n The Action Series!—Part 3

By PeterCM/FM 3308 8/00

Dear Family,

1. God bless you! Mama and I love you so much. We're very encouraged by all the Lord is doing—the places He's leading, and the action He has already brought about in this new era of action! He's got lots more in store, so hold on to your hats!

2. In Part 1 of the "Action Series," the Lord gave many beautiful promises for our "era of action" future. Since we've come to the end of the days of preparation and have received years of training toward this end, the Lord made it clear that our most fruitful future lies in focusing on witnessing, winning souls, and following up on His sheep. He explained that most of our Family problems would be solved by each of us taking up the commission to preach the Gospel and make disciples of all nations. He poured out promise after promise‚ all of which He will fulfill if we will do our part to enact the vision He has given.

3. Part 2 of the "Action Series" addressed those in WS, challenging them to do all they can to be faithful servants to you who are ­doing the job of reaching the world.

4. In Part 3 of this ­series‚ we want to share with you what the Lord has in store for us as a Family in the fairly near future, and outline what we need to do now to make it happen. The Lord wants us all to have a clear vision of where we're headed, what changes are on the horizon, and what each of us needs to do personally to prepare for those changes.

5. Jesus' preaching will go to meddling in this GN as He lays out His vision for the Family of the future. He tells us what His goals are for us as a body, and what we need to do to achieve those goals. It's going to take faith, initiative, courage, work and dedication, but it will be well worth it! If you have any doubts about that, reread what He said about our potential future in Part 1 of this series (ML #3298:94-125, GN 895). [Fellow Members, you'll find this message in the enclosed 4-page flyer.]

Lose the Ruts—

Latch on to Change!

6. First I want to share with you what the Lord said about the changes that are ahead. After that, you'll hear more about the Family's future and your role in it, both now and in the years to come.

7. (Jesus speaking:) I am doing a new thing. I am bringing about changes that will affect all of My children. These are changes for good, but changes are never easy. They require work and sacrifice. They require getting rid of old mindsets. They require vision, faith, and a desire to do new things. The change that is facing the Family is not going to be an easy one; it will require each Family member to go through the steps of change.

8. It will require them first to receive My Word, to believe it, and to take on the vision that I give through My Word. They must then have faith and courage to see it through. It's going to require work on their part. It will require a change of mind, a change of the way they do things, and a change of their present vision and goals. This is not an easy thing‚ but it is necess­ary.

9. It's important that each one prays and asks Me to give them the vision, faith, courage and initiative that's needed. They must ask Me for help to let go of the old—the way they've been used to doing things—so that they can latch on to the new. As revolutionary as My chil­dren are, in many ways they're stuck in a rut. Now I wish to break them out of that rut and that mold. This is the test to see how truly revolutionary they are, if they can revolve and move as I do. I'm calling them into even greater service, into greater ministries which require more faith and more dedication and more work, but which will bring about more fruitfulness.

10. This is a challenge—a challenge for each one, and a challenge for you, My queen and king. The challenge for you is to give the Family the vision and to work toward setting up the new structure. The challenge for them is to accept the change, to move forward, and to let go of the things of the past. It's a new era. It's a new day. It's a day of change. If you expect an era of action, everything cannot remain as it was. You must be prepared to do what is required in order to actively participate in the era of action, so that action, progress and change will be brought about.

11. This is the call and challenge that I put before My children—to move, grow and change. It is a time to grow. It is a time to latch on to the responsibility of making the Family what it needs to be for this new era, and it will require each one of you doing your part. So be willing to let go of the old. Latch on to the new, and have faith for it. Have faith that I will bring it to pass. Have faith that though there will be some hardship, and though it will be difficult to make this change, it will be worth it.

12. I'm moving My children in a new direction, higher up the mountain, and this will require faith on your part—faith to trust Me, faith to make the changes, faith to go forward. But if you will follow, you will see great results. Even now begin to seek Me about change—change in your own heart, change in your life. Seek and ask Me for an openness to the new, a willingness to try‚ a willingness to move forward in the direction that I am leading.

13. This is the new era. It's going to be an era of change, an era of action‚ an era of faith, an era of reaping, an era of shepherding and teaching. So grab on to the new! Move forward by faith, putting your trust in Me and My promises. For I will do more than you've ever imagined‚ and it will come about because of your faith and your obedience and your willingness to move on to the new. (End of message from Jesus)

14. (Peter: ) Sounds exciting‚ doesn't it? Jesus has issued the challenge to change—to get on with what's ahead and to leave our past mindsets behind. He's clearly said that, 1) it won't be easy, and 2) that each of us will have to go through the steps of change. He's asked you to pray for vision, faith, courage and initiative, all of which are needed to propel the Family into this era of action. In short‚ He's asking you to pray that you will be a pioneer.

15. He's also asking each of us to pray that we'll be new bottles. Only new bottles can let go of the old, the familiar way of doing things, and latch on to the new. He wants to break us out of our ruts and our crusty old molds. He's putting us to the test to see if we can revolve and move with Him, and if we can, we'll find ourselves in greater service and greater ministries that will bring about much more fruitfulness. Isn't that our collective goal and desire?

16. The Lord says that it's time to grow. It's time for every Family member to latch on to the responsibility of making the Family what it needs to be. That's what this GN is all about: moving forward and accepting the responsibility of molding the Family's future—a future which you personally play an important role in creating.

17. This future is going to cost you something. It's an investment; you invest today to reap tomorrow's dividends. As you'll see‚ the Lord makes it very clear that we need to follow His program now if we want to reap the benefits down the line. We need to begin to participate now if we want the future that He's promised.

18. We'll need faith to believe what we don't yet see, but will see in the spirit, because our faith causes us to grasp the vision, have the courage, take the initiative and make the change. We have the opportunity for a wonderfully fruitful future; we just have to work together with the Lord and each other to make it happen—and we must start now.

19. Let's study what our precious Husband is asking of us, and what the results of our obedience will be.

The Family's Future

—A New Vision!

20. (Jesus speaking:) The Activated program is My vision for the future. It is a feeding program, a follow-up program, a work-building program. It's the future-of-the-Family program. I can't emphasize this enough. Activated is the future.

21. The time has come for you to consolidate the gains you have made. For years you have been winning souls to Me. For years I have taught and trained you. For years you have longed for a work that would grow, that would finance you, and that would make you feel that your sacrifices have been worth it. The time has now come.

22. You have entered into My era of action, and I am going to fulfill your dreams and My promises. This won't happen overnight, but as you follow My plan—as you dedicate yourselves to feeding, teaching, and training My sheep—I will begin a new work within you and your Homes. It's a multistage program‚ and will require time, faith, faithfulness, and hard work.

23. I'm asking you to become teachers, pastors, and shepherds—no longer the roving pioneers, but now stable pioneers, building a work, building a following, building a church of believers who will work with you and be part of you, new members of My Endtime army and Family. This will require dedication and stick-to-itiveness. It will require laying down your lives in new ways.

24. What are the steps you need to take to bring this about? You must start by participating in the Activated program and doing your part to make it work. Activated is the beginning. It's the first step.

25. You must also prepare yourselves by becoming ready to shepherd others, for as you begin to feed My sheep, you will become shepherds. No matter who you are or what you're doing now, as My sheep come to your doors‚ you will be shepherds. You will need to teach and train them. You will need to answer their questions‚ be a good example, and give them counsel in their lives. Each of you‚ from the youngest to the oldest, will be called upon to participate. Are you ready for this? Some are; many aren't. Now's the time to get ready.

26. First you must prepare on an individual basis by making sure you're living My Words and upholding My standard. You must study My Word, both old and new, so that you know the principles of faith and truth. I'm calling you to be priests and ministers of My Word, My love, and My truth to those who seek to have Me play a more important role in their lives. You must prepare yourself in heart and spirit, and strength­en yourself in the faith, so that you can be these priests, ministers‚ and teachers of the Gospel.

27. Second, you must prepare your Home. Is your Home ready to receive other believers? Are you ready to have people over at all hours‚ hungering for the Word and the truth? If they come to your door‚ what will you give them? Are you ready to make the needed commitment? Is your Home the sample it should be? When the sheep come to your Home, what will they see? Will they see My joy, love, and the unity of the Spirit? Will they see those who have the answers that they seek? Is your Home ready? Are you personally ready?

28. Third, you must pray. You must pray daily that I will bring the sheep in. You must begin now to pray and ask Me to bring those across your paths who are hungry—not only for My truth, but hungry to involve Me in their lives. You must pray for disciples, for I intend to bring new disciples to you—those who want to serve Me in whatever capacity they can.

29. Most of these new disciples will not drop out and serve Me full-time, but they will be disciples nonetheless. They will be members of the Family. They will be co-workers and co-laborers with you. They will help open doors that you could never enter. They will be believers, follow­ers, disciples, helpers, and supporters. They will be your flock; they will be your brothers and sisters, and together all of you will be part of My new expanded Family. I'm going to open the doors wide so that many more can join your ranks at the level of belief and discipleship they can attain.

30. No longer will My Family be made up of only those who are full-time disciples. I will expand your ranks to include various levels of discipleship and believership. Many are going to want to be part of you, even as now many want to be a part‚ but can't, for they are not willing to make the commitment of giving all. Rather than closing them off, I now want to open the circle and let them in. I wish for those who want to be part of you, in faith, to be able to be so. I will make a way for those who want to believe and receive, but who don't feel they can do a great deal, to nevertheless be a part of My Family. I will make a way for those who wish to be disciples to be so, even if they can't leave all and follow Me. I will make a way for you to expand. You will have the help that you need by teaching, training, and feeding these who will become your flocks, helpers‚ and co-workers. They will rise up and work alongside you.

31. Don't be as those who say‚ "How can these be part of us when they have not labored in the heat of the day?" Let Me explain: You who have dedicated your lives to Me in fullness and complete­ness will be rewarded richly for your sacrifices and for the role that you have played in bringing My Family into existence. Without you‚ these who are lost would never come to know the fullness of My truth. They need you, and you need them. They have much to offer you, and you have a great deal to offer them. You will continue to hold a place of very high esteem for your dedication, and for your years of service and sacrifice. These will be the fruit of your labors. They will be the flock‚ and you will be the shepherds. A shepherd needs a flock, and the sheep need the shepherd.

