Reformed Yeoman

Catching Up

2011-05-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

Much has happened since I last posted to this blog. My life has changed so significantly since I last posted, that it is hard to even know where to begin.

The most significant change the LORD has wrought in my life is that I have found a church to attend regularly. It's hard to describe how thankful I am for this act of divine providence. Prior to finding Immanuel Free Reformed Church, I had grown cold in a way that even I was not fully aware of. I had begun to think that I would never find a body of believers so much that I had almost given up all hope of looking for a congregation. I had been spending the LORD's day cloistered away in my room reading the Scriptures and listening to audio sermons, but I kept praying for church. Well several weeks ago my prayers were answered. My friend, Winston, at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary down in Wake Forest, NC kept bugging me about finding a local body of believers and was also praying for me. Listening to sermons of Reformed Baptist congregations close to where I was currently living in the suburbs of Philadelphia had caused me to grow callous. The preaching failed to excite the zeal in me that I was receiving from other ministries whose sermons are freely available on the Internet. One morning I was browsing Sermon Audio and I came across a feature that advertised sermons based on their relative geographic location to your IP address. It was through this feature that I discovered the preaching of William Einwechter and Immanuel Free Reformed Church. I resolved to visit the next weekend and did exactly that.

I've been attending now for over 2 months and have been integrated into the congregation. For the first few weeks, I was driving close to 1 hour to attend service out in Lancaster County, PA (Yes, Amish country.). From the start I was welcomed into the body. The first day I attended was a fellowship meal and I got the opportunity to talk to the elders and deacons of the congregation. Since then, I've been to the houses of all the elders and all but one deacon to enjoy a meal and fellowship. I will testify that I had no clue congregations like this exisited, but now I am aware that I had no reason to doubt what the LORD says in His Word. When I first heard the Gospel I so separated myself from everyone I knew in the World that I grew very accustomed to being alone, but in the depths of my heart I knew that a Christian life could not be lived out alone.

Since attending IFRC I have met many young men and women my age who are dedicated to living Christian lives. The vast majority of the young people in the congregation are or were homeschooled. Coming from first public school and then a state university, I was convinced that such a call to godliness was lost on my generation. It has helped me so much to have guys my age to talk to about theology and the practical issues confronting Christians today.

Not long after I began making friends in the congregation, the LORD put it into my heart to move closer to the church. Before, I was driving at least 1 hour each way to attend the LORD's day service. Just last week, I moved within 10 minutes of church so I can attend events that occur on other days of the week when I am in town. I live right behind the Mennonite used bookstore which apparently is a very popular place to find Christian books at bargain prices.

I spent 7 weeks in Northern California for my job and although it was hard on my body and mind, the LORD was with me the entire time strengthening me and allowing me to return to attend worship on Sunday. While I was in California, I met an interesting character, a lost man who needed desperately to hear the Gospel. The night before I discovered this co-worker had an interest in the things of God, I had read a sermon by Charles Spurgeon in the book I posted earlier called Farm Sermons. It dealt with the responsibility of Christians to preach the Gospel regardless of whether it will indeed bring sinners to repentance. Spurgeon likened the Christian and his testimony to a farmer sowing his seed though he does not know whether God will prosper his efforts. While I was in California, I went to dinner with this man twice and explained to him the Gospel as I had received it. The scary thing is that this man, though he now works for an international technology company, was trained as a pastor and preached in a non-denominational church for 7 years. This man had some twisted ideas about theology and he did not seem to know much at all about the orthodox beliefs held by Protestants throughout history. The amazing thing was that it did seem to be listening and considering what I had to say; I could tell that he felt that for whatever reason God had brought me into his life. I sowed like Spurgeon's farmer and did not hesitate to share the grace God has extended to me. We happened to go to a used bookstore and I made sure he purchased a copy of Pilgrim's Progress, which he had never read. Now it is up to the LORD to convict this sinner of his sin and bring him to repentance, if it be the His will.

