SIMON PETER DAY!--By Father David DFO1014 16/4/81
--Recognition of MWM's Pioneer!
--(Instructions given our Business Managers in a special conference on MWM!)
1. THE PROGRAMME BEGINS WITH THE PIONEER D.J., the programme begins with the man who really has the burden, most of all the love for the Lord & the love of souls first of all, & the burden & the vision & the faith, the initiative & all of that, as well as the talent to put it across.--And Simon Peter has proven he's got all of that!
2. I'D LIKE TO DO SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR ALL OF THEM, OF COURSE, & I'm doing about all the special I can right now by supporting'm & feeding'm & clothing'm & housing'm, & paying most of their expenses & their needs, & they have nothing to worry about more or less. They do go out & earn part of it in their singing & busking & whatnot, but we're pretty much carrying the load, & if they didn't make it, we're behind them & they know we guarantee to make sure they get fed.
3. AND SO IT HAS COST US THERE NOT ONLY THREE OR FOUR TIMES AS MUCH AS COMES IN, what it's costing us right now, but at the beginning it cost us everything! (Peter: That's right.) And we were getting nothing in return, so it's still costing us three or four times as much as is coming in specifically for MWM in designated gifts.
4. AND TELL SIMON PETER, "NOW, SIMON THIS IS WHAT WE'RE GIVING YOU NOW, A LITTLE SURPRISE BIRTHDAY GIFT CELEBRATING THE BIRTHDAY OF YOUR SHOW! We don't know how long ago the Show began--they're celebrating greatly the anniversary of the Show at MWM--but I think they ought to give a little more credit to Simon & celebrate the anniversary of the Show from when he first began it, not just how long they've been down there. I'd say that's six or seven years, huh? I think he might feel a little bit left out on that too, that they're only celebrating a one-year anniversary when they ought to be celebrating maybe the sixth or seventh anniversary & give Simon a little more credit!
5. I DON'T THINK THOSE PEOPLE REALLY GIVE SIMON ENOUGH CREDIT, but I want to let them know how much I think about him, & I've tried to emphasise this before, right?--And I've put it on public tapes & everything, that as far as I'm concerned, without Simon there'd be no Show! There never would have been & maybe wouldn't be today! Probably never would have been at all, 'cause if he had not started it, we couldn't have finished it. He'd be very difficult to replace even now.
6. WE'RE HAVING A HARD ENOUGH TIME TRYING TO FIND MCs OR DJs FOR OTHER LANGUAGE SHOWS.--'Cause men who really have the power & love & burden & faith & initiative & the umph & the voice & the talent besides are very difficult to find, or anybody that's got that much. Some places we're going to have to use two or three to get that much together, two or three people that he's got all wrapped up in one! GBH!
7. SO I WANT TO GIVE SIMON SOME SPECIAL RECOGNITION & I want them down there to know how much they ought to appreciate him! I want them to present him with a gift, present him with a check publicly before the whole crowd! "Simon, this is in recognition of the six or seven years of MWM"--find out the exact amount of time since he put the first show on the air wherever it was, Bombay or someplace--& I want you to celebrate it & tell them to celebrate it.
8. IT'S NOT JUST THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY, IT'S THE SIXTH OR SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SHOW!--Simon was the one that started & carried the ball for years before we ever gave him much help.--Right? We started helping him as soon as we heard about it, I wanted to start helping him immediately. I started sending him four or five hundred right away when he appealed that he needed some money to pay for it, etc.
9. SO WE'VE BEEN HELPING HIM MOST OF THE TIME, BUT HE STARTED IT ON HIS OWN, GBH! He negotiated the contract & got the time & he produced the show, & I tell you, he deserves credit for it! I believe the Founder deserves some credit.
10. I THINK HE IS A JEWEL & A GENIUS & VERY PRECIOUS TO THE LORD! I think we've got not only outstanding talent there but an outstanding man of God with great spiritual depth & power as well as great faith & tremendous talent & initiative & vision. He put it into effect & he made it materialise, & I think we ought to show him how much we appreciate him & give him extra special recognition & extra special reward. I've just been talking about rewards--OK, let's live up to it! PTL!
