The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Husbands are not Christ. But they are called to be like him. And the specific point of likeness is the husband’s readiness to suffer for his wife’s good without threatening or abusing her. This includes suffering to protect her from any outside forces that would harm her, as well as suffering disappointments of abuses even from her. This kind of love is possible because Christ died for both husband and wife. Their sins are forgiven. Neither needs to make the other suffer for sins. Christ has borne that suffering. Now as two sinful and forgiven people we can return good for evil.” – John Piper

Preparedness Notes for Sunday – December 24, 2017

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December 24, is the anniversary of when John Joe Gray’s legal troubles began. He and his family were self-sufficiently holed up in their Texas ranch for a few days short of 15 years, in defiance of a warrant for his arrest. This was the longest standoff in American history, in which he has faced the administrations of four different county sheriffs before the district attorney dropped the charges.

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A Christian Prepper’s Perspective on Giving- Part 4, by R2

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Four Types of Giving

Yesterday, we started describing the four types of giving outlined in the Scriptures, starting with an offering to the Lord. Today, we’ll finish up this series with the last three types of giving, on which we have instruction. The most controversial one, and the one that is probably on most people’s mind, is next up.

2) Tithe

This is the method of giving that most think of when we talk about giving to the Lord. It is the most controversial one, because the basic church structure today depends upon it to survive, yet there is no mention of it in the New Testament. Doesn’t that strike you as ironic that many churches that teach that the Old Testament has little to offer the modern believer, particularly with respect to laws and commandments, will go to the Old Testament commandments on giving to justify their very financial existence? I am approaching this from the perspective that there is one Bible and that both the Old Testament and the New Testament are part of that Bible. We derive God’s lessons for living life from both parts of the Scriptures.

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Letter: Concerns on Chemicals During Tornados

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Dear editors,

Our family includes small, climbing, curious children, and so all our hazardous chemicals are on high shelves in our first-floor utility/laundry room (the one space we have in our home that is currently inaccessible to them).

I recently have been wondering what would happen if a tornado were to hit our house – we have numerous chemicals that are not to be mixed with the others on pain of toxic clouds of death. On the other hand, tornadoes are hardly precision instruments (the bleach might as well end up 30 miles away as on top of the ammonia, for example). What are the SurvivalBlog reader’s thoughts on whether this is worth being concerned about?

Thanks for your service to all, – M.R.

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Good news! The pending Defense Authorization Act has provisions to transfer thousands of Army surplus 1911 firearms to the Civilian Marksmanship Program.

The Age of Junk Science

John Stossel had an interesting segment on his show: The Chocolate Hoax and Media Sensationalism. A media science writer put together a piece on how you could lose weight by eating one chocolate bar a day and used twisted data and facts, ignoring the real science. He then published this piece in a new science journal that did not depend upon peer review for acceptance. The media news, including ABC and TV affiliates along with magazines like Prevention ran with the article. It is a good warning to be skeptical of anything you pick up from the general media.

First Amendment

In a glaring example of why the founders included the First Amendment in our Constitution, a London assembly has stepped off the deep end. The assembly has voted to have pro-life Christians arrested and prosecuted for peacefully protesting abortion clinics and praying for women. Video documentation shows that the protesters stand quietly, offering support and prayer, but not blocking or harassing. Anti-protesters, on the other hand use bull-horns, shouting, insults and even occasionally violence in response. Guess who gets targeted by the government for “harassment”? If not for the Constitution, that would be us. Thanks to D.S. for the link.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” – 1 Peter 1:3-5 (KJV)

A Christian Prepper’s Perspective on Giving- Part 3, by R2

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How Does the Lord Value Your Gift?

The Lord does not value the gifts He receives in the same way that man values gifts. The exception perhaps is a mother valuing gifts she has received from her children. I can’t tell you how many times I have sat in church during the obligatory sermon on tithing to your church just to see some un-Biblical practice being followed.

Give in Secret

On one occasion, the pastor of the church we attended thought that he would encourage the congregation to give by being an example. He held up the check that he was going to donate to the cause (I don’t even remember what that cause was) and declared that he was starting the offering by giving $100.

