NT Doctrine — 2 Thessalonians 3

Posted on May 4, 2024 by ehurst

No one should be surprised at how this chapter is used to reinforce middle-class materialism. There are countless commentaries singing the praises of wage slavery and striving after the hedonistic lifestyle of the West. There is no excuse for worshiping Mammon, and this passage is not supporting the American dream.

Did you notice how Paul invested a lot of space discussing eschatology in these two letters? Apparently the Thessalonians were so taken with enthusiasm about the return of Christ that they talked of little else. The city was known for frequent small volcanic tremors, and this message was in itself so earthshaking that it caused a very substantial shift in thinking about life itself. The speculation was that, since Christ was going to return so soon, it was necessary to revamp their whole lives. It would have been very easy to get lost in it.

Envision how young teenage believers act when they first get consumed by the notion of Jesus coming back any day now. They can’t get enough of it. It could easily be a distraction from just about everything else. Teenagers are always looking for a distraction. Apparently, some of the residents of the city were like this, and they quit their jobs.

They became experts in every detail about the doctrine of Christ’s return, and perhaps imagined themselves prophets, having wild dreams and so forth. Instead of minding their own business, they intruded into everyone else’s business, always eager to tie up everyone with chatter about this wonderful thing just around the corner.

Paul reminds his readers (vv. 6-15) that, when he first passed through the city, he also taught them a number of “traditions” (Greek: paradosis), a term specifically referring typically to Jewish Law. In this case, Paul referred to those elements from the Covenant of Moses that were universal, not contextual to Israel alone. Christian teaching includes a bit of law code to indicate something about the heart of God. One of those traditions was that a rabbi should always develop a trade or skill that could earn him a living.

Thus, when Paul was there for those three weeks in Thessalonica, he paid his own way, partly with money donated for the journey, and partly by working, and helping out in general, as did the rest of his party. The image he draws in this passage is that he avoided having his entourage become a burden on what began as a rather small community. While the same traditions included community support for those who brought the gospel, something Jesus Himself took advantage of, the situation in Thessalonica against the number of people traveling with him made Paul uncomfortable claiming it.

Thus, no one still there in the city could use his example as an excuse for becoming parasites. These people were not ministers. The Greek word typically translated as “busybody” was peri-ergazomai, and was based on the concept of avoiding “work” (ergazomai) by dodging around it — doing lots of stuff that isn’t work and isn’t helpful, but keeps you “busy”. He says almost literally “no loaf for the loafer” (v. 10). It was not God who told you to quit working.

It’s one thing to help someone in need, but it’s another to encourage silly exuberance that embarrasses the Lord. Uphold the community standard as people who carry their own load. A wealthy middle-class lifestyle was not the objective here, working overtime and keeping up with the Jonses. In other letters, Paul hammered the churches for allowing ostentation in dress. The word “modest” meant not showing off material wealth.

However, Paul took the line that these busybodies were not demonic, just brothers and sister who caught a case of the sillies. This was a busy port city; there were plenty of jobs. They needed to get back to work and build up the community, so that when the Lord comes back, He will find them faithful in keeping His Word.

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Your Orwellian Nightmare Is Here

Posted on May 3, 2024 by ehurst

We are not surprised.

The Synagogue of Satan has taken over the US government. If you object to your tax dollars funding the Israeli slaughter in Gaza, then you are classed with terrorists, Nazis, etc. Criticizing Israel and Zionism is now officially forbidden in the US. For the time being, the penalties are rather soft, in that you will be given the label “antisemite”. But that implies a host of other sanctions following behind.

To follow the teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, the stuff written in the Bible, makes you anti-government in the US. Persecution for faith is coming, though faith is not specifically targeted just yet. Rather, it’s a shotgun blast at the political implications of faith. Still, the US government is now officially anti-Christian. It is Zionist, and that agenda is most blatantly anti-Christian.

Welcome to the Apocalypse.

Addenda:Yes, I know this has not been signed into law, yet. It has only been passed in the House; it has to pass the Senate and then be signed by the President. Yes, I know that the only thing this new law applies to is federal education funding. It’s supposed to be narrowly tailored to allow government agencies to shut down the protests on campuses. However, I am utterly certain this is just a foot-in-the-door. What becomes illegal at any institutions receiving federal funds soon becomes illegal across the board. This stuff has always metastasized.

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Messy Expectations

Posted on May 2, 2024 by ehurst

The title is a pun that long time readers will recognize.

So, I was expecting violence by summer, but it’s already here. The campus demonstrations, ostensibly in support of the Palestinians and against the actions of the Israeli government, have gotten pretty rowdy. Keen observers will recognize that these activists don’t give a damn about the Palestinians, and the feelings are largely mutual. A Palestinian government would most likely shoot demonstrators. As would the Israelis, for that matter.

What’s behind the demonstrations is just a replay of the Antifa/BLM riots. It’s funded by the same sources, and is run by the same people. These demonstrations have been under planning since at least as early as last fall. The real issue is plain old communism, but with a wokie flavor. It’s all the most radical leftist agenda stuff going around today, to include the faux Green agenda (“watermelon communism”) and one-world government.

I’m quite certain this will continue under one guise or another, because they have to get things burning before the election in the fall. The forecast calls for violence with property destruction — arson in particular — plus looting and increasing bloodshed.

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Still Has a Place

Posted on May 1, 2024 by ehurst

Well, how about that? I’m officially over the hill, now. After several months of pushing hard and giving it my best, I am unable to gain any increased muscular power by progressive weight training. This is no ordinary plateau. Sometime during the past few months, it quit progressing. This has never happened before. Even as recently as a year ago, I was able to make gains that are no longer possible.

It finally caught up with me in my 68th year.

Of course, it’s hardly a waste of time to lift weights. Rather, the purpose and expectations have changed. Now, the primary objective is to keep the arthritis at bay, preserve the range of motion, and continue burning calories in the kind of workout that emphasizes heart fitness. Not simply aerobics, but I’m pushing hard to improve my recovery. I’m doing more repetitions, but reducing the rest time between events. The goal is to almost collapse by the time I’m done.

I suppose I might be doing at least something right, because my weight is slowly dissolving and more of my musculature is visible. Again, it’s not a waste of time. The weight room still has a place in my life.

——–

I don’t know how this came up, but more than one person has asked about my IQ. I have no idea, and I don’t think it matters. When I applied myself in school, I always aced everything. I do just fine with STEM stuff, but it’s not my real interest. I do much better with philosophy, the social sciences (history, economics, geography), and of course, biblical studies. I remember the most obscure stuff about the Bible, and have been blessed with the ability to synthesize it all together so that I can perceive the broad sweep of how things happened as they did.

Far more important are the indefinable gifts of the Holy Spirit. There’s no doubt in my mind that what appears to be sharp intellect is more a matter of being driven to excel as a servant of God. His moral truth is far more critical than facts.

And it’s not just knowing, but being able to relate these things to audiences that might lack some of those gifts. What I might understand is of no use if I can’t share it. I have a heavy burden of duty to make sure nobody has any excuse for failing to grasp what God requires of them.

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She’s the Boss…

Posted on April 29, 2024 by ehurst

Of some things. Lest you think I promote the idea that women are powerless, let’s point out some areas in which the Bible says she rules.

Granted, the Bible sees exceptionally few cases where women might not marry. Regardless whether a marriage is arranged under feudal customs, the Bible makes it clear that a woman always has veto over the match. If she knows something and cannot bear the idea of living with that man, she doesn’t have to marry him. Granted, she may not get another match ever, but she can refuse to marry someone she doesn’t like.

This is why there are some ancient customs about letting the two meet with chaperons present, should the man be someone from outside her community. In actual practice, the majority of marriages were between folks who had a passing familiarity at a minimum. It was the man’s duty to accomplish the final wooing.

Today, we would simply say that it’s ladies’ choice. We don’t have much else to go on. The western custom of male pursuit and courtship of the woman is flatly wrong.

In the Bible, while the man owned the physical tent/house, the only valid reason for having one was to house the lady and children. She becomes the mistress of the home; in that sense, it is “hers”. From the smallest hovel to the greatest imperial palace, the queen of the household ran the house. The man never poked his nose in her business except in the most rare conditions. She could order repairs and some modification to the facility, but it varied with historical context. She could also run a side business that did not interfere with the man’s reputation or interests.

Most men reserved personnel decisions for themselves, though. The people were his treasure, and she was the crowning jewel of that wealth. Christ said that His Father intended there be only one husband and one wife; all his sexual energies were her property, and vice versa.