32. In time, all of you will be called upon to shepherd others. You will be faced with their problems‚ questions, battles, doubts, and fears. You will need to be prepared to answer them. So you must prepare now to become shepherds. Start in your own life. Make the commitments needed to be a shepherd. Decide that you will follow close, not afar off. Embrace My Word. Apply it to your life now, so that you will be able to help others apply it in their lives in the days to come by seeing your good sample of following closely. Become your brother's keeper. Learn to shepherd one another in love. Help one another in the spirit. Uphold one another in prayer.

33. Learn to receive correction, guidance and counsel from one another. For if you expect to become the teachers and shepherds of the new flock that I'm going to bring to you‚ then you must be humble enough to be shepherded yourself. You must not see it as interference by others, but as someone who loves you trying to help. You must look at your Home and see if you are being the blessing you need to be. Ask yourself if you are an uplift to the Home. Are you contributing in a positive manner? As a Home‚ are you moving forward? Are you doing the job? Are you progressing? You, as an individual, and together with the rest of your Home, need to progress and get prepared.

34. I will send the flocks if you will follow the program. If you will do your part now, I will bring them in. You must make your preparations, commitments‚ and personal decisions to purify yourselves and get ready. You must prepare as a Home by helping one another, by following closely, by doing your part to feed the sheep. There will be training involved, and there will be decisions to make. Once you're ready, I will bring them in. Will you prepare now? Will you get ready? You must, if you want Me to fulfill My promises.

35. There is much work to be done. There are many preparations to be made. There are changes which must come about first, and it will take some time for this plan to be fully in place. I am working on many planes: Your queen and king are doing all they can to get things prepared; WS and leadership is working to prepare, and at the same time you must as well. It won't work to wait until the program of change is complete before you as an individual and your Home begin to prepare. You must start now so that when the program is complete and is passed on to you, you will be ready to receive it. So begin your preparations today.

36. We're all in this together. I'm preparing the sheep. I'm helping to prepare the materials and program through your leadership, and I'm trying to prepare you and your Home. We're all working together, and together we will be able to win many great victories. But it takes all of us working together. Will you?

37. Do you want to be part of My new move? Do you want to reap the harvest with Me? Do you want to become the leaders, teachers and shepherds that I have ordained you to be? If so, start now! Don't wait. Begin your preparation now and I will, in time, bring it all to pass. You will be ready if you start now.

38. Start on what you can now, personally and as a Home, through participating in the Activated program by sending in your addresses, and taking the extra time to tell those you witness to and lead to Me about the magazine. I know it takes more time and effort, but you must begin now to feed the sheep and prepare them for the call I will give them.

39. Do your part today, for you must if you want to be ready for the future that I have for you—the future of action, of feeding, of building My expanded Family, My Endtime church, and My Endtime army who will help to feed and reach the world in the days to come. (End of message from Jesus.)

What This Means for You

And Your Home!

40. (Peter:) The Lord has given us a lot to chew on here! Let's go over it section by section so we'll understand how we can implement His plan. He's laying the groundwork for the future of the Family‚ and we don't want to miss what He's saying.

nACTIVATED IS THE FAMILY'S FUTURE

"The Activated program is My vision for the future. It is a feeding program, a follow-up program, a work-building program. It is the future–of-the-Family program. I can't ­em­pha­size this enough. Activated is the ­future."

41. The Lord wants all of us to understand that the Family's future is in feeding the sheep, doing follow-up, and building a lasting work. The Activated program is not limited to only the monthly magazine—that's just the first step. It includes personal follow-up in a major way. Some areas don't have the Activated magazines in their languages, but this does not leave you out of the Family's future. The key to our future as a Family is follow-up, feeding the sheep, and making disciples of all nations. You can do that even if the Activated materials are not available in your field's local language.

42. For those of you who haven't read the Activated GN (ML #3238, GN 849) in a while, on page 23 of this GN you'll find a review of what the Activated program is all about and how it works.

nTHE FULFILLMENT OF OUR DREAMS AND THE LORD'S ­PROMISES—
BUT NOT OVERNIGHT

"The time has come for you to consolidate the gains you have made. For years you have been winning souls to Me. For years I have taught and trained you. For years you have longed for a work that would grow‚ that would finance you‚ and that would make you feel that your sacrifices have been worth it. The time has now come.

"You have entered into My era of action, and I am going to fulfill your dreams and My promises. This won't happen overnight, but as you follow My plan—as you dedicate yourselves to feeding, teach­ing, and training My sheep—I will begin a new work within you and your Homes. It's a multistage program, and will require time, faith, faithfulness, and hard work."

43. The Lord wants to take all we've done as a Family—the sacrifices we've made, the lessons we've learned, all that He's taught us over the years—and use it to fulfill both our desires and His promises now. We are incredibly wealthy in the spirit through the Word He has poured out to us and through the many lessons we've each learned. He now wants us to use that wealth to teach and train others—not in a haphazard manner‚ but in a cohesive, unified way so that we can all be winning converts and turning them into members and disciples.

44. The Lord makes it clear that this is not go­ing to be an overnight miracle‚ but rather a multi­stage program that will take time. It's going to require following His plan. It's going to require commitment on each of our parts to feed, teach and train those the Lord sends our way. It will require hard work and sacrifice‚ but as He says, it will bring about the fulfillment of our dreams and of His promises. Seems like that should be worth any sacrifice, doesn't it?

nGOODBYE ROVING PIONEERS—HELLO TEACHERS, PASTORS
AND SHEPHERDS

"I'm asking you to become teachers, pastors, and shepherds—no longer the roving pioneers, but now stable pioneers, building a work, building a following, building a church of believers who will work with you and be part of you, new members of My Endtime army and Family. This will require dedication and stick-to-itiveness. It will require laying down your lives in new ways."

45. Generally speaking, over the years the Family has had a rather nomadic culture. We move into an area, witness, do CTP work, get out the message, and after some time, we move on to a new field or area. Over the last several years this trend has changed somewhat. Some Homes have made the commitment to remain in the same place for a number of years, and for the most part‚ these Homes have borne much more long-term fruit. It's this long-lasting fruit that the Lord wants us to cultivate now. He wants you and your Home to build a work, a following, a church of believers who will be new Family members, Endtime soldiers, and co-workers who can help to harvest more souls for the Kingdom.

46. To bring this about will require dedication and stick-to-itiveness. He's calling you to become stable pioneers, meaning that you should find out where the Lord wants you to be for the long haul, and then remain there and build a work—a following of people that you teach, shepherd, and minister to. He's asking you to become pastors of these flocks, caring for them day after day, laying down your lives in new ways for those who are part of us even though they don't live within our Homes. We'll talk more about this when we study the portion of the prophecy that talks about these new members.

nYOU WILL MAKE ACTIVATED SUCCEED—OR FAIL

"What are the steps you need to take to bring this about? You must start by participating in the Activated program and doing your part to make it work. Activated is the beginning. It's the first step."

47. What is it that you need to do to bring this about? Yes, that "you" He's talking about is you specifically!

48. The first thing you must do is to start participating in the Activated program. Specifically, He's speaking about getting subscriptions for the Activated magazine. This means getting those who you lead to the Lord to subscribe, or to at least sign up for the first three free mags. This is the first step of this multistage program. We have to start there—Jesus said so. The key word here is "must." The Lord says: "You must start by participating in the Activated program."

49. It's easy to see why the Lord is telling us to get on the ball with Activated. It's the program and the wherewithal that He's given us to feed the multitudes that we witness to and/or lead to Him every month. I'm looking over the June stats and I see that in South America alone, 36,000 souls were saved. That means, on average, each one of you voting members in South America led at least 27 souls to the Lord. Perhaps half of them were in group situations or were children, so that leaves about 13 souls won per person who you could and should offer Activated to.

50. How many of those 13 newly saved babes did you personally offer to feed through the Activated course? Did you tell them how important it is to be fed now that they've gotten saved? Did you explain how they could learn more each month by subscribing to the magazine? Did you at least offer to send them the first three mags for free? Think about it. You led over 36,000 people to the Lord, probably about 18,000 of whom you had the opportunity to feed on a monthly basis. Even if only 5.5% of those agreed to subscribe, that would have been 1,000 new sub­scribers in June alone! Over the course of one year, that would be 12,000 newly saved brethren starting on the road to becoming Family members or disciples. Twelve thousand people equals our total CM/FM population—and that's just from South America!

51. I could be using our Family in North America as an example as well—you won 21,500 souls in June. Those of you in Europe and ­Africa who minister in countries where either English‚ Spanish, or Portuguese is spoken should also take this to heart‚ as Activated is available to you as well.

52. The reason we're highlighting those of you in South America is because the Lord specifically told you that the Activated ministry is one in which you could lead the way. You lead the most souls to the Lord on a monthly basis; you live in a continent where the people are hungry for the Gospel and already have a Christian culture. You should be shining examples of pushing Activated, and we're expecting it of you.

53. But not only you—all of us need to get on the ball and make promoting Activated our priority. The Lord said it's the first step in His multistage pro­gram which will lead us to the future He has for us. Why aren't you offering those new converts the Activated mag, encouraging them to take it‚ begging them to subscribe or at least take the first three free issues‚ since they need to grow in spirit after getting saved?

54. We win about 80,000 souls per month, but the five Activated desks collectively receive only a very small fraction of that amount in sub­scriptions per month. It's a drop in the bucket compared to how many subscriptions could and should be coming in! That's very sad‚ because the sheep that need to be fed are slipping through our fingers!

55. If you have the Activated program available in your area and you personally lead someone to the Lord and don't offer them a subscription, or at least get their address for the first three free issues‚ then you are causing your newborn babes to miss the boat, and consequently will find yourself losing out on the blessings as well!

56. Some of you don't want to send in the newborn Christians' addresses to Activated be­cause you're afraid that the Activated desk will offer them a book or a tool that you might be planning on selling to them. You're holding back because you think you might lose income. Or you feel that you can use the Activated mags to follow up on them yourselves‚ and that way they'll be attached to your Home instead of to the Activated desk. If you prefer to purchase the mags from the desk and give or mail them to your sheep yourself, that's just great—as long as someone is faithfully feeding them! But not that many Homes are able to keep up with that kind of faithful feeding, and that's why we set up the Activated desks, so that they can help you do it.

