Letter: Crises of Faith

Hugh et al…

First off – I am an avid reader and fan of SurvivalBlog and have been following it for several years now. I’d like to share my story in brief and ask a question of the readership.

My story (digest version):

I was born and raised in the LDS (Mormon) faith and had good values about work and family instilled in me from an early age (thanks to mom and dad). I religiously followed the “program” and went to BYU for a year after high school, served and full time mission, got married in the temple and had three children.

The year I turned 40, I found myself at a crisis of faith, and I left the church in favor of a non-denominational Christian fellowship. My wife of 18 years divorced me and I was estranged from my children for several years. During this time I was a desperate and hungry Christian. A couple of years later I married a wonderful Christian woman and have been blessed to have restored relationships will all three of my children as adults.

About four years ago, my wife and I had our “awakening” from the sheeple herd and realized that our cozy little house and property on the Oregon coast would not be a defensible and sustainable place to be in the case of a sustained disaster or major change in the world as we know it. We have, in the time since our awakening, managed to accumulate over a ton of food stores, greatly enhanced our security capabilities, and relocated to the Redoubt. We have been truly blessed to have made all this transition with very little resistance. The road here seems to have been paved with purpose. Our house sold at an acceptable price to the first couple that looked at it. I found work here in the Redoubt that pays better than I had before. We found property with water, pasture, and trees (went from 1/2 acre on the coast to 40+ here). We are working to further enhance our existence with livestock and major gardening and preservation efforts.

We also have a good association with a few families that are like-minded. We are growing a small community of mutual support folks, standardizing on life-sustaining efforts and security (both strategic and tactical). Life here is hard work but good. Very good. That brings me to the present.

My challenge to the Christian readership:

During the last several years, I have again been experiencing a crisis of faith. First of all, I have a firm belief that there is a creative power/force involved in the universe; there’s too much resistance to entropy to explain it any other way. A creator is holding all of this together.

Having grown up in a LDS religious environment that involved a strong “our way is the only way” mentality puts me at odds with the same theology being shared by most Christian teachers and believers. My questions and challenges:

  1. I grew up thinking that things that bring me to tears and give me goose bumps are manifestations of the Holy Spirit. I’m not sure that it’s any more than programmed emotional responses. How do I trust my own feelings?
  2. Christian theology states that the Bible is inerrant and completely God-spoken. Reference to the accuracy of ancient records to discovered scrolls shows accuracy but doesn’t prove authenticity as God’s word. The world had liars and deceivers way back then too. Their writings aren’t true because they are old and accurately translated through the ages. The Bible has had a rough go at handling through the ages (dark and otherwise). I am challenged to believe in the Book as absolute truth. How do you reconcile the handling that mankind has perpetrated?
  3. “The only path” is what I heard my whole life. Whether it was the LDS temple rites and exhalation or simply accepting and following Jesus, I have a huge stumbling block in my life over this. I believe that the relationship with my creator (assuming whatever form) will be the key to my eventual disposition in the eternities. How can I buy into a theology that is so specific and exclusive?

To conclude, I would like to make a few things clear: I have a lot of respect for true believers (those that believe what they believe and live their life accordingly). I am married to a wonderful Christian woman who is very patient with my struggles. I also have a fantastic support system of friends and family who are Christian as well. While my questioning may raise concerns to the contrary, I certainly offer no disrespect to Christian believers.

Let me say this: I want to believe. My resistance is primarily intellectual-based. I feel that I give up some integrity to just blindly believe and yet I haven’t been able to reconcile that loss. I would appreciate hearing from those who may have struggled in a similar fashion and found both a resolution and peace in believing. God bless – NWD

Hugh Responds: God has created us as emotional beings. Those emotions drive the very core of who we are, but emotions are not necessarily truth. Throughout time, man has learned to manipulate emotions and to elicit the desired emotional outcome. Have you ever watched a movie that had no music, or listened to a passionate political speech? We use emotions to connect with each other and sometimes to manipulate each other. TV commercials use emotions to drive sales; car salesmen appeal to your desire to look cool. Having the ability to manipulate a person’s emotions makes you a very powerful person in their lives. Church is no different in that respect. Most modern churches have a given formula designed to elicit that goosebumps or tearful feeling, usually through music. Another method commonly used is chanting. Our modern church music has combined those methods to bring a person into an emotional state to where they believe they are open to the moving of the Holy Spirit and deep understanding of the pastor’s words. Unfortunately, when you hear those words without the emotions, you realize just how shallow they are. Even if they are true, they are milk rather than meat for the soul.

Yes, meeting God is an emotional experience, but emotions also lie (2 Cor 10:15) and can be manipulated. You learn to trust those feelings by knowing the truth of God and comparing what you hear, see, and feel to the truth of the Word. That means you have to study the Word of God (2 Tim 2:15) and hide its truths within your heart (Psalm 119:11). All too often we substitute study of another man’s thoughts on the Word (commentaries, prayer books, devotionals, et cetera) for the actual study of the Word itself, which brings us to your second point.

The canon of scripture is a recent invention of the church. Before the third century (AD), there existed the Torah (the first five books of Moses) and a collection of letters by prophets, historians, and apostles. The early catholic church wanted to distance itself from Judaism and wanted to include some controversial books as official documentation. Shortly after Council of Nicea, among other things, the church created an early form of the canon of the Bible. They included the Torah and other letters in what we now term the Old Testament and included the Gospels and other letters written after Christ’s coming as the New Testament. They gave higher precedence to the New Testament, including the idea the church should view the Old Testament only as history. Not to be left out, the Jews, who rejected Christ, formulated their own canon of scripture and called it the Tanach (which only had pre-Christ letters). The process to arrive at these two cannons of scripture was convoluted, and the authors broke many of their own rules in assembling them. For instance, one rule was that letters could only be included in the New Testament if the authorship could be firmly established and the author had first person experience with Christ. The authorship of Hebrews cannot be established, and there are clear clues that the author had no direct experience with Christ, yet it was included in the canon because it contains the reasoning for splitting the canon of scripture into two and the reasoning for the elevation of the New Testament over the Old Testament. Other letters written by people who had direct contact with Christ were left out. So, in the end, the canon of scripture, as we know it, has some questionable content while missing other content. In addition to that problem, we have another issue concerning the canon of scripture. The canon of scripture was written in three languages over a period of about 2000 years: Hebrew, Chaldean, and Greek. Additionally, those who wrote in Greek, did so because it was the common written language of the time, but it was not their primary language (except for the author of Hebrews). The primary language was Hebrew and the written Greek reads poorly compared to Greek manuscripts contemporary with those letters. The idioms and language mechanics are clearly Hebrew, even though the written word was Greek. I believe that the original language writings, taken within the context of the culture they were written in and to, are the infallible Word of God, but much is lost in the translation to other languages. The core message is brought through, but many of the cultural indicators are lost. The translators also embedded their own theologies into the translations produced.

