Smokehouse Days: DP day 29

12/29/08 - 2nd Day - Midday. The December Project is coming to a close. I had planned on stretching it out until the 8th of January, but some circumstances have come up that look like they are going to require us to go to town later this week. So we will fall back on the original plan of finishing the December Project at the end of December. After the DP is over, I will write more about what we learned. You can read my daughter Tracy's essay on the December Project by stopping by The Bunker Children's Blog.

We continued throughout last week on our Smokehouse project, and, as promised, here are some more pictures. This first one is an ultra gooey closeup to show how we made sure to include copious amounts of rock into the concrete for the footer - in order to save on concrete:


Here is brothers Larry and Bill staring into the concrete mixer to check on the consistency of the concrete. They both have done a great job:


Here is our progress towards the end of the first day of pouring. This first section was very deep since we are building the smokehouse into a slight slope, and it took quite a long time and a whole lot of concrete to get this far. If you look, you can see the smoke pipe passing through the concrete:


This picture was taken towards the end of the second day of pouring (Friday). I want to thank everyone who has helped out and participated so far. Danielle and the children all picked up tons of rock and delivered it to the work site. We very loosely estimated that we added between 3 and 5 tons of rock into the concrete pour, and they picked up all that rock from the land. Bill Braley and Larry Plumley have been my primary help, and on the last day Joseph and Kelly came by to help us finish the foundation. Here, young Robert helps Larry in properly mixing the concrete in the mixer:

In this picture we are about 90% finished with the foundation pour. We poured the last bag of concrete just before the Sabbath started. In all we used 91 bags (over 7200 lbs. of dry mix) of concrete on just the footer.

Here is the finished footer. Sometime later today or tomorrow we will pull off the forms and begin to build the slip forms for the walls.


We pray that this will be a great model smoke house, and that the building techniques we learn will be useful in future projects. We are hoping to have the project finished by February so we can use the smokehouse when we begin to butcher some cattle!

As always, if the Lord wills, I will keep you updated.

Your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

Q&A Fridays! Issue #48

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 #48 of Q&A Friday for Friday the 26th of December, 2008. 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. 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 “Will you please go away?”

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

editor@lazarusunbound.com

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Michael,

Can you talk a bit about Hanukkah? Tell us a bit about the history, the ritual, it's place (if any) in our lives, and would Jesus have celebrated it. I've done my homework, but would like your opinion.

I'm glad you asked. Hanukkah, which is more properly called The Feast of the Dedication commemorates a very interesting occasion in history. It seems that once upon a time, there was a nation that was the biggest, most prosperous, and the most feared nation in the world. That nation had the largest military in the world, and the culture and the practices of that nation began to dominate every other nation in the world, both big and small. The leader of that nation ordered his military to invade a much smaller country that was no threat to his nation's interests and to put down any resistance within that smaller nation. Most of the people in the smaller country did not resist and were ready and willing to be assimilated into the new world order that was being forced upon their nation – but there was in the land a small band of extremists who fled into the shadows and began an insurgent war against the invader. The leader of the larger nation was very angry that the “terrorists” were unwilling to be assimilated into the world order and that they insisted on practicing their bloody religion, declaring something like “if you are not with us, then you are with the terrorists”. His military killed many thousands of innocent people who were unwilling to become informants or to fight against the insurgent army, or who gave any type of aid and comfort to the enemy.

After several years of insurgent war the small band of religious extremists were able to resist destruction from the much larger military. Due to other wars, political problems at home, as well as other reasons, the military garrison of the invader was forced to retreat and was pulled out of the smaller country.

The larger country in this fascinating historical tale was The Greek Empire and the leader of that empire was Antiochus Epiphanes, an insane man who was widely considered by most competent Biblical scholars to be a historical “type” of the Antichrist in the scripture. The smaller nation in the tale was in a region named Judea which had Jerusalem as it's capital city. The insurgents were called the Maccabees after their leader Judah Maccabee.

The Feast of the Dedication (called Hanukkah) was a festival called to commemorate the victory over the Greeks, and to remember a small miracle that happened at that time. It seems that when the victorious Maccabees returned to Jerusalem, they found that their temple had been profaned (the temple is a type of God's church). They ordered the temple to be taken apart piece by piece and each stone (the stones are a type of the individuals in the church) was washed and made clean. The temple was then reassembled. When it came time to light the oil candles in the temple, they discovered that there was only enough oil to last for a single day. However, miraculously, the oil lasted for 8 days until enough oil could be produced to maintain the candle in the temple. This miracle is commemorated in the Feast of the Dedication, also known as the Festival of Lights. Jesus Christ visited the temple during this festival (John 10:22), and many people consider this, and the fact that the Holy Spirit found it appropriate to mention it in the New Testament, as a validation or an acceptance of the holy nature of the festival.

Provided that the festival does not become a means of Judaizing true Christians, the festival is a valuable tool for teaching children about the nature and character of God, and of the value of true separation and resistance to tyranny.

Thanks for your question.

Michael,

What do you consider the best Internet news sources.

Other than my blog (of course), I generally check The Drudge Report throughout the day. Then I read Fox News to find out what the fascists think and then CNN to find out what the socialists think. There are a lot of good news sources out there, but we have to remember that every news source has an agenda, and every bit of news is filtered by the agenda of the source. What is needful is that true Christians have a solid worldview and philosophy, so that they can properly discern the truth while reading the news from any source.

Michael,

I've just been reading about the Amish practice of rumspringa. Having dealt with the heartbreak of a 15-year old unwed, pregnant daughter I was wondering what is the consensus within the community (if there is one) or your own opinion on dealing with rebellion in older adolescents in a biblical agrarian community or family?

The term “rumspringa” which literally means “running around” or “jumping” and is an Amish term which refers to the time between when a child becomes an adult (according to the practice of the individual Amish fellowship – generally, but not always, 16) and the time that that person chooses willingly to be baptized and to become a full member of the fellowship and community. The Amish do not believe that anyone can be forced to be a member of their society and accept their ways, so they give each new adult the free option to join when they like. In the family, since a 16 year old is still a juvenile (according to the state) and a member of the family, the family generally lets the young person have great latitude in their freedom outside of their normal participation in the home. Now, in every family and community this can be different, and practices differ very widely. In some families, once a child becomes 16 he is permitted to purchase a small cart and horse and he is free to go to town and partake in worldly pursuits. This may mean that he goes to town, and changes into “English” clothing. He may even have a car in town and may work a regular world job and act and live like a worldling while away from home. When he returns home, in deference to his parents, he must put on the Amish clothing and practices. In some cases, the community may encourage rumspringa excesses out of a belief that the children will quickly grow tired and weary of the worldly ways and will quit the world and become a participant in the fellowship and community. This may include (in rare and extreme cases that have been reported) the adults allowing wild parties with sex and drugs. In most cases, however, the time of rumspringa is a time of relative freedom from the usually structured and more God-centered ways of life.

Now, if the young person does not choose to join the Church, he/she is not shunned or punished. Joining the community and fellowship is expected to be a free and willful decision. The family is usually patient because historically almost all Amish youngsters do eventually choose the Church over the world and they become baptized Christians. An Amish youth who has not been baptized is accepted as a member of the family so long as he/she recognizes and honors the rules of the household while in the household. However, if the young person becomes a baptized member of the community, freely accepting the rules, ordnung, and practices of the community – and then they fall away, leave the Church, or refuse to obey the rules – they will be officially shunned by both the community and the family until they repent.

Okay, so rumspringa is basically a period of relative freedom between the age of 16 and baptism. That period in most of the lives of the Amish lasts a very short time, sometimes only weeks or months. Some Amish youth choose to be baptized soon or immediately after their 16th birthday.

