No Greater Joy Ministries » Survival / Emergencies

How to Survive the Coming Apocalypse, Part 4: Getting Prepared

Michael Pearl — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:04:36 +0000

So we are not going to go through the tribulation, but there have been plenty of times in history when sudden hardship struck a nation and the people were thrown upon their own resources to survive. We could suffer national or local tribulation before the Great Tribulation. It is a small possibility, but very real, that some of us could, in our lifetime, experience a Hurricane Katrina, or Sandy, or devastating tornadoes, earthquakes, or the ravages of war—foreign or civil—or an outbreak of disease that would require us to self-quarantine, maybe something so bad it would be wise to move into the wilderness until it all blew over. Therefore, should I make preparation for such a day? If you are a parent, or are responsible for the safety and security of others, then you have an obligation to be prepared to feed and shelter them in adverse circumstances. “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (1 Timothy 5:8). Have you considered what it might take to secure their safety? Are you prepared? “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?” (Luke 14:28, 31). Many people have a store of food they expect to last three months or a year. They spend lots of money on freeze-dried staples not to be eaten except in a survival situation. Eventually, when kept for a long time and not needed, they are thrown out or fed to the birds. About every 10 to 15 years there is a popular panic like Y2K or the election of someone named Hussein, and they refresh their stores. I have been around since the end of the Second World War watching the fear cycle repeat itself.

I could not hide in my basement, grinding my wheat by hand and baking bread, knowing they were next door starving.

I, too, have been concerned. I maintain a limited store of basic foods and have made preparation to have plenty of water on hand and some fuel for my vehicles and tractors, a generator, and the ability to defend my family, but my perspective is quite different from the so-called survivalist who prepares a bunker stored with food and ammunition. I feel an obligation to my brother (anyone I have not yet met) as well as to my family. I cannot turn away a person in need. (However, I reserve the right to determine whether a person is truly in need or just in want.) If I had 20 buckets of wheat and I were aware of a hungry family, I could not hide in my basement, grinding my wheat by hand and baking bread, knowing they were next door starving. Living on a farm as I do, if society were to fall apart and there were no more gasoline, food, or electricity, and a family were to come up dragging their meager belongings in a pushcart, children hungry, wife exhausted from carrying a baby, and the husband/father filled with fear and concern for his family, I could not point my gun at them and tell them to move on down the road, saying, “This is my food.” Inconceivable! What would Jesus do? If you live in a city and society were to degenerate into chaos and desperation, do you want your children and you to be the only fat people on the block? The hungry might eat you! Does your Christianity go on hold when there is not enough bread for everybody? “And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. “And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” (Matthew 5:40–44).

Knowledge and Skill

Now I am going to share with you the heart of my preparation, and it is my suggestion for you. The best preparation for adversity is not in the stores you maintain but in the knowledge and skills you possess. It is better to be resourceful than to have resources. Knowledge is better than gold and goods. Your ability to assess your surroundings and adapt to them is something you take with you when you are stripped naked and left for dead. A man dependent upon his storehouse of treasures is necessarily a fearful and anxious man. For a Christian, it is a big dilemma. How can you reconcile eating while others starve? How can you refuse shelter and aid to anyone in need? Are you prepared to send rain on the unjust? I know this is radical, not very Southern/Mid-Western macho male, but Jesus said: “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? “Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:34–38). I am not a pacifist. But after being a Christian for 54 years, walking after the Spirit of God, having my own spirit rebuked and checked 10,000 times, I have come to share a little of God’s heart in these matters, and I still have a Bible that overrules my personal feelings and institutional ideas.

Begin Preparation

Prepare your mind by learning and practicing any skill that might be needed in difficult times. Where you live will dictate areas in which you need to be prepared. If you live in New York City, you will need different skill sets than if you live on the bayou in Louisiana. I am going to share with you some of the skills I have learned that leave me comfortable with any eventuality. But the basic principle is that you must address your own personal fears and insecurities by attacking the darkness that leaves you feeling uncertain and insecure. If I lived in New York City, I would want a hot air balloon to launch from the roof of a building and float away. If that were not possible, then I would want an inflatable boat with a 15-hp motor that I could transport to the water and make my exit. If that is out of the question, then I would want a bicycle in good condition—one for every member of the family—and a couple of trailers to pull behind the bicycles, one for each child too young to ride and one for provisions—water and a little food. You would be wasting your time trying to exit the east coast in an automobile. It would take a month and a lot of bulldozer work to clear out New York City. If I lived in NYC and had a bicycle, it would make me feel that I was in control of my own life. Of course, you would need to know that you could ride 150 miles in a day and then camp out in the woods at night, snare wild game for food or make a fish trap, build a shelter, and start a fire. And it would be good to have a destination. Make preparation to move in with a family member or friend who lives away from the big cities. Visit them once or twice a year and store your goods in the back of their garage or in their barn. Develop a partnership survival pact in case it is needed. If you don’t have family or friends in safer areas, buy a run-down, cheap farmhouse on a small piece of land and make it a family project to fix it up as a vacation house and a survival enclave in case it is ever needed. Get to know the locals and learn your way around the community. A three- or four-hundred-mile bicycle ride in one week is easy to do. Traffic jams and fuel shortages won’t be a problem for you. Most of us do not live in the heart of big cities. Yet there remains a sense of insecurity when we imagine a national crisis. No matter where you live, you need to have the skills to live off the land like the pioneers and mountain men did 175 years ago. You may live on a farm right now, but what happens if you are chased off of it by government thugs or overrun by people from the cities? Can you just walk out into open country and survive with some measure of comfort? There are many books and websites on survival skills. It is not enough to view them; you must practice. Make it a family hobby to build a fire and cook on it. Build a fish trap from old chicken wire or from willow branches. Go ahead, catch some fish, and then cook them in the wild. It will do you a world of good. The thing about survival food is that it doesn’t have to be good enough to be sold in supermarkets. A cup full of minnows will add sufficient protein to your wild salad soup to sustain the entire family. Wild game is quite limited and will disappear rather quickly when a number of people begin to depend on it, but ponds, streams and lakes contain an endless supply of protein—turtles, frogs, fish, even snakes and lizards. And it is a lot easier to trap fish than it is to catch a squirrel or rabbit. Because I know I would share what I have with any who needed it, I know I can never store enough food to have any sustaining effect. So I do not have a big store. I have the ability to forage the fields and woods to gather wild things to eat. Saving garden seeds, I am prepared from one year to the next to grow what I need to eat. I save enough corn seed each year to plant and feed several hundred people for an entire year. If hard times come and a family comes to my farm, I will give them a chain saw or ax and show them how to build a log cabin in the woods, and then I will show them how to gather wild stuff to eat—greens, seeds, nuts—and show them how to walk the three miles to the river and use fish traps. I will help them become self-sufficient. They will have to plant and hoe the corn, bend over and pull the weeds, and then harvest it and grind it by hand into meal, and then cook their corn bread to go with the wild greens and acorn cakes they will bake. If they want something sweet, they can follow the wild bees and harvest honey, or in the spring they can tap maple trees and then cut and split the wood that will be used for cooking it down into syrup.

I know many people who laugh at the thought of a time of deprivation…because they know they can weather anything the world throws at them.

It will not be easy, but they will survive if they are willing to work. If they are lazy and will not work, I will not feed them. I will not give them my bedroom, and I will not cut their firewood, I will not gather their wild plants or prepare their meals. “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Depending on one’s knowledge and skill instead of a hoarded store is most liberating. I will have nothing to steal, nothing to protect. If a man wants to take my cup of fish or my basket of wild plants, I will let him have it and go gather some more. I can give to any who ask of me and never run out, for God supplies my needs through nature. There are hundreds of books covering all the skill sets you will need, but you must have hands-on experience to gain the confidence that takes away anxiety and fear. Become a practitioner of the wilderness arts. I know many people who laugh at the thought of a time of deprivation, not because they do not believe it could happen, but because they know they can weather anything the world throws at them. They will grin and say, “It sounds like fun.”

Where to Begin?

Start camping out or buy that old farmhouse and make it your “little house on the prairie.” Buy some books or go online and learn to identify edible plants. Half of the plants growing in a field can be eaten. The other half will make you sick. You have to harvest and eat them now if you are going to be ready. Make and use small fish traps in local streams or ponds. Go for the little fish and minnows. Learn to use hand tools as well as power tools. Build something. Construct a temporary shelter out of materials you can forage—old carpet, plastic, cardboard, trees and branches, scraps of wood lying around. The kids will find it more fun than anything they have ever done. Take the family hiking and exploring. Learn the wilderness around you—water supply, caves, building material, abandoned buildings that could be commandeered in hard times. Keep on hand the tools that would be useful—chain saws, cross-cut saws, axes and hand saws, hammers and sharpened knives and machetes. Rope and wire are handy as is plumber’s tape. A small amount of chicken wire to make fish traps would be useful. Outdoor cooking pots and pans, matches and lighters, flashlights, a small solar panel to charge a radio and flashlights. I have a Geiger counter and keep iodine on hand in case the unthinkable happens. Learn how to treat disease and wounds without modern medical help. Learn how to gather and use healing herbs. Right now, begin growing something to eat. You can grow vegetables in a one-gallon pot sitting in a window. You can grow an entire garden on asphalt by using bales of straw. A garden 10 by 16 feet will feed two people all the vegetables they can eat. Most people start their gardening experience with a plot that is too big, and the labor is so intensive, they give up. Become a student and a practitioner of growing your own food.

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How to Survive the Coming Apocalypse, Part 3: Worst-Case Scenarios

Michael Pearl — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:03:28 +0000

I hear your fears of worst-case scenarios—marauding bands of motorcycle gang members raping and pillaging. Maybe you have watched too many apocalyptic movies. In the early nineties, my son Gabriel went over to Albania to help a missionary defend an orphanage. The government was no more—no utilities, no jobs, no law. The people had broken into the military armories and stolen all the guns, grenades, rocket launchers, explosives, and anything else they wanted. Everyone was heavily armed. The missionary was concerned for the safety of the children, so he mounted a 50-caliber machine gun behind sandbags at the front door of his orphanage. While there, Gabriel purchased an SKS for $65. It was the doomsday scenario everyone fears. Yet Gabriel saw no violence to speak of. The people got dressed in the morning and walked the streets just like they were going to work. They wandered around as in a trance, disbelieving that their world had shut down. The American news reported acts of violence and mayhem, but it was somewhere other than where Gabriel was. Block after block of city dwellers did not pillage their neighbors and did not rape and riot. I lived in Memphis when Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered. I saw on the news all the violence that ensued, but I did not see any of it personally, and I lived within one mile of the largest black community in the city. Likewise, in the LA riots, you had to tune in to the TV to actually see violence, that is, unless you owned an electronics shop in the district where such things are likely to happen.

Good people in a community will come together for mutual protection and assistance.

There is much recorded history to consider. During the two world wars in France, Germany, Russia, and other countries where for a time people were hungry and without local law, the populace did not go crazy, leaving the country in apocalyptic meltdown. Most people acted civilized and helped their neighbors. They suffered together and shared where they could. I do think there is an unreasonable fear based on Hollywood-induced imagination. Obviously, even right now in the best of times, there are places in every major city where violence is more likely, where you are risking your life to go out at night, where you are likely to be burglarized at least once a year. Certainly, in these crime-prone areas, during a period of economic collapse or a breakdown of law and order, violence will skyrocket. If you live on the edge of such an area, within easy walking distance, you could be in danger if everything goes haywire. But if you live in the suburbs with civilized people all around you, a good number of them armed, according to past history there is no reason to think you are going to be dragged into the streets and your home pillaged. In a worst-case scenario, you may get hungry, not have any utilities, have to build a wood fire and boil sewer water to drink, and be at risk of roving burglars and robbers, but good people in a community will come together for mutual protection and assistance. It has always been the case throughout history. I am not suggesting that you need not prepare for the unthinkable. I am only suggesting that your preparation should be more in line with reasonable possibilities. Don’t be consumed with preparing for something that has only happened in a Hollywood movie. Make sufficient preparations for something like the Great Depression in a calm and reasonable manner, and then get on with living the life God gave you.

Fear can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Live in faith, thanksgiving, and rejoicing.

Some people just seem to need a little fear in their lives. The world loves doomsday scenarios, movies, books, and documentaries, like kids generating tension so they can scream when the other child jumps out and says “boo.” It makes them feel alive. It would serve you much better to fear diabetes, cancer, and heart disease so as to give attention to prevention. You can do something to keep you and your children from being in the 75% that will succumb to one of these diseases. If you want to fear something, fear the 25% chance that one of your children will be molested, or the 50% chance that your spouse will get fed up with your selfishness and leave you. Fear that one of your sons will access pornography and end up being a sodomite. Fear the genetically modified food you are eating or the incurable infections being created by antibiotics. These things are real. They are happening now. One of them is more likely to happen to you than not. For a family to escape all of these is about as rare as winning the lottery. Don’t live as Job did, with fear as your vision. “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me” (Job 3:25). Fear can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Live in faith, thanksgiving, and rejoicing. It is much better preparation for the day of distress. “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6–7).

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How to Survive the Coming Apocalypse, Part 2: Pre-Wrath Rapture? Zombies, Earthquakes, & Scorching Heat

Michael Pearl — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:02:10 +0000

Dear Mr. Pearl, I know that you believe in the rapture and that Christians will not have to endure the tribulation, but I have come to believe that we will go through the tribulation but not the day of wrath, so the church will be purified as we become overcomers. Have you read the book by Rosenthal, The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church?

Michael answers: Yes, I read it when it was first published. As always, when I read something written by a sincere believer that differs with my position, I open my mind and try to see their point of view, making myself willing to change my views if I see that I have been wrong in my interpretation of the Bible. I read the book once, and then I read it again, taking notes and searching his arguments thoroughly. No one could be more open to his point of view than I, but I was greatly disappointed in the strength of his arguments. It seemed to be written by a man who lost his faith in the words of God. The end result of carefully considering his point of view was that it strengthened my belief in the Bible believer’s historical doctrine of the pre-tribulational rapture of all believers.

