Posts published in “Christian Living”

Confessions of a Steward — Honest Horse Keeping

Confessions of a Steward — Honest Horse Keeping

By Guest Post on December 8, 2023

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I don’t own a horse. I don’t keep a horse. That’s precisely why I’m qualified to address the issue—I don’t have preconceived notions about keeping horses. I have thought and yakked about it quite a bit, though, because one of the most common questions people ask me is about keeping a horse.

Whether for recreation or work, in my experience, some of the worst ecological abuse is in horse lots. Many of my friends keep horses, and I’ve been to many places that keep horses, from full-time equestrian outfits to the honeymoon-is-over-seldom-ridden situations.

Mythologizing Modernity

Mythologizing Modernity

By Guest Post on December 5, 2023

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The cosmic tale goes ever on

by The Saxon Cross

History is dead.

Or, so I was told.

For a long time, I believed it.

Not because I wanted to, but I could see the world around me. It was plain as day that I did not live in the world of my heroes.

Myth and legend had ended, history had marched to its lackluster end, and we were all fated to live out our days in a lethargic, decaying, neo-liberal hellscape.

Consume product. Work for corporation. Vote. Die.

The banal reality of the modern west seems almost designed to crush the very souls of its populace.

We grew up in a world where nothing ever happens and there is nothing left to discover.

The Healing Land — Apples

The Healing Land — Apples

By Guest Post on November 27, 2023

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by Shawn and Beth Dougherty, Plain Values

A PLENTIFUL HARVEST

The new apple trees in the orchard are bearing well this year, with russet and yellow-green fruit studding the young branches. In the convent orchard, some of the older trees are taking a sabbatical year. They will only produce a tiny crop, but enough mature trees will bear that there will be plenty of apples for the farm.

It’s Never Over

It’s Never Over

By Andrew Isker on November 23, 2023

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by Pastor Andrew Isker

A Handful of Christians with the Entire World Against Them Changed History

The holiday of Thanksgiving is one of the last remaining aspects of traditional America that has survived the cultural revolution. For most Americans it is simply a part of normal life: a day off, a day to eat turkey, stuffing, and cranberries, a day to watch football and spend time with family. But the holiday itself has its origins in the Puritan founding of America, and this alone is reason for the ongoing cultural revolution to seek its destruction.

Roots + Wings — Mountain Time

Roots + Wings — Mountain Time

By Guest Post on November 10, 2023

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By Rory Feek, Plain Values

Most of the time when I’m writing this column, I’m in pretty much the same place. Sitting at the kitchen table in our farmhouse or at my desk in the milkhouse, with a view outside of the backfield and within earshot of Indy and the other kids playing on the playground at the schoolhouse. But this month, I’m parked in a chair at a much larger table in Paradise Valley, Montana, surrounded by big, beautiful mountains, with the gentle sound of the Yellowstone River flowing nearby. Each summer for the last five or six years, my little girl Indiana and I have packed our things, climbed behind the wheel, and driven 1,750 miles to spend a month out west together.

Why Parallel Economy Creatives Are Stronger Together

Why Parallel Economy Creatives Are Stronger Together

By Guest Post on October 24, 2023

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by Elijah Shoesmith

Jesus expected His students to become disciples. Messengers of His truth once He left to prepare our mansions. He didn’t want lifelong learners who refused to leave the classroom. And He still doesn’t.

Influenced by people we follow online, it’s time for us “regular joes” to step out. In faith, I’m taking that first action. My hope is that you’ll join me.

Biblically Based Fatherhood

Biblically Based Fatherhood

By Guest Post on October 19, 2023

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by Jacob Brown

Why does our Lord tell us to pray to God as Father? When asked by his disciples to teach them to pray, the Lord Jesus Christ taught them to pray by addressing the Almighty God of all creation as Father. He just as easily could have taught them to pray to God as the King of the universe, or as Almighty God, or as Yahweh, the covenant name of the God of the Bible. But he doesn’t teach us that way. Now rest assured it is perfectly biblical to address God by those titles and names, and we should give honor and praise to God for who he is. But there is something particular that the Lord Jesus is wanting us to understand about the nature of God, and that is God as Father.