11. MAYBE SOMETIME WE CAN GET AROUND TO WHERE WE CAN AFFORD TO GIVE EACH OF THE MUSICIANS A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA OR SPECIAL. But now those prodigal sons can be thankful they're back in the Father's house sticking their feet under the table & eating their Father's food. But that wasn't Simon's fault, & he has stuck with it, thank God, & just when he was tempted to leave it I wrote him "Shtick" (No.703), & sent him more help & he stuck, & it certainly has been worth it!
12. I'LL TELL YOU, THOUGH THAT GIVING SEEMED MAYBE LIKE IT WAS POURING MONEY DOWN A RATHOLE FOR A LONG TIME, at least it was preaching the Gospel & winning souls, & if we never come out ahead financially specifically as far as we know regarding MWM itself, we certainly are not losing any money from the Lord.--Right?
13. THE MORE WE GIVE IN ALL THESE DIRECTIONS, the more we give the Magazine & the Books & the periodicals & the special publications & the tapes & MWM music & all the rest, the more God will give us, I haven't any doubt about that whatsoever, that's one thing I know!--And you've seen it work, you've watched it. Everytime we give away more money, God does more for us, till we can hardly spend it fast enough! Well, I think we will be able to now with all these new books coming out & all the moves we have to make!
14. SO HE CAN FEEL THAT HE HAS A LITTLE NEST EGG OF HIS OWN to fall back on no matter what happens to him. Even if he decides he gets tired of it & fed up & wants to go, I think he's worthy of it. That's the way I feel about every World Service Unit. Most of them serve the Lord very faithfully for quite a few years, & if they get fed up & tired of it & they just are weary of well doing & they want to go, well, they deserve something to help'm move to their new field.
15. NEARLY EVERY WORLD SERVICE UNIT WORKER THAT WE'VE HAD GO I HAVE MADE MONEY AVAILABLE TO THEM or let them take it, or I offered it to them. Dear Justus cut his own throat by sneaking off, or he could have had it! He snuck off with about 600 when he could have had 4,000, so he cut his own throat. It was his own fault by doing it so sneaky. He could have just as well told us honestly what he was going to do, but he wanted to kidnap those kids, so therefore he didn't dare.
16. SO I FIGURE THEY DESERVE IT, THEY'RE WORTHY OF IT. Even the World & its employers gives a man one or two months parting pay when he leaves, particularly if he gives due notice & gives them time to get somebody in their place & he parts honestly & openly & friendly. Even the ungodly employers will give the guy at least a month's pay when he leaves, providing he gives them a month's notice, etc. So I think it's fair.
17. I SURE HOPE NONE OF YOU WANT TO LEAVE, but if you do, we'll help you to your new field, DV. So you ought to feel pretty secure. PTL! Well, none of us can feel too secure in this business! Ha! We're in a pretty dangerous business as much as the Devil fights it & the System & the Enemy & all. And there are all kinds of problems.
18. BUT I LIKE PEOPLE TO FEEL LIKE THEY'VE GOT SOMETHING THEIR OWN THEY CONTROL & they can spend as they see fit, & I want Simon to have it & I want to give him a check, a part of everything that's come in to MWM. I want somebody to make it very clear how much we've spent on MWM compared to how much has come in specified for MWM, to show the difference. It'll do those people a little good to know how much that outfit costs us down there!
19. HAVE SHEM FIGURE THAT UP TOO WHILE HE'S AT IT since we've taken over. Maybe go clear back from when we first started giving gifts to MWM, six, seven years ago, four, five years ago. I know we were in Tenerife when I first heard about it & I right away said, "I want to give"--I think it was "four or five hundred to that Show right now!" And we kept increasing it & now we're paying for the whole Show! Ask him if he can possibly figure that up, OK?--How much World Services has put into MWM from the very beginning over the years. Fair enough?
20. LET THOSE PEOPLE KNOW WHAT THAT SHOW HAS COST US & how much we have received in gifts specified for MWM during the same period. Figure back from the beginning if you want to, but he got all the money until he came there, so you should only need to figure from there since we've been applying those designated gifts to help support it.
21. MAKE IF CLEAR, VERY CLEAR HOW MUCH THE PLACE IS COSTING US, the camp, the office, the tapes, the works, monthly right now, & how much we have already invested in them over the past years. And make it very clear to all those folks including Simon how much we've put out on his Show to help it go. In fact, make it very clear how little has come in designated for MWM.
