The goal of this campaign is not winning an insignificant political office as much as it is creating a global transformation leading to world peace.

Our Goal for the Planet: The message of the angels to the shepherds on the first Christmas: And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And peace on earth among men in whom He is well pleased. Peace on Earth Begins with You.

Our Goal for You: To be one in whom God is well pleased: His lord said unto him, `Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.' Matthew 25:21 Our programs are designed to transform you into: An Extraordinary American An Extraordinary Christian An Extraordinary Human Being

The Old Testament prophet Micah gave us a vision of world peace:

Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift up sword against nation
And never again will they train for war.
And each of them will sit under his
Vine and under his fig tree,
With no one to make them afraid.
For the LORD of hosts has spoken.
Micah 4:2-4

This "swords into plowshares" ideal is enshrined in a statue near the United Nations building.

But the U.N. has not brought world peace.

Why is it that such a universal ideal has not been realized?

Let's compare the vision of the prophet Micah with that of a contemporary "prophet," John Lennon:

John Lennon: "Imagine"	The "Vine & Fig Tree" Ideal in the Bible
Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today...	"Living for today" is a philosophy thousands of years old. When people disregard the future, they really have nothing to live for today. When we disregard heaven, and have no fear of hell (divine displeasure), it makes it easier to justify using violence against others to get what we want today. Micah's prophecy begins with an acknowledgement of the Creator and His Commandments. George Washington said, "we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained"
Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace...	I believe the elimination of arbitrary political borders imposed by military conquerors will help bring world peace. But wherever an attempt has been made to eliminate religion (that is, Christianity, the true religion), mass death and destruction has been the result.
You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one	the world will be as one what? One collectivist ant hill? Germany was "united" under Hitler. The Chinese were as "one" under Mao. Unity was achieved only by destroying individuality. The conflict between the one and the many -- unity vs. diversity -- has plagued non-Christian philosophy for centuries.
Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world...	Every time a society has been imposed with no possessions (private property), the result has been hunger leading to mass death. In the first "brotherhood of man," Cain murdered his brother. John Lennon died a millionaire with an army of lawyers who threatened anyone who played Lennon's music without copyright authorization. The least-Christian societies have very little to share, whether they be primitive pagans or industrialized atheists under Stalin.
You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one	Again, one what?

What is it that will lead to a planet where

Nation will not lift up sword against nation
And never again will they train for war.

Christmas is the answer. Before Christmas, the world was dominated by violence caused by false religions and despotic tyrannical empires. During that age, the prophet Daniel predicted that the Messiah would come during the Roman Empire, and put an end to the old world of superstition and violence. Before Christmas, an unimaginable percentage of human beings died a violent death. After Christmas, most human beings live and die in relative peace. Peace comes as the world is Christianized.

In the modern world, violence is perpetrated primarily by those who reject Christ as the Prince of Peace.

World peace comes only with global Christianization. Christ is a Priest and a King and He seeks to replace Church and State with His Royal Priesthood and Holy Nation. The key to world peace is not the "separation of church and state," but the elimination of church and state, and all those who believe they can use coercion and threats of violence to achieve their goals.

Modern Warfare is Anti-Christian

It may not have been the case 200 years ago, but in the 21st century, "war" necessarily and inescapably involves the intentional slaughter of thousands, if not millions, of innocent non-combatant civilian men, women and children. Modern warfare inescapably violates the criteria of a "just war." If you do not oppose war to such a degree that the Pentagon considers you an "extremist" or a "dangerous pacifist," then you are either not informed about the actions of the U.S. military, or you have lost a vital part of your humanity.

Kevin Craig is for Peace. As a Christian, he is a follower of "The Prince of Peace." He is passionately opposed to our national policy of "Mutually Assured Destruction," which contemplates using nuclear weapons to intentionally kill hundreds of millions of human beings. It is an insane and un-Christian policy. It is a toxic premeditation that pollutes all of our thinking about defense and security.

As a militaristic, atheistic empire, The United States is the enemy of peace, civilization, and humanity. The future is in places like China, Africa, and Latin America, where Christianity is multiplying because Christians there understand the issues better than entertainment-centered "Christians" in the United States.

From a Christian perspective, America's thinking about war and peace, "national security," and related issues, is completely off the mark.

