So of you may have seen the guy known as Survivorman. He travels to an out of the way place such as a desert, a central American jungle, a Canadian boreal forest, a Louisiana swamp. His food is often nothing. He often will get one tool and the clothes on his back. His job is to find water, make shelter, scavenge for food and make fire. Then after he has proved his point he then makes his way to civilization often the hard way. Sometimes the things he finds are exhilarating the the female moose or the small stream and waterfall in the jungle. Other times its nights of nuisance with mosquitoes and bugs of various descriptions.

Why do I like this show? Because he proves that survival is possible even if it is not comfortable. The great majority of us have spent very little time in survival situations. If anything our survival has been in the city jungle rather then in the true wilderness. In some ways that can be more deadly then anything you’ll face in the forests and jungles and deserts.

I have a friend who believed God was calling him to prepare for the future by learning all he could about the wilderness in Canada. He believes the day will come, as do I, when knowing how to survive will be a critical issue for many people especially Christians. There has never been a time in history when Christians have been under such persecution. It is already beginning in the so called civilized world and will only escalate as hatred of God and especially of the name of Jesus increases. The reason for that is simple. Most Christians believe it is wrong to stand up to loudly for their rights. The thought of fighting for their rights is even more abhorrent. Thus they will lose those rights.

Now some may disagree with me and I don’t want to get into theology. So I’ll put it simply. The fighting for those rights is best done by prayer based on relationship with God. Fighting in the natural is often necessary as well but hopefully North America will not face another civil war. But if and when war and disaster comes, no matter who the aggressors are, civilization will not function at the same level it does now. This is not a tale. The disaster could be economic, attacks from terrorists, or a hundred other methods. The question is not will disaster come but when it will come. There just is no simple way to describe the chaos that will come to our cities and towns. For those in the city can’t really survive on what you find there. Eventually the food will run out. Some towns are fortunate as they have, at present, a plentiful water supply. Some of it gravity fed. But food is another matter. At one time those who lived in Northern Climates had a minimum three-six month supply simply because resources were scarce in the winter. And the diet was very simple and it was not unusual to eat bugs with your oats and not even give it a second thought. Now we have sanitized our world to such an extent and reduced the supply chain so that our stores could not last more then one or two days before running out of basics and a week on the stuff that doesn’t sell as fast. We are a world staged for the disaster of all disasters.

Some state they are not worried for God will supply. That is true. But what if its oats for six months? Could you live on that without complaining? After all the Israelites lived on Manna for years.

Growing up I knew how to make snares and box traps and I would go hunting for small animals and fish with just a piece of corn and a small hook. A course I took in high school taught us to orient ourselves, build various types of shelters though mostly how to earn money for the school by cutting down lumber. So I do know the basics. But how many of us could survive in the wilderness like Survivorman? Would we sit there in the cold shivering with a can of food but no way to open it? Would we know how to protect our food against scavenging raccoons and bears? Or would they become lunch on the menu if we were hungry enough.