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Hi, my name is Rick Bloodworth. This is the Common Sense Christian channel, and this is the third part of the series. Are you ready for the next big crisis? Well, this particular topic is one that I suspect is not going to be overly popular. Most people don't like to think of bad things happening. As a matter of fact, most people don't like to think at all. We just really like to get through with our work that we have to do and then come home and put our feet up and relax and just let our minds go into neutral playing some video game or watching tv or playing with our phones or whatever it is. But this particular topic requires thought. And it requires prayers for guidance. I liked a show years ago. It involved Dr. Huxtable and he had a son named Theo, and he was trying to teach his son the facts of life and the fact that when he got out of the house, he was going to have to work for a living. And so he was showing him what everything cost. And, and the son, Theo, just could not believe how much everything costs. And he realized he was going to have to work and work hard. And that's when his father said, I suspect this will cut into your leisure time. Well, this particular topic, if you're going to give it the proper thought and the proper prayer is going to cut into your leisure time. But I think if you will think about it for just a few moments, you'll see how important it is for you to begin to make preparations that perhaps you have not been making for the simple reason that you haven't been thinking that they're necessary. As we go through this, I want to point out that we've been talking about a number of problems that are, that are either crises right now, or they're potential crises that are looming ahead. And you don't have to agree. With anybody as far as what the causes of these particular problems are. But you do need to look at it with your eyes wide open and determine whether there really are problems or not. And just very briefly, think of some of the things that we have going on right now. In America, we have a president who is clearly not mentally sharp anymore. As a matter of fact, for several years, even prior to his election, there were people talking about that very prospect, that he was not that mentally capable. There were all sorts of news programs, particularly particularly those outside of America where we didn't have the proper censorship to control the narrative, where people were showing clips of the president in different forms of mental confusion. And a lot of people pretended like it, it wasn't happening. Maybe a lot of people really didn't know it wasn't happening, but because we've had a president that is so mentally incapable. It leads us to a number of questions. One, who's been in charge all these years? Two, why have they been hiding this so they can do different things? And, and the third one is why now that, that it seems to be out in the open, are people just acting as if they're learning about it for the first time? When so many of those within the political realm and within our news organizations have known about it all along, what's been going on? Well, there's a crisis there, isn't there? Another crisis that we have brewing is war, not just in the Ukraine, but in different parts of the world. Why is it that we seem so interested in getting involved with this war? Why are we starting to talk about things like draft? Did you know that both the House of Representatives and the U. S. Senate have been putting in preparations for a future draft that even include the drafting of women? Are you on board with this idea? Are you going to go along with it? Were you even aware of it? And then we have the financial problems that we've been experiencing of late. Everything from rampant inflation to out of control debt, both the U. S. debt and our personal debt at times. Did you know that there are laws on the books right now where if you have a bank account, you are an unsecured creditor of the funds that you think that you have. So if the bank runs into trouble, they can use your funds and pay off other creditors first because you're considered to be an unsecured creditor. And again, these are laws that our Congress have passed. For those of you who have a lot of, of investments in the stock market, did you know that there are laws on the books that make you essentially the same thing as you are? within the banking system. That if you own a stock that really you're just represented by whatever company, investment company that you have, and they can use those stocks and pledge them as collateral for other things without your even knowing it. Even if you think you've got a segregated account. And they have laws on the books that, that prove this and, and show this to be true. And you might be thinking, well, they'd never do this. And I suspect they never would take your stocks or your money in the bank unless there was a real problem. There could be real problems. And then you look at all the sinful problems that we have within our nation, the acceptance of sexual immorality, perversion the acceptance of the killing of, of, of unborn. And you can see that there's a lot of crises on the horizon. Some are here already. And again, while you don't have to agree with who's responsible for it, you do have to recognize that there are problems. And if you do recognize and agree that there are, then you need to think whether or not you should do something about it. And again, I want to point out this is going to cut into your leisure time, but it will require thought and it will require prayers for guidance. What can we do? Well, if you remember from the first video we did on this, on the next big crisis, we used an example of a man who had a big two gallon jar, and into that, that jar, he wanted to put several items. He wanted to put in some big rocks, he wanted to put in some gravel, some sand, and some water. And as he showed the people what he was doing, he put the big rocks in first, and then he made the point after the jar was full with all the rest of the items, that unless you put the big rocks in first, they'll never fit. Well, we need to have a good sense of priorities as far as what we need to be doing. And the first thing, the biggest rock of all is, are you saved? And if you're not sure about that, then you need to make sure you need to start digging into the word of God, specifically the New Testament and finding out what you need to do to be saved. And you need to make sure that not only are you in compliance with what the New Testament commands, what God commands through the writers in the New Testament, but also that your family and, and those you love. are in compliance. So the first thing is salvation. The second thing is making sure that we have a strong church. If the church is not strong, the nation can never be strong. And we're responsible for that. When we read in Acts chapter two of what it took to become part of the church, and it involved doing all of the items or the steps of salvation, Once you've done that, God adds you to the church. And it's interesting to note what the church did, the people who made up the church. In Acts 2 42, it said they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Well, the apostles teaching is the New Testament, is it not? The fellowship is our gathering together as a church and encouraging one another. The breaking of bread is that first day of the week remembrance that Jesus died for our sins, and we partake of the elements that represent his body and represent his blood. And we do that on the first day of every week. The church devoted themselves to that. to that. And they devoted themselves to prayer. They were constantly in contact with God. First, through reading the Word, the Apostles teaching, and second, through prayer, through talking to God directly. What a privilege we have. The church needs to be strong, and you need to be part of it. I'm convinced that we don't need to be part time Christians when it comes to supporting the church. I believe we need to be there on the first day of the week for the Bible classes, for the worship. If there's two worships, I'd go both times if I could. If you have a midweek worship, I'd go to that as well. We need to encourage one another. We need to study more. We need to have our lives spiritually prepared with like minded people. That's what the church will do for us if we will allow it. So those first two things are the biggest things. What do we do about a crisis? Well, you better make sure you're saved. Otherwise, nothing else you do will matter. And second, you better make sure that the church is strong. because we need a strong church to see us through whatever crises that we're going through. And the third thing, I suppose, is what you tuned in for today, and that's the physical preparations. And so, let's talk about the physical preparations that we need to be making. After we've talked about salvation and the church, these physical preparations are important, but as we think about them, we need to make sure we keep our perspective. In Luke chapter 12 and verse 15, Jesus said, Watch out, Be on your guard against all sorts of greed. For a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. You may be making all sorts of physical preparations, and I hope you do make some, but make sure that it's not because you're just stocking up and storing up so that you can take things easy. Make sure it's not based upon greed or a lack of trust in God, but make sure that you're doing things to enhance your service to God. to continue your life so that you can help others. The second thing that, that I'm convinced we need to make sure that we're aware of is, is to not worry. In Matthew chapter 6, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has a long section starting in verse 28 about not worrying. Don't worry about what you're going to eat. Don't worry about what you're going to wear. God knows you need these things. He talks about the fact that, that God knows and takes care of the birds of the air. He clothes the flowers of the field. And so the conclusion that Jesus comes to in Matthew chapter six is to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you as well. Now, like the birds of the air we're going to have the opportunity to be fed, but God, as some wise man once pointed out, does not throw the worms into their nest. He provides the worms for the birds to go out and work for and to find. And so the preparations that you need to make, including clothing yourself and feeding yourself and your family, will require work. But God will provide you with the opportunity. You just need to make sure you're seeking his kingdom first. And the third thing is to not be presumptuous. That's one of our biggest problems is to just think that, that if we trust in God, he'll take care of everything and we don't have to do anything. In 1 Timothy 5 verse 8, Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. If you just think God's going to take care of you so you can just do whatever you want, you're worse than an unbeliever. You're presumptuous. And part of that presumption, part of the consequence of that presumption, is going to leave your family in dire straits. When bad times come, you need to make sure that you are making provisions to take care of your family, especially your immediate household. And then along these very lines, as far as not being presumptuous, look at this in second Thessalonians chapter three in verse 10, Paul is talking, even when we are with you, we gave this command to you that if any would work, if any would not work. Neither should he eat. That's a pretty strong statement, isn't it? If you won't work, you shouldn't eat. It doesn't say if you can't work. There are some people who just can't, and we need to help take care of those who can't. But for those who won't, for those who are able bodied, yet have a sign on the side of the road saying, we'll work for food, but they have no intention of doing so, we shouldn't be helping them out by giving them something to eat when they can take care of themselves. I've seen an awful lot of people that are a lot younger than me, a lot more able bodied than me, who have these will work for food signs. It's usually a scam. We need to be very careful on that, because if a man will not work, neither should he eat. And then finally this, as we get into this idea of, of our physical preparations. In Ecclesiastes chapter 11 in verse two, give a portion to seven or even to eight for you do not know what disaster. may happen on earth. It's not a sin to be preparing for disasters. As a matter of fact, Solomon, through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said you need to make preparations because you don't know what disasters can happen. Give a portion to seven and maybe eight or even eight. The idea is you need to, to have a multitude of things that you have in mind that will help you get through difficult