HomeARC ML 0129
"DETAILS"--MO November 16, 1971 NO.129
My Dear Children:
Greetings in Jesus' Precious Name! We have just been studying the latest New Nation Newsletter with all your latest statistics--at least all that were reported. At least eighteen Colonies were not reported out of an actual total of 43 Colonies of which only 28 were listed and only 38 totaled. None of our five European Colonies were listed or reported in this November 10 Newsletter, and neither were nine North American Colonies--possibly because some of them were supposed to be Selah. These could have been reported without naming them, however.
Perhaps some of these missing Colonies were not listed or reported because you yourselves failed to send in weekly reports which are supposed to be written and mailed every Saturday by the Colony Shepherd or his secretary, so they can be totaled and your news reported in the New Nation Newsletter the following week. If you fail to report, this could either hold up the whole Newsletter for the entire world, or fail to include much important news and vital statistics!
IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW IT, GOD IS INTERESTED IN DETAILS AND STATISTICS! He even says that the very hairs of your head are numbered, and not one sparrow falls to the ground but what your Heavenly Father knoweth it! Also, some day you will have to give an account for every idle word and for all the deeds done in the body, and every man shall be judged according to his works--His Word says so! And most of all, He keeps books on those who are saved and unsaved and all their records. God has a whole dossier on each of you in Heaven!--Records and recorders are shown to be very important and necessary throughout His Word, and many times they were commanded to "write all these things in a book" that they might be remembered for the record.
At the beginning of the Revolution the Lord commanded us to "put all these things in a Book of Remembrance". "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another (your reports): and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a Book of Remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon His Name. And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I shall make up My jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not!" (Malachi 3:16-18).--By their records! PTL?
STATISTICS:
(1) So you see, STATISTICS ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AND VITALLY ESSENTIAL TO diagnosing the condition of each Colony. And we're going to analyse these latest statistics of yours to show you why and how, Praise the Lord. This is why we first asked you to keep accurate records of all these figures, and report them faithfully, JUST AS IT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP THE ACCURATE MEDICAL RECORDS OF A PATIENT IN A HOSPITAL TO KNOW HIS CONDITION, OR YOUR FINANCIAL RECORDS TO KNOW YOUR FINANCIAL CONDITION, or meteorological records to forecast the weather!
(2) IF A COLONY IS IN GOOD HEALTH, THESE RECORDS WILL LIKELY SHOW IT, BUT IF IT'S AILING THESE RECORDS CAN ALSO SHOW THAT!--And we're going to try to show you how, so that with the Lord's help and our help, YOU MAY BE ABLE TO DIAGNOSE SOME OF YOUR OWN PROBLEMS, even hidden problems, from some of these apparent symptoms which show up in your records, even in your statistics as well as your news and reports--and one of THE MOST DANGEROUS IS NO REPORT AT ALL! IF YOU DON'T REPORT AT ALL, WE NOT ONLY KNOW SOMETHING IS WRONG, BUT WORSE YET, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT; and hereafter, all unreporting Colonies are going to be listed as delinquents and investigated why! So report!
(3) IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT THAT YOU KEEP ACCURATE RECORDS and make at least approximate estimates!--No more of this "hundreds" or "thousands" or "all basic 3x5 classes", or "a few visitors", or "300 classes", without giving the actual number of pieces of literature, or sheets. If you had to print them, you'd know how much of each of those counts. Also, no more question marks or "some tracts" etc. At least, make a good guess. We can't guess for you. You should come close!
NEED FOR DAILY AND WEEKLY WITNESSING REPORTS
(4) In order to do this, in the early days we used to REQUIRE A DAILY WITNESSING REPORT FROM EACH STUDENT ON A LITTLE SLIP OF PAPER where each item was listed, so he could jot down the actual counted, or at least estimated number each day on this little slip while it was still fresh in his memory. THEN EACH STUDENT TURNED IN A LITTLE SLIP OF PAPER EACH WEEK CALLED HIS WEEKLY WITNESSING REPORT with all the totals added up from his daily reports by himself. He didn't get dinner on the day it was due unless his report was in!--And you should have seen the scramble of filling out reports at the last minute, even in the cafeteria line, so they could hand them in for their meal ticket that night!
(5) Maybe you could try this: no Friday night dinner without a weekly witnessing report turned in to the secretary at the beginning of the chow line before each is served! I'll bet you'll get some pretty good reports, or at least some reports! Nothing like your stomach to remind you! And then the secretary would have them ready for the summing up of the Colony Shepherd's Report the next day. Why not try it? I'm sure it would help to jog some memories! Amen?
(6) These little report blanks were just little slips of paper the size of a 3x5 card which could be kept in your pocket or Bible, even while in the field, so you could jot down figures on the spot, right after the action, right beside each item, then total them up at the end of the day. The items listed should be the same ones requested for your Colony's weekly report, as follows, in this order please, to assist the secretary in totaling, and us in analysing:
(7) A. WITNESSED TO: (This should either be the actual number that you counted and kept a record of on your witnessing report, or at least a pretty good estimate.) This not only means those witnessed to individually, but if you were on a team which did some mass witnessing, such as at a meeting, rally, crowd in the park, or even sang or played a song to a group, this is still witnessing, and the leader of your team should count or have you count, or estimate, the number in the group or crowd so witnessed to!--For this is witnessing, and that many were witnessed to, even in song! If it was on TV or radio or in the newspaper, find out what the TV or radio station thinks the size of its average audience is, or find out what the circulation of that newspaper is. If you were on that show or in that paper, that's how many you witnessed to! Wow! I'll bet you haven't been turning in those reports, or we'd have seen a few million in some of your reports lately! And every day you're on, and every time you're on, and every paper you're in, and every time you're in that paper, counts! Hallelujah! Amen?--The reports we're going to get now! And also, don't forget to count the number of letters you wrote this week, because every letter should be a witness! This includes each individual's letters to his loved ones and friends, as well as your Colony's letters to outsiders! I'll bet you didn't think about that, did you? Well, now you know!--Even the people you talk to on the telephone should be included in the number witnessed to! Wow! What a witnessing report we're going to have next time! Hallelujah! Get busy! Start counting! GBY!
