—MO April 1, 1971 NO.62 DO

PIONEER TEAMS TO PIONEER PLACES

1. Dear Children: Greeting again in Jesus' Name! I would like to wind up some of our SUGGESTIONS REGARDING THE NECESSARY PERSONNEL OF NEW TEAMS going out to establish new colonies. We have already advised you that we feel you should take advantage of the doors which the Lord has already opened first—the places which the Lord has offered us, so you'll have somewhere to land, a base to work from, even if it's only temporary or if not satisfactory‚ until you find a better place. But I'VE USUALLY FOUND THAT WHEREVER GOD GUIDES, HE NOT ONLY PROVIDES, BUT THAT HE ALSO PROVIDES IN THE DIRECTION HE'S GUIDING; and as you recall, that one of the Seven Ways to Know the Will of God is by the Open Doors; and as we've said before, they're not always the right ones‚ but He frequently gives you a choice. So you'll have to ask for His Wisdom to know which is best.

THE LEADER—TIPS ON HIS JOB AND QUALIFICATIONS

2. IN CHOOSING A TEAM for such a project, it's usually been my policy, and I believe it's Scriptural: LET THE LORD PICK THE MAN FOR THE JOB—THE LEADER. He usually already has the burden for it, or if you are sure he's God's man for it, you can pray and persuade him into having the burden for it by presenting the need and his qualifications for the job, and let the Lord do the rest to encourage him to volunteer for it. The Lord always prefers volunteers. Delight thyself in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (Ps.37:4) The right man usually has the desire for it and wants to do it. Now he may not want to be the leader and have the responsibility‚ but he usually has a definite burden for that particular field. God may have to push him into the leadership. Moses wanted to see his people liberated, but he was reluctant to be the leader until God commanded him to do so. As we've said before, MOST GOOD LEADERS DON'T WANT TO BE LEADERS—they know what a big job it is and such a serious responsibility, and they often do not feel capable. These are the best leaders‚ because then they will not be cocky and self-confident, but know they have to rely utterly on the Lord.

3. AT THE AGE OF 40, WHEN MOSES WAS COCKY AND OVER-CONFIDENT‚ AND tried to free his people in his own strength, he was a big flop and had to run for his life without them in a personal exodus of his own, alone and all by himself-and it took God 40 years in the very wilderness where he was to later lead them, to teach him humility and utter dependence on God, by leading dumb sheep, until he no longer wanted the job!—Then he was ready. He wanted to see them liberated—he had the burden—but he didn't want to do it himself. He didn't think he was able—and that's good; BECAUSE MAN'S EXTREMITY IS GOD'S OPPORTUNITY. WHEN YOU COME TO THE END OF YOUR ROPE, THEN GOD HAS A CHANCE TO WORK. Lean not to thine own understanding; in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. (Pr.3:5) COMPLETE DEPENDENCE ON THE LORD IS THE SECRET OF GOOD LEADERSHIP. LET GO AND LET GOD! Let God lead. You just be His mouthpiece, His channel, His servant, and everybody else's servant‚ too. FOR HE THAT IS GREATEST AMONG YOU MUST BE SERVANT OF ALL. (Mk.10:43,44)

4. Moses even argued with God about it, that he wasn't fit for the job, and God had picked the wrong man—but God chose, which shows, God knew His Jew. But, due to Moses' strong objections, God was willing to compromise with him a little, and give him a right–hand man and mouthpiece who could speak for him—his brother, Aaron. All Moses had to do was listen to God, and pass the word on to his executive officer, to have his Aaron tell the people and see that it was carried out. This is good leadership, because THE LEADER ABOVE ALL, MUST BE A MAN IN TUNE WITH GOD, in close communication with headquarters—God's Headquarters, and all he should have to do is pass this word on to his officers, and see to it that they see to it‚ that it's carried out. Praise the Lord? Amen.

5. HIS JOB IS NOT TENDING TABLES, BUT LISTENING TO GOD, AND GIVING GOD'S ORDERS, TENDING DILIGENTLY TO THE MINISTRY OF THE Word and Prayer. Of course this doesn't mean just sitting around on his fanny in perpetual meditation doing nothing, but it requires a lot of hard work, prayer, study‚ teaching, and action in direction to see that it's done, which includes a lot of direct supervision, correction, demonstration, counselling, conferring‚ deciding‚ ordering, planning, surveying, investigating, choosing, analysing, calculating, counting the cost, seeking god for the answer, etc.

