Any Jesus Name Apostolic prepper familys out there

[Dordrecht]

I agree with you, individual families can do it.
Done it ourselves years ago.
We were glad to come back to electricity and the other conveniences. :-)

[KeptByTheWord]

Originally Posted by shazeep

Awesome. Although city-bred, Houston, i have been living this life for the last five years or so. i'm currently just finishing a gig as project director for a permaculture startup, Flintopia (it's on FB).

Solar is under $1 a watt now, with new, improved tech coming online daily--can't think of a better investment. Not hard to install. I've built a low-tech wind generator from old farm and car parts, a couple of times, they work well as an augment, but unreliable (so i modified a bicycle to augment the augment). I might be able to help. For electrical generation, i would advise concentrating on the solar, as it is necessarily high-tech, but more reliable, and do wind as a low-tech project--except possibly for some unusual climate areas.

There are also many other ways to extract energy from solar, passive heat capture, etc., that are easy and effective. I'm big on sourcing what i need from junk. Here's a current...well, i was going to say 'tidbit,' but for you more like 'bombshell:'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFw7U7V1Hok

(furnace, engine, welder, ...) Please holler if i may be of any service. My kinda cult

That was a really cool video, Shazeep... thanks. I've passed it on to a friend who is currently in the process of going off grid. Any more tips you can share, awesome. In about a year or so, we would like to become less energy dependent ourselves.

[KeptByTheWord]

Originally Posted by Dordrecht

I agree with you, individual families can do it.
Done it ourselves years ago.
We were glad to come back to electricity and the other conveniences. :-)

Can you share a bit more about it? Was it communal living, hence your premise about the cult-thing? Or was it just your family alone?

[KeptByTheWord]

Each year at our high school, the seniors have to do a senior project, and then present it. We went to the presentation for the senior projects this week, and I was really impressed with the ingenuity of some of the children there. One senior did his project on solar power. He set up his family's home on solar power for $3000.00, and did it himself, and documented his steps all along the way. It was really impressive. He said the charge controller was the most expensive part of the solar set up.

[shazeep]

Hmm, communism--a term that has obviously been manipulated, and is now heavily loaded--seemed to work fine in Acts? I would postulate that every other example of Communism that has ever been presented to you has been Atheistic. The OP lacks several qualities that would DQ them from even Theistic Communism, anyway.

Having lived the last 5-6 years with everything in common, i can say that it does not seem to be this that would tend toward a cult, but rather the group-think that can evolve which might lead the group down some Gnostic path, with ego prevalent. I note that in this atmosphere, Christ is sidelined, and even mentioning Christ will bring a rapid reality-check to anyone with ears.

[KeptByTheWord]

Originally Posted by shazeep

Hmm, communism--a term that has obviously been manipulated, and is now heavily loaded--seemed to work fine in Acts? I would postulate that every other example of Communism that has ever been presented to you has been Atheistic. The OP lacks several qualities that would DQ them from even Theistic Communism, anyway.

Having lived the last 5-6 years with everything in common, i can say that it does not seem to be this that would tend toward a cult, but rather the group-think that can evolve which might lead the group down some Gnostic path, with ego prevalent. I note that in this atmosphere, Christ is sidelined, and even mentioning Christ will bring a rapid reality-check to anyone with ears.

I am not sure how long communal living lasted in the book of Acts, but it didn't last forever, it eventually died out. Communism will never work, no matter whether God is involved or not. The weakest link in the chain becomes its destruction, every time. It takes one link to decide they want to live off of everyone else's work for the whole system to crumble. In a perfect world, maybe... but humans aren't perfect...

.... therefore, it remains that each family unit working together, and coming together in groups to help and assist each other, but being completely independent of each other, is the way that works.

[shazeep]

Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord

That was a really cool video, Shazeep... thanks. I've passed it on to a friend who is currently in the process of going off grid. Any more tips you can share, awesome. In about a year or so, we would like to become less energy dependent ourselves.

You might check out Earthship Biotecture, http://earthship.com/

I'm heading there soon, to get my master's in composting toilets. As hard as it may be to fathom, many, many people live in completely self-sufficient homes, with no services coming in, and no waste going out, with all of the modern conveniences, and a permaculture (translation: no cultivation, digging, etc.) food forest to harvest meals from. Thermal mass regulates temp, summer and winter. Goats, chickens, and aquaculture for milk and protein, and your 'job' is maintaining it all.

Geoff Lawton can guide one though the permaculture principles; he is in one of the links on this page i recently built, which has many good info links
https://sustainable-living.zeef.com/flintopia

[shazeep]

Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord

I am not sure how long communal living lasted in the book of Acts, but it didn't last forever, it eventually died out. Communism will never work, no matter whether God is involved or not. The weakest link in the chain becomes its destruction, every time. It takes one link to decide they want to live off of everyone else's work for the whole system to crumble. In a perfect world, maybe... but humans aren't perfect...

.... therefore, it remains that each family unit working together, and coming together in groups to help and assist each other, but being completely independent of each other, is the way that works.

Ah, i see your point there; and while i might argue it on the merits, and suggest that it might actually be a way to remain in the world as we are directed, you do have a point. (I'm seeing reflections of your characterization died out in prophets and tongues, too, hmm)

[shazeep]

But i must say that in the Acts example of Communism, the weak links are...inevitably eradicated? And in my limited exposure, unanimously.

[shazeep]

however, i do like your model for normal humans, as it keeps any personal issues in a family, i guess. tho it would be nice to be able to envision this feeling just extended to...everyone, i guess?