Another Civil War?
There’s a murmur among our people. Can you hear it? It speaks of civil war.
“No. It could never happen,” you say. “Not in our great nation.”
Really? Is it really that inconceivable?
It started out as a hushed whisper behind closed doors. But the voice of an uprising is growing louder. I hear its chatter all around me. Will it soon be shouted in the streets, “A Revolution!”?
With this, I open myself to debate and criticism. I realize that talk like this isn’t exactly feel good reading, and can be unpopular among some. Yet, I speak out of great concern. Where is our country headed? Is there any way out? Is there but one thing to do in order to regain control of this madness that will surely devour us? To retain our rights so sacredly held in the Constitution?
I fear what is to come. I pray to be raptured up before society implodes. (If you are not a believer,I pray that you give yourself to the Lord before you are left here to suffer through the worst of times.)
Are you paying attention to what’s really going on behind the Hollywood hype, or do you prefer to be blissfully unaware? I ask you, which is wiser?
I truly believe that the Lord has been speaking to my husband and I to begin preparing for a calamity. For the past year we have taken great strides toward self-sufficiency. Not for monetary reasons, but to secure our family’s existence should the world around us turn to chaos. We don’t want to have to rely on FEMA should grocery store shelves be empty or gas stations run dry.
I ask you, are you preparing? If you woke up tomorrow to hyperinflation and civil unrest would you have a plan?
Don’t believe it could happen? Perhaps you should do a little research into history. It has happened, and we are, at this very moment, repeating history.
So, I wonder, will it come, this civil war? And if it does, how will our military fight? Will they uphold the Constitution? Will they fight for the rights of their mother and father, sister and brother? Will they protect the people from the very ones who are out to destroy us? Or will they be so brainwashed that they will pledge their lives to fight for the government.
I pray they will chose our side, which is truly their own side.
Whatever is to come, I hope that you are not caught unprepared. I’ll soon be putting up a post on what exactly I think we should all be doing to ready ourselves for the worse case scenario. If disaster never comes, what will it hurt us to have been prepared? But if it shall soon befall us, how we will wish we had heeded the warnings.
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I hear it!!! and Pray for those are will be caught unprepared not just in earthy means but more importianly Spirital! I think we tend to have the mind set that our great nation can never fall. But sadly I think our greater Foe is not across the ocean but rather right here on our own soil! There are those who would think other wise then I for them I pray.. BEAN..
Keep up the information. So many times I feel overwhelmed when it comes to the drama that is being poured out on us. But one thing I can do is be prepared for it. I’m all about preparedness. It’s helped us in little things that happen in our family and I can see it being a source of peace in larger circumstances.
Thanks Kendra!
Debi
ALl my life I felt something coming , and the pressure of its coming kept pressing , and then One day its wasnt it was coming , it was IT IS HERE , and the throws of the beginning of something new have began. I hear you and I am no skeptic.
I agree with you fully. While I’m not a pre-trib rapture believer, but rather subscribe to a Hebriac understanding of when Yeshua will return for his bride, which is on Rosh Hoshanah before ten days of wrath. I agree that things are going to get bad, really really really bad.
We are preparing in our home for many potential futures including our nation limping along for a long period of time, to a collapse and massive inflation within five years.
However we also believe that God is calling our family to something unique in troubled times, something I’m hesitant to post on a public forum, but we are excited about it. You may email me to find out more about it
I included my email in my comments link, post a comment to my blog if it didn’t show up and you are interested 
I agree we should have back up plans and be prepared as much as one can be. But, we are told in Matthew 24 that a time worse than anything before will happen before getting caught up in the clouds. (I know another subject for another day, I believe in pre wrath).
So, you guys are making for an interesting discussion. When will the rapture be? I’d love to have a whole post on the subject! I have not heard enough argument for either side to know which I should believe. But, the topic of the rapture intrigues me.
Yes, I agree, you should make a post and I would love to be involved in the discussion.
Yes, exactly. In the last year, year and a half I had this major, freaky drive to build up the pantry and toiletries and have a respectable stockpile of things. And then hubby got laid off – my stash of things sure made life quite a bit easier for those months of unemployment. Like someone/something was in my head telling/hinting me to do so.
I don’t know exactly what I think about rapture and 2012 and all that. I know/have this feeling that something major’s going to happen, but in what way, shape or form? Not a clue. I’m really hoping it’ll just be a huge cultural shift and not involve a bunch of people dying and wars every which way, but honestly, I’m not sure how enmeshed in reality that thinking would be knowing human nature. Heck, Yellowstone could blow and there goes half the US’s land and population right away. But then again, a supervolcano like that could’ve been what killed off the dinosaurs all those years ago (think giant atomic blast, atomic winter, etc.), so who knows. All kinds of things can happen – man-made or via Mother Nature or whatever else.
I totally agree with you, Kendra! I have had the urge for several years now to start stockpiling to be prepared for something. I always thought it was a silly notion of mine, but when I would mention it to others, many people, mostly Christians, would tell me they think the same way. It is nice to know I am not the only one thinking this way!
