March 17, 2004
(This contains the full text of GN 1055-1056)
CM/FM 3469 Compiled 8/03
Practical Aspects
(Taken from the Charter as well as "Charter Amendments 2003," GN 1033)
A Charter Home:
Fulfills the reporting requirements in accordance with "World Service Reporting and Mailing Rules."
Homes must send in their TeleTRF‚ tithe‚ 1% FAF and 3% Common Pot contributions on time each month in accordance with the "World Service Reporting and Mailing Rules" listed in the "Fundamental Family Rules." (From "Basic Responsibilities of the Charter Home‚" B.)
Tithes to World Services a minimum of 10% of its income, as well as contributes a further 1% to the Family Aid Fund (FAF), and 3% to the Continent's Common Pot, and shares with World Services from its abundance through added gifts.
The tithe is 10% of all new cash income to the Home. The minimum tithe is $100, except in some countries specifically granted exception by WS due to poor economic conditions. There is no monthly $10 minimum on the FAF or $30 minimum on the Common Pot. The FAF and CP contributions are simply 1% and 3%, respectively, of the Home's total new cash income for the month. (From "Basic Responsibilities of the Charter Home," C.)
Allocates time on the specified election dates for its members to prayerfully elect competent Home officers, in free and fair elections by secret ballot, in accordance with the "Election Rules." (From "Basic Responsibilities of the Charter Home," F.)
Is financially stable, lives within its income, operates within a monthly budget, and meets all of its financial responsibilities and obligations by whatever legal means necessary. (From "Responsibilities of the Charter Home: Regarding Financial Matters," A.)
The Well–Being and Spiritual Life of Your Home Members
Putting the Word first
(From "Charter Amendments 2003," "Word Requirements")
In accordance with the Lord's and Mama's counsel in "What Is Jesus Worth to You?" (ML #3433), we are amending the Charter Word requirements as follows.
Change in "Word Rules"
Charter members must:
A.Spend a minimum of 1½ hours daily (or 10½ hours weekly) in quality study and communion with the Lord through the reading of His Word and other WS publications (private or united), praise time, or personal prayer and hearing from the Lord in prophecy.
Family members should have 1½ hours daily, or 10½ hours weekly‚ of quality Word, praise, personal prayer and hearing from the Lord, as outlined in "What Is Jesus Worth to You?" (ML #3433, GN 1016). This is not the recommended amount of personal time with the Lord; it is the minimum and it should be quality time.
Generally speaking, the following things would usually count toward the minimum one-and-a-half hours of quality Word time:
•Feeding study time, either privately or with others.
•Personal prophecy time, but not work-related prophecies.
•Memorization and review.
•Occasional meaningful discussions about the application of the Word.
•Some classes you teach others, provided they are feeding for you personally.
•Devotions with JETTs and teens, especially if you read the New Wine.
•Praise time.
•Loving Jesus intimately.
(From "What Is Jesus Worth to You")
1. (Jesus:) The key is putting first things first. If My Word has prominence in your life, if I am first and foremost in your life, if I and the things of My Spirit are worth the most to you, then I do allow and even encourage times of fellowship and relaxation. Even now, with this new revolution, this hasn't changed. But I desire for you to seek the fellowship and relaxation of the spirit, those things that bring unity, feed your spirits, and draw you closer to Me and each other, not the things of the world which bring no lasting fruit.
2. In many cases, in order to meet this challenge, something will have to go, something will have to be sacrificed. Worldly pleasures and System input in whatever way, shape, or form are the first things that should go or be limited, because you're all going to have to forsake this System "fluff" at some point in time anyway, so why not begin cutting it back or cutting it out now?
3. If you don't spend any time in any worldly pursuits—and there are very few people who fall into this category—then you have to start looking into other areas of your life and seeing where you can make sacrifices. Maybe you could stand to spend a little less time relaxing and fellowshipping. I'm not talking about cutting it out altogether, but about setting priorities and putting first things first. Or possibly you will need to spend less time working in order to have more time with Me.
4. The key in all this, My loves, is a proper balance. You must get this minimum daily Word time, and if you are lacking it, you must examine other areas of your life which are out of balance. If you are spending an excess of time in worldly pastimes of some sort‚ then you should cut back on that time, or even cut out some of those pastimes. If you are spending too much time fellowshipping or you find that your time is being eaten up by a little chat here or a little discussion or talk there, then cut out that excess as well. If you can redeem the time by saving minutes here and there throughout the day that would have gone to other less necessary things‚ then you will find extra time appearing as if by magic. And finally, if your life has gotten out of balance to the point where the work of the Lord has taken precedence over the Lord of the work, and My Word, which gives you the necessary strength and power and direction to accomplish that work‚ then you need to find a better balance in that respect as well.
5. It's very important that you understand the point of all this. It's that I come first; My Word comes first.
6. (Jesus: ) The one and half hours in the Word should be quality time.
7. The onus is on the individual to determine what is "quality," and those who are sincerely seeking to be obedient, to do all they can to receive the input and training they need at this time‚ will judge righteous judgment and won't always be trying to fudge it or find less quality Word-related activities to count toward the Word requirement. The key is in quality‚ deep, feeding Word time. It's not in just putting in the hours. The point is to be fed, trained and inspired!
8. I can't emphasize enough how the goal is quality Word time, real concentration, being fed, and not being satisfied with spacing out in united devotions, or casually listening to an MP3 file or audio Word tape while engaged in another activity, or just skimming some Family pub on whatever subject and calling that "Word time." I want time in the bed of love with you, deep communication, intimate touch-base time, quality exchanges, heart-to-heart interaction. And that's again where your personal commitment and desire are the secret, because each person will need to make a decision to not be satisfied with anything less than a real connection with Me, really getting fed, and defining that as "quality Word time."
9. (Mama:) It's something that He's asking you to do for Him‚ because you love Him, because you want to be a disciple. This is voluntary, but please realize that you'll be blessed according to your obedience to this counsel. It's not that you'll be able to just blow it off and think that nothing will happen, that things will just continue the same. They won't. If you continue to neglect the Word‚ either personally or as a Home, there will be consequences; you will suffer loss. This will be the Lord's doing. (ML #3433:185-189, 233-234, 240, 57; GN 1016).
Intercessory prayer
(From "Charter Amendments 2003," "Word Requirements")
Charter members must:
B.Spend a minimum of 30 minutes daily in intercessory prayer.
The Lord said, "I want to institute a new Charter requirement of 30 minutes of intercessory prayer each day. This should be each person's prayer vigil time. This is time you spend working for others, pouring out in spirit. This is not time in which you are feeding your own spirit. While intercessory prayer is edifying and inspiring, and you do come away from such prayer time feeling that you accomplished a lot and having a sense of peace, it's not time when you're feeding your own spirit or being trained in the Word and in My ways. So this time should be set apart from the Word requirement" (ML #3433:236). This intercessory prayer time for others is not to be counted as part of the 1½-hour minimum daily Word requirement.
Minimizing ungodly and unedifying influences
(From "Charter Responsibilities")
Charter members should:
A. Maintain a close connection with God through personal communion with Jesus, personal and united prayer and praise, personal and united reading of His Word (both the Bible and the Letters), Scripture memorization, and the minimizing and resisting of ungodly and unedifying influences in their lives; thus exhibiting the fruits of the Holy Spirit‚ which are: "love, joy, peace, long–suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance."
10. (Peter:) Your first responsibility is to stay close to the Lord. This should be paramount in our lives as Christians and Family members. We are Jesus' disciples who have forsaken all to serve Him, and thus we should want and desire to be close to Him by communing with Him through prayer, praise‚ and His Word. It is our responsibility to have personal‚ as well as united‚ prayer time. It is our personal responsibility to read His Word, both individually and as a Home. If you're not praying and reading the Word individually and together with your Home‚ then you're failing in this responsibility.
11. This clause also mentions Scripture memorization. Scripture memorization was included as a responsibility to ensure that Family members would commit to memory the basic Scriptures published in the Memory Book, and any other Scriptures that they feel would be useful in their witness or personal life. Scripture memorization is not required on an ongoing basis, but each member is expected to have memorized at least the Memory Book Scriptures and to be able to use them in their witness and in their personal lives when fighting the Enemy, claiming verses in prayer, etc.
12. The most controversial portion of this clause is the "minimizing and resisting of ungodly and unedifying influences in their lives." This clause has been rather controversial because there is no strict black-and-white definition as to what "ungodly and unedifying" influences are. What one person considers ungodly and unedifying might differ from what someone else considers to be so. This has been a point of contention between Home members, and often between older and younger members.
13. The points of controversy that have been the most contentious have been the watching of violent or unedifying movies, listening to System music, playing violent or unedifying computer games, foul language, excessive and unwise Internet usage, and worldliness in general. The attitude of some has been, "Well, the Charter doesn't specifically say we can't watch super–violent movies, and I really like them. I don't think they're unedifying for me personally; I can handle it." Or, "I really like a steady diet of System music and I don't think it hurts me or affects my spirit or my service for the Lord." Or, "What's considered unedifying, anyway?"
14. Perhaps the way to look at it is in reverse: "Is this movie or music edifying for me? Does it help me in some way without being harmful in some other way? Is there some information or some moral value contained in it that will help me to be a better Christian or a better person? Does the movie or music promote things or attitudes that we as a Family are for, or does it preach against what we believe?"
15. Of course many movies, even a number of those listed in the Grapevine, are just watched for entertainment. But the question you should ask yourself in your viewing or listening is whether it's edifying entertainment or harmful entertainment. In listing movies in the Grapevine‚ we try to stay away from entertainment which would be considered harmful. Of course, almost all movies have some measure of violence or unedifying language in them, but there is certainly a difference in the degree of negativity a movie contains, as "You Are What You Watch" brings out. If you have a penchant for violent movies and you are watching them a lot, then perhaps you should ask yourself, "How is this type of movie edifying for me? Are movies like this doing anything good for me? Are they making me a better Christian or a better Family member? Do the effects of these movies draw me closer to the Lord?"
16. If you are unsure about whether something is unedifying‚ go to the Word‚ go to the Lord, counsel with your shepherds and be open to what the Word, the Lord and your shepherds say. And when it comes to movies, if you stick to the ones that are published in the Grapevine and WS movie lists, as recommended in the Charter‚ you're less likely to get off track.
17. Another question is in regards to how much or how little is "minimizing" these ungodly influences. We tried to be realistic when writing the Charter, knowing that it's impossible to completely eliminate every ungodly influence in our life, and so we said we should minimize them. This means to cut back on them as much as possible: to usually avoid them.
18. Perhaps you could find a practical definition by using this example: If your shepherd said that you should minimize the amount of times you have to do dishes or some other job or activity that you don't like to do, how often would you do it? Probably not very often—maybe never. Well‚ that would be your definition of minimize. So if you would minimize something that you don't like to do by cutting back to almost never doing it, then you should apply the same interpretation of minimize when it comes to some ungodly influence and how often you should partake of it.
19. Of course, it's much harder to minimize something that you like or enjoy or have a hankering for. However, our responsibility as Christians is to minimize the influences of the world as much as possible, not as least as possible. The Bible says, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate" (2Cor.6:17). That doesn't sound like just a little bit of minimizing, does it? Please, let's all make an effort to rid our lives of these negative influences and inroads of the Enemy!
20. It is very clear from the Word, both old and new, that some things are unedifying‚ and a steady diet of them is an ungodly influence. There have been a number of GNs that touched on movies‚ music, foul language, Internet usage and other aspects of worldliness, both specifically and generally, and that have clearly stated the Lord's views on them. Whether you realize it or not, regular intake of things of the world does have a detrimental effect on your spirit, and will affect your service for the Lord and loving interaction with others if it hasn't already—all the more so if you're not getting a steady diet of Word to counteract and cleanse you from the System input.
21. Since the Lord's counsel on these matters has been published in the Word, and since you as a Charter member are expected to read and believe the Word, it is expected that you'll accept what the Lord and we have to say about these things. Whether you personally feel that these affect you negatively or not, God's Word says they do, and as a Charter member you should avoid and minimize them in your life.
22. If you have an inordinate desire to watch violent videos or movies, or you enjoy a constant diet of System music, or you're extremely desirous of the world and its ways, and you do not want to minimize them in your life, but instead you want to fully drink of these cups, then you need to ask the Lord to deliver you. If you can't let go of them, then you need to ask yourself, "Why am I a Charter member? Why don't I move to Fellow member status where I can do these things and still serve the Lord and be a member of the Family?" (ML #3197:50-55, 61-67; GN 803).
(From "More on 'The Shakeup 2000'")
23. (Mama: ) Let's discuss more in depth what it means to "minimize and resist ungodly and unedifying influences in your life." The Charter membership contract and the Provisional Charter membership contract‚ which are based on the Love Charter, say that one of the responsibilities of those in the CM Family is the following:
24. A. Maintain a close connection with God through personal communion with Jesus, personal and united prayer and praise, personal and united reading of His Word (both the Bible and the Letters), Scripture memorization, and the minimizing and resisting of ungodly and unedifying influences in my life; thus exhibiting the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are: "love, joy, peace, long–suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance."
25. (From WS Leadership: Since it is not fully spelled out in the above point‚ we wish to make it clear here that failure to minimize and resist ungodly and unedifying influences includes consistently reading unedifying or ungodly material, including pornographic material, in books, magazines or on the Internet; watching unedifying videos, movies or TV; playing unedifying computer games; sending ungodly e-mail; listening to ungodly music; using foul language or engaging in other activities deemed by the Family's governing bodies to be a reproach to the cause of Christ.)
26. "If you are unsure about whether something is unedifying, go to the Word‚ go to the Lord, counsel with your shepherds and be open to what the Word, the Lord and your shepherds say" ("Charter Responsibilities‚" ML #3197:61). If you wish to keep your Charter membership, then you are required to minimize these ungodly influences in your life.
27. As with all other individual Charter responsibilities, we want to make it clear that discerning whether you are minimizing and resisting unedifying and ungodly influences in your life will be determined by the agreement of any two of the Family's governing bodies—your Home, your area office, and your continental office—and not by you.
28. After other forms of shepherding and Charter discipline have been exhausted, if your Home, your area office or your continental office feel you are consistently not minimizing these ungodly and unedifying influences, they will recommend you for Fellow member status. If one of the other two bodies agrees with their recommendation, the procedure to move you to Fellow member status will begin immediately, as outlined [in] the Charter.
29. When you think of activities that can be ungodly and unedifying‚ the most common ones that come to mind are the ones listed in the above explanation. While these activities might be the most obvious ones that can be ungodly and unedifying influences in your life, they aren't the only ones. Peter and I expect that you will very carefully monitor the negative influences of the activities listed above, but we also want to alert you to some involvement with the System that is having a detrimental effect on many CM Family members at this time. These activities, when not handled well or when they're not the Lord's will, also fall under the category of ungodly and unedifying influences, which you should pray about and minimize. Here is a message from Dad with more details and explanation on this subject.
30. (Dad:) Exactly what is an "unedifying" or "ungodly" activity? That can be a pretty tough question to judge. Many people have different ideas or opinions on whether some particular activity is "unedifying" or "ungodly," and that difference of opinion can sometimes be a bone of contention between individuals, between parents and children, between Homes, or between shepherds and their flocks.
31. Added to this is the fact that in some cases a certain activity might be considered "unedifying" or "ungodly," but in other circumstances with different people, the same activity might not be. Take System jobs‚ for example. For some people, holding a System job can be quite an ungodly influence because it weakens them spiritually; they stop witnessing or getting enough Word time, and they stop living the Word, etc. So the fruit is bad and therefore it has become an ungodly influence. Even if it started out okay and was the Lord's will, if with time it became an ungodly influence, then you should minimize it by quitting the job.
32. Others might have System jobs, but it doesn't have the same effect on them. It's an avenue through which they can witness, it doesn't take up all their time and thoughts, and they still get in the Word and are right in there with the latest moves of the Spirit, trying to obey and follow. Maybe they have a job because it's helping them to get visas, or because the Lord opened the door for it and indicated it was His will for the time being; or maybe it's a temporary thing to raise funds quickly, or whatever. The point is that in one situation a System job might have a negative effect and in another situation it might have a positive effect.
33. Now let's take System relatives. For some people, having so much contact with their System relatives and being so close to them has a real pull on their service for the Lord. It causes them to be weakened spiritually, to water down their convictions, to compromise for gain‚ to not live up to the standard in the Word because they're afraid of offending their relatives. It often opens the door to materialism and influences their children wrongly in that way.
34. So in situations like that, it's definitely ungodly and unedifying‚ and according to the Charter, those folks should be minimizing it. That doesn't mean they can't ever talk to their relatives or visit them, but it does mean that they should tone things down, really seek the Lord about how it's influencing them and their children, and get back on track in upholding the standard, even if it means less contact with their relatives. They need to make sure they aren't being unequally yoked with unbelievers, and if they are, they should cast off that yoke!
35. But in other cases, the contact that some Family members have with their relatives is positive and helpful. They're witnessing to them and bringing them along spiritually; they're not compromising their convictions or letting the standard drop. They're careful that it's not too much contact, for the sake of the children. So contact with relatives in itself is not ungodly and unedifying, but it certainly can be if the fruit of it is wrong, if it's weakening people spiritually and causing them to lower their standard.
36. You see, that's the key. That's how you can tell—by the fruits. You can't make a black-and-white list and say, "This is ungodly, but this isn't; this is unedifying, but this isn't." Well, you can with some things that are pretty black and white and spelled out in the Charter. Listening to poisonous music with devilish lyrics is obviously ungodly; there's no question about that. Or smoking dope. Or watching horribly violent, senseless movies. That's pretty clear and easy to recognize. But there are lots of other influences that can be ungodly and unedifying that you can't put down in black and white because so much depends on the people involved, the degree of involvement, the circumstances, the effect it has on them, the extent or frequency with which they partake of such activities, etc. So in cases where it's questionable, you can tell by the fruit.
37. Having a System job or having your kids go to System school or having extensive contact with your relatives may not be ungodly or unedifying in every case‚ but if it's bearing bad fruit, then it is ungodly and unedifying‚ and it should be stopped or minimized! "Wherefore by their fruits, you shall know them." It's the fruit you judge by! If the fruit is ungodly, then the tree—in this case, the activity—is ungodly.
38. So watch the fruit. Is it negative? Is it tearing people down spiritually? Then it's an ungodly and unedifying influence, and according to the Charter it should be minimized.
39. Actually, a lot of things can be unedifying if not done in the right spirit or in moderation, so the main way to stay on the straight and narrow is just to stay in prayer and hear from the Lord and make sure that you're following Him!
40. Going out to follow up on sheep is a godly and edifying activity, but if you're really just going out to hang out with your System friends instead of witnessing to them‚ and if attending their parties and going out dancing with them is pulling you out of the Lord's service instead of pulling them closer to the Lord‚ then it's unedifying and ungodly. It's fine to go out and visit friends you're ministering to, and even do fun activities together sometimes, like have parties, play and relax together‚ etc. You don't want to come across like self–righteous church people.
41. But what you should be actively striving for is to teach them more about the Lord and how to give His love to others. If you're not doing that, and they're not getting closer, or if they're not hungry for the Lord and the truth, then you're wasting your time, because there are other people who need your time and attention who are hungry! So instead of that follow-up and involvement with System friends being an edifying influence or activity, it becomes an unedifying one.
42. Just remember, "By their fruits you shall know them!" That's the criteria you should go by for activities that are not obviously or always ungodly or unedifying, but which can be.
43. Also remember that it's often easier for other people to see what the fruits are in your life than it is for you. So listen to what they have to say. In fact, you should solicit the advice of others and ask them whether they think something is having a bad influence or effect on you, so you can minimize it and stay strong! (End of message from Dad.)
44. (Mama:) It's clear that some of you in the CM Family have been weakened because of your not minimizing or resisting ungodly and unedifying influences. You've eaten the poisonous grass and drunk of the evil wells from the System, and now some of you are quite sick. Probably the most common of such negative influences are watching bad movies, videos or TV shows; visiting sites on the Internet that are not profitable or educational or helpful, but which promote ungodly views that are contrary to the Word; reading novels that are obviously full of very negative propaganda or subtle wrong attitudes that are spiritually detrimental, or that have not been approved by your Home; reading pornographic material; playing violent computer games; participating in ugly, divisive e-mail communications; failing to follow the counsel given in the MLs and Family publications regarding listening to System music; using foul language, and going overboard on drinking alcoholic beverages.
45. It is absolutely necessary that you make a definite effort to minimize and resist these influences in your life by applying the New Wine practically and spiritually to your life, and if you fail to do so consistently, you're contravening the Charter and the Charter membership contract and you will be asked to move to Fellow member status. (ML #3262:15–20, 22–26, 29-41; GN 863).
(From "Issues, Part 3")
46. (Dad:) Let's step back a bit and look at things from outside the reference point of the Family. Let's talk about discipleship. Let's talk about following Jesus. Let's say you're not even in the Family; you're simply a disciple of Jesus. So what did Jesus teach?
47. If you think, "Oh, the Family is so narrow, so conservative! I need my freedom, I need more access to the world, I need to be a free thinker, I need to not be restricted in what I do or see," then maybe you need to reconsider whether you want to be a disciple of Jesus, because He's the One Who drew up the original discipleship standard! All the original disciples had to decide if they wanted to follow the Lord's teachings, which became their fundamental rules or their "contract of Charter Membership"! And you need to do the same.
48. If you don't like it when you're expected to believe and obey the Word, to witness, to forsake all, to minimize ungodly and unedifying influences, don't blame Mama or Peter. Don't blame me. Don't blame the Family. Blame the Lord! He's the One Who wrote the original discipleship "mission statement." He built the company and laid the foundation, and those are the rules! It's ridiculous to stay around spitting and cussing and complaining about the teachings of the Family, which really are the teachings of Jesus! If you don't like it, get out! That was the whole point of the S2K. If you really feel that serving the Lord in the Family is robbing you of some important freedom of thought or individuality, then maybe it's not the place for you!
49. It's up to you. No one's twisting your arm. You either choose to be a disciple or you don't! That's your freedom of choice‚ your freedom of thought. Take it or leave it. (End of message from Dad.) (ML #3302:85–88; GN 904).
Overcoming spiritual weaknesses
(From "Charter Responsibilities")
Charter members should:
U. Endeavor to overcome, and when necessary request united prayer against, those personal weaknesses and besetting sins that cause physical or spiritual disruption in the Home, and/or physical, spiritual, or emotional harm to themselves or others.
50. (Peter:) Everyone has weaknesses‚ besetting sins and spiritual problems of some sort or another. Although there are some weaknesses that we may have to struggle with until we get to Heaven, the Lord expects us to work on making progress in those areas. We are responsible to actively take a stand against any areas in our lives where the Enemy has sway. If we are jealous, proud, self-righteous, bitter, critical or unloving, etc.‚ the Lord expects us to work on these things, and if necessary, get united prayer against these having any hold on our lives.
51. Are you constantly thinking negatively? Are you overly sensitive? Do you have a drinking problem? Do you easily let your emotions run away with you, causing problems within the Home? Are you a chronic complainer, or constantly bickering with others? Are you plagued with fear and worry? Do you unprayerfully run off at the mouth? Do you have major doubts or other serious problems? Then you're expected to fight against them‚ and read and study what the Word has to say about these problems and how to overcome them!—To individually pray against them‚ and ask for prayer from others when you feel oppressed or battered or discouraged about them, and do all you can to overcome them.
