HomeARC ML 1655
THE NEW COMBINED INDEX DFO 1655 10/83
--Our Christmas Gift for You!
1. OUR OFFICE WORKERS HERE NEED A FEW DISTRACTIONS! They're workaholics, they work too much! I have a hard time in this Family getting people to stop working! Of course, I also have a hard time to get some people to start working! Nobody here, I'm not talking about you. All of a sudden I felt that dead silence! It's a heart-searching time! We've been discussing the Index today, my next major project. When people don't do the job & keep it done, then we have to kind of needle'm a little bit.
2. WE SORT OF LET THE RADIO RIDE FOR A LONG TIME WHILE I WAS BUSY & I LET OTHERS DO IT, SO IT'S MY FAULT. I think I even approved of some of these follow-up programs once upon a time when I first heard about them & thought maybe it was a good idea, but we should have found out it wasn't! We should have kept up the stats on that to find out. You've gotta ride herd on some of those things in order to find out whether it's paying off or not & whether it's profitable or fruitful. We don't go by pay-off in money, but we sure go by pay-off in souls, & if things aren't really fruitful, we ought to find out about it & not just go on year after year after year!
3. WELL DEAR MWM, WE LET THEM GET AWAY WITH WHATEVER THEY WANTED TO IN THE EARLY DAYS, it was all Simon's baby, although we were helping them pay for the program. Then when we took over, I still sort of let MWMI get away with it for awhile. Then along came MCV & of course they just copied everything MWMI did, 9-Namers & all.
4. ANYHOW, NOW WE'RE HAVING ANOTHER REVOLUTION--THE {\ul \i INDEX} REVOLUTION! I guess that's what we'll call it. Josiah got one Hell of a long ways behind on it, & I don't know who to blame for it--I guess it was my fault. Like John Kennedy said about the Bay of Pigs: "It doesn't matter who's to blame, I'm the boss! So it's my fault!" I should have ridden herd on some of you guys about it & maybe if I'd gotten Josiah's reports I could have seen how far behind he was getting.
5. YOU GUYS WHO GET THESE REPORTS HAD BETTER READ'M, BECAUSE I'M GOING TO HOLD YOU GUILTY FROM NOW ON! You're without excuse, if you don't keep those guys on the ball! That's your job, to keep'm producing & doing what they're supposed to be doing, what we're paying them for literally. We don't pay much but at least we pay all your expenses, which is more than most jobs & most salaries I ever had. They never seemed to cover everything & I always ran out of money before the end of the month.
6. I THINK OUR FOLKS REALLY GET ALONG BETTER THAN MOST! PTL? "Our God shall supply all your need!" (Ph.4:19.)--And He does! And I don't know too many people that have a little money in the bank for reserves like we insisted all of our Units have! Most people can't even afford to save money or have any extra that doesn't go out faster than it comes in! So I think we're pretty well off! We have a little financial squeeze once in awhile, but it's never too serious that we can't survive it. So we're forging ahead! We're making some progress. But whenever some people don't do their job, then somebody else has to do it for them. So watch out! PTL? Thank the Lord it hasn't happened here!
7. WE'RE REVOLUTIONISING THE RADIO MINISTRY & THE CHIPS AREN'T ALL IN YET! We're not through with all the stats yet to find out just exactly how well radio has actually been doing--not just a bunch of stuffin' from "9-Namers"--& to find out whether it really is worth it! We already discovered--& I suspected it & I asked them to make me a pie graph on it--that until we started this Radio Revolution & cut everybody down, made a whole bunch of cuts this month because we had to, that we've been spending more on radio than we have on lit! Think of it! Previous to our present Radio Revolution & all these new cuts, cutting everybody down to size where they belong, we were spending a third of our total income on radio & only about 25% of it on lit!--In spite of all the books & the magazines & all the stuff we pub like that!
8. WELL FRANKLY, I'M NOT YET CONVINCED! I was willing to try radio, & we have tried it now. We've had MWMI three years & two years of MCV & it's time now we found out whether it pays. Any investor wants to put his money where it does the most good, & if I find out that radio's not doing as much good as the lit, I'm not going to be afraid to can the radio & all the people that have to do with it!
9. YOU CAN'T BLAME IT ON THE POOR MUSICIANS & PERFORMERS, IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT, & the producers, they're just inspirationalists, God bless them! They don't know anything about business or radio effectiveness, but we should have ridden herd on the offices to find out what they were doing. Well, we are now. Perhaps we couldn't have found out in less time than this--two or three years--so really I think that's giving it a fair chance, don't you?--And the radio folks've all done a monumental job!
10. BUT TO JUST PUT IT BLUNTLY, IF WE FIND OUT THAT, SOUL-PER-DOLLAR, RADIO'S NOT PRODUCING WHAT LIT CAN PRODUCE, THEN I'D SAY WE'VE HAD ENOUGH RADIO!--We've certainly had more than enough "9-Namers"! We've already got more than enough Radio Members than we know how to take care of, & I won't hesitate to can the whole works if it's not producing Disciples!
11. THAT'S WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT US, FOLKS, WE'RE STILL A REVOLUTION! I'm not going to go rocking along with any ministry, status quo, as is, laissez-faire, business as usual just because we used to do it & we don't want to have to admit we made a mistake, we don't want to have to admit that it didn't pay, it wasn't profitable & fruitful & therefore we don't want to confess to the public or all of our supporters that we've been barking up the wrong tree & going down the wrong alley!
12. A LOT OF BUSINESSES JUST GO RIGHT AHEAD IN THE SAME OLD RUT & FINALLY GO BROKE & WONDER WHY! In ours we don't go broke!--Well, sometimes we almost go broke financially, but that's not what we're most worried about. We're most concerned about going broke fruitlessly, soul-wise, & whether we're getting the job done & preaching the Gospel & winning souls! I'd say we're going broke when we become fruitless or the ministries are not paying off in fruit like they should.
13. WELL, I DON'T THINK I COULD EVER SAY ABOUT LIT THAT IT DIDN'T PAY OFF, THAT LIT HASN'T BEEN FRUITFUL, OR FFING, OR PERSONAL EVANGELISM OR FOLLOW-UP! We've got so many Radio Club Members now we can't even follow'm all up properly. So if radio's not doing it, I'd rather take the money & put it into follow-up of what we've already got. I learned that a long time ago. Thank God Fred used to emphasise that. He said, "If you've got so many babies you can't take care of'm, you'd better quit having babies & take care of the ones you've already got!" He was speaking of souls of course, & that's a real blunt, frank illustration of the situation.
14. THERE'S NOTHING LIKE THE LORD PUTTING A NICE SQUEEZE ON YOU FINANCIALLY TO MAKE YOU PAY ATTENTION & make you get on the ball, make you stick your nose into everybody's business to find out what they're actually doing & what they aren't doing!--And whether it's paying or not & whether it's worth it or not! Right? So that's what we've been doing with this financial squeeze.
