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Light, Sound and Smell Discipline

October 31, 2012 by

While I hope and pray we never see the worst case scenario where society truly does just collapse, I still think about what it might look like from time to time.  It’s a good exercise for seeing possible shortcomings as well as potential dangers.  If we do see things melt down, the rules change and you have to be ready to adapt quickly to keep you and yours safe.  Today I want to give you some things to consider.  Think about how you might make use of them should the need ever arise, while praying to God it never does.

 

Light Discipline

My neighborhood has underground power lines, so we very rarely lose power.  When we do it is usually short lived.  The power went out this week shortly after I got up at 06:00.  It was still dark outside for the next hour and a half, as we sat in battery powered lamp light.  I looked outside a few times and noticed that there were no lights on anywhere, but I could easily see that someone was moving through their home with a flashlight.

If society does fall off the rails, even for a few nights, you need to make sure you’re using as little light inside at night as possible.  Now, if you have a room where you have somehow completely blacked out the windows, you might be ok using a candle or battery powered lamp.  If you have to move through the house, you might be better off letting your eyes adjust and sticking the flashlight in a cloth to let just a little light escape to guide you.

One option for flashlights is to use colored lenses.  They provide less light but it is harder to pick them up at a distance.  If you use say a red lens and turn your flashlight on from a dark room, you won’t lose your night vision when you turn it back off.

If I was Joe Dirtbag and was looking for someone who might be home during a meltdown, I would do one of two things; climb to the top of a tall building or water tower and look for light, or walk through people’s backyards looking for signs of light.  Keep this in mind, just because there will not be any light visible from the front of your house, doesn’t mean there is no light visible.

 

Sound Discipline

I live in the burbs, not far from a busy highway.  Even so, aside from traffic sound, it still gets quiet here at night.  Much to my chagrin, noise travels very well, and on a quiet night we can hear people from a few houses away.  Right now, aside from being annoying at times, it isn’t that big of a deal.  If things meltdown and Joe Dirtbag starts listening for anything that stands out, it might be a bigger deal.

This can be a much more difficult thing to manage, as I can control when and how lights are on, but I have four dogs and one of them, I joke, barks at gnats farting outside.  So this is something I have given some thought to, as should you if you have dogs or young children who may be scared or hungry and unpredictably loud.

I don’t care for the idea of muzzling the dogs for an extended time, so I honestly don’t have a good solution.  Bugging out might be the only choice.

 

Smell Discipline

In a survival situation, I know many of you will be eating those beans and rice, so this might be a lost cause. (LOL, just kidding.)  I’m thinking more along the lines of things that smell good and draw attention.   Many of us have some food stored.  One might think that it is safer to cook at night, as it can hide smoke.  While that might be true, you can’t hide the smell very well.  It is very easy to tell when someone is grilling in my neighborhood.  I bet I could track down the house in a matter of minutes just by smell alone.  The smell of something like an MRE might not carry as far as something that is home cooked.  This is just something to keep in mind.

 

Turning to Your Advantage

You can also use these things to your advantage.  Let’s say the power wasn’t out and I saw someone moving with a flashlight at my neighbor’s house.  Or let’s say that things have gone very bad and everyone in your area is staying put and not making much noise.  If you hear yelling or glass breaking it would stand out and should be paid close attention too.

 

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Filed Under: Security Tagged With: ,

Oil and What it Means For Our Future

October 29, 2012 by

 

For better or worse our economy is tied to oil, so I want to connect a few dots and explain, in part, why that is and what it means for our future.

 

Why Are We So Dependent On Oil?

To fully understand this, we need to go back to oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller.  Mr. Rockefeller believed that oil was a gift from God and he was determined to find as many uses for it as he could.  Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t completely altruistic.  This also meant higher profits, as he could make money from the parts of oil that many other people were dumping in rivers and lakes as waste.  Some of the uses they discovered were gasoline, tar for paving streets, lubricating oil, Vaseline and paraffin for making candles.  Today oil and oil byproducts are used in those things listed above as well as polyester and other clothing blends, many plastics, many medications, such as cortisone and aspirin, not to mention the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, which is reported to make up 2/3 of the oil that is used.

 

Harvesting Oil

The theme song from the Beverly Hillbillies said that Jed Clampett was “shooting at some food, missed and up from the ground came bubbling crude”.  While this is an exaggeration as to how easy it used to be, it’s not a huge one.  It used to be very easy to find and drill for oil, and the very first attempts to refine it weren’t much more than boiling it.