6. HIS IS A NIGHT AND DAY, 24-HOUR-A-DAY JOB. Everybody else does their job‚ takes their time off, goes to sleep at night, and doesn't worry; but the Leader has to be thinking, praying, planning‚ and deciding all the time, at least one jump ahead of the rest, so he'll know what to tell 'em to do next. If he doesn't, he'll be like the teacher who tries to get up and teach a lesson without having studied it himself first—and you know what a mess you can make of that. Study time is not only reading time, but listening to God time also; although it's true, He will give you many ideas and revelations right while you're teaching, by His Spirit. But it's not likely He'll give you much if you're a lazy and slothful servant who expects God to do it all. If you're a diligent and faithful servant, you should do all that you can do, and expect God to do the rest, that you can't do. Before you, the shepherd, go before your little sheep to guide them, you should know where you're going. You should come from the very presence of God speaking as the oracles of God, from a full heart! PTL!

7. THROUGH HIS TIME OF PRAYER AND STUDY, PREFERABLY ALONE—I personally find the night watches, when everyone else is sleeping‚ and YOU CAN HEAR GOD CLEARLY, without distraction, very productive for this-he should be full of his subject in both heart and head, and if so, he may not even have to use notes‚ although those can be helpful and there's no reason why God can't inspire you in advance, and give you ideas and thoughts to jot down, to pass on to your people later. Moses did it, the prophets did it, and many others have gotten their inspiration this way; and in a way, we're ministering to you this way right now‚ by the written word. Some people seem to have the idea from that Scripture about going to court, that they shouldn't prepare anything in advance; they should just get up there before their own people, open their mouth, and God will fill it, with no work on their own part—no sweat. In that Scripture about not taking any thought for what you're going to say, God was talking about the typical court scene where you don't have full control, others do most of the talking‚ and you're only permitted to answer questions, and you don't know what those questions will be in advance‚ so that God has to inspire you immediately‚ directly, and on-the-spot‚ exactly how you should answer; and Praise God, He's promised to tell you what to say at the time on such occasions; but He was not talking about feeding your sheep! For them YOU SHOULD PREPARE AND FEED THEM FROM A WELL-STOCKED LARDER OF STUDY, PRAYER‚ AND EXPERIENCE, along with a few good notes to remind you what to say if necessary, so you won't miss anything, or forget something that God told you to tell them.

BIBLE STUDY—SUGGESTED LIST OF BOOKS AND HELPS

8. If you're TEACHING DIRECTLY FROM A SCRIPTURE TEXT, which you've previously studied and prayed over, the text itself may be sufficient to remind you of the thoughts God gave you on it; but you'd best jot them down, or circle a key word here or there, underline, or write a word or two in the margin to remind you. This is what I usually do when I'm teaching Bible passages—and the best notes are kept in the margin of your Bible, which you're not likely to lose. Other notes can get lost or come and go‚ but God's Word goes on forever.

9. This is also why THE WRONG KIND OF Bible is such a terrible thing to use, like the Scofield, and some other annotated Bibles, because the notes‚ comments, headings, and interpretations are right there in the text‚ and you can't escape them, and they're horrible, if they're wrong, because they're continually throwing you off the track. I know, because I've had 'em; particularly the Scofield which is definitely anti-Gifts of the Spirit, anti-Healing‚ and pro-Evolution, pro-Pre–Trib, pro-Churchianity. The SCOFIELD BIBLE is almost diabolical in its delusions. The only thing it's really good on is history, some of the prophecy—but that's bad if you don't know which, background material‚ and Eternal Salvation, although it's the most popular Bible of true Christians throughout the world, and has led millions astray on everything but Salvation, which I guess, is the only reason God has allowed it to persist.

10. The next worst Bible is the so-called ANALYTICAL BIBLE, which is as modernistic as it can be, which means it's the Bible of the Saducees, who are so sad‚ you see, because they do not believe in the Resurrection, or anything else supernatural or miraculous, and I strongly suspect its editors and publishers didn't even believe in God. One of the worst features of the Analytical Bible is the frequent insertion in brackets, right into the King James text, portions‚ particularly the different translations, where you can't possibly miss them, of certain passages from the damnable, diabolical, Satanic‚ demonic, modernistically translated by a bunch of unbelievers—The AMERICAN REVISED STANDARD VERSION, now the accepted text, even authorised in nearly all of your major denominational churches, such as Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, etc. It is heinous, subtle, and faith-destroying if you don't know the truth.