Kevin Craig is the Founder of a non-profit educational organization called "Vine & Fig Tree." The name is taken from a prophecy of the Old Testament Prophet Micah, which defines the mark:

      Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
      That the mountain of the LORD’s house
      Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
      And shall be exalted above the hills;
      And peoples shall flow to it.
      Many nations shall come and say,
      “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
      To the house of the God of Jacob;
      He will teach us His ways,
      And we shall walk in His paths.”
      For out of Zion the law shall go forth,
      And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
      He shall judge between many peoples,
      And rebuke strong nations afar off;
      They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
      And their spears into pruning hooks;
      Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
      Neither shall they learn war anymore.
      But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree,
      And no one shall make them afraid;
      For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
      Though all people walk each in the name of his god,
      We will walk in the name of the LORD our God
      Forever and ever.

Call Kevin Craig a "pacifist." Call him "anti-military." Call him a "hippie peace-nik." He says "bad publicity is better than no publicity at all." This webpage is not designed to provide bumper-stickers for voters or sound-bites for the press. War and Peace is a serious subject that deserves serious thought.

The federal government, through its military, is willing to sacrifice the lives of millions of innocent non-combatant civilians in order to protect its own political power. The U.S. federal government is responsible for the deaths of nearly two million people in Iraq alone since 1990. In 1996 then-UN Ambassador Madeleine Albright was asked by 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl, in reference to years of U.S.-led economic sanctions against Iraq, “We have heard that half a million children have died. I mean, that is more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?” To which Ambassador Albright responded, “I think that is a very hard choice, but the price, we think, the price is worth it.”

Let's think about this. "The price is worth it,” Albright said. "The price" is millions of deaths. But it is worth "it," she claims. What is "it?"

Was "it" the liberation of Kuwait? Was "it" the creation of an Islamic Theocracy in Iraq that leans toward Iran? Why should the United States have killed millions of people to replace a secular dictatorship with an Islamic Theocracy? Would America's Founding Fathers have felt that creation of an Islamic Theocracy was worth millions of deaths?

Kevin Craig believes that no U.S. war since 1776 (including the American Revolution itself) has been of net benefit to the world.

The idea of "Liberty Under God" advances civilization through peaceful commerce and patient endurance of the weaknesses of our fellow human beings. The idea of "Liberty Under God" should direct our thinking about military affairs, as well as economics, law, and society.

President Bush is said to be a Christian, "a man of faith" whose favorite philosopher is Jesus Christ. Congressman Blunt was a graduate and president of a Baptist University which claims to be "a Christ-centered, caring academic community preparing students to be servant leaders in a global society." Here are the two questions that need to be asked:

1. Would Jesus drop a bomb on an Iraqi village, or would He approve of George Bush doing so? Would Jesus give a "thumbs-up" to Israel's directing a missile onto an apartment building in Lebanon?
2. Should the answer to Question #1 have any effect whatsoever on modern military and political policy?

The answer to the first question is obviously "No." The answer to the second question reflects your "world-and-life view." Kevin Craig believes that the Bible must be the foundation of all public policy.

There is no evidence that the Republican Party "team" in Washington D.C. has a Christian world-and-life view, and that the Bible is the foundation of their military and geo-political strategies (Republicans controlled the executive, legislative and judicial branches, for the first six years of the Bush Administration, with seven of the current nine Justices of the Supreme Court appointed by Republican Presidents.)

Very few Christian voters have given serious thought to the question, "How should the Bible and the teachings of Christ shape America's defense policies?" Left-leaning Christians, many of whom are professional social-workers, have said that instead of the government confiscating money for war-making from Americans using government force and coercion, government should confiscate money for welfare appropriations, or for "the environment." But they don't really believe that the Bible is or should be a blueprint for U.S. foreign policy.

An argument for this position begins here.

Not a single person who signed the Constitution would approve of the war in Iraq, nor much of U.S. military and foreign policy in this "post-Christian" age. They had a more Christian world-and-life view than today's so-called Christian politicians.

Liberty and Security

Although the federal government spends hundreds of billions of dollars a year on "defense," few Americans feel as secure as they did 15 or 20 years ago. Even if we doubled that budget, we would not feel more secure. In fact, if we shipped more arms to foreign nations, doubled the number of soldiers wearing jungle camouflage in our airports, and increased the number of bombs that are capable of obliterating millions of non-combatant civilians, we would probably have an even greater feeling of insecurity. We would feel that our liberties were even more threatened.