57. The long-term goal of Activated is to turn the addresses of these sheep back over to your Homes—sheep that you most likely wouldn't have had the time to follow up on sufficiently. Once they've gone through the Activated course, have been fed and grounded in the Christian faith, they'll then be a great blessing to your Home as outside witnessers, live-outs, tithers and supporters, new disciples, etc. Both the sheep and the benefits of their feeding will be returned to you. More on this in the next section!

58. But let me ask you this: Truthfully, how many of the people that you have personally witnessed to or prayed with over the last three months have you fed? How many of them have received a monthly mailing from you? How many have received a monthly Activated mag from you? How many have you sold other tools to? How many have you contacted via phone or mail? How many have you even thought of?

59. For the most part, you were probably happy they got saved. You certainly had good intentions to follow up on them, to feed them‚ and to offer them more tools, but I'd bet that the vast majority of you haven't gotten around to it. If you did, great!—But obviously most haven't. If you had, that would mean that each voting member in South America, for example, followed up on the 13 new souls you won through personal witnessing in June—meaning that you ­either called them, visited them, taught them classes, sold them books or tools, or sent them an Activated mag or other mailing. The next month you would have to continue to follow up on those 13 sheep, as well as the 13 new ones you'd win.

60. While some of you may do this on a regular basis, most don't. Engaging in that kind of follow-up takes time, and if you faithfully follow up on each soul you win, or each person you personally witness to who is receptive to the message, you'll find it becomes a full-time ministry! Most Family members don't have the time, resources, manpower, or the money to follow up in this manner. But your Activated program does! We simply need their addresses, their subscriptions.

61. Folks, we must feed them! We're failing the Lord and His sheep if we're not! Feeding the sheep is the Family's future. If we can't be faithful to gain subscriptions to a magazine that will give these new converts the spiritual nourishment they need to grow, then how can the Lord trust us to teach, pastor, and shepherd those He sends to our door? "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much" (Luke 16:10). How about it? Will you do it? Will you get those subscriptions? Will you put feeding the sheep before your income? Will you trust that as you give, the Lord will more than repay? Once again, listen to what the Lord said:

62. "What are the steps you need to take to bring this about? You must start by participating in the Activated program and doing your part to make it work. Activated is the beginning."

63. Pushing and plugging Activated is the beginning step. Please take it today! Don't let another day go by when you lead someone to the Lord and don't offer to feed them through Activated. Amen? (You can also sell Activated magazines just like any other GP tool. Distributing the Activated magazines as an outreach tool is also a great way to promote the program!)

nMORE ACTIVATED FINANCIAL BENEFITS FOR YOU!

64. The Activated program is not a financial venture. It's not a means of raising quick money to pay your bills this month. It's obedience to the Lord's commission to feed the sheep. If we're faithful to do that, we know that He'll take care of us and provide for us like He always has when we've obeyed Him. And one of the ways in which He has promised to bless us financially for pushing Activated is by raising up more long–term supporters and friends—fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord who will support your Homes so that you can devote more time to witnessing instead of fundraising. As we're sure you would all agree, that would be a tremendous help and blessing.

65. However, we also understand that the day-to–day pressures of having to make ends meet financially make it difficult for many of you to have that long-term vision. You may think‚ "That's great if we'll get some supporters in the future by investing time to collect Activated subscriptions, but what about this month's rent?" For that reason, we've tried as much as possible to make Activated bring some immediate financial benefits to you by baking in a commission that you receive for each subscription you sell. Granted‚ the commission isn't that big, but it's as much as the desks can afford while keeping the subscription price low (and easy for you to sell) and still hopefully break even financially.

66. However‚ we'd like to take that a step further and say that all of the profit that the desks receive from the sale of books‚ tapes, ­videos, or other outreach tools to its Activated subscribers will go back to you! Your local desk will take the income from the sale, subtract their costs, which include the seed corn‚ shipping and handling expenses, and then pass all the rest on to you! The money from additional tool sales will go to whichever Home originally sent in the subscription.

67. So if you sell someone a subscription and they later order tools directly from the Activated desk—whether a month later or a year or two years later—your Home will get the profits from that sale! That means if you sell subscriptions, the Activated desk will be selling tools on your behalf, basically for free (minus expenses like shipping, transportation, storage, taxes if applicable, etc.), for as long as that person's a subscriber!

68. That doesn't prevent you from offering the tools directly to those subscribers yourselves—in fact, you should, because they're much more likely to purchase a tool when the tools are presented personally to them than if they just get a brochure or catalog from the Activated desk in the mail. But at least you won't have to worry that you might lose income if they order something from the Activated desk instead of from your Home. And, for all those to whom you don't have the opportunity to sell the tools personally, the Activated desk will pitch the products and sell the tools on your behalf—and you'll get the financial profits! (You'll be receiving details about this from your Activated desk if you haven't already. In some countries certain legal requirements might apply.)

69. I can't emphasize enough that the main purpose of the Activated program is not finances nor tool sales—it's obedience to the Lord's com­mission to feed the sheep. However‚ we do want to make it as easy as possible for you, and we're willing to give you basically all the funds that come in—minus what's needed to keep the program operational—in order to encourage you to collect those subscriptions.

70. Since the Activated desks won't be profit­ing from the sales of tools to subscribers, we're hoping that the income from the increased number of subscriptions that will now come in as a result of your obedience to this call will be enough to help the Activated desks break even.

71. This is an important point, because it means that if we don't get enough subscribers--about 10 times as many per month as we're getting now—then we're probably not going to be able to financially sustain the Activated desks for much longer. We don't have the funds to support the Activated program indefinitely; at some point it has to pay for itself. It's required a major investment to do so thus far, but we're going ahead because we believe that you will catch the vision and obey what the Lord is asking us to do. But if you don't really give it your all, we may have to eventually close the program. So please do your part and send in those subscriptions!

nONCE YOU WAS A FAMILY ­MEMBER, NOW YOU IS A SHEPHERD

"You must also prepare yourselves by becom­ing ready to shepherd others, for as you begin to feed My sheep, you will become shepherds. No matter who you are or what you're doing now, as My sheep come to your doors, you will be shepherds. You will need to teach and train them. You will need to answer their questions, be a good ex­ample, and give them counsel in their lives. Each of you, from the youngest to the oldest, will be called upon to participate. Are you ready for this? Some are; many aren't. Now's the time to get ready.

"First you must prepare on an individual basis, by making sure you are living My Words and upholding My standard. You must study My Word, both old and new, so that you know the principles of faith and truth. I'm calling you to be priests and ministers of My Word, My love, and My truth to those who seek to have Me play a more important role in their lives. You must prepare yourself in heart and spirit‚ and strengthen yourself in the faith, so that you can be these priests‚ ministers, and teachers of the Gospel."

72. It's time to get ready to shepherd! "Who, me?" Yes, you! The Lord says He doesn't care who you are or what your present ministry is. You are soon going to be shepherding others—new babes in Christ who will hunger for what you have to share with them. When we get to the stage where people are coming to your door for feeding, when they want to be associated with you, when they want to be part of the Family, you are going to have to shepherd them. They'll be your sheep. They'll look to you for answers and guidance in all aspects of their lives. They'll expect you to set the example for them.

73. Those who have been doing extensive follow-up and who have numerous people who they teach and minister to in weekly Bible classes will tell you that these people, no matter what their standing in society‚ have lots of problems for which they seek counsel—marriage problems, work-related problems, financial problems‚ employee or employer problems, children and teen problems. They have every kind of problem imaginable! And they come to their shepherds—meaning you—for counsel, prayer, comfort, advice, and to be given the Word on the subject.

74. Those who shepherd these people are full-fledged shepherds in every sense of the word, even if they aren't Home teamworkers. They need to know the Word, have a good connection with the Lord, be practiced in their gift of prophecy, know how to deal with spiritual problems‚ be good people-handlers‚ be prayer warriors‚ and they need wisdom, understanding, faith, humility, love, patience, and all the other fruits of the Spirit. And that means you need all these things. You will be the shepherd for your flock‚ so you need to get ready now.

75. You didn't expect things to carry on as usual after the Shakeup, did you? You didn't really think that nothing more would be expected of you after all those promises the Lord gave in the "Era of Action" GNs, did you? The Lord is moving us into a new and expanded ministry, and it means that each Family member as an individual is going to have to play a major role in this new program the Lord is laying before us.

76. How do you get ready? The Lord has given a number of specific instructions:

a)Obeying the Word from your heart: First, make sure you're living His Words and up­holding His standard. In other words, apply God's Word in your everyday life. What the Word says, you should do, because you believe it. That's different from doing what the Word says because if you don't, you know you're going to get in some sort of trouble, either from your Home teamwork, parents, VSs or CROs. We need to get away from obeying the rules just because they're written in the Charter and we don't want to get in trouble. Instead, we should follow and obey because we have a personal conviction that those principles, as laid out in the Word, are the truth and are good for us.

b)Grow up and take responsibility: Each person needs to grow in the spirit and start taking more individual responsibility for your personal spiritual life. Many have made progress in this over the last few years, but some are lagging way behind. We need to do the things we should be doing because the Lord wants us to, and not do the things we shouldn't do because the Lord says they're wrong or they hinder or hurt us spiritually.

c)Study the Word, old and new: The Lord said, "You must study My Word, both old and new, so that you know the principles of faith and truth." When a sheep asks you why he or she shouldn't do such-and-such, it's not good enough to say, "Because it says we shouldn't in the Charter." You will need to give them full answers from the Word. We should know the principles and the fundamental reasons behind why the Lord wants us to either do something or not do it.

77. So‚ in order for you to get ready, you need to both study and live the Word. The Lord's not saying this theoretically. He's telling you that you must make an effort to study and apply the Word to your lives. At the end of this GN there are a number of reading lists which will help you in this effort.