(8) B. LITERATURE DISTRIBUTED: This includes every single piece of literature handed out or sent out, including tracts, Gospels, Bibles, newspapers, classes, letters, etc. A pretty good way to count this is by going by the number witnessed to, because you should have given at least one piece of literature to every one you witness to, whether it was a tract on the street, a letter to a loved one, a newspaper through the mail, or even a class to a student! You didn't realise you were doing so much witnessing, did you? And since we are not just tract passers, and we try to witness to every single one we give a piece of literature to, whether in person or in the mail, the number of pieces of literature distributed should be about the same as the number of those witnessed to, except for those witnessed to on radio, TV, or telephone, or in groups or crowds where you couldn't possibly give them all a tract, but you did witness to them over the mike, etc. And get this: you can honestly even count the number of individual newspapers you were in in that news story or even that magazine, according to its circulation! How's that for the literature we're responsible for? Our witness was in it, wasn't it?--Even if we didn't actually have to publish it ourselves! Amen? "The Lord gave the Word: great was the company of those that published it!"--Great publishing companies have published us and His Word in their newspapers, magazines, and now even in books!--So don't fail to count them all, and it will give you a little idea of how much you're accomplishing! Wow! You didn't realise that, did you! Hallelujah! Great God!
(9) C. DECISIONS: This includes everyone who accepted Christ because of your witness, including those who accepted him on the street or in the park or in a meeting, or on the phone, or through a letter, or a tract, etc.--as many as you know of. Praise the Lord! All those who asked Christ into their hearts at your behest, or because of your witness! Hallelujah! Names in Heaven!
(10) D. BAPTISED WITH THE HOLY GHOST: This means all those who also received the Holy Spirit in power, whether by faith, sign, manifestation, or other witness, Praise God! We'd like to see more figures on this. HOLY GHOST POWER MEANS MORE DISCIPLES AND LESS TROUBLE WITH THE ONES YOU HAVE! Maybe some of your personnel problems are due to the fact they didn't get baptized in the Spirit! Spirit Baptism is far more important than water baptism, which isn't essential! Boom!
(11) E. NEW DISCIPLES: This should include every single new disciple who comes home and joins you, even for a day! Some are trying to lower their backslider percentage by not listing disciples who only stay a few days! This is cheating, and not telling the whole truth. If they came, spent a day or two, then left, unless they were nothing but a visitor, they were a new disciple, and a backslider! So let's be honest with those statistics. Praise the Lord!
(12) These five items are all you need on your INDIVIDUAL DISCIPLE'S REPORTS, those little slips they carry with them, and total up at the end of the week, and hand the totals in to you Colony secretaries or Shepherds on their weekly report slip at Friday dinner! Amen?
HOW TO DO THE COLONY SHEPHERD'S REPORT
(13) The Colony Secretary should then total all of these Friday night or Saturday morning so the Colony Shepherd can add them to his report Saturday afternoon to be mailed Saturday night! The Secretary or Shepherd must also preface these statistics in this order with first, the total number of members in your Colony, including everybody living there--staff, boys, girls, children, but not necessarily pets, although that's interesting too. I notice one road team had three dogs along, which, when their bus broke down, probably aroused more sympathy than the kids themselves, as people even brought food for the dogs because their picture was in the paper! Ha! Then after the grand total of the total population of your Colony, in parenthesis you can break it down to the number of boys, girls, and children. Do not list the number of your staff separately in this category. Include their number in the total, and amongst the men and girls. The names, titles, duties, and progress of each staff member is to be listed in a separate place on the report under "STAFF" but their number is to be included in these totals. Savvy? If not, read it again!
(14) Therefore, your colony reports should look something like this: (from a good report!)
FT. WORTH COLONY SHEPHERD'S REPORT--for the week ending October 26, 1971 Address: c/o(Advisor's Name), P.O. Box 3027, Ft. Worth, Texas (Zip Code) Phone No.
(This address should include the exact name your P.O. Box is listed in at the post office!)
1. ENROLLMENT: Total: 12 (8 men; 2 women; 2 children)--(These figures should include the staff. It was not clear on this particular report whether these figures included the staff or not, as the report said: "plus staff". Please include the staff in these numbers in addition to listing them individually below).
2. STAFF: (List each name, their title, duties, and progress, as briefly as possible, in just a few words, preferably each one on just one line. Your staff includes all of your fulltime officers, particularly the Shepherd, Assistant Shepherd, and/or Secretary and/or Business Manager and/or Bookkeeper and/or Teachers, Chief Musician and/or Inspirationalist, Chief Greeter and/or Chief Security Officer, Chief Provisioner, Chief Mechanic and/or Maintenance Man; Chief Radio Man and/or Communications Officer, Chief Men's Counsellor, Chief Women's Counsellor, Chief Nursery Supervisor, Chief Printer, Chief Public Relations Officer, Chief Kitchen Supervisor, etc.
3. WITNESSED TO:
4. LITERATURE DISTRIBUTED:
5. DECISIONS:
6. BAPTIZED WITH THE HOLY GHOST:
7. NEW DISCIPLES: (Please describe each one by Bible name, Age, origin, Background, Former Occupation, Former Religion, Economic Status, Parent's Attitude, Personal Attitude, Talents, etc.)