The Rapture,end of the world sure is interesting discussion.
Glad you posted this Kendra!
I have my own beliefs on such but the biggest is these..ONE! I am a Pan believer.. I believe in the end everything will Panout the way God had planned and as along as I trust him and his ways in the end I will be fine Earth is only my temroray home. 2 I believe GOd has asked us to do one thing Obey his word and if we read it and believe it then we should be ready in season and in out. I always think of the story of Joseph. If Joseph did not bring things into the store house during the years of Fat a nation would have died during the lean.We need to store but not only food for the body but food for the soul.. We need to know how to act during such a time..just my view.. BEAN
I could of wrote this myself…. I agree completely and feel the same way.
This past year I too have become much more concerned with making sure that my home is “resourceful” should whatever happen. This has included stockpiling toiletry items, food, first aid, etc. I’ve become more aware of the need of “preparedness” in all different forms. I’ve always stayed ahead on groceries, but I’m doing that even more, including stocking up on some powdered milk, powdered eggs, etc. Even simple things like making sure that I’m always at least a month stocked up on formula and diapers (that’s about all I can afford LOL). Or making sure that I have a well-stocked bag in my trunk (complete with a first aid kit, flashlight, MREs, various tools, etc.). I have a binder that I print out info from the net about various subjects that may be of use should TEOTWAWKI should happen (first aid, herbal remedies, plans for solar cookers, info on how to store things w/o electricity, gardening, etc). I’ve been learning to do more with less, go back to basics on things, etc.
But I do agree… our MOST important area to prepare are our hearts. We need to be spiritually strong.
I don’t know if I believe that the end times are here. Even if they have started (which I think that they have), our concept of time is drastically different from God’s. LOL. But I do know that our country and the world are facing times like we have never seen. The chances of different catastrophy scenerious happining may be small when looked at individually, but the chance of at least one of them happening is pretty good IMHO. I don’t see things getting better. I see things getting worse. I think we have a tough road ahead.
I pretty much agree with Bean, the Bible says no one knows the time of the rapture except God the father, not even Jesus, so for that reason I never put stock into doomsday predictions, remember the Y2K scare? God is still in control, no matter what anyone says or thinks. If the Bible says not even Jesus knows, then who am I to try to guess?
As the wife of a soldier I feel a little bit offended by your concept that our soldiers are mindless, “brainwashed” idiots who would stand by and watch their wives, children, parents, and neighbors get trampled on by the government. I find it interesting when people comment on the military…and it is obvious that they have not served or been married to a service member. Perhaps you should have a little bit more respect for our brave men and women who have all pledged to uphold the constitution. Seriously…..is your husband in the military? Is your dad? Your son? You said you pray they will choose your side. I am aghast! This is truly offensive. Our men and women are fighting right now….for YOU! For your safety…for the safety and security of our country. Maybe instead of doubting the loyalty of these brave men and women who SERVE….you should say “thank you”.
Seriously. Every time a U.S. soldier is killed in action…..he or she has died in the line of duty. That soldier has put themselves in harms way in order to stand between YOU and an enemy that you may not even be aware of. Not only am I married to a soldier who has been deployed for three years out of the last six years, but I am friends with many other soldiers. They just aren’t the cold, brainwashed killers you see in the movies. If your much hoped for and gleefully anticipated disaster/end of the world situation occurs….our soldiers will be the first to come to your aid. Watch and see…Soldiers serve you….never forget that. They sacrifice years of their lives…years with their wives and children….to go and serve wherever there is a need. My husband is currently engaged in a peacekeeping mission in another part of the world. You don’t hear much about those missions….because the media likes the scary dramatic stuff. But let me assure you….you needed doubt the courage and loyalty of our men and women in uniform. In fact, my husband was mobilized for two months in order to fight major flooding in North Dakota this past spring. He knows what it means to come to the aid of ordinary citizens in need, but you don’t hear too much about that in the news. He served the citizens of North Dakota for two months…was home for a month and a half…and then left for a 12 month long peacekeeping mission on the other side of the world. Now that is service. How dare you ever doubt their worth…
sarah-
I appreciate your stand for our men in uniform. I do believe you misunderstood me though. I actually have many men in my family who either are serving now, or did serve in our military, and I treasure their sacrifices. I am well aware of the bravery and loyalty of our men and women. However, there have been times when our soldiers were ordered to do things that were unconstitutional, and they did obey those commands, even against their own consciences. For instance, during the disaster after Hurricane Katrina, our own men went into New Orleans and actually confiscated the guns of homeowners who were only trying to protect themselves from desperate intruders (watch the video!). Many of them regretted it afterward, BUT they did it. And then you hear of these “questionnaires” the soldiers are being asked to fill out, asking if they would be prepared to fire on fellow Americans. If it wasn’t ever a possibility, then why in the world would the government want to know such things? So, I ask you in all honesty do you truly believe that every single man in uniform would be as strong as your husband in being able to disobey orders? I don’t know. But if you are honest with yourself, you have to wonder. However, I am not for one second doubting that there ARE good men and women of morals and values who will fight to the death to preserve our freedoms. And groups like the Oath Keepers are proof of that. I look to these men to protect us all from those who would be weaker and more easily swayed. I am hopeful that more men in uniform will take the Oath Keepers pledge.