52. If your teamwork shows you how your problems are negatively affecting others or your Home, then you are responsible to do all that you can to gain a victory and overcome these problems, not the least of which is asking for united prayer and help from the members in your Home. Don't let your pride prevent you from getting the prayer and help you need. Humble yourself and you'll feel thankful and so relieved that you took a stand against the Enemy in your life, and that you're obeying the Lord and living up to your responsibility as a Charter member.
53. We don't expect you to be perfect—none of us are—and Mama and I also have our weak areas that we have to seek the Lord about and fight to overcome. You may always have weaknesses in certain areas, but you don't have to be as weak in those a year from now as you are now. The question is whether you're fighting to make progress in those areas or just accepting it as "the way you are" and "letting it all hang out."
54. As Dad said in "Greater Victories": "You have to fight the Devil and your old self every day! You are a new creature, yes!—But boy, how that old self likes to try to pop up again! Paul said, 'I've fought a good fight!'—and probably most of it was against his old self! (2Tim.4:7). It's a battle every day—especially with your besetting sins—'the weights and the sins that do so easily beset you' (Heb.12:1)‚ like your selfishness and laziness and jealousy. You never stop battling, you never stop winning victories, you never stop progressing or you'll backslide! You can never stand still. You don't just get the victory once and for all over some besetting sin, you have to keep fighting it. But the more you win, the easier it gets, with His help.—On that one!" (ML #727:10‚11,17). (ML #3197:139-143; GN 803).
Confess your faults and ask for prayer
(From "Deliverance")
55. (Prayer:) Jesus, I ask for a complete deliverance and cleansing of those who have sinned through sex with outsiders, sodomy‚ addiction to pornography, wrong sexual practices, and use of drugs.
56. I call on the keys of honesty and humility‚ that those who have committed these sins will also confess them to their shepherds, so they can get the needed counseling and assistance to fight the Devil, and so that Your brides may be kept clean and protected from any of the Enemy's diseases.
57. Dear Love, we pray for those who have either spoken against Your Word or passed it to former members. Each one who has passed on Your Word to ex-members needs to confess their sin. Convict them and help them never to do that again. Some sins affect the whole security of the work, and You expect us to confess to those who need to know. I pray that each one who has transgressed in this way will be faithful to do this.
58. I ask for a complete cleansing, a complete renewal, and a refilling of the Holy Spirit for each one. I call on the keys of obedience, submission‚ humility, and love to become activated in each heart. (ML #3455:233–234, 245-246; GN 1039).
(From "You Can Make It!—Part 1")
59. (Mama: ) United prayer is probably one of the most effective weapons against the Enemy when you're trying to overcome something--whether it's a physical bad habit or a spiritual weakness or problem. There's just something about it—the Lord honors your humility in asking others to help you and pray for you, and He honors your public declaration of faith.
60. (Jesus:) Continue to humble yourself under My hand and I'll continue to prosper you and lead you in My ways. It pleases Me when you come not only to Me with your faults and shortcomings, but before others so that they may pray for you and uphold you before My throne of grace—that you may obtain the victories‚ and that you may receive the anointing and the strength to overcome your sins, shortcomings and bad habits.
61. So I ask that you be more open about your faults—that you humbly confess your sins and shortcomings and make them known to your shepherds and to your co-workers, so that they can help you through their prayers and their counsel, and so that they can bring these things before Me. For in the multitude of prayer warriors there is strength. As I have said, there is great power in united prayer and in confessing your faults one before another, that you may be healed and strengthened.
62. To be fully used of Me, to fully avail yourself of My peace, My power, and the ability to [help you overcome your weakness], you must continue to obey what I show you; and most of all, you must ask for prayer. Humble yourself before others, before your co-workers and your shepherds, and ask for prayer. Acknowledge that you have fallen in this area and that you need My help, that you need their prayers, their counsel. This will be the first step in having a complete victory in your life in this area.
63. Beware of the fear of man. Beware of covering up things in your personal life for fear of what others may think. Get everything out in the open. Even if you have a change, even though you change from night to day, continue to confess your faults.
64. A lot of times when My children make mistakes and fall short and sin, but then make some progress and start changing, they feel there is no need to confess their faults, there is no need to bring things to the light of My truth and to their shepherds. They feel that they are already changing and that they don't need help anymore. But I like the humble way, the way of confession‚ the way of openly bringing out your faults so that others may benefit from the comfort and the training that I give you. So remember that "fact" next time you do something that you know is not of Me‚ that you know is a manifestation of a shortcoming and of one of your besetting sins, and not the sample of My Word. Remember it's healthy to confess it even if the next day you do wonderfully. Confess it nevertheless and ask for prayer.
65. Keep going, keep progressing, keep fighting and keep obeying, and great will be your reward in every way. I will empower you and I will use you with the might and fullness of My Spirit as you do these things. (End of message from Jesus.) (ML #3277:107-112, 114; GN 880).
(From "Being Rewired")
66. (Dad:) When someone recognizes a problem, is honest about it, acknowledges it, seeks counsel about it, and asks for prayer against it, it's changed. You are changed. You have become a new person, able to partake of the divine nature‚ because the carnal nature has been put behind you and is no longer a part of you. In an instant of prayer, in a moment of intercession for your brother, you have helped him burst forth from the confines of the flesh into the vastness and power of God!
67. The cocoon has been opened, the shackles have been severed‚ and the new man has come forth, ready to grow in the spirit and power of the Lord. So don't ever be afraid to ask for prayer. Don't ever be afraid to come humbly before your brethren to ask for their help in prayer. Don't ever be afraid to confess that you've made mistakes, have problems, and don't really know what you're doing.
68. Sure it's humbling, and it's not always easy to do. In fact, it can grind against the very fibers of your carnal mind. It goes contrary to the natural man. It's the opposite of all that one thinks is best and good and necessary. But, praise the Lord, that's what it's all about!—That there's less of you so that more of Him can shine forth. It's beyond words to actually see the effects of wholehearted, key-claiming‚ faith-standing, inspired prayer! It's one of the wonders of the universe! (ML #3412:43–45; GN 998).
You are all responsible to shepherd
your Home members
(From "More on 'The Shakeup 2000'")
69. (Mama: ) Many of you probably know someone or have heard of someone who has been disciplined according to the Charter for excommunicable offenses.
70. But there are other "crimes," spiritual ones, that have gone largely undisciplined by the Homes, VSs and COs‚ and that have resulted in some serious problems both inside and outside our Homes. These problems are caused by people who are not upholding the spiritual requirements of the Charter, and sad to say, such people are often a very negative influence on others.
71. The spiritual problems I'm talking about are when people: sow division, mock or talk against the Word, are a destructive influence and lead others astray, do not minimize ungodly and unedifying influences, are unwilling to acknowledge and work on their weaknesses and besetting sins, do not read or try to apply the New Wine to their lives, do not live according to the Law of Love, do not shepherd and discipline their children, are unwilling to abide by their Home's regulations, or do not conduct themselves as would be expected of good Christians, and are a reproach to the cause.
72. You read in "The Shakeup 2000" how each person and Home is responsible to do their part to clean up the Family and keep it clean, to get rid of the poison that is threatening our very existence. You can't depend on the VSs and COs to do it all. The Home Councils are one of the three governing bodies of the Family, and those Home Councils are made up of individuals—you! You are responsible for your own personal sample, reactions, decisions, obedience, and determination to uphold the CM standard‚ but you're also responsible to be wise, mature members of your Home Council. You must personally obey the CM contract; that is your obligation. But you must also help others to do the same, and if they refuse to do so‚ then it's also your responsibility to discipline those people, and if they refuse to change, then you're obligated to see that it is recommended that they be moved to FM status.
73. If you individuals and Homes just wait around for the VSs to visit or the COs to write you a letter of counsel, you'll probably be waiting quite a long time, because there are comparatively few VSs and COs. And besides, the Lord doesn't expect them to do all the "policing" of the Family. It's impossible for them to be aware of all the needs of your Home, to discipline all those who need it, to give all the correction and guidance that must be given, and to judge all the problem situations.
74. You live with each other, you see how your Home members conduct themselves, and you know if they're upholding the CM standard. If they aren't, it's your responsibility to do something about it! The Lord will hold you accountable! It's up to you to recognize the problems, pray about them, offer Word-based counsel and shepherding, and mete out discipline according to the Charter. If these measures don't bring the needed results, then you're responsible to recommend that the people who are contravening the Charter be moved to Fellow member status. That is your charge before God!
75. I pray this next message will shake you up and give you the fear of the Lord, so you'll not be so concerned about the opinions of others or the peer pressure you face, but your loyalties will be first to the Lord, the Family, and the Word!
76. (Jesus:) How long, My children, will you halt between two opinions? How long will you be blind to the truth? How long will you hide your wounds and the wounds of others? How long will you be blind leaders of the blind? How long will you flagrantly disobey My Word, or cover up and lie to save face for those who do? How long will you follow this path of bewitchment? When will you stand up for the truth?
77. Who will stand up for the truth? Who will be counted as My Gideon's band? Who will love Me more than life itself? Who will love Me more than friends, more than lovers, more than husbands or wives, more than parents, more than children‚ more than bosom buddies? Who will love Me with a pure heart? Who will fight for the right, for the truth‚ even within the borders of your tents?
78. You can't expect the COs and VSs to do everything. Their burdens are already heavier than they can carry. The weights on their shoulders are already more cumbersome than you can imagine. It's impossible for them to see everything, know everything, keep everyone in line, or keep everyone close to Me and following My will. It's impossible, and I don't expect this of them.
79. You are the keepers of your house, the ones accountable to Me for yourself, and yes‚ for the situations surrounding you. Yes, you are your brother's keeper. You—yes, you—are responsible to keep the Family pure, to rid the Family of the poisons of the System‚ the evil sores and bloody wounds of the System.
80. By your covering up and your lack of openness with your shepherds, you're putting bandages around deep‚ gaping sores. Instead of calling for the nurses and physicians to come and clean and disinfect the sore and begin the healing process, or cut the sore completely out so that it won't destroy the whole body, the sores and wounds and diseased portions of the body are becoming infected, full of pus, and the situation is grave. Some flesh is rotten‚ infested with maggots, and other sores and wounds are developing gangrene.
81. You, My beautiful body, My Bride, are one body. Each part of the body is needed, and each part must be whole, pure, clean, and be tended to. Do you cover up your sores and refuse to get the help that you need? Or do you cover up the sores and wounds of others‚ refusing to get help for them? Though you may think that the wounds or sores will simply go away if you cover them up‚ how wrong you are! They will not go away! They will not disappear! All sins and disobediences are seen by Me.
82. Through the deep wounds that many have incurred—through the ways of the world, the poisons of the System, the ruthlessness of the Devil—toxins and poisons have been able to enter the body. Because you haven't been willing to stand up for the truth, to have the conviction and strength of spirit to see the wrong and do something about it, to call for help when a wound or sore appears or when you see someone injecting poison into their system, you're allowing your own body to be contaminated, for you are all one.
83. If one person is rotting away, it's bound to also affect you adversely, because you're all one body. The poisons won't stop; they'll keep flowing‚ and they'll infect you too. The rotten sores that you cover and hide only get worse, and soon you will start to rot too. The whole body, My beautiful Bride, will start to rot and decay if these poisons and sores and gaping wounds are not disinfected, amputated or destroyed.
84. You have the responsibility—you, as a part of this body, My One Wife—to keep the health‚ to keep the perfection, to keep the purity. If you saw a deep gash on your foot and noticed that it was beginning to turn green, what would you do? If you saw a deep blackness slowly but surely creeping up your leg beneath your skin, what would you do? Would you cover it up and pretend that it wasn't there? Would you hope that it would go away, or that nobody would notice it?
85. No, you would not rest until you had the help that you needed! You would tell someone immediately, without delay. You wouldn't just let your foot—and ultimately your whole leg, and then your body—rot away. This is the gruesome horror of these infections of the Enemy!
86. This should alarm you, My children, because what you are doing in allowing these troublemakers and problem-producers to continue in their dirty work is disastrous! When you allow someone in your Home or your area to disregard the Word, speak negatively about Maria and Peter, infect others with their System music‚ affect others with their System attitudes, foul language and hankering for ungodly wisdom‚ or whatever they're doing that is not in accordance with My Word and the CM contract‚ you're allowing poison and infection to enter the bloodstream of the Family—your bloodstream.
87. The VSs and COs can't possibly see everything that's going on. So if you value your place in the Family, if you value the Family at all, then you should be willing to stand up for the truth‚ for what you know is right. The Family is weakening! The Family is being poisoned! There are wounds, infections, rotting pieces of skin that need to be cut off. The Family is in a precarious state of health, because of the diseases of the System and the poisons of the world. If the Family is to survive, then drastic measures must be taken.
88. You're going to have to take a stand—you personally. If you see something that's wrong, that's not in line with the Word‚ that's not according to the Charter‚ then it's your responsibility to do something about it. It's your responsibility to stand up for the truth, because evil triumphs when good men do nothing. And I'm sorry to say this, but evil has been triumphing in many areas of the Family because you haven't been willing to stand up for the truth. You've been a coward. You've abdicated your responsibility as a Family member.
89. What is your responsibility? You're responsible to ensure the purity of the Family. You say, "Oh, but I am only one and I don't make a difference." The truth is that you do make a difference! What you do makes a world of difference. And if everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing, if everyone was obeying like they were supposed to be obeying, then we wouldn't have such a desperate situation in the Family today. It's because of your willingness to stand by and see others poison the work that things have gotten into such a sorry state.
90. It's high time for you to stand up and be counted. Do all that's within your power to ensure that we remain pure and free and revolutionary. Don't let anyone stick needles in the Family and inject their poison, because it's your body they're poisoning, not just their own. Don't cover up wounds or boils or diseases. Get help! Don't cover up the infections of others, because they'll infect you and the ones you love. Get help! That's your responsibility.
91. Who do you honor and love more—Me or your friends? Do you love Me and value your place in My Endtime army more than you value your loved ones, your mate, your children, your parents, or your Home members? If you do—and you should—it's your responsibility to give your loyalties to Me. You can help those that you love as much as you can‚ but don't water down your convictions. Even if you lose friends or loved ones, your first responsibility is to Me and this Family. You have to make a stand‚ to be counted worthy, even if you stand alone.
92. It's a desperate situation, and I'm calling for each of you to be counted as My revolutionary, dropped-out, free-from-the-System, iconoclastic children of the End! Rid your body of the poisons before it's too late. Stand up for what you know is right, for My truth. And if you see someone who's disobeying or weakening the Family, it's your responsibility to do something about it. We have enough "weakeners." Will you be a "strengthener"? Even if you're afraid of losing someone's friendship or love‚ I'm counting on you and I expect your loyalties to be toward Me first and foremost.
93. Your true friends will respect you for standing up for your convictions, and those who don't respect your convictions and disregard the standard of My Word don't deserve the privilege of being in the Family. So I don't want to hear of troublemakers and dividers and poison–injectors and System-lovers being tolerated in this Family anymore. We're a revolutionary Gideon's band, and I don't care if we lose one-third of our CM membership, if that's what it takes to keep us pure and separate from the world!
94. Are you with Me? Do you have the guts and conviction to give Me your all‚ to stand up for the truth even in the face of ridicule and mockery? Do you believe in Me and this Family enough to forsake all else, even the things that are dearest to your heart‚ to even die for Me if need be? I'm calling you to fulfill your responsibility as a 110% CM Family member. Do you have the guts to do that? I pray you do! Your survival as a member of My avant-garde depends on it! (End of message from Jesus.) (ML #3262:50-52, 150-171, 173; GN 863).
(From "The Family's Future and Expansion Program")
95. (Peter:) The Lord is calling all of you to make 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.
96. 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.
97. 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.
98. 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.
99. 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.
100. 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.
101. 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."
102. 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.
103. 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?
Dish It Out and Take It; Correct the Problems and Problem People in Your Home
(Jesus:) "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."
104. (Peter:) 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.
105. 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.
106. 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.
107. 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.
108. 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.
109. 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 COs and VSs that they be moved to Fellow member status.
110. 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? (ML #3308:115-120, 122-127, 130, 132, 134-135; GN 908).
(From "Conviction and Honesty")
111. (Mama:) I think people in our Family have somehow gotten the idea that they're not supposed to tell people that what they are doing is wrong. If you're afraid to tell people that what they are doing is wrong, then you start to compromise with them!
112. I'm afraid too few of us seem to have the conviction for the Lord's truth that we should have! I don't know what happened and why we don't. Maybe it's because we went a bit overboard in some things. Then we had to have a turnabout in using more wisdom and love and not being so self-righteous and overbearing in our witness, but perhaps everybody went too far again to the opposite extreme and went overboard in being too sweet and nice and wishy–washy in our standard and our conviction against sin and evil!
113. But telling people the truth and warning them of danger because you are sincerely concerned about them and trying to help them is not the same as being self–righteous and holier-than-thou. Our Family needs to have more conviction to be able to stand up for the truth and tell people what they need to know!
114. When somebody's doing something wrong, that's when you have the opportunity to tell them that you don't agree with them, you believe what the Bible says about it, and you warn them or tell them because you want to help them! You don't just live it for yourself, but you believe it so much that you want them to live it too! That's love! Are our people ashamed to live their godly convictions in front of others and to tell them they should do the same? Do we compromise the truth to those who need it?
115. I hope I'm wrong, but for some reason I have the feeling that our people have gotten such a pacifistic, sort of lovey–dovey approach, where they prefer to just let everything pass and not bother to stand up against evil or wrongdoing, and I think that's a very bad attitude. It's very wrong, because if you don't start standing up for the Lord in the little things, if you're afraid to confront evildoers, or just don't care or don't have the conviction, what are you ever going to do when you have to stand up and be counted in much greater things?
116. It seems we've gotten a little watered-down in certain areas where we don't really stand up for our convictions! We figure our sins are not quite so "bad," we're special and we can get away with more, which isn't a good attitude to have at all. It looks like we need to get back to being a little more legalistic in some areas and not just throw out all the rules. "Well‚ all things are pure and OK, love and mercy overrules‚ so we don't have to worry about any rules or limitations or personal sins." We'd better change our standard if this is our way of thinking.
117. We've gotten so sort of wishy-washy, thinking‚ "The Lord forgives us for everything and we're His special children, so there's no need to worry about wrongdoing. It'll all work out all right and we can get away with whatever we want to get away with." Whereas I think we're going to be surprised to see the Lord maybe expected more of us than He did of other people in a lot of areas because we know better and we're supposed to be a wonderful sample and yet many times we aren't! We're even a bigger stumbling block if we proclaim so much that, "We're the Lord's chosen people! We are it!" and then we act worse than the sinners!
118. Do you live an honest, godly standard with firm convictions? (Maria #51:5-8, 11, 14, 16-17; DB 3).
(From "Keep Fighting!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 6")
119. (Mama:) If you have differences or conflicts in your Home‚ you need to work it out in your Home. If people in your Home are not committed and refuse to be shepherded and change, then those individuals should move to the level in the Family that better reflects their personal commitment. If you want your Home to be united and free of compromise‚ don't just coexist with those who continue to compromise. If you do, you're apt to suffer for their sins, because you didn't obey. (ML #3366:65; GN 969).
The Revolutionary Christian Sample of Your Home
Faith in Dad, Mama, and the Letters
(From "Responsibilities of Individual Members" in the Charter)
Charter members should:
C.Believe and teach the Family's fundamental beliefs, both Biblical and revealed, as published in our "Statement of Faith," or otherwise declared as such in a publication with a ML number.
Our "Statement of Faith" articulates most of the Family's fundamental beliefs. We also have other beliefs that are explained in published MLs, which we consider to be fundamental and essential, that are not included in the "Statement of Faith," such as the Law of Love. Also, the use of prophecy as one of the means to determine the Lord's will.
As Charter members, we are expected to believe and teach the Family's fundamental and essential beliefs. As mentioned earlier, most of these are compiled in the "Statement of Faith" for your reference. This is not to say that the "Statement of Faith" supersedes the Letters; it's just that‚ at the present time it is the only publication that contains a comprehensive list of almost all of our fundamental beliefs.
(From "Charter Responsibilities")
120. (Peter: ) As a Charter member you are expected to believe the Family's fundamental beliefs. Basically this comes down to believing the Word, believing what the Lord has poured out through Dad and through Mama and me. Our foundation is the Bible, of course, but we have a number of Bible-based beliefs that differ from most of mainstream Christianity. The Lord has opened to us an incredible amount of truth, knowledge and information that the churches do not possess because of their limited faith or unwillingness to be fully open to the Lord, His voice, His message, and His prophets. As members of the Family, we are expected to believe and teach Family doctrine.
121. Of course, there may be some of our doctrines that you don't fully understand, or even have a hard time fully accepting. When this happens‚ most of the time people wrap them up in a bundle of faith and trust that the Lord will help them understand and be more accepting in time. This is certainly understandable and acceptable.
122. However, if you are regularly bad-mouthing our Family's doctrines, speaking against them, trying to show others that they're wrong and to convince others not to follow them‚ then you are violating your responsibility as a Charter member. You need to either change your ways or find another Christian group whose doctrines you can believe and adhere to. As Charter members, you're expected to believe and teach the Family's doctrine. Thus if you're speaking against it and therefore teaching that our doctrine is wrong, then you are way out of line. (ML #3197:73-75; GN 803).
(From "The Shakeup 2000—the S2K")
123. (Mama:) If you don't want to live the CM standard, then why are you in the CM Family? You should instead be in the FM Family where much less is required of you—you aren't required to keep the Fundamental Family Rules, you can have sex with outsiders, you don't have to live communally and share all things, you can live more independently, and the list goes on and on. And if you don't believe the Letters‚ then what in the world are you doing in the Family at all? It's just that simple. If you mock the Letters and the Lord's revelations‚ if you don't believe that we're living in the Last Days, if you don't believe what the Lord has revealed to us about our role in world history as His Endtime witnesses, if you refuse to prepare for the days to come by using the new weapons, if you don't want to witness or work together to reach the world, if you refuse to be shepherded and grow spiritually, then why, for God's sake, are you in the Family!? (ML #3257:19; GN 857).
Be doers of the Word
(From "Responsibilities of Individual Members" in the Charter)
Charter members should:
D. Live in accordance with the Word by endeavoring to apply the spiritual and practical counsel given in the Letters to their daily lives.
Not every Letter is designated by WS to be a fundamental or essential belief, meaning that if you don't believe and practice it, you will lose your Charter membership. Every Letter does, however, contain spiritual or practical guidance, counsel and instruction, which as Charter members you are expected to conscientiously apply to your life and Home.
Of course, there are certain older Letters and publications that don't apply as much today as they did when they were written years ago, as some of our methods and means of accomplishing our job of reaching the world with the Gospel have changed over the years. The Letters, however, contain God's counsel for the Family, and as Family members we should do our best to please God by following the preponderance of the guidance He's given in His Word. (See also "Word Rules," B.)
(From "Charter Responsibilities")
Charter members should:
D. Live in accordance with the Word by endeavoring to apply the spiritual and practical counsel given in the Letters to their daily lives.
