Q & A Fridays! Issue #56

To you new folks, this is a little segment we call "Q&A Fridays". Q&A Fridays does not always (in fact almost never) comes out on Friday. You may submit questions via email, or by asking your question in the comments section of this blog. Your question may be about anything at all... Here is my standard intro...

Welcome to Issue #56 of Q&A Friday for Friday the 27th of March, 2009. I want to thank you all for your great emails and questions. I want to remind everyone of the rules by which I will be playing: Not all questions will be answered, and not all those that are submitted can be fitted into one issue. I may combine similar questions from multiple people into one question. Those that did not make this issue (for length reasons) might be included in a future one. Questions might not be answered or included in the Q&A for the following reasons:

The scope may be too broad, or it may involve a topic on which I have taught at length... ex: “Can you explain the whole Creation?”. The question might need to be asked more specifically, or with fewer presuppositions that I would have to handle before actually getting to the question (I do reserve the right to rewrite questions to make them more clear and understandable or to make them more amenable to the format here). Answering the question might drag me off of “message” or into an area on which I am currently teaching, but at a point where I haven’t gotten to yet. If the question is answered in an upcoming teaching, or would involve getting into a topic I have planned for the future, then I will likely choose not to answer it yet. The question might be considered rhetorical, or might involve me bearing witness against myself... such as “Are you still here”

As always, send your questions to Q&A Fridays:

editor@lazarusunbound.com

______________________________________________________________

Michael,

I've been wondering about this lately. Satan seemingly has a counterfeit to most everything good from the Lord, and I've been wondering whether that might include prayer? What has gotten me to pondering on this is several similar stories I've seen, mostly from well known Rock stars and the like, of how "prayer" has helped them overcome demons like addictions to the bottle, drugs etc., while there is absolutely zero evidence of Christian regeneration/conversion. One in particular that stands out is from the famous guitarist Eric Clapton.

In his 2007 autobiography, he relates a kind of "conversion" to religion and "God" (very paraphrased, all of this) but, of course, without any doctrine or formality. Basically he had come to the bitter end of the rope in his battle with drugs and alcohol, and one day in a rehab center, his knees kind of buckled, so he just dropped down on them, and began to "pray", and subsequently, supposedly has made a daily habit of it. And if anyone happens to ask why he has done this, he says, "because it works!"

So, knowing that the enemy can charade himself as an angel of light in all manner of situations, do you believe he can actually, for a time, impart a kind of spiritual strength, in a similar, but obviously, distorted, deluding, cunning way, to the unregenerate man in Clapton's type of scenario? Or does this type of thing mostly come from Man's own pride and self serving, preserve his flesh, will power?

Thanks

Thank you for your question. The true Christian needs to remember that there are three primary enemies to his soul - the world, the flesh, and the devil - and that all of these three conspire to deceive him unto the destruction of his soul. Now, most professing "christians" are already deceived by the world system and by their flesh to the point that it is not necessary that the devil spend much time deceiving them. The devil is limited in many ways. He is not omniscient, he is not omnipotent, and he is not omnipresent. While it is true the devil has principalities and powers under his control, all of these are under the control and authority of God. God, being a wise and brilliant potentate, knows that most of those who might accept Him as Prophet and/or Priest, will never accept Him as King - meaning that they will never have a sovereign God to rule and reign over them in such a way that their lusts and desires are submitted to and overthrown by His commandments and ordinances. So they will not have Him as King over them, and thus they are given over to the lusts of their flesh and to the lusts of the eyes and the pride of life, which are the mechanisms of the world for the destruction of souls. The devil, then, need not afflict most professing "christians" because they are functionally and practically out of the fight. They are wayside "christians" or "christians" who have been sowed in amongst the weeds and the thorns of the world and they will not prosper or produce fruit even if no devil ever afflicts them. The war against the soul is generally lost by worldly "christians" before it is necessary that any devil deceive them. This whole modern "christianity" that preaches that Christ just came to be "accepted" into the heart, or that God is not interested in sanctification or holiness, but that he, like a 14 year old girl in grade school, is just desperate for someone to love Him, is a deception of the world and of the flesh. While there is no doubt the enemy of God has been very active in building and devising false gods, a false gospel, and a false "church" - he has done so with God's permission, that most every false professor that is ever damned to hell will be damned because of the inner principles that drive and operate him. No one, standing before the throne in judgment, will be able to make a righteous case that he was trying to do good and trying to worship God, but that his prayers and beseechings were intercepted by the devil. Inner corruption is the product of sin, which is the product of the natural inclinations of the heart towards the world and the flesh. The devil is active, and in some times and places he is very particularly active as a scourge to afflict and temper the true Church of God. But I have my doubts that the devil spends much time messing around with wordly rockers, or worldly "christians" for that matter. His system of false religion (worldly and temporal) is perfect for allowing the deceptions of mind and of the flesh which are in themselves enough to deceive those who have no love for the truth.