One more thing, I just received word from my friend Winston last weekend that he will be coming to visit Lancaster County to attend a friend's wedding. What a coincidence! I only moved here two weeks ago. He will be staying with me Saturday night and attending service with me on the LORD's day. He will get a chance to see the congregation he pushed me to find when I was discouraged only a few months ago.

I hope this testimony finds any of Christ's sheep who are looking for a congregation. I will say that God's people are well hidden, but they are there. He has promised to maintain His flock. Seek the LORD's face in prayer and continue to look for a local body of the Church of Jesus Christ. He will provide in His own time.

Decolonizing the Industrial Mind

2011-02-07T16:55:00.001-08:00

I was kind of waiting to post about Michael Bunker's new book "Surviving Off Off Grid" but I came across this today and I was blown away. More to come on the book in the next few weeks. If you have any interest in living a simpler or more godly life, please buy the book on March 4 through Amazon.com.

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

2011-02-06T13:16:00.000-08:00

Well I am a month into my new job and I am now very aware that God is using this situation, which to my eyes did not seem to be ideal, to sanctify me and prepare me to do his work (or am I already doing it?). From my perspective and outside of the faith I have that all things works together for good to them that fear and love Him, I would not choose to be working 5 days a week in a corporate setting. But the wisdom of God is so much higher than my own and in these past few weeks I have become painfully aware of that.

This issue came to a head as I began to read "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment" by Jeremiah Burroughs. The book focuses primarily on the severe evil that exists within the sin of murmuring. Burroughs holds the sin of murmuring up to the light of Scripture and what follows weighed heavily on my heart. So often, the greatest evils are committed by those who are not contented with what God has given them.

This is of great consideration to me in my current state. Although I desire to live an agrarian lifestyle and I say that I want this thing in order to do what God has commanded us in the Scrirptures, yet I know that God has called me to do what I am doing now at least for the time being. I struggle because so often I find myself looking forward to something that God has not promised me when I know my responsibility is simply to be obedient here and now. This aligns closely with Michael Bunker's teaching on a process-driven v.s. a purpose-driven life. I should be glad for what I have and the tasks God has given me to do, for I know God has already extended me more grace in my present state than I can even begin to comprehend. Moreover, what glory can I give God by ignoring that he has in the present met every need. I have a well-paying job and my living situation allows me to be extremely frugal. Most importantly, He has given me the desire to know Him and to search the Scriptures to seek out His ways.

I found that by always looking forward to something future, I am disparaging the graces of God now. Not only that, but by despising God's graces now, the murmurer never comes to satisfaction. They are always looking forward to something such that if God were ever to give them the desires of their heart they would continue to look forward and to be unsatisfied. I see now that this intermediate step is really extremely necessary for me in my Christian walk. God is cultivating patience and contentment in me, such that when His deliverance does come in whatever form it comes, I will be contented. I must say though it felt really good to put that first paycheck in my savings account toward a farm. I'll get there in time LORD willing.

Insurance or Assurance?

2011-01-16T16:46:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned before, I just started a new job in the Philadelphia area. The first couple of weeks have not been without some hiccups. As part of my compensation, I was offered the enticements of this world: all flavors of insurance, 401k, and stock sharing plans. I have decided consciously to abstain and to diligently save my money towards the purchase of a farm, but my decision does not sit well with those who belong to the world, even my own parents. At my parents request, I searched the Scripture rather than relying on my initial distaste for the concept of hedging against God's providence. Through prayer and reading the Scriptures today and yesterday, I have come to the conclusion that to participate with that world system which is in rebellion against our Creator would sear my conscience more than I could bear. Thinking I could be reassurred by talking to a brother, I reached out to my brother Winston only to find that his allegiances to the world are deeper than I once perceived. He said that by refusing insurance I would be allying myself with Muslims who also abstain from insurance, even though I was not aware of this nor do I think it is relevant. He maintained that paying insurance premiums is simply rendering to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. I replied by saying that providence does not belong to Caesar. Nor was Scripture sufficient to convince him of his error; all obedience was rationalized away. The whole situation called to mind the story of Job, where Job argues his case for God's sovereignty albeit not perfectly. His friends from whom he sought comfort were unrelenting in their accusations towards him. Finally at the end, Job bowed down in the Fear of the LORD. I am sure I am not the first person to go through this and certainly I will not be the last. I wanted to share some of the things I found in the Scripture that strengthened my resolve to stand against the rudiments of this world.