Suppose that instead of increasing the defense budget, we radically slashed it. How would this affect our nation's security?

Surprisingly, the more we cut, the more secure we will be.

• America’s National Security: The Greatest Danger by Steven LaTulippe
• Government Debt – The Greatest Threat to National Security by Congressman Ron Paul
  Total Defense expenditures consume 65% of the total revenue brought in by the personal income tax. The remainder of government programs is covered by China, which has supplied nearly $200 billion toward U.S. debt, along with other foreign government creditors. These nations could in essence wage economic war against us simply by dumping their huge holdings of U.S. dollars, driving the value of those dollars sharply downward and severely damaging our economy.

Even the most inexperienced political observer can guess that the 112th Congress will not cut the defense budget by much, if at all. We can only imagine the effect on Congress and upon the national debate if a Congressman boldly and articulately advocated the following:

• Reclaiming the War Power
• Redefining U.S Security Strategy
• Accurately Assessing the Terrorist Threat
• Repudiating Weapons of Mass Destruction
• Re-Examining Strategic Nuclear Forces and Missile Defense
• Slashing the Defense Budget

There is only one way to bring "security." "Liberty Under God."

• Ultimate Goal: "National Security"

Other Platform Statements:

• Swords Into Plowshares
• Blessed Are the Peacemakers
• Slavery is Better than "National Defense"
• A Biblical Defense of Pacifism
• More Bible Verses about Pacifism
• War and Imperialism vs. the City Upon a Hill
• The Sixth Commandment
• Vengeance Belongs to God, Not to Man
• Capital Punishment
• What Would You Do If . . . ?
  -- Pacifist alternatives to lethal force
• Vine & Fig Tree
• A Pacifist for Congress
• I Am Not An ARCHIST
• An Anarchist for Congress
• No "Holy Wars" in Our Day
• Holy War
• Holy War: Devoted to Destruction
• Romans13.com
• God Sends Evil: Romans 13 and the Christian Anarchist
• Revelation 13, Isaiah 13
• Death by Government
• Thesis 54: War, Capital Punishment, and “The Sword”
• Personal Peace and Affluence
• Does Jesus Command His Followers to Take Up a Sword? (Luke 22)
• Was The Iraq War Biblically Justified?
• Defense
• Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament
• Is War Ever "Just"
• Mutual Assured Destruction
• Don't Send the Marines!
• Memorial Day 2008
• Mideast Conflict
• Who Owns the Holy Land?
• Weapons of Mass Destruction (RNEP)
• Torture is Un-American
• Military Tribunals
• Vengeance Belongs to God, Not to Man
• The Vietnam War
• Weapons of Mass Destruction
• The Draft
• Reclaiming the War Power
• U.S Security Strategy
• The Defense Budget
• Terrorism
• Weapons of Mass Destruction
• Strategic Nuclear Forces and Missile Defense
• Trade Sanctions
• U.S. Security Strategy
• Iran
• Iraq
• Intelligence
• Oil and the Moslem World
• International Economic Policy
• Israel: Is the State God?
• Israel: The miracle country turns 60
• Exiting the Balkan Morass

Ozarks Virtual Townhall

• May 24th, 2008: "Memorial Day"
• May 17th, 2008: "60th Anniversary of the State of Israel"
• May 10th, 2008: "Mother's Day"
  It's a war between mothers and "archists"
• April 12th, 2008: Assessing "The Surge" in Iraq
• April 5th, 2008: Expanding the Entangling NATO Alliance
• March 16, 2008: St. Patrick and U.S. Foreign Policy
  Click here for notes and resources
• March 8th, 2008: Government Torture of Terrorist Suspects
• February 23, 2008: The Protect Telecommunications Companies Act
• February 16, 2008: The Protect America Act
• January 12, 2008: The President's Plan for Israel
• January 5, 2008: The President's Entangling Alliances in the Mideast
• December 15, 2007: Defense Appropriations
• November 10, 2007: "Veterans Day"
• September 15, 2007: General Petraeus Reports on Iraq
• September 8, 2007: Iraq: From "Dark Ideology" to "Normal Life."
• August 25, 2007: A "Safer and More Normal Life" in Iraq
• July 28, 2007: Expanding Powers of Government Surveillance
• July 21, 2007: Intelligence Estimate on the Terrorist Threat
• July 14, 2007: Progress in Iraq?
• May 26, 2007: Memorial Day
• May 5, 2007: The Funding of the War in Iraq

