Christian World View | Prepared Christian

Christian Hospitality and Preparedness

February 25, 2013 by Chris Ray 21 Comments

During a recent radio interview on The 21st Century Homekeeper Radio Program, a few of Sylvia’s listeners said they would like to know where a Christian should stand on providing for others when things have gone bad. This is something I have touched on before, so I was familiar with the scriptures, and gave an answer based on my understanding of them. After the interview something was gnawing at me about the questions and my answer, so I did a bit more digging and realized what I had failed to do. I failed to take the scriptures into the context of the time and culture in which they were written. I’ve said before that context is king. It can completely change the meaning of any ancient text.

I don’t know that I would say my answer in the interview was wrong, but maybe just not as good as it should have been. In researching the context to get a better understanding of the scriptures, I had my mind changed, if only slightly, so I thought I would share with you my discovery.

Hospitality

The word hospitality in modern times, to me at least, makes one think of someone who welcomes you to their home and puts on a nice meal, then thanks you for coming as you leave that evening. But in ancient times people had a different understanding of the word. I found a book called “Entertaining Angels: Early Christian Hospitality in its Mediterranean Setting”. I didn’t read the book, but was able to find large sections available on the university website where the author teaches, as well as some critiques of it.

In one section on hospitality in the times of the New Testament the author says:

“Today we think of hospitality as the custom of feeding family, friends, and neighbors in our homes or hosting these people for a night or two. The writers of the New Testament, however, were working with a significantly different definition of hospitality or xenia. The ancient custom of hospitality revolved around the practice of welcoming strangers or travelers into one’s home while promising to provide them with provisions and protection. Hospitality in the first century could be a very risky venture, just as taking strangers into one’s home is a dangerous decision in many corners of the world today. Nevertheless, in the books of Luke and Acts we see an appeal for Jesus’ disciples to practice hospitality in their lives and ministries.”

In one critique I read, we are given a better idea of what hospitality looked like in Greco-Roman, Jewish and early Christian cultures. The other two are worth reading as they did have influence on the early Christian church. I don’t want to copy and paste it all, so here is the Christian section:

“Because all the first Christians were Jews, and the next round primarily Greeks or Romans, it causes no surprise to see most of the elements surveyed already recurring in early Christianity. Particularly important was the practice of extending hospitality to traveling missionaries- a boon to the recipients in a world without consistently safe, wholesome forms of public lodging but potentially a drain on the church’s resources, especially when itinerants overstayed their welcome. Without this background, it remains harder to understand Paul’s recurring requests for hospitality for himself and his representative or to make sense of Didache’s criterion of length of stay by a visitor for determining if he or she was a true or false prophet! A rereading of John 4 on the assumption that Jesus was asking for hospitality from the Samaritan woman discloses several new insights not regularly rehearsed in the standard expositions. The same may be said on a smaller scale of 2 John, while Matt 10:14 and 42, like Matt 25:31-46, make more sense once it is recognized that “the host’s extension of hospitality to a traveling teacher was an indication that the host accepted or agreed with the teaching of the traveling teacher” (123). By the third century, however, Christian practice underwent a dramatic shift as hospitality was placed under the authority of bishops and hospitality “morphed” into a charitable service performed by entire congregations and supported by treasuries of funds to which they donated.”

Hospitality amongst Christians has always been a way for us to share Christ’s love, but over the centuries, how we show hospitality has changed. At least in the USA hospitality is often similar to how is was practiced in the third century. Tithes and offerings are used to launch and support ministries and missionaries abroad.
Scripture

There are far more scriptures on hospitality than I can list and expect you to read this entire article, so I will post a few that I think are relevant. A point to keep in mind is that these scriptures were meant to be lived by every day. They aren’t instructions for what is acceptable to Christ when faced with prolonged hardship.

1 Peter 4:9

“Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

Romans 12:13

“Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

Proverbs 31:20

“She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.”

Matthew 25:40

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

Hebrews 13:2

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware.”

Hebrews 13:1-2

“Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it”

Luke 11:5-8

“⁵Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity^[a] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.”

I must say that I have a lot to learn in terms of hospitality. If you come yelling and knocking on my door in the middle of the night, you’ll find yourself on the business end of Christopher. But I digress. This verse isn’t really about hospitality; Jesus had just delivered the Lord’s Prayer, and is showing the Disciples how to pray and seek our loving Father. I list it as I think this is one verse where, taken out of context, someone could say we should do whatever is necessary to be hospitable.

One of the resources I used lists many scriptures on hospitality , from both the Old and New Testaments. I found there are four main types of verses on hospitality; hospitality to complete strangers, hospitality to people in need, hospitality as a character trait and hospitality to brothers and sisters in the faith. The most common type I found is hospitality toward others in the faith.

Preparedness

Does this then mean that we do not need to show generosity or hospitality when times are hard? No, not at all! There are, after all, verses on helping those in need. In my mind that is both for the every day and for when times are hard.

Because the Bible doesn’t speak on how to act in a survival situation we have to look at other scriptures and see if we can draw any conclusions. Of course the scriptures on how to act every day still apply, but what other wisdom on the subject can we glean from the Word of God?

1 Timothy 5:8 says: “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

That verse goes for everyone, so does Proverbs 27:12, which states:

“A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.”

I bring these two verses up because we tend to see one side of the coin. We see that if we don’t want to be seen as worse than an unbeliever, we must meet our family’s needs. We see that if we want to be wise, we must prepare to mitigate dangers. We, however, might not give a lot of thought to those who don’t meet their family’s needs, or who didn’t see danger because they either weren’t looking, or saw it and decided not to do anything.

Let’s think about those people for a minute. Do you think God is following them around with a pillow to protect them from hitting the hard ground? I don’t! I think God makes it perfectly clear that there are rewards and consequences. Those individuals weren’t motivated by prudence for meeting their family’s needs in good and bad times. The consequences are clear to me.