1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
2 That walk to go down to Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharoah be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
Isaiah 30:1-3 KJV

In this passage, the Israelites were seeking protection from their enemies in war by becoming allied with Pharoah of Egypt who in the past had enslaved them. It says they seek a covering or a shield of protection, but that this covering is not of God. Their defense is from the world around them, but not from God's providence and sovereignity. God replies to them and says that the trust they have placed in the power and protection of the ungodly will be their shame and their confusion.

In addition, we must remember the wicked in Proverbs 1 whom entice the Children of God saying "Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse". The LORD instructs the righteous: "My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path". To those who lay wait for blood (read: bet on life and health), God says:

24Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

To his elect, he assures them:

32For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

Farm Sermons

2011-01-09T19:55:00.000-08:00

I know I just posted, but I just came across this and I wanted to share. Below is a link to a collection of sermons published by Charles Spurgeon in 1882 which are written with the tiller of the soil in mind. An excerpt from the section entitled "Lessons from the Acres":

Farmers should make brave Christians when grace renews them, for God is everywhere about them, and in his presence gracious souls are sure to thrive. Of old the Lord met men by the bush, the brook, and the well, and spake with them in the field, the threshing-floor, and the sheep-fold; and he still seems nearer in the country than in the grimy town. Never can the tiller of the ground open his eyes without learning something if he is willing to be taught. Weeds and plants, frost and sunshine, green shoots and yellow ears, drills and reapers, hedges and ditches, foxes and sheep, drought and flood, waggons and horses, harrows and ploughs—all reveal some spiritual mystery concerning God and our own souls. Surely those men should learn much who find a schoolmaster and a lesson-book in every acre which they cultivate.

Google Books (public domain):
http://books.google.com/books?id=Rx4FAAAAQAAJ&ots=moieEG0h3w&dq=spurgeon%20farm%20sermons&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false

HTML version:
http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/fspref.htm

Mortification of Sin

2011-01-09T06:01:00.000-08:00

I apologize for not posting recently, but I have been in the process of moving to the Philadelphia area and starting my new job. More importantly, I have been preparing myself with the Word of God to be ~~in the world but not part of it~~ (Edit: I just read an article on how this phrase is heretical and found nowhere in the Bible. I rebuke myself! Link ) Although sometimes I fall into fear of being lead astray by my own fallen nature, I know that this job is God's will because I submitted myself to his decision (see Casting Lots). On my first day of work, I was sitting in my truck and I opened my Bible that I keep in my car to Galatians 4. What I read helped me to understand God's plan:

1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all.
2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

Galatians 4:1-2

I understand now that I am under guardians until the time when the LORD will bring me to deliverance. My only responsibility is to submit myself to his righteous judgement and be obedient in the process until the appointed time.

In travelling back and forth between Williamsburg, VA and Philadelphia I had the opportunity to visit several times with my brother Winston Brady whose family lives outside of Washington, DC. He is currently in seminary at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY but is thinking of transfering to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. Both are reformed Baptist seminaries. It was really refreshing to have someone with which to talk about the Doctrines of Grace and their practical application. We both were called by Christ while at the College of William & Mary, but only really came to know each other after he graduated.

Yesterday on the Sabbath day, I finished reading The Moritification of Sin by John Owen and I would highly recommend it to anyone who feels that the sinful thoughts they struggle with are out of their control. For weeks, I would wake up in the night and realize how vain and evil my dreams were and although I was ashamed of my sin, but I comforted myself rationalizing that I had no control. It is this very behavior that John Owen warns so strongly against. Owen tells us that when man comforts himself for sin even if he is greived by it, his heart becomes hardened and he is allowed to become calloused to the evilness of sin. Owen continues to gives the reader a practical discourse on how we as Christians are to approach these evil inner thoughts and desires to mortify them and to supplicate Christ for relief.

