DAVID'S ORDINATION!--On His 12th Birthday! DO 2347 1/87
MAMA'S PRAYER FOR DAVID!
1. Let's praise the Lord, shall we? (Family praises!) Amen! TYL! PTL! I think I'd like to have our candidate's Mother pray us a prayer for our new man here, & for his new year! PTL! Maybe we could have you representing us all, Honey, so that we don't have too much confusion. We could just have him stand & you can lay hands on his head while we pray for him. Consider yourselves all represented here as we pray for him, will you? PTL! TYL! (Dad & Maria lay hands on David's head:)
2. (Maria: Thank You Jesus for this wonderful day, Lord, this day in which we celebrate our little prince's birthday!)--Our little man, praise the Lord! (Maria: His 12th birthday, Lord, a sign of his becoming a real man, Lord, a real adult. We thank You for him, what a precious son You've given us, how You've used him already, all his 12 years, to help the Family & to teach & to train us all, Lord, as we've grown up with him & learned lessons along with him. Thank You Lord for Thy blessings upon him. We thank You that You've given him wonderful health & strength & a wonderful mind, & a beautiful spirit to serve You, a real desire & willingness to be what You want him to be & to be a real good soldier for You, a good prince in Thy Kingdom! And we thank You for him, Lord, what a joy he's brought to all of us & all of our lives & how we have benefited from having him in our midst!
3. (We ask that this year will be the best yet & that he'll grow in the stature & knowledge of You, Lord, & that he'll continue to draw close to You & learn many lessons of Love & loving You & loving others & being the blessing & help that You want him to be. We thank You for all the wonderful lessons that You've been able to teach him through Grandpa & how he's benefited so much from being able to be here in Thy household, Lord. So just give him a real desire to fulfil his mission, Lord, whatever You have in store for him, that he'll grow & learn more & more each day & be yielded & willing to do Thy Will, in Jesus' name!)
WHAT YOU THINK SHOWS ON YOUR FACE!
4. PTL! Hallelujah! TYL! Everybody happy? (Fam: Yes Sir!) Everybody feeling all right? (Fam: Amen!) Thank the Lord! You know, in Tenerife whenever they'd meet you on the street--& they were good at it too--they'd look you straight in the eye just like they were almost reading your mind! They were very psychic! They'd say, "You're not feeling well today," or "you're unhappy today," or "everything's all right today." They could really read your face & almost read your mind!
5. Maybe you don't realise it, but almost everything you're thinking shows up on your face! Very few people are good enough actors to conceal their thoughts & their hearts, because the real you is there on the inside looking out. There's just something about it, I don't know whether it's discernment or what, but I can pretty well tell how people feel. I'll often go home from these meetings & ask Mama, "What's wrong with So-&-so? She looks fearful & worried." "What's wrong with So-&-so, they look sick," etc., & maybe someone prays for you later.
6. I look everybody here full in the face to see if you're all right & if you have any problems! Mary Dear here (age 4) is very smart, she's covering up her face! Ha, ha! She was sitting here like this: (Hands over face!) What is it you don't want me to know, huh? You don't look like you have anything to cover up, Honey! PTL! She looks very happy. (Mary Dear: I'm just tired.) Oh, I'm sorry. Well now if you're too tired you can always go to bed, we're not going to be here long tonight I hope. You can just lie down there in Mommy's lap if you're too tired. PTL! Some of you are too big for that now.
JEWISH CULTURE--A BOY BECOMES A MAN AT 12!
7. Well, we couldn't overlook this very important event in our young man's life. We consider, as in the Jewish culture, that at 12 years of age a young boy has entered manhood, & also a girl has entered womanhood. Usually by that time girls are menstruating & boys are seminating, so the Jewish culture recognised them as adults, now able to have their own children.
8. The Jews are a lot closer to the right kind of measurement in their culture of age & maturity & adulthood than a lot of the Christian cultures who have begun putting it off & putting it off, until now not even 16, 18 or 21 is considered the adult age, but in some of the Catholic countries like Spain, it's up to 24 & 25 that a girl cannot get married without parental consent & is considered still a child of her parents. If she has any sexual relations they are apt to charge the men with rape, even if they're in love & sweethearts & with consent.
9. Today's culture has gotten to mollycoddling & babying its children more & more. The more decadent the System has become, the more perverted it has become, the more anti-God & anti-Christ it has become, the more twisted their ideas of right & wrong & the worse their laws have become, until their whole legal system has almost entirely become anti-God, as well as anti-Christ, & contrary to the laws of God! The laws of Man have become contrary to the laws of God!
10. We actually consider that a child has reached the age of decision by the time they can talk, & that's usually about two years of age! Most of us lead our children to the Lord, to accept Jesus, by the time they're two & can talk & understand what we're talking about. The age of accountability in Jewish custom was 7 years of age. They were then considered responsible for their actions & decisions and held accountable under Jewish law for whatever they did, by the time they were 7. Obviously they were about as mature as our children in those days! Our children are like teenagers by the time they've gotten to be 7, & we have one of them going to be 8 the month after next --Techi! They're all really teenagers.
11. Our children mature much more rapidly because we rear them in the nurture & the admonition of the Lord, therefore they learn responsibility earlier, they learn how to work at an early age & that they need to share the responsibilities of the Home & the work, as well as the benefits & the pleasures.
12. Under Jewish custom, a boy was considered an adult man at 12 years of age, on his 12th birthday, having completed his 12th year. Then he was expected to act like a man & to undertake many manly responsibilities. He was expected to work & carry a fairly full load of the work responsibilities. If his father was a carpenter, he was expected to work in the shop with his father & to help earn the living for the family.
13. Well, our little man here has certainly done that! He's long time been a handyman's apprentice & learned the names of all the tools & he has a very good knowledge of how they all operate. He could virtually enter the trade as a handyman's helper, which he has been working at least half-time at most of the time right here, learning from experienced maintenance men who really know what they're doing. And they have been patient with him & taught him. I've heard them many times teaching him as they go along, explaining what they're doing, why they're doing it, why you have to do it this way & not that way etc. I doubt if he even realises how much he has learned, particularly this past year.
14. But even before this he's always liked to work with the maintenance men just like his Grand-daddy, because his Grand-daddy is a maintenance man & I always have been a mechanic & a carpenter & a builder! I used to say there were two kinds of people in the World, the builders & the destroyers. It takes a lot more time & strength & wisdom & hard work to build, but anybody can destroy. The Devil is the prince of all destroyers who goeth about as a roaring lion seeking whom he might destroy!--1Peter 5:8.
"'TIS ODD THAT GOD SHOULD CHOOSE THE JEWS!"
15. But the Jews have a rather odd culture, in a way, they're a rather odd people, but they sure get ahead! Let's face it, [DELETED] they have all that Jewish drive & aggressiveness & pushiness, which is sometimes very offensive in some Jews particularly, the way they try to shove in at the front of the line & push their way around & push others around. [DELETED]
16. [DELETED] They're very pushy & have a lot of drive!
17. I was looking at my dear wife's picture that her family sent her for Christmas, her father & her mother & her two sisters. I looked them over carefully & I finally said, "Well, I can certainly see who is the driving force in that family!" [DELETED] [EDITED: "T"]hat's her mother! And she was telling me how she looked at it at first & thought it was her grandmother, because she looked just like her grandmother as she knew her years ago. She's obviously the pusher & the driving force in the family. Her husband is a very sweet, meek sort of quiet preacher man, but you can tell who really runs the family just by looking at her. Maybe you can tell that by looking at Mama here! They used to call such a wife "the neck that turns the head" or "the power behind the throne."
