DFO 1654 10/83

1. I'M ALWAYS OPEN TO VARIABLES & OPTIONS & I HAVE TO WAIT TO SEE HOW PEOPLE REACT & HOW THINGS WORK OUT & HOW THE LORD LEADS. That's why the Lord says don't worry about the future. This person is here on probation to see how they react & what happens. It's an indoctrination course. We don't know yet how they'll react or fit in or if it will work out or whether they'll like it or want to or not. We don't know. People's first reactions are sometimes euphoric & then boom!—They find out it wears off & they either get bored or tired or don't like it & would rather go back where they came from. A lot of people do that in the Family & that's one reason we have so many backsliders.

2. THEY JOIN WITH EUPHORIC DREAMLIKE IDEAS OF THE FAMILY & THEN THEY FIND OUT IT COMES DOWN TO JUST PLAIN ORDINARY BRASS TACKS & HARD WORK & the Family is just as human as anybody else & not all angels. They're not all perfect & the living conditions aren't necessarily exactly like the Heavenly City, & the aura wears off when it gets down to the real hard work of cleaning toilets & washing dishes & litnessing & whatnot.

3. THE BEAUTIFUL IMAGINARY DREAMLIKE IDEA THEY HAD OF FAMILY LIFE WEARS OFF & THEY DIDN'T REALLY JOIN THE FAMILY BECAUSE THEY LOVED THE LORD & THE FAMILY MOST OF ALL, they just joined because they liked the Family & they thought they'd like the life. So if they don't really love the Lord & if it's not really forsake-all because they want to serve the Lord, if they just had some idea that it might be a nice way to live & it might be fun‚ then they don't stick & they go back. I think a lot of people join the Family for that reason‚ or out of love for the boy or girl that won'm or blah blah.

4. SO FIRST IMPRESSIONS MEAN A LOT, & THAT'S GOOD IF THEY'RE GOOD, BUT FIRST IMPRESSIONS CAN BE EUPHORIC & GRADUALLY WEAR OFF WITH STERN REALITIES! It's kind of like the bustle: Sort of an imaginary idea of the Family that comes down finally to a stern reality!—And some people can't take it. They think it's going to be like Heaven & they're going to float around on a cloud playing a guitar, but then they find it's going to be just as hard work, if not harder, than school or job or living at home or whatever else they were trying to escape from, even mates & family!

5. WE'VE BEEN LOADED IN THE PAST WITH DESERTERS FROM VARIOUS SYSTEM ARMIES—both the military & college & mother & father or even mates & children. They fled to us for refuge, & they finally found out that it was a harder, more Spartan life, more sacrificial, more forsake-all & required more of them than the System, so they backed out & went back to the System because they weren't real soldiers & they couldn't take it.

6. SO WE NEVER KNOW WHAT A PERSON IS GOING TO DO UNTIL THEY'VE BEEN TIME-TESTED & TRULY TRIED IN fire of testing, because we work hard & we require absolute loyalty, complete obedience & have very strict rigorous rules on both living, security & all the rest. Especially these people who have been spoiled trainees of the Chain won't always necessarily take to it. It's only a rare few that we've managed to reclaim who really love the Lord & the Family & me & the Word more than just the life.

7. THAT WAS THE APPEAL THE CHAIN REALLY MADE MOSTLY: "COME & ENJOY THE LIFE, THE LIFE STYLE!" They didn't really put the Lord first, let's face it. They didn't really put soul-winning & witnessing first, & though they made them litness‚ it wasn't for the right motive. The idea was: "Get out in the field & make some money so we can have plenty of support"—not because they really wanted to win souls & disciples.

8. SO THE WHOLE MOTIVATION OF THE OLD CHAIN WAS TOTALLY DIFFERENT, & THE WHOLE PROMISE OF REWARD WAS TOTALLY DIFFERENT. It was not the Lord & love of souls which were their primary motivation‚ it was: "Isn't this a fine life? Isn't this great how we live together, hippie commune, everybody's happy, we don't have to work for the System any more & we can loaf around more!—Except you do have to do a little litnessing, but that's pretty easy work, blah blah!"

9. SO THIS LIFE THAT WE NOW LIVE—WHICH WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED PERSONALLY—IS TOUGH & RIGOROUS & 24–HOURS-A-DAY, 7-DAYS-A-WEEK! It requires absolute fealty, total loyalty‚ total obedience, 110% of everything & no reservations, no holding back of anything, nothing, & that kind of supremely sacrificial‚ Spartan‚ rigorous, soldier-like life just does not appeal to those pleasure-loving, luxury-loving, easy-going Chain types!—Unless they've got something more than the Chain usually had.

10. SO IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN IF PEOPLE LIKE THAT CAN STAND THIS KIND OF A LIFE, IF THEY WORK OUT OR NOT, IF THEY WILL FIT IN OR NOT & if after being here for months they will still want to be here & would rather be here than any place else in the World!—And you don't know that in a few days. Their first reaction may be very good & euphoric & glowing with an aura of almost unreality. They're living in a dreamworld & everything is wonderful & beautiful, until finally they come down with a hard jolt to the tough realities of the kind of life it really is & what's really required of them, more than ever before!

11. OUR PEOPLE WORK DAY & NIGHT, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, HARD WORK! We're in the army, & when does the soldier take a day off in the battlefront trenches? Does he take the weekends off? We don't! We're fighting a war & it requires constant warfare‚ constant battle every day of the week, day & night. We are non-stop, & some people can't stand that kind of rigorous schedule & rigorous role. Some people just aren't soldiers & can't endure that kind of hardness. At first they think, "Oh, isn't this a lovely, delightful paradise-on–Earth, luxury, swimming pool, lovely home & nice Tropical climate!"—Then boom!—They get a jolt of something that they don't like & is hard to take & we don't know yet if they're going to be able to stand it or not.

