1. Do you get any pushback from certain groups of people about the content in the Biblical Legends Anthology Series? A little. However, most people are astute enough to understand that creative writers take liberties with the subjects they write about. Doing so doesn't make the stories blasphemous. By the same token, it doesn't mean the authors are attempting to undermine the original material.

2. Are the BLAS stories biblically accurate? This is a funny question because it usually follows my sales pitch, which goes something like this .... These are stories set in biblical settings with fictional characters, so you get aliens and gnomes in the Garden of Eden and Pegasus at the Great Flood. A discerning listener might seize upon "aliens and gnomes" and ask themselves if they've read about those creatures in the Genesis account of the Garden of Eden. Unsurprisingly, some readers claim they have! On a different note, has anyone read about Pegasus appearing at the Great Flood in the original biblical account? The Biblical Legends Anthology Series is apocryphal. That is, they are fictional stories, therefore not true, but may shed light on true stories or the stories upon which they are based. The BLAS stories are purely for entertainment purposes.

3. Are you a Christian? Yes. I believe people ask this question to get a sense of the perspective of the person who compiled the BLAS material. The problem with this approach is the word "Christian" in the 21st century is used in many ways that do not comport with the original meaning of the word. A person may call themselves Christian if they're American and perceive that Christianity is the official religion of the U.S. or the cultural choice by default. It hardly means anything anymore for a person to call themselves Christian. That's why some people prefer phrases like "follower of Jesus Christ" or "Christ follower." The BLAS fiction series are multi-author anthologies meaning the stories come from various writers. I did not ask contributors how they identify religiously. I simply judged contributions based on whether they were good stories (or poems).

Between selling books and other work, I'm slowly working my way through a revision of the first draft of my current work in progress, a novel with the working title 100 Days for Abel.

The central premise of this work is this: An angel named Merkabah is commissioned by Word to come to Earth and investigate the murder of Abel.

Right away, you'll notice a few things:

1. The central premise takes liberties with the biblical narrative since the Bible does not mention any angel commissioned to investigate Abel's murder.

2. The commissioning agent is Word, the English translation of the Greek Logos of John 1:1. In John 1:14, we are told Word became flesh, an obvious reference to Jesus Christ. The principal character in the story is on assignment from the creator, the Son of God Himself.

3. The protagonist of the story is called Merkabah. Some readers may be familiar with this word from Jewish mysticism. Merkabah mysticism is an earlier form of Jewish mysticism than Kabbalah and relies heavily upon prophetic visions involving heavenly places. It is often associated with Ezekiel's vision of the chariot in the first chapter of Ezekiel.

4. The use of an investigating angel obviously counters the idea of God's omniscience. Of course, that is not the point in using this trope. It is simply a literary device to move the story along and make it more entertaining. After all, a story must have a protagonist. Without Merkabah, this story could not be told. It is his story.

Throughout the story, Merkabah acts as the voice of God to the broken world which he encounters. When he heads to the Land of Nod (called Duidain, taken from the Book of Enoch) to track down Cain, he is encounters weirdness on multiple levels. One need not be religious to enjoy the story. Its purpose is not to evangelize or proselytize. Rather, it falls into the genre of speculative fiction, which deals with the fantastical and ultra-imaginative.

My hope is that readers will find this story both entertaining and spiritually enlightening. Look for it to drop after the first of the year.

This week, I'll be selling books at Kroger in Cleburne, Texas. Here's the schedule:

• Wednesday, October 30 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Thursday, October 31 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Friday, November 1 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Saturday, November 2 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The next two weeks after Cleburne, I'll be heading north of the Metroplex to Bartonville and Flower Mound.

Happy Halloween!

• Why Don't Older Kids Read Books? - Author George Dillard tackles why teen reading has declined. He offers four theories. It's likely a combination of them.

• The Benefits of Books On Your Brain - People who read know that reading has benefits. Elias Bsaibes keeps it short, but you'll know why reading books is important after consuming this. Pass it along to a friend.

• Get Paid for Reading Books -- Sites Paying Over $500 Per Read - Do you dream of earning money reading books? These sites all pay book reviewers, and some of them will pay people to write reviews just because they like books. Do you like books? Become a book reviewer. You won't get rich, but you can earn extra money doing something you enjoy.

A great big thanks to those of you who have already answered this question. If you haven't taken my one-question survey yet, let me know if you prefer to read on Paragraph or Substack. Even if you read my newsletters in your email inbox, I'd still like you to take the survey. That's even one of the options.

One question, three choices. Five seconds.

This week, I'm heading to Granbury, Texas.

I love Granbury. Not only is it a cozy little community in Texas, but it has a beautiful historic district. And it's got a beautiful lake - Lake Granbury. This week, I'll be signing books in Granbury, setting up shop at the Kroger store located at 3915 E US Highway 377.

I'll be setting up my book signing table during the following times:

• Wednesday, Oct. 16 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Thursday, Oct. 17 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Friday, Oct. 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Saturday, Oct. 19 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Let your friends and family know. If anyone is in Granbury, Texas this week, stop by Kroger and get your book signed. If you've bought one of my books online, you can still get it signed. Just bring it by with your proof of purchase.

Image from Unsplash.

Last week, I decided to focus more on writing Medium articles for pay. That doesn't mean I'm giving up on promoting my books. It does mean that, going forward, I'll write more on Medium and use their Partnership program to monetize the content. If it fails, at least I've given it an honest try. If it succeeds, I'll increase my income (even if just a little).

I've learned that writers who submit their articles to publications on Medium do much better than writers who don't. Today, my first article was published in the Medium publication Emerge<in>Tech. Click the below link to read the article.

