More Lessons from my Amish Friend

There are some lessons we learn that we do not know just how valuable they are until after the fact. Art, my fellow muleskinning apprentice and friend, and I were blessed recently with several lessons while spending a day felling trees with our Amish muleskinner and logger friend. One lesson in particular was of the “after the fact” variety and exceptionally valuable to me, though it cost me very little, thank God! As we went to specifically learn the art of safe tree felling, I decided to leave the camera at home, so that I could give these lessons my utmost attention, which I am glad I did. Sorry there are no photos as they would have really added to the story.

Breaking Stereotypes

We met with our teacher on a steamy May morning in a woodlot his brother recently purchased that lay in a sandy bottom along the Thompson River. Because of soil type, it was comprised of about 85% Cottonwood, 10% Soft Maple, and 5% miscellaneous woods. As it clearly was not sustainable farm land being so close to a river that frequently flooded and cut new courses, and, as it was not prime hardwood forest either, I asked him why his brother purchased it. “Simple,” he said, “it’s for deer hunting.” They were logging it to thin it out while also pinpointing a number of strategically located trees to build hunting stands in. It turns out that this clan of Amish take their fall deer harvesting quite seriously, as they frequently bring home the venison “by the pickup truck load,” which is a strange thing to say for a devout man of the Amish faith, or so I thought. It appears that stereotyping had got the best of me, as I found out throughout the day.

As most Amish do, at least in our area, they do not drive on highways, except with their buggies, wagons, and farm equipment. When the situation calls for it, they hire locals with internal combustion vehicles to drive them to and from places too far for their teams. This was the case for this day. Our Amish friend and his sixteen year-old son had hired a fellow to take them to the logging site in the morning and then to pick them up at 5 PM at the end of the day. To sweeten the deal, this guy had their permission to fish the river along their property, which yields large catfish, drum, bass, and several species of delicious pan fish. Forget the lessons, where is my pole!!

As we pulled up to the logging site we came upon the landing where there were huge piles of logs, some cut to length and ready for transport, and others ready for cutting, though the loggers were nowhere to be seen. It didn’t take long to find them, however, as we tracked them by the roar of the chainsaw and deep growl of a skidder, which his son was operating – a late model Timberjack 360, an enormous, rubber tired, diesel powered machine that was equipped with a massive set of hydraulic pinchers and a dozer blade. This was yet another blow to my stereotyped image of the “anti-technological” Amish who don’t drive. Talk about the ultimate teenage toy, driving anywhere or over most anything you please in a gargantuan 4-wheeled ATV that has the ability to pick up several tons of logs like toothpicks. Nonetheless, he handled it well, as his father had a pretty tight rein on him. But where were the mules?

It turns out for our Amish friend that draft animal logging doesn’t work out so well when he has to log places too distant to drive his team, which isn’t all that far. Though he logged for years using his draft mule teams, he was forced to quit using them because of the daily transportation issues unique to his faith. The further the jobs were from home the harder it became. The time and expense to have his teams transported to and from the logging site everyday was too much. It was more economical to just have a skidder dropped off at the logging site and kept there until the job was finished. In this particular case, since they were mostly harvesting huge pallet logs, the skidder worked out better since it could rapidly skid these logs whole to the landing where they could be bucked (cut to length) and immediately stacked, thus saving them time which was critical in this late spring job. There was a major downside to this, however, as there was little money to be made after expenses, but our friends were willing to take the better part of their pay for their logging efforts in the many years of deer harvesting to come. A draft mule team could have worked, though it would have taken much longer, as they work at a much slower pace.

Lessons Learned

Lesson one: His religious scruples hampered his ability to fully utilize his draft mules because of transportation needs which required equipment he was forbidden to use or too expensive to hire, and since he did not have access to woodlots close enough to drive the team to, he resorted to a form of corporate-industrial logging that, though it did give him some immediate income, is detrimental to himself and his community in the long run. I must say to his credit, however, that he is at peace with the limitations his elders have placed upon him and the men of the community. He works heartily as unto the Lord, and it appears that he has plenty of work. Nonetheless, the forbidding of the use of a pickup truck and horse trailer and the granting of the use of a skidder put him in the position of logging in an unsustainable manner that damages the forests he works.

Lesson two: These skidders can cost upwards of three hundred thousand dollars and take a fortune to maintain and transport. To “own” one profitably means using it at a constant, break neck pace that produces enough board feet to exceed not only it’s daily costs, which would include a high loan or lease payment (with interest), insurance, maintenance, wear and tear, transportation, and fuel, but also the high overhead of employees, and other costs. So how does an Amish logger fit into this? The owner of this skidder contracts with him by the job at a set price per board foot logged and the owner gets his cut whether or not our Amish friend meets all his overhead. Out of his remaining cut he must also pay for his daily transportation costs to and from the job, the $100 plus daily fuel bill for the skidder and chainsaw, the truck that hauls the logs to the mill, and other expenses. Because he sells his logs on site, he essentially works as a middleman between the skidder owner and the pallet sawmill, which means he has to produce at a high volume to make any money. Bottom-line: he told us that after he has met all expenses he makes a few cents per board foot logged. This means that he has to work at a fatiguing, hard pace to make even a reasonable wage, which he soberly admitted was a reality for him. He has yet to be seriously hurt, which is a tribute to his Lord who protects him and gives him grace to work safely.

