Many people today are deeply troubled over the future they or their children may experience. Whether they are concerned about the peak oil issue, the collapse of the American dollar, global warming, a three-front war, terrorism, or any of a number of other valid concerns, they want to know not only the problems but also some possible solutions.

We believe that Yahweh is fully in control and is able to deliver us from anything the universe may throw our way. However, we also believe that He gave us minds and expects us to use them.

• Proverbs 22:3 HCSB  A sensible person sees danger and takes cover, but the inexperienced keep going and are punished.

Even if none of the mentioned issues ever arise, the following practices will still serve us well. If we teach our children basic survival skills, we obviously hope that they will never have to use them for real. However, if the need should ever arise, we will certainly be glad that we invested the time to prepare them for that eventuality. So we do these things, not out of  fear, but out of a deep love of the Master and a heart-felt desire to be wise stewards of the resources that He has given us (Matthew 25:14-30).

Faith – (Proverbs 1:7; 2 Chronicles 7:14)

Adonai comes first in our lives. In fact, He comes BEFORE our lives. Examination of humanity’s sordid history reveals that every time we move away from the life principles He has given us we move toward our own destruction. His wisdom therefore must lie at the very heart of all our endeavors.

Humility – (Proverbs 16:18; 29:23; Matthew 23:12; 1 Corinthians 10:12; 1 Peter 5:5-6)

It takes humility to admit when we have messed up. It is required to learn from our experiences or from the life-lessons of others. It is a God magnet. Adonai draws near to the humble and He resists the proud. We therefore consider humility to be the most fundamental of all virtues and to be the root of every righteous act.

Peacemaking / Cooperation– (Matthew 5:9; Romans 12:18; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

Since the dawn of human history, when the first man damaged his relationship with his spouse and his God, Adonai has sought to reestablish that connection. He began with a single man, our father Abraham and then extended His peacemaking to Abraham’s family. The family became a tribe and soon developed into a nation. Through this nation, Yahweh spoke to humanity. He gave us the Scriptures and then ultimately became flesh and dwelt among us. He extends His reconciliatory efforts towards all of mankind. When we join in these efforts we become just a little more like Him.

We therefore do not want to merely survive dark days. We want to save as many as possible too. Like Rahab we want to cram as many people in our little shelters so that when the walls of society come tumbling down, we will not be alone. This will only be accomplished through peacemaking and cooperation.

Stewardship – (Matthew 25:19, 28-29; Revelation 11:18)

Adonai is the sole Master of this world. He is not only its Creator but its Redeemer. We are mere tenants and we are required to take care of the Master’s things. The Scriptures have a well-developed ecotheology for those who are looking for it. A term Adonaists could use to describe themselves is “ikkar” which is “husbandman” or “farmer” (2 Chronicles 26:10; Isaiah 61:5; Jeremiah 51:23; Joel 1:11; Amos 5:16). Like Uzziah, we are “ahavim adamah” lovers of the soil. That love will be reflected in our mussar – our ethic.

God granted humanity “dominion” over His creation but we see this “dominion” as a sacred responsibility, rather than as a license to do whatever we want with the biosphere. Adonaists believe our dominion over God’s creation should be patterned on El Ch’uwl’s loving, compassionate dominion over us. If we fail to show love for His creation or mercy for God’s creatures, should we expect God to protect us from the consequences of our own heartlessness and self-indulgence? He graciously allows us to live and profit off of His things, but we dare not abuse His property. We must not “lord it over God’s creation”.

Voluntary simplicity (Ecclesiastes 4:6)
    Individually – moving from boundless growth and consumption to voluntary self-limitation.
       Simplicity of dress and personal appearance (1 Timothy 2:9-10; 1 Peter 3:3-4)
       Simplicity of speech (James 5:12)
       Simplicity of lifestyle (1 Thessalonians 4:10-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:12)
    Communally – moving from the larger faster and more centralized to the smaller, slower and locally based
       Less centralization of power (1 Peter 2:9)
       Slower paced (2 Chronicles 20:17; Psalm 46:10)

Self-sufficiency – (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:12; 1 Timothy 5:4, 8)
As our father Abraham rescued his nephew Lot from the wicked kings using only his own family and servants and then refused to take so much as a shoelace from the king of Sodom (Genesis 14), so we too do not rely on the world. We do not bring our conflicts to the worldly courts (1 Corinthians 6:1-8). We do not wait for the government to take care of us. Each of us takes responsibility for ourselves, our biological and our spiritual families. We work hard, save our money, pay off debts and try to have some extra to take care of the poor. Self-sufficiency is such an intrinsic part of the Adonaic mindset that it becomes simply a part of the background – it’s just how we think. 