Now, we know that the mind itself is a very powerful thing, and we know that the placebo effect is very real. It is very likely that the mind, searching for a god that will accept it as it is, that will put no liens on the flesh, that will allow for and accept the cleaning of the outside of the cup - there is a very real sense that the mind is capable of creating such a "god" and when it does so it also is capable of responding to its own creation with those effects that one would normally ascribe to the supernatural. For example, when pagan man makes idols to worship, or creates gods out of nothing (for example the new age gods, or Gaia), and chooses his own god to worship, he has within himself the ability to experience effects (both real and imagined) that he then ascribes to that god. The God of the Bible is a God that overthrows our imaginations, and that makes demands on those who are caused to love and worship Him. The false gods created in the minds of rock stars and worldly professors is a god that just wants them to be happy. Rationally, over-indulging in drugs and alcohol will limit personal happiness and will cause grief, sadness, and hardship, so it is within a man to overcome those things in the flesh in order to pursue personal happiness. This peace (false though it is) is real, meaning that it is not eternal or spiritual, but it is actual. It is not the peace that passes all understanding - it is understandable peace. Now here comes the kicker. According to what we read in the scriptures, and if we consider that the way into the Kingdom is narrow, and if we realize that "few there be that find it", we have to conclude that MOST professing "christians" are deceived in this way. Most are deceived by the world and the flesh, and they have no cause to blame the devil because he has had no cause to afflict them. Notice that when we say "the world, the flesh, and the devil" (not a Biblical phrase, though the Bible teaches throughout that these are the enemies of the rational soul) that the "world" comes first. It is the world that is the primary enemy, and it is the world that most of professing "christianity" refuses to accept is against true Christianity. Every argument against obedience is an argument for the world. So long as the Christian does not see the world as at variance with the Kingdom of God, then he/she is out of the fight and is deceived.

I don't want to get too far off topic, because I could head off on that message and spend quite a bit of time there. But this is truly the message given unto the true Church to deliver. There is a mass delusion out there, and when you look at the fact that 85% of Amerikans call themselves "christians", and 94% of Amerikans call themselves "spiritual", you can know that the deception is ubiquitous.

Personally, I receive dozens of emails a week from people who are professing "christians", but who are wrapped up in some thing or another that draws them away from any talk of obedience. For example, we get regular emails from what I call Xtian Zionistas, or professing "christians" who believe that the UN actually created the elect nation of God in 1948, and that somehow that UN created nation is the apple of God's eye and that all of our attention and prayers out to be for national Israel. Blah, blah, blah. When in fact, they refuse to heed anything the Bible has to say about holiness, separation, obedience, etc. They have women preachers and teachers who wear prayer shawls telling them to watch Israel, WATCH ISRAEL! because of some passage of scripture that is about to be fulfilled, and they deny the fact that scripture is being fulfilled on them. Scripture is being fulfilled because the seed of the Gospel is being choked out by the news of the world, and they are too busy reading the news of the world to see it. They gaze dreamily at national Israel while they live on in their perpetually 72 degree houses and go to their worldly jobs and send their children and grandchildren to the world's public schools and feed their lusts just like they always did. The difference? Now they care about national Israel! How deceived can you possibly be? A woman called me one time and said, "I want to give money to Jews, how would I do that?" I said, "What? You want to give money to Jews? The Jews have all the money! Don't you have a neighbor you can help? Isn't there anyone within the household of faith you can help?" It's actually sickening. I mean (and not to go off on a rant here), but these women preachers and fake Rabbi's that are pushing all of this fake Israel stuff - do people really believe that these people have the good of the Christian in mind? The people are not being fed good meat, they are being entertained. It is no different from the case you mention about Eric Clapton praying to some concept of "god". When these Xtian Zionistas send out some unsolicitied bulk email spam about how Ezekiel 38 is about to start, or when they pray for the peace of carnal Jerusalem, they get some kind of endorphin rush that makes them feel at peace, even while they are heading to destruction. Think about it. Picture a woman who gets up in her wordly house, teases and sprays her worldly hair, spreads makeup thickly on her worldly face, puts on a pair of worldly pants, and then she sits down at a computer to send out emails about how we should all be watching Israel? Really? When they baptize themselves in stories of Palastinian and Jews at war, and whatever is happening to the Temple Mount, they receive a drug into their blood that deceives them into thinking that God wants them to be a passive audience to what is really happening in life. That a Holy God is perfectly happy with them breaking His ordinances and commandments, so long as they care about Israel. It is sad. But this is what happens when one has not received true spiritual life. The stony heart that once felt peace during a soap opera or a rock concert, now receives that false peace from thinking about fleshly Jews and carnal sacrifice.

