THIRD EPISTLE TO PASTORS!
DO 49
2/71
ADVICE ON MARRIAGE--HONESTY & HUMOUR!
1. SINCE THIS IS VALENTINE'S DAY & YOU ARE ALL MY DEAR, PRECIOUS VALENTINES WHOM I LOVE VERY DEARLY, I think it most appropriate that we should devote this particular epistle especially to you dear girls, wives & prospective wives of our leaders!
2. AS YOU CAN SEE, EVEN THOSE OF YOU WHO THOUGHT YOU WERE NOBODY IN THE BEGINNING ARE NOW SOMEBODY WITH A VERY IMPORTANT JOB, as all of you will be if you're faithful.--And it is required above all things that a handmaiden of the Lord be found faithful. Loyalty is the primary requisite in any man's army & in the army of you women, as well--the Lord's Army of all Christian Soldiers.--Faithful, first of all to Jesus & His Work & the others to whom you minister, & last of all, but not least, to your mate & yourself. As Shakespeare said, "If thou canst to thine own self be true, thou canst not be false to any man." How true! If you're honest with yourself, you'll be honest with the Lord, your mate and those around you!
3. THE HARDEST ONE TO CONFESS YOUR FAULTS TO IS YOURSELF! I oughta know! We hate even to admit to ourselves our own mistakes, sins & shortcomings, it is sometimes so discouraging, humbling & humiliating. So we try to excuse ourselves to ourselves & defend ourselves from ourselves & exonerate & absolve ourselves from all sin, so that we can stand to face ourselves--but this only tends to make matters worse, because when we're not honest with ourselves & we keep on trying to fool ourselves, we try to do the same with God & others & the result is one awful mess--you make a mess of your own life, hurt all those associated with you & hurt God most of all, as well as hinder your testimony & ministry to those outside! May God help us all to be honest with ourselves, others & God! It will help us to keep from being false to any man! Falsification is the product of pride, an effort to hide the awful truth of which we are ashamed!
4. I DON'T MEAN WE'RE TO GO AROUND BRAGGING ABOUT ALL OUR SINS & FAILURES TO EVERYONE that comes along, including the whole congregation, like those damn confession sessions, just to show how honest you are & how humble you are! This is pride, too! He that is humble knoweth not that he is humble, believe it or not! If you think you are, you probably aren't! "Let him that thinketh that he standeth take heed lest he fall!"--1Cor.10:12. Just about the time you think you've got it made, God will stick a pin in your little balloon, all the hot air will vanish & you'll fall flatter than ever before, because you'll be exposed for the nothing you really are to the multitude around you, to your mate, to God, & sometimes, worst of all, to yourself! Pride makes it harder to forgive yourself, even though you know God will forgive you! People have even committed suicide for such reasons, preferring to have to face God than themselves or others! God help us!
5. BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF! CONFESS TO YOURSELF CONTINUALLY WHAT A FOOL YOU ARE, how stupid you are, how dumb you are, how slow you are, how selfish you are, how inconsiderate you are & how hopeless you are without God! Give Him all the glory for anything good about you & yourself all the blame for anything bad! That's usually a pretty good rule, because it's usually right! "What hast thou that thou hast not received?"--1Cor.4:7. "Every good & perfect gift cometh down from above."--Jam. 1:17. Give God all the glory! Remind your self that you're nothing without Him! Even make fun of yourself! Make a joke of it! Get a kick out of how ridiculous you are & what silly things you do, as my Mother used to do about her absent-mindedness! She was always telling funny stories on herself & of the crazy things she did, to remind herself & you the only GOOD thing about her was GOD!
6. GET A BIG LAUGH OUT OF YOURSELF! Help others to laugh at you too! Even remind God of what a joke you are! "He rememberethour frame, that we are dust."--Psa. 103:14. "As a Father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him."--Psa.103:13. God has a sense of humour, too, & maybe you can help Him laugh it off, if you're honest about it, confess it, tell Him you're sorry & that you'll try not to be such a stupid idiot next time!
7. A SENSE OF HUMOUR IS A GREAT ASSET IN LIFE! Humour is enjoying the contrast between the way things are & the way they oughta be, & being able to laugh about it, when it's not too serious! I once heard a missionary, who had spent 25 years in Tibet, four of them behind Communist lines, say that one of the greatest assets any missionary can have is a strong sense of humour, which can help relieve the tension in many a tight situation! It helps relax you & show you how funny things really are sometimes! This is known as "comic relief", & a good laugh is good for your digestion & sometimes it helps you get a much better & more honest perspective on things.
