference! TYL! PTL! Hallelujah! Do you mean it? TYL! PTL! Are you thinking about it? Sing it again! (Family sings it again) PTL! Hallelujah! Amen, Lord! TYJ!
29. YOU SAY, "I'D HAVE SUNG IT, DAD, IF YOU HADN'T PITCHED IT SO HIGH!" That's not why you couldn't sing that high, you just didn't put enough "umph" in it! If you yell loud enough, you can hit those notes! You just have to put a lot of "umph" behind it, that's all! Some of you peter out on those high notes & you try to go to falsetto instead to try to make it. You need to really put some "umph" into it & mean it! Now come on! I pitched it at least a whole tone higher in order to make sure that you can really sing it right, so try to get it up there! OK? I've gotta teach you a singing lesson at the same time! I get distracted by so many things you need to know while we go along! Why don't you put your hands up & sing it! Hallelujah!
30. (TONGUES) HALLELUJAH! TYL! TYL! "HEAR THOU THE VOICE OF THY FATHER THAT GIVES THEE THE WARNINGS OF DAVID THAT THOU SHOULD HEED THE WORD OF THE LORD!" Hallelujah! TYL! TYJ! PTL! (Sings:) "Have Thine Own way, Lord, have Thine Own way!"--Put your hands up! "Thou art the Potter, I am the clay! Mold me & make me, after Thy will! While I am waiting, yielded & still!" PTL! Hallelujah! TYJ! PYL! TYJ! Amen, thank You Lord, that's a beautiful song!
31. IF YOU WANT THE LORD TO HAVE HIS OWN WAY, FOR HIM TO MOLD & MAKE YOU INSTEAD OF DESIGNING YOUR OWN LIFE, YOU NEED TO REALLY BE YIELDED, WAITING ON HIM! And waiting doesn't mean you're just sitting around like the church people! This waiting means waiting on the Lord like a waiter waits on customers, serving!--Yielded, submissive to whatever God's Will is, & still. Still is both to be quiet & to be still so you can listen. Right? So you can hear the voice of the Lord! PTL! Amen?
32. I'M GOING TO HAVE TO TELL YOU A SAD STORY ABOUT SOME FOLKS WHO DIDN'T APPARENTLY WAIT ON THE LORD LIKE THEY SHOULD HAVE, & were not yielded, or they could have heard the voice of the Lord to tell them what to do! They were not still as they should have been, as far as being quiet in spirit & still in heart so they could know what to do & really shooting a prayer to the Lord about what to do, because they didn't do what they should have done! And I don't want you to do the same if you ever get caught in the same situation! I want to make sure you really pray & ask the Lord what you should say & do, & pretty soon I'm going to ask you a question: What would you do? What do you think you should do in such a case?
REAGAN'S POOR TESTIMONY!--DEMOCRACIES & DICTATORSHIPS!
33. I WORKED FOR SOME TIME IN THE OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY. Actually, it was known as the office of the Judge, for whom the District Attorney worked. The judges in the World system are virtually all-supreme. A judge has more power than the governor of a state or the mayor of a city! He can even judge mayors & councilmen & governors, even presidents!--And it looks like one's about to get judged right now for some of his play-acting & some of his deceits in the U.S.A., sorry to say.--Reagan!
34. TOO BAD A MAN WHO HAS SUCH HIGH IDEALS & PROFESSES TO BE A BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN, a man of God, & gives such a wonderful testimony & is usually for all the right things--he's against abortion & he's for prayer & Bible in the schools & he's backed all these lost causes because the Jews have beat him to it, & he's given such a shining example of what the Christian should be like & what he should be for--too bad he then turns around & does deceitful, illegal things, even underhanded, & then when he's exposed, denies it up & down!--And even disowns the people that he got to do it, fires'm!
35. THAT'S A PITIFUL TESTIMONY! That discounts & discredits all of the good things he has done & all the good things that he is, by his doing deceitful things like that, trying to deceive the public, trying to do things underhanded & illegally, hoping that they won't get caught, but they did!
36. HE'S A GOOD ACTOR! I think his image of the President is one of the best that the U.S. has ever had. He plays the part well, beautifully! You know?--Always cheerful! It wouldn't matter if he came out of that hospital half-dead & they'd taken a big cancer out of him, he'd still come out smiling, "I'm fine! Everything's fine!"--& the doctors would deny it & all of his party men would deny it because they don't want to scare you that maybe he's going to drop dead soon! It's all a big play act, most of that sort of thing anyhow, that political office.
37. I USED TO SAY, "I DON'T THINK A GOOD MAN COULD POSSIBLY BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES! I think it's almost impossible to be a Christian & be a politician!" Because to be popular enough, to get a majority vote, you've gotta be wrong, because the majority are always wrong! God's Word says so! He said, "Straight is the gate & narrow is the way that leadeth to Life Eternal & few there be that find it! But wide is the gate & broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction, & many there be that go in thereat!" (Mat.7:13,14) Therefore the majority of the people are always what? (Fam: Wrong!) Therefore, so-called democratic voting is the worst kind of government there is!
38. MAYBE I'M GOING TO SHOCK SOME OF YOU, BUT I THINK A DICTATORSHIP IS THE BEST FORM OF GOVERNMENT THERE IS, where the dictator runs everything, dictates all the laws, appoints all the officials, no votes, no elections. That's the most efficient, best form of government there is!--Providing that you have a good dictator who best of all is a divinely-appointed king, appointed by God Himself & a Man of God who dictates the right things!
39. A BENIGN MONARCH WAS GOD'S ORIGINAL FORM OF POLITICAL GOVERNMENT!--Well, not actually the first form, but it was the second choice after the people rejected His Prophet & were not satisfied with just a Man of God who simply heard from God & passed on God's orders. They wanted a king--big, powerful, strong, who wore armour & wielded a sword & was a good fighter! They wanted a star! They wanted an actor! They wanted somebody they could hold up before other countries & say, "Look at our king! Isn't he great? Isn't he terrific?" They wanted somebody to be proud of!--Not some humble little screwy half-crackpot Prophet running around in rags giving them strange messages & telling them strange things to do that they couldn't even understand why God would ever tell them to do things like that! They wanted a king that could be big & strong & handsome & powerful that they could brag about & that they could even brag about to their own people & to other nations!
40. SO A DICTATORSHIP IS FOLLOWING THE BEST FORM OF GOVERNMENT, but unless the dictator is perfectly righteous & good & really knows God & what's best for the country, it can be the absolute worst form of government!
SECURITY--GIVE GOD SOME COOPERATION!
41. WELL, I DIDN'T COME HERE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT PRAISE OR PRAYER OR POLITICS OR ANY OF THESE THINGS, but the reason I came to have this meeting with you is because of an emergency which could arise even here, & the worse things get in this World, the more likely it's apt to arise & might happen. I've always prayed it wouldn't happen & I've always hoped it wouldn't happen & it's never happened here, thank the Lord!
42. I HAVE BEEN VERY PRAYERFUL IN ALL MY YEARS OF TRAVEL & LIVING ALONE IN HOTELS & WHATNOT! I could have had many things stolen from me, I could have been held up many times, robbed, beaten or God knows what! But I'll tell you, I prayed like everything depended on prayer, & then I acted & I really did everything I could to be secure as though everything depended on my own security!
43. GOD WANTS YOU TO GIVE HIM SOME COOPERATION! He's not going to do it all for you! If we were just lazy & said, "Well, let God do it" & expected God to do it all, we wouldn't have walls or fences! He says, "Roll ye away the stone!" (John 11:39)--And then He did what they couldn't do, He raised the dead! Well, we haven't rolled away the stone, we put the stones there & put the fence up. Because we don't want to resurrect this kind of thing, we want to kill it or stop it! We don't really want to kill anybody & I hope we never have to! Sometimes I've said I think I have got the anger & the righteous indignation that if I had to I think I could, but I never have yet, TTL! But I can sure kill other pests & other nuisances like flies, ants etc.!
44. SO I HOPE IT NEVER HAPPENS TO YOU--IT'S NEVER HAPPENED TO ME!--Even in all my 12 years of travel on the road, staying in hotels & sometimes sleazy ones, because I couldn't afford the better ones. I tried my best to be conservative & economical so it didn't cost Fred & the Lord's people too much money, so I usually stayed in 3rd & 4th class hotels, in which I was always constantly on my guard. In fact, I usually asked for a room without bath, so I'd go to the older hotels, which were the only places that had them. The older hotels had community baths, but all the fancy new hotels have private baths, a bath in your room.
