Bible Studies, Sermons, YouTube, and GMWA

Hello all!  Anna here again.  I hope you all don't mind that I've taken over writing for Hans so much!  It's been a very busy season, with Hans traveling much, many household projects, as well as lots going on over at Good Morning White America.

We are currently posting our audios that have been airing on GMWA weekly, over on our YouTube channel. It is for our ongoing series Biblical Nationalist Principles In Every Decision. We are a bit behind, but if you have missed hearing our episodes on GMWA, you can catch them over on YouTube. We are trying to post a few a week until we catch up, but for now, you can watch Household Products, Buying Quality Products, and Gardening and Organics.  We hope to get a separate YouTube exclusive video up this week as well for you all!

We are also very excited to be a part of Good Morning White America's launch of Essential Christianity Bible Studies. Starting Sunday, March 5th, Hans, Adam Grey, Clement Pulaski, and Grey Rebel will be teaching each study as we dive into the Bible and break it all down into the foundations of Christianity. (Edit: Hans speaking here) : This will be live on Google Hangouts, and although all are welcome, please understand that these studies presuppose the Protestant Reformation version of Christianity as truth, and the studies will operate under this assumption. 

The purpose of these studies are the glorification of Christ; edification of one another, learning to know and walk with Christ. The meetings will not be a place of debate between Protestant/Catholic/Orthodox, etc. The meetings will not be a place of debate between different Protestant denominations either. But rather, in these meetings we will be "endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:3) --end of Hans' writing

Currently there is an East Coast and West Coast group, with Hans leading East, and Adam leading West. For more information on how to join, visit GMWA, and click under the "Churches" tab. You can also download, or buy a physical copy of the first installment of study guides on Genesis. Hans, Adam, and many others are praying this opens a door for God to plant physical local churches of like-minded believers across America. We hope you can join us!

Within the next month Good Morning White America will also be posting sermons, teaching important biblical topics. Adam, Clement, and Hans will be rotating every three weeks, with Hans being on the third each time. We pray that these will bless you and help you grow in your Christian walk!

Also, if you have children or know someone who does, we highly recommend Adam and Mary Grey's new book that has just recently been published! We are so very excited for them, and also very excited to finally have a children's book written from a godly Nationalist mindset!  Be sure to get a copy of Walls and Fences. We look forward to many more wonderful books like these from the Grey's!

~Anna Gygax

Moore Family Films Review (It Is Your Life: The Moody Family): Good Morning White America

Hello everyone!

Today we have a special video to post on YouTube.  It was actually an audio, originally aired on Good Morning White America, as a review of a Moore Family Films movie. We want to share 'It Is Your Life: The Moody Family' with you. Be sure to watch the video to see how we hope to bless you with a copy of this wonderful film!

Anna Gygax

American Made French Press Review: The Portland Press

Our latest YouTube video is out, and this time it is (finally) a product review. I have always had the heart to want to review products and/or local businesses. I had meant to do so through this blog, but never got around to it.

If you know anything about me, you know that I push hard for buying from local, small businesses. I am anti-corporation, anti-technology (ironically, as I type on a computer and create YouTube videos), and pro-local community. The goal, eventually, is to separate from the grid system, as described in Michael Bunker's Surviving Off Off-Grid book, which is an excellent read. It will challenge the way you think about everything. It is not a "How to Do" book, but a "How to Think" book.

Anyhow, this review of is The Portland Press. We ran into it by the Providence of God; because all attempts to search for American Made French Presses failed, when our vintage, German-Made French Press had the glass break, and we were unable to get a replacement for it.

I did this review for free, and without any prompting from the company. My goal is to get people to stop buying from huge corporation, and buy from local and small businesses. I have a loose system of how I prioritize my spending:

1) Small Local Business
2) Small Business
3) Local Business
4) American Made
5) German Made
6) Made somewhere known for quality (for example, my Vintage Newsboy Hat, that you see on the Intro Video, was made in Scottland-- the one I have worn in the latest videos was made in the USA)
7) Everything else

Of course, price does sometimes come into play, and depending on what we are buying, small compromises have to be made. But these are my goals when I buy a product. When I go to a restaurant or something like that, I am looking for local, and I am looking at the kind of ingredients; does this business use local or organic food?

