KEYWORDS: people, time, field, trouble, lord, family

Rid the Rebels

David Berg

DO 18801/85

—Rebels, Out You Go!—Let's Have a Bad Apple Clean-Out!

1. AS I'VE SAID MANY TIMES BEFORE‚ THIS TOO SHALL PASS AWAY‚ NOTHING IN THIS LIFE OR THIS WORLD IS PERMANENT, & SOME OF OUR PEOPLE ARE FINDING THAT OUT VERY SADLY TO THEIR REGRET! We've lost a whole field, a very fruitful field‚ a very supportive field, because of the foolishness of just one or two or three people! Think of it! I'm not talking about [the first country] either, but another [nearby] field, again because of some of the same people that cost us [the first country]! Can you imagine? Having gotten them out of [the first country], we let them go into an even more important field, a much more vital field than [the first country] ever would be, & they made a mess of things there too, till the whole Family's had to clear out! And it's done us more damage than the [original] field, because they confiscated … more private papers … & everything!—Because the people were sloppy & careless & disobedient & rebellious & refused to obey the Letters in the first place!

2. I HAVE SPELLED OUT [PROCEDURES], A-B-C, 1-2-3‚ & given exact information, exactly how to handle your Home & exactly how to handle your papers … & all the rest! I have warned you time & time & time again! I wonder if you're ready for [an encounter]! Are we ready right now? Well, the Lord is usually merciful & you usually get a little warning of some kind, the Lord gives you a check of His Spirit to warn you that something is happening or about to happen or may happen. The Lord always gives a warning, always!

3. BUT SOME OF THESE STUPID, DUMB, IDIOTIC IDIOTS NEVER EVEN TOOK THE WARNINGS‚ never even asked, never even counselled, never consulted‚ never obeyed the Letters, never even obeyed direct warnings from their own leaders not to do so-&-so, & to do so-&-so! They did some of the craziest things I have ever heard of! … They initiated the investigation by insisting that the police come & protect this new disciple from her parents, because the parents were raising hell about this university graduate who had joined.—And by her lack of wisdom too, obviously they either approved & were teaching her that sort of thing. … [S]he wrote her parents, "You're going the way of the Devil!" Imagine a Chinese girl saying that to her parents!

4. THE CHINESE WORSHIP THEIR PARENTS, THEY WORSHIP THEIR GRANDPARENTS, & AFTER THEY'RE DEAD THEY WORSHIP THEIR SPIRITS! Ancestry-worship is an integral part of the Chinese culture, & they don't wait till they're dead! And for any girl to write her parents that‚ & the leadership to either encourage it or allow it, at the least not censor it, was absolutely unheard of! All I could think of as I read that report this morning is what Shakespeare said, "What fools these mortals be!" What fools they were! They have cost that country's Family thousands upon thousands of dollars in the first place‚ & that's not even the most important thing. They have cost the Family one of the most fruitful fields that we have had in [that part of the world]!

5. I'LL TAKE PART OF THE BLAME MYSELF, BUT I MUST SAY, ALMOST A YEAR AGO I WARNED YOU THAT THERE WERE TOO MANY HOMES IN THAT FIELD & TOO MANY PEOPLE. Nearly 300 of our Family in nearly 30 Homes in one city is almost absolutely ridiculous! I dare say that's about as many as we have maybe in all Japan. I think we have about 300 Family in Japan. (Peter: I think it's gone up to about 600.) Hallelujah! The last I heard just a year ago there was only 300, so they must've been workin'! Well, they were working in this city too, God bless'm, they were really going after'm now & really trying to reap & win disciples, really on the ball & really working & it was paying off!—Tremendous witnessing opportunities, tremendous support & income, open doors to other fields, they were even helping support other fields.

6. BUT THEY WANTED TO DO IT THEIR WAY & THEY WOULDN'T LISTEN TO COUNSEL, they wouldn't listen to undershepherds, they wouldn't listen to their overshepherds. They were warned time & again not to do this, not to do that‚ do this‚ don't do that, but they went right ahead stubbornly & rebelliously & said, "You're a dictator! We don't have to do that! We're not under Chain dictatorship any more!" There are some people in our Family yet that think when the Chain dictatorship was overthrown that we have no more organisation, no leaders any more, no discipline & they don't have to obey anybody.

7. THEY WERE WARNED TIME & AGAIN!—SOME OF THE VERY SAME PEOPLE WHO CAUSED ALL THE TROUBLE THROUGH THEIR LACK OF WISDOM & DOWNRIGHT IDIOTIC FOOLISHNESS … & lost us the entire [field]! … But there were more people in this [other place] than all [of the first country] as far as Family & Homes were concerned. … Think of it!

8. WE'LL TAKE THE BLAME FIRST OF ALL FOR ALLOWING TROUBLEMAKERS & UNWISE PEOPLE TO GO FROM ONE IMPORTANT FIELD TO AN EVEN MORE IMPORTANT FIELD & BLOW IT AGAIN! (Maria: They went without our authorisation, however.) We didn't really have sufficient control of that field, & some of the people were told where to go but they didn't go, they went to the field of their choice. Now they have lost that field entirely, & we are going to have to ban that field to the entire Family because of what happened there. It's going to be declared off-limits & anybody who goes there is going to be excommunicated!