Now to the rest of your question. We are of the opinion that, of course, the proper and Godly raising up of children inevitably prevents situations like you describe. Rebellion is not automatic in teenagers, no matter what Hollywood tries to teach us. As parents we need to recognize that rebellion and such things in our children is a sign that we have “dropped the ball” and sinned as parents, rebellion in children is a sign and result of rebellion against God's way of parenting. We are ultimately responsible. However, many people come to a knowledge of this truth after they have already failed at some level in the raising of their children, and we understand that. In our community – as of right now – we have not developed any type of system or ordnung dealing with this time of passage (from childhood to adulthood). We do not currently corporately practice rumspringa, though any individual family is free to do so if they wish. We expect that everyone in the family (of whatever age) is under the authority of the father or leader of the household, and must be in absolute submission to that authority. We deal with rebellion just as we would with an adult member. Recognizing the authority of the father or head of household, we expect that authority to Biblically deal with any rebellion or sin in the household. If that rebellion is not being handled, and if the result “crosses property lines” or in any way affects the community and fellowship, then the elders of the fellowship will get involved. Punishment and/or correction can include anything up to and including having the individual removed from the fellowship and community, and subsequent shunning. If the parents are unable or unwilling to discipline the household member, the parents would be subject to punishment and/or correction including anything up to and including removal from the fellowship and community.

I have had a lot of experience in this area, and I can generally tell early on when some people are going to have major heartaches when their children become teens. Licentiousness and rebellion in teenagers is a product of sin in the parents and a lack of proper and Biblical instruction. When a parent says, “children will be children”, or when they expect their child to learn everything by experience rather than through teaching and wisdom, and if they let their children grow wild, practice disrespect, and when the willfulness in children is not completely broken at a young age, teenage rebellion is an automatic thing. We here in our community are certainly not all uniform in how we raise children, and it is inevitable that some problems are going to arise. We do, however, practice Church discipline and correction, and every party (young and old) knows what is expected from them in our fellowship and community.

Last thing. I have a 15 year old daughter, and she lives and works with us. She is not permitted to “date” or even “court” (both are unbiblical concepts). She, like every other woman and man in our community, is not permitted to be alone with a member of the opposite sex who is not married to him or her. She does not go to town on her own, and she is always supervised. She has been trained since she was a child how to act and what to expect around men, and she knows and expects (really) her parents to participate with her in the choosing of her husband. It is not that she does not rebel now and then (she is a sinner), but nothing like you see on tv or in movies, or in the world, and we are relieved and grateful that her training has yielded fruit. She has voiced her desire to only marry within the community and to live her life in a Christian way as a separated Christian agrarian – and we praise God for this. When the Lord brings her a future husband, she will not be permitted to date or court, and she will not be alone with the young man until her wedding night. She will constantly be attended by her mother and sisters, and all the details of her betrothal and wedding will be approved by her parents and the elders in our community.

Thanks for the question.

Michael,

My wife had a question if you don't mind our asking? We did some inquiry and from what we were told, in the Santa Anna area few water wells exist. Most times water is at 2000 feet and if pasture land is in natural grass it takes 16 acres per cow/calf. Now if that is accurate that sounds like a semi-desert.

Why did you choose such a dry infertile land for agrarian living? Also, the land is very expensive. From what I saw online and talking to the realtor land runs from $1800 to $2500 an acre.

For example. In Madison Co. Arkansas the land can be bought for $1000 to $1500 an acre. Lots of natural springs, ponds fill easily, lots of wood and decent (not great) land. No building codes.

Anyway, just wondering why you chose a location that has virtually no water to start an agrarian community?

Thank you for your questions,

Well, as to the water conditions you spoke of, part of what you have heard is correct, and part is not. It is true that there are few wells in this area, but it is not true that most wells are 2000 feet down. I have not heard of a single well that deep... ever, though I have heard of some southeast of here that are 450 feet deep. There are many wells from 100 to 230 feet. The Siffords here in the community have a well that is less than 230 feet. There are even hand dug wells in our area. The reason there are few wells are these...

1. Most of the land is ranch land, and almost every property has what are called "tanks" on them (small man-made ponds). This rain catchment is what is used for watering cattle. There are no need for wells, since there is plentiful and easily accessed surface water. We receive between 26-28 inches of rain a year, which is certainly not a desert and is ample for any type of rain catchment system.

2. Much of the underground water, which used to be very plentiful, is sucked up by the ubiquitous mesquite trees, which are not indigenous to our area and are basically a heavily-drinking weed tree. We are told by many people that if the land can be cleared of mesquite and cedar, the ground will produce springs and the creeks would run again. It isn't much of an issue though since almost everyone uses surface tanks and catchwater.

3. Wells - in a truly off-grid system - are not the ideal source of water since they require some form of electricity and maintenance, or they can fail or collapse and be unusable. Clearly springs, surface water, and rain catchment would have been the only original water sources, and having experienced well failures in the past in areas where there is plentiful subsurface water, we are not willing to depend on them at all. In my mind a well would be a third option (after rain catchment and surface tanks) and only an optional one at that.

Ok, so I also need to tell you that most of the answers you received have a very industrial/consumer system bias. It is not true that it takes 16 acres to support 1 cattle. That is only true if you plan on raising man-created industrial cattle (commercial beef cattle). We have chosen Texas Longhorns because they are natural to this area. You can keep 3 Longhorns where you would normally keep 1 commercial cow. There are numerous other reasons to keep Longhorns, and you can read about them on my other site: purelonghorns.com. This also assumes that cattle are going to be raised with absolutely no outside feed sources. I don't know of any subsistence farmers or agrarians who raise cattle completely off of pasture with no intention of growing or providing any ancillary feed. Early agrarians fed cattle on some pasture, but also by growing root crops to the diet of the cattle. In this case, several cattle can be kept on far fewer acres.

We chose this area for many, many reasons, and we do not consider $1500 to $1800 or even $2500 an acre expensive when you consider the price of land in other places. Homesteads do not need to be in the dozens of acres. We are convinced 5 acres which are properly utilized will be sufficient for most families. Many of those who have moved down have moved from places where land is $5000 an acre or more. Land prices and subsurface water are far from the top reasons to choose an area. Our reasons were these:

1. Sufficient rainfall (26-28 inches a year on average).

2. Low population density, and no large cities within 3 hours.

3. Positive population makeup, and very, very low crime (there has been one murder in our county in 10 years).

4. Very advantageous political and legal structures. Not only do we have no permits or government intervention/building codes, but we have a very, very low property tax rate, and the best gun laws in the country.

5. A general decrease in population in our county since 1930.

6. A state that is very likely, sometime in the future - if the Lord allows - during a political vacuum, to be independent.

7. Not in the pathway of any expected radiation fallout.

8. Well away from population zones, or population movement patterns. Also well away from current and future superhighway projects, and/or interstate highways.

9. A growing season that lasts 7-9 months, with very mild winters.

10. Areas of good and improvable soil.

11. Abundant game.

12. Very abundant local and indigenous food sources year around.

We realize that water is our biggest challenge and we do not deny that, but having lived here for 4 years now, I know that even in drought years WAY more than enough water passes through our property. Our challenge is to catch and hold sufficient quantities. Catchment is not subject to breakdowns and failures like subsurface wells are.

Every area has positives and negatives. For example, a northern boreal forest has beautiful landscape, awesome soil, readily available natural resources, etc., but harvesting any type of vegetative food source is limited to about 8 weeks a year. The rest of the year you hunt and fish or you die, and bugs rule for those weeks when things are not absolutely frozen. There is always a trade off. There is a reason that after 6000 years of history, most people live in the temperate zones, and population increases as we move closer to the equator. There is also a reason that deserts have been populated for 6000 years by advanced societies, while forests were historically inhabited by savages and were eventually "civilized" by cultures that sprang from deserts. It is also notable that when God decided to start an agrarian community (Israel) he chose to do it in a climate and area that is almost identical to ours here.

Also, please remember that a realtor is not always the best way to find and purchase good property, and a greedy realtor is naturally going to think that someone inquiring into moving here from out of state might have a bunch of money that they are willing to throw down on some questionable property. Almost everywhere else in the nation, land is much more expensive than it is here – so realtors are used to people calling them who think $2000 is remarkably cheap. They would probably respond differently if someone from a local area inquired. Contact several realtors for better information. Contacting a realtor is only one way to find good and suitable property. I would certainly contact a realtor, but I would also make sure the realtor wasn't sniffing for a sucker or trying to hit a home run.

