Dad
April 4, 2003
DO 20593/85
—Techi & Davida's Birthday Talk!
1. (SINGS:)
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TECHI & DAVIDA,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Happy Birthday to you,
Only one will not do,
Born again means Salvation,
We know how many have you!"
We know how many you have, right? Well, that's really about being born‚ & then born again, but actually you've had six & you've had nine! Well, praise the Lord! God bless you all! My, our little ladies are growing up, isn't that beautiful? And all of our other folks are growing up beautiful & handsome, thank the Lord!
2. THERE'S OFTEN ONE SURE THING YOU REMEMBER ABOUT YOUR PAST HISTORY, YOU USUALLY REMEMBER WHERE YOU WERE FOR CERTAIN CHRISTMASES & BIRTHDAYS. I'll never forget my sixth birthday‚ I had just started school & they gave me a smallpox shot & I was sick as a dog! I went & crawled out on the back porch & curled up in a box on the floor like a sick dog. So that wasn't a very happy birthday, but I remember it! I remember my fifth birthday too, I'll never forget that! I was in Washington, D.C., & that was a very memorable time. I always had my birthdays just a couple months after Christmas, & I usually remember the Christmas more than I remember my birthday. Some of them I forget, but a few outstanding ones I remember. I think it's good to celebrate birthdays because it helps you remember your progress & where you were & what you were doing about that time‚ to sort of keep track of your life history.
CAKE & ICE CREAM & COOKS!
3. WELL, I DIDN'T COME TO PREACH YOU A SERMON, I'M JUST TALKING, BUT I THINK IT'S TIME TO LIGHT THE BIRTHDAY CAKE! We don't make a big thing about blowing them out, but we're for lighting candles! We're for lighting up the World! There's only six, where are the other three candles? You need three more around the middle there. My goodness, it's not just Techi's birthday, it's Davida's too! Those are beautiful Bibles!—And if you let me take them back with me I'll have a little more time to write in them.
4. AREN'T YOU GOING TO LET THE GIRLS LIGHT THE CANDLES THEMSELVES? LET'S GIVE THEM A LITTLE EXPERIENCE! Put the Bibles over here in a safe place. First you've got to decide on which candles you're going to light‚ because you have to light them fast. You've got to light the ones in the middle first, those are the extra three for you, Davida, otherwise you can't reach in after the others are lit without getting your hand burnt! I'm an old hand at this candle-lighting business! Some of you guys can probably remember that too, the mistake you made in lighting the outside ones first, & then you tried to stick your hand in & light the inside. Now don't slant your match so much‚ Honey, or you'll burn yourself! You've got to hold a match level. Put it underneath the wick.
5. YOU GOT IT, THREE ON A MATCH! WE DON'T THINK IT'S UNLUCKY IN THIS FAMILY, WE THINK IT'S VERY BLESSED! You've got to hurry now! Keep the box shut to be safe. Hold it level. Our children haven't had much experience with matches. Stick it in the flame & then light the ones on your side. That's it, you've got it! Hold it level or you'll burn your fingers! Hurry! Get that one! Get it! Get it! Blow the match out! (Maria: Good, you got it!) Good girl! Now since Davida's the oldest, we'll let her light two of them & you light one. Don't strike it, just stick it in the flame & light the two on your side. Always hold your match level, don't bend it down. Level is like this, Honey.—Otherwise you're going to burn yourself if you hold it down like that. Now let Techi light the last one. Put it underneath the wick, on top doesn't do any good. Quick, blow your match out! (Techi's crying a little.) Did you burn yourself a little bit? I'm sorry!
6. (MARIA: GRANDPA, THIS IS THEIR FIRST TIME, ISN'T THAT WONDERFUL?) THE FIRST TIME EVER TO ALLOW YOU TO USE MATCHES! Now don't hold it down like that‚ I'm trying to teach you to hold it level‚ or even better a little bit up. Then the flame won't come up the matchstick & burn you. I can tell you guys have never done much smokin'! There!
"Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday, dear girls!
Happy Birthday to you!"
I love you, Sweetheart! Did you hurt yourself very bad?—Or is it just because you're happy & excited that you're crying? (Maria: It's all the excitement, Grandpa, it was a lot of pressure.) Okay, GBY! You did fine, you did great! You're just learning how.
7. NOW YOU'VE LIT UP THE WORLD, BUT ONE OF THESE DAYS THE OLD DEVIL'S GOING TO COME ALONG & TRY TO BLOW IT OUT! Don't let Satan blow it out, but the Lord can blow the World's candle out one of these days! When that big fire burns up the World, only God can blow it out! So do you want to see if you can blow it out?—One at a time! You take a big blow first. You've got to get up close & blow hard! All right, Davida! One more, Techi! That's the stuff! Good girl! That's great! All right, now we really smoked up the place!
8. NOW EACH OF THE GIRLS SHOULD CUT THEIR FIRST SLICE OF CAKE! They've got to get a little practice! Take the candles out of the cake, girls. That's smart, they're licking off the candle butts! They're not going to waste any of that cake! Maybe next time we ought to put on the sum of both their ages in candles. Six & nine would have been 15 candles! But that was enough for a starter‚ that was good. PTL! Since Davida was born first, she can slice hers first. Now the way to slice a cake is to take your knife & go down into the middle first, & then you see-saw back & forth, you saw it like that. How big a slice do you want? Take it easy! Leave some for the rest of us! She's doing it in a curve! Thatta girl! Keep slicing, saw, saw, saw! That's the stuff! Always hold the blade away from you.—Or here's a nice cake server, you can slip that underneath. I think it would be easier if we get the other one sliced too, then you can get it under both of them.
9. ALL RIGHT, TECHI, HOW BIG A SLICE DO YOU WANT? Take the knife like this‚ point it down in the center of the cake & then saw back & forth like that! Well, these two girls ought to get the biggest slices, shouldn't they? It's their birthday! Let's take this out of the way or you're going to get a piece of paper too & you'd be like the guy who said‚ "Boy, that pie crust sure was tough!" And the cook looked down & said, "Where's the paper plate?" Boy oh boy, that really is a good-sized slice!
10. THAT WAS REALLY GOOD! THAT IS WHAT I CALL CAKE! That is good cake! (Fam: Would you like some more?) You bet I'd like some more! This is a birthday party! Hurry up, girls! Goodness gracious! I got one little taste & now I've got to have it quick! You don't mind if I eat first now so you guys can be first in Heaven? It's delicious, I love it! Just take my word for it, folks! If you let us get at this cake first, I don't know whether you'll get any or not! (Maria: There's ice cream too!) Get my ice cream from the sides where it's warmer. I like it soft, not so icy.
11. OH MY, LET'S GIVE THANKS! YOU'VE EVEN GOT TO GIVE THANKS FOR BIRTHDAY CAKE! PTL? And we haven't had your verses or your prayers yet either‚ that's the finale! Don't let me forget it! (Sings:) "We praise Thee, O God, for this birthday party that's spread, for our Home & for loved ones & heavenly cake! Hallelujah, Thine the glory! Hallelujah, amen! Hallelujah, Thine the glory! We praise Thee again! A-a-a-a-men!" Aren't they getting beautiful? Wow! As we thank Him together: "Thank You Jesus for this cake & for our Home so fair! Help us‚ Lord, to do some good & keep us in Thy care. And bless our loved ones everywhere!"—And thank You for this nice birthday party & bringing our two girls so far along the road to Life Eternal, Lord!—Six whole years & nine whole years! We thank You, Jesus, for keeping them safe all these years & making them such good girls. We know they're going to lead wonderful, wonderful lives for You, for Thy glory!—In Jesus' name. Amen! PTL! That's my birthday wish for you! PTL! Hallelujah!