I think modern American Christianity has gone too far building “our buddy Jesus”, and forgotten that, while He is loving, He is also fierce and to be feared. There are more examples than I can count in the Bible of God giving people a choice. When they chose to not follow His way, being turned to a pillar of salt, being forced to wander the desert for another forty years, being conquered by other nations and being led into slavery.

Some might say that all of those are Old Testament references. While true, they are no less relevant. Also, before Christ was born human, the only way to have sins redeemed was through human actions; by following God’s Law, and by making sacrifices. After Jesus dies on the cross, the gift of salvation is available to anyone; choose it and you will be rewarded with eternity in His presence. If you opt out of salvation, it puts you outside of His presence, paying for your sins for eternity.

When the question is asked if we’ll help those in need after it has hit the fan, I have seen many Prepper’s answer that they would help where they can but that they will not help those who come with their hand out and are not willing to help. In light of my current research, what do I think about that type of response? I think for the most part it’s a perfectly fine answer for a Christian to give.

Some might call me selfish for such an answer. To them I say this: I am prepared to meet the needs of my family and will help where I am led and am able. To me it sounds more selfish for someone who didn’t prepare to meet the needs of their family showing up uninvited, with their hand out, expecting to be fed, clothed and protected, all for the sheer act of drawing breath.

However, if you are someone who feels you must prepare to take care of others in times of great need, I have a solution! God only asks we give Him ten percent. I do not believe He would ask us to give to others more than He asks for Himself. So set aside ten percent of your preparations for others. This doesn’t have to be expensive food. It can be made up of staples; rice, beans, popcorn seeds, sugar and on and on. This would mean that if you have a year’s food stored for your family, you would either have another (roughly) month and a half stored to give away, or give away a month and a half leaving your family with ten and a half months’ worth of food.

Summary

John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Christ commanded us to love one another. Hospitality is one way to do this. We are also called to be the light of the world, which I covered in Why Should Christians, Specifically, Be Preparing?. We are also to help those in need, to be His hands and feet. We, however, are not called to be someone’s emergency parachute. Their lack of planning does not constitute your emergency.

I think this is one area that each of us must ask our loving Father for wisdom and guidance in how to act and how to prepare to be His hands and Feet.

I said I had my mind changed, if only slightly. Currently Trudee and I support a few different ministries. We feel blessed that God has allowed us the ability to help others in need; to be His hands and feet. Before, I would have said that if things “hit the fan”, we would help others if/when we felt led. After my research on hospitality, I say that if we feel blessed to be His hands and feet now, there will be so many more opportunities when “it hits the fan”. We will still help if/when we are led, but I see it more of an opportunity to be used by God, than a Christian duty.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel like we need to help everyone, especially those who might take advantage. This goes for friends and family as well as strangers.

God is loving and, at times, meets the needs of someone in an emergency. He also loves us enough to give us free will and to let us face difficult consequences for poor choices, so that we may learn from them. We should follow His example, as we are made in His image.

Closing

I want to close with an excerpt from “Entertaining Angels: Early Christian Hospitality in its Mediterranean Setting”

“These Lukan hospitality texts remain relevant for Christians today. Even more than in the ancient world, we encounter travelers and strangers from vastly different regions and cultures. Some are traveling by choice (e.g., students and immigrants), while others travel by necessity (e.g., evacuees from natural disasters and refugees from war-torn regions). In Luke’s writings, we hear a call to extend hospitality to these strangers in creative ways.

With the early Christians we should take wise steps to guard against those who might abuse generous hosts (Didache 11-12), but we may not neglect the Christian ministry of hospitality. As Jesus’ disciples, we should proactively seek to extend protection and provisions to strangers. As we do this, we may encounter God’s presence in the midst of our hospitality. We may well “entertain angels without knowing it.”

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Filed Under: Christian World View

Interviewed by Sylvia Britton of The 21st Century Homekeeper

February 21, 2013 by Chris Ray 10 Comments

As I mentioned recently I was asked to do a couple radio interviews. The first of which was recorded last Thursday and will air Sat, February 23, 2013 05:00 pm CST. A word of warning for those who might listen, I was incredibly nervous and may have passed out for a second here and there. All kidding aside I think I did OK for my first radio interview, thank you so much to Sylvia The Christian Homekeeper for the opportunity. Also thank you all who prayed for me and had words of encouragement.

Filed Under: Christian World View

When Spouses Don’t Agree on Preparedness

January 21, 2013 by Chris Ray 14 Comments

In 2 Corinthians 6:14, the word of God tells us not to be unequally yoked with an unbeliever. We’re asked, “For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” I think part of the concern is that the believer might have their light dimmed and be drawn closer to the world.

I think this verse is good advice and can be applied to other areas of life. Since my name isn’t Dr. Phil, I’ll stick to preparedness. In my thinking, this has two applications for us Prepper’s. The first is, “what to do if your spouse doesn’t see the need for prepping?” and the other is, “what if they are a prepper, but think there should be a different level of preparedness?”

Your Spouse Doesn’t See a Need to Prepare

This is the more difficult of the two areas but it isn’t impossible to either win them over or at least move them to a point where they’re not an immovable obstacle.

In sales, when you have a customer who has objections to making a purchase, you’re taught to define their objectives and address them to alleviate their fear. Just remember, you’re not trying to sell them something. You’re asking the person you chose to marry why they are concerned about an issue you think is important.

The objection to prepping is often an emotional one, so tread carefully. Don’t dismiss fears or concerns, as you will just make them dig their heels in further. No one likes to have their fear belittled, but when someone uses logic and concern to shine a light on the fear, one can sometimes realize that their fear is unfounded.

As I mentioned, the objection to prepping is often an emotional one. The first objections given might not actually be the biggest fear or concern. They might not have actually thought it out to know why they are against the idea. Like pealing an onion, you might have to carefully remove layer after layer to get to the heart of the objection.

