In September 2014 we did a DTS. The theme was ‘Unswerving Hope and Reckless Surender.’

We have made it our life goal to live by those words.

The gospel is a story of hope. Any situation, yes, even the Covid pandemic, can be seen with hope of better things to come if we focus on Christ. If the situation is bringing despair and hopelessness to your life then you’re probably focused on what the devil is trying to accomplish instead of what God is doing.

Reckless Surender. I included the definition of reckless here because it’s a word I’d rather not identify with but in this context it is fitting.

reck·less

/ˈrekləs/

Learn to pronounce

I wasn’t serious. Like not at all. But Checkers was all in and he convinced me to actually consider it while he listed all the pros:

• We have a place to sleep on the way out and won’t have to spend on motel rooms.

• We can rent a long term campsite for $550 a month, utilities included instead of spending $1200 on a mortgage, utilities not included.

• This takes care of the second vehicle we need and were going to buy out there.

• our long term plan is for Checkers to start his own business, this way we can save more towards that plus he already has the truck he’ll need.

• There is a lot of land for $30-$40 thousand out there with sewer and water hook ups but no buildings, due to the fires that went through a couple years ago. We could buy one of these and park our camper on it now and eventually build on it.

• We can then rent out our camp as a rental for BSSM students or air BNB.

• Or we could rent out our camper, probably year around, because it’s a camping kind of area.

•And we can go camping or sightseeing along the west coast often if we own a camper.

Honestly, if we keep our living costs this low for awhile, the possibilities are endless.

And that is why we ended up with a camper that is currently being renovated and why we plan on living in it for a year or so.

That’s our plan

The truth is though, I have no idea what God’s plan is, but I do know that is plan has proven to be superior to ours every single time.

Let the adventures begin continue.😎

Camper renovation pictures: (before and after)

I’m here (on my blog) because I have a lot I would like to say but will not say, because I refuse to be the person that argues or slams others on FB.

My blog, however, is my space. Because you don’t need to read them if you don’t like my opinions. Still, even here it is my goal to be respectful, considerate and open minded while sharing my view and opinions.

However, it doesn’t seem to matter how much I word and reword something, it doesn’t matter how much I tone it down or how many things I don’t say that I would like to say, it seems people still end up offended, or read things into what I said that honestly never even crossed my mind.

When I blog I often feel like it isn’t possible to fit my entire perspective into 1500 words or less. There is angles I leave uncovered and arguments that I leave unsaid.

Why?

Because its a blog, not a book.

How much more true is all that👆 When people squeeze their opinion in a 20 or 30 word FB comment?

And yet, we read that tiny snippet of someone’s opinion and then we roast them with ours.

There’s a lot they didn’t say but we fill in the blanks with how we assume they meant it. We judge their motives, we judge their situation and we are fully and completely convinced that we know exactly what kind of ‘off track idiot’ they are and yet we have never even met them in person.

And sometimes we do know them in person but we slam them from behind a screen with words we would never use to their face.

I don’t like confrontation. So much so that I used to avoid it at cost. After all Matthew 5:9 says: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Then a friend pointed out that it says peace makers not peace keepers.

A peace keeper will avoid conflict, will avoid the problems and issues that lay beneath the surface in order to maintain an artificial form of peace.

A peace maker will strive to get rid of everything that stands in the way of the genuine peace of God. Yes, the process doesn’t look peaceful but the end results equals peace made.

That is why I don’t believe Christians are supposed to stay silent when Things like this pandemic happen.

This battle is spiritual. If the Christian stays silent, won’t evil win?

That is why I think Christians should use social media, because again if we stay silent on social media, are we not leaving a massive social influencing site to be run by evil agendas?

Pennsylvania is in the midst of a major mask debate. The people that would like to go mask free are losing. I don’t think it’s because there’s less of us, I think it’s because most of us are “peacekeeping Christians“ and the mask wearers seem to be largely liberals.

And in case u didn’t notice liberals fight for what they want. They get loud.

Just to be clear. I do not agree with their strategies nor do I recommend for anyone to follow their examples.

However, I would like to point out that taking action gets results while staying silent gives the impression of submission.

I think we need to take action. That we need to speak up.

There’s such a fine line here though.

There’s quite a few people that I follow and I love their passion, I agree with most of what they say but then they use sentences like “if you can’t see this or that, then you are part of the problem!” Or “wake up!” Or “every pastor needs to open their churches now!”