Michael,

I always get the feeling you are on the verge of saying something you are not saying. Spit it out!

Oh, you must be talking about... um. Never mind.

Thank you all for your great questions, and keep them coming...

Your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

Smokehouse Days

12/25/08 - 4th Day - Late afternoon. Smokehouse construction began in earnest yesterday. Here we are beginning to dig the footer. This will be quite a large smokehouse (the inside area will be 8' x 8'), and it will be made of rock and concrete, so it will be heavy - which means it needs a big footer. Some of you will say, "that sure is a lot of overkill for a smokehouse" but we are accomplishing several things with this structure. 1. It will be a great, permanent, smokehouse and will be indicative of local architecture from the earliest times. 2. It will teach us how to work with stone and other local materials. 3. Since the walls will be nearly a foot thick, we will be able to test the temperature traits of the building. Hopefully it will stay cool in the summer, in which case we will want to do more of these types of structures. 4. We have lots of rock.

(PS. I am NOT the guy in sweats and tennis shoes. I am taking the pictures)


In this next pic the footer can be seen along with the inside form for the footer. The footer will stand almost 11 inches above the ground on the high side.

Here you can see the outer form is done, and we have placed the stovepipe sleeve through the forms because it will be set into the concrete.


Here you can see the footer forms and you can see we have begun to put rubble and rock into the trench to save on concrete.


Here is Mr. Plumley fasteningthe rebar with rebar ties. We pounded the 8 foot vertical rebar a few inches into the ground and it will be secured by the concrete footer.

Okay, enough for now. If we get a scrap of internet, I'll try to post some more pics tomorrow and Monday.

Y'all stay tuned for the adventure...

Michael Bunker

Slow Internet, No pics edition

12/24/08 - 4th Day - After Breakfast. Internet has been in and out. Very sketchy. Sometimes I get 2 or 3 pages in a row, then nothing for an hour. Not really worth the time. It's been that way most of the week. Very irritating, except it gives me an excuse not to work or write.

The December Project (Day 24) is going well. I am considering extending the DP into January, at least the 8th or so, because that would make 1/10th of a year going without any trips to town. We FINALLY received our NetGrocer order on Saturday. We had run out of paper towels and sugar. I plan on doing a whole post on NetGrocer in the future, but for now here is the rundown. We ordered on the 9th, they shipped on the 12th or so with a stated delivery date of the 18th. We received the package on the 20th. Everything arrived except what didn't. They were out of tortilla chips and cheerios. I don't understand that at all. I mean, who runs out of cheerios... except us of course because NetGrocer didn't deliver them. Moron that later.

We are in the beginning stages of building our smokehouse. Yesterday most of the materials were delivered. Our intention is to build an 8' x 8' stone slipformed smokehouse. We saw a very impressive wooden smokehouse when we went to Homestead Heritage after Thanksgiving, so we are going to borrow some ideas from their smokehouse as well. Our desire is to have this smokehouse ready and usable before the end of winter/early spring, so we can smoke a lot of beef, sausage, and hams in February. We are planning on butchering some cattle come February, so it would be good to have the smokehouse ready. I know the ladies are looking forward to the smokehouse, as I expect they have had their fill of canning meat at the moment. But I haven't yet told them who will be making the sausage. Yesterday we dug the footers for the smokehouse and we started to build the forms for the foundation. Today we hope to finish that and actually pour the concrete for the foundation. Our plan is to build the slip forms on Thursday or Friday, then start on the walls on Monday. We'll see how that goes.

Depending on internet service, I hope to have a couple of sermons uploaded sometime today, but we'll see.

I hope all is well with you all.

Michael Bunker

DP Day 19: Scattershooting

12/19/08 - 6th Day - After Breakfast. Preparation of the Sabbath. The December Project is going well here. I've actually gotten some reading done, we've put up some chicken, pork, and lard into the root cellar, and we haven't been to town once the whole month. We've even been fairly successful making ice, though it is kind of a spastic endeavor in Central Texas in the winter. 80 degree days, followed by 24 degree nights, followed by mid 60's for several days, then a few days where it did not get above freezing... that's our life around here. Yesterday was in the 70's and it is 54 right now at 6:52 in the a.m. - not really ice making weather. However, even though it is supposed to be 76 on Saturday, the prognosticators are calling for 27 Sunday morning and 18 on Monday morning! Definitely ice making weather.

Apparently there was more to the shoe throwing incident then we thought...

Speaking of presidents suffering attacks. Here is a tale of two presidents... On this day in history, in 1777 George Washington led his "hungry, cold, ragged and cramped" army into winter quarters at Valley Forge. In 1998, President Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives for having sex with an intern and then lying about it.

Speaking of presidential stuff... Homosexuals are angry that Obama has chosen Purpose-Driven Heretic Rick Warren to pray at his inaugural. Apostate pastors are upset that Rick Warren is catching so much heat just for trying to protect the institution of marriage. God, however, is angry with the whole bunch of them (Psalms 7:11-12, Psalm 5:5).

Speaking of Purpose-Driven heretic Rick Warren... Rick says that XMAS is all about reconciliation. You know, "reconciliation - like when a boyfriend and girlfriend get back together". Apparently, even though Christ was patently NOT born on December 25th, Rick believes that Christ had his people co-opt a pagan festival and season in order bring "reconciliation". Well, someone has reconciled Pagans and modernist "christians", but it definitely was not Christ...

"Well, the Pope thought it would be good to try to Christianize that day, to witness to folks, and to get them to focus on God instead of their pagan gods while still being allowed to celebrate. This is syncretization to the core -- to attempt to unite and harmonize especially without critical examination or logical unity. It may have seemed logical at the time, but what does the Bible say about syncretizing with pagans or their accoutrements? Time after time you see in the Bible that God says 1) do not do it because always you will become like them and not the other way around -- Solomon learned this the hard way and lost his kingdom because of it; and 2) whenever the Israelites went into a pagan land, the Lord never said to take what was there and use it for Him -- He always had them destroy everything completely -- all the buildings and anything related to their paganism. God also says to be separate, holy and not conformed to this world. The joining with the pagans on that day, even to celebrate it supposedly in honor of Christ, is a joining and a conforming." (David Sifford - SiffordSojournal.com)

Ahhhh... "Reconciliation", modern double-speak for SYNCRETISM.

Here is an audio sermon for ya:

The Doctrine of Separation

Listen

Download

There are much more here: Bunker Audio Sermons

If you like the printed sermons better, here is a sermon that is needful right now: The Doctrine of Original Sin

I've just finished reading probably what is one of the better history books I have ever read. The book is entitled "The Hundred Years" by Phillip Guedalla. I don't know if any of you will be able to find any Phillip Guedalla books out there, because he died back in 1944 and most of his books are out of print. He is an unlikely new favorite for me, him being a British-Jew-Lawyer and all, but I have to say I very much enjoyed the read. His take on history is funny, entertaining, sarcastic, ironic, and intelligent - even when he misses the more conspiratorial truth of things. He is not "easy" reading either, though I think you will find it enjoyable. You definitely will have to have a dictionary with you, and it would help to have a general gist of history, because his way is to assume you know all the skeleton facts, and so he sometimes just alludes to things as if everyone would possibly know who and what he is talking about. They have some of his books on Amazon. And since I love to do your work for you, here is a copy of the book I just read at Abebooks.com, and there is also a copy for $3.05 with a Buy It Now on Ebay. There may be more available at those sources, so if someone else has rudely snapped up these two, just go to the main page and do a search on Phillip Guedalla. Also, do not get confused with Guedalla's "the Hundredth Year" which I have not read, and "The Hundred Years" which is the book I just read. Both may be excellent, but I don't know.

One of my favorite quotes from the book: "the Franco-German frontier was adequately fortified on the French side from Verdun to Belfort; but on the north, where Belgium intervened, France lay practically open to invasion. The German plan, noting this happy circumstance, proposed to march an army across Belgium into northern France without the least regard to Belgian rights and in a cheerful hope that nobody would mind. Unhappily Great Britain minded."