6 Ways to Earn Cryptocurrency As a Content Creator

As a content creator, I'm constantly seeking new ways to earn income using my skills and talents. There are countless ways to do so, and cryptocurrencies have emerged in recent years to open up new...

https://medium.com

Bottom line, I'm getting more active on Medium. You can follow me there by clicking here.

Now, without further ado, let's talk about the three things I want you to know this week.

I've begun reading the Apocrypha, which is nothing new. A lot of people read those old, stale manuscripts. But I'm doing it for a different reason than most.

The novel I'm writing, the first in a series titled "The Merkabah Chronicles", follows an angel who is given a special assignment by Word to take on human flesh and investigate the murder of Abel. Titled 100 Days for Abel, the story showcases Merkabah's encounters with the strange and wonderful in the Land of Nod.

I'm reading several Apocryphal books to help me better understand how the ancient Jews saw the Antediluvian world (the world before the Great Flood). This background information should help me craft a more believable and authentic world for readers. So far, I've uncovered some interesting tidbits I can use.

At any rate, I hope to have 100 Days for Abel ready for consumption by the end of the year.

Not only am I writing on Medium more, I'm also reading on Medium more. But I want to share with you some of the articles I've been reading. Here are three articles I read recently on Medium and which I also recommend for you.

1. The following article is important in our post-Pandemic cancel-culture world. I can honestly say I've never boycotted a business for political reasons. I just don't believe in it. The following article presents a good reason why it's ineffective and bad form to do so.

Why I Stopped Boycotting Businesses and Cutting People Off Because of Their Political Views

"I cling proudly to my guns and my bible," read a plaque on the counter of the coffee shop. Impossible to miss, it sat beside the cash register, above the glass shelves of muffins, loaves of bread...

https://humanparts.medium.com

2. When Gmail launched, it was the next best thing in email. Since then, several Gmail alternatives have emerged and Proton is one of them. It's a Godsend for privacy advocates.

Goodbye Gmail: The Hard Truth About Why It's Time for a Change

You know the feeling, the one when there's an overwhelming amount of junk email? Coupon codes, newsletters you never subscribed to, spam saying "Congratulations, you've won!" and now and then a...

https://medium.com

3. Alexander Nguyen tells a great story about what happened when he wrote to LinkedIn for 100 days.

I Wrote On LinkedIn for 100 Days. Now I Never Worry About Finding a Job.

In 2020, I read a book called the Power of Habit and challenged myself to try something new. As someone who's an introvert and felt shy about sharing my thoughts, one of the habits I wanted to work...

https://realalexnguyen.medium.com

This week, I'll set up my book table at Kroger on Galloway in Mesquite, Texas. These are the times and dates you'll find me at 525 N Galloway Avenue in Mesquite.

• 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, October 2, 2024

• 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 2, 2024

• 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, October 2, 2024

• 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, October 2, 2024

If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and see me.

Now that Labor Day is behind us (for my American friends), I'd like to share my Web3 social media earnings for the past month.

I've been sharing these earnings for well over a year now. This may be my last report for a while so that I can focus on other activities that are becoming a higher priority. I'll still be playing around on the Web3 platforms, but I'm not sure how important it is anymore to report on my earnings.

Without further ado, here's how much I earned last month.

My earnings are gFam in August are the lowest they've been for a long time. That can be attributed to me spending less time on the platform, and making few postings. I'm very busy promoting my books these days and that doesn't leave me a lot of time for creating new social media content. That means earnings on almost all of the platforms are getting lower.

In August 2024, my gFam earnings came to 0.865 XRP. That translates into $0.4841405 USD.

Earnings for August 2024 (rounded down) = $0.48

While my posting has slowed down a little bit on all of the platforms, including Hive, my earnings on Hive went up in August from July. That is likely due to the content I've posted receiving more votes and higher value votes than usual.

My Hive earnings in August break down as follows:

• 81.69 HIVE POWER translates into $14.312088 USD

• 13.78 HBD translates into $14.1934 USD

• 12.766 HBD savings translates into $13.14898 USD

These numbers combine into a total earnings of $41.654468 USD. That compares to $36.1287671 USD in July.

Earnings for August 2024 (rounded down) = $41.65

My earnings on Torum were on the low end in August, for the stated reason above. I earned just 4.5 XTM, which translates into $0.117675 USD.

Earnings for August 2024 (rounded down) = $0.11

I have a good mind to buy some PRE so I can get my PRE holdings above 1,000 and participate in AI searches and advertising. In August, I earned 1.26 PRE, which converts to $0.01073898 USD.

I currently hold 973.043 PRE in my account. Picking up just 1, 2, or 3 additional PRE per month will keep me going for most of next year without hitting that 1,000 PRE mark and limiting my ability to use the additional features of the search engine. For that reason, I'm considering buying some additional PRE to put me over the threshold.

Earnings for August 2024 (rounded down) = $0.01

There are other platforms I've been using that did not earn me any crypto in August. In fact, I've gone dry on Paragraph for a few months now. My last earnings were in May. But I'm not a bit worried. I've narrowed my interests in Web3 social media platforms to Hive. I could lose access to all the others and wouldn't care.

My earnings from all Web3 social media platforms in August 2024 were $42.26702248. More than $41 of that was on Hive.

That's it for this week. I'll catch you on the flip side.

Allen Taylor is the author of Web3 Social: How Creators Are Changing the World Wide Web (And You Can Too!).

Collect this post and I'll send you 500 TAYL tokens. This could be the last Web3 social media earnings report you see forever. I'm suspending the report for the rest of the year, so collect this popular format to preserve it.

