Joel Salatin...Glorifying God and His Creation Christian Credibility

"It's hard to  get people to believe something different if it 

jeopardizes their pay check." Joel Salatin on farming.

It's not hard for God.

Acts 19
23 About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis,brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 

     The true Gospel of Jesus Christ is hard for most people to believe in America because it jeopardizes our livelihoods, our paychecks. (God was telling me, it was right in front of my face for years!) The Gospel threatens us with homelessness, starvation, we fear death.  If you study the lives of men and women in history that were "friends" of God they all had somethings in common.  God saved them from slavery; delivered them, then God separated them from their societies, relationships, communities, governments, God redeemed them, led them, poured his spirit and word into them, then he gave them laws and 
 
                                   land.                               

          Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Moses and the Hebrews, the Pilgrims, the Founding Fathers.  All were set apart by God from the world and it's standards, morals, values, "work- jobs", and ways. Saints start to learn and practice God's morals, God's ways, God's laws, God's "work", "job". The men all became "husband", "landowners". God gave them land to care for, animals to care for a family to care for.                                                          
      
        Christians are Men and women that are

                      "keepers at home", farming.

                                             

                Salvation
(In 1776, 95 % of Americans were Christians, farmers, Landowners)
 The blessing of Deuteronomy all have to do with Farming. 
True wealth and spiritual wealth of  knowledge, understanding, blessings comes from.
 I speak also from personal experience, as one who was in the world's system, delivered from it's impoverishment of spirit, soul and body. Returning to God receiving refreshment , restoration, renewal of spirit, soul, and body.

         Joel Salatin was raised in a Christian home. He is a graduate 

of Bob Jones University. He is a Christian Capitalist, Libertarian,  
and Holistic Farmer.

       Joel Salatin grew up on an organic farm where his parents had hippie earthy types over on the weekend but they went to a straight laced church on Sunday mornings. http://truthmatters.info/bible-fundamentalists-cosmic-nirvana-earth-worshippers-and-joel-salatin/

      This is what I've been saying for over the past 10 years..Christians, we missed the bus on taking care of God's creation... we built mega churches that are in full sun running $1,000 electric bills, we pray for healing but go to fast food restaurants. We pray for God's provision but wouldn't DREAM of growing our own food or raising animals for food production.. It's like the parable of the guy drowning in the ocean who is thrown a life preserver and offered to get in a boat "nope, God is going to lift me straight out ..." We want to get rid of cancers, diabetes, loose weight...and all the while the answer is right there staring us in the face... We have gotten lazy and, quite frankly, as Joel puts it, when it comes to food, we are traveling the BROAD ROAD!! Wide is the gate that leads to hell, there are many avenues to choose from. This way leads to pesticides, chemicals, a raping of Creation, and then we ask God to heal us while we are destroying his creation through buying the fake foods made through dishonest practices? No more though!! Time to take the narrow straight way. We are making the turn....


How is Christian Faith Tied to Farming...

We view the Creation God made

Forgiveness.. how to make a forgiving farming food system?
1. We need to help the immune system of plants and animals get stronger and stronger... opposite of today

2. A forgiving food farming system Reduces floods and increases hydration during droughts- ie build ponds during floods for use during drought

3 . Fertility is increased.. how?
large scale compost to in-source fertility and not outsource... we don't have to send military to the middle east to get petroleum based fertilizers

Beauty... 

What does a beautiful farm look like?

A beautiful farm is diverse...
Diversity, plants, animals.. all WORKING TOGETHER
.. no hazmat suits...
A Godly food system is attractive... it should be magnetic.. we as believers should be magnetic!!!!!

Order...

God is a God of order..
How do we have a farm that exemplifies order?

        In Nature...birds follow herbivores in nature... Polyface, (Many faces), Farm moves chicken  behind cows. Chicken start spreading cow patties and eating fly larva... these are big natural principals. See video Joel Salatin

God is a God of relationship
Food systems of today are fundamentally anti-environment

all.. manipulating life like a plastic doll.

However, Life is fundamentally sacred .

The average industrial farm has no relationship.. there aren't even any farmers on these one species farms...

We need to embrace different gifts and talents of animals and plants...