Let me tell you, this man can really work. He wastes little time and takes no “unprofitable” steps, which means that he does not take all of the measures possible to be safe, and this primarily when it comes to using all of the tools and sometimes tedious steps necessary to fell a tree with the largest margin of safety and control, as this can really eat up the time. Where he can do it with reasonable certainty of a safe outcome he takes shortcuts. He is, nonetheless, safe and conscientious, as far as one can be working at the pace he does. Though he does wear a hardhat and steel toed boots he does not use loggers chaps to protect himself from the chainsaw, which amazed me all the more after I had a close experience of a potentially dangerous kind. He doesn’t stop moving, for as soon as it is safe to approach a felled tree he jumps up on it and hustles down its length cutting the toppings as he goes. Just as soon as he is finished with this step, the skidder moves in to pull it out, and then he is quickly on to the next tree. For one man to profitably keep up with a skidder requires fast, focused, and efficient work at a near nonstop pace. This is why he does not allow his son to switch places with him in felling trees, but has him primarily operate the skidder. The only time his son uses a chainsaw is when he is bucking the logs to length with his father at the landing where they will be picked up. Recalling his own teenage years where he didn’t stay focused on his work particularly well, because his mind was on “other things,” as he said, he felt his son would be prone to accidents under the rigorous pace of skidder logging. What about the much slower pace of draft animal logging?

This raises a very important question. Should Christians not log or train their sons in it or other occupations like farming because they are potentially dangerous? Is it tempting the Lord? Did the seventy-two Puritans that crossed the Atlantic in the Mayflower in the cold fall of 1620, of which 36 died, tempt the Lord? By what standard do we define danger and tempting the Lord? If we are called as the Lord’s people to steward His land as covenant keeping husbandrymen that produce food and products made from the resources He has placed in it, which is where true wealth and generational blessing comes from, than are we to leave this vital calling to the unregenerate or lawless because it’s potentially dangerous? How are we to establish biblical communities and godly inheritances (to finance the passing on of the New Covenant to the next generation) if we do not labor on and care for the land the Lord puts under out feet? For whoever controls the land controls the people on it. History has clearly shown that true civil freedom comes when the Lord’s people faithfully keep covenant with Him on the land where He establishes them. It has also shown that when fallen or covenant breaking men control the land, its resources, and production, that great tyranny and suffering comes, which is where we are today as our monstrous corporate state takes greater control of every aspect of our life and the land we live on. What price are we willing to pay to maintain our “safe” personal kingdoms and comfort zones? Which is better, to live free and “dangerously” as covenant keeping bondservants and stewards of the Lord, or live enslaved and “safely” as consumer slaves of wicked men? The truth is there is no safer or freer place to live than as covenant keeping servants of Christ on the land he gives us, dangerous jobs and all.

In the name of debt-based lifestyles and sweatless income (usury), America has come to redefine danger according to the deadly delusion that man can create a “prosperous, relatively safe world” on his own and according to his standards of right and wrong. Like the great ship Titanic which sailed arrogantly into the icy waters of its grave, I can hear “We, the people” cry out, “Damn the Laws of God . . . full steam ahead!” This is why we could not live in more dangerous times than now, though all “appears” to be relatively safe and comfortable around us (1Thes. 5:3). The virtual paradises that fallen men create have the appearance of long-term sustainability, but the ends thereof are death (Pro. 14:12). Because they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their fathers’ idols. Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live (Eze. 20:24-25). For us believers, therefore, to rely entirely upon others to produce our food and products vital to sustaining life, especially those who deny God and violate His law in how they conduct their affairs, is to put ourselves in grave danger, infinitely greater than the risks associated with logging or farming, as real as they are. In the name of our progressive, risk avoiding, outcome-based lifestyle, the American people, including the vast majority of its Christian citizens, have taken the greatest risk of all by turning their backs on God in giving their futures and land over to corporate masters who defile and destroy them both in flagrant violation of His law.

Since God created the land to be farmed and its forests stewarded by man in obedience to Him, we believe that by His grace it can be done safely, provided it is done in the manner He ordains, in the scale He created it, and at the pace He commands, all in accordance with His law. Yes, we are all prone to wondering minds and accidents, but God’s grace is sufficient, else we could never get anything accomplished. In any event, we fool ourselves to believe that we can sustain our lives independent of His merciful grace.