12. LORD BLESS THE CAKE, sanctify & purify it, in Jesus' name. I must admit, somebody that really knows how to make cake, made this cake! That's what I call cake! I was getting a little bit worried about some we've had that tasted like lead! Now this, girls‚ is what I call real cake! When I was a kid it was every girl's ambition to bake the perfect cake. Isn't that right, Sara? You're one of my old-timers like Mama here. Weren't the girls always trying to make a good cake? (Maria: I think that was a little before our time.) Really? Oh my! You don't know what you missed! (Maria: We had cake mixes.) They didn't have cake mixes when I was a kid, but boy, the girls could really come up with some beautiful cakes! It was really an art in those days & every girl's ambition was to bake a good cake! Where were you last night, Davida? Oh, you had your tooth pulled. Okay, we'll forgive you. We missed you. (Maria: We heard she was the best patient the doctor ever had!) I'll bet you sure are the prettiest!
13. THIS GENERATION APPARENTLY NEVER LEARNED TO BAKE CAKES! Even some of the boys used to bake cakes. Baking cakes was a great thing in those days where almost every week somebody was having a birthday, & if it was a girl's boyfriend‚ of course she was the one who always baked the cake. And if it was her birthday, she baked a cake for herself! But they really knew how to bake cakes in those days! (Maria: A lost art.) Your generation really did miss a lot. With all of our amateur cooks we've had, I think Gem was about the only one that ever really succeeded in baking a real old–fashioned fluffy light cake.—Not that all your other cakes were not good, but they're just not exactly those dream cakes that we used to have. Back in the country & places like that they really know how to bake cakes & pies! Girls are brought up to know how to cook & keep house & take care of babies & love husbands‚ but it seems that's what they want to get away from nowadays.
14. I'LL ADMIT IT'S HARD TO BE A WOMAN IN SOME WAYS—ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE DISOBEDIENT, REBELLIOUS‚ STUBBORN & INDEPENDENT, THEN IT'S VERY HARD TO BE A WOMAN! But I've got mine pretty well trained now. (Maria: It's taken him 17 years & he's still working on it!) Ah, she's a model wife! She doesn't argue‚ she just presents the balancing side, that's all. She just thinks we should have all viewpoints, which is good, to get the other fellow's viewpoint. There's always two sides to every question. I present my side, she presents her side. I go my way‚ & she goes my way! (Maria: I love you, Honey!)
15. THAT IS GOOD CAKE, THANK YOU JESUS! THANK YOU, LORD, SOMEBODY IN THIS WORLD KNOWS HOW TO MAKE CAKE!—No reflection on the rest of you who've all tried, I know, but it's not your fault, your mamas didn't teach you. It's an art! It's a real skill! You've gotta really know how & learn how! Cooking is a science & it's not for amateurs just to piddle around with & dump in this & dump in that & hope it works out! I'll tell you, if you're going to come up with a successful cake or a successful anything, unless you've tried & proven your own recipe & it's worked, you're really experimenting with people's lives & stomachs! You could put some combination together chemically that could almost kill'm! Cooking is really not for amateurs, & especially not for experimenters. If you don't know what you're doing‚ you shouldn't be cooking! So you've gotta watch out!
16. ALF'S REALLY AN EXPERT, HE REALLY KNOWS HOW TO COOK PANCAKES & WAFFLES, BUT I CAN'T SAY TOO MUCH FOR HIS BANANA LEAD! You didn't misunderstand me‚ I said banana lead. The other night I ate just one slice of that & I thought I had a cannonball in my stomach! I guess you young folks can take it because you're used to it, but I don't think you guys have ever had a real piece of genuine banana bread. Real good banana bread is lighter than this cake, it's really delicious! I can't blame Alf for not knowing how to cook it, because nobody else in the Family ever knew how to cook it either! (Maria: He's just following the old Family tradition!) I wouldn't trust a single Family recipe! I never found hardly anybody in our Family yet that could cook, except Gem, & she still has to experiment with a lot of things.—No reflection on all you girls who cook our good, solid, honest-to-goodness, down-to-Earth, plain meals! That's something a little bit different. But when it comes to fancy cooking, like cakes & these frills which we don't really need, I don't blame you for not knowing how to cook them. They're kind of a luxury that we only have on birthdays, so it doesn't really matter if you never learned how to cook'm!
17. ANYBODY READY FOR SECONDS? (Maria: They just had their lunch.) Oh my! You should never have a birthday party right after a meal, didn't you know that? My goodness! I forgot to tell you that! You should save all your space & your room & your appetite for cake & ice cream!—Really! You poor kids, having to eat all that on top of a lunch! (Maria: Well, we cut down their lunch a little.) (Fam: It was very small.) You should have waited to have the birthday party until 2 or 3 o'clock without any lunch, & then you really would have enjoyed the cake & the ice cream! Then you could have eaten another piece & a little dish of ice cream. You've got to save up appetite & space for special things like that! (Maria: You can have some more tonight, how about that?) Maybe you can have the rest of your cake for your late night snack!
18. THANK GOD FOR A GOOD SENSE OF SMELL, AT LEAST IT'S SAVED US A FEW TIMES! Sometimes having such sensitive senses can be a little difficult‚ but I think it's good. I'd rather be able to smell than not to smell. To smell or not to smell, that is not a question with me! I'm glad I can smell. Most of you guys ought to pray for better smellers, especially you cooks & shoppers!
19. OF COURSE, IF YOU'VE NEVER KNOWN ANYTHING BUT BANANA LEAD‚ YOU'D NEVER KNOW THE DIFFERENCE, & IF YOU LIKE BANANA LEAD, FINE! But I'm like the lady the old Kentucky preacher was praying for. He put one hand on her stomach, one hand on her head—she was having acute indigestion from eating cucumbers—& he said, "Now Lord, You know cucumbers are all right in their place‚ but their place is not in this woman's stomach! Jesus, please heal her!" That banana bread may be all right in its place, but its place was not in my stomach! (Maria: It's the first time he's eaten banana bread in years.) Think of what I could have saved you from all these years if I'd eaten that sooner! Excuse me, Son! Well, I don't know‚ maybe it would have been the other way around.—Like the coloured lady & her [kids]!
20. MY GRANDMOTHER HAD THIS OLD COLOURED LADY WORKING FOR HER & ONE DAY SHE HAD TO BRING HER TWO LITTLE [KIDS] WITH HER because there was nobody at home to take care of them, two cute little black girls just about your age with cute little pigtails sticking up all over their heads! The Negroes' hair is so wiry & kinky that it's really hard to take care of & they've got so much of it, so they just have it sticking out in little pigtails all over their head. If you think you've got hair, you've got nothing to what the little [Negro kids] have! So she brought them to the kitchen to stay with her & while they were there they also served them lunch.
21. SO MY GRANDMOTHER WAS ABOUT TO TAKE THE SWEET POTATOES & PUT A NICE BIG LUMP OF BUTTER ON EACH SWEET POTATO FOR THE LITTLE GIRLS. And their mother hollered out, "No ma'am‚ no ma'am! I don't nevah want mah little piccaninnies to know the taste of buttah on sweet patatas!" She couldn't afford butter so she didn't want them to know how good it was! She knew if they once ever tasted butter on their sweet potatoes they'd be spoiled & they'd never want sweet potatoes without butter any more!—And they didn't have any butter. So that's a sad story, I guess it's not very funny. So if you're accustomed to the Family type of banana bread, maybe you'd better never have any real banana bread. Maybe you're just as well off not to know what good banana bread is like! Now, are you ready to give us your birthday verses & your birthday prayers?
BIRTHDAY VERSES & PRAYERS!
22. OKAY! RISE & SHINE!—OUR LITTLE STARS! Who wants to be first? Well, Davida was first, she got born first. Stand up & hold the mike in your own hand! You've gotta learn how to be on a TV show or a radio show. Do you notice how they always hold the mike in their own hand most of the time?—And when they don't, a lot of times you don't get what they say. Hold it in your own hand & hold it close to your mouth.
