by Joseph | Oct 15, 2008 | Preparation, Sharing
Over the years, I have felt emphatically that I was to lead my family to be “in preparation”. When I first heard the call to prepare, I had an intellectual perception that I was going to flee to the mountains, and begin stockpiling food, water and other supplies.
Later, I began to realize that my call to prepare was NOT a call to hoard food, or to live in seclusion and fear. On the contrary, the preparation journey was to make a safe place for sharing – during a time of crisis when people would be prone to fear and panic.
The journey of preparation is certainly not easy. There has been great transition and purging that my family has endured. It would be foolish to assume that all we needed to do was to stockpile groceries and ammo, and then wait on some cataclysmic event to thrust us into our new lifestyle. Unfortunately, that’s what I see happening with many people who are looking at the chaotic times and are beginning to assume something difficult is on the horizon. So, they begin reacting to the most basic human instinct – survival – and fill their closets with food items to keep them alive until they can come out of hiding.
I won’t debate the need to store food items in a pantry. In fact, I strongly encourage everyone to get a 6 to 8 month supply of food and supplies. Not just to have groceries in the cupboard, but perhaps to help sustain you financially during lean months.
For me, it goes far beyond simply having food in the storehouse. The impression I get from some people I speak with is that – if things get really rough, they will simply sit around the house and eat their stock. That’s ridiculous!
Some families, right now, could not sit in the same room for more than an hour. Now, imagine if there was great turmoil, chaos, and fear all around. Do you suppose that family might be able to sit down calmly and sing hymns to pass the time? I doubt it. We’ve complicated our lives to the extent that any quiet, simple family time – is rare. Even Churches have become reckless entertainment hubs where there always has to be something going on to keep the flock active. What happened to “Be Still and Know…?”
Part of the preparation process is being able to find pleasure and joy in simple things. Cluttering our lives with constant motion or activity will make things exponentially more difficult to adjust to when there is global chaos.
Preparation is not just about hoarding food and water. Preparation is not about trying to outsmart fear, and simply plan ahead. God is our refuge and our strength – we can’t manufacture peace by simply working ahead of the looming chaos. We can, however, get ready for the coming events so we are better able to share hope, peace, and life in Christ – especially during times of great distress. There will be a great harvest in that day!
Prepare now by sharing quiet and peaceful times with family, or friends. Avoid the need to constantly be busy.
by Joseph | Oct 9, 2008 | Preparation, Sharing
Unless you have lived on a different planet over the last couple of weeks, you know things seem to be in turmoil. It seems that every person you talk with, are quite concerned with what is going on.
Leaders all over the world are making statements to try to calm their people, as they recognize the panic that threatens to spiral out of control. Leading financial “experts” from leading economies are apparently working behind the scenes to coordinate a global financial rescue effort in an attempt to keep the financial markets from complete meltdown.
This week, the President of Franc – Nicolas Sarkozy – made the statement that he hoped a “New World” would emerge from this chaos.
Scotland’s leading Newspaper published an Article on this “New World Order” citing the new Global co-operation, Nationalization and State intervention – were changing our world.
Even Opec has called an emergency meeting to try to deal with the plunge of oil prices which is putting oil producing economies in turmoil. With the world economy on the brink of a global depression, the need for oil products has diminished significantly.
So what does this all mean? (more…)
by Joseph | Oct 6, 2008 | Preparation, Sharing
Most people remain oblivious of what is going on with the USA. Our moral decline has reached epidemic status, and our churches have turned into entertainment venues – promoting a humanistic “feel good” gospel.
Some people are looking to our Government for answers, and have faith that our elected leaders will have the wisdom and courage to lead us into a new prosperous era. Charismatic leaders are emerging – and we now have people pledging an unholy allegiance to man, rather than calling out to a Holy God.
Pledging allegiance
It is quite disturbing that the church has fallen asleep. While the churches have been busy chasing lavish buildings, and competing for higher attendance, our society has fallen into peril.
Now, as things change rapidly, we will soon see more unrest and chaos. Our economic downfall is but the beginning of difficulties ahead. As the greatest investor in the world Warren Buffett puts it, the credit freeze is “sucking blood” out of the economy. “In my adult lifetime, I don’t think I’ve ever seen people as fearful,” he said.
If you doubt there is chaos looming, I wonder why our US Government is now activating an Army Brigade for duty (the first time in our history an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom) within our borders. Very unsettling.
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They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.
Do you think the Government knows something we don’t?
by Joseph | Oct 4, 2008 | Preparation, Sharing
It happens all the time – especially now that there are obvious difficulties taking place.
Almost daily I receive a call from people who want to talk with me about preparation. They know that I’ve been talking (for 20+ years) about the need to prepare, so I guess it’s natural that they call me. Problem is, I have a much different view of what Preparation really is, and most of the time my view is NOT the way others view it.
You see, during a time of crisis people come out of the woodwork talking about the need for preparation. Because of our recent economical problems in the US, preparation discussion is now a mainstream conversation. It’s almost comical to hear of people emerging every day who claim that they “knew a difficult day was coming” and knew that we were all supposed to be preparing. They read all the gloom articles and conspiracy theories they can, and then spread their fear language to anyone who will join in their fear.