Lesson three: For the small time logger there isn’t much money to be made selling logs as a middleman, let alone for a draft animal logger who works at a much slower pace. Missouri Woods is not going there, as we intend to add our God-given labor and skill to what we cut to produce quality products for the end user, which brings a far higher price. Though some can make “good money” at middleman logging, especially the huge logging corporations that operate with government subsidies and tax breaks, they all must work at an unending dangerous pace to be profitable, which is the core reason behind the dangerous rating logging has these days in comparison to other trades (farming is a close second to logging, however). This is why there are a number of logger groups seeking government reform in both Canada and the United States to lower the accident rate. Their complaint: because they often work frenzied 11 to 12 hour shifts in 14 day blocks, they suffer many accidents due to their unending fatigue. The harsh toil of sabbath-breaking work[1] induced by usurious, debt-based economics pays a huge toll upon those who live by it. Let none of us be deceived for one minute, however, as this is not limited to logging only, but to every occupation our debt-based system has the dominion over. Our nation is burning itself out in an unsustainable orgy generational mammon worship. The answer is repentance and reformation, not more government intervention and corporate oversight.

The “After the Fact” Lesson

Our Amish friend’s warm hospitality and ready willingness to stop and train us was exceptional. He demonstrated a genuine esteem for us and our time. As soon as we were beside him, the tree felling lesson began in earnest. First, we learned how to judge where a tree is likely to fall by examining its condition, lean, branch distribution, and wind factors. Second, the spot of the planned fall was determined, which didn’t always line up with where it would “likely” fall. Third, the path of escape was determined, which is set at a 45 degree angle to the line of the planned fall. The escape path is then cleared of debris and branches that might cause one to trip, which is one of the chief causes of injuries for loggers. Fourth, the area around the tree is cleared so that nothing hidden, like old barbed wire, can cause dangerous problems with the chainsaw. Fifth, a series of precise cuts are made, which create a hinge by which the tree will pivot when falling, or so the plan goes. Sixth, the tree is felled and then a period of time is allowed for the “widow makers” – limbs caught in the branches of other trees – to fall to the ground. A vital rule of safety: when a tree is falling do not be looking at where you planned it to fall, be looking at it as it falls, in case one needs to exit stage right a whole lot quicker or in a different direction. Seventh, the butt of the log is trimmed to make it easier for the sawmill, and, in the case of draft mule skidding, to make it easier on the team. Eighth, the tree is trimmed of branches, making it ready to be taken to the landing. Ninth, for draft animal logging, the tree is bucked to length before being skidded to the landing.

The time came for us to “fell” our own tree and our friend handed me the chainsaw and led us to the where our trees awaited us, a spot several hundred yards away. Felling is different than falling, as it is an art form that cuts a tree in such a way that it falls in the desired direction and results in the least damage to the tree. In carrying the felling tool I rapidly discovered that it weighs quite a bit, especially in the hot muggy weather of Missouri, which gave me a far greater appreciation for the physical conditioning and stamina of our Amish friend. Though he is small, he is strong as a mule. I do believe that I also perceived a slight grin on his face as he watched me labor in a full sweat to keep up with him, an appropriate “rite of passage” for one such as me who has never felled a big tree in his life.

I went first. He selected a towering Cottonwood about 30 inches in diameter. After a few minutes to carefully determine the path of the fall and escape, he looked at me, pointed to a specific spot between two trees, and said, “Put her down there.” After a few silent minutes and a short lesson in how to properly start a chainsaw, I slowly made the cuts as he had taught us. In a matter of minutes there was crack and the large tree fell to the ground with an earth shuddering crash and, to my complete amazement, in the exact spot he planned. The teacher had done his job right. Next, I trimmed the log butt and branches and soon the behemoth skidder picked it up like a dog with a bone and was gone to the landing to deposit it. I was exhausted, though elated . . . until I made a very frightening discovery, a jagged 6 inch tear across my jeans where my left thigh resides. Yeeoow!! I had managed without even knowing it to run the saw across my pant leg, but praise be to God, I did not receive so much as a scratch. This immediately put a damper in my triumphant demeanor, as a new found respect of chainsaws took over, which was accompanied by some major trembling on my part. Though I trashed a brand new pair of jeans, the cost for such as incredibly valuable lesson was well worth it, for it could have been my leg! My oh my, how merciful is our Lord!