This sounds like the Church... and this is spiritual truth going on in a visceral way...
http://truefoodsolutions.com/blog/food-cornerstone-of-christian-credibility-by-joel-salatin-part-two-farming-and-worldview/

vis·cer·al

ˈvis(ə)rəl/

adjective

1. of or relating to the viscera.

   "the visceral nervous system"

   • relating to deep inward feelings rather than to the intellect.

     "the voters' visceral fear of change"

     synonyms:

     instinctive, instinctual, gut, deep-down, deep-seated, deep-rooted,inward; More

What is wrong with American food system?
It is mechanical... manipulating life...

How can we grow pigs so they can express their pigness 
There is a reason why we should respect and honor the pigness of a pig

It is in this ethical dimension in supporting the pigness of a pig

Today's farming is: how can we grow more stuff as quick as we can?

We LEAD THE WORLD IN THE              5 TOP CHRONIC DISEASES..

Our food system doesn't ask "how do we keep nutritional integrity?"
We have more salmonella, e coli, pathogens due to large scale industrial farming
Food is bathed in chemicals... in many cases it won't even rot... it has no life

We need to opt out..
The Biblical principles...
Broad and easy way verses the narrow way

Broad way- easy, live, eat, but it leads to destruction... diabetes, obesity, toxicity, hospital bills, soil depletion, the making of deserts, (Deserts: Tens of thousands of acres all over the US where the land is come depleted of all nutrients, useless. The size of the Gulf of Mexico.)

        We want to find a fundamentally Healing WAY...THE NARROW WAY!!  
How do we heal the plants, how to we heal the animals, how to we heal ourselves ?
We suddenly embrace this glorious health and abundance that God's grace wants to pour out on us... we participate viscerally and spiritually. The two worlds collide instead of compete and it's a great place to be! 

Joel Salatin... 
Over the years, I’ve seen an amazing transformation in our farm visitors. Today, probably half are conservative home-schooling Christians. I believe that the home-schooling movement spawned an entire awakening to alternative ideas. Families who left the conventional institutional educational setting, who disagreed with credentialed officialdom, found their new path soul satisfying. That satisfaction led them to ask the question: “Well, I wonder what else I’ve been missing out on?”

Jesus came to save, heal, and deliver. For too long Christians have made fun of earth loving green minded liberals. I, for one, stand with Joel Salatin and my liberal earth minded friends in loving the earth God has given us with all we can. There is a broad way and Christians are on their high horse saying "Jesus is the way," singing "Shout to the Lord" in their air conditioned mega churches whose carbon footprint is off the charts. 

       

We say we love the God of creation as we buy apple juice shipped from China laced with arsenic. We allow the proliferation of GMOs which is like breeding a pig with a tomato plant.. it's ungodly and unnatural and our body's microbes are killed by it. Why, oh Lord, didn't you heal my momma of cancer, why does my husband have arthritis, why are my children's teeth rotting?

Lord, you are our healer... and He says "I try to heal you but you keep jumping over the cliff asking me to catch you..." Instead of taking youth groups to amusement parks, we need to put a maddox, or shovel in their hand, take them to a farm, and have them weed out thistles like Kansas did out on the Ranch growing up. It teaches us how we have to work HARD to root out sin.

 Do we want the Broad way or the Narrow way? Churches need to turn their lawns into community gardens and package and can healthy foods and grow grass fed meat instead of trying to feed the poor with nutritionally BANKRUPT items masquerading as food! Give the poor land, dig them a well, build a small shelter and some seeds like we do in Africa. 

Quit with the chick fil le potlucks and have a non gmo organic chicken processing party and allow each family to go home with a trunk full of nutritionally jam packed chickens!!

Poor Piggies It's Time to Go. (Nosy Neighbor strikes again video)

http://godslilacre.blogspot.com/2015/08/mr-nosy-neighbor-strikes-again.html

The Garden and Critters Are Growing... Township Circus Continues...

Justin's Hand Crafted and Painted New Sign! 

Well, Pinky and Twinky, the pigs, are doing amazing!!!

They are happy and healthy and getting big.  We are calling them "veggie-saureses" to coin a phrase from the original Jurassic Park. We tried to give them some beef liver and they wouldn't touch it, but a handful of weeds send them into fits of joy! 