15. LET ME TELL YOU, WHENEVER GOD PUTS THE SQUEEZE ON YOU FINANCIALLY, THERE'S A REASON! I figure the Lord will always supply all that we need, & if He doesn't, it's because we're spending more than we need to spend on something that's not paying. So we found out in a hurry, didn't we boys? We found quite a few places where we were doing wrong & wasting money & not getting out of it what we were paying for & not getting what it was worth. So we found out it wasn't really worth what we were spending.
16. WHEN I THINK OF ALL THE THINGS WE COULD PUBLISH ON PAPER THAT GETS SOMETHING CONCRETE RIGHT INTO THEIR HANDS, to everybody, something they can use & use & use & re-use & use again & pass around & loan out, there's hardly anything that's more profitable & fruitful than paper publications! And all this broadcasting, if we're just wasting it on empty air like a bunch of hot air & we're not getting anything out of it, we'd better quit! And I think it's about time we found out right now, & that's what we're doing!
17. IT'S TAKEN US MONTHS TO EVEN GET THE STATS FROM SOME OF THESE PEOPLE!--Nobody here, they're doing the best they can. God bless you, Son, you've done the best you can on this, but I guess everybody thinks they're doing the best they can. I've been begging some people for stats in their areas & we have yet to get'm or really get the kind we want. God bless MWMI, they've really cooperated & done their best to get the stats in so we can really analyse the situation, but we have yet to get the stats we need from MCV. We've been on that for about three months, so God help us!
18. IN FACT, I THINK MY FIRST IHC TALK WAS WAY BACK IN FEBRUARY & THOSE GUYS OUGHT TO HAVE GOTTEN ON THE BALL THEN! They ought to have gotten the hint that we'd better start finding out what radio is accomplishing. That's eight months ago! I guess people are doing the best they can, but if the best they can do is not good enough, we'll have to find somebody who can do better if they can't do it. PTL? That's why most of you guys are here, because you can do it, & we're right here to see if you can & find out if you're doing it! And if you weren't getting the job done, you probably wouldn't be here!--Not that we have anything against you, but we've just gotta get the job done, that's all, & we can't have people here that can't do it or won't do it or don't do it!
19. EVERYBODY HERE REALLY PRODUCES, LET ME TELL YOU! Everybody's doing all they can as far as I know! If anybody here hasn't got enough to do, please let us know! Most everybody here has several different jobs! When we find out you can do more than one job, we'll give you every job you can handle! (Maria: We've still got lots of jobs left! Just volunteer!)
20. ISN'T THAT GORGEOUS? YOU GUYS ARE MISSING SOME OF THE VIEWS! She's coming down the stairway like the Queen of Heaven! ILY, Honey! Looks like Heaven for sure! I hope you don't mind a little diversion once in awhile, a little sexual break! That's why I said I don't care if you are disconcerted or diverted or distracted once in awhile by the pool & the swimmers--so what? You need to quit & take a little break once in awhile! You work too hard & too long with your nose buried in those computers night & day! I'll bet I must be the first boss that ever had to argue with people to make them stop working! And let me tell you, I'll argue with you to make you get to work if you don't get the job done!
21. I THINK YOU'RE GOING TO FIND OUT WE GOT OUT MORE LETTERS THIS PAST YEAR THAN WE EVER HAVE IN OUR HISTORY! I wouldn't be surprised if it was two or three times any previous year, & we're still pouring it out! We've got Book 15 done & Book 16 almost done! In the meantime, we've created an art masterpiece that took us guess how many months? (Family: 10 months?) Not quite that long, but I've been thinking about Heaven a lot longer than that!
22. FROM THE TIME I DREW THE FIRST ROUGH SKETCHES OF THE HEAVENLY MANSION IT'S BEEN SIX MONTHS! In February I drew those first rough sketches for Jac, just to illustrate some Letters that we had just written on Heaven. That's all we planned to do, some little tiny black-&-white sketches about 9 x 13 cm. for the GN to illustrate a few little Letters on Heaven, & look what it grew to!
23. WELL ANYHOW, THEY'VE BEEN TEN YEARS WORKING ON THAT {\ul \i INDEX} & STILL WE DON'T HAVE A COMPLETE {\ul \i INDEX}! That's just too much! You should have jerked him up! I'll grant you I didn't read everybody's report for awhile, I was too busy, especially this past year on the Prophecy Series, but somebody should have kept an eye on him! Somebody's gotta keep an eye on everybody, including me!
24. I HAD TO LAUGH THIS MORNING AT MARIA, I JUST LAUGHED & LAUGHED! I said, "You sure are a good leader, Honey, you even try to lead me!" (Maria: I said, "But I do it very gently, don't I?"--And he laughed!) I wouldn't answer that question, it was too incriminating! Well, she doesn't actually take a club & beat me over the head, but I'll tell you, you ought to see her snooping around! She always wants to see what's on my clipboard & what's on my couch. She keeps a constant eye on me & what I'm doing to make sure I never run out of work & that I'm always doing something!
25. REMEMBER THAT FUNNY CARTOON STRIP THAT LABAN DID IN "PAPER POWER"? (No.303A.) When it comes to humour & cartoons, he is the best!--Especially humour about politics or World finances or anything like that. I mean, why he wasn't a World success, I don't know!--Maybe because he joined the Family! At that time we thought we got all the flukes & the failures & the ones that fluked-out & whatnot. But the fact was that we didn't realise we were getting some of the cream of the crop, some of the best talent & the best brains in the World from some of the best families with the best education! We've got brilliant minds sitting around this table right now! I mean, we've got geniuses!--And at our other Units! We've got'm all over the place! We've got some of the best minds in the World! We never realised we had such talent from a bunch of dirty bedraggled drug-ridden bug-ridden vice-ridden hippies to begin with! You were really a mess, I must admit, but you had it & the Lord knew you had it & He was determined to get it & He got it! Amen? TTL!
26. BUT SOMEBODY'S GOTTA KEEP LOOKING OVER YOUR SHOULDER & MAKING SURE YOU GET YOUR JOB DONE, & if you've got people working for you, you'd better be looking over their shoulder to make sure they get the job done & that they're doing it right & that they're doing it as fast as it needs to get done! I'm sorry to have to speak that way, but we're in a serious business. We're at war & we're out to win, God helping us, at least to get this job done before the Lord comes!
27. IT'S HEARTBREAKING, IT'S DISAPPOINTING, IT'S DISCOURAGING TO FIND OUT THAT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SO SLOW & SO ... I DON'T KNOW WHAT--I HATE TO SAY LAZY. Maybe he just didn't have time. We sure weren't paying him enough to fully support him, but I thought, "My Lord, he could do his indexing at night, get his support in the daytime, & we'll give him enough to pay for his nightwork, spare time." It looks to me like he could have done it in his spare time! Of course, when he's gotten this far behind, he'll never catch up unless he does it full time. Well, we'll see what he can do in three months.
