Can the Old Testament be Trusted?

In the ongoing debate over the morality of the homosexual lifestyle this question is becoming more and more relevant, and yet the focus has been entirely on the issue at hand with most people quietly refusing to ask the hard questions that should be at the center. Can we accept the Gospel apart from the Old Testament? Is the Old Testament reliable, and is it compatible with the message of the Gospels?

Over the past few weeks, I have repeatedly seen info-graphics, pictures of facebook discussions, short “stories”, etc. that take an aggressive posture against the teaching of the Old Testament, particularly when it comes to basic definitions of morality. The argument is that the Old Testament Law is separate from the New Testament teaching of grace and forgiveness. The idea is that when Christ introduced the Gospel of grace all obligation to the Old Testament law was lost. For Christians, according to this line of thinking, the Old Testament is outdated and shouldn’t be relied upon for sound moral teaching.

Those who teach this seem to have forgotten to read the Gospels in all of their haste to separated them from the Old Testament.

Jesus said “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” Matt 5:17-20

We should note that this passage comes right after the ever popular beatitudes, in the middle of the sermon on the mount, and just before all of the “love your enemies” and “turn the other cheek” teaching that no one wants to dispute.

Is it possible that Jesus could really have meant to uphold the teaching of the Old Testament law? Look at the teachings on murder (5:21-22), adultery (5:27-30), and divorce (5:31-32) that follow right after this teaching. In most of these cases, true to what He said in 5:20 Jesus’ moral teaching either affirms the strictest Pharisaic interpretation of the law or goes beyond it. From this it is safe to gather, that just as He said, Jesus fully intends for Christians to adhere to the Old Testament’s moral teaching.

All the confusion comes from what we see happening in verse 17 “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them”. The key to understanding what is going on in this passage is to have a correct view of the unity of Scripture.

The Bible is divided into to two testaments, or covenants, but it stands as a unified whole. The key is to understanding this unity is to properly recognize the purpose of the Bible itself. The purpose of Scripture is to tell the history of God’s redemptive working for mankind after our fall into sin, and to ultimately tell how God stepped down to redeem us from our sin and show us the way back to Him through grace.

This purpose is clear from the message itself. Genesis 3 tells the story of mankind’s deception and fall into sin. Yet look what God promises from the first moments of man’s sinful condition, in speaking to the deceiver:

And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
Genesis 3:15

Even from the beginning God had promised to send One who would crush the head of the Serpent, but since a testament is a covenant, we should recognize that everything that proceeds the giving of the covenant to Abraham in Genesis 12 is the prequel, the back story that explains why the story is necessary. Look at the covenant itself and God’s plan is perfectly clear:

Now the Lord had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 12:1-3 (emphasis mine)

From the very institution of the covenant, God is working to see the redemption and blessing of all the peoples of the earth, in fact, those who read the Old Testament well will find that the “Great Commission” is simply a restating of what God has been getting at all along.

When we recognize this unifying theme in Scripture, then we can ask ourselves what the point of all those dreaded books of the Law is. The New Testament writers as well as the early church fathers all agree, the purpose of the Law is to demonstrate to mankind our own sinful condition, the insufficiency of animal sacrifice as well as our own works, and our ultimate need for redemption. This means that the moral requirements of God do not simply go away because we cannot meet them, they are tied directly to God’s divine nature and cannot change. What does change is the means by which mankind ACCESS God.

God gave us the full weight of His moral law, and a sacrifice system for when we failed to live up to it, to demonstrate in fullness that we are unable to live up to His just requirements. As shown above Jesus reiterated and reinforced these just requirements, but then chose to introduce the power of grace. Christ bore the punishment of our moral failure on the cross, once for all time, and freed those who place their faith in Him from the just recompense of their sinful ways. In so doing He put an end to the need for the sacrifice system, by His one perfect sacrifice.