E. Read the Bible, the Letters‚ and other Family publications‚ both old and new.
124. (Peter:) These two clauses are extremely important, especially when coupled with accepting Mama as Dad's successor and as the Endtime prophetess, as well as believing in our Family's fundamental beliefs.
125. Our Family is built upon the Word. Every aspect of our lives is based on the Word. Our motivation to live the lifestyle we do—to witness, to love one another, to give our lives to the Lord, to live and work together in harmony—is based on the Word. We believe that when God says something, He means it!—And we want to do it! We try to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. We take God's Word seriously and try to live it as best we can.
126. Numerous times the Lord has said that one of the reasons He continues to pour out the Word to us in such great abundance is because we believe it and act on it. If the time ever came when the Family read the Word just to "tickle our ears," looking at it just for information or interest but not implementing it in our lives, undoubtedly the Lord would begin to withdraw the blessing of His Word that He pours out to us. He would withdraw the flow of His Water of Life and we would become a dried-up, dusty, parched church. God help us never to let that happen!
127. The Lord entrusts us with the meat of His Word, but He expects us to believe it, receive it and act upon it, to make it a part of our lives. That's why He gives it to us, as He says in the following prophecy excerpt:
128. (Jesus:) Hold on to your heritage, the heritage of the meat of God. Don't be ashamed of it. For I consistently pour it forth unto you, and continue to pour it forth in new measure‚ in new strength. For you are they who have accepted My strong Words, who have grown with them, who have obeyed them, who have applied them‚ who have suffered for them, and who have grown strong because of them. And so do I continue to pour them forth unto you. For there are no others that have this heritage, and no others have proved their willingness to pour them forth, to live them, to stand up for them, to be persecuted and mocked for them‚ who have been willing to say, "I believe them because God has said them!"
129. Great is your reward in Heaven for your faith to receive‚ to believe, and to live the Words of God. I am well pleased in you‚ My children‚ for your willingness to love Me with all of your heart; that you are willing to love not just with tongue, with words, but in deeds and sacrifice and in willingness to go with Me wherever I go, believing and trusting in My love for you.
130. So receive the Words that I give you through your queen, as you received the Words that I gave you through your David; so shall you prosper, so shall you be strengthened, and so shall you remain in the forefront, alive, controversial, radical, as a torch of light for all to see! (End of message from Jesus.)
131. (Peter:) As Charter members who believe God's Word, we are expected to read it faithfully on a daily basis and to apply what we read to our lives. If we truly believe that the Lord is speaking to us, then why would we not want to apply what He says? The Word that the Lord pours out to us should have an effect in our lives. We should read it and follow the counsel therein.
132. Of course, we understand that there's a great deal of Word that has been poured forth, and that it's impossible for everyone to apply every jot and tittle of the Lord's Word to every aspect of their lives. Also‚ some Letters are written for a specific field or certain circumstances, and can't be applied exactly the same way elsewhere; you have to be Spirit-led. We do not expect a total "letter of the law" adherence to every word that is published.
133. However, as Charter members we are expected to apply God's Word in our lives. We are expected to follow where He is leading and to receive and believe the Word, both old and new. We should let it guide and direct us. We should use it in our decision-making. It should help us set the right standards in our lives, give us the vision of where the Lord is expecting us to go‚ and motivate us to follow Him wherever He directs.
134. When the Lord pours forth His Word on a subject and makes His will on the matter very clear, then we as followers of the Lord should desire to do what the Word says, to implement it in our lives the best we can. For example, if the Lord makes it clear that we should do our best to live unselfishly, to think of others more highly than ourselves, to be more loving and affectionate to others, and to act with love, courtesy and kindness, then we should attempt to do so‚ because the Lord has said that it's His will. If He says that certain types of activity are detrimental to our spiritual lives and are a hindrance of the Enemy, then we should avoid those things in obedience to Him.
135. If you disregard the Word‚ if you don't believe it or accept it, if you don't make an effort to apply it in your life, if you avoid reading it or implementing it, and even worse, if you blatantly disobey it and speak out against it, then why are you in the Family? You are supposed to be a disciple, which means "a follower of the teaching." As Family members you are responsible to follow the teachings, the Lord's Words. You're responsible to live them to the best of your ability. (ML# 3197:77-88; GN 803).
(From "Coming Persecution?—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 1")
136. (Dad:) Don't just be hearers of the Word, but doers also! That's the key. Some of you have slid back into your ruts and gotten comfortable and aren't interested in stirring yourselves up. You're hearers of the Word, but not doers. You've ceased being revolutionaries and have started to become like the churches. You're tired of the fight; you've stopped fighting.
137. (Mama: ) Note that Dad said that some of you are in danger of becoming like the churches. You've fallen asleep. You're lethargic. Maybe it's because you want to be in the churches. Maybe you like their religion better than ours. If that's the case, there are millions of churches to choose from where you'll probably be happier than here, because I can guarantee you that as we move into the future, we'll definitely look less and less like the church system. (ML #3361:88,94; GN 957).
(From "The Dangers of Division!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 2")
138. (Mama: ) Many sincere sheep will be won through the Activated program and follow-up. They'll want to serve the Lord and help us win the world‚ and we can't allow them to be stumbled when they see things in the CM or FM Homes that are wrong, or by having CM Homes that aren't even close to the CM standard‚ Homes which should be FM or even out of the Family altogether. What a disappointment that would be to the sheep!
139. It's our responsibility to get ready for these many additional laborers by making sure we're really living the Word, so that when they visit our Homes, they see people who believe the Word, have a desire to win the world, and show that desire by actually sinking their time into witnessing, Bible classes, and follow-up. We want them to see missionaries, disciples, people who love each other and live together in unity—not single families that are hardly different at all from all the other people of the world!
140. It's one thing if you want to be a "friend" of the Family. That's fine, and you can fellowship with and support the Family and receive some of the pubs, etc. But if you expect to be a Charter member, then you have to live like one, and that means believing the Word, witnessing, living together with others‚ etc.
141. Our policy from the beginning has been to be doers of the Word, to be samples‚ not just sermons. Can you honestly say you're still living that? Or are you content to just witness a little, do some fundraising, and then spend the rest of your life just like everyone else in the System? Hey, if that's what you want, fine. You can have that—but not in the CM Family! (ML #3362:16-18,20; GN 958).
All members believe, but disciples live the lifestyle of discipleship
(From "Coming Persecution?—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 1")
142. (Jesus: ) If the Family is allowed to weaken through compromise‚ then that will directly affect the strength and power of the greater church. For the strength of the inner circle, the full-time disciples, will be reflected in the new members—those who are taught the doctrine and believe, but who are not able to live the communal living sample.
143. The whole vision of the outside member church is to have more little Davids, Marias and Peters, more who are sold out to the Letters and the Words of David, but who, because of their obligations, are not able to live in one of your Homes. The goal is that those new members have the same strength of conviction and carry the same message in their witnessing.
144. The difference between the various circles of membership in the Family should be a matter of the practical application of the Word, not a matter of faith in the Word. In other words, all members of the Family at every level should believe and accept the doctrine, the Words that I have given through David and Maria. That is what being in the Family is all about. But various "circles" are allowed, based on how much that Word is lived and practiced on a day-to-day basis. This is especially true of beliefs or goals that affect your daily living or lifestyle‚ such as: forsaking all to live together, being full-time missionaries, homeschooling your children‚ going into all the world, living by faith, etc. These things are the practical application of your beliefs.
145. But not all Family members are able to live these to the full, either due to former commitments‚ obligations that they're not able to get free from‚ the laws of the land, or other conditions and circumstances. But even without being able to live and practice all aspects of the Word, there should still be a belief in it, an acceptance of it, and an acknowledgment that that is the ideal.
146. The standard is this: All Family members should accept and believe the Word that is unique to the Family, otherwise they're not really Family members. If they don't accept and believe the Words that I have given you which are recorded in the Letters, then they could simply be members of any church. So belief in the Letters is the single defining qualification of Family membership at any level.
147. On the other hand, however, there is leniency given to the practical application of the Word. There are many who for a multitude of reasons cannot live the Word to the full, hence the need for various "levels" or concentric circles of membership. But the circles should not denote a weakening of faith in the doctrine and belief in the Word. The circles denote a difference in the lifestyle or level of discipleship, regarding such things as: living by faith, living communally, being full-time witnessers and missionaries, homeschooling your children, going to foreign fields to preach the Gospel‚ putting God first and not allowing friends, relatives or others to pull you off the wall, etc. These things are the application of the Word, the practical manifestation of your beliefs.
148. Granted‚ those who live a lifestyle of greater obedience and sacrifice usually have greater faith and commitment, but there are also legitimate reasons why some members do not; but those reasons should not be that they don't believe in the doctrine. All levels of membership should realize that an acceptance of the doctrine is the prime requisite.
149. Those who are witnessing to and winning new disciples and members are those who determine the strength of the greater church. If the witnessers are compromised, fearful, full of doubts and disbelief, if they are lukewarm in their conviction in the Words of David and have become more like the System churches, then that's the kind of new Family members they will win and train. The greater church will not be stronger than the Family members who win and train them, because the witnessers and missionaries will only expect of their new members what they expect of themselves.
150. (Mama:) We must have a strong core church to win strong believers and co-workers. Otherwise, we'll water down the truth the Lord has given us, we'll lose sight of what we stand for—which is what makes us different from the millions—and eventually we'll be just like all the other churches. I know that those of you who are children of David in heart don't want that! (ML #3361:43–49,51,84; GN 957).
Communal living
(From "The Dangers of Division!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 2")
151. (Mama: ) Today families don't want to live together. There are more and more single-family Homes, which are not only ineffective as missionary bases, but they're not the testimony the Lord wants of communal living. Family Homes used to be a phenomenon—happy faces and loving cooperation, people from all walks of life living together communally in love, sharing all things. That sample put us in the news! It was a miracle—communal living that actually worked! It was the proof of the Word—"all that believed were together and had all things common." We used our communal living as one of our strongest samples of modern-day discipleship and the existence of a God of Love.
152. But what is so interesting about a single family living alone, sending your kids to System school, doing a little witnessing, and spending all the rest of your time trying to survive? I'll tell you what's so interesting about that—nothing! It's hardly different at all from many of the other millions of Christians of the world. Do you actually think that living alone because you can't stand to live with anyone else or they can't stand to live with you because of your attitudes, you can't agree on how to raise your children, you can't agree on finances‚ you can't agree on the standard of minimizing ungodly influences, isn't hurting you? Come on! Get real! It's destroying your testimony! It's causing the Lord to lift His hand of blessing‚ provision‚ and protection. And after this warning, if you continue in your division, it will cause even greater loss to you personally and to your work! (ML #3362:43-44; GN 958).
(From "Responsibilities of Individual Members" in the Charter)
Charter members should:
J. Share their material belongings with the Family in general, and with the Home where they reside in particular, according to Acts 2:44-45, and be good stewards of all Family materials.
Our Family believes in Acts 2:44-45, which says‚ "And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need." This is an essential verse in our Family way of life, as it governs the use and ownership of our material possessions. The goal of these verses and of their companion verses, Acts 4:34-35, is that everyone has what he or she needs, and that those who have more than they need should lovingly share it with those who lack.
(From "'Be Ye Separate!'—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 3")
153. (Mama:) Though it fulfills the minimum Charter requirement, Peter and I don't necessarily feel that four voting members in a Home‚ especially if it's just a man and his wife and two of their teenage children‚ is the best situation for living communally or the Acts 2:44 and 45 vision. Dad considered six to 12 adults a good number to have a successful, well-balanced Home. So even though you can squeak by the Charter requirements with four voting members with just your little family unit, it doesn't make it possible to accomplish much. That's why the Lord, in His wisdom and foresight, had the Early Church, and the early Family, live communally.
154. The Lord's financial plan for the Family has always been Acts 2:44 and 45. If you're not living that, I strongly suggest you pray about what changes you need in your lives and Home. And certainly if you're a single-family Home you can't possibly be living Acts 2:44 and 45, and you will undoubtedly run into more financial pressure. It's only logical that if you live communally and share your expenses and possessions such as your cars, appliances, computers, etc.‚ not only is it more economical but it's obedience to the Lord's plan, so He can bless you more. But it all boils down to how much you want to share, how much you want to live unselfishly. (ML #3363:97, 175; GN 959).
(From "'Be Ye Separate!'—Conviction versus Compromise‚ Part 3")
155. (Jesus:) The prime requisite is discipleship, and discipleship means following Me. Is the purchase of property and a house going to add to your discipleship, or is it going to detract from it? I dare say in most cases the end result is going to detract from it.
156. My original plan was to have My followers live communally, for then they would not need the principle of ownership to be able to afford their living. Instead, they all sold their lands and possessions‚ and laid the remuneration at the apostles' feet‚ and distribution was made to every man according as he had need. The fact is that an army needs fellowship, an army needs each other, and the purchase and ownership of lands and houses usually leads to division in the ranks, where the soldiers are no longer living in the barracks or in communal housing but off on their own. They say they still embrace the teachings of the army and its goals‚ but they are no longer able to participate in the army's campaigns and go out to the field on maneuvers, for their property requires their interest, time, and devotion in order to secure its viability.
157. This is why any such purchases should be done in counsel, and the more counsel the better, for if you can bring your shepherds into the counsel‚ then chances are you will have a more well-rounded view as to which way I am really leading you in this endeavor.
158. "He that forsakes houses or lands or mother or father or brother or sister or wife or children for My sake, shall receive a hundredfold in this life, and in the world to come, eternal life" (Mark 10:29-30). This is still true today. It is My call in order to secure full discipleship.
159. With Active members, general membership, etc., this may not be the case. But for you, My Endtime army who have been called to be ready to follow Me at a moment's notice, the price is often to not be entangled with the affairs of this life, that you may serve Him who has called you to be a soldier.
160. The basic principle to judge by is how it affects your commitment to discipleship. If your ownership of a house and property adds to your discipleship and does not detract from it in any way, then it's a blessing; it keeps you going forward for Me. But if it keeps you from discipleship, then it is a hindrance. It is a weight that besets you and hinders your taking up your cross to follow Me.
161. (Mama:) There's a very big difference in the Lord just "dropping a house in your lap" as opposed to your leaving your full-time missionary work to raise money to buy a house for your own security and comfort. (ML #3363:258, 260, 261, 264-267; GN 959).
Maintaining a good sample
(From "Charter Responsibilities")
Charter members should:
T. Refrain from activities or behavior that would be a reproach to the cause of Christ and/or reflect negatively on the Family.
162. (Peter:) Clause T states that you are to refrain from activities or behavior that would be a reproach to the cause of Christ, or reflect negatively on the Family. If you engage in activities which are not in accordance with the Charter, if you act in a manner that isn't Christlike, if you are a reproach to your Home or to the Family at large, you are not fulfilling your responsibility as a Charter member.
163. Dealing deceptively with each other or outsiders, stealing, shoplifting and getting drunk are examples of unchristian activities and certainly are a reproach to the cause of Christ and to the Family. Using foul or unacceptable language, or having a dirty‚ slovenly or unkempt appearance reflects negatively on the Family, as does going out dressed in a manner that is not acceptable in the country in which you're living. If you want to be a Charter member, then you need to be a positive reflection of the Family instead of a negative one.
164. As a Family member, you represent the Family to others. If you're disrespectful to outsiders or if you act in an ungodly manner, people will take what you do as a representation of our entire Family. Their impression of the whole Family—and in some cases‚ of Jesus and of Christianity—can be spoiled because of you and your bad sample.
165. If you are being a reproach to the Lord or the Family, then you need to shape up in spirit and deed or ship out! If you act in an un-Christlike, or un-Family manner on a regular basis, then why be part of the Family? If you act, talk, dress and conduct yourself just like the world, then perhaps the world is where you belong.
166. We have a standard to uphold as Christians and Family members. We do have rules‚ regulations, and responsibilities that every Charter member is expected to adhere to and obey. You're here of your own choice, and if you believe this is where the Lord has called you and wants you to be‚ you should live up to your Charter membership requirements. You're a Christian, so act like one! You're a Charter member, so act like one! That's your responsibility; it's expected of you. The Lord expects it, and we do as well! (ML #3197:134-138; GN 803).
(From "'Be Ye Separate!'—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 3")
167. (Jesus:) When I talk about the "sample of the Family," people can take that to mean this great big "sample" of a large organization. But the sample of the Family is really just made of the sample of the many individuals. There is no "sample of the Family" per se; that's a misnomer. The sample of the Family consists of the sample of thousands of individual missionaries. Individual missionaries‚ those are the key words. Each person who is a dedicated missionary strengthens the body. Each compromised Family member weakens the body. (ML #3363:50; GN 959).
(From "Responsibilities of the Charter Home: Regarding the Welfare of Its Members," A.6.)
A Charter Home:
Maintains a clean‚ safe and healthy environment, and a physical standard of living that is in harmony and conformity with the Family's goals, and the "Fundamental Family Rules."
No division
(From "The Dangers of Division!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 2")
168. (Mama: ) To live in division‚ backbiting, gossip and hatred is wrong! It's against the Word, it's against the Law of Love, and it's against the Charter.
169. Division still exists in the Family. We have regularly called the problem disunity, but let's call it what it is. It's division. The Family in many places is divided!
170. Our work for the Lord will be destroyed if we don't root out this problem and restore unity. It's so sad—really pitiful—that whole cities or even whole countries are torn apart by bitterness and hatred. Division is so rampant worldwide that we hear about it constantly—from every single continent! You can't work together and resolve your differences in matters such as provisioning contacts, sharing witnessing and road trip areas, the disciplinary standards of your young people and children, how to minimize ungodly influences in your lives, rampant gossiping and criticism, rivalry over how to shepherd other sheep and Active members, resolving personality conflicts and clashes; working toward having respect and communication between the generations; receiving shepherding and correction at the Home level; living as communal Charter Homes, rather than those who opened the Home controlling matters themselves, and sharing the decision-making power with incoming members, rather than forcing those who don't agree or submit to leave; and differing standards and levels of obedience to the Charter and Word, which can lead to divisions between Homes, within the Homes, and between the generations.
171. You all probably think that you're justified in your feelings, that you're right. And maybe you are right in that you aren't the one who did the wrong thing! Maybe someone did the wrong thing to you and you were hurt. But you are wrong to hang on to your bitterness and lack of forgiveness. You are wrong, all of you who are involved in any kind of disunity or division. Anyone who has anything to do with division and who is harboring that negativity, bitterness, and lack of love is wrong—regardless of the details!
172. Yes, there are many sides to each situation and there are actual reasons why you're divided. Maybe you were wronged; maybe someone disobeyed the Word or the spirit of the Law of Love and you were hurt. But if you're not willing to forgive, you're wrong too. The Lord and Peter and I hold all of you who are disunited responsible, and you will all reap the judgments of the Lord for your sins if you don't change—now! "If you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Mat.6:14-15).
173. We can't go on like this! It's unacceptable that after all the Lord has said, how He's begged and pleaded and explained from every possible angle how important unity is, that you who are guilty still can't humble yourselves to forgive one another and to ask forgiveness for your part of the problem, whether it be your hardness of heart, your bitterness, your pride‚ holding on to your hurt feelings, etc. What is wrong with you that you can't see how your disobedience to the Word is hurting you, your Home, your family, your sheep and your work!?
174. How can you be so dull in the spirit and blinded by resentment and bitterness that you have lost the fear of the Lord to the point where you can be divided with your brethren for literally years and think you won't suffer the consequences?! The truth is, you're suffering the consequences now! Can't you see that? If you wonder why your Home isn't the heavenly sanctuary that it should be, if you wonder why the Lord isn't blessing your provisioning and fundraising‚ if you wonder why your young people gossip and backbite and are disrespectful, if you wonder why you don't have the regular support from Active members that you'd like to have, if you wonder why young people in your Home or area are leaving the Family in disillusionment, let me tell you, part of the reason is the division that exists in your Homes and areas!
175. The Lord is angry about it and He won't stand for it much longer. You need to get your act together or you don't deserve to be in the Family. If you can't get united, you need to go to the churches where, almost without exception‚ they tolerate and even specialize in backbiting, gossip‚ and division! If that's what you're doing, then that's where you belong. If you don't have any more fear of the Lord than to let disunity go on and on in your Homes and areas, then God help you!
176. I'm sick and tired of hearing about so much division. What happened to "My Family, my Family, I know it's right, my Family"!? What happened to "And by this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another"?! Are you His disciples? Then for God's sake, act like it!
177. There are some countries that have been so disunited for years that I'm about to write you off as hopeless cases. You know who you are, and so do I! There are some fields in South America that are so steeped in division that they're almost ruined, and maybe the whole country should be reclassified—by me!
178. If you can't see that your disunity is a terrible attack of the Enemy and that you're allowing it due to pride, selfishness, self-righteousness and bitterness‚ then you're doomed to defeat! The Evil One will devour you‚ and I'm not exaggerating. When you read the warning vision the Lord gave, I hope it shocks you into repentance. If not, there's no hope for you and you might as well get out before I throw you out!
179. I don't care if you get offended by this and threaten to leave. If you can't see the truth and if you're not willing to get right with God and get rid of your horrible pride that keeps feeding the division in your Home or area‚ then you need to leave! Get out! Good riddance!—Not to you as a person, but to the horrible pride and bitterness that have allowed the Enemy of our souls and work to take hold in your lives!
180. Unity is a scriptural principle, and Peter and I will no longer stand by and watch the work of God be torn apart by division. The extreme importance of unity has been documented in the Bible and MO Letters from the beginning! You are without excuse!
181. (Jesus: ) My fervent prayer today is the same as when I left Earth—that you will unite as one. You must choose to be one as My Father and I are one, or choose your own desires and move on. You must choose to unite, or to follow your own willful hearts. It's as simple as that. For the only way you will be able to fulfill your destiny, the only way you will be able to access the keys, the only way you will have the power to rise above all impossibilities is in the strength of unity. The only way you will win this war in the era of action is by uniting.
182. What I require in these Last Days of those who will follow Me closely, of those who will use the keys to the Kingdom, of those who will have the power to rise above, is that you join as one. There is no other way. Only in the strength of unity will all these things I have spoken of your glorious future come to pass. Only those who unite will be able to fulfill what I have spoken .
183. Those who continue on in the army of David must strive for unity at all costs. You must endeavor to live My Law of Love, to live together in unity, to unite in vision and goals, in oneness of heart, mind, and spirit.
184. I require that you demonstrate your faith in Me through endeavoring to keep the unity among you by taking action on such things as:
—working together to resolve your differences through love‚ humility‚ communication and prayer;
—taking the humble seat and apologizing, even if you feel it's the other person who is in the wrong;
—asking Me what your part is in the problem and then being willing to rectify it;
—being willing to confess your sins and wrong attitudes and get united prayer;
—praying a "whatever it takes" prayer and allowing Me to work in your life;
—working to overcome your strong personality traits that stand in the way of unity;
—asking your brethren to safeguard you;
—seeking correction when needed;
—being flexible and learning to give and take;
—giving others the benefit of the doubt;
—persevering in loving communication even when you feel misunderstood or rejected;
—going to others in love and humility to communicate and seeking Me together for solutions;
—forsaking all criticism and gossip;
—fighting to overcome familiarity;
—forgiving and forgetting—forsaking the past;
—yielding to Me in all things;
—calling on the power of the keys to help you rise above all that would stand in the way of your unity.