Given that most today do not speak or write Biblical Hebrew or Greek, how do we know what is true then? That may have been an issue years ago, but in this day and age, you have amazing tools at your disposal. You can easily learn Hebrew or Greek online, and even if you don’t want to become fluent in archaic languages, you can use online tools like http://scripture4all.org to see the original language and how it is translated. You will have to learn about ancient Hebrew culture to grasp the meaning of idioms and parables correctly, but there are amazing tools available for that as well. I also use Olive Tree bible with about 20 translations on my ipad (including interlinear and original language tools). There is more, but I’ll come back to that in a minute. Let’s move on to your third question:

“The only path” is used by so many modern churches and cults, but they can’t all be right. In fact, the modern Church is so fractured from denominational splits that it makes one wonder if any have it right. The Bible is clear that there is only one path to God (through Jesus Christ) but do the Baptists have it? Or perhaps it is the Catholics? Or maybe the Lutherans? Or perhaps one of the “cults” like LDS or Jehovah’s Witness? Or any of the other myriad of Churches? The answer to this question lies in the same answer to the last question. You must be able to discern absolute truth. What if you find the “truth”? Does that mean that all those who don’t believe exactly like you will not meet God, as many of the modern religions insist?

God is a just God, but He is also merciful. Unlike man’s laws, God does not hold you accountable for what you do not know. However, by the same token, those who “know” are held to a much higher standard. Once you learn “truth” you can’t un-know it. When you learn it, you are now responsible for that truth. In Romans 1, Paul makes it clear that ALL men have some knowledge of God, enough knowledge that they cannot claim ignorance of God, but you will only have the revelation of God’s relationship with each man in proportion to the time you spend seeking truth through His Word with an open heart over time.

Many (mainly Catholics) want to bring you to the Council of Nicea to begin to reveal that truth of God to you, but I have a problem with that. Constantine was a political animal, and his “embracing” of the Christian faith is subject to revisionist history. When you study the beginnings of the Roman Catholic church in earnest, it doesn’t take long to reveal that he simply embraced ALL religions in an attempt to unify a broken and shattered Rome. We are far better off using scripture itself to authenticate truth. The modern church would have you look at Paul’s writings in regards to the Law to point out that Christ began the church in the first century (AD), but is that really the case? Paul’s ministry, along with many others, was to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. But was that Christ’s ministry? A cursory reading of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) reveals that Christ’s ministry was to the Jew, but the message was the same: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” This is the same message that Christ sent the 70 disciples out two-by-two to spread in Luke 10. What is the “Kingdom of God”? The modern church would have you believe that it was Jesus’ death and resurrection that brought that Kingdom into place, but why then were the disciples so confused upon his death? They certainly preached the “Repent, for the Kingdom of God” message with gusto, but when Christ was killed, they ran and hid. Even after the resurrection, they struggled until Pentecost, at which point they received the Holy Spirit. How could they preach a message that they fully believed in, yet could not understand? Perhaps, the modern church is not correct in its thinking.

Let’s look at the “Jerusalem Council” in Acts. At this point, the church was clearly established, and the ministry included a strong evangelization of the Jewish people and a fledgling evangelization of the surrounding Gentiles. The question arose, that since the word was brought to the Jew first, did a Gentile have to convert to Judaism before becoming a Christian. This was quite the controversy, and the founding church fathers obviously spent a great deal of time dealing with this. When James (the first leader of the early church who we believe was Christ’s brother rather than the apostle) gave his judgment, it gives us a clue as to where to find the ultimate truth that we are looking for, starting in Acts 15:18:

“Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.  Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:  but that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.  For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.”

There in a nutshell is the evidence of where to find truth. Being a Gentile, we are commanded that in order to become a Christian, we must immediately abstain from idol worship, from sexual fornication, from things strangled, and from blood. We easily get the first two– you can’t worship idols and God at the same time and you cannot be involved in sexual fornication and be a Christian. (A quick side note here: How many in today’s churches do you see involved in sexual fornication yet claim to be Christians, and why doesn’t the church call them on that?) What about the “things strangled” and “blood”? The key to understanding those is to read verse 21: “For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.”

Whoa! James is telling new Christians that they must not only abstain from those four things, but that they have to attend synagogue and learn about Moses (The Torah). Interestingly enough, the four conditions are taken directly from Leviticus 17, 18, and 19. Would that not indicate that the Torah is vitally important to Christians as more than “history” and as more than something for Jews alone? This is contrary to modern church belief and teaching.

God is the Creator of everything. He is singularly responsible for the rules that regulate His creation from the smallest, most minute detail to the largest most grandeur evidence. To find ultimate truth, we must go back directly to God– the Creator. In all other biblical manuscripts, we have visions, given by God, then written down, histories written as they happened, letters of explanation and correction, but only the Torah was directly given by God to man, person to person, with Moses only transcribing as he is told to do so. With the ten commandments, those words were directly inscribed upon stone tablets by God Himself. No other written scripture can claim such direct authenticity. Therefore, the Torah is the direct expression of God’s will and is the written standard by which we are to judge the truthfulness of all other scripture, words, deeds, and organizations, historical or modern.