It gets even better though! Rather than excuse us from the demands of God’s just law, the power of Christ allows us to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirt who makes us able to meet God’s righteous requirements. The moral demands of God cannot go away because to do so would make God not God, but being God He has chosen to not only pardon our past sins but also to empower us to walk a life free from entangling sin. The message of Christ is not that holiness will be redefined so we can reach it, but rather that we will be transformed so that we can attain true holiness.

Where does that leave this discussion? What is it we are actually doing when we try to reject the moral nature of God and His just requirements? There are two ultimate issues with choosing to ignore the Old Testament because we don’t like what it has to say.

First and foremost, those who reject the moral teaching of the Old Testament are closing the door to God’s grace. The Old Testament is necessary to demonstrate to mankind that we are sinners in need of grace, without the knowledge of sin, there is no room for grace. When we try to redefine sin to make ourselves or others more comfortable, ultimately we are blocking God’s ability to forgive us of that sin and to empower us to overcome that sin. God had to give the Old Testament first, before we would have any ability to comprehend what the New Testament meant. Apart from the knowledge of sin, there can be no forgiveness of sin. The reason for this is obvious, I won’t repent of sin that I don’t acknowledge is there. Our goal ought to be to recognize and repent of ALL sin in our lives, and as followers of Christ we are under command to help others recognize and repent of their sin as well.

Second, those who fail to study the Old Testament will fail to see the working out of God’s constant faithful dealings with those who follow Him. The New Testament doesn’t attempt to cover any ground that the Old Testament has already thoroughly addressed, for this reason it dwells on the Gospel itself, the establishment of the Church, and the teaching necessary to establish the Gospel in men’s hearts. Most of the great stories of God’s faithfulness to those who trust Him are in the Old, not the New Testament. Christians would have a much better grasp on how to handle suffering and walk faithfully through difficult times if they would just read the first 2/3 of their Bibles.

Ultimately, Scripture is a unity. It is all written for man’s redemption. If we choose to ignore part of it, we damage the means of our own redemption.

The FREE Patriot’s Library

I have added a new page with a list of FREE downloadable e-books pertaining to liberty and the founding of these United States, be sure to check it out.

If you have any additions you would like to make email thetonedeafbard@gmail.com

Thanks,
thetonedeafbard

They Fired The First Shot

They Fired The First Shot 2012 By A Friend of Medjugorje might very well be the most important book of our time. It reintroduces the principles and concepts that lead to the American Revolution, and ultimately would undergird our Constitution. In addition it thoroughly addresses the Spiritual issues behind the times we have come upon as a nation; and then proceeds to introduce a practical, workable solution that every American can work out.

Let me begin by saying that I only read this book because it was highly recommended by one of the very few people on this earth whose advice I take with little reservation. The reason I wouldn’t have read it is this: The book was written by a devout Roman Catholic who chooses to center much of the teaching in the book around the appearances of the Virgin Mary to the Medjugorje visionaries.

This whole concept will be, without a doubt, very foreign to protestant and evangelical readers; but I would urge you put your qualms aside and read this book anyway. To be honest, I have no real reason to either believe or doubt the testimony of the Medjugorje visionaries; but I chose instead to simply apply the test our Lord gave us to the teaching that was presented. That is, I looked instead to the fruit of the words conveyed and not the source. The teaching, in my opinion is glorifying to Christ and edifying to His body and therefore should be accepted as good teaching regardless of my belief or unbelief in the source.

My only other qualm as I read the book is that at least at one level it probably could have gone deeper into the forces arrayed against our nation. The author chooses to address primarily actions taken by the Obama administration during the first few months of 2012, and while he hints at forces working behind the scenes to place Obama in power, he doesn’t really choose to address them other than a brief chapter on George Soros and some veiled references to communism. This, however has its advantages, information about the false two party paradigm and the powers behind the scenes that are manipulating our government has become fairly mainstream and is relatively accessible. With the focus being mostly on things going on behind the scenes within our current government, this book is easy reading for average conservative readers who don’t trust the current administration but have as of yet been unwilling to admit to the gravity of the situation. If you are already better informed than to focus solely on the actions of this administration, you will still learn a good deal about actions being taken through executive order you were likely unaware of and can just make a mental note that there is more going on that just “liberalism” or “socialism”.