My parents gave me a graduation gift, which has been very useful in my Bible study. It is a hardback copy of Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language. Lately, I have just been flipping through it to look at how the meaning of words have changed. Modern man has become unable to comprehend even the most basic meanings of words. I recall in one of Michael Bunker's sermons how he was talking about the senses of taste and sight being prioritized over the other senses because they are more capable of invigorating and satisfying man's lust. The prophet Isaiah puts it this way:

Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

Isaiah 33:19

In this case, Isaiah is describing a time when we will not see these people any longer. He says these people will be "as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire" (33:12). But to God's elect, he says "Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty" (33:17).

In other news, my first King James Bible which I bought at the dollar store finally gave way. The crease in the binding that had developed several months ago around the Book of Job just last night split in two. It has served me well, but I went ahead and ordered a replacement today. Hardback this time.

Also, today I finished up a documentary series by Francis Schaeffer which I really enjoyed that examines the decaying Christian consensus in Western society and its devastating impact on our culture. The whole series (10 parts) is available on YouTube using the link below:

Francis Schaeffer - How Should We Then Live?
http://www.youtube.com/user/TwoMunchuTwo#grid/user/7C1A83B0551BDD84

Pioneer Life

2010-12-27T08:52:00.000-08:00

I just found this video about a couple that lives simply in the desert of West Texas.

Casting Lots

2010-11-28T17:26:00.000-08:00

I haven't spoken about it much here on the blog, but I am in the process of graduating from college. For most young people this entails taking the highest paying job and moving to the city with the most bars, but for the Christian looking to separate from ungodliness this process is riddled with confusion. Like all the rest of my peers, I went on interview after interview this fall looking for the right job even though I know my calling is to be a farmer. All the while I was praying that God would take me down the right path and lead me in the direction of separation. When the offers started coming in, the decision became burdensome. I was blessed to have the ability to make a decision, but this blessing to me seemed like a curse. How could I know which position would lead me where I need to go? I don't want to get trapped in the world nor do I want my own fearfulness or unbelief to lead me astray. After mulling around on the subject for weeks in my head, I came to the conclusion that my own reasoning and rationality could not decipher the evidence; in short, I was not qualified to make this decision.

Coincidentally, I had recently been reading about the Israelites and their belief concerning the casting of lots, a tactic used to make decisions that were too tricky for the wisdom of man. This seemed like the perfect situation to apply this method. The day before my first offer deadline, I walked into my dining room and saw a copy of my resume folded up into 4 parts. This copy had actually been in my suit pocket while I was going on interviews as a backup in case my interviewer forgot to bring my resume. On each of the 4 parts, I wrote the names of the four companies that had either offered me positions or were actively considering me as a candidate. I put the slips of paper into a hat and prayed. I read Ecclesiastes 8 and 9 aloud to remind me of man's helplessness and picked one the slips of paper. As I opened my eyes, a huge burden was lifted off of my shoulders. Even though the company I picked hadn't even offered me a job yet, I was convinced of God's promise. Even though I had doubted in my own mind that this company would be the right place for me, knowing God's word on the subject cast out the fear from my mind. A couple of days later, my mom sent me a short prayer that she came across:

O blessed Truth, to you I commit this decision, for you know all things, and your will is my peace. Deliver me from the false choices that come form self-interest, cowardice, and lack of faith in you, and give me vision and strength to do your will.

A week later, I got the job and felt no fear in accepting it. God's providence works in amazing ways and I feel so comforted to be under His righteous judgment. I know now that any trials I face are not the result of my own poor decisionmaking but were ordained for me by God. My job starts December 31 and I only have a couple of weeks to get things rounded up here in Virginia and move up to Philadelphia, where I will be located for the first year.