Oh, by the way, if one of you ends up getting a collection of Guedalla books like this one, you are required to take out the "hundred years" book for yourself, and send the rest to me for my library. I'm not playing. I'm serious. Don't make me come over there. You see, post-modern purpose driven heretic preachers want you to buy their books and send them money. I want you to keep your money and send me books. Could I be any more of an un-preacher?

Ok, I've taken up enough of your time. Get back to work.

Your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

Q&A Fridays, Issue #47

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 #47 of Q&A Friday for Friday the 17th of December, 2008. 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. 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 “Will you please go away?”

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

editor(at)lazarusunbound(dot)com.

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Just one really long Q today. More later...

Michael,

One of the things we are running into as we have been talking with an challenging some friends recently is the state of financial affairs.

Common scenario. Many were raised in liberal stuff oriented homes. They will freely admit this. Some are seeking to get out of the bondage they are in. One of our neighbors recently pulled their daughter out of public school. They are now home schooling them. The father then sold his 2005 pickup as he had 20K in debt on it and downgraded to a 96 pickup to help reduce his debt. But in spite of this they still probably have a good $150K in debt. This includes their mortgage on their 50 acres and home as well as ancillary debt. Even if they wanted to sell their property, in today's market it would not likely sell at this time. Because of past choices it will take them 12 years if all goes reasonably well for them to get out of debt, if both of them work. They are both getting close to 40. That puts them at the earliest close to 50. Their two kids will now be young adults.

I have been greatly challenged by your writings on separation from the world. I have been trying to understand how this can be implemented particularly in the lives of people who because of past choices are wrapped in financial bondage. I have not been able to think of many solutions. But at the same time waiting 12 years minimum, working one's life away while the kids grow up doesn't seem like a great idea. The dilemma? What would you say to someone in this scenario? They have definitely made some constructive changes, but at the same time they feel somewhat trapped and can't see what else they could do?

Any thoughts or considerations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Thank you for your questions. First of all, let me say that I am not giving anyone any financial advice. I am being asked my opinion, and so what follows is what I think about it. It is not necessarily the opinion of anyone else associated with me, or of the elders or authorities in our fellowship. It is my opinion based on how I see it. This is a very interesting and complicated set of issues, and I have chosen to answer it in this forum because I agree that many, many people are suffering under the same type of scenario and frankly there isn't much good information out there.

First of all, some comments on “debt”. When desiring to come to a right view on anything, it is critical that we examine what words really mean and their historical context before we just “sign off” on the status quo. We know that the way the world operates is contrary to the Word of God, and we know that the world has had centuries to redefine words, and to train minds and hearts to automatically obey and follow the god of this world.

Debt: Something contracted for. An obligation.

Obligation: 1. The binding power of a vow, promise, oath or contract, or of law, civil, political or moral, independent of a promise; that which constitutes legal or moral duty, and which renders a person liable to coercion and punishment for neglecting it. Any act by which a person becomes bound to do something to or for another, or to forbear something. In law, a bond with a condition annexed and a penalty for non-fulfillment.

Ok, this answer could literally fill several books, so it is important that I try to stick as close to the issue as possible. However, I do want to note that there are dozens of issues that would need to be very explicitly explained in order to give someone a good idea of how the kingdom of mammon has twisted the concept of debt and has emphasized unbiblical usury in the lives of men. I have often said that debt is slavery, and illegitimate debt is brutal, forced, unbiblical slavery.

Now, according to our definitions here from Webster's 1828 dictionary, debt is an obligation that contractually obligates us to fulfill our part of the contract (provided it is both legal and moral), and renders us subject to a condition (which can include coercion or punishment) if we do not fulfill the contract. The condition (coercion and/or punishment) is part of the contract and is legally able to be used by either party. Just because there is a contract, and two people agree to do something, does not make the debt legitimate. The action or transaction must be both legal and moral (meaning that for a Christian, it must be submitted to the higher law of God as it is defined in the scripture) for it to be a legitimate debt. For example, if you and an associate contracted (verbally or otherwise) for you to buy cocaine from the associate in order for you to use it and/or sell it – then the debt is illegitimate and non-binding. Your friend may see it otherwise and may attach “coercion or punishment” to your non-payment (for example, he may threaten to kill you if you do not pay him), but his threats and or actions are not legitimized by the contract. To draw out the example, if you were in debt $50,000 to a drug dealer, would you be legally or morally obligated to pay him? Of course not. You may want to pay if you do not want to die (the imposition of the coercion and/or punishment part contract by the other party may be illegal, but that doesn't mean you won't die if he shoots you), which means that by non-payment you are accepting the “coercion and/or punishment” phase of the contract, though it would be perfectly lawful for you to take all necessary means to prevent the illegal imposition of an illegal and immoral contract by a lawless person. In fact, I would say that in my opinion that it would be illegal and also immoral to pay the drug dealer, knowing that he will use the proceeds from the transaction to trap and enslave more victims. Extracting this out even further, if Christ set you free from cocaine addiction, what do you feel would be your moral and biblical obligation to a drug dealer? Would you put yourself and your family further into debt and perhaps put your family and the future of your children at risk in order to pay off a drug dealer, knowing that he will use your payment to enslave other people's children and other victims?

Now, I'll throw in another twist. What if the drug dealer had no power or ability to do you any harm? In fact, what if the drug dealer told you (as part of the verbal contract) when you got the drugs that IF you refuse to pay, his only power of “coercion and punishment” would be to bad-mouth you to other drug dealers. In effect, if you choose to utilize your contractual (legal and moral) right and obligation not to pay him, he would get together with all the other drug dealers and they would agree together not to sell you any more drugs! In fact, contractually you were free to not pay him so long as you were willing to be barred from illegally buying drugs from any drug dealer for a period of time.

I say all that to make the point that every debt agreement into which people have entered is not automatically legitimate and/or biblical. Now, some of the debt agreements mentioned in the question have been deemed “legal” by the current governmental authorities, and therefore the “coercion and/or punishment” elements of those contracts are enforceable by law. Every legitimate contract has the full penalty for non-fulfillment explained in the contract. For example, in the case of the purchase of a home or a vehicle, the contract generally stipulates that IF you exercise your contractual right not to pay for the vehicle or home any more, then they have the contractual right to retain ownership and possession of the home or vehicle. That part of the contract is legitimate, and it is utilized to mitigate the risk the creditor has in the transaction. All of this presupposes, of course, that the party making the loan is not engaged in an illegal, immoral, or unbiblical enterprise. For example, if you bought the car from someone who stole it, then all bets are off, even if you keep up your end of the bargain. If the person making a loan to you stole the money he loans you, then the contract between you is null and void. Keep that in mind as you read on. Any contract which is based on illegal, immoral, unbiblical, or un-constitutional activity is an illegitimate contract. It is void.

If someone stipulates in the contract that they are allowed to take (or foreclose) on the home or vehicle, then they are right, and you would be obligated to let them do so. In this case, the contract would be fulfilled, and there would and should be no other “coercion or punishment” for unfulfillment. However, in most of these contracts, the party making the loan stipulates further that they are allowed to take the item and sell it (usually at a loss) and then come to you for the difference between the amount they sold the item for, and the actual agreed upon amount in the original contract. In effect, this theoretically guarantees the party making the loan no risk. The portion of the contract guaranteeing the further payments after the house or vehicle has been taken back is unenforceable, and is nothing more than an illegitimate threat. In effect they are saying that the rest of the amount they say you owe is “unsecured debt”, meaning that there is no further “coercion or punishment” other than the damaging of your credit if you choose to exercise your contractual option not to pay. They are saying “If you don't give us even more money, we will get together with other banks and loan entities to make sure you don't get into any more debt. Their part of that portion of the contract is “if you don't pay us, we'll ruin your credit”. Your part of that portion of the contract is “if I choose not to pay you, I agree to have you ruin my credit”. In this case, both sides are free to exercise their legitimate options, and once they are exercised, the agreement is completed. Think of it this way... If you ask me for $25 and I say, I'll let you borrow it, but if you don't pay me back I will beat you up $25 worth. You then have a choice that you are being offered. You can pay me back the $25 OR you can let me beat you up $25 worth. That is the contract. You have a legitimate choice within the confines of the contract not to pay.

