March 9, 2025
Parallel Polis Publishing
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.
Since February 2022, Western minds have been exposed to a deluge of information, more data than any average individual can comprehend, let alone make sense of. Without taking serious time and processing efforts to draw a coherent narrative or to make sense of what’s going on, the War in Ukraine, the ongoing military presence in Syria, concerns over China and Taiwan and now the potentiality for escalation in Israel have left individuals scrambling for a lifeline that would help them make sense of what’s going on.
As the ongoing hostilities between the Israeli government and Hamas play out, once again did we see individuals, willingly or unwittingly share videos alleging be from the front, only for Twitter’s (now X) Community Notes function to kick in, and explain that the footage is actually from the Military Simulation Game Arma 3. Days later, footage had been tweeted about latest rocket attack and dead civilians only for Kiwi Farms to tell me that this had been footage from attacks back in 2014. People had their politics kept to the side, “just post news and verifiable footage, go somewhere else for shit-flinging.” I had paused in a moment in all the research and keeping up with what’s happening half-way around world and felt an odd sense of déjà vu.
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.
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.
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.
Something is coming. That is the general sense that I get from everyone I talk to who is even the least bit politically and culturally aware. “Something is coming.” “Something is going to happen soon.” For at least the last five years, everything has become increasingly and demonstrably unstable week after week. From the geopolitical situation in Ukraine to the efforts of the ruling regime to criminalize opposition to the regularly occurring crime and looting in large cities to the price of groceries and fuel that we all pay, the feeling of something big, some impending disaster is in the air.
by Joel Salatin, Plain Values
Last month I introduced two unorthodox concepts regarding water. The first is the difference between surface runoff and the inventory of the commons (like streams, springs, and aquifers). The second is the notion that we as caretakers can greatly enhance the commons by storing surface runoff rather than pumping from the commons.
We established that one-third of all rainfall globally becomes surface runoff, which means that even a one-acre watershed in a 30-inch rainfall area will generate 10 acre-inches of surface runoff per year, or 300,000 gallons. Another surface we generally don’t think about is our impervious shelter surfaces called roofs.
Is There a Standard for Being a Jerk by John Heers, First Things Foundation Toxic men are in the news again. Again. In fact, it…
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.
The concept of the Parallel Economy has gained significant traction in recent years largely thanks to Gab’s multi-year effort to mainstream the concept. A Parallel Economy is a network of businesses and consumers who prioritize values, ethics, and principles over sheer commercial interests. People are no longer content with merely boycotting brands that don’t align with their convictions; they seek to actively support businesses that champion their values and we seek to help them do so on Gab.
Far too many Christians have been told “The Bible doesn’t have anything to say about politics, so you shouldn’t care about it so much.” But that is simply not true, the Bible shows us God dealing with men who have political power all the time. Throughout the Bible, kings are reproved and judged by God for their wickedness, they are directed by His prophets, and they are praised when they are good and just. The Bible gives us so many examples of how God wants those with power to rule that to say “the Bible doesn’t have anything to say about politics” is, frankly, a sick joke.
The reason so many Christians believe that the Bible has nothing to say about politics is that we simply do not know the Bible—especially the Old Testament. The Book of Samuel, for example, is entirely about God bringing about a “revolution of elites,” a changing of the political order from the top down, starting with the removal of the wicked High Priest Eli and his sons, and then the replacement of the tyrannical and demonic Saul with a man after God’s own heart. The book shows that God giving His people a just and righteous king is grace to them from His hand.
2 Samuel 22, in particular, is a Psalm of David, and almost identical to Psalm 18. The fact that it is repeated here at the close of the book of Samuel isn’t just God trying to up the word count in the Bible like a student writing a term paper. It’s placement here is meaningful for the theology of the entire book. You’ll remember at the very beginning of the book of Samuel, Samuel’s mother, Hannah, sang a song about the child God had given her after years of barrenness. It isn’t just that God had given her a child, as wonderful as that is, but that God has given His people a deliverer to throw down the proud and mighty and raise up the humble and weak. That deliverer, Samuel, lead the way, like John the Baptist, to an even greater deliverer, David. This psalm is a record of God’s covenant keeping. He has made a covenant with His people to be their God, to be with them, and to deliver them from their enemies when they call upon His name. And He makes a particular covenant with that deliverer himself, David, that if he and his sons keep God’s law, God would never cease to keep a man on this throne. This psalm is a celebration of God keeping His covenant with His people. He is a God who does what He says.
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.’