All that to say, enjoy the video review. If you have any questions, put it in the comments on a YouTube video, or on my Google Plus page.

Swiss Kinst

Does God Work Outside The Box Of Scripture?

¹⁵ So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
¹⁶ And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord?
¹⁷ And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.
¹⁸ And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
¹⁹ And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
²⁰ And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
²¹ And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him.
²² And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
²³ Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.  - 1 Kings 22:15-23

The story here in 1Kings 22 is one of my favorite in the Bible, if not my most favorite. Why? Because it shows that God is not the type of God that Americans make him out to be. He goes against the grain, even against what American Christianity thinks of him as. Stories like this, and that of Jehu, who deceived Israel, pretending to be a huge follower of Baal, only to have it later revealed that it was a set up the whole time; he really was just out to slaughter all of those who turned against the LORD to follow a false god.


The point being, Jehu used deception to glorify God and he is commended for it in scripture. American Christianity would shudder at and/or scorn this type of behavior if they were to see if from a Christian today. "That is certainly not like Christ!" they would shout. But is not Christ the same God who consulted and agreed/approved his own ministering spirits to become lying spirits in the mouth of his prophets, so that he could slay someone whom he hated? And is he not the same God who said unto Jehu,

"And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel." -- 2Kings 10:30


So we can see that God doesn't work within the so-called box of scripture in these instances. We assume since God is holy, just, righteous, and cannot lie, that such deceptive acts could never be condoned by him. But the scripture's teaching is so completely obvious in the two mentioned passages. Dispensationlists might attempt to squirm out of these passages by their patented line, "But this is the NEW Testament." But us Reformed know better than that. Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

Is God Actually Sovereign?

We have known and believed in the sovereignty of God over all events and peoples, for several years. But the more we get to know Christ, the more we see it true in the practical areas of life; and we are establishing our faith in his total control in our hearts, rather than just as an intellectual head knowledge. It is amazing the peace you can obtain by believing that no single detail of life is outside of God's choosing and control.

But in that sovereignty, over the years, we have seen some wild stuff. Do you believe God can take a sinful situation and turn it into something for his glory? We experienced that in my conversion to Christ, where I ran away from home in rebellion, moved in with a woman, who was herself straying from Christ; but who presented the gospel to me in her sin; in which I was saved and turned into a disciple of Christ. This caused her to turn her life back to Christ, and here we are, married for 14 years, with 8 children being raised for the glory of God. So God used a Christian who was rebelling against him, to convert a sinner to himself. Talk about outside the box!

Do you believe that it can be God's will for a Christian to be openly sinning against him, and still use that Christian for his holy purpose? I do. You don't have to condone the sin itself in order to acknowledge that sometimes God desires and chooses to do things that way. I wouldn't call the two Bible stories I mentioned, an example of this exact thing; because Jehu and the lying spirits were not sinning (although American Christians of today would accuse a Christian who did that very thing today, of sinning).

It is certainly against scripture for a woman to speak in the assembly (1 Corinthians 14:34), but do you believe that God could use this ignorant sin for his glory, to edify his body, and to glorify his name? As much as I hate it, I have to admit, I believe God chooses to do this sometimes. Here the key choice of words "God chooses to do this", come to play.

You might here accuse me of hyper-Calvinism or fatalism, or whatever (I don't believe I am, but even if I could be, I would rather stick with scripture that man-made theology). But I will explain the understanding I am coming around to have; and my view of how God operates in the world:

We like to think that God is not really sovereign. We are presented with a God who is simply real sharp, and quick on his feet, so that any action we take, he can react in order to make it work for his glory. But this kind of view makes man sovereign, not God. God is the one planning, ordering, and carrying out his will:

"[A]ccording to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."  (Ephesians 1:11)


We are recently witnessing a huge, outside the box, working of God. We see something happening in certain Christians' lives, and God's working through it with someone, whom it appears, he is drawing to Christ. It really is quite amazing to watch. It is confusing, but exciting. We've never seen it on such an extreme level. And if we were to tell the story to just about any Christian listening, the entire situation would be universally condemned as being against the scripture, against the character of Christ, against principle, so on and so forth. They would say these Christians are deceiving themselves.

I wouldn't ever condone what these Christians I see, are doing....