45. BESIDES, I DIDN'T NEED TO TAKE A BATH MOST OF THE TIME! I had been taught all my life that you only needed to take a bath once a week! So the secret was to stay clean so you didn't have to take a bath! The way I found some of these Americans were trained, they not only have to take a bath 2 or 3 times a day, they've got to use 2 or 3 towels every day & expect to throw them in the wash after one use & for you to go wash'm! Boy, I cured that real quick in our first schools! Now you only get one towel washed a week, & you don't even get two sheets a week, just one sheet washed a week. In case you don't know it, you'd better find out! Just take your top sheet, put it on the bottom, then you get one clean sheet for the top!
KINDS OF CRIME!--CAPITAL CRIME & FELONIES!
46. WELL, THERE'S JUST ONE THING THAT MAYBE WE HAVEN'T TAUGHT YOU ENOUGH ABOUT, & maybe that's why this incident happened, as a warning to all of us to be more security-conscious, particularly people that go to the door or gate!
47. WHEN I WORKED FOR THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY THERE WERE SEVERAL KINDS OF CRIME.--In fact, I never realised there were so many crimes! But I was a file clerk, I didn't go out blasting people or anything. They were going to have me start delivering summonses, which is a pretty dangerous business. The guy that had done it before me had just quit, nearly got shot, so I decided it was about time for me to quit! That was one way the Lord encouraged me to "abide in the calling wherein I was called". (1Cor. 7:20)
48. NEARLY OUR ENTIRE WESTERN SYSTEM OF LAWS ARE BASED ON ROMAN LAWS, & they're a fairly good system of laws based on the Mosaic Law--only I wish it was more Mosaic! We'd have a lot less crime if they killed you for 26 different reasons, don't you think? If there were 26 different crimes for which you could be killed, & in the most agonising kind of death, stoned to death, somehow, for some reason, I believe crime would really drop off!--If they stoned you to death for 26 different reasons, such as spitting in the face of your father & mother, or even slapping them, or even cursing them! Of course, they must have had pretty good parents then--I don't blame some of you for cursing yours, they need it! But the parents must have been fairly good, or at least some good, at least trying to keep the law. But it was considered very insulting, dishonouring, & that any child who cursed his parents must be a bad child, & if not already wicked, he was going to be, & would probably turn out to be a criminal! Which is the facts!
49. I'M GOING TO SAY SOMETHING THAT'S EVEN MORE SHOCKING, but if you've read your Bible you know it's true--God even believed in killing the children of the wicked, because He knew they were going to be just like their parents, & that's the way it's getting today!
50. YOU SAY, "THE REASON YOU WANDER AROUND SO, DAD, IS YOU DON'T USE ANY NOTES, YOU DON'T STICK TO THE SUBJECT!" Well, you'd have a lot less fun then, & you'd learn a lot less! You might know a whole lot about one subject, but I'm in a hurry & I'd rather have you know a little bit about everything than a whole lot about one thing!
51. SO THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF CRIME--WELL, ACTUALLY THERE ARE THREE KINDS. They call some capital crimes, that means crimes for which you can die or be executed, usually murder & things like that. Of course, they've even done away with that now in a lot of places. Then there's a felony, the next most serious type of crime, in which you don't kill'm, but you do someone bodily harm or injury; or you steal something very valuable. In my State, anything over a thousand Dollar's worth was a felony. They have all these same things based on Roman law in nearly all countries.
52. A FELONY IS ALSO A THREAT OF BODILY HARM, if you are even threatening to do someone bodily harm. Whether it's with your fist or your foot or a knife or a dagger or a gun or a club or whatever it is, that's a very serious felony & people can go to jail for years for it, just threatening to do it! Then if they actually do it, it's even worse, & they go to jail for more years. Even threatening with a gun is a serious felony. In fact, that sort of thing is a threat with intent to kill--the potential, the possibility, that they really could have killed you, they threatened to kill you if you didn't do thus & so.
53. THANK GOD, THAT'S NEVER HAPPENED TO ME OR TO US, most of us, thank the Lord, & it never happened to any of the homes I've lived in. My Mother did get threatened quite often & sometimes she got bodily harmed. They threatened to shoot her, threatened to kill her, but thank God they never did! They almost killed her once but most of the time it didn't happen.
54. BUT WE DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT! WE HAD GUARDS PATROLLING THE GROUNDS 24 HOURS A DAY, or at least the police did. I can remember at 6 years old hearing that guard tramp by in the night, because that gang was after us & wanted to kill us, because we had done something to offend them. My Mother hadn't intended to, but she simply took this girl from the judge, this minor, under-age teenager, because the judge had taken her away from this criminal, you've heard the story. (See "Tom the Gangster!", FC Komix Vol.2, pg.127, FN29) She was what they used to call his "gun moll", she carried a gun & helped case the joints. It hasn't got anything to do with your knee joints, "case the joint" means to go in & look around the bank first to see what the situation is & how you could rob it, & help make the maps & help pull off the robberies! She was only 15 years old!
55. DID YOU KNOW THAT MOST OF THE CRIMINALS WHO COMMIT SERIOUS CRIMES ARE IN THEIR TEENS OR EARLY 20'S? People don't fear death as much as when they get older. As you grow older you value life a little more & you think about age & you think about life getting shorter & you value it a little more & you're not quite as willing to risk it. But when I was a kid, I risked my life over & over & over again doing crazy stunts & crazy things that nobody else would do, just because nobody else would do it. They dared me to do it & so I'd do it! Maybe the Lord dared me to start the Family! They used to call them daredevils, these stuntmen & these people who do these crazy stunts.
56. I WOULD ALWAYS DO THINGS THAT ALL THE BIG TOUGH GUYS WERE EVEN AFRAID TO DO! That's about the only thing I could do, because I wasn't as big & tough & strong as they were. I couldn't beat'm up or anything, but I could outrun'm! "He that fights & runs away lives to fight again another day!"--Ha! Sometimes discretion is the better part of valour. You can look up those words later, okay? Because I've got to tell you, God helping me, what I called you here for, & what you need to know!
57. WELL, THAT SORT OF FITS WHAT I HAVE TO TELL YOU TOO! IF YOU SEE YOU CAN'T WIN, IT'S BETTER TO RUN! If you see you can't resist, it's better to yield. We've even told you girls that about rape--if you want to live, let'm do it! (See "Rape!"--No.528) After all, in our Family, we believe in even winning them to the Lord that way, right? Don't let'm have to make you do it at the point of a gun or a knife! Say, "Don't worry, you don't have to make me do it. You don't have to take it away from me, I'm willing to give it to you!" The same goes for your money or whatever you have.
58. IN OUR WORK, ACCORDING TO OUR RELIGION, THAT EVEN INCLUDES YOUR LIFE! Right? Well, now don't give it for too cheap reasons, don't give it away too easily, it belongs to the Lord! But you don't have to go to the other extreme, either, like dear General Patton who used to tell his men, "I don't want you to die for your country--I want you to help the other God-damned bastard die for his country!"
CUSSIN'!--I JUST PICKED IT UP!
59. IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY LANGUAGE, YOU'LL HAVE TO GO TO SOME OTHER CHURCH! Like that famous preacher in Los Angeles who had a packed house in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, A. P. Gouthey, he used to curse & swear a lot when he was preaching! Two little old ladies came up one day after church, they'd been there for the first time & they were shocked, horrified that he used that kind of language! They said, "Why Dr. Gouthey, how could a man of God like you use that kind of language in the pulpit! We good Christians don't ever use that kind of language anywhere!" He said, "Is that so, sister, how about that! That's funny, though, you know, the World has heard about me, who the Hell ever heard about you!"
60. I DON'T DO IT FOR THAT REASON, I JUST DO IT BECAUSE IT COMES NATURAL, BECAUSE THAT'S THE WAY I FEEL ABOUT IT! My Father never used that kind of language, my Mother was horrified, she washed my mouth out for using some of those words that I copied from dear Enoch Trollinger, who was one of the worst guys that I ever came in close contact with. Even though he was saved, he didn't get out of those habits for a long time. So she washed my mouth out with soap! If you don't know what soap tastes like, well, you've never been a little boy who had a mother that didn't like what you were saying, or at least that wasn't her form of punishment.
61. BUT ANYHOW, I GUESS I JUST SORT OF PICKED IT UP! Like they asked the little boy how come he stuttered, "Why do you stutter & stammer like that? Did you learn to do that, do you do it on purpose or because you're nervous or why?" He said, "Well, I ddddddon't know, bbbbbbut I guess I jjjjjust pppicked it up!" That's as bad as the guy who they kept asking whatever happened to his hand--his hand was cut off or something--but he never would tell'm how it happened. Finally he said, "If I tell you, do you promise you'll never ask me again?" The guy said yes. He said, "It snapped off!" Some of you folks are so good to laugh at my jokes, not the first time, but many times! Anyhow, I just picked it up!