That said the author goes much deeper into the issue than the average author, because he recognizes that the real issue is a struggle between good and evil. As a devout follower of Christ A Friend of Medjugorje recognizes that evil cannot rise to a place of power and prominence unless Christ’s followers turn aside from holy living and fail to uphold Christian moral values in the pubic square. The ultimate responsibility for what has now begun to happen lies not with the government, but rather with the American Church, which has largely failed to positively impact our society. In presenting his solution, the author focuses on the fact that no change will be possible without first shedding tears of repentance and turning back to God. In doing so the author lays out very clearly how a Christian principles can, and indeed must, underpin the nation in order for it succeed.

In addition to a passionate cry for repentance, the author gives a phenomenal reintroduction to the Constitution and founding principles of the United States. I have read a good bit of the writings of our nations Founders and found this book to be just as clear and well written on the principles of liberty. The author addresses key issues, such as the concept of Natural Law, the responsibility of Christians to resist tyranny (for a brief look at this issue see my post Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God), the difference between Democracy and a Republic, and the balance of power between the States and Federal Government just to name a few. In addressing these issues the book is filled with quotations from the founding fathers, which help point to further reading in the future.

After addressing the need for personal heart change as well a change in mindset the author delves into a detailed plan to restore our nations liberties. He chooses to focus on changing things we have control over, or can easily get control over rather than on some vague attempt to “take our country back”. The author instead advocates forming small, Constitutional Prayer Groups and allowing them to lead to a move back towards, small, rural, sustainable pockets of freedom in small towns across America. He then advocates moving at the county level to elect a constitutional sheriff, and does a good job explaining the ability of the sheriff to put a stop to all the various forms of tyranny that are currently being wielded against American’s today. My post A Revolution in Miniature sums up many of the concepts the author addresses in detail.

This book is essential reading for all God-fearing patriots in America today, focus on the truth of the message and don’t be distracted by the more Catholic references. I would also advocate as many pastors as possible read this book and in so doing rediscover the role you ought to be playing in preserving American liberty.

A Revolution in Miniature

In light of the overwhelming list of problems faced by these United States today, it is very easy for lovers of liberty everywhere to feel discouraged, and even depressed about the cause of liberty. With the constant barrage of executive orders, Federal regulations, Federal laws, State laws, etc. encroaching on our rights as a free people. It is difficult for a single individual to feel they have any power.

The most politically involved persons might attend a bunch of rallies, and campaign aggressively for certain candidates. When nothing happens, especially in attempts at electing a better President, the result tends to be exhaustion and fatigue from over involvement. I mean lets just be real here, Mitt Romney was, in many different ways, a substantially more dangerous enemy to American liberty than Barak Obama. Continuing to be real, we are not going to elect a Rand Paul, Gary Johnson, or Virgil Goode anytime soon. The simple fact is, people just don’t have a clear enough understanding of what is going on in our country. Most Americans still think this is some sort of battle between the right and left or some such thing.

So let me be clear, no matter what they tell you, the vast majority of elections don’t have consequences. The two candidates who actually have a shot at the job never vary substantially from one another. Don’t get discouraged just yet though. There is a solution to this whole mess that most people aren’t talking about. Protests, rallies, elections, fund raisers, lawsuits, etc. don’t work because we are foolishly choosing to play the game according to the rules set down by those already in power.

In order to set America right again, what is actually needed is a miniature revolution. We will never reset the nation as a whole, until we reset it one small part at a time.

We must begin by changing the one thing we have the most control over: OURSELVES.

The Revolution in Miniature begins in our own hearts and homes. America MUST move back to God if she is going to be saved. How does that happen? Can we legislate it? No, we need men and women of faith who boldly bring the presence of God into everything that they do.

