Gen. 1:6 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the
air, and over the cattle, over all [1] the earth and over every creeping
thing that creeps on the earth."
Gen 2:15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it
Gen 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of
its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Gen 3:17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife,
and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, "You
shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you
shall eat of it All the days of your life.
The creation and fall of man in four verses...
We are created in the image of God with the inherent capacity to do much good. We were created for fellowship with God. God seeks our company. When man sinned, that fellowship was broken and a gulf was placed between man and God.
You see in 3:17 that God actually cursed the earth because of our sin.
Some will try to placate the earth itself instead of turning to the creator. They think we evolved or were created by the spirits of the earth or some other such belief...they love the earth thinking that by loving it they are coming closer to their creator.
James 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with
the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of
the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Do not confuse world and earth as being the same...I merely point out this verse to show that if we do not follow His way, we will be considered enemies of God.
When Jesus said "blessed are the peacemakers" he was telling us that the peacemakers are the ones who show others how to reconcile with the Father. And how do you do that?
By realizing there is no way you can earn a place in heaven. Yes we were created in God's image but the gulf of sin separates us. To bridge that gulf God sent Christ to die as a sacrifice for everything we have ever done and will do wrong.
Man cannot reach God, but God can reach man through Christ Jesus.
Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy
Friday, May 31, 2013
30 Days of Survival - Day 4 - Join a Prepper Online Forum
Hopefully by now you have found a prepper / survivalist / homesteading / etc. blog to follow (along with mine of course).
What I would like you to do for day 4 of 30 Days of Survival is to join an online forum that talks about prepping. There are hundreds out there and you will need to spend some time finding one (or more ) that is right for you.
Several other seemingly unrelated forums have prepper sections that are very active. If you find a forum like this it counts too.
Here are a couple Forums I recommend...( I have been or am a member of these forums if you join tell em Toad Sticker sent you)
Homesteading Today
Lots of homesteading and animal information. Also has lots of good prepper and survival areas.
Backwoods Home Forums
Sponsored by Backwoods Home magazine...the Magazine is very Libertarian but they have learned that people are not grown up and moderate their forum closely...lots of good info.
Frugal Squirrels
I was a member here for over 10 years before the owner saw fit to ban me. The worst I will say about him is he is a little eccentric. If you can fit in, this place is a great place to learn from.
The Minion Report
My replacement for Frugals...populated by lots of folks who have been similarly banned from that sight...More Patriot oriented but still lots of good prepper info.
The Gulch or The Gulch
This forum was started by castoff's of the Backwoods home forum...not as active but still nice people and good info available.
Zombie Squad
I hesitate to include this one but in reality it is just a decent prepper site that pretends it is prepping for a zombie outbreak instead of all the other things to worry about.
There are a whole bunch more and maybe better forums out there to explore. In 30 Days of Survival - day 3 I gave you a link to the top 50 survival blogs this is a good place to start looking for a forum if you don't want to check out any of my suggestions.
So after you find a forum, what next?
Become part of the community, start asking questions. Be sure and answer any questions you might know the answer to. Inject your opinion into discussions. But most of all read and learn.
Make sure you keep your personal information to yourself, and be careful about revealing where you live.
Now work on that and stay tuned for day 5
Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy
What I would like you to do for day 4 of 30 Days of Survival is to join an online forum that talks about prepping. There are hundreds out there and you will need to spend some time finding one (or more ) that is right for you.
Several other seemingly unrelated forums have prepper sections that are very active. If you find a forum like this it counts too.
Here are a couple Forums I recommend...( I have been or am a member of these forums if you join tell em Toad Sticker sent you)
Homesteading Today
Lots of homesteading and animal information. Also has lots of good prepper and survival areas.
Backwoods Home Forums
Sponsored by Backwoods Home magazine...the Magazine is very Libertarian but they have learned that people are not grown up and moderate their forum closely...lots of good info.
Frugal Squirrels
I was a member here for over 10 years before the owner saw fit to ban me. The worst I will say about him is he is a little eccentric. If you can fit in, this place is a great place to learn from.
The Minion Report
My replacement for Frugals...populated by lots of folks who have been similarly banned from that sight...More Patriot oriented but still lots of good prepper info.