Dear Michael, I know that we are living in the last times, and I feel an urgency to get my family into a place where we can survive the tribulation that is coming. Have you written anything on how to survive the coming apocalypse?

Michael answers:

The way to survive the coming apocalypse is to reject the mark of the beast when he shows up (Revelation 14:9; 15:2; 20:4), and during the tribulation, hear, repent, believe, and obey the gospel of the kingdom preached by one of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists (Matthew 24:14), and keep the commandments of God (Revelation 12:17; 14:12) as well as the faith of Christ. Avoid drinking the water (Revelation 8:11). Store up enough painkillers to last each member of your family for five months (Revelation 9:6–10). Avoid being killed by the zombies (Revelation 9:6). Build an enclosed structure that is defensible against the starving masses (Revelation 6:8) that cannot be penetrated by flying scorpions, and prepare to stay inside during the five months that they terrorize the earth (Revelation 9:10). Don’t expect your children to repent during the tribulation (Revelation 9:20). Locate in an earthquake resistant zone (Revelation 11:13, 16:18). Prepare your structure with sufficient power supply to air condition it against the scorching heat (Revelation 16:8–9). Be prepared to move above ground when the tectonic shift takes place (Revelation 16:20). But when you do move above ground, make preparations to avoid the 60-pound hailstones (Revelation 16:21). Avoid any area in Italy, especially close to the Vatican (Revelation 18). Know that if you are able to survive the judgments of God, in the end you and all your family will be deceived by the antichrist’s lies and will be damned (2 Thessalonians 2: 8–12).

Why go through judgment when Jesus has already taken your judgment upon himself?

The last thing you will see on this earth are the Christians returning to the earth at the end of their seven-year heavenly cruise of worship and praise to set up the kingdom of heaven upon the earth. Know that if in this present age you had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and were born again, God would have kept you from the “hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Revelation 3:10). Why go through the time of judgment when Jesus has already taken your judgment upon himself? I am well aware that in the last 30 years there has been a shift from the pre-tribulation rapture to the post-wrath, or mid-trib, or post-trib, or no-trib positions. The shift is a result of two distinctive factors: degeneration in the believer’s confidence in the inspired words of God, and loss of confidence in the supernatural. Those who have made the shift are not even aware of their loss of confidence in the written words of God or of their loss of confidence in a transcended God of imminent miracles. The degree to which one believes in the inspiration of every word of the Bible and in the normal grammatical approach to interpretation is the degree to which he believes in the rapture, second coming, and the millennial (thousand-year) reign of Christ upon the earth. History attests to the fact that as men lose their faith in the words of God, they gravitate toward the allegorical approach to interpretation and move away from belief in an imminent return of Christ for his saints. The carnal mind finds it more comfortable to believe in what he can see—a coming “apocalypse” and man destroying himself—than to believe in the imminent rapture of the church. Anyone who can read English and, according to the rules of grammar, understand what he reads will come to a belief in two distinctive events separated by seven years: the unannounced and unseen rapture of the church, and the very predictable and very visible second coming of Christ with his saints. In this small magazine, it is not possible to address the subject fully. So I have found a very simple, 200-page book online—free—that does a great job of defending the pre-tribulational rapture of the church. Download the entire book and share it with others. The Rapture Solution: Putting the Puzzle Together by Allen Beechick. I have indeed read the books that teach the other positions. Now it is your turn to think for yourself and read something different. There is no reason to live in fear when you can be rejoicing in Christ’s soon appearing.

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How to Survive the Coming Apocalypse, Part 1: Fear Not Them Which Destroy the Body

Michael Pearl — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:01:51 +0000

Dear Mr. Pearl, We live in the suburbs of a fairly large city. We homeschool our six children and also home church. We are very concerned about the way our country is going. There are so many bad things happening in the world, and the signs point to the coming of antichrist and the tribulation. We talk about moving to a remote place to live so we can protect the children when everything falls apart, but we do not have the slightest idea where to begin. If we could find a place and live around people of like mind who could help us get started, we would probably make the move. Do you have any recommendation? Do you know of a community of believers that has room for one more family?

Mike answers:

Wow! Where do I begin? There is so much in this letter that needs addressing, and it is just one of hundreds that we have received. I have asked my children to respond to some of the issues, so we are dedicating this entire magazine to this one subject. First, I want to share our personal experience with you. I can understand your consternation. Thirty or forty years ago, even before it looked like the country would descend into anarchy or civil war or financial collapse, before it was obvious that social engineering and overregulation would prevent us from living our convictions, I was concerned about keeping my family in a position to survive all the crazy, dire possibilities of doom and destruction. When I was in my teens, I knew several “whacky” adults who followed the John Birch Society. I passed them off as conspiracy nuts. Wikipedia says of the John Birch Society:

The organization identifies with Christian principles, seeks to limit governmental powers, and opposes wealth redistribution and economic interventionism. It opposes practices it terms collectivism, totalitarianism, and communism. It opposes socialism and fascism as well, which it asserts is infiltrating US governmental administration. In a 1983 edition of Crossfire, Congressman Larry McDonald (D-Georgia), then its newly appointed president, characterized the society as belonging to the Old Right rather than the New Right.

In the fifties and sixties, the warning cry was against creeping communism. The USSR was spreading its philosophy around the globe, and our leaders spoke of the “domino effect.” One by one the countries in Asia and Africa, and even our neighbors 90 miles away in Cuba were falling to the “Reds.” At the time there was serious concern about an eventual communist invasion of our homeland, taking away the liberties granted to us by God, as denoted in the Constitution. I must confess, back in the late sixties and early seventies, I saw nothing that indicated our freedoms might be at risk from within. The prophets crying doom seemed to be fringe indeed. Then the USSR dissolved and sought democratic reform. We won! Our republic would survive. No communism for us. With the “fall of communism” and the arrival of the prosperous eighties and nineties, the John Birch Society and other like organizations faded from the public eye, appearing to be discredited prophets now irrelevant. Little did I know that the “communists” would not come to America in landing craft and parachutes; they would come from our universities, be called “progressive,” and be voted into office by the people who wanted government to be the source of their prosperity. Our personal, family awakening came when the progressives (socialists) tried to engineer our family for us. By the late seventies, Deb and I had begun homeschooling, a practice unheard of in Memphis, Tennessee. After three hostile visits from Child Protective Services (CPS) with threats to take away our children, and then our big day appearing before the judge, we were beginning to wonder about a 1984-like scenario and Big Brother. Could the John Birch Society and its kind be right? We were pressed to form plans to escape the hand of those who “knew best what was good for our children.” The kids knew the signal that meant they were to go to the basement, climb up on the washing machine, open the window quietly, and slip through the woods to an old, abandoned barn about one mile away and wait for their grandparents to pick them up and take them out of state to a secret location. After several visits and warnings from CPS, a certified letter delivered by a sheriff notified us to bring our children and appear in the judge’s chamber on Monday morning at ten o’clock. We stowed the children for hasty departure from the state and went to see the judge alone. It was the first volley in a battle we fought and eventually won, but it did not give us any confidence in the goodwill of what I now knew to be our socialist government. We had raised the kids in the country, fifteen miles outside of Memphis, providing them with a pond in which to swim, free access to the woods and bottom lands, hunting and fishing, planting a small garden, and working in my wood shop. They had lots of Christian friends, most of them adults who shared their interests. We were part of a strong ministry of winning the lost to Christ and building them up in the faith. The kids saw God save thousands of people and change their lives. They knew God was the center of it all. But by 1988, with five children and the oldest having gone through puberty and one other not far behind, knowing the time of great temptation for the children was approaching, we had enough of the rat race and of trying to provide artificial community for the kids. Many of the people who shared the ministry with us did not fully embrace our convictions. It was obvious that their children would not grow up to be what we wanted ours to become. Their sons and daughters would not make good spouses. And young people tend to pick the fruit closest to the ground, hanging over the fence in their own backyards. So we sold our four-acre estate and moved to a 100-acre piece of unimproved ground in the hills of Middle Tennessee. It was a wild, crazy adventure. We logged with mules, sawed our lumber on a homemade saw mill, and built our house, barns, shop, and outbuildings. We cleared new ground, plowed, strung fences, milked cows, chased chickens, trying to recover their eggs, grew our vegetables, killed deer for our meat, ground wheat and corn for our bread, and generally lived very poor, plain lives. We loved every minute of it and the kids grew strong and resilient. None of our neighbors went to public schools or public churches. Every kid had to work hard all day long. They met at the swimming hole in the late afternoons and sometimes spent their days exploring the wooded ridges within a five-mile radius. The kids never went to a mall or movie theatre. There wasn’t—and still isn’t—a television in the house. Not one in the barn either. We did get a 15-inch screen and a VCR and on occasion let the kids watch 101 Dalmatians, The Sound of Music, and other like movies until the tapes wore out.

In the final analysis, it is not the community or the church that produces great children and tremendous adults; it is home life rooted in sincere, relaxed love of God and family that bears eternal fruit.

In the evenings we played checkers and “bored” games (spelled correctly). The girls sewed while the boys constructed spear guns or glued fletches on their arrows or practiced their fast draw. We had Bible reading and told Bible stories. Two or three nights a week we had Bible studies with other families with the kids listening attentively, participating as they were able. I took any kind of job I could get where the boys and girls could work with me, building barns and outbuildings, laying stone, or cutting hickory sticks for sale to rustic-furniture makers. The boys got a small percentage of what we made—7% and 5%, based on their age and abilities. In the spring and summer we grew organic vegetables and sold them in Nashville. That is the most difficult way to make a dollar. In the end I think I made about $2 an hour, and the kids got about $2 a day. Everybody was glad to see the end of our truck patch farm. Even in our “Christian community,” there were some families with whom we associated who matured into immaturity. Not all reaped sweet fruit. A form of godliness may conceal, but it will never heal the depravity on the inside. In the final analysis, it is not the community or the church that produces great children and tremendous young adults; it is home life rooted in sincere, relaxed love of God and family that bears eternal fruit. A rotten relationship, or just an empty relationship, between husband and wife and parents and kids is a soul poison without an antidote. Genuine, laughing love immersed in creativity is a miracle cure-all that supercharges the soul and grows up children that are too healthy to come down with soul diseases. My children now range from 29 to 39 years old and they have given us 21 grandkids—so far. I can say without reservation that the fruit of old age is sweet indeed. There is nothing but harmony and goodwill in the family. God has blessed us beyond our deserts. He gives us grace for grace. What God began in a 13-year-old boy (when I was born again) and a 9-year-old girl 54 years ago, he has been faithful to continue in ways that leave us wanting for nothing and without regrets. From personal experience I can highly recommend the Christian life based on the Spirit of grace and mercy. Fear Not Now, it seems like I have gotten away from my subject of preparing for hard times, but I haven’t. I just want to testify that the dark curtain coming down over our nation does not cause us to fear. Hard times on the outside don’t have to translate into hard times on the inside. We do not want to be numbered with those whose “hearts [are] failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth” (Luke 21:26). Jesus said, “And fear not them which kill the body…” (Matthew 10:28). And again he said, “But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:7). And again Jesus reassures us, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). As to hoarding for hard times ahead, Jesus said, “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth” (Luke 12:33).

Hard times on the outside don’t have to translate into hard times on the inside.

No doubt most Christians need to make some lifestyle changes if they want to be prepared for societal unrest and economic depression. But our starting point must be faith, not fear. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). We need to be celebrating life and liberty in the spirit, not complaining and whining about the poor state of the state. We must claim the promise, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Revelation 3:10). I have a ticket out of here before the Great Tribulation (Jacob’s troubles/the time of wrath). More on that later in this magazine. Come What May So come what may, if the worst does happen, our generation will not be the first to suffer deprivation or persecution. The writer of Hebrews indicates that the trials that come upon us are to give us the opportunity to become overcomers, to crown us with glory, to build faith. He says of sufferings, “all are partakers” (Hebrews 12:8). The writer of Hebrews dedicates an entire chapter to those in adversity who did not fear but established a testimony of faith. “And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, “Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. “Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: “And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; “(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: “God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 11:32–12:3). Caring for Our Own

If you are like me, you feel a strong, instinctual need to make provision for your family’s safety and comfort.

But just because we have peace on the inside and can overcome the world, that does not mean I want to be thrown into the fiery furnace, or go hungry, or be vulnerable to a political system hostile to traditional family and Christianity. It would be foolish to sit on my faith and take lightly the possibility of coming hardship and deprivation. We should prepare but not panic. We should plan while we pray. We should get ready but remain steady. While laying up our treasure in heaven, we should lay up a store for the day of famine here on earth. Did not God warn the Egyptians of hard times coming? And did not their preparation see them through the days of dearth? Noah received a warning of coming judgment and “prepared an ark to the saving of his house” (Hebrews 11:7). While believing in God’s care and provision, we can save him a miracle by using the brain he gave us to take care of ourselves. “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (1 Timothy 5:8). If you are like me, you feel a strong, instinctual need to make provision for your family’s safety and comfort. A farmer should have faith, but he must also put his hand to the plow. The Pearl family has made preparation against the days of trial, and we are comfortable with our position in a worst-case scenario. So we dedicate this magazine to some very practical suggestions that, if heeded, can cause you to feel sufficiently prepared come what may. We can say with the apostle Paul: “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31–39).