I wrote an article some time ago called “Some of the reasons people don’t prepare”. It covers many of the objections I have seen since I started prepping. It also lists some logical rebuttal’s you can use to help alleviate their concerns and fears.

If you and your spouse are both followers of Christ, I think it is a bit easier to make your argument. If you truly believe that God is calling you to prepare, explain that to them. You’ll still need to address their fears and concerns. I covered some of the concerns Trudee and I had in Is Preparedness A Sin?. I also explored all of the scripture related to preparedness in Scripture Related To Preparedness.. I think the eBook I wrote, which is given as a gift for subscribing for updates, can also be a great way to approach this subject.

I approach circumstances where Trudee and I might be on opposite sides of an issue a couple of different ways. We pray together and ask for God’s wisdom, for clarity and guidance to know what to do. I then privately ask God to make her do things my way. I’m just kidding! I ask that if she is aligned with His will to help me see things her way, and if I am aligned with His will for her to see things my way. I think a lot of times, if we submit a decision to Him, putting “our way” aside, He will make His will known. We might not always like the answer though.

When you do this, you have to be willing to let go of what you think is right. Don’t pray it while in the back of your mind thinking that God knows you’re right and He’ll side with you. That might be the case, but the Almighty God of the universe is not your tough guy, there to bend people to your will. The idea is to submit to God and to honor your spouse while praying for Godly wisdom.

I think you also need to define what it is you want to do. Telling someone that you want to prepare for some undefined event may be hard for someone new to the concept of preparedness to wrap their mind around. If you say that you would like to have a way to provide for your family’s five basic human needs, and explain what they are, that is something they can more easily understand.

Your Spouse is a Prepper, But Not on the Same Page

Whether your spouse thinks you should be prepping more or less, you should first thank God that they see the need at all. From there you can approach this issue the same way outlined above; discover why they think the way they do, and explain why you think the way you do. Pray about it as mentioned above and ask for guidance.

There are a couple of different ways you can evaluate your current level of preparedness, to see where your holes are. Start off with Proverbs 27:12:

“The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.”

Start by defining what you both believe the dangers are. You might be surprised to hear of one that you didn’t realize was a concern. For instance, if the stuff hits the fan and you work close to home but your spouse works further away, you might have their trip home as a concern but a low priority. That’s not to say you don’t care, but you might think they’ll be able to get home without much difficulty. They make that drive every day and can see what the obstacles are or might be. This might be a much higher concern for them. I know that when I worked at the office, one of my biggest concerns was getting home if something big happened.

It might be a good idea to agree to have this conversation in a week, which would give you both enough time to build your case. I would suggest you find rational examples of why something is a concern for you. If I were to go to Trudee and say I want to buy a generator because there could be a solar flare and we will need to supply our own power, I haven’t built my best case. Instead, if I tell her that we know of people who have lost power every winter, that we also have the potential for some other less likely but still possible things, and give examples of hackers from other countries hacking the electric grid, the blackouts on the east coast and even the less likely EMP or solar flare, I’ve made a much stronger case.

Now you can create a list of the things you both think are the biggest dangers and figure out how to “take refuge” so to speak.

What do you do if one see’s something as danger that the other does not? For example, if Trudee has a concern that a fire breaking out is a large concern and I don’t. I can logically see that it is a risk, but I might think our actual risk is very low. For the sake of honoring my wife, I think I should make a concession and do what is reasonable to take refuge for her perceived danger. I say “reasonable” because spending some cash on nice fire alarms and some fire extinguishers, as well as spending some time on making evacuation routes and plans is reasonable. Building a concrete house and only cooking outside are not.

Once you have listed the dangers, look at them and decide how to meet your families five basic needs. Much of this will be overlap, with some exceptions. Food storage will meet the need for food for any of the dangers, but we might have to get a fire extinguisher to meet the one specific need.

Another sticking point might be the capacity to which you prepare. Let’s say I think we should have six months of food stored and Trudee thinks three months is sufficient. Maybe we could compromise and meet at 4.5 months’ worth.

The amount of supplies needed to meet your food and water needs can be measured by how long you want them to last. The rule of thumb is to have one gallon of water per person for each day. You might have easy access to water and decide to purchase a means to prepare it, storing less. For food, you eat at least three meals a day. For security, shelter and energy, the level of preparedness is harder to judge and can be open to interpretation.

If one of you is a planner and wants to have more plans on what to do if certain things happen, it might be reasonable for the person who isn’t as much of a planner to give in. Now, if one wants to spend a large sum of money, then that is something you should agree on.

Another way to see where actual holes are in your preparations and plans is to run drills. Turn the power off over a weekend or really test it and go longer. You may find that you really don’t need as much of something as you thought, or you could see you need more.

I have gotten a few emails from people who have thanked me for giving them a rational Godly based way to explain preparedness, getting their spouse “on board” with it. I don’t take credit for it. I believe I am just doing what God asked me to do.

I also know that there are certain things that no matter how many different ways you explain it, no matter how well thought out, how logical or rational you are, there are just certain things your spouse won’t “hear” you on. Sometimes it just takes someone on the outside. Never make them feel like you’re pushing it down their throat.

What to do if They Won’t Budge?

If you can’t agree and they either fail to see the reason to prepare, or to be as prepared as you, I won’t tell you what you should do, other than pray for guidance. If Trudee wouldn’t have been on board, I would have told her that I loved her and that her opinion did matter to me, but that I believed the Lord wanted me to begin to prepare and that I was going to. I would’ve assured her that I wasn’t going to go overboard, but I would be spending a little money here and there. I wouldn’t have rubbed it in, but I would have done as I felt led by the Lord.