The same cannot be said today.  All easy to harvest oil has long been harvested.  Crews have to drill many miles deep into the ocean, which is dangerous and expensive.  There are vast amounts of oil shale, but oil shale is mined in the form of rocks that have solid bituminous materials that are released as petroleum like liquid when the rock is heated in the chemical process known as pyrolysis.  So, while it is there, is it harder to get than traditional oil deposits.

Due to several federal regulations on oil exploration, drilling and refining, the United States will always be a net importer of its oil.

 

Peak Oil

There is some confusion when it comes to this term, so let me define my use of it.  Peak oil is simply the point at which we have reached the peak of oil production.  This could but doesn’t necessarily mean that an oil field that has hit peak oil is running out of oil, just that it has hit the limit in the amount it can produce.

The problem that peak oil causes is that, in the last decade, China, India and some other developing countries, have seen a massive increase in the amount of cars and drivers, which means a massive increase in the amount of gasoline and diesel needed to fuel them.

This is nothing to worry about as long as the largest oil fields and the world’s leading oil producing nations stay out of peak oil.  As you can see from this story, Mexico’s Cantarell oil field, which is the world’s largest oil field, has reached peak oil and is, in fact, declining in production.  This report from CNN says “WikiLeaks cable: Saudi oil estimates may have been exaggerated”

It reports that:

“Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves may have been grossly overestimated and its capacity to continue pumping at current capacity exaggerated, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable sent from the kingdom in 2007.”

 

Alternative Energies

I don’t know of any alternative energy that could replace oil.  Some might say “what about solar?”  Solar panels are very expensive to make, thus very expensive to purchase and install.  I have seen estimates of $20,000 on the front end, which could take 20 years to pay for themselves.  By that time you would need to start replacing panels and would have already been replacing batteries.  There were several solar companies who were given millions of tax payer dollars by our current administration.  We have all seen the reports of them going bankrupt.

Wind just doesn’t produce enough energy for it to be viable to replace oil.  Sure, it could be used in tandem to reduce some of the oil consumption, but I haven’t seen enough information to know if this would be cost effective or be like solar and pay for itself near the end of its life.

Don’t get me wrong, I think we should keep looking for ways to make alternative energy a viable option.  I have to be realistic and say that there is a very good chance that America will be tied to oil to meet our energy needs forever.

 

What Does All OF This Mean For Our Future?

Simply put; higher prices for everything.  Remember all of the items I listed that oil are used in its production?  That was just a fraction of the many items.  I have seen lists with over 6,000 items on them.  Even if you find an item that used zero oil in its production, there was still fuel used to bring the parts together or to ship it to its destination.

Remember that I said an estimated 2/3 of oil is used for fuel, including the fuel you use to drive your vehicle.  It is also used to power the ships, planes, trains and trucks that deliver goods all over the world.

There are places in the world right now where a gallon of gas costs $7.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t have that much in my gas budget.  That means if prices ever get that high here, the money will have to come from something else.

 

What Can We Do?

I think the best thing we can do is pay attention and be thinking about it.  Be conscious of the electronics that are left on 24/7 and how much power they soak up.  As gas prices rise it may be prudent to look for car pool opportunities to get to work.  I know MNDOT has initiatives to put car poolers together and your state may as well.

What other ideas do you have on things we can do to prepare for rising energy costs?

 

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Filed Under: Energy/Power, Signs of the Times Tagged With:

Signs of (worse) Financial Turmoil

October 24, 2012 by

Image by Christian Ferrari
 

 

In the article I wrote last week ”What Does Civil Unrest Look Like and How Can You Stay Safe Near It?” reader JP  commented that:

“Warning signs I’ve thought of would be banks closing doors as soon as several people begin withdrawing all they have. My wife worked for a bank years ago(18 yrs) and I remember her telling me that they had trained them to prepare to shut and lock all doors when told by the manager to do so. Then proceed out the back door if its safe and go home. This situation would begin with multiple people wanting to withdraw all their money from the bank. If you knew someone that worked in a bank they might be able to give you a heads up.”

I replied with an anecdote (that I’ll share below) and both got me thinking about other financial warning signs and that some might come too late to do much good. I am an economic novice, but I am a student of history and have paid enough attention to the economy to feel comfortable pointing out signs to be aware of. I have mentioned many times that the overall economy is in bad shape, so these are not signs to look for general health. Rather these are things to look for which might hint that the economy is going to get even worse.