Ok, I think I've gotten far enough from the topic. That's my rant for today.

Y'all be cool.

Your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

Q&A Fridays! Issue #55

To you new folks, this is a little segment we call "Q&A Fridays". Q&A Fridays does not always (in fact almost never) comes out on Friday. You may submit questions via email, or by asking your question in the comments section of this blog. Your question may be about anything at all... Here is my standard intro...

Welcome to Issue #55 of Q&A Friday for Friday the 20th of March, 2009. I want to thank you all for your great emails and questions. I want to remind everyone of the rules by which I will be playing: Not all questions will be answered, and not all those that are submitted can be fitted into one issue. I may combine similar questions from multiple people into one question. Those that did not make this issue (for length reasons) might be included in a future one. Questions might not be answered or included in the Q&A for the following reasons:

The scope may be too broad, or it may involve a topic on which I have taught at length... ex: “Can you explain the whole Creation?”. The question might need to be asked more specifically, or with fewer presuppositions that I would have to handle before actually getting to the question (I do reserve the right to rewrite questions to make them more clear and understandable or to make them more amenable to the format here). Answering the question might drag me off of “message” or into an area on which I am currently teaching, but at a point where I haven’t gotten to yet. If the question is answered in an upcoming teaching, or would involve getting into a topic I have planned for the future, then I will likely choose not to answer it yet. The question might be considered rhetorical, or might involve me bearing witness against myself... such as “Why, Bunker... Why?”

As always, send your questions to Q&A Fridays:

editor@lazarusunbound.com

______________________________________________________________

Michael,

I have heard you call yourself a conservative before and I'm not quite sure if that means a conservative in general or a political conservative. But you seem to talk harshly of "neo-cons". Can you explain the difference between a conservative and a neo-con?

Thank you for your question. Speaking politically...

What is a Neo-Con by Michael Bunker

A Conservative believes that the government governs best that governs least.
A Neo-Con believes that big government is fine so long as it is enforcing and protecting the interests of big business and the military.

A Conservative warily trusts his country but never trusts his government.
A Neo-Con trusts his government and never trusts his countrymen.

A Conservative believes that the Constitution limits and restricts the power of government, and protects the rights and freedoms of the individual.
A Neo-Con believes that the freedoms and rights can only be protected by a government loosed from the bonds of the Constitution.

A Conservative believes that when government can do wrong, it will, and that it must be restrained from doing wrong by laws.
A Neo-Con believes that laws restraining government are tools to protect terrorists and terrorist lovers.

A Conservative believes that a terrorist is an individual who wants to destroy freedom by causing fear.
A Neo-Con believes that a terrorist is anyone who is afraid of the government when it is being run by Neo-Cons.

A Conservative watches the pendulum swing. When Neo-cons are in charge, the Conservative is applauded by the Liberal and condemned by the Neo-Con. When Liberals are in charge, the Conservative is condemned by the Liberal and applauded by the Neo-Con.

A Conservative believes that governments, like people, ought to live within their means, and that immoral taxation is theft, and that people ought not to utilize the government to receive stolen money (tax money) from the rightful owners.
A Neo-Con believes that debt is fine, and taxes are fine, so long as they are going to support big government and empire building.