28. MARIA KNOWS ME, I USUALLY GET UP EARLY IN THE MORNING & GO TO WORK! A few mornings I sleep in, usually because I've been up all night, but normally I go to work early in the morning while she's still sleeping, because she's a night owl & I'm an early bird! I used to be a night owl, now I'm both! Time is short! And I just sit there & work all day & keep working until it gets too hot to work, & I take my swim & go back to work till it's too dark. Sometimes I take a nap, sometimes I don't. And sometimes I eat dinner with you & sometimes I don't. Most often I don't because I'm either resting or still busy working.--But I get my job done!
29. I ALMOST EVEN VOWED I WOULDN'T COME TO DINNER ANY MORE, I wouldn't talk any more, I wouldn't say any more or write any more Letters or do any more while I was working on that Garden of Eden Series & the Prophetic Series, that I was going to work night & day & get it done! I would have been ashamed to die without having finished that & gotten it out, especially when I almost did die, so I said, "Well Lord, just let me live a little longer & I'm going to get up & do it!"--And I did it & we got it done! Thank God!
30. MOST OF THE MAJOR PROJECTS THAT I VOWED I WAS GOING TO DO BEFORE I DIED, I'VE DONE'M! I finished the Prophecy Series, I finished virtually all the important Letters, I've now finished this Heaven Poster, but there's one other job I still want to finish before I die, God helping me, & that's that Index! I've had other people working on it now for 10 years & they haven't been able to get it done, & if I have to get those cards & spread'm out here on this table & do it myself, we're going to get that job done! Is that clear?--If I have to get every damn one of you working on it! That's the most urgent thing I can think of that we have to do right now! I don't care what other pubs you're working on, I can't think of any other pub we need more than that {\ul \i Index} right now! Josiah's done a colossal good job, but he shoulda finished it!
31. I'M NOT GETTING ANY NODS OR AMENS FROM POOR MARIA BECAUSE SHE'S GOT A LOT OF THINGS VERY DEAR TO HER HEART THAT SHE'S WORKING ON!--Ha! (Maria: Well, I just know there's other people that can do it if we really sit on'm & make sure they do.) Well, that's a threat! I don't know why Paul says "forbear threatening," because I've found it really works!--Ha! (Eph.6:9.) But if that job doesn't get done, you're going to do it right here, & I mean it! (Maria: It's going to get done, I guarantee, somehow!) If he can't do it, send him some help so he can!
32. WE JUST CAN'T TOLERATE THAT SORT OF INEFFICIENCY!--And somebody ought to have called my attention to that fact a long time ago. The trouble is, poor Maria & Peter are so busy with so many other things like I am, they haven't had a chance to be looking over everybody's shoulder either! We've had some major emergencies we've had to handle & we've had a lot of moves & all kinds of things have been going on. We can be thankful we've kept our heads above water & gotten our jobs done, much less making sure everybody else got their job done!
33. "BUT THIS WE OUGHT TO HAVE DONE & NOT TO HAVE LEFT THE OTHER UNDONE!" (Mt.23:23.) (Maria: I thought he was keeping up pretty much.) You thought he was? Where'd you get that idea? He's 300 Letters behind! (Maria: We printed one book before he got the Index done some time ago. He was just almost done with it but we just didn't want to wait for it.) Honey, that's what I have heard for years! "He's just almost done!" Done is to be caught up! Right? (Maria: He was almost caught up!) I mean, as fast as they come out every month, he should never be more than a month behind! He ought to get the Letters done that came out that month. Don't you think so?
34. I'LL TELL YOU, IF IT WAS MY JOB I'D HAVE KEPT UP WITH THEM & I'D BE DONE & UP-TO-DATE! Every Letter that hit my mailbox, the minute it got there I'd go to work on it! And it would have certainly been done before the month was up! I am just sick & fed up with this delay on that Index, so if I have to sit down at the computer & do it myself, it's gonna get done!--And it's gonna get done in a hurry!
35. WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO IS CHEER YOU UP & TELL YOU HOW WONDERFUL IT IS HOW MUCH PROGRESS WE'RE MAKING!--But in order to show you how much progress we're making now, I have to tell you how much progress we didn't make in the not-raising-hogs-business! But we're going to get it done now, thank the Lord! I'm going to give it my full time, riding herd on it to get it done at last!
36. THAT'S WHY YOU & SOME OF OUR OTHER UNITS GET SO MUCH DONE, BECAUSE I KEEP AFTER YOU & MAKE SURE YOU DO! That's why you get so much done outside in the yard, Son, & inside on the food. I know what you accomplish & what all of you accomplish right here, because either you produce or it doesn't show up! Either the cook cooks it in the kitchen or I don't get anything to eat!--Or the shoppers shop for it & buy it or we don't get it, or whatever! These gals & boys type it up & get it out or I don't get the drafts! I mean, we know what you're producing here 'cause you've gotta produce, we've gotta get it & we do! GBY! And I don't know any other harder-working bunch in the whole World than you guys right here & all the good work you do! PTL!--Whether it's household chores, secretarial, shopping, childcare or whatever!
37. I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH A GENIUS AS SARA WHEN IT COMES TO TAKING CARE OF & TEACHING CHILDREN & HAVING BABIES ON TOP OF IT! She's taught three children how to read at early ages so they're all now reading their own books, she doesn't even have to read to'm! She teaches them math, geography, history & now they're even learning Russian! She used to teach'm Spanish. I never saw any mother in this World accomplish as much as Sara does. She not only has the babies, but she teaches them! And she not only takes care of them, but she teaches them!--And they learn.
38. I GET SO DISGUSTED WITH SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS I GET! This one woman was worrying about: "Our relatives insist we put our little children in kindergarten, what should we do? My mate thinks it wouldn't be good for them, it might be bad, but our relatives insist!" I said, "When the Hell did we ever start trying to please System relatives in the first place? Of course some kindergartens are bad, some of them are good, but what's the matter with you? Why aren't you teaching your own kids?" I think we've got a damn lot of lazy mothers! I'll tell you, there's not a lazy bone in Sara's body or she'd be dead by now! She'd be swamped with these kids! Thank God for Alf's help & all of your help too, of course. You all have to pitch in.
