KEYWORDS: lord, thy, god, people, spirit, help

On Guard

David Berg

23/08/80DFO 1377

—A Warning on Shallowness, Compromising, Disobedience & Security!

[HomeARC note (10/98): The Charter states the Family's current policies, and the rights and responsibilities of members. See point 16‚ "Rights of Personnel in a Service Home."]

1. GOD HATES MURMURERS ALMOST MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE! It is dangerous to have people around us & around our Units who are not in tune with the Lord, not right with the Lord who are grumbling & murmuring & complaining & causing difficulties & disobedient & not subject to authority‚ because if you don't spank'm, God will!—And you're apt to have to pay the bills for it!

2. BUT THAT KIND OF BACKSLIDERS ARE ALWAYS GRUMBLERS, COMPLAINERS, CAUSING TROUBLE, & they don't even cheerfully leave, they'll blame you for that too! But as I have told you before, I always considered that people like that, no matter how much danger they're going to be on the outside & sic the enemies on you for spite or whatever, that still isn't as much danger as they are on the inside!—And the quicker you [have them leave] the better!

3. IT'S AMAZING TO ME THAT PEOPLE LIKE THAT GET SO SELF-CONFIDENT, it shows you how out of the Spirit they are, so self-assured that they're so secure that they can get away with anything!—Do anything‚ say anything, sass back, defy authority, criticise authority—literally before the whole Family, to run their leadership down & whatnot! How have people got the gall, the nerve!

4. IT'S JUST LIKE THE DEVIL! HOW'S HE GOT THE NERVE TO CHALLENGE GOD? How's he got the nerve to even fight God? You just marvel at the audacity of it, the sassiness of it! I mean, as good as we've been to them, as much as we've put up with, they ought to be so humble & so grateful for every little favour & the fact they're even there at all! They ought to salaam‚ salaam & say, "Yes, Ma'am! Yes, Ma'am!"

5. BUT THOSE PEOPLE NEVER SEEM TO REALISE HOW INSECURE THEIR POSITION IS & how much danger they're in until you finally kick'm out!—And then they're insulted & hurt & say, "How could you do this to me?" Just exactly the way the Children of Israel acted in the wilderness toward God!

6. PEOPLE WHO ARE OUT OF GOD'S WILL ARE DANGEROUS TO HAVE AROUND, people who are out of fellowship with the Lord & disobedient & unspiritual & making mistakes. The trouble with people like that is‚ they're always living just in the flesh & not led by the Spirit, like another boy we know, seldom led by the Spirit. They're shallow & it's just shallow flesh, so they're bound to make a lot of mistakes, if they're not led by the Lord & really living in the Spirit. They're not really trusting the Lord & not looking to Him for guidance.

7. THEY'RE LIKE SAUL, THEY'RE JUST STRONG IN THEIR OWN FLESH & so confident of their own intelligence that they make all their own decisions, which are usually the wrong ones because you just can't be led of the flesh when God's Spirit may know differently & often does! So people like that are really dangerous to have around‚ they just live shallowly in the flesh & are guided by their own smartness.

8. THEY THINK THEY'RE PRETTY SMART & SOMETIMES THEY'RE PRETTY SMART-ALECKY & think they know it all! He is very smart‚ very intelligent & knows a lot, maybe too much for his own good. But if he's not humble enough to obey instructions & obey leadership & take rebuke & follow orders & do what he's supposed to do whether he likes it or not, & if he hasn't got enough sense to know what's the right thing to do himself & he doesn't know how to follow the Lord, then he's got to take orders from those around him to tell him exactly what to do, just like a little child.

9. THAT'S WHY I DON'T TRUST HIM OUT ALONE. …

10. BUT WHEN HE STARTS GETTING BUDDY-BUDDY WITH PEOPLE HERE IN THE CAMP …, then that's dangerous‚ very dangerous! I hope he takes this rebuke. …

11. FELLOWSHIP WITH THE WORLD IS ENMITY AGAINST GOD! What fellowship has Christ with Belial, light with darkness? (Ja.4:4; 2Cor.6:14,15.) We've got plenty of entertainment here, we can watch videos & have our own fellowship without sitting in the seat of the scorner! Read the first Psalm!

12. YOU DON'T STAND IN THE WAY OF SINNERS, you don't sit with the scorners & you don't have any fellowship with people like that! We use to go to the movies & that's as far as we went because we had no others, but we have our own now & we don't have to—& a lot better selection too on videos!

13. IF YOU STILL HUNGER FOR FELLOWSHIP WITH THE WORLD, THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU SPIRITUALLY! If you'd rather go down there & sit with the World & drink beer with the World & gab with the World & enjoy their fellowship more then ours up here, then something is wrong with you spiritually, if you really like it & enjoy it, & it's dangerous & you're dangerous! I think that's a warning to you too, Son. Maybe the reason he likes your fellowship better than that of the other is because you enjoy the same things & that's your temptation.

14. RACHEL'S WHOLE CROWD WERE A BUNCH OF GABBERS & FELLOWSHIPPERS WITH THE WORLD‚ & you see where it got'm!—And we certainly don't want it to happen to you folks that we're trying to rescue & rehabilitate & reclaim from that bunch! But you have got to face it squarely & remember that that was her temptation & her downfall, & that because you were in that atmosphere so long it's apt to be yours too if you don't watch your step!

15. ONE LITTLE COMPROMISE WITH THE DEVIL IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS: Of course we can't speak the language anyhow, so it's not much of a temptation, but some of these people around here can speak a little English. …

16. … We need to stay very close to the Lord & very secure in the Spirit & very Spirit-led, not leaning to our own understanding but in all our ways acknowledging Him, & then He'll direct our paths. (Prov.3:5,6.) If we're leaning to our own understanding & forgetting all about acknowledging the Lord or listening to the voice of His Spirit to lead & guide us every moment, every unguarded moment, then we're apt to fall into one of the Devil's traps‚ & it's dangerous business!

17. I'M SURE THE LORD WILL PROTECT US SOMEHOW even if some of us make some serious mistake, but He'll have a lot easier time protecting us if we [cooperate with Him]! …

…

19. WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO KEEP GIVING THESE LECTURES OVER & OVER AGAIN but it seems like it's always necessary. Well, I think I socked it to him hard enough. I don't want to hurt him with too many lashes! But when you need it, you need it, Boy! And I hope you can take it too, because we have to keep a tight ship or we'll sink! One little slip … & you've just about had it, except for the mercy of God!

20. WE'RE LIVING IN A VERY MIRACULOUS SITUATION, MIRACULOUSLY PROTECTED, everything contrary to natural expectation, & for us to get by with it is a miracle of God!—Especially all here grouped together like this‚ the very thing I was going to try to avoid if we went to a trailer park. But it looked like there was no other way, spaces were so scarce & everything else, we had to fight for the ones that were here. And I guess the Lord ordained it. He at least allowed it. It certainly has been convenient.

21. WE OUGHT TO BE SO THANKFUL FOR OUR OWN FELLOWSHIP HERE, WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO GO SEEKING OUT THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE WORLD.—And there's nothing like a little beer or a little wine to loosen your tongue & make you too glib & talk too much, I ought to know! At least I do my talking to you guys & not people down there, perfect strangers & potential enemies!

22. "FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD IS ENMITY WITH GOD! For what fellowship hath Christ with Belial & light with darkness? Come ye out from among them & be ye separate & touch not the unclean thing!" (Ja.4:4; 2Cor.6:14,15‚17.) There are all kinds of Scriptures on it! I ought to know, I tried it for years on the road & it didn't satisfy. But I guess the Lord let me try it as a matter of experience so I'd know what I was talking about. Even what not to do & what not to be & what to avoid.

23. (MARIA: SEVERAL TIMES WHEN WE HAD REALLY GOOD DINNER MEETINGS, they lasted quite long until 11:30 or 12, & I said to the staff, "You'd better get to bed now so you can get up & do your work in the morning," & I was shocked to hear that later after this good spiritually-edifying meeting they needed more & they went down to the café that late at night!) I was surprised to hear that too. (Maria: I even told them to go to bed!)

24. IF YOU'RE LIVING IN YOUR OWN HOME, YOUR OWN COLONY, YOUR OWN UNIT somewhere else away from me & away from us, then that's up to you, but this is a [special] situation! I still wouldn't advise it, I would still say it's an indication of a lack of spirituality, a lack of satisfaction with the Lord & His children & their fellowship, etc.‚ even in your own separate Home. At least that's your hazard, endangering yourself personally & not me! But you could be endangering the work!

25. SOME OF YOU GUYS ARE JUST NATURALLY SOCIABLE. I don't blame you for wanting a little relief from listening to me. I'm amazed how the time flies when I'm doing the talking, but maybe when you're doing the listening it really drags, I'm sorry.

26. SO WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO STAY OVER HERE & EAT OUT OR EAT HERE & watch videos & do other things instead. Once in awhile our times together have been profitable & fruitful & we've gotten something out of it. But … I couldn't even sit out there outside that awning the other day without attracting attention.

27. THERE'S JUST SOMETHING DIFFERENT ABOUT US, THAT'S ALL! Another big group of people can sit down here like we saw yesterday drinking beer & laughing & talking at the top of their voices & nobody would think anything of it. But they see me sitting out there talking to you guys & there's just something different about it. The beer & the wine & everything aren't there & people aren't all cutting up.

28. EVERYBODY ELSE IS SITTING QUIETLY LISTENING TO THE GURU & IT LOOKS DAMN SUSPICIOUS! It looks, in fact, exactly like what it is, a class, a teacher & some students! You don't find that in many trailer parks! And then they're bound to have curiosity & wonder who it is, "What kind of an organisation is this? What kind of a meeting are they having? What kind of class is this? Summer university or something & he's a professor? And how come all the girls are so young & pretty, & the boys so young & handsome? What kind of an outfit are they running down there anyway?"—It looks interesting!

29. WE'RE BOUND TO AROUSE A LITTLE CURIOSITY, & we're already apparently the talk of the town if it's gotten that far to where they're even making accusations like that to our faces! And then for him on top of it to not even deny it, is worse yet! We look like a Gypsy camp in a way, some of us are pretty dark & could certainly look Gypsy, & this is the way they operate.

30. THAT'S ONE OF THEIR BIGGEST BUSINESSES, prostitution, & you can't blame them for it. They had to get in it probably for the same reason we did, to save souls, but partly for security & for support. My Dad said when he was just a young kid in a small town in Nebraska, just a few thousand people, he said a big Gypsy camp used to come & pitch camp outside the city, & pretty soon nearly every guy in town had VD!

31. YOU NEED TO BE A DETERRENT INFLUENCE ON HIM‚ SON. Rachel's organisation was very Worldly & she was a product, sad to say of Jethro & Deb's organisation. That's the way they were, sad to say, very Worldly & Worldly minded, extremely unspiritual & carnal & fleshly & out of the Spirit & always talking about other people & criticising!

32. THAT WAS THEIR FAVOURITE SPORT, for the inner circle of the ruling classes to get together & ridicule the peons & make nasty snide remarks about them, even treating Emanuele like a peon & making fun of people! Even before Rachel came along, that was Jeth & Deb's weakness, they were always making fun of people & criticising people & putting people down & ridiculing people & having the utmost contempt for the poor‚ the peons, & they ruled with an iron hand, by dictatorship‚ strictly from the top, being cruel & oppressive & unloving to the poor!

33. I THINK I TRY TO HAVE MERCY ON THE POOR. I love them & I try not to be too hard on them & make their burdens too heavy. When leadership obviously shows no love & no mercy toward those beneath them & treat them more like slaves than servants, & unkindly & inconsiderately, it's a very bad sign. And when they're so carnal & shallow & Worldly-minded as Jeth & Deb & Rachel & hers were, then it's very dangerous in the Lord's work, because then it gives the Devil a chance to get in.

34. WE'RE IN A WAR, SON, I MEAN DANGEROUS WARFARE, & we can't take a chance on weak soldiers‚ much less careless soldiers who are careless with our security & hobnob with the Enemy! It just is not wise, that's all. So you should be a deterrent influence on him to try to lead & guide him & teach him & try to pull him the other direction, away from those things & his weaknesses & his proneness to fellowship with the world & gab with the world & open his big mouth & talk too much! He kind of looks up to you & respects you, and if you don't rebuke him, if you don't check him, we'll have to.

35. WITH HIM‚ HE'S SO INSENSITIVE IN THE SPIRIT IT TAKES AN OPEN REBUKE, an outright, "Stop, don't do that! That's not good, that's not right, stop it!" He can't take a hint. He's not sensitive in the Spirit enough to take a hint. We found that out lots of times from the very beginning. I almost kicked him out when he first came because I got so sick & fed up with his carnality & his fleshly stupidity, in spite of the fact that he thought he was God's gift to intelligence & so smart he thought he knew it all!

36. A SMART-ALECK KNOW-IT-ALL IS THE HARDEST KIND OF PERSON IN THE WORLD TO TEACH, because they already know it. What have you got to tell them? Well, we pretty well kind of knocked that out of him & knocked him down a few pegs & he began to see he didn't know everything. But you must be an influence on him for the good & not let him drag you down into what he's into.

37. I REGRET THAT MANY TIMES IT SEEMS ABOUT THE TIME YOU GUYS ARE IN DEVOTIONS I'VE ALWAYS GOT SOMETHING FOR HIM TO DO‚ but I have a feeling every time I call him out of devotions he's tickled pink to get out of it & would rather do something else! I don't know, maybe you guys would too. But about that time it seems like it's time to change the sprinkler or do something that I'm thinking about, because that's about the time I start work & I think about everything that has to be done.

38. I'LL SAY TO YOU WHAT MY BROTHER ONCE SAID TO ME. He said, "Dave"—& he preached it because I guess he knew it was his temptation & what finally defeated him too—he said, "Don't let others drag you down to their level, you pull them up to yours!"—And that goes for you and the boys too‚ if you're going to be a leader.

39. A LEADER WILL KEEP ON COURSE & TRY TO KEEP OTHERS ON COURSE in the direction he's going & pull them his way. But if you have a tendency to be pulled other ways by followers, then you're not much of a leader, if you can't buck the tide! You're a very agreeable fellow, Son, very sweet & easy to get along with, & one reason is, you seldom disagree with anybody. But sometimes it pays to disagree, especially when you know something's not good.

40. WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO TRUST YOU TO BUCK THE TIDE & THE BOYS' WEAKNESSES, Some of them aren't very spiritual, they can be fairly carnal & a little bit dumb—when you don't have the wisdom of the Spirit, then you're awful dumb! But you need to be leading them the right direction & not let them drag you their direction.

41. I KNOW AFTER A HARD DAY'S WORK & A LOT OF PROBLEMS & everybody else's burdens & the burden of the whole World & all the churches‚ as Paul said (2Co.11:28), sometimes you just like to get away from it all, including maybe get away from me & even the camp. For God's sake, if you do, it would be better if you'd go someplace else & get away from it all & not stay here in the camp, because that's dangerous—dangerous to go down there & sit with them, much less talk with them, & even much less drink with them! …

42. (MARIA: REMEMBER THE THING YOU GOT FROM THE LORD ABOUT RACHEL & THAT INFESTATION?) Yes, it's like a disease, it's contagious. You may have had it once upon a time, but if the Lord's cured you, try not to catch it again! The Devil can use all kinds of channels of infection, such as the Lord told me one boy was shallow when I asked the Lord what his problem was. I never even thought of that, but the Lord said, "He's shallow!"

43. IT'S DANGEROUS FOR PEOPLE ON OUR TEAM TO BE SHALLOW‚ not deep in the Lord, deep in the Spirit, but merely shallow in the flesh, carnal & carnally–minded. That was Saul's problem. He began to trust his own wisdom & his own arm instead of the Lord & the prophet, & look where it got him! He lost the kingdom & his place in it‚ & the whole thing had to be given to somebody more spiritual who was led of the Spirit & the Lord & not just his own mind & wisdom. We are not smart enough, any of us, & we need to cling to the Lord & seek His guidance constantly, continually.

44. SOME OF THE BIGGEST MISTAKES I EVER MADE WERE FOLLOWING MY NATURAL REASONING & COMMON SENSE, you might say, when the Lord had something entirely different in mind, which was contrary to natural expectation & you could only get by the Spirit. Many's the time‚ for example, in the Bible, where men made decisions on their own by their own natural reasoning in the mind of the flesh, & it turned out to be exactly the wrong decision because they hadn't sought the Lord & asked the prophet & they hadn't been led of the Spirit.

45. AS JESUS SAID, WITHOUT HIM WE ARE NOTHING & we will arrive at nothing too if we don't stay close to the Lord! Just like that couple, obviously they've been a long time in the flesh, out of the Spirit. He's even murmuring against God, says there's a wall between him & God, etc. But why? It's only because of his lack of love for God.

46. GOD HATES MURMURING ALMOST MORE THAN ANY OTHER SIN—COMPLAINING, GRUMBLING, GROUCHING! I'm guilty of it every now & then‚ especially early in the morning, & Maria has to snap me out of it, Lord forgive me! She has so much faith. (Maria: Well, there have been times when you've had to snap me out of it too!) Well, we all do it. We all have to encourage each other, when one stumbles the other will lift him up, & we all need that encouragement to help each other. That's why you can't go down & sit with the World, you won't get much help from them, that's for sure, they'll just drag you down!

47. GOD SLAUGHTERED ABOUT SIX MILLION PEOPLE IN THE WILDERNESS, a whole generation, just because they were bellyachers instead of giving thanks to God for all His goodness & mercy in a hard place & a hard time. And it was a struggle, it was a difficult situation, but God never let them down, He always supplied every need, He always protected them in spite of all the things they thought were going to happen that never happened.

48. THERE WERE MANY IMPOSSIBLE SITUATIONS & THEY COULDN'T SEE HOW GOD COULD GET THEM OUT OF THIS‚ THAT OR THE OTHER, BUT HE ALWAYS DID! But they always forgot it & complained again at the next time!: "Now what are You going to do, God? You sure can't get us out of this spot!" It was a reflection on God, always blaming God for everything & showing their doubt & lack of faith in the Lord‚ And "without faith it's impossible to please God" (He.11:6), if you show a lack of faith by doubting.

49. AS I'VE SAID BEFORE, MURMURING IS THE VOICE OF DOUBT! Doubts are the manifestation of a lack of faith. When you start losing faith by not being in the Word & in the Spirit, then you lose the vision, because you don't have any! You're not close enough to the Lord, in touch with the Lord to have any vision or direction, & you don't know what to do & you begin to doubt because of your lack of faith. And if you doubt, pretty soon you voice it. The voice of doubting is murmuring, that's it!

50. GOD GOT SO ANGRY AT THOSE … JEWS FOR ALL THEIR MURMURING in the wilderness that He finally wiped them all out except their children! Only the people under 20 years of age were spared, think of that! He wiped out the whole older generation & never let them go in, but kept them out for 40 years so they'd all die! And there were only two men over 20 that God allowed to go into the Promised Land, you know who they were? (Maria: Joshua & Caleb.) … They must have been strong men of faith, huh? (Maria: To buck all that!)

51. JUST THINK, HE DIDN'T EVEN LET MOSES GO IN BECAUSE OF SOME OF THE MISTAKES HE MADE! And when you pin it right down to it, what could have caused him to make that mistake of getting so angry & striking the rock twice in disobedience & anger? Well, I'll admit those … Jews were enough of a provocation on almost any occasion! But he let it get through to him & he lost his temper & got angry enough to disobey the Lord & strike it twice in stead of speaking to it.

52. YOU SAY, "THAT'S A SMALL THING! You mean to tell me that when God told him to speak to the rock to bring them water & he got mad & said, 'OK you rebels‚ must I bring you water again forth from the rock?'—& bang, bang he smote it twice, you mean God held it against him all those years & wouldn't let him go into the Promised Land just for that?"

53. WHY WAS IT SO BAD? WHY WAS IT SUCH A TERRIBLE SIN? (Maria: It was a bad example, that's for sure!) It was one hell of a dandy bad example, for one thing! Why was it such a bad example, just because he lost his temper? Well, that was bad enough. Why do we lose our temper sometimes? Well, even Jesus got angry. I wouldn't say He lost His temper, He had a temper & got angry with the moneychangers & drove'm out! (Jn.2:15.) But that was righteous indignation, righteous judgment, they deserved it!

54. SOMETIMES I LOSE MY TEMPER & START YELLING & SCOLDING, It's lack of what? (Maria: We always deserve it, I don't think it's lack of anything!) Sometimes I have to do it maybe to beat it into your heads, but on the other hand maybe sometimes I should have more patience. So what does it take to have patience? It's always because we need more faith. What was it he said? "Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?"—And he got mad & banged it twice he was so mad, right in front of the congregation! (Num.20:10,11.)

55. IN A WAY HIS TEMPER & HIS IMPATIENCE SHOWED A LITTLE LACK OF FAITH. Maybe he should have said, "Well‚ I know what a bunch of stupid idiotic rebels you are & how dumb you are, how carnal you are, how disobedient & murmuring you are. I shouldn't let it get through to me. You need water? Well‚ here's some more water. You're a hopeless case, why should I get upset?"

56. WELL‚ I HOPE I DON'T HAVE TO GET THAT PATIENT WITH YOU that I leave & I keep sweet & patient because I decide it's no use, you're a hopeless case! God Himself gets angry sometimes for good reason, when He's pretty fed up with dealing with people for as many years as He did with the Children of Israel, those … Jews, stubborn‚ rebellious, & they're still just as stubborn!

57. BEGIN WANTS TO KNOW WHY EGYPT DOESN'T WANT TO COME TO THE PEACE TALKS ANY MORE. "What's the matter, you don't want the books? We've been giving you these books & books of peace talks—you mean it's just because you're not getting anything that you wanted? Why should that stop you? Just because we decided to annex Jerusalem, just because we decided to build more settlements in the Occupied Territories & obviously have no intention whatsoever of giving'm up or Jerusalem or giving the Palestinians any autonomy whatsoever. But why should that stop the peace talks? Why should that stop us from talking, we like to talk!"

58. EGYPT JUST TOLD HIM IT'S A WASTE OF TIME, they weren't getting anywhere. The [Israelis] have got what they want already so they like to talk, & as long as they can keep talking they figure they won't have to fight. They'll keep the Enemy at bay just with talk—talk, talk, talk, talk, talk! As long as they're talking, Egypt & the U.S. particularly can claim that "we're making progress, we're still talking, blah blah blah"! "Why do you want to stop talking? Nothing's changed, why don't you come back?"—Same in Lebanon!

59. WHAT'S THAT OLD JOKE I USED TO TELL ABOUT THE GUY WHO CAME BACK TO VISIT HIS OLD GIRLFRIEND? She said, "What are you doing here?" He said, "What do you mean, what am I doing here? I love you! I've come back to see you!" She said, "What do you mean you love me?" He said, "Yes, I still love you‚ nothing's changed!" She said, "What do you mean nothing's changed, you're married now!" "Oh," he said, "That's all that's changed!"

60. "WHY DON'T YOU COME BACK TO THE PEACE TALKS?" "Well, you've annexed Jerusalem, our most holy city next to Mecca!" "Well, nothing's changed!" "You took Jerusalem & the West Bank!" "Oh, that's all that's changed! But why don't you keep talking?"

61. THOSE [ISRAELIS], THEY ARE ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE! In spite of total World opinion, they don't care if nobody loves them, everybody hates them & nobody agrees with them‚ they are right & they're going to keep right on in their stubborn way even if God Himself opposes them!—Which they have done & which they still do to the bitter End!

62. … But God must have chosen them for some reason, I guess because they are so stubborn they at least stubbornly clung to their faith for a long time when it was helpful.

63. (MARIA: WELL, I DON'T QUITE UNDERSTAND WHY GOD PUNISHED MOSES SO HARSHLY.) You might say, disobeyers beware, unbelievers beware, murmurers beware! Because these things are serious, they're no light matter! "Because they have no changes they fear not God." (Ps.55:19.) Well, this couple is going to get a change & maybe it will help them remember they should have feared God a little more!

64. I JUST WANT TO WARN ALL OF YOU GUYS & I WANT YOU TO CRACK DOWN ON'M! Son, you're our representative & supposed to be our top man here & shining example, so they're going to follow what you do & think that whatever you do is OK, because you certainly are next to us & they think you wouldn't be doing it unless it was all right.

65. IF YOU SHOW A WEAKNESS & YOU WAVER IN SOME OF THESE THINGS, they'll think it's OK. Stupid dumb people who live in the flesh & not in the Spirit are going to think it's all right & they'll follow you. Do you want them to follow you? Do you want them to be like you? Think about that. "He saved others, Himself He couldn't save." (Mt.27:42.)

66. OTHERS MAY, YOU CANNOT! Other people might be able to get away with it, but because of your position you can't. You have to lift up the standard, you have to hoist it higher & try to bring'm up to what they ought to be & not let yourself get dragged down by them to please the people!

67. THIS WAS SAUL'S MAIN PROBLEM‚ HE WAS A MAN-PLEASER. To make the people happy, to please the people, he disobeyed the Lord. Now that's a dangerous thing. He kept blaming his own weakness along that line on the people: "Well, the people persuaded me, the people pled with me, the people wanted me to spare the oxen & the sheep & the king."

68. DEAR SAMUEL CONFRONTED HIM WHEN HE CAME BACK FROM THIS ASSIGNMENT: "Hast thou performed the word of the Lord? And Saul said‚ "Behold, I have performed the word of the Lord"—big liar! And Samuel said, "Hmm, that's funny, then what meaneth this bleating of the sheep & the lowing of the oxen in mine ears?" (1Sam.15:13,14.) "Oh, that? Oh, I just annexed Jerusalem. I just don't want to give the Palestinians any autonomy." "Oh, that! Oh well, the people persuaded me. They thought that we should at least spare the oxen & the sheep—after all, what had they done?"

69. WHO KNOWS? MAYBE THE ANIMALS HAD SOME OF THE SAME DISEASES THE PEOPLE HAD, if nothing else, or the same evil spirits! Animals can get evil spirits. Have you ever seen a demon-possessed dog or a demon-possessed cat? Look at the two thousand pigs that jumped off a cliff into the sea, they got demon–possessed! (Mk.5:13.) Demons love to possess animals. They even sometimes possess trees—Druidism; rocks—animism‚ anything to get people to worship something besides God!

70. SO GOD APPARENTLY KNEW THOSE ANIMALS WOULD BE DANGEROUS, they'd carry diseases & evil spirits & whatnot‚ & He wanted to wipe the slate clean & get rid of the whole damn evil filthy disease-ridden demon-possessed bunch! But here comes Saul back with his army bringing the whole caboodle! Yeah, he'd wiped out all the people, but "Oh, that? We thought maybe we ought to spare the animals."

71. IN OTHER WORDS HE WAS SAYING, "WE KNOW BETTER THAN GOD, WE'RE SMARTER THAN GOD. God wanted us to kill them all but we don't think that's a good idea." They disobeyed. Well, you just read the little lecture Samuel then gave them. They didn't think it was very important, they thought it was a small thing to disobey the Lord in this one thing.

72. "LORD‚ PARDON THY SERVANT IN THIS ONE THING," Naaman said to the Lord. (2kg.5:18.) "I believe you & you healed me & I know it, everybody knows it, but I have to keep my position & I have to let the king lean on my arm & I have to go into the Temple of Rimmon. The Lord pardon thy servant in this one little thing."—And you never hear of Naaman again, except when Jesus mentioned him in the New Testament. (Lk.4:27.)

73. JUST THINK WHAT AN INFLUENCE HE COULD HAVE BEEN! He might have turned the whole Syrian nation to the Lord! Instead of that, the Syrians soon turned on God's people & nearly wiped'm out!—Because he was such a poor testimony & such a compromiser! He went right into the Temple of Rimmon, a Worldly pagan place with the rest of the World & the king, just to try to keep his job!

74. WELL, IT'S PRETTY SERIOUS BUSINESS WHEN THERE'S A COMPROMISE OR A COMPROMISER, people who try to play both ends! Samuel socked it to Saul & said‚ "To obey is better than sacrifice, to hearken than the fat of rams!" (1Sam.15:22.) He told him this the first time he made the mistake, then he reminded him of it the next time.

75. WHAT WAS SAUL DOING THE FIRST TIME? All he was doing was sacrificing to the Lord, supposedly praying & asking God to bless his army & his effort to defeat the enemy, because the prophet hadn't showed up to do it. So he said, "I guess I'll have to do it." Well, the reason the prophet hadn't showed up is because it wasn't God's will, it wasn't God's time & God was testing Saul to see if he was going to obey or not, see if he was going to follow His orders.

76. SAMUEL SAID, "WAIT TILL I GET THERE." But he just couldn't wait, he had to do it on his own to prove that, after all, wasn't that a good thing to do to sacrifice to the Lord & to give offerings & to go out & defeat the Enemy? No, it was a very bad thing to do if it wasn't according to God's will! That's why we have to be led of the Spirit.

77. WE CAN'T EVEN DO THINGS THAT LOOK LIKE THEY'RE GOOD & REASONABLE & COMMONSENSE things we think we ought to do unless we're sure it's God's will! I mean, we're in a dangerous business & we have got to stay close to the Lord & follow the Lord & make sure it's God's will‚ not just rest on the arm of flesh & natural reasoning like Saul did.

78. THE LORD JUST KEPT SAMUEL AWAY LONG ENOUGH TO TEST SAUL & to show Samuel that this guy just wasn't the right guy to lead the people, he kept disobeying! And then Samuel came & told him, "Well, because you did this you lost the kingdom! I'm going to give it to somebody else that's more spiritual & led of the Lord!" But dear Saul, he still never got the point. He was so carnally-minded & so unspiritual he just kept right on doing things himself & got worse instead of better.

79. EVERYBODY MAKES MISTAKES, I MAKE MISTAKES, MARIA OUGHT TO KNOW. I sometimes complain, sometimes I murmur, sometimes I doubt, sometimes I get discouraged‚ but that's not my usual state of mind. It's a rare exception. The Devil really attacks me, especially during the night, he loves darkness! That's why I keep a light on now, & it's been better. Those demons apparently don't even like to operate in light, neither do mosquitoes! Especially with this little machine going, that's sure been a help.

80. BUT OF COURSE THE DEVIL'S GOING TO FIGHT ME, of course he's going to try to raise all kinds of doubts & fears & discouragement & everything else, because we're probably one of the most important tools of the Lord there is in the World today to try to wake people up & keep them awake & keep the sheep fed & keep the goats out & get out the message! So naturally he's going to fight us.

81. AND ONE OF THE CLEVEREST WAYS HE CAN TRY TO FIGHT US IS TO GET IN‚ if not into me with doubts & fears & discouragement, into other people with foolishness & carnalmindedness & a hankering for the World! "Love not the World, neither the things that are in the World! For the love of the World is enmity with God!" (1Jn.2:15; Ja.4:4.)

82. SO IF YOU STILL HAVE A HANKERING FOR THOSE THINGS, WATCH OUT! That's a fifth column in your own heart! That's a poison in your own soul! It's the Devil's own tool, it's a hole in the dike if you still have a temptation toward these things. We've got everything right here, what do we need to go down & fellowship with the World for?

83. WHEN I HEARD ABOUT THE BIG SPANISH DANCING DOWN AT THE PARK DOWNTOWN, it sounded good‚ it sounded interesting. But I prayed about it & thought about it, & what have they got that I haven't got here? I've got beautiful women right here! If I wanted them to dance naked in front of me they would! I could even fuck'm if I want to. What has town got that I haven't already got? We can have music, we can have pictures‚ we can have fellowship, we just can't make very much noise, that's a little problem.

84. IF YOU WANT TO DANCE‚ MAKE A LOT OF NOISE & SCREAM YOUR HEAD OFF, well, maybe there's someplace you could go. I don't know where. If anybody saw you down there doing it that recognised you they would think you were maybe a little bit unspiritual. Well, we have to make a few sacrifices for the sake of security & spirituality.

85. THE LORD DOESN'T ALWAYS NECESSARILY LET US HAVE EVERYTHING BECAUSE IT'S NOT ALWAYS GOOD FOR US! He tried that on the children of Israel, He let them have the desires of their heart, even a few times when it wasn't good for them‚ & He sent leanness to their souls! (Ps.106:15.) He also, in case you hadn't noticed, sent sickness to their bodies when they got sick & fed up with this manna & clamoured & clamoured for meat!

86. HERE THEY WERE EATING MIRACLE FOOD CREATED BY GOD! It must have been the most healthful food the World has ever known, & all they had to do was gather it off the ground just like snow or coriander seed. Think of it! It wasn't even much work. But they got sick of it & said, "Give us some meat!" So He sent in a flight of quail that buried the camp knee-deep in quail! And they were so greedy & gluttonous they ate so much that they got sick, & thousands of them died just from over–eating! Think of it! (See Num.11.)

87. THE BIBLE'S AN AMAZING BOOK! YOU GUYS OUGHT TO READ IT SOMETIME! (Maria: Well, you've got to tell us in the Letters because that's all we get a chance to read!) Well, I would hate to think that just reading my Letters keeps you from reading the Bible! Well, at least there's plenty of Bible in my Letters, that's for sure. I guess you have to have it pre-masticated & predigested for you so you can assimilate it better!

88. BUT ANYWAY, COMPROMISE IS A DANGEROUS THING, & CARNALITY IS A DANGEROUS THING! And poor Saul, my Mother used to say he was about the most pitiful thing in the whole Bible! He was such a great man, head & shoulders above his brethren, probably handsome, big & strong, semi–giant, smart, terrific warrior & fighter!

89. SAUL HAD EVERYTHING IN THE FLESH, EVERYTHING! The people respected him, loved him & admired him & he led them to victories! But he just couldn't seem to get the point that the only way to stay that way was to stay close to the Lord & follow the Lord & obey Him. He got to thinking that he knew better than God, which is what some say when they disobey.

90. WHEN JOB WAS PROTESTING HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS & HIS PERFECTION, that he hadn't done anything wrong, one of his counsellors said, "Well, can a man be found righteous with God?" In other words, can any man compared to God be found righteous? How can you say you've never done anything wrong? You mean to tell me, in other words, you're as righteous as God?Perfect?

91. IT TURNED OUT IN THE LONG RUN THAT JOB FOUND HE HAD COMMITTED THE WORST SIN OF ALL! What was it? (Peter: Self-righteousness.) He was egotistical, self-righteous. He really thought he was a very good man, & he was a very good man. Even the Lord said to the Devil‚ "Have you ever seen anybody as good as this man? Behold My servant Job!" The Devil said, "Yeah? Well, just let me put the screws on him & see what happens!" (Job 1:8-12.)

92. HE GOT TO WHERE HE WAS COMPLAINING ABOUT THE WAY GOD WAS TREATING HIM. "How come, Lord? What have I done to deserve all this? How come You treat me like this?" It reminds me of a little poem Lamont used to recite that was really funny, about a little boy who was having a very bad tummy-ache. He said, "How come, tummy? I've been so good to you! I gave you all that pie & candy & all that! I've been so good to you, why do you treat me like this?!"

93. IT'S JUST LIKE THE LORD DID IN THE BIBLE, I GUESS YOU HAVE TO KEEP TELLING PEOPLE OVER & OVER & OVER AGAIN THE SAME THINGS. I've said all these things before, I can remember the stories. It's like the lady who came down to the preacher after the Sunday morning sermon & said‚ "Oh preacher, you must have forgot, you preached, that same sermon here once before, I remember!" He said‚ "No, I haven't." She said, "Yes, I remember that story about the little yellow dog." He said, "Yeah, that's all you remember! It's a different sermon‚ just the same story."

94. (MARIA: AND LIKE THE EVANGELIST WHO CAME TO THE CHURCH & they said, "Oh, what a wonderful sermon! We never saw it like this before!" The pastor said‚ "Well! I've been preaching the same thing to you all along!")

95. YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MY MOTHER PREACHED ON FAITH & HEALING FOR YEARS, & this woman had been in her church all those years. But this new voice, new evangelist came & phrased it some other way so that she finally understood it. She said, "Sister‚ all these years I didn't understand what you meant by faith. Now I understand what you mean, you just believe it, that's all!" Mother said, "Sister, I've been preaching that to you for years!" But you've just got to keep preaching it & saying it over & over again! (Prays:)

96. BLESS THEM, LORD‚ THERE AT THE HOUSE, & GIVE THEM WISDOM. Help them not to say anything they shouldn't. It's pretty hard to tell, Lord, when they're speaking another language. Lord, please do convict him & make him more spiritual & make him more mindful of Thy voice & not so carnally-minded & so dead in the spirit, so shallow, but more spiritual, Lord, with greater love for You. We know when he's humble, when we humble his pride & give him open rebuke, he's done well to take it & to try to repent.

97. THIS IS HIS WEAKNESS, LORD, DON'T LET IT BE OURS! Don't let us compromise by tolerating it in him or any of us, but to hold the standard high & stick to it & not compromise & not let it down & not lower it & not vary from our course, to the right hand or the left‚ & not make too many allowances or tolerances one way or the other, variations from the straight course, the straight & the narrow way.

98. YOU SAID, "STRAIGHT IS THE GATE & NARROW IS THE WAY THAT LEADETH UNTO LIFE ETERNAL, & few there be that find it. Wide is the gate & broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction, & many there be that go in thereat!" (Mt.7:13,14.) Help us be amongst the few, Lord, that follow the straight & narrow pathway. Others might get away with it‚ Lord, who haven't got as important a job & position & place & where security is not as important, but we cannot.

99. WE HAVE TO MAKE A FEW SACRIFICES, LORD, FOR THE SAKE OF THY WORK & SECURITY. You absolutely dump an abundance of blessings & pleasure & luxuries on us & everything our heart could desire! All You ask for us to do is Thy work & to try to protect it & keep it going & take care of Thy sheep & feed them & protect them.

100. HELP US LORD, FOR MEAT NOT TO DESTROY THE WORK OF GOD! (Rom.14:20.) For some carnal desire or some carnal weakness, some foolish fellowship to endanger Thy work‚ Lord, & Thy children. Jesus, keep our guard up. Help us to keep on the whole armour, Lord. We put it on, let's keep it on! And help us to stay close to You, our Battle Commander, & take orders, so we won't make any mistakes.

101. AND ESPECIALLY‚ LORD, HELP US NOT TO HOBNOB WITH THE ENEMY! We're to love them & we try to be kind to them‚ even salute them as Thy Word says, & show Thy love toward them, but we're not to hobnob with them … or leave a chink in the wall or in our armour where the Enemy could get in & lead us astray!

102. HELP US, LORD, TO KEEP THE WALL STRONG BETWEEN US & THE ENEMY & raise the standard high of our faith & trust & confidence in Thee‚ & our obedience & our following You very closely, Lord, & not getting led astray. In Jesus' name we ask for Thy glory, have Thy way. Give us wisdom.

103. PROTECT US FROM OURSELVES, LORD, WE'RE OUR OWN WORST ENEMIES SOMETIMES. We have power over the Enemy, we have power over devils & demons, we have control over all the forces of the Enemy, Lord, through the power of Thy Spirit, but sometimes we can't even control our own tongues nor our own spirit, Lord. It's not the evil spirits we have the biggest problem with, its our own spirit, which is still a free moral agent & can do as it pleases.

104. THE EVIL SPIRITS ARE SUBJECT TO US & THEY CAN'T DO AS THEY PLEASE, THEY HAVE TO DO WHAT WE TELL'M! If we say depart‚ they have to depart in the Name of Jesus! But we can't yet tell our own spirit to depart! It still has free will & makes its own choices, & if it's not Thy choice, Lord, & we're not close to You & under the control of Thy Spirit, through disobedience or compromise or laziness or whatever it is, Lord, our spirits can still make mistakes, if they're not subject to Thy Spirit.

105. OUR SPIRITS, LORD‚ ARE STILL UNRESTRAINED & MUST BE VOLUNTARILY UNDER THY CONTROL or they can certainly lead us astray just as bad as an evil spirit! They become evil spirits Lord, in disobedience! Our own spirits become evil when they disobey & are out of Thy Spirit. Then they become evil spirits because we're in disobedience, defiance, compromise, failure, lack of faith‚ doubting, grumbling & all the things that some of these people have gotten into.

106. WE'RE HAVING TO DISMISS THEM, help us to do it kindly & gently & lovingly, Lord, but firmly, as they've become more of a problem than a help. But help us, Lord‚ to recognize some of these things in ourselves, a lack of spirituality, a lack of close fellowship with Thee & Thy Spirit, a lack of control by Thy Spirit, a lack of faith, some doubting some grumbling. Lord forgive us & help us in Jesus' name! Help us to stay close to Thee & Thy Word.

107. THANK YOU FOR THESE BEAUTIFUL VERSES THAT MARIA'S BEEN GIVING ME & learning herself & recording, Lord, so beautiful & will be so good for the Family, to constantly be reminded of Thy Word & what You've said, & know it's true, it cannot fail, Lord, & we must stay close to Thee & Thy Word. Our faith cometh by hearing Thy Word, Lord. (Rom.10:17.)

108. HER TAPE WOULD BE SUCH A BLESSING TO THE FAMILY, LORD, help her to finish it, to realise how important it is, Lord, to be a blessing to them. She reads so well‚ so clearly & with such confidence & genuine childlike faith, Lord, & will be such an encouragement to others, especially these verses.

109. HELP US REALISE WE CANNOT DO WITHOUT YOU, JESUS. Without You we are nothing. We cannot do without Your Word. We must be fed & inspired by Thy Word, Lord. Lord, without Your Word we lack vision, & without a vision the people perish! We have to have Your Word, Lord, to show us the way, to show us the vision, to show us Thy will so we'll have the faith, Lord, to perform it.

110. WE HAVE TO HAVE THY GUIDANCE BY THY WORD & VISION IN THY WORD, & Thy vision which is Thy Word, even dreams You give us are Thy Word‚ which You've shocked us with, Lord, things we never would have dreamed of ourselves! You have said things we never would have thought of & given direction, Lord‚ which would have been totally contrary to what our natural expectation was. Which shows‚ Lord, how much we need to listen to You & Thy Word & to follow Thee, because we just don't know anything, we don't know what's best.

111. WE CAN HAVE THE GIFT OF THY WISDOM, LORD, BY THY SPIRIT‚ & this is revelation, this is Thy Word, this is vision, Thy gift of wisdom to follow Thee. But help us to follow it, Lord, whatever it is, however it may come through whatever medium, help us to obey. Having received it, Lord, help us then to obey it, or it won't do us any good if we compromise or we drag our feet or we grumble & complain or we rebel & we decide to do it our own way instead. Jesus help us, Lord. We know what's right, help us to do it. TYJ! PYL! Hallelujah!

112. "TO HIM THAT KNOWETH TO DO GOOD & DOETH IT NOT‚ TO HIM IT IS SIN." (Ja.4:17.) Nothing short of right is right. Help us to do the right thing, Your will, & the only thing that's right is Your will, Lord, regardless of what we think. In Jesus' name, help us, Lord. TYJ! Help us to obey & follow, & especially, Lord, help us to be so in the Spirit that we are sensitive to Thy voice & we hear it & we know Thy will & we hear Thy Word & we see the vision so that we can follow & obey it. And give us then, Lord‚ the faith through Thy Word & the vision to perform it, to do it. TYJ! PYL! In Jesus' name!

113. AND HAVING DONE ALL, LORD, TO STAND, STAND OUR GROUND! Don't give ground to the Enemy, don't compromise, don't let down the bars, don't let down our guard, Lord. That's how I got my nose broken fighting, Lord, I let down my guard & I got a surprise punch & suffered from it ever since. But You've kept me, Lord‚ & we thank You for it. Help us not to get a surprise blow because we let down our guard in an unguarded moment, because we were not tuned in spiritually to Thee & did not heed Thy voice and listen, were not sensitive to the leading of Thy Spirit.

114. MY LORD HELP US, IN JESUS' NAME, TO BE LED OF THY SPIRIT & TO KNOW WHAT'S BEST, what's right, both here at the camp & around the camp & on our trips out on needed business & in our search for housing. Lord, You know what's best, You lead in Thy Spirit. We found something we liked & we thought was great but You slammed the door because apparently You know it's not the best for us somehow. Unless You open it up again‚ Lord, we don't know, Thy will be done, have Thy way. Apparently You don't think we need it now anyway. So TYL! PYJ! Hallelujah!

115. WE CAME INTO A SITUATION HERE IN THIS CAMP, LORD, WHICH IS CONTRARY TO OUR NATURAL EXPECTATION & our own carnal reasoning of security, & in a situation we didn't feel normally naturally would be best for us‚ to be all together. But apparently, Lord, somehow or another You felt it was best for us, perhaps even spiritually for our own mutual encouragement & fellowship, than to be buried & scattered throughout the camp amongst the World‚ suffocated & swamped in their spirit & their influence & proximity.

116. THANK YOU LORD FOR GIVING US THIS LITTLE CORNER TO OURSELVES & TO YOU. I guess, Lord, You knew it was best for us even if it might not have been in some ways the best natural physical security. You must have known it was the best spiritual security that we could be united together in close communion & community & fellowship, to better organise & synchronise our work together & be quickly available to each other‚ Lord. It has been such a convenience, it's really been wonderful!

117. SO NOW WE'RE TRUSTING YOU FOR THE RIGHT HOUSE TO MOVE TO, LORD, to live there in peace so we can continue the flow without too much interruption of these rocks & precipices & rapids & torrents which kind of disrupt it temporarily while we're trying to find other housing or moving, etc. We ask thee to help this be as little trouble to us as possible‚ these rocks in the road, these rocks in the stream that make it a little difficult sometimes.

118. HELP US, LORD, TO GET RESITUATED IN THY TIME when You know best, so the flow of Thy Word & feed for Thy sheep, Lord, can be uninterrupted, steady & faithful to continue to guide them & feed them & protect them. Even this time we've had to take out this afternoon‚ Lord, for this little instruction together, may it be profitable & bear good fruit & remind us of how important our job is & how jealously we should guard it from the Enemy & his slightest little attempts to enter in in some unguarded moment or place or some little chink in the wall or crack in the armour. Help us to realise we're in a constant battle, we should always pray, not faint, that we are at war, Lord, & we must keep Thy whole armour on all the time, night & day, in Jesus' name!

119. HELP THOSE WHO ARE SHALLOW & FRIVOLOUS & FOOLISH TO SOBER UP, LORD! Make them more serious in thought & more sober regarding the seriousness of the job we have, & more mindful of You‚ Lord, more humble before Thee, more conscious of Thee & Thy presence & more sensitive to Thy Spirit, so that we will know Thy will & do it. In Jesus' name we ask for Thy glory. Help us, Lord!

120. YOU HAVE A LOT OF THINGS TO SAY ABOUT FOOLISHNESS & FRIVOLITY, SILLINESS, LIGHTNESS‚ SHALLOWNESS. Sometimes we ourselves are prone to be a little funny & humorous but usually we stay on a pretty serious channel, Lord, if not entirely so. Often to illustrate a point, Lord, we tell a joke, or to relieve the tension, but help us not to get out of balance & have too much foolishness & frivolity & get so far away from the soberness of the job we have to do.

121. HELP US TO CONSTANTLY BE MINDFUL OF THE ENEMY, THAT HE IS LISTENING & WATCHING FOR SOME WAY TO GET IN & some way to cause trouble. Help us to resist the Enemy & You said he'll flee from us. (Ja.4:7.) Constantly we have to do this, all day & all night long in our own lives & in others. Help us, in Jesus' name, to realise we're in a serious battle‚ a sober war, Lord, & it's dangerous & can be fatal if we make the wrong move, a slip of the tongue or in any way get out of Thy Spirit & do the wrong thing!

122. I HOPE YOU DON'T HAVE TO SPANK US IN ANY WAY, LIKE THE SHAKING UP YOU GAVE US WITH THAT FOREST FIRE the other day to get us more ready & be in more of a pilgrim attitude. We had kind of settled down a little too much, too comfortably, & were unaware of the danger, were not being aware & we did not beware of the threat around us.

123. WE THANK YOU THAT YOU FRIGHTENED US ENOUGH TO SHAKE US UP & get us on the job & better prepared, more ready to roll with a better pilgrim attitude as pilgrims & strangers, & not just get too lackadaisical & lazy & indifferent & too self-confident, too insensitive, Lord, to the importance of every little thing in the work that we're doing, even the position of our trailers & the condition of our vehicles, etc. TYL for helping the boys to get the car fixed‚ & we ask Thee that it will work better now, in Jesus' name we ask for Thy glory. Amen.

124. I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'LL CALL THIS LITTLE TALK WE HAD on uncompromising & obedience‚ don't let your guard down, whatever it is. Maybe we'll think of a good name for it later. But I guess it's a good talk. If you need it, I guess it's worth it! We all need it‚ PTL!

125. WHEN THERE IS A CERTAIN SECURITY HAZARD, A CHAIN IS ONLY AS STRONG AS ITS WEAKEST LINK, & that's true of our camp here & our personnel, as it is in any Home or any Unit. It's only as strong as its weakest link, & if there's somebody who is a weak link, weak character, weak security hazard that's apt to be a potential danger, then we've got to be very very careful about that party & watch them very closely & try to limit the amount of damage they could do by limiting their power to do damage! And one way of doing that is, for example‚ not to give them too much responsibility & don't let them run around on their own too much alone without supervision. (Prays:)

126. LORD BLESS & KEEP THIS THY SON & GIVE HIM WISDOM & KEEP HIM CLOSE TO YOU LORD, & us‚ in Jesus' name. Thanks a lot for all your help! Amen Son, we love you & we need you, so stick close & try to keep folks in line. Don't go their way, you get them to come your way! PTL! GBY, Son!—In Jesus' name, amen!—Amen?

127. (P.S. THE BROTHER IN PARA.6 is now an indispensable part of our staff 3 years later, having won many major victories in his life. So don't give up!—There's hope for you! If he can do it, so can you!)