185. (Mama:) From now on, where there is disunity, regardless of who did what, you're all guilty until you forsake your sins and get united. Where there is disunity, there is pride and lack of love. And if you're really serious about being right with the Lord, even if you're "innocent," you'll get right with the Lord, hear from Him, humble yourself, pray desperately, and find a way to restore unity. (ML #3362:39, 24-30‚ 32‚ 34-37, 136-137, 139, 141‚ 182; GN 958).
(From "Keep Fighting!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 6")
186. (Jesus: ) The method that has been used in the past of splitting a Home or moving to another Home because of differences is not a solution to disunity. If disunity is a matter of personal differences, or people needing some correction to help them live up to the standard‚ this should be sorted out within the Home. If disunity is a matter of people lacking overall commitment and not belonging in the CM Family‚ then shepherding should be given, by the Home and/or area officers, so that the people involved can either be given the help to change or to move to the level of membership that better fits their lifestyle. The day of escapism, of trying to solve problems by running away from them—which is compromise in a big way—is over. That is not the solution to internal discord and division. The problems must be fixed and attended to—not run away from or swept under the carpet.
187. This is part of the call to greater conviction: that when you see something that is amiss, that is not in line with My Word, that you go on the attack to remedy the problem and change things. Moving to another Home or sending others in your Home off to some other Home is NOT, and I repeat‚ NOT the key to solving disunity.
188. (Mama: ) The whole point is that we will all unite around obedience to the standard of the Word. That's where our unity comes from—living the Word. It's not a matter of figuring out in your own minds what you think is right and deciding what you'll tolerate according to what seems good to each individual. The Word is what sets the standard—the "Conviction versus Compromise" series, the other GNs, and the Charter, which are all based on the Lord's call to discipleship. (ML #3366:55-56, 60; GN 969).
Asking for forgiveness / forgiving others
(From "The Dangers of Division!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 2")
189. (Mama:) You who have been divided for so long might have already made some attempts to make things right. Maybe you've had discussions‚ prayer meetings, been counseled by your overseers, etc. But if you've been trying to sort it all out and figure out who's right and who's wrong, you'll never get free. Forget all that. Take it from me, you're all wrong. You're all to blame, because you've allowed the division to flourish. You can't try to first sort out the blame and then forgive.
190. (Jesus: ) People normally look at getting unified from the wrong direction. They think, "Let's take care of all these problems, and then we can be in unity." But the truth is, if you first get in unity, then the other problems will eventually be solved. By trying to solve all the problems first‚ victory eludes you, because in problem-solving there is usually an emphasis on placing the blame‚ on who is wrong‚ how wrong, etc.‚ which causes people to want to hold on to their positions because they want to be proven to be right. That never works, because there is always a breakdown in communication, and the efforts to sort things out are abandoned.
191. But if you first make steps to restore unity, that entails forgiveness—both asking for forgiveness and forgiving. When those steps are taken, then the details of sorting out such unity disruptors as child discipline differences, finances, Law of Love problems, conflicting prophecies, etc., can be found.
192. So the first step to improve the condition of your Homes and areas and find that heavenly Home and Family you're seeking and that I've promised is in pursuing unity by forgiving. Don't try to sort out all the details and the blame. You need to let My soft blanket of cozy love warm you and melt away the icicles of pride, independence, stubbornness, bitterness and self-righteousness. (End of message from Jesus.)
193. (Mama:) Forgive and ask for forgiveness. That's pretty simple. Don't complicate it with all your rights and wrongs and blame-placing. Just forgive those who have wronged you, and ask for forgiveness of those whom you have wronged, or even those who think you have wronged them. Even if you don't understand it fully, forgiveness is the key! (See Mat.5:23-24.)
194. What is a truer love than to forgive the one who you feel has done you great harm? What is a truer manifestation of the Lord's Spirit than to love your enemies‚ to do good to them that do you harm‚ to turn the other cheek? What is a greater demonstration of the Lord's forgiveness of sins than to show and to live your forgiveness of whatever it is that you hold against that person? This is love. This is mercy. This is humility. This is Jesus. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for another—even your brother or sister who has harmed you.
195. By reaching up for the grace to forgive him or her, you're reaching up to the Lord, and He'll make you a better person because of it. For what greater gift could the Lord give you than to make you into a person who has forgiven another, who has passed over that hump and stumbling block, and whose heart has been enlarged to take being wronged and yet to forgive? (ML #3362:68-71, 81, 158-159; GN 958).
Don't gossip, argue, or otherwise
contravene the spirit of the Law of Love
(From "Stop The Gossip Now")
196. (Dad:) I want to address right here and now what I consider one of the most serious problems the Homes are having‚ and that's the problem of gossip that's running wild! And the bottom line is this: If this rumor mill and gossip ring doesn't stop‚ I'm gonna put a stop to those who are guilty!
197. Do you know what Jesus had to say about those who offend even the littlest ones of His children? He said it would be better for a millstone to be put around their neck and that they be cast into the depths of the sea! Do you know what Jesus Himself said about offences? If your hand or foot offend, it's better to cut it off! If your eye offend, pluck it out! Those are some pretty drastic measures, aren't they?
198. Well, I've got news for you! I'm gonna take some pretty drastic measures if this doesn't stop! If all this gossiping and badmouthing doesn't stop, we're gonna cut you off!
199. If I hear or see anybody from now on spreading gossip, and thereby sowing dissension, disunity and discord amongst your brethren—we're gonna take some drastic action to cut you off from the Family! Beloved, these are abominations to God‚ they're abominations to me, and I will not tolerate it in this Family!
200. If I hear or see any more of this corrupt communication, we're gonna cut you off‚ and that's it! And I'm not only talking about those of you who are voicing it—who are spreading the gossip—but I'm also talking about those of you who listen to it! It takes two to tango. You're lord over your own tongue, but the other guy is also master of his ears!
201. No one who is going around spreading corrupt communication [gossip] belongs in this outfit‚ and that's that! And if you're listening to these dirty dirges, you're just as guilty! We've addressed the subject of love and unity plenty in the Letters, and you all have had ample warning. Maybe what you didn't see was the extent that this gossip is tearing down the very foundation of what we're trying to build as a Family—love, respect, trust‚ unity and harmony! So we're not gonna tolerate willful and unloving gossip in this Family anymore!
202. Any of you who are gossips and talebearers are outright rebelling against the greatest of all commandments—to love one another! If you're guilty of this ugly gossip, you're rebelling against the law of God! You're disobeying His greatest commandment to live in love!
203. Anyone who is guilty and who does not repent and show fruits of repentance, I'm gonna say good riddance to bad rubbish—we don't need you here! Anybody who continues on in this kind of behavior does not belong to this missionary work! Anybody who insists on ignoring the Letters, and does not at least strive to follow all the loving advice and counsel that the Lord and I and Mama and Peter have given on this subject, has no place in this outfit!
204. If you're among the guilty, you'd better watch out! You'd better get out your Love Charter and seriously review your responsibilities as a member of this Family of Love! Are you striving to love your brethren? Are you resisting the Devil when he tempts you with his evil devices, and when he tempts you with being a busybody and a gossip? Are you exhibiting the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness‚ goodness‚ faith, meekness and temperance? Are you striving to be a sample of the love of Jesus to others? Are you trying your best to constantly practice walking in love?
205. Are you striving to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ" and to let Him make you into the kind of loving, Christlike person He wants you to be? Beloved, you don't practice love by spreading ugly gossip about your brethren. You don't practice love and strive to be a Christlike person by getting on the phone and badmouthing others and letting your tongue run wild! You don't practice love by keeping up corrupt communication amongst yourselves!
206. Love does no harm to your brethren, folks! Love doesn't gossip or spread the intimate matters of others around. Love doesn't badmouth and spread rumors! This is not according to the Law of Love! If you'll just read your Love Charter, you might find that if you're a guilty party to this ongoing, malicious gossip going around, you're breaking the Charter rules on interacting lovingly and harmoniously with other Family members, and by causing physical, spiritual or emotional harm to others, your Charter membership could be in question for failing to live up to your responsibilities as a Charter member! (ML #3187:41, 51-53, 60, 62-63, 66‚ 68-69‚ 71; GN 792).
(From "Putting 'Skin' on Sin")
207. (Jesus:) There are many sides to gossip, but of this you can be sure, all sides of gossip are bad. There is never a justification for gossip. There is nothing good about gossip; not one side of gossip is of Me.
208. There is not one speck of gossip that I will tolerate, and those who begin down this treacherous road will only find emptiness, pain, and eventual destruction. For this is its purpose; the reason gossip is perpetrated by the Evil One and all of his hellish demons is to bring you, the babbler, to your end, and likewise others along with you.
209. Let Me spell out to you what gossip is‚ that you may know the gravity of the matter.
210. Gossip is ungodly.
Gossip is kindred to criticism.
Gossip is slander, libel, defamation.
Gossip is spreading Satan's propaganda.
Gossip is filthy.
Gossip is perfidy.
Gossip is vicious and malicious.
Gossip is hurtful‚ it promotes pain.
Gossip is meant to destroy.
Gossip is more than a lack of love, it is the voice of hatred.
Gossip is a stumbling block; it is one of the Enemy's favorite tools.
Gossip is designed to promote disunity.
Gossip is a springboard to destruction.
Gossip is a direct attack on My Law of Love.
Gossip is allowing Satan to control your tongue.
Gossip is an unruly evil.
Gossip is a deadly poison.
Gossip is a killer.
Gossip is straight from the pits of Hell.
211. If you want to be sure that you are not gossiping, if you want to safeguard yourself against it, follow this cardinal rule of thumb: Whatever you have to say about another‚ if you wouldn't say it in the presence of that person‚ face to face, then don't say it at all. Then you will know that you are not spreading gossip. (End of message from Jesus.) (ML #3453:31-35; GN 1038).
(From "Issues, Part 6")
212. (Jesus:) Words have the power to bring life or destroy life. Great power to do good or to do harm is contained in the tongue. The tongue promotes blessing or cursing.
213. Negative comments always do damage of some sort—whether it's in planting seeds of doubt in those who hear them, or causing greater trial such as sadness, grief, sensitivity, worry, hurt feelings and heartache—to name a few. That's why I admonish My children to set a watch at their mouths, to guard diligently the door of their lips, for out of the mouth flow the issues of life.
214. A simple comment‚ spoken in a moment, can be all it takes to defile the mind and spirit. The effects of a single word or a lone phrase wrongly spoken can have immense power, for it can wound the victim and turn him away from Me and My love, perhaps forever, as well as multitudes of others whom he might have led to Me! A negative‚ cutting comment or word has the ability to grow, spread, and multiply; to be misconstrued, twisted‚ and distorted along the way, making it all the more detrimental.
215. The damage that negative comments can have is that they can hurt the faith of another, and when faith is damaged, all hope can be lost. To damage the faith of another is a serious matter; this is why I said that by your words you are justified or condemned. There is much weeping and many tears shed in Heaven by those who arrive and become aware of what effect their words had on others. Words are real things; they're alive. My Words are spirit and life and lead to Heaven; negative words are condemnation and destruction‚ and have no place other than Hell.
216. I and My Father take notice of every word, and by each word that people speak, they are building their future in the world to come. For truly it is spoken and so it will be, that for every idle word a man speaks, he will have to give account. It is the same with all negative words and comments—for every one spoken, a man will need to give account. He that is wise and knowledgeable will let his conversation be that which ministers faith, hope, and love to the hearer. (End of message from Jesus.) (ML #3342:84-85, 87, 95-96; GN 936).
(From "Killer?—Or Healer?—What Is Your Tongue?")
217. (Dad:) One of the very worst diseases and sicknesses that's being passed around today among our Homes is that of a wounded heart!
218. These are internal wounds and the hardest of all kinds to heal. They take the longest time and the tenderest care to heal. These are wounds to the heart and soul, scars to the heart caused by an unkind word‚ an unprayerful comment, an unthoughtful remark. They're deep wounds that leave deep, dark, ugly scars. I'm seeing them on many a heart, and God help you if you are the cause!
219. Did you know that every one of you possess the power of life and death? All of you have the power to give life or to bring death, and it's all contained in that little tiny member—that tongue of yours! Are you using your tongue to give life, or are you using it to bring death and destruction?
220. Now‚ if the power of death is in the tongue‚ who do you think would try to zero in on this and get you to use your tongue to bring harm and hurt and death? Satan knows how powerful the tongue is, and that's why he's on an all-out campaign. He's made it the "in" thing, the "in vogue" thing, the "cool" thing in the world today to shoot your tongue off at the drop of a hat in quick, sharp, cunning comments.
221. Sarcasm is running wild! It's almost a virtue in the world to see how cutting and sarcastic you can be with your tongue—badmouthing, throwing around dirt and smut about others with defamation of character, slander‚ you name it!
222. It's rampant in the world today, and sad to say, this has seeped into our own ranks as well! Brethren, this ought not so to be! If you're using your tongue to speak ill of your brother or sister, to talk down about them or to them, to cause hurt, God help you!
223. What you folks need to learn is to filter the thoughts that come to your mind. You're not to spout off every single thought you have, but you've got to filter them. Measure each one against the standard of the Word. Pray and seek the Lord to see if it be true or not, to see if it's worth repeating or not. The only way to stay free from them is to stay filled up with the right words and the right thoughts by spending time with Jesus and keeping your mind on His Word!
224. All man's words either bless or curse; they're either accomplishing good or bad—every word! You're gonna have to give account for every idle word! Jesus said it! Read it! Think about it! And act on it! Clean up that tongue of yours!
225. For the sake of others, watch your words! For your own sake—your very life's sake—watch your words! They'll bless or curse, they'll lift up or tear down. What are your words doing? Will you pray this prayer along with me and make it your prayer each and every day of your life? "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer!" Hallelujah! (ML #3188:13-14, 18, 20-22, 25, 41, 49, 58; GN 793).
Living the Law of Love
(From "Goals for 1998")
226. (Peter:) The two greatest commandments are to love the Lord with all our heart, soul‚ mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. (See Mark 12:30,31.) He said‚ "By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another" (Jn. 13:35).
227. Love is the lifeblood of the Family. Love is the foundation, the cornerstone. Love is what the Family should be known for. Our love for one another should be like a soft, warm, cozy blanket that wraps gently around each one of us, in which we find comfort and security, peace and understanding.
228. Unfortunately, and I'm sorry to have to say this, one of the areas that the Family generally has fallen sadly short in is that simple, unconditional, brotherly love that "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things‚" the type that "never fails" and that "puts away any childish things" that divide you from others (1Cor.13). I'm talking about the kind of love that understands‚ forgives, and reaches out a helping hand to love without partiality. The kind of love that loves the unlovely, looks past one another's faults and shortcomings, sees the Lord in others, and sees each individual as someone who's given their heart and life to Jesus and the Family, someone who deserves to be accepted, nurtured, cared for, and loved.
229. As the Lord has told us before, we can be Jesus for one another. We can be the manifestation of His love. The concern, sympathy, affection, patience, faith‚ understanding and love that we show for another may be the very thing that will give that person the faith‚ courage and strength to keep going, to fight on‚ and to win the victory.
230. Jesus said‚ "Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these My brethren, you have done it unto Me" (Mat.25:40). So Mama and I ask each of you—have you been Jesus for your brethren? Have you treated the least of these as you would treat Jesus? Have you been the example of the Lord's love that He wants you to be?
231. Let's give of our time, be a listening ear, and open our hearts, our beds and our lives to others. Let's be swift to forgive and forget. Let's do our best to share our worldly possessions, love others' children as if they were our own, and be our brother's keeper. Let's not hold back the simple affection that so wonderfully communicates the Lord's love. Let's try with all our hearts to set a good example, be a strong shoulder to lean on or cry on‚ and be a sample of the Lord's unconditional love. Let's not jump to conclusions or judge unfairly, but instead give the benefit of the doubt to those who are struggling. Let's bear one another's burdens‚ and so fulfill the Law of Love!
232. We, the Family, beginning way back in the early days, used to be known for our love. In fact, many people joined the Family simply because of love. For the first time in their lives they felt real, tangible‚ forgiving, unconditional love. Can this still be said of you and your Home? Are you known for your love? If not, then for the future of the Family and your Home and your own personal service for the Lord, Mama and I ask you to please open your heart and see the need to learn to love again, to be Jesus for others. (ML #3160:77-81, 83-84‚ Lifelines 24).
(From "Responsibilities of Individual Members" in the Charter)
Charter members should:
F. Endeavor to live by the principles of the Law of Love: To love and care for, and interact lovingly and harmoniously with all members of the Home in which they reside and with Family members at large.
Many have the idea that the Law of Love concerns only sexual matters. This is not so, as the Law of Love governs all of our actions and is the basis for all of our Family rules, rights and responsibilities.
If we implement the Charter without love, the end result could be an organization with members who are looking out mainly for themselves. If it is implemented with the main ingredient being the love of God, it will result in a stronger Family‚ with wise‚ loving and full_of-faith brothers and sisters.
(From "Charter Responsibilities")
233. (Peter: ) This is a responsibility that should govern your everyday life and interactions with others. You are supposed to endeavor—which means to make an earnest attempt—to be loving to others‚ to care for them, to work in harmony together with them. When you "put skin" on this, it means that you are to act lovingly and harmoniously with those you live with in your Home, whether you like them or not, whether you agree with them or not, whether they're young or old, whether your personalities conflict or not.
234. As a Charter member you're expected to love those within your Homes as you love yourself, to do your very best to act in love toward one another. This means you don't criticize them, you don't gossip about them, you don't yell at them, but rather you go out of your way to love them. Take a look at yourself and the way you interact with others in your Home and other Family members. Are you treating them in love? Are you being kind to them? Are you trying to lift them up or tear them down? As Dad said, you may not always like everyone that you live with, but you're expected to love them with God's love. You're expected to treat them decently, with courtesy, respect and kindness.
235. We've heard about many who have acted very unloving toward others. We've even heard of brethren who won't speak to each other because they have grudges‚ complaints and bitterness against each other. We've heard of Homes who won't have anything to do with another Home because of unloving acts that have occurred between them. We've heard of FGAs being very unloving toward teens and other young people, and we've heard of young people being very critical, talking back to and being ugly toward older Family members. There's been a great deal of criticism, sarcasm‚ gossip and hurtful words being said amongst some of you younger ones.
236. These unloving acts go against the Charter. We are supposed to be a Family of love, a Family that does its best to support and care for one another, to have mercy and compassion on one another. If you don't—if you're lashing out at others and tearing them down, or if you have no desire to treat the others in your Home with love—then perhaps you're not fit to be a Charter member. (ML #3197:89-92; GN 803).
(From "Keep Fighting!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 6")
237. (Jesus:) Living the sexual side of the Law of Love is still optional. It is not a requirement to being in the Family, nor will you lose your Family membership if you do not share sexually. However, living the totality of the Law of Love is a key to My Family being all that I am calling you to be.
238. You who say to Me, "Work in my heart as you will," are those who don't have such a difficult time living the Law of Love fully. You are the ones who will be prepared and ready in the days to come. (ML #3366:169,171; GN 969).
System jobs
(From "'Be Ye Separate!'—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 3")
239. (Mama: ) The Charter allows you to hold System jobs. It says:
In some cases, some Home members might desire to take a secular job or perhaps run a business, as a means of support. As the "Charter of Responsibilities and Rights" does not specifically prohibit it, it is generally allowed. We are not recommending it, but it's not forbidden ("Home Life Rules‚" I).
240. Note the key sentence: "We are not recommending it, but it's not forbidden." It is Peter's and my firm conviction that most System jobs held by those in open fields are not God's highest will. Most System jobs are a compromise of our standard of discipleship, unless they're absolutely needed for you to remain in your field, or they provide a very clear and abundant avenue for witnessing, or are a tremendous source of income that supports a lot of very active missionaries.
241. (Jesus:) The trend toward more and more System jobs is a serious problem, and the main reason is that it's taking away the most valuable commodity of the Family—its manpower. I have invested years and years to train disciples, and then they take off and invest their talents in an ungodly business, using the Charter as their "excuse."
242. Many think of "System jobs" as some little problem that isn't that big a deal. But the reality is that it's a very destructive inroad of the Enemy. Just as disunity is tearing the Family apart‚ so System jobs are pulling soldiers who should be on the field fighting the Enemy off the front lines and they are becoming weak, sickly and backslidden in heart. Little by little those soldiers willingly submit themselves to the brainwashing of their captors until they're practically useless for hard marches and risky assignments. They become just like the poor people they're supposed to be witnessing to. And even if they do witness, the people look at them and wonder‚ "Why would I want to join that church?"
243. System jobs present a much bigger problem than you're presently aware of, because if not nipped in the bud, if the trend is not reversed, it will destroy the second generation. Some of your talented young people‚ who could become dedicated missionaries‚ are getting slowly sucked into the System and becoming dedicated Systemites. (End of message from Jesus.)
244. (Mama:) If you honestly want to be a full-time disciple, that means total dedication. That means being a follower of the teachings of Christ. That doesn't mean serving Mammon with most of your waking hours and then doing a little witnessing on the side, maybe, if you have time. And that doesn't mean spending all your time on some kind of Family-created self-employment such as clowning, face painting, ballooning, etc., that brings in finances but has little or nothing to do with witnessing!
245. Most of you who have jobs or use other fundraising techniques that take most of your time but don't provide an avenue for developing a bona fide, strong‚ lasting work for the Lord, justify slaving away most of your time for the System and/or money by saying it's allowed in the Charter. Yes, it's allowed in the Charter. We had to allow a small opening for System jobs, mainly because there are fields where our missionaries are required to have jobs in order to even stay in the country .
246. There are also a few other isolated situations where having a System job is a unique witnessing or support opportunity, such as the rare case where one Home member's job supports the entire communal Home‚ freeing others to witness full-time . There is a distinct difference between those who take on System jobs, even meeting the minimal Charter requirements, yet in reality their job is simply helping them support their compromised lifestyle; they earn money, but do very little or no witnessing—and the case where one member holds a System job that supports an entire Home, where they are living communally, maintain a high witnessing standard, fellowship, and so on.
247. The truth is, some of our most potential fields, where missionaries are free to operate totally openly, are being strangled and the fruit is dying on the vine, because those who should be full–time missionaries are teaching English, programming or setting up Web sites or graphics, selling balloons, clowning, painting faces‚ or even selling other non-Family Christian trinkets—again, all with very little or no witness involved. This was certainly NOT our intent when System jobs were allowed for Charter members in the Charter!
248. I can see spending some time in a fundraising method that's not that effective as a witness in order to support a thriving witnessing ministry in your Home .
249. You might be working at a System job which technically is permissible within your Charter rights, and at the same time, you might even be attending a few Bible studies and doing the minimum witnessing required in the Charter, but what you need to look at in each case is the overall fruit in every area of your life.
250. Ask yourself: "Is my holding a System job causing me to compromise in other areas of my life? Have I become independent? Have I become compromised on living Acts 2:44-45 and do I hold on to 'my own' finances? Do I still live by faith, or is that no longer the case? Am I compromised in my lifestyle, and does this negate my overall sample?"
251. What kind of witness is it when [your System friends] see you living just like they do? And you call yourself a missionary, a disciple? And what sort of sample are you setting for your younger brothers and sisters, or for other young people? Do you want them to turn out like you?