The early life of the children was also her domain. Somewhere around age six the boys would start dividing time between playing together and watching the menfolk work, but they no longer played with girls. At age nine, both boys and girls became a vested interest of the entire extended family or community. In Hebrew tradition, that meant that their death required an inquest. Until that time, their death was simply a private loss. Both boys and girls became apprentices for their future careers at that point. Either might benefit being apprenticed outside the home. At age twelve, boys were confirmed by bar-mitzvah as Sons of the Covenant.

I’ll let you figure out how this applies today. The main principle is that gender separation occurs at age six, and locks in at age nine. The mother generally surrenders her sons gradually between six and nine. In some ANE cultures, “weaning” is a euphemism for this process, and the ages vary.

While her authority remains a matter of delegation from her covering, a woman still had that authority by biblical tradition. These are just a sample of that principle.

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Letting Her Go

Posted on April 28, 2024 by ehurst

Basic principle: Creation is inherently feudal. Equality is a doctrine of Hell. I’m not saying there are no ways in which humans are equal, but that the doctrine of broad-based equality is a lie. We are in most ways not equal, and should not try to be equal. We should try to sense our relative role in every context and act accordingly. The real issue is what God says is your role.

Some of that role-finding is a matter of conviction. You need to develop the ability to read your convictions. But a substantial portion of your role is defined by the standard rules of revelation. When you understand the Lord’s sense of priorities, all those rules make perfect sense.

One of those rules is that, in a marriage, the husband is the head of the household. No, it’s not “fair” by our typical western reckoning, but in that sense, God has never been fair with anyone. But God defines what is just, so it’s the western standard that is false. The husband must rule, or it’s not a just marriage. This is fundamental to the nature of Creation, of reality itself.

Western women have engaged in a longstanding cult of seizing power that God says they cannot exercise justly. He did not design them to handle certain decisions, though they certainly have some authority inherent in their nature. The history of social structure in the Bible indicates where those boundaries are. If you prefer, you can think of it as underlying principles that are illustrated by where God’s blessings fell, and where His wrath fell. His priorities are a mystery only to those who don’t submit to His feudal mastery.

It is expected that, in our fallen natures, there will be mistakes between even the most earnest souls bound together in marriage. The Bible paints a strong image of guidance on handling these conflicts. Most people ignore it, so there’s precious little knowledge of it these days. Since it is based on underlying moral themes, and not so much on simply aping the culture of the Bible, it’s all the more critical that we give prayer and contemplation to the issue for our context.

Thus, while I can lay out some of the moral truth about it, the details will vary widely by context. But for most Americans, the underlying problem is the female lust for power and authority God did not give her. Women have seized it by fleshly means and it has already started to rot and stink in their hands. The vast majority of western women will die deeply frustrated, because they have pursued a fantasy, not reality. They simply cannot have what their fallen fleshly natures desire.

This is one place where godly men can help out. We must refuse to operate on their terms. They must not rule over things God didn’t design them to handle. We cannot keep the world at large out of their hands, but we do not have to play along for ourselves. They are wrong.

Sometimes it’s just a matter of temporary disturbance in the relationship, as it’s human nature to be provoked to evil from time to time. Godly men must keep an eye on themselves with a measure of distrust, same as with their wives. Know that you are going to screw it up and will need to repent. So will your woman.

But there comes a point of no return, an invisible line that God will show you alone. If she crosses that line, you must cut her loose, lest she destroy all that God is trying to build in your life. In particular, be careful of power plays. When you have no leverage to get her back to safety, you must let her go off into the wilderness of sin alone. Yes, it will rip your emotions to shreds. That’s part of being human.

This does not address the thousands of mundane issues that arise on the social and legal level. That’s where God alone is your guide, in your convictions and in the counsel of those who are close to you. It’s messy and I cannot address that in a blog post, nor in a thousand of them. But if she refuses all leverage and takes all power to herself, you cannot be her covering. Her sin will defile and destroy your shalom. Your duty is to recognize when God says to let her go.

She can always repent and come back under your covering, but our society has placed severe limits on the practicalities. Be wary of both the woman and the world that hates our God.

Wise men of God will teach younger men these things, so that fewer of them will become entangled with women that are already useless in the Covenant of Christ.

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NT Doctrine — 2 Thessalonians 2

Posted on April 27, 2024 by ehurst

Paul writes this second letter to the Church at Thessalonica in celebration that their faith is working. This is a church that knows how to tribulate. As I’ve previously noted: Finding yourself on the outs with those still clinging to this world is expected and desirable. It reveals who is His and who is not. It reveals how just His justice is. In the paradoxical realm of God, it is justice that His people suffer in a world that is hostile to Him.

The issue that Paul wrote to address shows up in this second chapter. It seems that someone had been teaching the folks there that the reason for their persecution was that Christ had already returned and they had missed it. Paul warned them not to believe such nonsense, regardless where they claimed such teaching came from. He mentions a bogus letter claiming to be from him, along with supposed words of revelation. There are certain events that must precede the Day of the Lord.

Paul reminds them in outline what he had previous taught in detail. Sadly, those details are not recorded anywhere.

First, there must be an apostasy, a rebellion against genuine faith in Christ among church folks. There have always been a certain portion of church members who are fake in various ways, not part of the Elect. Jesus warned about this in the Parable of the Tares. At some point near the Day of Harvest, they will distinguish themselves.

Connected to this will be the rise of the Antichrist. He will mislead the churches from within. The return of Christ will be shortly preceded by a fake Christ, someone whose false claims will be quite plausible, except he won’t come to meet us in the air, as noted in the previous letter.

This person will claim to be God Almighty in the flesh, seizing control of all organized religion. Paul is clearly referring to Old Testament warnings in Isaiah 14:13-14, Daniel 11:35, and Ezekiel 28:2-9. He will come with signs and miracles, but not the real power of the Cross. Instead, his ministry will deceive everyone who is not Elect. God will have sent this one precisely to for that purpose. There will be something critical missing, something obvious to those who walk in their convictions, by their faith and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

In previous commentary, I wrote: There is a clear distinction between those who embrace the Cross and those only pretending. The Cross is death and those who don’t quite grasp the nature of mortification aren’t there yet. The Antichrist will come with an easy gospel, signs and wonders; a solid majority of humanity will embrace whatever he’s selling. It’s not as if this hasn’t been offered in numerous packages already, but it has never gained a universal following in any sense. The final revelation of the Antichrist will provide the context that will so clearly separate those who willingly give all for Christ versus those who seek something else, because the reign of Antichrist will seek to destroy those who really do know the truth and recognize him.

If possible, the Antichrist will not allow the Elect to live in peace. Yes, we will certainly know it, we won’t miss it when that Son of Lawlessness arises. His persecution will be very specifically targeted at faith itself. That hasn’t happened yet. Paul refers to some force that restrains this creature until the time is right, a teaching we would dearly love to find, but is not mentioned elsewhere in Scripture. All we can say is that it is some unknown work of the Holy Spirit. At any rate, when He actually returns, Christ will snuff him out with no effort.

Paul ends this chapter giving thanks that the Elect at Thessalonica aren’t so easily fooled. He encourages them to continue in the faith they learned from Paul, and from Christ Himself in their hearts.

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Polish the Mirror

Posted on April 26, 2024 by ehurst

I’m still convinced that apocalypse is kicking off this year. It’s been creeping up on us for quite some time, but it’s actually here now. When this summer’s heat begins sweeping over the nation, things will go seriously wrong.

Give God the glory. I believe I see how His hand is working, how His wrath will fall on America. It will be a confluence of streams of awareness. Naturally, some of it will be false, but there will also be some accuracy mixed in there. People will react and there will be significant unrest in America.

The Hoards of Darkness have been released. You should not imagine that the reaction lies within the people. Rather, it will be how they are provoked by demon spirits that hope to abuse them. Humans will go nuts; the people will destroy their own nests. They will feel pain, and begin to imagine that certain actions will benefit them, but it won’t.

In other words, don’t be fooled by false moral claims made by various activists. It’s a trap. They will feel the urge to take action on something that will not turn out well. They will be motivated by massive lies.

A prime example is the surging campus protests against Israel, in favor of the Palestinians. Yes, Israel is doing evil. But the people agitating about this are wicked in themselves. The actions they take will not solve the problem, but create whole new problems. Keep your eye on this movement; it will not simply fizzle out. It will become the new target of government oppression, because our government is Zionist.

This article warns that these protests will be hijacked largely because the protesting already involves the likes of Antifa and BLM in the movement. It’s funded by the same money that created so much havoc a few years ago.