Art stepped up to the plate next and successively fell another Cottonwood of the same size. It also landed precisely where it was planned, only he kept the saw away from his pants. Once again the growling skidder appeared, grabbed the log, and then disappeared down one of the muddy, compacted trails it made. Our Amish friend examined his saw and determined that it was time for a lesson on chains and their sharpening. This finished, we drank some water and munched on a homemade Amish cookie, whereupon we commenced to fell more trees. It was my turn again, but I opted out. The jagged tear in my pants reminded me that I needed to develop better skills and control of a saw before I took on another tree. Art stepped in and made it most of the way before the saw became seriously pinched by the tree. We would have preferred to learn how to free it using tools available to a draft mule logger, but that wasn’t the case. Our Amish friend called in the skidder and soon had its huge pinchers push against the tree until the pressure on the saw was released. The saw suffered no damage and Art finished the cut. As planned, the tree landed in the right location and soon it disappeared in the powerful clutches of the skidder. We then watched our Amish friend take on a huge Cottonwood which was well over six foot in diameter at its base. About six feet up from the ground it divided into two trunks, each about four feet in diameter. This had us a little concerned, as he had to operate the saw above his head to cut it down, something we have decided not to do, as it’s very dangerous. In as much as we will be pressed to get the job done in a timely manner, especially by contracts we will make with private landowners, we will just have to take the time to do things safely.

It was time go. We thanked our friend and agreed to meet again. It was fairly easy to find our way back to the car, though the many trails the skidder made were full of mud, the ground bordering them was relatively dry. Besides costing a fortune to run, these skidders exact a costly toll upon the trees and the land they run roughshod over. Our next goal: to spend time working for our Amish friend’s brother, who operates a small sawmill and kiln. See you then -- the Missouri Rev

[1] What I mean by Sabbath-breaking work is not limited to working on the Lord’s Day, though that is important, but to the types of work and economies that break the greater substance Sabbath of Christ under the New Covenant (Col. 2:16-17). What do I mean by this? We are called to enter into the rest of the finished works of Christ on the cross (Heb. 4:11). More so, as a new creation in Him we are called to labor from that position of rest in doing good works (Eph. 2:10), just as Adam did in tending the Garden of Eden – (Gen. 2:1-3, 15). The terms of our laboring in Christ’s rest are His commandments, which, if we love Him, we will keep. Our debt-based system, which must operate at a 24/7 pace to succeed, is a gross violation of the Sabbath rest of Christ and the commandments which govern it. So long as we willfully choose to violate it, we will pay the consequences no matter how much we seek to make our way of life safe and profitable.

Book Review

Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian

by Herrick Kimball

I particularly enjoyed reading this book like one enjoys a summer evening with a friend on his quiet, country porch. You are there to enjoy the fellowship and deeply take in the delicious country air of the “good life,” not to study the engineering of his porch in relationship to the countryside. In the same way, this refreshing book is not an in depth treatise on the subject of Christian agrarianism, but rather a series of stories and anecdotes about Herrick Kimball’s transition into a biblically agrarian life, including the painful lessons and exhilarating triumphs. One can smell the garden soil he works with his family and taste the strawberries grown from it, while also smelling the coppery scent of blood and the wet feathers of the chickens he raises and slaughters. There is a hearty earthiness to the book that awakens the reader to the realities of being a steward of God’s creation.

By weaving his faith and practice, his fears and joys, into these earthly realities, he gives us a glimpse into the daily life of a family making the difficult and often snail-paced transition into a Christian agrarian lifestyle. One can feel the emotional journey and relate to the trials he and his wife have undergone in finding their agrarian roots while also establishing them in the lives of their sons. The stories of his grandfather and the humble, down-to-earth role he played in shaping his worldview are truly encouraging. Not that the book does not deal with the issues, as there some very succinct chapters devoted to very important issues that face us today like My Debt-Free Home and a Personal Testimony, the Industrial Providers, and the Theology of Food Independence. There is literally a world of difference between pontificating about agrarianism and living it; Herrick has done a good job in giving us a taste of what he has experienced thus far in seeking the “good life” of biblical agrarianism. One can contact Herrick at his website The Deliberate Agrarian.

Sam & Sadie

Please note: This is the posting that I mentioned earlier would have the pictures of the mules we trained with. Though I believe the dialogue that precedes the pictures is valuable, feel free to jump down a page or so and view them, as I am sure you’ll enjoy them.

In the posting, What a Retirement Plan!, I spoke about the difficult process I undertook with the help of many others in determining if the Missouri Woods vision is of the Lord. With so many voices in this world, it can be quite a challenge not to presume or dismiss the will of God, but to know it instead, especially when it comes to planning for the future. Even so, this process is something we do prudently in fear and trembling, a needful humbling experience that can be quite revealing to us as to how we actually view and do things. What it comes down to for all of us is submission where if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.

From the extensive research done thus far, it became quite apparent that a team of trained draft mules will be an essential, central element in implementing and undertaking the vision and for three primary reasons. First, they are incredibly intelligent, agile, and unwavering animals that work well with man in the difficult terrain of steep wooded hills, like here in Missouri. More so, they do not tend to founder as horses do and feed well in areas “where even goats are known to starve.” Second, they work at a pace conducive to the biblical economics and agrarianism we believe the Scriptures teach, which is why we believe mules are the most advanced, affordable, and biblically profitable technologies for the task at hand, bar none.