Ok, so if a person is in debt for a car or house loan, and they find that they are now unable to pay, they are legitimately and contractually permitted to let the asset go back to the bank or lending entity as part of the “coercion and punishment” portion of the contract. If the entity further threatens to harm the borrowers credit for non-payment, the borrower is legally permitted to exercise that option to fulfill the contract. In some states or principalities, the lender has further options under his “coercion and/or punishment” authority. He may sue in court to obtain further redress. He may seize or encumber other assets. In the past, a lender was permitted to have the borrower thrown in prison for a certain period of time, or until the debt is paid. All of these are legitimate (even if not moral or biblical) elements of a contract. They each provide the lender redress for his/her loss, and the borrower a legitimate “out” if they are unable or unwilling to pay. It is not unbiblical, immoral, or unethical for a borrower to exercise every contractual element provided for him. If the lender is not permitted to encumber other assets, or to have the borrower jailed, then that is because the state has considered those “coercion and/or punishment” outlets to be immoral or unethical.

Now, none of this really comments on the unbiblical and immoral basis for many of these agreements. Nor does it address the fact that Biblical law commands that all such debts be forgiven every seven years (Duet. 15:1-2). The Bible recognizes that we often enter into such agreements sinfully, ignorantly, and through immoral coercion. We are obliged to repent when we have made such grave errors (especially since they are usually due to covetousness and greed), and that we ought to be diligent to extricate ourselves from them. We ought to use legitimate and moral means to do so. For example, if you are in debt to a thief, you should repent and attempt to extricate yourself from that debt by whatever moral means available.

In my opinion, I would endeavor to get out of this type of debt (note I have not addressed other forms of debt yet – like credit card debt). First, I would recognize that the banks and lending institutions are criminal organizations, as we have seen recently when they went to an illegitimate government to steal (by force of arms) the money they need from the people. So, if you do not pay them, they want to use the force of government to compel you to pay. If they engage in bad business and are likely to go bankrupt, they:

a. Seek legal counsel to avoid payment of their own debts through bankruptcy, or

b. They threaten government with bankruptcy, seeking government “loans” or bailouts to secure their entitlement to continue forcing others to pay their illegitimate debts.

Note also that if these banks are unable to pay their own debts, they will file for “bankruptcy” which basically guarantees them the right to not pay their own debts. Every one of these corporations recognizes that non-payment is a legitimate and legal option, and they exercise their right to protect themselves via non-payment if they have to. Short of that, they have asked the government to steal the money from you in order to pay their debts. I see these organizations as criminal enterprises at war with the Kingdom of God.

Now, in my case, I have on previous occasions – when I realized the nature of these agreements – contacted the creditor and told them I would be returning the item that I had agreed to purchase with their ill-gotten mammon. If I had a truck that I could not afford or that required payments for me to keep, I would give the truck back. After doing so, the creditor would threaten to enforce his rights in the contract to get me to pay the difference between what I “owed” on the vehicle, and what the price for which the creditor chose to sell the vehicle. The contract allowed me to exercise my right to have the creditor report me to credit agencies if I did not pay the difference, and to allow him to do so if I was unable or unwilling to pay. We both exercised our rights in the contract, and the matter was over (not, of course, to the creditors satisfaction, because they are illegal, immoral, and unbiblical institutions) according to the law. The creditor had no further recourse in law.

Remember, these contracts stipulate the full rights and obligations. If there is a “coercion and punishment” (recourse) section to the contract, then that recourse section stipulates YOUR rights as well as the rights of the creditor. You are always free to exercise your right to suffer penalty, punishment, or recourse as a fulfillment of the contract.

Now, for most people, the total amount they think they owe is actually far, far lower than the amount they really owe. I believe every Christian ought to pay any legitimate, biblical, and moral debt that they owe (as John Gill says, “so far as they are able”) which means that every true contract (either verbal or written) ought to have a stipulation providing for Biblical means of redress if the debtor becomes poor and unable to fulfill his end of the contract. God's contract with man stipulated that God knew that man was poor and unable to fulfill his end of the contract, therefore there was “recourse” for a representative or substitute to come and stand in man's place to keep his end of the contract. The contract required absolute and total obedience to both the letter and the spirit of God's law, and the contract was between God and the representative for His elect people. Knowing that the natural man could not fulfill the contract, God (a wise, benevolent, and gracious creditor) provided for a substitute to perfectly fulfill the elect's end of the contract. This is our model of a just, biblical, and moral contract. God requires that creditors be merciful and to show grace to the poor, and His law requires creditors to discharge debt after a specific period of time in order to free man from debt slavery if he is unable to free himself. God has, therefore, provided for ways for us to escape debt slavery if we are just wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

The next part: UnDebt

Most people (and many Christians) today are enslaved by what I call “undebt”. This is what the world refers to as “Credit Card” (or unsecured) debt, which is not debt at all. It is not debt, because it does not fulfill the qualifications or definition of true debt. First of all, Credit Card companies are criminal organizations that do not lend real “money” at all. They are permitted by unlawful and unbiblical means to create or print money in an un-constitutional way, and to use this scrip to enslave people. When the CC company gives you a credit card, they are not giving you any lawful money at all. By way of a Ponzi scheme, they are promising businesses who agree to participate in their unlawful, unbiblical, and unconstitutional scam that they will “pay” them with mammon received from future transactions. When you receive a Credit Card, the CC company promises to print or create a certain amount of money to pay those who choose to give you products in exchange for the promise to pay from the CC Company. The CC company tells you (in your contract) that you need to pay them a certain amount of government money on a certain schedule, and in exchange for you doing so, they will give you the right to keep purchasing items or services. There is no “coercion or punishment” section, which means there is no real recourse on the part of the CC except that they promise that if you exercise your right to not pay them government money, they will get together with other creditors to stop you from using their services in the future (they will damage your credit). That's it, that is the complete contract. You have a right to pay them money (and therefore participate in their unbiblical and criminal enterprise), or you have a right NOT to pay them. The state (at least my state of Texas) does not allow them any other recourse if you do not pay them, except that they are allowed to stop giving you credit, and they are allowed to advise other creditors not to give you credit. This means that you are freely permitted to extricate yourself from the contract without paying, so long as you are willing to have your options for future credit removed.

So, in this example, the CC gives me a debt card which allows me to go receive items or services from other participants in the scam, and promises to pay those participants with the proceeds if enough slave victims are willing to give them lawful money for the fake scrip they originally issued. So I go buy a lamp from a store and the lamp “costs” $20. I go take the fake scrip card to the store, and they agree with the CC company to give me the lamp with a promise from the CC company that the CC company will send them real money taken from “payments” made from other recipients of CC cards. In this case, both the original builder and the retailer have been legitimately, morally, and legally “paid” according to their contracts with one another and the CC company. Each has validly fulfilled their end of the contract, regardless of how un-constitutional or unbiblical these contracts are. So, the builder or creator of the item and the store have been paid. The only entity that has not been paid (If I refuse to pay) is the CC Company, who has contractually agreed with me to let me not pay in exchange for harming my reputation with other lenders or creditors.

As I said, this is just a Ponzi scheme, because the CC Company had no real “money” in the first place. They are permitted (because they are banks and fall under banking regulations and laws) to “lend” up to 10 times more money than they have in assets or accounts. This is called “fractional reserve banking”. Further, since the CC Companies are generally banks, they are permitted to count “payments” as “deposits”. So, in effect, if I make a $10 payment on a lamp, they are permitted to issue another Credit Card to someone else with $100 in credit as a limit, and they use as the “reserve” or guarantee of that $100 the $10 payment I made to them. In effect, they are permitted to create or print money.