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Filed Under: Christian World View, General Preparedness

Preserving God’s Word

January 7, 2013 by Chris Ray 44 Comments

Bible

JP, a faithful reader, recently sent me an email that I thought was such a good idea I wanted to share it with all of you. One of the things I have in my preps is a case of Bibles that I got at a good price a few years ago. My thinking is that if there is a prolonged time of hardship, people will be hungry for God’s Word. I want to be prepared to listen, talk and to give them a Bible to take home with them.

It seems JP has the same idea, as he recently sent me the following email:

“Chris, I’ve been meaning to share this with you. There is one thing most folks don’t think of when prepping and I encourage it every time I get a chance. Of all the things we seal and store for future use God’s word is usually not one of them.

A year or so back I called around to find some inexpensive bibles. I wanted to buy a hundred or more to put in storage. Well I found out after talking with some folks that ran a bulk bible warehouse that the copies I wanted for $2.00 a piece were not meant for years of use or storage. The paper and ink used for those cheap bibles would fade and the pages would discolor due to changes in humidity or high moisture levels.

The guy I talked to explained this to me and laughingly suggested that the bibles would have to be kept very dry, vacuum sealed and kept airtight or I would have to spend a lot more money on the bibles and get some really good ones. Getting really good ones meant I couldn’t afford to buy very many and I wanted lots.

When times get hard people will cry out to God and they will want to know what His word has to say. As Christians we should be ready to help those in need. But I’m afraid we just can’t take in every person in need. So we should be able to give them some food and water along with a copy of God’s word, present the gospel to them and pray with them, then bid them farewell and God’s blessings upon them.

So Mylar is not just for food products here is what one of my sealed $2.00 bibles looks like. I really like watching people try to figure out what’s in it. If you look really close you can barely see the letters “Holy Bible” in the Mylar.”

I asked JP which site he used and he let me know it was Bible Surplus.com. I looked around and they have some Bibles for less than $60 for a case of 48.

I haven’t tested this to make sure, but I think one could fit 4-6 Bibles in a one gallon Mylar bag, add 1 300cc oxygen absorber and you have preserved God’s Word for future use.

I want to thank JP for another great idea.

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Finding Joy in the Darkness

January 3, 2013 by Chris Ray 17 Comments

The LORD is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. Psalm 28-7

This article is going to be about finding joy when everything around you defies it. I truly believe that this is a survival skill, the ability to find joy and hope, when we’re faced with times of pain, loss and uncertainty. Because this is a skill, it is something we need to practice now, so when there is a disaster, we can find joy and be a light to others. Jesus promised us we would see tribulation and persecution ahead, but He also said we should:

“Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.’ Mathew 5-12

It’s not easy is it? In fact, some days it’s nearly impossible. We’re to be in this world and not of it, but we still get some on our shoes as we journey through. I’m not talking about true depression, which is a medical condition. I’m talking about when life is just beating you down. The events that take place can affect us and some days nearly break us. It’s hard to find joy when children and their teachers are slaughtered at their school. It’s hard to find joy when there is job loss, loved ones with cancer or other illness and stress everywhere we turn.

But if we let this world bog us down, we are in danger of being like the world;

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.” Mathew 5-13

Finding Joy

I am, by no means, an expert in this. In fact, I often have a difficult time with it. You see, I have Asperger’s Syndrome, which is a form of Autism. While I am high functioning, I do have trouble understanding and relating to certain emotions. I don’t mean to say I am Danny Downer, my emotions are often muted, kind of a plain gelatin, if you will.

I am also a blogger who talks about preparedness and spends a lot of time thinking about dark subjects and how we can mitigate them. Spending as much time as I do on the hard realities and the harsh possibilities can sometimes take its toll.

Because of this, I have researched happiness and joy from an analytic point of view. That might seem like an oxymoron, learning about emotions from an analytical manner, but it’s what works for me. What I have found is this; joy is a decision. It is an ongoing skillset that must be practiced. Where most people make the mistake (myself included) is when they let circumstances dictate how joyful we feel. Instead, we can make the decision to look for bright spots in the darkness; to see the glass as half full.

My wife, who is much better than I at this, has an example; she lost her first born son after just three days. Sure it hurt and was horrible to go through, but she didn’t let it define her. She feels privileged that she got to have him for those three precious days.

Like I said, joy is a skillset that has to be practiced, just like shooting, canning, driving or any other skill. We have to make the decision any and every time life starts to kick our butts.

Happiness is a Serious Problem

One of my favorite radio talk show hosts is Dennis Prager. Mr. Prager wrote a book called Happiness Is a Serious Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual. In it, he explains that happiness is actually an obligation; an obligation we all owe to those in our lives. He says that to be happy we often have to fight against our nature. He explains that it is our expectations that often lead to our unhappiness. For an example, if I have a job interview that I think I am perfect for, and I feel comfortable that I will get it. If I don’t get the job, I may feel let down, sad or even depressed. If I was to go into the interview with no expectation of being hired and am offered the position, I can be thrilled. If I’m not offered the position, I had no expectation of getting it, so no harm done.

Every Friday, Dennis dedicates one hour of his show to the subject of happiness. One Friday he actually said that for Christians and Jews, unhappiness is a sin. He said that through scripture we are commanded to have joy. Do a search for the words “joy”, “happy” and “happiness” at any online bible website. Blue Letter Bible is one of my favorites, but there are many others. You might be surprised at how many times those three words are brought up. A very good example is Mathew 5-12; being happy when we’re persecuted. I don’t think that is a suggestion, I think it’s a command.

If you have a hard time finding joy or being happy, I really recommend reading Happiness Is a Serious Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual. In fact I think it’s time I read it again.

What can we Do?