11. These three bad Bibles are the worst I know of, but I hear the NEW ILLUSTRATED ENGLISH BIBLE is even worse, although I understand it's got some pretty hot pictures which might be helpful in livening up the text; but it too, is extremely liberal and modernistic, which means it's atheistic and anti-Christ. There are probably plenty of other bad ones I don't even know about. There are a few modern translations which aren't too bad, such as WEYMOUTH, MOFFATT, AND GOODSPEED, in modern English‚ but they can't always be relied on either, for accuracy or inspiration. I'd class along with these GOOD NEWS FOR MODERN MAN and THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE, both of which are in modern language, or have textual insertions of different translations, which destroy the beauty, the continuity, and even the reliability. So I wouldn't use any of these other Bibles, except as a matter of reference. You've even gotta watch out a little bit for THOMPSON CHAIN, where he tries to work in a little of his own doctrine here and there in connecting certain references. Otherwise, it's got a lot of good helps, and is a fairly practical Bible‚ if you learn how to use it, and can afford one. But personally, I've never spent $40.00 for any Bible‚ and the best Bible I ever had was a little $5.00 Oxford KING JAMES TRANSLATION—and you'll never beat the dear old King James. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY INSPIRED‚ HAD THE MOST BELIEVING TRANSLATORS AND THEREFORE‚ IS THE MOST INSPIRED ENGLISH TRANSLATION, AND THE MOST BEAUTIFUL IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, THE MOST FAMILIAR, THE MOST QUOTED‚ AND THE MOST PROVEN FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. It changed the world! Next would be the CATHOLIC DOUAY, if you skip the notes.

12. You can even get a good KING JAMES in one of these cheap little WORLD BIBLES that you buy at the dime store for two or three dollars, even with a lot of maps and helps in the back, and some have a small CONCORDANCE, which is a list of words used in the Bible with the references where they're used, so you can easily find a verse you're looking for. Because, unless you know your Bible by heart, as some of you do, the next most important thing you need to a Bible, is a good concordance. The little one in the back of your Bible will probably be sufficient for the babes who are to busy studying, memorising, and taking classes to need much else.

13. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO REAL INTENSIVE STUDY‚ AS A FULL-TIME STUDENT AND TEACHER AND LEADER, YOU'LL PROBABLY NEED A MORE COMPLETE CONCORDANCE for running down related verses, and finding other verses using the same word, or on the same subject. A fairly good evangelical and not-to-big concordance is CRUDENS CONCORDANCE, and comes in editions not much bigger than your Bible itself‚ with references to most of the verses you'll need, as well as some handy little information about some of these words. But if you're gonna be a real teacher and leader in the Word, sooner or later you're gonna need a truly exhaustive concordance with every single word in the Bible in it, conveniently arranged in good clear type, and giving for each word its original Hebrew or Greek form with the original definition. Such is the big YOUNGS CONCORDANCE‚ the very best in the business, and the simplest and easiest to use for the student or teacher who is not already a proficient Greek or Hebrew scholar. First it gives you the word from the Bible that you're looking for in big clear, bold-face type—the English word, then follow its various uses of that word in the King James Bible, along with each of the original Hebrew words from which it was translated in the Old Testament, or the Greek words from the New, with their pronunciation and meaning, right there where you find the word and all its references. You don't have to fiddle around and look it up in the back, like you do with a STRONG'S CONCORDANCE, which is the favourite concordance of the unbelieving modernists, and very difficult for the beginner to use‚ unless you're a Greek or Hebrew scholar.

14. So you teachers try to pick up a YOUNG'S if you can get one, and it'll be a great help to you, and you can get one if you try. Many of your parents and friends like to do something for you personally, and give you a personal gift for you to use—so here's your opportunity to tell 'em they can pick up one of these for from anywhere from $15.00 to $20.00, even cheaper than some Bibles. But watch out—they're so huge they're tough to lug around, almost as big as a Webster's Dictionary, so they're not very conducive to travel.

15. OF COURSE‚ NOTHING WILL EVER EQUAL YOUR OWN SPIRIT-LED PERSONAL STUDY AND MEMORISATION‚ AND USE. THE HOLY GHOST IS THE BEST CONCORDANCE I'VE GOT, and He keeps popping Scriptures into my mind all the time, right on the button, right on the subject, even some I never dreamed were related to that subject, or never even thought of in connection with it. God knows His own Book better than anybody, and He can surely spiel it off by the Spirit when you need it, if you've faithfully read, studied and memorised‚ He'll pop it up in your little computer whenever you make the right connection in your programming. He's the best computer programmer I know, and He's given you the best computer ever constructed‚ which will outdo any concordance. Hallelujah!