78. Why is the Lord asking you to make this effort now? Because there are people who you will be ministering to who want the Lord to play a more important role in their lives. They will be hungering for more truth‚ for practical ways to implement the Word they read. They're seeking to apply Christianity to their daily lives‚ and they'll be looking to you for a sample. How can you give it to them unless you're already living it? You can't be a hypocrite by telling them to live something that you claim to live, but don't. If that's the case, they won't believe you. If you're going to be a teacher, shepherd, and minister of God's love and truth, then you need to strengthen yourselves in these areas now‚ so when the time comes you'll be ready.

nGET YOUR HOME UNITED AND
IN TIPTOP SHAPE

"Second, you must prepare your Home. Is your Home ready to receive other believers? Are you ready to have people over at all hours, hungering for the Word and the truth? If they come to your door, what will you give them? Are you ready to make the needed commitment? Is your Home the sample it should be? When the sheep come to your Home, what will they see? Will they see My joy, love, and the unity of the Spirit? Will they see those who have the answers that they seek? Is your Home ready? Are you personally ready?"

79. Besides getting ready individually, you need to also get ready as a Home. The Lord asks if you are ready to receive visitors at all hours as they hunger for the Word. When they come, what will you give them? It's hard work to take care of the spiritually hungry. It's a sacrifice. They're like babies who cry to be fed at the most inconvenient times. Sometimes they show up on your movie night, or after a long hard day of witnessing. What do you do then? Do you make the sacrifice and feed them, or do you plop them in front of the television with you? When they come to your door, it's because they're hungry for what you have—the Word, the truth, the answers. They may love you be­cause you're wonderful people‚ but what they're after is what made you wonderful—Jesus and His Word.

80. Are you willing to make the commitment, both as an individual and collectively as a Home, to become feeders of the sheep? Teachers? Shep­herds? This is the call the Lord is giving us. It's our future. Are you willing? Are you ready—not just to feed and care for the sheep when they arrive at your door, but to take the steps of preparation now?

81. Jesus asks if your Home is the sample it should be, and what they will see when they come. Does your Home reflect the Lord's joy and love? Does it have unity of the Spirit? Will they find a haven of rest and peace there? How about it? How is your Home doing? Do you have unity within the Home? Do you work together in harmony and love?

82. No Home is perfect‚ and there will always be problems that need to be solved, differences of opinion, and snags to be ironed out. The question is: How do you handle them? Do you work out your differences and problems together in love, prayer, and counsel? Or do you yell, get angry‚ offended, critical, or give each other the silent treatment? If you haven't learned to handle your differences in love, then you're not ready to have new converts coming to your Home regularly for follow-up and feeding.

83. If you or members of your Home resort to yelling at each other when a conflict arises, you have serious problems. If you get angry and fly off the handle with others, you've got serious problems. If your Home council meetings resemble a war zone, then you've got serious prob­lems—and you need to do some­thing about it now! You need to discuss it to­gether, have desperate prayer, and get a victory over whatever is causing the problem.

84. This is part of the preparation‚ part of getting ready for the day when your Home becomes a gathering place for your flock. The Lord's asking your Home to do whatever is necessary toward this end, so that when the sheep come to your door, they will see in you and your Home people who have the love, joy, peace and harmony they lack. Then they will have faith that you have the answers they're searching for. They won't expect to see perfection, but they will expect to see people who truly live Chris­tianity, who face life's problems and difficulties with love and grace. They need to feel a touch of Heaven. Will they feel it when they visit your Home?

85. Please take this seriously. If you don't feel your Home has the love and unity it needs, then pray about it, ask the Lord to speak to you about it, and discuss it in a humble, loving manner. Work together to overcome disunity.

86. This also applies to inter-Home problems. If you have serious problems with those in a nearby Home, if you've been offended or your Homes don't talk together, then work now to overcome it. Ask for prayer and forgive one another. Realize that it's the Enemy who's keeping you apart‚ and you're falling for it! If the issues between you go unresolved, then you're in serious danger of developing deep roots of bitterness which will destroy your Home's fruitfulness. If your Home has a problem with another Home, then pray about it as a Home. Ask the Lord what you can do to bring healing to the situation‚ then act on it. Don't wait for the other Home to make the first move; you do it. Do it now! It's a serious problem.

87. Mama and I have heard that some people—especially in South America, where there are still some rather serious Home and inter–Home unity problems—have the attitude that getting angry, upset, and yelling at one another is just the Latin way, that it's part of the nature of being Latin. Well, I've got news for you! It may be part of the Latin nature‚ but it's not part of God's nature! Claiming that getting angry or having a hot temper is just the way you are because it's part of your nature is like claiming that it's okay to be selfish, proud‚ unloving, hurtful, etc., because that's the nature of man. As Christians we are supposed to be new creatures, filled with God's Spirit, which causes us to go beyond the nature of man and act in a supernatural manner—in love, forgiving one another, preferring one another.

88. Dear ones, the Lord is asking if your Home is ready to be what it needs to be in order to effectively minister to those who are hungering for the Word, those who will become part of you and part of our greater Family. Are you? If not, you must begin to get ready by overcoming whatever problems your Home has. It will take work‚ humility, love, and applying the Word, but your Home can change if each Home member will seek the Lord in prayer and do his or her part. You must if you want the Lord to fulfill His promises to us as a Family.

nPRAY FOR A DISCIPLE-WINNING REVOLUTION

"Third, you must pray. You must pray daily that I will bring the sheep in. You must begin now to pray and ask Me to bring those across your paths who are hungry—not only for My truth, but hungry to involve Me in their lives. You must pray for disciples, for I intend to bring new disciples to you—those who want to serve Me in whatever capacity they can."

89. The third step is to pray them in. This is big! We need to start today to pray daily for the Lord to send those who are hungry for the Lord and His Spirit across our path. If we're going to do the job of reaching the world, we need more laborers. The Lord intends to bring them in, but we must pray. "Pray ye‚ therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest" (Mat.9:38).

90. We all pray for many things every day—for our witnessing, needs, finances‚ healing, minis­tries, etc., but how often do we pray for disciples? Let's start today! Let's pray daily as the Lord asks us to, so that He can prepare the hearts of those who want to follow Him more closely. If we pray, they will come!

nTHE LORD'S NEW "EXPANDED" FAMILY AND ITS LEVELS OF MEMBER­SHIP AND BELIEVER­SHIP

"Most of these new disciples will not drop out and serve Me full-time, but they will be disciples nonetheless. They will be members of the Family. They will be co-workers and co-laborers with you. They will help open doors that you could never enter. They will be believers, followers, disciples, helpers, and supporters. They will be your flock; they will be your brothers and sisters, and together all of you will be part of My new expanded Family. I am going to open the doors wide so that many more can join your ranks at the level of belief and discipleship they can attain.

"No longer will My Family be made up of only those who are full-time disciples. I will expand your ranks to include various levels of discipleship and believership. Many are going to want to be part of you, even as now many want to be a part, but can't, for they're not willing to make the commitment of giving all. Rather than closing them off, I now want to open the circle and let them in. I wish for those who want to be part of you‚ in faith, to be able to be so. I will make a way for those who want to believe and receive, but who don't feel they can do a great deal‚ to nevertheless be a part of My Family. I will make a way for those who wish to be disciples to be so‚ even if they can't leave all and follow Me. I will make a way for you to expand. You will have the help that you need by teaching, training, and feeding these who will become your flocks‚ helpers‚ and co-workers. They will rise up and work alongside you."

91. The Lord is planning a new, expanded Family. He's talking about a fundamental shift in the make–up of the Family. He's clearly said that most of these new disciples will not drop out and serve Him full-time, but that they will be disciples nonetheless. They will be Family members.

92. Until now, Family membership has been mainly for those who have dropped out and joined a Family Home. We have other outer circles of service or membership for those who can't move in, but over­all, we haven't fully welcomed them in as "Family mem­bers." They've been considered live-outs or friends rather than full-fledged Family members. Many Homes treat them as "outsiders," even though they're disciples at heart. The Lord wants to change that.

93. The Family will no longer only be for full–time disciples, but will be open to believers also—those who believe in our doctrine, share our faith, and follow as closely as they can, but who don't feel they can drop out, move into a CM or FM Family Home and serve the Lord full–time.

94. You who are in the Family as it is today are like the priests or ministers of other churches. Your full-time job is serving the Lord. A difference between us and other churches is that their pastors, their full-time workers, have a body of believers that they minister to. For the most part, we don't. Our present Family membership is made up of almost 100% ministers or priests, those who work for the Lord full-time. What the Lord is saying is that this is going to change. We will begin to have both believers and various levels of membership, and it will be up to you to feed, teach, and train them.

95. In the not too distant future there will be differing concentric circles of membership. There will be believers—people who believe our doctrines, but who may not be so active in the Family's work. Then there will be Active Members, those who reach some level of discipleship as true "followers of the doctrine," but who won't drop out and live in, though they will be involved in working with your Home, witnessing and winning other disciples and members. And there will be Fellow Members and Charter Members as there are today.

96. There are many people who want to be associated with us and who want to be part of our church. These individuals like us and believe our gen­eral message, but they don't feel called to actively serve the Lord. Until now, there hasn't been any way for them to officially be part of us. In the future, there will be. We're going to open the circle and let them in as true brothers and sisters working with us and a part of us, not just as "friends" or "sheep" or "live-outs." The Lord said, "I wish for those who want to be part of you, in faith‚ to be able to be so."

97. The Lord is going to bring about an expansion of the Family. He's leading us to open our doors more, to enlarge the circle of the Family, and to enlarge the circle of membership. It's going to be a big change‚ but it will be a change for the better. The Lord promises that these ones will "open doors that you could never enter." He says‚ "They will be believers‚ followers, disciples‚ helpers, and supporters. They will be your flock; they will be your brothers and sisters."

98. These believers will be the answer to your daily prayers for laborers. They will be our new brothers and sisters, co-workers, helpers and support­ers. Most will continue in their jobs, but they will wit­ness to their peers and introduce them to you. They will make it poss­ible for you to witness to others that you could never otherwise reach. Their husbands or wives and children will get saved, and will want to be part of you. You will teach them the Word; your kids will teach their kids; your teens will teach their teens. Everyone will be involved. They will work together with you in your CTP and outreach. Their children will sing with yours during weekend witnessing. Your Home will be their church. You will offer them Bible courses and other Word studies. As you teach and train them, they in turn will become shepherds of their own little flocks. It's similar to the concept of "Colon­ization" that Dad taught us at the beginning of the Family.