23. (DAVIDA: MY BIRTHDAY VERSE FOR THE YEAR IS: "BEHOLD, I WILL BE WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD!") (Mat.28:20) PTL! Amen! And your birthday prayer? Why don't you just bow your head & pray. (Davida: TYJ! Thank You Lord so much for this fun birthday party we had & how I'm already growing to another year with You, Jesus, & going to be nine. Please help me to learn lots before the Endtime comes & help me to learn to be more faithful in what I do, & help me to love You & put the Word first & Your Work first too, in Jesus' name. Amen!)—Amen! TYJ! TYL! (Sings: ) "Stand up, stand up‚ stand up, dear Techi, stand up, stand up!" Well‚ she's all covered up. Since she's been sick & she's had a cold, maybe we'd better let her stay sitting. First of all give your birthday verse.
24. (TECHI: "FOR I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD!") Well, that's a good one, my oh my! How about that? They both agree! They want the Lord to be with them to the end of the World. That's a good verse for nowadays, that's for sure, & He will be, He's promised! Amen? That's the Lord's promise to you. And in case you're talking to me, you can promise to be with me to the end of the World too!—Amen? Do you want to be with me to the end of the World? (Techi: Yes!)—Me too! ILY! Just think, we're going to be together Forever! Isn't that wonderful? And what's your birthday prayer, Techi? (Techi: TYJ! TYL! Thank You Jesus for this fun birthday party & please, Jesus‚ help me to have a good year in You, Jesus, & thank You how we're growing in You, Jesus. And please, Lord, help Mary Dear to get healed from her little fever & please help my cold to go away too. And help me to keep covered up‚ in Jesus' name‚ amen.)
25. YOU NEED TO TELL PEOPLE WHEN YOU'RE COLD! IF IT'S TOO COLD, HOLLER!—Because some of us are hot-blooded, like me & Sara, & we don't feel the cold so much, so you've gotta tell'm when you're cold. Me & Sara are a couple of hot ones! Poor Mama's one of those cold-blooded icicles. She & I used to both be cold-blooded, it's funny‚ but the older I get it seems like the hotter I get! TTL! Well, I'm kind of glad I'm warm-blooded. At last, in all my long life I'm finally not freezing all the time.
26. SHALL WE GO AROUND THE CIRCLE & EACH PERSON PRAY A LITTLE PRAYER FOR THE TWO GIRLS? I think that would be nice, don't you? (Each member of the Family prays.) Beloved, when it comes to children you don't have to pray a long prayer. The shorter the prayer the better for children, just try to pray it loud enough so that we can hear you too. The only purpose of public prayer is to pray so others can hear you to encourage their faith & to join faiths together, so pray loud‚ but brief.
27. (MARIA: THANK YOU LORD FOR OUR SWEET LITTLE GIRLS & WHAT A BLESSING & GOOD SAMPLE THEY'VE BEEN TO US ALL. Thank You for their tender hearts, Lord, & their willingness to ask for forgiveness when they make a mistake & going on & changing & being better girls, Lord. We thank You for how You've helped them learn so many lessons & such good things, & we know You're going to bless them in the year ahead as they continue to learn & grow, in Jesus' name!) PTL! Hallelujah! TYJ!
28. AMEN, DO BLESS THESE PRECIOUS CHILDREN, LORD, THESE TWO LITTLE HANDMAIDENS OF THINE, PRINCESSES IN THE KING'S HOUSE! Do make them a great blessing! They've already been a big blessing to all of us, just their coming to live with us, Lord‚ from their beautiful Home Above. Thank You for the sacrifice & their willingness to forsake all to live here amongst men like You did, in order to be a joy & a blessing & real lights that shine in our midst, examples to all of us. Continue to bless them, Lord, & make them a great blessing, not only now, but in the days to come, more & more‚ that they shine brighter & brighter unto the everlasting day!—In Jesus' name! Hallelujah! PYL! TYJ! (Tongues) Hallelujah! PTL! TYL! TYJ!
29. IT WAS JUST A LITTLE SOMETHING FROM THE LORD, BUT EVEN LITTLE THINGS FROM THE LORD COUNT BIG!—Like you, you're just a little thing from the Lord, but you're real big in our hearts! PTL! TYL! The Lord said, "How blessed are they of thy father & to be in the Family of David!" Hallelujah! TYJ! PTL! Amen! TYL!—Loved, that's what it was. Blessed or loved. Love is a blessing, & the best blessing is Love! So thank You Lord! God bless you all! I love all you children!
COMING OF AGE!
30. MAYBE SOME OF YOU OLD FOLKS ARE SAYING‚ "WELL, HOW COME YOU DIDN'T MAKE THAT MUCH OF A FUSS OVER MY BIRTHDAY?" LISTEN, YOU'D BETTER START FORGETTING YOUR BIRTHDAYS! But for the little kids, the smaller they are the more important the birthday is, because that's all a part of their growing up. For little children, every birthday is extremely important because they're a whole year older, they've passed another big hurdle, another milestone! They're all trying to grow up so fast, they just want to grow up as fast as they can, & it seems so long between birthdays & such a long time since the last birthday &, oh my, they come so slow, don't they? It takes so long to grow up, doesn't it? Why do you suppose the Lord made it so it takes so long to have to grow up? (Techi: So you can learn things.)—Right! It takes a whole lifetime to learn what you need to know. It takes all those years of growing up.
31. DO ANY OF YOU CHILDREN KNOW HOW LONG IT TAKES TO GROW UP & BECOME FULLY GROWN & AS TALL AS YOU'RE GOING TO GROW? (Techi: 21?) No, that's a bit too old. (Davida: 18?)—Right! That's when nearly all boys & girls come to full stature physically, full physical growth—except for the middle-aged spread, that is! You're as tall as you're going to grow & about as developed as you're going to grow physically at 18‚ the boys developed in the ways they develop, & the girls developed in the way they develop. You're not really full grown all the way till you're 18!
32. BUT JUST THINK, THE LORD MADE GIRLS & BOYS BOTH ABLE TO START HAVING CHILDREN EVEN BEFORE THEY ARE FULLY ADULTS OR FULL GROWN! Now why do you suppose the Lord did that? Why didn't He do like the System says? They've not only got to be full grown, but they've got to be at least 21!—And in Spain & some of those Catholic countries, they've got to be 23 or 24 before they can marry without their parents' permission. They are not fully "of age‚" as they say, until they're not just 21, but I think it was 24 in Spain.—Both the boy & the girl! Good night‚ when I was a kid, if a girl got to be 24 & wasn't married yet, we thought she was an old maid! We don't have any old maids here, we just have young maids. Our girls get more beautiful the older they get, I never saw the like! Isn't Mama prettier today than she was last year? She's really getting beautiful! She put on all those pretty birthday clothes just for you! Isn't that pretty? Of course, I always appreciate her birthday suit better‚ but she wore this birthday dress this time.
33. BUT YOU'RE NOT FULLY GROWN IN YOUR PHYSICAL BODY UNTIL YOU'RE ABOUT 18, & THAT VARIES A LITTLE BIT WITH CERTAIN PEOPLE & CULTURES. The more primitive, backward cultures such as the developing World, they seem to develop a little previous to that. You'll notice their boys & girls are quite well developed by the time they're 15 & 16. They mature very rapidly in the more primitive cultures, what they call the backward cultures. They're not really backward‚ they're going forward, but the rest of the World thinks they're behind them! Personally, I think they're ahead of'm, because they're a lot sweeter & more humble & I even think they're more beautiful. But they mature very rapidly & they marry early & they start having families & children early because that's the way God intends for it to be. I'm looking mostly at the girls because it's their birthday, you'll have yours some other day!—But you can listen!