Begin by restoring your own Faith, and remember America was founded on Christian principles because it was ALREADY a Christian nation, no because we can some how legislate Christianity into the government:

We talk about how “they” took prayer “out” of our public school system. The truth is they really didn’t need to, because it was already gone. Even now, as we protest the removal of prayer, how often do we pray in our homes? Are you praying each night with your children? Your spouse? Do you set aside a personal prayer time each day?

Godliness has largely been removed from the public square. Is this the governments fault? I would suggest instead that the reason our society as a whole lacks godly behavior is because we the church have failed to live in a holy and godly way. There is no godliness on display in the church house, and consequently neither is there any in the White House, the State house, or on television.

Even as we complain that they are removing the 10 Commandments from public display, along with other crosses and Christian symbols, are we asking ourselves how often we actually read the Scriptures we claim to base our lives on? We need a return to the Word, and not just the reading of it but full obedience to its commands. If we are living lives obedient to the Word then all through the United States there will be Christian symbols and crosses on display in the lives of men and women who have taken up their cross daily for all the world to see.

Then begin to restore your Liberty:

We need a mindset change, we talk like we want less government but we live like we want more. Get rid of the belief that we “need” the government to do this or that. Instead recognize that “We the People” can take care of any crisis the nation faces. We don’t need the government to solve the economic problems, for example, we just need them to stay out of our way.

Read up on the founding documents of this nation. At bear minimum read: Declaration Of Independence, Constitution Of The United States Of America, Bill Of Rights And Constitutional Amendments, The Federalist Papers, Anti-Federalist Papers, and Sir William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England so that you’ll have at least a basic understanding of the worldview that our Founding Fathers were working from when they wrote the Constitution. Most of these are available free. Sometime soon I’ll post a page with a public domain reading list for Patriots.

One key to restoring your liberty, and part of the reason I am suggesting this extensive reading list, is that more likely than not you believe things about our government system that are not true. If you are confused about any of the following you need to relearn American law:
* These United States are a Constitutional Republic, NOT a Democracy. Democracy was, in fact, considered by our Founding Fathers to be the worst and most tyrannical form of government
* Liberty is a God-Given Right, which the government has no right to seize or encroach upon except by due process when you have violated the rights of someone else.
* The Constitution cannot be annulled or abridged by any part of the Federal government either by law or treaty because the Federal government does not have the authority to do so. If they claim such authority THEY ARE BREAKING THE LAW.
* An unconstitutional law is unconstitutional from the moment of its passing, and according to long standing principles of American jurisprudence is never law. We do not have to wait for a court to tell us what is an isn’t Constitutional.
* Juries maintain the power to acquit a guilty party regardless of the law, if they hold the law to be unconstitutional or unjust.
* States maintain the power to nullify unconstitutional commands of the Federal government and reject them as law over their citizens.
* The County Sheriff ought to be the greatest champion of liberty you vote for. He is vested with full Constitutional authority to block the enforcement of unjust and unconstitutional laws within your county.

Just like we have to completely repent of our sin and turn back towards God and holiness to take back our faith, we need to change in order to take our liberty back as well. The use of the government to enforce a law against a neighbor or some other group of people in this country, constitutes the threat of lethal force. For this reason the law, and the sword of government, should ONLY be used in situations where lethal force is fully justified. This means the governments sole job should be the protection of the people from foreign enemies and criminals.

In addition, to take back your liberty means taking back things we gave away:

Take back the right to educate your children in godliness and liberty by homeschooling them if at all possible.

Take back your home economy, and economic freedom, by completely getting rid of all debt and establishing various forms of cottage industry to produce useful items for your friends and family.

Take back the right to feed yourself by feeding your family by the work of your own hands.

Which leads to a personal revolution in Sustainability:

Ask yourself how much do I depend on outside sources for my income, food, security, etc? The time is long past come to move back to a point where you only rely on trustworthy sources for the things you need most: Divine Providence, hard work, your own ingenuity, close friends and family, a community of believers (Church), etc.

