CONFERENCES, COLONIES, BANDS & BUSES!             DO 253            7/73

         1. I am against conferences! When I see the costs & results & I see how much of your time & strength they take, I am against them! I think it would be far cheaper to send one man around the World to visit all these places. A little note that you wrote me & outlined the things you wanted to know accomplished more than the hours & hours of time you have consumed of my strength & energy in conferences!
         2. Tell'm on paper, for God's sake, which is a helluva lot cheaper! Let's see what the MAIL & the LETTERS can do FIRST. I'm not in favor of doing anything in person we can do by mail or anything by word of mouth that we can do on paper!
         3. When you're face-to-face you waste much more time. It's just like the telephone business: When we boiled that thing down to where it had to be on PAPER, we stuck to the essentials & we're saving time & money.--It is the same thing on your face-to-face meetings, just like talking live on the phone: You go on & on, just visiting & having fun & that's what a lot of this conference business is.
         4. Why don't we get over this business of thinking we have to talk to people face-to-face when we can say it more briefly, simpler & more lasting on PAPER! Why do you think I've gone into virtual retirement?--Because God showed me a long time ago I can reach the World much more effectively this way! Sometimes I think people have these meetings because they're too lazy to write a LETTER, & that's absolute idiocy!--Because they turn out in the long run penny-wise & pound-foolish & spend more time & energy having the MEETING, when they could have sat down for an hour with their secretary writing a LETTER!
         5. Most of the time it goes in one ear & out the other & he still has to have it down on paper for him before he'll remember it. The only excuse I can see for personal confrontation is when you've tried everything else & this is a last resort.

BANDS!
        
         6. I think some of these band people have gotten what they wanted: They wanted a BAND & they wanted to RECORD.-But they failed to be a SUCCESS or HIT because they didn't do it GOD'S way. They THINK they wanted to put GOD first & believe ME & please me, but if they HAD, they would have DONE what I SUGGESTED to them!
         7. Maybe we should make such folks an associate Home, if they're not interested in following our authority & obeying us & only just want to receive our literature. If you can't FOLLOW OUR LEADERSHIP, you can only be an Associate. Those poor bands really got led astray on a pride trip & now have fallen apart. I hope we can salvage them.

PAPER POWER!
        