A Conservative believes that America was founded by people with guns who believed that a standing military, away from its home country which had not been invaded, enforcing laws and a way of life foreign to that people, ought to be resisted by blood.
A Neo-Con believes that a standing military, away from its home country which had not been invaded, enforcing laws and a way of life foreign to that people, would only be resisted by terrorists.

A Conservative basically believes that the government is a necessary evil, and that it ought to be restrained no matter who is in charge.
A Neo-Con believes that government is overtly evil, unless they are in charge.

A Conservative believes that a trillion dollar bailout of anyone by the government is morally wrong in every case.
A Neo-Con believes that a trillion dollar bailout is ok if their own politicians propose it, but it is evil and wicked if the other party proposes it.

At it's root, modern Liberalism is Socialism tending to Communism - which is Statism, which is godless evil in all its forms.
At it's root, modern Neo-Conservatism is Fascism - which is Statism, which is godless evil in all its forms.

Both political parties today are STATIST and Godless. The Neo-Con is just a statist who claims that God is on his side.

Feel free to forward this around the internet like a virus, which is what Neo-Cons do. My guess is that they will not forward it.

Thanks again for the question.

Michael,

I am interested to learn if you have any thoughts or insights, as a historian/teacher about what may happen to prisoners if the Federal Government were to collapse. One in 100 people in this country are incarcerated according to the FBOP. Also approximately one in 50 are under supervision of the feds either through pre-trial, or supervised release. I value your opinion about this.

Thank you

Thank you for your question. I really don't have an answer to your question. It would be nice if someone had a way to find out. Maybe someone out there who works for the prisons can comment and answer your question. It is an interesting one, and one very interesting to a whole lot of people who have been incarcerated for "crimes" invented by an out-of-control government in violation of the Constitution. I am going to guess and say that there is likely a plan to put the largest prisons (those max and super-max facilities) under the control of the military. I would also guess that most state institutions might be taken over by the National Guard at some point. In Texas we have an institution called The Texas Guard which is like a National Guard that has never been federalized. It seems to me that if the government were to collapse, that at some level the Texas Guard may be called upon to keep control of prisoners. I do not speculate on what would happen if we had a total meltdown and if even these units were unavailable for prison duty. I couldn't even speculate

Michael,

I really want to know the nitty-gritty details of how your family and your community prepare for the Sabbath and observe the Sabbath. My husband, after reading your article on the Sabbath, decided a little while back to observe it, but we are having a hard time with it. One of the problems is that my husband works such long hours during the week that his only real day for getting anything done around here is on Saturday, if he is not working on that day. Last Saturday, we went on a shopping trip that involved some little travel away from home and on the way back, I was smitten with how we are trying to fit the Sabbath into our lives instead of fitting our lives around the Sabbath. Summer is coming and that usually means a LOT of Saturday outdoor work for my husband. I know I need to pray that the Lord will speak to my husband, but in the meantime... Anyway, can you answer all these things in one post?

Thanks for your question and I will do my best. I don't know how much "nitty gritty" I can get into, but I will cover what I can.

First of all, we need to get a good and proper view of the Sabbath. First, the Sabbath is made for man. It ought not to be an onerous or hard thing. It ought to be a great blessing and a great time of rest and release from a week of labor. We ought to look forward to the Sabbath with great joy because of what it represents, and what we are promised to receive from it. Second, we ought to recognize that the Sabbath is a type, and the Preparation of the Sabbath (doing those things to get ready for the Sabbath) is a type. The Preparation of the Sabbath is a type of our lives here on earth, which ought to be spent entirely on preparing for the eternal Sabbath spent with God. We are given work to do here on earth, spiritual work concerning our conversion and preparatory work concerning our eternal rest. We are to "work out our salvation in fear and trembling" and prepare ourselves for our death, to make certain that we are in a good stead and that we are ready to meet our Lord face to face. Just as our eternal rest with Christ ought not to be considered a onerous or hard thing, our earthly Sabbaths ought to be considered positively and with great joy.