Learn to provide at least food for yourself through gardening, keeping chickens, rabbits, bees, etc. If you have more property graduate up to larger stock like goats, sheep, maybe even cows.

To be honest in all of these areas there is probably going to be a need to vote with your feet. At bear minimum to live a life of Faith, Liberty, and Sustainability you will likely need to move out of the city. Urban areas consistently damage all 3 of these areas. In addition you should consider how much freedom your state actually allows you to have, it is great to believe in the 10th amendment, but if your home state is as tyrannical as the Federal government then it is probably time to move. If you move in state consider trying to find a state with a Constitutional Sheriff already in place, if you can’t find one work with others to elect one.

Once the revolution is begun in your heart, then and only then, is it time to begin to expand it. Bring in close friends and members of your extended family and help them realize why you are doing the things you are doing. Reteach the truths of our Faith, Liberty, and the need for a new focus on Sustainability. Meet frequently together to pray, and to encourage each other and hold one another accountable in pursuing life change. Then bring in your local pastors if at all possible, remember the American Revolution was largely the result of fervent preaching. Work together to try and form your own community, possibly even moving to a town small enough that you will be the new majority and reinstituting the concepts of Constitutional law by greatly reducing the legal load of the town. Then seek to spread this Revolution in Miniature to the County level by electing a Constitutional Sheriff, and good county commissioners, start with the Sheriff.

In gradually moving forward until we refound one county at a time, things will not always be easy, but we will see progress. We will peacefully retake our liberty, even if we can’t take it for our neighbors. The despair of being powerless goes away, when we recognize that the first change needs to take place in our life, and then in those immediately around us. It is in starting at the bottom and working up that we can actually see positive change in this country.

Of Lambs and Lions

When we were deceived and paradise lost,
When chains of sin encircled our hands and feet,
When generation after generation we could not escape,
The power of sin and death that held us tight,
When in our foolishness we pursued false gods,
Making idols of ourselves and of material things,
Pursuing as gods those things which are not gods,
And binding tighter the shackles of our sin,
A rebel race we were,
Completely estranged from God,

Then You were the Lamb,
Offering freely on the alter,
Your blood to set us free,
Your sacrifice tore the veil of separation,
From top to bottom,
And opened before us the throne of grace,
Our chains were broken,
In the moment of your sacrifice,
Your blood purchased for all our race,
Redemption before the Father.

When in Egypt your people were oppressed by the cruel King,
When Goliath spat out his contempt for you,
When the three Hebrew children were thrown into the fiery furnace,
When Nehemiah rebuilt the wall,
When oppressors surrounded us on every side,
In the moments when there was nowhere else to turn,
In times of fear and darkness,
When evil seems to reign upon the earth,
As the Kings of the earth gathered together against us,
And lay siege to your holy people,

Then you were the Lion,
Your roar shaking the earth,
With your arm outstretched to redeem and save,
You struck the oppressors,
They will never rise back up,
Your arm is might to save,
None can withstand the power of your coming,
In righteousness and justice,
You have removed the cruel oppressors,
And reign in truth and love,

To the unreached child who has never heard your name,
Wrapped in fear and sin,
Worshipping with trembling the evil spirits of the earth,
To the orphan child,
Raised upon the garbage heap,
Ignored by a world that has passed her by,
And that could care less for her needs,
To all those in deep despair,
Hurtling into a future apart from you,
Having never heard your name,

I want to be a lamb,
And sacrifice my life that they may live,
Give up the choice things,
To pursue those on your heart,
To tear down from before their eyes,
The veil that separates them from the Father,
And if necessary bleed and sweat,
To make your sacrifice real to them,
I want to walk in their midst,
In such a way that Jesus walks among them

To the unborn child,
Slain in her mothers womb,
To the child starving to death,
Because cruel war consumes his land,
To the woman tricked into a life of shame,
Bound with oppressive chains and lies,
To the generation for whom liberty ought to be a birthright,
But have instead had it taken away,
And traded for cruel tyranny,
And oppressive destruction