8. SO BE ABLE TO LAUGH AT YOURSELF & HELP OTHERS TO LAUGH WITH YOU! It will make it easier for them to forgive you & remember how laughable they are, too, even your dignified husband! "There is a time for everything", including a time to laugh at yourself, your mate, others, & even God is funny sometimes! He sure made some funny creatures, including you & me! When I look at some people, I know God has a sense of humour!
9. AS SOBER AS MY MOTHER WAS ABOUT SERIOUS THINGS, including God's business, she kept us roaring at her absent-mindedness & used it as a vehicle to glorify God, showing how God could use anything, even her! How about you? And me? Aren't we funny? We're a real laugh, let's face it! If it weren't for God, we'd be one big joke & a hell of a mess!
10. I BELIEVE ONE OF THE GREATEST ASSETS TO A GOOD MARRIAGE IS HONESTY, ALONG WITH A SENSE OF HUMOUR! Don't hide anything from each other! Share all things, bear all things, take no account of evil, & be able to laugh at the funny parts! Some women even get tickled while making love! My brother once said, "You take yourself too seriously," & this is possible sometimes! You may be taking the whole thing too seriously, it may not be half as bad as you think & it might be better just to see the funny side of it all!
11. SOME OF YOU ARE BORN COMEDIANS, ANYHOW, & you always give us a laugh, which is usually good for us, & you use your talents to help cheer us up! Of course, some of you are just naturally funny without knowing it & sometimes that can be a little hard on your pride!--Like a friend of mine they hired for the circus as a clown, & when he asked them what he was supposed to do, they said, "Just act natural". So to be honest with yourself, maybe you just oughta act natural! Quit trying to "put on" & kid yourself & others that you're something you aren't!
12. JUST BE YOUR OWN SWEET SELF, OR BETTER YET, BE LIKE HIMSELF; but, whatever you do, don't try to fool us, or your mate, or God! You'll only wind up deceiving yourself! Praise the Lord! Amen? I think women are not only beautiful, wonderful, soft & warm, but they're really funny! This is part of their being a help! Thank God for a funny husband or wife! You'll get a good laugh every day & really enjoy life.
13. ASK GOD TO HELP YOU TO KNOW WHEN TO LAUGH, WHEN TO BE SOBER & how to know the difference! Some of the funniest times are when you're trying to be the most sober! Ask God to help you to be temperate in all things & be well-balanced between the two! "Let your moderation be known to all men!"-Phil.4:5. Don't be too sober, or too silly, either one, at least not all the time!
14. MAYBE THIS WILL HELP SOME OF YOU HAVE A LITTLE MORE PRACTICAL DOWN-TO-EARTH RELATIONSHIP & know that you're both human beings, & nobody's perfect--he's not the hero you thought he was & you're no Angel, either! Of course, she may be, like the man who said he knew his wife was an Angel, because she was always up in the air about something, always harping on something & never had an earthly thing to wear! Are you that kind of an Angel? I hope not! God forbid, & help you to love him, be honest with him & have a sense of humour!
PUTTING GOD FIRST IN MARRIAGE
15. THE RULE OF THUMB ON RELATIONSHIPS IS VERY SIMPLE--the solution is plain, but not always easy! God's Word makes it very clear & it's summed up in the little slogan on priorities: "JESUS & OTHERS, THEN YOU!" If you'll follow this simple rule, it'll keep you out of a lot of trouble! Jesus comes first! The first commandment is to love God! "For I the Lord, thy God, am a jealous God & I will have no other gods before Me."--Deut.5.7,9.--Not even His Work, or your mate, much less yourself! Some of you thought that by seeking first the Kingdom of God, that you were putting the King first--the King of Kings, that is, but this is not always necessarily so!
16. SOMETIMES YOU CAN NEGLECT YOUR FELLOWSHIP WITH THE KING OF KINGS, BECAUSE YOU ARE SO BUSY with the affairs of the Kingdom, & this can be disastrous to your spiritual life & communion with the Lord! You cannot do the Master's Work without the Master's power & guidance! You can't make bedroom slippers for God above His fellowship! Some of you have been guilty of this--& it's had serious consequences, however sincere & faithful you were to His Work! You must put HIM FIRST--God, that is, not the Work, nor your husband, nor your wife, nor even others, only Jesus! He doesn't fit second place & He won't take it! He won't stand for it & you'll have trouble!
