HomeARC ML 2958
EXPLORERS, PIONEERS & THE FAMILY!--The Man Without a Country! DO 2958 8/94
(When Dad was very sick in bed, this talk raised him up!--With {\ul \i your} prayers!)
1. The World says that the sign of an explorer or a pioneer is that he's willing to gamble, to look for the gold. Many men never found it, but some of the ones who did are still rich today.
2. The difference between an ordinary explorer & a discoverer is that the discoverer has found what he was looking for!--Like Marco Polo, he found what he was looking for. They also use the name adventurer or pioneer instead of explorer, because they're always looking for something better. The gold miners were looking for gold. Columbus was looking for a quicker route to India & the East--some of the oldest lands, where they were after gold & gems.
3. Every time I think of the famous adventurers I think, "I wonder how many times they ventured out & didn't discover anything?" How many times does a scientist experiment until he actually finds something or invents something? I've found in shopping that about nine-tenths of your shopping is finding out where it ain't.
4. That's part of the explorer's duty--most of the time he finds out where it ain't. So much of our exploration & the expeditions of the great explorers--most of them, in fact--was in finding out where it wasn't, & many of them just accidentally discovered what they discovered--like Columbus with the New World--when they were actually looking for something else. (See Thots 2, pg.1069, #238; pg. 1679, #588; pg.1502, #24.)
Brother Ware's Lighthouse!
5. When we started out, we didn't even know we were making a Family! I didn't even know what I was looking for. All I knew was that I was looking to obey the Lord, to win souls, & was searching for another place to land since they were chasing us out of our hometown, Huntington Beach.
6. So we set off caravaning across the country, only going as far as Tucson, Arizona, at first, because an old friend, Brother Ware, invited us to his church, which was called the Lighthouse, & I thought it was a good idea to headquarter there. Miguel & Faithy had already gotten there & turned Brother Ware on.--Although Sister Ware wasn't so sure about us.
7. Faithy is a salesman & a good lawyer! A salesman needs to be able to persuade people just the same as a lawyer, & Faithy persuaded ex-missionary Brother Ware--after she brought him scores of hippies--that she could pack that church out with young people! Brother Ware was a preacher who loved young people, & we began to pack them in! But the hippies didn't like the benches because they were used to sitting on the floor, so they took out the benches & just left a little row of them around the walls.
8. The old-timers in the church complained, but it was too late because the room was already packed wall-to-wall with hippies! It was so full that the old-timers couldn't even walk to the benches that were along the walls. And finally Faithy persuaded Brother Ware to take out all the benches, because the old fogies weren't coming any more anyway.
9. We were looking for a new place to headquarter, & Brother Ware's was great! In place of the pews we brought in rugs & pillows & he let us take over the stage & virtually run things. Before that, Brother Ware only had a handful of people attending his church, & had just about a dozen members. So he really loved to see a crowd of young people, because before that he'd only had old people. Of course, the problem was that his old people didn't like our young people.
10. Inspiration never tires! The water is always running! The Devil is waiting on one hand to see if he will win, & the Lord is waiting on the other hand to see if we will win--& what do you think we should do? (Fam: I guess we should fight.) But if you can't win a battle at the moment, what should you do? You wait. (Dad is having a difficult time getting down a swallow of juice that he had just taken.)
11. Brother Ware was aware of the problem & he did the best he could. He wasn't going to ask us to leave even when his church members threatened to throw him out! They said if he didn't throw our hippies out, then they were going to throw him out!
12. So he was faced with a critical decision! His wife was back in the pastor's office with a dozen church members trying to figure out what to do. It was my first time there & Brother Ware said I was going to speak. So I got up & spoke, & I really ripped into the church & the church people! Meanwhile, Mrs. Ware was praying, "Oh God, if this man is right, I've been wrong all my life!" I told them the churches were hardly any good & they had failed the job. I said, "Forget the churches! You need to go on & do the job!" I wouldn't let the mountains or the sea or half a dozen church people stop me.
13. Then the police came with a petition signed by 9,000 local Catholics demanding that we get off all the campuses or get out of town! They were upset that we were winning a lot of students, formerly good Catholics. Well, what does the Bible say? "And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them."--Luk.9:5. The Lord says to shake off the dust of your feet & go!--So we did!
Going Out, Like Abraham!
14. So we set out in a great caravan to the East, & I can honestly tell you that we did not know where we were going, like Abraham. He pulled out, & "he knew not whither he went."--Heb.11:8. That takes faith!