99. Some will want to move on to a level of greater service. They will tithe to your Home. You will become involved in their lives‚ helping them to grow spiritually. They will become solid brothers and sisters, solid disciples and Family members who will help us in our goal of reaching the world for Jesus. All of us together will be part of the Lord's "expanded Family." Isn't that exciting? In time, we will share more about the implementation of this change. For now, the Lord is just showing us a preview of what's ahead.

nSHEPHERDS NEED FLOCKS;
FLOCKS NEED SHEPHERDS

"Don't be as those who say, 'How can these be part of us when they have not labored in the heat of the day?' Let Me explain: You who have dedi­cated your lives to Me in fullness and complete­ness will be rewarded richly for your sacrifices and for the role that you have played in bringing My Family into existence. Without you‚ these who are lost would never come to know the fullness of My truth. They need you, and you need them. They have much to offer you, and you have a great deal to offer them. You will continue to hold a place of very high esteem for your dedication, and for your years of service and sacrifice. These will be the fruit of your labors. They will be the flock and you will be the shepherds. A shepherd needs a flock, and the sheep need the shepherd."

100. Some of you might be thinking, "I've served the Lord faithfully through thick and thin for years, and now others are going to be able to become Family members without having to pay the same price of forsaking all, sacrificing‚ being a missionary on a foreign field, and all of the hardships that entails! How can that be?"

101. The Lord wants you to know that because you have lived the life you have, you make it possible for these new ones to know the fullness of His truth. Without you and the years of sacrifice that you've given, these ones would never have this opportunity to become members—and He promises to reward you accordingly.

102. Your years of service have prepared you to become the shepherds of these new converts and believers. You will be their teachers, pastors, coun­selors, and prayer partners. You will be their spiritual fathers and mothers. You will hold a place of very high esteem, because you will be the leaders of your local Home church. These ones will come to you for feeding and guidance in their spiritual lives, along with seeking help in their everyday problems. These believers will be the fruit of your labors. They will need you.

103. You will also need them. They are the ones who will help us win the lost. They will increase our witness. They will win souls. They will learn to teach others, and eventually they will be shepherds in their own right, caring for their own flocks. It is through them and with them that we will have a much greater effect throughout the world. However, for this to happen you have to win them, teach them, train them, shepherd them, and bring them to spiritual maturity. They can't do it without you, but neither will you be able to do the job without them.

nSTORY OF A 20-SOMETHING SHEP­HERD AND HIS ­COMMITMENTS

"In time, all of you will be called upon to shepherd others. You will be faced with their problems, questions‚ battles, doubts‚ and fears. You will need to be prepared to answer them. So you must prepare now to become shepherds. Start in your own life. Make the commitments needed to be a shepherd. Decide that you will follow close‚ not afar off. Embrace My Word. Apply it to your life now, so that you will be able to help others apply it in their lives in the days to come by seeing your good sample of following closely. Become your brother's keeper. Learn to shepherd one another in love. Help one another in the spirit. Uphold one another in prayer."

104. That makes it crystal clear that shep­herd­ing is the future for virtually everyone in the Family. You may not be on a teamwork, and maybe you never have been, but when these people show up at your door, you are going to have to feed them whether you have a title or not. You are going to have to shepherd them‚ and to do that properly, you need to start preparing now.

105. The starting place is in your own life. Begin by making the commitments needed to be a shepherd. What are those commitments?

1. follow close‚ not afar off
2. embrace the Word
3. apply the Word and live it‚ even if those around you aren't

106. Many years ago‚ when I was still in my 20s and had been living with Dad and Mama for about 1½ years, I started to sort of goof off. I did my work well, but in my private life I was making some immature decisions, and consequently I began making mistakes. I stopped fellow­shipping with the stronger members of the Home and started hanging out with a few of the less spiritual ones. They were "fun" to be around be­cause following close and keeping the rules weren't top priority in their lives. The more I hung out with them, the more like them I became. Dad saw this and gave me a stern talk about it. He said:

107. Maybe the reason he likes your fellow­ship better than that of the others is because you enjoy the same things and that's your tempta­tion. You should be a deter­rent influence on him to try to lead and guide him and teach him and try to pull him the other direction, away from his weak­nesses. I'll say to you what my brother once said to me. He said, "Dave"—and he preached it because I guess he knew it was his temptation and what finally defeated him too—"Don't let others drag you down to their level; you pull them up to yours!" And that goes for you and the boys too‚ if you're going to be a leader.

108. A leader will keep on course and try to keep others on course in the direction he's going and pull them his way. But if you have a tendency to be pulled other ways by followers, then you're not much of a leader, if you can't buck the tide! You're a very agreeable fellow, Son, very sweet and easy to get along with, and one reason is, you seldom disagree with anybody. But sometimes it pays to disagree, especially when you know something's not good.

109. We need to be able to trust you to buck the tide and the boys' weaknesses. Some of them aren't very spiritual. You need to be leading them the right direction and not let them drag you their direction. If you show a weakness and you waver in some of these things, they'll think it's OK and they'll follow you. Do you want them to follow you? Do you want them to be like you? Think about that.

110. Others may, you cannot! Other people might be able to get away with it, but because of your position, you can't. You have to lift up the standard. You have to hoist it higher and try to bring'm up to what they ought to be and not let yourself get dragged down by them to please the people! This was Saul's main problem; he was a man-pleaser. To make the people happy, to please the people, he disobeyed the Lord. Now that's a dangerous thing (ML #1377:13,34,38-40,65-67, GN Book 3).

111. I had to make a choice as to what was important to me personally. I realized that doing a good job in my ministry wasn't enough; I had to make some commitments in my spiritual life. I had to choose what was going to be my priority—sticking close to the Lord and the Word, or hanging with my friends.

112. I knew that serving the Lord was my calling in life, so I had to do something about it. What did I do? I dug into the Word, stopped participat­ing in the activities of the weaker ones, and fought to follow close. It wasn't easy. I liked doing things that were borderline, but I realized that if I kept fellow­shipping with those who were either less com­mitted or whose goals were different than mine, that I would soon be going their way. And the challenge the Lord gave me through Dad was to not only not go their way‚ but to pull them the Lord's way.

113. Just the other day I read an interesting quote. It said‚ "Look carefully at the closest associa­tions in your life, for that is the direction you are heading." Thankfully the Lord and Dad helped me to do just that. I looked at my associations and saw that I was headed in their direction, and I realized that was not the direction I wanted to go. So I had to do something about it.

114. Basically I had to stop being intimate friends with them. Of course, we were still friends, but I stopped being disobedient and stretching the rules with them, and in time I started to help keep them in line. These were my peers and my friends‚ so it wasn't easy. But had I not done it, had I chosen to follow afar off, had I put priority on personal pleasure‚ fun and fellowship‚ I know things in my life would have been very different, and I doubt I would be telling you this today.

115. The Lord is calling all of you to make similar commitments. The commitments that you need to make are: to be a shepherd, to follow close, to embrace His Word‚ and to apply it in your life now‚ so that you can help others apply it in their lives in the near future.

116. He's asking you to "become your brother's keeper," to "learn to shepherd one an­other in love," to "help one another in the spirit," and to "uphold one another in prayer." These are the jobs of a shepherd, whether you have a title or not. Jesus is asking you to start now so that you'll be ready when He starts bringing people to your door.

117. What does this mean in practical terms? What are you supposed to do? To start with, pray. Talk to the Lord about your personal commitment. Make it clear to Him that you want to participate in the future of the Family. I'd suggest you pray the prayer in "Your Open Heart Prayer to the Lord" (ML #3163, in GN 769 or Lifelines 24). Then let the Lord speak to you.

118. Next, evaluate your situation. Where are you headed spiritually? What kind of choices are you making? Are you striving to live the Word, and do you apply it in your life? What's important to you? Who are your friends? Do they help you draw closer to the Lord, or do they pull you away? Ask the Lord these questions and let Him tell you how He sees you. Ask your shepherds as well.

119. If you see you're headed the wrong way spiritually or you're making the wrong choices—such as not applying the Word, the wrong things being important to you, or you realize that your friends pull you away from the Lord and the Word—then do something about it. Pray. Ask the Lord to speak to you in prophecy and show you what to do. Take action! Fight against any negative pulls in your life. Don't just drift downstream because it's easier or because your friends are. Fight to head upstream. Work at it! Make a conscious decision to grow in the spirit, and then put feet to your decision. Pray‚ hear from the Lord, counsel with your shepherds, get prayer. Actively pursue God's will.

120. Once you've done this, then work to be­come your brother's keeper. When you see someone who's heading downstream, maybe someone you've been hanging out with, try to help them. Don't be self-righteous about it, but don't be a complete wimp either. If someone is making the wrong choices, speaking doubt, or not following the Word, talk to them about it. Pray for them. Talk to your shepherds about it. See if there is anything you can do to help them by asking the Lord. They are your brothers and sisters, so help them if you can. It's your responsibility. Don't let them just drift away.

121. When the S2K GNs hit the Homes, a number of people left the Family. Many of you who remained probably saw someone leave and said to yourself or others, "I could tell he was going to go." Or, "I wonder what took him so long? He's been on his way out for a long time." Well, I wonder what you did to help that person earlier when you could see they were making wrong decisions in their life. Did you get involved? Did you try to help them? Did you pray for them? Did you talk to your shepherds about them? Did you sacrifice your time to read with them, to counsel them, to invite them to edifying activities or outings which you knew they'd enjoy? Bottom line: Were you your brother's keeper?

122. Is there someone in your Home who you feel is eventually going to leave the Family because of the choices they're making now? If so, actively help them. Don't let the Enemy snatch them away. Fight for them! Get involved. Bring this person to the attention of your teamwork. Don't let them float away. Do what the Lord says: "Become your brother's keeper. Learn to shepherd one another in love. Help one another in the spirit. Uphold one another in prayer."

123. Or how about your younger brothers and sisters? When was the last time you taught them a class or read the Word with them? When was the last time you had talk time with them and answered their questions with the Word? When was the last time you got involved in their spiritual lives? Ask yourself if you're a good influence on them. Do you want them to follow in your footsteps? And if they do, where will they end up? You can start shepherding them by being a good sample today.