12. PEOPLE IN THIS OUTFIT HAVE GOT TO BE SOLDIERS! They've got to be willing to do anything, any time, anywhere, like one poor boy.—To move out of one of the top luxury bedrooms down to a hole in the basement if necessary, to be shuffled around in any way, any time, for any reason if it's necessary & take it gracefully & sweetly & just like it's in the line of duty as he did & think nothing of it really, just thankful to be so busy for the Lord.

13. IT'S AGAIN A MATTER OF HOW MUCH THEY LOVE THE LORD OR HOW MUCH THEY LOVE THEMSELVES. If they're here because they think it's going to be good for themselves & enjoyable for themselves & they're thinking of themselves & how nice it is & they've gotten rid of a lot of other worries & it doesn't look like they'll have too many here, if it's themselves they're thinking about & how good it feels & how happy they are, any kind of a pin can prick that balloon!

14. BUT IF THEY'RE HERE TO LIVE & WORK & DIE FOR JESUS, THEN THEY'LL PUT UP WITH ANYTHING, suffer anything, work any hours, any time‚ do anything that's required of them & be utterly faithful & loyal & diligent no matter what. And until they have lived here for literally months‚ we don't know how much they can take. We don't know what their threshold of suffering is, their pain threshold, just how much they can take. It's only time-testing that finds that out.

15. SO DON'T BE TOO SURE ABOUT THINGS & PEOPLE! We've been disappointed before, it's not unusual. You got all hepped-up about somebody, oh they were wonderful & they came with great recommendations & we received them with great expectations, but they fluked-out in almost nothing flat because they just had the wrong idea, the wrong conception of what we're all about & what we really do & how we do it‚ how hard we work & what a tough life it will be. They have the wrong conception. They finally found out what it's really like & how hard it really is, that everybody here works day & night & does anything they're told‚ any time they're told, anything that has to be done no matter what their plans were or anything else. It's a tough life, it's a soldier's life‚ everything is expected of them‚ & sometimes it can be almost unbearable.

16. SO UNLESS THEY CAN TAKE THAT KIND OF LIFE THEY'RE NOT GOING TO LAST, ESPECIALLY IF THEY'VE BEEN INDEPENDENT SOMEWHERE IN THE FIELD, THEIR OWN BOSS DOING THEIR OWN THING THEIR OWN WAY.—Like some that we recently invited to work with us & just the idea of living with us apparently turned their stomachs & they ran the other way! When it came right down to it & they faced the cold hard reality & we told them exactly what it was going to cost, what they were going to have to sacrifice—fellowship with any other Units, desertion of their family, total security, totally selah life, no public ministry, no contact with any other members of the Family, absolute isolation, totally selah—they couldn't stand it! Just thinking about it they ran!

17. SO IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN WHETHER THESE PEOPLE WE INVITE TO WORK WITH US OR EVEN HAVE ACTUALLY COME & LIVE-IN AWHILE ARE ABLE TO TAKE IT OR NOT!—Because I'm a very domineering personality, I'm an absolute dictator & sometimes I'm a tyrant, I have sometimes no mercy. When I want to get a job done & I want to send a soldier into the field to do battle‚ I expect him to give his life to do it, if necessary‚ with no questions asked, much less any protest, just "Yes, Sir!"—Period! Not many people can take that kind of army life, especially people who've been leaders in their own right, more or less doing their own thing in their own field & their own bosses & had their own independence & had people working for them. So it really remains to be seen if they can take it & if they'll last, much less like it.

18. SO DON'T GO JUMPIN' THE GUN & MAKING PREMATURE DECISIONS ABOUT THINGS! I'm just saying that here's a possibility, here's a choice, here's an alternative which might happen.—And you went in & dropped the bomb on some poor unsuspecting soul saying this is what's going to happen! I don't know what's going to happen, I'm just waiting to see.

19. THE WHOLE IDEA IS THAT YOU FOLKS NEED TO HAVE A LITTLE WISDOM & BE MORE PATIENT & WAIT & SEE, because you can't always make premature judgements & go off half-cocked without waiting patiently to see how people work out or fit in.—And if they don't fit in, they may fluke out! So we need to wait & see. We need to wait & see if we even like them, much less if they like us. This business of making pop judgements prematurely in advance before we know, & dropping bombs on somebody, that we're going to do so–&–so when we don't know what we're going to do, that's very foolish!

20. WE DON'T KNOW WHETHER THIS PERSON'S GOING TO STAY HERE OR NOT! We don't know whether this one is going to work in or out or what yet, it remains to be seen. It takes time, time-testing to find out. We couldn't trust some people till they'd lived with us for years, & sometimes even then we couldn't trust'm & finally had to get rid of them!

21. SO DON'T GO JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS LIKE THAT PREMATURELY BEFORE WE REALLY KNOW! When I give you a little hint, strictly confidentially, that there's this possible alternative, there's this that may happen, we'll wait & see, don't you go running in & dropping a bomb on somebody that this is what's going to happen‚ it's already predetermined‚ predestined, fore–ordination!

22. I BELIEVE IN ALL THAT‚ BUT I BELIEVE IT HAS A LOT TO DO WITH FREE WILL. In fact, I believe it is totally dependent on free will & personal choice & we have to wait & see how the person reacts according to their own free will & personal choice. No matter what the Lord would like for them to do or what we would like for them to be, we have to wait & see just how they react & what their personal choice is. We have to wait & see, just like the Lord does.

23. "MANY ARE CALLED BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN!" (Mt.22:14.) In a way, everybody's called, but only a few are chosen, because only a few respond to the call & choose this kind of a life out of free will & choice. Who knows? This person may stay here for a few days & get fed-up‚ or might even stay a few weeks & get fed-up, or a few months & get fed-up. We've got a few people who stayed for years & finally got fed-up! Well, at least the Lord got some service out of them.