The Gulch or The Gulch
This forum was started by castoff's of the Backwoods home forum...not as active but still nice people and good info available.
Zombie Squad
I hesitate to include this one but in reality it is just a decent prepper site that pretends it is prepping for a zombie outbreak instead of all the other things to worry about.
There are a whole bunch more and maybe better forums out there to explore. In 30 Days of Survival - day 3 I gave you a link to the top 50 survival blogs this is a good place to start looking for a forum if you don't want to check out any of my suggestions.
So after you find a forum, what next?
Become part of the community, start asking questions. Be sure and answer any questions you might know the answer to. Inject your opinion into discussions. But most of all read and learn.
Make sure you keep your personal information to yourself, and be careful about revealing where you live.
Now work on that and stay tuned for day 5
Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
30 Days of survival - Day 3 - Follow a prepper blog
For day 3 of 30 Days of Survival your assignment is to search out and find a blog about prepping written by someone in a similar area as yourself.
If you live in a city find an urban prepper who is bogging about his or her preps. Or pick an urban homesteading blog to read and be inspired by.
If you live in the sticks find a rural blogger sharing information on how they do it.
Whatever you do spend some time looking and reading...and of course follow my blog :-).
Here is a good resource to get you started The Top 50 Survival Blogs! Be sure to check out the second page also and you will find me at #125.
Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy
If you live in a city find an urban prepper who is bogging about his or her preps. Or pick an urban homesteading blog to read and be inspired by.
If you live in the sticks find a rural blogger sharing information on how they do it.
Whatever you do spend some time looking and reading...and of course follow my blog :-).
Here is a good resource to get you started The Top 50 Survival Blogs! Be sure to check out the second page also and you will find me at #125.
Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Monday, May 27, 2013
30 Days of Survival - Day 2 - Water
A person can live quite some time without any food but only a few days without water. In most emergencies water quickly becomes a precious commodity.
So how long can you drink if your usual water supply is cut off?
Here are some tips on securing a water supply in an emergency.
Store it
Storing water is your first option when it comes to emergency preparedness.
You can go several routes on this depending on your available storage space.
You can get food grade drums and fill them with water and store them in your garage. A fellow in my church during the Y2K build up bought a 250 gallon poly stock tank and filled it up just in case.
You can by water by the gallon at the store. Be sure and by the heavy duty better grade plastic bottles as the cheap milkjug type will degrade and start leaking after a year or so.
You can also buy a couple cases of single serve bottles and stash them under your bed.
How much you store is up to you. You will need to decide how much you plan on using. I have seen recommendations from "experts" all over the place. Do some research and decide how much you want to store for each person. I would recommend One gallon per person per day.
Another storage device to consider is a water bob. A water bob is a plastic bladder that fits into your bathtub that you fill with water at the first sign of an emergency.
If all else fails fill your bathtubs before you lose water pressure.
Back it up
If you live in the country you can get hand pumps on line that will fit onto your well to work in an emergency.
Better yet Drill a second well somewhere on your property.
This old house we live in has an old cistern that collected rain water.
You can do the same thing with rain barrels hooked to your downspouts.
Filter it
Get a water filter.
There are tons of different kinds and types of filters that come in handy for preppers.
- Aquamira make an inexpensive straw type filter that every prepper should have on hand since they are so affordable.
- NDur make a canteen filter that will come in handy for people in the woods
- Big Berkey make gravity fed filters where you dump the water in the top and get clean water out the bottom.
- Katadyn makes a wide variety of filters to fit almost any need.
We use a berkey here on the farm and like it a lot. When we lost power for 10 days a few years ago in an ice storm I filtered roof run off with it with no problems.
You can make your own filter... Get a cartridge at your local hardware store and use PVC pipe to build a system where you pour the water in the top and clean water comes out the bottom.
A note on filters...They will last longer if you pre-filter dirty water through several layers of cloth to remove the bigger stuff that will plug the filter quickly.
Water is important to your survival, plan now where you will get it if you need it.
Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy
So how long can you drink if your usual water supply is cut off?
Here are some tips on securing a water supply in an emergency.
Store it
Storing water is your first option when it comes to emergency preparedness.
You can go several routes on this depending on your available storage space.