22. BUT NEVERTHELESS WE WANT SIMON TO FEEL LIKE HE DESERVES SPECIAL RECOGNITION & is getting it & has a little fund of his own that he can do with as he pleases. He can either spend it on himself or his girlfriend or a trip to Hong Kong, providing he isn't gone too long, or Oshkosh, or buy himself a caravan or spend it on equipment or new studio or whatever he wants to spend it on!
23. BUT IT'S HIS, PERSONALLY, TO DO WITH AS HE SEES FIT & nobody else telling him what to do with it!--Tax free, no tithe as far as I'm concerned. If he wants to give a little tithe to the camp from it, that's up to him, but he doesn't have to. After all, he's a 100%er, he already gives everything & has for years, so I don't think he owes a penny to them or to anybody, & he can keep the whole thing tax-free, tithe-free if he wants to!
24. I WANT SOMEBODY TO GIVE THE HISTORY OF WORLD SERVICE'S RELATIONSHIP WITH SIMON & HIS SHOW. And I think it would be a wonderful time to celebrate the real anniversary of MWM! Some of those people there took too much upon themselves to say that that was MWM's first anniversary, that's a lot of malarkey! It's about its sixth or seventh anniversary!
25. SIMON COULD GET UP & TELL THE FULL HISTORY OF MWM FROM THE BEGINNING, particularly in regards to his relationship with us when we started helping him pay for the Show, etc., etc. Amen? And then our finance men there can get up & give the specific finances & financial history, not only what we gave him beforehand, but how much that place is costing us since they moved there & how much we're putting out a month right now & how little is coming in.
26. BUT NEVERTHELESS WE FEEL THAT SIMON DESERVES SOME SPECIAL RECOGNITION, some small fund to call his own to do with as he pleases, & we want to make a special birthday present of it celebrating the sixth or seventh birthday of MWM & his Show, his baby, & here's his birthday present!
27. IF WE SAW THINGS GOD'S WAY & FROM HIS BOOKS He would probably consider that the Show is more than paying for itself both financially & in blessings & Gospel & souls & good music & all the rest, so praise the Lord! What do you think about that? You'd better agree! Ha! (Peter: It's really great!)
28. WELL, I'VE NEVER LOST BY GIVING YET, & I think he deserves it, I think he needs it & I think it may be the one little chip on the scale that will help tip the balance in his & our favour to cheer him up a little bit & help him realise that he is appreciated & that we recognise his part & his being the Founding Father & the tremendous amount of labour & faith & trials & agonies he's put into the thing over the years long before those prodigal musicians came down there to help him out. Amen? (Peter: Amen!)
29. I WANT IT TO BE "SIMON PETER DAY!" Hallelujah? (Peter: Amen!) We've had enough MWM Day down there, I want it to be Simon Peter Day, the original MWM Birthday. Declare the MWM Birthday, whatever it was, we can call it Simon Peter Day & have them give a general financial report of the finances.
30. WORK UP FROM THE BOTTOM from the gloomy side, how much it's costing & how little is comin' in & all this stuff you know, & yet how much we're accomplishing, how many tapes are being sent to the Family, how many radio stations we're on, how many tapes have been sent to radio stations & how much they cost us & how much the camp costs, how much the office costs us & yet how much response we're getting, how we all enjoy it!
31. THE GENERAL OVERALL REPORT ON THE WHOLE THING, a specific report, specifics, the amount of stations, tapes, mail, money, the works, going both ways. And then wind up with a special little surprise for Simon Peter!
32. TELL HIM WE'D NOW LIKE TO HAVE HIM TELL US THE STORY OF THE REAL HISTORY OF MWM FROM THE BEGINNING, not just since it got to Greece. I don't think that too much has been told about that. When the finances & all that's all been said, before we give him his surprise, I want him to get up & recount--it'll look like to him we're just giving him a little special recognition--recount the true history of MWM & how World Services entered into it, etc.
33. HAVE PAUL & MARIANNE THEN GET UP & say "Well, now, since you've heard the whole story & the financial picture here in the past & the history & how much is due to dear Simon Peter here, World Services has decided to give him a special gift of recognition for his own personal use to use wherever he feels it's needed most".--Probably be hard to keep him from just giving it away too! If I know him he'll probably just want to give it to the camp or something like that, but it's for him!
34. WE'LL SEE, IT'LL BE INTERESTING TO FIND OUT WHAT HE WILL DO WITH IT. We do that with our children. I do that with you guys really, to see what you'll do with it. So far I haven't been disappointed. PTL!--Except with a few, very few, TTL! And then have them present him with the cheque.
35. SAY, "HERE'S PART OF ALL THAT HAS COME IN, all gifts designated to Music With Meaning since it has been in Greece & since those designated gifts have been used to pay the expenses of MWM." But we feel that Simon deserves a special recognition & a special little bonus, so we're giving him a cheque for part of all past gifts. Fair enough?
36. I WANT SIMON TO KNOW WE APPRECIATE HIM & I want him to know the Lord appreciates him & I want him to feel that he has what he needs & what he'd like to have & not just what he needs. Not just his food & clothing & shelter & supplies, but I'd like to have Simon Peter treated as well by the Lord as God treats us.
37. WE NOT ONLY GET WHAT WE NEED BUT USUALLY WE GET WHATEVER WE WANT, little extras above our needs, exceeding above & beyond all that we could ask or think, & pressed down, shaken together & running over! PTL? (Eph.3:20; Lk.6:38.)
38. EVEN THOUGH THE THING ISN'T PAYING FOR ITSELF VISIBLY, but apparently it is in a way, I mean the Lord is supplying enough through other sources & from other directions to support it. We've been supporting it & we've been able to support it, & I think I'm sure God expects us to. PTL? (Peter: Amen.)
39. SO AS LONG AS HE GIVES US ENOUGH TO KEEP THAT THING GOING, even though it seems to be a financially losing affair, I don't believe it really is because I think the Lord is no doubt laying on their hearts to tithe as faithfully as they are, & one of their incentives is MWM & those beautiful music tapes they get in return, tithing Homes.
40. SO I THINK HE WILL BE HAPPY TO KNOW THAT WE'RE GIVING A LITTLE EXTRA RECOGNITION TO THE FOUNDING FATHER OF MWM, & remind everybody that MWM is his baby, & so he can feel like he is getting something a little special above the others which he deserves & in recognition of even past services if nothing else, as well as present services. OK! You got the general idea & picture? Sorry to take your time but I really feel like it is necessary. I laid awake quite a bit last night & the night before thinking & praying about it.
41. IF HE WANTS TO LIVE IN A BETTER HOUSE or he wants to buy a caravan or he wants to eat better food or he wants more tapes or he wants a better record player, radio, studio, better recording equipment or whatever he wants, he can put the money wherever he wants to put it, including in his pocket.
42. IF I KNOW HIM THOUGH, I THINK HE'D PROBABLY SPEND IT ON THINGS THAT HE KNOWS THEY NEED THERE & equipment they need & visions or projects that he otherwise wouldn't be able to consider or he might think we wouldn't approve of or afford etc., & he can just do something on the side. If he wants to do a little moonlighting on some extra project of his own & he pays for it with his own money, why, that's up to him! PTL?
43. AMEN! TYL! BLESS DEAR SIMON, His testimony touched our hearts so deeply & moved us so deeply the other night, Lord, we were reminded in the midst of our busy day & schedule of what a jewel he is & how valuable, how precious he is to You, Lord, & what a miracle it is that he got saved at all & that he joined the Family at all, that he started MWM at all & he's even still with us, Lord, & is still going.
44. WHAT A MIRACLE, SERIES OF MIRACLES ALL THE WAY THROUGH & how wonderful, & we just felt like we really owe him a debt of gratitude, thanks, special recognition & special reward.
45. TELL SIMON THAT HIS VIDEO TESTIMONY TOUCHED MY HEART so that I want him to be the next to take a vacation on some nice pretty quiet Greek isle with the lover of his choice. Tell him he can have any woman in the camp whom he wants & who is willing to go with him. PTL?
46. AND WHAT ABOUT TALKING TO SIMON HIMSELF ON THE PHONE, TELLING HIM PERSONALLY. He'd consider that quite an honour, I think. (Peter: Oh, yes! He'd flip!) I think he'd be thrilled. Have Paul & Marianne summon him to the telephone, that you have a special message for him. He'll come with fear & trembling & leave with rejoicing!
47. TELL HIM THAT YOU HAVE JUST HAD A CONFERENCE WITH DAD HIMSELF & Dad has the burden to do this for him & we're going to have a little surprise party for him & we want him to figure out the exact dates & history of MWM from the beginning, to be able to recount the story at this little real Birthday Party of MWM.