The first thing that came to mind was the Lord’s instruction on giving to the poor:

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.” Matthew 6:1-2

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The Editors’ Preps for the Week

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To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. Steadily, we work on meeting our prepping goals. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities. They also often share their planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, property improvements, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

JWR

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers,
The Rawles family spent most of the week traveling. We’ve returned to very wintery conditions.  Once we got back to the ranch, we did our unpacking and reorganizing. The Greenhouse path still needs to be shoveled, so we’ll have to update that greenhouse within a greenhouse report next week.  Lily started to plan the layouts for the gardens for this coming summer.  Lord willing, we will be doubling the planted area and will be branching off into new crop growing adventures.  More on that later.

We are looking forward to reading comments from readers about your preps this winter.  May you all have a blessed Christmas week, – Avalanche Lily Rawles

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The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”.

California Fire

The Thomas fire has scorched 273,400 acres, or about 427 square miles of coastal foothills and national forest. This makes it the largest wildfire in California History and it is still going strong with only 65% containment. I’ve noticed some confusion over the term “containment” in the past. It doesn’t mean the fire is under control. It is a term that means firefighters have been able to place a firebreak around it’s perimeter. That firebreak can be anything from a 100 yard wide bulldozed separation to a couple shovel fulls wide. It can also just be a section of already burned land. It just depends on how large that section of fire is and the what the fire conditions are. The fire break is often no bigger than necessary. 65% containment means that there is a firebreak around 65% of the perimeter of the fire.

Fleeing Dragons

Speaking of wildfires, are you prepared for a possible wildfire in your area? If you live in a city, are you prepared for a large city fire? Kevin Reeve, of onPoint Tactical has prepared a short article on being prepared to deal with urban evacuations due to fire conditions. It is short and worth a read. With Tolkien as one of my favorite authors, his use of Tolkien’s quote on dragons caught my eye: “It does not do to leave a dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.”

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“For you will go out with joy And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” – Isaiah 55:12 (KJV)

A Christian Prepper’s Perspective on Giving- Part 2, by R2

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Yesterday, we talked about how people have a desire to give to the Lord but that all gifts are not valued by Him. We looked at some early examples of our Biblical fathers giving offerings and paying tithes to the Lord as well. Today, I want to continue with one more example that we can use as we begin to build our foundation of understanding on the subject of giving. It is important to note that these are not the only examples, just the first three obvious examples of people planning and arranging to give something of themselves to God.

We don’t want to assume that our gifts are acceptable to Him. Just like when you give to someone special in your life, we want to study His Word and discover what He has told us is important to Him. We want our gifts to Him to show that we love Him and have a desire to obey Him. It’s not enough to just throw some pocket money at Him or who we think His representative is. We want to express our love to Him in everything that we do.

With that in mind, let’s look at one more example:

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Letter: Is the Country Degenerating More Rapidly?

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Hugh,

Is it just me, or is our country changing more rapidly now? I’ve noticed a large increase in cases of people’s lack of consideration for others lately, especially when driving. Cutting others off, passing when it’s unsafe, cutting behind someone backing out of a parking space, driving well under the limit with a dozen cars stacked up behind you, et cetera. It seems like the speed of the descent into social chaos has really quickened lately. We live in a rural area, and it’s bad everywhere now but even worse in urban areas. – L.H.

HJL’s Comment:

It’s not just you. Our great republic is following in the footsteps of all democratic republics that have gone before it. The Greeks dealt with this same issue. The Romans followed suit and a myriad of other nations also did along the way. There really isn’t anything unique about our situation, except perhaps for the speed at which communication happens and the rate at which knowledge increases. These differences have not really seemed to have an impact on the timing though. We are perhaps more aware of the position of other nations around us, but as a whole we are following the same path that has been established before. Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee gave us the infamous Tytler cycle, otherwise known as the “Eight (or Nine) Stages of Democracy”. While I don’t agree with everything he wrote, I do believe he is right on with this observation.

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Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on Natural Gas Land. (See the Tangibles Investing section, near the end of this column.)

Precious Metals:

Gold Hovers Below 2-Week High, But Eyes Second Weekly Gain

Gold Forecast 2018: Prices Are Setup For A Breakout Year

Stock Markets:

JPMorgan’s quant guru says traders are waiting for tax cuts to unleash more stock market gains

Here is an interesting monthly stock report to determine what months of the year have historically been better than other months. It is a bit simplistic and doesn’t take into account outside influence, but interesting nonetheless.

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