62. BUT SOMETIMES, IT'S LIKE THE GUY THAT DUMPED THE WHOLE WAGONFUL OF APPLES WHO WAS VERY WELL KNOWN FOR HIS CURSING, & he was sitting down there under the tree silent, couldn't say a word! And the guy said, "Why John, how come you're not rantin' & ravin' & cursin'!" He said, "I couldn't do the subject justice!" In other words, there weren't enough curse words in the book to do the subject justice! Sometimes I feel like that!
DISCOURAGE & DETER THIEVES FROM STEALING!
63. BESIDES THE CAPITAL CRIMES & FELONIES & ALL THOSE THINGS, THERE ARE ALSO WHAT ARE CALLED MISDEMEANOURS. You just missed the right demeanour, you just misbehaved, you just did something naughty, you did something you shouldn't have. It wasn't very bad, maybe you cheated a little bit, maybe you just stole something small, less than a thousand Dollars, so you just did a misdemeanour, & for that you didn't go to jail very long. Usually a misdemeanour got sentences anywhere from a few days up to one year. Punishment for felonies began at one year & went on up.
64. BUT ANYHOW, THERE ARE SERIOUS CRIMES IN THE WORLD FOR WHICH SOME PEOPLE HAVE TO BE PUNISHED IF THEY DO THEM, IF THEY GET CAUGHT. Thank God, as I say, I'm thankful in all my travels & all my life I never suffered a serious crime. I seldom even had anything stolen. --Only just don't leave anything out in your yard in Portugal at night! We did, & the next morning all the toys were gone, the wagon was gone, the clothes were gone, everything was gone!
65. WHEN PEOPLE ARE DIRT POOR THEY'LL STEAL ANYTHING IF THEY CAN! And as one of our teachers told us when we first got to school, "If you leave things out to tempt the thief to steal it, you're just almost as guilty as he is! You're the one to blame! You tempted him to steal it! You put it out & left it out where he could steal it!" She said, "Put your stuff away! Hide it or keep it in your school bag & take it with you. Don't leave anything valuable in your desk, keep it out of sight, keep it out of reach!"
66. THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO HERE ON OUR PROPERTY. Every property we have ever occupied we have spent a great deal of time making sure that the walls & the doors were secure, with security lights all night long. Thieves hate the light! They love darkness because their deeds are evil! (John 3:19) The darkness hides them & they can sneak around in darkness & get closer in darkness, climb walls & fences in darkness!
67. WE HAVE THE WALLS & FENCES UP TO DISCOURAGE THEM--NOT TO MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE. I mean, anybody that really wants to get in, they can get in! But the walls & fences etc. are to deter them or discourage them from trying, to make it so difficult they'll decide, "Well, it just isn't worth the trouble to climb this wall. Besides, they've got lights shining all night long & all that fencing, they must be on their guard! They must be guarding the place & ready for trouble, & even if I make it in, I might get a bad reception!"
68. SOME OF YOU CAN REMEMBER HOW WE HAVE WORKED HARD, HOURS & DAYS, ON SOME OF THE PLACES WE WERE IN AS WE MOVED HERE & THERE, & we've left every place better-fenced, better-protected & better-locked than it was before. We don't usually leave it better lighted, we give the lights away, but fencing is usually too much trouble to take down. But we do like to leave the place in better condition. We have never occupied a home yet that we have not left in much better condition than which we found it!--Even more secure!
GUNPOINT ROBBERY AT WITNESSING HOME!--A WARNING TO US ALL!
69. APPARENTLY GOD WANTS THIS MESSAGE TO GET TO THE WHOLE WORLDWIDE FAMILY TO JERK YOU UP ON YOUR SECURITY, TO SHOW YOU THAT IT CAN HAPPEN ANYWHERE! As far as I know, up until this time, I don't think the Family has ever had a gunpoint robbery or stickup. I've heard of a few knifepoint stickups, I've heard of several snatchings where they snatched watches right off people's wrists, & pocketbooks, theft, stealing, perhaps even burglaries.
70. DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A THEFT & A BURGLARY? A theft is when they steal it & you don't find it out till later. A burglary is when they break in & steal it. Breaking & entering, "B & E" as we used to call it, is considered a much more serious crime than if they just walk in the unlocked door. In other words, it's partly the householder's fault for leaving the door unlocked so the thief didn't even have to break in!--Which is what happened in the incident I'm going to tell you about!
71. THEY NOT ONLY LEFT THE DOOR UNLOCKED, THEY OPENED THE DOOR FOR'M, & HE HAD A GUN! Afterwards, they reported it to the authorities & started tightening up their security, but the trouble is, it was a little bit late--they locked the door after the horse was gone! That's an old saying that you guys wouldn't know anything about, of course. What do you lock doors on horses for? Well, so the thieves won't steal'm out of the barn, that's why. We padlocked the door of the barn. The safest thing to do is lock up your cattle at night in the barn, lock up your chickens, padlock your chicken coops!
72. PEOPLE IN POOR COUNTRIES LIKE THE ONE WHERE THIS INCIDENT HAPPENED ARE STARVING, HUNGRY, THEY'LL DO ALMOST ANYTHING TO GET SOMETHING TO EAT, even a chicken is valuable! --Not that our Family wouldn't want to feed the poor. Even the Bible forgave people who stole because they were hungry, they received very light punishment. So if they're that hungry, maybe you just ought to let'm steal it! But allowing them to steal it is allowing them to commit a crime, & worse yet, commit a sin which they will have to suffer for. That's tempting them to steal, tempting them to commit a crime!
73. THIS GIRL TEMPTED THE GUY TO COME IN & ROB'M AT THE POINT OF A GUN BY LEAVING THE DOOR OPEN!--OR AT LEAST OPENING IT FOR HIM, BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY IT WAS NOT LOCKED! Obviously they were not in the habit of locking it in the daytime. People commit robberies not only in the nighttime, they also commit them in the daytime, especially in poor countries where they're hungry!
74. THE CORRESPONDENCE WE RECEIVED SAID THAT SHE WAS WALKING AROUND OUT IN THE YARD & THEY HADN'T SECURED THE WALL! There was a place on the other side of the wall where he could just run up a little knoll & jump into the yard!--No broken glass, no barbed wire, no nothing to keep him out, easy to get into the yard! They had never done anything to secure the place!
75. APPARENTLY THEY THOUGHT IT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN, so obviously they didn't even keep their doors locked in the daytime!--Or at least when she went out to take her little walk around the house, he saw that she just shut the door behind her.--The front door, of all things, facing the street, where there was almost no wall, nothing, where he could just jump over! After she took her little get-out she walked right back in, & obviously the door was not locked.--Either it was never locked in the daytime or she unlocked it & left it unlocked.
76. HE OBVIOUSLY WAS WATCHING HER, & when she decided she'd had enough walk & she walked back in through an unlocked door, he was right there, boom! He just leaped over the wall & got there before she shut the door, & he just pushed his way in & held her at gunpoint!
77. SO NATURALLY SHE BACKED OFF. We have taught our people not to resist, that you're apt to get hurt worse if you resist. The famous words of stickup men is, "Your money or your life!", & we think your life's a lot more valuable!--So give'm your money! Of course, you don't have to give it all, & you don't have to go around & show'm everywhere it is! Try to keep'm cornered so they don't go any further! It was a miracle of God he didn't scour the house, that he only scoured one room, but he was very nervous & scared & figured he'd better get away as fast as he could with what he got before somebody else arrived who might resist!
78. SO SHE LED HIM TO A NEARBY ROOM JUST ACROSS THE LIVING ROOM, & in it was one of our men, the finance manager of the Home, with his briefcase sitting there openly in which he had his money!--Which they said he had been told not to do, it was strictly against the rules: "Do not keep your money in your briefcase nor in this room, but be sure it's hidden & locked up somewhere where they can't find it too easily!"
"A STRONG MAN ARMED KEEPETH HIS GOODS IN PEACE!" (Luke 11:21)
79. I'VE KIND OF ALWAYS THOUGHT, "WELL LORD, YOU'VE NEVER LET IT HAPPEN BEFORE, MAYBE YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO LET IT HAPPEN!" But when a Home gets robbed at the point of a gun by an intruder, Beloved, I think it's time for us to wake up & realise that it could happen here too, & I'm sure it could have if the Lord hadn't protected us & if we hadn't been very careful & prayerful & very secure & security-conscious, mindful of security! Don't think it can only happen in poor Third World countries, people all over the World are suffering financial failure, and anyone with something to steal is fair game, no matter where they are!
