—Seeds or Souls—Make Every One Count! DO 1920 4/85

1. MARIA'S VERY FAITHFUL AT TAKING NOTES, & SOMETIMES WHEN SHE LEAVES IT TO SOMEBODY ELSE IT'S A HAZARD IF THEY'RE NOT AS FAITHFUL AS SHE IS. She doesn't mind doing it in Class or when I'm talking or something, because she knows the important thing is to get it down, the important thing is to record it, the important thing is to preserve it even if you have to interrupt the speaker or whatever it is. The important thing is that it be recorded‚ otherwise nobody else is ever going to hear it & benefit from it except the person that I'm talking to. Yesterday we lost a whole talk on Postering & how I'm against this profligate, wild distribution of the seed, just wildly sowing the seed, not caring where it lands or how it lands, just hoping it will do some good.

2. SOME COUPLE WROTE US & BRAGGED ABOUT BEING ABLE TO GET OUT A HUNDRED POSTERS IN ONE DAY! They said even though they only got the equivalent of about 20 cents apiece when they went so fast, they figured it was worth it because they got out so many & they still made about the same total amount of money in that day.—Whereas when they went slow & dealt personally with people‚ they got an average of 80 cents a poster, & I'll bet you a lot more souls got saved too!

3. I WOULD DISCOURAGE MASS POSTERING LIKE THAT AS MUCH AS I WOULD DISCOURAGE ANY KIND OF MASS EVANGELISM, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T BEAR MUCH FRUIT! It may & it may not. They said, "Well, we figured the story's there & the Message is there, the invitation is there, they can pray the prayer on their own & get saved."—But you'll never know it, & they may never do it unless you encouraged them to do it!

4. I HAVE TOLD YOU TIME & AGAIN, I DISCOURAGE MASS EVANGELISM! There's a time & a place where you can't help it, even Jesus couldn't help it, sometimes the disciples couldn't help it‚ but most of His & their soul–winning was done personally, one-on–one, individually, real personal soul-winning!—And that bears fruit in a far higher percentage than just wildly distributing tracts & not caring how many you distribute‚ just so it's big numbers. It's the same old thing again: Quantity instead of quality!

5. MY GOD, FOLKS, DON'T LET THAT HAPPEN TO YOUR POSTERING! LET'S NOT LET IT HAPPEN IN THE FAMILY, THAT YOU JUST GET OUT THERE & DISTRIBUTE THEM WILDLY LIKE THAT! They said, "Well, we didn't lose any money because we made just as much money distributing over a hundred at 20 cents apiece as we did when we distributed them more slowly‚ fewer posters at 80 cents apiece. We made just as much money."—Oh, they did? What about all the posters they lost? They cost money, they cost us money, they've cost us a lot! We've just about been living all our lives the past year for posters! We don't even hit the streets, but we've been working to make these posters possible! We've been working like mad, all of us‚ trying to make all this possible, & here they get out on the street & just waste it, just throw'm away!

6. THEY'RE LIKE THE SOWER THAT WENT FORTH TO SOW & JUST SCATTERED IT EVERYWHERE & DIDN'T CARE WHERE IT LANDED, STONY GROUND, SHALLOW GROUND OR THORNY GROUND. (Mat.13:3-8) If some of it happened to land on good ground‚ well, he was thankful he got a little better yield out of the good ground. But don't you think he'd have been a lot smarter if he'd gone out first & found good ground & not wasted all of his seed on all that thorny, stony shallow ground, but put all that seed into that smaller plot, a very much smaller piece of land? Don't you think he would have gotten a lot more crop & a lot more fruit & a much greater yield?—The same thing is true with witnessing, postering, litnessing, whatever you want to call it.

7. THAT TYPE OF ASSEMBLY–LINE MASS PRODUCTION IDEA DOES NOT WIN AS MANY SOULS IN THE LONG RUN! You may say, "Well look, we're witnessing to thousands! We're getting the Message to more people!"—Yes, but you're not winning them, you're not making disciples of them! Jesus said, "Go ye therefore into all nations & make disciples of all nations!" (Mat.28:19) You know good & well with that kind of litnessing or postering, if they're going so fast to get out that many in a day & only getting 20 cents apiece‚ they're not sitting down or standing up or praying, whatever way they do it, winning souls & getting them to pray & receive the Lord!—In fact, they admitted they didn't. They just depended on the posters to do the work & the people to do it by themselves. They're not really winning souls!

8. AND WHAT DO YOU BET THEY DIDN'T GET NAMES & ADDRESSES EITHER?—So what good does it do? If Fred Jordan didn't teach us anything else, he taught us that, thank God‚ & the Bible teaches it too! What good does it do to just scatter seed like that, scattershot, & you don't know whether it's going to hit the target or not?—You just load a gun full of buckshot so it'll just scatter out & maybe it'll hit something, maybe it won't. That's not the kind of hunting I used to do. Of course, hunting is not popular with you hippies any more‚ but anyway, when I shot a gun, I expected to hit something! I expected to hit one target & I just chose one target & I hit it!—And I made a first class shooter in the army. Of course, I refused to shoot people so they finally threw me out, but I was good at shooting targets.

9. BUT I DIDN'T TAKE A SHOTGUN‚ LOAD IT FULL OF BUCKSHOT & JUST SPRAY IT INTO THE DISTANCE HOPING SOME OF IT MIGHT HIT SEVERAL TARGETS! I might have hit a lot more targets, but I wouldn't have won the medal like I did. Instead of that I put bing, bing, bing, nine out of ten shots right in the bull's-eye where they were supposed to go! Of course, some old sour grapes guys said, "Well, anybody that doesn't smoke could've done that!"—Because I was notorious for not smoking. All the smokers were shaky & nervous because they weren't allowed to smoke at the target range & they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn! They missed the target entirely, much less hit the bull's-eye‚ they were so shaky from not being allowed to smoke that morning. So they just said, "Anybody that doesn't smoke could've done that!"—Because I was the only one in the whole company that didn't smoke!

10. WELL, I DON'T BELIEVE IN THAT KIND OF POSTERING! You'll get a lot more souls & a lot more disciples in the long run if you'll sit down & deal with them personally & get them to pray & win them & get their name & address & follow it up personally or with letters or more posters or some kind of follow up to feed those babies! Fred used to say it's like this, "You guys go out in the street & you win souls, blah blah blah blah, then you kiss'm goodbye & that's it! You don't even get their name & address!" It's just like a woman deciding to have her baby in the middle of the street & then after she's had it‚ gone to all the work of getting it, she just throws it back in the street & walks off! Wouldn't that be terrible? She doesn't feed it, doesn't take care of it, doesn't make sure it grows & gets strong & becomes a real mature human being!

11. THAT'S WHAT I THINK ABOUT THIS MASS EVANGELISM WHERE YOU JUST GET A SHOW OF HANDS. I used to do it too. So what if they did receive Christ? What if they did get saved? What if they did become babies & were born? What if they did?—You just throw'm right back in & you never see'm again! You don't get their name & address & don't feed'm. What do you think would happen to that kind of baby if the mother just threw it out in the street & threw it in the gutter & walked off & left it? What would happen to the baby? (Techi: It would not be good.) It wouldn't be good & strong, it could even die! It certainly wouldn't become a good strong child.—Right? The mother has to take care of the baby‚ feed the baby, nurse the baby & train the child & help it to grow up, feed it spiritually & physically to develop it until it can take its mother's & father's place in the World as a mature adult, ready & able to bear babies of its own & take care of them & nurture them & train them up in the nurture & admonition of the Lord!

12. THAT'S REAL SOUL-WINNING, THAT'S GENUINE DISCIPLING!—NOT GOING OUT TO SCATTERSHOT YOUR SEED JUST HOPING IT WILL LAND IN SOME RECEPTIVE HEART & thinking the more you scatter the better because you're reaching more hearts & giving more people the Gospel. What if they don't even understand the poster? What if they can't even read well? You're not there to explain it‚ you're not there to go through the birth pangs & the pain & the agony of really seeing them through, really getting them saved & making sure that they know they're saved. You should even ask them afterward, "Now, how do you know you're saved?" "Well, because I've been so good!"—Is that it? (Fam: No.)—No, you've got to let'm know why they're saved & how they know they're saved.

13. I ALWAYS WORKED WITH PEOPLE AFTERWARDS & SAID, "ALL RIGHT NOW, ARE YOU SAVED?" Some people would be pretty confident & say, "Yes!" Some people would say, "Well, I guess so." I'd say, "Come on, it's not guessing, it's knowing! How do you know you're saved?" How do you know you're saved? (Techi: Because we asked Jesus into our heart.) How do you know that saves you? (Davida: Because it says it in Revelation 3:20.) There you are! You know you're saved how, Beloved? (Fam: By the Word!)—Because God said so! If you did so-&-so‚ if you believed & received Jesus, you know you're saved by the Word of God! Here's the contract‚ here's the promise‚ here's the assurance, here is the reason you know you're saved!—Not by some feeling you had‚ not even by saying some prayer necessarily, not by any of that. When Salvation really comes is when that verse strikes your heart with conviction & convinces you & you believe the Word!

14. (MARIA: ANOTHER POINT IS THAT NOT ONLY SOULS & DISCIPLES, BUT THE SUPPORT IS BETTER BY GOING SLOW AS WELL!)—Yes! This particular team said that at the end of the day the support amounted to about the same‚ whether getting 80 cents per poster or 20 cents per poster. They wound up at the end of the slow day distributing less posters but getting more money for them, so at the end of the day's work, God knows how much you need, He had given them the same amount!

15. BUT THE SAD PART WAS THEY HAD WASTED MORE POSTERS, & GOD KNOWS, MAYBE EVEN WASTED MORE SOULS than if they'd gone slow & used them individually in a person-to-person, much safer, by the way, much more secure type of ministry!—Individual, private, personal witnessing, personal soul-winning, particularly door-to-door where you're more hidden & can usually get inside the door & really get down to business, where you really win them & then teach them & explain things to them & give them Scriptures so that you make a good solid soul won & a potential disciple! (Maria: And perhaps have lasting support!) Yes!—And much more lasting support, as Maria's bringing out.

16. IF YOU WIN A SOUL & YOU FOLLOW THAT SOUL UP & MAKE A DISCIPLE OUT OF THEM, EVEN IF THEY DON'T JOIN THE FAMILY & MOVE IN, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A GOOD SOLID SUPPORTER WHO LOVES YOU! You won'm to the Lord & they'll love you forever‚ they'll support you forever! You'll have a king or queen or prince or princess or somebody there that's going to be a help!—Not only that, maybe protection, maybe a haven! But if you just go out scattering lit wildly, far & wide, scattershot‚ helter skelter, you're never going to know whether you won any souls or not!

17. —AND FRANKLY, I DOUBT IF IT'S GOING TO BE MUCH TO YOUR CREDIT EVEN IF YOU DID! I think I'll get the credit & the artists will get the credit & Apollos will get the credit for the text, etc., not you! Maybe you might get a little tiny bit of credit for getting out there & throwing them away‚ but you'll certainly not get what they're worth!—And worst of all, you'll not accomplish what they're worth in good solid souls won & disciples made & followed up, & eventually, as Maria's saying, even better support, continuous support!—Not a little 20 cents on the spot gone forever, or only 80 cents for the first poster‚ but they'll want you to come back for more & you'll come back for more & you'll get more—more souls‚ more disciples & more support!

18. I'M SORRY I HAD TO REPEAT THIS TALK AGAIN, BUT SOMEBODY LOST IT YESTERDAY WHEN I WAS TELLING THEM ABOUT THE MARVELLOUS RESPONSE WE'RE GETTING IN THE FIELD, HOW PEOPLE ARE SAYING THE POSTERS ARE THE GREATEST WITNESSING TOOL WE'VE EVER HAD! They're winning souls faster with posters than anything they ever used! People just see that picture and want to know‚ "How do I get in?" I was telling the story about a guy that they'd been working on for three years and never been able to persuade him to pray the prayer and accept Jesus. But he saw a poster and he was just fascinated! He said, "I want to be saved, I want to get in!" How about that? Don't tell me a picture isn't worth a thousand words! I don't think we can even get a thousand words on those backings and we'd be thankful if they read them, but I'll tell you, they'll never forget the pictures, they'll never forget God's visions‚ inspired visions from the Lord of those places and people and events and conditions that thrill them, inspire them, encourage them and best of all, save them!

19. BUT YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET THAT KIND OF SALVATIONS OR SOULS WON OR THAT KIND OF PERMANENT DISCIPLES & SUPPORTERS BY JUST THROWING THEM TO THE WINDS AT 20 CENTS APIECE! Whereas if you deal personally with people, your Lit stats may be a lot lower, but your Disciple stats & your Salvation stats are going to go up! And I'd lots rather see better Salvation & Disciple stats than just big Lit stats, wouldn't you?

20. WE NEVER IN ALL OF OUR HISTORY HAD AS HIGH LIT STATS AS THE WORLD DID UNDER JETHRO & THE CHAIN! They were phenomenal, I think something like eight million in the top month!—But the Soul stats were either pretty low or pretty phoney, & the Family stats we found were padded like mad!—Padded!—Just as crooked as a dog's hind leg! And I got to where I wouldn't believe'm any further than I could throw an elephant by the tail! You won't forget that, will you? Do you know how crooked a dog's hind leg is? It's very crooked‚ kind of a "Z" shape. And how far do you think you could throw an elephant by the tail? You'd be doing well to even grab his tail! I mean, Jeth's were phoney stats, lies!

21. AND WHAT KIND OF LIT WERE THEY GETTING OUT IN SUCH PROFUSION?—LITTLE TINY ALMOST POSTAGE-STAMP SIZE THINGS ABOUT SO BIG! They had the mini skirts in those days, and then along came the micro minis that were practically halfway up their buttocks, and that's what dear Jethro and the Evil Magician were printing over there in South America, micro minis! I recommended the standard A5 size, which is the size of our present FN Magazine, the usual Kidz Komix size. Well, I finally relented a little bit because they said, "South America's poor and can't afford to print them that big, can't we print them at least half that size, Dad?" So they got them down to half the size of the standard-size lit and the print was so small‚ it was almost microscopic, you could hardly read it!

22. THEN WITHOUT EVEN ASKING, WITHOUT APPROVAL AT ALL‚ JETH & THE EVIL MAGICIAN DECIDED TO CUT'M DOWN TO HALF THAT SIZE WHERE YOU COULDN'T READ'M!—Ridiculous! And then the Evil Magician even began writing letters & literature himself & putting my name & his on it as being the authors. I got furious! I said, "If they have both of our names on there, you can't tell what I really wrote & what he wrote!"—And it was twisted, contorted‚ polluted! I mean, that God-damned hellion was of the Devil & demon-possessed if anybody ever was! He even had trouble when he was a child, they said he was demon-possessed, a real insanity case!

23. MY LORD, HOW COULD DEBORAH EVER LET HERSELF GET CONTROLLED BY HIM & DECEIVED BY HIM? IT SHOWS YOU HOW FULL OF THE DEVIL SHE GOT TO BE! In "Alice in the Magic Garden", for awhile‚ thank God‚ the Family was delivered. If you remember the vision of the "Magic Garden", the damage she was doing then was repaired & things got better. (See #290) But dear Deborah apparently finally wandered off after the Magician himself & went with him & is still with him to this day! Think of that! So, how did I get on that?—(Maria: Postering!) Maria's always ready to get me back to the subject!

24. THE HIGHEST LITNESSING WE EVER HAD WAS UNDER JETHRO AND THE EVIL MAGICIAN AND ALL THEIR LIES AND THEIR MINIS AND MICROS AND ALL THAT JUNK! No wonder they got so little support! Who'd pay for anything like that? Who'd give a donation for anything like that? Most people probably thought that of course anything that cheap and that small, they must be handing them out free! If they asked them for a donation they were surprised! "What the Hell do you think I'd give for a little postage-stamp size piece of tract that's even half the size of what the churches pass out?" And yet they claimed to have the greatest litnessing the Family's ever known!—Yes, and they also had about the lowest income! But Jeth drove his slaves like a tyrant and required—not 10% of their income like we were doing at the time—he was requiring of those poor South Americans guess how much?—50% of their total income!

25. I AT FIRST FOUND OUT WHAT THE CHAIN WAS DOING WHEN I DISCOVERED FROM RACHEL'S OWN MOUTH IN A BUSINESS MEETING IN TENERIFE THAT IN ITALY SHE AND EMANUELE WERE REQUIRING 25% OF THE TOTAL INCOME OF ALL THE LITNESSERS OF THE HOMES!—25%! I just went into a fury and blasted her right there in the business meeting! I was horrified! And I guess that was the beginning of the end when I questioned her authority and her right to collect such fees! In fact, I think it even went up to 35% and probably later on went to what Jethro was doing, 50%! Think of that!

26. I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT SINCE THE LORD SAID 10% IN THE OLD TESTAMENT‚ THAT WAS A PRETTY GOOD, FAIR KICKBACK TO THE LORD for helping, protecting, prospering, making fruitful and furnishing you with leadership and lit and food and all the rest. I didn't think that 10% was too much to ask for our support and the support of our Units that feed you and give you the literature to copy and the leadership and all the rest. The Lord apparently thought 10% was a just due and lets you keep 90%! If anything, it's almost unfair to the Lord! And most of our folks, I must admit‚ give more than 10%. You'd be amazed how well they give per family, far more than Maria and I ever knew people to give in churches! Our folks are heavy givers, sacrificial givers! They work hard‚ but they give hard!—And God blesses them hard too, with souls and protection and provision and happiness and joy and Heaven on Earth! Praise God! Amen? TYL!

27. SO THAT'S WHAT I THINK ABOUT LITNESSING AND POSTERING, and that is, that the personal witnessing and your personal love and your personal concern and your personal word, your personal guidance, your personal feeding, your personal explaining, even that arm around that soul, that touch of love—you're going to be shocked now—is even more important than the literature or even the poster! I'm still sold on personal soul-winning, and that the posters and the lit are mere tools to help you win souls and personally witness! And they are proving to be a terrific tool, but they're not going to amount to much without you and your personal touch and your personal word and your personal, even intimate love! They're not going to win near as many souls‚ if any, without you!

28. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THOSE POSTERS & THEIR POWER TO WIN SOULS IS YOU!—You! The posters won't amount to very much without you no matter how hard I work on them & our artists work on the art & we work on the backing texts. I like to call them stories & make them more simple like little stories on the back, simple enough for children to read & enjoy, the story about the picture & what's in the picture. I keep telling them to relate it more to the picture & to tell the story of the picture like you'd tell a story to a child in a picture book. There's the picture, but the child wants to know the story & what's it all about & what does it mean & what's this person there & that person there? (A pretty girl walks in!) Look at that personal touch! See? That had a lot more effect on me than if I was just reading! One look from your eyes can have more effect than a long look at the poster!

29. THE POSTER IS DOING ITS JOB, THE BEST WE CAN MAKE IT, & THE TEXT, IF THEY EVER READ IT, BUT NOTHING WILL HAVE AS MUCH EFFECT AS JUST ONE LOOK OF LOVE‚ ONE TOUCH OF LOVE, ONE WORD OF LOVE FROM YOU!—Amen? So don't think I'm depending entirely on these posters to reap a great harvest. The posters will have very little effect without you! And if they do have any effect, you'll never know it & it will never be on your stats, except your Lit stats, if you're going to scatter them abroad like that! God help us to make every one count! Amen?—Do you?

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family