The Origin of Gardening

2010-11-21T06:01:00.000-08:00

An excerpt from The Beeton Book of Garden Management originally published in 1861:

Viewed from this standpoint, and when it is remembered that the care and culture of a garden combined to form the very first vocation of man, chosen for him by his Maker - the very first kind of manual labor to which he was bidden to turn his hand - of a truth, Gardening with all the work that is involved in it and can be included under the term, is invested with an interest that acts as a powerful magnet to draw us to its consideration, and entice us to participate actively in the pleasures that it affords. Of all callings and professions...there is none, perhaps, that is better calculated to produce in man a reverent and humble spirit than a close association with, and a constant contemplation of, the diverse operations of Nature in the great plant-world - a study which can never fail to lead from Nature up to Nature's God.

Although this book was written in Victorian England where the concept of human "progress" was becoming more and more prevalent, the author of this book does not fail to realize that gardening is the first vocation of man and was designed by the Creator to bring man closer to Himself. I recently purchased this book after watching a BBC2 television series (The Victorian Garden) from the late 1980s about how the gardens of English nobles were cultivated during the Victorian era. Large staffs of professional gardeners were responsible for producing fruits and vegetables for the table of the nobility year-round and in the process developed lots of tips and tricks that predate modern gardening technology. Both the series and the book are extremely informative in part because they are broken up by month and show what tasks were to be performed in each season.

Planet Whizbang In Action

2010-10-31T11:08:00.001-07:00

I recently ordered a Planet Whizbang from Herrick Kimball, the Deliberate Agrarian. It took awhile for me to get around to finishing the project, but now that I'm done I wish I'd finished sooner. Weeding the garden is way faster now than it ever was with my collinear hoe. I'd also like to say thanks to everyone who has been reading and to Mr. Kimball for promoting my blog.

A Man Who Has No Strength

2010-10-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

[3] For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
[4] I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:
Psalm 88:3-4

I have been struggling lately both with my current dependence on the systems of this world for my sustenance and my lack of the necessary agrarian skills to separate myself unto God. My suburban upbringing has rendered me like unto "[those] who go down into the pit". I find that even the smallest tasks which would have been commonplace on a farm or homestead only 100 years ago seem insurmountable given the entropy which now envelops the modern mind and my own conditioned sloth. I identify with the Psalmist when he says "I am as a man that hath no strength", because I recognize how modernity has stripped man of his basic manhood. I often get discouraged, feeling as if I have no teacher. As it is written, "Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness" (Psalm 88:18). Amidst all my fear and affliction, which is not for righteousness' sake (for I am complicit in my own captivity) , I have a source of hope: God has given it to me to know the peril of my condition.

[19] Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
[20] My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
[21] This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
Lamentations 3:19-21

The prophet, Jeremiah, writes in his Lamentations of just this very hope in the midst of affliction. Such hope humbles us because it forces us to realize our own fallen state and makes clear God's sovereign role in our recovery. It is not due to anything within ourselves that we might in the future overcome, rather due to the intervention of the LORD in our lives. Though "He hath made my chain heavy" (Lamentations 3:7), I know it is only that His glory might be made manifest when I am delivered. Until that day, I wait patiently on God's rebuke, correction and deliverance. Jeremiah describes this perfectly:

[26] It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
[27] It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
[28] He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.
[29] He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.
Lamentations 3:26-29

A Home for the Emigrant

2010-10-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

I have been reading lately about the westward migration of Southerners in Plain Folk of the Old South by Frank Lawrence Owsley. One interesting thing I came across was the importance of so-called "emigrant guides" in finding a potential location to homestead. These publications compiled by authors who traveled the United States taking detailed notes about various settlements, their natural resources and the people that dwelt there gave those seeking a fresh start a way to narrow down their options. Owsley describes how adult male sons from one extended family would travel together to find and purchase land for themselves and the rest of their kin who would come in successive trips. Today, these guides like the lands they once described are in the public domain. Looking to start a homestead in my native Texas, I decided to download a few of these books. Below is an excerpt from The Home for the Emigrant - Texas: Her Vast Extent of Territory, Fertility of Soil, Diversity of Production, Geniality of Climate, and the Facilities She Affords Emigrants for Acquiring Homes

The Jews were never held in greater bondage by the Egyptians than are the laboring men of this age in the overcrowded districts of Europe and America; with them it is toil and labor for day to day, and year to year, with the same hopeless purpose, nothing to expect beyond meat, bread, and scanty clothing; a home and fireside they can call their own, is a luxury beyond their dreams.