39. BUT I NEVER COULD HAVE ACCOMPLISHED SO MUCH EITHER IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR YOU GUYS TAKING CARE OF THE KIDS & TEACHING THEM. We've got a flourishing school right here in our house! What the Hell do people have to send their kids to school for?--Some anti-God, Christless, anti-Christ school which in the U.S.A. & places like that are all now dominated by the [EDITED: "ACs"]! They're still having big fights & arguments as to whether they should even have Christmas displays at school any more, think of that! [DELETED]
40. WELL, THANK THE LORD, WE'RE KIND OF BEHIND THE TIMES ON SOME OF THESE THINGS, BUT WE'RE FINALLY GETTING THEM DONE!--And any kind of business we're in that's not paying off & not fruitful, we're going to close up shop & put the money into something that is, if we have to stop our entire radio program, the whole works, & stop producing shows & stop sending them to stations & stop broadcasting! We could put all that money, more money than we're putting into literature, into follow-up & support teams to go out there & find the sheep & meet'm personally & organise'm into clubs & fellowships & reach'm & teach'm & establish them & make'm real disciples, until they've got Homes of their own going out there & are really integrated Members of the Family!
41. I'LL TELL YOU, UNLESS YOU GUYS CAN PROVE TO ME THAT RADIO'S WORTH IT, WE'RE ABOUT TO CLOSE UP SHOP ON RADIO, I'M WARNING YOU! That's the way I feel about it. You say, "But Dad, aren't you the one that pushed radio & sold us on radio & you've been pushing it all these years? We thought you were a Prophet! You mean to tell me you were wrong? You made a mistake? You were going down the wrong road all these years? How come you didn't find it out?"--Ha! Well, I have to find out a lot of things by experimentation & trial-&-error, & sometimes the Lord lets us find out that way because there's nothing like experience to be the best teacher.
42. I'VE FOUND OUT FROM THE TIME I WAS A LITTLE KID THAT THE BEST WAY TO SHOP WAS TO GO AROUND & VISIT EVERY STORE & PRICE THE SAME ITEM I WAS LOOKING FOR, & I ALWAYS WOUND UP WITH THE BEST & THE CHEAPEST! Sometimes I found it first thing. Like shopping for a house, the first one we saw was the right one. But you don't know that until you go around & look & explore the market, explore the field, explore the method & find out what works & what doesn't work & what's best & what isn't! And it has been my experience that the Lord lets you do that a lot of times to convince you so you won't have any doubt about it, to show you, otherwise you never would have believed it if you hadn't tried it.
43. I DIDN'T KNOW WHETHER RADIO WOULD PAY OFF OR NOT, BUT I HAD A FEELING IT WOULD & I THINK IT HAS! It's paid off in souls! But whether we have now gotten enough pay-off & saturated the field--& as they call it in business, the market so to speak--if we have now reaped the harvest & now we've got so many babies to take care of that we have got to take the money & put it into that instead of sowing more seed, then it may be time, maybe we've had enough radio. Radio may have been all right in its day, but just because something was all right in its day doesn't mean it's good enough for today! If we've already got enough fruit & more already than we can even take care of, then we had better trim down the radio to what is really fruitful & put the rest of the money into following up the sheep we've already got. Amen?
44. WHEN YOU THINK THAT OVER A THIRD OF OUR INCOME HAS BEEN GOING TO RADIO & in spite of all the tremendous publications we've been getting out, that's only been 25% of our total expenses, you can see what we've spent on radio! It's an expensive business, even though we don't pay for the time. My Lord, if we were paying for the time we'd be putting out millions of dollars a year just for the time, not to speak of the production & all the rest!
45. ALL OF OUR LABOUR IS VOLUNTEER LABOUR & ALL THEY GET IS THEIR EXPENSES, GOD BLESS'M! It's not their fault, they've done a good job. And it's not even the fault of the offices, they've done a good job in spite of the "9-Namers." In fact, they've done a colossal job! I don't see how they survived it with the horrible amount of mail they were getting & trying to answer! It's amazing they survived! God bless you, Boys! You've done a phenomenal job, a colossal job! Thank God we discovered you were working too hard, now I'm doing my best to try to trim down your job.--I just hope I don't have to trim you out with it! Don't worry, anybody that really knows how to work, if we get rid of your ministry, we'll find you something else to do!
46. SO PLEASE LEARN THE BUSINESS AS FAST AS YOU CAN, SON, AT LEAST WHAT'S LEFT OF IT, BEFORE IT'S GONE! But then you'll still have the IHCs to superintend & make sure they get their job done of follow-up, to get out there & take care of the babies we've already got. And I think considering how fruitless some stations have been & how poor the response has been in some areas, we would accomplish a lot more by taking the money & sending people into that area to personally contact & witness to those people & consolidate the results & secure the beachheads & get some good solid disciples rather than just blowing off all this hot air on radio! God bless'm!
47. WE'VE ALREADY JUST ABOUT CUT MWMI MUSIC UNIT IN HALF & WE'VE SENT HALF OF THEM ON THE ROAD! They're already out, God bless'm! We didn't make'm, we asked for volunteers, but we offered to support'm & that's where we need to put the money. If we've done enough on radio, now it's time to put the money into getting out there & reaping the harvest & making good solid disciples. Amen?
48. FRANKLY, I WOULD RATHER HAVE TWO REAL SOLID WELL-TRAINED WITNESSING SOLD-OUT DISCIPLES IN ANY TOWN ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD THAN ONE RADIO STATION! I think they're going to win more souls & accomplish more & get more done than all the radio in the World!--Two fulltime disciples instead of just a little half-hour show a week! What do you think? And if we can take the money we've been putting into blowing radio hot air, if it hasn't been fruitful, & put it into helping to support a few disciples or missionaries or visiting minstrels to go out there & contact'm & get'm established & teach'm & really make good solid disciples out of them, I'd rather use the money that way. By this time we should know whether radio's paying off, & that's what we're finding out.
49. SO HERE I AM TRYING TO CHEER YOU UP TONIGHT & LET YOU KNOW THAT WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS! We've been making progress at least on radio & a few other things. We're making recovery, just like they're talking about today. We're not going down as fast as we used to, we're not failing as much as we used to. Ha! Well, actually it's better than that. But our rate of loss is not as bad as it was! We're going to make it a little more profitable & fruitful & help to see it through & reap what we've sowed. Amen? PTL? Honey, just because I'm looking at you while I'm talking doesn't mean I'm blaming it all on you, don't get sensitive now! I look at you because you're halfway between this bunch & that bunch & I know you can take it!
50. ANYHOW, WE'RE DOING OUR BEST TO REALLY PUT OUR BEST INTO WHAT IS BEST & MAKE IT COUNT!--Except I don't think we have too much time left to do it. The hour is late & we have to do the "works of Him that sent us while it's day, for the night's coming when we're not going to be able to work" like this. (Jn.9:4.) It's late & the time is evil, so we've got to work & try to get it done.
51. I'M NOT NECESSARILY EXPECTING OUR INCOME TO INCREASE. If World income is decreasing & we're heading for a major World depression, the biggest Crash it's ever seen & that's where we're headin'--the honest bankers are predicting it, the honest economists are saying it--then that means that our income is not necessarily going to increase either & we're going to have to figure out some ways to do more on less, because we've got a lot to do yet! PTL!