8. BACKSLIDERS: (Give name, Age, Sex, Description, Reason, etc, also Time on team, Attitude, etc.)
9. OUTSTANDING DONATIONS OR PROVISIONMENTS:
10. REACTIONS TO MO LETTERS AND OTHER OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS: (This should include the date read--which should be the same as the date received, but if not, both dates should be given. Only one MO Letter should be read each day, however, during a leadership or LT meeting, or, if addressed to all, during a general meeting. Even though you received more than one in the same mail, read each one separately each following day during the LT class period or leadership meeting. In case you didn't know it, MO LETTERS ARE HIS LEADERSHIP TRAINING CLASSES. Therefore, at least one MO Letter should be read every day to your leadership and leadership trainees: new ones first, old ones when you're out of new ones. This is MO's daily class--don't miss it! This will help you know the Lord's latest, what direction we're moving, and our latest advice to you on current problems, policies, news, changes, warnings, etc. Your report on these should also include the name of the reader and the reaction of the audience, as well as the name of the Letter, of course.)
11. VICTORIES: (This is the good news, outstanding witnessing experiences, solutions of problems, etc.)
12. PERSONNEL TRANSFERS: (Include name, where to, how, and what for.)
13. PROBLEMS: (Major problems and difficulties which need our prayers or help.)
14. NEEDS: (Specific needs which need our prayers or help.)
15. SUGGESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS: (This is your chance to sound off and preach at us and tell us how you think it ought to be done--whatever you have on your heart, whatever you feel like saying! Now's your chance! Sock it to us! This is usually one of the most interesting parts of your report, and has sometimes resulted in some valuable contributions to our over-all operation, policies, changes, improvements, procedures, security, inspiration, etc. This is also a good place for you to ask questions, if you have any, or to suggest personnel changes to your Regional Advisor, or suggest plans or warn of potential dangers, etc. This could also include any special reports of special events, such as King conferences, etc.)
16. A PARTICULARLY HEAVY SPECIFIC OR DEFINITELY PREDICTIVE PROPHECY:
17. SHEPHERD'S AND TYPIST'S SIGNATURE, BOTH:
(15) TO THE WRITER OF THE NEW NATION WEEKLY NEWSLETTER: The statistics at the head of the Newsletter therefore, should hereafter be in the following exact order : COLONIES:--DISCIPLES:--WITNESSED TO:--LIT.DIST.:--DECISIONS:-- H.G.BAP:--NEW DISCIPLES:--You will note that these statistics follow the exact order of this new Shepherd's Report form which should greatly simplify your own statistical analysis and totaling. This exact order should also be followed immediately after the name of each Colony in its paragraph in the Newsletter. You can also break down the total number of disciples in the heading into a parenthesised number of boys, girls, and children. I would also like to see the Colonies listed in the Newsletter numerically according to size, the largest being the first Colony listed, number one; the second largest, No. 2; and so on, with the total number of disciples in the Colony listed immediately after its name, then broken down into men, women, and children, in parenthesis, then the same order of statistics as in the heading, like this: BURLINGTON:--224 (Men 112, Women 77, Children 35); Witnessed to: 100; Lit. Distr: none; Decisions: 1; H.G. Bapt: ?; New Disciples: 1 man. (Then follow this with the latest important news report. OK?) Be sure to include every single colony, even if you have to say, "No Report", except that following the Colony name you could requote last week's report as to size and numbers, with a question mark. Woe be unto the Colony that doesn't report! God help them to be more faithful! You can even list the Selah Colonies by initials or Code names. Don't miss one! Count them! Go by your total list of existing Colonies, not just the number of reports. You missed 15 last week! And everybody remember: IT'S STILL "QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY" THAT COUNTS! God bless you!
THE PURPOSE OF THE STATISTICAL REPORTS
(16) THE PURPOSE OF THESE STATISTICAL REPORTS IS TO ENCOURAGE ALL OF US by being able to see how much we're accomplishing through these actual figures and also to help us detect any trouble spots, problems, or areas that need help, and correct our mistakes. The size of the figures is not always important, except as they relate to the quality of what you're accomplishing, and the relationship of these figures to each other can often tell us something, good or bad.
(17) Let's make a simple sample analysis of Newsletter No. 6 to show you what we mean. First of all, the figure 38 for the number of our Colonies shows that either the secretary miscounted or is not aware of some of our Colonies or thinks it's not necessary to include the Selah Colonies, or maybe is only counting the Colonies that reported that
week--because by actual map count there are now 43 Colonies located in a total of 21 States, Provinces, and countries! So that reminds us to tell the secretaries of the Newsletter to count more accurately.
(18) On the total number of disciples, we reached about the same figure as on the Newsletter, which is not quite as high as some of us have been claiming, which is perhaps a relief, as we have been growing almost too fast, as suggested in our previous Letters. Considering the shortage of space and leadership we have run into lately to care for these disciples, we have suggested that we need to SLOW DOWN A BIT ON NEW DISCIPLES WHILE WE BETTER TRAIN AND PREPARE THE ONES THAT WE HAVE FOR IMMEDIATE LEADERSHIP, SO THAT WE CAN SEND OUT MORE SMALL TEAMS into more areas around the world as soon as possible.
TRAIN MORE SO YOU CAN DIVIDE MORE AND SMALLER
(19) THIS EASING OFF ON THE BIRTH RATE AND STEPPING UP ON A BETTER TRAINING may be a test of your faith economically, but if so, you need it, so you'll better learn how to depend on the Lord rather than just new disciples for your needs. This will also actually assist in a more rapid growth on a far wider scale throughout the world in the future. Rapid growth by bunching up in a few huge Colonies here at home should not be our aim! OUR AIM SHOULD BE SMALLER COLONIES SCATTERED THROUGHOUT EVERY IMPORTANT AREA of our own country and the world carrying the message everywhere and gaining disciples in all the world and reaping the entire harvest, rather than just a few little corners of a few small fields. Jesus said "Lift up your eyes" and see the whole harvest, for which real labourers are needed, hard workers, who will be willing to go anywhere and do anything to bring it in! "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest shall SEND FORTH labourers into the harvest." (Mt.9:38) we have got to GO WHEREVER the harvest is!--NOW!