They are fun to watch and both have amazing personalities. They especially love to play with and interact with all the visiting canines through the fence! 

Yup, that's Nuala meeting the pigs for the first time. Princess, Zeke,Laycee, Sadee and several others have made their acquaintance. I got to tell you it's hilarious to watch! 

Coming Soon!!!! We've got a humorous video coming out to explain the crazy "courtesy" violations that range from silliness to outright lies. But hey, we here at God's Lil' Acre don't squander a moment to chuckle a bit, so look forward to this one! (as they say, if you don't laugh, you'll cry, and it feels a whole lot better to laugh at those who come against you than to crawl up in a corner and cry... ) 

WE HAVE FREEDOM RANGERS!! I ordered 25, but they packed in a few extras. These are our happy, growing meat birds. They just graduated from the above brooder that handy Kansas Matt built (it's a ma-zing!!! THANKS SO MUCH)  and now get to roam and begin to forage a bit for some of their food. !They will have much happier and healthier lives than the cramped, indoor only raised birds that end up with broken legs and big breasts that cause them to lay permanently on their bellies. Yuck!! Why We Haven't Seen The Inside Of a Factory Broiler Chicken Farm 

Austro is down to 3 healthy babies. A hawk and Jasper each got one, but hey, that's nature. We were sad and shed a few tears but are happy to have the 3!!  Austro finally went back into the coop on her own and we've been integrating the 3 chicks in with the big girls. One is not quite so ready to leave mommy!!! 

Flowers and plants are GROWING LIKE CRAZY!! We've got giant potato plants, cabbages that shouldn't be this big until July, squashes that seem to grow inches overnight, and strawberries and cherries to pick!! 

We haven't had cherries on this tree EVER!! It's our oldest tree, the first one we planted here over 10 yrs ago and we finally got cherries!! I know it's all thanks to Justin's bees!! Praise the Lord!!

Ahh... and here is where we are at as of

 6-5-2015. The new guy, I guess his name is Brian Elliff, has come in to take Lou's job as township zoning admin. Fresh off the presses, his first day was May 27th. He is on a one year probationary try out. Mmmm,... Not impressed with his first week. 

He, however, says he is "impressed" with our "power point presentation" but then referred us to 519.21 section B... oh oh section B. I smile here and laugh to myself, wondering, how these "experts" and professionals get such big heads that they can't see past their own noses. New guy, got to prove his snuff, trying to tell those little farm girls what's what. 

Well, I called down to the County Tax map ONCE AGAIN.... *sigh*... to get one more person to tell me exactly what these two phrases mean: (B) A township zoning resolution, or an amendment to such resolution, may in any platted subdivision approved under section 711.05, 711.09, or 711.10 of the Revised Code, or in any area consisting of fifteen or more lots approved under section 711.131 (division without a plat) of the Revised Code that are contiguous to one another, or some of which are contiguous to one another and adjacent to one side of a dedicated public road, and the balance of which are contiguous to one another and adjacent to the opposite side of the same dedicated public road regulate:

ONCE AGAIN, I am verbally told what a "Platted Subdivision" is: a subdivision as you and I know it to be. I am then told that 711.131 could not in any way apply to us as we are a plat. The nice gentleman on the phone then began to tell me that there is a definition for subdivision that can mean any subdivision of property, but I needed to know EXACTLY what was a "platted subdivision," and can I get that in writing? He kindly referred me to a WONDERFULLY nice and helpful lady named Gail at the county planning commission... FINALLY!!! Angels singing... I have the definition in legal writing. Black and white, ain't no room for grey! 
We spoke for a few moments as I explained the overview of what was going on. She asked me if I was having a township issue or a neighbor issue and I told her it was a neighbor who was bullying the township. I told her about our neighbor who calls up all the time and makes the ladies up there want to cry. Yes, he's that bad. She completely understood and said "he's just being mean..." and the truth is, that's the bottom line. Some people are just bullies. As my other neighbor pointed out, "If he wants to live in a subdivision, he needs to move."

She understood when I told her we don't want to get cancer in our 60's because we digested chemically laden foods. She understood when I told her that there was a secret group of backyard chicken people in Miami Township and I had been pressed ganged into joining them through laced chicken eggs that tasted so good I just had to be able to raise my own! Ha! What a nice lady!! 