But hearing people share their hearts, learning all the facts behind the situation, and seeing how God is working with people's weaknesses, it is almost undeniable that this is the way God is choosing to work things. Maybe we could say, "Well God is just using what he has to work with".. fine, if you think that I guess. I suppose that part of it isn't really that important anyway. The main thing I take away from all this, is that God loves his elect with a love that is incomprehensible, and that he will continue to love them despite their failures and flaws, and even continue to use them for his glory, without condemnation (even though he does not condone the behaviors).

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." --Romans 8:28

I guess I should really say I am undecided about all this. Maybe I am totally deceived. But the facts before me seem so undeniable. I am aware of the forms of deception that can be used by Satan to keep believers trapped in sin. But in the end, if the believers, through the situation, escape the sin, come out stronger than ever, while God using them to convert others, what can I really say against it? There is one thing I do know, however:

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" -- Philippians 1:6

Swiss Kinist

I love the hospitality of the Anabaptist

Okay, finally, here we go; a positive post. I cannot say that there will be no negative comments in this post, because even when mentioning a righteous deed, it is necessary to contrast the righteous acts with the opposite. This post is going to highlight a key strength that many Anabaptist churches possess that is mostly lacking in the Reformed and also other Christian groups.

You might be wondering why I am so critical of the Reformed and seemingly high on the Anabaptists, when I claim to be Reformed. Well, the people I am around the most are Reformed people, so I see our own flaws more than I see the flaws of the Anabaptist. I suppose that if I attended an Anabaptist church it might be the opposite. But secondly, I think it is a good habit to criticize or be harder on your own, than on those outside of your circle.

We can criticize the faults and sins of the Negro all day long, but that is not going to help us much, even though his problems appear to be greater than ours. We need to look at ourselves; us Europeans have a lot to repent of and America would not be in the state it is today if not for the departure from the word of God of our own people. It is not the Negro's fault or the Jew's fault; they are simply God's instruments of judgment against us for our sins.

We must take the same attitude in area of Christian sects. Let us examine ourselves and see where we can improve. We cannot blame the problems in the church (and by inference, the problems in America) on other sects of Christianity. If we hold the true form of doctrine, we must lead out by example in the practical areas of life.


The Days of Old.. Sort Of


I recall the days of old; well, about 10-12 years ago or so. We had just come out of the Independent, Fundament Baptist Church. And if you know about these type of Christians, they are church-goers who are excited about church and even sometimes about "soul winning", but their idea of Christianity is just going to church and passing along the chain-message, and the cycle repeating again and again. Not much true discipleship happens, if any. The best distinction they maintain between themselves and the world is that perhaps they do not drink alcohol or watch Rated R movies (which is a very low standard). They did not practice very earnestly the virtue of hospitality.

Our small church (sort of a combination between an Independent Baptist and Anabaptist, with a slight atmosphere of home-church) decided to attend a weekend of religious meetings in Ephrata, PA, which was about 5-6 hours away. We only had 1 or 2 children at that time, I believe. In most of these type of situations, whatever kind of meetings, you would have to stay at a hotel. You can see with a lot of events, it will be announced, a list of "places to stay" while in the area. This is what I had always been accustomed to and thought nothing of it. But instead, there were multiple families more than willing to take us into their home and treat us like royalty. The provisions they gave were more than gracious while we were there. And these people did not know us at all, and did not even really know most of the people of our small congregation.


The Way This Type of Anabaptist Operates


In the type of circles I described above, it is common, it is expected, it is preached, and it is ingrained into the very being of these sort of Christians: Hospitality is the chief characteristic of the Christian. This is charity (1Corthians 13) in practice. There is no way that the church (the called out ones) out there in Ephrata, PA would have ever allowed any Christian, whether they knew him or not, to have to pay for a hotel for a night. And in addition to that, there is no way that such Christians they take in would not be treated with the highest honor.

"I was a stranger, and ye took me in:" -- Matthew 25:35

The Sheep and The Goats

This was not by accident. However, it was never organized officially (in a "have to do" sort of way, as a congregation). The church there had built into their very character, a love for hospitality (Titus 1:8), which is a requirement for a Bishop. It is no wonder that most of the men in the church were leaders in every sense of the word, and almost any one of them could have stepped into the position of an elder at any time.