  1.       To start and sustain an intentional Adonaic community as a cultural preservation center
  2.       To consciously build community in an increasingly isolating and individualizing culture
  3.       To serve the people in our geographic area by sharing:
      a.    Valuable skills and knowledge
      b.    Basic commodities through barter and trade
  4.       To save what is best of human culture by acting as a combination library, university and research center:
      a.    Preserving life-sustaining knowledge and skills
      b.    Preserving culture (literature, science, arts, crafts)
      c.    Preserving human history
      d.    Advancing this knowledge and finding ways to put it to good use
      e.    Fomenting social change through education and activism
  5.       To develop long-term sustainability through
      a.    power-down strategies
      b.    recycling
      c.    conservation
      d.    intentionally developing local resources by creating and managing sustainable local enterprises
  6.       To protect and defend our people and culture
  7.       To do these things in a manner that encourages joy and social interaction incorporating Hashem’s feasts with parties, plays, concerts, and exhibits of various arts.

We believe that Psalm 37 is more than an ode to El Shaddai’s provision. We believe that it represents His strategy for overcoming dark days. We use it to establish guidelines for wise stewardship in times of hardship.

Direct points:
  1.       We will not allow ourselves to be overcome by fear of the future.
  2.       We will not envy those whose greed will very shortly be their undoing.
  3.       We will trust the Lord’s commands and do what is right regardless of the consequences.
  4.       We will dwell in the land – not rape and pillage it. We will, like king Uzziah, be ahavim adamah, lovers of the soil.
  5.       We will live securely, carefully considering potential threats and dealing with them proactively.
  6.       We will take delight in the Lord, focusing our lives on the joy of serving the Messiah.
  7.       We will commit our ways to the Lord and trust Him, not leaning on our own understanding.
  8.       We will be silent before the Lord and wait on Him, dedicating portions of our lives to prayer, meditation, praise, worship, and service.
  9.       We will not allow our anger over the damage being done to Hashem’s planet to spill over into sin.
  10.    We will constantly seek new ways to discipline our prideful spirits and develop humility.
  11.    We will be content with what the Lord has given us and not go deep into debt trying to match the world’s expectations of the conspicuous consumer.
  12.    We will try to be blameless, constantly seeking the Lord’s face and comparing our lives to His Word. We will turn away from evil and do good.
  13.    Our lives will be characterized by gracious giving. We will be generous and lend to our neighbors – even those who failed to heed our past warnings.
  14.    We will school our tongues to utter wisdom. We will constantly speak what is just, telling anyone who will listen of the truths to be found in Hashem’s Word. We will do this by placing as much of the Scriptures into the safekeeping of our memory as possible, realizing that many of our brothers and sisters have lost the privilege of access to the Scriptures due to persecution.
  15.    We will be a peaceful and quiet people.

Summarizing these points we could say that our strategy will be characterized by: 

Foresight rather than shortsighted profligacy. Anticipating future challenges and developing proactive solutions like setting aside an endowment for the next generation of:
       Tools
       Implements
       Power sources
       Non-perishable goods
       Goods exchangeable for food (salt, sugar, alcohol, hand tools, hardware)

Voluntary simplicity rather than unsustainable exploitation. Switching to the future economy before it is forced upon us.

Minimizing the impact of the loss of transportation by switching consumption to locally produced goods.

Minimizing the impact of the loss of fossil fuels by
   switching to products that either can be produced without them or will last longer
   setting aside unsustainable luxuries
   constantly seeking to reduce electrical consumption

Cooperation rather than competition. We want to develop a preservationist rather than a survivalist mentality. Survivalists exist primarily for the benefit of their members. They will naturally be regarded with suspicion and envy and thus be forced into a defensive mindset. In contrast, a preservationist culture will persist through acts of service that will make them indispensible to the regional population. Such a community will teach important skills, provide healing, entertainment, general education, spiritual leadership and counseling, depots for food and other commodities, seed banks, biodiversity refuges and more. Therefore, while survivalist communities will need to protect themselves from the people around them, preservationist communities will be protected by the people they serve.

Elder-led, Scripturally based consensus decision-making rather than autocratic rule. The biblical example of the process used to make large, important decisions is clearly demonstrated in Acts 15. The apostles’ actions indicate that they were convinced that consensus decision making by the elders (and apostles) was the surest means of knowing the mind of Christ. Authoritarian rule has no place in the church. The church must be taught and convinced of the Scriptural position on issues. Imposing decisions without leading the congregation to understand them is unbiblical. The key steps to this type of decision making are:
    a. Understand the problem and prioritize the components
    b. Pray about solutions and encourage corporate prayer
    c. Teach the congregation the applicable scriptural principles
    d. Encourage and consider congregational input
    e. Propose the wisest solution
    f. Encourage the congregation’s agreement and acceptance
    g. Oversee church members as they implement the plan
    h. Humbly accept responsibility for errors and be willing to make course corrections as we go.

Education and improvement rather than apathetic insularism.
  Elder training
  Congregational education through
  Preaching
  Sunday School
  Educational materials provided
  Short-term classes and seminars
  Hands-on examples at church
  Permaculture teacher training
  Activist leader training