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Communism and Christianity are incompatible. Don’t steal. Done.

Nope.

I would do anything to live this way of life, god bless you all ❤

How do you reconcile being protected by the US military? Why not go build a community in China or Russia or something?

Are you also active in Germany?

Comrades in christ

but in all biblical situations it was a vow to god or to the lord, never to a specific church. to my brothers and sister and to god, fine, to a specific church, that cannot be done. It begs the question, are you trying to filter out real believers to have more malleable people? Please reconsider the wording of your vows to be made for god and a vow to your brothers and sisters to always be good for god, the vows of poverty all those others are fine. But the wording of vows "to this specific church" that just cannot be done, its where you show your colors from wanting believers to wanting more easily influenced people. Id really love to join, im heavily considering it, but this is a hurdle i cannot overcome, because it would be jumping into a dark hole into which I am unfamiliar. "We pledge to yield ourselves up in obedience to Christ and our brothers and sisters, promising to serve the church community wherever and however we are asked." "We pledge to yield ourselves up in obedience to Christ" this means treating your neighbors as yourself, and helping the poor and serving your brothers and sisters and your community around the world in the ways we are called to by God. Not in "however the church asked". That is implied secondarily, if you changed the phrasing you make God the head and the church subordinate. In its current wording, the church acts as God. Is this the vatican? But I agree, a vow is not an oath. But yea, if the truth is implied, how is a vow to God not sufficient? I understand people are sinners and need something, some sort of guideline to hold them accountable, but the people you should be really trying to bring in is just one, the lost sheep, the one for the 99. and here it seems you are going after the 99, because the 1 would only ever do a vow to God. So then what are you? Change the wording and put God as the head and the door will be much clearer. Please and thank you, I implore you.

Thanks for your efforts. I think you might want to change your vital dates for Helmut Gollwitzer to d. 1993 because that picture is definitely of a man older than 25 ;-) To the meaning of the word "communism/communist" keep in mind that meaning was intentionally perverted by political forces to apply to totalitarian states in an appeal to Ignorance, and appeals to ignorance can never be countenanced.or left unchallenged. I am not familiar with the Bruderhof but I have had close contact with Hutterites, which is why I stopped here.

"Well there is nothing wrong with being small is there"? There is something between these two for sure! 😂

Question - I would love to know the name of the music book or books that you use. My 3 daughters love watching this and other Bruderhof music videos. We would love to learn some for this Christmas season and year round. Thank you and God Bless!! - Kevin

Laura made a nice joke.

Hola, son menonitas?

I would like to learn more about your community. Is it possible for me to visit?

Wish there was a version of this in Denver, CO.

Looks like the Jesuit symbol

The name Baptist was given to John the "Baptist" by Jesus himself, so called anabaptist was give by oranised false religion, Baptist or disiples of Jesus were never part of any protest. There is no other man named for each group, Its simply followers of Jesus. Its not made of reformers, its born again people ! Others is religion with man made rules added to Jesus and apostales teachings, which have no merit !!! Christians should identify with Christ not a named reformer !!

We need a state. The state is just the people.

Who else edges to these videos

Laura, how do Bruderhof share their faith? Do they have evangelistic services like Billy Graham? Do you have people go door to door? Do you just make friends and live out your faith and if people ask then you share your faith with them? Or is outreach and doing things for others the way you do that? And are there Bruderhof "Missionaries?"

How can you in the breath of 1 sentence completely miss the message of Christ. Community=Commune=Communism=give away all your possessions=be one

Why is the title in Spanish?

Wow, what a treat! :-)

I am from England I want to visit Darvell sometime

I believe Christ was very political, but not in the modern meaning. The nature of being the Messiah seems innately "political" not to mention turning over the tables at the temple and his opposition to the rich

I lived near here as a child

Saw the title 'Life Together' and immediately thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book of the same name.....just a coincidence?

First. Interesting.

How to be a part of you

Can I be a member I love Jesus is my King

Is that an actual Bruderhof church? I have to admit I was expecting something much plainer (like the little Welsh Baptist chapel I grew up attending).