15. I knew we were doing the right thing & had the right Message. We were getting results, because the hippies were just joining us like mad!--New bottles, young people! We started off with a few dozen & pretty soon there were hundreds!
16. We went all the way up to Canada & were on our way back down, wondering where we were going to stop. We were pulling out of Chicago & we prayed, "Lord, where should we go?" I was leading this long caravan of about 35 cars & 100 people, & it was getting late in the Fall & it was getting cold. I thought we could either turn right to the West or keep going straight South. We didn't want to get caught out West in a blizzard, so I felt we should just keep going South.
17. I didn't know where we were going to park, I didn't know where we were going to go, but the Lord led us. I didn't even know I was starting anything, I didn't know where I was going! I was one of the worst of all adventurers or explorers, I didn't know what I was looking for!
18. Most adventurers or explorers know what they're looking for. Of course, Columbus thought he knew what he was looking for, but he found something else! I just thought we were looking for a new camp site. "What am I going to do with all of these hippies, Lord?--All these young people & disciples that we're getting?"
19. We had cars & trailers & trucks & buses & a whole Army! We even had one Army truck--it was almost like an Army tank--& all kinds of vans & odds & ends of cars & trailers, from my big camper down to little Volkswagens.
20. I was an explorer without a goal. I was a gold miner without a mine. I was an adventurer & I just didn't know what I was adventuring for except souls! I just knew I had to keep those kids together & teach them. I didn't know I was starting a Family. By this time we were called the "Children of God." I was a conqueror without anything to conquer, an explorer without anything to discover, but I just kept following the Lord.
21. Sometimes we've got to just go out, like Abraham! "And he went out, not knowing whither he went."--Heb.11:8. That was one of my favourite verses. From reading the Bible we know that the Lord was really using him to find the Promised Land, but he didn't know that. He didn't know where he was going!
22. --And neither did we, but the Lord kept us going anyhow. We never found a place to permanently lay our heads or a place to rest, but we finally got to the Texas Soul Clinic Ranch--to make a long story short. That was a temporary "Promised Land" where we could get organised & established, in order to go even further in the land we were in.
23. Abraham thought he'd gotten somewhere when he got to the land of Haran (Iraq) where his father died. They had settled down there with their families & flocks, & it looked like a perfectly good place to them; but the Lord was not satisfied. Apparently his father, Terah, did not want to move on; he thought that Haran was good enough, far enough.
24. So Abraham, to please his father, had to wait until his father died before he could obey the Lord!--They were so respectful of their elders. Then he carried on the same journey that his father had begun. The Bible says that Terah started out from the land of Ur. (Gen.11:31.) He was going to the Promised Land, to Canaan, but he hadn't gotten there! But when Abraham started out, he obeyed the Lord no matter what! It says he left Haran to go to Canaan, & then to Canaan he came. He obeyed & he got there!
25. It's a choice that every discoverer, every explorer & every pioneer has to make--whether to keep on going even when they lose heart & lose faith & nearly lose their way. Sometimes they gave up & they turned back, they didn't get anywhere. But the staunch believers with hope & faith & courage & real heart, like Columbus, will get there! The smart-aleck historians now make fun of Columbus, but he got there! He didn't get where he thought he was going, but he got somewhere even more important, to the New World!--Which was going to save a lot of people from the Old World!
26. We thought we had "arrived" when we got to Texas! We had no idea how far we were still going! I was amazed that we had come as far as we had already. And then the Lord sent Mama & me to Europe, & to Israel, of all places!--And we explored & discovered a new world of witnessing opportunities for the whole Family! We flew to Europe on Icelandic Airways, & I've told you that story before.
Building a New Church!
27. So what am I driving at? What do most adventurers, explorers & pioneers have that I didn't have? They were all looking for something, right? (Family: Yes.) I didn't even know what I was looking for! I didn't even know I was starting a Family! All I did was blindly follow the Lord step by step.
28. The Family followed us to Europe, & we began to boom! And we boomed in the Orient, & we boomed everywhere we went! The Lord blessed us. My main goal was to simply try to win souls. At first we were called the "Children of God," & then when Mama & I got to Spain we got nicknamed the "Family of Love," then finally we just dropped the "Love" & were simply called "The Family."
29. You didn't know we were going to wind up with a MO Letter from this talk, did you? I'm sorry.--No I'm not! I usually get the title near the end of the talk. How about: "The Adventurer or Explorer Without a Goal," "The Pioneer Without a Destination," "The Man without a Country," "The Guy Who Didn't know Where He was Going"--but the Lord knew! I figured we were just out winning souls, that's all. I didn't realise we were building a Family. We were literally building a whole new church & so-called denomination!