Make Room For Fun

One of the things I have recently learned is that I need to make room for fun. You see, between working full time and this website, there have been days when I woke up at 4:45am, started work at 6:30am, got off at 3:00pm and worked on the website until 8:00pm. I don’t have quite the same schedule now, but there are still days when it’s close. I enjoy working on the website. I feel blessed that I get to do so and that people actually come back to read the next article. To avoid getting burned out, I have recently learned to make room for fun. I like to play video games, so I am now making time each day just to play.

When you feel like you’re losing the battle, having something to look forward to every day makes things easier to handle. Fun and joy aren’t necessarily related but fun can chip the armor of darkness so the light of Joy can start to shine through.

Prayer

Have you ever had a day…or a week where everything was a battle? That person in traffic cuts you off, your co-workers are making your job harder, and things at home are unpleasant? You can’t wait to climb into bed so the day can just be over? The point I am attempting to make is that there are times when things are going against us even if we’ve done nothing to bring it on.

I often think that these times can be attributed to the enemy. I read on a forum once where someone said they knew they were being attacked. They said “If satan or his minions are busy attacking me, they can’t be out attacking someone else”. They took on an attitude of someone doing battle and fighting back, not just being attacked and taking it.

In these times we can go vertical and get out of the horizontal. In other words we can get out of this world (the horizontal) and go vertical to take the problem to the King. There have been days when this works, and others where it hasn’t. Sometimes I need to add worship music and more prayer.

In the last month or so, I have had the same story about the happiest man alive cross my path at least three times. It is about a Buddhist Monk. Scientists have connected 256 electrodes to his head and asked him to meditate on compassion. The article reports that:

“Ricard’s brain produced gamma waves, linked to consciousness, attention, learning and memory that were “off the charts”. It also showed excessive activity in the left prefrontal cortex. This demonstrated Ricard’s massive capacity for happiness and low levels of negativity.”

Meditation on compassion is simply getting out of the horizontal, standing in the gap and praying for others. So, by praying for others, we can actually increase our happiness. It also intervenes in another’s life and lifts them up to the Father. Prayer is a mighty weapon! Jesus said in Mark 9:20 “This kind can be cast out only by prayer”. Imagine that! A demon so strong that even the Messiah had to pray to the Father to intervene.

I posted a comment on another article recently about the word “Maranatha”. It is an Aramaic word which, loosely translated, means “Come quickly Lord”. I have had days when it feels like I am treading water just to keep my nose above the surface and people keep putting stones in my pockets. On these days, when the yoke of this world is too heavy for me to carry alone, I try to pray, but those prayers seem so feeble. In those times, I utter this one word prayer, “Maranatha!”

I prayed this prayer when I heard of the Sandy Hook shootings. Thinking of those terrified children and teachers, of all those grieving in such terrible pain. My words were to small, the burden to heavy, the only thing that could heal that hurt is our God, so Maranatha, come quickly Lord to those in pain.

Prayer is a mighty weapon that I don’t feel I wield well. This is something I am making a resolution to get better at this year. If you have any requests, large or small, that you would like a prayer warrior in training to take before the Living God on your behalf, just post it in the comments or send an email to Chris @ preparedchristian.net and I will add you to my prayer journal.

These are just a few examples of how you can find joy, if you have others please share them in the comment section.

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Filed Under: Christian World View, Mind Set

Dreams, Prophecy and Promptings

November 28, 2012 by Chris Ray 36 Comments

“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”

This verse comes from Joel 2:28 and again from Acts 2:17. It is a promise from God that He will pour out His spirit, which will give visions, dreams and cause some to prophecy. Since starting Prepared Christian I have been blessed to receive emails from several of you who have shared dreams you have had or prophecies that have been given at your church or from ministries you interact with on the Internet. I want to take some time to discuss this with you.

I think this is important because I know that some of you have been led to preparedness by a dream you have had or a loved one has had, or by prophecies given by someone you trust. Sometimes we feel prompted by God to take an action to be more prepared.

Dreams

The word dream is mentioned in scripture 65 times; all but seven of those are in the Old Testament. Dreams are clearly one way that God chooses to speak to us; I think this is for various reasons. Dreams bypass the logical part of our brain that can quash the still small voice. Dreams can also be used to introduce things that we are not yet familiar with. They can be used to push us to take action on something we may or may not fully understand.

Scripture lists dreams given to people that were a concrete example of what would occur, examples of this appear in Mathew 1:20, when an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and tells him that the child Mary caries was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Again in Mathew 2:12 the three wise men receive a dream that warns them not to go back to Herod. An angel comes to Joseph again in Mathew 2:13 to tell him to take Mary and Jesus and escape to Egypt. Joseph was visited in a dream again in Mathew 2:19, telling him of Herod’s death.

More often, dreams from the Lord are far more abstract and need interpretation to understand. For instance; the dream God gave to Pharaoh that is explained to Joseph in Genesis 41:15 of the seven fat cows, then seven scrawny and lean cows that Joseph interpreted for him to mean seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. Another example is found in Judges 7:13. Gideon overhears a man telling of a dream that a round loaf of barley bread tumbled into the Midianite camp with such force it collapsed a tent. The man listening to this dream interpreted it to mean that the loaf of bread was the sword of Gideon son of Joash. Gideon used this knowledge to invade and conquer the Midianite camp. Again, in Daniel 2:30, King Nebuchadnezzar has Daniel interpret the dream of a giant statue, King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:11 has Daniel interpret the dream of the giant tree.

Sometimes the meaning of a dream may be abstract, even if the dream itself is not. An example of this could be the dreams given to Joseph in the book of Genesis. In these dreams, Joseph interpreted his brothers and parents bowing down to him. While Joseph became second in command, only lower than Pharaoh, God, at one point, had Joseph thrown into a cistern, sold into slavery and put in prison before interpreting Pharaohs dream and being given much power. He used this power to save his family.