You can get food grade drums and fill them with water and store them in your garage. A fellow in my church during the Y2K build up bought a 250 gallon poly stock tank and filled it up just in case.
You can by water by the gallon at the store. Be sure and by the heavy duty better grade plastic bottles as the cheap milkjug type will degrade and start leaking after a year or so.
You can also buy a couple cases of single serve bottles and stash them under your bed.
How much you store is up to you. You will need to decide how much you plan on using. I have seen recommendations from "experts" all over the place. Do some research and decide how much you want to store for each person. I would recommend One gallon per person per day.
Another storage device to consider is a water bob. A water bob is a plastic bladder that fits into your bathtub that you fill with water at the first sign of an emergency.
If all else fails fill your bathtubs before you lose water pressure.
Back it up
If you live in the country you can get hand pumps on line that will fit onto your well to work in an emergency.
Better yet Drill a second well somewhere on your property.
This old house we live in has an old cistern that collected rain water.
You can do the same thing with rain barrels hooked to your downspouts.
Filter it
Get a water filter.
There are tons of different kinds and types of filters that come in handy for preppers.
- Aquamira make an inexpensive straw type filter that every prepper should have on hand since they are so affordable.
- NDur make a canteen filter that will come in handy for people in the woods
- Big Berkey make gravity fed filters where you dump the water in the top and get clean water out the bottom.
- Katadyn makes a wide variety of filters to fit almost any need.
We use a berkey here on the farm and like it a lot. When we lost power for 10 days a few years ago in an ice storm I filtered roof run off with it with no problems.
You can make your own filter... Get a cartridge at your local hardware store and use PVC pipe to build a system where you pour the water in the top and clean water comes out the bottom.
A note on filters...They will last longer if you pre-filter dirty water through several layers of cloth to remove the bigger stuff that will plug the filter quickly.
Water is important to your survival, plan now where you will get it if you need it.
Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy
Saturday, May 25, 2013
30 Days of Survival - Day 1 - Do You Want to Survive?
Do you want to survive if some catastrophe happens around you?
If you do, how do you plan on doing it? Luck?
If you live on a hurricane coast do you have a hurricane kit that will allow you to shelter in place for a couple days like FEMA advises?
If you live in a tornado alley do you have a shelter to get to in case of a warning?
All prepping and survival is, is looking at things that can go wrong and then planning accordingly what actions to take if they do. You have car insurance and home insurance why not take some time to make a plan.
Step 1
Play the "What if " game.
Writers do this all the time to come up with story ideas...you can use it to figure out what you are truly planning to survive.
The easy one is "What if we hear a tornado warning and it was headed right for our house"? Do you know what you would do? Do you have a plan?
No tornado's? How about " You get a reverse 911 call telling you there is an escaped murderer in your neighborhood and to lock your doors"? What do you do?
What if the new avian virus they are tracking turns into something like the 1918 spanish flu? Can you survive staying away from others? or is your plan to help all those you can? what will you do if you get sick? what about your family?
What if the new GMO crops fail in the field this year?
As you can see the list could be endless but it really breaks down into just a few categories
- sickness
- security
- food
- natural disaster
- etc.
Play what if's with things you think likely to happen in your area...prepping is an individual sport and I can't tell you what you need to prep for.
Step 2
Make a plan
Once you have identified what you think likely to affect you, make a plan to deal with it.
Can you deal with it in your home by staying put or will you need to flee to somewhere safe?
A note on leaving...never become a refugee... have plan for where you will go...and a backup to that.
Step 3
Work your plan
Buy any materials your plan requires...if you need to shelter in place for three days make sure you have three days worth of food and water for everyone who will be with you.
If your plan requires a tool or skill, buy or make the tool and have it available and learn the skill
Prepping is only insurance for an uncertain future, it is easy to do and might even allow you to help others in a time of need.
Stay tuned for more tips in "30 Days of Survival"
Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy
If you do, how do you plan on doing it? Luck?
If you live on a hurricane coast do you have a hurricane kit that will allow you to shelter in place for a couple days like FEMA advises?
If you live in a tornado alley do you have a shelter to get to in case of a warning?
All prepping and survival is, is looking at things that can go wrong and then planning accordingly what actions to take if they do. You have car insurance and home insurance why not take some time to make a plan.
