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
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 4th) 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
as far as things to be attractive, i agree. i once was talking to a couple and the wife couldnt see what was wrong with pants and how are they wrong? i asked her when she goes to the store and buys pants, in the dressing room after putting them on, where is the first place you look? she looked at me and i said your bottom right? Her husband smiled and looked at her. She said well yes. i said why do you want your butt to look good? If your husband here wants to see your butt, he can in private, but your showing every man around you your butt...two years went by and she now wears long skirts.
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ReplyDeleteIs that sitemeter right? Over 100 thousand hits on this blog?
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Wow.