I like the statement (6:40) that "the Sermon on the Mount is the constitution of the Kingdom, (and the Kingdom is a corporate notion)". The concept aligns with the fact that the Beatitudes have reflections in other religions, (notably the 8 fold way of Buddhist faith), and Jesus updates religious instruction, or teaching, attuned with the needs of the human mind in these times. Therefore the way Jesus states the beatitudes is his claim to the Earthly Kingdom. The teaching is in essence an older phenomenon, much older, (actual much older than as modern Buddhists claim also), and Jesus has re-evaluated the teaching and provided it in depth to the tune of contemporary need in the age. A huge aspect of his updating of The Teaching, is his inclusion of a higher level emphasis upon loving one's neighbour as we will want to be loved ourselves. Jesus teaching is formulaic and an overt improvement to the Buddhist version, but it is how he insists we love one another, by which we are to know Jesus, and he knows us. Thanks for your videos.

Good and bad can be perceived in every single thing. It seems to be all in the heart of the beholder. Unlike the Amish as a whole I am a hardcore environmentalist. I have a degree in Environmental Science. I sat for three years listening to learned leaders at my small environmental studies department in college hash and rehash out why Christianity was the problem with the environment because in genesis it states that we are to multiply and subdue the earth. It is true that many Christians use this idea at least partly as a reason to not be concerned with the environment--including the Amish. But my view on the environment was at least a catalyst that led me down the Anabaptism road....I was reading books at the time by Aldo Leopold, wendel berry, Henry David Thoreau, Rachel Carson.....I have some exAmish friends. I have visited Amish communities, done Amish stuff, read Amish publications...school books, magazines and other stuff. It is a testament that they could care less about the environment and yet have the smallest impact on it of most people I met. They have short comings...their problems are far fewer than mainstream society but much more complex to deal with from a social perspective. I almost did not graduate from college because in my final paper I wrote that higher education had a major negative impact on the environment because it perpetuates this pursuit of ever expanding knowledge and consumption for the sake of knowledge and also in an attempt to do things in an easier more pleasurable way. I look back on that and think I was half right in what I said. I could have stated it differently for sure... Anyway I am not an advocate of wind power or solar or electric vehicles. Mining and refining rare earth metals uses a huge amount of fossil fuels, massive toxic by-products. This pursuit of green tech is like trying to create a perpetual motion machine. Anything we do to the ground releases carbon. We need to do less to the ground--not different stuff to the ground. We need to find contentment w the grind and good times and the transitory nature of life....If we need to get cows because they eat plants and fart greenhouse gas then on the same premise we must get rid of vegans too. We need to be caretakers of the earth and it's things as noah did in genesis and not its conqueror by extension we should do that for each other. This eliminates the need for hitech simplicity. A favorite Amish-ism of mine ' is: Many hands makes work light.

-Indeed that is very good question how are desicions made. I hope you will answer that one in a next vid. -Another one is how and who is responsable for your soul care besides yourself? With who can you talk about my worries and sins and etc. -How is your organizational chart? Is there 1 leader or multiple? This question stems from stories I have heard and seen on the internet. It is often said that there is one family that is allowed and granted more than the rest. This family is biased. And leadership passes from son to son. So actually a kind of heredity. Just like a king.

I am so asking Doreen if she’s Amish next time I see her! :-)

I am not religious, but this video makes me feel like I could be.

The farmer at 0:53 sums it up nicely. Each denomination claims they hold the truth. Each way claims there way is the right way to Christ. Unless you belong to this faction, you can’t make it, unless you belong to the Catholic Church, you will not make it to Jesus Christ. Unless you belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church or the Oriental church. Just let all of you pack yourself up and get a life! They are suppose to love each other but they end up calling each other heretics and they won’t even let one another into their church to worship because of their theological differences, yet they all follow and worship the same Lord….absolute hypocrisy at its best. Jesus Christ is neither Catholic nor Orthodox. We should never put any name on Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is one thing; God revealed in the flesh-period. Catholicism doesn’t get you into Heaven, it is Christ. Orthodoxy doesn’t get you into Heaven, it is Christ. Orthodoxy and Catholicism need to learn how to draw from this truth. The Church doesn’t hold the truth, the Truth is Christ, the head of the Church. The Church is the body. Don’t ever be the head. You cannot be the head, you can only learn from the head, you can only draw from the source of that head and live by what the head is telling you, but you don’t hold the truth. The truth is Christ!