124. The Lord is asking us to help one another, and as we do, it will prepare us for the ministry He's bringing to our doorstep. Will you be ready?

nDISH IT OUT AND TAKE IT; ­CORRECT THE PROBLEMS AND ­PROBLEM PEOPLE IN YOUR HOME

"Learn to receive correction, guidance and counsel from one another. For if you expect to become the teachers and shepherds of the new flock that I am going to bring to you, then you must be humble enough to be shepherded yourself. You must not see it as interference by others, but as someone who loves you trying to help."

125. Uh oh! Not only are we to be our brother's keeper, but he's supposed to be our keeper as well. You're not going to be the only one dispensing help to others—they're going to be helping you as well. And you need to learn to receive it.

126. Since the Charter, a lot of Family members have gotten out of the habit of gracefully receiving correction when something they've done wrong is pointed out to them. If your teamwork gives you correction and you don't like it, you can just hand in your 30-day notice and you're on your way—no need to listen, no need to change. Many people have become very independent, and as such, are not open to shepherding from others. Because of this reticence, usually caused by pride, their spiritual growth has somewhat stagnated.

127. The Lord makes it clear that He wants us to be able to take it if we're going to dish it out. If you're going to be a shepherd of the coming flocks, then you have to be humble enough to be shepherded. You need to get over feeling that others are interfering with your life, and instead realize that they are trying to help you because they love you.

128. Lest we forget, there is a reason for all of this. Remember, these are the instructions the Lord has given to prepare us for what's ahead. He made it clear in the preceding prophecy, as well as in Part 1 of the "Action Series" (see ML #3298:94-125), that our future is going to be in follow-up, teaching and training new converts, and leading them on to serving the Lord in some capacity. This is not a self-improvement course; it's job training. He's trying to train us and get us prepared for the job that is at hand.

129. One goal the Lord wants all of us to work toward is for everyone in the Home to be­come teachers and shepherds. You might think, "I'm not going to teach or shepherd anyone. I just do such-and-such." You're wrong. When people start coming to your door‚ when you have regular Bible classes with different groups one night after another, when you have weekly fellowship meetings with your members‚ you are going to be one of the elders. You can't expect your teamwork or your outreach people to do all the teaching, answer all the questions‚ teach their children about Jesus‚ counsel their teens‚ and all the rest. Everyone is going to be involved, including you. That's why He's saying that each individual and each Home needs to prepare.

130. Collectively, your Home members are going to be responsible for the spiritual lives and training of others. All of you will need to work together to help them grow. That's why you need to start now by making your personal commitments, progressing spiritually, accepting spiritual help from others, being your brother's keeper, and being uplifting to your Home. As a Home you need to make progress. You need to grow together, be united‚ and solve your Home's problems.

131. In fact‚ it's imperative that you as a Home learn to take care of your Home's problems, and the problems of those in your Home. Many Homes have someone(s) in the Home who have significant spiritual problems, are causing problems, or who aren't complying with the Charter Membership contract they signed. Unfortunately, a large number of Homes with such problem people are waiting for a CRO or VS to come around and talk to the problem person.

132. If you have a problem or someone who has spiritual problems in your Home, it's your responsibility to do something about it. It's not the VS's responsibility. When the VS has to step in and solve your problem, that should be the last resort. You have the responsibility and the authority within the Charter to solve your problem situations, and you need to do it. This isn't a call for a big crackdown, but you need to re­alize that if you're going to be helping and shep­herding many others in the not-too-distant ­future, then you need to start now by shepherd­ing and helping those in your own Home.

133. When the VS visits your Home and you tell them that so-and-so has a problem, they should ask you what you as a Home or as a teamwork have done about it. It can be compared to when a doctor visits a patient in the hospital. At the end of the bed is the patient's chart. The patient's ailment and everything that's been done for the patient is listed there, so the doctor can tell at a glance what's already been done for the patient, and what treatment and medication they've been given. If you present the VS with your "patient," you should be able to tell them what's already been done for the person. "Here are the prophecies received for and about the person. These are the things we've talked to him or her about. Here are the reading lists they've been given. Here are the united prayers we've prayed, and here are the person's personal prophecies about the problem."

134. You should not wait until a VS visits your Home to take care of the problem. If you have, you've waited too long and you've failed as a teamwork and as a Home in your shepherd­ing. The Charter grants the Home authority to handle these situations. As a Home, you can put someone on Probationary Status if they aren't working to overcome their prob­lems. If they're causing serious problems and refuse to be helped‚ you can either vote them out of your Home or recommend to the CROs and VSs that they be moved to Fellow Member status.

135. I know it's not pleasant to confront problems like this, but you must. If you can't learn to handle problems at the Home level, then how are you going to take care of those who will be coming to your Home, your Bible classes, your church? How will you be able to counsel, shepherd, and help with the prob­lems of those who will become your fellow believers and co-workers?

136. Maybe it would help you to see the importance of your responsibility if your VSs put the whole Home on Probationary Notice for failing to take care of the Home's problems. Think about it! This is all part of job training for your upcoming responsibility of taking care of the flocks—not just the handful in your Home, but the many who will come to you. Remember, the Lord said your Home needs to progress and get prepared.

nCRITIQUE YOURSELF AND
YOUR HOME'S PROGRESS

"You must look at your Home and see if you are being the blessing you need to be. Ask yourself if you are an uplift to the Home. Are you contributing in a positive manner? As a Home, are you moving forward? Are you doing the job? Are you progressing? You, as an individual, and together with the rest of your Home, need to progress and get prepared."

137. The Lord also asks you to evaluate whether you are an uplift to your Home. Are you the blessing you need to be? Remember‚ this isn't just talking about whether you're faithful at your job or ministry‚ or whether you bring in the finances. The question is: Are you being an uplift? Do you spiritually uplift your Home‚ or do you drag it down? Do you contribute to your Home in a positive manner? Do you help your Home to have a good spiritual atmosphere? Do you enter in and enjoy activities which strengthen your Home spiritually‚ or do you push for the majority of activities to involve things of the world? Do you put effort into devotions or united Word readings? Do you help to raise the spiritual standard of your Home? These are not just rhetorical questions—seriously ask yourself these things. Ask the Lord about it. Ask your shepherds or others in your Home to tell you which of these areas you could improve in.

138. Your Home is going to become some­one's‚ or a lot of someone's, church. They're going to come not only for feeding‚ but because for them your Home is a haven of rest away from the evils of the world and the difficulties of life. Is your Home that place? Are you doing all you can to make it a place of peace, harmony, love and unity‚ full of God's Spirit?

139. The Lord also asks if you as a Home are moving forward. Are you doing the job? Are you progressing? Have you set goals as a Home, and are you reaching those goals? If you haven't set goals, then how do you know if you're progressing?

nTHE "IF" CLAUSE:
YOUR PART COMES FIRST

"I will send the flocks if you will follow the program. If you will do your part now, I will bring them in. You must make your prep­arations, commitments, and personal decisions to purify yourselves and get ready. You must prepare as a Home by helping one another, by following closely, by doing your part to feed the sheep. There will be training involved, and there will be de­cisions to make. Once you're ready, I will bring them in. Will you prepare now? Will you get ready? You must, if you want Me to fulfill My promises."

140. Again the Lord is calling you to do your part now by getting ready. Notice the "if" clause in this paragraph: "I will send the flocks if you will follow the program." We have to do our part, and to start with, that's taking the steps the Lord has said we must take in this prophecy. If we want the Lord to bring about the future He has promised, then we must be doers of the Word and not hearers only. Nothing will happen if you read this GN and then merely go on with business as usual. You need to ask yourself the questions the Lord outlined‚ pray those prayers, make those commit­ments, and do the things He's said.

nHOW WS IS PREPARING,
AND HOW YOU MUST PREPARE

"There is much work to be done. There are many preparations to be made. There are changes which must come about first, and it will take some time for this plan to be fully in place. I am working on many planes: Your queen and king are doing all they can to get things prepared; WS and leadership is working to prepare, and at the same time you must as well. It won't work to wait until the pro­gram of change is complete before you as an indi­vidual and your Home begin to prepare. You must start now so that when the program is complete and is passed on to you, you will be ready to receive it. So begin your preparations today.

"We're all in this together. I'm preparing the sheep. I'm helping to prepare the materials and program through your leadership, and I'm trying to prepare you and your Home. We're all working together, and together we will be able to win many great victories. But it takes all of us working together. Will you?"

141. Throughout this prophecy the Lord extols the importance of starting today to put these changes into effect, and that is absolutely necessary. However, it's equally important to realize that this new vision is not going to come to pass overnight. The Lord says there is much to do and many preparations to be made, and it will take time to complete them. Right now Mama and I, WS, and Family leadership are working to prepare in many different ways for these changes and for the Family of the future.

142. As you read in Part 2 of the "Action Series," WS is presently undergoing some changes. Additionally, the GP department is continu­ing to work on more Activated materials, as well as more GP tools for outreach. The Activated desks are set up and ready for you to send in those thousands of addresses every month. They've had time to teethe on the ones that have come in over the last months, and for the most part the kinks have been worked out, so now it's up to you to make the Activated ministry blossom by collecting subscriptions. The Lord has given the promises that it will take off and be a success; now the footwork is up to you.

143. In July 2000‚ representatives from around the world gathered in Hungary to finalize the first six-month basic course for those who have subscribed to Activated and who you are following up on personally. This will include a teacher's handbook‚ class book, and the student's manual. These books will put the material in your hands and enable you to teach your converts, friends and new Family members. Further courses will follow, so that the complete program covers the basics of Christianity all the way through advanced discipleship. Please pray for those who are working on this monumental job.

144. In June 2000‚ Mama and I held a second meeting with some of the CROs (our first meetings were held in March) for further prayer and consultation about how to spread the leadership load, as explained in Part 1 and 2 of this GN series. These were fruitful discussions‚ and the plans for the needed changes are being further prayed about and worked on. They will soon be presented to the full body of CROs for their input. Please keep this in your prayers.