 

Defaulting Municipalities

I have touched on this in other articles but we are seeing more and more cities and counties filing for bankruptcy, which you can keep track of on the Municipal Bankruptcies Map. If your city or county government can’t pay its bills and defaults, the existing bills might be taken care of, but what about future expenditures? Hard decisions and cuts will need to be made that will affect everyone in the area of a defaulted municipality. Look at Greece, Spain and the United Kingdom for a peek of our future. Austerity measures will be enacted out of necessity either by forward looking municipalities or by whomever takes receivership of defaulted ones. In the countries I listed riots have followed these austerity measures, or even at the suggestion of them, will we see differently?

 

Falling Stock Market

I know very little about the stock market, but if you look at the big hits, there are often many small hits leading up to a nosedive. If the market slides for a few days and there are other signs, such as oil prices or rising unemployment, it might be prudent to move to something safer, at least until things level out.  If someone more familiar with the stock market has other warning signs please post them in the comment section.

 

Failing Banks

If there is talk of large banks failing, keep an eye out and don’t just expect there to be another bailout. In 2008, Iceland’s three largest commercial banks went into receivership over the course of one week and the banks were nationalized. This led to bank runs and nearly led to the entire country going bankrupt. I have seen reports where the value of their currency declined by 50% and their stock market declined by 90%. With the Weiss quarterly bank ratings you can have some idea of how your bank is doing. Granted, it’s only quarterly but it’s better than nothing.

 

Bank Runs

A bank run is a late sign that there is trouble. The anecdote I made to JP Scott’s comment was this:

“Thanks JP. You’re correct that those are both bad signs. A related note on banks; we pulled out a sum of cash a few years ago and were told that most branches only kept $5,000 at any one time. I think since people started using credit and debit cards so frequently, they scaled back the amount they keep on hand. Even if there was a bank run, there is a chance that not many people will get all their money on the spot.”

I say “on the spot” because your account is insured by the FDIC. I can’t say how long it might take to get your funds back. This is a very strong argument for keeping enough cash on hand to pay your bills and to purchase needed items for a couple of weeks to a month. Some banks may keep more cash on hand, but I know from firsthand experience that not all do.

This is also an argument against keeping emergency funds in a safe deposit box. Because banks are still training people the way they did JP’s wife, to lock the door, who knows when you’ll get access to that box?

 

So What Can Be Done When These Things Happen?

If you live in an area in risk of defaulting, you could move. Since this might not be possible or even prudent, planning is about the best you can do. Plan to see some services stop, as I mention in ”What We May See at the End of 2012 that is not related to the Mayans”. Cities, such as Oakland California, have had their Police Departments stop responding to certain crimes. In other cities there are some services that are being stopped or scaled back, such as turning off the street lights.

For the stock market, you can move your money into safer investments. You can also hold cash or invest in precious metals or land.

There isn’t much you can do about failing banks except be aware of them and that they may or may not be bailed out. Either way it causes pain, either now by letting them fail, or to future generations by having to bear the tax burden.  If you bank with a bank that is in trouble, moving your money could speed along their implosion, but not moving it could could slow you getting all of your funds back.

Bank runs, as I mentioned, are not going to ensure you get all of your savings. Most banks also have limits on daily withdraws from ATMs, so don’t plan on getting it all that way either.

I think the best plan is to continue to prepare and work toward having some cash tucked away, and be ready for unemployment and crime to go up as we see these warning signs.

 

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Filed Under: Finance, Signs of the Times Tagged With:

Rising Crime and Limited Law Enforcement

October 22, 2012 by

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 the second random winner this afternoon and the last none Monday October 29th. If you want to enter the drawing you have until then. If you have already entered 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!


 

 

Rising Crime and Limited Law Enforcement

 

Mike from Mass sent me an email with a very interesting article.  This is a subject I have touched on before but I want to take a deeper look at it with you today.  The article entitled Armed posse patrols timber land in sheriff’s place is about a rural county in Oregon that has had its Sheriff’s Department shrunken to 3 deputies who patrol for eight hours a day, five days a week due to budget cuts.  Because of this and rising crime, some residents have taken to different forms of assisting the Sheriff.  One of these forms, as the title explains, has been forming armed posse’s to patrol the county.