(20) OTHERWISE, WE'RE GETTING JUST LIKE THE CHURCHES, BUNCHING UP IN BIG GROUPS of spiritual babies, unable to take care of themselves and having to be nursed along continuously in large Colonies by the few available leaders, so that we will never reach all the fields. At this rate we will just get bogged down, like the churches, QUIBBLING OVER PETTY INTERNAL AFFAIRS, MORE CONCERNED ABOUT OURSELVES THAN THE REST OF THE WORLD, bickering and fighting amongst ourselves, the Enemy attacking on the inside and weakening us against the attacks of outside enemies UNTIL WE HAVE COMPLETELY LOST THE VISION AND GOD'S PLAN, AND WORST OF ALL, THE WORLD!
(21) If we continue to follow this gregarious trend, we will become like the man in the Army who got so busy fixing other guys watches, HE FORGOT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FIGHTING A WAR! When we said Colonisation and not Scatteration, we did not mean for you to bunch up in just a few big Colonies and let the rest of the world go to Hell, and we did not mean that everybody should scatter completely, individually, and alone, on his own!
(22) But what God did mean was like the Early Church, WE SHOULD SCATTER OUT THROUGH ALL THE WORLD IN SMALLER COLONIES, like the Early Churches, into EVERY land and nation, and make disciples of ALL nations in ALL the world and preach the Gospel to EVERY creature! This is why I am convinced we must do a better job of TRAINING MORE LEADERS SO WE CAN SCATTER INTO MORE AND SMALLER COLONIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
(23) So you can see by this figure of over 1600 disciples in only 43 colonies, we already have even an average of more than double the size that each Colony should be! And the actual case is that a number of our Colonies are even much larger than that! And some of them are actually monstrous!--And a headache to operate, a nightmare to control, and a desperation to feed!
THE ADVANTAGES OF SMALL COLONIES OVER BIG COLONIES
(24) WHEN YOUR COLONY GETS TO THE POINT THAT IT TAKES ALL YOUR TIME just to try to take care of them physically and you don't even have enough time to train them spiritually, and they can't even get out and witness very much, YOUR COLONY'S TOO BIG. But A SMALL COLONY HAS FEW NEEDS, requires little housing, less food and food preparation, less transportation, less maintenance, and HAS LOTS MORE TIME TO TEACH, STUDY, TRAIN, EXPERIENCE, WITNESS, AND WIN SOULS!
(25) You also find that, WITH FEWER PEOPLE, YOU'LL HAVE FEWER AND LESS SERIOUS PERSONNEL PROBLEMS because everybody is kept busy in some responsibility, and you can keep an eye on every one of them, and everyone is learning to be a leader by experience, on-the-job training! But as I've said again and again, you cannot possibly keep track of everybody in a large Colony, some are bound to be shirking and goofing off and getting into trouble, for idleness is the Devil's workshop!
(26) One of our major leaders has had to spend so much time lately trying to settle the problems and spiritual and personnel difficulties and try to help keep all their little babes in hand of one of these monstrous Colonies, that he's even had to neglect other Colonies that need his help. We read the reports, and IT'S ALMOST ALWAYS THE BIGGEST COLONIES THAT ARE HAVING THE MOST TROUBLES AND THE MOST PROBLEMS. WHEREAS THE SMALLER COLONIES KNOW THEY HAVE TO TRUST THE LORD because nobody else pays any attention to them to the point of neglect, so they get along fine!
(27) THESE LITTLE PIONEER COLONIES ARE THE SHINING EXAMPLES OF FAITH, miracles, provision, protection, amazing development of leadership, and marvelous accomplishments for their size! Some of them win as many new disciples, or more, than the big ones, because the big ones are too busy to witness and too big to hold any more disciples! And some of these small ones have sometimes received as much publicity as the huge ones, with much less effort and expense!
(28) But it's kind of like the weather: everyone talks about it, but nobody does anything about it, and maybe it's because, like the weather, you can't! Our recent sudden evacuation of four major Colonies forced us to find some place to put them immediately, because hundreds of people were involved, so we quickly had to get some big places to hold them, and thank God He provided them!--And they were right back in the same old big Colony rut as before.
(29) The problem is that we didn't split soon enough! We didn't prepare, train, equip, organize, instruct those little teams that I was talking about a year ago, soon enough! If we'd done like I said then, we could have sent them off at easy stages as the doors opened, or even out camping, at least by summer time, and by this time they would have scattered everywhere, and I know that God would have provided winter quarters for everyone, because He never fails if we obey!
(30) Now those huge Colonies that I asked to do this are even larger and only located in different places, WITH MORE BABES AND LESS LEADERSHIP, AND THE POSSIBILITY OF SPLITTING THEM UP BECOMES EVEN MORE DIFFICULT. We're less prepared to do it now than we were then. We're worse off than before! THE BIG COLONIES ARE CARRYING US BACKWARD INSTEAD OF FORWARD AND MAKING IT EVEN MORE DIFFICULT FOR US TO PROGRESS AND DO THE JOB GOD CALLED US TO DO! This is a hell of a mess!
(31) WE'VE BECOME AS BAD OFF AS THE BIG CHURCHES that built big buildings and then can't move when the world moves on and leaves them behind because they're tied down with that huge abomination! They either have to try to sell it to built a new one somewhere else, or abandon it, because who wants to buy a church that even the builders couldn't make succeed! Who wants to buy a business that has proved a flat failure! What else is a church good for!