Now, the CC company knows that what they do is a scam and a Ponzi scheme. They know they are paying off investors with money given to them by later investors, which is the definition of a Ponzi scheme. They also know and agree that a certain percentage of their customers will not pay them. They not only accept this risk and pursue it, but it is added into their ways of doing business. Their “interest rate” is a product of their calculations of how much money they need to be bringing in to pay off previous investors, and how much “bad debt” they have written off as a risk of doing business. They are, then, gamblers. They purposely and with foresight send out Credit Cards to children, students, and those with no means to pay them off, knowing that a certain percentage of them will pay them off for at least 6 months. So, they will allow someone to go into debt for $500 knowing that that person will likely not be able to pay them back, and, as a part of their business plan, they hope that the person will pay them for at least 6 months (making minimum payments). They have figured out that if these people will pay for at least 6 months, they will have created enough new money to continue to pay their bills and their employees, and their actual “loss” will have been negated. If they can threaten and harass a certain percentage of non-payers into paying them even a minimum amount over what they expected from the beginning, then that amount will be considered profit and will allow them to create even more debt.

Whew... ok, so that is how Credit Cards are a criminal enterprise. These are your cocaine dealers. They sell a drug called “the image of prosperity” and they bank on covetousness, greed, and a love of the world. These people are at war with God, and they are in the business of unbiblically enslaving man. Credit Card debt is NOT legitimate debt, and, once I have come to understand the truth of their operation, and once I have repented of participating in it, and once I am sorrowful for my actions, I am not legally or biblically required to participate any more. I do not have to pay. (By the way, I do not have a credit card, nor would I want one). I am legally allowed to exercise my right to suffer their “coercion and punishment” by allowing them to ruin my credit. Their threat is actually the best thing that can happen to me. They come and say, “If you will not pay, we will agree with the rest of our criminal cabal to not let you get into any more debt!”. And I say, “Great! I agree and submit to that punishment! Thank you!”. I am not saying anyone should purposely go into CC debt in order to steal or profit from the system. I do understand that some people do this as an act of war against the system, and that is between themselves, their consciences, and their God. I have not done this, and do not do this. I am speaking about a situation where someone who, due to sin and ignorance, has gotten themselves into UnDebt and now legitimately wants to get out of it.

In my case, if I were in the situation laid out in the question, I would immediately take all of the “money” I had been using to pay off CC debt (if there is any) and I would use it to pay off any legitimate debt (personal debt first). This person ought to decide what they want/need to keep, and what they can do without. Getting into a cheaper truck is not enough IF there is still a payment on the truck. None of us should be in debt for a vehicle when there are good, cheap, debt-free ways to travel. They ought to seriously consider whether they need to keep their land and home. If they are in upside down, and they can make a go of it elsewhere with a few less acres and with little or no debt, then they should give the house and land back to the bank, salute, and say goodbye to it. They ought to sell EVERYTHING that is not mission critical and they ought to start pre-paying or double-paying payments on any debt they intend to or are obliged to pay off.

Ok, this has gone long, and I have much more I can say on the subject. Again, I am not advising anyone financially, and I am not advising anyone not to pay legitimate, biblical, and moral debt. Nor am I requiring that anyone agree with me, because I know many people do not. I believe God has provided a way for His people to be free, and I would like to see more people utilizing that way.

Now, like I said, I have more to say on the subject, and I have helped dozens of people get out of “debt” and to free themselves from the burden of debt. I hope that this opinion helps someone out there.

I am your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

My Friend Jim Hartman, Part 2

"This is the second part of my memorial to my friend Jim Hartman who went to be with the Lord on this past Sabbath evening. Please read Part 1 first."

Jim was one of the first people to really encourage me when I started preaching and teaching on Agrarianism and Separatism. Jim had not been a gardener or a farmer, but he had an instinct for separatism and he knew that Agrarianism and Homesteading had to be a principle pillar of God's plan for separating His people from the world. As I said in the first part, Jim was with me when I first made the move down to the land here in Central Texas, when it was still just a wilderness and when we didn't have much money, but we had the heart, labor, and time to try to turn it into something else. Our first month or so out here was spent in tents, and without a regular source of water or much shelter or an outhouse. Here is a pic from one of our very first nights when we camped out on the land:


Jim is on the far right in that first picture. Of course that was when a trip down to the land were more like just a camping trip. There was the adventure of the thing, and we got to carry guns and shoot critters and eat them. We used the blue containers on the right to store all of our gear in a copse of trees not far from this campsite.

Later after the fun of "camping" wore off, and after the heat of summer came in full force, and after the rainforest like rains would descend on us in our tents, it was more like very hard work and a whole lot less like a fun camping excursion. By summer, Jim and I were living on the land full time and we were just returning up to Smyer on the weekends.

One of the most memorable trips down involved Jim, my daughter Tracy, and I sleeping in the big Army tent down by the current campground. The campground is only about 25 feet or so from our pond and from the creek that exits it by the dam. We were expecting a bit of rain, so we battened down the hatches and brought all of the gear into the tent for the night. We were all sleeping on army cots and I had a mosquito net over my cot to keep the mosquitoes off of me. Sometime around midnight the rains started and they slowly began to build. A half hour later or so, the water started dripping into the tent, and the tent seemed like it was about to leave the ground. Water began running under the cots, and it seemed like the whole tent was about to be blown all the way to Oz. I had been in rain like that with Jim in Costa Rica, but I had never experienced it in Texas. This was sure-nuf hurricane like conditions. We could hear the water flowing over the dam, and we couldn't see, but we were sure the creek was rising pretty fast. Of course back then we really didn't have any roads to speak of, and I was certain that either we were going to get washed away down the creek, or we would never get out for a week because of the mud. So I made an executive decision to try to get everything we could carry and salvage into the truck. We made dozens of trips through the rain loading up the truck, then we ourselves climbed up in it to wait things out. Of course the water kept rising and the mud was getting worse, so at 3 a.m. I decided we were getting out. We drove to Brownwood soaking wet, muddy and filthy, and very, very tired and got a motel room for the remainder of the night. When we returned, there was not much left of the tent, and we discovered that my instincts had been correct. It was because of that storm that we decided to begin building the cabin.

The next step was that we borrowed a camper from a lady in the fellowship, and we started on the cabin. I'll never forget Jim being eaten up by fire ants in his bed in the camper, and finally going to sleep outside on the platform floor of the new cabin where he was eaten up by mosquitos. When Jim first came to the land he had never experienced fire ants. I had told him about them, but he was unimpressed. He looked at those teeny ants and said, "those things are tiny... there is no way that their bite can hurt". So I looked down at the fire ant hill and said, "Ok then, put your hand into that fire ant bed and find out". So, guess what Jim does? He doesn't just poke his finger in there. He puts his whole hand straight into the bed! Well, I can tell you he regretted that move, and later we would laugh about it - especially when they were biting him in his bed.

We started building my cabin. Now, I had never really built anything before - except if you count chicken houses, turkey houses, etc. I had helped to build our addition to our old house, but didn't really have any clue as to how to build a cabin. Jim knew more than I did, so we just did it like Jim wanted to...


And it was hot. I mean, I've lived in Texas for most of my life, and I know hot, but there had always been some place you could go to cool off. I had almost always had air-conditioning or a bathtub, or a shower. But this was a constant, relentless heat and there really wasn't any escape from it. We didn't have much water, so there was no shower, and at night you would lay down on your cot in the big army tent we lived in or in the camper we borrowed and you would just pray for the slightest wisp of a breeze.


Did I tell you it was hot? Oppressive. We made good progress on the cabin, and we learned to live with the heat, and we hunted and killed wild turkey to eat... and we fished a lot. Here we are fishing in a little mudhole on my land. But we caught fish in there...


In this next picture, Jim cooks up some fish on a propane stove which is sitting on the tread of a bulldozer/crawler that he bought... on Ebay.

...and did I tell you it was hot? 104 or more during the day. Here we are taking a break in the shade of the partially built cabin, as we build the outhouse...