Also keep an eye on how mainstream churches react to this. They will start making a lot of noise and moving money toward suppressing this movement. It’s another trap Satan is using to keep the Elect from their divine inheritance. It’s the tail end of Dispensational heresy. I say “the tail” because I’m quite certain Israel will be destroyed, though perhaps not completely. It will be a huge mess.

I’m not saying this will become the issue of this time in history, but it will loom large on the public awareness. Do you understand that the demons are provoking both sides? Here is a reasonable analysis of likely complications, but none of these are the real issue.

Others have joined me in saying that the real issue here is infowar. The violence and military action is a manifestation; the real battle is in the minds of men. The fruit of falsehood is ripening; this is the time for massive destruction here in the West. The Lord has decreed it, according to warnings long ago. Even if the issue with Israel’s current warfare dies down, something else will take its place. The masses are being driven mad, same as the political leadership.

Don’t get lost in trying to defend the wrong things. Any partisan divide is an illusion. The only thing that matters is divine justice, the call to redemption in the Covenant of Christ. The biblical term “salvation” refers to claiming one’s place in the Covenant, of harvesting the blessings of peace with God. That’s all we have, the only thing we can keep, the only thing that will follow us into Eternity.

Polish up the mirror of your soul to reflect His glory.

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Limited Reach

Posted on April 25, 2024 by ehurst

I’m prompted to address something that may not be obvious.

As always, I don’t take myself that seriously. For now, I’m the senior elder for a small community of people who identify with the label “Radix Fidem”. The vast majority of what I say to that community is just my own convictions and echoes of my experiences and education.

The community is defined as people who seem interested in what I have to say about faith and religion. When I die or simply quit writing, someone else can play the role of elder and shape things to match their convictions, experiences and education. God forbid that what I taught should become law.

If you should ask how much authority I have, the answer is, “however much you give me”. I have neither the ability nor inclination to spank anyone in the community, as I did with my children many years ago. It should be pretty obvious: If I sense you aren’t listening, I’ll stop talking to you. That also answers the question of how much authority I ought to have.

When I read stuff around the Net, I keep running into this unspoken assumption that religious leaders should be engaging society from a position of authority. I call that “idiocy”. It’s not a question of whether I have answers that might work for some problems. God always has the answers, and I’m quite convinced He has given me some that work for me. Apparently they work for others, which is how we have a community.

But the whole point is that a very essential element of His answer for me is to withdraw from the society at large as much as possible. Anyone who wants to join me will have to do the same, because I’m not a part of that world. There’s that business of “in the world, not of it”. My withdrawal is more a matter of moral principle than literal distance. I’m walking in the Covenant, and that’s very different world, invisible to everyone outside the Covenant.

As far as I’m concerned, the world outside of my covenant boundaries is marked for destruction. It’s built on sand, not on the rock of Christ. Even if I devote myself to serious academic pursuit of God’s revelation, the result is something the world cannot use. The world at large cannot even understand it.

When someone representing the world asks questions, it’s highly unlikely they’ll have any use for my answer. Sometimes I honestly don’t try to answer, but on occasion I’ll feel moved to give some partial answer that they might be able to grasp. There’s always that business of using a common language, and my Lord does seem to like helping me express His truth in terms people can understand, even if they would never have the power inside of them to use it.

Part of the reason for doing that is much like that time Jesus spoke of Bread of Life (John 6). He ended up polarizing His audience that day, and the circus ended. The time had come to finally alienate those who could never understand. The principle is more important than the specific answer.

I cannot pretend to ignore: There’s a whole world out there filled with nonsense. Most of the questions they seem to ask are the wrong questions in the first place. I’m working from the Bible and my convictions. Neither of them addresses what defines “man/male” and “woman/female”. If you struggle with that, you are the problem. The Bible presumes that the answer to this question is already obvious. And it doesn’t recognize any other genders. Thus, I don’t need to address any of that.

What should we do with a woman who feels driven to be more than just a mom and housewife? What if she has talents and interests outside the home? Well, her male covering decides what she can do about it, not me. Talents and human ambition don’t count for much in the Covenant. Oh, wait; I forgot to state the obvious that the Covenant presumes a feudal tribal household arrangement as the norm. But the answer is the same for men — their talents and ambitions don’t mean much, either. You live in the context and seek to glorify His name.