30. After we lasted for 25 years & many of the rest of the various Christian cults & sects & hippie groups had fallen by the wayside, then people began to pay attention!--Especially our enemies, who were determined to destroy us. But when we got so much publicity & we lasted so long in spite of persecution, even the scientists & sociologists & academics began to get interested in us: "What's with these people? How come they're still around after all of this persecution & opposition?--25 years & they're getting bigger & growing stronger!"
31. Do you like this little talk? (Family: Yes!) Do you think the Family will like it? (Family: Yes!) The man without a country, the pioneer without a destination, the explorer without a goal. But the Lord knew where we were going. He knew He was building a whole new church, just like He'd shown me in some of my prophecies & dreams. He called us the New Church! Right? (Fam: Yes.) (See Letter #A, "Old Church, New Church!") I didn't know I was really building a new denomination!
32. Our enemies call us a "cult" now, while they trample all over us & try to kill us! But big organisations & all kinds of academics & those standing up for religious freedom & human rights now invite us to their conferences to speak! I'm so amazed when I look at the reports of what our kids are getting invited to!--And they're sometimes some of the main speakers!
33. So here I was, the man who didn't know where he was going & had no idea what he was starting. (Dad cries a little.) Thank You Jesus! But I just went out "knowing not whither I went," just as the Lord led, because He told me to go. And I'm amazed at what's happening around the World! I'm astonished at these important conferences where they invite us to speak!
34. (Dad cries) Can you imagine?--I was nobody!--A pitiful little man with a little rag-tag band like Jesus' twelve disciples. People made fun of me! My own wife left me. She said, "You'll never get anywhere without the churches."--Ha! The last thing we needed was the churches! The church people turned into enemies & fought us because we were the real disciples following Jesus!--Preaching the Gospel throughout the World, winning souls & preaching the Message the World needs for these Last Days!
Man with a Mission!
35. So I may not have known exactly where I was going, but I was a man with a mission!--And that's what I got! I followed where it led me, & I fulfilled my mission, which is to preach the Gospel!--In all the World to every creature! (Mark 16:15).
36. And do you remember what the Lord showed me when I asked Him what He meant by "every creature"? I said, "What do You mean, Lord? How can we preach the Gospel to animals & birds?" And He told me that just showing them Love is preaching the Gospel!--Showing them our love. Isn't that what preaching the Gospel is? Isn't that what we're called to do?--To go into all the World & show them God's Love? That's preaching the Gospel!--Even to animals & birds & pets! Think of it! That shows how much He loves even His Own creatures!--Like St. Francis. (See "...To Every Creature!", ML# 2959.)
37. So here I am at the end of my days having to have such care. I didn't reach my goal, because I didn't really have a set agenda. But I reached God's goal, which is far greater than my faith or imagination could have conceived! I reached God's goal! We created a mighty Army of the Last Day & a people that will not stop until Jesus comes! (Dad bursts out strongly in tongues!) "Nothing shall stop them, not even the Gestapo! They shall be My warriors of the End until I come!" Thank You Jesus!
38. Even His Prophets of old would have liked to have seen this day! Thank God they are seeing it from the Heavenlies! They're rejoicing, jumping up & down & dancing as they hear this! Like "a great cloud of witnesses" (Heb.12:1), they're all watching & listening. I can see them, happy & laughing & dancing & so thankful even to hear this pitiful little rendition of God's mighty power!
39. For here is the man who was without a country! "But, he's not without a country, neither are his people without a country, because Heaven is their country!" He's not a king without a kingdom--God's Kingdom is his! "We shall be kings & priests unto God!"--Rev.5:10. Thank You Lord!
40. So now I know where we're going! Months ago I was praying, "Now what do we do, Lord? This seems like a dead end. We can't go any further. What are we supposed to do now?"--And the Lord gave me the vision of "The Wave" that was going to be coming soon & was going to more or less sweep us out of a lot of countries. (See ML# 2881, GN 564.) And I said, "Well, Lord, that really doesn't leave us any place to go. We've already had to leave a lot of countries, where should we go from here?" And the Lord said, "You'll come Home!" "Where's Home?" "With Me, of course!" Praise You Jesus! Thank You Lord! (Cries.)
41. Hallelujah! Let's thank & praise Him, amen? Hallelujah! Thank You Lord! How good the Lord is! (Fam: Amen!) We've almost finished the job, we've done what He told us to do. We never discovered our earthly Promised Land, but we found it in Jesus & Heaven, & some day He's going to take us to it! So we have someplace to go! Jesus is going to return at the Rapture & take us back Home Forever! Thank You Jesus!