• MILITARY POLICY (lp)
• National Defense (lp)
• The Myth of National Defense
• War
• National Defense: Restoring U.S. Military Strength (HTML) Defense
• Foreign Policy
• Foreign Policy & War (fff)
• Foreign policy and intervention
• Imperialism, War and: The American empire
• International Peacekeeping (See this part of Chapter 17)
• National Security Heritage
• National Security (frc)
• National Defense (Ruwart)
• War & Foreign Policy (fff)
• War and conflict
• War and Imperialism: The American empire
• War and liberty
• War, Peace, and International Affairs (197)
• FRC
  • MILITARY READINESS
  • U.S. SECURITY CONCERNS
  • MILITARY READINESS POLICY PAPERS 
  • RELATED PUBLICATIONS
• Military (jbs)

Privatization

• The Independent Institute | Larry Sechrest | “Let Privateers Troll for Bin Laden”
• The National Defense Myth by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

How to Slash Defense Spending

Most Americans say they want to cut government spending, but for most Americans, and especially most conservatives, cutting defense spending is "off the table."

We need to put it back on the table, and slash drastically.

Too many people believe that war is "good for the economy." Statistically, this is false.

• The Myth of "War Prosperity"

But it's also mistaken when one considers the long-term effects, or as Frederic Bastiat described it, "the seen and the unseen." We can see that a soldier was hired, or a defense contractor created jobs, but much greater benefit to the economy could have been obtained, which we cannot see. We can see the bombs creating "shock and awe," but not the jobs that money could have created. Spending a million dollars to send troops across the globe to blow up a building has the same effect on GDP as spending a million dollars to build a factory, school or hospital here at home, but both expenditures do not have the same effect on our standard of living. Blowing things up lowers our standard of living.

• The American Conservative » Less Bang for the Buck

The federal government spends billions of dollars on weapons systems that cannot be used, would still be way overpriced if they were actually used, and continues to spend money on these systems long after these two facts become widely admitted.

Defense spending is riddled with corruption.

Thomas Woods has ably summarized these and other considerations in chapter 5 of his book, Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse. If you're serious about being an informed American and not only discussing the issue of defense spending, but working intelligently to cut defense waste, you need to read that chapter.

---

Human beings are created in the Image of God. If you hate God, then you hate your neighbor.

Ultimately, peace on earth depends on human beings being reconciled to God.

---

The Biblical History of the Rise and Fall of Violence and the Coming of Peace on Earth

Biblical Pacifism is a comprehensive world-and-life-view. If you don't consider yourself to be a "Bible-believing Christian," or if you do but don't consider yourself to be a "Biblical pacifist," then the task is huge. It will take a year or more to convert you.

We have a program geared to do this: www.PeacemakerCoaching.org. We take you through the five most important works in the history of Western Civilization. You come out on the other end as a Christian pacifist.

The most important work in the history of America and Western Civilization, obviously, is the Bible.

George Washington read the Bible an hour every morning.

Then another hour in the evening.

America's Founding Fathers knew it well.

It takes 11 minutes a day to read the Bible
from cover to cover in one year.

Maybe you've already read the Bible --

but you read it as a religious book.

A "devotional" book.

A book to "inspire" you.

A book to help your "self-esteem."

 

We're going to read the Bible as

marching orders from General Headquarters.

We're going to read the Bible as a

textbook in political science and economics.

For example,

We're going to pay close attention to

what the Bible says about

inflation and fractional reserve banking,

which led the Framers of the Constitution to say

"No state shall make anything but gold or silver a tender in payment in of debts."

Americans in 1776 knew what the Bible said about economics, law, political science, and more.

Americans today do not.

Christianity is not just religious devotionals.

Christianity is a worldview that affects every area of life.

At left you can see a list of contemporary issues which the Bible addresses directly and clearly. During the next 365 days, you'll see these issues in the Bible like America's Founding Fathers did, and like you've never seen them before.