One day I was driving back from town, and I decided to take a long way back on some back dirt roads. Lo and behold I found a big creek which crossed the dirt road, and it seemed like it had become a place where people fished. The creek was quite wide, but only a couple of feet deep. Immediately I saw that creek and I thought... BATH!!!! I drove back to the land and it was probably 105 degrees outside and not a drop of wind, and I found the crew in the shade of a big oak tree just looking absolutely miserable and I said... "If y'all got a towel, grab it because we are going to take a nice cool bath!". I think Jim beat us into the truck. Here he is, showing little respect for snakes or gar and back flopping into the nice cool creek.


Well, as we began to search out and investigate the area more, we found there were several creeks, ponds, and even some pretty good sized lakes that we would have access to. As you can imagine, this was awesome news. Generally there were between 3 and 6 of us down at the land at any time, including David Sifford who was often coming out from California to pave the way for he and Susan to make the move to the ranch. Anyway, after that great find, we discovered that more bodies of water meant more places swim. Almost every day at about 3:30 or 4, we would all jump in the truck and drive to the swimming hole or to the lake to take a dip and cool off. More places to swim also meant more places to fish, and Jim and I liked to fish...


That summer, Jim and I also tried to dig our own self-drilled water well. Our first try was a magnificent failure. I think we got down about 8 inches before we hit rock and gave up.


We found out that, strangely enough, in order to drill for water with one of these gadgets, you have to have water. And I don't mean a couple of gallons of water. You need almost an endless supply of water to pump down the hole to bring up the grit and dirt you are displacing with the drill. Anyway, later on, drilling in a different place, we were able to dig an 80' well that may or may not have gotten into a bit of water, but it wasn't enough to provide any steady quantity of water. A great lesson learned. But I have to tell you that Jim was just a force of nature during that drilling experience. Jim would climb up on the drill itself to add weight as the drill was going through rock, and you would see him riding that drill for literally hours and hours on end in the hot blazing sun. It was something to see.


As I said in the first part, Jim was loyal - even to a fault - and I told you that Jim was a straight shooter, and he never wanted anything from me but the truth. Once Jim determined I was "the real deal", he became a fast and loyal friend. Loyalty is something that is so rare today that I cannot emphasize enough how valuable a thing it has become. I probably couldn't name for you ten people in my life who have proven over a long period of time to be truly loyal friends. Most people are in relationships for themselves, and they have no understanding whatever of loyalty. They hop from place to place, changing with every wind, and starting new temporary "friendships" one after another. And when I say I haven't had many loyal friends, I'm not talking about worldly acquaintances, I am talking about real loyal long-term friendships. Danielle and I have had "friends" who faded when there was controversy, or when I began teaching something they could not handle. We have had "friends" who showed up at some point patting me on the back and saying nice things, but who turned out to be backstabbing wolves as soon as a conflict arose. We have had "friends" who would declare the utmost in loyalty to me and the family and the ministry, but as soon as anyone expected anything from them or we became of no use to them, they would attack us in order to salve their own consciences. Loyalty is indeed rare, and I can tell you that I prize it above just about any other human trait. Jim was a loyal friend, and he never once showed himself to me to be anything but loyal.

Now, Jim's loyalty had a downside. Jim accepted his friends without hesitation and without equivocation. With me, Jim not only accepted and was loyal to me, but he would automatically accept anyone else who was even loosely affiliated with me. No matter the situation. This is a very dangerous thing. Because, like I said, when you do what I do for as long as I have done it, you inevitably are going to draw wolves, serpents, ne'er do wells, and all manner of foul birds. Once Jim befriended a man, he was very loathe to believe anything but positive things about that person, which can make it hard when you are affiliated with a ministry as challenging as this one. People come and go. Attackers of the brethren and enemies of Christ are uncovered all the time. People who came to us supposedly as "friends", we soon find are enemies once we tell them the truth:

Galatians 4:16 says, "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?", which proves that there are those who will become your enemy because you tell them the truth. Jim had a hard time with that, and since he was such a loyal man, he often became loyal to people who were actually scumbags, perverts, "traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God" (2 Tim. 3:4), unrepentant evil-doers and the like. This is one of the reasons the Lord calls us to live in community with like-minded brethren. We all need oversight (all of us) by people who can tell us when we are giving peace and comfort to an enemy or someone who has fallen away from the truth. When Jim left the ranch to get married, I worried about him greatly and his lack of discernment. I hoped God would protect him from the influence of false-brethren, because Jim - ever loyal and faithful - had a tendency to not discern a problem with a friend until it became so blatantly obvious that even he could not deny it. My love for Jim, and my friendship with him, only ever became strained because Jim had trouble seeing some people for who they really are and who they have been proven to be. We all ought to learn a valuable lesson from that. Friendship can blind us to treachery, and our love for others needs to extend to a willingness, for their sake and for our own, to separate from idolaters, freedom worshipers, anarchists, antinomians, spiritual free agents, deviants, and the like. Our statement of faith requires separation from all them that work iniquity, that deny the plain truths of scripture, those who seek sin over righteousness and who refuse obedience to the commandments of God. Jim had trouble separating from friends, and it was because he (like me) held loyalty to be of such very high value. He was a rare man.

Jim was my friend, and I already dearly miss him, and I praise God for his life and his testimony.


Your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

My Friend Jim Hartman, Part 1

12/14/08 - The Lord's Day - After Dinner. Last evening at about 8:20 pm eastern time, our good friend and brother Jim Hartman went to be with the Lord. We here at the ranch were in our Saturday Q&A fellowship meeting and learned the news about 20 minutes after he passed away. I praise God that we all here were together and were able to hear the news together.

Jim Hartman was my friend and my brother and I will miss him dearly. Jim started this separatist agrarian journey on this land with us back in early 2005, and he was with me during the early days (when there was no shelter, no water, very little shade, and no outhouse!) when things were truly tough. I will always appreciate all his knowledge and help during that first brutal summer as we endeavored to plant our flag in a very rough and rugged land.


Some folks may not appreciate this memorial to Jim, but if they don't - then they didn't really know Jim like I did. Jim was a straight shooter. One of the very few men I have ever met in my life who was willing to look me in the eye and tell me what he really thought. Jim was a hard-boiled marine, a comedian, a warrior-poet who spoke in short choppy sentences that generally got straight to the point. Jim didn't like glad-handers, man-praisers, politicians, world-lovers, or anyone who wouldn't tell you straight out what was on his mind. Jim would always appreciate the truth, even if it hurt, and he certainly wouldn't want anyone glossing over his imperfections. He would be the first one to point them out (yours and his own). Jim's greatest attribute was also contributive to one of his greatest weaknesses. Jim was zealously loyal, even to a fault. Semper Fidelis was not just a slogan to Jim. He lived it.

I first met Jim back in 2001 when I was doing some Bible teaching up at some college up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I didn't talk to Jim much on that trip, but he ran the camera and recorded all of the teachings. Some time in 2002, Jim and his uncle Ellis (another brother who has gone to see the Lord) showed up on my doorstep in Smyer, Texas unannounced. Jim said he was planning on driving the 2500 miles down to see me on his motorcycle, but his uncle Ellis had decided to come too so they drove it in a car. Jim said, "I just wanted to look you in the eye and see if you are for real". Jim and I spent a lot of time talking and discussing during that trip, and then he made a couple of other trips down to visit or for Ranchfest before he finally moved down to live with us some time in late 2003 or early 2004. It was a great time of transition in the ministry because we had been heavily into teaching the Doctrines of Grace, and it was about that time that I had moved into teaching about Separatism and Agrarianism. Jim was a great help at our old farm and he always was filled with great ideas. I always told people that the difference between Jim and the many other men who have come to learn and work at the ranch and in the ministry, is that Jim saw his duty and did it immediately without being asked. If I made an offhand comment while driving over our bumpy road - "Man, we need to smooth out this road" - the next time I drove over it I would notice that Jim had gone out by himself with a shovel and had smoothed out the road. I had to be careful thinking out loud around Jim, because if I tossed out an idea and it was within his ability and means to do it, it would be done before I had a chance to change my mind. Jim did not mess around, and he didn't have the mental filter that most of us have that says, "should I do this?", "can I afford this?", "what are the pros and cons of doing this?". Jim had ideas and then just rushed into them believing that nothing he ever did could possibly fail, and even if it did, it would be fun trying it. There was a lot of good to that idea... and some not so good as well, as you will find out if you read on.