80. SO I'M REALLY HERE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT SECURITY TODAY, I FINALLY GOT AROUND TO THE SUBJECT, and I'm giving you the warning about what happened to somebody else! They had no fence or wall to amount to anything--I wonder if they even had any security lights at night? We think it's more important to burn those lights at night than any others! I'm hoping they figure that if we're that watchful and we've gone to that much trouble to keep those security lights burning all night, I'm hoping they figure that we are on the lookout and we are watchful and careful and prepared for them in case they get that far!
81. BUT IF YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A FENCE THAT THEY CAN'T JUMP OVER AND YOU DON'T EVEN LOCK YOUR DOORS, YOU'RE APT TO GET SOME UNWELCOME VISITORS! If they know you're careless, they'll figure you're careless about where you keep your money too, and that man was. All the robber had to do was walk across the living room into his room and there it was sitting openly on the floor!
82. JESUS HIMSELF SAID, "A STRONG MAN ARMED KEEPETH HIS GOODS IN PEACE!" So what did Jesus mean by that? You need to be strong. To be strong is to be watchful and to be wise. Not just strong and able to beat him up or shoot him, but to be strong in spirit, strong in prayer, strong in security, strong in watchfulness!--Armed!
83. I'M SORRY TO HAVE TO TELL YOU THIS SAD STORY, and I don't want to scare any of you little children, but you know that Daddy has been very cautious about security--conscious and cautious--and we do everything we possibly can to protect ourselves to begin with and to show the World outside that we are protected! --Armed, Jesus said! "Dad, you don't mean we keep guns around here!" We don't have to have guns to be armed, we've got clubs! You don't have to be armed with guns, you can be armed with wariness!--Not weariness, wariness!--Being security-conscious! You can be armed with good walls and good fences! You can be armed with good night security lighting! You can be well-armed with protection of every kind without having to shoot guns!
84. I CAN NEVER FORGET THE TIME FRED SHULTZ SCARED OFF THAT INTRUDER WHO PICKED THE LOCK AND GOT IN THE FRONT DOOR. He was just feeling around in the dark down in the livingroom and fell over a chair! Fred rushed out of his upstairs bedroom and in the semi-darkness he took this golf club and pointed it down over the railing of the stairway and said, "You take one more step and I'm going to blow your head off!" The guy ran out that door as fast as he could go, jumped in the car of the guy sitting out there waiting with the engine running and "peeled off", as you teenagers say!
85. SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO SHOOT'M, YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO HAVE A GUN, JUST MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A GUN IN THE DARK! I think I'd be afraid of even a BB gun or an air gun or a bow and arrow! It could hit you in the eye or the face and hurt you! But you might need it, who knows?--Even if it's just to threaten!--That is, if all they've got is a knife and you've got a gun. However, of course, there's a little problem if they have a gun also! It just remains to be seen who is willing to pull the trigger first!
86. BUT WE NEED TO BE WATCHFUL, WARY, CAUTIOUS, SECURITY-CONSCIOUS, VERY CAREFUL AND VERY PRAYERFUL, particularly you folks who go to the gate. That is a dangerous job! We've been very liberal & rather careless lately, but in view of this thing that's just happened, I'm sorry, but I think the Lord's trying to warn us to be more security conscious from now on!
PISTOLS!
87. I'VE MENTIONED A FEW TIMES TO SOME OF YOU BOYS THAT IT'S BETTER TO ANSWER THE GATE FROM A DISTANCE FIRST. That way you're not there in person where they can stick a gun or a knife in your ribs!
88. ALL THIS STUFF YOU SEE IN THE MOVIES WITH THESE CRACK SHOTS SHOOTING A PISTOL AND HITTING SOMEBODY CLEAR OVER THERE IN THE FIELD ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE YARD, THAT'S SO MUCH MALARKEY! There's hardly anybody that's that good with a pistol, and there's hardly any pistol that good! A pistol has a little short barrel, especially some of those snubnose revolvers that they use in a lot of crime films. I have to laugh, I just chuckle and say to Maria, "In the first place, that gun can't hold that many bullets!" I count'm when they shoot--1,2,3,4,5,6 that's it, and he keeps on shooting! Either they've got better guns in the movies than the cops have, or they gave'm time between shots to reload!
89. BESIDES THAT, YOU CAN'T POINT A GUN THAT FAR WHERE EVEN A SNIPER WITH A TELESCOPIC SITE WOULD HAVE A HARD TIME HITTING THE GUY, & HIT HIM WITH A PISTOL! I mean, you can hardly hit the broad side of a barn door with a pistol at any distance! You're not even hardly sure of hitting somebody across the room. It might accidentally hit you, & if they're a real good shot, as you see in the movies now of course, they're teaching them how to really shoot.--Not all this business of "shoot from the hip" & the two-gun cowboys, bap bap bap & bam & you're dead!
90. IT'S AMAZING HOW QUICK THOSE BULLETS KILL PEOPLE IN THE MOVIES!--THEY DIE INSTANTLY! They just fall flat, bang, & they're dead!--Whereas it often takes several bullets to kill somebody, & sometimes then they can still shoot from the ground where they lie. That's just movie stuff, this business of be-ing able to kill so easily with one shot, bang, from a distance. But at least they're showing them more how to hold a pistol now, to hold it with two hands, like that, & really aim! You've got to hold it very steady, because the slightest little wobble will make'm miss'm by a yard!
91. SO A PISTOL IS A VERY INACCURATE TYPE OF GUN, IT IS MADE STRICTLY FOR PERSONAL CLOSE-UP USE, as close as this guy was to this girl I'm talking about in one of our Homes! She walked in the door & he walked in right behind her! She turned around & looked straight into the muzzle of a gun! He was close enough to hit her. When you're right next to them & you've practically got your gun right in their stomach, you can hit'm. But at a distance, pistols are not too accurate.
92. RIFLES, THAT'S SOMETHING DIFFERENT! I was a real sharpshooter with a rifle & I could hit a thing a long ways away. In fact, I got a medal for being the best shot in our company in the army! Even after I landed in the hospital, the Lieutenant tried to persuade me to go to North Africa with him. He said, "We need good shots, boy, we've gotta go over there & fight Rommel, fight the Nazis! We need you more than some of these other guys! You're a good shot!"
93. I TOLD HIM, "I'M SORRY, BUT I'VE FOUND OUT THE ARMY IS NOT FOR ME, I DON'T REALLY WANT TO KILL ANYBODY! Why should I kill somebody I don't even know & has never done me any harm? The Germans have never done me any harm, the Japs never did me any harm, the Vietnamese never did me any harm! Why should I want to kill'm?" Now if they were coming right in here & threatened to kill my wife, that's different. But I wouldn't even threaten to kill'm if they attacked her & tried to rape her or fuck her, I'd probably say go ahead! It's one of our doctrines! "You need her? You're welcome! God bless you!"--And I've done it! God bless Mama, that little bold soldier & pioneer!
94. BUT I THINK IF THEY THREATENED TO HARM HER OR ONE OF THESE CHILDREN I could get angry enough to kill, to save lives! I believe I could kill to save a life!--Maybe not my life. Maybe I could, I don't know. It hasn't happened yet, TTL!
ARMED ROBBERY!--NOT JUST AN ACCIDENT!
95. BUT IT DID HAPPEN RECENTLY IN ONE OF OUR HOMES WHERE SOMEONE WAS THREATENED WITH A GUN & STOLE SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS! No, they didn't really have to steal it--they gave it to him! Wouldn't you? You'd better! I'd certainly rather give it to them than get shot! Of course, they might hesitate to shoot you, but inside the house the neighbours could hardly have heard it. He didn't know who else was in the house, of course. Or, who knows, maybe he cased the joint for quite awhile & knew how many were left in the house. Maybe he saw how many left & knew there weren't very many left in the house. I don't know, I haven't gotten all the details I want yet, but I'm going to get them!
96. BECAUSE I DON'T CONSIDER THAT JUST AN ACCIDENT! With as little security as they had, they were asking for it, they were literally begging for it! They were like the guy who left something out, tempting the thief to steal! They were tempting them to do it with as little security as they had! And then she led him right into the finance man's room where his briefcase full of money was sitting right there on the floor, obvious as can be! Sorry to keep you so long, but it might save your life! It might even save your money!
97. I DON'T BLAME HER MUCH FOR NOT YELLING, she could have been afraid that he was going to shoot her & run, just as punishment for yelling! But she led him right into the room with the finance man, & the robber had him sit down there, & then he combed the room & asked for money! And the finance man had the money, had it in the wrong place, had it available, had it right there sitting on the floor right in front of him, so all he had to do was just point to the briefcase, & all the thief had to do was just reach in & take it out!