Basically, what those sentences are saying is that if you don’t believe exactly as I do then you’re wrong!

This isn’t going to help anyone nor will it change anyone’s mind.

Not to mention it doesn’t sound much different then people proclaiming: “if you don’t wear a mask, you must not care about anyone but yourself.”

Also, engaging in lengthy, hateful FB debates will not change anyone’s opinions.

I can’t say that I know exactly how it should be done but I do know that there is people that manage to accomplish it.

Here’s some things that I try to keep in mind while on FB…

1. Am I leaving room for other people’s opinions Or am I bulldozing them with my own?

2. Is it true, or am I spreading information that might be incorrect?

3. I will not try to be politically correct because I believe this interferes with the work of the Holy Spirit.

4. If it’s a subject (like masks) that the Bible gives no clear direction on one way or another then my opinion isn’t the only one that’s right.

5. Am I assuming I know someone’s entire life just because of one comment they made?

I have made social media mistakes. There is definitely no ‘one size fits all’ and I am far from a pro at all of this.

I do know though that the liberal agenda on FB is exhausting.

They don’t seem to care about the truth but only about everyone doing things the way they think it should be done.

Here’s some questions I would love to have answers to…

1. Why is it ok for people to believe that masks should be mandatory but unacceptable for people to think it should be a personal choice?

2. Why is it considered racist to say all lives matter, but it is not racist to say there’s such a thing as ‘white privilege?’ Go find the definition of racism.

3. Why is ok to say that covid-19 is an extremely dangerous virus even though the survival rate is over 99% but it’s not ok to say that this is obviously about more then a virus.

4. Why is it ok to shut down someone’s business that might only serve a hundred customers a day but it’s not ok to expect box stores like Costco who serves hundreds of customers a day to shut down. If this is about stopping the spread shouldn’t we spread the people out rather then sending them all to the same store?

5. Why is it ok to trust the government without a second thought but it’s not ok to question their inconsistent actions?

6. Why is ok to say that masks work when even the box you buy them in clearly says they don’t but it’s not ok to say that they don’t work even though the box clearly says they don’t?

7. Why do some people get to have an opinion while others are expected to stay quiet?

8. Why is ok to riot and cause mass destruction To other people’s properties but it’s not ok to defend your own property?

9. Why is it ok to gather a large crowd to riot but not ok to go to church?

10. Why is it ok to ignore the facts that are very clearly evident but not ok to ignore the government?

11. Why is it ok to hear only what we want to hear but not ok to speak the truth?

12. Why is it ok to abort babies and run a huge trafficking organization but considered unloving to open legitimate businesses.

13. Why is ok to be concerned about people dying from covid when that’s barely even happening anymore but not ok to be concerned about people committing suicide due to covid restrictions when this is still happening?

I could go on but let me share this quote I read recently instead…

When evil is tolerated, it becomes normal.

When evil is normal, it becomes acceptable.

When evil is accepted, it will be promoted.

When evil is promoted, it becomes a way of life.

Once evil becomes a way of life, evil is called good and good is called evil.

(Pretty sure I butchered that one a bit, but it went something like that.)

Why guys? Why is it ok to bash every single person on FB that we disagree with but not ok have an opinion of our own?

We would like to blame Tom Wolf for being a tyrant and for government overreach (which is all very true) but the truth is… it’s not Wolf that’s hurting the people.

It’s us. We’re hurting ourselves.

We’re hurting ourselves by ignoring the facts and the truth. We are allowing ourselves to be dictated.

Do you realize that if each person minded their own business and took care of themselves and their own health rather then putting that responsibility on the people around them Wolf would be powerless?

If we took responsibility for ourselves rather then ratting out other people and trying to tell them how to live their lives, we wouldn’t  even have a problem right now.

Yes, ultimately this all falls back on Wolf and his actions but there is a chain of command and if each person would step up and refuse to promote unconstitutional orders, Wolf would have no power.

Dare to take a stand against political correctness guys, dare to seek the truth, dare to take a stand against entitlement, dare to go against the opinions of others.

Refuse to carry the blame that they try to dump on you when you don’t fall for their manipulation. It isn’t yours to carry.

Because, I can promise you, you will never get it right for this kind of spirit. They ask and we give but then they ask for more, so we give more, yet they will demand even more and will never be satisfied.

Because no matter what they say…

You are not the problem.

They are.