None of us could ever sufficiently thank our service men and women for their daily sacrifices on our behalf.
As far as my supposed “much hoped for and gleefully anticipated disaster/end of the world situation”, I’m afraid you did not “get” my post being blinded by your outrage and misunderstanding. You must have forgotten where I wrote, “I fear what is to come.” I would never wish such a situation on my precious children. I am praying with all that I am that we are able to resolve our issues without conflict, without Martial Law, without chaos and anarchy. It would only be foolish to wish such things on ourselves.
May God protect your husband.
sarah, I didnt know there were soildiers helping during the flood, I wish our media would ever say things like that, because often Ive said how we could use thier help here. I dont knock you for your anger, I think our country has come a long way since the civil war, and honestly, I dont see things like that happening here again. civil unrest? yes, but thats happened before. Im older than some of you on this post ( I think) and there was alot of civil unrest in the 60s an 70s. also the cold war unease. when I was in 1st and 2nd grade we regularly had disaster drills and the school I went to at the time had a fallout shelter, and we knew what it was for. every kid in the school had to wear dog tags with our name, age and home address and phone number on it. I think things come in cycles. I love this blog, but there is this one and one other, that I swear, it seems like people are actually looking foward to a disaster. I wasnt going to be that blunt about it, but when I read sarahs post I felt I had to tell how I really feel too. Maybe you think Im dumb and unprepared, but I just think there is a fine line between being watchful and fanatical.
sandra-
Can’t I be watchful and prepared without being fanatical? It’s not like I’m standing in the streets with a sign warning of an imminent doom! I am merely voicing the fears of my heart at the moment. But then, I realized my thoughts would be scoffed at by some. It’s okay, I love you guys anyways!
When 99.999999% of Americans are stuck to the tit of the corporate economy, completely unable to grow enough food to survive if their lives depended on it — even the vast majority of so-called “self-sufficient” homesteaders couldn’t work their land without fossil fuels, let alone all sorts of other corporate inputs — helpless to heat their homes without electricity and fossil fuel, and generations removed from making the first stitch of their own clothing, I think it’s an extremely safe bet that there won’t be any uprising against the system. Disaster might come in several other forms, but so long as we all remain helpless consumers and dependents in our economic lives, we will in our political lives, too.
To Sarah: Technology may have changed some things, but the animosity between large standing armies and the liberty of the people is as true today as it was when James Madison called it “the greatest danger to liberty.” I don’t know if I’d go quite that far, but large standing armies are certainly the enemy of our liberties. When soldiers from one country fight soldiers from another country, the harsh reality is that they can’t both be sacrificing their lives for a noble cause. Soldiers often die for reasons that are simply tragic. We do our sons and brothers in the military a great disservice if we blind ourselves to criticism of the causes we send them to fight for.
Eric,
What if a U.S. soldier dies in your place because a radical jihadist wants to kill you, your wife, and your baby because you are not a Muslim? I’m just saying….it happens every day. Turn on the news…every time a soldier dies you should stop and say a prayer, because that man in uniform died for you. War is evil and horrendous. I’m not glorifying war…people who are not in the military and who are not married into the military are oblivious to the fact that there is a war going on right now. You may mentally be aware of it…but you don’t pay the price for it. Our soldiers do…the families of the soldiers do…..but not you. You’re warm and safe in your bed at night…you have the freedom to voice your opinions and practice your religion BECAUSE of our military. But trust me….war is awful. There is no glory in war. It is a horrible price that a small portion of the population has to pay in order to ensure the safety of all Americans. If we didn’t have a military at all…if it was completely dissolved…I wonder what would happen to America. I wonder how long it would take for our enemies in this world to storm our shores? You like freedom of speech? You like a bomb free neighborhood? Well….that comes with a price. My husband is now in the middle of a peace keeping mission in another country. Again you won’t hear about it in the news because people just don’t care. But our soldiers have done a lot for this country…I can’t really talk about details because this is the internet and the safety of our troops is important. But they are acting more like a humanitarian aid group during this deployment. It’s really heartwarming and encouraging…
Let’s be clear, my husband is a National Guard soldier. He is a citizen soldier. If you saw him in his business you wouldn’t even know he was a soldier. But when the call comes in he packs up his bag, puts on his boots, tags, and the uniform…and he goes to the aid of his neighbors (that would be you). It could be a call in the middle of the night…and he’ll be gone for months…Like I said you do not hear about this in the news. I sacrificed my husband for two months so that people in North Dakota would have help and hope during their recent flooding. The soldiers put in 16 hour days almost every day during this emergency…they missed Easter with their families. They built earthen dikes, sandbagged homes and businesses, rescued trapped civilians on flooded plains…the list goes on. The residents of North Dakota are a strong breed of people, but they were so grateful for the help of those blessed soldiers. Let’s recap. Those are U.S. soldiers…helping Americans. You speak of the dangers of our military….you talk about soldiers trampling on your rights. Your precious rights….as in…..excuse me but YOU earned those rights? No. They are given freely to you as an American. The only thing protecting those pretty rights of yours…..is the U.S. soldier. If you can’t see that…..then I feel sorry for you, and it grieves me for the thousands of really honorable men and women in uniform. People who serve YOU.