(32) So you big colonies had better watch out you don't wind up in the same situation! Even though you're building your big building out of living stones--the true people of God--YOU MAY STILL FIND YOURSELF STUCK WITH A HUGE MASS OF BABES AND NOT ENOUGH LEADERS, A LIVING NIGHTMARE, and almost impossible to move or break up into smaller Colonies because of the lack of leadership and the immaturity of your disciples. You got started on the wrong foot and now you're stuck with it! You figure you're already short of leaders, so you can't send any teams out, and your babes are not trained enough to go anyhow, so you try to sit there until you can train some leaders out of them, but you're so crowded and so big you really can't, and it becomes a vicious cycle, and worse!
FAILURE TO SPLIT DUE TO LACK OF FAITH AND DISOBEDIENCE
(33) You may think I sound very discouraging, but I'm trying to paint the picture as black as I possibly can, maybe even worse than it really is yet, because we're headed for disaster at this rate, and I'M TRYING TO LET YOU KNOW HOW BAD IT CAN GET IF WE DON'T DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT NOW--if we don't OBEY GOD, GET OUT OF THE NEST, LIFT UP OUR EYES UNTO THE HARVEST, AND GO into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, we'll wind up just like the churches and old King Saul, so desperately busy trying to figure out some way to survive that we go crazy and completely forget, or find it impossible to accomplish the job we're here for!
(34) I've been praying desperately about this, and now that I've told you how bad it is, maybe you'll appreciate what I think is the solution. Do you remember last year when I told you the Lord gave me the Scripture about organising these small teams with the warning "Pray that your flight be not in Winter"! But HERE IT IS WINTER AND WE STILL HAVEN'T FLOWN! We still haven't divided up into small Colonies, we still have some of these big monsters on our hands, and still don't know what to do with them, or where to go, or how to do it!
(35) The Lord gave us a wonderful opportunity, with many open doors, at the beginning of the Summer, but we said we still didn't have the leadership or the personnel to take advantage of it! Now the Summer's over and we're worse off than we were then: we have even fewer open doors and even less leadership in proportion to our numbers. You didn't obey when I told you to, WE DIDN'T OBEY WHEN GOD TOLD US TO, SO NOW WE'RE EVEN FURTHER BEHIND!
(36) Oh, but you say, look at all our nice new little Colonies and even newer and bigger big ones and all our new Colonies overseas and our greatly increased numbers! Isn't that a sign of the blessing of the Lord? Let me tell you, it's a sign of the mercy of the Lord in spite of our disobedience, and only because of the obedience of a few! Otherwise we'd probably still be bunched up in only two or three absolutely collossal Colonies by now, because nobody wants to leave home!
(37) And now you say--you STILL say and even more so: we've got TOO FEW LEADERS, TOO MANY BABES, AND NOT ENOUGH OPEN DOORS! It reminds me of my denominational leader who once told us we'd have to stop producing so many Bible College graduates because the mission field was not able to absorb them all, only we've given it a new twist and say we can't do the job until we produce more. Either way, I have become convinced that in either case it boils right down to nothing more or less than just this: LACK OF FAITH!--AND OBEDIENCE AND SELF-SACRIFICE!
(38) SINCE WHEN ARE WE SUPPOSED TO WAIT UNTIL ALL THE CONDITIONS ARE JUST RIGHT before we have enough faith to obey! Since when do we think we have to wait until our leaders have years of training and our babes months and months of coddling before we can send them out! Since when do we have to have just the right kind of an open door, just the right kind of a house or building in just the right section or city with all the best provisioning conditions, plenty of money and the best weather, before we can leave!
(39) I am becoming convinced that IT'S MERELY A LACK OF PURE FAITH AND OBEDIENCE that we're not breaking up these big Colonies, or at least trimming them down by sending out more teams to needier areas around the world! And GOD IS NOW TRYING TO WARN US with recent bad publicity and persecution, that IF WE DON'T OBEY PRETTY SOON, HE'S GOING TO SMITE THE SHEPHERDS, AND THE SHEEP WILL BE COMPELLED TO SCATTER with even less preparation, provision, protection, and leadership!
(40) DO WE HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL GOD FORCES US OUT, until He strikes us with calamity, and really severe persecution, before we're willing to leave the nest and strike out by faith, even like Abraham, and as we personally have done many times, not knowing whither we went? I'll tell you right now, I've done it many times, and God's never failed me, or you, or us! We did it on the road together, for a while, but maybe you've forgotten that, or maybe you don't want to have to live like that again! Well, we can if we have to, and we'd better, if it's God's Will!
(41) TO OBEY IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE, and to hearken than the fat of rams! Don't tell me we have performed the commandments of the Lord! What meaneth then this lowing of the oxen and this bleating of the sheep in mine ears? WE HAVEN'T OBEYED THE LORD! You haven't even done what I told you to do! YOU'RE STILL BUNCHED UP IN BIG COLONIES AND SENDING FEW TEAMS OUT! God help us!
GOD BLESS SMALL PIONEER COLONIES--EXAMPLE OF EUROPE
(42) But now let me give you the bright side of the picture! Hallelujah! let's look at those WHO HAVE OBEYED, and what they have and are accomplishing! Look what happened when we sent a team of only 29 to California! They were soon two hundred and twenty-nine! The only trouble was they had such a nice big place to use for so many, they had a hard time leaving it! But you'll notice also that when TSC and LA didn't split up into small teams and start moving out, God eventually moved them out by force, trying to compel us to obey, or encourage us to obey!
(43) But the little teams that were sent out, God bless them, He did wonders with! First Kentucky, then Cincy, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Ohio Farm, Detroit, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Austin, Merkle, Houston, etc. and etc. Need we name them all? Thank God we did partially obey!--And look at the tremendous results! EVERY TEAM THAT HAS BEEN SENT OUT HAS PROSPERED, been cared for, multiplied and been fruitful, protected and blessed by the Lord, and won many new disciples in spite of many trials and tribulations, obstacles, hindrances, and persecution! PTL!