Now, on earth we are to prepare for death. A good portion of our lives ought to be spent in consideration of our death. Each of us will die, and we will all go into an eternal sabbath with Christ, or an eternal death of punishment and separation from Christ. If we truly were able to see our eternal address, we would work diligently while we are still alive towards our eternal hope, which is life with Christ. Ok, so the Sabbath is the "practice" for that eternal goal. Preparation of the Sabbath, then, ought to be diligent and earnest. I'm not saying that we (my family OR this group) keep the Sabbath in a perfect (or even acceptable) way. But however far we are from perfection, we still accept that the Sabbath is a joyful obligation and that preparing for it is our duty.

In our home, Preparation of the Sabbath involves making sure that all of our duties that can be done are done. We try to make sure everything is clean and ready so that we don't have to do work on the Sabbath. We try to make sure all the animals are prepared and provided for, though feeding and basic animal care is permitted on the Sabbath. However, if we are able to haul water and food so that those things don't have to be done on the Sabbath, then we do so. We also ought to try to prepare our minds and hearts. We ought to talk about the Preparation and what it represents. This weekly reminder of our duty and of our pending death ought to spur us on to be constantly preparing ourselves for our death and resurrection. In some families this means that all food production for the Sabbath day is done in advance. In Amish families, cold foods and sandwiches are prepared on the preparation day so that the women will not have to work on the sabbath. Different families may have different traditions and different practices, but all ought to work towards the goal of bringing our minds and hearts back to the reality of our earthly end, and our eternal destination. The Sabbath for us is generally a time of quiet and rest. We read a lot. We don't allow boisterous play for the children, and we push spiritual study and growth.

We ought to be on guard against legalism, and we also need to be on guard against letting the Sabbath slip or losing its purpose.

It is important for you and your husband to realize that the Lord is able to multiply our works and our efforts when we are obedient to him. Most people who begin to joyfully keep the Sabbath find that they have more time and are more efficient during the rest of the days of the week, and that God multiplies their efforts when they are diligent. Also realize that just as the devil is willing to keep us busy and to give us excuses for not tending to our spiritual duties here on earth, so that he hopes we will miss our eternal Sabbath with Christ, the devil is willing to try to make us so busy in our temporal life on earth so that we miss out on the blessings of the Sabbath.

The human mind is capable of rationalizing any behavior and the world, the flesh, and the devil work overtime in helping us rationalizing why we ought not to honor the Sabbath. Once we realize who is at work and why, we are way ahead in our battle to try to obey God joyfully in all that He commands.

Thank you again for your question.

I am your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

Q&A Fridays! Issue #54

To you new folks, this is a little segment we call "Q&A Fridays". Q&A Fridays does not always (in fact almost never) comes out on Friday. You may submit questions via email, or by asking your question in the comments section of this blog. Your question may be about anything at all... Here is my standard intro...

Welcome to Issue #54 of Q&A Friday for Friday the 6th of March, 2009. I want to thank you all for your great emails and questions. I want to remind everyone of the rules by which I will be playing: Not all questions will be answered, and not all those that are submitted can be fitted into one issue. I may combine similar questions from multiple people into one question. Those that did not make this issue (for length reasons) might be included in a future one. Questions might not be answered or included in the Q&A for the following reasons:

The scope may be too broad, or it may involve a topic on which I have taught at length... ex: “Can you explain the whole Creation?”. The question might need to be asked more specifically, or with fewer presuppositions that I would have to handle before actually getting to the question (I do reserve the right to rewrite questions to make them more clear and understandable or to make them more amenable to the format here). Answering the question might drag me off of “message” or into an area on which I am currently teaching, but at a point where I haven’t gotten to yet. If the question is answered in an upcoming teaching, or would involve getting into a topic I have planned for the future, then I will likely choose not to answer it yet. The question might be considered rhetorical, or might involve me bearing witness against myself... such as “Have you seen my dog?”

As always, send your questions to Q&A Fridays:

editor@lazarusunbound.com

______________________________________________________________

Michael,

I recently read an article on Amish. Totally agree with the “not so concerned I must look perfect” attitude of the Amish. I was convicted a few years ago of not wearing makeup, pants, and some other things modern culture calls feminine. I am a "why do you do what you do" type of person. When examining scripture I clearly see pagan cultures doing the extreme clean, adorned clothing, shaved bodies,and painted faced people (even men). I also read that before Jezebel did her evil she painted her face. Is this pretty much the basis for the vanity rituals being related to witchcraft or is there something more? Please explain anything I am lacking. Very interested.

Thank you for your question.