145. Since the Lord is going to expand the Family to include not only our present membership, but both Active Members who don't live in as well as a body of believers who partake of our beliefs and fellow­ship, but who aren't ready to commit further, WS is planning a new monthly magazine for our future ex­pand­ed Family population. We hope to create a monthly magazine that will be of interest to everyone in the Family‚ from believer to Charter Member. It will be comprised of new material—Letters, testi­monies, articles, etc., that you will not have read before. In other words, rather than publishing material first for the CM and FM Family and then making a modified ver­sion for others, this magazine will be new material for every Family member, which all of us will be getting at the same time. Again, please pray for this undertaking, and be patient, because it's going to take some time before this magazine is ready to roll. If you have any ideas for it, please send them in.

146. We're doing what we can to get the program, as the Lord has outlined it to us, up and running. It's going to take some time before it's all completed and every piece of the puzzle is in place, but we are working hard at it. It requires a lot of hard work and costs a lot of money, but we have to do it for our future. That's our part as Family leadership and WS. Your part is to prepare, starting now. We all have a part to play: The Lord is preparing the sheep and is directing us in preparing the materials and the program, and He wants you to start preparing on an individual and Home level. He said it won't work if you wait until the program is complete and clearly laid out before you begin your individual and Home preparations. You must start now.

147. We're in it together—all of us—and the Lord promises that we'll be able to win many great victories. But remember the "if" clause. "I will send the flocks if you will follow the program." The guarantee is there‚ providing we follow the program. If not, it won't work.

148. The success of this entire program is going to depend on you—each of you. We might have a wonderful magazine to feed the new converts‚ and great booklets to give them for further feedings. We may develop a great follow-up course with excellent classes, handbooks and manuals. We may open the Family up so many more can participate at whatever level of participation they feel called. But if you—the individual—don't do your part, it won't work.

149. If you start sending in Activated sub­scrip­tions now; if you prepare as an individual to become a shepherd; if each person in your Home gets ready; if all of us pray for the Lord to bring His sheep across our paths, then the plan will succeed. If we don't do these things, it won't. It doesn't matter how good the plan is; what matters is that those who need to implement it do their part, and that means you. If you do your part to follow the plan, it will work. If you don't, it won't. It's as simple as that. As the Lord said, "It takes all of us working together. Will you?"

nSTART TODAY: THE FUTURE OF THE FAMILY DEPENDS ON YOU

"Do you want to be part of My new move? Do you want to reap the harvest with Me? Do you want to become the leaders, teachers and shepherds that I have ordained you to be? If so, start now! Don't wait. Begin your preparation now and I will, in time, bring it all to pass. You will be ready if you start now.

"Start on what you can now, personally and as a Home, through participating in the Activated program by sending in your addresses, and taking the extra time to tell those you witness to and lead to Me about the magazine. I know it takes more time and effort, but you must begin now to feed the sheep and prepare them for the call I will give them.

"Do your part today‚ for you must if you want to be ready for the future that I have for you—the future of action, of feeding, of building My expanded Family, My Endtime church, and My Endtime army who will help to feed and reach the world in the days to come."

150. Now is the time. Today is the day to begin. Please don't put it off till tomorrow, or you may miss the boat, and the future of the Family could suffer as a result. Let's throw our whole hearts, energy, initiative, prayers, vision and plenty of hard work behind this program—and make it work! The rewards and blessings will be more than worth it!

151. Let's do it! Amen? We're counting on you!

How to Get Activated!

What is Activated?

Activated is a program that centers around a monthly magazine titled Activated and is supplemented with other follow-up material geared towards feeding those who have just received the Lord (or nominal Christians who don't have much of an understanding of their faith or a knowledge of the Word), or those who are hungry and want to know more about the Lord—whether saved or unsaved.

Why Activated?

The purpose of Activated is to assist you in following up on the many sheep that you meet and/or pray with to receive the Lord who get no further feeding after that. Most Homes are too busy to have the time to put a feeding course together themselves, not to mention printing and mailing it to their sheep. So we've done the work for you. All you've got to do is sell the subscription and send in the address!

How to get Activated

1. Always carry plenty of Activated ­address/subscription cards with you wherever you go! That way, while you're out and about your business of being an instant witness, you can be an instant faithful follow-upper too! If you're out of address/subscription cards, please request some (they're free!) from your Activated desk.

2. Order free copies of Activated issue #1 from your Activated desk, and take those out with you when witnessing! (These free copies of issue #1 are to be given to those whose addresses you collect, or who you sell subscriptions to. You can also sell Activated magazines—of any issue number—but those you'll have to pay seed corn on when you purchase them from your Activated desk, just like any other GP tool. But distributing the Activated magazines as an outreach tool is also a great way to promote the program!)

3. Whenever you personally witness to someone, offer them the chance to get your terrific monthly magazine—Activated!

1. If the person gets saved with you, ask them to subscribe on the spot! If they subscribe, they get 15 issues for the price of 12. If they're not prepared to subscribe at that moment, you can offer them three free mags with no cost or obligation‚ letting them know they can subscribe later if they wish.
2. If people don't get saved with you but are sheepy‚ you should still offer them the option to subscribe right there! In this case, though‚ you can't offer them the 3 free issues without first subscribing. If they subscribe, they'll get 15 issues for the price of 12—in essence giving them 3 free mags. But they have to subscribe first to get them.

4. Whether they're subscribing or just applying for the three free mags (if they got saved), have them fill out the address/subscription card you're carrying with you.

5. If they decide to subscribe, they can choose whether to pay the fee on the spot or get billed by the Activated desk later (if applicable—this option may not be available in your area).

6. If you have a copy with you‚ give the person whose address or subscription you collected Activated issue #1 on the spot for their first feeding! (Be sure to tick the box on the address/subscription card indicating that you have given them issue #1, so that the desk doesn't send them that same issue again.)

7. Send the address/subscription card to your Activated desk along with the fee you've collected‚ and you can rest in peace‚ knowing that you've done your part, and your little sheep is going to be well fed!

Remember that you get a commission for every subscription you sell—plus other shiner prizes! And most of all, you have the satisfaction of knowing that you're doing your part to feed the sheep!

If you have any questions about the Activated program, please contact your Activated desk, who will be glad to help you. If you don't have their address or e–mail, you can write them at the postal or e-mail address on the Activated magazines.

Moving Toward the Family's Future in Three Easy Steps!

By Peter

Since there was so much instruction in the preceding Letter, you may not remember all the things the Lord has asked you and your Home to do in order to implement the Lord's program for the Family. Following is a simple step-by-step outline of the key points brought out in this GN. Please take the time to study this and implement it!

There's also a suggested week-by–week guide, to help you fit in the time to pray and seek the Lord about these things, both personally and as a Home. Ask yourself these questions and hear from the Lord in prophecy about your weak areas. Home teamworks, if possible, please make some time for your Home members to do this, individually and as a body.

At the end, there is a helpful list of points outlining what practical steps to take if you are having problems with someone in your Home, or if your Home is having problems with another Home. Please use it to get the victories that you need!

IN ORDER TO FULFILL THE FAMILY'S

FUTURE …

You will need … Faith, initiative, courage, ­vision, willingness to work, and dedication.

Realize that …The change that is facing the Family is not an easy one; it will require each Family member to go through the steps of change.

You must … Take on the vision given through the Word; change the way you do things, and your present vision and goals. Let go of the old and latch on to the new! Seek the Lord for an openness to the new, a willingness to try to move forward. Pray to be a new bottle.

Determine to … Build a work as a Home, become stable pioneers, cultivate a following and a church of believers who will be new Family members. Remain in the place the Lord calls you to. Shtick.

Step #1: GO ACTIVATED!

Actively participate in the Activated program. Get subscriptions. Make this your focus and priority. Start TODAY! Realize that the success or failure of following up on and feeding the sheep via Activated depends on you.

Step #2: GET READY TO SHEPHERD!

Decide to follow close, not afar off.

Embrace the Word. Apply it to your daily life.

Grow in the spirit, taking more responsibility for your personal spiritual life.

Study the Word, old and new, so that you can feed the sheep from a full cupboard.

Become your brother's keeper. Shepherd one another in love and in prayer.

Fight negative pulls in your life.

Start shepherding by being a good sample today.

Be willing to receive correction from ­others.

Step #3: PRAY!

Pray daily that the Lord will bring the sheep in, and that you as a Home‚ and the Family as a whole, will be faithful to obey the Lord's commission to feed them. Pray for disciples and new Family members—those who will serve the Lord full–time as well as those who will work with us closely as Active Members.

n  PREPARATION CHECKLISTS

ASK YOURSELVES‚ AS A HOME:

qAre we willing to become feeders, ­teachers and shepherds to our flocks?

qAre we ready to receive sheep at all hours?

qWill we put feeding the sheep before our income? Will we trust that as we give‚ the Lord will more than repay?

qIs our Home the sample it should be?

qDoes our Home reflect unity‚ love and joy?

qIs our Home a haven of rest and peace for the sheep?

qDo we work together in harmony and love?

qDoes our Home lack unity or have internal problems that we need to seek the Lord and pray about‚ communicate in love and humility together, and work out?

qDoes our Home have problems or disunity with another Home that we need to ­remedy? Are we humble enough to be the first ones to act?

qDo we take care of our own Home's problems or problem people within the Home, or do we wait for the VS or CRO to come and solve them?

qAre we moving forward and doing the job? Are we progressing?

qHave we set goals for our Home, and are we reaching those goals?

ASK YOURSELF‚ AS AN INDIVIDUAL:

qAm I willing to become a feeder, teacher and shep­herd to our flocks?

qWhere am I headed spiritually?

qWhat's important to me?

qWho are my friends? Are they drawing me closer to the Lord or pulling me away? (Ask your shepherds too.)

qWhen was the last time I gave my younger brothers and sisters a Word class, or had personal talk time with them? Am I a good influence on their spiritual lives?

qAm I an uplift to my Home? Do I contribute posi­tive­ly?

nWEEK-BY-WEEK GUIDE/
READING MATERIAL

Lord willing, the next "Action Series" GN will come out within a month or two. In order to be ready for the next step of the program, you may want to focus this month on implementing and studying what the Lord has shown us in this GN. Here's an idea of how you could do it:

Week 1

Go over the list of questions to ask yourself as an individual.

Take time to pray and ask the Lord in prophecy about these points. Determine whether you need prayer in any of these areas.

Read "The Activated Program" (ML #3238, GN 849) either for devotions or privately.

Week 2

Go over the list of questions to ask yourselves as a Home. Do this unitedly and talk about the areas that you're weak in. Come up with a list of points to have prayer for as a body.

Set specific goals for your Home concerning Activated. Post them.

Read Part 1 of the "Action Series‚" "Our Activated Future" (GN 895), either for devotions or privately.

Week 3

Discuss as a Home any problems you're having with other Homes in your area, or how you can improve inter-Home unity.

Make time to have united prayer, both for individual requests and your requests as a Home.

Pick one Letter from the Topical Reading List that follows to read for devotions or privately.

TOPICAL READING LISTS

Feeding the sheep/follow-up

qML #2422, "No More Visiting Hours!" (Lifelines 18)

qML #3132, "Why Witness?" (GN 741/Lifelines 24)

qML #3135, "Be a Missionary!" (GN 744/Lifelines 24)

qML #3137, "'Instant' Witnessing!" (GN 747/Lifelines 24)

qML #3238, "The Activated! Program." (GN 849)

qML #3245, "Witnessing and Follow-up Pitfalls!" (GN 847)

Shepherding

qML #3052:119-126, "Prophecies On Lead­er­­ship!" (Lifelines 23)

qML #3067, "The Two Pillars of Shepherd­ing!" (Lifelines 23)

qML #3113, "Jesus, Our Good Shepherd!" (GN 724/Lifelines 24)

qML #3262, "More on 'The Shakeup 2000!'" (GN 863)

Shepherding JETTs and your brothers/sisters

qML #3018, "Loving Shepherding and Interaction—Charter Style!" (Lifelines 22)

qML #3114, "Call to the Rescue!—Part 1." (Lifelines 24)

qML #3115, "Call to the Rescue!—Part 2." (Lifelines 24)

qML #3116, "Help Is on the Way!" (Lifelines 24)

qML #3154, "How to Keep Our Teens!" (GN 760/Lifelines 24)

qML #3191, "Shepherding Our Children and Young People!" (GN 796)

Pride/humility

qML #3043, "Prophecies on Pride and Humility!" (Lifelines 23)

qML #3235, "Stay Humble!" (GN 838)

qML #3251, "Do the Humble Thing!" (GN 853)

qML #3268:17-41, "Intimate Details of My Life!" (GN 870)

qML #3276, "The Remaking of a Man!" (GN 879)

Loving interaction/communication

qML #3100, "Come Together—In Love!" (GN 722/Lifelines 24)

qML #3187‚ "Stop the Gossip Now!" (GN 792)

qML #3201, "Living the Lord's Law of Love!—Pt. 1." (GN 804/Lifelines 25)

qML #3202, "Living the Lord's Law of Love!—Pt.2." (Lifelines 25)

qML #3237, "Loving Kindness!" (GN 840)

Unity/disunity

qML #3161‚ "Overcoming the Generation Gap!" (GN 767/Lifelines 24)

qML #3211, "Living the Lord's Law of Love!—Pt.11." (Lifelines 25)

qML #3222, "Citizens of the Kingdom!" (GN 835)

qML #3234, "Loving Interaction!" (GN 837)

qML #3293‚ "Self-righteousness—The Great Barrier to Uniting the Generations! Practical Tips for Unity, Part 1." (GN 897)

Applying and living the Word

qML #3183, "Quiet Time—Your Lifesaver!" (GN 788)

qML #3218, "The Weakness Revolution—How You Can Make It! Part 1 and 2." (GN 819-820)

qML #3219, "The Weakness Revolution—How You Can Make It! Part 3." (GN 821)

qML #3250, "Desperate for Jesus!" (GN 852)

qML #3290‚ "The Era of Action!—Part 3!" (GN 886)

General spiritual strengthening

qML #3184, "The Spiritual Health Revolution!" (GN 789)

qML #3255, "Spiritual Attacks Intensified!" (GN 856)

qML #3277‚ "You Can Make It!—Part 1." (GN 880)

qML #3288, "The Era of Action!—Part 1." (GN 882)

qML #3292, "You Can Make It‚ Part 2." (GN 891)

nPROBLEM–SOLVING STEPS

What to do when you as an individual see that someone in your Home is having a problem:

1. Pray and ask the Lord about the situation. Follow up on what the Lord says.
2. Keep your Home shepherds abreast of the situation at each step. Give them your personal prophecies on the subject.
3. Bring the issue to the attention of ­either the person who is battling or their over­seer (or parent, if applicable).
4. Look for guidance and solutions to the problem in the Word.
5. Research what the Charter says about it and follow the guidelines. Take any Charter-related action that is required.
6. If it's a sensitive matter or you're not sure how the person will receive your counsel or react to it, you may want to let your shepherds know what you'd like to tell the person and get their counsel and approval before talking to them. (In such cases, your shepherds may want to accompany you or even handle it themselves.)
7. Offer your counsel to the person who is battling, or show them from the Word what they could do to get the victory or solve the problem. If you feel unable to approach the person directly, you could possibly write them a note or letter. Be humble in your presentation and take the low seat. Don't be accusatory or come across like you're above them or are trying to "shepherd" them (if you're not their actual shepherd). It's difficult enough to receive correction, so if you're pointing out something to one of your peers, make it as easy as possible for them to receive it.
8. If necessary, bring the issue before the Home to either pray about further or discuss the situation.
9. Implement the counsel or guidelines from the written Word, or the prophecies received for the situation (they should not conflict with either the Charter or the Word) before com­muni­cating about it with either your VSs or CROs.
10. If you've taken these steps toward solving the problem and more progress is still needed, don't give up! Go back to the Lord and ask Him for further counsel. Search further in the Word. Make a list of new goals to work towards in search of the victory. Give it time, too, as some problems simply require more time to resolve.

What to do as a Home‚ when there are inter-Home problems within your area:

1. Pray with your Home to see what you can do to develop better working relations with your neighboring Homes.
2. Ask the Lord, as a Home, to take away any spirit of criticalness or self-righteousness toward the Home you're having a difficulty with. Ask Him to give you a spirit of humility so that you can see His perspective on the situation.
3. Research both the Charter and the Letters to find what can be done or should be done in your particular situation to have more loving and united interactions with each other.
4. Implement what the Lord is showing your Home (from the prophecies you've received and from the Charter or Letters on the subject) to help the situation.
5. Try to arrange a meeting with the Home(s) you have difficulty with. Pray together and discuss the issue honestly and with humility, giving the other Home(s) the benefit of the doubt in order to clear up any misunderstandings. Pray desperately that you won't be sensitive to anything that's shared about how they see you and your Home, even if you feel it's unjustified, overly negative or one-sided. Once the problem is out in the open, it can often be tackled and resolved more easily. Have united prayer and hear from the Lord together. Make a concerted effort to restore and strengthen your bond of unity.
6. If your Home reaches out to try to repair a breach, don't give up if your efforts aren't immediately embraced by the other Home. Keep at it. In situations where there is a fair bit of hurt or deep disunity, one or two efforts at mending the fences aren't always enough. Keep going to the Lord and keep trying. Don't give up if the problems aren't solved right away or appear to be very deep-seated.
7. Go back to the Lord if you have more questions or you find that there are more sides to the story that you weren't aware of before.
8. Once you've followed the preceding steps, if problems still persist, then communicate with your VSs or CROs about it.

When you hear about general ­problems that involve other areas, other Homes‚ or individuals that are not from your Home or area:

1. Pray and ask the Lord if it's necess­ary for you to be discussing it or to be actively involved.
2. If you're talking with someone who brings up a problem involving other individuals, Homes or areas‚ their comments can range from heart–sharing to complaining or even murmuring. In such a case, pray and ask the Lord how to handle the situation. Suggest that the person communicates with those who can answer their question (unless that person is you)‚ or share the Word with them so they can take a positive stand against the problems rather than complaining to others. Offer to pray with the person so they can be free from the burdens they're feeling. Ask the Lord together to intervene and change things‚ if the situation seems to need it.
3. Remember that you've only heard one side of the story‚ or a portion of it. Don't judge the situation or allow yourself to become critical about the people or Home you've heard about.
4. When someone shares with you a problem from their Home or another Home in their area, or about another brother or sister, encourage them to report or do some­thing about it themselves. If they don't want to or don't think they can‚ let them know that you'll be praying about it, and if the Lord leads you to say something, you will; and most likely, you'll have to give your source of information—them. Make this clear so that later this person doesn't feel that you breached their trust.
5. If you can't do anything as an individual or as a Home, communicate with and inform the mem­bers of the other Home involved. Be aware that the account you heard could very well have been exaggerated or misrepresented. In your presen­t­ation, take the attitude of, "We don't know if this is true or fully accurate, but we'd rather report to you what we heard and find it to be wrong than let it pass and find that it's right. We don't want to get involved or judge, but we just wanted to pass on what sounds like a possible problematic situation for you to discuss and bring to the Lord."
6. If you feel the Lord wants you to share a possible solution from the Word or a prophecy with another Home about their problems, it's wise to run this by a third party—your Home teamwork or VS—in ­order to prevent the situation becoming more sensitive or causing disunity. Guard against being self-righteous or condemning in your comments or suggestions.

General points to remember when facing "problematic" situations or personalities:

1. Prayer works wonders. Prayer can change situations and the hearts of men.
2. Hearing from the Lord in prophecy is crucial so you can have the right perspective on situations or another person's heart.
3. Researching the Charter helps to find out what is expected of you and the person involved. It also clarifies what your authority is in the situation.
4. Researching the Word on the subject helps you to have Godly perspectives regarding the scenario you are dealing with.
5. It's very important to hear out the person(s) involved and research the matter or problem situation as thoroughly as possible. The situa­tion can often be clarified or the problem more clearly understood when well investigated.
6. If you take the first step to do something about the problem you're facing, there will probably be more steps to take. Don't give up if the problem situation isn't fully remedied after your first prayer and prophecy‚ or the first talk you have with someone.
7. Our God is in the business of dealing with impossible situations. He does miracles IF you follow His leading in prophecy, and have faith in His Word and His counsel, and are faithful to talk to the right people about the situations you see or are involved in. Remember, gossiping and complaining about problems you see or hear about never bears good fruit, either in your life or the lives of others! Stay positive and take it to the Lord in prayer and hear from Him in prophecy. n