17. OTHERS HAVE PUT THE WORK BEFORE THEIR HUSBAND, BUT IF YOUR HUSBAND'S MINISTRY IS YOUR WORK, THEN THIS WON'T WORK, EITHER, & what you're really trying to do is seek a selfglorifying ministry of your own, instead of being a helpmeet, as God intended for you to be! You'd better get with it, Sister--with him, I mean! Get it? You know who you are & so does God, & so does everybody else, probably--everybody but you? I hope not! I hope you know who you are & ask God to straighten you out!
18. WORSE YET, STILL OTHERS OF YOU HAVE SOMETIMES PUT YOUR HUSBANDS BEFORE THE WORK, & THIS IS INTOLERABLE IN ANY MAN'S ARMY! You've forgotten what you joined the Army for & you've been putting homemaking for him first. This is deplorable & intolerable, & we have even lost a husband or two who demanded such attention, insisting on putting himself above both God & His Work! Your wife belongs first of all to God & His Work, & last of all to you--& in this business, you can be thankful if you get anything of her at all!
19. IF YOU CONTINUE TO TRY TO TAKE THE PLACE OF GOD IN HER LIFE, GOD IS JUST APT TO TAKE HER AWAY FROM YOU COMPLETELY, until you learn your lesson, as He's had to do with some other husbands--& you're no exception, I don't care who you are! It's just plain, pure, masculine jealousy, damnable, hellish pride, & you're going to wreck her life as well as yours & maybe even some of God's Work, if you persist! I have told you before, that when it comes to God's Work in the realm of the Spirit & the ministry of the Church, there is no male nor female in Christ Jesus, neither bond nor free! Here she is no longer yours, but God's, no longer yours, but her public's, no longer bond, but free, no longer even female!
20. IF YOUR WIFE HAS TRAINING, SPIRITUAL EDUCATION, TALENTS & GIFTS WHICH FAR EXCEED YOURS IN THE SPIRITUAL MINISTRY of the Church, then you must not try to hold her down! You cannot keep her back, or you're in trouble! You're apt to break her spirit, crush her heart, smother her zeal, destroy her ministry & displease God! Watch out!
WOMEN LEADERS--EQUALITY OR SUPERIORITY IN MARRIAGE
21. THE SUPERIORITY OF A WIFE OVER HER HUSBAND IN SPIRITUAL THINGS IN THIS DAY & AGE IS NOT RARE! My Mother was one, but they made a perfect team, because my Father humbly & rightfully acknowledged it & supplemented her ministry with his own gifts, which she lacked! She was a brilliant prophetess of God, an inspired leader, with many mighty spiritual gifts & a strongly appealing public personality. My Father was a handsome singer with a beautiful voice, & a brilliant & analytical teacher, with a terrific knowledge of the Word, as well as being practical & conservative in material matters, so that together they made a wonderful team, just as God had designed--as long as he was willing to let her lead in the field of her own talents & not stand in her way! As a result, God gave them a mighty ministry, tens of thousands were saved & healed & helped, & hundreds went into a fulltime ministry for the Lord, many to mission fields abroad, & their influence still carries on in me & in my children, & you, my children!
22. BUT WELL-MEANING FRIENDS PERSUADED HIM THAT THEIR RELATIONSHIP WAS NOT RIGHT, that he should take over & take the lead, spiritually & every other way, & make her take a back seat, squelch her gifts & silence her witness--& this nearly ruined them both! She tried to do it, but like Jeremiah, couldn't! He tried to domineer, but only got in God's way, & God's Work rolled right on over him & left him far behind, using me to help carry on her ministry, & he wound up a broken, disheartened man; whereas I went on in a sense to steal his crown, sad to say! I'm sure he'll be rewarded for the days he was faithful & the wonderful Christian heritage he gave to me, which made it possible, but he lost part of his reward in the end, & instead of becoming a great teacher & flaming evangelist, as he had hoped, his friends had only lured him from the Great Wall that he was building with my Mother & he came down to almost nothing in the end! Don't let it happen to you!
