Second Coming of the City-States

They seem to be returning. One, the Belle Isle commonwealth proposal, near Detroit, according to The Detroit News, and another, the Citadel: A Community of Liberty, in the mountains of Idaho.

Both are very different, economically, ideologically, and legally. Both would consider themselves under the sovereignty of the United States. Both would be under the defense of the US military. And land has been purchased for neither.

One is just west of the Appalachian’s. The other, just on the east side of the Rockies. Both are near America’s bread basket and would be easy to defend in a time of unrest. Perhaps this is a coincidence.

Though it focuses on Second Amendment and Liberty lovers, the Citadel does not intend any kind of affront to governments, but rather prepares to defend itself against economic, domestic, and natural disasters. This is according to the FAQ on the Citadel’s website:

What Threats Do You Expect to Defend Against?

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Dear Christians: TALK to each other!

Taiwan is in a lot of trouble, with their “relationship” with China being what it is, and all. If the crud hits the fan over that, the ramifications for America would be enormous.

What can we do to help? PRAY. But that’s just the problem. We can’t pray together if we don’t TALK together.  · · · →

Future Apostolic Leadership in the Church

I was inspired to write this, partially in response to a personal blog post, Give your pastor a break. Pastors indeed suffer from burnout, but lack of vacation time isn’t the reason why. Though everyone needs to rest—even the Lord rested on the seventh day—it won’t solve the problems pastors face in the Body of Christ. The problem goes much deeper—to the very structure of leadership within the Church. It’s rigid and top-heavy. Many in the Local Church movement, which began in China, call this the “clerical system” and refused to have anything to do with it.

The Church Is Upside-down

God is about to completely change the way we do Church. It’s not that He’ll turn the Church on her “head”. The Church has been standing on her head for more than a millennium-and-a-half. He’s going to turn the Church right-side-up, placing us back on our feet.

Our upside-down framework began when Rome appointed “clergy”, from the pagan religions of old, to give so-called “spiritual guidance”—both individually and corporately.  · · · →

Stock Market Business: A Conflict in and of Itself?

Entire businesses are based merely on stock market trades. Some people even sit in front of a computer screen all day and do nothing but trade stock… as in, that’s their job. Many of them sit in front of seven computer screens. Imagine that, the computer on your desk, not with one monitor, not two, but seven

Trading FloorThat’s right, the stock market isn’t merely a way of doing business, it is a business—a business all to itself.

Once a company goes public, and starts trading shares on a public stock exchange, that company hasn’t merely changed the way it’s administration and ownership are structured. It actually entered a second business market.

Imagine McDonald’s realizing that it’s not so much in the restaurant and “supersize me” food business as much as it is in the real estate business. That realization hit us all when McDonald’s got more real estate than the Roman Catholic Church!  · · · →