If a man dealing with a restive wife/daughter asks my advice, we’ll talk about it in the context of how he lives. In the final analysis, he has to decide what he will do. As previously noted, the Covenant generally denies the concept of human equality when it comes to making decisions about life. Feudalism is wired into Creation itself.

The vast majority of the world has no interest in such answers. The world cannot imagine that God designed human existence that way. Well, that’s my answer. If you want my spiritual covering, you’ll have to embrace it. Otherwise, there’s not much I can do for you.

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Very Limited Engagement

Posted on April 24, 2024 by ehurst

I suppose I need to try one more time, maybe saying it differently.

Comments I get in response to this blog, the ones that aren’t posted where you can see them, include input from a bunch of people who are eager for the entertainment value of warfare. These are people who have never actually done warfare, so they have a childlike expectation of what we see in movies. They imagine it would be such a fine thing to see violent civil war break out in the US.

I want no part of that nonsense. I do not advocate violence on that level; it has no place in covenant living. The Radix Fidem community predicts war will come despite our best efforts, so we are preparing to stay out of the way as much as possible. And there’s no denying it will entertain some folks, at least for a while.

But it won’t come with a happy ending. Indeed, there may be no clear resolution of any sort. I believe that, once started, it will drag on for decades. It will pull down the West in general, and America in particular, back into a Third World status. Not everywhere the same, but the nation as a whole will cease to offer any significant influence on the rest of the world.

We do not advocate taking sides. We openly discourage participation, but we cannot pretend to tell you what God calls you to do. We distinguish clearly between defending your own domain versus getting involved in broader conflicts that don’t actually include us.

We are excluded from politics by our adherence to the Covenant, against the complete lack of Covenant identity in the American population. If by some miracle a small body of covenant people were to come together somewhere, then they would have a basis for discussing community defense. But as long as the Lord keeps us thinly scattered, it is purely a matter of you deciding by conviction what you must defend against all outside forces. Nobody engaged in this rising conflict represents us.

They don’t even see us. If someone attacks you with physical violence, it is virtually impossible that they do it for your faith. It is because you and I look to them like part of the broader target they imagine they see. But more realistically, it’s because they are not ideological warriors; more likely they are common criminals seeking plunder and you appear to be a likely target, for whatever reason. This is our biggest threat heading into the apocalypse.

The politics of civil war will bypass us completely. It is not the political battles that will define our place in the big picture. You can easily avoid that; you don’t have to take sides. The only realistic scenario for joining with the local community is simple crime prevention. That’s an entirely different issue from the political nonsense. You can make common cause on those grounds, if the folks around you are willing (if there is a consensus).

This is something we would encourage. This is not what Jesus meant by discussing who your “neighbor” is. He referred to covenant brothers and sisters. We don’t have that; our social concept of “neighbor” is different. It’s not the same principle underneath, but it probably will look almost the same in practice. You should be taking care of the folks who live near you, simply because that’s your best hope for mundane safety and security of property, life and limb. They are allies, if not family. If you can’t work with them, then of course, you are on your own. And God help you if that’s how it is.

Theoretically, the only way I could become a threat to government is if the government begins attacking property, life and limb directly. Idiotic policy is one thing; trying to confiscate or harm common people directly is another. I think we can tell the difference between a government that tries to grab criminals, and one that is criminal itself. We cannot stop what happens at the policy level without using weapons of mass destruction to take out the whole government bureaucracy. I’m not going to go there; it’s far outside my mission for Christ. However, should government policy send agents into the community for something that strikes me as seriously harmful, then government agents will be at risk. Yes, I’ll use violence to defend the folks around me from almost any threat.

Where I live, that is so unlikely that it’s ludicrous. It’s not on my radar at all. Prophetically I see serious problems arising from the breakdown of social restraint. That’s the real issue for me, and I’m convinced that’s what we face in the Radix Fidem community as a whole. If you want to discuss tactics and strategy with me, then let’s target that issue. I will not address the wider political nonsense, because most of it is for show, not the real problem.

The Covenant of Christ offers no solution for political problems outside our community. We might have some useful advice, but it’s not our problem. Christ said so. Our problem is operating and thinking on the human small scale to breathe life into a broad vision of redemption. This how we save the world, by focusing on what’s nearest. Defending yourself means defending those geographically near you; that’s simple common sense. If those near you are the threat, you need to pray seriously about moving somewhere else. A general crime prevention custom is as much entanglement with the world as we can afford in feudal service to our Lord.

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