34. YOU MIGHT JUST AS WELL CALL THE THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES THE POOR COUNTRIES, BUT THEY LIKE TO USE ALL KINDS OF OTHER WORDS NOWADAYS, THEY DON'T LIKE TO BE CALLED POOR. They used to call'm the backward countries. Well, those countries objected to that terminology, they objected to being called backward because it infers that they were behind the rest of them, so they decided to call them underdeveloped. And pretty soon some of their leaders objected to that too. I can remember when they used to call them underdeveloped countries. So now do you know what they call them?—The developing countries! That's more positive, you know. They're not underdeveloped, they're just developing. They used to call'm the poor countries of the World, now they just call'm the Third World. They're not first or second class, but they're not down at the end either, they're just third.
35. WHO DO YOU SUPPOSE THEY CALL THE FIRST & SECOND WORLDS? America originated these terms in English because they figure they're first & Russia is second. They probably throw Europe in along with Russia & class everything else besides North America as the Second World.—In other words, the Eastern World, the opposite World‚ especially the Communist World. Actually, some people call the First World Capitalism & the Second World Communism. But the Third World, the poor countries, they don't like to be called either one, they just want to be themselves. This is just a little talk for, I started to say the newlyweds! You're not newlyweds, you're not newlybreds‚ but they're new birthdays!
36. BUT YOU'RE NOT REALLY COMPLETELY GROWN UP PHYSICALLY, YOU'RE NOT AS BIG AS YOU'RE GOING TO BE & DEVELOPED AS YOU'RE GOING TO BE UNTIL YOU'RE ABOUT 17 OR 18.
37. So birthdays are very important‚ you're a year older each time & you're getting closer & closer to being an adult & being able to have children of your own.
WHEN DO YOU BECOME AN ADULT?
38. NOW HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU'VE ACTUALLY BECOME AN ADULT? IS IT A CERTAIN AGE? Is it when David starts having semen or the girls begin to have periods? Is that the way you know you've begun to be an adult?—Or is it when you're fully grown at the age of 18, around there?—Or when you're legally of age at 21, is that how you know you're an adult? (David: When you can treat success & failure the same.) That's a good quote over here! He's quoting Kipling's "If." When you can treat success & failure both the same‚ boy, that's really manly! We've gotta get a copy of that poem. (See No.1650:15.) I used to have a framed copy of that on my wall & I used to read that & read that & I thought, "Boy, I could never live up to that!"—And I never have! That's too high a standard, but it's a good thing to shoot at. You've got to have something to aim at even if you can't make it.
39. WHEN YOU PLAY GAMES LIKE FOOTBALL & ALL, YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE GOALS, & EVEN IF YOU CAN'T MAKE A GOAL, YOU TRY! When we get out here & play Ping–Pong, we don't always win‚ do we? Well, some of you dear boys almost always win‚ & it seems like I mostly lose. But like they say, it's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game! I tell'm I'm winning every game, because I'm out there getting what I want to get, not to win the game but to get some exercise!—And that's a lot like life! You're not in it just to win or lose—although you hope to win some—but you're bound to lose quite a few & sometimes you lose more than you win. But what are you gaining all this time? You may not be winning the game & every test & every trial & everything that you go through, but what are you gaining? I gain exercise out there! (Fam: Experience.)
40. EXPERIENCE TO YOUR DEVELOPMENT IS LIKE EXERCISE TO THE BODY! What does exercise do for your body?—It strengthens you. So every experience you go through, every test, every trial, every new thing, everything that you learn along the way, you are gaining experience‚ & experience is to your mind & your heart or spirit like exercise is to your body. And what does exercise do to your body?—It makes you stronger! So every experience you go through, God designs to make you stronger!
41. WHEN YOU'RE AS LITTLE AS THESE GIRLS ARE, YOU CAN'T STAND AS HEAVY EXPERIENCES AS ADULTS, but adults have grown, & as you grow, you get smarter & stronger & you're able to stand more & more all the time.—Until you get to be as big as some of you boys & you can stand almost more than anybody! You can pick up great big suitcases that it usually takes two men to pick up, or you can handle great big business situations that are difficult for most people. You can go through lots of trials & experiences & crises & testings & get stronger all the time!
42. WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE YOU STRONGER IS ALL THESE EXPERIENCES & LESSONS YOU LEARN, EVERY TEST & EVERY TRIAL! What's a race? What are the Olympics? What are all these games & these things that people go through physically in sports? What's another name for'm? Don't they call some of them trials? They actually call'm trials! And the guys who make the grade at the trials, then they get to go on for the tests. They do the trials first & only the guys who measure up to certain standards get to enter the actual con-test. It's a contest. They talk all the time in sports about trials & tests.
43. THERE ARE SOME WINNERS, BUT HOW MANY LOSERS ARE THERE COMPARED TO THE WINNERS? Not everybody wins. For every winner there has to be a whole bunch of losers, right? So you don't always win. But even the losers, though they may suffer many losses & lose many times, they often keep going till the next year or the next year or the following year until they get to where they're good enough to be the winner and lick the champs!
44. SO YOU'RE ALWAYS GROWING ALL THE TIME! YOU'RE GETTING BIGGER & STRONGER & SMARTER & ABLE TO BEAR MORE BURDENS.—LIKE THE WEIGHTLIFTERS, THE PUSH-UPPERS! They don't start off with those great big weights, they just start off with little tiny weights, not very much to lift. Then they add another weight & another weight & keep pushing up until they get such big muscles they can really push'm up! That's the way life is! When God finds out you can lift a little weight, then He gives you another burden to see if you can lift that. And with every added burden, what happens to the weightlifter's muscles?—They get stronger & bigger & able to lift more weights! Until pretty soon you see this great big guy getting up there, gggrrrrrugh!—Boom!—And he drops it! I don't want to be under one of those things when he drops that kind of burden!
45. SOME PEOPLE HAVE DROPPED THEIR BURDENS OFF ON ME & SOMETIMES THEY'RE ALMOST TOO MUCH TO TAKE! Some of them should have been carrying their own.—Some of those people that quit us & just ran off & forsook their burdens, forsook their trial, forsook their weights & dumped them off on us instead because they didn't want to carry them. We've had a lot of people do that, backsliders. Think of how many people we would have had now to help share this burden of evangelising the World & carrying all these burdens & reaching all these people & doing all these jobs if they hadn't quit‚ if they hadn't forsaken & left their burdens with us & now we have to carry the whole load. No wonder poor Mama's tired! No wonder Grandpa gets sick sometimes!—Not very often.
46. THANK GOD I DON'T HAVE ALL THESE AFFLICTIONS AT ONCE, I JUST HAVE THEM ONE AT A TIME USUALLY. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous!" (Psa.34:19) I must be avery bad boy that the Lord has to give me so many afflictions to keep me righteous! I believe it! Probably if He didn't give me one affliction after the other I'd get out of line & get off the track & I wouldn't stay as close to Him & pray so hard to please Him. I've got to keep praying & asking the Lord to forgive me, asking the Lord to deliver me from this latest affliction & it keeps me right close to the Lord! David said, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but in my affliction I cried unto the Lord & He helped me!" (Psa.119:67; 18:6) So it keeps you close to the Lord.
47. GROWING UP IS NOT EXACTLY AN AFFLICTION, BUT IT'S HARD TO DO! It's very hard for Techi to do, because the only time she grows is when she's asleep, & it's very hard for her to sleep! She's having a hard time growing up. I try to tell her, "If you'd just go to sleep a little earlier & not stay awake so late‚ if you'd go to sleep an hour earlier, just think, you'd grow that much more & that much faster!" But she's so full of energy & ideas & questions, she keeps flippity-floppin' around & kickin' her feet & asking me questions. Of course‚ I enjoy it, because the only fellowship I get with the children is at night or sometimes in the morning. But she's just full of energy!
48. BUT YOU'VE ALSO GOTTA SLEEP IN ORDER TO GROW! You've got to not only exercise your muscles & lift weights & stand tests & trials & burdens, but sometimes you've gotta rest! And when we rest, where do we rest? (Techi: With Jesus!) These kids are so spiritual, they can't give an ordinary answer! They've got to jump way ahead & do the punchline, "With Jesus!" The natural ordinary answer most kids would think of is what? Where do you rest? (Techi: In bed.) Physically in bed, right. But they're already ten jumps ahead of me & know what I'm driving at. Spiritually we rest with Jesus, we rest in the Lord.