Fundamentally rebellion is said to be "as the sin of witchcraft" (1 Sam. 15:23), because rebellion has as its purpose the hope of overturning God's way of doing things or God's ordained authority structure. Witchcraft, like rebellion, is the use of unauthorized means in order to usurp authority, change authority, or to cause others to act differently than they would otherwise. Makeup, jewelry, heavy adornment, the plaiting of the hair, etc. are means used by women (and sometimes men) to make others act in a way that they would not act otherwise. It is an attempt at foolery. The user of such things admits openly (unless they are liars) that such mechanisms are means to "attract". What is it to say “I want to look ATTRACTive”, if it is not an attempt to ATTRACT others? Which is to say that methods are utilized and things are arranged in such a fashion to beguile others. Christ commended those who were without "guile", and the Psalms suggest we pray that we would be without guile. I have a saying I teach to my children and to my students... "All clowns are liars". We like it because it is funny but very true. If you have to paint a smile on your face, it is because you are not really smiling. If you have to paint a tear on your face, it is because you are really not crying. The purpose of painting the face is to obscure it's true nature, to make it say something that is not true. The purpose is to lie. Men, then, are trained as boys to find the lie attractive and to shun the truth. The snowball heads down hill and the end, of course, is heavy tattooing, body piercing, and other body mutilation - as seen in African tribes. Boys (like mine) who are raised to know that these tools are lies and are unattractive see them as "gross" and they learn to see the true beauty of the woman for who she really is. They aren't beguiled by the witchcraft of manipulation. A woman, then, who hopes to win a truly Godly man will have to have true beauty inside. She will have to have intelligence, abilities, wit, etc. She won't be able to get away with using a fake body and a fake face. That is the long and short of it.

I hope this helps.

Michael,

For some time I have thought about joining a militia. I am hesitant for many reasons. I believe you once said you were involved in the patriot movement in some way. Are there biblical or other reasons not to join the militia? I am struggling to make a decision. Thank you.

Thank you for your question. I would not be a part of any militia in this day for several reasons. I do not participate in the modern militia movement for the same with the reasons that I do not vote. Since I consider the system to be corrupt and the options to be all negative, I will not participate in choosing one evil over another. I will not participate in any attempts to remove one form of corrupt government in order to install another one which will likely be worse than what we have. My own experiences in the so-called “Patriot” movement have taught me that I ought to be much more afraid of pretend patriots who say they want liberty but who actually want armed lawless anarchy than I should be of ineffective and inept statist bureaucrats who just want to please everyone.

My own experiences in the so-called Patriot movement were very eye-opening. First, let me say that there is not a single militia, mutual defense organization, or other such group that is not infiltrated at some level by agents or agitprops of the government. Take that one to the bank. The only way your group or organization is not infiltrated is a) if the group is so stupid, harmless, and ineffective that the government does not consider it a threat, and b) so new and therefore harmless and ineffective that the government does not know about it or consider it a threat. Unless those things are true, if the group deals with guns and/or military style training, defense, shooting, etc., the group is infiltrated.It is simple and easy to infiltrate any such group, especially since these groups rarely have a series of doctrines, a moral code, or a body of beliefs that would be difficult to fake.The government often recruits infiltrators into such groups or turns members who are already in the group. Here is how easy it is and there are many tools to do it…

a.) The gov’t daily arrests individuals for gun related offenses. They will offer a plea deal or to drop the charges or to make the charges less than a felony if the arrested individual is willing to just file reports from any groups he visits or of which he is a member. If you want to see how easy this is to accomplish, do a web search of child molesters and pedophiles in your area. If you live in the suburbs or even in a small town you will be shocked to find how many pedophiles live near you. In a small town of 1000 people there are likely at least 3 to 4 sex crime parolees living in that town.Shocking. Well, now just ask yourself how many people are arrested or charged with gun crimes and start doing the math.

b.) Likewise the prison and local jail system, which is overcrowded, is a fertile ground for recruiting snitches. Agents will go to a guy who thinks he is about to do a bunch of time (or he has a bunch of time left) but in reality the overcrowding situation means that it is inevitable that he is going to be released soon. Then a deal is made where he is made to infiltrate local groups in his spare time and file reports. In reality, he was going to go free, but instead he is basically forever going to be a snitch. False threats keep him going so he provides information to the feds in perpetuity.

c.) Infiltration of “subversive” groups is handled like Amway or any other sales organization. Your area is in someone’s “territory”. That someone has a task group, area managers, etc. Each individual working in that territory has snitches, agitprops, infiltrators, etc.