The reason I want to take a deeper look at this is because I think many of us can relate to a statement made by Sam Nichols in the article, which states:

“I believe in standing up for myself rather than waiting for the government to do something for me,”

I think this is something we will see more of for a variety of reasons.  For instance, in Oakland California, police will no longer respond to certain crimes, which is similar to the circumstances that are in the article; because of cuts, police and sheriff departments are limited in their patrols.  I also think that because of impending economic slowness we will see a rise in crime, as can be seen in this story from USA Today; Violent crime rises sharply, reversing trend.  I think we will see an uptick in crime from people who’re hungry and looking for ways to make ends meet.  I’m not justifying it, just explaining that we will see a different percentage of the population committing crime.

 

Formation of a Posse

A posse is essentially made up of unpaid civilians who assist local law enforcement.  I think there are two ways to go about forming one.  The first is what the Citizens Against Crime did in the story from Oregon that is mentioned above.  From the sounds of the story, they patrol armed with little or no formal training and report crimes to the Sheriff’s Department.

Josephine County Sheriff Gil Gilbertson is quoted saying:

“They need to really understand there are consequences that can be very costly, physically as well as legally,” he said, explaining that volunteers could get sued or shot if they pull a gun on someone or make a false arrest.

“Most of them haven’t had what I feel is an adequate level of training to do that they do,” he said. “But if they serve as eyes and ears and only report what they see to law enforcement, I think they can keep themselves at a safe level.”

The Sheriff brings up some excellent points, but we shouldn’t necessarily let that keep citizens from forming a posse in times when, for whatever reason, local law enforcement is unable to meet the needs of the community.

An approach that I think is better is one that the Pinal County Sheriff from Arizona did by forming armed anti-smuggling volunteer posse.  The county has a large problem with Mexican cartels trafficking in drugs and humans, so the Sheriff formed a posse to help “bring the heavy hand of enforcement to those who think they can smuggle drugs or humans”.

From the article:

“According to a news release from the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, the ASP will provide “surveillance and intelligence support to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office Regional SWAT during tactical operations they perform against the Mexican Drug Cartels in western Pinal County.”…

“ASP members are required to pass a full background investigation, and will be trained on Pinal Sheriff’s Office Policy and Procedures, the news release stated. The armed posse members will be required to take quarterly training and qualifications. The members will receive tactical training before any operations.”

This Sheriff saw a need and a potential resource and took the time to make sure he was using people without a criminal record (that is not to say that the men from Oregon might have a criminal background).  He trained them and they undergo quarterly training which is as much as some police departments require.

A posse is usually formed for a short time and with a specific task.  I think an ongoing force is more in line with what the original militia was created to do; to augment local law enforcement with armed, trained civilians who have their own rank and command structure.

 

While We Have the Rule of Law

In this time while we still have the rule of law, we are not the sole means of law enforcement.  You may decide to join a posse or militia to assist local law enforcement.  The following are some things to keep in mind.

 

Citizen’s Arrest

I’m sure everyone reading this has heard of making a citizen’s arrest, but do you know what making one entails?  I am not a lawyer or giving legal advice.  These comments should be viewed as information, not law.  Many states allow a citizen to make an arrest for felonies committed in their presence.  You are allowed the use of reasonable force to subdue the felon until the police arrive.  You do not need to read them their rights.  That’s the job of the police officers who will file the police report.  If you are mistaken and the suspected felon did not, in fact, commit a felon, or you used too much force, you may open yourself up to a lawsuit or to facing charges and jail time yourself.   Here is an article from the Art of Manliness called How to Make a Citizens Arrest that goes deeper into the subject.

 

Buddy System

The buddy system is something I learned of in the Navy.  It means that you never go anywhere alone; always go with at least one buddy.  I can tell you from personal experience that using the buddy system saved me a few times.  There really is safety in numbers.

 

Communication

Being able to provide accurate, minute by minute information with instant and reliable communication is vital.  If you’re a part of a Sheriff sponsored posse, you will most likely be given a radio and trained in how to use it.  If you form a posse or militia with some other concerned citizens, one of the first things you should look into is communication.

 

Know Your Role

I honestly don’t know if a posse formed by a sheriff would provide the same umbrella of protection to its members that the sheriff and deputies would have.  If you form a posse with other citizens you are just that, a citizen.  You might be well advised to take the advice of the sheriff from Oregon :

“If they serve as eyes and ears and only report what they see to law enforcement, I think they can keep themselves at a safe level.”

 

Being Armed

If you have been a reader of this site for a while, you know I am a strong supporter of the second amendment.  I believe it is the responsibility of each citizen to be able to protect themselves.  With that being said, you need to think long and hard and pray about taking a firearm with you if you are going to put yourself in a situation where you’re essentially looking for trouble for the purpose of reporting it.

If George Zimmerman from Florida wouldn’t have had his firearm with him when he saw Trayvon Martin, he may have been less likely to follow and confront him and may have just called police.  Now, I am not saying you shouldn’t.  I’m saying you need to understand the ramifications of your decision.  If you are looking for criminals for the purpose of reporting them to police and are armed, there is the potential for gunplay because you brought a firearm.

Carrying a gun may also give a little extra courage to some, but just because you put on a cape doesn’t mean you can fly.  If you are level headed, can legally own and carry a firearm and are trained in its use, then move forward with caution.

I also think that if you carry a firearm, whether it is just for conceal and carry, or as an armed member of a posse, you should have other means to defend yourself.  When I carry, I have pepper spray, a flashlight that can be used as a striking implement and am trained in an Israeli based form of Real World Self-Defense called Haganah.  If I was patrolling, I would also carry either a larger flashlight or an asp to use for striking.  If you only have a hammer in the tool box, you see every problem as a nail.  I like to have as many options as I can legally.

 

Without the Rule of Law

I really hope and pray we never see a time when we no longer have the rule of law.  I think it would take an unlikely event such as an EMP or other far-reaching event to remove the rule of law.  Even though I believe it is unlikely we will see a time when there is no law enforcement to enforce the rule of law, I still think we have to be aware of it.  How will it affect us in the area we live?  How will we respond?

All of the things listed in the section “While We Have the Rule of Law” will still apply, with the exception of maybe citizen’s arrest.  If there is no law enforcement to retrieve the felon from you, you must think now about what you might do if you witness a felony.

There have been many of these types of situations discussed in several survival fiction books such as Lights Out or One Second After.  These and others have helped me think through some of the possible situations we may face without the rule of law.

 

What Will You Do?

Have you thought about whether or not you would ever join a posse to help enforce the law?  Would it matter if it was created and trained by the sheriff?  Have you thought about how life may be different without the rule of law and what you might do?

 

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Filed Under: Security, What Would You Do? Tagged With: , ,

A Great Twist to the Rule of Threes

October 19, 2012 by

Today I want to share with you an email I received from a visitor that I think has a fantastic spin on the rule of threes.  I am posting the email, with his permission, below.  My take on it is added afterward.

 

From Mike from Mass

“Hi Chris,
First off, thanks for this site.  it has been a good resources for our family, mostly in confirming our lifestyle when juxtaposing our preparedness with scripture, as well as lots of practical info…great stuff.
A quick story:  years ago, when our family was first starting down the “prepper” road, I had spoken to a guy who told me about the “rule of Three’s”.  Years later I had googled it and found a completely different “rule” than what I was told by this gentleman.  The traditional “rule of three’s” deals with the “3 minutes, 3 hours, 3 days etc.”  but what I had been taught was basically this: Make sure to have 3 ways to provide for each basic human need.  The first way is what we do every day; ex. food: grocery store (or farming/gardening, if you already do it).

The second would be ready to come into play if the first failed, the third way if the second failed, etc.  so for food, one might set up their rule of three like this:
1. Grocery Store/Pantry
2. Stored/canned reserves
3. hunting/gardening

or for water:
1. Faucet
2. Stored water
3. Rain water/river collection followed by boiling/filtration

I used this format recently (applied to your listing of the 5 basic human needs)in a preparedness workshop I did with my church homegroup.

I only mention it to you because I haven’t seen or read much on this approach to preparedness. It may be a good blog post for you to put up there.  I know that it’s been a very good model for our family.   For each person/family, their “three ways” are going to be different. For instance, someone living in an apartment will have to prepare differently than someone living in a home with land.

Anyway…Thanks again, brother, for using the gifts God has blessed you with to give info to others.  Keep up the good work.

Mike from Mass “

 

My Take

First, thank you for sending this email Mike.  It will be great food for thought for the rest of the community.  I also want to thank you for the compliment.  I am glad that you found the site and that it has been helpful with the cognitive dissonance you felt between your preparedness lifestyle and Scripture.

I love this spin on the rule of threes.  It was a wise man who taught you that and you were smart to follow it.  I have mentioned a few times that having redundancy for things like backup power is important but this takes it to another level.

Ensuring that you have three ways to meet all of the basic human needs is a high level of redundancy and will make sure your family has their needs met.  I also think that if you apply this to your skill sets, you will have a deep pool of knowledge.  For example, if you only know one way to make fire and you lose your lighter, you might be up a crick.  If you know three ways and lose your lighter but know how to use a bow drill, you can go about looking for the right pieces of wood.

 

Thanks again Mike from Mass for sharing!

 

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Filed Under: General Preparedness, Preparedness Tips

What Does Civil Unrest Look Like and How Can You Stay Safe Near It?

October 17, 2012 by

There have been a lot of rumors of possible or expected civil unrest, which I mentioned in What We May See at the End of 2012 that is not related to the Mayans and such as this recent article from Infowars.com, entitled Will The Election Results Cause Massive Riots To Erupt All Over America?.  This could range from small peaceful protests to large violent riots.  In light of this, I thought I would look back at civil unrest in our history and from around the world to see if there is anything to be learned that could help if we’re ever caught near civil unrest.

 

Mob Mentality

Mob mentality means a group that acts together without a previous plan.  Mob mentality can turn dangerous if there are negative or hostile emotions being expressed.   People often feed off one another’s anger.  If one person acts out in violence, others may quickly follow.  People soon think as a group and continue to feed off each other’s hostility.

There are a certain percentage of people who will act with honor in any situation.  There is another percentage that will act with dishonor and take advantage of people in any situation.  There is yet another group of people who will usually act with honor except when presented with the opportunity to “get away with it”.  In a group of people, all it takes is for a small percentage of dishonorable people to influence the opportunists and chaos ensues.

Examples where this has happened would be riots after sporting events, flash mobs with malicious intent and, to some extent, the riots seen with “Occupy Wall Street”.

If you are facing a group where mob mentality is present, the best advice I can give is to leave the area immediately and call the police from a safe distance.  Flash mobs are a bit different; they are usually made up of teenagers who text their friends and the group quickly builds because so many have been texting.  They often then target a specific location, streaming in and either burglarizing the location or, in some instances, assaulting patrons or employees.

If you are faced with a flash mob, I would advise you to forget what you were there to purchase and leave immediately.  You do not know what the intent is or how long it will remain peaceful.  Retreat to a safe distance that the mob cannot quickly get to and call police.

 

Extended Lawlessness

I can only think of one case of extended lawlessness in recent American history.  That would be the LA riot in 1992, which lasted six days.  There were 53 people killed and over 2,000 injured.  Rioting was sparked in a few other places across the country but the majority of it was seen in LA.

Looting and violence was rampant.  I had a friend in the Navy who lived in South Central LA during the time of the riots.  He said his mother made him and his brother stay lying on the floor almost the entire time because of random gunfire.  I have read reports that police were so overwhelmed in parts of the city that some business owner took up arms and defended their businesses.

Looking abroad, we see similar traits.  When Saddam fell and his police went into hiding, Iraq was full of looting and rioting that carried on for many days.  I remember reading reports from Tunisia and Egypt soon after the civil unrest started there.  There were reports of small convenience stores running out of supplies, cash machines running dry and neighbors banding together to defend their neighborhood from the rioting thugs.

There have been many anti-austerity protests and riots in Spain, Greece, the United Kingdom and some other European countries as well, many of which have turned violent.  I remember reading one report of sporting goods stores in the UK running out of baseball bats because people were buying them for protection (see what happens when you don’t have the right to bear arms?).

If you live near a city that is in the midst of extended lawlessness you will have to make a decision.  Will you be safer if you bug out or batten down?  If you chose to batten down, here are some things to keep in mind; 1.) Make sure you have food and water available so that you do not have to risk leaving the house.  2.) Keep some emergency cash at home just in case you must leave for emergency supplies.

If you have to go out on foot, always be looking for cover and concealment, even if you don’t have to use it in the moment, you should always know where the nearest is at any given moment.  Avoid large groups of people; you have no way of knowing what they may be up to or when mob mentality may take hold.  If you see violence taking place, whether it is a fistfight or any other type of violence, it can shock your system to see it “in real life”.  Do not fixate on it, push it from your mind and focus on putting distance between you and it, you can process what you saw when your safely back home.  Keep your head on a swivel as they say in the Navy and keep looking around you to make sure you know who is nearby.

If you go out near civil unrest in a vehicle, keep as much distance as you can or you may be faced with the decision to use your vehicle to “make some room” to push through a crowd or to simply flee.  That is why I suggest you keep moving.  Do not stop and watch.  Keep as much distance as you can. Almost every time I see footage from riots, there are cars that are vandalized, flipped over or burned.

You cannot depend on 911 or expect the police to show up quickly.  It might be wise to take a page from the neighbors in Egypt who banded together to protect their neighborhood or from the business owners in LA that defended their businesses because the police were so overwhelmed.

 

Restoring Order

Police and possibly the National Guard have the difficult task of stopping the lawlessness and restoring order.  This job could be made increasingly difficult because in many cases the dishonorable people will try to blend in with citizens who’re nearby.  This is used to great effect in Iraq and Afghanistan where someone will shot at our forces and then drop their gun and hide amongst the civilians standing nearby, or will run into a hospital mosque.

As I wrote in What We May See at the End of 2012 that is not related to the Mayans, local law enforcement agencies have trained with the military in urban operations.  Also Local Cops Ready for War With Homeland Security-Funded Military Weapons and the Air National Guard ordering several LRAD (Long Range Acoustical Devices).  The article also states:

“With this order, LRAD systems will be in use by every major force of the Department of Defense,”

There are two dangers.  One is the rioters and the other is the response to them.  You would be well advised to keep your distance from both.

 

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The Future Leaders of the Church

October 15, 2012 by

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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Drawing a Line in the Sand

October 12, 2012 by

Job 38:11 “…This far you may come and no farther…”

While that verse is God telling the sea how far it may go, I believe we all must have lines drawn in the sand.  I won’t presume to tell you where it should be or what you should do if it is crossed, that is between you, your family and God.

Instead, I will explain why it is a good idea to draw the line and decide now what your action will be once it is crossed.  The things I have chosen to draw a proverbial line in the sand on are important to me and crossing the line will evoke unpleasant emotions.  Maybe it’s just me, but I have a hard time thinking clearly when I am angry, scared or feeling any other unpleasant emotion.   If I know how far I will let someone go and what action will be taken if they go further, there is no thinking needed, just action.

Here are just a few of the things I think having a line drawn for is a good idea.  If you want to share your thoughts, feel free.  Let me caution you on some of these.  It might not be best for the answer to be available to the entire Internet.

Bugging out; this might actually need several lines, as having the same threshold for certain events doesn’t work.  For instance; there are events that require an immediate decision, such as a chemical explosion nearby or the neighbor’s house catching fire and a very real possibility that mine will catch as well.  But there might be things that you need to watch to see what happens, such as a hurricane or wildfire, that are some distance away yet.

 

Going to a FEMA shelter; if your entire neighborhood or city is evacuated, will you go to one?  If not, what will you do?

Surrendering your firearms; will you give them up under any circumstance?  If so under which scenarios?  If not, what will you do to keep them?

How much are you willing to pay for gas?  At what point is it so expensive that you will only drive to and from work, or look for a car pool for that too?

Pandemic; if you discover a pandemic in your area, at what point will you either bug out or self-quarantine?

Civil Unrest; if rioting breaks out, how close will you let it get and what action will you take if it gets too close?

Confiscation of funds; whether it’s a tax implemented on 401k or other retirement funds, or as was done in 1933; the government demanding all gold be returned.  What will you do?

Food; what will you do if food prices demand that you spend 30-50% of your income?

Mugging or carjacking; what will you do if someone threatens violence if you don’t give them what they want?

Code enforcement; what if an overreaching local government decides you may not have a garden, chickens or other items in your yard?  This has happened and people have been threatened with fines and jail time.  What would you do?

I’m coming to your house; I asked this as a “what would you do” post and it got a lot of responses.  If you didn’t see it, it’s worth reading through.  What would you do if someone saw your preps and said, I’m coming to your house?

 

I’m sure I’ve missed some big ones, so if you can think of any others please add them to the comments or email them to me and I’ll post them for others to learn from.

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Why Should Christians, Specifically, Be Preparing?