In addition, you're going to see the story of the Bible like you've never seen it before. Many Christians today believe the story of the Bible goes something like this:

• God created planet earth;
• God put man on earth to be a good steward;
• Satan tempted man;
• Man rebelled against God, choosing to be his own god instead,
• Satan now controls the world.
• Since Satan and man are not playing God's game by God's rules, God is soon going to take his cosmic football and go home.

In other words, Satan wins.

Pretty dismal story, isn't it?

Sure, God sent His Son, who died on the cross, so that some of the players can be forgiven for their rebellion and go home with God, but God's original purposes for man and the creation were thwarted by Satan, the ultimate victor.

The Bible doesn't teach this.

The Bible says our purpose as human beings is to turn a fallen wilderness into a Garden-City. The New Jerusalem is the "Vine & Fig Tree" society.

Hundreds of years before Christ, the prophet Daniel spoke of the first Christmas, the birth of the Messiah in the days of the Roman Empire. That barbaric, debauched empire was destroyed, and the Kingdom of Christ began growing like a mustard tree, like leaven, like a field (Matthew 13). The Emperor Justinian began Christianizing the Eastern Roman Empire, and in the West kings like Alfred and Ethelbert made the 10 Commandments the basis of new legal systems. The "Common Law" began, with a Christian foundation, and eventually found its way into the Constitution of the United States, "a Christian nation." Though there have been ups and downs, the progress of Christianity has been undeniable -- at least to those who have been taught the facts of history.

Most Americans in the 21st century have not.

If you enroll in the PeacemakerCoaching Program, you will learn the story of the "Vine & Fig Tree." You will learn that the Bible says the purpose of the first Christmas was that "the knowledge of the Lord should cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:9; Habakkuk 2:14). This has been going on for 2,000 years now. This is a wonderful story that isn't being told.

Some people sincerely believe that the Bible says that everything is going to get worse and worse until God finally destroys everything and then starts over. (Why He would want to go through failure again is not disclosed.)

You will read a different story in the Bible when you enroll in the PeacemakerCoaching Program, and have a coach pointing out things in the Bible that you may have missed.

Perhaps you're reluctant to pay your tuition for a class that teaches something very different from what you've always heard. So we'll give you the entire year-long curriculum. We want to make it clear that simply reading the class outline in a week, or even a month, will not give you the same result as you will have if you enroll in the PeacemakerCoaching Program and study a little bit each day, think about it, study more the next day, pray about it, and take an entire year to complete your reading of the “Vine & Fig Tree” story. It just won't be the same.

But you wouldn't be a good shopper if you bought a product without knowing what it delivered. So if you're doubtful about our agenda, here are two ways to survey the story of the Bible that you'll learn in the year-long PeacemakerCoaching Program.

The first way is a 12-day study entitled "The 12 Days of Liberty." It's modeled after the "12 Days of Christmas, which take place from December 25 to January 6. You've never heard the Christmas message like this:

• The 12 Days of Liberty
• Day 1: Incarnation and Liberty
• Day 2: I'm Dreaming of a Large Christmas
• Day 3: The Birth of the Anti-King
• Day 4: Defeating the Enemies
• Day 5: Peace on Earth
• Day 6: Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Capitalists
• Day 7: Kingmas: Christ = King
• Day 8: Let's Keep Christmas Commercialized
• Day 9: A Christmas Nagocracy
• Day 10: Christmas for the Lowly
• Day 11: "All Flesh Will See the Salvation of God"
• Day 12: The Christmas Millennium

This study is obviously not a review of the entire Bible, though many other parts of the Bible are reviewed besides the Christmas narratives in the Gospels.

Here, then, is a review of the entire Bible. Again, it is no substitute for the Berean model of searching the Scriptures daily. And reading them all in an afternoon is not the same as reading one a day and thinking about it prayerfully over a period of time. But just so you can see an example of the worldview of the PeacemakerCoaching Program, here are 95 Bible Studies, patterned loosely after Martin Luther's "95 Theses," somewhat-humorously called “The 95 Days of Christmas”:

Welcome to “The 95 Days of Christmas” | Read

The Importance of Luther's 95 Theses | Read

The Origin of These 95 Theses | Read

Introduction: Taking the Bible Seriously | Read

Thesis 1: Christ the Word | Read

Thesis 2: Christ the Creator | Read

Thesis 3: Creation, not Evolution | Read

Thesis 4: Omniscience, Predestination, and Provide... | Read

Thesis 5: “Self-Evident Truths” | Read

A. “Vine & Fig Tree” BEFORE THE FALL | Read

Thesis 6: The Biological Basis of Patriarchy | Read

Thesis 7: The Dominion Mandate | Read

Thesis 8: Patriarchy and “the Extended Family” | Read

Thesis 9: “Vine & Fig Tree” and the Sanctions of the Covenant | Read

Thesis 10: The Priority of Agrarianism | Read

Thesis 11: “Vine & Fig Tree” and the Mountain | Read

B. “Vine & Fig Tree” BEFORE THE FLOOD | Read

Thesis 12: The Fall Of The Angels | Read

Thesis 13: The Fall of Man | Read

Thesis 14: The Purpose of Cain’s “Suspended Sentence” | Read

Thesis 15: Cain’s City: The Autonomy of the State | Read

Thesis 16: The Demonic Roots of Violent Tyranny | Read

C. “Vine & Fig Tree” BEFORE SINAI | Read

Thesis 17: The Post-Flood Absence of The Institutional Church | Read

Thesis 18: The Patriarchal Power Of “Capital Punishment” | Read

Thesis 19: Nimrod: The First Politician (Post-Flood) | Read

Thesis 20: “Vine & Fig Tree” vs. Political Slavery | Read

Thesis 21: Demonic Activity At   Babel | Read

Thesis 22: The Division of The Nations | Read

Thesis 23: Evangelism In The Old Covenant | Read

Thesis 24: “Vine & Fig Tree,” “National Defense,” And Military Socialism | Read

Thesis 25: “Vine & Fig Tree” and “Sacraments”: Circumcision | Read

Thesis 27: “Vine & Fig Tree”, Precious Metals, and Money | Read

Thesis 26: The Myth of The “Separation Of Church And State” | Read

Thesis 28: Salvation is Political | Read

D. “Vine & Fig Tree” UNDER MOSES | Read

Thesis 29: “Vine & Fig Tree” and Resistance to Tyranny in the Early Days of the Old Testament | Read

Thesis 30: As With All Angelic Activity, No State Action Is Coincidental or Random | Read