23. DON'T STAND IN GOD'S WAY, EVEN IF IT'S GOD IN YOUR WIFE, OR YOU'LL BE SORRY, & so will she, for she may have to go on without you, as my Mother did, rather than fail God, & God is more than able, in these exceptional cases, to supply her with a better co-worker, who will acknowledge her gifts, give way to her ministry & do everything he can to help her perform it, as I did, for I took his place! Don't fail God, so that He has to let someone take yours! And don't feel sorry for yourself & try to blame it on God & quit!
24. SELF-PITY IS PRIDE; HURT FEELINGS ARE DAMNABLE STINKING SELF, & at the root of every doubt there is sin, the heinous, diabolical sin of rebellion against God's Will! This is why people doubt! They're not willing to accept the truth, but prefer strong delusion, rather than obey the Will of God! Don't let it happen to you--& you know who I'm talking to! Snap out of it, quit feeling sorry for yourself, confess your faults to yourself, your wife & God; & if the whole congregation already knows it, to them too!
25. BUT IF YOU PERSIST IN STANDING IN GOD'S WAY, BECAUSE OF YOUR PRIDE & unyieldedness to His Will, your disobedience will bring on an overwhelming flood of doubts & delusions, which may land you on the scrap heap, while God's Work goes on without you & she goes on with God! Which will it be? May God give her the guts, with or without you!
26. THERE'S NO MORE TIME FOR FOOLISH PRIDE & YOUR FLESHLY, MASCULINE DOMINEERING! Get out of yourself & get in the Spirit! Let go & let God work through your wife--now, before it's too late, or both she & God will leave you behind! This is a final warning! You've come close before--don't fool around any longer. We need both of you, every one of you, but no one is indispensable! Selah!
27. DON'T HINDER THE WORK OF GOD BY HOLDING HER DOWN! Give her a chance; that's all God asks! You need her & His Work needs her, but she can have no other gods before the Lord! I hope she can have the courage to dare! God needs every ounce of talent that both of you have! Don't either hinder the other! Obey God! Work together! Know your limitations! Use all your talents! Please don't fail us or God--or each other! God's Will be done--& it will, in spite of any of us; but don't miss the blessing by missing your part! God needs you! Millions of lost people need you!
NEW TEAMS--PREPARATION & PLANS
28. I KNOW YOU HATE TO PUSH THE LITTLE EAGLETS OUT OF THE NEST, but if you don't, the skunks, coons, weasels & other varmints will! Better to have the Lord get them than the Devil! A team does not have to be composed entirely of oldtime leaders with lots of experience & months or years of service! Only its head needs these qualifications! He can train the others on the way & take a good share of the babes with him! That's what Jesus & Paul did! They didn't wait till they graduated under somebody else; they took'm out & trained them on the road themselves, like we did you! What are we afraid of? Why don't we start now!
29. DOES GOD HAVE TO USE PERSECUTION TO FORCE US TO FLEE TO CARRY THE MESSAGE TO OTHER CITIES ALSO, as He has before? Do we always have to learn the hard way? Do we always have to be driven to do His Will? Why don't we do it now while we have time to organise the equipment & the personnel properly & to plan their tentative itinerary with thorough instruction on tactics, methods, survival, witnessing, contacting & reporting! Why don't we do it now, by easy stages & in installments, instead of suddenly, at a moment's notice, in chaos, which could dump out the whole nest & leave the fledglings scattered helter-skelter, flopping all over the ground, with no mother or father to guide them!
30. AGAIN I WARN YOU, DO IT NOW! START NOW! GIVE THEM THOROUGH INSTRUCTION in exactly what to do from A to Z, from the time they hit the road, saying goodbye to home base, to the time they hit their first objective, & beyond, training each team to be completely self-sufficient, that is, God-dependent & independent, with only advice & counsel & such emergency help as may be necessary from home base! We are beautifully set up for this now, & with our present diversification, are wonderfully prepared to carry on this way in the future, with enough regional bases for contact & communications for an entire network of mobile units!
31. IF YOU LEADERS ARE AFRAID TO APPOINT THE NEW TEAM LEADERS, OR YOU'RE AFRAID TO LOSE THEM, WHY DON'T YOU CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS & let them ask for the job & select their own personnel under certain restrictions, the primary one being, that no team should have more than one elder brother &/or sister, preferably his wife! Then let them draw on the raw babes for their personnel, if need be, & see what kind of officers they will be in choosing their own, just like Jesus did! His hadn't as much training as our babes have had--they hadn't even forsaken all yet! He had to go out & get'm & train'm on the road! How's that for efficiency & mobility & ingenuity, vision, courage, faith & initiative, as with all true pioneers!
32. WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH US, THAT WE'RE SO BOGGED DOWN WITH SO MUCH PROGRAMME, & so many meetings & classes, just like the churches, that we can no longer get out & get the job done? What's happened to our old pioneer spirit--The Highways & Hedges Commission?--The compulsion to get out, to compel them to come in? Are we so hung up on fellowship, like the Early Church in Jerusalem, that we just can't stand to leave our little earthly Heaven to get out & bring Heaven on Earth to others?
33. THERE'S NO LIMIT TO WHAT GOD CAN DO IF WE JUST MOVE, instead of sitting around on our fannies, complaining there's no more room! Let's make room! Let's occupy the whole World! Don't hand me this baloney about a population explosion! We don't need birth control--we just need more faith! Amen? Let's go! I don't want to hear any more bellyaching about not enough housing! To Hell with housing! Let's get this show on the road!
34. "LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL, THE DAY OF MARCH HAS COME; henceforth in fields of conquest, Thy tents shall be our homes; Through days of preparation, Thy grace hath made us strong; but now to fields of battle, we sing the Victor's Song!" Praise God! Hallelujah! There's no stopping us now!
PIONEERING MAJOR CITIES FIRST
35. I BELIEVE EACH TEAM SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST A DOZEN MEMBERS, as Jesus' did, although Paul did pretty well with even less, sometimes. Larger teams for the larger cities, smaller teams for smaller cities, each assigned specific objective cities in an assigned area, & even possibly a definite itinerary, or routing, so that they will not overlap or duplicate each other! The goal of each team should be to set up an outpost in a specific major city from which it can reach the surrounding territory, as the Early Church did with Antioch, Ephesus, Athens, Rome & so on!
36. DON'T FOOL MUCH WITH THE SMALLER TOWNS, WHICH ARE USUALLY ULTRACONSERVATIVE & ANTAGONISTIC, & give you the biggest trouble! Both Jesus, Paul & the early Apostles put their major emphasis on, & had their greatest successes in the major centres of population, the big cities, from which their converts there reached the surrounding territory themselves! This is what Jesus did with Jerusalem, the Early Church did with Antioch & Paul did with Ephesus!
37. THEY HIT THE TOWNS THEY PASSED THROUGH ON THE WAY, BUT THEIR GOAL WAS THE MAJOR CITIES, from which the whole country could be reached by converts! Paul spent only two years teaching in Ephesus, apparently, without even leaving the School of Tyrannus, & "all Asia heard the Word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews & Greeks."--Acts 19:10. Most people in a given area, or state, usually visit the capital city or major commercial centre on business or for shopping at some time or other, & their young people visit for pleasure! You can reach them there as we have in the past & they carry the news back with them to their home towns!
38. THE MAJOR CITIES ALSO USUALLY ARE MORE LIBERAL, LENIENT & TOLERANT, have more young people, educational institutions & gathering centres from which to reach them, also more publicity media, such as TV, radio & newspapers, for your message.
39. MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL IS THE TEAM LEADERSHIP: HE SHOULD BE ONE OF OUR ELDERS, who has travelled with us before, if possible, & knows what he's doing, trusted & reliable, faithful & loyal, a spiritual leader, teacher, a true Apostle, a loving shepherd of his sheep, who knows how to care for the flock & has a burden for the job. If we haven't the burden, we'd better get it, or God will thrust us out, whether we like it or not, in order to get the job done! PTL? Amen! Everyone should be training an understudy, or apprentice, now, to take his job when he has to go! Jesus & Paul planned it that way & set the example!
40. NOW'S THE TIME TO PLAN, PREPARE & GET EVERY DETAIL WORKED OUT, every team figured out, with its personnel, equipment etc., apportioned now while you have time & place to do it & are together for it! As soon as you have each team ready, start sending them out, even on a trial basis! You don't have to wait until you've got everything ready or you'll never send anybody! Send them out one by one, team by team, day by day, carload by carload, town by town, until you're experts at it, & you won't have all the problems arising at once! You can handle them little by little; here a little, there a little, until the job is done! Rome wasn't built in a day, but stone by stone! Start now, or you'll never get done! Your present field teams are already a good start--keep up the good work! God will guide! Hallelujah! PTL! And when He guides, He will provide! He never fails!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family