I want to be the Lion,
Let my words be like the roar of justice,
Let roar of righteous truth overwhelm the noise of the crowd,
And cut the through the lies of the destroyer,
I want to take my stand in your strength,
To stop oppression,
And rescue those who are being lead away unto death,
Bringing them safe and sound before your throne,
I want to draw them out from slavery,
And strike the oppressors with the arm of your power

To the countless masses,
Who know not of Jesus Christ,
To the men, women, and children,
Still bound in the darkness by lies,
To those who know not His truth,
Nor the comfort of His voice,
There are over six thousand peoples,
Yet unreached and untouched by this Good News,
The cross is of no effect to them,
Because they have not heard of it

Won’t you come and be a lamb?
Trade in your life of ease and comfort,
And sacrifice your selfish desires,
To bring Christ alive in the midst of them,
Through your own bloody hands and feet,
Will you be the incarnate God among them?
Walking and talking in their streets,
And in so doing tearing down the veil,
Be a lamb revealing Christ’s love to thousands,
Let redemption flow from your hands and feet

To the children starving to the point of death,
Despite an abundance on the earth,
To the earth abused and cruelly treated,
To the point of infertility,
To our nation,
Staggering on the brink of collapse,
To your children ensnared by the cruel lies of our times,
To all of the abused and outcasts of this earth,
In times of deep darkness and oppression,
When all the lights in their universe have gone out,

Will you come and be a lion?
A bright light in a world of deep darkness,
Will you shake to pieces the chains of oppression,
With the might of the Spirit that is in you?
Demonstrate the righteous wrath of God against injustice,
And trample the oppressors under your feet,
In you will the arm of The Lord be revealed,
Become again a city of light,
Fight against oppression with a Holy vengeance,
And set free the oppressed to know the love of their Father.

We are, each and everyone,
Called to be lambs and lions,
In a world of hurt and pain,
In a world of oppression and evil,
The righteous light must shine forth,
Full of hope for the hurting,
And strength for the captive,
To redeem and rescue a world in need,
Christ calls out to you and me,
Won’t you come and be a lamb?
Won’t you come and be a lion?

While You Were Sleeping

Or rather while you were worried about Boston…

The US House passed CISPA greatly endangering Internet privacy, and potentially opening the door to squelch alternative media sites in the future.

If you still think one party is good and another bad, please let this finally change your mind. Otherwise you will be inadvertently continuing to vote for the destruction of the nation

A Meditation On Springtime

The leaves are coming in on the fig trees as the warm spring sunshine lights upon them.

Every aspect of creation,
Each and every day,
Radiates with its own song to the creator,
It possesses a glory all its own,
And aims it at the hand that placed,
The dew upon the grass,
The leaves on the trees in spring,
The rose upon the stem,
And the murmur in the stream.

One hand has shaped,
For all mankind to see,
The world we live and walk in,
Full of grace and beauty,
The early morning song of the birds,
Is a song of love and praise,
And the wind takes up the call,
And the sun sends dancing rays,
All this for the only loving King.

Walk outside the world of men,
The concrete monuments to our own glory,
For our cities are like Babel,
Built to glorify ourselves,
We have become disconnected,
From the ties that make us human,
When we lost our connection to creation,
We lost our connection to ourselves,
For apart from the image we are made in,
We cannot be.

Turn your back to things of this world,
If only for a moment,
Listen again to that ancient song,
And join in the harmony,
Contemplate the dawn,
And the moonlight on the waterers,
Ponder the stars anew,
Find the place reserved for you,
In the ancient dance of praise,
Each day has its own glory,
Will you add or subtract from it?

Daily Scripture Meditation

All passages quoted from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted

Proverbs 1: 7 The Fear of The Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 1:20 Wisdom calls aloud outside; she raises her voice in the open squares

Proverbs 1:24-29 Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, When terror comes like a storm, And your destruction like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did choose the fear of The Lord.

When a nation rejects the fear of God, and pursues instead its own course, it walks away also from all wisdom and understanding. As the moral fiber of the society begins to unravel, so also does all reason and sound thinking.

Wisdom will for a time call aloud for the nation to return to the fear of God, and to wise ways; but there is a tipping point at which point wisdom can no longer be found. Once this is crossed, destruction, the sure consequence of abandoning wisdom, comes in like a whirlwind; and there is no escaping destruction.

The only hope for our nation is to restore the fear of God. We cannot compel others to return to the fear and reverence of God that was once common in this land, but we can return ourselves. We can turn and repent of our sin and unfaithfulness, and seek to live holy lives before our righteous and sovereign God. As we do, I still hold out hope that the Holy Spirit will influence those around us by our actions and draw the nation back to Himself.

Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God

Following the events in Boston yesterday, it is my full expectation that we will see yet another push for the American people to trade their liberties for security. With growing resistance to drone surveillance, the TSA, the growth of our police state, our unjust policy of endless war; and the growth of the liberty movement, I have every reason to believe that this event will be used to “bloody the nose” of the American people to continue trading liberty for safety. As Benjamin Franklin, who is quoted in the title as well, said “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.” I hope this post serves as a timely reminder to all Americans.

The battle taking place in America today, the one that is playing out in our court houses and in the halls of congress, is not merely a contest of political ideologies. It is becoming clear, certainly, that many Americans strongly disapprove of the actions of their government – whether Republican or Democrat. It is also becoming clear that the two parties have conspired together to push an agenda that is damaging to the cause of liberty. The battle taking place, however, should not be summed up as some mere difference of political opinion; rather it is an all out war for the heart and soul of the nation.

These men in power today, who swagger around Washington D.C. like aristocrats and attempt to bully the American people into submission didn’t come to be there overnight. They came to be there because we the people turned our back on the fear of The Lord and with it wisdom. They came to be there because we neglected our sacred duty and gave up the watchfulness that so long protected our cherished liberty. They came to be there because we came to worship the state instead of God.

You don’t think we worship the government in this country? Who do we turn to in the event of a crisis? When an event like Hurricane Katrina happens, who gets blamed if it isn’t handled well? Who do we run to when our enemies attack us and kill us? Who do we turn to when we don’t like the behavior of our neighbor, whether how he handles his own property or his moral choices? Most Americans turn first to the government to act on all of these issues. And because, like the children of Israel we neglected The Lord and sought after a king, now in His righteous judgment God has given us kings.

The question now, is will the Church, the people of Faith, those who are to have no king but King Jesus stand idly by while these events unfold. Many Christians today seem to not understand that they have an innate Biblical command to resist tyranny. Not only is it ok to resist, it is Biblically mandated. This is the case for two reasons.

First, we are commanded by the Holy Scripture to protect those weaker than ourselves. Do you think God cares that the American government has violated the principles of Just War and begun rampaging about the earth like the pagan empires of old, Babylon, Assyria, and Persia? Do you think he cares that we have shed the innocent blood of several hundred Pakistani children, who by the way have likely never even heard the Gospel, with drone strikes from above? Where does it stop friends? We live in a Constitutional Republic, which means at least in theory that our government answers to us. This means, that we are morally responsible for the actions our government commits, particularly those carried out by men we helped to elect.

Second, when the government engages in tyrannical actions and takes away the peoples liberty, activities like forcing Catholic and Christian organizations to violate their consciences by paying for abortions, it is acting in direct opposition to Natural Law and in so doing to nature’s God. God has set in place on this earth His own law, a law by which all men are to be free and are created with certain rights. When the government attempts to seize these rights it violates the law of God, and those who submit to its unjust authority align themselves with this rebellion against their creator.

The people of God cannot remain on the sidelines on this issue. There is no neutral ground. Either we take a positive stand for the honor, reputation, and righteous rule of our God and Liberator or we stand with the kings of this earth in their quest to destroy His image and the liberty he placed in the heart of every man. I have heard it argued that the Gospel, and the Kingdom of God must come first above other earthly considerations, and indeed they must; but do we really think God will honor the advance of the Gospel in the hands of churches and Christians with blood on their hands, at the hands of those who have engaged in active rebellion against his law through the support of their nations false authorities?