49. HOW DO YOU REST IN THE LORD? (Techi: By reading His Word.) That's one good answer‚ reading His Word. What else? How do you fellowship with the Lord? How do you spend time with the Lord? There's another thing we call Temple Time‚ & in a way it's really what? (Davida: Sleeping.) We have to sleep, but that's the physical thing we're talking about, & that's true. But if you want to rest in the Lord‚ as we say, for the Lord to give you rest you have to spend time in the Word & what else, Class? (Fam: Pray!)—Right!
50. WHAT IS PRAYER, DAVID? (David: Talking with the Lord.) That's pretty good. How else can you pray? (Fam: Laying all your burdens on Him.) Laying your burdens on Him, resting, telling the Lord your needs & putting the burden on Him & leaving it there. There's an old song we used to sing: "Leave it there, leave it there! Take your burden to the Lord & leave it there! If you'll trust & never doubt, He will surely bring you out! Take your burden to the Lord & leave it there!" In other words, when we go to the Lord & we pray & we ask Him to take this burden & take care of this problem or this trouble, that's casting your burdens on the Lord & leaving it there & resting in the Lord. The Word encourages our faith & strengthens us to trust & have faith to do that, & then when we pray, we'll have the faith to cast our burdens on the Lord & He shall sustain us. (Psa.55:22)
51. WHAT I'M DOING IS COMPARING YOUR PHYSICAL LIFE & YOUR GROWTH TO YOUR CHRISTIAN LIFE! You guys didn't think you could come down here to a birthday party & get out of having a class, did you? So do you know the point yet? What's the point of this little talk? I already asked a question but you haven't answered me yet. I asked you two questions now that still are unanswered. When do you actually become an adult? (Davida: The age of 18?) That's when you become fully physically grown. But I've seen some people my age that still weren't adults, they still were childish & acted like children & were naughty like children.
52. SO JUST YOUR AGE DOESN'T MAKE YOU AN ADULT‚ DOES IT?—Although the World thinks so. That's the System method, that you've got to be 18 physically to be an adult, you've gotta be so old physically to get married, you've gotta be so old physically to vote. You've gotta be so old physically to be "of age," as they say, & be independent of your parents. They've got all kinds of standards & scales of what it takes to be an adult—physically, legally, morally & whatnot!
53. WHAT DO YOU THINK IT TAKES TO BE AN ADULT? WELL, I'LL TELL YOU, IT'S THE SAME IN BOTH THE SPIRITUAL & IN THE PHYSICAL. What do you think it takes to be an adult?
54. DID GOD MAKE A MISTAKE? DO YOU THINK IT'S WRONG FOR PEOPLE SO YOUNG TO BE ABLE TO HAVE CHILDREN? Then why did God make'm able to have children so young ! (Fam: So that you learn how to take care of others instead of only taking care of yourself?) Ah, you're getting real close to the answer of what it takes to be an adult! Now you've all got it! (Fam: It teaches you responsibility.)—Exactly right!
55. SO THE ANSWER TO BEING AN ADULT ... I'LL NEVER FORGET WHEN I FIRST READ THAT IN THE READER'S DIGEST! They used to have these little tiny sayings underneath the articles, & I'll never forget that. I read that when I was about 12 years of age. I used to be an avid Reader's Digest reader because it was brief & easy to carry in your pocket & I took it with me everywhere. I was in Junior High School & I thought & thought & pondered over that saying. Guess what it was?
56. "YOU WILL NEVER BECOME AN ADULT UNTIL YOU HAVE CHILDREN OF YOUR OWN!" I'll drop that bomb & let it sink in for awhile, & some of you are already thinking of objections! You say, "Well, I'm an old maid & I've never had any kids yet, but I consider myself an adult!" This doesn't always necessarily have to mean physical children of your own. As one of you so aptly pointed out, your "children" can sometimes be adult responsibilities. What are children? They're a big responsibility! What's a responsibility anyhow? (Techi: A job.)—A job! She hit the nail right on the head, that's exactly what it is! It's your job, your work, your burden‚ your share of the load that you have to carry. And as far as I'm concerned, having children is the greatest thing that any woman can do, the thing that God made them for & ordained them for!—Outside of being in some way an even greater handmaiden of the Lord & doing a job for Jesus, your Jesus job, whatever job God has given you to do for Him.
YOUR JOB FOR THE LORD—HAVING CHILDREN!
57. WHAT DO WE CALL THESE LETTERS THAT THE GIRLS TYPE? I USED TO CALL THEM MO BABIES! They're my babies that they bear through their typewriters. They're children, big jobs, & just as important babies as real life flesh-&-blood children like you! They're my children! They're my job!—And it's the women who help to bear them! (See "Typewriter Queens!" ML #301B.) Well, that's true, that's real, but that's in another realm of the spiritual‚ you might say. We have spiritual children too, don't we?
58. SEE, THIS LITTLE BIRTHDAY TALK IS ALL ABOUT CHILDREN, HAVING CHILDREN & CHILDREN GROWING UP & THEN HAVING MORE CHILDREN! So that's very important, isn't it? It's almost the most important thing in this whole World! In fact the most important thing in this whole World that you can possibly do is have children of your own!—Whether they be physical, flesh-&-blood children‚ or spiritual flesh-&-blood children. Every time you win a soul to Jesus, that soul is your babe in the Lord & you have to nurse it & care for it.
59. YOU SAY, "BUT WE IN A WS SELAH UNIT CAN'T GO OUT & WITNESS & WIN SOULS!" WHAT DO YOU MEAN? YOU ARE WITNESSING & WINNING SOULS ALL THE TIME! You're like the doctors & the nurses in the hospitals that help the women bear the babies! You're the midwives! You're the ones that furnish the things that are needed & the skill‚ etc., to help'm learn how to bear babies & to show'm how & to help deliver'm & furnish the food & the milk & the nourishment & all that! So you're very busy! And the folks out there in the field witnessing & litnessing, & now postering & tapenessing, etc., they're the mothers & dads, & they're having the spiritual babies.
60. THEY'RE HAVING THE BABIES OUT THERE IN THE FIELD, BUT THOSE BABIES ARE YOUR CHILDREN JUST AS MUCH AS THEIRS! "They which stand by the stuff shall divide the spoil!" (1Sam.30:24; Psa.68:12) What's the stuff? What do you think that stuff was? What was David talking about when he left half of his men behind to take care of all the stuff & the other half went to take care of the battle? What was the stuff?—The wives & the children & all their possessions, that was the stuff! Some stuff, Kiddo!
62. SO YOU DON'T BECOME AN ADULT UNTIL YOU HAVE CHILDREN OR RESPONSIBILITIES OR JOBS OF YOUR OWN, MATURE‚ ADULT RESPONSIBILITIES, & IF YOU'RE NOT HAVING CHILDREN YOURSELF, YOU'RE TAKING CARE OF OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN. A lot of people here are taking care of other people's jobs & responsibilities. You're helping bear the load of all the people in the field. You're helping them carry the load by producing the goods & serving the ammunition that they can use in the battle. Are you following me? Do you understand what I'm driving at? I know I'm kind of scatterbrained & I scatter shot all around‚ but something's bound to hit somebody! So you are not really an adult until you have children of your own!—Whether it's a flesh-&-blood child that you bear from your own womb‚ or someone else's flesh-&-blood children you care for, or the babies you bear when you win souls, or if it's MO Babies you bear from that womb–shaped typewriter! It's kind of shaped like a womb, things come out of it.—PTL? It really delivers the goods! I'll tell you, that seed planted in the right hearts is really going to do the job! TTL! PTL!