What we consider Judaism today is in reality more properly called Talmudic Judaism or Rabbinical Judaism. If you read the gospels, you will find that Christ rails against the Pharisees and Sadducees because they hold the traditions of man above the commandments of God (Mark 7:8, Matthew 15:9). When God gave the Torah to Moses, it contained the instructions for living and worshiping God. Over time, the Pharisees and Sadducees had built “fence laws” around the commandments of God, and those laws had taken a higher precedence than God’s original commands. This is what the message that Christ sent the disciples out preaching was all about. “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand”. This meant to repent from the commandments of men and return to the commandments of God, for God is coming. The Kingdom of God (or alternatively, the Kingdom of Heaven) represents when Christ returns in the second coming and sets up his Kingdom here on earth. God expects us to be following his commands. Paul’s writings are not railing against the Torah, as is taught by the modern church, but against the Talmudic or Rabbinical laws that, prior to encountering Christ, he followed intimately as a “pharisee of pharisees”.

What about Christ’s own words? “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-19

Christ himself tells us that those who teach the Torah will be great in Heaven, but those who do not will be least in Heaven. It becomes evident that the Torah is incredibly important to us. In fact, the Torah contains the first revelations of God to man. By the very words of the Torah itself, all succeeding revelations must not contradict this first revelation or they are to be considered false (Dueteronomy 13). That is your standard of truth. All other letters from prophets, apostles, or historians must not contradict the Torah or they are false. All church doctrine must not contradict the Torah or it is false. That realization is chilling when we see how far the Church has strayed from what God has presented in the Torah.

About now, many people are reeling from the same struggle that the Gentiles had in the first century church. Do they have to become Jewish to become Christian? The answer is a resounding “No!”. However, you must become one of God’s people, known as a “Hebrew”. God chose the Hebrew people, through the election of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants, to be the example of light to the rest of the world. Scripture makes it clear that they were not chosen because they were special. In fact, they were quite obstinate. They were made special because they were chosen. So how does one become Hebrew without becoming Jewish? The answer is found in how God selected Abraham and his descendants. We do not have clear record of whether Abraham was the first born of his father Terah or not, but the culture was that the “First Born” received the greater blessing. However, after Abraham was chosen, it was his second son– Isaac– who received the greater blessing. Of Isaac’s sons, it was his second son– Jacob– who received the greater blessing. Of Jacob’s sons, it wasn’t even his own son but the second son (Ephraim) of his 11th son (Joseph) who received the greatest blessing. God made sure that we understood: He chooses whom He wills to choose, not whom we think should be chosen. Genesis 46:7 tells us that seventy descendants of Jacob entered Egypt, yet less than 120 years later Moses led nearly two million people (600,000 men over 20 years old) out of Egypt. How could 74 people multiply to over two million in such a short time? When God gave Moses the instructions for the remembrance of the Passover, He gives us a clue. Exodus 12:48-49 makes it clear that “aliens” and “sojourners” are to be treated as native born. One law was for everyone who chose to follow God. Many times in the Torah, God instructs His people that it is not just those who were born into the family who are considered Hebrews, but any who choose to follow His commands are also Hebrew. (Leviticus 17:7-9, 19:33-34; Numbers 9:14, 15:15, 15:29-30 are a few of the many examples of this.) When the Hebrews left Egypt, they took with them not just their families but anyone else, slave or freeman, who chose to follow the one true God; these others came with them, and they were ALL considered Hebrews. In Numbers 32:12, we learn that Caleb, the leader of the tribe of Judah was a Kenizzite (not of Abraham’s seed). In 1 Kings 17:1 we learn that Elijah (considered by most to be the greatest Hebrew prophet) was also not of Abraham’s seed. He was a Tishbite from Gilead.

Paul, in Romans 11, iterates this concept:

“For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well, because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.”

And again in verse 24:

“For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?”

The prophet Jeremiah also underscores this concept. The church today readily lays claim to the “New Covenant”, but Jeremiah makes it clear:

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:” Jeremiah 31:31

The “New Covenant” is only for the House of Israel and the House of Judah. You cannot partake of that covenant unless you are part of the Hebrew people, and we become Hebrew by adoption, according to both Moses and Paul. Jesus underscores this concept again through the apostle John in Revelation:

“and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:” Revelation 21:12

The New Jerusalem only has 12 gates, one for each tribe of Israel. An angel guards each gate, and none enter by any other means. How will you enter the New Jerusalem if you are not of one of the tribes of Israel?

It is also interesting to note the perspective of the writers of the New Testament. We often hear of them referencing “the scriptures” and we think mostly of the New Testament. However, they were not referencing their own works; they were referencing the scripture that they had grown up with and had been taught their entire lives. Christ, the apostles, and all of the disciples were Torah-observant Jews. Even Paul was a Torah-observant Jew after his encounter with Jesus.

There is much more to this, and I hope to have whetted your appetite for the Scriptures of God. In short, all three of your questions can be answered by determining where to find “ultimate truth”, and that truth, by which everything else is compared, can only be God. We know His truth by his direct revelation of scripture (The Torah) and all other scripture, words, and deeds must be measured by that yardstick. You are right in questioning whether any “group” has “the only path”. Ultimate truth cannot be found in any denomination, any ethnic or socioeconomic group, or anything done or provided by man. Ultimate truth is only found by pursuing God, which is a life long journey.

I’ll leave you with one final concept. You do not have to blindly believe. Websters Dictionary got the definition of ”faith” wrong when it stated that faith is belief when there is no reason to believe. For the Christian, faith is believing in God and the surety of His statements, commitments, promises, and philosophy of life based on the Scriptures. We do not believe because there is no proof. We believe and have faith because of the overwhelming proof offered to us by God. The very nature of God demands two or three witnesses for any statement to carry truth. As God talked to Moses from the burning bush, God did not stutter. “Moses, Moses…” Exodus 3:4, God presented Moses with multiple entities. When God gives a description of Himself in Exodus 34, He begins by declaring all three aspects of Himself to Moses– “The Lord”, “The Lord” and “God”.

May God bless you as you seek Him in your journey.

Economics and Investing:

Despite Decline in CPI, Food Index Increases in December. – G.G.

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First National Bank of Crestview fails: branches will reopen Tuesday under New Orleans bank. – G.G.

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Items from Mr. Econocobas:

Venezuela Lacks A Lot More Than McDonald’s French Fries

Venezuela’s Future? ‘Barbarity and People Looting’ – This is from December but worth posting still.