48. TELL HIM WE'RE GOING TO CALL IT SIMON PETER DAY, & we're going to have a little surprise for him at that party that we know he'll like. I think a one week's vacation is good enough for most of those folks. I think two weeks gets to be a little too long. (Maria: Oh, yes.) (Peter: Oh, absolutely.)
49. I THINK FOR ONE THING WE CAN'T AFFORD FOR HIM TO BE AWAY FOR THAT LONG, we've got too much to do, & another thing, I think it's apt to get a little boring & wearing on'm, and if they really love their work they'll be chomping at the bit to get back! (Peter: That's right.) So that I think one week is plenty to get away & get rested up & think & pray & be ready to come charging back in to the camp with lots a new ideas & inspiration & faith & strength etc. PTL? (Peter: Amen.)
50. OK, THERE IT IS! THE BALL'S IN YOUR COURT--GET IT ROLLIN' NOW! (Peter: Amen.) I want you to talk to Simon Peter himself personally on the phone tonight if you can & tell him you're phoning for Dad 'cause he's very touched with your testimony which he never heard before & he wants to give you a special little reward, recognition & give you a week's holiday to rest-up, think-up, pray-up & tank-up.
51. TELL HIM WE'RE GOING TO GIVE HIM A SPECIAL LITTLE SURPRISE GIFT BEFORE HE LEAVES & we want to have a special celebration before he goes, a Simon Peter Day! And I'd like everybody in the camp to stand up & tell him how much they appreciate him, one-by-one, & how thankful they are. Let everybody express their appreciation.
52. I JUST WROTE A LETTER ON APPRECIATION, & it'd be a good special Letter to read from me at the occasion. PTL? (Peter: Amen.) Amen. TYJ! PYL! I certainly want the Lord to be as good to him, show him that He's as good to him if not better than the World would be. (Peter: Amen.) The World praises its heroes & it applauds its stars, why not ours?--And the World rewards them too. We're not making a mint or millions off of him, so we can't very well reward him very much, but we can do all we can! PTL!
53. IT'S FOR HIS OWN PERSONAL USE, FOR WHATEVER HE WANTS TO USE IT FOR & sometimes that's a good test, like the Lord gave out the talents to see what people will do with it, to see where their heart really is at. So I'm not as crazy as you think I might be, at least there's some method in my madness. I give because I enjoy giving, but I wouldn't say it was entirely unselfish or too sacrificial. Because like David Livingstone, it's hard to make a sacrifice for the Lord because He repays you always more than you give up.
54. SO THERE'S METHOD IN MY MADNESS, IN A WAY, & that is that I love to give, but at the same time I don't worry about it because I know God'll give me back a lot more. It's good business. When it comes to God it is, & His Work, it's good business to give to the Lord. It's good investment, earns the highest possible rate of interest & dividends of anything you can possibly invest in, many times over, 100-fold or more! PTL!
55. I LIKE TO GIVE! It's not hard for me to give, so don't give me any credit. I enjoy it! I hope I don't get in the class of the old lady that gave the bum a quarter & said she did it because she enjoyed giving so much, & he told her, "Why don't you give a dollar then & have a real good time!" Ha! Maybe they'd think I should give him more & really enjoy it! Ha!
56. BUT I REALLY THOUGHT & PRAYED & I FELT THAT WAS ABOUT WHAT WE COULD AFFORD to really give right now, & I don't want to give him too much or too little either one. I want to give him something that is appreciable & reasonable & worthy & commensurate & neither too little or too much, & neither beyond what we can afford either, nor less than we can afford. PTL? (Maria: Amen.)
57. I'M SORRY I KEPT YOU SO LONG, BUT THAT WAS A PRETTY BIG BURDEN & I think we're going to find it was of the Lord & I believe he'll benefit & we'll benefit & most of all the Lord's work will benefit, & the programme will benefit. I believe he'll feel appreciated, & when someone feels appreciated I think they're inspired to even work better & harder & with a feeling of appreciation & recognition, & maybe he'll even get more inspiration.
58. I'M SURE THAT GIVING NEVER HURTS, IT ALWAYS HELPS! PTL? So I expect to reap some benefits too. I expect the Lord's work to reap the benefits & his love & love for others through the programme to reap a lot of benefits.
59. I'M EXPECTING THIS MWM SHOW TO BOOM! I think it's tops in music. I've never heard any kind of Gospel show to compare with it. I've never heard anything so good whether church music or evangelistic music or a "Praise the Lord!" Club, Rex Humbard Show or whatever!
