October 11, 2025
Parallel Polis Publishing
by Shawn and Beth Dougherty, Plain Values
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.
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.
The Book of Acts or the Acts of the Apostles is the second book of Luke’s Gospel. Some people sort of treat it like an appendix to the gospel; “the really important stuff happened in the gospels, this is story of what happened afterward.” When I was younger, that attitude made me wonder, “why didn’t everything just end right at the Resurrection and Ascension? Why did history keep going? Why was there another 30 plus years pictured here in the Bible? Why has there been nearly another 2000 years?” History does not stop with Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. A new world with a new history begins.
This book is a book of conquest. The army of God marching out to conquer the world. And we will soon see just how much it intentionally parallels the Book of Joshua, where God’s people entered the Land of Promise and put it to sword and fire. Here, the army of God, sets out to take the new Land of Promise—the entire world.
To save the West, we must rethink what an atom is. That’s my vision. So you can understand my disaffection when yet another catty, confused dallier attempted to capture venture capitalist Peter Thiel’s worldview for the dying establishment media, this time in The Atlantic story: “Peter Thiel is Taking a Break from Democracy.” The article by Barton Gellman attempts to explain Thiel’s recent renunciation of political donations as a result of being burned out by the lack of return politicians provide his vision to move America towards growth, particularly in, as Thiel calls it, the world of atoms. The article misses the bigger point Thiel makes about the dangers of stagnation in favor of catering to the Atlantic audience’s mirror-induced paranoias about Trump, fascism, and strange libertarian wealth lurking in the shadows to impose its will on the world. Make no mistake, most of the political world misunderstands Thiel’s critique of the West’s lack of innovation. This disinterest in the topic of atoms reveals how shallow politics is at solving any serious problems.
by Ronald Dodson
It is a question that is suddenly quite relevant, as the cyclical violence that has plagued the Levant has sparked again after the attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7th. It was a brutal move by the operative wing of the political leaders of Gaza, the enclosed refugee camp that has housed Palestinians since 1949. In recent years it has become completely enclosed with extremely limited egress and ingress. Both Israel and the Gazans have killed mercilessly in attacks and “defensive actions” in recent years, with this last move by Hamas the largest in scope and brutality in recent history. As a result, politicians are eager to make proclamations of unity with Israel, a unity of utmost vigor. To wit:
The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree is found in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 13:6-9). This parable, told by Jesus, is about a man who had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. When he came looking for fruit on it and found none, he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ However, the vineyard keeper asked for patience, suggesting to leave it for one more year, during which he would dig around it and fertilize it. If it bore fruit next year, fine; if not, then it could be cut down.
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.
This week the State of Ohio voted by a nearly ten-point margin to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right. Ohio is not a far-left blue state like California or New York, it is a conservative red state that Donald Trump won by almost the same margin in 2020. The results of this ballot amendment have shocked many in the pro-life movement.
A common belief in some American Evangelical circles (not all) is that the nation state of Israel is the Israel spoken about in the Bible, these are the “true Israelites” so therefore it must be supported at all costs, etc. But does that align with the Bible? Who really is Israel? And why? May God grace my words in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
By Joel Salatin, Plain Values
Thinking like an animal is not always easy, especially if you’re trying to think like a chicken. In this article, I want to dive into one of the single biggest tensions in raising farmstead egg-laying chickens, and it all stems from chicken psychology.
Like all animals, chickens love routine. Temple Grandin, maven of animal psychology, points out that animals live only in the moment. Yes, they have memory, but they have no datebook. They never think about what they need to do tomorrow.
Since I get a plethora of questions from people are confused about Ukraine, the acronyms for the churches, what’s happening, etc. I have decided to make a full on explication that I can just reference to everyone who asks. This is not about the war itself between Russia & Ukraine, but specifically the Church situations occurring in Ukraine. I will try to keep it as brief as I can, as if speaking to someone who knows nothing of the situation. May Jesus Christ bless my words to be His, in grace and love. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
by Pastor Andrew Isker Introduction 2 Samuel 23 is the second part of the center of the appendix section of the Book of Samuel. It…