Now, the thick-headed patriot minded Libertas worshiper is now screaming at the top of his lungs… “That is EXACTLY why we need a revolution in this country! Evil triumphs when good men do nothing!” Well, in fact it is the so-called “Patriot Movement” that does nothing. It is not so much the word “Patriot” which is a contradiction (though it is) it is the word “Movement” which is a contradiction. The so-called Patriot Movement has never accomplished one valid or valuable worthy of all the time and effort spent at meetings. It is basically made up of a bunch of pretenders who talk a lot but who do nothing. Through all the mountains of words and speeches out there being spewed by the Patriot Movement, not one of us is freer or less threatened by tyrannical government than we were 15 years ago. Your time is better spent moving to the country, getting some land, going agrarian, going off-grid, living in Christian community and raising and training your own family. If God’s true children, called by His name, would humble themselves, repent, become obedient, and seek His face and ways, I believe He would do more for us in a moment than the Patriot Movement would ever accomplish. Secondarily, if we true Christians all lived in true Christian community with spiritual rules and laws to guide us, we would become a de-facto “militia” of sorts – one that would be far more difficult to infiltrate, since true Christian fruit and doctrine cannot be faked.

Thanks for the question.

Michael Bunker,

Can you tell us about the Christian Agrarian Community there in Texas?

I guess the easiest thing to do here would be to just give you a quick rundown of details as to the practices and beliefs in our community. First, let me tell you that we have been a community here for about 4 years, and we have grown in fits and starts pretty regularly since that time. We, like any group, have had our overwhelming blessings and we have also had our growth problems. We have the inconvenience of living our lives very publicly, partly because of my notoriety, which has its positives and negatives. Positively, our actions are very public and open to scrutiny and people really can get to know what we believe before getting too involved. Negatively, folks are sometimes attracted to the group for the "post card" they believe this life is, and when they realize that it is often a very different thing to live it, when they leave (or in a few rare cases, are kicked out) that causes a stir from folks who do not have all the information or who have grown close (via reading blogs, etc.) to someone who is now no longer with us. Due to our experiences over the last 4 years (the vast majority of which have been positive), we have determined that it is important that we be VERY extremely open while people are in the consideration phase. We have learned that people who communicate well and who are very open up front, are more likely to work well with us during any difficulties that might arise. I just recently posted a lesson on my blog (michaelbunker.com) entitled "Charity and Guile". If you will read it you will get a better idea of what I mean.

There are actually several "levels" of participation here in our community. Of course anyone is free to move into the area and participate with us in whatever fellowships we have that are considered "ministry" or "outreaches". For example, there are some folks who live nearby who will sometimes come to our Saturday night signing and Q&A fellowship, and sometimes to our Monday night sermons, but they do not want to (and would not be permitted to) attend our Sunday close fellowship and worship. Our Saturday night and Monday night events are open to just about anyone who wants to attend. Our Sunday fellowships are closed to all but those who agree to our Statement of Faith, are submitted to our community rules (ordnung) and elders, are admitted by delivering a Conversion Narrative, and who have signified that they have received an acceptable Baptism. So only those who have done the above 4 things would be received into our close fellowship which meets on Sunday.

So, here are some of our beliefs and practices, including a short summary of our "ordnung"

As strange as it may seem to some people, we consider ourselves to be Doctrines of Grace based Anabaptists. Some might call us "Reformed Anabaptists", but we baptists chafe at the term "reformed" a bit since we have never been a part of the Romanist Church. We do however celebrate and teach the predestinarian election salvation doctrines which were popular with the Protestant Reformers. We follow many of the practices and beliefs of the Anabaptists, including believers baptism, community living, separatism, adherence to an ordnung, and agrarianism. We do not participate or vote in civil government and though we are non-violent, we are not literally "pacifists' as many Anabaptists are. We do believe in the right to defend the defenseless, and to self-defense. We believe that the 10 commandments, though never salvific, are binding as the moral law over all mankind. We keep the Sabbath from sundown on the 6th day to sundown on the 7th day, and we celebrate the Lord's Day on the first day of the week.