times. And it's not because we don't trust in God. In Proverbs chapter three and verse five, it says, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him. And he will make your path straight. We do need to trust in God. We need to acknowledge that everything we have, including the opportunities to work and to provide for our families are given by God. And we need to look to him so that he can make our path straight and help us see the directions we need to go. That's what the trust is talking about. Again, it is not talking about being presumptuous and just thinking that he will put you on some sort of a welfare where he'll just take care of whatever you want. So you can just sit back and play your video games and drink your beer or whatever it is you think that you want to do. That's not what serving God means. We do need to give thought to the future, including disasters, and especially when we see ones that are unfolding right before our eyes. So here are eight things that you need to do if you are going to prepare, I believe, For any type of a disaster. And again, we're not talking about tearing down our barns and building bigger ones so we can take life easy. We're talking about trying to ensure that we can remain a good steward of the resources that God has given to us. So the first. Is food. Make sure that you have some sort of food in stock on hand. The more likely a disaster may, may seem, or the more imminent it may seem, you may need to have more food on hand. I'd suggest a a three month supply. And your first thought will, might be, well, I don't even have enough money to pay for this week's groceries. How am I going to do that? But you can put a supply of food in very reasonably for even up to three months. If you'll get things like, like maybe 50 or a hundred pounds of beans and 50 or a hundred pounds of rice, will you be living high on the hog? No, you won't. But at least you'll be living, and it's not going to cost you a lot to do that. And then once you've got basics like that, then you can start making more elaborate preparations for food. Again, not so you can take things easy, but so that in case a disaster does happen, your family can be taken care of. and you can continue to serve God. The second thing is water. You need to make sure that you have some sort of a, a permanent water supply available. If you, if you live out in the country and you have a well, or if you live in an area where there's a river or creek or something like that, then very likely you already have that. But most people don't have anything like that. And even if they do, they're not ensured that this water is safe to drink. And so you may need to look into things like water filtration and, and other types of, of provisions for making sure that you have a safe supply of potable water. But water is going to be very important for you. So just make sure that you have an idea of where you're going to get that water and make sure it's a, it's a, it's a firm idea. If you know somebody with a well, go talk to them and ask them, look, if anything ever happened would it be possible for me to get water from you? You might want to barter with them on different things in order to do that, but these types of things are available, but you need to be thinking about it in advance, not after a crisis has started. Houston, Texas just had not even a hurricane, just a, Just a big tropical system that knocked out their electricity and they're having problems right now. Well, for those who have prepared for those who've had a little food and water on hand, they're not scrambling as hard as a lot of other people who are standing in line trying to get just the basic resources that you need for living. The third thing is shelter. Most of us have a home, but you want to make sure that you have shelter that's reliable. If you live in a big city, you may actually be in an area that's kind of dangerous to live in if things really do fall apart. I'm not saying they're going to really fall apart, but they could. And so you need to be giving some thought as to what type of shelter you'll need and what type of shelter is available for you. And, and again, it starts with something very simple, such as the home that you live in right now. Is it something that's serviceable? Is it something that's livable for a while? Is there, are there things that you need to do, repairs that need to be made to ensure? That you can continue living there as comfortably as the situation will allow. If things get really bad, you, you may even want to find an alternate location. You might have a, a cabin up in the mountains of Colorado or something like that. Most people don't have things like that. But you can think about things like that. Once you get the basics down, then you can start expanding out and thinking about the types of things that would be useful. Again, don't get so carried away that you lose perspective of what you're here for. You're here to serve God. You're here to seek and save the lost. You're here to help your fellow man. Not to enable them in their sin, but to help those who truly have a burden they can't carry on their own. We need to be doing our part as Christians, and so we're looking for opportunities to make sure that we can continue to do that. The fourth thing is savings. You probably would be very well advised to have some sort of cash savings on hand. I don't know how much cash savings you would want to have, but, but if you had something as simple as a thousand dollars of cash. That, that, that you had ready access to, I'm not talking about in the bank in case of a banking crisis, but something that you had ready access to, then you might be able to get by for a while. I'm not saying store up huge sums of money under your mattress, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm just talking about being prudent and having some sort of cash savings so that if something did happen, you could get by for a few days or a few weeks. Thanks. This next one is, is very similar to that. It's having something on hand for bartering, um, use. I've, I've been investing in silver since 1981. I've looked at all sorts of aspects of silver and I can tell you that just having something as small, of an amount as 100 face value of silver coins. These are coins that were, that were minted in 1964 or before quarters, nickels, dimes, or if you go way back, silver dollars. But just having 100 of 90 percent silver on hand will help you as far as if everything does fall apart now