(44) MANY OF THESE NEW TEAMS HAD VERY YOUNG LEADERSHIP, AND PLENTY OF BABES, even some inexperienced leadership that had never run a Colony before--but they soon learned, for God was with them, blessing them for their faith and obedience! They sought His Kingdom first and all these other things were added unto them: houses, lands, provisions, protection, good publicity, and much good fruit! Hallelujah! What more could we ask than this, and why not now?
(45) But you say, we haven't got enough leaders left, and our babes are too young and too many! Well, let's LOOK AT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN EUROPE! We sent out the first tiny team of only six to nothing but a room in a rooming house in the huge city of London! In less than four months, they were on TV, radio, and newspaper all over the place, had a Colony of 90 in London alone with a number of great places to live, all free, plenty of cars, two huge double-decker Prophet buses, and oodles of Provisioning, and best of all, lots of strong young new disciples and leaders!
(46) NOT ONE OF THAT FIRST SIX HAD EVER RUN A COLONY BY THEMSELVES, much less ever pioneered a Colony by themselves, much less with only six people, much less with only one room and few funds! BUT THEY HAD FAITH, SELF-SACRIFICE, VISION, COURAGE, AND INITIATIVE, AND THEY OBEYED! And London exploded with its first pioneer Colony of the Jesus Revolution--And the whole world heard about it! And now they're even getting too big!--Without even one band! Think of that!
(47) Not only that, mind you, IN LESS THAN FOUR MONTHS, THEY HAVE ALSO PIONEERED THREE OTHER BRAND NEW COLONIES IN THREE OTHER COUNTRIES IN EUROPE that themselves are already busting at the seams!--With very little help from us (they didn't even use the funds we sent, the Lord supplied so abundantly!), and not nearly as much personnel as they requested! So what did they do?--In a Colony where an old brother is only three weeks old, and many of the leaders have never been leaders before, and where most of them didn't even speak the languages of those other countries. Did they sit on their thumbs and say, no?--Did they say, we can't spare the personnel, we haven't got the leaders, our brothers are too young, we can't afford the funds, we lack transportation?
(48) NO! THEY SAID YES! WE'LL GO! WE HAVE THE FAITH! WE'LL OBEY GOD! And God will supply! And He did! Hallelujah! He never failed! Even though it meant that they had to start out sleeping on the streets and in the parks, hostels, and haunted houses with the rats running around and eating catch as catch can, and no place to teach their disciples but the parks and the public square, and not even a knowledge of the language! They just sang and played and loved and witnessed and believed their way through! THEY JUST OBEYED AND WENT AND GOD DID THE REST!
(49) TO DO IT, THEY HAD TO TAKE YOUNG LEADERS WHO'D NEVER HAD MUCH RESPONSIBILITY BEFORE, AND USE YOUNG BABES WHO THEMSELVES HAD JUST BECOME DISCIPLES to turn right around and start teaching the newer ones, and "older brothers" of only three weeks, to carry heavy responsibilities of caring for the new ones! To do it, they just used whatever they had--even without a place to lay their heads, or a fold for their sheep! THEY JUST KEPT ON OBEYING, AND GOD KEPT BLESSING!
(50) Now there are four or five brand new Colonies in Europe as a result of their faith and obedience! And these new Colonies are already full of many new disciples of many nationalities, speaking many languages and loving Jesus just like you! SO WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE, BIG COLONIES? Selah!
BIG COLONIES BRING GREATER PERSECUTION AND SYSTEM ATTACKS
(51) We are still analysing and advising you on our weekly statistics and what we can learn from them. We have already dealt with the proportionate relationship between the number of Colonies and the total number of their members and have already told you that WE HAVE TOO FEW COLONIES FOR THE NUMBER OF MEMBERS WE HAVE, AND NEED TO BREAK UP SOME OF THESE LARGER COLONIES into smaller ones for the sake of both obedience to the Commandment TO GO INTO ALL THE WORLD, as well as our own security!
(52) IF PERSECUTION FORCES US UNDERGROUND, THE SMALLER THE COLONY, THE EASIER it is to hide and the less attention it draws from the Enemy, and the less adverse fire from the news media. When publicity is not favourable, it's sometimes better to have no publicity at all in order to survive. And you'll notice our largest Colonies are the ones now getting the most adverse publicity. The bigger you are and the more news you make, the more afraid they are of you, and the more apt they are to react violently against you, when there are literally hundreds of you concentrated in a single area!--Another of the disadvantages of being a large Colony!
(53) But WHO'S GOING TO BE AFRAID OF A DOZEN OR TWO of you: although some of our dozens have even made quite a bit of news, it has usually been very sympathetic and favourable, as the SYSTEM SEEMS TO TEND TO ENCOURAGE AND HAVE COMPASSION ON THE TINY GROUP, whereas its attitude stiffens toward the larger ones! THE LARGER YOU ARE AND THE MORE PUBLICITY YOU GET, THE GREATER THREAT YOU BECOME to their society and way of life, and the more they are apt to try to get rid of you! And they can get rid of you if they want to, usually by clamping down on your housing!
HOUSING--CAN BE SYSTEM'S WEAPON AGAINST YOU
(54) HOUSING IS THE MOST DICTATORIAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN AMERICA TODAY. In most cities today you cannot even repair your house without a permit. In fact, you cannot even move into it without a use permit, and any alterations of any kind require a building permit, and the city regulations can dictate exactly how many people can occupy the building, exactly what your plumbing and wiring have to be, how many toilets you must have for the number of people you have, how many square feet of floor space per person, how many fire escapes, doors, windows, and even parking!
(55) IF THE SYSTEM WANTS TO START CLAMPING DOWN ON YOU BECAUSE YOU'VE BECOME A NUISANCE to them, because you've stirred up too much antagonism amongst the parents who are jumping on the backs and climbing down the throats of the officials, so that they simply want to get you out of their hair, you're disturbing their peace, so that all of a sudden you have become a serious threat to public health and safety, guilty of disorderly conduct, etc. etc.