42. The man without a country has a country! The explorer without a goal has found his goal! It was not really to be here on Earth. The adventurer without a destination has found Heaven! The pioneer without a prospect has done his job & has established his kingdom until the World is raving about it! Here!--Now!--Either raving mad or raving crazy about it!--And next, Heaven!
In Love with the Words!
43. One of our lawyers dedicated a tape of his music to me because he's gotten turned on by the Words. And a real gutsy woman, a Texas country-style singer, Mrs. Locksley, sent an entire cassette tape of love songs she had written for me! She's never met me, she's never even met our people that I know of, but she's read the Words! All of her songs are about the Words! Imagine! I never dreamed I was going to have people writing songs about me! Ha! That seems kind of funny to me, but that just shows you how people react to God's Word. It's not me. They think it's me they love, but it's the Lord!--And me.
44. The whole Family thinks it's me they love--and in a way they do. But Who do you love the most? (Fam: The Lord.) Of course, because it's the Lord Who has done it, it's the Word that did it. Who did it for you? (Fam: The Lord did it, but He used you!) Okay, I'll accept that: That you're in love with me, because you're in love with the Word & in love with Jesus!
45. This woman singer who found my words--the Lord's Words--said she'd been trying all her life to be good enough for God! She said, "I have made this tape for you in appreciation for saving my life from meaningless religiosity, & vain attempts to be good enough for God." The Lord's Words through me released her from the death of those cold mausoleums, those stone crypts of death called churches!
46. Thank God we woke a lot of churches up & a lot of them are beginning to catch on & are beginning to believe the Truth! I don't know why they changed, but many now believe in the post-Trib Rapture instead of a pre-Trib Rapture. I just have a feeling that we're going to find out some day that it was our little Warning Tract that might have started it, because we distributed those things by the millions! That's about all we had in the way of literature in those early days, & it was all right there, nothing but Scripture! They couldn't deny it if they checked it with their Bibles. There it was, it was true!
47. There must have been thousands of people who accepted it, though at the same time there were probably thousands that rejected it & hate us & have tried to crush us, because they didn't like our doctrine. They don't want to get out of church & go witnessing. They say, "No, we won't, because we don't want to! Besides, we don't like what he says about us & the churches!"
48. The Lord has used us to create what He intended to create: A mighty army of the Endtime with the right Gospel & the right Message!--The one which people are going to understand even better as things get worse. As gross darkness is going to cover the Earth, they're going to turn more & more to our light until there's a great harvest, greater than we ever dreamed of before, & that'll be the End! "And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the World for a witness unto all nations; & then shall the End come."--Mat.24:14. And it has been preached, so this is the End! It's coming very quickly, praise the Lord!
49. You didn't know you were going to get a new Letter, did you? (Mama: That was beautiful!) It might be my last one, Mama. That was my swan song. (Mama: I really don't think so.) Praise the Lord! Thank You Jesus! (Mama: It was a sweet song.) Amen. Well, I sang it to two sweet women!--And it will probably turn out to be sung to a lot more sweet women. We've got a lot of lovers! And oh my, what a task I'll have when we get to Heaven, according to some of the prophecies! The Lord said my bed was going to be filled with those seeking to love me. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Thank You Jesus!
50. The church people say, "Oh, he says they're going to have sex in Heaven!" Yes, we are!--Not "marrying or giving in marriage," because there won't be any marriage in Heaven. (Mat.22:30.)--That is, except for "The Marriage," our Marriage to Jesus, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb! If we're going to take everything literally like that, that Jesus said "there will be no marrying or giving in marriage," then what about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb? So there will be sex in Heaven, & good food too. The Lord told His disciples that the day would come when He would sit down & eat & drink with them in His Father's Kingdom.--Mat.26:29; Luk.22:18,30.
51. That's it, that's enough! Praise the Lord! He didn't let the Devil defeat us. We got the victory! Look what we would have missed if we hadn't had the tape recorder on. We would have missed the real punchlines, the Lord's hallelujahs & the messages, & best of all, we would have missed the victorious end, right? The Devil didn't want that. That's the first time I've had such a quick healing from not even being able to swallow! Thank You Jesus!
52. We just waited, prayed, rested & shouted & went ahead! You notice the Enemy didn't try to stop us any more, he knew he couldn't. He turned tail & ran because he knew we weren't going to stop. And no doubt the Lord was there to defeat him & drive him away so he couldn't make us stop. Praise the Lord!--He'll never stop us! OK, you got something! Amen? God bless you! I love you!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