Here are potentially interesting talking points as we await the next YT video. They are meant to stimulate dialog. I offer them respectfully. 1. “…(a) lifetime commitment to a specific group 0:50 of people doesn't make sense unless you 0:54 consider yourself to be the only 1:00 true church um on Earth which 1:03 obviously we do not believe at all” The above quote begs the question how one defines “the true church on earth”. I think it fair to say that Bruderhof members believe the true church on earth stands on certain bedrock principles. They include, “community of goods” as reported in the Acts of the Apostles, no divorce, purity of conduct, poverty, a vow of loyalty to the (earthly) Bruderhof church above all other considerations, including loyalty to one’s spouse, be that person a member or not, and life-long submission and obedience to the an earthly church institution. Another characteristic is pacifism across the spectrum of human relationships. This includes not taking someone to court. How do you participants understand reference to “church on Earth?” 2. “2:48 ..we promise to seek together to be honest 2:50 with each other to constantly think 2:53 about how to be more true to the 2:55 kingdom the vision whatever..” This statement is truly appreciated! Is it possible to “honest with each other” even when we cannot find agreement? Is it possible to live together in a seeking environment even as we sometimes need to acknowledge that the Spirit may speak differently to different members? Should Unity be seen as a gift rather than as the default position? Does the Spirit always speak with one voice to every member/believer? Are there biblical examples where this did not happen? Consider this: “..there's been so much 3:03 change over the course of Bruderhof history 3:06 um and some very strongly held um 3:10 principles or practices at certain 3:12 points have been abandoned uh in favor 3:16 of other ones right um and that's not to 3:20 say those things were wrong at the time 3:22you know they may have been right.. I understand Tim and Richard to refer to earth-bound (cultural?) principles and practices, such as the dress code for women. They may be referring to the practice of shunning, which the Bruderhof claims to have abandoned. Interestingly the brothers are NOT claiming former principals or practices were seen to be wrong. I understand them to say they heard the Spirit correctly at that specific time. As time changes, so does the leading of the Spirit (??). How do you understand the apparent change in Spirit-leading? 3. “..when we make this 4:33 commitment to membership we're not 4:36 committing to the form of the Brut ho so 4:39 much as to the vision itself..” This is an interesting comment. What might they mean by “the vision”? 4. “..and it is 6:59 also part of our understanding of the 7:00 work of the holy spirit that we can 7:03 discern together what God's will is 7:05… we're all open to the leading of the 7:34 spirit that God will show the way It is my understanding the Bruderhof believes if all members are truly surrendered to each other and to God, they will hear the Spirit speaking in One, Unified way. This was an important point in the founding of the Bruderhof. Thus, when there is no Unity, something is missing. The Spirit is not being heard correctly. What is your experience with Spirit Leading? How does the quest for Unity with fellow believers work for you? Can Unity of Spirit transcend human agreement?

On the topic of God making the truth clear to the community, although I agree it intuitively seems like it should be that way (after all, we're told God is not a god of confusion), it seems difficult to me to square with the existence of diverse denominations of faithful Bible-believing Christians, as God has for whatever reason clearly chosen not to make some things clear to the universal church. For example, as a Baptist myself, I'm fascinated by baptism discussions with Presbyterians since we're both firmly convicted in our respective views, and both of these views have been firmly held by faithful Christians, with scriptural basis for both sides, for centuries. That might be interesting to talk about. But I'm also interested in hearing the decision-making discussion you teased at the end.

Since God tells us throughout the Bible that we should be fully committed to Him… emphasis on “fully”…and in the gospel of John, John noted that Jesus committed himself to no man, because He knew what was in the heart of man….it appears that we should not commit to any man. We are all brothers and sisters and Jesus is the head of the church. And we are only part of that church if we are fully committed to only Jesus.

When I was younger I went to a protest. I think it was for the Gulf war invasion. We stood on the street and held signs and screamed stuff into traffic. Looking back that stupid. It grew a primal mob mentality--people forcefully demanding peace instead of being peaceful. It's exactly how so many BLM protests became riotous--some of which the Amish attended. It works out so much better to focus on the outcome you want and not the outcome you don't want. To create peace you have to be the peace from which it grows. Gandhi did that. MLKJr did that.....I have a great appreciation for Mother Teresa...

Is ther anyone who can share me the verse that prohibits believers from leaving with the secular neighbors, use of modern tecnology and many more. I have the suspicion that this were just the imaginations of the false preachers.