18. Well, praise God! The poet said,
"'Tis odd
That God
Should choose
The Jews,
But God chose,
Which shows,
God knew
His Jew!"
Well, even at that time, & of course even since then, they've had tremendous intellect, extremely intelligent, lots of physical force & drive, probably even from keeping the Laws of Moses, even the dietary laws, so they are bound to be healthier, stronger & more prolific! And they don't make their Rabbis live as celibates either. They're allowed to marry & produce a lot of highly intelligent children with a lot of drive.
19. The Rabbis are the most extensively trained clerics or religious leaders of any kind, even surpassing by far the priestly training of the Catholics. Every Jewish Rabbi is not only a doctor of religion, he is also often a graduate of law & a doctor of medicine. So he is expected to minister to his congregation in every way that they need--both spiritually, physically & legally. So they're brilliant, smart people & I hope you got some of that, David! I'm sure you did because you sure have proven quick to pick up some of these things of the trade of building.
20. I think building & mechanical work & maintenance are wonderful training for a young man to learn how to make things with his own hands, repair things & create things, really. It's a very creative type of work & it gives a lot of satisfaction. Don't you boys stand back after a job is completed & have a great feeling of pride & satisfaction that you have finished the work? You fought a good fight, you kept the faith & you finished the course! Now there is laid up for you a great treasure of knowing you accomplished something really worthwhile, in the physical. There's a great satisfaction even in that. Our mothers know what that's like to have children, & our fathers feel that satisfaction in creating a family. Of course it's God Who does it, but nevertheless He entrusts them to us.
21. So the Jews are great builders, great creators, great inventors. I used to have a book that told about all the famous Jews, listed multitudes of the very very famous Jews, & it's amazing, a lot of them that I didn't even know were Jews, both the politicians & statesmen & great men, leaders, & women, as well as actors & actresses. You're particularly familiar with them as comedians. They are top-notch comedians, it always seems they're able to make people laugh--I think because they do that a great deal in order to keep themselves cheered up because they've had pretty hard lives. "The way of the transgressor is hard" (Pro.13:15), & he really has to try to encourage himself & cheer himself up! In the process they become adept at it so they can cheer up other people too! So, such is the Jewish heritage.
EARLY MARRIAGE!--ROSA STORY!
22. They expected their children to accept responsibility & mature at a very early age, & could even marry at such an age! This, of course, is true of many of the Oriental cultures--& the Jews are Orientals, Easterners--that they marry at an early age. Lately, the most recent culture to begin to pass laws against early marriages was one of the first to have such early marriages. They would be betrothed & married as early as 7 years of age in the Indian culture. You've read stories about that.
23. I often think of that girl Rosa from Trinidad who was Indian, a beautiful girl. She was telling me a story about how she was betrothed to this boy of another wealthy family in Trinidad. Her father was a jeweller & they were some kind of other wealthy intelligent Indian people. You find Indian traders all over the World. Indians & Chinese seem to be the ones who really know how to make the money, & they're traders throughout the World in almost every nation. Everywhere you go you find them--smart, intelligent & rich!
24. She was betrothed at the age of seven, & she told me the funny story about when her husband-to-be--she was promised to him, they weren't actually married yet, of course--but her husband-to-be & his little friends were playing marbles. Apparently she was standing too close & in the way of somebody, & one of his friends was about to take a shot at one of the marbles & he said to her betrothed, "Will you please tell your wife to get out of the way!"--7 years of age! But it was just accepted that the parents, of course, were the wisest & should arrange marriages & arrange them well in advance, & that way they would have better family ties together & could plan toward it & accumulate toward it. Girls in some cultures had to have a sizeable dowry & some of them were quite wealthy.
ARMENIAN CHRISTIANS--STORY OF JASMINE!
25. I'll never forget when I was still young & single. They called it "single bliss," but they were not blissful days for me, I thought they were very miserable days, myself, because I was so lonesome. But we held this meeting in Papa Moomjian's church, these Armenian Pentecostal Christians. It was a very deeply spiritual church & they were wonderful people, some of them old enough to remember the Armenian persecution in which they were driven out of Armenia by the Turks & onto the desert & told if they wanted to survive, just go ahead & walk across the desert into Iran, & some of them survived!
26. It was the days of the famous Armenian massacre by the Turks. Armenia, which is now a part of Southern Russia, Azerbaijan & that area down there near the Turkish border, overlapped three different countries--Russia, Turkey & Iran. Armenia was one of the earliest Christian countries to generally accept Christ. Cyprus was just about the first, as you have read in the Bible, in which the whole country turned to the Lord through Paul's ministry. But Armenia was one of the next to become a whole nation of Christians, & as a result, of course, they were persecuted by the heathen & the pagans around them for centuries! But they remained true to their faith, they died for their faith!
27. In the famous Armenian massacre, the Turks were trying to get rid of them, drive them out! The Turks didn't like them, because the Turks were Muslims, & they tried to force Islam on them, tried to force their faith on them at the point of a sword. They would come to a village & have all of the men lined up on their knees bowing toward Mecca & tell them, "Deny your faith in Christ & confess Mohammed, otherwise we're going to cut off your head right here!" They'd just go down the line & sometimes they all clung to their faith & they just lopped their heads off right down the line, because they refused to deny their faith!
28. I remember the story of one dear Armenian Orthodox Christian. It was called the Armenian Orthodox Church & he was a priest of the Orthodox. When they came to him he rose up & said, "Why should I deny Christ? He's never denied me!" And they decapitated him!
29. So some of those Christians could remember even the terrible Armenian massacre, & they had walked across the desert to escape. Dear Avak, whom you've heard me speak of many times, was actually born in Tehran, Iran, as many of them fled there. At that time, for some reason they were accepting the Armenians & were at peace with them, so he was born there.
30. But this Armenian church I was telling you about, they were quite strict in many ways, the women sat on one side of the church, the men on the other. I'll never forget when I came back there later for a meeting. It's quite common with me when I sit in a chair, sometimes I'll throw my arm up like this. So I did, & it so happened my wife was sitting there, & I had one of the old ladies accuse me afterwards of putting my arm around my wife in church! I said I didn't even realise it, I just threw my arm up along the back of the bench. I wasn't putting my arm around her, I didn't realise it if I was. She said, "I know! I saw you! You touched her!" So they were pretty strict!
31. And one very strict custom they had, as it is in many other Oriental cultures, that the woman must have a dowry to marry. In some cultures, like African cultures, the men buy the wives & have to get up a good sum or a number of cows or sheep or goats or something to purchase a wife. But it seems that it might have been a little difficult in some of the Oriental cultures, maybe they had too many women & they were having trouble getting rid of their daughters. So it was the custom for the girl to have a very large dowry, if she had a rich father.
32. So I'll never forget in that same church, when I was still single, we were going home from church one Sunday afternoon after the morning service we'd held there. And this lovely girl, a very beautiful girl, was the granddaughter of the original pastor of the church whose son was now the pastor, but he was the old Patriarch of the whole tribe, Papa Moomjian they called him. I started to say he looked a little bit like me, but he was really a Patriarch in the old tribal sense, very dignified, not as crazy as I am sometimes, but very dignified & he was the judge & everything of his people, settled their disputes, as well as being their pastor. So this girl was his granddaughter, the daughter of the one who was now pastor of the church.
33. So we were going home to dinner with them, & I had been accustomed to being like a gentleman to a lady. I was taught by my Mother you always open doors for ladies & you closed doors for ladies & you helped them on with their coats, you acted like a gentleman. I don't think most young people seem to know anything about that culture, it's far gone now. But I was raised that way, to be a gentleman & try to treat a lady like a lady!
34. So we invited them to ride with us in our car. We had a nice car, my Mother liked big cars. Heavy cars do ride better & we always got old ones, secondhand, & that way they always sell cheaper. Normally poor people can't afford to run them because they use a lot of gas. But she said she had to have it for her back which was still sensitive, etc. So we had this real nice car & we invited them to ride home with us to their home. I think I was about 22 or 23.
35. I was an old bachelor by the time I got married at 25! I lasted a long time! Mama was an old maid, she was 23! That's at least what we used to call them. Nowadays they try to keep them from marrying as long as they can & baby them clear up into their 20s until they get through college & graduate! Then they send them for post-graduate courses & degrees & doctorates & everything else to try to keep them out of the rest of the World & in the safety of the family & the college & schools as long as they can, till by the time they get through with their education, they don't know how to do a thing for themselves! They've had a lot of head-stuffing & no practical knowledge like David here has.
36. When I was even in junior high school they made fun of the guys who took manual training or mechanical drawing or things like that. They were considered the serfs, the menial common people, not like the intelligentsia & upper class. They were considered lower class, only Mexicans & Cubans took courses like that, etc.
37. Her name almost came to me, a beautiful name, it was the name of a flower.--Jasmine! (To Hope:) You started to say it! She's psychic! Did you notice she said it almost as soon as I did?
38. Jasmine, that was her name! Here's Grandpa telling his long stories. I'm kind of working in some illustrations of cultures of different kinds & when they consider their children mature. Well, she was in her 20s & they were beginning to worry a little bit about her getting married. She was a very charming, beautiful girl & could play the piano almost professionally, just beautifully for the church services! And oh my, my Mother, I think she was pretty well sort of taken with the girl. We were looking for a pianist to go with us in evangelistic work, and of course I was a singer & I could marry no one else but a good pianist & we had to make a good evangelistic team, so it looked good!
39. So we came out of the church & I flung open the front door of the car. According to American culture, of course the young people sit together & the old folks sit together, so I invited her to get in the front seat alongside me, the driver. Well, it was a big seat, we weren't cuddling up or anything, it was all very formal. I just invited her to get in the front seat with me. And before the afternoon was over, dear Papa Moomjian was explaining & telling my Mother the girl's dowry & how much money she had & what properties she owned & how valuable she was & that it would make a very good match! My Mother said, "I certainly think she's a wonderful girl & all that, but I haven't heard anything from David that he really is that seriously interested." But Papa Moomjian said, "Well, he invited her to sit beside him in the front seat of the car!" You didn't do that in their culture unless it was something serious! Well, we have a lot more freedom in our culture, thank the Lord!
WHY JESUS DIDN'T LEAVE HOME TILL HE WAS 30!
40. But oddly enough, in the Jewish culture, although a boy became a man at an early age, he was still considered under the jurisdiction of his parents & was responsible to them to support them or live with them, obey them, not make any decisions on his own except with their consent, & definitely not to even leave home until he was 30 years of age!
41. This is why Jesus did not begin his ministry until he was 30 years of age! He was allowed to act as an adult, & as you recall, He was 12 years of age when He was reasoning with the doctors of the law in the Temple & said, "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?"--Luke 2:49. He was showing the characteristics of a full-grown adult who had responsibilities, & yet He submitted to them as His parents & they raised Him in the nurture & admonition of the Lord until he was 30 years of age. He worked as a carpenter with His father & never left home.
42. Well, thank the Lord, you don't have to look forward to that, Son, because the Lord will come before you get to be 30 & you don't have to worry about having to support your poor old mother & father & put up with them for so long. However, in our culture, of course, we like to live together, all ages, for many years. Some of you here have been with us for a long long time.
BAR MITZVAHS!
43. So, such is the Jewish culture & that's where they get this little ceremony. We're not going to have an actual Bar Mitzvah here tonight. The Bar Mitzvah usually begins with a Jewish synagogue service in which the boy is allowed to sit on the ground floor with the men for the first time.--In the Orthodox synagogue, that is, not the Reform; Reform are just like modern churches. But the Orthodox synagogues are usually hexagonal in shape. The pulpit & the rostrum are right in the middle & the men sit on the ground floor all around, whereas the women & the children are not allowed on the ground floor but must stay in the balconies above.
44. But for the first time when the boy reaches 12, he is invited to join the men on the ground floor & also then invited to be the one who reads the Scripture for that particular service. He's invited to the rostrum, opens the book & is permitted to read the Scripture. And of course the Orthodox services are almost entirely in Hebrew. He has by this time been taught to read Hebrew fluently & to be able to read the Scriptures publicly at his special Bar Mitzvah service. And afterwards they have a reception, a really terrific party in which everybody eats it up & drinks it up, has a high time & gives him a lot of presents, usually money, that which Jews value the most! And of course the richest family, to show how rich they are & what status they have, they hand him a big check. (To David:) Sorry, buddy!
WHAT CAN YOU GIVE THE MAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING?
45. What do you need money for anyhow, Honey, you've got everything you need! You never go shopping. None of us except our shoppers ever go shopping or ever buy anything, therefore we don't have any money. It's not because we're poor, we just don't need money! PTL? All of our needs are supplied. Why should we give each other anything on Christmas, for one thing, when nobody needs anything? We've all got everything we need & everything we want!--Your medical expenses, every kind of expense is taken care of. We go to the dentist & we buy glasses & even medicine occasionally if you think it will do you any good. Everything's taken care of! What kind of a job could you have better than that? You don't have any salary, but you get all of your expenses, all your needs.
46. "My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory!" (Phil.4:19)--And even your wants! We have all our needs, we have tape recorders & videos! What has the World got that we haven't already got? The Lord is very good to His children. "Seek first the Kingdom of God & His righteousness & all these other things shall be added unto you!"--Mat.6:33. Amen? TTL!
47. Anyway, I was thinking about David & what can you give the man who has everything? We've already given him autographed Bibles & books (MOPs, DBs, DMs, GIL, GIF, etc.) & all kinds of things. There just really is nothing that he doesn't have, that he needs or even wants. Can you think of anything? There used to be a little song in which the little girl said, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!" She must have been about the age of some of our younger children here that are losing their baby teeth. How many is it you have that are getting loose? (Techi: Two!) It shows you're growing up! Isn't she dressed up cute tonight in that old-fashioned lavender & old lace? Women used to wear those beautiful old fashioned dresses with high collars when I was a kid & I think they really make them look like queens, really beautiful!
RUDYARD KIPLING'S POEM "IF!"
48. So in thinking about David becoming a man, I thought of a famous poem that's always been one of my favourites. It hung on our wall at home, a beautiful poem by a very famous poet & writer about the turn of the century. There was an old joke that was told about him back in those days when it meant something--now it wouldn't mean a thing because nobody would probably even remember his name! They'll know all about their most favourite TV actors & musicians & all that, but young people today don't read much any more, so they don't know much about classical literature. And this man was considered one of the most famous of the classical writers, writers of novels & historical novels when I was young & before my time, a famous British writer who spent a great deal of time in India & wrote a lot about the colonial period of India under the British. You might find some of his books very interesting if you had time to read them.
49. So typical of Americans' lack of knowledge & English culture, the story goes that an Englishman was at this social gathering trying to make conversation with the American, & he said to him, "Do you like Kipling?" The American answered, "I don't know, I never kippled!" That's about how dumb the Americans are about literature nowadays, especially old English literature!
50. His full name was Rudyard Kipling & he was a famous poet & writer, & this poem hung on the wall of my parents' room. You really memorise things when you're a kid, & I remember standing there looking at that poem many times & reading it till I virtually had it memorised, & I wondered what some of the things meant. Now, of course, I know far better & understand far better what he was talking about.
51. His writings & his poems were sometimes rather sad because they dealt with the real problems of people & cultures, like the things Charles Dickens wrote about--the sad economic situation of the British & the London poor in his day & that sort of thing. Kipling was a very realistic writer, & he wrote not just light frivolous stuff, but deep heavy serious stuff. And this poem always struck me, because it ends with something that will be very significant for David today.
52. Now I don't necessarily agree with every little bit of it, & it's not necessarily appropriate & effective in all of these things for us, but most of it is certainly true & very apropos for thinking about yourself. To me it was a great poem & I still think it's a great poem.--Rudyard Kipling's "If":
"If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs & blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait & not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise,
If you can dream--& not make dreams your master,
If you can think--& not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with triumph & disaster,
And treat those two impostors just the same;
(--Those two particular lines right there are what stuck with me & I never forgot those!)
"If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
(--Boy, we know what that is, don't we?)
"Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken
And stoop & build them up with worn out tools.
(--I think you can understand that, can't you? You haven't had things like that happen to you yet, but being a man that works with tools, if you've worked hard on something & it breaks, then you've got to do it all over again. He's applying it to his life & yours.)
"If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-&-toss,
(--It's not actually talking about gambling, but it's about ventures.)
"And lose, but start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart & nerve & sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on';
(--It's talking about old age now, you young folks don't know anything about that, but I do. Of course, we have the Lord, don't misunderstand me, & I'll get to that in a minute.)
"If you can talk with crowds & keep your virtue,
(--Very few politicians have much virtue because they try to please everybody; therefore they become liars, deceivers & experts in broken promises etc.)
"Or walk with kings but lose not the common touch
If neither foes nor loving friends can move you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
(--That's another line that I never forgot.--The one about the tools & the one about the minute.)
"With sixty seconds worth of distance run--
(--Make every second count!)
Yours is the Earth & everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!"
53. That poem always stuck with me & struck me as being very meaningful! But there is another version, what we call a parody, in which someone wrote the Christian answer to that poem. These are all, by the way, in our Good Thots book! It was called the "Anecdote Book," but I thought that was too big a word for most people. I don't really know what an anecdote is myself! Maybe it's somebody who dotes on antics, I don't know! But here's a Christian's parody, meaning a sort of paraphrasing of Rudyard Kipling's famous "If," & this is far more appropriate for you, Son, & for all of us for that matter:
"If you can trust when everyone about you
Is doubting Him, proclaiming Him untrue;
If you can hope in Christ, tho' all forsake you
And say 'tis not the thing for you to do;"
(--Thank the Lord, you children haven't had to be out much in the World yet & have to deal with people like that. You're amongst friends & family, all who love you & believe in the Lord & help sustain your faith. But the day will come!)
"If you can wait on God, nor wish to hurry,
Or, being greatly used, keep humble still;
Or if you're tested, still refuse to worry,
And so remain within His sovereign Will;
If you can say, 'tis well, when sorrow greets you,
And death has taken those you hold most dear."
54. You can be thankful we haven't had any great personal losses very close to us in our Family. It's amazing! We have amazing vital statistics in our Family! According to the standards used by the System in determining certain vital statistics, such as birth rate, death rate, etc.--someone figured this out for us one time--we have the highest birth rate & the lowest death rate of any nation on Earth!--By actual System type of statistics & analysation! So thank the Lord! But you've not had any deaths, really, except for the death of some pets, which is an experience I think the Lord allows children to go through to prepare them for even the death of loved ones.
"If you can smile when adverse trials meet you,
And be content e'en tho' your lot be drear;
If you can be reviled & never murmur,
Or being tempted, not give way to sin;
If you fight for right & stand the firmer,
Or lose the battle when you ought to win--
If you can really long for His appearing,
And therefore set your heart on things Above;
If you can speak for Christ in spite of sneering,
(--Others sneering at you)
Or to the most unlovely one show love;
If you can hear the call of God to labour,
And answer, 'Yes', in yieldedness & trust,
And go to tell the story of the Saviour,
To souls in darkness o'er the desert dust;
(--Thank God this person apparently knew the Lord & was not just a church sitter but a real worker!)
"If you can pray when Satan's darts are strongest,
And take the road of faith instead of sight;
Or walk with God, e'en tho' His way be longest,
And swerve not to the left nor to the right;
If you desire Himself alone to fill you,
For Him alone you care to live & be;
Then 'tis not you, but Christ Who dwelleth in you,
And that, O man of God, is victory!"
55. Thank the Lord! Praise the Lord! That'll be in your {\ul \i Good Thots} book when you get it one of these days, full of beautiful thoughts & poems! We don't want you to be ignorant of a little bit of culture & literature, so we've tried to broaden your education a little bit by not having you be taught only by one man; of course you're taught by the Lord & His Word, but there have been many men of God with many great thoughts & quotes which I think you'll find very inspiring in this little book. (To Mama:) I put in a plug for your new pub!
ORDINATION SERVICES--LYLE RADER STORY!
56. But then as I thought, what can I give the man who has everything, I thought of the Scriptures that I always read when ordaining ministers. I've married many many people, not only my own wives, but many couples! And also I've ordained many preachers to the Gospel, which was considered a very necessary formal service in my denomination in those days, & even later in the Soul Clinic we had very serious ordination services in which they were ordained, commissioned in other words. "Ordained" literally means ordered, commanded to preach the Gospel.
57. But the church world has pretty much made it a formal ceremony. Like in the marriage ceremony, "I now pronounce you man & wife," they now pronounce you a preacher of the Gospel. You go through a formal ceremony in which you always try to get the biggest preachers in your area to come & attend, the District Superintendent or the Bishop or Cardinals or whatever kind of religion you're in. All the biggest bigshots you can possibly have in your ordination service makes your status kind of go up, you know.
58. I'm always reminded of the ordination service of a young man named Carl Justus.--A fine young man who had been led to the Lord in this ministry we were in at the Wheeling Gospel Tabernacle. He'd come to know the Lord & then wanted to serve the Lord & become a minister of the Gospel, so they invited him to be ordained there under my Mother & L.P. Lehman, the local pastor, & the local Presbyterian bishop & several other outstanding prelates of various kinds. The more big preachers you could have, the better!
59. They'd also invited Lyle Rader, who was one of Paul Rader's brothers. I think there were five boys all together, all of them preachers in the Rader family. Paul Rader became the most famous, but Lyle was one, Luke was one & I've forgotten the others. But Lyle Rader was invited because he happened to be in the area, & he was also a famous preacher. And at the end of the ordination service they passed around the ordination certificate which says that "this man's been ordained to be a minister of the Gospel, accept him into your fellowship" & all this sort of thing. And at the end was a whole bunch of lines for all the famous preachers who were there to sign, to show that they were in agreement & recommending you as a preacher.
60. So these bigshots all signed it & put their string of degrees behind their name. The Presbyterian Bishop had the longest string of degrees, & poor Lyle Rader, he'd never been anything but to Bible school, & he was the next to sign underneath this Bishop & his big string of degrees. Some of you remember the story. So he signed his name, Lyle Rader, & then he put this long string of letters after his name. The Bishop who'd just gotten through signing it looked at that & said, "Reverend Rader, I never knew you had so many degrees, in fact I don't even recognise these degrees!" He said, "Well, they're the only ones I've got, & what they mean is this." He'd written, "O.A.S.S.B.G.H.T.Y.J.P.T.L." Now you're beginning to suspect what it was!: "Only a sinner saved by grace, Hallelujah, thank You Jesus, praise the Lord!" I guess we can all claim those degrees!
THE NUMBER 13!
61. Anyhow, I wanted to read you a little Scripture, Son, to start you on your way for your 13th year! This is your lucky year! I don't know why 13 is supposed to be an unlucky number. Jesus had 13 disciples, believe it or not, & there were actually 13 Tribes of Israel.
62. 13 is also the number in a baker's dozen! The way they got that was in past days in a certain country the bakers had gotten to cheating, & when you asked for a dozen loaves, they'd quick throw'm all in the sack & you didn't get to count'm, & you'd get home & find you were maybe one loaf short! So the king decreed that from now on a "baker's dozen," as they called it, should consist of 13 loaves of bread, so that when you asked for a dozen loaves, you were sure to get at least 12, even if they cheated you out of one!
63. So I don't know why people think 13 is a bad number, because there are a lot of very important 13s in the World! And 13 is your first teen age. Ten, eleven, twelve are considered the subteen ages, just below teen, but when you get to that third year after ten it's thirteen. So you're now beginning the first day of your 13th year.
OUR BEAUTIFUL WOMEN!
64. I sometimes think we don't give due credit to most of us, because you're all about nine months older than your recognised Western way of counting ages. Why don't we give credit for the nine months you survived in your mother's womb, like the Chinese do? I hear when the Chinese are figuring their astrological signs they count from the day you were conceived & the nine months you spent in your mother's womb, so that you're given credit for nine more months age. Of course, maybe you older women might not like that. Of course, we don't have any older women here! They used to say after they passed 40 the women stopped counting.
65. Well, I look at you girls & you're actually getting more beautiful!--Gorgeous! I get thousands of beautiful photos from women all over the World, gorgeous, & I stick them up all around me in order to inspire me & realise that somebody loves me besides the Lord. That's one sure way to get your picture up in my art gallery--in my Gallery! If you're one of the gals that sends me your nudie cutie, you'll get a place in my Gallery! They really inspire me!
66. And it's amazing to me how many of these girls we've known for years have sent me pictures recently & they're more beautiful than they ever were! They're now up in their 30s & getting to almost 40 & they are not growing old at all! They're actually getting more beautiful, & all of them are still slim & trim!--Not too slim, we like curves! I'd rather have 200 pounds of curves than a hundred pounds of nerves! (Silence!) What happened to that one? It didn't go over! Maybe it's because that much poundage of curves is not popular in our Family!
67. Some people used to accuse a friend of mine of being fat. I said, "She's not fat, she's just pleasingly plump!" My Mother said she wouldn't trust a skinny cook!--Because to be a good cook, she said you had to like to eat! I think sometimes she was excusing herself for being plump! But she was a good cook, I'll tell you!
68. Anyhow, our women are really getting more beautiful all the time! I haven't seen any of them actually beginning to look like they were getting old or showing age, really. You're all actually getting more beautiful than you were when we first met you & some of you were only teenagers. You're getting more of the light of the Lord & wisdom & you look more intelligent & you've learned more, you're wiser. I mean, we have the most beautiful women in the World! I get these pictures from all over the World, & they are absolutely gorgeous!
69. Most of our Family women, I guess maybe it's our dietary laws or our get-outs or our rules on good living, etc. that really help to keep you young & beautiful with gorgeous faces as well as bodies! So thank the Lord! Well, I'd better not get on sex or I'll never get off of her, I mean off of it! How did I get so far afield from an ordination service!
PAUL'S CHARGE!
70. So you're beginning your 13th year, God bless you, & these are the Scriptures that I always read in an ordination service, & you couldn't find anything better than Paul the old Apostle charging his spiritual son Timothy with the responsibility of going out to be a pastor on his own. He'd been travelling around with Paul for years, & now that the churches were getting so numerous, there was a shortage of pastors & he needed to leave Timothy with some of the churches to oversee them.
71. So he charged him--it doesn't mean like you use a credit card to charge things--but it means he commanded him, he ordered him, or as they say, ordained him, to listen to his advice & counsel, as the old man to the young man who was now to become not just Paul's apprentice & servant & student, but a full-fledged minister of the Gospel on his own & a pastor responsible not only for just one church but for several churches. So this is called "Paul's Charge!"--Not the "Charge of the Light Brigade," he had nothing to do with that kind of charge--but in a way, you'll go charging out of here to preach the Gospel some day!
72. Paul is commanding him & instructing him to listen to this sound advice if he's going to now have the responsibility of many souls of a number of churches in his care. And these are the Scriptures I read at ordination services many times in ordaining young men to preach the Gospel.
73. Some of our boys went through an ordination with Fred Jordan on television! He ordained about 100 of them at one time to make a big splash & a big show of how many preachers he ordained. They were all our folks, he had virtually nothing to do with it. Well, he did it for a good purpose too, to try to keep them out of the Vietnamese War, so that they'd get a deferment, & thank God, none of our boys ever had to go that I know of. Of course, in a few cases they wouldn't recognise the ordination because we were not some big well-known denomination. [DELETED]
74. Dear Big Josh fought induction for a long time & finally went to court & everything, but he had to go in. They had the FBI after him. But he was only in for one Summer, I think, & in a few months the Lord had him right back out again! All our legal finagling & everything else didn't work, but when all else failed we finally really prayed & the Lord got him out, like He did me, thank the Lord!
75. Well, I'll try to read these Scriptures rapidly & you try to listen to them. They're all in 1st & 2nd Timothy. Praise the Lord? And I couldn't give you a better charge. That word has a lot of meanings! You really get "charged up" by some things, like a battery, so that's considered that kind of a charge. These Scriptures will really charge you!
BEGINS READING FROM THE BOOK OF TIMOTHY!
76. "This charge I commit unto thee, Son, according to the prophecies which went before on thee"--of which we've had quite a few--"that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; holding faith, & a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck."--1Tim.1:18,19. But you are to hold faith & a good conscience, praise the Lord!
77. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the Latter Times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, & doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, & commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe & know the truth. For every creature of God is good & nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving."--1Tim.4:1-4.
78. I can remember my Father saying that at the table many times. When we kids didn't like something to eat he'd say, "In all things give thanks, for every creature of God is good & nothing to be refused, if it be received with the word of thanksgiving & prayer!" So it didn't matter what it was, we had to eat it! He was pretty strict about that. Well, we recommend that you don't eat unclean foods, & science has even proven they're unclean foods, all this so-called seafood which are not fish, all kinds of monsters that eat garbage & whatnot in the ocean to try to get rid of pollution, & people eat'm & get polluted with terrible scourges of cholera & typhus & typhoid fever & all kinds of things caused by polluted seafood, which God never intended for you to eat, & also various other kinds of unclean animals.
79. But when the pinch comes & you've got to eat it--especially if you're a guest in a house & that sort of thing--just ask the Lord to sanctify it & purify it so as not to offend your hosts. I lost a good friend once by not eating what he cooked. God's Word even says not to worry about things offered to idols in what was called the "shambles," or in other words, the butcheries of animals offered to heathen gods. He said don't worry about it, just pray over it!--1Cor.10:25.
80. I'll tell you, out in evangelistic work we ate all kinds of things that people fed us, & we couldn't just sit there & turn up our noses at it, or it would have been a very insulting ungrateful thing to do, discourteous to our hosts. We had to eat it whether we liked it or not, whether it was unclean or not. We just had to really pray silently, "Lord, sanctify it & purify it!" "For it is sanctified by the Word of God & prayer."--1Tim.4:5. Praise God? So if for some reason you have to eat unclean food some time, just really pray over it!
81. "If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith & of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained."--1Tim.4:6. PTL! "But refuse profane & vain babblings." Oh, I was off on the wrong verse, that's another one. This one says, "But refuse profane & old wives' fables." There's another one that says "the profane & vain babblings of science falsely so-called."--1Tim.6:20. Old wives' fables, boy, there are all kinds of old superstitions people have.--Like the way I told you my little buddy & I tried to get rid of our warts when I was a little boy. It had something to do with a rat & a frog & a few other things & throwing them over your left shoulder at midnight on a moonlit night!
82. "But exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, & of that which is to come." Your get-out & good exercise is good for this life now, but Godliness profits to Life Eternal! "This is a faithful saying & worthy of all acceptation. For therefore we both labour & suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe. These things command & teach. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading"--that's one thing our children sure do--"to exhortation, to doctrine."--Doctrine means teaching.
83. "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery."--That doesn't make us Presbyterians! "Presbytery" means the local church in this case. "Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, & unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, & them that hear thee."--1Tim.4:7-16.
84. "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear: but of power, & of love, & of a sound mind." Apparently Timothy was a rather shy, timid boy & Paul had to encourage him to be strong in the Lord. "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, & called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His Own purpose & grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the World began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who hath abolished death & hath brought life & immortality to light through the Gospel. Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, & an apostle, & a teacher of the Gentiles."--2Tim.1:6-11.
85. Boy, Paul had several ministries! He was a preacher, mostly an evangelist, & he was an apostle, which literally means a missionary. Apostle comes from the word "apostolos," meaning a messenger, someone sent with a message to some other place, which means missionaries. And he was a teacher! He was all of those things, right? You can have several ministries!
86. "For the which cause I also suffer these things: Nevertheless I am not ashamed: For I know Whom I have believed, & am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day. Hold fast the form of sound words which thou has heard of me in faith & love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us."--2Tim.1:12-14.
87. "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." That's where we get our slogan: Teach others to teach others to teach others! There it is right there in that one verse. "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. For no man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him Who hath chosen him to be a soldier."--2Tim.2:2-4.
88. Now that doesn't mean that we don't have to live & eat & some have to earn a living. We have all kinds of work around here just to exist. You've seen me helping to supervise the boys repairing all kinds of things that are necessary for our survival. It doesn't mean that we are only just to preach the Gospel & only just to witness all the time. Mothers have meals to cook & dishes to wash--our men too in this Family --& children to bear & take care of as well as our men. We have all kinds of the physical necessities of this life to take care of besides preaching the Gospel, so that it depends on your calling. "Let every man & woman abide in the calling wherein ye are called."--1Cor.7:20. Whatever your job is, it's a part of the ministry, & you're helping to minister the Gospel to others even in faraway lands by helping to make this Home workable & productive!
89. You have a share in their efforts & the souls they win just as much as if you were there winning them yourself! So that was one of the earliest rules of the Lord, in fact King David made it, inspired by the Lord, that "Those that stand by the stuff shall receive equally with those that go forth to the battle."--1Sam.30:24. Half the people had to stay home & take care of things at home, hold the fort, while half of them went out to the battle to fight the enemy, like our witnesses on the front lines. But those who stay by the stuff & furnish the ammunition & make it possible for them to be out there, are going to receive equally with them & share their reward with them, praise the Lord! I've got one or two more little verses here to read to you--can you stand a few more? (Fam: Yes Sir!)
90. "If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: If we deny Him, He also will deny us: If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself. Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers."--2Tim.2:12,14.
JIMMY SWAGGART--"SUBVERTING OF THE HEARERS!"
91. Oh, I saw a video of one of the greatest preachers of the Gospel of this day, Jimmy Swaggart, head of the Assemblies of God, a marvellous evangelist! When he's speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he's a tremendous evangelist, powerful in witnessing & winning souls. But on this video we saw of him, I don't know whether his denomination forced him to it or I wouldn't be surprised if some of the big-shots in his denomination demanded also to be heard, saying, "Art thou alone a prophet? Are we not also prophets?"--And probably demanded to share the program with him! And now it's a horrible mess of argument & splitting hairs over doctrine between these other preachers & Bible college presidents & all that kind of stuff. It is a mess! (Maria: They outright accuse each other, "That's not Scriptural! You're not Scriptural!")--Doing exactly what the Scripture forbids! It says, "Shun profane & vain babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness, & their word will eat as doth a cancer."--2Tim.2:16-17. Pitiful!
92. The Scripture says, "Strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers!"--2Tim.2:14. I imagine a sinner tuning into his show must absolutely be sick & disgusted: "Here's a bunch of Christians arguing again about doctrines that I don't even understand what they're talking about anyhow!"--So click, they switch to something else. Whereas he was a beautiful singer & composer & pianist, & to hear him sing some of those Spirit-inspired songs as he plays the piano will move you to tears, beautiful, terrific, touch hearts!--And his message, preaching the Gospel & his calling as an evangelist. And all of a sudden he's trying to be a teacher, trying to measure up to some of these guys with a string of degrees & a lot of education & all that kind of stuff, & it has just wrecked & ruined his program! So don't let it get you!
EVERYBODY'S IMPORTANT!
93. "But study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth! But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver," don't forget that, "but also of wood & of earth; some to honour, & some to dishonour."--2Tim.2:15, 20. I dwelt on this in the famous Letter, "I Am a Toilet" (ML #264). Just about the most important vessel in the whole house is the lowliest. People are almost ashamed to talk about it, but the most absolutely necessary vessel in the entire house is the toilet!
94. So in a great house there are many vessels: Some beautiful vases are set on the mantlepiece, Cloissone & whatnot, & meant to be admired as a decoration, & that's all they're good for is a decoration. But some of the most useful vessels are out there in the kitchen, pots, pans & dishes! They may not be the most beautiful, but they're the most useful!
95. So don't ever expect everybody to be the same. Appreciate everybody's worth, whatever they are, whatever they do. Everybody is important & essential to the Kingdom of God, whatever they do, whatever their job is, however it may be looked down upon by some--mopping floors, cleaning toilets, washing dishes. Nobody really necessarily enjoys those things unless you have the right spirit & you realise you're really cleaning things up to make your house more liveable & cleaner & sanitary!
96. My first jobs in my family as a little boy were cleaning jobs. My Mother couldn't afford a lot of help, so as soon as I got old enough to be able to, I would help her clean house, make beds, wash dishes, etc. I've been amazed how much I must have learned about cooking from her as I helped her cook & prepare meals. And as I grew older, well, even then my job was emptying all the wastebaskets & burning the trash, also to clean the yard & water the lawn & pick up trash.
97. I was always inventing things to make it easier, because I was a little lazy! I got tired of bending over picking up trash so I saw a man in the park one day who had a pointed stick with a nail on the end & he was just punching pieces of trash like that, & then he'd pick up his stick & pull'm off into this bag he was wearing, his trash bag. He was really going along doing it fast & I thought, "Boy, that's a great idea!" So I went home & got myself a stick & I hammered a nail into the end of it, then I took a file & I filed off the head to a sharp point.--I would've cut it off if I'd had the right tools. Then I went around the yard with a trash basket picking up pieces of trash without having to bend over & pick them up by hand. I didn't have to touch the dirty stuff. So I was already inventing things to make life easier!
98. There are all kinds of people in the World, & there are all kinds of people in the Family, but everybody's important whatever job you do! PTL! "But if a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified & meet for the master's use, & prepared unto every good work." --Whatever the job is.--2Tim.2:21.
WHAT IS LUST?
99. "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart."--2Tim.2:22. What is lust? The first thing that comes to most people's minds because of church training & worldly ideas, is sex! That "awful worst of all sins"--sex! My God, I've seen people who lust after food, those fat slobs in the U.S.A. There are some politicians who lust after power! There are people who lust after a lot of different things. Some people lust after sleep!
100. What is lust?--It's an over-indulgence, overly craving something! Did you know that dear Mama here used to have a terrible lust? She was guilty of an awful lust --sweets!--And she still has a temptation along that line. She used to eat candy & sweets & when she first came & I first met her she was all broken out with acne on her face, had had it all her life & couldn't get rid of it! She had a terrible complexion from eating all these sweets. And when I began to get authority over her I told her, "I'm going to take you off of sweets & greasy foods & all these things you've been eating that cause that! It's your diet that's causing it!" She had tried make-up & ointments & oils & whatnot, like maybe some of you have tried, but all you need to do is just correct your diet & stop eating sweets & unclean foods & foods that are not good for you & your complexion will clear up!--With prayer!
101. That's another thing about our people, notice what beautiful complexions they have! Hardly a single person around has a bunch of pimples or acne. A few of you have been afflicted with boils that we've fought & prayed for & the Lord has cured you of, but I don't know what you're doing that gets them back again. You'll have to ask the Lord to deliver you. I don't know if it's your diet or maybe eating too much or what, but the Lord is able to deliver! PTL! I have a little problem once in awhile when I get to kissing you girls too much! I don't know whether I got my lips chapped or what, but my lip got sore. But most of us are beautiful with good complexions because we eat right & live right!
CONTINUES READING 2nd TIMOTHY!
102. "But foolishness..." We're all inclined to be a little foolish sometimes, & silly, even me. I've sung some stupid songs & told some crazy jokes to my children that my brother brought home from college when I was young, just because I knew they'd get a laugh. But then I was sorry afterwards because they've never forgotten'm & they can sing them back to me yet! Lord forgive me!
103. "But foolish & unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes."--2Tim.2:23. I used to get so mad about some of the questions these people sent in when we had the "Questions & Answers" column. I said, "From now on you just tell them to read the answers in the Letters! They'll find the answers to everything right there, just tell'm to read'm!"
104. I used to have the same trouble in high school. The guys that didn't want to read the chapter would come the next day & at recitation they'd ask me the questions so they could take a shortcut & get the answers without having to read the assignment. They wanted me to be the answer man! I'd just tell'm, "Listen, you read the chapter & that's where the answers are! You dig'm up, that's your job! It's not my job to just give you all the answers the easy way."
105. "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient. In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves." Some people get all upset & argue & whatnot, & they're actually hurting themselves. "If God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the Truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. Yea, & all that will live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."--2Tim.2:24-26; 3:12.
106. "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned & hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; & that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto Salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."--2Tim.3:14,15. These kids sitting on this front seat here are smarter than most college presidents, professors, politicians & so-called great men, presidents, senators, you name it!--Because they have the wisdom of the Lord & the knowledge of the Scriptures! They know more & are smarter about what really counts, from the oldest to the youngest, including all of you! PTL!
107. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."--2Tim.3:16. All Scripture has some use for something, even some of that Old Testament stuff. If nothing else, but to be like the card I sent my brother once--shame on me--but at that time he was so much that way. It said on the front, "You're not entirely useless..." He deserted the Lord & the Lord's work & was out in education & worldliness. And you opened the card & it said, "You make a dandy bad example!"
108. Those were the days when I was pretty holy & self-righteous & condemning him for not serving the Lord. Here I was just a teenager serving the Lord, & here he was a college professor into all the worldliness & everything when he should have been a preacher of the Gospel but got away from the Lord. Well, he suffered for it & is still suffering for it today. Thank the Lord he now appreciates what we're doing & loves us & praises us. He really knows we're doing a great work! PTL!
109. "That the man of God"--today you're a man, my Son--"may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."--2Tim.3:17. You say, "But Dad, I thought you said nobody's perfect!" Well, maybe we can say you try to be perfect. It says "that the man of God may be perfect."
110. "I charge thee therefore before God, & the Lord Jesus Christ Who shall judge the quick & the dead at His appearing & His Kingdom: Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season."--2Tim.4:1,2. If you don't know the right time to do it, do it anyhow! That used to be my motto! I tried to preach the Gospel at the right time, but if I wasn't sure I was doing it at the right time, it's better to do it even if it's the wrong time than not at all!
111. "Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering & doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears."--2Tim.4:2-4. It doesn't mean that the teachers have itching ears. There's a comma there, meaning they heap to themselves the kind of teachers they want to listen to, who teach them the kind of things they want to hear, not what they don't want to hear. That's one reason they threw me out of my church, I preached things they needed to hear, but they didn't want to hear it! "And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
112. "But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand."--2Tim.4:5-6. You say, "Dad, I thought you were going to live for 2, 3, 4 or maybe more years!" Well, after you've lived 68 years, that's not far away! You kids think of a few years as being a long time, but I'm amazed how fast the days go by!
DAVID'S ORDINATION ACCEPTANCE SPEECH!
113. Okay, we're almost done! Just a few more verses: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith!"--2Tim.4:7. Sometimes I feel like, "Well, Lord, what else can I do? I've done everything I can think of, I've written everything I can think of!" I've told you at New Years that I had a new project, the idea I was toying with of writing more about the past, but I've been so busy with the present that I haven't had time to even think about the past! So when that will ever happen, if ever, I don't know!
114. But "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day." Mine probably won't even be as big as yours, because you did all the work. "And not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing!"--2Tim.4:8. PTL! That means all of you, thank the Lord!
115. Oh my, as usual, Grandpa took all the time, but David has a little something he wants to read to you. So how about it? Let's have the candidate arise & come forward for his ordination acceptance speech! PTL! Maybe we'll start calling this an Ordination Service when our kids get to be 12, instead of Bar Mitzvah. They're official ministers of the Gospel!
116. (David: TYJ! TYL! Amen, Lord Jesus, help me now as I give this little speech or talk, Lord. Please help me to give it right, Lord, & to say what I've learned in this past year, Lord, in Jesus' name. In thinking & praying about my 12th birthday, I think the Lord has really been teaching me to grow up & be more of an adult this past year & to put away childish things, especially in the areas of responsibility, as that is one thing that an adult must be, is responsible. I have been learning responsibility in my jobs & things that people have told me to do, to carry through on a job & not do it halfway.
117. (I learned that now that I'm 12, the Lord expects me to be more mature, like 1Corinthians 13:11: "When I was a child I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man I put away childish things." I saw that "childish things" doesn't only mean material things like toys, but it also means more spiritual things, such as foolishness & shallowness & daydreaming, as those are childish things too & I need to stop them because they slow me down from doing what Jesus wants me to do & learning what He wants me to learn.
118. (The Lord & others have been showing me that I am also more accountable now since I'm supposed to have learned the basic lessons by now. But that, by no means, means that I've become an instant adult overnight, I've only just started to learn bigger, more adult lessons. But I'm very thankful that I've come this far, & hopefully, & by faith, have learned the smaller yet important lessons, so now the Lord can start teaching me bigger & more adult lessons so I can be an even more useful & obedient soldier for Jesus.
119. (One other important lesson I learned was the importance of the Word, as that is the secret & the answer to everything! As I get older I really see the Word's importance, because I have to get my lessons from the Lord, & a lot of times through His Word. So if I don't stay close to His Word, then how can I learn the lessons the Lord is trying to teach me? I really do thank the Lord for teaching me these important lessons so I can go on to greater lessons & greater victories. TYJ!
120. (My prayer is that I can be what Jesus wants me to be this year & follow Him closely; also, that I can be yielded to the Lord & my leaders & be an obedient soldier for Him. My verse is 2nd Timothy 2:15: "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.") Amen! PTL! TYJ!
121. Well, there's Reverend David's first sermon!--Very well-written for a newly-ordained preacher! Pleased to meet you! (Shakes hands!) TYL! Well, he is! He's had a better Bible education & a better spiritual education than most ministers, so thank the Lord! God bless you, Son, that was very good! I thought that was well-written. God bless him. How did you happen to write that, anyhow? (David: I thought it was a good idea that I wrote it so I didn't have to say it off the top of my head.)--Ha! Smart boy! He knew I was going to call on him tonight to say something, & I heard he'd written a pretty good speech! So God bless you, Son, you did real well! ILY! TYL! God bless him! Amen! TYJ! Amen! PTL! Hallelujah! TYL! Amen! TYL!
122. Bless him, Lord, & make him a blessing to many, & he already is! You already have blessed him with many blessings & talents & skills & gifts, Lord, & best of all, the knowledge of Thy Word, Thy wisdom, that he will be a great blessing to others in the future as well as now. So we commit him to Thee & his ministry to Thee, Lord, as a man of God & a preacher of the Gospel! We ask Thee to give him many souls for his hire, in Jesus' name! TYL! Amen, & be a blessing, to teach others, that they may teach others also. TYJ! PTL! Amen! TYL! I now declare you a Minister of the Gospel, the Right Reverend David! God bless you, Son!
123. Now don't think I'm going to make this big a fuss over your birthday unless you're going to be 12! (Sings:)
"Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, dear David,
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Only one will not do.
Born again means Salvation,
We know how many have you!"
PTL! And our birthday blessing:
"Many happy returns of the day of thy birth,
Let sunshine & gladness be given.
And may the dear Father prepare you on Earth,
For a happy birthday in Heaven!"
--And I don't think that's going to be very long from now, thank the Lord! PTL! That's what we're all doing, all having birthdays here that we might some day have one in Heaven & reap our rewards There! Thank the Lord!
124. (To Mary Dear:) Aren't you staying up a little bit late, little girl? Well, our kids learn to take everything as it comes. God bless her, she's one of our little child wonders here! It's amazing what the Lord does with our children, they are the smartest kids on Earth! Our women are the most beautiful, our children are the smartest & our men are wonderful too, thank the Lord! GBY all!
SPECIAL PRESENTATION!
125. I said to Mama, "How come you're having this party so early, at 8:30? They don't usually have their refreshments till later." She said, "Well, we figured that if you came, it might take a little bit longer!" She knows me, doesn't she? Very wise Mama! Is there anything else on this program?
126. (Maria: The boys have something really cute!) Oh, I heard you had a presentation here, God bless you! Come on & give it! Bless their hearts, they were real thoughtful to make a little gift for David. After all, what can you give the man that has everything? (Maria: It's sort of a certificate.) Look at that, they even wrapped it up! It's the only birthday present you're allowed to receive here. We don't make much of birthdays or Christmas either, but this is something different that the boys made themselves. My oh my, look at that wrapping! Somebody's got an eye for beauty, not only you girls! I know it looks pretty, but aren't you going to unwrap it so we can see what it is? Now watch him try to save the paper, bless his heart! (David carefully undoes it so as not to rip the wrapping paper.) Oh wow, isn't that beautiful? My oh my! How about one of you boys coming up & reading it? (The handyman reads from beautifully framed certificate:)
127. "It has hereby been hammered out in council that we saw the potential of our fellow tool of the Lord, who has now been officially roped into the sacred order of 'David's Mighty Men'.
128. "In acknowledgement of many years of plane service, plying the trade, being drilled in awl aspects of maintenance, proving always faithful to have his attention glued to the job, reinforced with an iron will & determination, generating great enthusiasm, is now cemented together with us in concrete love.
129. "Having now come out of the woodwork into the neon light, switching from job-to-job which provided ample opportunities, come watt may, he has measured up to the exacting standards of the order.
130. "Enduring the trowel of his faith, rooted & planted in God's good soil, cultivating good habits, enduring many prunings, he has borne good fruit.
131. "In extension of our gratitude, we cordially thank him for all his help as a faithful go-fer & pray that he continues his on-the-job training with our loving & wise chief ruler, Grandpa.--And that he may follow in the footsteps of the Man Who Himself started His life as a Carpenter--JESUS!"
132. Amen! PTL! That's just beautiful! God bless you! There's only one word you might not have understood there, a "go-fer." Explain what a go-fer is, David. (David: It's someone who goes & gets things.) "David, go fer this, go fer that, go fer the other!" We keep telling him to go fer things, that's what a go-fer is! He runs errands & with little feet makes a lot of saving of time & everything, running these errands & getting things for us. He's been a real real blessing in all these projects. As well as learning himself, he's been a big help, I mean a real indispensable help! Some of the men couldn't really have done the job without his help, so God bless him. Thank the Lord!
{\b \ul QUE SERÁ, SERÁ!}
133. So you're a man, my Son! Praise God! GBY! Amen! We love you! I guess it's time for us to pray our last prayer together & you can have your refreshments. Made it by 11 o'clock, how about that! Thank the Lord! For me that's pretty early. Well, I don't come round very often, so you have to kind of put up with me a little longer when I do! GBY, Son! Shall we pray? Amen! TYL! TYJ! PYL! As we pray together the prayer that You taught us to pray: (Prays the Lord's Prayer.) Do bless & keep us now & sanctify the refreshments, Lord, purify them for our benefit. Bless those that prepared them, Lord, those that worked hard for all of these things, & make them a blessing. Keep us safely tonight & give us a good night's rest for our labours tomorrow, in Jesus' name.
134. Thank You Lord for this 12th birthday when David became a man. Thank the Lord! You've got to grow a little bit yet to full growth, but you're already a man, amen? All right, all of you don't forget to congratulate him! PTL! God bless you all! Thanks for your patience, sorry to keep you so late. And since we kept you up so late tonight, why don't you take an extra hour sleep-in in the morning. Since I'm to blame, I don't want to be blamed for your not getting enough sleep. So how's that?--You get two Sundays in a row! Have fun & have some good refreshments. PTL!
135. (David: Thank you, Grandpa, for such a fun birthday!) That was a big birthday, huh? Well, "silver & gold have I none, friend, but such as I have, I give thee," & I gave you a message! (Maria: Amen, it's a beautiful message.) There's nothing more valuable I could give you than the Word, amen? I love you, Son! And that thing you wrote was just beautiful. You're already a teacher, already a writer. See, you don't even have to be a preacher or anything, if you can write it, that's wonderful! You can reach a lot more people by writing, as Grandpa found out. I was shy & I didn't want to preach, but finally I had to anyhow. The Lord gave me the courage & the faith. But eventually I found I could reach more people by writing. So that was good writing! PTL!
136. I don't know what your final job is going to be for the Lord, your ultimate job, but you don't have to worry about that now! All my life I worried about what I was going to be, what I was going to do & what would my life's work be? But it's like the old song, "Whatever will be, will be!" You're going to be whatever the Lord wants you to be, amen? Que será será! That's a Spanish expression meaning, "Whatever will be, will be!" That's a cute little song, but it's got a lot of truth in it! The girl is singing, "When I was young I asked my mother, what will my future be?" And the mother answered, "Que será será, what will be, will be!"
137. So don't worry about it! Just leave it up to the Lord, don't worry about tomorrow, & you'll be whatever God wants you to be! PTL! You already are what God wants you to be now, & when the time comes, you'll be whatever He wants you to be then! PTL? ILY! I love you, Son, you're doing a big job right now! You've already done a lot!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family