98. HE WASN'T A BURGLAR, REMEMBER. A burglar tries to creep in & steal while you're there, with a gun ready for you in case you wake up. He burgles, he tries to come in & steal it without waking you up, but he's prepared to shoot you in case you do wake up. Many people have gotten shot in bed that way.
99. BUT THIS WAS WHAT'S CALLED A STICKUP, OR IN THE TECHNICAL LANGUAGE OF THE LAW, ARMED ROBBERY! He was armed & he was intent on robbing them. He didn't have to work very hard to get it, they told him right where it was & he got it!
FINAL MISTAKE--THEY DIDN'T WITNESS TO HIM!
100. I'VE GOT TO TELL YOU THEIR FINAL MISTAKE. I know the girl was new at that Home, but she certainly is not new to the Family. I know the man has been 12 or 13 years in the Family. And do you know that as far as we now know, they never said a word to the thief about Jesus, or witnessed to him or even said, "We're missionaries, poor missionaries!" You know what the guy said to him? He said, "What are you doing, stealing?" What a self-righteous, condemnatory remark!--Not a word about Love or Jesus! They never witnessed to him, they never even told him that they were missionaries or Christians, or he might have left the money!
101. CAN YOU IMAGINE ANY OF OUR PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN IN THIS FAMILY ANY LENGTH OF TIME even greeting people that come to their gate & never telling them anything about Jesus or that "God loves you" or even "God bless you"? I wonder if after he took their money & walked out with the girl if they said "God bless you"? They probably didn't feel like saying "God bless you"!
102. GOD'S WORD SAYS IF YOU SAY "GOD BLESS YOU" TO THE WICKED OR THE EVIL, YOU'RE PARTLY GUILTY OF HIS EVIL DEEDS in asking God to bless him in his wickedness, so don't do it. (2John 10,11) You can say "God bless you" even to the sinner who hasn't accepted Christ yet, hoping God will bless him with Salvation!--And in our Family, we try to get people saved! If people come to us for help, we don't just say, "Be thou warmed & fed & bye-bye", if they need help we try to help them! We try to find out if they really need help & how much help, & we're cautious & prayerful about how much we give them, & we only give them as much as we think they need, & that's it.
103. BUT THEY NEVER SAID A WORD TO HIM, NEVER WITNESSED TO HIM AS FAR AS WE KNOW, NEVER SAID THEY WERE MISSIONARIES, NOTHING THAT WOULD TOUCH HIS HEART! So then he said to the finance man, "You stay here!", & said to the girl, "You come with me!"--& he took her out along with him, no doubt as a hostage. He didn't do it like they do in the movies, grab her around the neck & hold her like this & walk out the front door with his gun sticking out, that would have been too obvious! He figured she was a known occupant of that home & if the neighbours saw them, they'd think nothing of it if he walked out with one of the home occupants. So he just told her, "Now you come along with me, walk with me"--& she did, which was the best thing she could have done, to obey & do what they ask you if it's not too hard to do. All she had to do was walk down the block to the corner where he was trying to get a taxi, but there were no taxis, & he finally jumped on a bus & waved goodbye!
WHAT MISTAKES WERE MADE?
104. BUT NOW I'M GOING TO ASK YOU, NOT THE "64-DOLLAR-QUESTION", BUT I THINK THEY'VE GONE UP TO 64-THOUSAND-DOLLAR QUESTIONS BY NOW! People wouldn't even come to see the show for 64 Dollars, it's not worth that much!--What would you have done? What mistakes did they make that they shouldn't have? What were their first errors, the first things wrong with this picture? Remember those old puzzles where they used to say, "How many things can you find wrong with this picture?" Well, how many things can you find wrong with that picture?
105. (FAM: THEY WERE NOT PREPARED.) They were not prepared. They hadn't secured their borders. (Fam: The door was unlocked.) He didn't have to worry about the gate, apparently the wall was so low he could jump right over it. He just ran & hopped over it because there was a big mound of grass right there in front of the wall, & obviously the door was unlocked.
106. (FAM: SHE WAS BY HERSELF.) She was out there by herself, that's another thing! She might have thought, "Well, right out here in the yard, I can just walk around!"--But I understand that their house is right on a main street travelled by thousands of cars & thousands of people all day long, & lots of people without cars who walk by! And she was walking around alone out in the front yard where obviously she was well seen. She walked around long enough that he could see she was alone, & when she walked back, he evidently waited to see if the door was unlocked or if she had to knock to call somebody to the door to unlock it. But it wasn't even a locked door, she just turned the handle & walked in, & he walked right in behind her!
107. WHAT ELSE? (FAM: THE MONEY WAS NOT HIDDEN AWAY.) The money was not hidden at all. Of course, if they ask you for money at the point of a gun, even if you've got it hidden you're probably going to go find some, but you don't have to give them all of it! That's why you should keep your money scattered around in a lot of different places with a lot of different people! We're not keeping anybody prisoner here--we've seen to it that everybody has a little money.
108. IN THE STATES IT'S ILLEGAL TO BE CAUGHT ON THE STREETS WITHOUT MONEY, IT'S ILLEGAL TO BE POOR! They arrest you for what is called vagrancy, whatever that means. You're a vagrant. In most States, the usual rule is that if you have less than five Dollars in your pocket you're a vagrant, in other words you're a bum, & they used to arrest a lot of our kids for that. It was an excuse to throw them in jail! What they didn't like about them is they looked like hippies with long hair, or they were Jesus Freaks passing out tracts. They knew that they probably didn't have much money on them because they lived in a Colony where they got housed & fed & didn't have to have any money.
109. YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE ANY MONEY HERE IN THE HOUSE, DO YOU? What could you buy here? What could you buy you don't already have? What do you need you haven't already got? Think of it! You don't need anything! You've got everything you need & even some of your wants & desires of your hearts, luxuries! A lot of our people have more now living with us than they had before in the System. The Lord is so good to us!--More & above all that we could ask or think! He promised it & He's given it to us, thank the Lord! (Eph.3:20)
110. WHAT ELSE DID THEY DO OR FAIL TO DO? (FAM: THEY DIDN'T WITNESS.)--Didn't witness to him, think of that! In fact, turned around & accused him instead, saying something condemnatory: "Are you stealing?" What a self-righteous thing to say! What else? (Fam: Well, she led him right to the guy that had the money.) --Yes!
111. THAT'S ONE GOOD THING ABOUT GIVING AWAY SO MUCH MONEY, WE DON'T HAVE TOO MUCH LEFT THAT THEY CAN STEAL! We give away our money just about as fast as we get it!--In fact, we give it almost all away! This outfit spends less on administration--that means you, a little handful of Selah Homes that take care of the business, administration, the publications & all that sort of thing--we spend less on that, in other words, the top, the leaders & all, than any other denomination or missionary outfit or charitable organisation I ever heard of!
112. MY OLD DENOMINATION USED TO BRAG THAT THEY ONLY SPENT ABOUT 25% OF THEIR INCOME ON ADMINISTRATION, on the leadership, office work, office workers etc. Whereas the Methodist church spent over 50% of their missionary giving on administration. Over half of all the money that was given to missions went to the guys that handled it & did the office work.
113. AND GUESS HOW MUCH OF ALL THEIR INCOME THEY SPENT ON MISSIONS?--ONLY 5%! Out of a hundred of their Bible College graduates, supposedly trained workers for service in the Lord's work, three went to the foreign mission field--3%! 97% of them stayed home & most of them hid behind pulpits of rich churches, living in sumptuous homes & driving limousines! Well, most of our Family also live in big homes, but look how many people they share them with & how many people live there who are working for the Lord, doing something useful! PTL!
"HIS BLOOD SHALL I REQUIRE AT THY HAND!"
114. WHAT WOULD YOU DO? You say, "I'd do none of those things, or I'd do some of those things they should have done, & I certainly wouldn't do some of the things they did, & I certainly would have tried to talk to him about the Lord!"
115. THE LORD SAYS, "IF YOU WARN THE WICKED OF HIS WICKED WAY, BUT HE REPENTS NOT OF HIS SINS & goes on in his wickedness & dies in his wickedness, but you warned him, you've delivered your soul, his blood is not on your hands!" But He says, "If you warn not the wicked of his wicked way, & he dies in his wickedness, his blood will I require at thy hand!" (Eze.3:17-19). You say, "What does that mean, Dad? It sounds awful!" Well, it may be awful, who knows! Maybe the Lord will let that memory haunt you for the rest of your life!