American Christians are taught from the first three chapters of Genesis that God created everything (and therefore biological evolution is a myth of science) and that Adam and Eve ate an apple (or some unidentifiable fruit) and, because of that, we are all as sinful as the devil himself. This post isn't about affirming or criticizing those beliefs, but Christians who emphasize those points often overlook other details in the story that give us better insight into their purpose. In short, the first three chapters of Genesis were not intended to be science or history lessons.

If they're not about how the universe came to be and how we all came to need a savior, what are these verses about? I'd like you to consider that they're all about the trees.

In Genesis 2:8-10, we learn that God planted two trees in the Garden of Eden (amongst an entire forest, mind you!).

And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Emphasis mine)

These two trees are central to understanding the message of the early chapters of Genesis (and I would say the entire Bible). Allow me to explain.

In verses 16-17 (same chapter), the text reads:

And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

The previous verse tells us that God appointed Adam, meaning "mankind", to "cultivate and keep" the Garden. The idea is to protect and preserve the natural order of things. Alas, like Adam, we have all failed to do so.

But what is that natural order? It has to do with the nature of those two trees. You see, the one tree (the tree of life) bears the fruit of life. The other tree bears the fruit of death. That death does not come about by man's living. Rather, it comes about by man's focus on the knowledge of good and evil (again, emphasis mine).

What is that knowledge?

In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul talks about two laws. The first law is the law of the spirit of life. The second law is the law of sin and death (emphases are mine). The Apostle Paul conveyed the same notion those two trees in Genesis represent without mentioning the trees. The Tree of Life is the Law of the Spirit of Life while the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is the Law of Sin and Death. Why do I think that?

I think that because Paul connects the law of the spirit of life to Jesus Christ. In Romans 8:1-2, he says this:

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.

This is one of the most profound statements in the entire Bible. In Jesus Christ, there is no condemnation. In other words, Christ has defeated sin and death and their consequences. If that is true, then Christians should never fear what they have to offer. As long as we feast on the fruit of the tree of life, Jesus Christ, then sin and death have no hold on us. That doesn't mean we won't physically die, but it does mean that our spirits will not die. They will have eternal life because the life that Christ offers is eternal.

There is no other source for eternal life than Jesus Christ because He is the author and giver of life. Multiple New Testament texts tell us that all things were created by and for Jesus Christ. That alone makes Him the author of life.

I could say much more about that concept, but I'll leave it there for now. Jesus Christ is life. And because He is life, and the author of life, the giver of life, the defender of life, and the destroyer of death, we who believe in Him can never be condemned because He does not condemn. He preserves, protects, and defends what is His. He is the Tree of Life and the second Adam.

In Revelation 22, we see the Tree of Life again. The first two verses read like this:

Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

The Revelator uses the tree of life as a symbol to convey that Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, is the source of all life, the provider of eternal life, and the restorer of peace. In the end, He will restore all things to their pristine glory. The City of God that descends from the heavens is Christ Himself and all who remain in Him, uncondemned and glorified.

In contrast to the Tree of Life, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil offers nothing but condemnation, death, and hell. But what is it?

The name should give us a clue.

For brevity's sake, I will refer to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil going forward as the Tree of Morality. Now, it isn't the morality itself that is the issue. Rather, it is the knowledge of morality that is the problem. It was a problem for Adam and Eve, and it's a problem for us. We think we are wise because we understand what is good and evil, right and wrong, moral and immoral. But God never intended for us to have that knowledge.

God wanted an innocent humanity that looked to Him for substance, sustenance, and provision. That's why He provided a Tree of Life and a Tree of Morality. Then He gave man (Adam) a choice. That man made the wrong choice, as do we.

One must ask this question: If the Tree of Life is the standard by which God measures man's standing before Him, why do so many Christians focus so heavily on what is moral and immoral? Why does much of our conversation center on good vs. evil, right vs. wrong? He has given us another paradigm, one centered on eternal life, and that paradigm is built on the shoulders of His Son, the eternal heir to God's throne, the last Adam. When we feed on Christ, we have the only tree we ever need.

Which tree are you living by? Are you living by the promises contained within the Tree of Life, or are you living by the law of sin and death as represented by the Tree of Morality?

Allen Taylor is the author of I Am Not the King and the editor and Publisher of the Biblical Legends Anthology Series, the first of which is Garden of Eden Anthology.

The following six books are available on my website, Amazon, and online bookstores. Libraries have access to them through normal library channels. If you get your books through your local library, whether print or digital, let them know that they can purchase the books through a variety of distribution channels including Baker & Taylor, IngramSpark, OverDrive, BorrowBox, Hoopla, cloudLibrary, Palace Marketplace, and more.

Now, without further ado, here are 6 books by Yours Truly that you can buy right now and bring to the Burleson Kroger store for me to sign in person:

• I Am Not the King - My bestselling book, I Am Not the King is the story of how I came to believe in Jesus Christ. The story, told in three parts, involves an angry father, a wild and tempestuous young man (me), and an atheist college professor. Believers find it inspirational and encouraging. Nonbelievers somehow find it. (Genre: Christian nonfiction)

• Garden of Eden - The first book in the Biblical Legends Anthology Series (BLAS), Garden of Eden Anthology features short stories, poems, and flash fiction from various authors set in the Garden of Eden but focused on characters other than the usual biblical characters. (Genre: speculative fiction)

• Sulfurings: Tales from Sodom & Gomorrah - The second book in the BLAS, Sulfurings features stories, poems, and flash fiction set in Sodom and Gomorrah with fictional characters you won't find in the Bible. (Genre: speculative fiction)