October 10, 2012 by

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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Survival Psychology: Cognitive Dissonance

October 8, 2012 by

“Cognitive dissonance” is a term coined by psychologist Leon Festinger in 1954, which is a psychological phenomenon which refers to the discomfort felt at a discrepancy between what you already know or believe, and new information or interpretation, often these are two opposing views

People who are “asleep” when it comes to current events and to things like how fragile our electrical and water systems are or how quickly groceries would run out of food if the trucks stopped running only hold one view.  Christians who say “I don’t need to prepare, God will provide” or something similar, fall into the same group.

 

An example:

The Flood

A man was trapped in his house during a flood. He began praying to God to rescue him. He had a vision in his head of God’s hand reaching down from heaven and lifting him to safety.

The water started to rise in his house. His neighbor urged him to leave and offered him a ride to safety. The man yelled back, “I am waiting for God to save me”. The neighbor drove off in his pick-up truck.

The man continued to pray and hold on to his vision. As the water began rising in his house, he had to climb up to the roof.

A boat came by with some people heading for safe ground. They yelled at the man to grab a rope they were ready to throw and take him to safety. He told them that he was waiting for God to save him. They shook their heads and moved on.

The man continued to pray, believing with all his heart that he would be saved by God. The flood waters continued to rise. A helicopter flew by and a voice came over a loudspeaker offering to lower a ladder and take him off the roof. The man waved the helicopter away, shouting back that he was waiting for God to save him. The helicopter left.

The flooding water came over the roof and caught him up and swept him away. He drowned.

When he reached heaven and asked, “God, Why did you not save me? I believed in you with all my heart. Why did you let me drown?”

God replied, “I sent you a pick-up truck, a boat and a helicopter and you refused it all. What else could I possibly do for you?!”

In this example, the man clung to one thought and dismissed the possibility that God was rescuing him.

 

If you can use logic and facts, not emotion, to introduce a competing thought, they will be forced to make a decision.  For example, if you know someone who doesn’t see the need to prepare, you might ask them what they would do if the power went out and the power company couldn’t get it back on for a few days.  How would they keep their food cold in the warmer months, or keep themselves warm in the colder months?  Is most of their food in the refrigerator, or do they have a week or more worth of food in a pantry?  If the electricity is out where they live, it might be out at the grocery as well.  What would they do for food then?  Once faced with the conflicting thoughts that they do not need to prepare at all and that they only have a few days’ worth of food that doesn’t need to be in the refrigerator, they now must make a choice.

Likewise if you know a Christian who doesn’t see the need to prepare because God will provide, you might ask them “does God provides for them now?”  If the answer is no, I would ask why they think He will provide in an emergency.  If they say yes, then ask how the food they eat made its way to the house.  Explain that God gave us the ability to prepare now for future needs, but that He is still the one who provided.  This brings me to one of my favorite quotes:

“If God gives you a watch, are you honoring Him more by asking Him what time it is or by simply consulting the watch?” A.W. Tozer

 

Sticking with Logic and Facts

The reason it’s important to use logic and facts is that emotion from one person is not equivalent to emotion in the next.   A fact is a fact no matter how you or I feel about it.  I’ll use our Our Endangered Electrical Infrastructure as an example.   It is a fact that hackers in multiple other countries have hacked our electric grid and in some cases, left malicious software thought to be a back door, that was found later.  It is a fact that there have been blackouts caused by falling trees that left an estimated 55 million without power. Also a blackout caused by changing a failing part that left an estimated 7 million without power.  It is also a fact that I cover this in more details in EMP’s, Solar Flares and CME’s that the United States doesn’t produce many of the large transformers used and in a medium to large solar storm, we would have to look to other countries to help replace them.  It could take ten years to fully recover.

It is emotion that says that in an EMP or solar flare situation, we’re in the stone ages and we’ll be killing each other within days.  While this could be partly or even mostly true, people who have not been paying attention and are hearing this information for the first time don’t know what to do with an EMP and the idea of us killing each other within days isn’t understandable.  If you show provable facts that they can understand, such as the occasional black out and hackers breaking into our grid, they can understand and might enter into cognitive dissonance.

 

What Happens Next?

Some people might be open for further discussion or even have some questions on the subject.   Most likely you have just planted seeds and will not see the fruit right away.  There will be those who decide that their previously held belief is the correct one and will disregard your logic and facts.  These people are unreachable, much like the man in the example.  Shake the dust from your sandals and continue your walk.

 

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