         8. I am convinced of the effectiveness of the written Word! In the time it took to do it ORALLY for only YOU, we could have put it on paper for EVERYONE! If I had stayed in here & locked the door, EVERYONE would have been better off today!--You'd pay less attention to the PERSON & more to the MESSAGE. But you don't believe "I Gotta Split".
         9. I believe the personal presence of the man distracts from the message. That's why God sent ME away & why JESUS had to go away. But you guys don't believe it.--You do it in REVERSE: "Yes, Dad has proven that to go away & write it down is most effective. But when it comes to our own organization & our own business & carrying out some of these plans, it is far better to get together FACE-TO-FACE & fill the room with HOT AIR instead of carrying it out on PAPER."
         10. How many times have I told you to put your message on paper & leave it with me?--In the quiet of my room I can study it & ask God, "Is it right or is it wrong?"--And I can get my answers from the LORD! When I have to sit here for hours in conferences & we're anxious to get about our business & personalities distract, how much GOOD does it do?
         11. All you guys are going to have to face those words some day & give an account, & I think God's going to weigh up 99% of it as HOT AIR & IDLE WORDS & pure personal ENJOYMENT!--You should have been in your private offices seeking GOD with your closet door shut, asking GOD for answers for people that really need it & making MEMOS to deliver to the people next door, to save your time & theirs!
         12. I believe you are going to get more done if you will spend more time in that room alone with God, away from the maddening MOB & with your PAPER work, & that it will do the Revolution more good than your sitting there on top of that volcano & running around getting involved in everything. They can't help it: You're just THERE & they'll want you to take care of things. But if you're NOT there, THEY'LL take care of it! That's been my recommendation to the top leaders of the Revolution for years.
         13. Top executives are the hardest people in the World to get to see, & they should be! Only the most outstanding major emergencies that nobody else can possibly solve should ever get past all those secretaries & offices & guards. The big business executive spends most of his time ALONE conferring only with TOP leaders he HAS to talk to, & nobody ELSE!
         14. A top leader can't be bothered with every little trifle! A leader needs to see his people once in a while, perhaps. But most kings I ever heard of accomplished more NOT while they were appearing before the people on some balcony, but when they put on a cloak with a hood on their head or dressed like a beggar & went down AMONGST the people & SPIED out the land to SEE what they were DOING.--THAT accomplished MORE! NOT when they were sitting on the THRONE with everybody banging on the door!
         15. Your people need to learn how to get along without you. If you MUST have personal confrontations & check on your people PERSONALLY, you'll find out a hell of a lot more by dropping in UNEXPECTEDLY in THEIR offices or rooms than calling them into YOUR office.
         16. I'd rather have you in there keeping an eye on reports & reading it in black-&-white BEFORE they become big problems that wouldn't have happened if you had kept track of the MAIL & spent more time alone with the LORD & writing more LETTERS to nip things in the bud before it got so bad! Talk to your DICTAPHONE. When I work, I work. When I play, I play like mad & I don't try to mix the two! Get in there with the MAIL & your DICTAPHONE or tape recorder & take care of BUSINESS & hear from the LORD!
         17. Write down the questions you have: That's the way I do business with MY secretaries. I think they'll do better WITHOUT you than WITH you, because THEN they'll have to seek the LORD! I've been preaching this since the first tape from Europe, "FOLLOW GOD!" I dare say you'll get more of your work done in that room alone with God, like I do, than in the middle of all your people with a mountain of petty personal problems on your hands! God will give you the spiritual solutions while alone that will just make the mountains melt away!
         18. But no, you're too busy talking to your people all week rather than getting away & hearing from the Lord! You're too busy hearing from your PEOPLE instead of the LORD & they tell you 10,000 things to do! But you CAN'T do it, not if you're going to survive! The strain is too much. "Virtue hath gone out of you." They drain you dry! Why, Grandmother couldn't even take it! She would deal with them during the service & afterwards at the altar, but then she went home & said, "I don't want to HEAR from anybody, I don't want to SEE anybody, I don't want to TALK to anybody! The rest of my time belongs to GOD & I'll get the message from GOD & come down & PREACH it to them & solve ALL the problems!"--And if she'd WRITTEN it down, we'd have it yet!
         19. But you won't get there trying to solve all of their problems in your own fleshly strength & wisdom! You sacrifice the whole Revolution for the good of the few! You're not learning how to be a good executive that way, & certainly not learning how to be the prophet of God! You have to spend time with the LORD if you're going to give what GOD gives & get what GOD wants you to give.
         20. Deliver us, Lord, from this spirit of "business"--too busy for You & too busy for Your Prophet! Help, Lord in Jesus' Name!--When you first wake up, before you call anybody or talk to anybody, talk to God, for God's sake! Get your orders from HIM for the day, which is what I did today, which is why I can give YOU what the Lord gave ME FOR YOU.
         21. Paper power!--Never underestimate the power of paper! The great men of the World have come & gone & the great conquerors of the World have come & gone & the only thing that still lives on is PAPER POWER!--Words & ideas permanently recorded on PAPER for POSTERITY! You may reach part of your OWN generation in PERSON, but you'll reach the WORLD & ALL generations on PAPER!

LET'M STUDY!
        
         22. We now need more study time & less class time! We now have nearly everything you need to know in PRINT & you only need time to study it! Why have all these classes with boring teachers droning on for hours, when you can read & study it for yourself at your own speed on your own time? I've said enough already--why say more?--Just let'm READ it! Give'm time to STUDY it--Then just TEST'M on it!
         23. We need to turn these boring time-wasting classes into a MO Letter reading course, instead of an hour-afterhour harangue by some guy with the preacher's itch! You'd get more done & you'd all LEARN MORE if you'd just LEARN MO!--And what the Lord has already said! My definition of a BORE is a Shepherd who wants to talk when I want to talk!-And GOD'S already said plenty in His Letters!--Amen?
         24. So for God's sake, shut up & let'm study!--Now that they have the LETTERS, you don't need any more CLASSES!--At least, not MANY! A short devotional in the morning to start the day off right--maybe a silent reading of a Letter or Bible passage--then off to the streets with the Message!--Or off to your work printing it or making it possible for OTHERS to go into the field by cooking, typing, provisioning or taking care of necessary business, kids etc.
         25. Then back from the field at night with a rousing, inspiring testimony meeting, sharing the glorious victories & witnessing experiences of the day!--Followed by another quiet Letter study time just before bed!--How's that?--You'd get a lot more done, studied & learned that way, than in all these long boring classes, meetings & conferences! Amen?--Hallelujah! Let's start reading MO Letters & spend mo' time in the field reaching mo' people! Amen?
         26. The written word has proved time & time again to be unquestionably the more effective method! There are not many more than a hundred of you who have ever seen or heard me personally, & yet the rest of you obey just as well & sometimes a lot better than those who were there in person! And why?--Because you READ & study the Letters & it's all there for the record!