We believe in 3 forms of government that each individual is commanded to obey in all things that are Biblical. The first and highest form of government is the family or household. We believe that the Christian man (father, husband) ought to be the Prophet, Priest, and King in his household - and we consider this right and responsibility to be inviolate as the highest and most important form of government. Each head of household ought to have his family in loving submission and subjection, and is responsible for their training and growth in the covenant of grace, and for their actions in the community. We reject any system which emasculates the man, absolves him of his covenantal responsibilities, or which removes from him his natural authority and headship over his family - delivering it to the "church" or to some other authority. The second form of government is the Body of Christ, or the "Church", and those proper authorities in the Body. We believe that the authority and power of Jesus Christ that was bestowed upon His body is properly extant in the individual members of that Body but that is manifest corporately. In effect, each true believer and possessor of Jesus Christ holds individually the authority given to the Church, and that authority is exercised corporately through Biblical channels. The authority in the Church is then willfully bestowed to Elders chosen from among the Body, and those elders are authorized by the Church to benevolently and humbly exercise that authority which corporately belongs to the body. All of those who are in close fellowship are in submission one to another and agree to the government of the eldership as God commands. In our fellowship, all elders must be unanimously chosen from qualified men from among the members and are empowered or authorized by the laying on of hands and prayers from the congregation. In our fellowship we have also chosen an elder to serve as a deacon, and I have been selected to be the preaching or teaching elder. We currently only have two qualified elders, but we would like to have as many qualified elders as the Lord would send us. The third form of government is the civil magistrate, who we are commanded to obey in all lawful things so long as they do not command what the Bible forbids, or forbid what the Bible commands.

We believe that we are to operate according to the moral law as supreme, and secondarily we are governed by an unwritten "ordnung", which is a series of rules or laws (like the rules of a family) by which we have chosen to live our lives. The ordnung may cover things like our interpretation of the ordinances or commands of God, or other rules we have chosen to obey to further our own order and to serve towards our Christian unity and happiness. For example, our women cover themselves with appropriate headcovers while in public, and our men wear beards according to our understanding of the commands and teachings of the Bible. We have modesty rules which govern our dress, which we prefer to be plain and unadorned. We do not wear shorts, and we prefer that the men wear long sleeves especially during work. Our women wear long skirts or dresses, in plain style, do not adorn the hair or their bodies, do not wear makeup, and do not wear “fitted” clothing that is designed to accentuate the body, etc. We do not wear "bathing suits" while swimming, and men are required to have a shirt on at all times, even if swimming in public. Our ordnung would also include rules concerning the use of community roads (roads that are not public roads that exist between or amongst the adjacent properties in the community) etc., and also includes community work times or fellowships. Our only “mandatory” community events are our first Wednesday work day and Ranchfest. First Wednesday work day is on the first Wednesday of every month where we get together and work together on a community project. Generally the men will work together and the women will work together. Any community member may request a project be done on their land or homestead (usually by requesting it a month in advance) and they would be required to provide whatever materials are necessary to accomplish the project. For example, this past Wednesday (Wednesday the 4^th) is our community work day and the men got together at Brother Larry Plumley’s property to put a fence around his chicken yard. The women got together to process meat we butchered recently for a few of the single people in the community. Ranchfest is our (usually) twice yearly get togethers where people often come from all over the country to participate in work projects at the Ranch. Usually this is the groups way to help me out since I do not receive a regular salary for my work in preaching and teaching. Ranchfest (and first Wednesday) is a great time of fun and fellowship. Ranchfest usually lasts 1 week, and often we will have people from all over come down for the week.

Ok. Our Statement of Faith can be found here:

http://www.biblicalagrarianism.com/modules.php?name=Content_Theology&pa=list_pages_categories&cid=5

We believe that the overriding philosophy and outlook of Godly Christians is tempered and ordered by our understanding of Gelassenheit, which is an attitude of yieldedness and submission to God’s will and a serving love to others. You can study our understanding of Gelassenheit by listening to the three part sermons series here:

http://lazarusunbound.com/audiosermons.shtml

You will have to scroll down to listen to the sermons.

Ok, so I hope this answers some of your questions. If you have more, please let me know.

Your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker