Builders Beware

 "BUILDERS BEWARE!"--MO          July 25, 1974          DFO 309B

                1. I HAD THE FUNNIEST DREAM! YOU KNOW THAT CHURCH I BUILT IN ARIZONA?--I dreamed that while I was gone they decided to modernise it, so they jacked it up and put a new foundation under it and a fancy metal framework all around it and then they set it back down again and it looked real pretty!--But somehow or another by doing this they had weakened the structure instead of strengthening the building!

                2. THEY HAD MODERNISED IT AND MADE IT LOOK PRETTY, BUT IT NOW HAD A WEAKENED STRUCTURE and was beginning to lean and tip over! Everyone was running all around scared and excited and afraid it was going to fall over, and they were telling everybody to get out, it was about to collapse!--But it didn't! It just tilted over rather precariously.

                3. AND YOU KNOW WHY IT DIDN'T FALL OVER?--GUESS WHAT?--BECAUSE I HAD STORED A LOT OF BAGS OF GRAIN INSIDE of it, like we're always telling the kids to store up food for emergencies! We'd stored up a lot of big heavy bags of dried grain, and these acted as ballast so it couldn't tip over!

                4. BUT THEY WERE STARTING TO TAKE THE BAGS OF GRAIN OUT of the building and had already carried out a few, thinking they were going to try to save them because the building was going to collapse. But I yelled, "No, no, no! That's all that's keeping it from tipping over! Leave those in there!"--And sure enough, that kept it from falling over!

                5. THERE WAS THIS HOUSE NEXT DOOR WHERE THIS FOREIGN FAMILY LIVED. This old, old lady, grandmother of the family, was in a bedroom right next to the church, and they were yelling and screaming that she must get out, the church was going to fall over on the house and crush it! But this old grandmother refused to get out of her bedroom because she said she believed in me and had faith in my building and in God and He wasn't going to let it fall over on her and her house!

                6. IT'S LIKE WHILE I WAS GONE SOMEBODY TRIED TO RE-DO THE WHOLE BUILDING and modernise it and put a new framework around it and a new foundation under it and pretty it up, but they'd gone too far because they didn't like the way I built it. But in doing this they weakened the whole structure, and if it hadn't been for all that grain I'd stored in it, it would have fallen over!

                7. THAT LITTLE CHURCH WAS MINE, THE ONE I'D BUILT! The rest of the foreign family they'd gotten out of the house, but the old lady stayed in because she said she had faith in me and my construction and God! And sure enough she was right: It didn't fall! They were starting to carry all the bags of grain out of the church supposedly to save them, but I said, "No, no, no! They're saving the church! Leave them there!"

                8. SO DO YOU THINK THEY'RE GOING TO EVEN TRY TO SOMEDAY REMOVE MY WORDS from the structure?--I wouldn't be surprised! That's what they usually do: That's what destroyed the Christian church, when they started removing the Bible and the words of God! They'd already carried out several bags, and I could see it was leaning over more, but I stopped them just in time, and I even made them carry the other bags back in!

                9. THE OLD LADY SAID, "I'M NOT WORRIED! YOU BUILT A GOOD STRONG BUILDING AND YOU'VE GOT ALL THAT BALLAST in there, and I don t believe God is going to let it fall over, so I'm not getting out".

                10. YOU CAN START MAKING CHANGES AND ALTERATIONS AND NEW IDEAS LIKE THE DISCOS OR OUR NEW SHOW BUSINESS but then you can get so involved with these that you forget about what really started the Revolution and what it is all about! You can get so involved with other things that you neglect the Word and the Foundation.

                11. YOU CAN GET SO BUSY TRYING TO MAKE THE BUILDING MORE ATTRACTIVE THAT YOU MAKE TOO MANY ALTERATIONS and too many basic changes so that you actually weaken the whole structure, especially when you start removing the Word! Then it really began to tip over, and if I hadn't caught them just in time and stopped it and made them put the Word back into the building, it would have fallen over, because that's all that saved it!

                12. IT WAS ALL THAT WORD STORED UP IN THE BUILDING THAT SAVED IT! The building of course represents the kids, like the church--our whole organisation in a way, that with yours and God's help I really put together with my own hands. like that little church in Arizona, stone by stone, block by block.

                13. WHEN YOU REALISE ALL THE WORK THAT GOES INTO A BUILDING LIKE THAT, IT IS A REALLY BIG JOB! I was looking at that house yesterday that the man was building, and thought, "It doesn't look like much on the surface, but when you realise all the work that's gone into it like I do, you really appreciate it!"

                14. IT WOULD BE SO SILLY IF I HAD GONE IN LIKE SOME OUTSIDER WHO KNEW NOTHING ABOUT CONSTRUCTION AND SAID, "NOW YOU SHOULD CHANGE THIS and put a window here and a door there and take out this wall here. we don't need it, and we need more space here and don't worry about this floor. The strength of the floor isn't important! It's how things look that matters! So knock out this wall here, so we can have a nice big picture window and make it more attractive, have more light, etc.

                15. YOU CAN'T BE LIKE AN OUTSIDER WHO DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT CONSTRUCTION and how much work goes into it and how every part is essential and important. You can't make a lot of major changes and basic alterations without taking very great care that you don't weaken the whole structure and cause it to collapse!

                16. IT'S A FUNNY THING ABOUT A BUILDING: IT NEEDS ALL ITS PARTS TIED TOGETHER, because if any part of it collapses, it usually takes the whole building with it! If the roof gives in or one wall collapses or one pillar goes down, it often takes the whole thing with it!

                17. WHEN SAMSON PUSHED THOSE TWO PILLARS APART IN THE TEMPLE OF DAGON (Judges 16) he dislodged them and it brought down the whole temple! The Temple of Dagon represented the System and stood only by the permission of God and the obedience of man. As long as the Philistines left God's people alone and fulfilled their place in the world as traders and artisans and businessmen, God was using them in a way to help, protect and provide for Israel.

                18. AS LONG AS THE WORLD FULFILLS ITS MISSION TO HELP THE CHILDREN OF GOD by being obedient to God in this respect, to help them and not hurt them, God even blesses the world and permits them to stay on and perform their function of being used by Him to further His aims and help, protect and provide for His Children.

                19. BUT WHEN THE PROPHET OF GOD CAME ALONG, whom they mistreated, Samson, with his power and strength, demonstrated that the System was no longer obeying God, one of the pillars on which it stood--man's obedience. Therefore it would no longer have God's permission to exist--the other pillar!

                20. THE EXISTENCE OF ANY SYSTEM IN THE WORLD DEPENDS BOTH ON THE WILL OF GOD AND THE WILL OF MAN. When you combine these two together and they're parallel, both going the same direction, if not actually one pillar at least they're two parallel pillars--the building can stand strong.

                21. BUT IF YOU START PUSHING AGAINST THE WILL OF GOD AND DISLOCATE FROM IT THE WILL OF MAN so they're no longer parallel and no longer working together, you can dislodge the equilibrium of the whole building and bring the whole thing down around your ears!--Which is what Samson demonstrated! I never thought of that before as an illustration, but I just now saw that picture so clearly!

                22. ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS PUSH THOSE TWO PILLARS APART! He was actually showing in literal illustration what was causing the house of the Philistines to fall, because the will of man was getting out of line with the Will of God! Just as clearly the still small voice of God answered me when I asked what those two pillars represented: "The Will of God and the will of man!"

                23. THE WHOLE STRUCTURE OF ANY HOUSE OR ANY GOVERNMENT OR ORGANISATION OR RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT RESTS ON THESE TWO KEY CENTRAL PILLARS: THE WILL OF GOD AND THE WILL OF MAN. As long as they coordinate and cooperate and are in line with each other, working parallel at least, and in the right position, solidly on the right foundation and fastened securely, doing their duty and working together to uphold the structure, it will stand firm.

                24. BUT IF THEY GET THE LEAST BIT OUT OF LINE WITH EACH OTHER and begin to be at cross purposes with each other, watch out! There's going to be trouble! The Prophet of God came along and demonstrated it didn't take much to destroy the whole building! To manifest it and illustrate it to the Philistines, he gave them a visible illustration of what was happening to their own kingdom: They were getting out of line, out of tune and out of touch with God in persecuting and making war on His children and mistreating His prophets.

                25. SO THE REMOVAL OF THOSE TWO PILLARS BROUGHT THE WHOLE HOUSE DOWN and slaughtered thousands of Philistines with it, including the poor Prophet, who in this case had to go down with the building because he was in it and he was their prisoner! So, as so often happens, the innocent sometimes have to suffer with the guilty!-- Just like some of our kids in some of these countries where they've gone, from the U.S. to England and to Cyprus!

                26. LIKE IT ALWAYS HAPPENS WITH THE PROPHETS OF GOD: They give the warning and some of the people believe and receive it and are saved. Some of the people even manage to get out of the building before it collapses, but a lot of them have to stay on there and keep preaching and warning the people, just like some of the British and U.N. soldiers who tried to rescue the citizens of other countries out of Cyprus. Some of them were hurt trying to rescue, and protect the innocent in time of war.

                27. SO OFTEN THE WORLDS' SAVIOURS HAVE TO GO DOWN WITH THE BUILDING LIKE THE CAPTAIN WITH HIS SHIP, still trying to rescue people and save others! As the enemies taunted Jesus Himself, "Ha!--He saved others, but He can't even save Himself!"--And that was true! He had to die for His warnings and attempts to save them! But His enemies also were soon to die and go down with their system which collapsed around their ears a few years later because they didn't listen!

                28. THE SYSTEM IS HERE FOR A REASON: It is here for the purpose of government, organisation, supplying the material needs of the people and furnishing their protection, as Paul himself said in Romans 13. Believe it or not, as long as this one behaves itself and protects God's Children and is good to them and is here fulfilling its mission of existing for their safety and providing for their needs, then the System's will is in line with the Will of God and God will even protect the System and allow it to stand!

                29. BUT THE MINUTE THEY STOP LISTENING TO GOD'S PROPHETS OR GOD'S CHILDREN OR CEASE TO PROVIDE the building that is around them to protect and house them and supply their needs, if they stop listening to the prophets of the Lord and start disobeying the Will of God and mistreating His prophets and persecuting His Children, they have weakened the pillars upon which they stand and the whole house will come down around their ears, because their will has gotten out of line with God's Will!

                30. YET THIS ALWAYS SEEMS TO HAPPEN IN THE LONG RUN: Have you noticed in history how for awhile, as long as the System is good to God's people, or at least tolerates them and doesn't give them too much trouble and allows them to survive, and is there for their survival, God lets it stand. But always in the end it seems they reject God's Will and fall, as we pointed out in the Letter on "Persecution".

                31. FIRST OF ALL, THERE IS THE PREACHING OF THE WARNING MESSAGE OF THE WORD BY THE PROPHETS followed by their temporary popularity as the world listens out of curiosity and a few believe, which brings the prophets a temporary prosperity as well. But by the time God has reaped His harvest of all those who will receive it, the message begins to annoy those who reject it, so that they begin to persecute God's prophets and cause them lots of trouble.

                32. USUALLY THINGS GET SO BAD THEY CAN NO LONGER OPERATE or properly perform their duties for the Lord because the System has prevented their preaching or publishing of the message and perhaps even imprisoned some of their prophets.

                33. THEN THE PROPHETS HAVE TO FLEE AND MAKE THEIR ESCAPE SO THE LORD CAN BRING DOWN HIS JUDGMENTS ON THE DISOBEDIENT SYSTEM that got out of line with His Will, and He destroys their house. It looks like from history that God has had to destroy one System after another and pull down one house after another like Samson did the Temple of Dagon, because they always go astray in the long run.

                34. IN THE CASE OF SAMSON and the Philistines and the Temple of Dagon, God used the imprisoned Prophet himself to destroy them by giving them a physical demonstration of how out of line they were with the Will of God as he pushed the two pillars apart and brought down the house and about 5,000 lords of the Philistines with it, virtually the whole government!

                35. FIRST GOD USES HIS PROPHETS TO PREACH THE MESSAGE and get out the Word and save the people who would be saved and help them to escape, some of them even escaping to the side of the enemy of their country as they did in the case of Jeremiah.

                36. THEN HE OFTEN USES THE PROPHETS THEMSELVES TO PREACH THE DOOM of that nation, so that Jeremiah's own government claimed that his preaching was helping to destroy it, which it was! Because he was the voice of God and God was destroying Israel for her sins, and He used her enemies to do it with the help of His Prophet! The enemies actually thought he was on their side, and were good to him when it was all over and let him survive and stay with the poor that were left!

                37. THE SAME IS TRUE IN THE CASE OF RELIGIOUS ORGANISATIONS and movements, religions, so-called: Once the Prophet has been removed and is far away either in time or space, those left behind in charge often, if not usually, soon seem to go astray and try to revamp the building so carefully put together by the Prophet with the words of God.

                38. BUT IN THEIR ALTERATIONS AND ATTEMPTS TO MAKE IT MORE ATTRACTIVE AND MODERNISE IT, THEY UNWITTINGLY WEAKEN IT so that it begins to topple, particularly when they start removing the original words and writings and scriptures which God had given through His Prophets, which are the only ballast able to keep it stable.

                39. SO NEARLY EVERY RELIGIOUS SYSTEM THAT I CAN THINK OF EVENTUALLY DRIFTED SO FAR from the original teachings of its founder and his foundation, that the religion and its founder no longer even resembled each other, its people no longer resembled their original leadership, and the religion no longer resembled his original teachings!

                40. EACH HAS BECOME SUCH A TOTALLY CHANGED STRUCTURE THAT SOMETIMES IT NO LONGER EVEN LOOKS LIKE THE ORIGINAL BUILDING! Each is eventually so weakened by the removal of its founder's words, its last hope and ballast for retaining its balance, that it collapses around the ears of its alterers!--It dies of alterations!

                41. IT'S LIKE THE WIFE WHOSE DOCTOR WAS TREATING HER AND KEPT SAYING SHE WAS IMPROVING, BUT SHE FINALLY DIED: When someone asked the husband what she died of, he said, "Improvements"! So watch out that your "improvements" and alterations and modernisations to make it more attractive in your own eyes don't weaken the original structure and remove its original foundation and the balancing ballast of God's Words so that the whole building collapses!

                42. IT'S A FUNNY THING THAT WE USE THIS EXPRESSION, "THE WHOLE HOUSE CAME TUMBLING DOWN AROUND THEIR EARS!" Because it is when your ears stop listening to the Lord that your house collapses on top of them!

                43. SO "BUILDERS BEWARE!" THAT BY YOUR SO-CALLED "IMPROVEMENTS" YOU DO NOT DESTROY THE VERY THING YOU'RE ATTEMPTING TO BUILD! ABOVE ALL, DO NOT REMOVE THE BALLAST, THE WORDS OF GOD, your only hope of its salvation, the only thing that will keep it steady and on His firm foundation of His teachings and His writings! This is all that will help the house keep its equilibrium.

                44. IF THE WORDS ARE RETAINED THEY WILL PRESERVE THE BUILDING NO MATTER WHAT other alterations you may make. Even though some of these alterations may weaken its structure, the building will still stand if you keep on God's firm foundation of faith, balanced firmly with His Words. Even if your foolish changes of the basic structure itself should cause the framework to collapse, the foundation of faith and its ballast of God's Words will still be there and someone may be able to rebuild it!

                45. WHEN I BUILT THAT LITTLE CHURCH BUILDING IN ARIZONA, LAYING THE FOUNDATION WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT JOB OF ALL and almost the hardest! Because if the foundation was not firm and well-planned, the building would never have lasted this long, which is about 25 years now. But I built it to last a whole lot longer! When builders marveled at how solidly I was building it, I said I wanted it to last through the whole Millennium--a thousand years!

                46.I DUG A DEEP DITCH AND POURED A DEEP CONCRETE FOOTING AND FOUNDATION REINFORCED WITH STEEL, deep and wide, so I could build thick heavy walls supported by strong flying buttresses and covered with a good solid roof, and I laid a sound concrete floor myself. In those walls I placed good strong doors and windows with thick heavy casements built to last, so that one builder asked, "Why did you build such a small building so strong? --Did you expect it to last forever?"--And I said again. "Well, not quite: Just through the Millennium--just a thousand years!"

                47. BUT IN MY DREAM I SAW THAT AFTER I HAD LEFT AND WAS FAR AWAY THOSE I HAD LEFT BEHIND AND OTHERS WERE SERIOUSLY CHANGING ITS OLD STRUCTURE, so that it barely resembled the original building and was becoming gravely weakened and beginning to totter dangerously, as they were even removing the balancing ballast of His precious Words!

                48. BUT I RETURNED AND STOPPED THEM JUST IN TIME TO SAVE IT and made them replace the bags of grain-words they'd already removed! We put them back in just in time to make the building settle back down on its firm Foundation, Christ Jesus! "For what other foundation can any man lay than this?"

                49. AND IT JUST COMES TO ME NOW THAT WE DID THIS WITH THE HELP AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE DEAR LITTLE OLD FOREIGN LADY WHO LIVED NEXT DOOR, THE NEIGHBOR who still had faith in us and refused to move out because she believed we could save it and encouraged us to do so--the dear little old neighbor lady who didn't forsake us but who stood by faithfully-- a real friend, an obvious picture of our friends and associates who help keep us going! Isn't that amazing? In those significant dreams everything means something!

                50. ALTHOUGH SHE DIDN'T LIVE IN THE BUILDING WITH US, SHE DWELT SAFELY BY US next door and loved us and had faith in us and helped us, and refused to move out or be budged from our side when the trouble came, and helped us set things right again!

                51. GOD BLESS OUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS THAT BELIEVE IN US AND LOVE US AND HELP US! Even though they may not live with us they live nearby and strengthen and encourage us! God bless you all!

                52. BUT BUILDERS BEWARE!-- Especially you new modernisers with your basic alterations and new attractions! They're fine if they look better and attract more people and are a helpful addition to the building, such as a new wing or a few new rooms or some redecoration and modernising.

                53. BUT DON'T LET THEM BECOME SUCH MAJOR CHANGES THAT THEY ACTUALLY WEAKEN THE ORIGINAL STRUCTURE they were intended to beautify and make more comfortable or attractive. Don't let the Devil get in through these new openings and make them bigger than they ought to be, so that you've got more window than wall, so that you weaken the basic structure!

                54. WINDOWS ARE NECESSARY to let in the light, and even so they can let the people see in and see what is going on inside and give you a better view of the people outside and let them get a better view of you by your clubs and shows and parties, etc.--But don't let your windows weaken your walls!

                55. LARGE DOORS ARE NECESSARY, TOO, SO YOU CAN LET LOTS OF PEOPLE IN! But if you make your doors and windows so large that they weaken the walls, pretty soon it may be all doors and windows and no walls and collapse under the strain!

                56. SO KEEP A GOOD BALANCE BETWEEN WALLS AND WINDOWS, AND THE BEST WAY TO DO IT IS WITH THE BALLAST OF THE WORD! Amen? Above all, don't remove those good sacks of Word-grain, your necessary food stored for emergencies, in order to make room for more doors and windows, or your whole building may topple!

                57. SAVE PLENTY OF SPACE FOR THE WORD-GRAIN AND DISTRIBUTE IT WISELY FOR GOOD BALANCE! It's the best of ballast and will keep you firmly on a good foundation! Amen? God bless and keep us all on His firm foundation with the heavy fruitful ballast of His Words!

                58. SO BUILDERS BEWARE! THOSE NEW DOORS ARE HANDY AND THE NEW WINDOWS BEAUTIFUL AND THE NEW LOOK IS GREAT!--JUST DON'T MAKE'EM SO WIDE THEY WEAKEN THE WALLS, the original structure!-- And above all, don't neglect a balanced diet of Word-grain for good ballast to hold you firm on His true Foundation, Christ Jesus!--Amen? God bless you as you continue to build an ever larger and more beautiful and attractive building with bigger crowds than ever!.

                59. JUST BE SURE TO LEAVE ENOUGH OF THE WALLS FOR GOOD SUPPORT AND ENOUGH WORDBALLAST FOR GOOD BALANCE! Amen?

                60. AND DON'T FORGET TO THANK OUR DEAR, FAITHFUL OLD FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS NEXT DOOR for their loyal love, faith, support and encouragement!--We never could've built it without them! God bless you every one! Thank you for your help!

                61. COME OVER AND VISIT US once in awhile and see what you've helped us accomplish!--We haven't changed a bit--basically!--We've just really improved and beautified it a lot and made more room for new sheep and are having more fun bringing them in!

                62. BUT WE'RE STILL FEEDING THEM THE SAME GOOD OL' SOLID GRAIN we always have--and with the same TLC!--Tender Loving Care!

                63. WHY DON'T YOU DROP IN FOR A BITE with them?

                64. OR IF YOU CAN'T, WHY NOT ORDER SOME BRAND NEW SACKS OF DELICIOUS FRESH GRAIN that have just arrived from God's grist mill--MO--listed below!--They're guaranteed to satisfy if you have a good appetite and can digest'em, even if they are a little tough sometimes!

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                68. IF YOU'VE MADE A LITTLE BREAD LATELY, YOU COULD SEND US A SAMPLE of that too!--Along with your order.--Thanks! We need it!--We gotta lotta mouths to feed too!--Yours for God's Great Grain!--God bless you! God's Kids!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family