(56) The PARENTS CANNOT PROVE ANY OF THEIR MORE SERIOUS CRIMINAL CHARGES against you, such as hypnosis, drugs, involuntary servitude, or incarceration, kidnapping, or intent to defraud, etc., unless they actually suborn witnesses and get them to actually lie on the witness stand in order to frame you, which they may do if all else fails them and they can get no reaction from public officials against you in any other way. TRY NOT TO LET IT GO THAT FAR IF YOU CAN!
(57) BUT USUALLY THEY WILL JUST STIR UP THE OFFICIALS ENOUGH AGAINST YOU so that to them you have become a public nuisance and undesirable visitors to their community! So they use the simplest and easiest and MOST DICTATORIAL WEAPON AT THEIR COMMAND: THE HOUSING, building, zoning, health and safety and fire regulations, etc. There's hardly a building they can't condemn if they want to. They can clamp down on the restrictions and the inspection so tight that they can make it impossible to meet their requirements or economically ridiculous and extravagant!
(58) Or THEY CAN PUT THE PRESSURE ON YOUR POOR LANDLORD so that they make his life miserable unless he himself asks you to leave. They even condemned and made him tear down our house in Miami, and the few ministers who were cooperating with us were also threatened with reprisals against their own church buildings under these dictatorial local building codes! In America today, THE GOVERNMENT REALLY OWNS YOUR PROPERTY AND TELLS YOU EXACTLY WHAT TO DO WITH IT, but makes you foot the bills!
(59) THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST AND MOST DECEITFUL FORMS OF DICTATORSHIP, and is not even as fair as Socialism, where the government owns everything but at least also pays the bills. It's similar to their treatment of labourers, whom they also enslave, but the employer can fire at will with no further responsibility, leaving them destitute and starving. EVEN A SLAVE HAD MORE SECURITY! IT'S THE CLEVEREST FORM OF DICTATORSHIP; THEY TELL YOU YOU'RE FREE WHEN YOU'RE REALLY A SLAVE without even a slave's security! The slave owner (employer) only owns you and takes care of you when he wants to, but he can cast you aside at will, and the burden of your security becomes the responsibility of the Government--so-called Social Security!
(60) So WE ARE ALREADY LIVING UNDER THE WORST FORM OF A PSEUDO-SOCIALISTIC, FASCIST TYPE OF DICTATORSHIP, the very cleverest of all! As Tom Anderson, the publisher of a small Farm Journal fighting for the rights of the small farmer, once said (and the Federal Government finally put him in prison for it). The American System is the cleverest and most deceitful form of Socialistic dictatorship: they make you think you're free when you aren't, and they make you think you own your property when you don't! As the famous caustic columnists, Arthur Brisbane and Westbrook Pegler, used to indicate before they passed away in disillusionment, the U.S. Federal Government became a dictatorship when it assumed dictatorial powers over your bodies through the draft laws, over your incomes, through the income taxes, and over your properties, through the local property laws! In fact, AMERICA HAS BECOME THE LEADER OF THE FASCIST WORLD OF TODAY through its own internal policies and its external SUPPORT OF OVER SIXTY MILITARY DICTATORSHIPS out of about ninety Governments that it supports throughout the world! We are already the Nitlerian American dictatorship!
(61) SO YOU HAVEN'T MUCH CHANCE HERE IN TRYING TO FIGHT CITY HALL! They can oust you if they want to, and if you refuse to oust, they can use even more stringent methods, or THEY CAN SIMPLY STAND BACK AND IGNORE OR EVEN PROTECT THE PARENTS WHO COMMIT CRIMES AGAINST YOU, such as kidnapping. We've had this happen! I even once had all the evidence in my hand necessary to press criminal charges against a school board that was violating the law, and the Prosecuting Attorney's Office simply refused to accept it, or let me file charges! The System protects its own!
(62) SO AGAIN I SAY YOU CAN'T FIGHT CITY HALL, unless you want to die like John the Baptist, Jesus, and Stephen did, or go to prison like Peter and John and Paul and all the other disciples! But I would advise you, as Jesus did, to TRY TO STAY ALIVE AND FREE AS LONG AS POSSIBLE and "WHEN THEY PERSECUTE YOU IN THIS CITY, FLEE YE INTO ANOTHER" (Mt. 10:23), so you can continue to reach as many cities as possible before Jesus comes! Praise the Lord?
(63) So THE SMALLER COLONY AGAIN ATTRACTS LESS ATTENTION, OPPOSITION, AND PERSECUTION FROM THE SYSTEM, as a rule, can operate much more underground inconspicuously, quietly, and without drawing too much notice, fear or fire. And then, WHEN THINGS DO GET HOT, THE SMALLER COLONY HAS LESS INVESTED AND FEWER POSSESSIONS AND PEOPLE TO MOVE AT A MOMENT'S NOTICE, and they can go almost anywhere, as almost any of our other Colonies could take them in for a day or two until they could be enroute to another location, or their members spread around and absorbed by other smaller Colonies until another location opens or they have faith to launch out and obey--"GO!"
(64) But WHAT'S A BIG COLONY GOING TO DO IN THE EVENT OF A SUDDEN AND FORCED EVACUATION? Well, we've just been through this, so we ought to learn something from it, and it was only the miraculous mercy of God that we survived! How are you going to move hundreds of people suddenly all at once, including all your goods--and where are you going to go? Well, we found out! Some of them spent three nights in a park, sleeping on the ground! Others were dumped unceremoniously into the already crowded quarters of other nearby Colonies, and we didn't have sufficient transportation to even transfer them to the more commodious accommodations which the Lord so mercifully and forgivingly supplied in the emergency!--And we're still trying to dispose of their goods!