252. I know the arguments for getting System jobs. You want financial security; you're tired of living "hand to mouth"; you say you meet people on the job and you witness on the job. But I want you to seriously consider those so–called "benefits" against the Lord's call in your life to be a disciple. Or are you content to be just like everyone else?
253. How you live your life is your decision; and how you spend your time is, in essence, how you live your life. So if you want to have a System job, that's your choice (if your Home approves it with a vote). But I ask that you seriously pray about and reconsider your decision after reading this GN.
254. (Jesus: ) System jobs can sometimes be My will, but not to the extent that Family members around the world are engaging in at present! Each of you who holds a System job should check your heart and counsel with your Home members and shepherds. You should reevaluate your job—why you're doing it—and seriously ask Me if you are in the center of My will. Don't look at it from the financial standpoint. I can and will supply for you. Look at it from the spiritual standpoint.
•Is it helping and motivating you to be a more on-fire radical witness?
•Is it moving you to reach out to others, to give unselfishly and sacrificially?
•Is it causing you to draw closer to Me?
•Do others see good fruit being borne in you through it?
•Is it still meeting the conditions or fulfilling the promises I gave you when you first asked Me about taking on the job?
•Is it enabling your Home to shoot forward and make progress?
•Is it time to stop?
255. (Mama: ) It's Peter's and my sincere conviction that the Lord wants most Charter members who have System jobs to quit them. Yes, quit. Pray and hear from the Lord about it today, and then give notice of your leaving their employment! If you feel you are unable to quit your job, please go to the Word and seek the Lord to see if He is leading you to a change of status as outlined in this series.
256. Part of the reason for our looking into the number of System jobs and their fruitfulness is because the Family needs to shape up to be the sample needed to the new members who will join our ranks. Obviously‚ if a lot of you supposedly full-time CM missionaries are spending most of your time working in the System, there are two serious problems: 1) You won't win new members because you won't have any time to witness. 2) You won't be examples of full-time discipleship, and therefore even if you do win any new members, they'll lack conviction for true discipleship, too, as they'll follow your example.
257. The only thing that will give you personally the guts to drop out of your System job and trust the Lord to supply your needs as you work full-time for Him is the same pull of the Holy Spirit that caused our original disciples to drop out and give birth to the Revolution for Jesus in the early days! It has to be personal conviction, a desire to obey the Word, to be a disciple. It has to be a faith that the Word and the Letters are true, and that you want to live the lifestyle depicted in them fully, without reservations. It has to be a faith that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him and obey Him, and that He will provide your needs as He has promised.
258. This is a personal decision. This is between you and the Lord. This is about your own conviction and what you want to do with your life and what you want to do for Jesus.
259. As a Charter member you will not lose your status if you have a System job and are continuing to meet your responsibilities under the Charter. But I want to make it clear that Peter and I are not happy with the number of System jobs in the Family today, and neither is the Lord. I want to debunk your "excuse" for your System job that it's "allowed in the Charter," as if that automatically makes it okay or right or God's highest will. You'll have to have a heaven of a lot more than that one Charter reference to make me believe your System job is God's highest will for you, if you're living in a country where you're free to witness full-time as a missionary—the kind of missionary that people look at and know that you're a missionary, that you're different, that you live for Jesus!
260. You'll need to have a lot more than the simple "okay" vote from your Home to convince me that these jobs that take CM Family members away from full-time quality witnessing and follow-up are God's highest will. At the least, you'd need confirmation from the Lord from the mouth of two or three channels, wholehearted support from your Home, and it wouldn't hurt to have the support and approval of your area leadership, if possible. And even if you do have all these things, on top of that‚ you'd need to bring forth the kind of fruit in your job and life that makes it obvious that you're fruitful and productive as a disciple!
261. Yes‚ System jobs are allowed, but being allowed and being God's highest will are two very different things. Remember, the Charter states that jobs are allowed but that we do not recommend them. Since when does the fact that System jobs are not prohibited in the Charter override the preponderance of the teachings of the Bible?
262. (Jesus:) The counsel I have given in the past, that which was published in years gone by regarding System jobs, is not to glean excuses on how to live today. This is the era of action! You have entered the Last Days, and your mode of operation must change accordingly!
263. I wish to free My people to serve Me. I am calling My children out of the clutches of this world's System and into My arms where they can live by faith and faith alone. I am calling them out of the clutches of the System, where they will be able to survive in the troublous times ahead! I am calling them out of the anti-God, anti-Christ System of today, to be My mouthpieces, My miracle workers of the End.
264. There will be few exceptions to this matter of System jobs. The criteria for System jobs depends on the fruit borne, on how much witness can be given, on how much Word can be handed out, on how much training of new disciples, friends, supporters, and Active members can be had, on how many tools can be distributed.
265. I call everyone to witness and to win. If and when there is a job that will permit this, where their convictions will not be compromised and where they can get out the tools, get out the message, and teach others the doctrine, I will consider and bless their efforts in such a ministry. Yet this will be the exception‚ not the rule. (End of message from Jesus) (ML #3363:9-10, 12-14, 18–24, 26-28‚ 43, 46-49, 52–54, 167–170; GN 959).
Personal responsibility toward the Home
(From "Responsibilities of Individual Members" in the Charter and "Charter Responsibilities," GN 803)
Charter members should:
K. Endeavor to fulfill the scriptural injunction to "bear one another's burdens"—to put the needs of the Home and its members before their own.
As disciples, we should manifest our love one for another by doing all we can to make sure that we are aware of the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of those around us, and we should do whatever we can to help care for them in their need. Since so much within the Home will be decided by the Home's voting members, it will become even more important that we all are mindful of the burdens, hardships, battles and needs of others in the Home. And that we are willing to put their needs and the good of the Home before our own wants and desires.
266. (Peter:) You are responsible to put the needs of your Home, and of others‚ before your own. You are responsible to look out for the needs of others in your Home and to try to help meet each need, whether it's the care of their children‚ or finances, or a need for love and affection or sex (within the Charter guidelines), etc. Whatever it is, you are responsible to help them! It's your responsibility before the Lord to bear one another's burdens, to love your neighbor as yourself, to lay down your life for the brethren‚ to die daily for one another. It's not just a good or nice thing to help one another and to bear each other's burdens, it's a responsibility. It's part of being a Charter member.
Charter members should:
L. Bear, with all other voting members of the Home, the spiritual, physical, material‚ educational and financial responsibilities of the Home in which they reside.
Voting members have a great deal of authority in their Home through their right to vote. Throughout the Charter you'll find that there are many issues which the Home is required to democratically vote on in order to decide their course of action. Because each voting member has the right to participate in deciding these matters, they are responsible for the results of their vote. So when a Home is doing poorly, either spiritually, physically or economically, the blame will fall on the voting members of the Home‚ instead of solely on the Home teamwork, because the policies of the Home are determined by the voting members and not only the Home teamwork. (Including 16- and 17–year–olds, except in financial matters.)
267. (Peter: ) If you read this clause carefully, you'll see that every voting member is bound by the Charter to bear the spiritual, physical, material, educational, and financial responsibilities of their Home. What does this mean? It means that you personally bear responsibility, along with all the other voting members of the Home, to help keep your Home spiritually on track. You're personally responsible to help the Home keep a high spiritual standard. You're personally responsible for the physical care of your Home. You're personally responsible to help bear the financial load of the Home and to keep it afloat. You're personally responsible to ensure that the Home's material goods are well cared for and kept in working order. You're personally responsible to help make sure that the children in the Home receive a proper education.
268. These are not things that you can toss off to someone else in the Home and say, "The Home's not doing well spiritually, but that's the teamwork's problem, not mine." Or, "I'm not a childcare person or a parent, therefore if the kids in my Home aren't getting a proper education, that's not my responsibility." Or‚ "The Home is a mess, but at least I keep my room clean, so I've done my part."
269. It's your personal responsibility to help make sure that your Home, as a whole‚ fulfills its responsibilities. If the children in your Home are not getting educated, whether you're a parent or not, you are partly responsible. If your Home is going through financial hardships, you are partly responsible. If your Home is doing poorly spiritually, you are partly responsible. If your Home is a mess and is a bad sample because of it, you are partly responsible. There is no passing the buck, because you bear these responsibilities with every other Charter member in the Home.
270. So take a look around and ask yourself, "Am I fulfilling my responsibility? Am I helping to make my Home what it should be spiritually, physically, materially, educationally and financially?" If you're not, you're not fulfilling this responsibility as a Charter member.
271. Maybe you don't think you can make a difference in these problem areas of your Home, because you feel that it's the fault of others. Well, you're a voting member of the Home, and therefore you can have an effect for good through your vote. If you see problems, you are responsible to bring them up for discussion at Home Councils. You can present your points of view—or better yet, what the Word has to say on the subject—and encourage others to follow suit to strengthen whatever weak areas there may be.
272. Let me add here that it is mandatory to have at least two Home Council meetings a month—and some Homes should probably hold them more often. At those Home Council meetings you have the right to bring to the attention of the body any matters which you feel are not right in the Home and which need to be addressed. So the avenues are there for you to help effect change in your Home.
273. Of course‚ it goes without saying that how you present your point of view to the other Home members will probably have a great deal to do with how it is received and whether changes are made. If you come across too strongly‚ accusing others and in a self-righteous spirit, then you're not likely to get very far. Others will naturally be defensive, and it could just cause disunity and make things worse. So be sure you're in a spirit of prayer and humility. Remember: Love, humility and prayer solve all problems!
M. Participate in the governing of the Home in which they reside; accept responsibility for the collective decisions and actions of that Home, and for the results of those decisions and actions.
N. Live in accordance with the agreed-upon "Home regulations" of the Home in which they continue to reside.
O. Commit their resources, time, energy, knowledge, gifts and talents toward reaching the agreed-upon goals of the Home in which they reside and the goals of the Family at large.
Q. Perform, to the best of their ability, the duties and responsibilities assigned to them by the Home's duly elected officers.
R. Cooperate with and support the joint decisions of the Home's voting members, or if in disagreement, or unable to cooperate for any other reason, voluntarily remove themselves from the Home by moving to another Home or pioneering their own Home. (ML #3197:112-119; GN 803).
Don't settle for less than the best
(From "Fast-day Follow-up")
274. (Jesus: ) There are ways you could make so much more of an effort to live in unity with your Home, to live the Law of Love, to love Me intimately, to call on the keys‚ to intercede in prayer, to live in full and total discipleship, but you don't. You don't make a conscious decision to disobey; you merely make a laid-back, lethargic decision to settle for less than the best. Why should you accept less? Why should you be okay with not living up to the standards in all areas that I've put forth? You should hate living that way and desire with all your heart to change it.
275. That is a prayer that you should pray—a prayer request that you can use daily—that I will make you unsatisfied with settling for anything less than My best in your life. Pray that I will make you hunger and thirst after living the fullest extent of the standard and to be disgusted with halfway measures and compromises.
276. Compromise is give and take: You take a little of My standard, and you give a little place to the Devil. Compromise is where each side must submit a little to the other and recognize each other's wishes. Do you really want to be the peace broker in such a compromise between Me and the Devil? Do you really want to be saying, "Okay, Jesus‚ You have a good point there‚ so You can control these aspects of my life, and I'll put into practice that suggestion You made; but the Devil has some valid opinions too, and I'm gonna have to go with some of his ideas, just to make it all fair and square." Do you really want Me to submit to the Enemy's will and allow him some sway in your life? That's what you do when you compromise, when you settle for less than the best.
277. Consider an empty glass as being like your life. My highest will for your life, the empty glass, is to be filled to the top with New Wine, the water of My Spirit, or the elixir of My love. But when you compromise, even if you don't consciously ask to be filled with something other than what I have for you, you leave yourself open by not filling yourself to the brim with My liquid. My best would be the top of the cup; but if you limit Me by laziness, compromise, not stirring yourself up or whatever reason, you only allow yourself to be half full or three quarters full, but not to the brim. You've essentially told Me, "This far and no further," and thus I do not have the license to fill the rest. So you are an incomplete life, and the rest that I have no permission to touch must be forfeited to the Enemy. You give him place when you don't allow Me to fill every corner and every cup to the brim.
278. Neither give place to the Devil. Despise him, war against him, and cast him out!
279. No more compromise! No more give and take! I want it all! I'm a jealous God. You know what I'm talking about. You know the times when you feel that conviction of My Spirit telling you that such a thing is not My highest will, and it's not even My second best, that it's pretty far down there and detrimental to your spirit‚ but you do it anyway. It's in the things you read, some of the movies you watch, some of the music you've listened to, some of the opinions you've held. It's also in all the things that you don't do. It's in the times you put off loving Me‚ you skip your Word time, you skip prayer vigil, choosing your own entertainment instead.
280. Go all-out, go all the way, go 110%! When you pray about things, which you are faithful to do, put My answers into practice; that's the only way.
281. Pray that I will hold you to the highest standard. Don't tell Me to let you off easy—ask for the full standard to be applied in My answers. Don't settle for anything that is just "okay, but not really the best." That's all right to an extent‚ but it's not the full CM standard. It's not the full discipleship standard.
282. You should want My ultimate. Ask for the CM standard, the full-fledged, hardcore, no compromise, no regrets, disciple version of My counsel. Milk is for babes‚ small allowances and compromises are for the weak, but meat belongs to them that are of full age—to the chosen, the ecclesia, the doers of the Word and the followers of the teaching. (End of message from Jesus.) (ML #3381:33-37, 41-44; Post-it GN #1).
(From "The Professionals")
283. (Jesus:) Calling all CM disciples! Where are you? Who will stand up and answer the call?
284. It's a new era in the Family. It's the era of serious understanding and commitment to the calling of CM disciples. If you are CM, then you need to once again take stock of your heart and soul, and make sure that your vision of being a Charter member disciple lines up with My vision. I've spelled out My vision and the requirements clearly in the CvsC series, and I'll clarify it once again here.
285. Charter membership means discipleship. That doesn't just mean "Family member." Yes, you're a member of the Family, but first and foremost, as a Charter member, you are a disciple. That is your code, your creed. That is your mission statement. As a disciple, you are among the elite troops of the Family. You have pledged and committed to take on any mission‚ to accept any challenge, to fight any battle, to receive any instructions and orders‚ to follow and obey, to love and to serve.
286. As a Charter member, you have said, "This is my chosen profession. This is my calling. This is my career. This is my life. I am a disciple and I'm proud of it." As a disciple‚ you're in it for the long haul. You're not serving a six-month term‚ a two-year term, or even a six-year term. You're committed for life, because you're convinced that being a disciple is what you want to give your life to. You're willing to train, you're willing to learn, you're willing to adapt, you're willing to progress.
287. As a disciple, you've agreed to give up certain things that would distract you or hinder you from doing your job. You've accepted that there will be sacrifices to make‚ and you're willing to make these sacrifices‚ even if they're difficult. You understand that you're making these sacrifices for Me, your Commander in Chief, for your loved ones, and for the lost souls that need your time, attention, prayer, focus, and love. You're willing to give up some of the treasures and pleasures of this life in order to gain the spiritual riches and rewards that I've promised you in the life to come.
288. As a disciple, you're banking on Me. You're trusting in My promises. You're letting the material things of the world pass you by. You're not merely laying up for yourself treasures on earth or making efforts toward popularity and fame. You're living your life by faith, holding on to My promise that though you may suffer rejection, and though you may lack some of the trinkets and gadgets that are on display all around you‚ you're holding out for something better. You're holding out for the eternal riches of Heaven. You're holding out for the eternal glory.
289. In choosing discipleship as your profession, you've signed a most unusual contract.
290. Here's the professional's contract:
291. I (blank) willingly become a Charter member disciple. As such, I affirm that my choice of career is to be a professional disciple. I will strive, to the best of my ability, to follow the appropriate rules of discipleship conduct. I consent to taking orders from You‚ the Head Coach. I consent to being a team player, and I embrace my fellow disciples as my brothers and sisters. I acknowledge that there will be sacrifices to make, and I'm willing to make these in order to pursue this profession.
292. I accept that I will not receive monetary payment or physical compensation for my every effort in this life. I am content to wait until the next life, where I will receive my payment and rewards in full for the service I have given. I give up the temptation toward the pleasures and treasures of the world around me, in favor of obtaining eternal riches and blessings that will never fade away.
293. In short, I commit to being a professional disciple, on whom You can count to play my part with faith, love, determination, and zeal.
294. That was and is the contract of discipleship. Some give Me part of their lives and time. Some give Me all. Those who give Me all are professional disciples, career disciples. Are you one?
295. Can you affirm your discipleship contract with Me? Or does the pull of the world and its treasures and pleasures have too great a hold on you? Are you willing to sacrifice the pleasures of the world for a season‚ in order to reap eternal rewards in the life to come? Choose today what level of Family membership you will commit to. If you seek Charter member discipleship, then count the cost.
296. Are you willing to be a professional disciple? If so‚ the stakes are high. The rewards are even higher. You will not see them all in this life‚ but in the life to come, when you enter My Heavenly realm, you will see that the choice you made was the right one. (ML #3399:279-287‚ 289-293; GN 993).
Your Home's Missionary Work
Engage in evangelism
(From "Responsibilities of Individual Members" in the Charter)
Charter members must:
G.Engage in evangelism.
The definition of evangelism is "zealous preaching and dissemination of the Gospel, such as through missionary work." We felt this was the appropriate way to express the concept of both witnessing to the unsaved and follow_up feeding, which includes teaching the Word to those who are saved.
(From "Charter Responsibilities")
297. (Peter:) The definition of evangelism is "the zealous preaching and dissemination of the Gospel." If there's anything that the Family is dedicated to, it's the preaching of the Gospel to every creature. That is our commission from the Lord—to witness, to make disciples of all nations, to pour forth God's Word and to get the wonderful message of salvation out to the lost. Witnessing should be our joy, our goal, our desire!
298. As Charter members it is your responsibility to engage in evangelism, to witness, to follow up, to teach and to train. This is the main reason we are here; this is our main job, our primary mission.
299. The "Fundamental Family Rules" state that every member must witness a minimum of eight hours per month. This is the minimum. We understand that some of you can only witness this minimum amount‚ especially those taking care of children full-time, and in these cases being able to do only the minimum is understandable.
300. However, if your ministry isn't one that allows you time for only the minimum, then you should have the burning desire to get out witnessing much more often to fulfill your responsibility as a Charter member to preach the Word‚ being instant in season and out of season! The Lord expects each of us to be witnessing, to be preaching the Gospel, and He blesses us mightily when we do. (ML #3197:93-96; GN 803).
(From "'Be Ye Separate!'—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 3")
301. (Mama: ) The Charter says that the minimum witnessing requirement for all voting members is two hours a week. That is the minimum. But it's obvious that if you're going to pioneer an Activated ministry and follow-up program, as well as keep up with your daily witnessing activities that bring in immediate cash, you're going to have to work a lot harder than two hours a week at witnessing! Those who are making it pay in witnessing and follow-up are doing it full-time. That means all their work hours they're working hard at making it work! (ML #3363:179; GN 959).
(From "Coming Persecution?—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 1")
302. (Jesus: ) The spirit of lethargy is manifested by:
303. • People neglecting or ignoring the purpose for which I called you and for which you joined the Family: to witness, to feed My sheep, to win disciples. People doing the minimum amount of witnessing they have to in order to remain "members," or in some cases even neglecting witnessing altogether.
304. • The same problem, but to a lesser degree: People who do witness, who do get out and distribute tools, maybe even have Bible classes, but who aren't "instant witnesses"—who don't make sure to carry tracts everywhere they go or make sure to give some kind of witness to every person they encounter. People who forget about the scriptural admonition in Ezekiel and aren't all that worried about others' "blood" being on their hands. (See Ezekiel 3:17–19.)
305. • People who are even very faithful witnesses, but who are hesitant to try the new things and ideas I put forth. People who are satisfied with the way they've been doing it for years. They're reluctant to get rolling with Activated because it's not "tried and proven."
306. • People who are reluctant to feed their sheep the meat of the Word for fear it will stumble them.
307. • A general desire to keep things the way they are, to not upset the apple cart, to not make waves in your Home or area, even if it's very obvious that things need to be changed or improved.
308. • A weakening of personal convictions‚ and a lessening of faith to speak up to others about your convictions. (ML #3361:161-167; GN 957).
Activated
(From "The Family's Future and Expansion Program")
309. (Jesus:) 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. (ML #3308:20, GN 908).
(From "Our Activated Future")
310. (Jesus:) You are now entering the days of action, the era of action. The days of training are over, and now you go forth as trained, specialized soldiers to battle. You are My brides, My wives, My lovers, My children, My friends‚ but also My soldiers, and the preparation you have received has been for your vocation as soldiers in the great spiritual battle of these Last Days.
311. After the Family has tried and proven their faith in this new anointing‚ and shown their willingness to believe and accept it and put Me to the test, then the new battlefield will come more into focus. That battlefield is the hearts and minds of men. That battlefield is the winning of new laborers, the harvesting of entire fields for My glory. That battlefield is the training of new leaders and ministering to multitudes with My Word.
312. The battlefield and the action of which I speak in this new day is outside your courts, outside your Homes, in the hearts and lives of those in need, the lost, the destitute, the poor and needy. One of the greatest fruits of this new anointing for this new era of greater works will be a tremendous outpouring of love and vision for those you have yet to reach and teach and win. You will turn your eyes from within your ranks and Homes, and you will look to those who have not heard. No longer will the Family focus so much attention and time solely on each other, but they will focus on those who have more desperate needs. They will bury themselves in ministering to the multitudes who need Me and My Words. They will feel within themselves a passion that will push them out the door to seek out and save the lost.
313. So many laborers will come to your gates and join your fold! You see the humble beginnings of the Activated program, but you have no idea what is to come of it.
314. You haven't seen even the tiniest beginnings yet, and what is humble and meager now will explode in the days to come to be your greatest witness ever. There will be such vast growth, such awesome receptivity to the products, such hunger for the Word that you'll stand in awe at the great things I have done.
315. Remember when David produced the first posters and said "millions for the billions"? You found it a little hard to believe or to take literally at first, because you had no idea how far those posters would go. You couldn't imagine there would literally be millions upon millions for the billions on all continents of the world. You had no idea of the tremendous abundance of finances those posters would provide and that they would become the Family's tool of choice for years and years.
316. I'm happy to announce that you will find just such extreme and magnificent fulfillment of the vision regarding the Activated program. There will be more active supporting members than you can imagine. Even if I were to say that it would be past your furthest estimation, you would still not come close to grasping at this time the potential that will be reached with the Activated program!
317. This will be one of the keys to your financial needs. You will have abundance. You will have more than you need for the many urgent and expensive projects you dream of, both to minister to outsiders and to the Family's needs.
318. Even more important, this ministry will be a source of multitudes of laborers. You will see in only a few short years that those of you who have been in the Family for many years, the second generation who were born and raised in the Family, as well as the nationals whom you have won and diligently trained in My ways, will instruct many.
319. There are many in the Family who lack vision. They feel the Family is too introspective‚ the "Consider the Poor" ministries too shallow, and they wonder if the Family is losing its fire, its purpose. All this will be remedied when the Homes are face to face with hungry sheep that are crying out to be fed. They will have been won by the printed Word sent via the Activated ministry, and it will be the responsibility of the Family to be the sample of that Word. They will feel compelled by My Spirit to show the babes that what they have read and heard of is true, that there really is such a life of service for Me, that the spirit world is real‚ that My love is truly the answer to all things.