63. ... Did you hear the story about the little boy when his Mama was pregnant & she was trying to find out what his preference might be, a boy or a girl? She said, "Johnny, Honey, what would you like to have? What do you want it to be?" He said, "I'd like to have a puppy!" He wanted his Mother to have not a brother or a sister, but a puppy! Well, that was pretty smart, that wasn't so dumb. After all, if he preferred a puppy to a brother or sister, that was his idea. Of course‚ he didn't know his Mama couldn't have a puppy, she could only have boys or girls. Get the point?
65. FOR AWHILE THEY WERE MARRYING EARLIER & EARLIER, & NOW THEY'RE MARRYING LATER! They have so much freedom with sex, they don't settle down to one partner until they're in their late 20s or 30s, that's the stats. They don't really know what they want to learn, they don't even know who they are till even after that. In some ways it's almost better, because the Systemites are so dumb & they have no standards, no absolutes, no plan or guide or right or wrong or anything‚ so they never find out what they want or learn until after about 30 years of experience of trying this one, that one & the other one! They've got to have a whole string of broken homes & whatnot before they finally settle down to the kind of a girl or the kind of a boy they really like & they find out through bitter experiences what kind of person they should marry.
66. NOW THAT'S NOT THE WAY IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE FAMILY OF GOD! You shouldn't have to go through several mates & several marriages before you find the right one, you ought to find one early! The only thing I was disappointed about was I didn't find Maria 30 or 40 years sooner‚ or think what a wonderful life I could have had! But do you see the wisdom of God? If I had, what would have happened? Look at her! She'd be an old lady by now! Imagine me being married to a grandmother, I just can hardly imagine it! I looked at some of those new snapshots of Mother Eve‚ &
67. GOD BLESS HER & GOD HELP HER, BUT SHE'S JUST NOT FOR THIS GENERATION, SHE'S NOT FOR THIS AGE, SHE'S NOT FOR THIS REVOLUTION! She's old-bottle, old-hat! She's still stuck in the churches, still going around to the churches. But it looks like the Lord's about ready to flush her out because of Deborah's book. More & more people are getting Deborah's book over there & more & more churches won't take'm, so now at last she's asking me, "Will you help me get back to the field?" Well, I don't even know if we want that kind of people on the field! She deserted her post, she deserted her field! She was over in Europe & she had a fairly good ministry, even though it was amongst kind of old bottles & backsliders & her old-fashioned old-bottle ways of doing things.
68. THE OLD BOTTLE WAY IS GOOD AS FAR AS IT GOES, BUT IT DOESN'T GO FAR ENOUGH, DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? They're living in the past! All they can think about is reading the old Letters & the good old days & the good old ways. "Oh, wasn't Dad wonderful then? Wasn't that wonderful then!" They're looking backward! They're not only looking backward, but if you look backward like Lot's wife‚ you're going to go backward‚ & that's just where she went!
69. YOU'VE GOTTA LOOK AT THESE CHILDREN LIKE THIS, THEY'RE GOING FORWARD! THEY'RE CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE! We've got to think about the future & their future & our future & what's coming! Forget the past! "Press forward to the things that are before & the high calling which is in Christ Jesus!" (Phi.3:13‚14) That's a good verse for you children today. Forget the past! They don't have much past! My goodness, only six years, nine years, what's that? Just think‚ Techi, I'm 11 times as old as you are!—And about seven times as old as Davida! Their past doesn't amount to much compared to my past. They've got almost nothing but future! Thank God they can't look back to the past! I sometimes try to get Techi to remember things that happened a long time ago, but the Lord just lets them forget the past. Why live in the past? Old folks are famous for living in the past.
70. MY GRANDFATHER SAID, "YOU KNOW, DAVE, THE OLDER YOU GET, YOU FIND OUT THE PAST BECOMES MORE REAL THAN THE FUTURE!"—NOT TO ME, GRANDDAD! To me the future is far more real than the past! That past now to me seems like a dream, like something that I must have read about somebody else, about a story or a movie I've seen. It's becoming just about as vague & faint. He said, "There comes a time when you will remember the past even better than the present." Now that's the System way‚ the System habit!—You know why? They live in the past, they dream of the past, they think about the past, they constantly exercise their memory about the past until the past becomes more real to them than the present, much less the future! They don't even know anything about the future, how could they live in the future? Thank God, God has entrusted us with knowledge of the future so that we can think & plan for the future! Amen?—And to Hell with the past! Forget the past!
71. WE ARE CHILDREN, NOT ONLY OF THE PRESENT, BUT WE ARE CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE!—AND THESE ARE THE ONES WHO ARE GOING TO LIVE IT!—Even if I don't make it, even if you don't make it! I think most of you are, thank the Lord, we've lost very few by death. But we've lost quite a few who have gone back because they loved the past more than the present, much less the future!
72. BUT WHY WERE ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB, MOSES & SOME OF THOSE PEOPLE SUCH GREAT MEN?—Especially the Father of Faith, Abraham, & Moses, a guy who carried it out. Did they just live in the past‚ live in memories, old memories? What's the Scripture for it? Quote it to me! (Fam: "They looked for a City which hath foundations, whose Builder & Maker is God.") That's one of them. What's another one? (Fam: "They had respect unto the recompense of reward.") That's another one. (Fam: They were pilgrims & strangers.) Pilgrims & strangers here. Another one? (Fam: "They desire a better country.") That's another one. "As seeing Him Who is invisible!" What was he looking for? He was looking for another World! (Heb.11:10,13-16,26,27)
73. THE SYSTEM HAS GOT A COUPLE OF SONGS NOW ABOUT HEAVEN! "Heaven!—I'm looking for a better place! Heaven!—I'm tired of this place! Heaven!" I wouldn't be a bit surprised if maybe we've inspired'm! Maybe they've gotten some of our Letters or pictures or Posters & gotten inspired & gotten to thinking about Heaven!
74. I'LL TELL YOU‚ IF THERE'S ANYTHING THIS GENERATION NEEDS, IT'S HEAVEN!—Right? If there's anything the young people of today need to think about & be told about & be given hope for‚ it's about Heaven!—Why? Because they haven't got any future, that's why! As far as this World's concerned, there's no future left for them & they know it! The future is going to blow up in their faces, & this World, as far as they're concerned, is going to blow up & be gone!—And it won't be very long, either. So what have they got to look forward to? They're too young to be living in the past, so what are they doing? They're just living up the present, just living it up & burning it up! "It doesn't matter if they kill us, we're going to eat‚ drink & be merry because tomorrow we die!" That's the philosophy of the youth of today! "Live like Hell, because tomorrow we're going to Hell anyhow!"—Right?
75. BUT WE HAVE A FUTURE, PRAISE THE LORD? WE'VE GOT HEAVEN‚ AMEN? And if there's any generation that ever needed to be told about Heaven & about the future & that there's hope & there's Salvation & there's life ahead & there's beauty ahead‚ there's a wonderful World to look forward to, it's this generation who has no more World to look forward to here on Earth! Amen?
76. THIS IS THE FIRST GENERATION THAT EVER LIVED WITH THE LITERAL KNOWLEDGE THAT THIS IS THE END! They know it! Nobody has to tell them that, no prophet has to tell'm, they don't even have to read the Bible to know that this is the End! This is it, this is the End! Pretty soon there's going to be no more World as far as they're concerned. They don't know what we know, that the World isn't going to be destroyed!—Their World is, in a way, it's being destroyed right now & there are all kinds of destroyers, including the Devil! He's destroying them right now with their music & their drugs & all the rest! He's destroying them! They're being destroyed! So they don't know there's anything else.
77. THEY HAVE NOTHING TO LIVE FOR! THE WORLD HAS TAKEN AWAY FAITH FROM THEM! They've taken away faith in the Bible‚ faith in God & given them this evolutionary shit, garbage or worse, sewage, & left'm nothing but husks, husks, husks! They've got nothing to live for, nothing to look forward to, so that's their motto: "Eat, drink & be merry & go to Hell, because we're going to die anyhow! So we might as well live it up now." And boy, you can see that they're really burning the candle at both ends & both sides & living it up, because they don't give a damn about the future, they can't see any future, they don't know there is any future! They figure they might as well live like Hell right now, they're going to Hell anyhow! That isn't very pleasant, is it?