24. BUT WE CAN'T JUMP THE GUN & JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS ON THESE THINGS‚ THAT WE KNOW SUCH-&-SUCH IS GOING TO HAPPEN! You hear something from me that I feel is a possibility, something we can consider as a possibility—not a probability but a possibility—& then you go & suddenly, prematurely jump the gun, & boom, inform somebody else that that's going to happen when we haven't even made a decision on it, when that person hasn't even made a decision on it yet‚ neither of us know yet.

25. IT DEPENDS ON THE LORD & THEIR YIELDEDNESS & HOW THEY REACT & WHAT THEY DO & HOW WE LIKE THEM OR THEY LIKE US OR NOT, & how they fit in or not & what the need is, where the need is, a lot of variables. We don't know‚ so we have no business making such snap judgements ahead of time. I had no idea that you were going to take it as a settled matter & think that we ought to start planning accordingly, boom! We need to think about it. I was only warning you in advance that there is that possibility & we need to think a little bit along those lines—what if that did happen, what should we do, what would we do?

26. I CAN SEE WHY THE LORD SEEMS TO BE PUTTING ALMOST ALL TOP LEADERSHIP IN THE OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD, ALL OF OUR BEST LEADERSHIP & OUR MOST IMPORTANT UNITS. I can see why! Look what's happening in the West. They're going to be embroiled in I don't know how many different wars there, & especially anybody close to the U.S. isn't going to be safe. The U.S. is making war on a whole bunch of fronts & about to get involved in the big one, & South America is bankrupt & about to go under financially in absolute economic chaos‚ which will probably result in political chaos!

27. THE U.S. IS BANKRUPT & DOESN'T KNOW IT—AT LEAST IT'S GOING AHEAD LIKE IT DIDN'T KNOW IT—OR JUST SHUTTING THEIR EYES HOPING IT WILL GO AWAY! But it will catch up with them sooner or later & the bottom of the Crash is going to fall out & it's going to affect the whole World! But from what I can see, it will affect this part of the World the least, because this part of the World is far more independent, the Third World, standing on their own two feet & not so totally dependent upon the United States as is South America. South America, the Latin American countries & the Caribbean are almost totally dependent on what happens to the U.S., & when the final calamity comes, they are going to be terribly affected & may go down with it!—At least there's going to be a terrible chaotic confusion for awhile because Big Brother has gone under, but I don't see that for the East‚ at least not now.

28. THE EAST HAS PRETTY MUCH GOTTEN ALONG WITHOUT THE U.S.A. FOR MILLENNIUMS & IS STILL HERE‚ still surviving‚ still have their own products, are still more or less self-sufficient, indigenous, self-governing, self-supporting & God knows they're self-propagating! God knows what's best. Why did He lead us here? Why did He bring us here? We found out it's the best place for us to be. We didn't even know why. We didn't even know why we came, we weren't even planning to come here. God led us here, God stopped us here, God put us here‚ God caused us to remain here & we found out it's the best possible place in this whole World for us to be at this present time.

29. THIS PART OF THE WORLD WAS NOT BUILT ON WESTERN INDUSTRIALISATION OR BY THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION OF THE WESTERN WORLD! In fact, they have yet to be truly industrialised! Most of them are still primarily an agrarian society living out in. Who knows? This person may stay here for a few days & get fed–up, or might even stay a few weeks & get fed-up, or a In fact, they have yet to be truly industrialised! Most of them are still primarily an agrarian society living out in their rice & still living in their little thatched huts & almost totally unaffected by what's going on in the Western industrialised World, or even what happens to the Super Giants.

30. THE WESTERN WORLD IS CRASHING & CRUMBLING FINANCIALLY, ECONOMICALLY & ALREADY TOTALLY BANKRUPT & is just waiting for the faith of the people to fail before the bottom completely drops out!—Which will cause total economic chaos, the Great Confusion, primarily in the Western World, the U.S. & Europe & South America who are so dependent upon them.

31. ONCE WE GET MORE OF THESE MINISTRIES OPERATING ON A LOCALISED LEVEL UNDER LOCAL SUPERVISION & more indigenous, we won't have such tremendous worldwide responsibilities of direct supervision & direct direction. They'll be able to pretty much stand on their own two feet, & that's what we're trying to train'm to do.

32. I'VE BEEN TRYING TO DRILL THAT THROUGH THEIR HEADS FOR THE LAST 10 OR 11 YEARS—CERTAINLY AT LEAST SINCE 1974, TEN YEARS—TO BE INDIGENOUS! (No.315C.) I wrote a whole series of Letters on it from Tenerife, that we need to be nationalised, indigenous, self-supporting, self-governing, self-propagating, & I might say self-supervising & operating on their own & standing on their own two feet & carrying on in their own countries by Nationals, & not us having to have so much supervision & leadership. Let the Letters be the leaders! (See No.207) Let them operate on their own. Let them take care of their own finances & their own supervision & their own leadership & government, as well as their own work, which is propagation.

33. WE HAVE TO TRIM DOWN THIS INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP & THIS CLOSE, STRICT INTERNATIONAL SUPERVISION & CONTROL. We have to concentrate more now & whittle down everything more in preparation for the End of the Crash when there will not be as much money or as much support. We have to start whittling down now, & that's what we're doing, we're sort of winding down. We've wound up for a good many years‚ but now we need to wind down as far as organisation is concerned. The more we can push the leadership down to the local level‚ push the job down to the local level, then the better off the whole World will be. Because when the Crash or the War or whatever is going to come next hits, they'll be able to carry on without us, & all we'll have to worry about is trying to get the Word to them, that's all. But they'll be taking care of themselves otherwise & their own job in their own countries under their own leadership & their own self-support.

34. I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THIS FOR YEARS & SAYING WE'VE GOT TO PREPARE FOR IT, BUT NOW I'M INSISTING THAT WE DO IT, in spite of some opposition from some quarters that have said we can't do it. Well, we're going to have to do it whether we like it or not or whether you think we can or not, we're going to do it‚ period! So I believe that's why the Lord is leading this way & letting this happen‚ preparing us for what's coming‚ so we won't be so completely burdened with such a massive top–heavy organisation & all of its responsibility & its routine of having to phone halfway around the World to make decisions!

35. I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THIS FOR I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG! My Lord, I talked about this when we first went to Europe & the Mideast. Jeth phoned me about some petty little local decision & I said, "For God's sake, Jeth, follow God! I don't know what to tell you to do, you're there! I don't know how much faith you've got—it's according to your situation & your faith. You have to do it. You make the decision!" He wanted me to make it so he wouldn't be to blame, whatever it was, & we've got to insist on that more & more now. (See No.4, "For God's Sake, Follow God!")

36. WE HAVE SET THE EXAMPLE, WE HAVE SET UP THE MACHINERY SO TO SPEAK, WE HAVE BUILT THE REVOLUTIONARY RACER, now it's up to them to get in the driver's seat & run it & run the race & do the job without the engineers who first built

37. SO WHEN I TELL YOU IT LOOKS LIKE THIS IS THE WAY THE LORD'S GOING, & it looks like this is the way the Lord's leading & I have an idea God is going to do this or that‚ you can't go jumping the gun &, boom, start telling me who's going to run the race! I just look at it & I say, "Well, it looks like maybe this one's going to be a winner" or "maybe that one's going to be a loser", but we don't know yet until the race is over, we have to wait & see. We'll just wait & see. Maybe that's a good title for this!

38. WE MAY FEEL LIKE THIS IS THE WAY THE LORD'S GOING‚ & IT CERTAINLY HAS PROVED IN EVERY RESPECT THAT THIS WAS HIS DESIGN WHEN HE FIRST TOLD US NOT TO GO WEST BUT TO GO EAST. He told us that was the Old World now & this is the New World & gave us dew on the fleece & confirmation after confirmation that this is the way we should go.

39. SO IT CERTAINLY HAS PROVEN TO BE THE WILL OF GOD & PROVEN TO BE THE BEST THING FOR US. It's the best place for us now, & I'm virtually convinced it's the best place for us in the future during whatever's going to happen.—That although the East will certainly be affected, it will not be as badly affected & perhaps not as completely stymied as will the West—the U.S., Europe & South America.

40. THEREFORE GOD IS CAUSING US TO SORT OF RETREAT FROM THE OTHER UNSAFE FIELDS OF THE WORLD, FURTHER & FURTHER FROM THE U.S. We're further & further from the North & Western industrialised capitalistic countries & those that are under their total domination, such as Latin America, where they'll be far more affected by whatever happens to the U.S. & Europe than we will here.

41. WE'RE SLOWLY, YOU CAN SAY, RETREATING FROM THIS WORLD, & THIS IS PERHAPS THE LAST STOP BEFORE WE LEAVE! As the fellow said last night on his lecture, "We're never going to get out of this World alive!"—But we're going to get out of it & we're going to be very much alive, but it's going to have to be through death‚ eventually, or of course the Resurrection & the Rapture etc.

42. BUT AT THE MOMENT THIS GENERAL AREA OF THE EAST IS THE BEST PLACE TO BE‚ I'M CONVINCED, & THIS IS OBVIOUSLY THE LAND OF TOMORROW! It's the most viable economically, it's growing, & compared to the rest of the World it's booming! The rest of the World is in a Recession. While the rest of the economies are declining, the economies of the East are still growing! They still have a rate of growth, while about all the West has got is a rate of decline. They may still claim to have some little rate of growth, but their rate of growth is declining while the rate of growth out here is growing.

43. SO I CAN THINK OF ALL KINDS OF REASONS WHY THE LORD BROUGHT US OUT HERE, BESIDES BEING THE SAFEST AREA. In many ways there's no place in the World that's absolutely safe, not until we get out of it, but God must know that this is the best place on Earth to be & the safest place on Earth to be for us right now.

44. SO ALL I'M DOING IS MAKING A CONDITIONAL HINT THAT IT LOOKS LIKE OR MAYBE GOD IS BUILDING US UP HERE & WE'RE RETRENCHING & WITHDRAWING‚ IN A SENSE, FROM SOME OTHER AREAS that are now very unsafe & growing more unsafe all the time. We can't withdraw the whole army & all the buck privates & natives in the local countries from their countries, they have to stay there till the End to take care of the local people & the local Message & continue to evangelise all the World & every creature. But God is concentrating His leadership & the source right now in the East rather than the West.

45. AND IT WAS AN ACT OF GOD‚ WE NEVER INTENDED IT THAT WAY‚ WE NEVER PLANNED THAT WAY, WE WERE HEADED WEST! We had all of our tickets bought & our reservations made & our visas gotten & plans made & even rented houses in that direction—West—from Europe & from Africa. But God just turned us right around & said, "No, that's not the way to go! That's the old World. You're to go East‚ that's the New World!" So contrary to all natural expectation & contrary to all plans & tickets bought & visas gotten & preparations made & reservations made & houses rented, God just turned us right completely around in the opposite direction & sent us the other way at the last minute! So I know it was a miracle of God!

46. WHY DID GOD THINK IT WAS THAT IMPORTANT TO DO THAT IN SUCH A MIRACULOUS WAY TO SHOW ME SO CLEARLY THAT WE WERE TO GO EAST? It's obvious from how it's worked out—worked out for the best. In every possible way it's been best for us to be here rather than back there. God showed us clearly that going back there was literally going backward, that those areas of the West were a pretty well-worn field.

47. THERE'S STILL LOTS OF WORK TO BE DONE, THERE'S STILL LOTS OF WITNESSING TO BE DONE, THERE'S STILL LOTS OF SOULS TO BE WON—especially the young people & the youth & the teenagers, particularly through MCV follow-up etc.—but in a sense, like the U.S.A. & Europe, even South America has had its day, its heyday, & the Chain leadership muffed it & almost killed it! So we've had a very difficult time there recovering & trying to help them to revive, but thank the Lord they have & they've done a good job of it! GBM! MCV has helped a great deal to reach new blood & new bottles & to try to recover some of the losses in spite of the horrible Chain leadership they had before!

