Christian Holidays or Biblical Feasts ?

Christian holidays and how they should be celebrated has been a major bone of contention among Christians: Christmas tree or no Christmas tree ? Easter egg hunts or no Easter egg hunts ? But are you aware, dear sister, that neither Christmas nor Easter, nor Pentecost for that matter, are biblical feasts, feasts Yahweh TOLD us to keep ?

The feasts we are told to keep are Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of First Fruits, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles, and there are Christians who realize that these are the appointed feasts and have started to observe them.

But alas, believe it or not, some of them actually eat lamb on Passover, thus showing that they lack even the most basic understanding of what the Passover lamb has stood for, typologically, from the beginning. The blood of the lamb saved Israel's first born sons from death. Christ's blood paid the wages for sin.

So no more lamb killing at Passover, please, for Christ was the last Passover Lamb to be killed.

Early Vegetables

Yesterday I mentioned gardening, so let me continue with this topic today, because:

It is time to get the early vegetables planted !

Yes, I know, for many the last frost date is still a while off, but with a cold frame you can still start your salads, beets, radishes and even carrots already. The brassica family (broccoli, cauliflower, red and green cabbage, kale, etc.) also prefers the spring and the early months of summer over the hot weather of July and August, so you better start sowing now, and put some plastic over your garden beds to both increase what sunlight you are already given, and to keep your early vegetables nice and warm when the nights get cold.

If you have room for it, it might also behoove you to start planting your tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and whatever else you will be wanting to eat in the summer now, in peat pots or the plastic version thereof. Heating mats will help keep your seedlings toasty if you do not have room inside the house, but have to keep them in the garage or some barn, or shed.

Besides, it might not be a bad idea to map out what you wish to plant where in your garden, to consult companion planting guides that are available in book form or online, and if you haven't done so in the fall, maybe also to get a soil testing kit so that you know which nutrients your soil still lacks.

So get your gardening clothes out of the closet, and enjoy !

A Well-Oiled Machine

When people consider the large, multi generational and polygynous family, of course many wonder about how sharing the work day may look like practically speaking, with so many adults around who are all able and willing to participate in the work that needs done.

Well, I guess I already used the most important word that keeps the running of the household smooth and peaceful - participate. In a large family like this, it is unhelpful if everybody wishes to run the show, yet, it is equally unhelpful if one person has to micromanage everything that is done. So what is needed is a spirit of participation, where everybody takes responsibility for his and her particular area of work that he or she is busy with this week, this month, or this season.

If I am responsible for cooking the meals this week, for example, I will compile the week's menu, compose the grocery list with everything needed, and prepare the meals as I see fit to offer my family both healthy and tasty food. Next week, another member of the family might be responsible for the cooking and I can enjoy meals new to me, or different from how I would make them, and be inspired and nourished at the same time.

Or if I am responsible for the garden this month, it is up to me to water and prune, harvest and process whatever the garden yields this particular month. In those months in which the harvest is plentiful, we might be sharing this responsibility with two or three members, while I can very well take care of the garden by myself in the early months of the gardening season, when pulling weeds, watering and staking are the activities necessary.

You see, responsibilities may very well change, especially when it comes to those things everyone seems to like, or dislike, so that joys and burdens are shared equally. And while I am busy working away in one particular area, I can be creative and use my imagination and skills to the best of my ability and the good of all. If someone has a suggestion on how I am doing things, suggestions are welcome, of course, as is advice and help, but the responsibility is on me, and so is the ultimate decision on how I am doing things this week, this month, this season.

This does not mean that everybody does as he or she pleases and when the responsibilities change, it is difficult for another member of the family to take over, no. Of course we have a general understanding of how things are done - weeds are not to take over the garden, dishes are to be done after meals, for example - but the micromanagement is up to me in my particular area of responsibility. This way we avoid discussions or even tenseness about the small things of everyday life, and ensure that the household resembles a well-oiled machine at all times.

On being a Contentious Woman

Having strong, educated opinions about significant things is good, and is a valuable asset to the family, but to be bull headed about trivial matters is simply selfishness and contention... Any mature individual should be able to discern the difference. There is a line (that's not so fine) between strong opinion and contention. Don't mistake one for the other.

Remember Proverbs 27:15-16.

Opposition

Let me say a word or two about where the opposition to biblical polygyny comes from.

It might or might not surprise you, but I have never met anyone quite as rabidly opposed polygyny as so-called "good Christians". To the majority of modern day Christianity, polygyny is simply wrong, and they are as ashamed of the biblical accounts of polygyny as they are of the mentioning of slaves or concubines. Not understanding any of the three mentioned examples because they approach polygyny, slavery and concubienage with modern day definitions and the attitude historical Christianity has towards these issues, they feel comfortable judging Abraham, King David and others for "sins" God never judged them for, and have no problem relying on the majority agument ("if more people thought like you do, you would be more convincing", "after all, we all know polygyny is wrong", and similar phrases) instead of relying on Scripture to shape their theology.