That’s right, technology, and Divinely advanced at that. God created the earth with its animal and plant systems to a scale specific to familes that are to steward it according to the boundaries and scope of His Word. Families (via sole proprietorships and biblical partnerships) are to be the primary producers, owners, and caretakers of the Lord's land, not governments and corporations. More so, the Lord created certain animals – living technologies so-to-speak – to work with man to accomplish this stewardship and the horse family is one of them. Now, before you think I am preaching a primitive “Ludditeism” that condemns all progress and modern technology, realize that I am using a pretty decent computer to write and publish this article and that we intend to use certain modern technologies in conjunction with the mules to harvest the trees we select, such as a GPS equipment, high quality chain saws, and, Lord willing, state-of-the-art steam engine technologies.

Just who is mankind to presume that what the Lord created in nature is primitive compared to the trinkets he creates, which he thinks is the "advanced technology" by which all “progress” is to be measured? Let’s see mankind create anything alive, even a single cell, let alone something that works so well with man, yet doesn’t destroy the land while also producing beneficial manure. No, when it comes to true, life-giving and sustaining technology, mankind’s feeble inventions are nothing compared to the marvelous living creation the Lord has given us to steward. “Man—despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many accomplishments—owes his existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.” -- Anonymous

Third, in the logging industry it is becoming quite obvious that the modern technologies used today are unsustainable because of the horrific, long-term damage they cause. I have seen it live and up close. Take for instance the skidder, a primary tool in commercial logging, which is a behemoth of a machine that ranges from $50,000 used to $300,000 new and consumes over $100 a day in fuel, alone. Even the smallest commercial skidder being used in the least intrusive manner runs over and snaps trees up to 6 inches in diameter while gashing bigger ones that will diminish in value and may even die prematurely through invasive diseases and insects. Though this residual stand damage is bad enough, in order to be “profitable,” that is, harvest at a monetary rate that exceeds the daily, high overhead including expensive lease and usury payments, networks of primitive roads must also be cut within the forests being logged, which is why many skidders also have a small dozing blade. These skidder roads or trails, though quite temporary in purpose, cause long-term land damage both in disturbance and compactment. By comparison, mule logging is far less intrusive and damaging by a wide margin, as was confirmed in a recent research project held in the Ozarks of Missouri.

Given the particulars of restorative forestry and logging in Missouri, we believe mules fit the bill far better than draft horses, though they are an equally amazing creation, just like oxen. As mule expert Melvin Bradley put it, “A mule can cope with everything better than a horse. It's the mule's nature to stop, think, and make a decision for itself. And if it's different from ours, we call it stubborn. There's always a mental tug-of-war between the owner and the animal. A number of humans haven't been able to outsmart the mule, and you've got to be smarter to work it. The horse is easier to get along with. It's just too dumb to know when to quit.”

One would think, however, that living in the heart of the Show-Me state where the famous “Missouri Mule” originated that finding such a team would be easy. We found this not to be true, by any means, as it is most difficult to find a good team of draft mules anywhere in the nation, which is a chilling testimony to the incredibly destructive paradigm that took place in our nation when the “agribusiness industrialists” destroyed the true family farm and logger after WWII. For many weeks I searched high and low to no avail, but the Lord was gracious. Hidden right in our own backyard there is an Amish farmer and logger whose specializes in training and selling draft mules. What a God-send he has been, which is a whole other story, as my respect for the Amish has grown considerably since meeting this man, though I am and will remain a staunch reformed postmillennialist.

Last April with a fellow “potential muleskinner” and my youngest daughter, we made an initial foray to this man’s farm to spy out the land of mules. Our goal was to look at mules and learn as much as we could about them, their availability, and viability for us. I say "potential muleskinner" because neither of us has worked on a farm, let alone with draft animals. Little did we know what was in store for us! There comes a time when the waters are to be tested and that day was it for us, by God’s providence, as we not only accomplished these goals, but we did so with our first muleskinning and log skidding lesson. We learned firsthand that yes, with training and patience, we could work a team of draft mules. That was a huge “can we do it” test that we needed to get past in moving forward with the vision. The pictures that follow tell the story.

Pictures

Let me introduce you to Sam and Sadie (left to right), a matched, brother & sister team of trained draft mules. At 1,700 lbs each and standing 17 hands, these large sorrel mules (a cross between a Belgian draft horse mare and a Mammoth Jack stud) are truly an amazing team. Note their long ears, which work like carefully tuned antenna to pick up the quietest of verbal commands. The gentleman in the back ground is Art Morrill, a close brother in the Lord and my fellow “potential” muleskinner, who is talking with our Amish muleskinner.

We started out by going for a wagon ride on the highway (Sadie is on the left and Sam is on the right).