The Roundtable — Amish Insights on Forgiveness

The Roundtable — Amish Insights on Forgiveness

By Guest Post on October 18, 2023

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from Plain Values

THIS MONTH’S QUESTION:

How do you practice forgiveness in your community?

Jerry: In any close-knit community, forgiveness is the elixir that cures disease. It cleans the cancer from the joints and makes things pliable again. The spiritual WD-40 that lessens the creaking and groaning. Forgiveness is counter-cultural. It flies in the face of conventional thinking. Society teaches us that we claim what is ours no matter the cost—we claim our rights. Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek, and not only to turn the other cheek physically but inwardly as well. A heart change that expresses itself in a daily walk with my neighbor.

The Healing Land — Community Inter-Dependence Day

The Healing Land — Community Inter-Dependence Day

By Guest Post on October 11, 2023

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by Shawn and Beth Dougherty, Plain Values

July Fourth is an important day in our village. We always say Hinton has the best fireworks display in the valley, and people come from all over to watch. The park is full of strangers as well as neighbors, and the lines in front of the two village ice cream stands are backed up for miles. It’s a big event.

Weaving through the crowds until we find a place among our friends on the already-crowded park benches, we can finally slow down and take a deep breath. What with all the holiday preparations, as well as the ordinary farm chores, it has been a busy day. And since community picnics wouldn’t be complete without our molasses ginger cake, we really had to prepare ahead.

Porch Time | One Minute with Marlin

Porch Time | One Minute with Marlin

By Guest Post on September 25, 2023

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By Marlin Miller, Publisher of Plain Values

On a recent trip, we spent a few evenings with a wonderful family who lost a young child only a few years ago. We quickly became fast friends as we connected on a deep level, sharing the good and the hard as our kids ran and played. As we traveled home, I told Lisa there is a part of me wanting to skip all pleasantries in conversation from now on. She gently reminded me that not all folks are comfortable with jumping right into sharing deep, authentic thoughts, emotions, or parts of their lives. But this is what I long for- the kind of friendship built on solid foundations of hope only found in Jesus. My point is this… this life is so short, why do I want to spend time talking about weather that will change in ten minutes! A friend recently told me when he meets new folks and the conversation turns to work and occupation, he follows it up with this line… “Ok, you’re an engineer, but what do you really do?” I love that because it digs underneath the surface and asks a deeper question to which most folks give a very different answer.

Sowing Seeds

Sowing Seeds

By Guest Post on September 18, 2023

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by Rory Feek, Plain Values

Last night, Indiana and I spent the evening in the garden weeding, watering the many rows of vegetables, and checking on how the seeds we’ve sowed this spring are doing. The broccoli and cabbage that were abundant a month ago are almost gone, and Brussels sprouts will be soon. Most of the other warmer-weather crops are just coming in. In the last week, we’ve been harvesting zucchini and squash, we’ll be picking okra and cucumbers soon, and hopefully tomatoes and corn a short time after that.

Each spring, we till the ground in the same spot where my wife Joey always had her garden, and I continue to sow seeds and grow vegetables there—even though I’ll never be as good at it as she was. That little patch of land here on our farm was and will always be ‘her garden.’

The Healing Land — Time for What’s Important Families

The Healing Land — Time for What’s Important Families

By Guest Post on September 14, 2023

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by Shawn and Beth Dougherty, Plain Values

A child comes in the back door with a full milk can; the screen door slaps shut behind him. There is the sound of a bucket being set on the bench, the clang of a bail handle against the side of the milk can. In the kitchen someone is frying bacon; the smell reaches into the basement, where at a simple counter and sink we process raw milk twice daily.

Sometimes we wonder how we got here! When we first thought we might keep a dairy cow, we worried that the chores would be too much work and that we would not be able to maintain a rigid schedule. Not only were we taking on twice-daily milking, but we would be moving our intensively grazed dairy cows onto fresh grass each time we milked. With all the other farm chores and homeschooling our eight children, were we going to have time for the added work? But while milking a cow does require commitment, it turned out to be not nearly as much work as we expected.