The more ecclectic the Christans we talked to were, the less issues they seemed to have with polygyny, not for biblical, but for humanistic reasons. Since they did not rely on the Scriptures as their only standard, they felt comfortable not to condemn polygamy because they themselves did not want to be condemned for, for example, blending their traditional pagan believes with Christianity. So the further away people we met were from God's word, the easier it was for them to accept polygyny.

For us, this basically means that real brethren are few and far between. So if you are inclined towards believing God and relying on His word for all of life, and openly advocate biblical plural marriage, brace yourself for opposition from the Christian community, but rest assured, they only have so many arguments from the bible that they use out of context or have to reinterpret in order to make the Scriptures say what they wish it to say. God will not be mocked, though, and whoever is ashamed of God's word, of him God will be ashamed too.

Polygyny Only for the Brainwashed ?

Over the years I have talked to many married women who all told me basically the same thing, using different words: That they were yearning for female companionship inside their marriage, for sister wives with whom to share the joy and the work and the inevitable burdens too. They told me it was getting "female-lonely" where they lived, they had no like minded people around, nobody to talk to from woman to woman, especially if the children were still small. All these women had another thing in common: Their husbands were all very reluctant concerning polygyny, not all that eager to look for another wife at all.

I find this to be interesting for two reasons:
1. Quite obviously, you don't have to be brain washed by some cult to see the benefits and joys of having sister wives.

2. It's is not always the poor woman that is dragged into something she never wanted. In our society, polygyny seems to appeal more to women than it does to men.

Think about it, and about your prejudices... Polygyny is not about men who are so lust driven that they cannot make do with one wife only. If that was the case, they could go to the whore house and save a lot of money in the long run, rather than taking responsibility for another wife. No, polygyny is about building godly families, if the family lives by God's Law Word and their motives are grounded firmly in Scripture.

Defining Terms - "Holy" and such

I was made aware of this problem this morning: That I need to tell you, esteemed reader, how we define our terms.

When we at Joshuah's House, which is our main website, talk about anything referring to Scripture, we are careful to let Scripture define the terms used. Scripture explains itself, and we make use of bible software and bible dictionaries to recapture the Hebrew mindset, and to find out what the Greek expression for one term or another would have been, in order to discern the Scriptures rightly.

We had to explain at length at one point, for example, why the biblical definition of the word "adultery", which is different from the more modern definition, is important to know when trying to understand what Jesus says about adultery. According to the biblical definition of adultery, polygyny cannot be adultery because the marital status of the woman defines whether or not adultery is committed. If a married woman lies with a man other than her husband, they are committing adultery. If an unmarried woman lies with a married man, they are not committing adultery, but they have just married. Of course modern definitions are different, but when you look at other bible dictionaries, you will find that they tell you what the Hebrews had in mind when they used the term "adultery". If you wish to read the respective article on Joshuah's House, let me refer you to the Apologetics.

So, of course I also did some research on the word "holy", and the article I posted here recently is based on that research. If you wish to read more about holiness, see the results of my word research, and learn a little more about the concept of separation, please have a look at
"By Way Of Remembrance" (2Pe 3:1) - Holiness in the Bible

Why no TV ?

I have ranted about TV elsewhere, but will repeat the short version here too. There is only one thing that you really NEED to do about TV, and that is: SHUT IF OFF.

What's on TV is not called "program" for no reason - it is what is programming you to be the little goose-stepping Nazi the government wishes you to be. Television tells you what to like and what to dislike, what to buy and what to read, what to believe and what to question... It is the biggest brain washer you can imagine, so stay away from it.

Not watching TV will also free up a tremendous amount of time that you do not need to spend either watching it or talking with other people about what you watched, so you can actually get something productive done instead.

You want information ? Buy a few newspapers, or look online. You want entertainment ? Read a book, go outside and listen to the birds, or ask your grandma to tell you about her childhood. You are too tired to read or do anything much ? Go to bed. But don't subject yourself to that mind numbing machine. It will ruin you for any clear thought.

Modesty Saves Money

In difficult times when people are losing their jobs left and right and are short of money for any number of reasons, even those of you, dear sisters, who haven't taken modesty very seriously, might want to look at it again. I will give you a few reasons for modesty that you might have an ear for now:

• If you stop using make up, you can save the money you spent on eye shadow, lipstick etc. According to the book of Enoch, the shadowing of the eye is one of the skills brought to us by the Watchers, designed to defile mankind.
• If you start wearing a head covering 24/7, you can save the money you used to spend at the hair dressers as much as what you spent on hair spray, gels or other fancy things. Simple shampoo, even baking soda and vinegar, will do just fine. Read 1 Cor 11 to find out why wearing a head covering might be a good idea.
  
• If you stop buying clothing of the latest fashion, you will have plenty of money for some fabric to sew for yourself some simple dresses or skirts and shirts. If you don't have sewing machine, you can easily buy one from the leftover money that will still be in what used to be your clothing budget. And read 1 Ti 2 and what Paul has to say about apparel.
  
• If you stop wearing jewelry, you can sell what you have and use the extra money to stock up on food, or buy a water filter, or seeds, or any other tangible that will keep you alive when things get worse. Read 1 Pe 3 for another chapter that mentions jewelry and adornment in general.
  

