TO EUROPE WITH LOVE! DO 101      9/71

THE IMPORTANCE OF NAMES & SURNAMES

         1. I THINK IT WOULD REALLY BE GOOD IF WE'D START GIVING NEW DISCIPLES SURNAMES, so we'd remember who they are by where they're from or what they're like or what they are or the condition of their joining the Family etc.! In fact, that's how most Christian surnames originated--like Peter the Hermit, John the Carpenter, Michael the Miller & Joseph the Smith--all eventually became more formalised & finally just became Peter Hermit, John Carpenter, Michael Miller & Joseph Smith etc.
         2. IT WOULD SURE HELP US I.D. EACH OTHER EASIER & recognise who we're talking about better, now that there are beginning to be so many of us, even a number with the same first name. In fact, this is how the terms CHRISTIAN or GIVEN name, originated, because all CHRISTIANS were given new names & then the surname was the LAST name, which identified which Peter, James, John or Mary they were talking about. We could even boil them down to the short forms for the sake of brevity, if necessary, such as Sarah Dublin, Jane College, Joy Fourteen, Mike Missionary etc.
         3. SO WHAT'S IN A NAME?--A WHOLE LOT! People are always named in the Bible according to their character, circumstances of birth, place of origin, nature of their work or name of their father (you could use name of your spiritual Father, such as the son of Zebedee.)

PIONEER TEAMS & HOUSING

         4. WE'RE A LITTLE LEERY OF THE SOUND OF SOME OF THOSE PLACES WHERE YOU FOLKS HAVE BEEN STAYING--in parks, squares, deserted houses & demon-possessed ones. Sounds to me like we certainly need a place of our own, particularly for the sake of our poor new disciples, who, as babes, need a little extra tender loving care--& you can't give it to them very well, sleeping in the park! Doing this occasionally in an emergency I can understand, but doing this as a regular thing, with no place else to live but the park, is a little bit hard on both team members & new babes! Jesus said He had nowhere to lay His head--in other words, no place to call His Own--& Paul said he had no certain dwelling place, but I notice that the Lord usually seemed to provide homes & friends who took them in. In fact, in the Great Commission Jesus said that when you go to a town, to inquire in it who is worthy & dwell there & go not from house to house.--Mat.10:11.
         5. IN OTHER WORDS, THE FIRST PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO TAKE YOU IN ARE USUALLY THE ONES THE LORD WANTS TO BLESS with your presence throughout your stay or at least until you find a place of your own or until your family grows so that they can no longer hold you & the Lord provides something bigger--& He WILL provide, if you need it!
         6. ONE REASON THE LORD SAID NOT TO GO FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE we learned by experience years ago in evangelistic work. The poor & the humble would usually be the first to invite you in--the ones that really love the Lord--& sacrifice to do it, for they are worthy. But later, AS YOU BECOME WELL-KNOWN & POPULAR, THE RICH & THE INFLUENTIAL, who didn't want to have anything to do with you at first until they could be sure you were going to be a success, WILL INVITE YOU AS A GUEST OF HONOUR TO THEIR MANSIONS FOR THEIR OWN GLORY, for they are NOT worthy.--And if you move THEN from the poor & humble abode of the faithful to the rich & proud palace of the unfaithful, you will hurt the little folks who first took you in & give honour to those who don't deserve it.

LEADERS & HEALTH--TAKING CARE OF THEM

         7. I CAN ALWAYS REMEMBER SOMETHING MY MOTHER WOULD SAY WHEN MY FATHER WAS TRYING TO PINCH THE PENNIES: "THE LORD'S SERVANT IS WORTH MORE THAN THE MONEY!"--And I've often found that this is certainly true, while I too was nearly killing myself trying to save a little money, destroying my health & impairing my effectiveness!--And I'm upset to hear of the way some of you have been mistreating your bodies & endangering your lives, just to save some money!
         8. THIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE OF OUR MOST VALUABLE LEADERS, whose worth to the Lord's Work cannot possibly be estimated in dollars & cents & whose life & ministry, health & safety, are worth preserving for His use at any cost!
         9. IT REMINDS ME OF THE GUY I ONCE KNEW--A POOR YOUNG EVANGELIST--WHO ASKED THE LORD FOR A CAR: "Just any old rattletrap, Lord."--And that's exactly what he got! The Lord will take you exactly at your word & your faith! If you have to sleep in the park in order to witness to the kids, that's one thing--& if you have to do it once in a while to show that you're WILLING to do it in order to witness, that's another thing! But for you to be abusing your bodies & neglecting your health & safety just because you haven't got the faith or are too tight to spend money for a safer, healthier place to crash & literally risk the lives of God's valuable servants unnecessarily, then you have nobody but yourself to blame!
         10. SO DO YOUR UTMOST TO SAVE YOUR LEADERS' TIME, STRENGTH & TALENT FOR THE LORD! Protect your leadership-unless you want to have to do the job without them! Let everything be done in decency & in order & be temperate in all things & abuse not the temple of the Holy Ghost! Please take better care of yourselves & your leadership!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family