After a few minutes of explanation I was handed over the reins and instructed to proceed on, traffic and all, which included big semis zooming close by, which didn’t phase the mules or their owner in the least, though it sure had me trembling. Yee ha!! . . . talk about an exciting lesson!! I learned immediately that mules must be led like a car is steered, as they go where they are directed. Imagine that! Mules are smart enough though that they will not run into a fence, which is where they get their so-called “stubbornness,” which is really self–preserving intelligence at work to protect themselves and their human handler. The story of Balaam’s donkey (jack) tells it all. What was incredible is that these very powerful animals are so well trained and obedient that their owner trusted me with them after only ten minutes of instruction. They obeyed flawlessly.

Next, we went into a field where all three of us learned the basics of muleskinning (wagon handling), which included the basic teamster commands. I’ll never see Little House in the Prairie in the same light again. The commands are few, but powerful. A quiet “gid dep” moves them forward, “whoa” stops them, “back” puts them in reverse, “gee” (or jee) turns them right, and “haw” (or hoi) turns them left.

My daughter Susan is driving the team with real confidence and joy, a born muleskinner for sure.

Art drives the team around with precision and ease. It looks to me like he isn’t so potential anymore.

Yours truly gets the hang of it. For you Luddiphobites, please note that there is a cell phone attached to the waist of my pants about 4 inches from my left suspender. Suspenders are another wonderful technology that does, in my opinion, a far better job than a belt. I must say that these beautiful animals are a pure joy to work with.

Here is a side shot where you can see the harness equipment, something that I now know is going to take a real education to get right.

Last, we took a log skidding lesson. In honoring the scruples of our Amish friend, we have not included him in these pictures, though he is certainly worthy of recognition as he did a splendid job in getting us greenhorns to skid a log, without killing ourselves in the process! Basically, the harness is attached to a devise called a double-tree where the logging tongs also are attached. Like ice tongs, the tongs grip the log as the mules pull.

Art started first and took off with real gusto. These mules can really move!!

I went next. In order for the team to get the necessary momentum it has to take off at a good clip, wherein the driver follows . . . at a fast walking pace in this case, since the two animals could handle the 700 lb log quite readily.

After getting the hang of it on flat land I decided to try skidding the log over a small mound of dung. The mules and I went over just fine, but the 700 lb log plowed right through it. What fun!!

We also learned that mules are incredibly affectionate critters that bond well with their masters, when treated right. Susan bonded quickly with Sadie. I’m sold!

We were incurably impressed and blessed by this once in a lifetime opportunity and believe, though in fear and trembling, that God, indeed, has called us “over the hill” guys to labor with draft mules in logging the rugged woods of Missouri. By His grace and mercy, we intend to press on.

If you have not had a chance to read the previous posting, you might want to, as it details how we came to see that even us over-the-hill-guys can log with mules, by God's grace and strength, if it is done at the right pace and with the right business model that produces the end product.

The next testing of the waters came some weeks later when our Amish friend gave us a firsthand lesson in taking down a tree, big ones for that matter. That’s a whole other story. --- The Rural Missourian

What a Retirement Plan!!

When you contemplate a dream that you believe the Lord has firmly planted in your heart and you are reasonably certain it is of Him (a process worthy of several postings of discussion, no doubt) there comes a time to move prudently forward in finding His way in fulfilling it. There are two key elements to this process. The first one is the much needed but ever so difficult requirement of waiting on the Lord for His timing and provision, so as not to get ahead of Him in seeking to bring it to pass in the flesh. Though it can be agonizing at times, the waiting process is an essential foundation stone that must be laid first, without which one will inevitably get started on the wrong foot, the foot of the flesh. Many a God-sent vision is waylaid for lengthy seasons by the impatience of believers who seek to fulfill it in their flesh, like Abraham and his siring of Ishmael. This is not to imply, however, that waiting on the Lord is a passive process, by any means, as it is one of proactive faith and prayer where one is ready and willing to move as God opens the doors and makes the way. This leads to the second element of stepping by faith through the door He opens unto the water in obedience to the Lord’s leading. The just are to live by godly faith and not human sight, which makes both waiting on the Lord and stepping unto the water steps that require true sight, which only comes from a living faith in God’s Word.

Yet, there are so many other words that coerce and drive us, words from within ourselves – words of fear, doubt, anxiousness, unbelief, anger, pride, suspicion, cynicism, pragmatism, and words from without – from family & friends, tradition, education, society, not to mention the wicked one. Our worldview which determines our decisions and actions is formed far more by these words – both good and bad – than we realize, which is why we are commanded, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom.12:2). The renewing of our minds is a lifelong process, which means that we think and operate based upon a worldview that is a mixture between a growing renewed mind and the dying old one. It is not an automatic process, by any means, as it requires a consistent, active study of God’s Word with a heart ready to obey it (1 Tim 4:13; 2 Tim 2:15, 3:14-17; James 1:21-25). Without their minds being truly renewed, however, a believer can languish for years as a babe who operates by the carnal mind of their flesh, even though they believe they are spiritually mature.