In the spring of 2004 Jim and I were sitting around talking about different areas where it might be feasible for us to move and start an Agrarian community without too much interference. Jim was always talking about going to Mexico, or somewhere in South America, so I said, "I heard Costa Rica is nice year around". Before I knew it, I was buying airline tickets to Costa Rica and Jim and I were heading down to Central America for a trip. That was the way Jim saw things. He didn't like grass growing under his feet.

So here is where the fullness of Jim's "Jimhood" is made known through some fun and interesting stories. While in Costa Rica Jim and I were on a ferry crossing the Gulf of Nicoya heading towards the Nicoya Peninsula. We had heard that there was a large "expat" (expatriats - people who have left their birth country to live somewhere else) population in the Nicoya, so we wanted to go check it out. In the middle of the large gulf, we passed a large stone island towering above the water. Jim said, "I am going to buy an island and make my own country and live there separated from the world". I shook my head, because - usually when someone says something like that, they are joking, or they are dreaming, or they are just talking, but when Jim said something like that, if there was no intervention he would be doing it by the next time you turned around. I said, "Jim, you can't just buy an island and start your own country. Someone owns all of these islands, and they are all part of someone's sovereign territory. And you can't just move to an island and separate. You have to be able to make sure there is soil, and that you can grow things, and that you can get water, and that there is a way to get food animals to the island if you don't have them naturally there. It would be a huge undertaking and it would take a lot of money and planning." Jim would just smile, because he believed he could make it work if he wanted it bad enough, and he thought I was always the wet blanket on his brilliant plans.

There are numerous fun (and dangerous) stories about our Costa Rica trip, like the time we were in the jungle and Jim just disappeared for several hours. There was a small island several hundred yards off the coast where the locals buried their dead, and while I snoozed Jim had decided to WALK to that island. Yep. It was low tide, so he took off on his own and just walked to the island. When he got back dripping wet I asked him if he knew what he would have done if the tide had come back in (which it did shortly after that) and stranded him on the island. Jim just smiled. Jim was always just wanting to take a hunting knife and walk into the jungle, which was fine until you realized that you were likely surrounded by howler monkeys which can be deadly, along with poisonous snakes, spiders, bugs, and frogs (yep, poisonous frogs).

We decided for some reason to go see if we could get into Nicaragua by driving, so we took the long arduous journey by car on treacherous, pot-hole filled roads up to the Nicaraguan border. It got interesting as we passed the many checkpoints every 10 miles or so manned by guards with machine guns. When we finally got to the border, our driver (a guy named Danny) freaked out a bit when being questioned by the guards, so he just gunned it and sped right through the border checkpoint. Jim and I looked at eachother wide-eyed, but then Jim just smiled and shrugged and said, "this ought to be interesting!". We were finally stopped by upset armed border guards about a quarter of a mile into Nicaragua. They graciously allowed us to keep our vehicle and gently prodded us to turn around and get the hell out of their country. A couple of times on that trip (with the same driver) we would be barreling down the side of a mountain on a narrow road (often these roads would be completely blocked by mud slides and you wouldn't know it until you got around a turn and saw the road blocked by mud). The headlights were not working, blinking on and off, and the driver was cursing the headlights and slamming the steering wheel with his hands (not slowing down mind you) and trying to wipe the windshield from the inside with a towel. We almost died several times like that, and one time we had decided to stop at a roadside stand for coffee, and then after drinking coffee we were just speeding up around the first turn when we found the road had been blocked by a mud slide. If we hadn't stopped for coffee, it likely would have been it for us, because we would have taken that turn at 40 miles an hour on two wheels. During these episodes I would look over at Jim and he would be laughing to beat the band, and he would look at me and shrug and say, "what're ya gonna do? might as well enjoy it!" That time, after the coffee (and after several silent prayers) and after the road had been cleared, we climbed back into the van and the driver immediately began cursing the malfunctioning headlights. Earlier he had been complaining about how his head itched all the time, and he had wondered aloud if he had some type of parasite. So when he commences to curse the headlights, I creeped up behind him and I said, "I think I see your problem" (he thought I was talking about the headLIGHTS). I said "You have bad headLICE". You had to be there, but Jim just hit the floor he was laughing so hard. And, I have to tell you, you have never heard anyone laugh until you have heard Jim laugh. Jim was this bulky, muscular, hardcase marine - but he laughed like a 13 year old girl on acid at a Def Leppard concert. It was this high-pitched cackle and Jim was not embarrassed about it one bit. It was the funniest thing you have ever heard, and when he really got going, everyone else would be laughing so hard at Jim laughing, that they would all be about to puke their guts out. Of course everyone else laughing kept Jim laughing, so it would get really, really bad. So when I told the headlice joke, Jim was fit to be tied, so now we had me and Jim and the driver barreling down the side of a mountain laughing like hyenas and none of us could even close to see straight, we couldn't see out of the windshield, and we couldn't see the road either. So much for danger.

Another time we were staying at some guy's house in San Jose, and he had given us some very difficult and convoluted instructions about how to set the alarm on the house. We never could figure it out, so we didn't set the alarm. Well, one day the three of us (Me, Jim, and a guy named Danny - the insane driver) are sitting around in the house, and the landlady comes in and begins shouting at us in spanish. The only one who spoke fluent spanish was Danny, and he just gets up and walks out of the house - totally ignoring the landlady. So she begins yelling at me and trying to show me how to operate the alarm. I speak some spanish, and understand it well enough if someone is actually trying to communicate with me very slowly, but I didn't understand a word this lady was saying. I look over to Jim for some help, but Jim just gets up and walks by the landlady whistling and leaves the house, with me standing there being cussed out by a p.o.'d Costa Rican landlady. That was nice.

That was a fun trip.

So one day, back at home safe and sound, Jim is on the internet and he announces that he is about to buy a huge sailboat on Ebay. I say, "Jim, do you know how to sail a sailboat?" Jim says, "No, but how hard can it be?". Thinking that he means to start on a small lake, I figure he'll figure it out before he drowns. But no, he announces at supper that he is going to buy the sailboat on Ebay from Florida and then he is going to sail it across the gulf of Mexico to Texas!!! Like, the next week. It took some talking to convince him that a neophyte with no experience was absolutely guaranteed to die trying to sail a boat across an ocean with no experience or know-how at all. A week later he tells me he found a sailboat closer to home in Texas... "we can just drive over and go get it". At this point I finally pointed out that we live in the middle of Texas (at this time we were already planning on moving to the Brownwood area), and that there are no really large bodies of water around other than a few lakes. No problem. Jim plans on living on his sailboat ON OUR LAND at the ranch! So he says, "So you want to run over and see this boat?" "Sure", I say, "where is it"? "Southeast of Tyler, near the Louisiana border".

"Umm... Jim. This is Texas. That is 11 hours from here. You want to jump in the truck and drive 22 hours round trip to see a sailboat?, so you can park it on dry land at the ranch?"

"Yep"

Ok, so we drive all the way almost to Louisiana to see a sailboat that turned out to be a piece of junk. The guy who was selling it couldn't even find the sail, though he was pretty sure it was in his garage somewhere. He and his friend had been drinking cheap beer on the front lawn and had been at it for most of the day, and he wasn't really that interested in finding the sail. We ended up making a trip out of it by driving through south texas looking at land prices and seeing about buying timber for building cabins.

That was Jim.

Here is Jim in a picture taken our first time on the land after the deal had been agreed upon to buy the land. As we were driving through the land, Jim hollered out that he had seen a snake. So he hopped out and dug through a cactus until he found it...


Well, I will have more to write to you about Jim Hartman in the next part. Once again, our heartfelt prayers go out to Jim's family, and we pray that God will give them peace in their grief.

Your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker