In recent days parts of South Africa have devolved into civil unrest. AlertsUSA sent the following alert, “US Embassy S. Africa issues security alert warning of unrest and violence in Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Johannesburg & Pretoria. Urges low profile.”
“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he assembled his 318 trained men, born in his household, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.”
This is an opportunity to pray for the people of South Africa. It is also time to use what is happening to inform our own defensive strategies.
Matthew Bracken shared a short (6 minute) tribute video. How would we respond to defend our communities? A tribute to those that heeded the call “to protect their communities when the government could not.” Sadly, in the U.S. last year, we would have to say, “when the government would not!”
“South African Heroes. A tribute to the [ARMED] people who defended their communities when no-one else could.” https://youtu.be/ZcBan4u28ZI
The purpose of this class is to take newer shooters through the majority of tasks with a carbine to create confidence and establish perspective. Marksmanship, recoil-management, reloads, malfunction-clearing, basic shooting positions, and getting started moving with a carbine. The targetry selected provides a baseline of speed and marksmanship on a human-sized silhouette out to 50m.
This timely blog post discusses the six capabilities the Army began using as a baseline for skills and readiness:
The traditional: – Shoot: Proficiency in self-defense tactics and tools. – Move: Physical fitness and mobility will be key to your survival. – Communicate: Transmitting information — everything from hand signals to High Frequency — is vital.
The non-traditional: – Medicate: “Fairly obvious, but one challenge has been figuring out how to Medicate during sustained emergencies without access or availability to hospitals.” – Sustain: “This is more than beans, bullets, and band-aids. This includes provisions for shelter, fuel, parts, gear, and just about anything else required for ongoing survival.” – Decontaminate: “As I mentioned above, infectious diseases were responsible for two-thirds of Civil War deaths. Do we have a quarantine plan? Do we have the ability to sustain that quarantine?” Read here: https://www.grayzoneactivity.com/blog/beyond-shoot-move-and-communicate
Community will be key. Do we have a family, church and community that will be ready to pull together in the event of sustained civil unrest? How can we start getting ready?
“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he assembled his 318 trained men, born in his household, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.”
Crypto Currency and Cancel Culture:Because cancel culture includes being able to bank, i.e. being allowed to or able to buy and sell. The Church could learn something here. Revelation 13:17
The Biden Administration, like Obama before him, are weaponizing the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to be used against anyone that opposes them or holds different political, economic, social, or religious views.
In response, Gab CEO Andrew Torba posted “Gab is already dealing with this happening right now. We have been banned by two banks this month alone.” (https://gab.com/a/posts/105759490802221636)
The Gab and BitCoin Story
And Big Tech is doing the same, the only question is, does big tech work for big liberal government, or does the government work for Big Tech?
“Gab has been blacklisted by Visa for standing up to defend free speech so we cannot accept debit/credit cards like most online businesses… [But we can] accept … Bitcoin” https://news.gab.com/what-is-bitcoin/
“We WILL get Canceled… Here is our plan. John discusses the inevitability of getting canceled by Big Tech and having to choose between our entertainment and our cultural values. Cancel Culture is destroying lives. This modern form of banishment attacks a person’s digital identity by humiliating and twisting the meaning of someone’s words to portray an image of what culture hates the most at the moment. Gina Carano has been thrust out of social and professional circles because of this very phenomenon. Meanwhile, the Left continues to degrade traditional values, champion fringe agendas, and label people as “fascists” while enacting fascist policies.” Video – youtu.be/v18sMcmJ-NQ
Lastly, stepping out of my comfort zone here, but the Federal Government can’t keep borrowing/printing money without consequence. The Bill will come due!
This was one of my big griefs with churches that took the “covid” money, the money used to back that program was stolen from future generations of Americans.
Hopefully those examples give you reason to learn more about Crypto Currencies. So lets get to it.
Note: this is not financial or investment advice. These are my notes from researching and getting started in the crypto coin market. This is super noob getting started notes!