you've got something that people will readily recognize, a U. S. coin that's made of silver. And if you'll do that, something as simple as a hundred dollars face value will give you something that you can use to barter, to trade with. People might have a garden somewhere and you might be able to, to, to buy some fresh vegetables with this or other types of food or clothing. There's just all sorts of things it's useful for. If you're going to do that, make sure that you do your research before you just run out and buy it because there's all sorts of different price ranges for this. I have a, a good local coin shop that I trust and they usually have very reasonable prices for their 90 percent silver. It's called Stout Safe Storage in, in Amarillo. There's another one called Vermillion Enterprises for those who don't have a good local coin store. They're, they're located in Florida, and if you will wire them funds, they will send you the silver that you order. And they usually have the best prices or near the best prices in America. They're very fair. Again, Vermilion Enterprises. It's a coin place in Florida. And they're very, they're very honest and they're very good at what they do. So other items for barter can be, maybe you've got a garden that's in season and you can trade some of your vegetables. And maybe you've got fruit for other things that you need. But having something for barter such as 90 percent silver or something else is going to be very, very handy. Your safety is going to be important and this is a personal issue. Some people don't want to have any type of weapons and I understand that but if you, if you can use one and you can do it responsibly then you may want to have a handgun or a shotgun or something like that on hand. Talk to somebody at church that you go to that's maybe in law enforcement or who has firearms and get some advice from them on the best thing to do. There's also very inexpensive closed circuit cameras that you can use that you can just put up around your house. And if your computer is still working, use that just, just make sure that you have your safety in mind and the safety of your family in mind. And then a good support group. Here we're talking about primarily your family and, and the church. So make sure that, that your family is close. Make sure that your family talks about things. They don't all have to be in agreement with potential disasters on the horizon, but you do need to be close and you do need to be willing to help one another. And maybe you're, maybe you don't have family or maybe they're far away. Your church, if you have a good local church that you go to, and make sure it's one that's scriptural. I'm not just talking about some type of a country club. There's a lot of people that choose a church, so to speak. as they, as they would some other social organization. When we talk about, about the church, the church is very well described within the New Testament. You find a body of people who are living like that, who are worshiping like that, and that'll be a great support group in times of trouble. And then the last one on the list is health. Make sure you're as fit as you possibly can be. Make sure that you're as healthy as you possibly can be. Don't worship your body. I'm not talking about that, but do try and stay in shape. If there are certain medications that you need, it might not hurt to have some on hand. It might not hurt to have antibiotics stocked up a little bit and, and other types of supplies like that. If you use supplements, make sure you have some supplements on hand that you like to use that are good for your health. When you're, when you're talking about food, try and get healthy food that will help you to maintain your health because that's going to be very valuable. in times of crisis. The point of all this is we are here for a limited time on earth, and our duty here is to serve God. And there are times that are difficult that we're called upon to serve in an even greater capacity. And if you Find a disaster coming upon you and you're unprepared, you're going to be scrambling just like everybody else is. You're probably gonna be scrambling to a certain degree anyway, if the, if the disaster is truly a disaster. But wouldn't it be nice if you'd made what prudent preparations you could in advance? so that you could actually be a help in getting things back to the way they should be. The three things that we need to talk about, the three big, big rocks are first and foremost, make sure your relationship with God is right. Make sure you are saved. Secondly, make sure that you are worshiping with the church that you find within the New Testament and make sure that you are doing what you can to strengthen and support them. and then you can rely on them as a support group as well. Your spiritual life is most important. You can have all the physical preparations in the world and if you're not saved, it's worth nothing. But having taken care of the big things first, first things first, then move to the physical, make the most prudent preparations that you can without tearing down your barns and building up bigger ones so that you can take life easy. but make the preparations you can so that your family is taken care of and so that you can be a proper servant of God by helping others to get through whatever we might be going through. Well, that's it. It's, it's a place to start. It's certainly not a comprehensive list or a compre comprehensive all answers given type of a list, but this will give you a rough outline of where to start. And hopefully it will help you to get through the difficult times, but maybe more than anything else, hopefully it'll get you to start thinking about what's really important in your life. Enjoy life by all means. I'm convinced Christians ought to be enjoying life to the greatest possible extent. Otherwise, how can we attract others to the church? But make sure that you're living prudent and make sure that you're prepared to meet your maker someday. and that you're doing everything you can to help as many others along the way to prepare for the meeting of God on that final day as well. That's it. Appreciate your tuning in. If this is something you think might help others, please share it with them and pass it along. Hit the like button. It'll, it'll get the algorithm going to where more people will see it. But until next time, I pray that God will richly bless you as you do your best to serve Him to the utmost of your capacity. God bless.