MORE SHEPHERDING, LESS CONFERENCES!
        
         27. Of course, I hope you understand the difference between calling everybody in to confer & our regular supervisory trips that are supposed to be made by our overseers to PREVENT serious problems from occurring. These are two entirely different things. It's foolish to call in only the leaders of Homes that are having problems--to call in nobody but the LEADER. You need to find out the score from the PEOPLE & see the SITUATION for yourself in person to get ALL SIDES of the story to size up the WHOLE problem & make your decision on a fair basis. "He that answereth a matter before he heareth it (ALL sides, EVERYBODY'S version), it is a shame to him!" You need to get out there & talk to his HELPERS & his PEOPLE & see the Home & talk to their FRIENDS & their KINGS & QUEENS!
         28. I am all for supervision! I am all for bishops, overshepherds, overseeing--not "overlooking", but overSEEING: Going around & SEEING the state of the flocks & not just calling in the Shepherd only & taking his word alone for it! It is sacrificial & hard to live on the road & supervise, but God knows it is needed!--But so few are willing to make this sacrifice. An Area Supervisor must keep the whole Area at heart & not get embroiled in one local situation so long that he neglects the rest of his Homes. He needs to continually check out his whole Area to make sure all is well & no one is being neglected. A good Shepherd layeth down his life for his sheep!
         29. I wish we could persuade some of you to spend more time on the road supervising & visiting in person constantly!--Then we could nip some of these situations in the bud before they become emergencies & require catastrophic assistance!--And then you wouldn't need so many conferences of leaders only! Shepherds need to attend to their FLOCKS, not just fellowship with other SHEPHERDS! LET'S HAVE MORE SHEPHERDING & LESS CONFERENCES!

BUSES!
        
         30. The day I heard that bus had burned to the ground I said, "Thank God!"--That may shock you, but this bus business is another case of the same.--Some of you don't believe the LETTERS can do the job & you don't want to get OUT & SELL them! You want to have some PLACE where you can lie around with some other hippies, a gathering place, & it's another CHURCH on WHEELS, where you can have another FACETO-FACE confrontation!
         31. I'll tell you, that bus business has been a bad influence, because if YOU have one, every other Home thinks THEY need one to do the job too! I think that, unless you really need it for a TRIP or TRANSPORTATION, a bus is a pride trip just like the church buildings! "Behold our buildings! Behold our BUS! Look at what WE have! This is OURS! Come to our CHURCH!"--It's the same kind of spirit.--"Where, lo & behold, we can MEET together! How pleasant it is for brethren to meet together in this BUILDING!"V
         32. The bus is a pride trip! They want to be independent & not have to minister to somebody personally every day & night face-to-face to get their help. They don't want to stay in their home & be responsible for helping them, eat their food etc. They want all the bills & expenses & danger in order to have all the privacy & independence & something to brag about!
         33. The next argument is: "We've got to have that bus for transportation." I believe if they'd start WALKING or HITCHHIKING, GOD would either provide TRANSPORTATION or PEOPLE along the way to TALK to! We need to reach a few more LOCAL people. If GOD doesn't provide transportation without US having all the expenses, then maybe the Lord doesn't WANT them to go to town. But if HE gives them a ride, THEN they can spend the whole time WITNESSING on the way. I will feel a helluva lot safer if we don't have these huge juggernauts rolling down the highways with me, thee, thou & no other!
         34. When a bus or a Home becomes a SUBSTITUTE for GOD'S plan, then it becomes more of a BOTTLENECK & HINDRANCE than a help! How in the world are we going to PREACH to people that the World doesn't NEED all these vehicles & some day we won't even HAVE them, if WE OURSELVES have a whole fleet of buses & have to pay for our own gas & oil & so on!
         35. Except for our provisioners who need trucks to pick up loads of goods, you can't tell me that we wouldn't be money ahead in the long run if we'd ditch every car we have & every one of you would get on the CITY buses & ride them! But I SAY this & it still doesn't do any good: It goes in one ear & out the other!
         36. Just think of all the good & witnessing you can do while riding the city bus! But you guys don't want to take the trouble to learn where the bus routes are & how cheap you can go & when & where. You'd rather drive yourself, with all its agony, dodging other vehicles & risking & running for your life, than you would to, "Ride the BUS & leave the driving to US!"--As the motto says, while you chat your business with your partner or you witness to others. If you have to walk two blocks to the bus, so what? My God, you need the EXERCISE & the SUNSHINE & the fresh air & the relief & relaxation from driving, driving, driving--go, go!
         37. Vehicles were a creation of the DEVIL, not God! I am CONVINCED of it & I don't believe there is going to be an automobile around in the Millennium, not one God-damned stinking one of them!--So why the hell can't we get used to going without them now? We shouldn't have a bus or automobile except where we're forced to have one by need or unavoidable circumstances. If we dumped every damned car in the Revolution & started walking, hitchhiking or riding the city bus, I believe we'd be miles ahead!