52. THAT'S WHY I DON'T WANT TO WASTE A PENNY ON ANYTHING THAT DOESN'T PAY!--And I don't mean in money, we don't get anything out of radio! It all goes out & nothing comes in financially. But we're putting a lot out & something's coming in, & that's some souls, thank God! The rate, however, of fruitfulness & profitability in souls has been too damn low considering how much we're putting out. And unless we can now trim off the fat & trim down to stations that really pay & that really are profitable & really getting response & really getting results, we're just not going to continue this extravagance of spreading ourselves out too far & too thin & packing the stats with a bunch of rubbish!
53. "YOU MEAN, DAD, THAT SOME OF THESE THINGS WE DID WERE MISTAKES & we didn't accomplish what we should have accomplished, we were a failure in some of these things, in radio?"--No, I didn't say that. I said we need to find out where we're failing & where we aren't, & to do the things we need to do & get rid of the junk we don't need that's just a waste of time & expense, like all those "9-Namers." Well, we even got a few people out of them, very few. I understand in some places they've even still got some fruit out of the "9-Namers." Well, praise the Lord!
54. BUT I'LL TELL YOU, IF THE PROFITS ARE SO SLIM IN ANY BUSINESS THAT IT'S HARDLY WORTH WHAT YOU'RE INVESTING, THEN YOU TRY TO INVEST WHERE THE PROFITS ARE THE HIGHEST. If you can't do it all, you put your money where it gives the best dividends & the most results & the highest profit & you trim off the failing businesses & the unprofitable businesses & the ones that are a drag. So that's what we're doing, only we figure our profits in souls! TTL!--In prophets!--The kind that preach the Gospel, that's our kind of prophets! TTL!
55. SO I CAME TO TELL YOU THE CHEERFUL NEWS THAT WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS, WE'RE NOT LOSING AS FAST AS WE USED TO!--Ha! (Family: I think the Family's really going to benefit from all these talks that are being published to give them a real sense of business & organisation & really being productive. I think it's going to help people all over the World to really see how to make their own lives pay!) I hope so!
56. I'LL NEVER FORGET WHEN WE WEEDED OUT OUR OWN PERSONAL 2,000-NAME MAILING LIST & WHITTLED IT DOWN TO 200 PEOPLE that were steady solid givers & supporters & from whom we heard regularly every month, the ones who really supported us, & got rid of all the other 1,800 names of people that we were just keeping on the list hoping some day they'd come through. Some of them we'd had on the list six months & a year or two & hardly ever heard from them. Once in awhile we'd get something on Christmas, sometimes nothing but a Christmas card! Can you imagine good Christians making lots of money sending us a Christmas card without a thing in it! I finally said, "Nuts to you!--Either you're supporting us & giving fairly regularly every month or out you go!"--And we dumped the whole bunch!
57. THEN I PUT LITTLE MARIA HERE TO WORK ON THE 200 & WE GOT OUT 200 LITTLE PRAYER LETTERS A MONTH THAT REALLY PAID OFF! She used to sit up there in our camper with her typewriter on the dashboard or the table & type away, & I'd write the letters, & sometimes I'd even cut the stencil myself & run it off on our little Roneo we had right there in the camper. And she'd address & fold & stuff & stamp. We'd whittled it down to where we could handle it, 200 letters, & to where it really paid, instead of wasting all that time & postage on 2,000 letters, most of which didn't pay.--Time & money & effort & postage & all that paper & everything else!
58. THE THING THAT REALLY DID IT WAS WHEN WE MOVED INTO THE CAMPER & WE JUST DIDN'T HAVE ROOM TO HAUL ALL THAT JUNK ALONG ANY MORE!--2,000 names & 2,000 sheets of paper & 2,000 envelopes & all that junk! Sometimes the Lord puts the squeeze on you for a good reason, to make you get rid of the junk you don't need & which is just costing money & not paying! Amen?
59. SO WHERE ELSE HAVE WE PROGRESSED LATELY?--WE'RE PROGRESSING BY NOT LOSING! A penny saved is a penny earned! So we are progressing by stopping all this waste, right? It may not seem like progress to you, but it sure is! So radio, Index, what else? (Family: Poster!) Well, we're making progress on production, that's for sure, but you'd better watch out, I may start cracking down on lit next. But I'm apt to favour lit--that's my baby--above all the rest of the children. Every father has his favourites!
60. THAT'S THE ONE, BROTHER & SISTER, THAT GOT US STARTED, & THAT'S THE ONE THAT KEEPS US GOING, & I THINK THAT'S THE ONE THAT'S GOING TO KEEP GOING RIGHT UP TO THE END! It's the most profitable & fruitful & productive & the cheapest souls-per-dollar, so to speak--if you want to put it in flat financial terms--of any ministry we have!--I would say the most productive & fruitful perhaps outside of actual personal witnessing. I'm still sold on that, that's better than paper! One live witness is better than one dead Letter any day!
61. SO WE'RE HAVING THE {\ul \i INDEX} REVOLUTION RIGHT NOW, WE'RE STILL HAVING THE RADIO REVOLUTION, we've had a Foto Revolution, Micro Revolution, Computer Revolution, we've had a lot of little side revolutions. We've had different format revolutions, & the GN is a result of one of those. The FN was a revolution in its day, but I'm not so sure we need to put out two FNs every month. I don't know if the people can even read that much... I was waiting for the scream! I love you, Sweetheart! How could I ever be mean to this sweet precious little girl that works so hard day & night! God bless her! But I have to even lean on some of you guys once in awhile.
62. I'M JUST TELLING YOU THAT WE JUST HAVE TO GET RID OF THINGS THAT WE CAN'T DO & CAN'T AFFORD TO DO, THAT'S ALL! I don't see how we can drop either FN, but my suggestion is that we do one one month & the other the other month, & alternate months. How about that? And I'm whittling the GN down--I'm trying to at least. Every month I determine I'm going to whittle it down to two or three signatures, so two or three months ago we whittled it down to six, last month we whittled it down to five, maybe we'll get it down to four! I'm trying to whittle Book 16 down to three!--Like that joke about the cow: I want to get the people used to getting along on less feed & less water! I don't want to whittle'm down to where they die, but we need to whittle'm down to where they don't expect quite so much. They've had too much! We've glutted them, we've over-fed'm, they're stuffed, almost fat with spiritual food, & we just can't always be doing that.
63. I'VE TRIED TO GET OUT EVERYTHING THAT WAS URGENT & NECESSARY. We finished the Prophecy Series, we're finishing the Poster--& I want to re-do the Prophecy Poster, by the way, I think that's urgent! Now that the whole Prophecy Series is out & they know it better, they're already finding fault with the poster & errors on the poster, so we need to get out a new one. I don't think it ever had enough circulation in the first place. I think we maybe ought to get out 100,000 of those so that we can put'm up in the post office or the City Hall or signboards, billboards, whatever! Get'm out! Get the Word out! Let the people know!
64. I STARTED OUT JUST TRYING TO INSPIRE THE FAMILY WITH THE MILLENNIUM, THE LORD DID ANYHOW, but I guess that wasn't enough, so we tried to encourage you with Heaven, what you have to look forward to! And hasn't it been encouraging? Inspiring? PTL? Okay, now we're even going to try to encourage you about the Tribulation, that it's not going to be all that bad, & so the Lord gave me this dream about Heaven's Girl! (No.1623.)
65. THE PREACHERS ARE THE ONES THAT USED TO TRY TO MAKE THE TRIBULATION SOUND AS BAD AS THEY POSSIBLY COULD to scare you into coming to church every Sunday so you'd be sure to be in good spiritual shape to be sure you didn't miss the Rapture & thereby get stuck in the Tribulation! That's just like the Catholic Church & most churches preach Hell. I mean, they really give'm Hell to try to scare'm into Heaven! Well, we've done the same, & in some ways we've done the same about the Tribulation. We've got some people half-scared to death!
66. I NEVER SAW ANYBODY THAT LIKED HORROR STORIES BETTER THAN SAM WARNER!--And he wasn't satisfied with horror stories, he had to draw horror pictures! Reading his stuff about the Tribulation was almost enough to make your hair stand on end or make it curl, one or the other, & looking at his pictures was even worse! I don't even want my kids to look at some of those pictures, it would scare'm half to death, not realising that most of those, if not all those monsters are on our side, & all those plagues are against our enemies, not us! I mean, we've got the best of the Tribulation, we're the victors, really! It's going to look like we lost, but in a lot of things we found it was better to look like we lost to get the Devil off our backs, when actually we had won! More than conquerors!--Good losers! PTL? (No.1624.)
67. WELL, I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO CHEER UP & BE A GOOD LOSER ABOUT SOME OF THESE FAILURES OF OURS IN THE PAST. We had to find out. But I think after 10 years of that Index we have found out, don't you?--And it's time to do something about it. So we're going to get it done now, with or without Josiah, God bless him! God rest his soul! He's plugged along.
68. SO WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS--WE'RE NOT LOSING AS FAST AS WE USED TO! We're not losing as much as we used to. We're not failing as much, so we're making progress. PTL! We're not wasting as much. We're learning to be more efficient, more effective, more fruitful, more profitable, more economical! Right? And considering we're a brand new outfit that's only a little over 10 years old, I think we're doing pretty good! How many corporations have done this well in 10 years, huh? I think it's pretty good when you look at the overall picture.
69. DON'T JUST LOOK AT THE FAILURES & THE PLACES WHERE WE MADE MISTAKES & WHERE WE WERE INEFFECTIVE--IF NOTHING ELSE, THAT TAUGHT US LESSONS! Even our mistakes teach us lessons & we find out places that are not fruitful or profitable & we learn. PTL? So it hasn't been altogether unprofitable. Even our mistakes have not been unprofitable as long as we learn by them! It's this business of "ever learning & never coming to a knowledge" that is frustrating!--Never waking up to find out how bad off you are! (2Ti.3:7.)
70. WE'RE BETTER OFF TODAY IN EVERY WAY! I think we're better off spiritually, I think we're better off fruitfully, I know we're better off financially, we're better off even population-wise, Home-wise, in every field! We are far far ahead of what we were 10 years ago!--For one reason, we ditched the whole damn Chain--except for you links we managed to solve, I mean salvage.--Solve too, yes! You had to be solved & resolved & salvaged before you dissolved! You got dissolved too sometimes in a lot of the old ways & methods & your pride & your ego & all the rest. Ask Peter, I beat him down almost every day!
71. --LIKE JETHRO SAID TO ARTHUR ON THE TRAIN TO ITALY WHEN HE WAS JUST A BABE, A NEWCOMER. He knew I was going to appoint Arthur to some position of responsibility--in fact he was afraid it was going to take away some of his--so he said, "Just wait'll Dad starts screaming at you & then see how you feel about Dad!" He was pumping Arthur full of all these doubts & fears about me when here he was just a babe! And Arthur kept saying nice things & bragging, "But Dad does this & that!" And Jeth says to him, "Just wait till he starts screaming at you the way he does at me & see what you think about him then!"
72. PETER KNOWS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!--AND POOR MARIA HERE, WHO NEVER HURT A FLEA OR A FLY! (Maria: I deserve every one of your words, your gentle words!) You don't deserve anything but the best! She deserves the best! Well, once in awhile I sort of sit on her if she gets a little too eager beaver. If she isn't Jewish I'll miss my guess! She's got all that drive & that dynamo & that push & trying to tell me what to do! That's one place where she's met her match! Well, most of the time she's right! It may not be the right time, but it's most of the time! So PTL!
73. SO WHERE ELSE HAVE WE PROGRESSED LATELY?--I THINK WE'VE PROGRESSED IN ALMOST EVERY AREA! Look at the lit we're putting out compared to what we used to get out. The whole Family's maturing, we're all maturing, even I'm maturing. We're learning by trials & errors & experimentation & all the rest. It's all teaching us, just like little children. We're gradually getting wiser every day & maturing ripe, & thank God we are! I'm learning a lot & I've learned a lot!
74. I NEVER CARED A DAMN ABOUT BUSINESS OR ORGANISATION, I NEVER WANTED TO BE THE HEAD OF ANYTHING, BELIEVE IT OR NOT!--Nothing! The only thing I ever wanted to do was serve the Lord & win souls. But He had to make me organise & finance & learn how to organise & do business in order to win souls. I think the only thing I ever really wanted to be was a soul-winner, & in order to be one, I thought, "Well, it sure would be nice to be like those Prophets!"--But of course I never expected to be, that was too high & far above me.
75. THE CHURCH MADE ALL THOSE BIBLE CHARACTERS & PROPHETS SO FAR ABOVE IN THE HEAVENLIES & SO SAINTLY & SO CANONISED THAT YOU COULDN'T COME CLOSE! I mean, you couldn't come closer to them than you could to the Heavenly City! They say, "It used to happen, but of course it doesn't happen today. People used to do things like that, but of course they couldn't be expected to do them today. Well, the church used to be like that in the early days, but of course they couldn't preach like that, heal like that, do miracles like that & die as martyrs like that any more. God wouldn't expect us nice civilised church people today to behave like that & suffer like that & do things like that! That's all for the past, 2,000 years ago, or maybe a few little martyrs in-between, but not today!"
76. BROTHER, I FINALLY GOT CONVINCED THAT THINGS WERE THE SAME FOR TODAY AS THEY EVER WERE, & THAT'S WHY YOU'VE GOT A FAMILY & A REVOLUTION!--Or I should put it the other way, a Revolution & a Family. It took a Revolution first of all, & now thank God, you're getting to be a real Family. You're maturing. As some of our critics have even written about us, we're a movement that is reaching maturity & it looks like we're here to stay! Others have come & gone--who ever hears about Jesus People any more, huh?
77. WELL, I'LL TELL YOU, THERE'S A JESUS REVOLUTION GOING ON IN THE COMMUNIST COUNTRIES RIGHT NOW, IN THE EAST BLOC COUNTRIES & EVEN IN RUSSIA! Reports are coming back that there're thousands of hippie-like young people who are becoming Jesus Freaks & suffering persecution & even martyrdom for the Gospel, just like you were 10, 15 years ago, only they're suffering more in a more closed country. It was sort of slow getting there. Dear Ivan told us that was going to happen ten years ago & it was hard to believe, but now it's happening. (No.279.)
78. I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF WE GET OUT ENOUGH OF THESE POSTERS WE'RE GOING TO SEE ONE IN ONE OF THOSE RAILROAD STATIONS IN RUSSIA BEFORE THEY HAVE A CHANCE TO RIP IT DOWN! That's the kind of stuff you can sneak in under the door, under the wall or over the wall. Some bold disciple, one of those Jesus Freaks over there, is apt to sneak one up in the middle of the night onto the station platform & plaster it on the bulletin board! I bet it would get a lot of exposure before it got ripped off! As I think about it, I don't think that's near as impossible now as I thought in those days when I first heard that thing.
79. A LOT OF THOSE THINGS I GOT, I DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE HAPPENING, THEN WHEN I READ'M AFTERWARDS I THOUGHT, "OH MY GOODNESS, I DON'T DARE PUBLISH THIS, PEOPLE WILL REALLY THINK I'M CRAZY!"--Like Ivan saying they're going to put up posters in the railroad station!--In spite of all his antics & his dear friend Alex, another fairly common name in Russia. I never even knew that Ivan Ivanovitch was about as common a name in Russia as John Smith in the West! That must have been for the sake of security! But it's happened, thank the Lord! It doesn't look near as impossible now as it did then.
80. WHEN I FIRST GOT "THEY CAN'T STOP OUR RAIN" (NO.128), DID YOU KNOW I HELD THAT LETTER FOR MONTHS BECAUSE I WAS AFRAID TO PUBLISH IT? It just sounded absolutely too crazy & impossible, that it just couldn't happen, that it was expecting too much! PTL! Hallelujah! TYL! So we're making progress! All the things we were hesitant to even proclaim or even publish Letters about years ago now have already happened. Prophecy's already fulfilled. It's here! The future is here! It has happened & we're it, thank the Lord! So PTL! Amen?
81. I'M NOT BRAGGIN', I'M JUST PRAISING THE LORD & THANKING THE LORD!--HE DID IT! I couldn't have done it, you couldn't have done it, none of us, it was all the Lord!--A miracle! The Revolution was a miracle, our whole Family's a miracle, the fact we're still here & still going's a miracle. That's what our enemies can't understand, why they haven't been able to stop us. It's just been impossible. The Lord said they wouldn't, they couldn't, & thank God they didn't!
82. SO ANYHOW, WE REALLY ARE REVOLUTING & IMPROVING & MAKING SOME PROGRESS, even though sometimes it's been a little slow, & the latest thing is I'm determined to make more progress with that {\ul \i Index}! So please pray for poor Josiah who's been working hard on it all these years, & it's a tough job. And he has worked hard, he accomplished a lot! We wouldn't have any indexes at all if it hadn't been for him, but I just don't think it's been enough. Maybe it's because he didn't have enough money, maybe it's because he didn't have enough help, enough time or something. We can't blame it all on him necessarily. Maybe it's because we didn't push it enough & insist on getting more progress, maybe we didn't supervise him enough. But anyhow, we are going to make some progress now.
83. WE'RE MAKING SOME PROGRESS ON RADIO, & WE'RE GOING TO MAKE SOME PROGRESS ON THE {\ul \i INDEX}. We're making progress on lit like mad, but we're going to make more progress, God helping us. And we're going to make progress on follow-up--establishing disciples, Homes & outreaches. So we're going to get there sooner or later, & the sooner the better as far as I'm concerned, because I'm not going to last forever! I'm going to live forever, but not here, so I want to make as much progress as we can while I'm still here. And you guys are learning a lot too, learning how to run this outfit. I know Maria can run it! Good night, she tries to run me, so I know she can run this outfit! (Maria: I don't succeed in running you.) Well, you're going to succeed in running the Family, they're not as hard to run as me! So PTL!
84. DEAR SWEET PETER, HE'S AMENABLE & AMIABLE & WILLING-SPIRITED & HUMBLE & ALWAYS WILLING TO DO ANYTHING, follow any order, tries hard to please, so I don't think you have any trouble with Peter, do you? (Maria to Peter: It makes you really want to be like that, doesn't it!) Like the joke about the husband in the coffin: "Is that you, John?" Well, that's the way I think of you, believe it or not! (Maria: I agree.) You don't have any trouble with Peter, getting him to do what you want him to do. (Maria: Not usually.) So PTL! (Maria: I like a little argument once in awhile, it keeps me on my toes!)
85. WELL, I'LL TELL YOU, SHE'S WORTH WORSHIPPING! (Maria: I hope not, I don't want to be worshipped!) Well, almost worshipped! (Maria: I don't even want to be almost worshipped!) Well, they used to call kings "your worship," & they even called judges "your worship." I don't mean like an idol, but at least he can adore you & admire you & thank God that there's somebody that's going to be able to run this thing when I'm gone. What do you think about that, Peter? Come on, Boy! Don't you hesitate! You know she can do it! (Peter: Oh, of course!)
86. SO DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT! SHE'LL TAKE A FIRM, STERN HAND & NO MONKEY-BUSINESS RIGHT OFF THE BAT! WE WON'T EVEN MISS A STEP! TYL! It's a fact. She's even blushing, can you imagine that?--Such humility! God bless her! I'll tell you, anybody that can run me sure ought to be able to run this Family! God bless her! (Maria: I don't, though.) Well, you don't always, but most of the time you're right & keep me busy, so TTL!
87. WELL, WE'VE GOTTA QUIT!--NO, WE'RE NOT GONNA QUIT, WE'RE NEVER GOING TO QUIT!--NOT TILL WE GET FINISHED, TILL THE LORD CALLS US HOME! PTL? Of course I'm not saying that we're necessarily going to be finished when He does, but He'll consider it's time to go anyhow. I guess we'll NEVER get finished, maybe not till we get to the New Heaven & New Earth, where we're STILL going to have more to do! So PTL! Amen? TYL! Anything else? Any other ideas? Questions? Suggestions? Comments? Complaints? I don't know how many times I go through this list with you guys & I never get any response! Nobody ever has anything to say! I guess I've already talked so long that you hope nobody will say anything! You're thinking to yourselves, "You stupid idiots, don't you dare say anything & keep Dad talking any longer!" Okay! TYL! Well, I'm beginning to get hot so I guess I'm going to have to quit. I don't want to get too hot! Don't get too close, Honey, or I'm going to get hotter! Hallelujah! TYL! PYJ!
88. THANK YOU LORD THAT WE'RE HERE IN SPITE OF ALL OUR MISTAKES, in spite of all our faults, in spite of all our shortcomings, in spite of all our errors & in spite of everything we've done wrong. We're still here, still going, Lord, & You're keeping us going, so we know it's You. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom.8:31) But if You weren't in it, Lord, nobody could save it. TYL! PYL! Hallelujah! TYL!
89. IF THIS THING WERE OF MAN, LORD, IT WOULD HAVE PERISHED LONG AGO LIKE MANY OTHERS, but it's Your creation, Your work, & we're Your people, this is Thy Church, this is Thy doing, & it's great in our eyes, & we believe even in Thy eyes, Lord, that You're proud of us, that You are not ashamed to be called our God, because we have the pilgrim spirit & we seek a City which hath foundations, whose Builder & Maker is God! (He.11:10,13,16) We're on our way! We may be a little slow sometimes, Lord, but at least we know where we're going & at least we're moving & we're on our way & we thank You for helping us!
90. THANK YOU FOR HELPING US REVIVE & TO REVOLUTE & REVISE & CHANGE TO MEET EACH NEW CIRCUMSTANCE & EACH NEW YEAR & EACH NEW NEED! Help us in all of these things. Help us not to regret the past but to forget it & press on to the future.--To only look back & be thankful for how much progress we've made & how far we've come, by comparing how far behind we were a year & a year & a year & a year ago. When we look back, Lord, we can see from whence we have come & how far we have come & the progress we have made.
91. SO HELP US NOT TO BE CRYING OVER YESTERDAY OR SPILT MILK, BUT TO THANK YOU, LORD, FOR ALL THE MILK YOU'VE SAVED, & all the wine & water & Word & souls & all the rest that You've saved, in spite of some losses. We're bound to make a few mistakes & have a few losses, Lord, to teach us a few lessons. Thank You Lord that we're learning, we're still making progress, still going, still advancing, still winning, still working, still saving, still preaching & still winning souls around the World, Worldwide! TYJ! We're certainly much further ahead than we were 10 or 15 years ago, so in that way we can look back & thank You from whence we've come. Thank You Lord for the progress! PYJ! Hallelujah! Amen! As we pray together Thy prayer: (Prays the Lord's Prayer & Ps.19:14.) As now we lay us down to sleep, we pray Thee Lord our soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray Thee, Lord, my soul to take! Hallelujah! It's going to happen someday, someday You're going to take us, Lord, but just help us to get all we can done before it comes, in Jesus' name.
92. GIVE US A GOOD NIGHT'S REST & KEEP US SAFELY TONIGHT, LORD. There's so much more we want to do & get done. Bless dear Maria with all the big major projects that she's gotten herself into, Lord, so necessary & so urgent, she hardly knows which to do next.--And Peter with all the business & all the gaff he gets, Lord, & everything that he has to do to try to keep things together & organised & financially afloat.--And everybody here, Lord, that are doing their job & doing well & helping us steamroller this progress along. Every cog in the machine, every part is absolutely essential to this progress!--And all the other Units & everybody around the World, Lord!
93. THANK YOU JESUS FOR THE PROGRESS WE'VE ALL MADE! Lord, we know we've made progress when we look back & see where we were ten years ago, 15 years ago, even last year. We know we're better off now than ever & we thank You for it, Lord. Help us not to cry over the past but to forget it now, having assessed the progress, & look forward to the future & to get these things done & not to leave the other things undone, in Jesus' name we ask for Thy glory.
94. GIVE EACH ONE HERE THE SKILL, THE WISDOM, THE STRENGTH, THE LOVE & THE PATIENCE TO GET THE JOB DONE, LORD, & to be happy & satisfied & fulfilled & contented in Thy service, Lord, only wanting to do more.--To feel a real feeling of accomplishment, Lord, considering all the progress we have made! TYJ! PYL! Amen! Hallelujah!
95. FORGIVE US IF WE'VE MURMURED OR COMPLAINED A LITTLE LATELY ABOUT THE PROGRESS WE HAVEN'T MADE, LORD. We should look on the bright side & thank You for all the progress we HAVE made. But Lord, we do have to assess the difference & make sure that we don't make the same mistakes again, & that we continue to progress & progress more & even more fruitfully. You said that if the tree doesn't bear proper fruit that we must dig about it & dung it, fertilise it, prune it & trust that it WILL bear more fruit. (Lk.13:8,9) You said that even the branches in You, even those that bear fruit, work'm over, Lord, so they'll even bear more fruit. (Jn.15:2)
96. BUT LET US FEAR THEE, LORD, LEST WE BE UNFRUITFUL, or strike Thy fear into those who have been unfruitful lest they be cut off for their unfruitfulness & cast away.--Not lost, Lord, not unsaved, but cast aside as being no longer useful because they have failed to get the job done. Lord, forgive them, help them to repent & to get on the ball & make progress & work hard to try to make up for lost time & lost accomplishments & to still try to make the goal, as we run a race, Lord. If they've fallen behind, help them to really put on a burst of speed that'll try to put'm out front again, in Jesus' name we ask for Thy Glory!
97. THANK YOU THAT MOST OF US ARE WAY OUT FRONT, MUCH FURTHER AHEAD THAN WE WERE YESTERDAY, IN JESUS' NAME! Bless these materials that we're working on right now, Lord. Help them to be a blessing, especially the Poster. Have Thy way about what to do about that, how many to have published, Lord, & how to do it, in Jesus' name. TYL! PYL! Bless Jac for all of his hard work.
98. BLESS EMAN NOW & INSPIRE HIM, GUIDE HIM & KEEP HIM ON THE RIGHT TRACK, LORD, under the right influences, Thy Spirit, Lord, & not under those other influences. We ask Thee to keep his mind stayed on Thee in perfect peace, knowing he's doing the right thing. And help him to be guided, Lord, in his vision, his conceptions, his marvellous gift of art that You've given him, help him to use it for Thy Glory. Help every stroke to glorify You, Jesus, in this new project on this new theme that You've given us, that it might be a blessing & encouragement & inspiration to many in the days to come, in Jesus' name. TYL!
99. AMEN, LORD, WE COULD GO ON PRAYING ALL NIGHT FOR ALL THE THINGS WE NEED & ALL THE THINGS WE WANT TO DO & ALL THE PEOPLE WE LOVE & WANT TO HELP, but "the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak." (Mt.26:41) So bless these & give them strength for tomorrow. Thank You for how You have kept us, Lord, & provided for us & protected us & helped us to accomplish so much, in Jesus' name, amen! I love you all! Thank you! GBAKY busy for Jesus & souls till He comes!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
