International Peace Mission Movement
by Kenneth E. Burnham
“At last a study that takes seriousely one of the most controvercial, important, and neglected religious leaders of the twentieth century – Father Divine, whom thousands believed to be God incarnate. Based on rare source materials, this readable account traces Father Divine’s career, spells out his theological position and economic message, and examines the role of a charismatic leader in a communal religious organization”
I would like to say to our visiting friends, hearers, and even followers who have not heard and known.. Do not know, whichever.. MY Actual Work and Mission among this people; I recall when men in this part of the country, New York City, in Baltimore, Maryland, Philadelphia and Washington… the northeastern part of this country, about thirty, forty and fifty years ago… they used to go around soliciting, begging and stealing on the streets; and I recall I rose up in such enthusiasm and such emotional expression, some thought, no doubt, I was somewhat unbalanced in mind.
I said, “I AM going south and prove to the world the Gospel
can be preached without money and without price!”
Every representative in the ecclesiastical world, even to the “stump-knockers,” “Bible-beaters” and street corner preachers, they all claimed that you were obliged to go around begging and stealing, in a way of speaking, to carry the Gospel.
I like the secretaries to hear anything that is good. As I often say to MOTHER, I like for Her and everybody— but especially I wouldn’t like for you to think, see or hear anything distasteful or undesirable, for that is what makes a person ugly; but to always be at a place in consciousness where you refuse to hear or notice anything undesirable by sight or hearing.
If you pay any attention to anything undesirable by the hearing of the ears or to know anything undesirable by knowledge—to pay any attention to, to smell anything undesirable by the sense of smell, all of those expressions of your five physical senses and your five mental senses can cause a person to express ugliness if they will allow such expressions to have access within them! You see the mystery? For the outward expression is but the manifestation of the mental and spiritual conception.
The Lily-buds Creeds
Commandments
We will live every day without speaking a critical thought of any human being.
We will always think of others and not of ourselves.
We will let these bodies be a living sacrifice continually.
We will always keep this mind of Christ in us.
We will always be desirable.
We will never be aggressive, greedy or unfair.
We will never be exalted or selfish.
We will never be a pretender but real, real, real!
We will live so Christ will be seen in every way.
We will tell God everything and never try to hide.
We will always keep God’S Name Holy.
We will love everyone as God loves us.
We will have no division among us.
We will be courteous to everyone at all times.
We will never let anything come between our soul and our Savior.
We will praise YOU continually from the depths of these hearts.
We will always be mindful how we entertain strangers.
We will co-operate in every way.
We will always exalt God above everything else.
We will keep God’S Commandments at all times.
We will recognize God’S Deity at all times.
We will not justify ourselves for any cause whatsoever.
We will keep Your Commandments, FATHER, forever.
We will always love, honor, respect and obey our LORD and Savior above everyone else.
Endeavor
To keep Your commandments every moment of the day;
To praise YOU continually in every way;
To live pleasing to YOU at all times;
To let Your light in us always shine;
To never doubt YOU no matter what YOU may say or do;
To know every word YOU speak is real and true;
To never get angry or resentful at any time;
To always be sweet, loving and kind;
To always stay meek and lowly down at Your Feet;
To always remember YOU mean just what YOU Preach;
To stand true no matter what may come;
To always in us let Your will be done;
To love, honor and reverence YOU wherever we may be;
To stand to our religious conviction whatever the penalty might be;
To never be jealous of anyone;
To always rejoice at the blessings whenever they come;
To give our bodies a living sacrifice to YOU;
To do with them as YOU will to do;
To be willing to suffer for our hearts’ conviction;
To be willing to stand no matter what the accusation;
To be willing to die at any time
To hold up the Name of Father Divine.
To always have a smile whether child or adult;
To prove our love for YOU in words, deeds and thoughts;
To never gossip, or backbite;
To never talk negative, fuss or fight;
To never criticize or be rude to anyone;
To always search ourselves and see what we have done;
To let YOU be first in everything;
To love and adore YOU and let Your praise ring;
To never complain or find fault anywhere;
To always be willing our blessings to share;
To live pure! holy! virtuous and clean;
To never live in races, colors or creeds;
To abstain from all human affection, fancies and pleasures
To stay away from mortality’s versions;
To deny self and all its ways;
To give God all the praise;
To hold YOU in our hearts forever- This is the Lily-Buds’ Endeavor.
Consecration
We the Lilies of the Peace Mission Movement, do this night
Consecrate and dedicate our whole lives to the
Cause and Service of Almighty God, Father Divine.
To honor him, respect, love and obey him;
To do everything that is pleasing to him in every way;
To serve whensoever and wheresoever HE Wills or Desires us to;
To always be honest, sincere, competent, faithful and true.
To keep always HIS Name Holy, and in greatest and highest esteem;
To keep our thoughts pure, virtuous and holy And our words the same;
To walk circumspectly before the world, so that
It will see the Life of Christ Exemplified in us,
And glorify our FATHER here in Heaven on earth.
To harmonize with HIS Ideas and Opinions;
To keep company only with HIS Mind and Spirit;
To carry sunshine, gladness, peace and love everywhere;
To consecrate and dedicate every moment of the day
In sweet devotion and adoration;
To let our conversation be a holy one.
For this is the dedication and consecration Of heart, mind, body and soul.
Creed
To never argue, fuss or fight;
To always remember what YOU have done for us;
To always be honest, competent and true;
To do just what YOU would have us do.
To never give anyone an ugly look, but always
A smile, for we know that is YOU;
To never be exalted, but always meek and sweet;
To always remember what YOU Teach.
To never hate another for what they may do or say;
To never grow weary, or tired of this Holy Way;
To never condemn or find fault anywhere; To always remember YOU are there.
To be just like YOUR Spotless Bride;
To be pure, clean, undefiled;
To always be willing in YOUR Spirit and Mind to abide;
To always be sweet; loving and kind.
To never hold friendly conversations with the opposite sex-
Only on business, as YOU have said;
To express holiness and virtue, wherever we may be;
To live all of this with YOU we plead;
For this is the Lily-Buds’ Creed.
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Woodmont Creeds
Purpose
We, the Rosebuds, Lilly-buds, Crusaders, and all True Followers of Father Divine, knowing that Woodmont, the Mount of the House of the Lord, is the Divine Blueprint of the perfect state of consciousness, realizing that, as Woodmont symbolizes the House of the Lord, just so do our bodies represent the Temples of the Living God, and as He has declared that He will not dwell in an unclean temple, we are therefore resolved, that:
We will as many nations, languages, tongues and peoples, go up to the Mountain of the Lord in Consciousness.
We will learn of His Ways and walk circumspectly in His Paths.
We will abide by His Word and His Law that He sendeth forth from Woodmont, the New Jerusalem.
We will as all nations adhere to His Judgments.
We will as all nations accept His Rebuke to study war no more, and His Command to establish International Peace, in the air, on land and on the sea.
We will walk in the light of His Way, for these are the last days for mortality. Personalities, individualities, principalities, nations and governments shall not rob him of His Glory!
We will stoop and drink freely of the Healing Waters of the Woodmont Consciousness.
We will let the purging process of God’s Commandments be written on the fleshly tables of our hearts, imbibing the Spirit and the Meaning of them, knowing that the letter killeth, but that the Spirit giveth Life.
We will commit to memory and produce in our daily lives, all the Creeds, Documents, Covenants. The Sermon on the Mount, major portion of the Holy Bible and all other necessary Documents of Father Divine’S Universal Peace Mission Movement, for these are the steps that lead up to the Woodmont Consciousness.
We will not have any false God’s or doctrines before us; neither will we worship the works of our own hands.
We Will at all times give all Honor and Glory to the only True and Living God, Father Divine, Who is the Author and Finisher of all Perfection.
We Will Reverence and hold Sacred the Holy Body of God, Father Divine, ever remembering the countless Personal and Infinite Sacrifices that He has made and continues to make for our redemption. And at no time will we ever be guilty of measuring him with the finite measure of a man.
We will at all times acknowledge the Majesty of His Deity, the Power of His Name, the Holiness of His Body, the Infinitude of His Mind, the Omnilucence of His Holy Spirit, the Magnitude of His Universal Peace Mission Movement, the Perfection of His Word, the Chastity of His Personal Life, the Virtue of His Spotless Bride and Church, and ever give praise for being accepted as an humble subject under His Supreme Sovereignty.
We Will Exalt him above the mountains; we will Magnify him above the hills.
We Will continue to purify our minds, our bodies, our spirits, from all fleshly and carnal thoughts and connections with the serpent’s versions, that we may be called the True Offspring of God, by exemplifying the Purity if the Christ Life.
We will Personify the perfection of Father Divine’s International Modest Code wherever we live, or work, or play, or go to school. We will not drink, smoke be obscene, vulgar or profane; we will not accept gifts presents, tips or bribes, and will abstain from all association with the opposite sex, except strictly on a business basis.
We will respect the Christ in others to the degree we wish them to respect the Christ in us.
We will strive at all times to enact the Bill of Rights and extend to others the privilege of having the same rights that we ourselves enjoy.
We Will remember that our bodies represent individual Woodmonts, the perfect house wherein our Lord may dwell in a perpetual hot bed of praises, reverence, holiness, love, sweetness, virtue obedience, integrity and complete surrender to His Holy Will.
We will not seek exalted positions or possessions; we will earn our privileges if we are worthy of any, through self denial and devoted consecration to God, Father Divine.
We will always bear in mind that God dishonors himself to honor us; that of ourselves we are nothing, only as it is His Holy Will and Pleasure to make us something, and that only to His Honor and Glory.
We will reverence him as the Supreme Godhead Bodily, and never seek to usurp undue authority over any service that has been assigned to us to do, and recognize at all times,that it is the FATHER alone Who doeth the Works.
We will be loyal to our conviction; I know FATHER DVINE is God! and will never adulterate our faith and belief by listening to the serpent’s subtle versions to mix mortality with spirituality.
We will let the Holy Ghost have its way in our daily lives and affairs.
We will not adulterate the high vibrations of the Woodmont Consciousness by indulging in destructive thinking.
We will be willing to trample on the hearts of all those that hate God, no matter who they may be; but
We Will not offend the least one that love God.
Above All
We will be content to let Father Divine be God in all his majesty, dominion and authority, freeing him to supervise His creation and all mankind according to His infinite plan and purpose and fulfill our dispensive duty by being a real true follower from every angle expressible.
We will be willing to crucify self by going cross-grained to every mortal preconceived idea and opinion and be resurrected in the Christ Nature and Characteristics and ascend to and remain in Woodmont, the Perfect State of Consciousness.
Result
Knowing that if we are faithful in our consecration and deep devotion to God, Father Divine the ultimate result of this sincerity will be:
The Conscious Recognition of the Allness of God and the complete abolition of all self and mortality, as being termed matter; coming into the rightful inheritance ordained by God for us in the beginning of creation. as heirs and joint-heirs with Christ in God; a pure Chalice for him to use to His Honor and Glory; abiding forever with him and with MOTHER in Woodmont, the Perfect State of Consciousness!
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