116. I HOPE THEY NEVER FORGET THAT GUY & I DOUBT IF THEY EVER WILL! And I hope they especially never forget that they never delivered their soul to him or washed his blood from their hands by giving him the Gospel & showing him a little love & a little concern! They might have asked him, "Would you like a cup of coffee or are you hungry?" or anything else to show him a little concern or something. Of course he was nervous & in a hurry, you can understand why he might not have accepted the cup of coffee, but they could have at least offered! They say his hands were shaking so he might not have been able to hold it. The gun was shaking, poor guy, he was nervous, scared!
117. BUT THEY NEVER SAID A WORD OF LOVE, NOTHING TO HIM, AS FAR AS WE NOW KNOW. We haven't heard any other report. I think some people whose conscience is tender enough, if they'd known they were missionaries they wouldn't have robbed them. Or if they had witnessed to them & showed love to them they wouldn't have robbed them!
118. (MARIA: AND MAYBE THE REASON HE WAS SO UNDER CONVICTION & SO NERVOUS WAS THAT HE COULD FEEL THE LORD'S SPIRIT THERE, MAYBE HE COULD EVEN SEE THE ANGELS SURROUNDING THE HOUSE!)--Yes! He was trembling, scared, & I'm sure that's one reason he got out so fast, the Lord had him scared! Because he could have gone through the whole house. He wouldn't have found much more money, but he'd have sure found a lot of other things that would have looked suspicious, all kinds of office equipment & printing equipment & all kinds of literature.
119. I'LL TELL YOU, THAT WAS DANGEROUS BUSINESS! THAT WAS ONE TIME IT WAS DANGEROUS NOT TO WITNESS! There are times when it's dangerous to witness, but that's one time when they could have maybe touched his heart, & they are going to have his blood on their hands if they didn't say a word to him about the Lord or Salvation!
120. FOR A LONG TIME THOSE OF US LIVING IN SELAH HOMES HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO VERY ACTIVELY, AGGRESSIVELY WITNESS. You've got to be careful you don't identify yourself with you-know-who! But for God's sake, if you're a Christian they would expect you to witness to them, at least say a word about the Lord or "God bless you, brother"! Even if he's not a brother, at least you can say, "God bless you, fellow! I hope you find the Love of Jesus. Jesus loves you! God loves you! Hope you get saved, just take Jesus!" Even if they only had time to say a few words, they could have said a few words about the Lord that could have touched his heart & not only saved the man, but saved the money besides! I think that was probably unnecessarily wasted money! I believe they might've touched his heart with a witness, don't you?
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?--TIPS ON ANSWERING GATE!
121. I'M SORRY TO KEEP YOU SO LATE, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND I'M NOT SORRY, BECAUSE I THINK YOU PROBABLY NEEDED IT ALL! What would you do? Well, you've already told me what you wouldn't do & what you think you should do. First of all, we've done all that. We put high barriers around, security lights, we keep our gate locked, but maybe we'd better go a little bit further now.
122. IT WOULD BE PRETTY EASY FOR SOMEBODY ONCE THEY GET OVER THE WALLS OR FENCES OR GATE, since we don't usually lock our doors in the daytime, for them to just walk right in! But they're not apt to walk right in where there are a lot of people. When some workmen were coming one morning, everyone started running away thinking they shouldn't be seen, but I said, "Let'm see you! It's good for them to see we have a number of men living here! Let'm see you! They need to know it!"
123. WHAT WOULD YOU WORLDWIDE FAMILY DO? WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? I think the Lord allowed this to happen to jerk us up & to remind me of something I thought about several times, but we're always busy & I sort of let it ride. I thought, "Well, I'll tell the Family later, we'll discuss it later." There's hardly a time when some of you don't go to your gate, & even though perhaps you're not a normal greeter, sometime you may have to handle the conversation & you'll need to know what to say! What if some guy's out there, got you at the point of a gun & you call into the house & say, "This guy's got me here, it's a stickup, it's a holdup, he's a robber, & he wants me to let him in, shall I let him in?"
124. WHAT DO YOU FOLKS DO WHEN YOU GO TO THE GATE TO GREET PEOPLE THAT YOU DON'T KNOW & you don't know who they are & you're not sure what they're there for?--Especially if it happens to be men, & sometimes you can tell a lot just by people's looks. You need the gift of discernment! You can tell by their spirit whether they have an aura of evil or a threatening mien or an evil face!
125. PEOPLE RECOGNISE US JUST BY OUR FACES! They say, "You all have the same look, the same light, the same glow!" We've had that happen to us! That guy at Zoagli at the coffee house said, "By the way, are you acquainted by any chance with Duke Canevaro? For some reason or other you remind me of him! He's always happy & sort of glowing like you guys & talks about Jesus etc.!"
126. GOD BLESS DEAR EMANUELE! He was more religious than his wife! He was more open & talkative about the Lord & happy! She was the one that was always knocking him down & berating him in public & belittling him & laughing at him because he picked his nose! I pick my nose too when it needs it! I do try to avoid people seeing me if I can, but so what? He was a good witness for the Lord & he loved the Lord! It turns out he loved the Lord more than she did! Last I heard he was still a friend, & we tried to be good to him when she left him. We even gave him back the car, the TV set & the works! She's supposed to come back after 7 years according to a prophecy we got, I don't know if she has or not. (See "The Nebuchadnezzar Revelation!", No.763) I heard she went back to Italy, maybe she came back to the Lord, even though all her other boyfriend does now is run a chicken ranch.--Tim, so we heard.
127. NOW I'M GETTING DOWN TO THE REAL NITTY-GRITTY, CAN YOU STAND A LITTLE MORE? What do you do about that door when you slide that big heavy bolt back? Are you absolutely certain that that person outside there hasn't got a gun? You say, "I can't be certain, Dad, how do I know?" Well, I suggest you talk long enough to them through the little window that the Lord could show you what kind of a spirit they've got & whether it's safe to go out & talk to them or not! It may not be very polite at first, but that's what steel doors & iron bars & small windows & peepholes & gates are for--for protection from people that aren't safe!
128. I SUGGEST THAT BEFORE YOU UNLOCK THAT DOOR, YOU TALK TO THEM THROUGH THE WINDOW FIRST & ask the Lord to give you a little discernment to sense out what type of person it is, and if they're there for a legitimate reason--especially if they're a man that doesn't look like it!
129. YOU SAY, "WELL DAD, EVEN IF I TALK TO HIM THROUGH A WINDOW HE COULD PULL A GUN ON ME & TELL ME TO OPEN THE DOOR!" Well, then you haven't learned much from the movies, have you? As I said, pistols are not very accurate anyhow. Of course at that short range, if he's just outside the window & you're just inside of it, then if he could shoot in time he might accidentally hit you. But if he pulls a gun on you, you certainly know he's not there for any good purpose, & not the kind of a man you want to open the door for, right?
130. SO WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU SHOW YOUR HEAD IN THE WINDOW TO SEE THEM, & THE GUY PULLS A GUN ON YOU & says, "Open the door or I'm going to shoot you!" In the first place, he's not apt to shoot you. He doesn't want any more trouble than he bargained for, & a shot at the door or gate could alert all the Home, the neighbours & God knows what! Thank God we've got people all around & he could at least worry that he knows there must be a lot of people living here, that a shot at the gate could alert the whole Family & they'd all be there & he wouldn't get his money!
131. IT'S THE THREAT, THE SCARE TACTIC, THAT IS VALUABLE TO THEM! If somebody threatened you with a gun through that window, you first of all were wary & you didn't just slide open the bolt & dash out there to talk to them, but you talked to them face-to-face first of all through the window. So what can you do in a case like that? You've even seen it in the movies! You don't have to reach out there & grab his gun! (Fam: You could say, "Okay, I'll open it," & then you just duck or move out of the way, but you never open it.)--Exactly!
132. IN THE SPLIT SECOND IT WOULD TAKE HIM TO DECIDE ON WHETHER HE NEEDS TO SHOOT OR NOT, YOU DROP OUT OF SIGHT! Besides, if he shot you before you opened the door, he couldn't get in anyhow, so he's not apt to shoot you through the window! So you could just drop out of sight instantly before he could possibly even pull the trigger, & there wouldn't be any point in shooting you then because you're aware of what he wants. What's he going to do, climb up & try to find you on the floor & shoot through the window? If he shoots you dead you can never open the door!