Christian, it is your sacred duty, Divinely commanded, to stand with liberty. To protect the law of God and defend the weak and helpless. Those who act in tyranny are in rebellion to God and have no authority for their actions, you on the other hand have full authority vested in you from on high to resist, and ultimately stop, the actions and crimes they are committing against God’s law. Will you stand with liberty and the God who endows it to every man, or will you rebel against the only King you ought to have?

Pray for our nation, pray the prayer of repentance. Pray that the Church would be revived and again take her proper place in society. Pray that the people of God would recognize the duty they have to protect His law. And then STAND.

Chicken Tractors!

I finally managed to finish the chicken tractors this weekend, what started as a Saturday project ended up eating the better part of 3 weekends but these things happen. The design is entirely my own, I’ll go into more of the details as I go along.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the concept of a chicken tractor (Europeans typically call them arcs). The idea is to place the birds in a space that meets their needs for green forage for one day, then they are moved each day to fresh forage.

There are a couple of advantages to doing things this way compared to other methods of keeping chickens. With a traditional coop, any grass in the chickens run is typically gone within the first couple of weeks, after this if you feed them fresh greens they will have to be cut and hauled in. In addition, because they are moved daily, chicken tractors don’t generate a bad odor, which is often the case for more traditional coop designs.

The tractor also provides protection from the elements and from predators, whereas birds who are free-ranged, while they get plenty of fresh forage, don’t have this level of protection. This is particularly helpful for smaller flocks where the loss of even one bird is pretty devastating. The tractors are also helpful for people, such as myself, who are involved in urban or suburban agriculture. The neighbors after all wouldn’t appreciate having chickens running crazy in their yard.

The tractor gives me an aesthetically pleasing way to keep the chickens exactly where I want them. For more details read Chicken Tractor

I patterned these tractors to look like a miniature version of a little red barn. As you can see they are accessible on both sides via the doors. This makes it relatively easy to access them to get the eggs out, feed, and water. We have been getting 8 eggs a day so far, which is pretty impressive since we only have 8 birds. As you can tell from my post “Mini Farming”, the hens are very glad to get fresh greens everyday instead of every few days.

Inside I have chosen to use plastic crates for nesting boxes. I love to use them because they are cheap, easy to find, and have a variety of functions around the farm. Versatility is a must for small scale, low acreage operation.

The waterers are kind of special so I’ll mention them here. This is a new design I encountered when I picked up my chickens. I was unhappy with traditional designs because they tend to get dirty very, very quickly and in our hot summer time weather that can be a dangerous thing for the birds. These waterers are built using poultry nipples which the birds peck from below. Each time they peck at it they get water. Because the water is enclosed in the 5 gallon bucket it stays fresh and clean. These systems are also cheaper on price point, a five gallon traditional style waterer costs $35 or so. I got a set of 5 poultry nipples for only $9 and the bucket was free. You could probably get the bucket for $5 though if you didn’t already have one. These are also super easy to make. All you do is drill a 5/16 in hole in the bottom of the bucket, wrap the threads of the nipple in plumbers tape and then use a drill and an 11mm socket to screw it into the hole. It might have taken me 5 minutes total.

These tractors have been customized for Alabama’s incredibly hot summers. The birds will need lots of shade come summer, so I brought the sides all the way to the ground on two sides and left the front and back open. I will face these east-west so that the birds get plenty of morning and afternoon light but are well shaded in the heat of the day. The heat is also why I put in the roof vent, which you can see is screened with poultry wire.
For anyone interested in building something along this design, most aspects of the build were relatively easy. I bought all the materials new and it ended up costing me about $150 or so each.
If anyone wants more details I’d be happy to share more information on how I built these. Just email me or leave me a comment.