(65) AND NOW THEY'RE ALL BUNCHED UP AGAIN IN SOME EVEN BIGGER COLONIES! So what is the matter with us, and when are we ever going to learn, and what can we do about it to eliminate the present problem and prevent its recurrence in the future! The only answer again is God's Commandment: "GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD and preach the Gospel to every creature"! "GO YE, therefore, and teach all nations"! (Mt 28:18, 19; Mk. 16:15) The message of His Command is clear! There's no denying it, or excusing ourselves! WE MUST SIMPLY HAVE THE FAITH TO OBEY, even if it means going out and knowing not whither we're going, and we have to camp out just like we did when we started until God opens another door, which He may not open until we have the faith to obey, no matter what! "Lead on, O King Eternal, The Day of March has come! Henceforth in fields of Battle. THY TENTS SHALL BE OUR HOME!" "Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived in tents all the days of their lives!" (He. 11:9) Why not us?
ALWAYS STAY MOBILE AND READY TO MOVE
(66) CONSIDER THE RECHABITES of Jeremiah 35! THROUGH THEIR FATHER, THE LORD COMMANDED THEM "Neither shall ye build house nor sow seed nor plant vineyard nor have any: but all your days YE SHALL DWELL IN TENTS: THAT YE MAY LIVE MANY DAYS IN THE LAND WHERE YE BE STRANGERS!" And "we have dwelt in tents and have obeyed" and "when Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon came up into the land we said, come, and let us go...and so we dwell!" READ THE WHOLE CHAPTER: IT WILL THRILL YOU! Because of their willingness to dwell in tents when everybody else was living in houses, they were able to quickly escape when the trouble came, and survived! In fact, the Lord holds them up here as a shining example of His People and promises them, because of their sacrificial obedience, they would continue to survive, and in spite of everything: "Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before Me, forever"! Hallelujah! What an example for us in a Jeremiah time!
(67) WE HAVE DONE IT BEFORE, AND WE CAN DO IT AGAIN, IF WE HAVE TO, TO OBEY GOD'S COMMANDMENTS and to survive to serve Him! We did it under even worse conditions than we could do it today! There were about a hundred of us then all in one group when we first started, and for a while, we had no place to call home but public parks and campgrounds, not even an address where we could get our mail, or a telephone through which we could keep in touch with each other!
(68) TODAY, WE ARE FAR BETTER OFF THAN THAT! IF WE HAD TO, WE COULD ALL BREAK UP INTO SMALL GROUPS, HIT THE ROAD, CAMP OUT, AND STILL KEEP IN TOUCH with each other through any number of our present bases, mailboxes and telephones! Our greatest handicap is that WE'VE LOST THE PILGRIM SPIRIT, haven't kept up our campers, tents, and camping equipment, and have settled down to the ease and luxury of more stationary and conventional housing in large, expensive Colonies!
(69) In fact, WE HAVE SPENT MORE TIME BECOMING STATIONARY AND COMFORTABLE and more money repairing and maintaining, renting and equipping and furnishing stationary housing AND PAYING HUGE UTILITY BILLS TO THE NEGLECT OF OUR MOBILE EQUIPMENT which has fallen into a sad state of disrepair, and in fact, has become a veritable junkyard! So that when we did need them, they were not ready and we were nearly immobile and barely, narrowly escaped!
(70) Whereas, IF YOU HAD FOLLOWED MY ADVICE LAST YEAR, YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN WELL PREPARED, well trained, well instructed, well organised, and well equipped for such moves as we have had to make suddenly in recent days. In fact, if you had done as I suggested, you would have already had many small teams on the road, and the remaining Colonies would have remained small and easy to move. But instead, WE GOT THE BIG COLONY SPIRIT, A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY, AND FORGOT we were supposed to be Pilgrims and strangers here! Therefore, since we lost the Pilgrim spirit and enjoyed settling down, now having desired this country, contrary to Hebrews 11:16, I BELIEVE GOD IS ASHAMED OF US! WE'VE FORGOTTEN WHAT WE JOINED THE ARMY FOR!--TO GO INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH!
(71) Therefore, I am greatly concerned that GOD IS NOW PERMITTING THE ENEMY TO ARISE AND ATTACK US MORE VIOLENTLY AND WITH MORE PERSECUTION THAN EVER BEFORE, particularly, you will note, in the areas of these largest Colonies, TO TRY TO WAKE US UP THAT WE ARE AGAIN MISSING THE PATTERN which God gave us in the beginning, and to warn us to obey while there is still time before we are forced to by even greater calamities!--As in Acts 8, so that God can scatter us abroad so we'll obey His Commandments and go everywhere preaching the Word!
(72) I and my own little family began this way, first, in a little 14 foot trailer, then larger ones as we grew, and I believe my own flesh and blood children can testify that they have lived in these modern tents, campers, and trailers of today most of their lives. And I believe we can truthfully say, that as long as we kept moving, or at least prepared to move, God blessed us the most. And although SOMETIMES IT SEEMED NECESSARY TO SETTLE DOWN FOR A WHILE FOR A LITTLE REST AND RECUPERATION, FOR THE PATCHING OF OUR TENTS AND THE FEEDING OF OUR FLOCK and the strengthening of our lambs, we soon had to move on again--ALWAYS and without exception, Praise the Lord!
(73) So WILL WE BE EVER LEARNING AND NEVER COMING TO A KNOWLEDGE, or will keep those tents, trailers, campers, trucks, and buses, ready, so we can move at a moment's notice, or START MOVING TEAMS OUT NOW, HAVING THE FAITH TO OBEY THE LORD AND GO INTO ALL THE WORLD! If we had spent the time and money on camping equipment we've spent on housing, we would be ready!--But we're not! May God have mercy on us and give us a little more time to GET READY AND GET OUT ON THE MOVE AND OBEY!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family}