LET THE SYSTEM DO THE PRINTING!
        
         38. If our print shop & print staff are such a big expense, then let's dump THAT OUTFIT TOO & LET THE SYSTEM DO THE JOB, while WE do what they CAN'T do: Get out & SELL full time & let the System take care of the hard work of the mechanical labours! THEY'RE not going to get out & SELL them, but they ARE in the printing business & they can do a helluva lot better at it than we can do it!
         39. There's one job the System's not going to do for us & which we alone can do: Put the Words into the hands of the World! But the one job which we alone can do is GET them from GOD & WRITE them & pass them on to YOU to do the REST. I believe with all my heart & soul that if we'd spend as much time out SELLING as we do PRINTING, running Homes, dealing with personnel PROBLEMS & DRIVING & repairing vehicles, then we could afford to pay somebody ELSE to PRINT it for us! I'm getting the Word from the Lord & on paper & giving it to you--that's the job only WE can do. YOU guys are now hitting the streets with it in the passion & power of the Holy Spirit with your happy smiling faces! You're SELLING & the SYSTEM can't do THAT for us!
         40. But there is one step in between which the System can do: Once we've got it on paper, they've got more printing know-how & equipment & can do it faster--they can PRINT it for us. I believe you're going to find out that except for RUSH jobs or PRIVATE jobs where we can do our OWN printing on our OWN little presses, by letting the World print the BIG jobs for us we'll be MUCH further along in the LONG run.
         41. They can do the mechanical & manual labour, the job of actually printing it, & I really believe with all my heart they can do it BETTER & in the long run CHEAPER. Because if we would spend the time SELLING that otherwise we would have to spend PRINTING it, I believe we'd be money ahead even on the EXPENSES as well as the TIME, NUMBERS & CIRCULATION.
         42. I'm convinced that Jesus had the right idea: Jesus showed you could do it with next to nothing but people & that anybody could do it! You didn't HAVE to have buildings or buses or cars or houses or ANYTHING except your own two FEET & your MOUTH! But we've got ONE advantage Jesus DIDN'T have: LITERATURE! So for God's sake, let's USE the advantages, but NOT the liabilities! I think VEHICLES are a HINDRANCE & a LIABILITY & an unnecessary EXPENSE!
         43. But there is one thing we have that He didn't & that is the printed word! He said: "Greater things than these shall ye do," & He must have had PRINTING in mind as one of them! Because we can MULTIPLY the Word by MILLIONS on PAPER & get out the Words by the MILLIONS for the BILLIONS in a LASTING form, a VISUAL form & a form which we can scatter & spread WIDER & FURTHER on PAPER than any of US could EVER go!
         44. So for God's sake, let's use this advantage & forget these God-damned buses, vehicles & any over-grown useless colonies & conferences & bands that aren't NEEDED! Let the CHURCHES have'm!--You've got something they haven't got: MO & MO Letters!--Let's get'm out to the waiting World! We need a FEW BASES, I admit, from which you can go out & hit the road & hitchhike & live with other people & reach that country on the ROAD & then come back & report & reload with literature!
         45. So we'd better re-think our whole operation, methods & outreach, whether it be conferences, colonies, buses, bands or print shops!--Let's KEEP what we really NEED & dump the rest! If the Devil can't persuade you not to SERVE God, then he tries to get you so WEIGHED DOWN with THINGS, PROBLEMS & time, energy & money WASTERS that you can't even MOVE!
         46. Let's lay aside every weight & the sins that do so easily beset us & let's run!--Not on gas & oil & rent & hot air & machinery, but on the power of His SPIRIT!--Not by your OWN might & power, but by HIS SPIRIT!--Amen?
         47. "The labourer is worthy of his hire! They that preach the Gospel shall live of the Gospel!"--Amen?--Let's quit getting BOGGED DOWN with BUSES, CONFERENCES, COLONIES, PRINTING or anything ELSE that we don't really NEED to do the JOB! Amen?--God BLESS you & HELP you to do the thing we NEED to do MOST of all: Give the WORDS that WORK to a WAITING WORLD!--Amen? God bless all you cooks, secretaries, artists, editors, workers, leaders, messengers, salesmen etc. who ARE!--We DO need YOU!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family