These are just examples... There is much more to modesty, but if you start with these, it will already save you considerable money. Oh, and shut off the TV and cancel whatever channels you were paying for. That will help too ! And comment please, if you have something to add :)

The Holiness Principle

"Be holy, for I am holy", God says in Leviticus, and Peter repeats it in his first letter. Be holy, for I am holy. Now, what does that mean, "be holy" ?

If you look at the respective Hebrew and Greek words for "holy", you will find that the concept expressed is that of separation. Being holy means to be set apart for God, basically.

How can we be holy nowadays, then, how can we set ourselves apart and consecrate ourselves for God ? We have to separate ourselves from everything that is ungodly, secular, abominable to the Lord. In today's world, this means we have to separate ourselves from society as the world we live in is largely ungodly, even within the church community we find more abominations and lawlessness than not. But the spirit does not enter into an unclean vessel, and we have to stir clear of those who work iniquity, if we want to follow God's statutes and be holy, as He is holy.

Of course this has something to do with polygamy too - How can you best be separate from society ? If you have a large family, or a community of brethren to rely on, that's how. And the more wives your husband has, and the more children you all have, the better are the chances that you will be truly independent of society's services. Don't despair if it does not happen in your lifetime, though. Abraham believed God when He promised to make Abraham's offspring as numerous as the stars, even if Abraham didn't even have a son at that point and was well beyond the age in which men usually father children. Yet he believed the Lord, and it was counted him as righteousness, so let us follow Abraham's and Sarah's example, believe God, think bigger, and develop a multi-generational vision, especially in troubled times as these.

"Forced" Homemaking in the City

One of my readers was so kind to share her current situation on the last post titled "Jobs, jobs, jobs", and I am sure that her experience is shared by many women recently: She lost her job and is home all day now, the children are grown up already, and living in the city her means of growing a garden are very limited too. It is a terrible situation to be in, very frustrating, and I guess the temptation to just sit in front of the TV all day just to kill time and don't think about how bad things are is big. But of course this will make things worse. So what can you do if you are thrown into a situation like this, with less money than you are used to to boot ?

For a start, you can always start buying less convenience food and more raw ingredients, and start cooking and baking from scratch. If you bake your own bread, for example, you will save a lot of money and also eat healthier as the bread you bake lacks artificial ingredients, flavor enhancers and other unnecessary stuff.

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD RECIPE

To bake two nice loaves of whole wheat bread you only need

6 cups flour,
2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup of lukewarm water, and another 2 1/4 cups of lukewarm water
2.5 tsp of salt,
and time to knead and bake. Whole wheat needs to be kneaded for 20-30 minutes if you do not wish to bake a door stop ;)

Dissolve the yeast in half a cup of water, then add flour, stir, add salt, stir, add the remaining water, stir. When the ingredients are mixed, start kneading, not to forceful at first, just gently, and once the dough begins to be elastic, you can knead more vigorously.
Adjust the consistency of the dough: If after about 10 minutes of kneading the dough is not springy but still somewhat juicy, add a little more flour. If it gets too dry and somewhat hard, add a little more water - it will probably be enough to make your hands wet and continue kneading.

After about 10 minutes, give your dough time to rise. Place it in a greased bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and give it about 2 hours to rise for the first time. When the dough is doubled, punch it down and let it rise another hour.

Then form your two loaves, put them on a greased baking sheet, cover them and let them sit again while the oven preheats. Bake your bread at 350F for about an hour. It is done when
- it is golden brown
- makes a hollow sound if you pick it up from the baking sheet and tap the bottom sharply with your knuckles or fingertips

Other than baking your own bread, you can make your own stock for soups:

SOUP STOCK RECIPE

Simply save vegetable trimmings from onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, garlic, eggplant, zucchini, squash, spinach, parsley, potatoes, etc. Cover trimmings with water, bring to a boil them in plenty of water and then simmer gently for about half an hour, until the vegetables are very soft. Drain, discard the vegetables, and freeze the stock you just produced. You can use it for and kind of soup you wish to make. Do NOT use pepper innards, artichoke trimmings, tomato trimmings, or any trimmings from any member of the brassica family (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli etc), they will make stock bitter.

And one last idea:

PASTA FROM SCRATCH

3 eggs
1 tsp salt
herbs to taste
2 cups of flour
flour for the kneading board (no need to skimp on flour when making pasta)

Crack eggs in a bowl, add salt and any herbs you like (basil, for example, does well, or even pepper), and beat the eggs. Then add flour and knead dough quickly. Let sit for a few moments, the roll dough out on a floured surface, turn dough often while rolling it out. When the dough is thin enough to your taste, cut in pieces and let the pasta dry. Store in fridge or freezer.

Baking and cooking from scratch will save you money, give you meaningful, important work to do at home, and you will find that it is a satisfying experience to eat better with less costs. Your family's health will benefit, too, let's not forget that.

These are just a few examples... You could also start sewing your own clothing, knitting sweaters, growing a kitchen garden and planting potatoes in a bucket on the balcony, make your own soap, or any number of other activities in the home that improve your life and give you meaningful work to do at the same time.

If you have more ideas, dear reader, please add them.