78. BUT WE KNOW THERE'S A FUTURE, AMEN? AND WE KNOW THERE'S A HAPPY FUTURE! Those songs are the heartcry of this generation, this age, the young people of today. You guys are getting to be old people compared to the people singing these songs! They're the modern teenagers in their early 20's of today like you were when we started 15 years ago. Let's face it, you're getting to be middle–aged, almost twice their age! Wake up, folks! You're now the older generation & they're the young people! And the poor kids, they don't have any hope‚ no future, no faith, no knowledge of the beauty & the wonderful World that's coming unless we give it to them! God help us! Not even the church has much knowledge of the wonderful World that's coming! They've got a kind of a hazy, dim, crazy view of Heaven, & even though it's all laid out specifically in the Bible‚ they still can't understand it, they still don't know what's ahead! So God's given us the job to show it to'm!
79. PRAISE GOD, I WAS WORKING ON THE POSTERS ABOUT AN HOUR THIS MORNING & I'M HAVING FUN, I'M REALLY ENJOYING LIFE! I'm really loving this job of portraying the marvels & beauties & wonders & thrilling, exciting life of Heaven to the World! Isn't that wonderful? What better job could you have than that?—To show the World that there is a future‚ there is a World to come, there is happiness that's going to come forever, there is beauty, there is right & justice & plenty & everything you've hoped for that is coming! You just need to trust God for it, & you need Jesus to see you through! Amen?
ABORTION & THE "CIVILISED" WORLD!
80. WELL, WE STILL HAVEN'T ANSWERED THAT ONE QUESTION: HOW COME GOD MADE IT PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE FOR THESE YOUNG PEOPLE TO START HAVING BABIES SO EARLY? But like I said, some of those so-called developing, backward, Third World or underdeveloped countries, whatever you want to call them, I'll tell you, they're over-developed when it comes to maturing sexually! They're more natural & they start getting together & having babies younger. The System hasn't got such a grip on'm or got'm so screwed up that they can't let nature take its course.
81. LOOK AT THE WESTERN WORLD WHERE THEY'RE THE SO-CALLED MOST CIVILISED & THEY HAVE THE MOST LAWS & THE TIGHTEST SYSTEM & THEY WAIT THE LONGEST TO GET MARRIED & THE LONGEST TO HAVE CHILDREN!—In fact, they try not to have children & do everything they can to keep from having children, even kill their babies if they have'm! Think of it! They kill'm by the millions every year! Did you know that? The mothers in America & Europe & places like that are killing their babies by the millions! Isn't that terrible? Of course, they kill'm before they have'm, kill'm while they're still inside, but that's still killing! They call it abortion.
82. THEY'RE ALWAYS LOOKING UP NICE BIG WORDS FOR THESE HORRIBLE DEEDS! They call murdering babies abortion & they call Sodomites homosexuals or gays. When I was a little boy they called them queers & pansies. But they've got new names for them all the time because they don't want to call them what they really are, it's too bad a name! God calls it sodomy, & He calls those that practice it Sodomites, but they're always looking for prettier names for things. Abortion sounds a lot nicer than baby murder, doesn't it? I never even knew what the word meant until I got quite far along & reading books, & I finally found out what abortion was. I might have thought it was something like cold borscht & gefilte fish, or cheese blintzes & sour cream or something! It sounds like borscht‚ doesn't it?
83. OH, YOU GUYS DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT JEWISH FOOD, WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?—IT'S DELICIOUS! Those Jews‚ they know how to feed themselves‚ let me tell you, they really know how to cook!—Ha! Anyway, I've got to wind this up quick because these poor little girls have got to get to their nap! What do you think this is, your birthday?—Yes! That's why Grandpa's giving you a special birthday talk dedicated to the children!—Not only the ones having the birthday, God bless'm, but all the children in the whole World! Amen?
WHY PUBERTY [SO EARLY]?
84. YOU ARE CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE, & THAT'S THE DIRECTION WE'RE LOOKING! But in order to be ready in the future, you've got to do what? It's there now, right? So we're preparing you for the future. Forget the past! We're not looking backward any more, we don't have time to look backward. There was a time when God winked at this ignorance of spending so much time going over every little verse in the Old Testament‚ all the history of the Jews & the geography of Israel & blah blah blah! We don't mention those things unless it has something to do with the future! But anyway, answer me that 64–dollar question!—That's a 64,000-dollar question nowadays.
85. I'VE NEVER HAD A SYSTEMITE BE ABLE TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION YET!—BECAUSE THEY DON'T DARE GIVE YOU THE OBVIOUS ANSWER! They don't give God credit for anything, they think it's all accidental, they don't think that it's right, they don't think it should be, but it is!—That young people are able to have children. Why did God allow them? (Fam: Because they're stronger then, have more energy & they can learn more?) That's one good reason, yes. (Fam: Because He wants them to have children.) He wants them to have children! The quicker you start, the more you have! Let's get your answers! (Fam: To get the experience.)—Experience! That's another good one. (Fam: To keep them busy with responsibility.) Keep'm busy to stay out of mischief! They wouldn't have so many juvenile delinquents if they were taking care of a few little delinquents of their own! (Fam: They're young enough to enjoy'm & also the grandparents are able to help them.)
86. THERE'S A GOOD POINT! THEY'RE YOUNG ENOUGH & STRONG ENOUGH TO HAVE'M WITHOUT HARDLY ANY PHYSICAL TROUBLES OR PROBLEMS! The older women get, the more difficult it becomes & the more problems they have & "complications" as they call it. But God made these young people in their early teens able to have'm, & if they're not ready for'm, I don't believe they're going to have'm! Because I believe in God & He designs the human soul & He designs who's going to have a baby & who isn't, & what babies are going to be born & what aren't! So if you're not ready for it, you won't have it! Some girls have periods for 5‚ 10 or 15 years before they ever have a baby. And some boys have semen for a long time before they ever get married, like I did.
87. (FAM: THEY'RE STILL YOUNG ENOUGH TO BE AT HOME WITH THEIR PARENTS.)—EXACTLY! THAT'S ONE OF THE MAIN POINTS. God intended for them to live together as a family & for the grandmother to help teach the girl, not only housekeeping & cooking, but babycare! Isn't that what you get in this Family? We're doing for you what your parents failed to do, what they should have done. Most of you are even learning to cook in the Family! You never really took care of the house, much less children. How many of you really took care of little brothers & sisters?—One girl, a very unusual girl!
88. WHEN I WAS YOUNG, FAMILIES OF TEN OR A DOZEN CHILDREN WERE COMMON!—AT LEAST SEVEN OR EIGHT! You were considered a small family if you only had four or five children! They almost looked on you with pity that you had so few children. Children were considered a blessing in those days, especially when it was an agricultural economy & you lived on the farm. The more children you had, the more help you had! The more boys you had, the more boys you had to work on the farm, & the more girls you had‚ the more girls you had to help keep house & take care of the cooking & the sewing & the clothes-making & the children & all the rest! That's God's natural way of living & natural economy. And in that natural environment, the more children you have‚ the better!—And the sooner you have'm, the better!—Before the grandmother gets too old to help you take care of them.
89. WHAT'S THE BEST WAY IN THE WORLD TO LEARN TO TAKE CARE OF CHILDREN? (Fam: Have'm yourself?) But what if you had'm yourself before you ever had any experience taking care of children? What's the best way to learn how to take care of children? (Fam: By doing it.) But if you haven't had any help from some of the other mothers, you'd have a pretty tough time. So the best way to learn to take care of children is not only by doing it. That's fine, you'll learn, hit & miss, by bitter experience. Somehow you'll learn.—And that's the way most of the modern girls are learning. Their mothers never taught'm, they never had anybody there to show'm how & they've made a mess out of their kids because they didn't have any help having them & rearing them. They had no guide, no Jesus, no Bible, no God—what a Hell of a mess they've made out of their kids! They didn't even have their parents' help.
TEEN PARENTS!
90. BUT THE LORD INTENDED FOR YOU TO HAVE CHILDREN EARLY ENOUGH—& THAT'S THE WAY IT IS IN THIS FAMILY, THANK THE LORD—SO THAT YOUR MOTHERS & FATHERS IN THE LORD CAN HELP YOU KNOW HOW TO HAVE'M & HOW TO RAISE'M, & EVEN THE FATHER TO KNOW HOW TO TRAIN'M & DISCIPLINE'M! Look at the experience that dear David has had! Look at the experience & the training & the Scripture he knows & how much he knows about the Lord! Don't you think he'd make the best kind of a father in the World with all he knows about the Lord & God? Boy, I'd like to be one of his children! Well, I don't know, he might be a strict disciplinarian. I might get a lot of spankings from him to make me train up in the way I should go!
91. —OR WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO HAVE A MOTHER LIKE SOME OF OUR TEENS WHO'VE HAD ALL THAT CHILD TRAINING & ALL THAT LOVE OF THE LORD & more knowledge of the Word & God & Jesus & what's right than the kids of this World could even start to think about? Look at the responsibility our older children in the Family have taken for their little brothers & sisters, as much responsibility as some mothers have! And you can trust them because you love them & you have confidence in them, faith in them. You know they're responsible, you know they're wise‚ you know they pray & trust the Lord & it's safe to let them out in the yard with little babies running around that can hurt themselves or all kinds of things. You couldn't do that if you didn't have faith in their training & their love of the Lord & their prayer & knowledge of God. Right? That's the way mothers ought to be, like so many of our young teens are‚ & like these younger children are getting to be.
92. BY THE TIME OUR KIDS ARE AT LEAST 14 & 15, MY GOODNESS, THEY'LL BE SO WELL-TRAINED & HAVE SO MUCH EXPERIENCE IN CHILDCARE. ... Taking care of children will be nothing new! Look at all the kids they help take care of now!—Right? That's the way children ought to be trained! That's the way young prospective mothers ought to be trained! And that's the way God intended for it to be & that's the way the Lord meant for it to be, that they were reared in an atmosphere & an environment where there were lots of little children & where they had lots of work to do, just like our teens have & even the other children as well—housework, cooking, cleaning, childcare & finally they're ready for child–bearing.
93. HAVING A BABY IS GOING TO BE NOTHING NEW TO THEM WHEN THE TIME COMES! They've been with you when you had your babies, they've been around your babies‚ they've taken care of your babies, their little brothers & sisters, so it's nothing new! Cooking & housework is nothing new, there's nothing unusual about it! They're getting the perfect training to be a mother & to have children of their own. ...
94. THE ONLY REASON IT'S TOO EARLY FOR SYSTEM KIDS IS THEIR GOD–DAMNED PARENTS HAVE NOT TRAINED THEM LIKE THEY OUGHT TO & have not given them the teaching & the training & the hard work that they should have had to learn how! Their parents were too God-damned selfish to have little brothers & sisters for them to take care of, & they spoiled the little God-damned brats so‚ they didn't know how to lift their hand to do a lick of work in the whole house!—Nothing but sit around reading magazines or watching television. They wouldn't think about cooking!
95. SO NO WONDER YOU GIRLS DON'T HARDLY KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT COOKING! Well, we have chosen a few that did know a little about cooking or they wouldn't even be here, & they're good cooks! We probably have some of the few good cooks in the whole Family, God bless'm! What I was saying awhile ago about cake-baking is no reflection on your cooking‚ that just seems to be a lost art.
96. THAT'S GOD'S PLAN, THAT'S GOD'S WAY! That's the Lord's way, that children are supposed to grow up in experience & in strength & grow in maturity, physically, mentally & spiritually, thoroughly prepared from the time they're babies to the time they start having babies of their own! But Grandpa's gotta quit! That was a long birthday talk! But this, you see, is my birthday wish for you. I had an even longer one than you had, & I gave you what I said was a good birthday verse too! Remember what it was? (Fam: "Forgetting the things which are behind, looking forward to the things that are before!") (Ph.3:13)—Right! They don't have much to forget, thank God! Isn't that wonderful?—But they've got lots to look forward to! Thank God! But let's train them up now in the way they should go, from the time they're babies, right on up until they're ready to have babies of their own, & then they are mature adults when they undertake responsibilities of adults. That's when you really become an adult‚ when you have children of your own, then you're actually an adult, even if they're not your own children.
97. EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY HAS CHILDREN! We don't have a barren woman in the Family! We haven't got a childless woman in our whole Family! You all have children! Behold, these are your children! Who is your father or your mother, your brother or your sister? As Jesus said, "Behold, these that do the will of God!" (Mat.12:48-50) They're your children‚ amen? Praise God! These are your children. You've all got children. There's not a man in this Family that hasn't got children, children of his own! Every Home I know of has got children & there are very few of our Homes that don't have children. We call them Family Homes‚ if you'll notice in the stats.
98. WHERE THEY HAVE CHILDREN, THAT'S A FAMILY! Just a husband & wife, that's not a Family, & certainly single adults are not families.—Right? But a Home is a Family & it takes children to make a Family! And that's what we've got‚ thank the Lord!—Lots of Homes & lots of families & oodles of children! The Lord surely knew what He was doing, didn't He? Praise God!
99. THAT'S WHAT GOD WANTED MOST OF ALL, MORE CHILDREN FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD! There's nothing He likes better than more children for the Kingdom of God! "For ye cannot enter into the Kingdom of God except ye be as a little child!" (Mat.18:3) Praise God? The Kingdom belongs to the children, praise God‚ & only those that are like children & are childlike at heart, "for of such is the Kingdom of God!" (Luk.18:16) Let's pray! "You mean Grandpa's actually finally going to quit?" ILY! That's not too bad, we had a birthday party & it was only a little short two-hour talk!—Ha! Now I'll bet you're tired enough to take your nap! PTL! Hallelujah! TYJ!
100. SO THEY'RE CHILDREN OF THE KINGDOM, AMEN?—THE CHILDREN OF KINGDOM COME!—AND THE KINGDOM NOW TOO! Thank You Jesus for a little bit of Heaven right here & now! As we pray the prayer You taught us to pray: (Prays the Lord's Prayer.) Amen! PTL! Lord bless & keep us all safely in Thy care for the rest of this day. Help us to accomplish a lot for Thee, Lord, & make us a blessing, in Jesus' name. Thank You for this time together, for these wonderful birthdays as we grow as children of the Kingdom, in Jesus' name!—Amen.
101. OUR GIRLS DON'T LOOK FORWARD WITH DREAD TO HAVING CHILDREN! The System mothers teach their daughters to fear having children, "My God, avoid having children, don't have any children! I'll take you to the doctor, I'll fix you up so you don't have any children!" That's their attitude, because they're selfish! They don't want to have children themselves, & if they "accidentally," as they say, have one, well, they just have to put up with it unless they kill it! So finally they have it. And of course, by all means they don't want their daughters to have children! They tell them, "Of all things‚ don't make the mistake I made in having you!" How do you think that makes them feel? We've seen some movies like that lately. That's what the mother was really telling the daughter: "Don't make the mistake of having children like I had you!" How do you think that makes the poor girl feel? That's the System & System mothers for you! That's about it!
102. GOODNESS, BECOMING A MOTHER IS WHAT OUR CHILDREN LOOK FORWARD TO! Techi can hardly even wait to have a family of her own! ILY! God bless you all! Thank you for your patience & attention & I hope you have a good afternoon. You've all got children, amen?—So take good care of them! Happy Birthday! (Sings:)
"Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday, dear children,
Happy birthday to you!"
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family