Some terms
Exchange Service to buy, sell, trade crypto. There are transaction fees for exchanging fiat currency to/from crypto, just like exchanging the dollar to/from the euro. Examples: coinbase.com, binance, kraken [Gab] Exchange recommendation gemini.com
I actually use multiple exchanges. Some exchanges will exchange certain cryptos that others won’t.
Make $10 of bitcoin! If you choose to use Coinbase, use this link when you register [https://www.coinbase.com/join/dobra_ku] If you exchange more than $100 fiat dollars we both get $10 worth of bitcoin. This is a Coinbase promo.
Wallet Used to store crypto
Web wallet Wallet hosted on/at a website. exchanges by default are also a web wallet. In general, though, funds should NEVER be stored at/on an exchange. Exchanges should be utilized only for transferring or trading funds; when at rest, all funds should be stored in a local wallet.
App wallet Wallet based on a phone app. Practical application for storing what “spending” crypto you want to have on hand. Just like a physical wallet in your pocket while walking around, how much you keep in your app wallet is based on what you might need to spend, and what an acceptable loss would be if it were stolen. Examples: Atomic or Exodus multi-exchange wallets
Note: web and app wallets are under control of outside forces. The exchange or app owner or service providers could block or restrict access. Service outages could prevent access, etc…
Software wallet Software application on your desktop/laptop. Like your checking account. Safer medium term storage of crypto likely to be moved around for buying, selling, trading, etc…
Hardware wallet A device for high security long term storage. Like a savings account, or better yet, a safe deposit box. Examples: Ledger nano x, trezor, coldcardwallet [Gab] Wallet recommendation coldcardwallet.com, ledger.com
Note: search for the exchange and wallets that hold the coins you want to hold.
Your wallet will have receive/send or deposit/withdrawal functions.
If you are paying (sending/withdrawing) with crypto, it will ask what address to send to, you just get that from the recipient. The address is a long string of numbers and letters or a QR code.
Same thing to receive a payment (receive/deposit). Your wallet will give you a list of addresses, choose one and send it (chat, text, email, etc…) to the payer, and they just paste it into their paying function in their wallet.
Thats it!
Note: There are many, many cautions to double verify the address you are sending crypto too! Once you send it you can’t get it back! Don’t fall for phishing/spam messages.
Staking and rewards
Some block chains have utility beyond crypto currency, like Cardano (ADA), and you can “stake” your wallet to earn rewards.
“Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform: the first to be founded on peer-reviewed research and developed through evidence-based methods. It combines pioneering technologies to provide unparalleled security and sustainability to decentralized applications, systems, and societies.
With a leading team of engineers, Cardano exists to redistribute power from unaccountable structures to the margins – to individuals – and be an enabling force for positive change and progress.”
Some potential Cardano blockchain applications: Anti-counterfeiting, ID & credentials solutions, agriculture, and other, supply chain product certification and traceability, and more.
Tax ** I haven’t looked into this at all yet 😦
I hear “in the UK and US staking returns are taxed as income. When turned into fiat, you then have capital gains tax.” (??)
Any way… to conclude, someone smarter than me please go learn more and come back and teach us!!
“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he assembled his 318 trained men, born in his household, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.”Genesis 14:14 CSB
“The right to life is a good example of what legal historians refer to as an objective right: it is objective in the sense that it exists outside ourselves and is unalienable… The right to life imposes obligations: you must do everything in your power to preserve it.” #SlayingLeviathan https://canonpress.com/products/slaying-leviathan/
“It is extraordinary to me that both Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) lived and worked in the same city at the same time. Both were, in a sense, evangelists contending for the souls of men with their competing visions of humanity. Moreover, each was at the height of his powers at the same time as the other. While Marx was preaching salvation through bloody revolution, Spurgeon, on the other side of the city, was preaching salvation through the blood and grace of Jesus Christ…
“It would be wrong to say—as many preachers do—that addressing matters of politics falls outside of the purview of the clergy. Of no other sphere of life do they say it. Regardless, Spurgeon certainly didn’t agree with this sentiment. Christianity isn’t merely an accessory to a man’s life; it should define it. Thus, a man’s politics are simply the outward manifestation of the convictions of his heart. Socialism, Spurgeon knew, was much more than an economic or political question. It is a spiritualquestion, if only because it denies the very existence of the spiritual. It is, as I have written elsewhere, atheism masquerading as political philosophy…
“It is very likely that the preaching of Spurgeon, and others like him, prevented the violent Revolution in Britain that Marx sought. Ironically, that revolution would come in the unindustrialized Russia of 1917, when Vladimir Lenin would, at the cost of millions of lives, implement Marx’s unworkable ideas. That is in no small measure due to the fact that there was no viable church to critique the undeliverable promises of socialism…
Will we choose Liberty or “become prey of that more desolating and more cruel spoiler than war, pestilence, or famine – absolute rule and endless extortion… our parent state will think us worthy of her, when she sees that with her liberty we inherit her rigid resolution of maintaining it against all invaders. Let us give her reason to pride herself in the relationship.”
Speech in General Congress of America 1775, unknown, “The Christian life and character of the civil institutions of the United States” Benjamin F. Morris. 2007,1864
Brothers, this week I want to pray for America. We do not have a President Elect yet. However, there is a lot of media mis-information and censorship. The election matters to Christians and in particular Christian homeschoolers. I sat in on the Family Research Council prayer tonight (https://prayvotestand.org) and it was really powerful. I pray God’s will be done. I pray that if there is corruption lying and cheating in this election that God would reveal it, and that He would bring the wrong doers to justice. Truth and justice, God, is what we desire. God, may the events of this year awaken the church to renewed faith, discipleship, and evangelism.
“The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.”
“God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.”
Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!”
If the church is not reenchanting this fallen world with God’s truth and grace, then it is being disenchanted with the lies of Satan!
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” – Romans 10:14-15
Prayer, public witness of the church, and proclaiming God’s truth and grace.
Why are we here (in this sin fallen world)? To bear witness to God and His truth and grace. To make disciples of all nations. Matthew 28:18-20
Why are we here (on the sidewalk outside an abortion clinic)? To bear witness to God and His truth and grace. To love the captive soul and to preach the good news! Romans 10:14-15
What message are we sharing and bearing witness to? There is a God that created the heavens and the earth. We humans are created in His image. We are sinners, we have rebelled against Him, and justly deserve our due punishment of death and damnation. But God is merciful and loving. Jesus is God the only begotten Son and He took our punishment upon Himself in our place. Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death and securing the hope of our salvation. We need only confess our sins, proclaim Jesus is lord and savior, and repent and we will be forgiven our sins and have life ever after! Romans 3:10-18, 23 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 John 3:16-21 Ephesians 2:1-10
Birth rates matter, and Christians have a mandate from God.
“Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.” Jeremiah 29:6 ESV https://www.bible.com/59/jer.29.6.esv
Establish Households!
I’m adding this as the broader collective of building, multiplying, and instructing from Genesis 1:27-28, Jeremiah 29:4-7 and Psalm 127.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”” Genesis 1:27-28 ESV https://www.bible.com/59/gen.1.27-28.esv
Instruct your children!
Prepare them to be the leaders, witnesses, disciple makers of the future! “Don’t be breeders for Babylon!”
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” Psalm 127:3-5 ESV https://www.bible.com/59/psa.127.3-5.esv
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:6-7 ESV https://www.bible.com/59/deu.6.6-7.esv
“but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”” Matthew 19:14 ESV https://www.bible.com/59/mat.19.14.esv
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4 ESV https://www.bible.com/59/eph.6.4.esv
“Go and make disciples!”
They don’t mention it, and I think it’s probably because it should go with out saying, but Christians must be about making disciples. It isn’t a debatable matter.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” Matthew 28:19-20 ESV https://www.bible.com/59/mat.28.19-20.esv
Be joyful in the fight!