320. Seeing the need, feeling responsible for others, knowing that these hungry souls are looking to them for the truth and to be instructed and guided and led to a life of service to Me will rekindle the fire of many faithful children of David who have grown tired and weary and become disillusioned. It will be a jump-start in the spirit to them, bringing them roaring back to life.
321. The complacency, the deadness of spirit, the attraction for the world‚ the compromise and slow seepage of the world into the hearts and Homes of the Family will continue to be eliminated naturally as they find these multitudes of hungry sheep on their doorsteps. Love for the sheep and a desire to meet their needs will automatically begin to replace a desire for the world and a focus on your own needs.
322. The children of David will fulfill their destiny as being the teachers of all nations‚ for they will train the leaders‚ those who speak the language of their land, who can go out and reach their own people in the distant fields, towns and villages. What begins as a pleasant breeze will grow to a mighty wind of power and fruitfulness.
323. The children of David will finally return to their roots, to the basics‚ and they will find the joy and satisfaction that has escaped them.
324. It will be as if they've found a new profession—that of being a missionary! For there are few in the Family today who dedicate their full time to witnessing and follow-up. That once was and will again be the primary activity and ministry of all the children of David. In the future, the vast majority of Family members will be wholly dedicated to feeding the multitudes in some way. The joy and excitement of doing this will far outshine the joy they find in their present ministries. It will be as if they've been reborn, made anew.
325. (Mama:) It's going to take a considerable amount of work and time to put landing gear on the great plans and promises the Lord has given in the above message. Making it happen means that we have to give up our old ways of doing things, drastically change our focus, go back to our roots, to the basics of what the Family is all about—feeding His sheep! Peter and I are committed to doing all that the Lord has said. Are you? We sure hope you are‚ because without you doing your part, none of this will happen!
326. The progress and miracles the Lord talks about here are not just going to materialize out of thin air, effortlessly, from one day to the next. As marvelous and vision-increasing as these promises and predictions of the future are, they are conditional! That means we all have to do our part before the Lord can do His to make it happen!
327. Peter and I and WS have already done our part for the Activated program. The Activated program is up and running! It's there‚ it's happening! You have a ready-made, feed-the-sheep follow-up program.
328. Now you have to do your part! We pray desperately that you don't just read the above message and think, "Oh, cool!" That won't cut it! You have to do your part, and at this point in time, your part is to continue to get behind the Activated program and make it part of your daily witnessing and regular follow-up activities.
329. The Family is going to have to change. Our focus is going to have to change. You as an individual are going to have to change. We're going to have to let go of what we're doing now and embrace the new direction the Lord is leading us in. It's going to take all of us working together to bring this era of action about, and we'll have to invest time, hard work, and our lives into it if we want to reap the blessings, benefits and fulfillment of the promises. (ML #3298:97, 100-102‚ 105-109‚ 112-113, 117-120, 130-133, 184; GN 895).
(From "The Family's Future and Expansion Program")
330. (Jesus:) 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.
331. 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.
332. 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)
333. (Peter:) 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.
334. 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? 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!
335. 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.
336. 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?
337. 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? 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?
338. Don't let another day go by when you lead someone to the Lord and don't offer to feed them through Activated.
339. 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!
340. Let's do it! Amen? We're counting on you! (ML #3308:37–39, 49-50, 52-53, 61, 63, 150-151; GN 908)
Witnessing is more than fundraising
(From "'Be Ye Separate!'—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 3")
341. (Mama:) Besides the horrible testimony of selfishness and lack of love, your money-hungry attitudes and materialistic spirits manifested in your lack of sharing and your dependence on System jobs—or Family-created jobs where you're self-employed but do little or no witnessing on the job—give rise to two other serious drawbacks: 1) Either you don't have any time to witness after you've slaved away all day or night to raise money, or 2) once you have the money you need, you don't have the motivation or drive to do any serious witnessing.
342. Both of these drawbacks are having the same effect in the end. They're taking you out of the mission field; they're keeping you from building a lasting work.
343. Notice I use the term "build a work." That is an important differentiation, because you might do some night singing, clowning/ballooning, etc., and justify your actions with the excuse that you're giving out tracts. You know I love to give out tracts. I do so as often as I can. But giving out tracts is certainly a far cry from building a strong, lasting work with new members, regular Bible studies, Active members‚ young catacomb disciples‚ tithers‚ supporters‚ "consider the poor" ministries, etc.
344. Judge for yourself. Is your System job making it possible for you to build a strong, lasting work? If you decide to keep your System job or keep up your Family-created System job (clowning, ballooning, etc.), a year from now, what would you have to show for it? If you had to go underground, would you have solid, trained disciples to help support you? If you had to leave the country, would you have a "church" of trained followers to carry on? If younger Family members were to follow your sample, what kind of disciples would they be? If you went to be with the Lord, how would you feel as you look into His eyes?
345. Let's talk more about the Family-created fundraising methods that many feel are on a par with System jobs, such as ballooning, clowning, face painting, car washes, night singing of System songs, etc. It's true that in many cases these methods are just like System jobs, if there is no or little witness. And even if there is some witness‚ like tract passing, these methods are more about raising funds than witnessing and bearing fruit that remains.
346. We've heard serious concerns from some continents that the Homes in their area aren't ordering many tools anymore, because they're so busy with teaching English or clowning/ballooning. So it's obvious that those fundraising methods are definitely affecting our overall witness in a big way. And as I said, even if you give out a few tracts here and there while involved in that kind of fundraising, that's not the kind of quality witnessing that will build a lasting work through follow–up and Active members. That's not the kind of witnessing that will help you garner regular support for the future .
347. (Jesus:) There are various factors to consider when judging Family-created fundraising methods. They can be a blessing or a curse, depending on how they're used and how much witness you are able to incorporate into these methods. Judge by the following:
348. • These non-witnessing methods should be used only as a means to an end. They are not the end in themselves. If the funds that are raised support a thriving witnessing and follow–up ministry, then these methods are a blessing. But if they are considered the main witness of a person, family or Home, then they're terribly and sadly lacking‚ as the witness is shallow and will not grow into a long-lasting work.
349. • If there is no witnessing whatsoever allowed during these fundraising activities, if those involved cannot even give out tracts or witness in the name of the Family, these fundraising methods are a distraction and a compromise .
350. • If those who do such fundraising still have a desire and the time to go witnessing‚ to follow up, and have a fruitful work, then they have a good balance. But the danger is that when the need for finances is satisfied, many of My would-be missionaries settle down and live selfishly. They don't use the rest of their time to reach the world and win a following.
351. • There truly is no future for long-term regular support in these fundraising methods. These methods do not give rise to in-depth witnessing‚ follow-up, and the cultivation of a following or congregation that will, with time, provide regular support. So these types of fundraising perpetuate the "hand-to-mouth" cycle.
352. • In some of these fundraising methods, the faster the person is, the more profitable it is. This need for speed makes the witness even shallower, if there is any witness at all. But when things move so fast that you hardly have a chance to talk to anyone and there's no witness involved, the Family–created fundraising methods rank right up there with a System job; the only difference is that you're self-employed.
353. • You can judge the overall fruitfulness of the fundraising method by looking at the fruit of the Home. If they have no Active members or disciples, if they have no Church of Love‚ no Bible studies, no regular monthly supporters, no provisioning contacts, no potential disciples on the line, and no Activated subscriptions are being sold, then their witnessing is shallow and unfruitful. No matter how much money a method brings in, if the overall fruit of the Home does not include the above-mentioned fruit, the overall witness of the Home is shallow.
354. A regular "consider the poor" ministry alone isn't necessarily enough to determine that the Home has a fruitful, well-balanced outreach ministry‚ because a "consider the poor" ministry will not usually provide the Home with supporters, new disciples or protection. The same can be said for a regular provisioning ministry, unless you're faithfully ministering to your contacts with Family materials and they're growing in their knowledge and understanding of the Family‚ what you believe and what you do. There must be in-depth witnessing, follow-up, and reaching the middle and upper class as well if a Home is to fulfill the vision of making disciples of all nations. (End of message from Jesus.) (ML #3363:126–139; GN 959).
(From "Keep Fighting!—Conviction versus Compromise‚ Part 6")
355. (Mama:) Specific conditions must be met if you hope to be fruitful in your witnessing ministries. Some of these conditions are:
•Be disciples and soul-winners first.
•Make godly‚ Word–based‚ unselfish, loving choices, according to the Charter.
•Be prayerful.
•Use the new weapons.
•Call on the power of the keys.
•Pray for and follow up on the people you're witnessing to.
•Feed the sheep; don't just make friends.
•Be very open to receiving counsel and correction from your teammates, shepherds, and the Lord.
•Be aware of the specific pitfalls in your ministry or calling. Ask the Lord what they are and how you can avoid them. (ML #3366:226; GN 969).
(From "Reach the Rich")
356. (Mama: ) All of the following things must be present if you are to be successful. You must:
357. Please take some time to evaluate your missionary work. How do you fare with the six points mentioned above? Is your work something that would inspire an educated young professional to get involved with you? Is your lifestyle and the way you spend your time something that would motivate a university student to drop out and join, or be an Active member? Stand back and look at your Home, your ministries, how you raise your money. Do you look like dedicated missionaries with a purpose, with vision, who know how to build a successful, well-rounded, admirable work for the Lord? Will young families want to have their children associate with yours? The people you witness to will look at you, your children and your lifestyle and they'll ask themselves, "Is that what I want? Is that how I want to invest my life? Will I change the world if I do what he/she is doing?"
358. (Dad:) The Family's ministry is to be a spiritual ministry, first and foremost. Your main job is to spread the Word, to make disciples of all nations. And how can you accomplish this today? What is the main method He's given you? What are the tactics He's asked you to use? It's all summed up in two simple words: "Get activated!"
359. The Family's main ministry is not a physical one. Who else in the world can feed people's spirits like you can? Who else has the Word for the Last Days? There is no one else who can feed the world spiritually like you can. No one else is called to do the job He's given you—to spread His Endtime Gospel, to spread Activated‚ to win disciples!
360. Right now your main job is to change the world with the Words of David—and the most effective way to do this is to get the tools out, to activate the world. There are others He's commissioned to run and maintain schools, hospitals, shelters, and so forth, but the foremost job He's given you is to preach the Gospel, and not just the Gospel but the meat of the Word‚ the Words of David, the Endtime message, and not only to preach the Word, but to win, teach and train disciples.
361. Please ask yourselves, and ask the Lord in prophecy:
Reach the rich and educated
(From "Reach the Rich")
362. (Mama:) Many brethren and Homes have become almost completely focused on helping and ministering to the very poor. While we as Christians and missionaries are to love the poor and do what we can to help them‚ that is not the primary calling of the children of David. An overemphasis on caring for the poor is especially detrimental to our future progress when such work is done with no association with the Family name and when such work causes you to not use Family literature, tools‚ and the Activated program, lest it be "discovered" that you're part of the Family.
363. (Jesus:) No matter how effective your CTPs appear to be, they are not the main way that you will change the world. They are not the primary outreach method of the children of David. They are a part, a small part, of your overall service to man. But the Devil has come in and deceived many of the Family‚ causing them to place a higher priority on the physical than the spiritual. He has made them feel obligated to reach the poor, feed the poor‚ and comfort the poor at the cost of neglecting their ministry of preaching the Gospel to all the world and making disciples of all nations. But merely caring for the poor is not the goal or the calling of the children of David.
364. The vision to reach the rich was one of the primary things that set the children of David apart from all the other missionaries and humanitarian organizations in the world.
365. One of the witnessing priorities of the Family is to minister to and win the labor leaders .
366. As David taught, the only way the Family will ever make the impact they are destined to make, the only way they'll truly reach the world is by reaching the rich, the labor leaders‚ the educated ones who will then go on to change their city and whole country. Reread "Rags to Riches!" That is the message for today! And it's not enough to just reach and win them; they must be trained in the Word to follow in your footsteps‚ which includes getting out the tools, winning their friends, associates and family to Me; promoting Activated and selling subscriptions; being willing to stand up for the truth, etc.
367. Dear Family, you should examine each aspect of your work:
•Are you ministering to the middle and upper classes, or are you doing what the other 99% of missionaries worldwide do in caring primarily for the poor?
•Do you present a well-rounded ministry that is appealing to the rich, the idealists, the educated, the labor leaders?
•Is your sample and that of your Home what it should be?
•Is your "consider the poor" ministry in proper perspective, not taking too much time or prominence?
•Is your witnessing ministry well balanced, including using the tools provided, the Activated program (if available on your field), and sufficient follow-up? (End of message from Jesus)
368. (Mama: ) Some signs that could indicate that your overall outreach program is imbalanced, tipped too far toward CTP work, would be:
•Your CTP projects have caused you to distance yourselves or even divorce yourselves completely from the Family name and tools.
•You're afraid to let those you work with on CTP projects know you're the Family.
•You spend most of your time ministering to the poor but aren't reaching labor leaders.
•You're not witnessing the Words of David (including the meaty message).
•You're not following up on people.
•You're not using the Activated program in your witnessing (or whatever is comparable if Activated is not available in the field where you live).
369. (Jesus:) You must minister to and feed your friends and sheep and lead them to greater growth, greater commitment, greater love for Me and others, and even to discipleship. Fellowships alone will not provide a sufficient foundation. The complete foundation is My Word—the Bible, the Letters and the Activated program. If you do not have Activated available in your language, you would need to use other Family publications and the Letters. Bible classes are not enough. But many of you who do have Activated available to you are not using it as you should.
370. The Activated push has been the program of choice to change the world, which includes reaching the rich, winning new disciples, cultivating Active members, and appealing to the class of people who will not only help support you, but help you to stay in the country, help protect you‚ and carry on the work long after you're gone. Many of you who have not caught the vision of the Activated program don't know the content of the materials well and the general appeal and approach. . Activated is it! That's how you'll reach the rich. (ML #3400:8, 13-14‚ 16, 21, 23, 154, 55-56; GN 992).
Beware of churchy doctrines
and compromises
(From "Putting 'Skin' on Sin")
371. (Peter: ) Some of you have gone to the churches to get your information, and in doing so, have brought that churchy spirit back with you. Some of you have made a god of this. Soon you're saying‚ "This is better than the Words of David. The Family's wrong." You've strayed from the simplicity of the Family. You feel like you've pioneered your way beyond us.
372. Your pride has blossomed to the point that you speak against Mama, against me, against the Family. "The Folks aren't doing it right. The Activated program isn't the way to go. Oh, the Folks, they don't know. We know. We're doing it. We've gone to the churches and found out what they're doing and we know what to do."
373. (Dad:) You can't model the Lord's work after the works of a dead or dying church system‚ regardless of how fruitful that system was in the past, or how fruitful it now looks to be.
374. Yes, there are things you can learn from the old, some of what to do and what not to do, but the comparisons quickly come to an end with the realization that the children of David have been called out of the church system.
375. There are many churches that are godly in their own little way. They're niche ministries, if you will, and they bring souls to salvation or help and teach others. There are many churches that know how to build and organize their following. But where are the churches that promote the deeper, meatier, stronger messages of the Spirit as do the children of David? Many are saved, but few there be that are the children of David.
376. So if you want your following to join the bands of David, the Gideon's few‚ you have to lead them to the water by the spirit and into the spirit, instructing them in the deeper truths of the spiritual world around them and into a passionate, intimate relationship with the Lover of all lovers. (End of message from Dad.) (ML #3453:46-49; GN 1038).
(From "Be True to the Revolution!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 4")
377. (Mama:) The Lord is doing all He can to preserve the Family as we know it, so we'll still be a revolution in the years to come, rather than getting lost in the maze and morass of the church system.
378. The CM Family needs to be a sample of full-time discipleship so the new members who join as a result of the Activated program will be believers who are following the teachings to the best of their ability, not lukewarm members like the millions of sick sheep in the church system.
379. Many of you are moving toward toning down our message, trying to fit in and be generally "accepted." Isn't that the age-old temptation of every revolution? With time, the natural tendency is to want to conform, to please man, to walk a more accepted path and be more "mainstream."
380. One thing Peter and I will not do, and what Dad never did, is to let others convince us that we need to compromise or conform for the sake of support, comfort, or to look good in the eyes of man. We are revolutionaries. We are dropped out. We are prophets. Since when did the prophets of God give a convenient message that was accepted, so they could avoid rattling the masses or preserve the status quo? They didn't! And neither will Peter and I.
381. Some of you have very logical arguments as to why we should be more "reasonable" and why we need to tone things down and not be offensive. But I have news for you—we are not getting more mainstream or more acceptable if that means compromising the very important messages that the Lord has given us and expects us to be examples of. Again, this brings us back to the question of: Are we part of the established church system, along with the millions of others? Or are we God's chosen Endtime mouthpieces? I know what we as the Family should be, but what are we? What are you?
382. It's not like we can blend into society and be just like everyone else for now, for the next X number of years, and then when things get hot in the Endtime we'll just morph into a radical, disciplined, united army of disciples. It doesn't work like that. We will be what we are becoming! What we'll be tomorrow depends on the choices we're making today. Are we becoming those Endtime prophets and disciples, or are we becoming compromised, lukewarm church members? We're either walking the walk of the dropped-out army God has intended us to be, or we're heading back into the System.
383. I'm very concerned about the conservative, churchy‚ religious element in our CM Family, wondering what in the world happened to many of you! Where's that dedication you once had to the Words of David?
384. (Dad: ) If you're toning down the presentation of some of our doctrines so that you can work with the church system and be more acceptable to them and make friends with them and have them accept you, I can guarantee you that you're going to be toning things down so much that you're going to have very little of God's present-day message left!
385. As far back as 30 years ago, church Christians were having difficulty with the Family's doctrines of personal witnessing! And even 40 or 50 years ago, that used to get me into so much trouble when I would talk to churches and church folks about personal witnessing, because they didn't want to do it; most of them didn't want to be involved in it or make the sacrifices to get out and personal witness. They wanted to leave that up to the pastor on Sunday morning. And they didn't want to accept forsaking all, they didn't want to accept the fact that you didn't have to have a church building to go to in order to worship God—that you could worship Him standing out in the park with your friends. And they certainly don't want to accept our beliefs on sex! They never have, and I wouldn't be surprised if most of them will never fully be able to accept it. And if they're not willing to accept God's simple, basic Law of Love and godly sex and sharing and giving love one to another, they're certainly going to find it even more difficult to accept Loving Jesus.
386. The churches tried to persuade me for years, as did my first wife, that I was going about things the wrong way, that I shouldn't be challenging them left and right, that I should tone things down, that I shouldn't be telling people that we really can live according to the Bible, that Jesus did really mean that true Christians should be willing to forsake all and follow Him. The minute I started standing up for the truth‚ I was never fully accepted by the church Christians.
387. And that's why the Lord had us start the Family‚ because in you He saw people who were willing to accept His message. The Family didn't want it toned down. They wanted to believe it. They were excited and thrilled and turned on and happy to have finally found others who wanted to live the Word, to preach the Word, to give the Word, and to obey the Lord and follow Him no matter what! They were willing and happy and were honored to deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Him.
388. God called me out of the church system so that He could use me and make me into the vessel that He wanted me to be to give His message to the world in the Endtime. He personally spoke to me and to others and told me my calling and my job. He was the One Who told me that I was David for the Endtime, that He would set up one shepherd over His sheep and He would feed them. And even though I didn't understand everything at that time, I still had the personal conviction and faith to follow God. I believed that God knew what He was doing and that He knew best.
389. And that's what each person has to decide for themselves. No one is forcing you to believe anything that you don't want to believe. You're not being forced to stay in the Family. You're completely free to stay if you want to uphold the standards and beliefs of the Family, or you're completely free to serve the Lord in another way, whether it be with the churches, with another Christian group, or whatever. You have freedom of choice. (ML #3364:1, 2, 14, 16-18, 57, 106-107, 110-111, 118–119; GN 960).
Believe and teach the Words of David
(From "Coming Persecution?—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 1")
390. (Jesus: ) Only if the Family members are strong in faith and willing to preach the truth as given in the Words of David will you fulfill your special place in the big Endtime picture. It's that uncompromising witness that will allow Me to continue to give My full blessing to the Family. This is one of those spiritual principles which is contrary to the mind of natural man. You would think that the Family would grow and prosper and become strong and financially powerful by recruiting sheer numbers‚ by tickling people's ears with what they want to hear, by making them feel good about themselves and not "blowing them away" with strong unconventional doctrine. But the opposite is true.
391. By remaining true to your unique calling‚ by preaching the Word—even the uncomfortable, seemingly unpopular Word—and winning those who are willing to follow in your footsteps in spirit, will your new members be strong, powerful, and fruitful, and the result, with time, will be much, much more than had you tried to walk the more conventional route and not tested and tried your new members with the strong meat (ML #3361:57-58; GN 957).
(From "Be True to the Revolution!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 4")
392. (Mama:) I want to go back to the subject of faithfulness to the unique message the Lord has given us, the children of David. I'm referring to the meat of the Word—the radical, different, controversial Words of David. Even if these other weaknesses are strengthened—the division, the dependence on System jobs, the lack of living communally as Jesus' disciples did, the compromise for gain, etc.—that won't be enough if we're not willing to be true to the message the Lord has given us. Even successful communal living and trusting the Lord for supply, even building a greater church isn't the all in all, if that means you're discarding or burying the unique and important Words of David that the Family is blessed to have received.
393. It's this watering down of the message and compromise through cover-up or deliberate denial that we cannot have in the Family. Of course, there are plenty of things about the Family that a lot of people won't like, especially if you're witnessing to churchy, narrow-minded‚ got–their-minds-made-up religious people. Just to name a few: the fact that we believe in David, our Endtime prophet; our history of FFing; our belief in and practice of sexual freedom as per the full truth of the Law of Love that Dad taught us; hearing from the spirit world (not just Jesus‚ but spirit helpers and departed spirits); Dad continuing to lead the Family through his messages in prophecy; the practical application of the "Loving Jesus" revelation, etc. Let's face it, the Family is not mainstream, and we never will be.
394. We have accepted into our outer circles those who don't or can't drop out‚ and we have lots of excellent literature to feed the GP and new converts that is similar to the productions of other Christian groups or churches. But I want to make it clear that the radical elements of the Family and the meat of the Word are not going to disappear, so you're doing yourself and your sheep a disservice if you try to lead a double life where you read the GNs in your Home and maybe even practice them privately, but in your witness you try to completely divorce yourself from the doctrines of the Family or even the Family name. That just isn't fruitful, and it won't work! Your sheep will find out eventually and then they'll distrust you and disrespect you for your lack of honesty.
395. You can think that you're keeping our meaty doctrines private by not teaching them and by not witnessing in the name of the Family, and you can hope they won't come up, but that's only a stopgap. That only delays the inevitable. If you remain a part of the Family, your sheep will find out, and when they do, your lack of honesty will be a terrible testimony. Not only will you look like a hypocrite, but a liar.
396. So take my word for it, if you want to remain in the Family and win new disciples‚ you'd best be much more honest and open about what we're really about—our history and some of our radical doctrines.