Obama Said to Seek 7% Budget Boost, Setting Up Fight With Congress

Bullard’s Back (But Stocks Ain’t Buying It… Yet)– This was the same Bullard who lifted stock with a hint that QE wouldn’t end; however that proved wrong as it did end just a few weeks later but it did stop the slide in the markets.

Odds ‘n Sods:

I noticed that former Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s anti-gun pressure group Mayors Against Illegal Guns has been re-branded with the oh-so Kumbaya name “Everytown for Gun Safety”. Perhaps it was the fact that his Mayors Cabal has lost 15% of it membership in the past year. Or maybe it is the fact that an embarrassing number of the member mayors have been indicted or sent off for long stretches in prison. – JWR

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Fearful of pro-gun activists, Texas state Reps. to install security “Panic Buttons”. – T.P.

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Parents Investigated For Neglect For Letting Kids Walk Home Alone. SurvivalBlog reader K.D comments:

“I have children about this age, and have let them walk themselves up to half-a-mile to go to the library/park/convenience-store, et cetera, and they’ve been fine. (It’s one of the perk’s of living in a safe, suburban neighborhood!) You could say– It’s why I pay the taxes I do, to live where I do, surrounded by what I’m surrounded by (and more importantly, NOT surrounded by what I’m NOT surrounded by).

“I agree with the parent’s argument that allowing responsible kids a little room on the leash is a good thing and helps them develop maturity and responsibility. The cop dropping the kids off was probably fine, and the officer should have been able to evaluate the parents/home-life very quickly to see if it was negligence vs. free-range parenting…

“I wonder… Did anyone call CPS to check on the little boy in Cleveland’s parent(s), to see what they were doing while he was playing alone with his modified air-soft gun in the park? ‘Course not, that’s racist.”

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Change Gun Laws in Europe to Let Jews Carry Arms. – T.P.

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The march towards the full nanny state continues: You Could Be Quarantined and Forced to Take Toxic Drugs. – D.S.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.” Exodus 10:3 (KJV)

Notes for Friday – January 16, 2015

Today, we present another entry for Round 56 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel which can be assembled in less then one minute without the use of any tools and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 30 DPMS AR-15 .223/5.56 30 Round Gray Mil Spec w/ Magpul Follower Magazines (a value of $448.95) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear,
  7. A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value),
  8. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  9. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  10. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
  12. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. Acorn Supplies is donating a Deluxe Food Storage Survival Kit with a retail value of $350,
  4. The Ark Instituteis donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  5. $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P),
  6. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  7. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  8. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate,
  9. Organized Prepper is providing a $500 gift certificate, and
  10. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  6. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a Locking Rifle Rack (a $379 value).

Round 56 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Getting Prepared, A Philosophical Perspective, by ShepherdFarmerGeek- Part 2

Yesterday, in Part 1, I talked about making choices, being informed, and how to deal with the “best case”. Now, let’s look at the worst case.

Worst Case

So there’s the best case– a wholesale economic collapse, which has, actually, already begun. On the other hand, I think the worst case scenario would be some combination of:

  • World economic collapse driven by people who want to cripple the United States so its Constitution and sovereignty can be overthrown, PLUS
  • A human-engineered, actually-deadly viral pandemic and mandatory mass vaccination with actually-dangerous ingredients (thimerosol preservative and squalene adjuvant come to mind), resulting in (and even possibly with the malicious intention of) sickening people who will then be more dependent on pharmaceuticals, as well as significantly reducing the population of the U.S. and the world, PLUS
  • Global political movements to give greater power to the various family dynasties and conspiratorial groups in preparation for a one-world government ruled by the Antichrist, PLUS
  • A worldwide food crisis driven by a combination of droughts, weather changes, new plant and animal diseases, human incompetence, and greed (including the indiscriminate use of dangerous, genetically-modified plants and animals), PLUS
  • Natural disasters (i.e., massive earthquakes) and terrorist disasters (nuclear attack on a half-dozen cities) as prophesied by reputable Christian leaders for years, leading to anarchy and further social breakdown, PLUS
  • Invasion by foreign troops from China and Russia (possibly including United Nations forces), with other allies, under the guise of “humanitarian disaster support” BUT with the result that large areas of the country are essentially under foreign influence and control; (This is a real possibility, and arguments to the contrary are simply unconvincing), PLUS
  • A large backlash (already well underway in liberal circles) against Christians, set up as scapegoats for many of our country’s social and foreign problems, to the point of marginalization and outright persecution, PLUS
  • A national push to disarm all private citizens of all but essential work-related firearms (ranchers and farmers), resulting in many acts of civil disobedience and a government unafraid of citizen resistance (a la Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, et cetera), enforced with advanced weapons that most citizens have no idea even exist.

Personally, I believe that every one of these scenarios is possible, and several of them are likely! The good news is that preparing for the best-case scenario (economic collapse) would go a long way toward being prepared for most of these other scenarios, too! In this list, I didn’t even include the massive danger of an EMP attack, Peak Oil (or oil supply shenanigans like we’re seeing now!), Muslim terrorists (overseas and tens of thousands of jihadis already in the U.S. with more to come), or 1,700 years of growing Biblical apostasy, which began around AD 300, coming to a climax in widespread submission to the Antichrist.

Whew! Who knows, really knows, what your future holds? Only God. God knows; He will not be taken by surprise. He has anticipated EVERYTHING. He has a plan. He will not fail.

Sadly, many Christians in the United States have been lied to and taught false doctrine by well-meaning pastors and teachers who would have us believe nothing “truly bad” can happen in our country or to godly Christians. The prosperity doctrine (and Dominion Theology), the pre-Trib Rapture, and the overemphasis on the “power of prayer” have misled many into making zero preparations. The church in the United States is flat-out ignorant of church history and unprepared for the difficult times ahead. It is a tragedy.

Much is at stake. It’s TIME to be serious and focused…now.

What About The Value Of Suffering?

“Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’. Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’. Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ But, Conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’. And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one’s conscience tells one that it is right.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

“There is no safety for honest men but by believing all possible evil of evil men.” – Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, 1790

“If God sends us on stony paths, he provides strong shoes.” – Corrie ten Boom

If you’re convinced that God uses suffering and we therefore shouldn’t avoid suffering, then why do you drive with your seatbelt on? Or eat a balanced diet? Or pay for insurance on your home? If suffering is so “useful”, then why don’t we just become monks and nuns and deny our human impulses, flagellate ourselves daily, and sleep in wooden coffins, like some ascetics have? Why not have some good old-fashioned homemade suffering?

Okay, that’s an extreme, but sincere Christians have chosen that very path over the centuries! I prefer to believe that if God brings inescapable suffering, then we should bear it as a follower of Jesus would. However, for all that the Bible has to say about the inevitability of death and persecution for following Jesus (if I give you all the Bible verses regarding this isn’t going to be a letter, it’s going to be a book!), it is also true that:

  1. Death is still an enemy to be avoided, if avoiding death can be done without disobeying or dishonoring Jesus. Follow Jesus, and if doing so gets you killed, so be it.
  2. Jesus made it clear, and Paul gives an example, however, that persecuted Christians may flee.
  3. The Bible requires that God’s people seek, value, and practice wisdom, and wisdom is specifically DEFINED as foreseeing trouble and avoiding it. (Proverbs 22:3)
  4. God is not honored by our untimely, avoidable deaths. There is nothing “good” about dying pointlessly.
  5. God requires us to defend the innocent and even our innocent selves.

Urgency Or Fearfulness?

Please don’t judge another’s preparations; the perception of risk varies from person to person based on upbringing, education, experience, personal maturity, family situation, and Christian maturity. They may know something you don’t. They may have had a terrible experience in the past with something and that experience is coloring their perceptions and motivations. The fact is that we’re ALL broken, ignorant, needy, wounded, vulnerable, and fallen to one degree or another. Your preparations aren’t perfect either.

“To disobey what I think God is telling me is to disobey God. There is nothing more a man can do at any given moment than say yes to God as he hears Him. It is God Himself who gently steers our boats, and corrects their course, but only as we’re moving toward Him. … The question is this: when push comes to shove, do I go with Christian peer pressure or with God’s Word as I see it?” – Andrée Seu

We must cut other Christians some slack! They aren’t responsible to us but to God. What’s appropriate? What’s not? All we can do is love them, share with them, pray for them, encourage them, and trust them to God. Some will make modest preparations; others may go whole-hog. Who are you to say God hasn’t told them what to do or can’t use their “extra” preparedness to help those too foolish to make any?

But, how do we know if a Christian is being consumed by fear while making preparations for this crisis? What are some indicators?

  • Neglecting basic preparations (food, water, shelter, medicines) while overemphasizing others,
  • Evidence of worry and obsession, lack of balance, anger, and agitation,
  • Unable to clearly and calmly document or explain their concerns,
  • Freezing up and doing nothing or little, paralyzed with indecision,
  • Unable to worship or rest, drifting from God, or
  • Unable to carry on and enjoy at least some of the basic activities of life.

For example, if we were living in pre-World War II Poland and German troops were massing on the border just 50 miles from our town, we would be working hard to be prepared for defense or escape! It would be urgent, and it would pretty much be the focus of our day, even as we went about doing the essential things of family and job. I believe we are at that point in the U.S. now.

Does that mean we’re “fearful”? No, of course not!

We might be fearful, but we might just be focused on a pressing problem that must be addressed immediately. There’s nothing wrong with working quickly! Watch a paramedic at the next traffic accident you drive by and you’ll appreciate that.

There is a problem if we’re worrying, fearing, and failing to trust God with the whole situation and to guide us. Stop occasionally and reflect about how you’re going about your preparations. Is it urgency or is it fearfulness that motivates you?

Where Do We Start?

Fortunately, the book of Proverbs clearly spells out what we should do:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Prov. 3:5-6

“A prudent person (“wise person”) foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions; the simpleton (“fool”) goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” – Proverbs 22:3

Wisdom is DEFINED as foreseeing trouble and avoiding it. That is wisdom! Even if God does use suffering and persecution to refine and teach his children, we still should avoid it when we can!

However, if you see trouble on the horizon and you don’t do anything appropriate to avoid it, then according to the Bible you’re a fool. (I didn’t say that! God did!)

By very definition, the “fool” does nothing or only makes some feeble response doomed to inadequacy. The foolish person is “blind”: self-deceived, uninformed, willfully ignorant of the critical issues of the day, too lazy to study, too arrogant to think anything bad could happen to them, Biblically ignorant, and so forth.

On the other hand, the wise person “foresees the danger…” How do they do that? By understanding human nature, by staying informed of national and local news, by researching and investigating when more information is needed, by seeking the counsel of wiser and more mature Christians, and certainly by asking God in prayer for more wisdom and insight.

The Bible also makes it clear that failing to provide for our families (food, water, shelter, security, spiritual leadership, emotional health, physical health, and so on) is morally wrong:

“Now if anyone is not providing for his own, and especially his family, he has disowned the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.” – I Timothy 5:8

Working on getting prepared is wise, and it is good. It minimizes fear, focuses your mind, and gives you a sense of satisfaction, even joy in doing what needs to be done and moving forward to meet the future. Your preparations, by themselves, will not guarantee your protection, but your wise preparations, with the presence and guidance of God, will be enough.

You are in His hands. You do your part; He will do his.

So, I Believe People Ought To:

“Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil.” – Doug Patton

“I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

  • Store food; what we may disagree about is how much,
  • Learn to grow your own food in a garden. You can’t store “enough” food; it’s as simple as that,
  • Store drinking water (enough for at least a month is my recommendation, if you have to stay in your home during a pandemic flu quarantine), and probably some emergency water for gardens and trees; also know how to purify water you find in lakes and rivers,
  • Collect a supply of over-the-counter and prescription medications. Could you self-quarantine at home for a month without going to the store?
  • Have a plan to flee (and find or make your own shelter) if there is danger in your neighborhood or community,
  • Be able to heat and cook without electricity,
  • Be sure you have adequate clothing and equipment for a hard winter (unless, I suppose, you live in Tahiti),
  • Own a firearm and ammunition. I’m not saying you need multiple military-grade firearms and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition! You might need to hunt, shoot varmints, or defend yourself. The Biblical case for self-defense is VERY strong. Things could get hairy,
  • You should also study about what the Bible says on “civil disobedience” and our relationship to the government. I am pro-government, but a rogue government is a danger to all. The quote attributed to Mark Twain says it well: “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”

Get started today to seek God earnestly, to provide for your family wisely, and to have compassion on your neighbors who only know what the (lying) evening news and the newspaper tells them to believe. They’re going to need your help. (https://survivalblog.com/save-them-by-shepherdfarmergee/ )

Read the Bible with “fresh eyes” and learn how to meet as a church like the FIRST churches did. The way most churches are “doing church” is about to change, radically.

Don’t resort to hate. Don’t give in to fear. Put God first. Be a light in the darkness; you may be the only one where you are. Don’t lose hope. Never stop trusting God. We’re going to get through this WITH Him. You are in His hands.

The history of our fallen and rebellious planet must now play itself out. Regardless of all our technology, civilization, and advancements, we’re still humans deeply in need of a Savior, and that has never been clearer than right now. No matter how dark the day, however, never forget that God’s love has already won. It’s already a done deal.

The truth is, what God accomplished in Jesus at the cross has implications far beyond what we know or can even imagine. It was a stupendous accomplishment, a savvy and incredible move, an unbelievably good and wonderful thing, and a stunning universe-shaking victory!

We only get hints of the scope of it all in the Bible, but there is much more going on than meets the eye. One day (you’ll be there to see it with your own eyes), He will make everything well that is not well, and we shall all marvel and rejoice in Him forever. Every knee shall bow in joyful submission to Him, according to Isaiah 45:23, Romans 14:11, and Philippians 2:10.

Perspective is everything…

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him.”
1 Cor. 2:9 (NLT)

Be Prepared. Trust God. We can do both!

Letter Re: Idaho as a Retreat Locale

Hugh,

In response to Jonathan’s letter about places to consider in Idaho, I would like to make the case for two small towns named Pierce and Weippe (We-I-P). While JR got close to talking about them when he mentioned Fraser (“Freezer”), I think he may be overlooking a couple of gems.

The population of Pierce is just over 500 and Weippe just over 400. The local K-12 school (Timberline) has a total of just over 200 kids with an average class size of 16 (several classes only 3, 4, or 5). Pierce and Weippe are about 10 miles apart, and the school is between them. I live in Pierce.

There are two streams that run directly out of the mountains and right through Pierce. They converge at the edge of town and then run down the hill towards Orofino. One of them is the town’s water supply and has never run dry, as far as anyone knows (i.e., water should never be a problem). The stream that the city uses to supply the water used to support a population of about 4000 (until the mill closed in 2000 and the city shrank).

One of JWR’s “rules” is that you should live “off a side road of a side road”, and both Pierce and Weippe fill that bill nicely. The only road that runs through both towns is a loop road that runs from route 12 in Orofino up through both towns (and Fraser, if you wish) and back down to route 12 in Greer, so the only traffic we get is that which REALLY wants or needs to come through here.

Pierce and Weippe are the last two towns before you go over the Bitterroot Mountains to Montana, so you have about two hundred miles of some of the best fishing (including one of the world’s most renowned fly fishing streams) and hunting available. Most of houses on my street are “hunting cabins” that are only occupied during the hunting and fishing season.

Real estate is relatively inexpensive. Just a couple of months ago there was a 2600 sq ft house near “downtown” on a good sized lot, not in very good shape, but certainly livable, that was listed for $29,000 and sold rather quickly. There are a lot of houses for sale that have been on the market for a long time, and I imagine the owners would be pretty flexible on price, but that’s just my guess.

The only businesses in Pierce are a grocery store, a hardware store, a car parts store, an art store, a gas station with 50 year old pumps, the library, a couple of restaurants, and the post office. Oh, and, of course, lots of bars and churches.

The last couple of winters have been relatively mild. Last year I never had more than three feet of accumulated snow in my yard. So far this year I haven’t had more than one foot. Next year, who knows?

As in most places, employment is an issue. The only employers of any size are the school district and the lumber mill in Weippe. Also, as Johnathan mentioned, the growing season is shorter, but if you’ve done your canning and dehydrating, you should be able to replenish your food supply during the summer.

Cell service is almost nonexistent. You can stand in a few places in town and get reception, but it is spotty. The best part (or worst part, depending upon your perspective) is that it is 63 miles to the closest starbucks! Weippe has the better Internet service (as it is not very good in Pierce), if that’s a consideration for you. Who knows how long we’ll even have an Internet though.

As a side note about Fraser: It is almost all farm land with lots of wheat fields there!

If you want to be relatively remote without being out in the hinterlands, you may want to check out Pierce, Weippe, and Freezer (I mean Fraser).

BTW, I am not a real estate agent nor do I work for the Chamber or Commerce. – A.G.

Odds ‘n Sods:

How Eisenhower solved illegal border crossings from Mexico

o o o

European ‘No-Go’ Zones for Non-Muslims Proliferating.

o o o

Confirming what most of us already know, G.P. sent in an article on a Princeton Study: U.S. No Longer An Actual Democracy

o o o

Are you a down-on-your-luck congressman, recently liberated from your role as a public servant? Have no fear… Middle Eastern Governments Are on a Shopping Spree for Former Congressmen (thanks to A.P. for the link)

o o o

More shame from the country of “men without chests”: Survival expert made experimental ‘bear scarer’ after the death of an Eton schoolboy. SurvivalBlog reader P.A. states “I know this guy personally. He’s a top notch professional in his field, and what he’s had to endure for the past couple of years has been a travesty. There seem to be no limits to the creeping insidious invasion of the nanny state in the UK. Keep up the good fight over there guys; you don’t want what we have.”

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“The world is crazy and the spiritual culture is lazy. But, like parents that never stop hoping, praying, and trying to be a positive influence for our children, we cannot stop hoping and trying to impact the world in areas of spirituality.” – Boaz Michael

Notes for Thursday – January 15, 2015

Today, we present another entry for Round 56 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel which can be assembled in less then one minute without the use of any tools and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 30 DPMS AR-15 .223/5.56 30 Round Gray Mil Spec w/ Magpul Follower Magazines (a value of $448.95) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear,
  7. A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value),
  8. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  9. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  10. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
  12. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. Acorn Supplies is donating a Deluxe Food Storage Survival Kit with a retail value of $350,
  4. The Ark Instituteis donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  5. $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P),
  6. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  7. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  8. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate,
  9. Organized Prepper is providing a $500 gift certificate, and
  10. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  6. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a Locking Rifle Rack (a $379 value).

Round 56 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Getting Prepared, A Philosophical Perspective, by ShepherdFarmerGeek- Part 1

“A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” – Proverbs 22:3

Some credible, Christian people who are highly educated and very well informed, experienced and mature, savvy and responsible, and very knowledgeable about the Bible are saying there is a catastrophe coming very soon to the United States. Many other equally authentic followers of Jesus reach different conclusions, and still more find the very idea too disturbing to even consider, so they refuse to mention it to other Christians. They choose to believe that the idea of a national disaster affecting Christians is contrary to how God acts.

There are a few credible Christians who claim to have a warning message from God, and there are those Christians over the past many years who, apparently, have been having similar warning dreams at night. Really, any Christian who is alert to what has been happening in the Obama administration would have to admit that these are disturbing, alarming, and even bizarre times.

Financial “experts” (those who are not mouthpieces of government economic propaganda) accurately predicted the current economic crisis several years ago, and those same people are now saying this will get a lot worse before it gets better. They are calling it the Greater or Second Depression. Alternatively, there are other persons who disagree. So how do we decide?

I am not an “expert”. In fact, I don’t think there are any “experts”, when it comes to something as unprecedented as what we may be facing. Can we know for certain what’s going to happen? No. In fact, it would be a pretty safe bet (were I a betting man) that what will happen will not be exactly like what anyone expects.

Short of an authenticated prophet of God or a clear prophecy of scripture, we cannot know what’s next; only God knows the future. Because there have been so many false prophets and so many scriptural misinterpretations in our time, everyone is reluctant to believe anything anyone says. Even prophetic scriptures don’t specifically address many of our questions, though there are tantalizing hints. There are cause-and-effect verses, though, that tell in general what happens when a nation does certain things, and there are passages which tell us to be wise and describe wisdom in general.

So do we give up on hearing from God? Do we only listen to the secular “experts”? No!

Making Choices

Every day, all day, we make a continuous stream of choices about two general things: how best to deal with our circumstances in the present time, and how to avoid future suffering.

As Christians, the presence, love, power, and goodness of God are an essential factor in all of our calculations, or at least they should be. Depending on how well we know His character and how well we’ve researched the Bible and know our times, we include Him in our day and in our plans in appropriate ways.

  • We responsibly go to work, instead of staying in bed where it’s comfy and just pray for God to send money.
  • We choose to eat certain things while avoiding others, because we’d like to fit into our clothes again tomorrow.
  • We write our homeowner’s insurance check because we know it is a financially wise thing to do, even though we trust in God’s protection overall.
  • We lock the door at night because we value the lives of the loved ones in our home and we know the Bible warns us that there are bad people loose out there who are capable of deep evil, and we know God uses us at times to protect others.

All of these choices, and thousands more, are based on a continuous mental risk assessment. Some things we have control over, like what we put in our mouths. Other things we don’t control, like the weather outside for example. Some future events are reasonably foreseeable, while others blindside us and become our own personal “black swan” events.

In all of this, God has a part, and we have a part. God expects us to be wise and offers us His wisdom, but we also have a responsibility to study the Word and to understand our times as well as to seek His guidance and then to make the best choices we can. (Proverbs 2:11)

The basic principles upon which my own preparation philosophy (if you will) is based, boil down to these truths:

  1. God is in control,
  2. When I ask for wisdom, He will give it as he promised. I humbly ask, and he gives. (James 1:5)
  3. If I need additional information over and above wisdom and the guiding moral principles of the Bible, God is quite capable of breaking into my world supernaturally, bringing a particular Biblical passage to my attention, dreams, visions, prophecies, timely counsel, an angel with a flaming sword at the foot of my bed (I wish!), the usual. (Isaiah 30:21, Acts 2:17)
  4. I must do what I know to do. I must proceed to respond to the unfolding situation by making wise, loving, bold choices to the best of my ability. Not acting is faithlessness.

BEING INFORMED

“What we wish, that we readily believe.” – Demosthenes

“Opinion is queen of the world.” – Pascal

“Most people would rather die than think. In fact, they do.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason so few engage in it.” – Henry Ford

After the last election it should be plenty clear that the people who run the newspapers, popular magazines, TV news, and documentary shows are cogs in an actual larger conspiracy to overthrow the essence of historical America and to marginalize Christians and Christian influence in every area of national life. The mainstream media spins or omits information that people need to have to make educated choices about themselves and our country. The media are not impartial investigative journalists; they are part of the problem. Many “news” outlets have become simply thinly-veiled propaganda organs of the government. Remember that.

Unfortunately, one of our best alternatives for information– the Internet– is awash in misinformation, propaganda, lies, and wild speculation, even on supposedly “Christian” sites. Additionally, it seems to me that many adults between the ages of 18 and 35, having been educated in a deliberately corrupted, hijacked, dumbed-down, and utterly liberal government school system over the years, simply don’t have the mental tools to sift truth from error. People, even some Christians I know, fall for nutty stuff all the time.

Adults are responsible to make their own mind up about God, about interpreting the Bible, about current events, and more. The information is out there; people are individually responsible to sort through it. It takes work. It takes time, and it takes prayer. There’s just no getting out of it. Some of the information is downright scary, and some of it is troubling. If you can’t handle it, maybe your spouse can. However, don’t just believe everything you see on TV, read on the Internet, or hear from your friends! If it makes you freak out, if it’s crazy or unbelievable, if there’s no proof or documentation included with the claims (especially), it’s probably NOT true!

I think having someone, or several someones, with whom you can discuss the news or preparation ideas is a safeguard. I can’t count how many times I’ve thought I had a topic all figured out when I found someone else has a valuable perspective on it that I never even considered. Find a couple or a group that you can discuss all this with, and pray with them about it together!

I have followed key trends for nearly fifteen years and have come to rely on a half-dozen websites for my news. These are written or compiled by Christians (or conservatives) who, in my opinion, have an excellent eye for picking the important stories ignored by the mainstream media Obama cheerleaders and who have done a fairly decent job omitting fluff or speculative pieces. Having said that, they still do occasionally have articles that I would avoid or at least have no interest in, or they include an article for the purpose of informing their readers what “the opposition” is thinking or promoting, but they don’t mean to endorse them.

Caveat emptor– “buyer beware.” I recently removed two well-known Christian news sites from my personal daily reading list because they’ve begun featuring articles that are needlessly fearmongering, exaggerated, and groundless. So, use a little “holy discernment” when reading ANY news from ANY source. Always ask God for insight and wisdom!

  • http://drudgereport.com/ (conservative top and breaking news blog, better by far than MSN, CNN, or BBC, though not specifically a Christian perspective)
  • http://www.wnd.com/ (WorldNetDaily, Christian top news, supported by advertisers, has links to important news as well as their own stable of reporters and analysts from very reputable and influential in Christian circles)
  • https://survivalblog.com/ (of course!)
  • http://www.theblaze.com/ (a decent, conservative, Christian-friendly news accumulator website by popular Mormon commentator, Glen Beck)
  • http://www.breitbart.com/ (another conservative news accumulator)
  • http://therealrevo.com/blog/ (news and commentary from a wide variety of sources from a conservative perspective)
  • http://www.freerepublic.com/ (This is a conservative blog with many different contributors with sometimes insightful and sometimes not helpful follow-up comments– some Christian, some Mormon, and some Catholic– often picks up on breaking news around the world; a good news source but the people who chime in their two cents occasionally exceed the bounds of good taste and a Christian perspective; be forewarned!)

People need to know what’s happening in their world. Actually, I’d go farther than that: People are responsible to understand the times they live in. These websites and others can help.

Whole books have been written about preparedness, food storage, water purification, prophecy, persecution, how to know the will of God, the nature of God, and what God’s plan is for history (and us!). I couldn’t possibly cover all those issues, and yet each of these is essential to a right response to our times. Christians who want to know are going to have to do some studying! (Thinking is work, remember.) Here are four general preparedness books (among literally dozens and dozens of titles) that I often recommend:

What’s Shaping Up

“You ought to consider the ‘ifs’ now and then. Thinking about ‘if’ sometimes prepares you for ‘when’.” – Laura Kalpakian

“The will to win is not as important as the will to prepare to win.”

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. It’s that simple.

“Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting the bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian.” – Dennis Wholey

Anyone with a computer could take an hour and come up with a list of at least two dozen reasons why America faces an unprecedented crisis– a “Perfect Storm” of trouble– in the weeks and months ahead. These might include:

  • Federal borrowing that is two orders of magnitude larger than any borrowing in American history.
  • Unpayable federal and world total debts in the tens of trillions of dollars that doom world finances to some type of collapse and re-formation.
  • A closet Marxist/Muslim-preferring President brought to power by extremely wealthy and powerful groups that have long planned the end of the Constitution and our national sovereignty for a one world “New World Order” government, with an added agenda of drastic population reduction in the order of billions of people by a wide variety of means.
  • And so on, as there is quite a long list.

Those are facts that can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. On top of the facts are speculations about where all this is headed. Some possibilities include: imposition of martial law, gun confiscation, demonic guidance of high-level leadership, arrest of Christians and resisters, and, more. The speculations can get pretty scary!

There’s nothing wrong with speculating per se; we occasionally even speculate about God. Sometimes speculating and brainstorming help clarify our understanding of the situation, but sometimes people resort to wild speculations that have little connection to facts and let their imaginations run wild in fear. Stick to the facts.

Based on the information available to me, in my opinion, the best-case scenario is Uri Orloff’s, James Kunstler, and James Rawles’ simple, drastic economic collapse that is much worse than the Great Depression. If anyone wanted a place to start to prepare, this would be it. I personally only know of four people who have sat down and deliberately thought through all the implications of this “best-case” scenario and have made reasonable preparations to weather it. My neighbors believe Obama will fix everything, and they have mentioned to me that they’d expect to get some of my chickens if the economy does collapse! That’s some plan.

Many useful articles are available online. A good place to start is the “List of Lists” from SurvivalBlog.com. If you haven’t already begun to make significant preparations by this late date, then you must have the guidance of someone who’s already mostly prepared. Otherwise, the task will be overwhelming, and you’ll be likely to make mistakes that wiser (and less rushed) persons have already avoided or worked through.

Many persons who are convinced there will only be an economic collapse are also prepared to relocate their basic supplies and equipment on short notice (the prepper term is “bug out”) in the event of an ice storm, fire storm (we’ve had BOTH of those hit in Washington), chemical accident on a nearby road or railroad, terrorist attack upwind, or civil disturbance (riots, looters, et ceters).

In my opinion, for what that’s worth, everyone should have a written plan for what to do and what to take if they need to flee their home. Don’t build all your plans around that possibility, but at least give it some thought! How many times have we seen people on TV who have been forced out of their homes with only a few picture frames or a pillowcase of keepsakes? That’s terrible planning! The term “rude awakening” comes to mind.

Two Letters Re: Wintering Chickens

Hugh,

I feel compelled to chime in on the Wintering Chickens letter. Light bulbs are prone to fire so I would recommend using a heating source that is not a fire risk. Small, oil-filled heaters seem to work well for us. Also, the deep litter method does help with warmth in the winter and reduces the need for supplemental heat. Cold hardy chickens are fine down into the single digits, provided there is ventilation in the coop. Excess moisture combined with severe cold will cause frostbite to the comb. Chickens require down time in the winter, so I do not advocate artificial lighting. My Java chickens lay all winter (at an elevation of close to 8000 feet) without supplemental lighting. I provide heat only when the mercury plummets below zero. Borrowing from Joel Salatin and Harvey Ussery, I like to throw a few handfuls of whole corn into the coop just before dark. Scratching for corn in the deep litter gets their tummies full and their blood pumping, which warms them up for the night. Keep up the good work! – Alpine Sky-pilot

o o o

HJL,

I don’t use lights and let my hens molt in late fall thinking they may last longer this way, but I found my pullets that hatched in the spring came into lay just as the year old birds are molting. I don’t know which breeds or strains may do this without lights, but my pullets are a cross between a Rhode Island Red rooster and White Leghorn hens. They do have good shelter and layer pellets. – M.W.