Our King has won! He is on His throne! We are His ambassadors in this fallen world. So rejoice! Even if it feels like we are losing some political or cultural battle, rejoice!
“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;” Revelation 19:6-7 ESV https://www.bible.com/59/rev.19.6-7.esv
Reform the Church and ReEnchant the World with God’s Truth and Grace!
If the church is not reenchanting this fallen world with God’s truth and grace, then it is being disenchanted with the lies of Satan!
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” – Romans 10:14-15
Prayer, public witness of the church, and proclaiming God’s truth and grace.
Why are we here (in this sin fallen world)? To bear witness to God and His truth and grace. To make disciples of all nations. Matthew 28:18-20
Why are we here (on the sidewalk outside an abortion clinic)? To bear witness to God and His truth and grace. To love the captive soul and to preach the good news! Romans 10:14-15
What message are we sharing and bearing witness to? There is a God that created the heavens and the earth. We humans are created in His image. We are sinners, we have rebelled against Him, and justly deserve our due punishment of death and damnation. But God is merciful and loving. Jesus is God the only begotten Son and He took our punishment upon Himself in our place. Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death and securing the hope of our salvation. We need only confess our sins, proclaim Jesus is lord and savior, and repent and we will be forgiven our sins and have life ever after! Romans 3:10-18, 23 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 John 3:16-21 Ephesians 2:1-10
— Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World by Eric Metaxas https://a.co/bCDhftE
Brothers, two prayer focus areas this week: The election, and reformation day!
Pray that there would be peace and safety around election day and through the inauguration in January. Pray for law, order, and justice.
Pray that this reformation day Oct. 31 would renew the church’s zeal for the truth and the Scriptures.
Read Jude
Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Jude 1:3-4
40 Days for Life Family Prayer Vigil Friday Oct. 30 at Noon, Planned Parenthood 2709 N Knoxville Ave, corner of Knoxville and Hanssler Place.
Backup up plan in case of bad weather: meet at the Dobra’s and we will pray together.
Prayer, public witness of the church, and proclaiming God’s truth and grace. Also a good time for family instruction and discipleship!
Why are we here (in this sin fallen world)? To bear witness to God and His truth and grace. To make disciples of all nations. Matthew 28:18-20
Why are we here (on the sidewalk outside an abortion clinic)? To bear witness to God and His truth and grace. To love the captive soul and to preach the good news! Romans 10:14-15
What message are we sharing and bearing witness to? There is a God that created the heavens and the earth. That we are sinners and justly deserve our due punishment. But God is merciful and loving. Jesus is God the only begotten Son and He took our punishment upon Himself in our place. Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death and securing the hope of our salvation. We need only confess our sins, proclaim Jesus is lord and savior, and repent and we will be forgiven our sins and have life ever after! Romans 3:10-18, 23 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 John 3:16-21 Ephesians 2:1-10
Leviticus 18:21; Matt. 5:17-19; Acts 2:37-41
Reform the Church and ReEnchant the World with God’s Truth and Grace!
If the church is not reenchanting this fallen world with God’s truth and grace, then it is being disenchanted with the lies of Satan!
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” – Romans 10:14-15
Prayer, public witness of the church, and proclaiming God’s truth and grace.