48. NOW I FEEL LIKE WE HAVE DONE OUR BEST TO TRY TO HELP THEM OUT OF THE MESS THAT THEY WERE IN & TO TRY TO GIVE THEM THE TOOLS TO DO THE JOB TO REACH THE REST OF THEIR PART OF THE WORLD—through MCV & radio & all that sort of thing—to bring in new blood & new bottles & to follow that up & really water it & fertilise it & care for it & dig about it & dung it & prune it, until they have really gotten some good solid results & genuine disciples out of it. But I think it's our last reaping there, our last harvesting.

49. I THINK THAT WHOLE AREA IS HEADED DOWNHILL ECONOMICALLY & IS GOING TO BOTTOM-OUT IN THE END OF THE CRASH!—WHEREAS THIS AREA WILL NOT BE NEARLY AS MUCH AFFECTED BY IT. Oh‚ they'll be affected all right, particularly to whatever extent they have allowed themselves to be dependent upon Western civilisation & Western economy & industrialised nations & the god-almighty-Dollar, but they will not be as much affected by it.

50. AS I SAY, THE LOWLY PEONS & PEASANTS IN THE RICE PADDIES OF THE EAST WILL HARDLY EVEN KNOW ANYTHING HAPPENED, even when the Nuclear War occurs, & I'm sure God's going to spare them. They'll still be there doing the same thing they've done since time immemorial‚ for centuries, & still need help & guidance, somebody to give them the Word on whatever scale or by whatever means possible. So here we are!

51. I'M NOT EXACTLY PREDICTING, I'M JUST SUGGESTING THAT THIS & THAT IS GOING TO POSSIBLY HAPPEN. Only God knows actually what's going to happen & how it's going to happen. But that's my feeling, that's the way I feel, & usually that's what happens. So I hint to you that I feel like maybe this & thus & so is going to happen, & boom! (Maria: And I have so much faith in your feelings that that's what I think is going to happen!) Maybe you've got more faith in it than I have. But let's not be premature & drop bombs on peoples' heads that it's definitely going to happen until we find out for sure, we wait & see, & that takes time & time-testing for anybody, including us & the work in this area & all the rest. But I don't think it's going to be long in coming.

52. AS SOMEONE SAID LAST NIGHT, EVERYBODY FROM KHRUSHCHEV, both, only God knows. God keeps some of those details from us because He either can't trust us with them‚ or He doesn't want to warn some people who don't deserve it. But He gives us enough of a general warning & general idea & a general hint & the feeling that we had better be prepared for it.

53. AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW, WE'RE TRYING TO WHITTLE DOWN OUR TOP-HEAVY ORGANISATION & whittle down our Units, whittle down inefficient ministries & whittle things down to absolute essentials & total necessities which are completely successful & efficient & effective & economical & can possibly run themselves even without us when the crunch comes. So that's what we're in the process of doing‚ & probably God's just waiting on us before He lets it happen, so we'll be ready for it. But don't go jumping the gun & saying, boom, it's already been decided!—And boom, this is it!—Before it happens & before we have the plans made & before things work out & before we really KNOW, before it arrives.

54. MAYBE THAT'S WHY GOD CAN'T TRUST US WITH KNOWING THE EXACT DETAILS OF SOME OF THE FUTURE & ITS TIMES ETC.‚ we'd go jumping the gun & dropping bombs on peoples' heads like you did the other day with someone, telling him something that I don't even know yet is going to happen! I just suggested the possibility of it. And look at the bad effect, right? It was premature, there was no preparation, no gradual seeing it for himself, not waiting for the Lord to show him.

55. IT'S MUCH BETTER SOMETIMES, HONEY, TO LET GOD SHOW PEOPLE THINGS rather than you telling them flat-out, blunt, bang, & it hits them in the face by surprise & they recoil & it almost knocks'm flat! It's better to let them gradually find it out, let them see how God is leading & which way He's going, & then it's not so hard to take. But to just drop that bomb on'm without any preparation unexpectedly is more than some people can bear!

56. I THINK THAT'S PROBABLY WHY THE LORD DOESN'T GIVE US TOO MUCH EXACT ACCURATE INFORMATION ON EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN & EXACTLY WHEN IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. For one reason, I think a lot of it depends on us. He's waiting on us. He can't tell us what's going to happen, depending on our reactions & what we do, believe it or not, & a lot of it depends on us—I've said that before—on what we do & how fast we get the job done & the choices & decisions that we make.

57. YOU SAY, "WELL‚ I THOUGHT GOD'S WILL WAS ABSOLUTELY INFALLIBLE & UNCHANGEABLE!" Well, in the overall context, yes, but regarding the individuals & individual situations‚ He leaves a lot of the choice in the tunnel of His will up to us & how far we go this way or that way‚ or this side or that side, or how fast we move, or whether we even go backward or not. He has this tunnel of His overall will to confine us & restrict us to a certain area of movement & possibility, from which we can't get out of line at all. He keeps us within certain boundaries & limitations & restrictions, but which way we go in the tunnel & which side we're on—left or right or up or down or even backwards—depends a lot on us & our choice.

58. SO DON'T GO DOGMATICALLY PREDICTING THE FUTURE WHEN SO MUCH OF IT IS DEPENDENT ON US & WHAT WE DO & HOW WELL WE DO IT, OR EVEN WHETHER WE DO IT! Don't go jumping the gun & telling somebody something's going to happen when we don't yet know if it is going to happen that way. It may not happen just exactly like that. Even if I have a feeling that that's what God would like to happen & would want to happen, whether it happens or not may depend on them & their reaction‚ their choice, their own personal desires & whether they can take it or not etc. God's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to a knowledge of the truth (2Pe.3:9), but some people are going to perish, at least temporarily. Of course‚ eventually He's going to come out on top & win & everybody's going to be salvaged some way, God's not going to be defeated.

59. BUT IN THE MEANTIME, HE HAS LEFT THE WORLD UP TO MAN & HIS CHOICES. He's left history up to man's own free will & choice within certain limitations, the tunnel of His will, & so far man has made pretty much of a mess out of it! But God's letting him, He's letting man go his own way, & He lets us go our own way. He doesn't make us do these things, He presents us alternatives, choices, His best, His highest, & some mediocre ones in-between, clear back to backsliding if we want to. You understand? He doesn't force us, He doesn't make us‚ but He can make it pretty hot if we don't, like a parent with a paddle! But even then the child doesn't have to repent & can go on belligerently, his head bloody but unbowed! Right? PTL!

60. SO DON'T GET SO COCKSURE ABOUT THE FUTURE—JUST LIKE I WAS ABOUT THE WAR! I was absolutely cocksure & certain the War was going to come first, then the Lord had to turn me around & show me the possibility that perhaps the Crash is going to end first & create the chaos & the Great Confusion, out of which the Antichrist could rise to power & use the Crash & his peace-making efforts to prevent the war & to rise to power, with the Peace Pact, the Covenant.

61. SO DON'T BE SO COCKSURE EVEN ABOUT SOME OF THESE EVENTS THAT WE HAVE SUGGESTED AS POSSIBILITIES FOR THE FUTURE. Only what God has specifically predicted & we can read in black-&-white & the Word or by direct revelation we have received from the Lord, only that can we be cocksure of & absolutely dogmatic about!—Such as the general events that are coming.

62. WE KNOW THE CRASH & THE WAR ARE COMING, GOD HAS SHOWN THAT IN MANY WAYS, BUT AT THE MOMENT WE DON'T REALLY KNOW FOR SURE WHICH IS GOING TO COME FIRST! We have at last opened our minds to the possibility that the Crash may come first, & God is trying to suggest that we should be a little more open–minded & not be so dogmatic about the sequence of the order of events. Even in Bible Prophecy it doesn't make it too clear as to which is going to come first, & right now it seems more & more likely that the Crash will even beat the War, but we don't really know that either.

63. THAT'S GOING TO BE A LOT UP TO THE DECISIONS OF MAN & THE CHOICES OF MEN—& UNGODLY MEN AT THAT—WHICH THEY GET FIRST!—CRASH OR WAR OR BOTH!—And they'll probably, I'm sure, get both! But exactly which is going to come first, whether the Crash is going to bring on the War or the War is going to bring on the Crash, we have tried to open the minds of our people to the possibility that it's going to be the reverse of what we first thought. We first thought that the War was going to bring on the chaos of the Confusion of the Crash‚ now we're suggesting there's a possibility that the Crash or Great Confusion will come first & possibly bring the temporary peace Pact before it brings on the War. Do you understand? So you can't be so dogmatic about some of these things.

64. SOME THINGS WE CAN BE DOGMATIC ABOUT—THE CRASH IS COMING, THAT WE KNOW! The War is coming‚ that we know. But which is coming first‚ that's up to not only God, but up to the choices of men. The antichrist is coming, that's specific‚ but God has not revealed the exact day or hour or time or even whether he's going to rise to power by means of the Crash or by means of the War or both. Right?

65. SOME THINGS ARE VARIABLES & OPTIONALS, PERHAPS EVEN DEPENDENT UPON THE CHOICES OF MAN, BUT WE KNOW THEY'RE GOING TO COME, THAT'S SPECIFIC. We know the Antichrist is going to arise, that's specific, but where & when, He hasn't revealed to us exactly. We know almost exactly what his reign is going to be like, & then the Lord begins to get a little more specific about the Tribulation & the difference between the first half & the last half of his reign & about the mid-point & the Image of the Beast & his insistence upon worship & the Mark of the Beast & all these specific details.

66. THE LATER THE HOUR BECOMES, THE MORE SPECIFIC HE BECOMES IN HIS PREDICTIONS & HIS PROPHECIES FOR OUR OWN COMFORT & ENCOURAGEMENT so we'll know exactly what's happening & we'll know specifically what's about to happen & what's going to happen next, in much more detail, measured in not only years but months & even days! The further we get into the picture the more specific the details become, you understand? But right now we're still in that hazy period that God has not made too clear, & probably for very good reasons—either to protect us or to protect us from the knowledge of the events or because it's still dependent upon some of the choices of man.

67. THE DAY OF GRACE IS STILL HERE! God is still giving man his chance to make his own choices, whether he's going to bring down on his head the Wrath of God in the Great Confusion or the great War or the Antichrist or what first. But once the Antichrist arises, once the Pact is made, we know the dates almost specifically.

68. SO SOME THINGS WE CAN BE DOGMATIC ABOUT! IT'S SPECIFIC IN THE WORD OF GOD‚ SPECIFIC IN REVELATION! We know once the Antichrist comes, then he's going to eventually erect an image or have one erected to himself & insist that everybody worships it & receives a Mark & all the horrors of the Tribulation. All that is specific. And we know exactly how long it's going to last, almost dating the time of the Coming of the Lord! We know that Jesus is going to come & rapture us out of this World, resurrect the dead!

69. THESE ARE SPECIFICS, WE KNOW THEY'RE GOING TO HAPPEN! Right now we don't yet know exactly when, but from the beginning of the Antichrist reign we can come pretty close to estimating the time of the Lord's Coming. And from the setting up of the Image in the Holy Place‚ as Jesus said, "When ye shall see the Abomination of Desolation standing in the Holy Place"—that's it! (Mat.24:15) From that time on, even the DAYS are measured to the Coming of the Lord!

70. SO THERE ARE CERTAIN SPECIFICS THAT GET MORE SPECIFIC AS TIME GOES ON, AS WE GET CLOSER INTO THE PERIOD. We know that following the Coming of the Lord we're going to be up in Heaven enjoying the Marriage Feast of the Lamb & that gorgeous Heavenly City, while there's Hell on Earth & the Wrath of God's being poured out on defiant, rebellious & wicked man below! We know it's going to be followed by the Battle of Armageddon, that's specific, the final judgement of God on the wicked remaining on the Earth—not the final one, but the final one of that period—which we know is going to be followed by the Millennium. All this is very clear & very specific. And we even know the Millennium's going to last exactly a thousand years, think of that, & we know it's going to end with another war, the Battle of Gog & Magog, & be followed by the New Heaven & New Earth.

71. THESE ARE SPECIFICS WE KNOW, & THE CLOSER WE GET TO THOSE PERIODS, THE MORE SPECIFIC & MORE EXACT OUR KNOWLEDGE WILL BE. But right now we are in a much more hazy period where the exact timings & the exact events, the exact years‚ months & days are not all that specific yet. We are given certain pivotal points in history‚ certain time-line spots from which we can measure exactly, & the most exact one, of course, is when the Antichrist erects his Image & commands that everybody fall down & worship him, from then on the schedule is exact.

72. I'M NOW PRETTY WELL CONVINCED HIS 7-YEAR REIGN BEGINS WITH HIS MAKING OF THE COVENANT, because he's obviously going to be in power if he's going to have that much power to make or bring about a Covenant. That is the beginning of the Seven Years. Exactly where he is right now & what he's doing & how he's doing it & when he's going to make that Covenant, that we don't yet know exactly, but we feel & know from everything God has said & revealed that it's going to be very soon.

73. ACCORDING TO OUR INTERPRETATION OF THE SCHEDULED EVENTS & THE REVELATIONS THE LORD HAS GIVEN US‚ IT'S APPROXIMATELY GOING TO BE SOMEWHERE AROUND 1986!—Which coincides with the coming of Halley's Comet, by the way, which could be certainly very significant & symbolic & always has been. A comet has always been very significant of great events in history, either the great rise of empires or the great fall of empires. And I wouldn't be a bit surprised that, according to both the Communist & comet schedule, 1986 is it! According to God's schedule & the Antichrist's schedule, 1986 is it! Come His Halley's Comet, I wouldn't be a bit surprised that that'll be the year‚ the beginning of the End, & then we will know specifically. We'll have a time period‚ & I believe it's going to begin with the Pact, whether the Pact is before the War or after the War.

74. BUT YOU SEE, GOD HAS NOT SHOWN US YET EXACTLY WHEN THAT PERIOD IS GOING TO BEGIN, ALL WE KNOW IS IT'S EVIDENTLY GOING TO BEGIN WITH THE COVENANT MADE BY THE ANTICHRIST. But if so‚ & if 1986 is the year, then he certainly must be behind the scenes somewhere, & he must be working hard right now. It must be one of the World's top secrets & such best-kept security that the World doesn't even know he exists yet! He's not even an obvious great personage yet on the World scene, not even known publicly.

75. THEY MAY KNOW PRIVATELY & I DON'T DOUBT THE AUTHORS OF THE PROTOCOLS HAVE ALREADY GOT HIM PICKED OUT & ARE WORKING WITH HIM & HE'S ALREADY DIRECTING'M! They couldn't have done so well without some super-human direction‚ so he's gotta be there already. But it must be one of the World's best-kept secrets, like they've kept a lot of other secrets. People won't even believe the secrets that have been published like the Protocols, but all we have to do is look around us & see how it's fulfilled to know it's true. Lord help us!

76. IT SAYS IN 2ND THESSALONIANS 2:3: "THEN SHALL THAT WICKED ONE BE REVEALED," BUT WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHETHER THAT MEANS WHEN HE MAKES THE COVENANT. I don't see how he could make the Covenant without being revealed, but it's possible he could still work from behind the scenes & engineer the Covenant without his own personality yet being revealed. That's a possibility. But obviously from the Scripture‚ his true nature & his true program & plan & purpose is not going to be fully revealed until, as 2nd Thessalonians 2:4 says, he's going to put himself in the Temple of God, showing himself that he is God, & claiming to be God.

77. SO THERE ARE CERTAIN SPECIFICS TO BIBLE PROPHECY WHICH ARE ABSOLUTELY UNDENIABLE, INCONTROVERTIBLE & UNCHANGEABLE!—But there're certain variables dependent upon the will of man & his actions & his choices which at this present moment are still in flux & a certain amount of fluidity & can flow this way or that way a little bit within the tunnel, a little higher or lower, left or right, or even slow down or speed up as the flow of the waters of events pass through the tunnel of God's limitations.

78. BUT WHEN THEY COME TO THAT POINT WHERE THE ANTICHRIST REALLY ARISES & BECOMES REVEALED—whether at the Covenant or at the time of the Image, the Abomination of Desolation—even that we do not yet know. He may still be secretly operating from behind the scenes & just engineer the Covenant without yet being revealed, & not truly be revealed until the Abomination of Desolation. On the other hand, he may be heaving up on the World scene even before the Covenant's made! That we don't know but we'll soon see, & we don't have long to wait, thank the Lord! And the faster it goes, the quicker it goes & the quicker the End comes & the quicker we get out of it all.

79. BUT THERE ARE CERTAIN VARIABLES & OPTIONS & CONDITIONS WHICH ARE SOMEWHAT DEPENDENT UPON THE WILL & CHOICE OF MAN & DECISIONS WHICH EVEN WICKED MEN MAKE, which God is still allowing them to make & letting them go their own way according to their own majesty of choice & free will. He's still letting them make decisions in the face of His grace & His mercy & His love & this opportunity to choose to believe in Him & love Him & serve Him. He's still allowing them to go the opposite direction until their cup of iniquity is full.

80. SO THAT'S ONE REASON‚ OR A LOT OF REASONS‚ WHY WE DON'T KNOW RIGHT NOW EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN & EXACTLY WHEN IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN OR EXACTLY WHERE IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN! But God has certainly given us enough information along these lines to have a pretty good idea & at least a faint hint, if nothing else, of how things are going & where they're going & about how soon they're going. But don't get dogmatic about any of the details right now, it's not time for that. Right now it's wait & see!

81. BUT ONE THING WE KNOW FOR SURE, "WHEN YE SHALL SEE THESE THINGS COME TO PASS, THEN YE SHALL KNOW THE TIME IS NEAR & your redemption draweth nigh. This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled." He doesn't even say specifically what year in their generation. A generation averages 30 to 40 years. He says‚ "This generation shall not pass till all these things away until all these things be fulfilled." (Mt.24:33,34)

82. WE ARE SEEING THESE THINGS THAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT COME TO PASS RIGHT NOW‚ so we know that this generation, our generation—at least your generation, mine is about to come to an end—but the generation who are now parents with children, this is your generation & you're seeing these things come to pass, so we know that your generation will not pass away‚ in other words will not die & pass away off the World scene "until all these things have been fulfilled." Therefore that's one specific we can count on‚ & that is that it is going to happen in YOUR generation, NOW, SOON, before you're gone! The Antichrist is going to arise & all the rest will happen. So that's specific.

83. NOW EXACTLY HOW SOON, EXACTLY WHAT YEAR, EXACTLY WHERE, WHEN OR HOW, THAT EXACT DETAIL WE DON'T KNOW & GOD IS KEEPING THAT HIDDEN & A SECRET & GOD HIMSELF ALONE KNOWS. It's still somewhat dependent upon the will of man & the choices he makes, whether they be good or evil. If his choices are evil, the more evil they are, the quicker it will come. The more some men choose to do good & try to make the right choices, it could stave it off & postpone it a little longer. Because of the mercy of God & His grace He can postpone the horrible judgements to come a little bit longer. But the more evil man becomes—as he is becoming—& the more wicked he becomes & the more evil choices & wrong choices & horrible decisions he makes—like on these monstrous missiles & all—then the quicker it could all happen. God could speed it up & make His judgements come swift & sure!

84. BUT AT THIS MOMENT WE DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY, SPECIFICALLY THE TIME & PLACE‚ THE HOUR OR WHATEVER‚ but we sure know pretty generally & certainly, surely, that these events will come & that they're coming very soon. When they begin to happen, then we will know much more specifically the days & the hours & the years & the months etc. But right now don't be too cocksure that you know exactly what's going to happen & what's going to happen when & which is going to happen first. You'd better just be patient & wait & see.

85. IN THE MEANTIME, DON'T JUST SIT THERE TWIDDLING YOUR THUMBS JUST WAITING TO SEE, BUT GET BUSY & DO WHAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING! Quit worrying about it! Quit trying to figure it out to the hour & the second & the minute & the day & the month blah blah, like some of these prophetic buffs do! Some of you people have gotten too interested in the details & trying to predict them & measure them & figure them & calculate them mathematically & blah blah when it's too early for that. You'll know soon enough when it comes!

86. SO DON'T GET TOO DOGMATIC ABOUT THINGS & TOO COCK-SURE ABOUT THINGS & DROP BOMBS ON PEOPLES' HEADS BEFORE TIME‚ PREMATURELY, & TELL'M SUCH-&–SUCH IS GOING TO HAPPEN AT SUCH-&-SUCH AT TIME! Don't be too sure about it until you know for sure. Wait & see! Wait & see what happens, because you don't really know yet. You don't really know about all the exact dates of the future right now. You don't really even know what's going to happen tomorrow, much less a year from now or whether this person's going to work out or that person's going to fit in or what. Only time will tell! Wait & see!—But be on the lookout for indications, hints & signs. The Lord has promised to give us signs.

87. WATCH FOR THE SIGNS‚ WATCH FOR THE HINTS‚ THE INDICATIONS, THE LITTLE SIGNS OF THE TIMES‚ NOT JUST THE WEATHER!—The signs of the times regarding events. But watch for signs in individual cases, in their lives, their minds, their hearts, their actions, their reactions, their diligence, faithfulness & loyalty. Watch for the signs as far as how this person or that person is going to work out or fit in or whether they're going to make it or not. You don't know yet, so don't be so specific & dogmatic about it that you start dropping bombs on people, that this person is going to do this or that person is not going to do that. You don't really know until God has given them their day of grace & He has given them time to make the choices & to give them a chance. They're on probation.

88. ALL OF US ARE ON PROBATION TO A CERTAIN EXTENT—not regarding Salvation, but regarding our work & its efficacy & its faithfulness, our loyalty‚ our diligence, effectiveness & efficiency. We're all running a race, but some slower than others. Of course some people have quit the race & they're going to receive their reward too, which isn't going to be good, but it doesn't mean they're not saved.

89. THE RACE IS HIS SERVICE! THE RACE IS FOR REWARDS, FOR CROWNS, NOT SALVATION. God is waiting on the outcome of the race to see what you'll do & how you'll do it before you get your reward. Of course by His prevision He no doubt knows what your choices are going to be & therefore what is going to happen, but He hasn't revealed that to you yet. If He told you the end from the beginning, that would be too easy. That's like giving you the answers to a guessing game or doing a puzzle for you. That's no test.

90. THESE CONTESTS HAVE TO BE TESTS, & they're no tests if you know ahead of time what's going to happen or you know the answers beforehand. Right? So God has got to make you wait & make all of us wait to see how things are going to work out & how certain people are going to work out‚ because that's a part of our test. So we'd better wait & see. Amen? One thing we can be sure of, regardless of our plans or decisions or choices or ideas‚ eventually God is going to have His way!

91. IT'S SO EASY, I DON'T HAVE TO WRITE NOTES OR MAKE SPEECHES OR ANYTHING. I JUST OPEN MY MOUTH & HE FILLS IT! When you make the wrong choices, that provokes the answers. God has to show you where you made your mistake. God sure didn't make any mistakes when He made you, though, Honey, He sure knew what He was doing! HAL! TYJ! GBAK us all busy for Him to the end, whatever each end may be!—Amen?—Are you busy for Jesus?

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family