Good morning, my Tuesday-loving book-reading friends. I have a little something for everyone in today's letter. I'll briefly discuss the following talking points:

Odysee and advertising (for Web3 enthusiasts)
An introduction to Laphorisms (for fiction and literature lovers)
The difficulty of finding a church (for Christians)
And where I'll be signing books this week (for all readers)

Let's begin.

Odysee Drops Advertising

If you've read my book Web3 Social: How Creators Are Changing the World Wide Web (And You Can Too!), then you've been introduced to Odysee. If you haven't read the book, Odysee is a YouTube alternative where creators can earn cryptocurrency in a censorship-resistant environment with protections for intellectual property and digital identities. Recently, they've announced they will no longer be serving ads to their users.

This is from the email I received from Odysee making the announcement:

As we take this decision, one thing is certain to us, media platforms (even ones that market themselves as 'free-speech') typically devolve into advertising companies and end up becoming beholden to their paymasters. It's been that way for centuries and is never going to change.

I've been making the same argument since I started writing about Web3 in 2018. Kudos to Odysee for realizing the obvious and acting on it. Now, if we can only get the rest of Web3 to follow the same path.

What's a Laphorism?

I've been known to write some innovative literature over the years. In fact, from a website that now seems to be defunct, I once won an innovative flash fiction award. I'm also the creator of the #twitpoem hashtag on Twitter (now called X).

Recently, I decided to implement a new literary form. Using the hashtag #aphorism, I am publishing a daily post on X and LinkedIn that includes a short phrase meant to express a simple truth. Such is the definition of aphorism. Not all of the short phrases I share using the hashtag are meant to be humorous, but many are. You can keep up with my daily Laphorisms by following the hashtag on X, or by following me.

Please answer this question by replying to this email or commenting online where you're reading the post: Should I change the hashtag to #laphorism?

The Difficulty of Finding a Church

At various times over the past 30 years, I've found myself searching for a church. It happened the first time when I first decided to follow Jesus in 1992. I write about that in my book I Am Not the King.

The next time I went church hunting was when my late friend Mike Bangs asked me to help him find a church. I agreed and ended up staying at the church we found. When I moved to Pennsylvania with my wife a few years later, we searched for a church home. Later, we changed churches and had to undergo that process again. We went through a similar process when moving back to Texas about three years ago.

It's getting harder to find a good church. Much of the reason is because I am more discerning now than I've ever been. There is so much to consider.

Here's a short list of some of the things I look for in a church now (that I didn't look for 30 years ago):

Faithfulness to the historic traditions of the church
Available opportunities for being involved in ministry (I am not just a pew sitter)
How and how often do members get to fellowship with each other (because fellowship is one of the key missions of the church)
What is the demographic of the church body (is it diverse regarding ages, races, and other factors?)
How are disputes among members resolved?
Does the church leadership adhere to strange doctrines unsupported by scripture?

It is difficult to find a church that ticks all of the boxes. I may find myself sacrificing a core value because there are no perfect choices. Nevertheless, my wife and I have found ourselves again searching for a local church with which to involve ourselves. Right at the top of my list of criteria is fellowship. I cannot see myself being involved in a church that only meets for a worship service and Sunday school except for those times once a quarter or so when they decide to have a potluck or craft fair to raise funds for the building renovation. I'm not that kind of Christian.

Pray for us as we look for a church home and opportunities to fellowship with other believers.

Meet Me in Arlington

Tomorrow morning, my wife and I will head to Arlington, Texas to sell and sign books at the Kroger located on Pleasant Ridge Road. The following dates and times are when you'll find me at my book table:

Wednesday, August 14 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Thursday, August 15 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Friday, August 16 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, August 17 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and see me. If you've bought a book online and want it signed, bring the book. If you haven't bought a book yet and want one, I'll have some on the table.

See you there!

Author Allen Taylor