In world war two if we had not fought against Hitler….what would the world look like today? How many more Jews would have been slaughtered? You should thank your lucky stars for military men and women. People like you…ungrateful to the core…but our troops would still die for you. Oh excuse me…..they are dying for you right now.
ps. I never said it was wrong to be prepared in case of an emergency…such as a natural disaster, and it is most definitely always a GOOD thing to be as self sufficient as you can be. It’s just a better way to live life…not depending on the government to give you handouts but being capable and self sufficient in any situation. It just bothers me to see how ungrateful people are toward our soldiers who sacrifice so much.
In fact self-sufficiency is an area I’m deeply interested in….for the simple fact that it’s just…a better way to live because it loosens the grip of money from your neck. If you don’t depend on money, debt, and consumerism…you have more freedom.
And I’m not into big government either. I think this quote is great, “Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have … The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases.” Thomas Jefferson But remember….even in Jefferson’s time a military force was needed to fight the British and secure our liberty. We would not be America without the brave military sacrifices of the men who died to secure our freedom as Americans. We now have our own country, and the right to govern ourselves to show for their sacrifice. Never forget that….America exists because of men who were willing to fight, bleed, and die for it.
Also….. I want to point out that during my husbands tour in Afghanistan they spent 98% of their time providing free medical clinics to local Afghans, they spent time providing protection for a young ladies school, they set up stations to provide locals with coats and shoes for the winter..among so many other good, charitable things. But let me guess….you didn’t hear about any of that?
They were getting attacked because they were helping the people there….I’ll never forget seeing my husband, a rough soldier with calloused hands and a gruff voice, cry as he spoke about the little girls. They just wanted to go to school…and his unit was providing protection for those precious girls because the enemy was apposed to education for females. My husband looked at our son with tears in his eyes and said, “They just wanted to go to school…just like you.” I’ve only seen my husband cry one other time…and that was at the memorial service for his fallen comrades.
Really, when you believe the hype and the horror stories….you fail to recognize how important our fighting men and women are…and how much they give.
At the last send off ceremony for his most recent deployment our senator asked all the veterans from WW2, Vietnam, and Korea to stand for recognition because “you didn’t get a send off or a welcome home.” That really touches me….it’s not only the veterans of today that are ignored by the country they so valiantly serve, but it’s the veterans from wars past who have been perhaps the most forgotten…
and unappreciated.
sarah,
I’m surprised. You are still missing the point. We all know and truly appreciate all that the soldiers have and are doing for us. Nobody here is ungrateful. Nobody here doubts their worth. Nobody wishes that we didn’t have an army. We all realize that we NEED our men and women in uniform. I understand you feel the need to defend your husband, but you are defending him for no reason… nobody here doubts his sacrifices and bravery on our behalf!! We realize that we are only protected and have our rights as a result of our awesome military. And yes, we do hear about the peacekeeping missions, at least I have. Like I said, many men in my family also fought for those rights, and those who are still living continue to do so. I appreciate you sharing the life of a soldier from your point of view, but share it as encouragement for us, and not with a spirit of defensiveness. We are a friendly group of people, not a hate group.
” the Bible says no one knows the time of the rapture except God the father, not even Jesus, so for that reason I never put stock into doomsday predictions, remember the Y2K scare? God is still in control, no matter what anyone says or thinks. If the Bible says not even Jesus knows, then who am I to try to guess?” Well said Sandra!