Texas, with her bright skies, genial climate, and prolific soil, stand to the poor and homeless, "as to the Jews old Canaan stood," the land of promise, where each man can be the lordly proprietor of his own broad acres; raise his children beneath his own roof, cultivate his own vine and fig tree, dying to leave an honored name to his descendants, and sleep in peace in the bosom of his own domain.

History of American Religion (1840-Present)

2010-09-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

I am currently enrolled in my last semester at the College of William & Mary in Virginia, where I am taking a class entitled "History of American Religion (1840-Present)". The basic framework of the class follows the development of American religious traditions from a time when America was almost exclusively agrarian to the current state of modern industrial apostasy. Of course, the perspective of the course is skewed by the fact that it is taught at a secular institution by a professor who is an professed atheist and an open homosexual. I almost dropped the class when I perceived this bias, but I'm glad I didn't because so far it has provided me with some interesting insights into God's providence and made me just the more aware how blessed I am to have been called out of this world system.

What amazes almost more than this historical slide into apostasy is that today one could teach a history class which clearly demonstrates how this cancer has infected our lives and no one would give it so much as a second thought. While I recognize that my own personal studies likely prepared me for this course much more so than some of my peers, it still is remarkable how the the notes on the board can be interpreted in such disparate ways. As an example, I'll provide an excerpt from my class notes from today:

The Shift Toward Modernity: Liberalism

A. Always connected with industrialization, urbanization, upward mobility and geographic mobility

B. Rejection of Calvinism
I. Calvinism limits human free will and ability of humankind to effect change
II. Predestination
III. Emphasis on the fall and therefore on the evil within mankind

C. Liberals instead increasingly see humankind less as inherently bad. Humans are inherently good.
I. Perfectionism - If God is within, human efforts can be made to emancipate all people so as to nurture the God witin
II. The way to know God is through science
III. Science makes possible the move toward perfection

When I look at these notes, I see the downward spiral of Protestantism in America, yet most of my classmates herald these developments as successful and progressive. In short, God is clearly at work in his people bringing them to a knowledge of the truth through a painful examination of their history. Many however, will be unable to recognize the Shepherd's voice.

A Statement of Meaning

2010-09-12T19:14:00.000-07:00

I just started this blog to chronicle my journey toward obedience to God in his call for me to live a separate agrarian lifestyle. I thought I'd take the opportunity of this first post to give meaning to the title I chose for the blog in light of what it means to me.

The first word, reformed, is a reference to the theological foundation which orders my worldview according to the work of the Holy Spirit. I say by the Holy Spirit, because if you had known me only a short time ago you would never have imagined that I would come to embrace the doctrines of grace. I could hardly imagine myself a Christian and admittedly I resisted Christ a great deal within myself, for which today I humbly repent. Seeing now the transformation which Jesus Christ wrought in me, I can only pray that His will be done and not my own. Thus any exposition of my own life begins with a nod to the One who ordered it all from the foundation of the world.

The second word, yeoman, is a reference both to my past and future. In studying my own ancestry, I am continually amazed by the Scotch-Irish people who settled the Southern half of this country. Persecuted by both Papists and Anglicans in Northern Ireland, Scotch-Irish Protestants migrated to this country where they developed self-sufficient agrarian communities based on sound, Calvinist doctrine. They were for the most part smallholding yeoman farmers who provided for the needs of their families with their hands in the soil. God's perfect order was evident in their lives. Across many generations, creeping worldliness began to take its toll. Overdependence on the cotton economy resulted in declining self-sufficiency and it was only a matter of time before my family would become separated from the land and from God. It is this recognition and the instruction of the Holy Scriptures that has caused me to seek the old paths. My prayer is that God's perfect order might be evident in my own life as it was in those who came before me.

Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where [is] the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.
Jeremiah 6:16