• Deluge: Stories of Survival & Tragedy in the Great Flood - In this third book of the BLAS, readers discover strange and intriguing tales of fictional characters caught in one of the most catastrophic events in myth and history. (Genre: speculative fiction)

• Biblical Legends Anthology Series Bundle - The Bundle includes all three of the BLAS books in one volume. (Genre: speculative fiction)

• Web3 Social: How Creators Are Changing The World Wide Web (And You Can Too!) - In this informative book packed full of insights on emerging Web technologies, I show creators of all kinds how they can monetize their content better, protect their intellectual property more fully, secure their digital identities, and resist censorship using blockchain technology, cryptography, and cryptocurrencies but without losing sight of who they are in a world that is sometimes hostile toward creators. (Genre: general nonfiction)

As a multi-genre author, I take pride in offering a little something for everyone (well, almost everyone). If you are a Christian, you love well-told speculative fiction stories, or you have an interest in emerging technologies, then there is a book here for you. Get your copy and bring it to Burleson, Texas this week to be signed.

This week, I'll have my book table set up at Kroger in Burleson, Texas (location: 1631 SW Wilshire Blvd.). You'll find me there at the following times:

• Wednesday, August 21, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Thursday, August 22, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Friday, August 23, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Saturday, August 24, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

See you there. Look for the man standing beside a book table wearing a face full of hair.

Author Allen Taylor

• 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.

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.

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?

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.

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

I'm back for another Web3 social media earnings report. This is for July 2024, and it may be my last report. If you've been paying attention, I've gradually moved away from virtually every Web3 social media platform except for Hive and Paragraph (and the only reason I'm still on Paragraph is because it hosts my newsletter). If Hive had a bona fide newsletter publishing dapp that allowed me to send newsletters to email and wallet subscribers, I'd migrate to Hive. But it doesn't.

Without much ado, here's the report for last month.

I've had a good run with gFam. I like the platform and it has allowed me to accumulate XRP. Unfortunately, last week when I tried to repurpose my newsletter on the platform, I received a message saying my TinyMCE credits had run out. I couldn't post without paying a fee. So, I did not post to gFam last week.

Philosophically, I am not opposed to pay-to-play systems. However, with so many options available that do not require a fee to post, the proof of profit would have to be strong for me to make that investment. Given that my earnings have fallen on the platform, I'd have to think twice about it. It looks as though gFam will allow me to post this week, so it may not be an issue.

Depending on the frequency of that anomaly, I may have to say goodbye to gFam. Thankfully, at this moment, I don't have to.

My July 2024 earnings were 1.839002 XRP, which translates into $1.1960869008 USD.

July 2024 earnings (rounded down) = $1.19

Hive continues to be a mainstay even though my earnings dropped from June to July. I earned 79.127 HIVE POWER in July 2024, 3.448 HBD, and 15.299 HBD savings interest. These numbers translate into $17.1942971 USD, $3.48248 USD, and $15.45199 USD, respectively. Collectively, that equates to $36.1287671 USD.

This makes Hive still my biggest earner. However, I earned quite a bit less in July than in June. No need for crying.

July 2024 earnings (rounded down) = $36.12

I earned no MATIC in July, either from Paragraph or Readl. That's disappointing as it means no one collected any of my NFTs. Good thing I'm not sold on them, or hang my hat on them.

Publish0x is a different story, however. Despite not posting to the platform at all, I still had earnings. ETH earnings equated to 0.00000687 while OP earnings were 0.01812031. The USD equivalent for these cryptocurrencies were $0.02 for ETH and $0.03 for OP.

July 2024 earnings (rounded down) = $0.05

The day is coming when I will say goodbye to Torum and convert my XTM to something else. That day is not yet.

My July XTM earnings were 7.75, which amounts to $0.28799 USD.

July 2024 earnings (rounded down) = $0.28

I conducted more Presearch searches in July than I did in June and saw my earnings go up. I earned 1.48 PRE in July. That translates into $0.016724 USD, slightly less than my PRE earnings in June due to a decrease in PRE value.

July 2024 earnings (rounded down) = $0.01

Before I disclose my total earnings for July 2024, I want to go over my Ecency and Layer-2 token values on Hive. These are other reasons I am committed to the Hive blockchain, as opposed to other Web3 social media platforms.

I earned 1147.312 Ecency Points (EP) in July 2024. However, my end of month EP value was 638.698. Because I'm spending more time offline selling books than I do creating online content, my online production has gone down. That means less earnings overall. It also means I'm using fewer EP to promote my Hive posts, which is likely translating into less earnings, and because I'm posting less to Hive as I am to all social media accounts, I'm earning less there for that reason. These details explain why my earnings have dropped so precipitously in the last month.

My Hive Layer-2 token values have also declined in value. I've accumulated more tokens, but the token values overall have declined from about $49 USD in May to $25.84 in July. I thought we were supposed to be in a bull market.

Now, without further ado, my total USD earnings from all Web3 social media activity in July 2024 was $37.679568. That's a little more than $20 down from the previous month, June 2024.

Below is a list of Hive Layer-2 tokens that I've accumulated over the last year or so. Many of these I earned by using certain hashtags. Some were given to me as tips. Others, I have no idea how I came to possess them. At any rate, these are the tokens that are now worth about $25.84 USD.