397. (Jesus: ) It's not that I expect the Family to actively promote the radical, private messages or to try to stir up controversy and trouble‚ but the deliberate hiding and denying of the radical doctrine is a compromise that must stop. This is exactly the kind of compromise that I hate, that which compromises and denies My Word!
398. The compromisers are those who think everything is fine with just the Bible and salvation. If everything were fine with just that, why would I still be talking today? If that were all that is needed today, why would I have raised up David and Maria? Why would I have even created the Family if all that were needed were the same messages the churches give? It's ridiculous and is the epitome of compromise of the meat of the Word.
399. You see‚ some people get a little confused, and when you talk about not compromising the message they get scared, because they think that means they need to actively promote or even preach the radical Word, the truths that are unique to the Family. That is not the case. That's not what I expect. But I do expect that they won't deny them, or try to bury them or pretend they don't exist, or that they won't try to hide them from their converts at the time when they should be feeding their sheep the meat.
400. Some of these conservative, fearful, compromised shepherds are like irresponsible parents or teachers who only feed the children in their care mush and baby food and milk, when they should be giving them meat loaf sandwiches, hamburgers, or a stew with plenty of tender, juicy meat! When the heads of the folds of David don't provide proper nourishment for their "children," that is negligence in the spirit, and the reason many of them don't do it is because of compromise for gain. They're afraid of losing their flocks, but part of the problem is they're not winning the right kind of sheep in the first place; they're winning churchy, lukewarm sheep. Or they're not willing to put forth the time and patience needed to teach them and answer their questions and help them understand and receive the truth of the meat of the Words of David.
401. Any way you cut it, that kind of compromise of the Word is wrong and cannot be tolerated. Those who are the caregivers and shepherds of the sheep of David must have the faith to explain and teach (when appropriate) the meat of the Word. The sheep will find out anyway, and it's a matter of either preparing them step by step, with wisdom and patience, or letting them stumble upon it themselves‚ usually with the spin of your enemies, which makes it almost impossible for babes to understand.
402. Those of you who think you can hide these truths from your folds are living in denial. That is naïve and ridiculous. I will not let these words be hidden. They will be revealed and shouted from the rooftops, because these are the very truths and messages that will win the strongest leaders and laborers. You aren't to go out of your way to preach it, for I will open the doors in My way and My time‚ but neither are you to deny the truth, or blatantly hide and bury it. I will not bless that, and your sample and character will be tarnished as a result of such shenanigans, as there will undoubtedly be questions as to why someone would even remain in a religious movement if he or she were ashamed of its doctrines and message. (End of message from Jesus.) (ML #3364:37, 59-62, 65-70; GN 960).
(From "Be True to the Revolution!—Conviction versus Compromise‚ Part 4")
403. (Dad: ) We're still a Revolution for Jesus—not some sort of reformation or revival, much less a church service for Jesus! God has called us out of the church system to work full time for Him, to believe fully in His Word, and to give our hundred percent to living it and preaching it. That's revolutionary, and that's what's kept us from drifting back into the System and becoming just another ho-hum, do-nothing church, even one that might have thousands of members.
404. We're different, and that's why we can accomplish so much, and why people are attracted to our message. We're different, and that's why we must remain dropped out rather than settling back into the mire and morass of the mainstream along with the flotsam and jetsam of "normality." We're different because we're God's new Church‚ His new Bride, not His old Church!
405. There's a lot in the Word that's revolutionary, and we believe in it and follow it and do it, and people know we do. People who know the Family at all should know that we stand for all-out, full-time dedication to Jesus. They may not always agree with what we do and say‚ but they know what we stand for, and if we weren't willing to stand up for our beliefs, they'd figure we didn't believe in them very strongly—and that they weren't really worth believing in the first place!
406. Not only that‚ but the Lord Himself would be ashamed of us, because we're ashamed of His Word‚ the truth He's given us over the years. He was willing to give everything for you, to live and die for you, and yet you're ashamed of His Word and don't want to preach it or stand up for it because it's a little controversial and sometimes people are stumbled by it.
407. Well, let me tell you, if you're not willing to preach His Word—all of His Word—the Lord will see to it that it gets preached anyway, even if He has to find someone else to do so!
408. The words the Lord has given us over the years are His words, and they're what make us the Family we are. In your efforts to make us look more presentable or attractive or to sort of modernize the Family, watch out that you don't weaken the structure. Remember "Builders Beware!" When you start carrying out the bags of grain for some reason—any of our doctrines that you feel are maybe a little controversial, a bit too radical, inconvenient, things that need toning down or tossing out or whatever—then you're in trouble! Those words, those bags of grain, are what keep the building on its foundation—steady, stable, sturdy and strong! Builders beware!
409. (Dad:) Of course, you can tone down the presentation of our doctrines in certain given situations. You have to be led of the Lord and His Spirit and His wisdom. There's a time to present the Family's beliefs and doctrines to outsiders in a way that will make it as easy as possible for them to understand it and accept it. You don't have to go and stand in front of the church doors and insist that they believe the way that you do.
410. But we have every right to what we believe and what we stand for. God has every right to get His message out through the Family, and we're free to believe and live and practice and follow the message that God is giving to the Family today. And although it's not our aim to force anyone to believe and accept our beliefs or doctrines or lifestyle‚ we would like them to believe and accept‚ and we want to give them the opportunity to hear the message.
411. (Dad:) The main job of the Family is to preach the Gospel to all nations. You are to make disciples of all nations. I have no doubt there are sincere Christians in other groups, but when the Lord tells you to make disciples of all nations, He means for you to preach the unique message He's given you to preach! He's given the Family a new religion—a religion of love, a religion of life and liberty, of loving each other and loving the Lord. The Family's message is real religion, alive religion, Endtime religion!
412. I've never taught you to pull your punches, and I'm not about to now. Look at the Letters! If anyone thinks I only taught you to preach the milk of the Word, go back and brush up a little on the older Letters and what I taught you. Granted, I taught you to use discretion, to not go out of your way to offend people, but I've never been one to hide or cover up the truth of the message the Lord was giving us to preach either.
413. Use wisdom in bringing your babes along, yes, but the idea is to get them off the milk and on to meat! (ML #3364:92-93, 95-98, 108-109, 166, 167, 169; GN 960).
(From "Coming Persecution?—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 1")
414. (Jesus: ) To build a church that is just like the many thousands of churches of the world is not the point. That is not My idea of success. The point is to widen the borders of the Family. I am opening the fences and enlarging the pasture, so that those who are bound by extenuating circumstances can still be part of the whole, part of the army, part of your membership. But that show of leniency applies to the lifestyle of the new members, not their beliefs. The new members within every circle of CM, FM and Active members still need to be strong in heart as far as their commitment—not just to Me, but to the king and queen and the Words of David.
415. In order for that to happen, these new members must be won by those who are spirit-led and flexible, but strong and full of conviction and determination as far as what they expect regarding the new Active members' belief and acceptance of the Word. If those winning the new members and witnessing to them and feeding and training them are weak and compromised, then that will defeat the purpose and will result in another church‚ no different than the other thousands of churches worldwide. That cannot be!
416. The new members of the outer circles of the Family don't necessarily need to be samples of the full picture of what the Family stands for, such as communal living, going into all the world, forsaking all, living by faith, etc., because the full–time disciples, the Charter members are that sample. I don't require that of all members, for that's not every person's primary place or calling. But what I do expect of new members is that they believe and are willing to witness the Words of David. If they don't have faith in the Letters, including those things that make the Family different and radical, then they're not really members of the Family; they're simply Christians, like the millions of other church members.
417. Only if the Family members are strong in faith and willing to preach the truth as given in the Words of David will you fulfill your special place in the big Endtime picture. It's that uncompromising witness that will allow Me to continue to give My full blessing to the Family .
418. By remaining true to your unique calling, by preaching the Word—even the uncomfortable, seemingly unpopular Word—and winning those who are willing to follow in your footsteps in spirit‚ will your new members be strong, powerful, and fruitful‚ and the result, with time‚ will be much, much more than had you tried to walk the more conventional route and not tested and tried your new members with the strong meat.
419. Granted, you are not to stumble babes or cause them to choke by being unwise in your witness. There is a time for milk. That is obviously true. But there is a difference between being wise and compromise. (ML #3361:54-59; GN 957).
Witnessing in the name of the Family
(From "Be True to the Revolution!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 4")
420. (Jesus:) Much depends on the motivation and the details surrounding each individual situation. If a Home deliberately hides their association with the Family to the point that they're actually denying their faith in the Family and the Words of David, then it's a pitiful, terrible sample! I can understand taking on a certain name for a particular "consider the poor" project if that name has meaning and possibly communicates more to the local people than simply the name "The Family."
421. If the motivation for adopting such names is for such a legitimate reason, then it's acceptable. But there should always be some association with the Family, some explanation or tie with the Family; otherwise your presentation is deceptive and I cannot fully bless you. If you deliberately hide or even deny your association with the Family, then when it becomes known that you are not just associated, but actually longtime‚ full–time members of the Family, your reputation, testimony, and works will be tarnished!
422. Your supporters and colleagues will conclude that you've been lying, and if you lied about something as fundamental as that, then they'll wonder what else you're lying about. The trust you've worked so hard to build with others will be dashed, and your Christian testimony will be sadly tainted. News will travel, and you'll find many doors that would have otherwise been opened to you will be permanently and tightly closed. In the end you will suffer much more for your deliberate deception than you would have had you been honest and presented your association with the Family wisely, at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way.
423. Those of you who think you can indefinitely work under another name with no association with the Family, while remaining members of the Family, are living in a dream world. It is foolishness and naïveté for you to think that your membership in the Family will not eventually be discovered. So unless you want to face devastating embarrassment and a collapse of your work, you must be upfront and honest.
424. That doesn't mean you need to tell every single detail about the Family immediately, but to actively hide or actually deny your association with any religious movement and to not mention the name of the Family fairly early on in your work relationship with others is extremely unwise and will only backfire.
425. The worst part of this is not just the way your work will suffer, and how you might even have to completely shut down and move on to something else‚ because your benefactors and sponsors will have lost faith in you and will have to retaliate to save face‚ but even worse is the damage it will do to your personal sample as a Christian. You should be known for your integrity, honesty, and fairness. You should be known for love and truth. You should be known for doing the right thing, for making choices according to your conviction, even to your own hurt. You should be known to be like Me, the Man Who was known for going about everywhere doing good.
426. But how can lying, covering up, being deceptive and actually leading people astray through half-truths, omissions, and lies be looked at as "going everywhere doing good"? You'll be very sorry‚ but the damage will be impossible to undo. Once you've hurt people's faith in you by lying and deceiving them, even if not by what you say but by what you don't say‚ it's impossible to regain it. They'll always‚ forever after, be thinking in the back of their minds, "Hmm I wonder if they are telling me the truth."
427. Not only is it a terrible, damaging sample to your supporters and something that destroys your personal testimony as a Christian, but it also undermines the conviction of your children and the younger ones and new disciples who work with you. Just stop a moment and think honestly about what you're saying to the younger ones when you deny association with the Family. Do they see that you're proud to be a member of the Family? Do they see you boldly standing up for the truth? Do they see you accepting your place as a prophet and voice in the Endtime? Or do they see you compromising‚ cowering, and hiding?
428. You who have lied, deceived, and compromised in this way should be ashamed of yourselves! I am ashamed of you! You know it is written: "Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My Words, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed." To deny the Family name and to deliberately cover up your association is to be ashamed of Me and My Words that I've given to the Family. You might try to justify your actions and get out from under the conviction of this verse by saying, "Well, I do tell people about Jesus. I do witness salvation. I don't deny the Lord or the Bible." That's not enough for those who claim to be part of the Family. Because you have received much, much is expected of you. If you are ashamed of the Word as you know it, as you've been taught through the Words of David, you are ashamed of Me.
429. If you have so little faith in Me and My ability to raise up those who will stand by you for what you truly are, as part of the Family; if you have so little conviction in the message I've given the children of David; if you have so little pride in the work and lifestyle and sample of the Family; if you can so easily hide your faith and deny your association with the Family; if you're so worried that you're going to blow away your churchy contacts; if you're compromising for gain so much that you can't even let people know you're part of the Family or use the Family tools or promote Activated, then you might as well not even be in the Family! You should have enough conviction to drop out of the Family and join some organization that you aren't afraid to at least say the name of! For Heaven's sake and your own personal testimony, if you can't bear to be a part of the Family openly, then you shouldn't try to be a part secretly!
430. The privilege of reading the GNs that you receive as a tithing member of the Family can't be that important to you, and they certainly can't be making much difference in your life if you're so compromised that you won't even let your association with the Family be known. As I said in earlier times, "I would that you were hot or cold, but because you are lukewarm I will spew you out of My mouth!" It's time to decide. Are you hot?—Or cold? Quit being lukewarm! (End of message from Jesus.) (ML #3364:135-145; GN 960).
The sample, education and well-being of the children and young people in your Home / the quality of parenting and shepherding they receive
Spiritual shepherding of children / discipline
(From "Loving Shepherding and Interaction—Charter Style")
431. (Mama: ) I've heard that some of you parents and teen shepherds have questioned whether you should be shepherding your young people. Somehow you have come to the mistaken conclusion that the Charter means that you're supposed to let them do what they want.
432. You parents cannot abdicate your responsibilities to shepherd your junior teens or JETTs or any of our young people. They still need your love, direction, inspiration, encouragement‚ instruction and correction.
433. If you want to know the rights of junior teens, read the Charter. You'll see that there is nothing in there that gives junior teens (or JETTs) the right to watch unrecommended television, play hours and hours of unedifying computer games, refuse correction from their elders, call their parents old bottles, etc.
434. The Charter has not done away with shepherding, parenting, discipline and obedience! We still have shepherds, we still have parents, we still have discipline and obedience. Any of you parents who let your kids—of any age—get away with such behavior for any length of time are failing as parents and may eventually find that no one wants to live with you because you've allowed your kids to become rotten apples and teen terrors.
435. When you make decisions and pray about what to do, you need to take into consideration the applicable points in the Charter, but I would expect you to also use all the wisdom and training that you've received through years and years of studying the Word! The Charter gives you the general guidelines and principles by which to live, but you can't just throw out all the guidance and counsel in the Letters on a subject. For example, there are numerous Letters that talk about how to teach, train and discipline teens, the need to avoid the evil influences of the System, how to correct kids, as well as how to understand, challenge and inspire them. When you think about all that has been printed on these subjects, along with the guidance in the Charter, you'd think it would be fairly easy to come to the right conclusion—that you can't let your teens just run wild! You'll have hell to pay if you do!
436. To summarize: You adults are to continue to shepherd your junior teens (and of course your other young people as well). You cannot abdicate your responsibilities. The voting members of your Home should decide together on the behavior and disciplinary standard for your Home‚ taking into consideration the thoughts and feelings of the junior teens. When making decisions, counsel together, study the Charter and the Word‚ and if need be, ask the Lord to speak in prophecy concerning anything you're not sure about. Parents and teen shepherds need to work together.
437. If your junior teens are rebellious or discontent, try to find out why. Check your heart to see what kind of samples you're being. You should treat the teens as lovingly and respectfully as possible, listening to them, considering their feelings and desires, and giving them choices within God's will whenever possible. You can give them certain freedoms, if they handle them well and are responsible. (ML #3018:4, 11-13, 33, 59-60; Lifelines 22).
(From "Keep Fighting!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 6")
438. (Dad:) If your kids are spiritually off track, getting sucked into the System‚ and influencing other kids negatively, then it's your duty as a disciple and parent to get them in line! You must be willing to discipline them or have others discipline them. If not‚ you'll need to reconsider your place in the CM Family. You're probably more suited for the FM Family if you can't get your kids in line‚ since our children are a very important part of our sample!
439. The kids of the lenient parents eventually start corrupting other kids, and eventually they can actually become yielded to the Enemy and begin dragging down the other kids. These problems cannot be tolerated! Having undisciplined, rebellious, bad-apple children who are rotting others is compromise that brings division‚ and it can't be allowed in the CM Family!
440. If someone doesn't want to hold to the Family standard, then they are sowing division and should have division from the Family. And that includes those who aren't upholding the Family discipline standard and keeping their kids' behavior in line.
441. To maintain unity in your Homes, if you've got problem kids, you've got to unite as a Home, as a body of adults and parents, and work on the problems.
442. (Mama:) It's unacceptable to allow rebellious kids who are yielded to the Enemy to pollute and hurt other kids spiritually.
443. The parents of unruly kids should be willing to show tangible signs of progress toward raising their standard of discipline, of receiving counsel from their shepherds and CP board, as well as from their brethren who are trying to help them and their children.
444. If the parents of such problem kids are not open to counsel, if they refuse help, if they ignore the Home disciplinary standard, if they let their kids go undisciplined and won't allow others to discipline them, then they're wrong‚ they're compromising‚ they're sowing division, and if they refuse to change, they should be reclassified. That behavior cannot be tolerated in the CM Family.
445. Parents, get your kids in shape and don't let them be a source of disunity in your Home, or you will reap the judgments of the Lord's discipline in their lives. You might also lose your CM membership. (ML #3366:77-78, 82, 83, 90-91‚ 93, 109; GN 969).
(From the Provisional Charter Membership Contract‚ for 16- and 17-year-old voting Family members)
I hereby signify that I understand and without coercion willingly sign this non-legally binding Provisional Membership contract and agree that in order to continue as a Charter member of the Family, I will consistently adhere to all of the following Charter responsibilities. I also acknowledge and agree that if I sign the contract but then fail to consistently comply with these stipulations, then my shepherds and/or parents will try to shepherd me, and I will be open to their counsel.
I hereby agree to:
(From "More on 'The Shakeup 2000'")
446. (Mama: ) To make lots of mistakes in a variety of areas and to have bad moods and bad days is to be expected with teens, because they're learning, maturing, and having to deal with all kinds of emotions. It's a difficult age for all young people, but especially for our Family teens who the Enemy attacks and tries to derail even more than the teens of the world.
447. You should be understanding and help them along, and discipline them when needed according to the Charter. But when they make the same mistakes over and over, or are obviously rebellious to your counsel and the Word and Charter standard, or when their bad attitudes are long-lasting and affecting others negatively, that cannot be tolerated. If you've tried to shepherd them and help them, but they continue in the same sins or they lead others into the same wrongdoing‚ then that's where you must draw the line. If they don't show signs of improvement‚ they will need to be reclassified as Fellow members because they aren't upholding the Provisional CM contract.
448. [The Lord said:] "The key is their willingness‚ the desire to try. If they express that desire, then there's always hope for them, however rascally they may seem to be and however often they seem to goof up in different areas. But leeway should not be given for them to be rebellious, refusing to listen to counsel or refusing to obey guidelines that are set down to help keep them behaving in accordance with the Word and the Provisional CM contract. Leeway should be given for mistakes, if they respond to correction for those mistakes with fruits meet for repentance. Leeway should also be given for bad attitudes or lack of faith, provided they keep these to themselves. But leeway should not be given for repeated deliberate transgressions‚ for open rebelliousness, for causing harm to others, or for being a reproach to My work. Once they've been warned, and disciplined once or twice for such things, if they show no willingness to try or to improve, then it is time to recommend that they be moved to Fellow member status."
449. The provisional contract is to allow the 16- and 17-year-olds to move through the decision–making period with shepherding (emphasis on with shepherding), so they can mature so that when they're 18 they can sign the CM contract with full faith and understanding. It does not mean that the years of 16 and 17 are the years when they can just go to pot in the spirit‚ with the hope that when they're 18 they'll get serious about serving the Lord! It's a time to understand that these young people are making decisions, but it's not a time to let them just go their own way and be junked out in the spirit. They have to be shepherded!
450. A lot of you Home shepherds and parents don't shepherd and correct your flocks. This is a serious weakness in our Family, which needs to change! If you continue neglecting your responsibility to shepherd your flock, then it falls on the shoulders of the VSs and COs to come around and say, "Hey, this is really out of it! This needs to stop. This person needs to be put on Probationary Status, or be recommended for FM status, or even be moved out of the Family altogether." But the VSs and the COs can't possibly keep an eye on everyone and do all the shepherding and keep the Family clean and pure in spirit. It's your job too, and you must make a commitment to buckle down to the hard work of shepherding and disciplining your children and flock by seeing where the problems are, studying the Word on them, and seeking the Lord in prophecy for the answers!
451. You parents are obligated to shepherd and discipline your children under point W of the Charter membership contract, and if you fail to do so, then you're in jeopardy of losing your Charter member status. And if you teamworkers do not shepherd and discipline your Home members, then you're not living up to your responsibilities as outlined in the "Obligations of All Family Officers" in the Charter‚ and you will be disciplined by your Home or your VSs or COs. (ML #3262:111–112, 114-117; GN 863).
Homeschooling vs. System schooling
(From "Are You a Disciple?—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 5")
452. (Mama: ) Raising our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord is a foundation principle of the Family!
453. In the early days, the standard was clear that we homeschooled our children, with few exceptions. But today the Lord is testing you by allowing greater personal choice. He's opened the door for more options by not forbidding various things—such as System jobs‚ System schooling for young children‚ System education for older children, etc. There are conditions and requirements to meet if you are to participate in these activities. Now we see who will obey and hold to the highest standard simply out of love and personal conviction. But sadly, the results have not been very good.
454. Of course schooling your kids at home is the best! We've had years to test the freedom the Lord gave in the Charter and "Our Children's Education," and we now have plenty of proof to show that sending our children to System school and not investing the needed time to strengthen them through shepherding is damaging their spiritual lives; it's undermining their faith and destroying their character!
455. So from now on‚ Peter and I want it to be known that we are not in agreement with System schooling for our children. We do not feel it's fruitful! We believe it's causing more harm than good! The majority of you parents have proven that you're not willing or able to keep your end of the bargain and give your children the additional spiritual shepherding and training in the Word they need, and consequently that System schooling is hurting much more than it's helping!
456. (Jesus:) The children of David are without excuse! You've had the Word for over 25 years. David exposed the evils of the school system from the beginning, and it's only gotten worse—much, much worse! You have no idea how dangerous they are. You might as well throw your kids into the fires of Hell, because that's what it is spiritually. Those damned schools are the seat of atheism, lies, skepticism, materialism, homosexuality, perversion, and everything you'd want to protect your children from if you were responsible parents!
457. You, My Family, become abusers yourselves when you thrust your children into the care and control of ungodly people whom you don't even know, and you fail in your responsibilities to shepherd, cleanse, protect and guide them through it. That is abuse in My book! And I will hold you accountable!
458. (Mama: ) When I asked the Lord if Peter and I were seeing it correctly that nearly all CM parents who have their children in System school at present are out of God's highest will‚ because they have failed in their responsibilities that come with that decision, He said:
459. (Jesus:) That is definitely true! The reason is that they're not obeying; they're not doing what was laid down as their responsibility if they were to make this choice. They've fallen asleep spiritually, they've become derelicts, and it's only the beginning of sorrows, for these problems with the children will spread as nothing you've seen before, if not stopped. (End of message from Jesus.)
460. (Mama:) If you choose to put your children in System school or keep them in System school after reading this GN, you will need to be willing to invest the extra time needed to keep your children in the Word and spiritually strengthened. You can't abdicate that responsibility.
