I don't know Tim. He is probably a good guy, and what he has to say here is mild. However, someone sent it to me, and it does broach a subject that I thought I might as well speak to. So, that's where this is coming from...
First, let me just say you can all unfollow me, and my life will be just fine. This platform has been fun and helped me get my writing out there, but I don't need it. It's just a cool opportunity God's given me. And if it was just for a season, that's fine.
Second comment: unfollowing people because they disagree with you on something is going to increasingly narrow who you allow to speak into your life until you only want to hear your own thoughts. This will make you into an idiot.
Third comment: many know that through my grandma's side, I have Jewish ancestry. And when I first got converted, I heard all the dispensational nonsense about how I was, like, doubly special. And I rejected it because I came to Christ the same way anyone does, which is by faith and through His finished work on the cross. I had people trying to introduce me as a Messianic Jew. I am not. I am a Christian.
And the Judaism that arose leading up to and after the fall of the temple is one that rejected Christ and later took on a very different shape than what we see in the Old Testament. There aren't the same. I was so aggressive about this in my late teens that when we would have Messianic Jewish friends over, I would serve ham and cheese sandwiches to them. In them, I saw the Galatian error, and I wanted to confront it. I still do.
I fully rejected dispensationalism back in 2002 and came to understand that it's wrong to think of the Israel of today as a direct analog of the Israel of Scripture. And therefore, I've never been a Zionist in the way that most people use that word. But people do use that word in all sorts of ways.
My heart toward these Jews would be something like Paul's. I want to see them repent of their many heresies and sins and become biblical Christians. The way I differ from Paul is that these are not my countrymen. I'm mostly Irish white trash from the northern border of Appalachia. If my heart belongs to any people particularly, it's those people. But I do want to see all the nations bow down to King Jesus.
Fourth, it is sad how disgusting and decayed this entire influencer ecosystem has gotten in the Reformed or Reformed-adjacent world. People define themselves by who they pay some small amount every month, get some sort of supporter mug from, and listen to tell them what to think. Instead of helping people discover a sort of biblical individuality, they've traded groupthink of one sort for another sort. Of course, not all of them. But how can we speak if we are constantly required to use mind-numbing precision?
It reminds me of girls back in elementary school who identified themselves by which one of the New Kids on the Block was their favorite. "Jordan is my favorite."
Again, follow me or don't follow me. I follow all sorts of people I disagree with, some in major ways. Sometimes I do it because there was a connection from years ago. I usually don't cut off old friends because they took a turn I despise. If I'm called to love my enemies, certianly I can love those how are outside "my camp." Other times, I think they're worth considering. But having your identity defined by who you follow and whether or not they're telling you what you want to hear is a sad affair. And if that's you, stop it.
Lastly, I guess I'll say that when the crowd demands that I give them something, it is my natural inclination to deprive them of that very thing. And these days, it's the constant scream of, "Declare your faithfulness by talking about the things we want to talk about" or "Disavow this person or you're guilty of whatever we claim they are guilty of."
No, I don't think I will.
I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing. And if you move on, cool. It's less distraction from the mission.
I appreciate those who give me a hearing. You don't have to. Your time is precious, and you decide to spend a little bit of it with me. Thank you.
If you want to know what I want from you, I'll tell you. It's the same thing that the older Christian men who poured into me wanted from me. I want you to be strong and immovable in the faith. I want you to be a person who thinks biblically and can stand against the crowd when needed. I want you to be a committed churchman whose energy is primarily invested in his local church and his local community, and, of course, first and foremost, the family God has blessed him with. I also want you to know that several years ago I got to look under the hood of the manosphere and conservative influencers from close up and discovered a lot of sad, lonely people who tended to not practice what they preached and often had weird sexual proclivities (a lot of bisexuals in those circles). So, yeah, as pills go, I'm pretty black pilled on those worlds.
What I write, on the whole, is my attempt to help you accomplish those things and, to a lesser degree, avoid getting sucked into some of the worlds I began to venture into.
Just as you have no particular obligation to listen to me, though strangers on the internet sometimes seem to think otherwise, I also have no obligation to give you what you want.
Phil Collins was right.
Alright, back to my regular content...



#PhilCollinswasright
...what? Where did this guy even get that idea from?