The point I am trying to make is that sometimes the dreams we have are from God. Some of those dreams will actually happen exactly like they did in the dream, as it was many times with Joseph. Some dreams might show us symbolic events, with the end result being similar to the dream, as it was with Joseph and his dreams of his family bowing down to him. The dream could just be used to spark you into taking action, like Gideon did when hearing of the interpreted dream.

I have received e-mails from people who say they have had dreams of the economy crashing and violence everywhere. I have received emails foretelling of the electric grid going out and society falling apart. I have also gotten an email where the person dreamed that a large volcano (I assume it was the caldera in Yellowstone) erupted, destroying much of America and covering much of the US is ash. I have also read prophecies from my church and other ministries that speak to some very difficult times ahead. If all of these are true and come to pass, not only America but much of the world will suffer greatly. In fact, if the caldera in Yellowstone erupted, it very well could be an ELE (Extinction Level Event). I suppose it is possible that all of these things could happen, but even one happening is a very low possibility, let alone all three.

Prophecy

Prophecy is something I find interesting and have studied. I have read Biblical prophecies and some by modern day prophets. The modern prophecies that I have read are often a little vague. Maybe the prophet is only allowed, as John the Revelator was, to show certain things, keeping some things hidden. Maybe the entire sequence of events was not revealed to the prophet, or maybe the prophet is afraid of being too specific, fearing the events will not unfolding as they said.

I have visited forums where current events were forced into prophecy. I have also seen very godly men led to believe a false prophet. I learned a lesson when I started studying prophecy; if a prophet is wrong even once, they are not a prophet sent by God. God is never wrong.

If I met a prophet who was always right, who lived a godly life and loved the Lord, I would listen and heed his words. Until then, I will listen and put their words to the tests of scripture and time to see if they’re right.

Promptings

Most of the time, I have a very difficult time knowing if a prompting is from the Lord. There are other times when I have no doubt. I’m going to share something personal with all of you and I hesitate to do so, partly because I am very private, and partly because I think it could invite some conflict. I think it is a good example of how sometimes God prompts us and uses things we understand at the time, only to have events unfold differently than originally thought.

Years ago I had read all of the Left Behind books and really studied the book of Revelation and other prophecies in the Bible. This is also around the same time I started prepping. I remember feeling like God was asking me to stay behind after the Rapture to help new believers learn about salvation, and to help them survive the coming judgments to the earth.

Years later I began to feel the Lord stirring again. This time it was to help believers to learn that preparedness is Biblical and how to get better prepared now. I wasn’t sure how to do this and sat on it for another couple years. I finally started writing some pretty awful articles and emailing them to friends. Then, God used Jack Spirko from the Survival Podcast to spark me into starting the Prepared Christian blog.

My point here is that even though all of the promptings were from God, in the beginning I did not have enough knowledge to teach others about preparedness. Knowing I would need that knowledge, I began my research and better preparing my family. Through writing those awful letters to my friends, I hopefully have gotten to be a better writer. I still didn’t know how to “get the word out” until I heard Jack Spirko that day. That began my research into blogging and using the Internet. I now believe God used my understanding of things in the beginning to get me to take the action needed to do what I am doing now. It was my understanding of things that changed, not Gods plan.

Final Thoughts:

Though God does use dreams, prophecy and promptings, they may not always mean what we think they mean. Don’t cling so tightly to your understanding that God can’t unfold His plan. Yes He is more powerful than you, but He loves you enough to yield to your free will.

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Filed Under: Christian World View, Mind Set

The Future Leaders of the Church

October 15, 2012 by Chris Ray 15 Comments

A note before today’s article: Camping Survival has really stepped up to the plate and given me 3 1000’ spools of paracord to give away. I will be picking one random winner on Monday October 15th, 22nd and the final winner on the 29th. If you have already entered for the 100’ section, that entry will just be carried over for the new giveaway’s so no need to reenter. If you didn’t enter then send one in for the new drawings.

My email is: chris (at) preparedchristian.net

Again, my many thanks to Camping Survival for supporting the Prepared Christian community!

The Future Leaders of the Church

I have said a few times that I think the Church in America will eventually go underground and resemble the first church or the modern church in other countries. People will gather for worship in smaller congregation’s in house churches. This poses an interesting problem. Currently, hundreds, even thousands, show up at individual churches across the USA. These churches have between one and a small handful of pastors that minister to the many. What happens when people form small house churches out of necessity? For example, if your church had 500 worshipers on a Sunday and house churches formed, each having 20 people, you would need 25 leaders for the house churches, one leader per group.

I wrote last week that “Christians should be preparing” so they can be a shining light in the darkness that may be coming. Could it be that the Lord is preparing us Prepared Christians to be a light in our home churches and to lead them?

That would be no big deal for some of you, as I know you are leading home churches or small groups now, but for me, due to Asperger Syndrome and my rock solid (sarcasm) people skills, a conversation about the weather can be awkward. The thought of leading a small church doesn’t thrill me. I’m sure some of you might feel similarly…but Lord your will not mine be done.

One constant theme through all of scripture is that God frequently picks those who’re not perfectly suited for the task to complete it. I mean come on; he made use of an ass on Palm Sunday (lol). I believe this is so that we can see Him working in us and give Him glory for it.

But I Didn’t go to Seminary!

Just because you didn’t go to seminary doesn’t mean you aren’t able to lead a small house church. I don’t believe any of the twelve disciples had any formal training, though they had the ultimate on the job training. Jesus was frustrated with their lack of understanding many times through the New Testament. Paul, who wrote the majority of the New Testament, did have formal schooling as a Pharisee. It wasn’t until he came to Christ that he truly understood God. My point is that you don’t have to be trained as a pastor or priest to be an effective leader in a church. Don’t misunderstand, I am not discounting seminary, I’m just saying it is not needed to be a useful instrument before God.

There are some things that you will need to have a grasp on and be comfortable doing. Below are some examples.