This church had a culture of hospitality. And I am not saying that no other Christian groups have ever nor am I saying that no sect of Christianity has a resemblance of this type of charity. But I have never seen it so embraced zealously, as I have with this particular group of Anabaptist churches. They are the same, whatever part of the country you dwell in. For example, in the particular church nearby that we attend occasionally, any visitor is asked by several families to join them for supper at their home after the service, to the point where you have to turn down many offers before the day is done. In my experience thus far, I have yet to see anything like it. They do it because they desire to do it, not because it is a duty or obligation. They will do anything for anyone, and drop everything just to serve others. And this sets them apart from the rest, in my opinion.

This does not just play out in the area of taking in strangers. It applies to all areas of life and is an example of the main theme: laying down our lives for others. Dying to our own desires and will. It is living out these verses:


"We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.

Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;

And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day....

Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me."  -- 1Corinthians 4:10-13,16



Real Life Genuine Hospitality



I certainly do not intend to say that the only examples of self-sacrifice and hospitality are found in Anabaptist circles. A couple of years ago, we were blessed to run into good old-fashioned Southern Christian Hospitality.

My wife met a few godly Christian families online through her blog. One of the families in Tennessee invited us down to visit for a few days. So we drove down, but on the way there, there was a huge pothole on the highway, while going through a one lane construction zone. There was a huge "thump" driving over it. I wonder how many tires that thing blew out and the damage it finally did. There was literally no way of avoiding it and no warning about it. Well, we did not notice any damage until later in the trip.

When we were about to leave the host family's house, the father of the home offered to change my tire to a spare tire, because he could see that there had been damage due to that pothole. So he changed the tire and we were on our way. But after reaching about an hour away, north, we heard a rattling noise coming from the tire. I slowed down a lot and put on my flashers in the right lane, trying to reach the next exit. But about a half mile before the exit, the tire came off entirely and we could see it rolling down the highway ahead of us in the traffic (it is actually really funny looking back at it, ha ha!). By the grace of God, I pulled onto the side of the highway and everything was okay.. other than that we were stranded, one hour from our friends (we had just crossed over into Virginia) and 5-6 hours from home.

What happened afterward was impressive on every part, to say the least. We not only witnessed the extreme hospitality of the families of a small fellowship on the TN/VA border, but also witnessed the radical culture difference between this territory and where we live, in NE Ohio.

We called the family (our friends) and the father drove down to where we were on the highway, and took my family to a local town where there was a Wendy's restaurant. We got some food there and while I won't go into all the details here, the people treated my family like royalty while I left with our friend to try to get the van repaired (even though they kind of over-stayed their welcome, with no where else to wait).

Our friend and I drove to try to find a place to get the van repaired; and being that it was Sunday, that was difficult. What had happened, is the bolts that held on the rim had completely broken off (in case you are wondering if our friend did not install the spare tire correctly-- no, he did not). He took us all back to his house for the night. And that night and the next day (before we went to repair the van) was one of the most Holy Spirit filled times we ever experienced, as we enjoyed a much better fellowship than we previously had during the visit, and his family (a wonderfully gifted musical family) played beautiful hymns for us on the piano, violin, and Cello.

Our friend found a place that repaired commercial semi-trucks, and he paid to have it towed there; when he called the place the next morning, the owner (an old hillbilly type of guy), although he told us he could not fix it, cheerfully offered for us to use any of his tools and equipment to make the repair ourselves (that is hospitality, seemingly contagious in that part of the country).

After a few hours of finding the right parts and doing the difficult work, we had it finished. To top it off, the fellowship centered around that area all contributed to give us $100.00 to buy another tire when we got home. They certainly went over the top on hospitality. But this is just the normal Christian life for these type of people. And these people, not Anabaptist by any means, have that very same spirit that dominates many of the Anabaptist circles I am familiar with. These people barely knew us and were willing to bear all kinds of inconvenience and suffer loss for our sakes.


Conclusion


We need to learn from these blessed examples. As I have maintained for a while now, there are huge strengths in many different Christian sects. If you want duty, realize that it is our duty to search and seek and discover the areas of weaknesses in our own camps, and to repent and apply the word of God faithfully, as we see the fruit of other groups demonstrated before our eyes.


Swiss Kinist