I do agree completely. I also believe that it is our responsibility to use God’s gifts wisely. We are to tithe, help others, etc. but we are also responsible for ourselves and our families. I have NO problem with government assistance when distributed properly but I believe that the different programs in place are abused to say the least. And I believe in giving people a hand-up rather than a hand-out. Therefore, I believe that it’s my and my husband’s responsibility to use our finances wisely and to prepare our hearts and homes for whatever may come, whenever. I read and watch the news (though selectively! LOL) and try to keep up with current events and try to be informed for whatever may happen. But I don’t live in fear and dwell on it. But I believe “prepping” is a more of a lifestyle in the sense that when you realize how vulnerable our economy is, our homes are, our food systems, etc. then you start to think differently about things like how you buy your groceries, how you use your finances in general, whether or not to buy that extra tube of toothpaste for a time when you may not have the grocery store down the street, taking more responsibility for the food that’s on your table (i.e. gardening, cooking more from scratch, etc.). Whether or not a catastrophic event happens tomorrow or in my lifetime, I think that living more self-sufficiently is healthier, happier and less stressful overall. And I think that the different skills that I have learned and expose my family too, the way that I stock my home, the garden I grow, etc. are great examples to my children. I want my kids to understand where food comes from (beyond the grocery store). I want them to NOT take for granted (sp?) the electricity we have or the access to great medical care. I want them to understand saving for a rainy day… and that if our society/economy changed, as we know it, that there is hope. God provides hope and one way that he provides that is giving us the ability to help ourselves and to help others. Though I disagree with the Mormons on most spiritual issues, I do admire their focus on preparation. They stress being self-sufficient not just for your own family but so that when something happens, you are in a position to help others. There are so many that I know (Christians!) so “don’t worry” about preparing for things because “God will provide”. Well, if you or your husband have a job right now, God is providing now. God works through us and through his beautiful creation to provide for us and to enable us to help each other.
I think that this is a great discussion. I agree that some survival-type websites seem to be all giddy about preparations (like it’s a big video game or something). While I don’t get giddy about it, I do find it encouraging to know that I have options (even on a limited budget) to prepare my home for things that may come. And while I don’t stress and worry myself to death about the possibliites, I thank God that I’m not one of the mainstream families that don’t realize how easily the food supply to the local grocery store can just STOP. I’m thankful for being “aware” and to being informed. But I do strongly agree that it is very easy to get to the point of worrying too much and not putting our trust in God and his great plan. That’s why I think that this discussion is so important: we as wives, mothers and homemakers need to be aware and need to be prepared. But we also need to make sure that we put our trust in God. No flashlight, year’s supply of food or solar panel can prepare you for anything. But God’s Word, His Promises and His Plan will. Above all, THAT needs to be our focus and our source of comfort.
Sarah, I don’t dispute that there are good and proper uses of military force, that such circumstances have come up in our history, or that they will come up again. But isn’t there also room for criticism of how our military has been and might be used? Isn’t such criticism essential to protecting our military against improper uses and unnecessary risks to our soldiers? Is your position that everything our military has done, is doing, and might in the near future do is unquestionably good and noble, and that any criticism of how the military is governed, maintained, or employed (which aren’t strictly speaking functions of the military itself but primarily of the President and the political forces that make those decisions) is necessarily unpatriotic and an offense to the members of the military? I don’t expect you would say that, but it does seem to be what you’re implying, and that’s primarily what I disagree with.
It’s curious that you should quote Jefferson and relate a standing army to the liberties secured in the fight against England. You know, if you read the Declaration of Independence, you’ll see that Jefferson listed the fact that King George kept a standing army among them in times of peace as one of the very grievances justifying secession from England!
When the Constitution was written but before the Bill of Rights was passed, Jefferson specifically objected that there wasn’t a Bill Rights that provided for “protection against standing armies.” Here are a few more Jefferson quotes:
“Standing armies [are] inconsistent with [a people's] freedom and subversive of their quiet.” 1775
“The spirit of this country is totally adverse to a large military force.” 1807
“There are instruments so dangerous to the rights of the nation and which place them so totally at the mercy of their governors that those governors, whether legislative or executive, should be restrained from keeping such instruments on foot but in well-defined cases. Such an instrument is a standing army.” 1789
“The Greeks and Romans had no standing armies, yet they defended themselves. The Greeks by their laws, and the Romans by the spirit of their people, took care to put into the hands of their rulers no such engine of oppression as a standing army. Their system was to make every man a soldier and oblige him to repair to the standard of his country whenever that was reared. This made them invincible; and the same remedy will make us so.” 1814
As for how Afghan girls are educated, that’s a question for the Afghan people, and the Afghans could be justly upset at America if we used our military to influence questions that should be decided by the political process, not by military force, and certainly not by a foreign military. Insofar as our military is simply protecting Afghans against terrorist attacks that’s different, but these are complicated issues, and there are real dangers that we might misuse our military power, particularly in other countries. These issues are even further complicated by false perceptions of what our military is actually doing, false perceptions that can lead to real animosity and real threats to American security.
As for World War II, I would tend to agree that it was appropriate for us to enter that war. However, the pre-war US military was comparatively very, very small, more like what I’d think best for a free society. On the flip side, I think it’s well worth noting that the abuses of Jews, etc. that you reference were closely tied to a highly militarized German society. Wasn’t it members of the German army, after all, that ran the concentration camps? What if German society had had cultural and constitutional protections against a large standing army? Would the concentration camps or the foreign aggression that started the whole war in Europe ever have begun apart from the preceding peacetime militarization? German safeguards against large peacetime armies might have prevented the whole war, the concentration camps, etc.