Okay, ya'll... here it is, the end all, be all... can we all just get along proof... 

Please notice where it says Part (1).... this refers to TWO TYPES OF LAND SUB-DIVISION, 'minor subdivision" (also known as lot splits or cut ups) and "platted subdivisions" (also known as formal subdivisions) ... 

SEE THE WHOLE VERSION: 

http://www.clermontcountyohio.biz/AdoptedSubdivisionRegulationsFinalEnacted2012.pdf

When I spoke with the gentlemen at the county tax map office, they both looked up our property and said that we were, and I quote a "stand alone property."   We have never been a part of a subdivision. Ever. 

This is exactly what the expert at Ohio State told me via e-mail... HIS QUOTE:  "Platted subdivisions were often created when a developer linked a bunch of properties together to get them through the zoning process. The properties can be in the country and the properties may not even look like they are connected." 

https://ask.extension.org/questions/226724#.VXKZVs9Viko

So, where are we at now? I can't really tell you except we are right, the township is under a delusion and now has a vendetta, be it through the "new guy" who wants to prove himself as the all powerful oz, or the neighbor. Either way, God will be glorified and we pray everyday "Lord, thy will be done. We know you are asking us to live as self sufficiently as we can, to educate others to the best of our ability, and to treat your creatures and creation with the utmost respect and honor..." That is the mission here! 

I have a call out to Peggy Hall, the top most expert about how Ohio 519.21 is applied, and I will be getting a phone call from someone from the county planning commission to see if they can help us clear things up with the township the easy way...

As Paul said, we are willing to go before Caesar if need be... as the Lord leads. We just want to farm in peace!  (BELOW, the farm we get our manure from...so beautiful!) 

Michelle and I have been reading a lot of John Locke recently. He was quoted by the founding fathers only second to the Bible. Locke's views of Nature, Natural Law, and the rights of the Individual, including to their own Property (whether physical or internal), shaped our great nation. Jefferson quoted from his Second Treatise of Government to pen the Declaration, Samuel Adams said that it should be studied and every father teach it to his son and mother to her daughter... The phrase "all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator to LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, is directly quoted from Locke, although, he uses the word "property," and all encompassing word that the founders thought was better represented in the term "pursuit of happiness..." 

Yes, 519.21 DOES apply to us. But what of all the others in this country? We fight DAILY, HOURLY, on our knees in prayer for the gross injustice done all over this great nation. Our founders believed in INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS, most importantly, the right to own, keep, and do what a man needed to provide for himself and his family on his own land. 

I leave you with a quote from our beloved Locke: 

" Tis plain in Fact, that human Reason unassisted, failed men in it's great and proper business of Morality. It never from unquestionable Principles, by clear Deductions, made out an entire Bod of the Law of Nature. And he shall collect all the moral Rules of the Philosophers, and compare them to those of the New Testament, will find them to come short of the Morality delivered by our Saviour, and taught by His Apostles." 

- John Locke, The Reasonableness of Christianity.. 

God's little Acre... Ah Neighbors, Gotta Love Them, Even When You've Got a Nosy One

Ahh... neighbors... gotta love them, even when it requires you to dig deep and love in the love of Christ big time. Well, we got another "violation," even after going up to the township and presenting them with the Ohio law that allows us to do our thang... :) Right now our township admin is going through several changes and some confusion is expected. I just feel so sorry for the poor ladies that work up there getting phone calls all the time from our bully of a neighbor who thinks he literally owns the world and can tell everyone what they can and cannot do lol. No, neighbor, you are not God but you truly need to seek him as the Bible says "Touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm..." Listen, when you mess with God's kids, he will bring justice, and I'd hate to be him on judgment day. I truly pray he and his wife repent and find the Lord but until then they are asking for God's judgement and that is not a safe place to be.

Soo... what is it this time you ask?

GAS CANS!! Woo hoo! lol..yup, we had run outta gas after a long day mowing not just our lawn but our our neighbors and we needed to fill them all up. Geesh...

All vehicles need licenses... including trailers...well, duh.. :) and that's why all of ours HAVE PLATES!    ???   so, yeah, that's crazy...