16. BUT IF YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW ONE MORE BOOK THAT EVERY BIBLE TEACHER SHOULD HAVE, and something else to bug your parents for that won't set 'em back more than about five dollars—the third most useful book you could possibly have, aside from a Bible and a concordance—is a HALLEY'S BIBLE HANDBOOK, complied by a dear old Bible-believing personal friend of my Grandfather's‚ and one of the most widely used books in the world by Bible students. It contains about everything else you need to know about the Bible: its history, archeology, Church history, and a brief running commentary on nearly every chapter, as well as a fairly unbiased description of the various major forms of prophetic interpretation, and is a great teaching aid to help give your students the full picture.

17. If you learn everything there is in these three books—A KING JAMES BIBLE, A YOUNG'S CONCORDANCE, AND A HALLEY'S HANDBOOK—you'll know more than I do, and certainly know more than most preachers, and a Heaven of a lot more than nearly all Christians, and you should be able to run this outfit, or rule the world, if knowledge could do it—BUT ALL THIS IS NOTHING WITHOUT THE SPIRIT. And the babe with the Spirit‚ and a handful of good verse, and a will to witness‚ can accomplish more than all the Bible College Presidents put together—if you'll just learn to obey the Lord and follow Jesus. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! So don't get discouraged if you don't have a bunch of books. I knew a guy once who accomplished a lot with only one page from the Bible. In fact, about everything you need to know is right on the WARNING TRACT. If you'd memorise that, and those verses, which started this Revolution‚ you'd know enough to keep you busy the rest of your life. YOU SHOULDN'T TRY TO CRAM THE WHOLE BIBLE INTO THE GUY YOU'RE WITNESSING TO, anyhow. Just harp on a verse or two, until he's got 'em so memorised he can't forget 'em; otherwise you just confuse him. Don't try to show off how much you know. I won a lot of people to the Lord with only John 3:16. That's all you really need to know to win souls! But the rest help—especially you. It feeds and guides you personally and answers a lot of questions!

LIST OF ESSENTIAL TEAM MEMBERS—THEIR JOBS AND QUALIFICATIONS

18. Well, Praise the Lord. I didn't intend to spend so much time on the selection of the Leader for a new team, but after all is said and done, if you don't have the RIGHT LEADER, it won't matter how good a team you give him, he still won't do a good job if he hasn't got the qualities outlined above. But if you've got the RIGHT LEADER, it won't matter how bad a team you give him, he'll still succeed by the grace of God. And since it's usually been our policy to let the LEADER CHOOSE HIS OWN TEAM as much as possible‚ if the right leader gets the right kind of a team he wants, he's bound to succeed; so here are a few closing TIPS ON TEAM MEMBERS:

19. THESE ARE THE ESSENTIAL TALENTS AND GIFTS THAT EVERY TEAM SHOULD HAVE, whether they be confined to each individual member according to his Gifts‚ or combined in some members according to their talents, they should all be there in each team:

20. 1.) THE SHEPHERD. Already described, but HE MUST BE A REAL LEADER, SHEPHERD OF HIS SHEEP, WITH THE CALL OF AN APOSTLE (one sent with a message— a missionary; apostles). He must also have a pastor's heart, a concern for his own sheep, as well as the lost sheep‚ and the talents of a teacher for feeding them. He may or may not be also an evangelist, musician, business manager public relations man, witnessing director‚ driver, mechanic, typist, prophet, interpreter‚ healer, etc. He doesn't have to be any or all of these, but he may have to be some of them, if they're not on his team.

21. 2.) THE ASSISTANT SHEPHERD. His wife-secretary, typist, business manager, public relations director, witnessing director, general manager, procuring and kitchen overseer, work schedule supervisor‚ general organiser, counsellor, musician, etc. She too, may or may not have all these talent, but SHE MUST HAVE THE MAIN ONES TO RELIEVE HER HUSBAND AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE for the spiritual leadership‚ classes, etc. but again, all of these talents and abilities must be on each and every team to succeed.