133. SO IF HE SAYS, "OPEN THE DOOR!", YOU CAN JUST PRETEND YOU'RE GOING TO GO OPEN THE DOOR & CALL FOR HELP. What would you say? What would you yell? (Fam: You could yell, "Bring the guns!" even if you don't actually have any.) Yes, "Hey men, bring the guns!" I don't think he would think you were planning to give him guns, I think he'd probably think you planned to use guns & I think he'd run! Is that a good thing to call? Anybody got a better suggestion? I'm trying to plan for what I hope will never happen to any of our other Homes! But it has happened in one of our Homes now, & if we don't take the warning & prepare for it, the Lord might let it happen to others just to teach us a lesson!
134. (FAM: WHAT IF YOU HAD AN ALARM BUZZER THAT YOU COULD JUST KEEP PRESSING?) Well, I don't even think that would scare him away as quick as to scream & yell for the guns, but I think it would be good to have both. I'll tell you, sometimes cussin' helps! That's what Fred Shultz used. You can drop to the floor & say, "I'm pushing the alarm button & they're coming with the guns, you'd better get the Hell out of here before you get shot!"
135. (FAM: MAYBE BLOW A LITTLE POLICE WHISTLE ALSO?) That's a good idea. Just blow a police whistle real loud! Just hit the floor, hit the dust, press the alarm, blow the whistle, whatever it is, & yell, "Bring the guns!" I'd better stop yelling so loud or we're apt to have the police at our door pretty soon!--Ha! I get fed up with some of you poor little weaklings trying to yell, I usually have to yell for you! Of course, I used my voice most of my life & learned to sing, & once you've learned to sing & learned how to really belt it out, it helps you yell too!
136. SO ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO SCARE OFF ANY KIND OF CRIMINAL, BURGLAR, RAPIST OR ANYTHING, if you have a chance & it's not going to endanger your life, is to scream or yell, because that's the last thing they want to do is attract attention! That is what they don't want, is to attract attention & have a lot of people come running. They figure they can handle you with one little pistol, but a bunch of people, they can't shoot'm all! Besides, it's too late then. You've got a bunch of people coming, they figure with guns, & they know it's too late to ask you for money!
137. (FAM: DO YOU THINK THEY MIGHT FORCE THE MILKMAN TO RING THE BELL & say, "this is so-and-so calling", & hide, & wait for us to open the door?) Well, that is a ruse that's possible that would not be so good. But every time you go to the door, don't you look out the window to see who it is or what they need?
138. MAYBE YOU CAN DISCUSS WHAT TO DO IN A CASE LIKE THAT, IF YOU THINK THEY MIGHT USE THE MILKMAN OR MAILMAN OR DELIVERY MAN AS A FRONT with a gun on him from around the corner & tell him to try to get you to come open the door.
139. YOU GREETERS NEED TO REALLY PRAY ABOUT IT & ASK THE LORD WHAT'S BEST TO DO. I SUGGEST YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT COULD BE THE POSSIBILITIES & WHAT COULD HAPPEN. Especially you who are responsible for your Home's security, that's all of you men, & any of you women involved in answering the door, should discuss what to do & how to do it in case it ever happens, & pray that it never does! PTL!
140. APPARENTLY THE LORD WANTED TO GIVE THAT HOME A LITTLE SHAKE-UP to show them where they were lax & where they needed more prayer & more caution & more love & more inspiration to witness & a lot of things!
141. THEY COULD HAVE SAID TO THE GUY, "WHAT DO YOU NEED, MY DEAR FELLOW? WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?" & acted like they were trying to be cooperative & trying to help him out. At least they could've said a good word about the Lord & said, "I love you, brother! You need it?--Take it! PTL! I live by faith, the Lord loves me, He'll take care of me anyhow, you need it more than I do!" They could have said something!
142. WELL, HE SAID HE NEEDED SOME MONEY, SO WHERE WAS THE MONEY? He was right at the right place! There was the finance man & he had the money right in his briefcase sitting right out there available!--Instead of having it where he would have had to say, "Well, I'll have to go get some & there are a lot of people in this house who will have to know about it before I can have it! I have to go ask for it! And if I do that, I'll have to tell some people, who will tell some other people, and there are a lot of people here who may not want to let you have it! I'll have to let a lot of other people know before I can get any money!" He certainly shouldn't have had such a large amount of money there in his room!
143. WHAT A HELL OF A THING THAT WOULD BE TO DIE FOR, TO HAVE SOMEBODY KILL YOU FOR YOUR MONEY! God knows we don't want to die that way. If they kill us, we want to die for Love & for the Lord, right? We don't mind giving our lives for people who need us & need the Love of the Lord, & some of us have, it's not that some of us haven't been killed for it.
144. ONE OF THE FIRST DEATHS WE HAD IN THE FAMILY WAS A BOY ON THE BEACH WHO WAS WITNESSING, & some maniac--demon-possessed no doubt--came up & stabbed him repeatedly in the back & he fell down & died! What better way to go than witnessing for the Lord? And they never even caught the guy that did it, he ran off in the crowd. There was a big crowd there listening to them, & he just ran off with his bloody knife & they never got him. Maniacs, demon-possessed people can do crazy things you don't expect. But praise the Lord, if you belong to the Lord, sudden death, sudden glory! And if you die working for the Lord, doing something for the Lord, witnessing, all the better! What a way to go! PTL! Thank the Lord!
CLOSING PRAYER!
145. AMEN, WE'VE GOTTA QUIT! I never saw children who could stand so much!--To sit in a class & be perfectly quiet & listen & even remember what you said, for four whole hours! Time sure flies! Maybe you don't think so, but it seems like it to me! I had a lot more things to say to you than that, & I'll have to save them for later.
146. AMEN, LET'S PRAY THE LORD WILL GIVE YOU THE WISDOM FOR WHATEVER HAPPENS, however it happens, whoever goes to the door.--That even if we haven't mentioned it or haven't covered the subject or the question or the situation, Lord, You help them to know what to do. You can tell them what to do, something we never even thought of, Lord!
147. BUT HELP US TO BE PREPARED, WATCHMEN ON THE WALL WHO ARE WATCHFUL, & NOT THOSE WHO FAIL TO WARN THE PEOPLE! You said of some of the watchmen, some of the people who were supposed to warn the people, some of the false prophets, that they were "dumb dogs who could not even bark to warn the people!" (Isa.56:10) My Lord, help us to at least bark to warn the people, & in a situation like this gate situation, somehow to be able to bark to warn the people & not ever let'm in the door, to be willing to die first before they'd let'm in!--To protect Thy children!
148. GIVE THEM WISDOM WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO SAY, & LORD BLESS & KEEP US! We've done all we know how to do except this last warning. We're armed, Lord, most of all with Thy wisdom & Thy power, Thy Spirit, Thy anointing, Thy inspiration, Thy warnings, Thy voice, the gift of discernment, the gift of knowledge, Lord, whatever it takes. You can give it to them at that moment to show them what to do, to be prepared & aware that things like that can happen & You might let them happen just to shake us up & make us better prepared, as You have in this case.
149. BLESS & HELP THAT POOR HOME, LORD! They're quite shaken up. So help them to be more mindful, Lord, of what they should have done & should do if it should ever come to that again. Help them to really pray, & Lord, at least do the one thing that we're here for, to show them love, Thy Love, in Jesus' name we ask for Thy Glory!
150. WE'VE PRAYED THIS MANY TIMES OVER, LORD, WE PRAY "LORD BLESS & KEEP US AND MAKE US A BLESSING". And we know, Lord, that somehow you'll keep us. You did keep them, Lord, thank You Lord! You didn't keep the money, the Devil got that, because of their lack of wisdom & their lack of obeying Thee & their lack of witnessing, their lack of even confessing who they were, what they were at least. We believe that the guy might have left it! But they didn't listen, Lord, & they didn't obey & they didn't do what they'd been told to do always, to anybody, everybody! They could have at least done that, Lord. They didn't have to tell who they were or anything, they could have just said, "We're Christians, we love the Lord! What do you need, what do you want? We'll give it to you!" It might have touched his heart!
151. LORD FORGIVE THEM FOR NOT EVEN WITNESSING, & INSTEAD OF THAT PREACHING AT HIM! They said, "You're here to steal something?" My Lord, forgive them! Help this to be a lesson to them. They are now a lesson to the whole World because we're going to publish this, Lord, & the whole World is going to know about it! We don't want to embarrass them by saying who did it, but we know that they'll know who did it & who we're talking to.
152. THIS IS OUR WARNING TO THEM THAT WE DON'T EVER WANT TO HEAR THIS AGAIN! There must be something wrong with a finance man spiritually to whom robbers have been attracted twice! There's a weak chink in the wall! There's a weakness somewhere, a weak link in the chain, that this same man has had almost the same experience twice! So Lord help him to learn a lesson through it, to never let it happen that way again!--To make it impossible for it to happen, & certainly never ever fail to witness & show Thy Love, which is what we're here for, even to robbers!--In Jesus' name we ask for Thy glory! Bless & keep & make us a blessing!
153. NOW HELP THE GREETERS NOT TO BE TOO AFRAID, LORD, but just to be cautious & prayerful & realise going out to meet the public is always dangerous, & to try to be sure of who's there, & that it's not someone who's going to be threatening them, in Jesus' name! --To never open that door unless they're prayerfully positive that it's safe to open it, in Jesus' name!--Amen! PTL! TYL! Hallelujah!
"PRECIOUS HIDING PLACE!"
154. AMEN, I'LL SING A LITTLE SONG THAT CAME TO ME JUST THE OTHER DAY WHEN I WAS THINKING, "LORD, IS THERE ANYWHERE THAT'S REALLY SAFE FOR THE FAMILY?" And thank You Lord for that beautiful song that You spoke to my heart right then and reminded me of, that I hadn't sung for years! (Sings:)
"Precious hiding place,
Blessed hiding place
In the shelter of His Love!
Not a doubt nor fear
When my Lord is near
For I'm sheltered in His Love!"
--Amen? Sing it with me if you can!
155. "PRECIOUS HIDING PLACE,
Blessed hiding place
In the shelter of His Love!
Not a doubt nor fear
When my Lord is near
For I'm sheltered by His Love!"
Well, you heard it two times, now try it once again! Some of you are already trying it, God bless you! It's a beautiful song to sing to reassure you when maybe you feel like you've run out of hiding places! Maybe if I sing it a little higher, you could sing better! (Sings:)
"Precious hiding place,
Blessed hiding place
In the shelter of Thy Love!
Not a doubt nor fear
When dear Lord Thou art near,
For I'm sheltered by Thy Love!"
156. PTL! AMEN! IF THERE'S NO PLACE LEFT TO HIDE, NO PLACE TO RUN, JUST RUN TO THE LORD & HIDE IN HIS LOVE! And if He hasn't any other way to save you, no other way to protect you, He can take you up to Heaven where you'll be safe forever! PTL!
"FEAR NOT THEM WHICH CAN KILL THE BODY!" (Matthew 10:28)
157. "FEAR NOT THEM WHICH CAN KILL THE BODY & AFTER THAT HAVE NO MORE THAT THEY CAN DO: But rather fear Him that can cast you into Hell!" I met a lot of church people who thought the "him" in that verse meant the Devil.--It's not talking about the Devil! The Devil can't cast you into Hell unless you let him, unless you reject Jesus! That's the only unpardonable sin. (Mat.12:31,32) He can't do a thing to you but what God allows!"Fear not them which can kill the body, but after that have no more that they can do!"--Even the Devil! Don't fear the Devil. If the Lord allows him to, he might be able to kill your body, but after that he has no more that he can do! (Shouts!:) "But rather fear Him, fear God, Who can cast both soul & body into Hell!"
158. GOD IS THE ONLY ONE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FEAR! You're not to fear anybody else, you're not to fear all Hell or the Devil let loose! And as the World turns into all Hell & the Devil is let loose, don't worry, don't fear! So they kill you! You'll go straight to be with the Lord! "Fear not them which can kill the body but after that have no more that they can do, but rather fear Him Who can cast both soul & body into Hell!"--Amen? All right!
159. I HOPE YOU MEMORISE THAT VERSE! I've known that verse ever since I was a little boy, my Mother made me learn it so I wouldn't fear anybody, praise God? Can you say it together with me? (Dad & Family:) "Fear not them which can kill the body but after that have no more that they can do, but rather fear Him"--God, let's say God--"Who can cast both soul & body into Hell!" Amen? PTL!
160. THANK GOD, IF YOU FEAR HIM, YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF HIM, BECAUSE YOU LOVE HIM & YOU KNOW HE LOVES YOU! The only time you have to be afraid of Him is if you don't love Him & you don't do what He tells you to do! Then you'd better be afraid of Him! Then you'd better really fear Him, what He can do to you!--Just like a child fears the father! I don't think these kids fear me very much because they're such good kids & I've never had to really punish them much, I haven't gotten really tough with them, I haven't really cracked them with the rod! They don't have to fear me because they love me!
161. YOU WON'T EVEN HAVE TO FEAR THE LORD IF YOU REALLY LOVE HIM & OBEY HIM & DO HIS WILL! But I'll tell you, if you don't love the Lord & you're disobedient & wicked, or even a blackslidden--black, yes, black with sin--backslidden Christian, you had better fear God, because He can kill you in order to save you, the Apostle Paul said so! Can you remember the verse? (Fam: "To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus.") (1Cor.5:5)
162. DID YOU KNOW THAT GOD CAN DELIVER YOU OVER TO THE DEVIL TO AFFLICT YOU & TO KILL YOU TO SAVE YOU?--To save you, for one thing, from doing anything worse by causing more people to stumble! God in His mercy & in His Love can deliver you to the Devil to kill you in order to save you! Think of that! You'd better remember that verse too, because it's possible. "Fear not him which can only kill the body"--even the Devil--"and after that has no more that he can do" if you're saved. "But rather fear Him"--God--Who can give your spirit & body Hell if you have rejected Him & His Love! PTL!
163. DON'T BE AFRAID, DON'T WORRY! The Lord will take care of you even if we haven't discussed how to do it, the Lord will show you what to do, praise the Lord! And who knows? You may win their heart, you may win their soul, you may save them, you may make them a disciple! Boy, if that robber had that much guts & that much courage to do that sort of thing, think what he could do for the Lord! It took a lot of guts, it took a lot of courage, it took a lot of faith that he could get away with it!
164. HE WAS A PIONEER! He caught the vision, he had the faith to believe he could do it! It wasn't faith in God, it wasn't God's vision either, but it was his vision, probably the Devil's vision! But he believed it, he had the faith to do it, & he did it, he had the guts to do it! He had the initiative, he wasn't afraid to try it. So may God help you to be ready for pioneers like that! PTL!
165. WE'D BETTER STAND & PRAY & THANK THE LORD THAT IT HASN'T HAPPENED YET! AMEN? (Everyone stands) Let's thank the Lord He hasn't let it happen here! (Everyone praises & thanks the Lord!) Hallelujah! TYL! Well, the Lord spoke a little while ago, & I guess that's all you needed. Just heed the warnings of the Words that the Lord has given to your Father from Him! PTL! So that must be the Lord's Message that He wants for you, & it's taken four hours to deliver it, I'm sorry, but I gave you a lot of other sermons on the way.
166. "MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU & KEEP YOU, MAY THE LORD MAKE HIS FACE TO SHINE UPON YOU & BE GRACIOUS UNTO YOU! May the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee & give thee peace!" (Num.6:24-26) As we pray together the very prayer He taught us to pray: (Prays the Lord's Prayer.) And part of our daily bread that we need, Lord, is protection, so do bless & keep us in Jesus' name!
167. HELP US TO BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT HOW WE WORK TOO THAT WE DON'T HAVE ANY MORE ACCIDENTS! We thank You for how wonderfully You have spared most of our people from any kind of accident, Lord, the slightest little injury, hurts or even scratches sometimes. TYL! But let this accident of one of the boys hurting his foot teach us a lesson, Lord, to learn from it, not to be careless how we pick things up or what we pick up, & try to jump out of the way if it falls, in Jesus' name, amen!
168. GOD BLESS YOU ALL! THANK YOU! WILL YOU FORGIVE ME, GIRLS, IF I DON'T KISS YOU ALL RIGHT NOW? I've been working pretty hard, believe it or not, for the last four hours, & I think you're tired too! So God bless you, bye-bye! I'll kiss the children, they're right here anyhow. PTL! ILY! Lord bless & keep you all & thanks a lot! GBY all, you're dismissed, you can go now! You don't have to wait for the king to get out the door, we're not that strict about it!
169. (TO JOHN:) IT DOESN'T DO ANY GOOD TO TELL'M THAT, I THINK I'D HAVE TO STAND HERE & ORDER'M TO LEAVE! Do you think they'd do it? Do you think I could get'm to obey? I order you to leave! Go! Git! I love you! I think some of these girls were thinking that if they hung around long enough they could still maybe get a kiss! I love you just as much, but I love everybody else too & the boys need to go & you all need to eat & get your siesta! GBY! Bye-bye! ILY! How about that, they did it! They really did it! GBY! ILY!--All of you! (Blows kisses!) Wish I could kiss you, but I think that's a good lesson for you to learn! (John: "Obedience is better than sacrifice!") "Obedience is better than sacrifice", that's a good verse for it! (1Sam.15:22) PTL! They did it!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