Unfortunately instead of addressing my biblical arguments against vows, (indicated in your original post) you are just justifying your unscriptual practice... Bereans community was 'dynamic' because they "examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true" Act.17.11. This practice allows change! Bruderhof's community "thinking together how to be more true" is not dynamic, is just patting yourself on the back. Is the result of thinking that 'what we know is sufficient for eternal life, there is nothing more to seek for in the Scripture. Community is our ticket. Reformation was ended when our fathers discovered the truth'. I am not against community living. I visited Bruderhof with my family with the intention of joining but I decided not to because one of your 'abandoned practice' was "examining the Scriptures". By doing so you abandoned the only hope of spiritual progress, as being "partakers of God's nature" can only be attained by "epignosis" 2Prt.1:1-3 as "everything we need for a godly life can only be achieved through our knowledge of him". Communal living is just the small part of it. Your minuscule changes to the dress code or timetable is just insignificant. You are static. "Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Eph.4:13 until then we need to feed our spirit with "unpolluted spiritual food that is Word of God; "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation," 1 Peter 2:2 I wont even mention "the solid food". Vows as well as keeping traditions are not "worshiping Father in Spirit and in Truth", they are just distractions, THEY ARE EVIDENCE OF YOUR SPIRITUAL LEVEL! Listen to Paul's warning - "Be careful that nobody spoils your faith through intellectualism or high-sounding nonsense. Such stuff is at best founded on men’s ideas of the nature of the world and disregards Christ! Col.2:8. Only children need "pinky promise", mature man's yes, means yes! That is the reason I am waiting until you are "open to the lead of Holy Spirit". You are claiming that but so far it is not observable!

I love you guys and have visited the Bruderhof once. Yesterday I visited a Twelve Tribes intentional community, which is somewhat similar to the Bruderhof. After much prayer and consideration, I don't think that Jesus calls us to live in intentional communities, because His great commandment is "Come, Follow Me" and He did not live in an intentional community, but rather in the world, even consorting regularly with "sinners". Something a Twelve Tribes member said to me yesterday really struck me as wrong, and I met at last one Bruderhof member when I visited a few years ago that has the same attitude. He said, and implied, that his commitment to Jesus exceeded mine because he had given up all to live in an intentional community. Upon prayer and reflection, it appears to me that intentional community members, like you, have NOT given up everything to follow Jesus. For you still have the security of your intentional community. And may, like these two brothers I mention, have personal pride in having vowed themselves to such a community. What say you? Is this a fundamental flaw in intentional communities?

Can any body share a verse that justifies the living in isolation away from the secular societies is the will of God or just the imagination of false preachers

I've enjoyed this series. The commitment seems like the scariest part of joining the community.

I want to commend you guys for a much more seamless, more easy to follow, and flowing presentation. As a person without hearing I am totally dependent on captions. I may or may not have more to offer later, but I do want to commend you for the presentation. Well done!

Hello, thanks for discussing these topics. As far as I know, the only lifetime vow in the Bible is for marriage, and even that is not specified directly (Humans make vows to help us stay committed), but are Marriage vows actually given in the Bible? Not that I know of. I do know that the Bible teaches that marriage is between one woman and one man and should be for life and that is commanded. My understanding is that any kind of vow is before God and the marriage partner. I'm not saying vows are wrong or shouldn't be used, but I don't think they are necessarily commanded and are rather put there by humans to help stay faithful or for whatever. I would think the same would go for membership vows. Are they biblically commanded or required, or is it humans adding them there to help us be more faithful or whatever. I think it is the latter. I would appreciate your feed back on this and if there are any biblical references could you please list them. Thank you

I have heard many times that "God is unchanging" as an argument to imply that church should not change, dress should not change, traditions should not change, hairstyles should not change etc. The problem with the argument is that while God may well be unchanging, that does not mean that God is static and not dynamic. And certainly a person's understanding of God and God's will changes over that person's lifetime. There definitely needs to be a commitment to follow through regardless of change. A quaker lady once told me that she was divorce because she was ok with the idea of loving a person for a while and then moving on and not loving them anymore. I understand that oxytocin flows and wanes and flows and wanes. That does not mean that one cannot manifest harmony and deliberately produce feelings of love of varying degrees, trust, respect, commitment and attachment and so on. Our society is filled with people that have all kinds of abandonment issues because of broken homes, because there is lots of money and people don't need each other...I recently read that the US has one of the most narcissistic societies-- a society where the needs of the individual are greater than the needs of the many. Anyway sorry for going on a rant.

Just a point of observation here , your job at some point takes you to a place where your fellowship doesn’t exist. With this vow mandate , do you then have to quit your job which provides securely for your family. And I don’t read any where in scripture where God states that you as one of God’s saints has to make a life long mandatory commitment to a certain denomination/ group of believers!

Well said .God bless you 😊🙏