461. Most CM parents who are not homeschooling their children are not in the Lord's highest will, not because having your children in System school is inherently wrong, but because you are not giving your children what they need spiritually and you're not obeying!
462. You as parents are responsible to both educate and spiritually train your children. The choice is yours as to whether you send your children to System school. That is still an option in the Charter. We're not saying you can't; it's not prohibited. But if you do, please don't overlook your responsibility to shepherd them! Read "Our Children's Education"; it's all explained in detail there. But don't just read it! Obey it! Be doers of the Word! (ML #3365:97-98, 103-104‚ 110-111, 113-114, 117-118, 174; GN 963).
Higher education
(From "Are You a Disciple?—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 5")
463. (Mama:) Promoting higher education for our young people has never been one of the goals of CM living. How can someone be a full-time missionary if they're a full-time student! They can't, of course!
464. (Jesus:) I will now state for the record that I am opposed to "higher education," and the fact that many of the youth in the Family desire to obtain it is very dangerous.
465. Higher education is used as a precision tool in the hand of Satan to dupe the masses‚ to confuse the minds and hearts of the youth who subject themselves to it. Pride is at the root of it, the very core of the matter, and this is in direct conflict with the truths of My Spirit.
466. Those who insist on obtaining a higher education are leaving the Family in spirit. Even if they remain in a Family Home, even if they think they still want to serve Me and sincerely plan to do so, the fact is that their spirits will be compromised. Their minds will be damaged. They will not remain Charter disciples for long—certainly not in spirit, and in most cases not in body either.
467. Receiving a System higher education is like willingly opening a channel to your mind for the voices of the world and the voices of the netherworld‚ inviting them in. It's giving them free entrance to come and make themselves at home in your heart and spirit.
468. Furthermore, keep in mind that when I called you to be My disciples, I didn't call you to a life of self-betterment or finding or creating a more "ideal" lifestyle for yourself—I called you to take up your cross and follow Me. I called you to be fishers of men. I called you to make disciples of all nations. If you have healthy self–esteem while you're at it‚ good for you. If you don't‚ you can ask Me for encouragement and you can find things to do that you're good at and that you find fulfillment in. You don't have to go to the System and System education to find that!
469. If you are going to be My disciple, a Charter member, then I would that you forsake this desire which is a pull of the System and of the Enemy—that you commit it to My hands.
470. It all comes back down to the fact that "he who forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be My disciple." Whatever you're holding on to that's more important to you than Me or following Me is wrong and unnecessary. It's just that simple. If an education is so important to you that you want to leave My service, even for a time, to get it, you're not dedicated enough.
471. (Mama:) If you don't plan on being a full-time disciple and you prefer to study and get higher education, that's your choice. But if you do want to be a disciple and you want to dedicate your energy, resources, talents, and time 100% to serving the Lord as a disciple, then there isn't room for pursuing higher education, just like there wasn't in the earlier years of the Family. (ML #3365:120, 143, 144, 146, 147‚ 151, 152, 164, 172; GN 963).
Responsibilities of parents
(From the Charter)
Each parent or guardian of children in the Family is responsible to:
Raise their children in a godly manner according to the spirit of the "Charter of Responsibilities and Rights" and as outlined in the "Fundamental Family Rules‚" and to give them knowledge of God through His Word.
Love, care for, and to the best of their ability supply their children's physical, spiritual, emotional and disciplinary needs.
Protect their children from all forms of abuse—physical, sexual, spiritual, mental, emotional or psychological.
Provide training and sufficient opportunity for their children to witness and share God's love and message of salvation.
See to it that their children are properly and sufficiently educated scholastically, physically, emotionally and spiritually, on an ongoing basis. (From "Responsibilities of Parents," A through E.)
Discipline their children according to the standard agreed upon by the voting members of the Home in which they reside, providing it is in accordance with the "Child Discipline Rules" in the "Fundamental Family Rules" and more fully expounded in "Family Discipline Guidelines" (ML# 2919). Take appropriate action in disciplining their children whose behavior has become a reproach to the cause of Christ and/or reflects negatively on the Family.
The parents are also responsible to take action in disciplining their children who commit dangerous or illegal offenses which are a reproach to the Family‚ such as smoking, shoplifting, continual use of foul language, etc. Repeated failure by the parents to take action to improve the children's behavior may jeopardize their Charter member status. (From "Responsibilities of Parents," H.)
Responsibilities of the Home
regarding children and parents
(From the Charter)
The Charter Home:
Shall have regard to the welfare of and allocate sufficient time for the spiritual‚ emotional, intellectual and physical development of its resident children, and provide resources‚ materials and personnel to fulfill these responsibilities. (From "Responsibilities of the Charter Home: Regarding Children and Parents," A.)
Provides, by whatever means, an adequate education for its resident children by allotting sufficient time, opportunity and educational materials for them to become competent in a manner appropriate to their age‚ ability and aptitude in the skills of reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, science‚ practical_life skills and other curricular subjects. (From "Responsibilities of the Charter Home: Regarding Children and Parents‚" B.)
Allocates sufficient time for resident parents and children to have time together, in accordance with "Required Meetings and Activities," G. and K.) (From "Responsibilities of the Charter Home: Regarding Children and Parents," E.)
Allocates sufficient time for the children to regularly engage in witnessing activities. (From "Responsibilities of the Charter Home: Regarding Children and Parents," F.)
Supplies sufficient assistance to resident parents in the physical and spiritual care and education of resident children. A two-thirds majority determines "sufficient assistance." (From "Responsibilities of the Charter Home: Regarding Children and Parents," G.)
Agrees together upon a discipline standard for its resident children that operates within the bounds of, and in accordance with, the "Child Discipline Rules." (From "Responsibilities of the Charter Home: Regarding Children and Parents," H.)
General quotes on obedience, discipleship in spirit‚ and more
(From "The Shakeup 2000—the S2K")
472. (Jesus:) I will lead you to prepare a type of contract for Charter members. It will be as a review of what is expected of a Charter member. This will need to be signed by all who wish to remain in the CM Family.
473. This contract will not be a "new thing," it will simply be a reiteration of the Charter member standard that has been clearly published in the Charter and the Word for years. People will have no cause to feel it is unfair or that they're being judged harshly. If they cannot commit themselves to the CM standard and if they choose not to sign, for whatever reason, then it is they who are making it clear that they're not in the right place.
474. Then later, if people who did sign the contract become troublemakers‚ or go back on their CM commitments and do not live up to the Charter member responsibilities as clearly explained in the CM contract, it will be simple to show that they're not living up to their side of the bargain. They're not fulfilling their word, and can therefore be recommended for FM status by one of the Family's governing bodies in accordance with the "Procedures for Moving Charter Members to Fellow Member Status."
475. (Jesus:) This continues to be the day of choices. I've laid choices before My children over the past years. But now they must make what amounts to their final choice—the choice of how much they will serve Me, how dedicated they will be, how much they're willing to sacrifice to uphold the standard, to live My Words.
476. It's a day of choosing, of individual choice. For I no longer wish to allow within My ranks those who murmur and who cause division and schism, who bring discord amongst the brethren, which is an abomination in My sight. I wish to rid the body of those who are as diseased cells who multiply, and thus who weaken and will eventually destroy the whole body, even the healthy parts. This is as a canker that must be cut out.
477. I've given everyone time—time to make decisions. I've warned them, I've spoken to them, I've shown them My deep love for them. Many have not heeded My warnings sufficiently. Now each individual must face up to where they're at; each one must look in the spiritual mirror and see where their choices have led them.
478. Some will freely choose to leave. Others who do not fully face up to the truth about themselves will have to be shown that they're not living in accordance with the CM standard, that they're not fully living the Charter as they must if they wish to remain Charter members, and therefore will have to be made Fellow members.
479. The message will rally those who are strong. It will cause a rejoicing in their hearts‚ and even in the hearts of those who waver. Many will rejoice at the clear sound of the trumpet and will make the right decision.
480. (Dad: ) For those of you who decide to stay in the Charter member Family, you'll need to realize that things will change.
481. The CM Family will change, and those in the CM Family will be expected to change. There will no longer be the same tolerance toward the disobediences that have weakened the Family. It's the responsibility of the COs, VSs, and your Home Council to make sure the CM standard is upheld.
482. Even if you sign the contract, you're not going to be able to continue to hang on to the sins and problems that contravene the Charter and that are weakening you spiritually and ruining your sample. You're going to have to change. And if you don't change‚ it will only be a matter of time before you're reclassified.
483. So you have to count the cost and really seek the Lord about what you have the faith for and how much you're willing to give for the Lord. Are you willing to be a dropped-out, obedient, on-fire, 100% disciple? Or will you continue to try to remain in the CM Family and still be sneaking around, trying to get away with breaking the CM contract and taking in as much from the System as you can? Don't do it! It will only hurt you and the Family.
484. I challenge each of you to take account of yourselves‚ to assess your conviction and determination to serve the Lord. If you honestly don't want to be in the CM Family for whatever reason‚ then please‚ for your sake and the sake of the Family, make a move either to the FM Family or out of the Family. (ML #3257:110, 112-113, 207, 210, 213, 215-216, 226, 228-231; GN 857).
(From "Coming Persecution?—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 1")
485. (Mama:) The question that begs to be addressed is: How can we accomplish what the Lord expects in our outreach and in implementing the board structure while we still have some of these ongoing serious problems? Some of you are afraid that many of our foundation beliefs are slowly disappearing. What will the Family look like in 5 years, or even a couple of years? Will we be dropped out and revolutionary, or will we simply be another church? And how can the boards work in countries where there's so much backbiting, bitterness and division that many of the brethren aren't even on speaking terms?
486. We don't want to fail the Lord. The Lord has given us wonderful tools, ideas, manpower and promises‚ and we're well on our way to victory. But we can't become self-satisfied; we must keep seeking the Lord and following Him. We have to keep asking ourselves: Are we ready? Are we doing all we can? Are we obeying so we won't fail the Lord?
487. The place of the Family in the Endtime is not guaranteed. It's not like we can do whatever we want and everything that is promised us will just come to us on a silver platter. We have to be worthy of the calling by continued obedience. We have to stay in the fear of the Lord. We have to be doers of the Word, not just hearers.
488. Our effort to keep the Family on track is not self–centered self-perfection so everyone can feel good about themselves. The Lord has a plan, and our part is to find out what it is and obey. That's the secret to success, put very simply. (ML #3361:29,31-33; GN 957).
(From "Be True to the Revolution!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 4")
489. (Mama: ) The Lord has made it clear that the compromising of our basic fundamental beliefs and what makes the Family different cannot be tolerated any longer. If you think the Family will just keep getting weaker and more compromised and worldly, you're wrong. If you think we no longer believe in forsaking all to live together, being full–time missionaries who live by faith, and being dropped out of the church system, you're wrong. If you're hoping things are going to "calm down" and that we'll become more "mainstream" and start preaching just the "basics of Jesus and the Bible," you're wrong.
490. Our radical doctrines are not going away, and if you honestly can't handle it, or you're ashamed of them, or you deny being associated with the Family in your witnessing, and you wish you could just be "independent missionaries‚" then that's probably what you should be. Things are only going to get hotter! So get ready by getting with it, or getting out!
491. I hope you realize that we're trying to help you make an educated decision by clearly stating that Peter and I will continue to publish what the Lord shows us. We have no intentions of doing away with the radical doctrines we now have, or the ones the Lord may reveal in the future. It's not like Peter and I are "forcing" you to preach the meat of the Word; we're showing you realistically what you can expect if you choose to remain a member of the Family. And of course no one is forcing you to stay in the Family. You must, however, understand that to stay in the Family but try to hide your association with the Family and deny the meat of the Word will not work; it will only hurt you and those you work with. The Lord will see to it that the meat of the Word is preached one way or the other! That is our unique calling and message as Endtime prophets‚ and we must obey the Lord.
492. Each of you needs to make a decision! To do this you must:
(From "Coming Persecution?—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 1")
493. (Jesus:) These blessings I have given and the promises attached to them have conditions. I made it clear that they are for those who continue in obedience in the era of action. A principle of the spirit, which you have been familiar with from the beginning, is that obedience brings on the spirit and blessings of God. There's no denying that these blessings accompany obedience.
494. These promises and the good fruit and miracles do not automatically erase the problems. The obedience of some individuals, Homes, and areas doesn't make the disobedience of others invisible. Though I have given you promises and even provided you with awesome spiritual gifts and weapons, that does not blind Me to the problems.
495. In order to keep the Family progressing and to keep putting the conditions in motion that are needed to continue fulfilling My plan, I need to continually be prodding, instructing‚ rewarding, chastising, and doing whatever is needed to help you to do what's right. Your continued obedience is an ongoing process. It's not like you're set on "autopilot" and you effortlessly continue on the path of the blessed, with your success guaranteed. You need continual guidance and help, just as sheep need their shepherd. The obedient are prodded to become more obedient; the disobedient are prodded to change or leave. (ML #3361:11‚14,15; GN 957).
(From "The Dangers of Division!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 2")
496. (Mama:) You should know that such disobedience will displease the Lord and cause Him to lift His blessing! Having the Lord's blessing is the main thing that makes the difference between a successful work and a failure! (ML #3362:60; GN 958).
(From "'Be Ye Separate!'—Conviction versus Compromise‚ Part 3")
497. (Mama:) The threat of compromise is that eventually the Family will be just like everyone else. That's the essence of compromise. That's the goal of the Devil's inroads through compromise, to make us the same as everyone else‚ to take away the uniqueness of the Family, to tone down the special message the Lord has given us, and through that to make us less attractive to the lost or even cause us to fall apart.
498. It's these things that make the Family different. But compromise gradually roots out all the "differences" in order to make the Family just like everyone else. When that happens, it's death to the Revolution; it's the end of the Family as we know it. (ML #3363:3,6; GN 959).
499. (Mama:) The Family was originally a dropped-out, radical‚ iconoclastic, full-time discipleship revolution! We hated the System, because it enslaves men's souls. We were separate from the System, living according to the Bible. Those teachings of Jesus that are against the System are still just as much our code of ethics and behavior as ever, but are we still living them?! Are you still living them?! (ML #3363:17; GN 959).
500. (Mama: ) The more I think about it‚ the more I see that these various compromises that have taken hold in the Family are all related and they're all hitting at the foundation of our sample of living the teachings of Jesus. There's less and less witnessing. You're not living by faith‚ but supporting yourselves through System jobs or other Family-created fundraising methods that have little or nothing to do with witnessing. There's an increase in personal property and a lack of taking care of the weak. You don't share all things or live Acts 2:44 and 45 anymore. Many CM Family members don't want to live together anymore. Not only are there hundreds of single-family Homes, but even many of the Homes that fulfill the minimum Charter requirement are very small and hardly the picture of successful, happy communal living. (ML #3363:96; GN 959).
(From "Be True to the Revolution!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 4")
501. (Dad:) You are personally responsible for what you do in your life and with your life and with the truth that God has given you. No one can tell you what to say, and no one can make you say anything when you're face to face witnessing to someone. It's between you and that person and the Lord, and it's up to you to deliver the Lord's message to them—whatever the message is that He wants you to give that individual. And it varies a great deal from person to person depending on where they're at in the spirit and how much they can receive at a time. Some need to be spoon–fed with milk, and then they grow and grow in the spirit and they can take stronger feedings, and then they can take the meat, and then they can take the fresh New Wine and revelations.
502. But you're the instrument and the tool that delivers the message. God's given the Family His message for today in all of its wonderful glory. He's given you His revelations‚ His leading and guidance through me, and now through Mama and Peter, and it's your choice what you do with it, how you treat it, how you handle it, how you deliver it. It's one thing to tone down your presentation of one of the Family's doctrines like "Loving Jesus" or the voice of prophecy, or whatever, with the purpose in mind of helping the person to receive it and fully understand it and gradually letting them grow in the spirit until you can give them more and more. If you're being motivated by true, genuine love for that soul and for that person, then the Lord will be faithful to lead and guide you as to how to present the message.
503. But if your goal is to tone down the message because you don't even like the message, and you don't want to talk about it, and you don't want to present it in the first place, and maybe you don't even believe in it, then that's a whole different story! (ML #3364:114-116; GN 960).
504. (Jesus:) Now I put before those who would be members of the Family many doors of membership, and each one leads closer and closer to the life of full-time discipleship .
505. But all the while, you must keep your inner circle (the CM Family) pure and free from compromise. That's the key. You can walk freely in the pastures, calling for the sheep and tending to their needs, and there is room for much variety in lifestyle of those who would sit at your feet to be fed. But the shepherds who call themselves My full-time disciples (the CM Family) must remain pure and unspotted from the world. (ML #3364:26-27; GN 960).
506. (Mama: ) Now we will broaden our gates and many more will enter‚ and we will care for multitudes of sheep at various levels of dedication and availability. (See ML #3308:91-99; GN 908.)
507. The point the Lord wants to make clear, however, is that even though there will be members of the Family at many levels of service, the inner core, the CM Family, is not to weaken through compromise. We are to remain the dropped-out disciples that we have been called to be. That's the key. There will be various levels of service‚ sacrifice, behavior, lifestyle, dedication, and adherence to the Word for those who cannot or will not serve the Lord full-time, but their becoming members of the Family on their level should not change the CM Family. You who are Charter members are to remain focused on the Lord's call in your lives to full-time discipleship. You are to continue to be the sample‚ to show it can be done‚ that it is possible to live the Word‚ that Jesus' Words are just as real today as when He walked the Earth. You are to continue to be Jesus for those who look to us as their shepherds. You are to be as His disciples, following 100 percent.
508. The greater tolerance and flexibility in the Family is meant for the new sheep—not for those who are Charter members. For you who are full-time disciples, there should be no change in your conviction, lifestyle, goals and discipleship. As we open the door to those who are not able or willing to live full time for Jesus, you can't let their decisions justify your compromises. Always, we must remember that we're to be the samples. The inner core of the Family is still to be a sample, not a sermon! That has not changed. That is the foundation Dad laid, and we are not departing from it!
509. Those who choose to stay as Charter members‚ that means discipleship—as in following Jesus, living the Word, dropping out‚ not compromising for gain, living Acts 2:44 and 45, etc.
510. The Lord wants the Family to look a whole lot more like it used to as far as dedication, full-time service, unity, communal living, having all things in common, witnessing full-time, living by faith, homeschooling our children, etc. We're the only ones doing it, and the Lord is determined to preserve that sample .
511. The sample of full-time discipleship in the CM Family is the crux of what the Lord is dealing with. We love our Fellow members and you're each very important to us; you are a vital part of the Family. Those who will be joining the other circles of membership—Active members and general members—are also crucial to the forward movement and fruitfulness of the Family. But the difference is that as Fellow members you aren't claiming to be living as full-time disciples. That's not the standard you are required to uphold, and that's okay. The Charter members are‚ however, and that's why there cannot be such compromise and worldliness in the CM Family; otherwise it weakens the whole concept of what full-time discipleship in the Family is all about. That's why it's necessary that those who cannot or will not live as disciples in the CM Family become Fellow members. It's a matter of honesty. It's a matter of owning up to reality. (ML #3364:29-32‚34-35; GN 960).
(From "What Is Jesus Worth to You?")
512. (Mama:) Those who choose to be disciples are held to a different standard. The Lord doesn't expect as much from other Christians as He does from full-time disciples. Other believers haven't been given as much truth and they're not as accountable. But you are! You have more truth than anyone who has ever lived, and the Lord is watching to see what you'll do with it. You'll be blessed accordingly. (ML #3433:106; GN 1016).
(From "Are You a Disciple?—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 5")
513. (Jesus:) The battle is greater these days; the young people face more intense spiritual battles and a stronger pull from the System. But that is no excuse for a toning down of conviction or your beliefs, because they have also been given much more spiritual education and the new weapons. So even though the battles are more intense‚ they are more equipped to fight those battles, so the same can be expected of all in the Family today as was expected in the beginning.
514. It's a lie and trick of the Enemy to think the standard of discipleship cannot be the same today because of circumstances or the attitudes of the second generation. That is the seed of compromise, and all new religious movements that ended in defeat through compromise fell prey to that lie of the Enemy: that there was some good "excuse" or "reason" why the followers who came later shouldn't be expected to demonstrate the same level of conviction, dedication, and sacrifice as the pioneers. As soon as that attitude is widely accepted, the new religious movement is on its way to a slow but sure death. (End of message from Jesus.) (ML #3365:13-14; GN 963).
515. (Mama: ) The Family has certainly changed tremendously from the early days, so obviously no one is trying to go back to the past as far as the way things were done. But we're talking about the basic principles and requirements of full-time discipleship in the Family. That has not changed. It's the same for you of the second generation no matter how different you are from your parents! What Jesus said about being His disciple has not changed! It's been the same for 2,000 years and it will remain the same! (ML #3365:23; GN 963).
516. (Jesus:) It is true that times have changed and that the war is a completely different one. The world is a completely different world to reach. The people are different, the mentalities are different, the methods to reach them by are different, and even your second generation and children are different than you were. But that does not change the discipleship standard--the code of Endtime Christians that I've called you to uphold.
517. The standard of discipleship is defined in the Bible. The Words of David built on that definition‚ adding more explanation and application to the times you're now living in, but the basics have not changed. Rather, they should not have changed. In the Family they have been watered down and are now almost unrecognizable. But the standard as I see it‚ as you should see it, is the same.
518. Discipleship is discipleship! I require the same of the Family today as I did of the first disciples in the Family. (ML #3365:31-33; GN 963).
519. (Jesus:) The Enemy has come in and spread a great lie throughout the Family, and many have bought it and swallowed it. This lie says: "Family members today aren't expected to uphold the same level of dedication and conviction that was expected in years past, because times have changed. The world is different, the battle is different, and we just have to accept that people are going to be weaker, more worldly, tolerate more worldly influences‚ compromise in certain areas‚ and even take back some of the System garments that they threw off when they joined the Revolution."
520. This is the Enemy's lie! It's not true, and believing this lie and allowing it to come into your Home and life will ruin the Family. My spiritual requirements for you as Christians and full-time disciples remain the same. The required level of dedication or conviction has not dropped any down through the ages. It remains the same—a high goal and standard to reach, but one that, when reached, can turn the world around and light the hearts of many, igniting a revolution! (ML #3365:36-37; GN 963).
521. (Jesus:) It's really not worth living in the Family or dying for Me if you're half-hearted or have lost the vision. (ML #3365:42; GN 963).
522. (Jesus: ) If you really want to be My disciple, then part of that is being like My disciples of old who forsook all and followed Me. (ML #3365:153; GN 963).
(From "Keep Fighting!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 6")
523. (Mama: ) The guideline for what's right, also known as the standard, has already been decided. It's in the Word. It's not negotiable. You do not have the right to unite around some other standard, whatever you happen to think is better or more comfortable or seemingly more convenient or appropriate for your situation.
524. (Jesus:) In the past there has often been division because of different "standards." Some have standards that are too low, and others have standards that are too high. Now the standard of full-time discipleship has been clarified in the "Conviction vs. Compromise" series. That standard must be upheld if you are to remain in the CM Family. Of course, personal choices will still need to be made as you are faced with your own set of circumstances, conditions and needs, but now you have the clearer guidelines which I have set in My Word, and a greater understanding of the true spirit of dedication and discipleship which I am calling for. (ML #3366:61‚ 53; GN 969).
Copyright © 2003 by The Family
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