AFIT, AIRHAWK, ALIVE, ARCHON, BBH, BEATCZ, BEE, BHT, BRO, BUDS, BUIDL, CCC, CENT, CINE, COFFEE, CTP, CURE, DEC, DHEDGE, FOODIE, FUN, HUG, HUSTLER, INK, JAHM, LARYNX, LASSECASH, LEO, LIST, LOLZ, LUV, LVL, MEME, MUSIC, NEOXAG, ONEUP, PAL, PAY, PEPE, PESOS, PGM, PHOTO, PIMP, PIZZA, POB, SBT, SCHOLAR, SCRAP, SCRIBE, SIM, SLOTHBUZZ, SPORTS, SPT, SQM, STARBITS, STEM, SWAP.HIVE, THGAMING, THIA, TIX, VKBT, VYB, WAIV, WINEX, WOO

These tokens are held in varied amounts and at various values. The largest accumulation of tokens I have is the SPORTS token. I hold 464160.619 tokens. The token I hold with the highest USD value is LEO. I hold 518.379 worth $15.272 USD.

Are you itching to learn more about Web3 social media? Check out my book on the topic, in which I discuss more than 150 platforms and protocols, explain how the technology works in simple terms, and go into detail about the benefits to creators like you.

Collect this post and receive 500 Taylor Tokens.

Feel free to connect with me on the following Web3 social media platforms.

• gFam

• Paragraph

• Hive

• Publish0x

• Torum

Two events happened this past week that reminded me of the need for humility. The first event concerned the opening ceremony of the Olympic games, and the second event was personal. Let's explore.

Full disclosure: I didn't watch the Olympics' opening ceremony. I haven't been interested in the Olympics for years. I only caught the tailwind of this controversy after it happened, but I've spent a great deal of time in the last couple of days trying to wrap my head around it. What do drag queens and the Lord's Supper have to do with the Olympics, I wondered. Then it dawned on me, the Culture War has gone global.

What is the fuss about, exactly?

As it were, the opening ceremony depicted drag queens seated at a table that many Christians took as a mockery of the Lord's Supper. According to the artistic director responsible for the event, there was no intent to mock anyone. Rather, it was all about diversity and inclusion. Everyone from U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker took offense. It was the perfect opportunity for white men like me to quote Bible verses out of context and prooftext their outrage.

After reading much of the dueling narratives, I've concluded that the human race needs a savior now more than ever.

When I first saw the image of the drag queen celebration that supposedly was mocking the Lord's Supper, I couldn't see the Lord's Supper at all. Later, after several hours of research, the explanation of Dionysus and the ancient Greek bacchanal made so much more sense than anything outraged Christians were saying. And the fact that so many Christians are celebrating Donald Trump as if he were the second coming of Jesus Christ makes my gut churn even more.

And if the number one search suggestion for "president" is Donald Trump equated to the Son of Man isn't enough, consider this depiction of The Donald himself replacing Jesus at the center of the table:

Anyone offended by drag queens doing anything and not offended by a depiction of the King of Creation Himself taking a backseat to any earthly political figure has some real explaining to do.

I've noticed that Christians in the 21st century are quick to take offense at every supposed slight against them (whether real or imagined) but slow to forgive and slow to exercise patience with anyone who differs in any small way. This is not the mind of Christ.

Perhaps the church that Christ built should spend less time grumbling about persecution and take cultural tension with a grain of salt. Then, of course, there's the plain truth that we are the largest cultural force in the Western world and not being persecuted at all.

I'll see your outrage and raise you a call for humility.

I've been called a lot of dirty names in the last 58 years, but I don't believe I've ever been called a heretic until this past week. While selling books in a community that has been nothing but friendly toward me, I found myself in a seemingly innocuous conversation with a fellow Christian about how a person comes to know Jesus. In this other person's view, Bible reading was a necessity.

I disagreed.

Now, I'm aware that the prevailing attitude among Evangelicals is that Bible reading is an absolute necessity in the 21st century. Nevertheless, I became foolish for the sake of the truth.

I carefully and politely explained to my dear sister that most Christians in history didn't have access to a Bible, and if they did, they weren't literate enough to read it for themselves. They knew about Jesus because someone told them, verbally, about Jesus and they believed. I thought this was a non-controversial statement. No one in their right mind would dispute it.

Alas, my sister in Christ would have none of that. After hearing me out, she turned to her husband and blurted, "This guy's a heretic!" and stormed off with her husband two steps behind, wagging his tongue like a dog.

Oh dear me, I lost a sale.

Seriously, after reflecting on the exchange, it dawned on me that our churches are doing a poor job of educating Christians on a few simple non-essentials. That's why so many Christians bring those non-essentials to front and center making them all-binding tenets of the faith. But I'm not bitter about it. I know that the devil works in mysterious ways.

I chalked it up as a lesson in humility and I promise to do better next time. If I am a heretic, the Lord will have His way with me.

I'm Allen Taylor and I approve this message.

Let's start with some fiction.

In 2013, I came across an invitation to enter a contest. It was very simple. The contest would award the "most innovative" flash fiction entry. I put on my thinking cap, grabbed my trusty laptop, and spit out this weird little gem:

I am the Minister of Silly Putty.

I hereby declare that heretofore, forthwith and to wit all future indications of brilliance, genius and/or essential intelligence emitted by creatures great and small do not infringe upon the rights of those whose sludge is filled with remarkable intuition beyond all recognition. If any such persons, or beings representing such persons, or their assigns, become agitated for reasons extolling the virtues of non-existent databases, then it is permissible for those who would do otherwise to do otherwise.

If anyone reading these letters feels the need or the urge to splurge, recommend, abscond, blast into outer space, clothe or unclothe, retard, discard, or break into haphazard happenstance, then you must report immediately to the Bin of Divergent Scoundrels and fill out a Blaaah! Ticket. Failure to do so will result in your denial being requested and flushed down the proverbial toilet.