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Smart Pack

Shoshanna (Pearl) Easling — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 11:35:28 +0000

In an emergency have you ever scrambled to collect the things you need? Well, you need something like what we call a Smart Pack. It can be a serious and life-saving pack, or just a fun pack for fun occasions. Those of us who have delivered babies have already employed this concept. Knowing that the baby is coming soon, we gather up and pack the things we may need for our home birth, or if necessary, the things to take to the hospital. My three-year-old loves his fun pack. He knows it has snacks, water, a change of clothes, a blanket, books, and more. He has so often seen me pack mine that he has taken it upon himself to keep his own packed and ready for any eventuality. He adds a few more toys, snacks, and especially chocolate, if he can find any. Smart Packs are not only for pregnant women and children; they are also for smart people. You never know when the unexpected will actually “unexpectedly” happen. Keeping on hand an Extreme Pack is also a smart idea. It is better to be prepared than perplexed. Ideas for a 1-Adult Smart Pack:

Water bottle with filter
Eden Salve
Band-Aids
Gauze
Athletic wrap
Tylenol
Benadryl
Pepto-Bismol
Antiseptic
Comfrey leaves
Plantain leaves
Echinacea
Activated charcoal
Copy of Edible Plants in the Wild
Needle and thread
Duct Tape
Energy bars
Clothes and coat
Blankets or sleeping bag
Lighter
Knife
Copy of passport
Flashlight
Map
Candles
Small Bible
Beef or venison jerky
Heavyweight plastic to cover or construct a shelter
Rain gear
Strong, lightweight cord

Kid's Smart Pack:

Water bottle with filter
Eden Salve
Energy bars
Band-Aids
Children’s Tylenol
Children’s Benadryl
Antiseptic
Copy of Edible Plants in the Wild
Clothes
Blanket
Flashlight
Reading books
Toys

Water bottles with filter, plantain, comfrey, echinacea, charcoal, Eden Salve, and much more are available at BulkHerbStore.com or write me to sign up for our free catalog at 26 W. 6th Ave., Lobelville, TN 37097.

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Survival

Michael Pearl — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 11:05:28 +0000

