03/31/2011
The Internet is filled with good and bad. Personally, I believe the Internet (along with a precious few independent newspapers and radio talk shows) is analogous to colonial America’s "Committees of Correspondence": it is the last resource of uncontrolled, unfiltered information left. I dare say if it wasn’t for the Internet (and the massive private ownership of firearms), it is doubtful that there would be anything left of the once great American republic. There isn’t much left as it is.
To help readers locate a variety of quality web sites, we posted a list of sites that I personally have found helpful. I invite readers to peruse these fine web sites.
Scrolling down the list, one will find James Wesley, Rawles' web site: "Survival Blog." This is one of the very best online resources for preparedness that I know of. Furthermore, I recommend that everyone read Rawles' fantastic book, Patriots: A Novel Of Survival In The Coming Collapse. This book should be regarded as must reading for every American who cares about the future of his country and his family.
Order Rawles' book at Amazon.com.
Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised to see that James has recently written a major piece on his web site regarding the Baldwin family move to Montana. On his blog he wrote, "I concur that Pastor Chuck Baldwin was right when he 'voted with his feet' and moved his family from Florida to Montana. Like Chuck Baldwin, I believe that it is time for freedom-loving Christians to relocate to something analogous to 'Galt’s Gulch' on a grand scale."
Rawles went on in his column to say, "Giordano Bruno identified a trend that has been developing informally for many years: a conscious retrenchment into safe haven states. I strongly recommend this amalgamation, and that it be formalized. I suggest calling it The American Redoubt. I further recommend Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, eastern Oregon, and eastern Washington for the 'réduit.' Some might call it a conglomeration, but I like to call it an amalgamation, since that evokes silver. And it will be a Biblically-sound and Constitutionally-sound silver currency that will give it unity."
At the conclusion of his column, Rawles gives a succinct checklist for those who decide to take his advice and move to the Mountain States. The list includes:
Develop a home-based business
Lighten the load. Keep the practical items, but sell your junk and impractical items at a garage sale.
Bring your guns.
Sell your jewelry and fancy wristwatch. Buy a Stihl chainsaw instead.
Choose your church home wisely, seeking sound doctrine, not "programs."
Expect long driving distances for work and shopping.
Begin homeschooling your children.
Expect persecution and hardship. You will be despised for being true to your faith.
Make a clean break by selling your house and any rental properties. You aren’t coming back.
See Rawles' blog entry here.
After having moved to "The American Redoubt," I can vouch for the accuracy and sagacity of Rawles' comments. He is spot-on! Especially for the point: "Expect persecution and hardship. You will be despised for being true to your faith." I can personally attest to the accuracy of this statement.
I thought I knew what persecution and hardship were, but after my family and I moved to Montana late last year, I found out that I didn’t have a clue what they were. I do now! Furthermore, it was not the "devil’s crowd" that did the persecuting and who created the hardship; it was "God’s people." In my 50+ years of living, my family and I have never been treated as vilely and as cruelly as we were after we moved to Montana–by so-called "Christian friends." Maybe one day I will be able to share the story with my readers. It is ghastly!
Since moving to this wonderful State, I have spoken with scores of people who also moved here: many moved before we did, and many came since we did. (And countless others are still on the way!) Amazingly, practically everyone I spoke to recounted the same exact story: persecution (in one way or another) by so-called "friends" and "loved ones," because of their decision to move here. I mean, just about every one of them said the same thing!
For this reason, and many more, I said in one of my Sunday messages a week or two ago, "All of you Christian renegades and castaways from organized Churchianity out there, come on out to Kalispell, Montana, and join your liberty-loving brethren at Liberty Fellowship." And guess what? They are coming!
They are coming from Washington State, California, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, Texas, Louisiana, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. Just to name a few states that I know about from where people either have already moved, or from where people are in the process of moving.
At the conclusion of our Sunday service each week at Liberty Fellowship, I read the letters and emails from people all over America who feel the divine urge to come to the Mountain States. And many are coming to Kalispell, Montana, specifically to be part of Liberty Fellowship and the band of patriot Christian brothers that are assembled here. By the way, Liberty Fellowship is NOT a 501(c)(3) IRS corporation, which is another reason many are coming! And, again, if you are thinking about relocating here, please re-read Rawles' words of wisdom. A move such as this is not for the fainthearted or uncommitted!
If readers want to view some of my archived messages, including my four-part series on "The True Meaning of Romans 13," go here.
Or, if readers want to watch our Sunday service livestreamed each Sunday afternoon at 2:30 pm (MDT), go here.
I've never met James Wesley, Rawles, but I hope to have that honor in the near future. And if not, I'll be honored to shake his hand in Heaven. In the meantime, I can assure you that people need to start paying attention to folks like Rawles, because one would have to be a blind man to not see the foreboding clouds on America’s horizon. And, obviously, I strongly believed in "The American Redoubt" even before I knew there was a name for it.
Dr. Chuck Baldwin recently left the Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida to move to Montana. He hosts a weekly radio show. His website is here.