We are in growth mode, exercising every indication to evangelize the particulars and any effort to condescend to the contradictions mentioned in the previous paragraph shall not forego the concupiscence of yesteryear.         

I repeat, I am the Minister of Silly Putty. Carry on with your goings on as usual and forget this memo at once.

Yes, I won the contest.

While researching my book Web3 Social: How Creators Are Changing the World Wide Web (And You Can Too!), I ran across a useful tool I'd like to highlight. It's called Aether.

Aether is a messaging app. Its website describes it as a "peer-to-peer ephemeral public communities" tool. In a nutshell, it means it is

• Decentralized

• Open source

• Every post or comment disappears after 6 months (nothing is archived)

• Messages are private, meaning no information is collected on posters (including email addresses, IP addresses, and no cookie tracking

You can learn more about Aether and other decentralized technologies in Web3 Social.

Just for my Christian readers, did you know you can publish your testimony? That's right. As a witness for Jesus Christ, you can publish a testimony that tells how God has blessed you. It doesn't have to be your "coming to Jesus story." It can be how God healed a physical ailment, how you broke through spiritual oppression, or any story that depicts how God has worked in your life. It need not be sensationalized.

In fact, the best testimonies are not sensationalized. They depict true events in your life that illustrate how God has been graceful or merciful toward you.

Need help writing your story? Hit reply and let me know what snag you've encountered. Interested in writing your story but don't know where to start? Hit reply and let me know.

This week, I'll be in Forney, Texas. Starting tomorrow, I'll have a book table set up at Kroger in Forney. The Kroger is located at 500 Marketplace Blvd. in Forney. I'll be signing books from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday this week and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by, or send someone who likes to read.

That's it for this week. Thanks for reading.

I'm Allen Taylor. Learn more about me on my author website.

If you saw me at the Mesquite store on Faithon P. Lucas Sr. Blvd. last week, then you may already know I'm going to be on Galloway this coming week. That's right, starting tomorrow, July 9, 2024, I'll have my book table set up at 525 N Galloway Ave. in Mesquite, Texas. If you're going to be in the area, feel free to stop in and see me. You might even get your book signed (and if you don't have a book, you can buy one!).

The dates and times I'll be greeting customers and talking literature are below:

• Tuesday, July 9, 2024, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Wednesday, July 10, 2024, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Thursday, July 11, 2024, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Friday, July 12, 2024, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Saturday, July 13, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Come on out and visit me!

Meanwhile, for you fiction lovers who haven't had a chance to read this yet, check out the first chapter of my work in progress, titled 1,000 Days for Abel.

On another note, if you've tried to access my website in the last couple of weeks, you may have experienced some technical issues. I have switched hosting companies and rebuilt the website. You can now find what you were looking for. If you can't, shoot me an email and let me know.

That's all I've got this week. We can thank God I don't have a bad case of the luggage. That would be one long, strange trip.

Allen Taylor, author

I'm back for another Web3 social media earnings report. What I find interesting about my June 2024 earnings is that I saw a decline in earnings from almost every platform I posted to but earned more in June than I did in May. Let's look at how that happened.

I've been steady about posting to gFam for quite a while. As a result, I can expect it earn me some XRP every month. In June 2024, I earned 4.411009 XRP. That translates into 2.0828784498 USD.

My XRP earnings from gFam are down from 2.4597384 in May 2024.

June 2024 earnings (rounded down) = $2.08

Hive is still my top earner. It always has been and continues to not disappoint.

My Hive Power earnings for June 2024 were 85.6, up from 72.009. However, since the value of HIVE has declined, that translates into $18.7892 USD versus $21.9555441 in May.

Where I did see an increase is in my HBD earnings. I went from 6.879 HBD in May 2024 to 20.271 HBD in June. In terms of USD, the values of those numbers are $6.755178 and $20.47371, respectively.

My HBD savings account earned 14.662 HBD in June, down from 15.616 in May. The associated earnings in USD for June equates to $14.80862, down from $15.3286656 in May.

The total earnings in USD from all three of my earnings categories on Hive for the month of June were $54.07153.

June 2024 earnings (rounded down) = $54.07

I'm lumping Paragraph and Read together in this report because birth earn MATIC. Paragraph is a newsletter platform that allows users to collect posts as NFTs. Readl is an e-book platform that allows users to collect e-books as NFTs.

In May 2024, I earned 6 MATIC on Paragraph and 0 MATIC on Readl. The USD equivalent from both platforms was $4.2102.

In June 2024, I earned 0 MATIC on Paragraph and 0.95 MATIC on Readl. Essentially, I sold one e-book. The USD equivalent from both platforms for the month of June was $0.519935.

June 2024 earnings (rounded down) = $0.51

Last month, I decided to stop posting to Publish0x. Therefore, the earnings for June represent a partial month. This will be the last time Publish0x hits this report unless I start posting there again in the future.

In May 2024, I earned 0.00055935 ETH and 0.57388571 OP. That amounted to $2.126492082 USD and $1.4174977037, respectively. In June 2024, my earnings were 0.00015285 ETH and 0.25105605 OP. The USD equivalent was $0.52 and $0.44, respectively.

June 2024 earnings (rounded down) = $0.96

In June, I earned 12.75 XTM on Torum, versus 14 in May. The USD equivalent was $0.5070675 in June versus $0.57302 in May.

June 2024 earnings (rounded down) = $0.50

In June, I earned 1.24 PRE making searches on Presearch. In May, I earned 3.4 PRE. A couple of days ago I learned that I wasn't logged into Presearch, so there's no telling how long I went during the month of June making searches without earning PRE. That's a bummer!

My USD earnings in June 2024 were $0.0176452 versus $0.059364 in May.

June 2024 earnings (rounded down) = $0.01

As you can see, my earnings from every platform went down in June, with one exception. Earnings went up on Hive. Even then, it was only HBD earnings that increased. HIVE earnings declined.

The bottom line is that Hive is carrying all the other platforms. My total earnings for June from all platforms was $58.15 USD. $54.07 of that was on Hive.

This makes me want to say goodbye to all platforms except Hive. I suspect I'll be dropping Torum very soon. I am not sure about gFam. I like earnings XRP. Presearch will stay because it's a search engine and when I get to 10,000 PRE, I'll be able to use it for advertising. I'm almost there now.

I have also been considering jumping onto Zirkels to give it a test run. I tried DeSo last year and wasn't too impressed. Zirkels could be a different story. We'll see, and I'll keep you posted.

June 2024 earnings from all platforms (rounded down) = $58.15

Allen Taylor is the author of Web3 Social: How Creators Are Changing the World Wide Web (And You Can Too!).

Collect this post and receive 500 Taylor Tokens. Be the first to collect and receive 750 tokens.

If you read my posts regularly, you know I usually write about Web3 publishing topics on Wednesday and Christian topics on Thursday. Well, this week I got bit by the time management bug and failed to plan what I was going to write about. Instead, I spent my usual planning and newsletter writing time working on my next fiction project.

This is a clear sign that it's time to change my posting schedule.

As you know, Wednesday through Saturday (and soon to be Tuesday through Saturday), I am in a grocery store all day selling my books. It's become a full-time job, with full-time pay. While that's a good thing, because I'm selling books, it also means I have less time for writing, or less time for writing when I want to write.

Businesses must rearrange their priorities from time to time if they're to remain relevant. I've done this several times over the years, so I'll do it again.

Going forward, I'll aim to write one or two posts per week, but the posting will be on no particular day. I will likely publish a post on Monday and, when time permits, another post sometime during the week. I may write about Web3 publishing topics, Christian topics, or fiction, but I will continue to stay in touch and you'll receive something from me based on which communities you belong to.

Here's how to know which communities you are signed up for, and how to change your preferences:

Click on "Unsubscribe or Manage Preferences" at the bottom of this email

You'll see this:

If you click on any of the slide bars on the left side of the subscribe list, you'll subscribe or unsubscribe from that list. If the slide turns blue, you're subscribed. If it turns gray, you're unsubscribed. You can subscribe or unsubscribe to or from as many lists as you wish.

If you're reading this on one of the Web3 social media platforms I post to afterward, you can subscribe to my newsletter on Paragraph, or wait for my posts to appear on platform.

Tomorrow, I'll share the first chapter of my current work in progress, but I will share it only with the SpecFic Files group. If you are into speculative fiction and want a glimpse into the story I'm writing, make sure you're subscribed to SpecFic Files.

See you in your inbox (or on one of the Web3 social media platforms)!

Author Allen Taylor

I'll state at the outset that the Catholic church is closer to the truth on this one.

Both traditions use reason and the Bible to bolster their arguments. For Catholics, the sacrament of the Eucharist represents the "breaking of bread," which is spoken highly of in Scripture. As the Twitter post above states, the early church fathers believed the Eucharist was and should be the central element of worship. The Eucharist is simply the communion table. It is the body and blood of Jesus Christ. It was instituted by Christ Himself at the Last Supper. The Roman Catholic church adopted it as its central sacrament in the corporate worship service.

Protestants, on the other hand, make the sermon the most important element of the worship service by calling it the ministry of the word. For Protestants, the Bible must be preached. Because preaching is what the apostles did to spread the word about Jesus Christ and his plan of salvation, Protestants believe preaching should be central to the worship service.

Both views are based on tradition and overlook some central Bible verses and early church practices.

The problem with the Catholic view of the Eucharist is that it discounts half of what the Lord's Supper was all about. It began with a Passover meal. It ended with the "breaking of bread" and pouring of wine.

These two went together in the early church. They were not separated the way that both Catholics and Protestants practice them today.

Let's look at 5 Bible verses that show what I mean:

1. Acts 2:42: On the Day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter preached to a crowd, and 3,000 people were baptized (imagine how long that would have taken!). The next verse, Acts 2:42, says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." That phrase "breaking of bread" meant they had a meal followed by a loaf of bread that was broken apart so that everyone could have a piece of it with a small amount of wine. It was not a wafer and a sip of wine or grape juice. It was a full meal that included bread and wine.

2. Acts 6:4: At one point during the apostles' ministry, they got so busy trying to administer meals to all the believers in Jerusalem that they left some of them out. To prevent that from happening again, they appointed seven deacons to serve the meals so that the apostles could devote themselves to prayer and teaching.

3. Acts 20:7: In Troas, believers met on the first day of the week to "break bread". Again, that meant a meal plus bread and wine, which represented Jesus' body and blood.

