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I mentioned that our core community group is "homesteading" families, and was asked to clarify.
The term "farming" has been co-opted by commercial agriculture, but that is basically what I mean. By homesteading, we mean that we are trying to raise our own milk, meat and vegetables on our own land.
There are a number of Christians doing this, and most are not doing it in obedience to scripture (at least not initially), and not because of any romantic notions about "back to the land" but because of health problems that led us to the conclusion that "the only way we were going to have healthy food was if we grow it ourselves."
Our husbands all, so far, continue to work in the regular marketplace to pay the bills and to cover our losses - of which there are many. We have a lot to learn!
This, then, led us into study of God's Word about agriculture, tending the earth, food, and many other facets that made us think about farming completely differently. We also observed the benefit in our children of the way of life of having work to do and experiencing consequences of carelessness and sloth. God set man on the earth to tend it, to farm it, and we are questioning the attitude of our culture as seeing farming being for losers who can't get a PhD. Abraham, King Daved, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson... many heroes of history were farmers first, then thinkers and leaders.
We all read a lot of books on theology, Greek word studies, and so on.
But the more we do what we are doing the more we realize that the Bible isn't hard to understand -- unless you are so disconnected from God's original vision that you can't understand his most basic premises regarding reaping and sowing, working, resting, and most importantly, "If a man won't work, he won't eat!"
We are not about to say that an agrarian lifestyle is mandated by scripture. However, we are challenging the assumption that the current American ideal is desirable. The problem of people who work an eight hour day for cash, only to feel unfruitful and have to go out and spend it all on empty entertainment is a curse and a blight. We also question many career choices that have an ungodly end of undermining the family by replacing it with institutions. From Pharmacies to nursing homes, from day care to factories, we are questioning every institution according to scripture and finding them wanting.
"The sleep of the laborer is sweet"... "idle hands"... "ill-gotten gain" "blessed is the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked" are some of the scriptures that are coming to life.
Laurie Ann Going even further out on her Heretical Limb!
-------------------- You & Me and Jesus. We are enough!
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So far, this seems very Biblical to me. Perhaps you are not going OUT on the heretical limb but rather traveling IN closer to the source, the Vine. It sounds like you have a very good core group which are studying scripture to know God's will. What a blessing you have found!
Just one thought to add, which I believe substantiates what you are talking about and trying to do. I think you will disagree with one aspect of this but this is the system that God established for His people.
Among the tribes of Israel God distributed all the land, except for one, the tribe of Levi. God made provisions for returning land back to the family if they got into difficulty and had to sell it. After 50 years it would return to the original family. This seems to be a way of not penalizing the children for a father who encountered difficulties either through negligence or accident. This is a very strong statement regarding God's ideal for the family. It would seem He fully intended that every family should have a goodly parcel of land to build upon and cultivate to support the family. Also, seems debts were forgiven every seven years.
If you stop and think how unbiblical we are today as a people it may surprise you. You may think of other things but here are a few of my thoughts.
1. Hotels and Motels instead of hospitality. 2. Restaurants instead of feeding the stranger/traveler. 3. Loan institutions for profit instead of lending what your brother needs.
There are many more. Instead of caring for the stranger when he travels to our country we have found ways of profiting from it. In some regions the greatest source of income is tourism. Now, granted, tourism is a little different from having a sojourner come through your town in his travels. But it still shows how we have turned everything into a means to advantage ourselves to the disadvantage of others.
The term "homesteading" is a legal term also. You can homestead your land so that it can't be easily taken from you. In California, if you homesteaded your house (land) even the IRS could not take it from you without giving you $30,000.00 May be more now. That was in 1970's. It is a legal way of protecting what you own but it still doesn't guarantee that you get to keep your land. At least not according to California law in the '70s.
This happened to a divorced woman whose husband purposely didn't pay taxes so she would lose the home. He was evil! Didn't want her to get anything. He would have rather suffered great loss himself than let her have a dime. And he did suffer great loss. He hid all his assets, defaulted on his taxes, then filed divorce. After the divorce was final his assets were returned to him by those to whom he had entrusted them. Slimy! Slimy!! Slimy!!! So when the IRS came looking to settle the only property he had to seize was the home which they gladly took (sold) at a loss just to get thier due. The divorcee, she got about $16k of the $30k after attorney fees and ended up in town (this was a 100 acre farm, btw) in an apartment with a small child. All their animals had to go. They were especially close to a German shepherd who was put to sleep. Very sad for them. Very cruel of the husband. (I still foam over that).
Perhaps the agrarian lifestyle isn't mandated in scripture but it certainly does appear to be God's perfect will--in light of the fact that he cursed the earth to increase our labor, he instituted just such a system within the Israelite camp, and the many problems that arise from close, city dwelling.
My church encourages families to move out of the cities, grow their own food stuff, and not partake of the worldly affairs. But not to ignore those living in large cities who need to hear the gospel. BTW, did you know that there was once a society of women who would move into poorer neighborhoods just to benefit those who lived there? I wouldn't suggest this for everyone but I guess some are lead to do so.
Thanks for your thoughts. Will you be talking about Systematic Theology next or did you already and it just went over my head? When you speak of it I think of the Methodists, whom I highly respect, at least in their original form. John Wesley believed strongly in living your faith (be not hearers only, but doers) and in accountability to God and fellow man. There are many wonderful truths which originated with some of the early Protestant reformers. It is just that so many today have been perverted from their original purity.
The USA has spent trillions on poverty programs. What's to show for all that? The church has done little. Has she missed the joy of helping those in need?
Several years ago, there was a book published about reaping and sowing? What was it? I wanna say Randy Alcorn.
It is in the King James Version. In the "Laurie Ann off-the-top-of-her-head paraphrase" which I say to my kids, it's "If you don't work, you won't eat! So tote that barge and lift that bail!"
I'm reading, "Productive Christians in and age of Guilt Manipulators" by Chilton,an EXCELLENT read on the topic.
-------------------- You & Me and Jesus. We are enough!
quote:Originally posted by Laurie Ann: We all read a lot of books on theology, Greek word studies, and so on.
But the more we do what we are doing the more we realize that the Bible isn't hard to understand -- unless you are so disconnected from God's original vision that you can't understand his most basic premises regarding reaping and sowing, working, resting...
Our generation of Christians have a lot of "vain knowledge that puffs up" and not a lot of "love that builds up".
So, we are primarily reading the Bible through. Some families are reading the Life Journal through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan, and gaining great insight that way. That works out cool, because when I visit my friend for coffee, we have both read the same passages and can exchange insights.
Another family is reading through one of the epistles every day, as a family, for a month. They report a deeper understanding of scripture - and these are people who have sat under great teaching, done serious study and programs.
Nothing beats reading the Bible for yourself.
Perhaps there is a place for systematic theology... but maybe Bibliology is first?
Laurie Ann
-------------------- You & Me and Jesus. We are enough!
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