22. 3.) THE BUSINESS MANAGER. (And/or Secretary-Treasurer, if not the Director's Wife). If the Director or his wife haven't got it, SOMEBODY'S GOTTA HAVE THE BUSINESS SENSE FOR THE TEAM, KNOW HOW TO HANDLE THE MONEY, PUBLIC RELATIONS, BUSINESS AFFAIRS, mail, logistics, management of procuring, legal matters, government, helps, knowledge‚ etc. He may not have all of these, but he sure as shooting gotta have enough to keep the team in business! No matter how Heavenly-minded your team is, it's gotta keep its feet on the ground and somebody's gotta know how to handle the business, do the banking, pay the bills, take care of the mail, greeting, etc. if not the Directors.

23. 4.) THE MUSICIANS. THERE OUGHTTA BE AT LEAST A COUPLE‚ if possible‚ preferably guitarists, or with some kind of portable instrument that can be used anywhere; and they of course, SHOULD BE ABLE TO SING, CLEARLY AND LOUDLY ENOUGH TO GET THE MESSAGE ACROSS‚ as this is one of our primary forms of communication with this generation. HE SHOULD ALSO BE ABLE TO LEAD INSPIRATIONAL MEETINGS, sings, public meetings, M.C. testimonies‚ and speak and/or teach, lead witnessing teams, book openings, and anything else he can do to relieve the Shepherd and his wife for leadership only. Of course, if you're short of talent‚ the Shepherds may have to be it; but this is the ideal.

24. 5.) THE PROVISIONERS. The Scroungers; OUR FRONT-LINE SALESMEN TO THE SYSTEM, SOLICITORS OF FOOD AND OTHER NEEDS, without which you could not survive. They are some of the most IMPORTANT DEACONS we have, without which we could not operate‚ or feed the multitudes, equip them, and supply their needs for witnessing. THEY ALSO ARE PUBLIC RELATIONS MEN, REPRESENT US TO THE COMMUNITY, AND HELP CREATE GOOD WILL, understanding, publicity, and support, one of our toughest jobs! Bless 'em!

25. 6.) DRIVER–MECHANICS. GOOD DRIVERS WHO DRIVE PRAYERFULLY AS UNTO THE LORD, and for His Glory, AND KNOW HOW TO FIND AND FIX MINOR MECHANICAL TROUBLES IN EMERGENCIES. It is said by mechanics that 75 percent of auto troubles involving starting, stopping‚ and poor operation lie in the simplest parts of the battery-ignition system and its adjustments; and next is the fuel system, also fairly simple. If a driver can master these, he can usually correct the most common mechanical difficulties which plague the every-day motorist, without a big garage bill, even if he has to leave the major engine repairs up to the paid experts, or procure them. SINCE TRANSPORTATION IS SO VITAL TO OUR ENTIRE OPERATION, EVERY DRIVER SHOULD KNOW OR BE TAUGHT SIMPLE REPAIRS.

26. 7.) MAINTENANCE MAN. SOMEONE ON THE TEAM SHOULD HAVE AT LEAS AN AMATEUR'S KNOWLEDGE OF HOW THE PLUMBING WORKS, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, THE GAS, and be able to find the trouble and make simple repairs of these basic utilities of your shelter, as well as fix other important things that frequently go wrong with a house, such as doors, windows, locks, furniture, etc., so you can keep things in shape on your own. FIX IT!

27. 8.) COOKS. THESE CAN EVEN BE YOUR BABES, SINCE A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW HOW TO COOK, even the boys, BUT IT BETTER BE SOMEBODY, or you'll get awful hungry or a tummyache!

28. 9.) PHOTOGRAPHER. HE'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE CAMERA. You can take masterpieces with a baby Brownie if you know how. It's not the camera that does it: it's the man behind it‚ who's not afraid of faces, close-ups, action, and has a nose for news, art, composition, perspective, colour‚ people‚ continuity, stories, personalities, scenes, etc.

29. 10.) THE GIFTED. ALL THE GIFTS AND OFFICES OF THE SPIRIT SHOULD BE PRESENT IF YOU CAN. Also printers‚ artists, writers, sewers, first aiders, midwives, farmers on farms, etc.—what-ever you need, God can give you But those numbered above are the most absolutely essential, without which you can hardly operate. SOME MAY HAVE TO DOUBLE SEVERAL OF THESE JOBS, BUT ALL SHOULD BE REPRESENTED ON YOUR TEAM. PRAY FOR LABOURERS! PTL!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family