The Storms of this Decade – Finding God’s Will

So far this decade we have experienced a pandemic, an economic crisis caused by that pandemic, unprecedented social unrest, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and the exacerbation of economic crisis by that war. That’s five storms in less than two-and-a-half years. At this rate, we will experience fifteen more storms between now and December 31^st, 2029.

I heard something profound the other day. Kale Zelden (on the General Eclectic podcast) said, “Most people don’t want to think things are as crazy as they fear them to be.” Humans are incredibly adept at ignoring situations and circumstances that make them uncomfortable. This approach to life is particularly dangerous when the storms are raging. It’s best to prepare before it is too late.

Beth and I have decided to take an intentional and prayerful assessment of our condition – to ask God to inspect and restore our house – spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically – that we might not only stand in the storms, but be a refuge, encouragement, and source of wisdom for others.

We have begun by making the following lists of recommendations from Rod Dreher, Glenn Beck, and our own experiences. We think you might benefit from them, as well.

The process is simple: Ask God to reveal items on these lists you need to give attention to, and then begin talking to Him about them. Ask questions (e.g., Father, how do I pursue this? Father, who do I involve?). Be open to Him bringing other things to your mind.

Lastly, please let me know if you need help with the process or with understanding the meaning behind each of these recommendations.

From Our House Fire Adventure

1. Remind each other, God is sovereign and has a plan for our future.
2. Reckon it to be true: He loves us and desires the best for us.
3. Count the cost. Grieve the loss. Say your “whatever” and “amen” (at the beginning).

From the Benedict Option (Rod Dreher; preparing to live “in the world, but not of it”)

1. Receive a sacrificial love of the truth, search it out, and share it with others.
2. Develop a disciplined and relational prayer life – pray without ceasing.
3. Find the good work that glorifies God and perfects your faith.
4. Rediscover Christian asceticism (saying no to one’s desires and yes to God; e.g., fasting).
5. Build community. Sacrificially love your community, but do not idolize it – or any other good thing (e.g., family, church).
6. Make the church’s social network real (i.e., sacrificially love one another).
7. Reach across church boundaries (i.e., denominations, doctrines) to build relationships.
8. Pursue geographic, work, and ministry stability. Live close to other members of your community.
9. Practice hospitality.
10. Reestablish church function and discipline with prudence, mercy, and good judgment.
11. Embrace transformation.
12. Politically: Focus on prudent, achievable goals – closer to home (e.g., state and local politics).
13. Prepare spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically for some very dark times.
14. Rediscover your faith community’s foundational truths.
15. Rediscover liturgical worship.
16. Keep social media out of worship.
17. Evangelize with goodness and beauty (e.g., love another, pursue unity).
18. Embrace exile and the possibility of martyrdom; prepare to be poorer and more marginalized.
19. Turn your home into a domestic monastery.
20. Don’t be afraid to be nonconformist.
21. Don’t take your kid’s friends for granted (i.e., that they share your values – test everything and everyone).
22. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good enough.
23. Give your family a rightly ordered education.
24. Teach your children Scripture, and immerse the young in the history of Western Civilization.
25. Pull your children out of public schools.
26. Don’t kid yourself about Christian schools.
27. Start classical Christian schools. If this is not possible, then homeschool.
28. Parents, be the primary sex educators in your family. Affirm the goodness of sexuality, but do not compromise to keep the young comfortable with you.
29. Fight pornography with everything you’ve got.
30. Recognize that technology is not morally neutral; the internet is the floodgate of liquid modernity.
31. Take on digital fasting as an ascetic practice (i.e., fasting social networks).
32. Take smartphones away from kids.
33. In society (e.g., work, ballfield, ballet class), pick your battles wisely – be prudent and bold, as the Holy Spirit leads you.
34. Be entrepreneurial. Rediscover the trades. Do things with your hands.
35. Buy Christian. Build Christian employment networks.
36. Question progress – it should build on good foundations, not seek to deconstruct them.

From Glenn Beck (in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine)

1. Read your Bible and pray, daily. Ask for guidance, listen and obey that “still, small voice”.
2. Get into groups and/or neighborhoods that think alike. Find a group of friends that will join you on the path and help each other. We will need each other to survive. If you are alone, move.
3. Think of the community as a whole and the things that might be needed (e.g., food, medical supplies).
4. Prepare now:
   1. Have a week’s worth of cash on hand.
   2. Fill and keep gas tanks topped off and keep extra, if possible.
   3. Fill your pantry. Have a year’s worth of food, if possible, and extra for neighbors.
5. Be a watchman, or find one you can trust. Our freedoms are eroding quickly.
6. Get involved in state and local politics. Call state reps and tell them to stop ESG (Energy, Social, Governance) standards from being used.
7. Support laws against digital currency which can be programmed by the issuer to only be released when they deem appropriate and restricts the use of money to “socially appropriate” activities.
8. Get your kids out of public schools.
9. Don’t follow a “leader”, but God and the actions of Christ. If you are participating in an activist group, have everyone sign the MLK pledge of non-violence.
10. Do not dismiss people who claim to have witnessed miracles and dreams from God. These will become more prevalent.

From Live Not by Lies (Rod Dreher; Preparing to live under Totalitarianism)

1. Value nothing more than the truth.
2. Choose a life apart from the secular crowd. Do not be afraid to be weird in societies eyes.
3. Reject doublethink: Holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them (e.g., a man can be a woman, racism does not apply to certain groups).
4. Fight for freedom of speech.
5. Cherish truth-telling, but be prudent.
6. See the lies, judge when and how to confront them, act in accordance with the truth.
7. Cultivate cultural memory by intentionally creating small fortresses of memory.
8. Create alternative social structures within which social and intellectual life can be lived out – underground church, ministry, and school.
9. Bear communal witness to future generations. Tell stories, and make stories, that celebrate community. Be the person and community you want for your children and grandchildren.
10. See the needs within your community, judge how to meet the need, act in accordance with the Holy Spirit’s leading.
11. Model moral courage.
12. Fill your children’s imaginations with the good (e.g., by screening good-versus-evil movies).
13. Prepare to make great sacrifices for the greater good.
14. Teach your children they are part of a wider movement.
15. Practice hospitality and serve others. Prudently welcome the lone individual into your community.
16. Develop a deeper dependance on God – by grace, through faith, in Christ.
17. Develop small groups in geographically close areas.
18. Align with those who share your convictions and goals, but may not (yet) be Christians.
19. Grieve together.
20. Organize now, while you can.
21. Learn the value of suffering; receive it as a gift.
22. Become disciples (not just admirers) of Christ.
23. Practice suffering without bitterness.
24. Expect the worst, show mercy to the broken. Let the weakness of others make you stronger.
25. Reject the feebler forms of Christianity (e.g., therapeutic religion, prosperity gospel).
26. Develop a militant attitude in spiritual matters (i.e., be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might).
27. Live not by lies.

Others That Come to Mind

1. Be suspicious of subconscious paradigms and the workings of your carnal mind.
2. Keep God’s purposes at the forefront: Restoring His reign, intimacy, and habitation; pursuing His glorification, as He brings many sons to glory.
3. Serve others sacrificially, as preparation for suffering.
4. Reject worldly distractions and carnal weapons.
5. Practice taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
6. Receive a sacrificial love of the truth.
7. Search out the ways of God for building community during chaotic times.

This final list could have been longer, but I need to stop somewhere. Please let me know others the Holy Spirit reveals to you.

God bless you with overflowing joy and peace for the “Decade of Storms” (aka, the 2020s).

Humbly yours and forever His,

Rob (#iamjustthepen)

P.S. Email me if you would like a printable copy of the lists.