60. THEIRS MAY BE MORE LAVISH & EXTRAVAGANT & all of that, & they sink millions into it, but I consider with what little we have that we are really doing mighty well with it, producing a beautiful show that is reaching a segment of the public that Rex Humbard couldn't touch with a ten-foot pole--the youth! I notice nearly everybody he's got in his audience has grey hair! (Peter: That's true.) A bunch of old folks!
61. WE'RE REACHING YOUNG PEOPLE, THE YOUTH THAT HAVE A FUTURE & REALLY NEED HELP. Those old people, their day is done, & about all Rex can do is comfort them into the grave with sweet music. We're trying to inspire these kids to survive & live through it with inspiring & comforting music. PTL? Get'm saved & won to the Lord & fed & strengthened enough to survive the holocaust & the Tribulation that are coming, right on through to Heaven! Hallelujah!
62. I THINK THAT'S WORTH IT, A WORTHY INVESTMENT, & I'M EXPECTING IT TO BOOM! I'm like the Lord on our investments--when I give out a talent or five talents or ten talents I don't expect to see it buried. (Peter: Amen!) I expect to see it really reap some results & multiply, & if it doesn't, I'll be disappointed, including MWM. (Peter: Amen.)
63. I EXPECT IT TO BOOM! I EXPECT IT TO SWEEP THE WORLD! I think it's going to be difficult for us to keep up with the response both with the stations & producing enough shows & with the listener write-in & follow-up & all the rest. We're going to have all our hands can handle, including whatever we need financially from the Lord to keep it going, whether it comes in from the listeners or not, or the stations. It certainly won't come in from the stations, that's for sure! PTL. Amen? (Peter: Amen.)
64. WE'RE NOT SIGNING ANY CONTRACTS OR MAKING ANY DEALS or getting any royalties or selling anything, think of it! We're giving it all away! But I'm expecting to reap some tremendous benefits from those investments, PTL! Especially in souls, & we won't see it all until we get there! PG! Amen? (Maria: Amen.) Hallelujah! TYL!
65. AMEN, LORD, IT'S ALL IN YOUR HANDS & WE KNOW THAT YOU'RE GOING TO BLESS IT, have blessed it & will yet bless it. TYL! PTL! I don't mind letting the World know how much we appreciate him, PTL? And maybe in subsequent times we can begin to give each one of the other musicians a little special recognition or some special rewards. PTL? OK! That's it! GBY! WLY all! Every dog has his day!--Yours may be next!--This is Simon Peter's!
66. P.S. CONSIDERING THEIR PAST, I COULD PULL THE SCRIPTURE ON THE OTHERS ABOUT THE PRODIGAL SON, since they all claim to be prodigal sons. When the prodigal came back he had nothing & he got nothing, because he'd already spent his share! Everything that was left belonged to the faithful older brother who had stuck with the Family & the Father.
67. HE WAS NOTHING BUT A GUEST IN THE FATHER'S & THE OLDER BROTHER'S HOUSE & was thankful he could stick his feet under their table & wear their clothes & be given a little ring of recognition as a son, even though nothing left belonged to him anymore at all! Think of that!
68. YOU JUST READ THE SCRIPTURE where the father spoke to the elder son when he complained about it. He said, "Son, all that I have is thine." (Lk.15:31.)--Which was right & true & proper, because he'd stuck by the stuff & the father & worked hard in the fields & he hadn't gone off & run off to a far country & spent his share in riotous living as the younger brother had.
69. SO WHEN THE YOUNGER BROTHER FINALLY CAME HOME he was even willing to be a servant in the household, knowing he had no further claim or any right there whatsoever, but that he was really nothing but a guest dependent on their hospitality.--Just as all those little prodigal sons are down there at MWM, believe it or not!
70. THEY WENT OUT & THEY MADE THEIR TENS OF THOUSANDS IN THE SYSTEM, & some did, they got tens of thousands!--One of them got 50,000 dollars in one hunk, & as far as I recall never even sent us a crumb of it--quite a few of them like that! They got tens of thousands of dollars for contracts & advances just to produce albums & all kinds of junk, & did you ever see any of it?
71. WE MIGHT HAVE GOT A LITTLE GIFT HERE OR THERE, but most of them spent it in riotous living in several far countries & we never got anything out of it, their contracts & their advances & their premiums & their royalties, etc.--Nothing that I know of, expect there might be a few little individual gifts from some of the individuals who still loved us & the Family, which was very few.
72. IN FACT, MOST OF THEM WERE AS GOOD AS OUT OF THE FAMILY & weren't even tithing or anything, & as about as far away as the prodigal can get! So we don't really owe'm anything except their room & board & keep right now, & all that they should have given to the Lord before, in a sense, is gone.
73. SO ABOUT ALL THEY'RE DOING NOW IS KIND OF REPAYING THE LORD for all they lost & all the time they wasted & all their share they spent in riotous living in the far country. They're pretty much in debt to the Lord, & they can certainly sing that song they sing, "I Can't Pay You Back Lord"!
74. THEY'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO PAY HIM BACK for what they owe Him, not only spiritually but even materially, thousands of dollars that they didn't tithe & didn't give & didn't contribute. So they can just look at it this way if they want to, that they're paying the Lord back now for all the money they ran off with or didn't contribute or didn't tithe & from which the Lord received no benefit whatsoever from all their contracts & music & advances & royalties, etc.
75. THEY'RE NOW GIVING THEIR SONGS & SERVICES TO THE LORD, & if anything, they still owe Him a whole lot & they're just paying Him back. They can be thankful the Father was glad to see'm come home & happy to have them as a guest at his table & put on the robes & the ring & let'm eat three square meals a day!--While the older faithful brothers had all the worry & all the hard work of trying to keep the farm's head above water! Right? Look at it that way.
76. I THINK MAYBE SOMEBODY NEEDS TO TELL'M! Some of those musicians may be getting the idea, "Well, look at all these songs I'm contributing! Look how many songs I've contributed now to MWM! Boy oh boy, if I'd gotten 100 Francs a song I'd be well off right now, like the absentee or non-resident musicians! Maybe I'd be better off if I got the Hell out of here & just sent in my recordings!" Well, any of them who feel like that are welcome to! But I doubt if they'd have done that well, frankly.
77. BESIDES, THEY REALLY IN SOME WAYS COULD HARDLY SELL THOSE SONGS they've already sold to the System, they're on a contract, & as far as I've heard & hints I've heard they're nearly all of them fugitives from injustice & broken contracts, & if the System ever catches up with them, that'll be it! They'll be writing their music through the bars, & I don't mean the bars of the musical staff either!
78. SO THEY CAN BE THANKFUL THEY'VE GOT SOME REFUGE TO FLEE TO, as not just exiles or refugees but virtual fugitives from injustice & broken contracts & the System, to where we can still use their music. We're almost like pirates! We're willing to take a chance on taking the music & using it for a pirate radio show. It could still cause us trouble in some places if somebody'd got ahold of one. I don't know whether they have yet or not, maybe you know.
79. THAT'S THE MIRACLE OF GOD, THAT NOBODY HAS RECOGNISED THEIR NUMBERS or recognised the Show or the artists or whatever, 'cause if some of those former promoters & contractors heard their music was being used on our Show they might not like it! On the other hand, maybe the Lord made them soft-hearted, which is possible but somewhat doubtful of those people, so they'd just ignore it, I don't know. But so far we've gotten away with it & it's a miracle! TYJ!
80. ANYWAY, WE DON'T SELL IT, WE JUST GIVE IT ALL AWAY! On our bookkeeper's books it's a loss, but on God's books it's an eternal gain in souls for His Kingdom!--Amen?
81. SO THEY CAN BE THANKFUL ANYBODY AT ALL IS WILLING TO TAKE A CHANCE ON USING THEM & supporting them & using their music, considering some of them are operating under broken contracts. So we're taking a chance too, & they're taking a chance except for the Lord, right? PTL!
82. SO THE REST OF YOU CAN BE THANKFUL YOU ARE BACK IN THE FATHER'S HOUSE at all!--Amen?--With all your needs met, housing, food, clothing & even a "ring" here & there, as well as several feasts!--Amen?--Even if you haven't had a day named after you!
83. TODAY'S SAINT SIMON'S DAY!--Or Saint Peter's Day, if you prefer!--Ha!--Tomorrow may be yours! Just be patient! Every dog has his day! Today's Simon's. Yours may be next!--Or have you already had it? GBY! WLY! KGFG!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family