If you were around during the Y2K crisis, the same people were “preparing” then. After the crisis, well, they went back to operating as if nothing was wrong.
I’m of the opinion, that many people who claim they have known we are supposed to be preparing for “something” – are in fact, nothing more than news readers and fear mongers. They read new releases on world events, and suddenly they spring into action getting ready. If you have ever lived through a hurricane in Florida – that’s what I picture with the people who are now “self-professed preparation experts”. (more…)
by Joseph | Oct 4, 2008 | Preparation, Sharing
Shared by: Jeff Rowland
John 1:29, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Very often we find ourselves talking to a friend who is going through a difficult time in their life and can only say one thing. “Well just trust the Lord.” Sometimes there is nothing else you can say. Even though we know from the Word of God that every trial has purpose which is to bring us more into the image of God’s Son, we still don’t have answers that can bring comfort.
In Mark chapter 9 Jesus said to the father of a demon possessed boy, “If thou wilt believe, all things are possible.” The father said to Christ, “I believe, help thou mine unbelief.” The man was saying, “I have faith, but my faith is weak.” How many can relate to this time in our lives? How many times have we all felt this way? How often does are faith weaken in a situation that last for a long period of time? The bottom line to this thought is that it is possible to believe and doubt at the same time.
Consider for a moment the man John the Baptist. The courage of this man is recorded in the Bible in many different ways. In Matthew 3:2 we hear the message of John ring out with passion and conviction saying, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This was the message that was to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord.
In Matthew 3:7 it is recorded who this message is going out too. “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” We find John calling the religious leaders of that day a generation of snakes. Later in Matthew’s account of the life of John the Baptist we find John calling out the sins of the political leader of that day. John had declared that Herod the governor was in adultery with his brother Phillips wife. This kind of bold courageous preaching is what we need in our day today.
In John 1:29 we have John’s confession of who Jesus was. By his confession John is embracing his calling and purpose in ministry. John was sent to prepare the way. John was to bear witness of the light, he was not the light. In John’s confession he declares 3 things;
- Who Jesus was- He said, “Behold the lamb of God.” John gave understanding beyond what he even knew. He signifies that this Jesus was the God’s lamb of sacrifice.
- What he came to do- He said, “Which taketh away the sin.” John was looking forward to the ultimate aim of God which was to remove man from his sin.
- Who it would involve- He said, “Behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” John is inferring that Jesus was the Savior not just of the Jews, but also to the world. This philosophy was not even heard of at that time, however John was speaking it forth. Johns commitment to Jesus was seen when his crowds were going away and following Jesus. John responded to this by saying, “He must increase but I must decrease.” (more…)
by Joseph | Oct 3, 2008 | Preparation, Sharing
Many people have been anticipating a disastrous time that would bring difficulties to our very existence. They believe that their very survival will depend on the ability to overcome and adapt to certain tragic events.
In my own life journey, there have been many people I have encountered who have predicted our “impending doom”. It seems to me that there will always be people out there who spread fear, gloom, and despair about a coming event that will alter the course of our lives. Everyone remembers Y2k and the giant “gotcha” feeling that came when nothing happened. I’ve come to realize, many of the people who were screaming about the coming disaster of Y2K, are now spreading fear about some looming event in the future.
The problem for me is… we are creating some of the disaster with the message of fear and destruction, rather than giving people hope.
On Y2K, my alarm clock went off, my computer turned on, and the power grid did not fail. I was ready (and almost anticipating) a difficult period of time. It was almost a disappointment that I had spent time worrying about what might happen.
You see, the fact that so many people are anticipating some major catastrophe, is what really concerns me. I meet so many people who have given up “hope” because they just don’t see the point anymore. They live their lives wondering – “why hope, when there is a disaster coming?”. That’s a terrible existence, and certainly not the way I want to live my life.
I imagine the early settlers of America really didn’t sit around and worry about a cataclysmic event that would suddenly end their lives. If they did, why would they have ventured from their homeland in the first place? Why not sit at home and wait on destruction from there?
Well, I guess they had hope of a better life and were willing to endure hardships in pursuit of that life. I’m thankful that they did – as it paved the way for where we are today in the US.
The point for me is, there may be difficulties coming. In fact, my belief is there are definitely difficult times ahead. My “call” is NOT to sit around and wait on the collapse of our existence, rather, to prepare so that when that day arrives – I can share hope with those who are in fear and distress.
For a long time, I have felt that the Lord was bringing me to a place of preparation. I was never quite sure what that meant, but certainly did not go around telling everyone that the “sky was falling”. On the contrary, I have tried to raise my children to have HOPE in the things that were ahead – and to live each day with passion and joy. My eternity is secure, and my Joy is in Christ (Yeshua).
So what is all this talk of preparation?
For me, it is getting myself and my family prepared for the great opportunity that awaits us – and especially the joy of a great harvest that will come.
Make no mistake, there are major challenges ahead. Those who have been slumbering, and wasteful, will awaken to find an empty cubbard. They will certainly be afraid when they realize they are hungry, and have foolishly wasted their time acquiring pleasures – rather than preparing.
God is our refuge and strength. He is calling us to prepare – not live in Fear, but walk in Faith. The first step of Faith, is to accept Jesus Christ (Yeshua) as the messiah.
