A TEENAGE CHALLENGE!--"To Whom Will Ye Go?" (Jn.6:68)    DFO 1398         12/82

         1. TEENAGERS CAN BE VERY DIFFICULT. Everybody else in the World can be wrong, but they're always right! It is a very idealistic age & they usually have pretty high standards. Teenagers are the most difficult age to reach, or they're the most difficult age to keep, because they have gotten to be their own bosses & they're usually somewhat rebellious, independent & stubborn.
         2. IF WE HANG ON TO THIS PRESENT GENERATION OF TEENAGERS, WE'LL BE DOING WELL! (Maria: We've had quite a few that have gotten married & have stayed in the Family.) That's one reason the earlier they get married, the better, because right away that teaches you a sense of responsibility & you then begin to realise what a parent is & have a little more patience with your own parents.
         3. THAT IS THE ABSOLUTE ACID TEST WHEN WE START KEEPING OUR OWN TEENAGERS & THE FAMILY APPEALS MORE TO THEM THAN THE WORLD! I remember it used to be such a scandal in Bible school or Bible college, the first chance these nice little preacher's kids & missionary kids & Christian kids had a chance to be away from Mommy & Daddy & really go wild--& most of them did! The vast majority were like animals let out of a cage & they just exploded because they never had a chance to sample the World before, & they just went crazy!
         4. BUT OUR YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE NOT BEEN SHELTERED IN THAT WAY. They've been out witnessing, litnessing, they've been out in the World--not of the World but in the World--& had all kinds of contact with it.--They've seen the other side! By the time ours get to be teenagers they will have probably had a chance to compare their parents' religion & the Family & our way of doing things with the outside World, the outside church, outside Christians, schools, churches & the works!
         5. Most Christian young people get out into the World & suddenly explode sexually & go hog wild because they were so held down.
         6. AH! THIS REMINDS ME OF THOSE SEVEN BASIC NEEDS OF MAN that some psychologist listed in the newspaper once. One of them is change. Ha! If there's anything you get more of in the Family than anywhere else, it's change!
         7. ANOTHER ONE WAS SATISFACTION--SATISFACTION OF YOUR PHYSICAL NEEDS AS WELL AS SPIRITUAL NEEDS. Does the Lord supply all our need according to His riches in glory? (Phil.4:19) We don't lack for anything we really need, do we?--Food?--Clothing? "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God & His righteousness, & all these other things will be added unto you." (Mt.6:33)--Shelter? Most of the Family, I'd say, are living as well, if not better, than most of the rest of the World!
         8. SEX? I THINK WE HAVE MORE SATISFACTION & MORE SATISFYING SEX IN THE FAMILY THAN ANYWHERE! Where can you get really satisfying sex without love? We have sexual freedom along with love! Outside [our teenagers will] find nothing but selfish people who just use'm for a plaything & for their selfish satisfaction, here today, gone tomorrow.
         9. AND OF COURSE WHEN IT COMES TO THE BASIC NEEDS OF THE SPIRIT, WHERE COULD YOU BE BETTER SATISFIED SPIRITUALLY THAN IN THE LORD? And where could you have greater kicks, thrills, highs, rushes, and explosions than in the Spirit? We can get'm everyday, free! No shots, no high-priced habits, all you need to do is just get in the Spirit & explode! We've got the best of everything! Why should they go anywhere else? What is there out there? It's a barren desert compared to the Family!
         10. ANOTHER IS RECOGNITION & APPRECIATION! Our children get more recognition than any young people I ever saw! They're told how important they are! Instead of like in so many System homes where they're beaten down & told: "Shut up, you little rascal! You don't know anything, I know everything!"--Our children are encouraged: "It's wonderful, try again, that's great, you're doing fine!" We encourage & praise & recognise them, & we mean it!
         11. WHAT IS RECOGNITION?--TO BE APPRECIATED, TO KNOW YOU'RE IMPORTANT. Aren't our children appreciated? (Family: Yes!) Do they know it? Do Mama & Daddy let'm know that they're appreciated & really really thank'm & treat'm & reward'm & love'm & show appreciation for all their hard work & what they do, even in their studies or even the little tiny tots in their obedience? Praise is one of the most important parts of child training! It's far more important than scolding! Do you think our teenagers are appreciated? Look, we've got teenagers who are TV stars, radio stars, singing stars! They've got everything--recognition, appreciation, encouragement!
         12. ANOTHER ONE WAS FULFILMENT. My goodness, what more could they accomplish than they can accomplish in the Family, witnessing & soul winning? That's the most satisfying fulfilling accomplishment in the World! Boy, if that's not fulfilment, I don't know what is!
         13. (JAMES: ANOTHER THING ABOUT FULFILMENT IS THERE'RE SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS THEY CAN LEARN ACCORDING TO THEIR TALENT.) Anything! We can use any kind of talent, from the lowly gardener & handyman--in fact, I don't even like to call them lowly! They're all important! Every single job, even taking care of the pool or mowing the lawn or anything else has to be done, & what would we do if they weren't?
         14. ANOTHER BASIC NEED FOR MOST PEOPLE IS A DESIRE TO BE OF SERVICE or to do good, to want to be helpful to others, even a sacrificial spirit. It's a basic need God has put in man to want to be helpful & to serve & to help, & we say love because that includes it all! The greatest need of man is love! And the desire to be helpful is really a loving inspiration, a natural inborn love that God put in your heart to want to be helpful.
         15. WHAT ABOUT EDUCATION? If they want an education, we've got it! Where can they ever go to get a better education that will answer all their questions, solve all their problems, answer everything, than right here in God's Word & in the Family? Why should they ever even look anyplace else? They may look outside to see what's going on out there, but if anything, the World is going to suffer by comparison. I know it did in my case! I knew I had the best life! I knew my home & my parents & their religion was the best thing in the World & I had the best thing going!