Salvation

You will need to understand how salvation works; saved by grace, repentant of sin and welcome Jesus to come into your life. It sounds so simple, but it is a lot more complex than repeating a small prayer. Explaining why someone would give their life to Jesus, how to become saved and what that means for the rest of their life are important to understand.

I first came to the Lord as a preteen, I backslid in my late teens and had a loosely held faith until recommitting my life in my early thirties. Since then, I have really sought the Lord and His word. I could have explained at any time in my life what salvation was, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that I really grasped it. Then I really understood grace and the sacrifice made in my place. As I read the Word, I continue to see a deeper meaning to this life altering gift.

Prayer

Praying out loud in front of people can be challenging. For me this is much harder than even talking in front of people. Part of the reason this is difficult for people is because we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. I don’t know, maybe we want to come off like a prayer superstar like Billy Graham, but God doesn’t need you to be a Billy Graham, He just needs you to be willing.

To get used to praying out loud I started praying out loud before family meal time. I also pray with my wife, Trudee, before bed each night and, at times, just throughout the day. It was a little clumsy at first, but over the years I have gotten more comfortable. I have had a few opportunities to pray with others, either one-on-one or in a small group, and I know that praying out loud with those closest to me has helped. I also believe that prayer with Trudee before bed has brought us closer together. If we have had a rough day with each other, we go vertical to the King and don’t let the sun set on our anger.

Your prayers do not need to be eloquent; they just need to be from your heart. There are times when I knock it out of the park and times when I stumble through. I know God doesn’t judge me, He just wants to hear from me.

When I can’t think of anything to pray, I pray The Lord’s Prayer.

Knowing the Word

I really think that in order to be a leader of a small group or house church you have to be in the Word often. When I came back to the faith I read the Bible off and on and didn’t understand what I was reading. I decided one day that I would read one chapter every morning before I got ready for work. I think making that commitment and sticking to it is what it took for God to open my eyes. It still took a while before I understood much of what I was reading, but I really grew in my faith after I made the Word a priority.

If you have a hard time, there are several programs that will help you read the entire Bible in one year. You can do an Internet search for “read the Bible in one year” and take your pick. If you need help understanding events and different cultural things, a concordance is something you might want to look into.

If you find the timeline confusing because it jumps back and forth, you might like The Story, NIV: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People. As the title says, it is one continuous story. You won’t have to try and figure out which events happened when. For example, in all of the Gospels, it follows the life of Jesus from beginning to end. In The Story just has one flowing narrative.

I personally don’t think you need to be able to quote chapter and verse at the drop of a hat. I don’t have the kind of mind that can remember things verbatim. But I can remember key points and themes just fine. I think having a grasp on concepts is more important than memorizing passages word-for-word. In order to do that, you still have to read it and let the Spirit open your mind.

Other Ways to Grow

Some people like daily devotionals. Some people like groups that meat each week and share faith. When I drove to work every day, I would listen to a Podcast of Chip Ingram and Living On The Edge. Chip is on many radio stations, but I downloaded them on iTunes. You can also listen to them from Living On The Edge. They have a HUGE amount of material geared at helping small groups. I have to admit that this area isn’t my strong suit. I found what worked for me and quit looking. If any of you have other great resources to help others grow in their faith, please list them in the comment sections.

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Filed Under: Christian World View Tagged With: community

Why Should Christians, Specifically, Be Preparing?

October 10, 2012 by Chris Ray 25 Comments

I have written previously “Is preparedness a sin?” and “Scripture related to preparedness” , explaining why preparedness is allowable and even seen as prudent by the Lord. I have never explained why Christians should be preparing. Of course, they should be preparing for the same reasons as everyone else, but they should also be preparing for at least one specific reason that is theirs alone.

Jesus tells us in Mathew 5:14 that “You are the light of the world.” While true that this statement isn’t about preparedness, it is about being a light to the world. Whether it is economic hardship, war, terrorist attacks, pandemic or any other man made or natural disaster, our world is fallen and we are to be a light to it. Jesus didn’t prerequisite that with “unless food is limited or very high priced” or with “You can pause on being light to the world when events around you become uncertain or dangerous.”

To me, it is those times when we MUST be the light to the world. After 9-11, many churches were filled to capacity. Sadly, it often takes a large event to break people and have them turn to the Lord. If there is another large scale disaster (Katrina or 9-11) and someone only has a few days of food for their family, they will be focused on taking care of and providing for their immediate family. They may not be concentrating on spreading Gods love and being His hands and feet to another needy family.

My wife and I, as well as many from our church, have taken CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training, so that if there is an event in our local area, we can give aid. In the class, they made a point to say that you make sure your family is safe first and then go help if you’re able. Their reasoning is the same as mine. If things are not prepared for at home, if you have to worry about your family’s safety or whether there is food, you will be ineffective in the field.
Jesus told us in Mathew 24:6 – 8 (NIV) that:

“6. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”

I can’t know if we’re living near the end times, but I do know all of those things are happening now, and Jesus said that they were just the beginning. That means that more and probably worse will follow.

Many Christians have a misunderstanding of scripture, they will quote Matthew 6:25-34

“25. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?…”

They don’t understand that this verse is not about preparedness or the lack thereof, it is about worry. Let’s face it, believing that God will take care of our every need is comforting, but our God is not a genie from a bottle. He gave us free will and logic and the ability of forethought.

As I mentioned above, Jesus said some pretty bad stuff would happen and Proverbs 27:12 says:

“A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.”

When you put these three verses together, we’re told that there will be some difficult and dangerous times ahead. We’re told not to worry because Jesus is Lord our God, but to be wise and prepare for those dangers that lie ahead.