1 Corinthians 3:1-3
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

Hebrews 5:12-14
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Since, by the fallen nature of our flesh, it is very easy to deceive ourselves and be deceived by others, it is imperative that we learn, by the gracious work of God’s indwelling Spirit, to prove what is the good and perfect will of God through renewing our minds, so that we think and act by His Word as our final standard and not man’s. When it comes to discerning God’s will for our lives this deception can go in two directions where we either assume something to be God’s will without having proven it by the light of His testimony and law (Isa. 8:20) or we dismiss something that really is His will because we look at it through the eyes of faulty human reasoning. This is particularly true when it comes to do something that the world would consider irrational and foolish, such as Peter walking on water . . . or, in my case, a fifty–two year old pastor taking up restorative forestry, muleskinning, logging, and sawyering.

Imagine if Peter had gone to his immediate family, the religious rulers of Israel, and the Roman authorities to discuss the command he received from the Lord to walk on the water? It would have been dismissed out-of-hand as impossible madness, yet the testimony of the Scriptures bear witness to the reality that he did in fact walk on water. Yet, when it comes to callings and dreams that are less radical, in so far as they do not require a major miracle of the Lord, the same out-of-hand dismissal can occur where men presume in their own carnal thinking to know what is reasonable and, thus, doable.

As it so often happens, however, if by our limited and flawed reasoning we think that what the Lord is asking “looks fairly doable” to us, like stepping out of a boat into another, especially if it has been properly secured to our satisfaction, we are generally inclined to move ahead in doing it, since all the ducks appear to us to be in order. The Lord is often merciful to bless these puerile expressions of faith, particularly for babes in Christ who are just learning to walk. Nonetheless, we walk by faith, not by sight, and there comes the time for every believer to move on into the deeper waters of a mature life where one walks by the sight of true faith based upon the light of God’s Word (Psa. 119:105) and not by our own darkened sight based upon the light kindled from human reasoning. Though the seemingly substantial light that fallen man kindles can have the appearance of prudence and wisdom, it ultimately leads to God’s certain judgment (Isa. 50:11, Pro. 14:12). There is absolutely no substitute for God’s Law being the light by which we are to see – to walk by and develop dreams and plans for the future – and when we shove it aside in leaning upon man’s wisdom we miserably perish in willful ignorance. Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he (Proverbs 29:18).

When I first became aware of the vision for Missouri Woods, especially in using draft animals to log custom woods, I quickly dismissed it out-of hand as undoable for me or anyone else over 30, let alone 50. “Why, everyone knows that this type of work calls for young men in top shape,” or so I presumed. Certainly, an overweight man of fifty-two deceives himself if he thinks he can do such incredibly toilsome work. This reasoning was based upon the assumptions I held that I knew enough about muleskinning and logging to nix it immediately as anything suitable for me. Added to that was the unbelief I held that God would not enable and strengthen me or others of like age to do such a task, even though there was mounting evidence, both biblically compelling and thorough, that He has indeed called us – four out-of-shape men ranging from 47 to 52 – to commence its undertaking. The Lord then spoke to me through His Word.

Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished (Deuteronomy 34:7). “And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. “As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in (Joshua 14:10-11). I can hear the pragmatism now, “What? Impossible for us today! Has not our experience under our progressive, “scientific” society proven this not to be the norm? These extraordinary exploits took place back in the “bible days” when they lived primitive lives under horrific conditions, so this had to be some sort of supernatural grace beyond the common grace extended to all. Today, we are far more advanced and live under better conditions, which is why we must retire early if we have any hope in living to eighty.”

The long length of days and amazing mental and physical stamina the Lord gave Moses and Caleb was not a special dispensation meant for their culture and age, but rather it was simply the grace and strength necessary for them to finish the work the Lord called them to, the same He provides for all His saints in all ages. To believe otherwise, is to seek elsewhere for one’s daily needs, hope of longevity, and future. Yes, only the Lord knows the day we will be taken home, and yes, infirmities can change or even put an end to one’s work, but where in the Scriptures does it teach that God will not inspire or bless hard work once we reach a certain age? Where in the Scriptures are we taught that as a society we are to automatically retire everyone from work? We were made to labor unto the Lord all the days of our life, as His grace is sufficient in all things, even the things that come upon us as we age. Ask yourself before the Lord, is it His will and our goal in life to work like mad until we have laid up a big nest egg so we can quit working? What kind of life is that? It certainly isn’t biblical. Though a debt-based culture may offer a few crumbs of welfare to the infirm and elderly, it by nature culls them to leave more of the pie to its masters. This is why there is such a push by the “right to die” crowd to withhold life to those who are deemed not to have it (the unborn) or have it in such a diminished capacity that it is not worth the expense and time to maintain (Terry Schiavo). The elderly and infirm are next!