         16. ANOTHER THING, THEY HAVE TO HAVE SOMETHING THAT IS A REAL CHALLENGE IN LIFE, be it difficulty or even trouble or trial or tribulation or school or job or profession, something that is difficult enough to be a challenge. Do you have enough challenges in the Family?--Enough trials, tribulations, problems, fights, battles, troubles, persecution, hardships? The Lord says, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all!" (Ps.34:19)--But I wouldn't say that the Worldling has any less. Many are the afflictions of the unrighteous, but he's got no God to deliver him!
         17. (PAUL: ANOTHER ADVANTAGE OUR TEENAGERS HAVE IS THAT THEIR PARENTS ARE MUCH CLOSER TO THE SAME AGE.) Yes! They're young! (Paul: Also, you're trying to buck the System at that age & drop out, but there's nowhere else that you can buck the System better than with us! There's no place else to go!) Exactly! Peter really summed it up! After looking around he said: "Well, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou alone hast the Words of Eternal Life!" (Jn.6:68)
         18. IT'S NOT THAT OUR TEENAGERS AREN'T GOING TO LOOK AROUND! I want them to look around! I hope they look out there at that cesspool & that pit & see what they're missin', what a stinkin' Hell of a God-damned mess it is so they'll never even want to think about it again! That's one thing about backsliding, the benefit of backsliding. (See No.312.) Boy, I'll tell you, if you're not already convinced, just backslide & you'll find out!
         19. (PEARL: ANOTHER THING OUR KIDS HAVE THAT THE KIDS IN THE SYSTEM DON'T HAVE IS COMPANIONSHIP.) Amen, fellowship & the need to belong, the need to be accepted! All these things, in a way, can be summed up in one thing, & that is your need for love & your being fulfilled with love. Love is the great need, love is the great answer, & we're really looking at love, in a sense, from all different sides & its various facets & fulfilments & all the rest.
         20. WHERE ELSE CAN THEY GO BUT TO THE LORD to ever find anywhere where they fit & can feel they belong & are needed & accepted like they are in the Family? God put it in our hearts to be a team, to belong to each other, to be a Family, to be related, to have fellowship, communication, communion, right? It's very necessary, you really need it. Where are our teenagers going to find that outside? They'll never get along with the World if they stick to their ways & stick to their convictions & their salvation & their faith! The World is so much the opposite of everything we are & stand for & believe & practice!
         21. (JOHN: I WAS THINKING THAT ONE OTHER THING IS A GOAL & A VISION.) Yes, you have to have something to drive at, something to always be striving for! Maybe that's part of challenge, for like the Bible says, "Without a vision the people perish!" (Pr.29:18) You have to have some vision of what you're aiming at. And we have such a goal, higher than anything this World could ever attain!
         22. (JAMES: ANOTHER THING IS HAVING PARENTS THAT REALLY UNDERSTAND YOU, so that even if a teenager did go astray, the parents wouldn't lose hope & throw'm out as happened with so many of us.) The parents in the Family have love, understanding, communication. They can understand you much better, & know what makes you that way.
         23. I THINK ALMOST THE GREATEST DESIRE OF EVERY HUMAN HEART IS FOR LOVE & TO BE LOVED, AND WHERE CAN THEY FIND LOVE MORE THAN IN THE FAMILY? Where can they find, first of all, more loving parents? I hope they are, they should be! And where can they find brothers & sisters who are more loving & understanding?
         24. LET'S NAME OFF THE POINTS REAL FAST IN SUMMARY: Love! "And the greatest of these is Love!" (1Co.13:13) Love & understanding.--Change, satisfaction, recognition, appreciation, challenge, fulfilment, desire to serve & be helpful to others, the need to be accepted or feeling of belonging. (Maria: The need to be needed is somewhat similar to that, too.) Yes, everyone wants to be needed, accepted, have a feeling of belonging, fellowship, companionship.--A goal!
         25. THE LORD WANTS TO TALK TO OUR TEENAGERS & TO TELL THEM THESE THINGS, to remind them that they're not going to find it out there. That's not where it's at, it's all right here! We've got it all! There's nothing they have out there that's better or more than what we've got.--Nothing! The World can't even begin to have what we've got to offer, what the Lord has to offer, what the Spirit has to offer, what the Bible has to offer, what the Letters have to offer! We've got everything! Looking out there, ugh! It makes you want to puke by comparison!
         26. WE'VE GOT THE WITNESSES, WE'VE GOT THE TESTIMONY!--Here you are, Teenagers! Honestly now, what would you advise these teenagers?--To go out & try it? (Family: No!) Wouldn't you advise'm to stay in the Family, find their goals & everything in the Family?--Their satisfaction, their recognition, their acceptance, their changes, their thrills, their kicks, sex--the whole works in the Family! Amen?--In the Lord!--In His Word! It's got all the answers, TTL!
         27. WHEN YOU WERE A TEENAGER, IF YOU'D FOUND SOMETHING LIKE THE FAMILY, WOULD YOU HAVE JOINED IT? (Family: Oh, yes!) In fact, that's what you did!--Only three folks here, besides me, were not teenagers when they joined the Family! You were a teenager & you joined the Family! My God, why?--'Cause you were out there all your lives & you knew what it was like. So what would you advise them to do? (James: Join the Family!) In fact, if you're born in it, never leave! There's nothing better than the Family! We may not be PERFECT, but I've never found anything BETTER!--Ha! Praise God!--Amen?--If so, WHAT?


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