Oh.. and as far as “civil unrest” or “civil war”, I think it’s a possibility BUT I agree that there are soooo many in our society that are dependent on the government in one way, shape or form that that alone would hold people back from “participating” or supporting any civil war. For something like that to happen and/or be successful, you need a HUGE part of our society to support it and be willing to lay it ALL down for that cause. The way our society is today, there is so much dependency on OTHER people (even if it’s just being dependent on the 18 wheelers that deliver the food to the store down the street) that most wouldn’t be willing to cut themselves off completely. And, I believe, to have any type of civil uprising be successful, that woudl be what it would take: the majority of the country separating, stepping up and being willing to lay it all down for the cause.
BUT….. even though I hate politics (a necessary evil? LOL), I do see a HUGE shift during the next presidential election. I hope to see something positive happen in the 2010 elections… but just wait for the presidential election. That will be a hot one.
I think that our perspectives, attitudes, priorities, way of life overall, etc. need to change (myself included!). God needs to be our focus (individually and as a country), we need to go back to traditional family values, the TV and internet need to NOT be the focus of family’s time, males and females need to embrace their God-given roles, parents need to take back the responsibilty of being the ones to raise and train our children, we need to stop being so wasteful, need to start being more responsible, we need to stop eating junk and treat our bodies as a temple, we need to stop making money our god, our kids need to go outside and play, etc. If you really look at it, it’s scary to me how drastically our way of life has changed just in the last 2-3 generations. Sure, we have advances in things like mediccal care, but I don’t know if we are better off. I tend to think NOT.
Julie-
AMEN, AMEN!!
Eric-
It is so nice to have an historically educated person in on this conversation!!! Thank you!!
First I would like to thank Sarah for her sacrifice as well as her husband’s for the freedoms that I enjoy.
Second I am embarrassed that it took me as long as it did to see that I had become so dependent on things and those that supply the things. I am not even close to being self-sufficient, but I am taking it one step at a time. I appreciate blogs like this one and those that add their two cents. You are all helping me more that you may realize.
Lastly just for fun I would like to ask if anyone else realized that Obama swore he would pull out our troops, but once he got into office he has kept them there and sent more? What was it that changed his mind? What did his advisers tell him that made him think “Holy crap! We can’t pull out” What is going on that the public isn’t being told? It must be big and I am not prepared for it yet I’m sure.
First, although the Bible says “No man knoweth the day or the hour”, that was what Messiah said DURING His stay here… several decades later in Revelation He tells John that He is ‘revealing’ what will take place… meaning once He returned to His Father in Heaven, He was shown all things, and when, and then shares it with us. The Bible is linear, and christianity doesn’t treat it as such. Revelation 2 and 3 are an amazing ‘timeline’ of church history, bringing us down to the present.
Second, although it says ‘it will come like a thief’, the rapture WILL NOT come like a thief to believers – christians tend to stop with one verse and not finish the next, which clarifies it.
Now, having said, there are certain things that MUST be in place before the rapture can occur. Messiah said the ‘Son of Perdition’ would come on the scene, for one thing. Daniel details this further by saying there will be seven empires (the last two are the Roman and the Revived Roman Empires). Out of the RRE, ten nations (horns) will rise and run the show, three of which will grow to be most powerful. But out of the ten will also come a man… this is the man Messiah talks of. So we need:
a – a Revived Roman Empire (the EU formed in 1999)
b – a ten nation hub (the WEU are 10 nations running the EU)
c – a European man with great power.
Further detailing (Dan 9:27) says that the man will form a ‘covenant with many’ for seven years, but that the covenant will be broken halfway through. Christians take this to mean that the ‘Tribulation’ of the end will be seven years long, BUT THE VERSES say that it’s only MEANT to be that long – anything goes, because it’s broken. At any rate, the ‘High Representative’ of the EU for the past 12 years has been a man named Javier Solana. Nobody knows him, you never read about him in the news… you read about Blair and Brown and Berl… the italian dude, but never Solana. They say he plays the dark side of politics. Oh, and he created a treaty for the Middle Eastern nations to ‘participate’ in the EU (even though they’re not considered European). It’s called the ENPI, and it went into effect January 1, 2007 with a SEVEN year term. Israel was the first to sign on.
I’m not saying Solana is the antiChrist. He was slated to retire in October… but because of shifting policy and instability in the EU, he’s agreed to continue at least until January (or until something happens). There’s also a document called ‘Recommendation 666′, which is an EU paper stating that in time of emergency, whoever is High Representative takes control of ALL twenty-seven nations.
I am also no longer a christian – I had to switch to Messianic Judaism for a number of reasons (meaning I believe in Messiah Yeshua and His sacrifice on Calvary, but I also believe that, in accepting Him, I was grafted in as part of the Jewish nation and am held accountable as a Jew to obedience to Torah). But I have been watching these things for six years, and it *IS* time. There’s a reason you have these feelings.
I was called to prep in 2006 – we have a three acre homestead with goats (milk), rabbits (meat), ducks (eggs), chickens (meat), bees (sugar), a hand-pump for our well and an extensive garden. We’re still learning – it hasn’t been very long we’ve been working towards preparedness – but time *is* short.