Thesis 31: Ceremony, Ritual, Liturgy, And The “Pedagogical Law” | Read

Thesis 32: “Vine & Fig Tree” and “Sacraments”: Passover | Read

Thesis 33: Patriarchs And “Elders” | Read

Thesis 34: The Need for a Pedagogical Legal Structure | Read

Thesis 35: Angels And The Pedagogical Legal Structure | Read

Thesis 36: The Promised Land | Read

Thesis 37: The Temporary Character of The First “Church Officers” | Read

Thesis 38: “Vine & Fig Tree” and the Temple  | Read

Thesis 39: Patriarchy and Education | Read

Thesis 40: “Vine & Fig Tree” and Oaths | Read

E. “Vine & Fig Tree” AND THE RISE OF THE STATE | Read

Thesis 41: The Character of “gods” | Read

Thesis 42: National Security Without a State | Read

Thesis 43: The Prohibition of Monarchism | Read

Thesis 44: The State as the Answer to the Prayers of Rebels | Read

Thesis 45: The Inferiority of Old Covenant Typological Mediators | Read

F. “Vine & Fig Tree” AND PROVIDENCE : THE STATE | Read

Thesis 46: Romans 8:28 and The State | Read

Thesis 47: God’s Sovereign Ordering of Every State | Read

Thesis 48: The State Serves God by Sinning | Read

Thesis 49: The State As Sanctified “Servant”/“Deacon”/”Minister” | Read

Thesis 50: The State Does Not Serve God Self-Consciously | Read

Thesis 51: Only One King Self-Consciously Serves God | Read

Thesis 52: Judgment of the State in Heaven and Earth | Read

Thesis 53: Moloch-Worship and the Nature of Idols | Read

Thesis 54: War, Capital Punishment, and “The Sword” | Read

Thesis 55: The Throne of David | Read

G. “Vine & Fig Tree” AND THE MESSIAH | Read

Thesis 56: Statism At The Time Of Christ | Read

Thesis 57: Kingship, Citizenship, and The Gospel | Read

Thesis 58: The Civil Authority of The Pastor: Christ The Shepherd | Read

Thesis 59: Jewish Opposition To The Kingdom | Read

Thesis 60: Christ’s Binding of Satan | Read

Thesis 61: True Power vs. Political Power | Read

Thesis 62: Agrarianism As Environmentalism | Read

Thesis 63: Christ’s Ascension to the Throne of David | Read

Thesis 64: The Camaraderie of “Church” And State | Read

Thesis 65: Fox News and the Coming of the Kingdom | Read

Thesis 66: The Anointed King vs. Political Kings | Read

Thesis 67: Jesus The Nazarene | Read

H. “Vine & Fig Tree” AND THE EARLY HOME-CHURCHES | Read

Thesis 68: Extremism Vs. Neutrality | Read

Thesis 69: Sons of God and Pedagogues | Read

Thesis 70: Judgment and the Church-Courts of Christ | Read

Thesis 71: The Apostolic Church and the Spread of Power | Read

Thesis 72: “Vine & Fig Tree” and the House-Church | Read

Thesis 73: “Vine & Fig Tree” and the “Sacraments”: Baptism | Read

Thesis 74: “Vine & Fig Tree” and the “Sacraments”: “The Lord’s Supper” | Read

Thesis 75: Self-Ordination | Read

Thesis 76: Salt and Statism | Read

Thesis 77: Political Authority and Kingdom Citizenship | Read

Thesis 78: “Vine & Fig Tree” and Resistance to Tyranny in the Last Days of the Old Covenant | Read

Thesis 79: Taxation, Kingdom Citizenship, and Overcoming Through Suffering | Read

Thesis 80: Violence | Read

Thesis 81: Vengeance | Read

Thesis 82: Creationist Anarcho-Socialism and Darwinian Archo-Socialism | Read

Thesis 83: Pedagogy and The Powers | Read

Thesis 84: The End of Archists: The Pedagogues Judged by the Church | Read

Thesis 85: The Last Days of the Old Covenant | Read

I. “Vine & Fig Tree” IN “THE MILLENNIUM” | Read

Thesis 86: “The Millennium” | Read

Thesis 87: “Ruling with Christ” | Read

Thesis 88: Salvation as Light and Social Healing | Read

Thesis 89: Edenic Restoration | Read

Thesis 90: The New Heavens and New Earth | Read

Thesis 91: The Unconverted In the “Millennium” | Read

Thesis 92: The Last Acts of Earthly Archists | Read

Thesis 93: The City of God | Read

You need to go through the entire year-long program to appreciate these studies. You do yourself a disservice if you try to judge any one of the studies without studying the entire series. Real change will take place when you work through the entire Bible systematically, daily, prayerfully, thoughtfully, over the course of a year. The change in your thinking -- the change in your worldview -- will not come about because we forced you or tricked you. You will experience those "Aha!' moments when the lightbulb goes on and you're never able to look at the Bible the same way again.

The significance of most of these studies will become clearer after you become acquainted with the four other works that we'll be covering in the PeacemakerCoaching Program.

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Why Read the Bible?

Myth: The Old Testament advocates war, slavery, genocide, and vengeful retaliation.	Myth: The Teachings of Jesus are impractical, utopian, unrealistic, and should be relegated to the inner religious meditations of a Mother Theresa, but should be kept away from public policy, especially foreign affairs and military strategy.
Both sides of this coin are wrong. We need to examine these myths.
Jesus quoted the Old Testament. The prophets spoke of a day when we would beat our swords into plowshares and everyone would dwell securely under his own Vine & Fig Tree -- not because his property was being taken from him to fund the "military-industrial complex," which "keeps us all safe," but because nobody was training for war any more.	If we were to follow the teachings of Jesus in Washington D.C., we would experience security, peace, and economic prosperity. No war that the U.S. federal government has waged has ever made things better than they would have been without military intervention.
How did the Civil War make things better? It gave us complete domination by the federal government. What future was improved for Poland and Czechoslovakia by World War II? They were rescued from Hitler and turned over to Stalin. How did U.S. war help the people of Iraq? A westernized, secular nation was converted into an Islamic Theocracy that leans toward Iran. Hundreds of thousands of Christians were killed or made homeless. Infrastructure was destroyed. Which improvements in the human condition were won by war?
Conclusion:	We should take both the Old Testament and the New Testament seriously.

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