Survival, the most powerful instinct of all, recently awakened by the financial crisis and the threatening political climate, is the primary concern expressed in the many letters we are receiving. It is not a new experience for me, because I remember many similar awakenings in my 63 years. In the fifties and very early sixties, there were many businesses advertising the construction of your own personal nuclear bomb shelter. Schools and businesses had regular drills on how to protect oneself in the event of a nuclear detonation. Then came the sixties with all the civil rights unrest, and an all-out race war seemed imminent. Nuclear weapons proliferated, and Vietnam revealed that we were not all-powerful after all. Hippies, drugs, and secularism spelled the end of society as we knew it, and “God is dead” was the state philosophy of the universities. Many of you can remember the seventies and eighties, marked by decreasing respect for morality and the Bible. Killing babies became common, and God made his own statement with AIDS. The government responded by making Sodomites a protected species. The prosperity of the nineties ended with the fear and then the fizzle of Y2K. Many were left feeling silly, sitting on their five-gallon buckets of pressure-sealed dried foods surrounded by a garage full of bottled water. This century started off in fire and blood and has brought growing disunity and distrust of government. But none of this has been as alarming as the present political climate, first launched during the previous Republican administration and now being unbelievably expanded under President Obama. We know that Christians, homeschoolers, and conservatives in general are now in the crosshairs of government assassins, right along with terrorists and anarchists. There is a strong sense amongst us that we are being increasingly isolated by the reigning world philosophies. It all makes us feel that when the time is right, they will feed us to the lions in the name of liberal morality. Christians and people concerned about keeping their hard-earned money are fleeing California like fleas from a dead dog. “Where can we go to survive the impending collapse?” they cry. “What can we do to prepare ourselves to survive? My response is short and simple: “Bring it on!” When I was younger, these things affected me much more. I don’t know if I have responded to the cry of wolf so many times in the past that I no longer believe the warnings, or if it is simply the fact that now I am in a much better position to survive extreme adversities than I was when I was younger. I truly feel that I am able to weather the worst storm and, if necessary, be the last man standing. Which finally brings me to the reason for writing this article. I want to help you to achieve the same confidence I have gained. My confidence is not in stored gold or silver—I have none. It is not in food and other consumable supplies securely laid away. Nor have I placed my confidence in defensive weapons or fortified compounds. My confidence is in two things. First and foremost is the fact that I know my God is in control of all things, and that he is working all things for the good of those of us who love him and are called to be part of his purpose on this earth (Romans 8:28). I don’t say that so as to sound spiritual. I truly find peace in the knowledge of him as my sovereign God, and, if necessary, I’m willing to accept his purposes in the midst of suffering. But I will admit, without the arsenal of natural means that I have acquired over the years to weather adversity, I would have to pray much more and be more resigned to suffer with the rest of society when it all goes up in smoke. As it is, I am equipped to survive—and fully expect to. And all of my equipment is carried in my head—acquired knowledge and the skill to use it in any circumstances. It is far better to possess knowledge of how to gather food from the wild, or even from a vacant lot, than to have a storehouse of food. It is more comforting to know how to build a shelter in the city or in the wilderness, than to own a remote and well-equipped retreat. It is better to know how to make and use tools, than it is to possess the things a man thinks he might need to weather adversity. Confidence in one’s own resourcefulness cannot be stolen or denied by a hostile government or a rogue gang. Think about this. If I had two years worth of food stored up and people around me were hungry, would I hoard my food and eat while others starved? I would not. I would share my food. If I had food and desperate men with starving children tried to take my food by force, would I shoot them in defense of my store? No, I would not. I would share what I had. For that reason, I see no sense in depending on nonrenewable resources beyond a temporary crisis, like a power outage, or a temporary interruption of food deliveries to stores, or an economic collapse that produces chaos for a few days or weeks. It is always wise to have on hand enough food and water to weather a three-month emergency, plus a little more, knowing you will probably want to share with those who have no reserves. Raw grains, beans, rice and nuts are to be preferred—more food for less money and simpler to store. Three hundred pounds for the average family should see you through—all for less than three hundred dollars. Rather than maintaining a fancy storage unit after the emergency has ended, eat it or throw it out every year, and then refresh your supply. Now, there is an obvious advantage to living in the country—a big advantage! Out there you are much less likely to have to defend your food storage supplies. You will be far removed from the urban violence that is likely to occur. Well water or purifyable groundwater are available even if utilities are not functioning, and, best of all, you will be close to the land where your foodstuffs can be renewed. You may be one of many who are disturbed because you live in a big city. You almost feel trapped: Your job is there, and with the dire economic conditions we’re presently in, this is no time to be changing your vocation or looking for a new job. Many of you, if you did move out into the country, would be helpless, poor, and destitute when your money ran out. If you fit into this group of families, please consider this very practical and workable suggestion, one that is both affordable and is almost guaranteed to be fun for the whole family. This weekend, take a family trip out into the country outside your city. Fifty to one hundred miles should be about right. Find a farm with an old abandoned shack on it. Locate the owner, and introduce yourself and your family. Make sure the kids are with you and at their most courteous—“Yes, Sir,” and “Thank you, Ma’am.” Tell the owner that you work in the city and are concerned about the troubling political and economic climate we’re presently in. Tell him that you would like to have a get-away out in the country, but cannot afford to buy a place. Offer to lease his old shack for something like $500 a year, or less, on the condition that you make some improvements on it—possibly new windows and doors, insulation, etc. You can replace windows and doors for about $100 each. If you cannot afford to do much improvement, you can buy a roll of clear all-weather clear vinyl that can be stapled over the windows in time of need. Tell him that your family would like to vacation there as you work on it weekends and summers. Volunteer to help him on his farm (if he has one) for the knowledge you will gain. I am sure he will be willing to plow your garden, and cut the weeds around the place with his tractor. In time, you will accumulate all necessary tools and the knowledge to use them. Learn to garden by starting with a small plot no bigger than your living room. There is an abundance of good books that will provide you with the basic knowledge you will need. Knowledge is power, and the skills learned to apply that knowledge produces confidence. Following this very workable suggestion, you will be able to continue living in the city where you make your living, but you will also have all the advantages of living in the country. Always keep enough gas in the car to get there, and enough food to last you until the next harvest season, and you will be all set for any worst-case scenario. On a small scale, you can learn the old-fashioned ways to store potatoes, pumpkins, turnips, cabbage, and beets. You can practice canning and drying food. Out there in the country, you will be able to locate experienced old-timers who will love to share their knowledge with you. Harvest wild nuts and berries. Learn the land and what it has to offer. Get comfortable with the outdoors. Hike. With the owner’s permission, cut your own firewood. Install enough solar panels for lights at night and to recharge electric tools. This can be the most bonding experience your family will ever have. The kids will love it if they see that you are relaxed and are having fun. And, be sure to not drive them too hard. Let them paint their own rooms. Visit the local swimming hole. Find the best places to fish. Make it a point to go hunting there in the wintertime. Learn to identify local plants that are edible. You can eat about half of what grows wild, but you must make the effort to know “which half.” Visit the local churches and get to know the people. Let them know what you are doing, and they will not only appreciate your effort, they may step in to help. By putting these suggestions to work, you can be a commuting homesteader without the burden of being helplessly in debt. And let’s face it, most of you are not cut out for country life with its long winters and humid and sticky summers. A little dose can be fun, where a total change in lifestyle can become a burden too heavy for you and the whole family. I say again: The best resource against hard times is knowledge. When you add to knowledge a convenient environment to put that knowledge to work, you will be a confident and happy survivor of any local or national disaster. Then you can grin and join with me in saying, “Bring it on!” The following is a suggested list of good “how-to” books that we have used and accumulated over the years. Many can be found at BulkHerbStore.com.

Just In Case: How To Be Self-Sufficient When The Unexpected Happens
The Green Pharmacy
The Encyclopedia of Country Living
The Have More Plan
How to Grow More Vegetables

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