HomeARC ML 2719
ZACK ATTACK ULTIMATUM! DO 2719 8/91
1. Zack is extremely self-righteous! He thinks he's somebody when he's nothing; in fact, he's worse than nothing! He's being a terrible bad example. It reminds me of the card I sent my brother one time.--It said, "You're not entirely worthless, you're a dandy bad example!"
2. He needs to wake up to the fact that he's nothing. (Maria: He's been too exalted.) Oh yes! And he needs to wake up to the fact that he's worse than nothing by being a problem & taking so many people's time!--Even reaching clear to the top & having to take up your time & mine. When problems get that far, I've always said that's as far as they're going to go. That's it! They've had it! So I hope I made that clear to him in that "Grumblers Get Out" Letter. (Maria: Yes, Sir!)
3. I don't know that he'll ever really break or crack without having to get his sample of the System. I think he's just about gone too far on our mercy unless he shows a tremendous repentance & a tremendous confession! Otherwise, I'm still for throwing him out. I don't know that he can learn his lesson any other way. We put up with some of these problem cases too long! We need to have the faith that Gideon had & just get rid of them, & then the Lord could give us real victory! (The story of the purge of Gideon's army is found in Judges Chapter 7.)
4. Frankly, I'd almost like him to get a good taste of the System & then he'd never want it again! That's what it took with me, & I almost died out there in the army hospital! So I'll tell you, God deals pretty tough with backsliders! "The way of the transgressor is hard," & maybe that's what he needs.--Pro.13:15.
5. Has he ever had any kind of a humbling--any kind of experience that made him know that he's not worth anything & that he can be thankful he's got anything at all? (Maria: No, I don't believe he has. I think that's been part of the problem.) It sounds like he's never realised what a sinner he really is. (Maria: No, it doesn't sound like it.)
6. (Maria: If you're saved when you're a little tiny tot, you're told you're a sinner, but you don't really understand or comprehend it fully.) But you usually become aware of it later, & you get down to where you know you're not anything! You know you're nothing & you're just thankful that the Lord loved you at all & you can't even understand why He did, nor why He saved you! I'll tell you, that's something I'm constantly aware of--that I'm nothing--& I'm just thankful that the Lord will even put up with me at all! Has he ever felt like that? (Maria: I hope that through this "spanking" he's finally realised that.) He sure doesn't sound like he believes that. Instead he sounds more like, "I'm a good guy & everybody ought to look up to me!--And the Lord ought to be thankful to have me!" (Maria: Yes, that's the way he's acted. It's true.)
7. I wonder if he ever felt like a sinner & was thankful to be saved? Unless you know you're bad & need Jesus' goodness, you won't be able to appreciate your Salvation because you don't see that you need any help. Maybe he won't get that way until he gets out into the World & realises what a sinner he really is, then cries for help, like the Prodigal Son. I'm sorry, but I don't have much patience with backsliders!--Especially self-righteous backsliders who think they're better than everybody else, & therefore they're better than the Family, & therefore they backslide! It's a common ailment of backsliders.
8. So maybe that's the best thing that could happen to him, to backslide & get back in the awful, God-damned, hell-of-a-pit & then cry for mercy! I'm sick & fed-up with him myself! We've strung things out too long with him already. Goodnight!--Two whole GNs of Letters about him & now one more coming! It's just too much, except for the lesson it will be to others. (Maria: I think that's the main reason the Lord has allowed it.)
9. Either he straightens out & does so quickly, or he's out as far as I'm concerned! In fact, he's done enough already to merit being kicked out, & he'll have to show one supernatural, miraculous change for me to tolerate him any longer! He's wasted too many people's time, & wasted too much of the Family's time & gone on for years this way. For God's sake, let's get rid of him! I just hate to put up with a character like that! He's just a troublemaker, almost like the Devil himself!
10. I got to thinking & praying about him & the thing that came to me was that he's just like Judas, one of Jesus' disciples.--And people like that will eventually betray you if they don't repent & get straightened out & get really knocked down & broken & humbled & beg to come back to the Father's house, like the Prodigal Son!
11. No more Letters about Zack Attack! We're going to attack Zack!--And he can get the hell out of here as far as I'm concerned if he doesn't repent!
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(Comments given a few days later during a Bible Study with the Family:)
12. When you're not keeping close to the Lord & are out of the Spirit, it's almost always easier to criticise, & to murmur & complain than it is to be thanking & praising God for all your blessings! And if you do that, you'll always get a lot of sympathy from all the rest of the murmurers & complainers & critics & people who don't like the way things are run or the way things are done. We're having a very shining dandy bad example of that right now in this affair over Zack Attack. He's been on the attack against the Family & against its leadership.
13. I can't believe that our people would have put up with it for so long! It's never been my policy to allow people like that to go on attacking. But it seems by his attacking that he has actually climbed the ladder of leadership into responsible positions!--Maybe because our leaders were so unsure of themselves, so humble & so yielded, that they thought maybe he was right & that maybe they ought to let him go ahead & voice his complaints & grumblings.
14. Zack Attack has been attacking the Family & its leadership. He sure picked the right name! I don't know where he got that idea. But because of his musical talent, leadership talent, intelligence & everything, he seems to have climbed the ladder of fame in the Family.
15. People kept ignoring his disputations & his murmurings & his complainings & bellyachings & criticism of leadership. "Oh, but he's such a good boy, he has tremendous potential," etc., etc. So they let him climb up carrying this load of negative thinking with him.--Until finally his leaders began having so much trouble with him voicing his discontent, even saying he'd rather go back to the System because at least a System boss would only be able to boss him around 8 hours a day & he'd have the other 16 hours to himself! He said, "In the Family they boss you around 24 hours a day," blah blah! Let me tell you, it's a privilege to be in this Family, & people need to learn that!
POW-WOW QUESTIONS FOR "ZACK ATTACK ULTIMATUM!"
1) Please discuss what you learned from this Letter about the dangers of self-righteousness. Do you have a problem with being self-righteous? If so, what do you think you should do about it?
a) Do a Word study on self-righteousness. (Start with the "Self-Righteousness" Letter in DB8, pg.155, & then see the Daily-Dex for a list of pubs on the subject.)
b) Ask the Lord to help you see the negative effects of being self-righteous & where it can lead to.
c) Have united prayer against it.
d) Ask your Shepherds, parents, & coworkers or peers to safeguard you by pointing it out to you when your words, actions or attitudes seem to be self-righteous.
e) Learn to recognise the different "symptoms" of self-righteousness such as: Thinking you're good & that you can do it on your own; leaning on the arm of the flesh & not depending on the Lord; looking down on & being critical of others, & thinking you're better than they are; being harsh or merciless on others when they make mistakes; trying to be "perfect" & being reluctant to receive correction, admit your mistakes or confess your sins; resisting the Lord's Will & thinking you know better, etc.
f) After you see how self-righteousness is manifested in your life, go on the attack to change & break bad habits & wrong attitudes.
g) Continually remind yourself what a mess you'd be without Jesus' constant help & guidance, & give Him all the glory for anything good you accomplish.)
2) When Grandpa & Mama Maria discuss how Tony needs to realise that he is a sinner, some major principles are brought out. One of the most important points is that through this big "spanking" that the Lord has given Tony, he will hopefully not just be temporarily humbled, but he will deeply understand & grasp the fact that he's not such a "good guy," but that he is nothing, & he has to constantly depend on the Lord & look to the Lord & let the Lord work through him! (Jn.15:5)
Like Tony, we all need to know & have a certainty that we're sinners, that we can't do anything good without Jesus' help, & we need Him desperately. This should be a constant realisation with us, our permanent attitude & state of mind. But this doesn't mean that we should fall into a state of constant dumps or negative thinking about ourselves or a feeling of condemnation, but rather, we should recognise that we need Jesus' goodness every moment of every day. When we understand & believe that, then we'll walk in humility, knowing we don't deserve & can't earn the Lord's Love. Then we'll depend completely on the Lord's grace to save us & use us, & we'll appreciate Salvation & all that the Lord has done for us & we'll be thankful the Lord loves us & puts up with us.
Many of you JETTs & Teens probably got saved when you were little children, at which time you may not have understood fully that you are a sinner. But now that you're older, have you grown to understand that better? Have you had experiences, such as humblings or breakings, that helped you realise what a mess you are without the Lord's help, experiences that caused you to be pretty much constantly aware of the fact that you need Jesus all the time? If so, please discuss your experiences & the circumstances that surrounded your learning those lessons. How did that affect your relationship with the Lord? If you haven't gone through any major breakings or humbling experiences, do you often make mistakes on a daily basis & find that such mistakes & shortcomings teach you the same lesson? If so, please discuss.
Why do you think the Lord allows you to think you're a pretty hopeless case sometimes? (For more food for thought on this subject, please read "The Benefits of Backsliding!", DB6, page 54.)
3) Several times in this Letter Grandpa says Tony might need to go to the System to learn his lessons. Grandpa isn't saying this just because he wants to see Tony suffer or because he's mad at him or because he doesn't like him & he's being mean to him. There are legitimate reasons why Grandpa feels Tony might need to get his fill of the System, unless he truly repents after he hears the ultimatum from Grandpa & Mama Maria. Let's list some of the possible reasons.
a) It would be much easier on Tony if he could learn his lessons within the Family, where he could partake of the loving help, guidance & counsel of his Shepherds in the Lord. However, so far he hasn't learned his lessons--& because of his pride & stubbornness & rebellion, he might not be able to learn them any other way than "the hard way" of going out & experiencing the System for himself.
b) Maybe he needs to feel how tough the Lord can be on backsliders. "The way of the transgressor is hard!"--Pro.13:15.
c) After a good dose of the System, he'd see how really horrible it is & he'd never want it again. It would cure him of his fascination for the World & his wrong idea about how "good" & "free" life in the System is. After he saw the "awful, God-damned, hell-of-a-pit," he'd cry for mercy!
d) He'd then realise what a sinner he is.
e) He'd get knocked down, broken & humbled & not be so self-righteous, or have such a high opinion of himself.
f) It would teach him to be much more thankful for what God has given him in the Family.
4) When Grandpa says that Tony might need to go to the System, does that mean that if you're having battles or you've been going through a rough time for a while that it would be better for you to go to the System too?--No! To backslide & go to the System to learn needed lessons is the last resort--& it's usually only necessary after a person has had the benefit of a lot of help, counsel, training, & many other opportunities to change & repent. Usually backsliders have chosen to deliberately not follow the counsel & guidance that they have been given, but instead want to continue in their own misguided & spiritually darkened state, so they leave the Family to seek what they mistakenly think will be "a better life" in the System.
Tony's situation is a lot different from yours! Let's review how Tony is different from you.
a) He's 24 years old, much older than most of you & much more accountable, because he's had so much Word, training & experience.
b) He's received lots of help & chances to repent in the form of counsel, Victor training, changes of location, personal attention from top leaders, etc.
c) He's been a problem for years & lots of people have tried to help him with his problems. Now even Grandpa & Mama Maria have personally tried to help him. So if he doesn't repent & change now, then the Lord will have no other choice but to give him a really big chastening in hopes that that will get through to him. "God's Spirit will not always strive with Man."--Gen.6:3
5) Grandpa says that Tony is a troublemaker, that he's like Judas. But you know, Tony can change if he chooses to yield to the Lord & repent. He doesn't have to stay in that bad state, & if he does that which is good & repents, unlike Judas, the Lord will be able to use him again & he won't be labelled permanently as a traitor. Let's think of other examples where people were really off the track but they repented & changed & the Lord forgave them & continued to use them.
a) Grandpa says that there was hardly a more wicked man than King David, but look what a saint he became when he was humbled & repented!
b) Peter denied Jesus 3 times--but he repented & the Lord forgave him, & he went on to be a great disciple.
c) When Grandpa was young he forsook his place of service with his mother & joined the army. Before too long, he was dying in an army hospital, until he repented & promised the Lord that he'd serve Him if He'd just heal him. The Lord healed him & Grandpa went on to fulfill his destiny as God's Endtime Prophet. (For more on this, please see "Shtick," ML #703:32-34, & "God's Chess Game," ML #1951:63-65.)
d) Many people in our Family have also had very serious problems, but they repented & the Lord has been able to keep using them--sometimes even more than before. For example, years ago Auntie Magdalene (then named Keda) was visiting Grandpa & Mama Maria & she had very serious spiritual problems. Grandpa said it was possibly Satan himself who was troubling her. But she received Grandpa's strong rebuke, got serious with the Lord, called out to Him, had desperate prayer--& she's gone on to be more used of the Lord than ever. PTL!
Or look at Auntie Faithy. Grandpa recently gave her a very big correction in "Rulebreakers Beware!" She was being disobedient & rebellious, but she didn't stay in that bad spiritual state. She repented & learned many lessons, which have been a great blessing to all of us! PTL!
It's true that "whoso confesseth & forsaketh his sins shall have mercy!"--Pro.28:13. Can you think of other examples of people you've known personally who have overcome their serious problems & become better vessels for the Lord? Or have you ever had such an experience? Please discuss.
(MURMURERS BEWARE!--Are You?)
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