Step 1
Play the "What if " game.
Writers do this all the time to come up with story ideas...you can use it to figure out what you are truly planning to survive.
The easy one is "What if we hear a tornado warning and it was headed right for our house"? Do you know what you would do? Do you have a plan?
No tornado's? How about " You get a reverse 911 call telling you there is an escaped murderer in your neighborhood and to lock your doors"? What do you do?
What if the new avian virus they are tracking turns into something like the 1918 spanish flu? Can you survive staying away from others? or is your plan to help all those you can? what will you do if you get sick? what about your family?
What if the new GMO crops fail in the field this year?
As you can see the list could be endless but it really breaks down into just a few categories
- sickness
- security
- food
- natural disaster
- etc.
Play what if's with things you think likely to happen in your area...prepping is an individual sport and I can't tell you what you need to prep for.
Step 2
Make a plan
Once you have identified what you think likely to affect you, make a plan to deal with it.
Can you deal with it in your home by staying put or will you need to flee to somewhere safe?
A note on leaving...never become a refugee... have plan for where you will go...and a backup to that.
Step 3
Work your plan
Buy any materials your plan requires...if you need to shelter in place for three days make sure you have three days worth of food and water for everyone who will be with you.
If your plan requires a tool or skill, buy or make the tool and have it available and learn the skill
Prepping is only insurance for an uncertain future, it is easy to do and might even allow you to help others in a time of need.
Stay tuned for more tips in "30 Days of Survival"
Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy
Friday, May 24, 2013
Friday Night Light 5/24/13
Proverbs 27:5-6
5)Open rebuke is better Than love carefully concealed.6) Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
No one can deny the importance of friends in our walk with Christ. They pick us up when we are down and cheer us on when we are up. As much as I would like to be otherwise, no man is an island.
Solomon gave us so much wisdom for living our lives. Here he tells us that even when a friend seems to be tearing us down it may not be the case.
Christ told us in Luke 17:3 "Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. " In this case "brother" is friend or fellow believer. It is our duty to watch out for one another.
If someone is always nice to you and agrees with everything you say, that doesn't make you friends...real friends will tell you when they think you are wrong...even if it means wounding you.
Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy
5)Open rebuke is better Than love carefully concealed.6) Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
No one can deny the importance of friends in our walk with Christ. They pick us up when we are down and cheer us on when we are up. As much as I would like to be otherwise, no man is an island.
Solomon gave us so much wisdom for living our lives. Here he tells us that even when a friend seems to be tearing us down it may not be the case.
Christ told us in Luke 17:3 "Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. " In this case "brother" is friend or fellow believer. It is our duty to watch out for one another.
If someone is always nice to you and agrees with everything you say, that doesn't make you friends...real friends will tell you when they think you are wrong...even if it means wounding you.
Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy
New content- coming soon!
Starting a new feature tonight called "Friday Night Light".
It will be a short devotional published Friday evenings.
I have a new series starting this weekend also..."Thirty Days of Prepping" will get kicked off and I plan on posting a new day every other day (confusing right? LOL). Have them all lined up and will be putting them on the schedule this weekend, so you have a couple months of content coming at you starting this evening at 6p.m.
Getting an ipod touch soon to help with photos and even have plans for a couple vids to put up.
I have been writing the last year and it has kept me a way from this neglected corner of the internet, but I feel I should put the effort into maintaining a helpful presence here.
So stop by often to see whats new!
Also notice I have a new Pin It Button up top left...If you are on Pinterest and find this stuff helpful don't forget to pin me...
Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy
It will be a short devotional published Friday evenings.
I have a new series starting this weekend also..."Thirty Days of Prepping" will get kicked off and I plan on posting a new day every other day (confusing right? LOL). Have them all lined up and will be putting them on the schedule this weekend, so you have a couple months of content coming at you starting this evening at 6p.m.
Getting an ipod touch soon to help with photos and even have plans for a couple vids to put up.
I have been writing the last year and it has kept me a way from this neglected corner of the internet, but I feel I should put the effort into maintaining a helpful presence here.
So stop by often to see whats new!
Also notice I have a new Pin It Button up top left...If you are on Pinterest and find this stuff helpful don't forget to pin me...
Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy
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