9. AND I HAVE ADVISED THAT WE IMMEDIATELY EXCOMMUNICATE THE GUILTY PARTIES! I want that done now & them informed of it now! They'll not get one more page of lit until somehow we know that they've really repented & changed their hellish ways of rebellion & disobedience! My God, if anybody was led of the Devil, they were!—Absolutely Satanically-inspired! In fact, the … inspector as good as said, "With friends like this, who needs enemies?" Why do people give … information? Do they get scared? One boy just spouted off all the information he could possibly give'm! I suppose he thought he was going to get himself off the hook by betraying us & being a traitor. Don't they realise they're betraying…? How could they have? It seems like they would have the do-or-die attitude, that they'd rather die for their friends than give [information that would] betray their own brothers & sisters!

10. FOR GOD'S SAKE‚ FOLKS, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GET THE POINT THAT ONCE WE'VE FOUND THERE'S A BAD APPLE & THEY HAVE CAUSED TROUBLE ONE PLACE, LET'S GET RID OF THEM BEFORE THEY CAUSE TROUBLE IN ANOTHER PLACE! Let's not let'm go to someplace else until they are reprimanded & they are censured & they are even excommunicated to bring'm to their senses! After all I've written & all the loving advice I have given of how to handle a situation like that, they defied & violated every law, every advice, every counsel, every rule‚ every Letter that I've given on the subject! …

…

12. IT WAS BAD ENOUGH FOR THEM TO TAKE THIS GIRL INTO THEIR HOME RIGHT OUT OF THE UNIVERSITY, a university graduate, & then with the parents only living a block away, … & then when the parents started causing trouble, going to the police for protection! Can you imagine? … Instead of that, they were so proud of this new disciple, this outstanding university graduate that they had won, they were going to use her to win more disciples, & they were just so puffed-up with pride over their accomplishment that they had the nerve & the gall & the pride to go to the police & ask them to protect her from her parents, strangers in a strange land of strange customs & culture—culture & customs which totally defy that sort of thing!

13. IN ORIENTAL [CULTURES] …, THERE'S NEVER ACTUALLY AN AGE WHEN THE CHILDREN COME OF AGE & ARE NO LONGER UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR PARENTS. They're expected to obey their parents & their grandparents till they die!—And even after they die! They build altars & put incense on'm & pray for their parents & pray to their parents & worship their parents even after they're dead, & are expected to still obey them & please their spirits! Well, that seems to be very commendable, "Honour thy father & thy mother."—Well, providing they're right, providing they're the Lord's father & mother, providing they belong to the Lord & they understand what you're doing. Otherwise, Jesus Himself said that "a man's foes shall be they of his own household, & the mother shall be against the daughter & the father against the son"—Satanic—"& he that killeth you will think that he doeth God service!" (Mat.10:35,36; Jn.16:2)

14. HOW COULD ANY OF OUR PEOPLE HAVE DONE THAT? THEY MUST NOT HAVE READ THE LETTERS, THEY MUST NOT HAVE EVEN LISTENED! They were obviously deaf to counsel & the advice of their leaders, totally disobeyed them! I want instant excommunication for everybody responsible in that case that disobeyed or didn't do what they were told to do, instant excommunication!—Not another Letter, not another mailing! And I want you to tell Mordy that! Is that clear? Now!—Even before we notify them. God knows whether we'll even be able to find them, they've gone off to some other country, another very important country, maybe the first most important country in [that region]! Now they've gone to that country, & if we let'm keep on going they'll do it again!

15. SO I SAY THEY SHOULD BE EXCOMMUNICATED & EVEN ADVISED TO GO HOME & GET OUT OF THIS BUSINESS! They don't belong in this kind of missionary work! People that don't obey, people that ignore the Letters, who ignore all my extensive counsel & advice …, all of it‚ they don't even belong in the Family! …

…

17. I WARNED YOU FOLKS NEARLY A YEAR AGO WHEN WE WERE GOING OVER THE STATS! I said, "My Lord, look at this! We have more Homes & people in that one [place] than they have in some whole countries! What the Hell's the matter with those people?" I said then, "We ought to try to get some of those people out of there‚ it's dangerous to have that many people there. It's dangerous!" But we did nothing about it & I let it ride. I have many other things to think about, I usually let our leaders here handle the business & administration & personnel. I didn't push'm, I didn't egg'm on like I should've & said, "Let's clear out that place, let's thin it out & scatter those people out to some other places where they belong!" Instead of that, about that time [the other country closed] & a whole bunch of them flocked from [there], including some of the worst culprits‚ straight to that city! They just ruined one important field & then they fled to a more important field & blew it again! Let me tell you‚ I don't ever want to hear of that happening again!

18. WHAT DID WE DO ABOUT THOSE PEOPLE WHO BLEW IT IN [THE FIRST COUNTRY]? Were they ever censured? Were they ever reprimanded? Were they ever punished? Were they ever threatened with excommunication if they'd pull a trick like that again? This time they even pulled a worse one! Before the System called the cops on them, they called the cops on themselves! Can you imagine anybody that dumb & that stupid? They don't belong in the Family, Son! Get'm out!—Fast!

19. I'M SO ANGRY WITH THEM. … I am just furious about that, Son, & I want those people taken care of, & quick, if you have to do it by phone! I don't want them to be sent another speck of lit, nothing, & somebody must notify them of their excommunication immediately, that we don't want'm in those fields. We don't want'm in any field, we don't even want'm in the Family until they learn their lesson & show some sign of repentance & obedience & bring forth fruits meet for repentance. (Mat.3:8)

20. WHEN PEOPLE DO TRICKS LIKE THAT YOU CAN'T TRUST THEM AGAIN AT ALL UNTIL THEY PROVE THEY'RE RELIABLE! You can't trust backsliders until they prove themselves. They have to start down at the bottom somewhere all over again. You cannot trust them. They are going to have to go through months, I would even advise years of testing to find out if they are truly repentant & truly changed & willing to obey leadership.—I mean, years of obeying leadership to prove it, years of following the counsel of the Letters to prove that they're following. You can't trust people like that. I'd never trust them again! They'd really have to go some to prove to me that they could ever be trusted again after that absolute idiocy, insanity, rebelliousness & disobedience!

21. WHAT DID THE LORD SAY THROUGH SAMUEL ABOUT DISOBEDIENCE & REBELLION? What are they? (Fam: It's as the sin of witchcraft, which is idolatry!) It's witchcraft & idolatry! (1Sam.15:23) Those people probably would never think of practicing witchcraft or committing idolatry‚ but they're doing things which are just as bad & even more stupid, more ridiculous! Get'm out, Son! Get'm out & let's get anybody else out of this Family who's like them, who've caused trouble like that before.

22. WE'RE ENTERING A TIME NOW WHEN THERE'S GOING TO BE MORE & MORE PERSECUTION & THINGS ARE GOING TO GET TIGHTER & TIGHTER, that's why we've tried to tighten up the Family, & I would rather see us get rid of half of our people if they're rotten apples than just keep them around for stats! I mean it! We have trimmed down & thinned down the Family as it is! We've gotten rid of half of them. At one point we had nearly 30,000 on the rolls, ha! Well‚ I trimmed that down in a hurry just last year & it's down to about 10,000 now. So, thank the Lord! Gideon got rid of 30,000 too, in fact more than that, he trimmed it down to 300! I think he started off with 33,000! (Judges 7) The Lord wanted to show him he could do more with one percent of what he had than the whole bunch! Think of it! Well, all I can say is the Devil must feel pretty lousy sometimes when he finds out he's being used, because if anything needed to be cleaned out, it was that place!

23. OH MY LORD, WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN THAT YOU CANNOT PUT UP WITH A ROTTEN APPLE & A TROUBLEMAKER? WHEREVER HE GOES HE'LL BE A TROUBLEMAKER! Let's get rid of some of those people. If there are people causing trouble on the field …‚ let's kick'm out, get rid of'm, excommunicate'm, tell'm they're not welcome, disfellowship with them! Jesus Himself said not to have anything to do with a heretic & an unbeliever like that‚ & after the second & third warning, He said to put them out, treat them like a heretic & an unbeliever. (Mat.18:15-17) Put'm out!—Out of the Home, out of the congregation! Don't have any further fellowship with them!

24. JESUS GAVE THE PATTERN & THE METHOD & THE PROCEDURE just as clear-cut as could be from the very beginning! He said first of all somebody should warn'm that they're misbehaving. If they won't listen to that person, then take two or three witnesses with you & say it again before witnesses. And if they still won't listen to the two or three witnesses, He says take them before the congregation, & if they will not hear them, cast the miscreants out & let them be unto thee as an heretic & a publican! But how many times has our leadership just decided, "Well, I'll get rid of'm & send them to another Home"—& they send them from Home to Home & field to field & city to city just passing the buck!—And how long have we let some of'm get away with it?—Years!

25. I DON'T EVER WANT TO HEAR OF THIS AGAIN, THAT WE HAVE ROTTEN APPLES & TROUBLEMAKERS THAT WE HAVE ALLOWED TO EXIST & whom we have allowed the leadership to keep, & we have allowed them to stay on those fields where they have caused trouble, or go to other fields & cause more trouble! I want to hear that you have excommunicated them until they repent & bring forth fruits meet for repentance! Is that clear? We could cut our mailing list in half, I wouldn't care! We'd save money on postage & publications! And I'll bet we'd get a lot more done & last a lot longer without people like that. We don't need'm! With friends like that‚ who needs enemies? The traitors in the midst are the worst of all. So why don't we get rid of them?

26. … I can remember some of these people have caused trouble for the last 10 or 15 years in every field they've ever been on, like some of them! And we knew that these leaders were weak leaders from the very first time I ever set eyes on them‚ & yet they were put in charge of the most important field in the entire [region]! I'll tell you, the guy who appointed them oughtta eat that‚ Brother! He said‚ "Well, we didn't have anybody else." Well, then you go there & turn the fruit basket upside-down & dump out some of these rotten apples! If he can't handle it, you do it, & I mean it!

27. WE HAVE TO START RULING THE REBELS NOW WITH AN IRON HAND LONG BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM, OR WE'RE NEVER GOING TO KNOW HOW TO DO IT THEN! Let me tell you, this army hasn't gotten where it has gotten by my being a softy & an old pushover & too lenient & patient & long-suffering‚ although I must admit I have been sometimes. The fact that we've got some of those people still in our ranks proves that I haven't been tough enough! Well, the times of this ignorance God has winked at‚ but now He's calling us to repent & get rid of'm, & I mean it, right now!—No more lit, no more fellowship‚ out they go!—Until they can really show that they're changed, & a good place for them to show it will be back in the U.S. where they can't do us so much damage. The U.S. is already ruined, they've had their day. The people there are largely backsliders anyhow, already disobedient & won't leave or do what they're supposed to do‚ so they're going to go down with Babylon.

28. (MARIA: SINCE WE MENTIONED SOME LEADERS, MAYBE WE SHOULD MENTION OTHERS, WHO'VE BEEN ALL OVER THE WORLD & ALWAYS BEEN CAUSING TROUBLE.) Yes, that's another troublemaker! She is causing a Hell of a lot of trouble! My God, it would have been better if she'd never left the United States. She's upsetting Home after Home in [one field]! She always was a little bit crazy, she was always nuts. She drove her husbands nearly nuts, & still we put up with her. She even speaks against me & still we put up with her.—Why? With people like that, who needs enemies? We don't need troublemakers! We have enough trouble without fighting troublemakers within our own ranks, without having people going from Home to Home sowing lies & discord & disrespect & defiance of leadership. We don't need'm! Tell'm to get out & go home!

29. WE DON'T WANT THAT KIND OF SOLDIERS ON THE FIELD! THEY'RE NOT SOLDIERS, THEY'RE JUST TROUBLEMAKERS! EXCOMMUNICATE'M UNTIL THEY PROVE THAT THEY CAN OBEY! And like Fred Jordan used to say, the best place to prove that you can be a good soldier & a good worker & a good witness & obedient is in the home field first where you came from. Go back home where you can cause the least possible trouble, as far from the mission field & the poor ignorant heathen as we can get you! Go home! That's what we need to do with some of these people, tell'm to get out! We don't need any more trouble than we've already got, & I mean it! Whew! I can't do the subject justice! Talk about the upset applecart & the guy who cussed!—But he couldn't even cuss then because he couldn't do the subject justice, & that's the way I feel this morning! They have really upset the applecart, that's for sure‚ & largely because they were bad apples themselves.—And I couldn't cuss'm out enough! I couldn't do the subject justice, but I want you to do it in a notice or a letter to leadership, is that clear?

30. WE ARE NO LONGER GOING TO HAVE ANY PATIENCE WITH BAD APPLES! We are no longer going to tolerate bad apples in our midst & our Homes! We are no longer going to tolerate people who have a record & a reputation for troublemaking! Is that clear? Out they go!—Not to the next Home‚ not to the next city, not to the other side of the field or even another field, but out, home, back, gone‚ period!—Excommunicated, disfellowshipped & out until they show some kind of proof of genuine repentance! It would almost take years for some of these people to show any proof of repentance‚ because they've been at their troublemaking for years!

31. SOME LEADERS HAVE BLOWN IT IN EVERY SINGLE DAMN FIELD THEY'VE GONE TO, EVERY ONE! Just think of it! I have written Letters about the fields they've blown! They were the first ones to blow [one particular country], remember? They were the first ones to blow Africa! They have just blown field after field after field! They get snotty & dictatorial. … God's Word says, "Not a novice!" (1Tim.3:6) … But apparently every place this problem case goes he acts like a dictator, snotty & cruel & hard on people. …

32. IF THEY HAVE NOT BECOME ONE WITH US IN CHRIST JESUS & KNOW THE SIMPLE LAWS OF LOVE & HUMILITY THAT THE LORD OPERATES BY & THAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO OPERATE BY, if they can't show that kind of love & humility on the field in any capacity whatsoever, but just go from field to field causing trouble & blowing it & blowing it & closing doors & closing fields for us, for God's sake‚ why don't we get rid of them? Why do we keep tolerating them? … If people don't obey & don't do what they're told to do & don't follow the Letters & disregard leadership & disrespect all the laws & the rules, they're not one of us! How could you say they're one of us? They have been warned time & time again‚ city to city, field to field, & they keep causing trouble everywhere they go, all these people!

33. NOW LET'S HAVE A CLEAN-OUT! LET'S HAVE A BAD APPLE CLEAN-OUT! Let's dump out the whole barrel if we have to & throw out the bad apples & get rid of them & get down to good solid people who are obedient & respectful & obey the Word‚ shall we?—And quit babying these rebels & pussyfooting around, afraid to even correct'm for fear they'll say, "Oh my, you're not kind, you're not merciful, you're cruel‚ you're a dictator, you're racially prejudiced" & blah blah blah! … We're prejudiced against any Family Member who won't follow counsel & advice & keep the rules! If that's racial prejudice, then so be it! Give me obedience & absolute adherence to the rules of the Family, or get'm out!—Period! Is that clear? Do you agree? (Fam: Yes, Sir!) We have pussyfooted around & babied some of these people for years & they have caused nothing but trouble, trouble‚ trouble everywhere they've gone.

34. NOW IT'S ENDED! THE TIME IS NOW! … Let's start [purging out] these bad apples instead of just playing along‚ babying them along, pussyfooting around, afraid to offend them, afraid to say anything! Let me tell you, we have never had one in our midst that I was afraid to tell off when they needed it, can you remember?—And that's from the very beginning! We wouldn't be where we're at now if I had, & I taught my leaders that way.

35. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THESE OTHER PEOPLE, I DON'T KNOW! THEY MUST HAVE BEEN REARED UNDER RACHEL OR UNDER DEB OR JETHRO! They were cruel enough, but they were cruel to the wrong people. They were rigid enough, but rigid to the wrong people. They kicked out most of the best spiritual leadership & the good‚ loyal, really truly faithful‚ sincere, loving disciples that really loved the Lord & the Word. If they didn't love them specifically—Jethro, Deborah, the Evil Magician & Rachel—if they didn't give their full allegiance & loyalty to them, despite the Word, despite me, despite God, despite anything else, they kicked'm out! They were tough & kicked'm out.

36. WELL‚ IF THE DEVIL'S LEADERSHIP CAN BE THAT TOUGH ON GOD'S PEOPLE, WHY THE HELL CAN'T GOD'S LEADERSHIP BE THAT TOUGH ON THE DEVIL'S PEOPLE? What else can you call'm? Look at Jethro & Deborah! My God, I tolerated them too long, & look at all the damage they caused! I put up with them too long. I put up with Rachel too long. I knew something was wrong with her from the first time I had to come & live with her, under her jurisdiction in her bailiwick in her home. She was on her best behaviour as long as she was in my Home & I was genuinely the boss of that area, but when I left Tenerife & came to Spain to live in her home‚ her problems began to come out, crop out. She finally told somebody those were the worst days of her life living in the same house with me!

37. "WHAT FELLOWSHIP HATH CHRIST WITH BELIAL OR LIGHT WITH DARKNESS?" What does He say? "Come ye out from among them & be ye separate & touch not the unclean thing!" (2Cor.6:14-17) I began to think something was funny with Rachel then, especially when she bought me all these brand new clothes, expensive stuff‚ extravagance! I thought, "My Lord, where does she get this kind of money? I wouldn't spend that kind of money on myself, I wouldn't have spent it on anybody!" But there were people in the Family who knew all the time how extravagant & how wasteful she was, how she squandered money, money that wasn't even hers, but they never reported it! Deborah, Jethro & the Evil Magician went on in their cruelties & their torture & their horrors & their reign of terror for years without it being told to me by anybody but the Lord! But He was faithful, He gave me dream after dream showing what they were‚ & I had to finally clamp down on'm & demote'm, push'm down & out further & further all the time on the strength of those dreams, because nobody wanted to tell on them.

38. IS THAT THE WAY YOU ARE? ARE YOU NOT GOING TO TELL ME WHEN SOMEBODY'S BAD JUST BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU WANT TO PROTECT ME FROM THE EVIL, you want to protect me from the sad news or bad news or knowledge of these events? Let me tell you, if you don't tell me right away about some of these things that have happened, & then wait till they get so bad you finally have to come to me with it, you're the one that's going to get the bawling-out! Is that clear? Now don't you think, "Oh, I'm glad he's bawling them out & not me"! I'm talking to all of us! I'm talking to all the leaders out there too! I'm talking to the whole Family!

39. WE ARE NOT GOING TO TOLERATE THIS THING ANY MORE! We are going to get rid of those bad apples & those people that are always in trouble‚ always causing trouble‚ always causing murmuring & doubting & division & are disobedient & wilful & rebellious & going from Home to Home, city to city‚ country to country! And we know some of them that have done it for years! We ought to make a list of them! It's time to quit! It's time to quit babying them & tolerating them!

40. THE LORD HIMSELF WHITTLED HIS DOWN TO JUST 12‚ & ONE OF THEM WAS A TRAITOR! But He tolerated that one because that one had a certain job to do that He knew was in the works & was predicted by the Lord, prophesied. He just let him stay there in His mercy, because there was something he had to do to fulfil Bible Prophecy. But let me tell you, as far as I can see, I don't know of any of these people who are fulfilling Bible Prophecy!—Except the prophecies the Lord Himself made that they're going to cause you trouble if you let'm stay!

41. DON'T YOU BE A TROUBLEMAKER, LET ME TELL YOU! DON'T YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS THAT ARE GOING TO CAUSE US TROUBLE! If it gets bad enough, if you don't leave‚ I will!—And I've done it before! Even after people have left, supposedly reformed & repented & everything's supposed to be all right now, as soon as they left, I left too just to make sure, & waited for months to find out if they were going to make it or not.

42. WELL, ANYWAY, SOME OF OUR PEOPLE ARE JUST DUMB ENOUGH, stupid enough, ignorant enough, deaf, dumb & blind enough that even though the Lord gives them warning after warning, they just go & stick their heads in a hole in the sand & think that they're unseen & nobody knows & nobody can tell. Even after the Lord warns them‚ their leaders warn them, the Letters have warned them, God's Word has warned them, they go right ahead in their stupid, idiotic, insane foolishness!—"What fools these mortals be!"—They jeopardise the [safety] & the ministry of one entire field & hundreds of people! Nearly 300 people now have to move & most of them have already moved‚ I understand.

43. THEY WOULDN'T MOVE …, THEY WOULDN'T BUDGE UNDER ADVICE OR COUNSEL!—NOW THEY'VE ALL HAD TO MOVE! Can you imagine how much money that cost? We didn't move'm, we can't afford to move'm, they had to move themselves. And I hope the troublemakers moved 10‚000 miles across the ocean back to the U.S.A. & we'd all be better off!—And you see to it! See ye to it! Is that clear? I don't want to hear any more about these troublemakers, anybody, & I am going to blow my stack if I hear about a troublemaker making more trouble after we've already heard they made trouble someplace else. Once is enough! Heap big Indian chief no make same mistake twice! Once is enough! We shouldn't have to put up with it again. But for God's sake, when we find out that they have done it again, that's enough, that's too much, let's get rid of'm!

44. FAMILY BEWARE! YOU'D ALL BETTER BEWARE, EVERY ONE OF YOU! If you ever caused any trouble & you were a troublemaker, you had too many problems or whatever, you'd better beware! We haven't got time to have to deal & deal & deal with troublemakers, & deal & deal & deal with staff members who have problems. We love you & we'll deal with you as children, the way I've always been with my children since the very beginning. These children have been so good we hardly ever have to correct'm, but we do once in awhile. Ahem! But I'll tell you once, then I have warned you & that's it! If I catch you doing it again, as Mary Dear says, Bang! (Claps hands!) One warning ought to be enough!

45. BUT THE LORD IS MERCIFUL! IN THE BIBLE JESUS ALLOWED THREE WARNINGS: One by one person, second one by two or three, final one by the whole Home, the whole congregation. And if they wouldn't listen, had been corrected three times they still went their own way, defied, rebelled & disobeyed‚ out they went! And they were to be treated like a heathen & a publican. …

46. PROBABLY EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU HERE AT SOME TIME HAS VIOLATED THE LETTERS OR THE RULES, INCLUDING ME! But boy, I'll tell you, I never get away with anything! The Lord grabs me in a hurry & slaps me down & teaches me a lesson real quick!—And I'm glad of it! Well, He's let me get away with a lot, but not much compared to what some people have been getting away with & what we've allowed some people to get away with! I warn you! If this happens again with the same people we've had before, you're going to get it & you're going to get it! Is that clear? And you're going to get it! Is that clear? And you're going to get it, every single World Service Unit in this World, if you have any problem cases in your midst & after two or three warnings they still don't change, if you don't [purge them out], then you're guilty too & we may have to get rid of you! With leaders like that‚ who needs enemies? Who needs traitors? Those who tolerate traitors, those who tolerate betrayers, those who tolerate rebels are just as guilty!

47. I DON'T EVER WANT TO HEAR OF ANOTHER CASE LIKE THIS‚ I MEAN IT‚ WHERE THE SAME PERSON IS TO BLAME OR THE SAME LEADERSHIP IS TO BLAME! I warned about that leadership years ago, that they were weak people, they weren't fit to be leaders! I read'm right off the bat just by looking at'm on a video, & you've read the Letter about it. I didn't name'm, I didn't want to embarrass them personally then because it applied to too many other people as well. But here they were put in charge of one of the most important … fields in the whole Earth, & they blew it!—Not once, but time & again they blew it. They're not fit to be leaders, & I never thought they were fit to be leaders. And all their little sweet love notes asking forgiveness & "so glad you've forgiven us" & blah blah blah still doesn't make'm leaders, still doesn't make me trust'm any more‚ period!

48. I'M SORRY WE'RE SO SHORT OF GOOD LEADERS THAT WE HAVE TO PUT PEOPLE LIKE THAT IN CHARGE! But let me tell you‚ if that happens again, I'm going to send one of you guys to take charge until you flush the place out & clean it out & sweep clean with a new broom & get things organised! I mean it! If the leaders we've got can't handle it, then we're going to have to handle it ourselves. I have told our leaders that from the very beginning, in the early days back in the Caravan, the convoy‚ & especially at TSC.

49. OH MY LORD, HO & JOSH & SOME OF THEM WOULD DEAL & PRAY & TALK FOR HOURS TO SOME OF THESE TROUBLEMAKERS, & they'd cry & repent & say they were sorry & go right out & do the same thing over again! Then they'd deal & pray & talk for more hours with them. I told Ho & Josh one day, "Listen, if I ever hear of you guys wasting that much time on some of these known troublemakers, it's bad enough the first time, maybe there's some hope, but to have it happen again & you waste your time on'm again, that is your sin!" I said, "You just bring'm to me & I'll show you what I'll do with'm!"—And I've told you.

50. THEY CAME WITH FEAR & TREMBLING TO SIT BEFORE ME‚ EXPECTING ANOTHER TIRADE & A TORRENT & for me to raise Hell & curse & blow my stack for hours like Ho & Josh had been doing. You know what I did? I said, "Hi! So sorry to hear that you've been having a little problem & you can't get along with the leadership here & you don't seem to like it here, where would you like to go?" Some of them were dumbfounded & amazed that I would even think about putting them out! They thought they were there forever, they'd abandoned their job, their school & their forsake-all & come to join the Family forever! They thought they were in forever & they had a nice soft place where somebody was going to take care of them for the rest of their lives!

51. I SAID‚ "YOU DON'T LIKE US, YOU DON'T LIKE YOUR LEADERS, YOU DON'T LIKE SOME OF THE LETTERS or you don't like the rules, you don't really like it here‚ you're murmuring & complaining, grumbling..."—I wouldn't even usually say that much! I'd say, "Where would you like to go? We'll be glad to pay your bus fare." I wouldn't even be as cruel as Ho was, who made poor Joey, that hippie with the long hair that looked like Jesus, walk all those two miles to the bus line lugging his heavy suitcase. Ho was a tyrant in those days & he really socked it to Joey, & Joey needed it & he deserved it & we needed to get rid of him‚ that's true, but Ho was so mad at him he wouldn't even furnish him transportation to the bus!

52. LET ME TELL YOU‚ I'LL GIVE YOU A RIDE TO THE BUS, I'LL CARRY YOUR SUITCASE FOR YOU, I'LL BUY YOUR TICKET, & THE FURTHER THE BETTER, TO GET RID OF YOU IF YOU CAUSE THAT MUCH TROUBLE & you won't pay attention to leadership & the rules & the Word & the Lord! I may even do it sweetly‚ try to part friends & say‚ "Well, maybe this is just not the life for you. I realise maybe there's a personality clash with some of these people, maybe you just don't like this kind of a life‚ maybe you just don't like it here, maybe you'd just like to go someplace else. Come on, pack up your stuff & I'll take you down to the bus line & buy your ticket."—And we did that with quite a few people from TSC. It was really convenient that the Greyhound bus would even stop at Mingus if we flagged'm down.—Expresses wouldn't, but the locals would. It was a little slower, but when you're backsliding, the slower the better! Nobody even laughed.—Ha! If you're backsliding, the slower the better as far as you're concerned! But as far as I was concerned, if they wanted to backslide, the faster & the quicker the better! Get'm out, get rid of'm!

53. I WANT TO TELL YOU FAMILY RIGHT NOW, WE'RE NOT GOING TO PUT UP WITH THIS KIND OF FOOLISHNESS ANY MORE! The days of this ignorance God winked at, but now He calls on all men & women everywhere to repent & not put up with this kind of thing any more! (Acts 17:30) I don't care who the Hell they are, that's it if they cause us more trouble another time! I don't mean after years of causing us trouble already—we don't have to wait for those people—but anybody that's caused us trouble & then we find out it's a habit & the next place they go they cause us more trouble, out they go! And if it's not the second time‚ certainly the third time's the charm, according to Jesus' Own recipe for dealing with backsliders: First warning, second warning, third & last warning & out, that's it!

54. —AND THAT'S USUALLY WHAT I DID WITH MY OWN CHILDREN. I'd give'm the warning the first time, & then the second time I figured, "Well‚ maybe you didn't get it straight‚ maybe you didn't understand, maybe you didn't really hear me the first time, this time I'm tellin' ya again, but no more!" But I'll tell you, my third warnings were—bang! That was my third warning not to do it any more. So maybe if they did it only twice we can give them a third warning by excommunicating them & sending them home for awhile. We'll give'm another chance providing they repent & prove themselves. But I'll tell you, the case of backsliders is very sad. We've had very few backsliders who really came back & made it & stuck, but we've had a few, thank the Lord, don't ignore that fact, & some mighty important ones & good ones too. MWM & MCV would hardly have come into existence if it hadn't been for all the backsliders who came back at the right time & did a good job, most of whom are still with us. TTL!

55. I'LL TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, SOME HAVE HAD ENOUGH WARNINGS & THEY'VE CAUSED ENOUGH TROUBLE & ENOUGH DIVISION & DOUBT & INSUBORDINATION! We can't have it in an important field. … Let's sweep out [this country] of these troublemakers! I mean it! Tell'm to go! Tell Tim & Faith to … give them their walking papers!—That includes some old-timers & relatives who've criticised leadership for years. That also includes some who're now in South America, the guilty party discussed in "Spokes of Light" (ML #1399) & "The Story of Our Children" (GN 106-107), for the continuance of the same problems exposed therein‚ as well as for the traitorous criticisms of us & our Staff. That includes anybody that constantly causes nothing but trouble everywhere they go! Let's [send them out]! And everybody who thinks that's right‚ say amen! (Fam: Amen!) And everybody here that thinks if you do the same you ought to go, say amen! (Fam: Amen!) (Maria: And that list of violations includes things like cruelty to children.)

56. OH MY GOODNESS, HONEY, I WROTE LETTERS AGAINST VIOLENCE AS FAR BACK AS TENERIFE & SAID THESE VIOLENT PEOPLE OUGHT TO BE … KICKED OUT OF THE FAMILY ON THE SPOT! (See ML #603:60-67.) We don't give people who are violent a second chance, they don't deserve a first chance! Anybody who beats his children or beats up his wife, I said throw'm out at once! Get rid of'm! You can't trust'm, they might kill somebody! God's Word says, "Keep not company with an angry man!" (Pro.22:24) Somebody that's apt to do violence & harm & actual bodily harm & cause all kinds of trouble, get rid of'm! It's not worth it to take a chance on it! It's not worth it to endanger a family & women & children to put up with such characters!

57. I'M JUST SHOCKED WHEN I HEAR STORIES THAT WE STILL EVEN HAVE ANY! Maybe they haven't read the old Letters. I just figure once I've said it I don't have to say it again! How many times do I have to say it? I wrote whole Letters on it in Tenerife against people who were violent, & I said excommunicate them immediately, throw'm out of the Home bag & baggage! Get rid of'm! I don't care who the Hell they are, get rid of them! We don't need troublemakers. We'd be a lot better off if we'd cut the half of us in two right now & get rid of all the troublemakers. There would be a lot less people to take care of & we wouldn't even have to take care of them so much. People that don't cause trouble take care of themselves. PTL?

58. WELL, I GUESS I'VE RANTED & RAVED LONG ENOUGH, BUT I GUESS YOU KNOW I MEAN IT! At least when I get mad you know I mean it, & I'll tell you, I'm angry about it! It's time to clean out the Family, clean out the troublemakers! Give'm one last warning, the people who have maybe just done it once, but why should we give warning to those people that have caused trouble everywhere they've gone for years? Why don't we just tell'm right now? "We're thinning out the Family's ranks, we're trimming down to a Gideon's Band! We can't afford to take care of so many people & have so many people on the field, especially people that don't fit & cause trouble & complain & murmur & rebel & defy leadership & disobey! We're thinning things out, we're tightening the Family, & you've gotta go! You're too loose, you've gotta go!"

59. I'LL DO IT! I DON'T CARE IF WE MAKE ENEMIES! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I SAID THAT? THEY'RE ALREADY ENEMIES! It's better to have [them] on the outside than on the inside! It's better to have the rebels & the backsliders & the disobedient on the outside than on the inside causing trouble. They can cause a Hell of a lot more trouble on the inside than they can outside! It would have been so much better if we'd gotten rid of those troublemakers we had in [that country], who caused all that trouble there before they ever went to that other field. Why do we let them get away with it? Why did we let'm go there? Why did we allow them to appoint weak leadership there that couldn't enforce the rules? Every time somebody defies'm they back down & they wouldn't get tough! You can't have leaders who don't get tough!

60. THERE'S A TIME WHEN EVERY FATHER & MOTHER HAS GOTTA GET TOUGH IF KIDS DON'T OBEY!—Amen? I slammed my hand down on Techi's bed one night & almost made her jump out of bed! It scared her! I said, "All right, that time I hit the bed, next time if you don't go to sleep it's going to be you, not the bed!" God bless her! She has really repented, she has really reformed! It's almost unbelievable, it's a miracle‚ it's supernatural! Lately she has been going to bed at the drop of a hat!—Well‚ at the drop of her body on the bed at least. She hasn't laid there for half-an-hour twiddling her toes & counting her fingers & playing with her dollies, she has been a good girl & obedient! Mama has said‚ "I'll give you two minutes to go to sleep," & she has just sometimes gone to sleep immediately! We just had to crack down & let her know we meant business, that it's time to go to sleep. She wanted to do the right thing & do good & help Grandpa sleep, & so she did. She's a very good girl. (Maria: She had special prayer too & that really helped.) Yes sir, prayer helps a lot, the Lord can really help. You get'm on the Lord's side & your side & persuade them that that's the best thing to do! PTL? All right, I've gotta quit! Sorry to keep you so long but it seems like I've got to get these things off my chest.

61. BUT HAVE YOU GOTTEN THE POINT?—IF NOT, I'LL START OVER AGAIN WITH YOU PERSONALLY! Did you start to raise your hand? Were you stretching? You must not have even realised you stretched out your arm enough to sell you the cow if you aren't careful! You had to watch at those auctions not to even scratch your ear or anything or they'd say, "Gone to the gentleman over here scratching his head!" See, at an auction where they sell cattle, etc., if a man just even raises a finger like this they know he's taken the bid‚ & if nobody bids higher they say, "Sold to the American! Gone to Mr. So-&-so!" They usually knew almost everybody there by name.

62. I USED TO GO WITH AARON TO THOSE AUCTIONS SOMETIMES & I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND A WORD THEY SAID, BUT HE UNDERSTOOD. I couldn't understand the figures or the names or nothing. "Gobblegobblegobblegobblegobble!—Sold to the American!" That used to be one of the radio program signs of the American Tobacco Company‚ because they had tobacco auctions too. They sounded like they were talking in tongues‚ you couldn't understand a word they said, but those cowboys understand! Isn't that amazing? They know what they're saying & what figures they're quoting, but I couldn't understand a word! But I was amused‚ it was real entertainment to watch it. But once or twice Aaron accidentally reached up & scratched his head or pulled his ear or something & the guy said, "Sold to Mr. So-&-so!" They knew him well there because he bought all the rejects & the sick calves & the bargains. He'd take'm home & pray for them & the Lord would heal them & he really did well.

63. GOD BLESS AARON, HE HELPED GET US STARTED IN THIS WORK! And God bless Josh, he financed one of the first trips, & Aaron financed almost the last trip when we started for California. Josh started us off by financing the first trip with Grandma, the 10,000 Miles of Miracles, & then the next year Aaron sold his cattle & he got about $2000 for'm & financed our trip to California, & that's how the Family began! So you see, everybody has an important part to play. Besides, Aaron was the musician, & boy, I'll tell you, he could wow those hippies better than anybody! He was just like them, spaced out most of the time!—On the Holy Spirit, on Heaven, on the Lord! But they loved it, they ate it up, because they knew it was real! That's the kind of trips they wanted to make‚ & he was on a trip, I'll tell you, & he didn't hesitate to tell'm what kind of a trip, that it was the Lord, it was Jesus! PTL!

64. SO HALLELUJAH, AREN'T YOU GLAD YOU TOOK THE TRIP? TYL! Well, don't you take a backsliding trip the other direction & cause trouble like some of these people who've been taking too many trips, & we let'm go too far & it's no more! Now we tighten the Family, period! We kick out the rebels & the troublemakers! Amen! PTL! TYJ! Hallelujah! Let's pray the prayer the Lord taught us to pray: (Prays the King's Kingdom Prayer—the Lord's Prayer:)

65. LORD, DO BLESS & KEEP NOW & MAKE US A BLESSING! HAVE THY WAY IN ALL THESE THINGS & HELP US TO MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS! Patience with some people has had a reward, Lord, in praying & dealing with them & helping them to change. Paul & Marianne have had great success with some almost hopeless cases, thank God we've salvaged them‚ recovered them, we've gained our brother‚ some of our sisters. But Lord, help us not to be too patient & go overboard in our tolerance of this sort of thing too long.

66. THERE WAS A TIME WHEN WE HAD TIME TO DO THAT SORT OF THING‚ BUT THE TIME IS NOT NOW! The hour is late, time is short & we don't have time to fool around with fools & play around with those that play around. It's time to get down to business & get rid of the troublemakers & the bad apples in the barrel & go on with Thy Kingdom to fight the battle without them, with the soldiers we can trust!—In Jesus' name we ask for Thy glory. Help & give Thy leaders, these administrators & personnel managers, wisdom, Lord, in how to deal with these people & what to do with them, & last of all, if necessary, how to do without them‚ in Jesus' name, amen!—Are you a rebel we need to be rid of?!

67. P.S. I SUGGEST WITH SOME OF THESE MISCREANTS FOR WHOM THERE MAY STILL BE SOME HOPE, THAT WE PARTIALLY EXCOMMUNICATE'M BY DEMOTING'M BACK TO BABES' STATUS!No more DO material of any kind for the next 6 months; & none of their own DO material for the 2nd 6 months—only to read; & reinstatement to receive all Lit only after 1 year of proving they can be trusted with it!—Amen? GBAKY & give you wisdom, in Jesus' name‚ amen! (Don't forget to take away all their DO's now, both past & current & future!)