I am also NOT a pre-Tribber… if Solana’s ENPI is the 7-year ‘covenant with many’, then it’ll be broken halfway through… and if it started in 2007, then halfway is mid 2010. Which would be a mid-Trib rapture AND a pre-wrath rapture, both. I have been watching every year for a Rosh Ha’Shana rapture, taking the pre-wrath (anytime before the second two sets of judments begin) stance, but 2010 is the last year for that, as well as the only year for a mid-Trib rapture.
Also, I recieve messages from the Lord. I know that sounds ‘wacky’, but it’s true. He told me that each of the four horsemen would happen in six-month periods.
Jan-Jun 07 – ENPI; seven years begins
Jul-Dec 07 – Seal 1: AoC; peace/religious unity organization forms
Jan-Jun 08 – Seal 2:Russia restructures, King of the North awakens
Jul-Dec 08 – Seal 3:Oct 2008 financial collapse, triggers ‘recession’
Jan-Jun 09 – Seal 4:Emergence of Swine Flu; pandemic
Which puts us somewhere between Seal 5 (martyrs under the altar) and the white robed saints in Heaven (rapture). I’m honestly not sure where we are, though – the martyrs are dead and we can’t *place* them, the sealing of the Jews isn’t visible/markable, and we don’t know exactly what Seal 6 is going to be, either.
I just threw a lot at you – what I’ve been discovering and studying over the past six years (that I uncovered slowly)… all tossed in your direction in one big comment. But this is what’s happening. And when. And how. And we ARE told when – Messiah said you will know even when it is at the door. And we’re told to watch. That’s all I’m doing… and I’m glad to hear you are, too.
If you don’t want to post this publicly, I understand – it’s kind of controversial as a topic. This is the reason I don’t share my weblog address – my sidebar is an index of news articles and prophecy posts and Bible lessons on the end times. I have given you the link before – you’re welcome to come and read for yourself, if you’d like. There is a lot more information than I’ve shared here.
what has been revealed to you as far as future events, not something thats already come to pass? and where did you get all this info? anyone can tell the past. what about the future??
There are 2 red flags that I saw in what anna was saying:
1. She is supposedly receiving messages from the Lord. The Bible is a CLOSED canon. The Lord ONLY spoke to the Apostles (men who SAW Jesus with their own eyes)…and no one else.The Lord is not revealing any more information inspired Word to us. This lady is adding to His Word and Revelation says not to ADD to His Word…this is a mark of a false teacher.
People have done this in the past…
William Miller predicted the Lord’s return around 1845. Many, many people followed him, sold all of their possessions, and waited on their roof-tops for the Lord to return…
Obviously, the Lord didn’t return, and the people were so grieved, having nothing to eat for the rest of the year because they sold all, didn’t plant potatoes, etc….and many of them never returned to the truth of the gospel because they didn’t feel they could believe anyone.
I think it’s a tool of Satan to turn people away.
2. Her interpretation of Revelation is carried out poorly. You can either take Scripture LITERALLY or SYMBOLICALLY. If you interpret Scripture symbolically, you can basically interpret Scripture HOWEVER you fancy and obviously that is not a consistent interpretation. Scripture MUST be interpreted LITERALLY…all the way through, not in just some portions…or else people can take salvation symbolically, Jesus dying on the cross symbolically, etc. She’s interpreting the end times symbolically (the way she interpreted Rev. 2 & 3 is a screaming example) and so basically she can say…oh, this in history stands for this in Revelation…she’s making up meanings for herself by ascribing past historical events to particular “seals” or events in the Revelation. Who is SHE to do that? No one – that’s why she’s saying “the Lord” told her…because who really has the authority to make up such things? Not wise…and very arrogant.
Anyways, just thought I’d throw that out there. My husband and I are PRE-Trib…it’s a confusing topic, but that’s where we feel we are the most consistent in our interpretation of Scripture.
thanks Ash, you said it better than I ! I much agree with you.
Whoa, ya’ll been going at it since last I checked. I have a lot of catching up to do.
As for not knowing when Jesus comes back these verses make it clear that you can know the season of when he returns.
Mat 24:31-36 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
I don’t believe we will know the day or hour because we don’t know at what point the time of great tribulation will be cut short. The time of great tribulation begins at the abomination that causes desolation (mid-point of Daniel’s seventieth week–last 7 years)and some time after is cut short by the sign in the heavens and the glorious return of Christ and the rapture(see Matthew 24). Then the day of the Lord period begins (God’s wrath on a Christ-rejecting world) and continues to the end of the seven years. This is the only view I’ve found that fits all the scriptures. It’s call the Pre-Wrath rapture veiw. It may sound confusing, but basically it’s just saying that Matt. 24 dove-tails perfectly into Rev. 6 with the sign in the sun, moon, and stars, and that gives you a timeline that fits all the other verses. Pre-trib folks say that Matthew 24 doesn’t apply to us but only to unsaved Israel. That’s ludicrous! He was speaking to his disciples! Aren’t we his disciples too? You can read Matt. 24 just like Christ is speaking to you, and when you do, it’s clear that we need to be prepared to die for Christ in the time of great tribulation, the worst time that ever was or ever will be for Jews and Christians. “But he who stands firm until the end will be saved.”
Boy, y’all have my head spinning. LOL.
I agree with Ash said about there being two approaches to the Bible: either sympolic or literal. This is where I have a lot of conflict as far as my faith goes. So many pick and choose which verses/books to take sympolically and which to take literally but agree with Ash that it has to be one way or the other (and I strongly lean toward the literal). But I find comfort in the fact that even though there may be rough times ahead, it’s God’s plan.
And, just as a side note, there are sooo many Christians that totally ignore the book of Revelation. They believe that because it’s so drastically different (in style, I guess) than the other books that it shouldn’t be in there. Not sure what I believe but I know (as Ash stated) that no body should change the Word of God. Therefore, if someone added it when it should not have been added, then that is on their shoulders and they have to answer to God for that.
I look at it this way: whether the end times are here now, around the corner or off in the distance, they will come and God’s plan will play out. And we should ALWAYS be ready and prepared. But I do know that just in the day-to-day sense that God promises that we will have rough times, especially as Christians. As Christians, God does’nt promise that things will be easy but he does promise that he will be there for us to get us through them. Whether it’s a layoff, another Great Depression, or any TEOTWAWKO scenerio… the chance of SOMETHING along those lines happening in our life time is a high probability. And preparing our hearts spiritually, going back to more self-sufficient lifestyles and preparing our homes by stocking up are smart moves regardless.
Interesting discussion! Keep it going!
I’ve been meaning to write here for like over a week! =)
First off: to Sarah (not Sarah B.) I’ve been saying prayers for you and your family every day this week. Will your hubby be able to be home for Christmas next week? I’m one of those people you talked about who just doesn’t know and appreciate enough the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. I’m glad you reminded me about that so that I can give the Lord a special thank you and send a prayer up for the many who will be away from loved ones next week.
I’m perhaps a “head in the sand” type person – but I have such a hard time keeping up with stuff going on in politics, etc. But it’s surely a blessing to know that “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes”. (Not to say that we don’t have a responsibility). But God is truly in complete control of everything (even the “bad” thing) that happens to me and around me, and is definitely working it for His own purposes and glory.
My husband and I have been saving for awhile now and are hoping to buy a house and a good size piece of land in 2010. So I am getting lots of inspiration on “living off of the land” from this great blog!
We’re with you Kendra! Been hearing those rumblings growing louder…
You are not alone……truly, not alone! Thanks for putting your thoughts in print!
I believe IT is coming as well. But is IT a Civil War or Revolutionary War and will it actually be a war like we see on t.v. or will it be bloodless? I don’t know what the details will be but my wife and I have been prepping our family and friends as well…and we have been preparing for the worst. I do feel that IF the military is used they will uphold what they have sworn to uphold. The Constitution isn’t just a dang piece of paper to most. Some of us still hold it close to our heart. I believe it is the 2nd most important thing in written history.
The more people who are prepared the less charity will required of us. So start teaching those who are unaware.
I’ve seen all the responses from this post. I am not an avid religious person. All my life, I have been very confused about spiritual beliefs. I’ve tried to read the bible and really can’t understand it. I have tried going to church, but I don’t like the attitude found in most “Christians”; they seem more interested in judging than in educating. I do believe in God/ a higher power, because the universe and people are too complicated a thing to be based on random chance. I also believe that it will come to an end because humans are too selfish and ignorant to survive in their current state. All civilizations end; history tells us that. I love our country and I honor our soldiers, because our soldiers protect our rights and our country gives us the rights to express our opinions. With this in mind, please don’t be offended when I say that the United States has become an arrogant, hypocritical ass. Our forefathers would be rolling around in their graves if they knew what was going on. No prayers in school or government allowed! No mention of God whatsoever is allowed. Our history and culture is being systematically eliminated. We jump into wars all over the place when we have problems right here in our own country that need to be taken care of. -end of rant….sorry. As far as an end coming, I believe it is. Our society cannot degenerate too much farther as it is. In this country everything is swayed by the almighty dollar. Politics is ruled by it. Education depends on it. We have children of our own who are starving and lack medical attention, but we aren’t doing anything about it. Yes there will be some kind of disturbance within our borders, weather it be from within or from without, I totally believe it is coming. Our country would be easy to put out of commission. All someone would have to do is attack our food supply. Americans no longer know how to survive without the corner grocery store! If our stores were gone or unsafe, half of Americans would starve to death, just because we lack the knowledge and ability of how to really depend on ourselves for our survival. Sad, isn’t it?
How could a father be more proud of his daughters…thank you Ken and Ash for being lights of truth in a world darkened by deception.
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