Why are we here (in this sin fallen world)? To bear witness to God and His truth and grace. To make disciples of all nations. Matthew 28:18-20
Why are we here (on the sidewalk outside an abortion clinic)? To bear witness to God and His truth and grace. To love the captive soul and to preach the good news! Romans 10:14-15
What message are we sharing and bearing witness to? There is a God that created the heavens and the earth. We humans are created in His image. We are sinners, we have rebelled against Him, and justly deserve our due punishment of death and damnation. But God is merciful and loving. Jesus is God the only begotten Son and He took our punishment upon Himself in our place. Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death and securing the hope of our salvation. We need only confess our sins, proclaim Jesus is lord and savior, and repent and we will be forgiven our sins and have life ever after! Romans 3:10-18, 23 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 John 3:16-21 Ephesians 2:1-10
Leviticus 18:21; Matt. 5:17-19; Acts 2:37-41
We have been told that we people are the chance result of impersonal chaos working its dark magic on the universe… The outcome of such thinking? Humanity is disenchanted…
But this is not the biblical account of man… God, the beautiful one, made the human race as his capstone work, his corporeal masterpiece (Ps 8:3-6; 27:4) … The imago dei marks out humanity as an enchanted race. Tragically, humanity disenchanted itself by following the anti-wisdom of the serpent…
If we have assumed… that our children learned what they needed to know simply by ecclesial and cultural osmosis, let us be clear that we may hold this assumption no longer. Now is not the time to play down our doctrine of mankind; now is the time to teach it with confidence and with joy, seeking to be witnesses to fellow sinners and guides to all God’s flock.
“Reenchanting Humanity: a theology of mankind” by Owen Strachan
If the church is not reenchanting this fallen world with God’s truth and grace, then it is being disenchanted with the lies of Satan!
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” – Romans 10:14-15
Prayer, public witness of the church, and proclaiming God’s truth and grace.
Why are we here (in this sin fallen world)? To bear witness to God and His truth and grace. To make disciples of all nations. Matthew 28:18-20
Why are we here (on the sidewalk outside an abortion clinic)? To bear witness to God and His truth and grace. To love the captive soul and to preach the good news! Romans 10:14-15
What message are we sharing and bearing witness to? There is a God that created the heavens and the earth. We humans are created in His image. We are sinners, we have rebelled against Him, and justly deserve our due punishment of death and damnation. But God is merciful and loving. Jesus is God the only begotten Son and He took our punishment upon Himself in our place. Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death and securing the hope of our salvation. We need only confess our sins, proclaim Jesus is lord and savior, and repent and we will be forgiven our sins and have life ever after! Romans 3:10-18, 23 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 John 3:16-21 Ephesians 2:1-10
Leviticus 18:21; Matt. 5:17-19; Acts 2:37-41
God Spoke the World into Existence!
‘The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ‘
When God’s truth is not spoken in the world, the world is disenchanted. Lies and darkness fill the void.
Good News! God ReEnchants the World!
‘ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ‘
Reform the Church and ReEnchant the World with God’s Truth and Grace!
‘How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” ‘
Train and Equip to Properly Wield the Sword, God’s Word, to ReEnchant the World!
Beware the black magic: “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes…
Be the good magic: “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” Ephesians 4:14-15 ESV https://www.bible.com/59/eph.4.14-15.esv
Put away the black magic: “Therefore, having put away falsehood…
Be the good magic: “let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.” Ephesians 4:25 ESV https://www.bible.com/59/eph.4.25.esv
Do not speak black magic: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths…
Be the good magic: “but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29 ESV https://www.bible.com/59/eph.4.29.esv
Avoid the black magic: “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness…
Be children of good magic: “but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” Ephesians 5:6-8 ESV https://www.bible.com/59/eph.5.6-8.esv
“The rebellion of Babylon has carried on throughout history. The people of those days sacrificed their children to pagan gods; we sacrifice our unborn children on the altar of convenience.”
The American Redoubt Radio Operators Network, AmRRON, “is a network of Preppers, Patriots and Redoubters who have volunteered to keep each other connected when other means of communications are unavailable or unreliable. AmRRON operators participate in >>scheduled nets<< to practice using non-conventional communications.” https://amrron.com/
“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he assembled his 318 trained men, born in his household, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.”Genesis 14:14 CSB
“The right to life is a good example of what legal historians refer to as an objective right: it is objective in the sense that it exists outside ourselves and is unalienable… The right to life imposes obligations: you must do everything in your power to preserve it.” #SlayingLeviathan https://canonpress.com/products/slaying-leviathan/
Dobra Family Ministry 