So, if you want to be prudent before the Lord, then being prepared to be the light He said we are, and ready to face what He said is coming seems like the only decision. Some people will have a hard time with this. As I mentioned in Survival Psychology: Cognitive Dissonance, holding two opposing views is called “cognitive dissonance” and will cause mental stress and discomfort. But looking at all of the scripture where we’re shown that God told people to prepare, which I cover in “Scripture related to preparedness”, and as I listed above with Proverbs 27:12, anyone who wants to be prudent need just look for dangers and take action to mitigate them. One can make the logical and prudent choice and move out of cognitive dissonance.

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Filed Under: Christian World View, Mind Set Tagged With: community

Introducing the eBook Why Should I Prepare and is it Biblical?

July 30, 2012 by Chris Ray 11 Comments

I’m excited about releasing my first eBook today, called “Why Should I Prepare and is it Biblical?”. It’s a free gift to anyone who signs up for updates via email. Those of you who are already subscribers, thank you so much for subscribing previously. You should have received an email containing the link to the download page. If you subscribe to the RSS feed and would like a copy, send an email via the contact page, letting me know you would like the link and I’ll send it to you.

This eBook explores some of the rational reasons I believe we should prepare, from the economy to natural disasters. The second half of the eBook explores some of the questions my wife and I had when we began to explore preparedness, such as “Is it a sin?” and “Does it show a lack of faith?” I also cover the verses I have found where God clearly tells us it is prudent and our duty to be prepared to care for our loved ones.

This eBook is free. Please feel free to share it with anyone you feel may be blessed by it and/or benefit from it. I simply ask that you not modify it in any way. If you send it to someone new or to someone who is on the fence about preparedness, I also link to the Getting Started to give them some first steps.

I have become a better (or possibly just lengthier) writer since I first posted “Is Preparedness A Sin?” and ”Scripture Related To Preparedness”. I have updated those articles with the text from the eBook.

To those of you who sign up for updates, thank you. I hope you enjoy the eBook as much as I enjoyed writing it.

May God bless you all,

Chris

Filed Under: Christian World View, General Preparedness, Getting Started

God’s Law vs Man’s Law

July 6, 2012 by Chris Ray 5 Comments

Over the last two days in A Short Prepper Civics Lesson and in The Future of America. I have detailed that the founders stated what our God given rights are. I have also given some possible scenarios where those rights may be restricted, if not completely taken away. How then should a Christian respond?

Romans 13:1
A few years back I decided to read one chapter of the Bible every morning. There were some things I didn’t understand. I spent some time researching them. One of them was Romans 13:1. This verse differs greatly depending on the version of the Bible you have. I’ll post two.

King James:
“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”

Many other versions are similar to this NIV version:

“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”

The reason this was difficult for me is that there have been some truly awful governing authorities throughout history. I questioned whether a loving God would want us to subject ourselves to their authority. Like I said, this didn’t make sense. On a side note, there have been bad governments that have used this verse to keep Christians in line, claiming your God tells you to submit.

I did a bit of digging and thinking and found an article called Spiritual Authority and Romans 13. I don’t agree with everything the author says but he does make it clear that Paul was not telling us to be subject to the worlds authority, that we were to be subjected to our spiritual authorities. That made this verse more clear for me, as some of man’s laws absolutely contradict Gods law.

But let’s say that the verse actually means that we should submit to government. Does that mean even when it goes against God’s law?

God’s law vs. Man’s Law

As a general rule, Christians make excellent citizens. By living as Christ did and loving our neighbor as ourselves, we tend to stay out of trouble. There are many times when man’s laws and God’s laws are the same. For example, many of our current laws are based off of the Ten Commandments. Until recently, they were displayed in many court rooms across the country. In some places they still are.

There are times when there is a law that man uses to infringe upon our Christian liberties, such as taking a cross down from a national park or a city stopping a church from ringing a bell. At times like these I am reminded of Mathew 5:41:

“If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”When a Roman soldier would ask a Jew for directions, Jews would often give them the wrong ones. To stop this, a law was created that said when a Roman soldier asked for directions, the Jew had to walk with him for the first mile.

When our Christian Liberties are infringed upon, I think we should still make a stand, do battle in courts, protest or by other means voice opposition. But in the end, I think, since it does not go against Gods law, we must accept it and “walk the second mile”.

But then there are times when man’s law absolutely goes against God’s law. What should we do then? Following are a few examples of when God’s people rebelled against man’s law and followed Gods.

Daniel 1:8
King Nebuchadnezzar has requested among others that, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah be put in his service. They are given wine and fancy foods to eat. Daniel and company refused to defile themselves with the royal foods and asked to be allowed to eat just fruit and vegetables for ten days.

Daniel 3:1
This is the story of King Nebuchadnezzar building a 90 foot tall statue of gold and demanding that everyone bow and worship it. When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused, they were thrown into the furnace.

Daniel 6:7
There is a law passed that anyone who prays to any god or man for the next 30 days would be thrown into the lion’s den. Daniel prays to God and is thrown into the den.

Esther 4:11- 7:3
It is forbidden to enter the kings chambers without invitation. Violation of this is punishable by death. Esther enters and is welcomed by the king. She later asks for her people to be spared and the king grants her request.

Mathew 2:16
King Herod orders the murder of all male children, aged two and younger. Joseph and Mary flee to Egypt.

John9:19
Jesus tells Pontius Pilate he has no authority over Him, essentially saying God is permitting Christ’s death.

The book of Acts
There are many examples of the Sanhedrin telling the 12 apostles to stop preaching about Christ.

These are just some examples I was able to find. Thank you to Mike for the assistance. God’s law should trump man’s law every time. There is almost always a cost; loss of reputation, financial penalty and, for some, even to this day, martyrdom.

When man’s law contradicts Gods law, how you respond is between you and God. I am just here to point out that there is biblical precedence for going against man’s law and government to keep the laws of God.

This article is from a series of three, they are:

A Short Prepper Civics Lesson
The Future of America
God’s Law vs Man’s Law

Filed Under: Christian World View, Mind Set, Signs of the Times