When I began to do extensive research into draft animal logging I ran across the stunning fact that the average age for draft animal loggers was late 50’s and early 60’s, with many doing it into their late 70’s. How could this possibly be? Pace, the pace of draft animal logging is much slower than that of modern, commercial logging, which is why it nixes most men from doing it, no matter how young and virile, since they are nearly all driven by debt and a credit induced, exorbitant lifestyle which requires enormous daily cash flows to maintain. Modern debt-based logging with commercial skidders and other expensive equipment requires working at a breakneck, exhaustive pace, which nixes me for sure. Besides, that lifestyle does not interest me in the least.

On the other hand, draft animal logging, which mandates one to be free to work at a slower pace to be biblically successful, requires a debt-free, more humble lifestyle, which suits me fine, as the Lord, by His abounding grace and mercy, has brought me to. More importantly, we are not interested in being just another cog in the world’s division of labor buy selling our logs after they are harvested. At a mule’s pace that would be unprofitable. No, the vision includes sawing them into boards, drying them by kiln, and selling them and, the Lord willing, even turning them into products like furniture, cabinets, etc. Vertical integration where one adds his labor to the Lord’s resources to produce the end product sure beats being a worker ant or middleman of some corporate empire, even if it does cause one’s back to ache and brow to sweat. The words of one of Merle Haggard’s most famous songs comes to mind, “Turn me loose, set me free, somewhere in the middle of Montana. And gimme all that I got comin’ to me. And keep your retirement and your so called social security. Big City turn me loose and set me free” Surely he must have meant somewhere in the middle of Missouri, but then again I also happen to like mules!

One thing that has become very clear to me because of the many painful lessons I have learned, our frenzied, debt-based culture is both impossible and mad, which is why it is dying, whether we are willing to admit it or not. The Lord’s people are not called to such a pagan death, but to abundant life both now and in eternity (John 10:10, 3John 2), unless, of course, they compromise in pragmatic blindness by embracing a dying culture in the name of seeking the wealth and peace of their unregenerate neighbors (Ezra 9:12), which seems apparent right now. Oh Lord, be merciful to awaken us all to the peril of our own ways! More so, awaken us to your high calling in serving our blessed King and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, here on earth! Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The Lord’s people are called as ambassadors and vicegerents of King Jesus to take the Gospel to the nations and to disciple them, teaching them to obey all His commandments. As commandment obeying, covenant keeping servants of Christ – the light of the world and salt of the earth – we are, in addition to making disciples of the nations, to steward by His Word the very earth we disciples dwell upon, since it is also Christ’s inheritance. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession (Psalm 2:8). This glorious stewardship begins right under our feet on the land where He chooses to place us. As incredibly difficult as it will be, we must transition (repent) from being debt enslaved consumers and slaves of our corporate masters into free producers, by our own hands and sweat, of products made from the land and resources the Lord’s gives us. Bottom-line: we must transition from being corporate enslaved agrarians to biblical free agrarians.

With biblical agrarianism being deeply rooted in my mind and heart, is should not have surprised me, therefore, that the Lord would lead me and other like-minded agrarians in just that direction via a vision called Missouri Woods, one which we all realize will require tremendous grace and strength from the Lord to accomplish. We do not fool ourselves either, as we also realize that the work He has called us to will be very hard and will likely take many years, if not multiple generations, to get fully operative and fruitful. Even if every Christian man was a virile twenty-year old, the work of the Lord could never be rightly accomplished apart from his Spirit working obedience in the hearts of those called to it. Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.

We Christians fool ourselves to think that we could do anything, even the smallest, apart from God’s provision, strength, and grace. This mentality runs contrary to the modern worldview, which has been deeply engrained in American Christendom, that mankind through his increasing wisdom, technology, and economic savvy can accomplish most anything he sets his mind to . . . the good old Yankee ingenuity and work ethic. Just line your ducks up and the way you go . . . crashing through the woods of society with the destructive skidders of mammon!

Though I tremble at the vision of Missouri Woods and its difficult outworking, what encourages me the most about it is that the Lord is giving me the desires of my heart, the ones He placed there according to His good pleasure. Talk about the best of all worlds. I have retired from the world’s retirement and am now undertaking an exciting adventure which allows me to spend time in the woods I have come to love so much, using His living technology (mules) while working with my hands to earn a living by producing a product from the resources of my King, all the while loosing weight and getting in shape in laboring and fellowshipping with like-minded brethren, all of which enables me all the more as a pastor to effectively preach and live out the Gospel of the Kingdom while discipling believers from the seat of a genuine, biblically agrarian experience. What a retirement plan!! . . . to work as unto the Lord all the remaining days of my life in fulfilling the desires of my heart, which He put there.

Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20).

– The Rural Missourian