4. 1 Corinthians 11:33: During his ministry, the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthians to address some of the issues they were facing. In chapter 11 of his letter (the original letter had no chapters and verses), he came to the Lord's Supper. He began this passage by saying, "I have no praise to offer, because your gatherings do more harm than good." In verse 20, he chastised: "Now then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat." This was followed by rebuking those who ate too much as well as those who got drunk on the wine. He rhetorically asked if they so despise the church of God that they humiliate those who have nothing. His point was that the communion meal should be a shared event, with each participant thinking as much of others as of themselves so that no one in the meeting goes without something to eat and some wine to drink and no one should consume in excess. In verse 25, he said, "In the same way, after supper He took the cup ...." Why he didn't say, "after supper" previously when he shared how Jesus broke the bread is anyone's guess, but I think it's clear that both the breaking of the bread and the pouring of the wine occurred after the meal. Finally, in his culminating conclusion, the apostle proclaimed, "when you come together to eat, wait for one another." In other words, don't satisfy your lusts with too much food or wine or push yourselves ahead of the line to be first, but share in the meal together so that all may proclaim Christ's death until He comes through the shared communion meal, which includes the bread and the wine.

5. Jude 1:12: In his short letter, the Apostle Jude proclaimed God's judgment on those who had crept into the church to introduce heresies and false teachings. In his short little diatribe, he said this about those men: "These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts." That's what the early church called their communion meals - love feasts. They were called love feasts because the idea was to share Christ's love while enjoying a meal together, but certain men came in to divide the church with false teachings. Jude was encouraging the church to defend the gospel against such false teachings while showing mercy to those who doubt the faith and persevere in proclaiming the gospel as well as living it out in their daily lives, but especially during their love feasts.

As you can see, the early church worshiped together over a meal that culminated in breaking bread and drinking wine (the Eucharistic elements). The meal (fellowship) and the communion went hand in hand.

We ascertain from these verses that the early church, the church in the first century, held worship services very differently than we do today. Here are 4 ways their worship service was different.

1. They worshiped in each other's homes. They did not worship in public buildings. While the Bible does not condemn such a practice, there are some practical implications to worshiping in a private home, one of which is the intimate nature of the gathering. Public worship, especially as it is practiced today, is much more impersonal.

2. They met on the first day of the week. This is in contrast to the Jews, who met on the seventh day of the week. The Bible doesn't tell us why they met on Sunday, but it's clear that they did from Acts 20:7, and they met in the evening.

3. They had a meal together. The meal was the central element of their gathering and the reason for gathering in the first place. Communion in the early church consisted of a meal followed by the breaking of bread and pouring of wine.

4. They prayed and learned from the apostles. In addition to a meal, the early church devoted themselves to prayer and the apostles' teaching. While the meal was central to their shared experience together, it was not just a feast. Their gatherings consisted of a meal, praying, and teaching.

5. Everyone participated. Later on in his letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul instructed the Corinthians on what they must do to build up the church. It was not to sit in a pew and listen to one man preach a sermon every week. Instead, he told them, "When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up." In other words, everyone in the worship service was allowed to speak to share something they heard from the Lord or felt the need to share to edify the rest.

As we can see from these practical ways the early church worshiped, both the Catholic church and the Protestant churches have something right and something wrong. The Catholics place the Eucharist at the center of the worship service, but the Eucharist is a wafer and a sip of wine, in contrast to the early church's one loaf of bread broken for all to have a piece and a little wine to go with. Protestants focus on preaching from the Bible, but downplay the Eucharist. The problem with the "ministry of the word" is that the early church knew nothing of it. Their teaching was from the Old Testament, but mostly to show how Christ is revealed in those texts, and the apostles went so far as to explain with oration how the practical realities of the gospel should lead Christians to live life in a different way than both the Jews and the Pagans did. Today, we have the benefit of the apostles' letters to help us teach and learn a better way to live, but that teaching should not be the central element of corporate worship.

Note that I'm using the word "teaching" rather than "preaching". When the Apostle Paul went into a town to share the gospel, he preached. When he gathered with those who responded positively after his evangelistic events, he taught. Teaching is a very different posture than preaching and it should be a part of the worship service but not necessarily central to it.

In conclusion, I recommend this article for more information on how and why the early church worshiped the way they did. I also recommend Frank Viola's book Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Until next time, have a good week.

Allen Taylor is the author of I Am Not the King.

I'll keep this short. Here are the three reasons I will be limiting my content on Publish0x:

1. Technical issues: For years, I've used Publish0x with no technical issues. Last Wednesday, however, I tried to publish a blog post and it wouldn't publish. I published it yesterday instead. I'd have published it sooner, but I was traveling. Typically, I do not allow technical issues to divert me from running my business. But when there are other issues too, then I have to rethink my commitment to a platform. That brings me to my second point.

2. Earnings have declined: I've mentioned this before. My earnings have fallen from an average of about $10 per month to $1 or $2 per month. This happened after the Publish0x migration to Optimism. While I appreciate that Publish0x pays the gas fees for monetary transfers from users' accounts to external wallets, I have to ask if it is worth my time to continue playing on the platform for the amount of outtake.

3. Trolls - I went a long time with no trolls commenting on my posts. Suddenly, trollish comments increased. I've long stated that Publish0x is good for engagement, and I still believe it is. Most of the comments I receive on my posts are from positive contributors. Nevertheless, I have seen an uptick in trollish comments.

Any one of these issues by itself would be a nuisance but not enough for me to say goodbye to a platform. But with so many other alternatives, I must decide if my time is well spent. That's why I have decided to pull back on Publish0x for the time being.

That does not mean I am leaving the platform. It simply means I'll be publishing less.

My typical routine is to publish a blog post on my Paragraph blog first then repurpose it for the various Web3 and crypto-based social media platforms on which I am active. I will continue that routine, but I am not guaranteeing that I will continue publishing to Publish0x. Followers on Publish0x who want to continue reading my content can find me on Paragraph and Hive. Those are the two platforms I can guarantee I will spend the majority of my time on going forward.

Thanks for understanding. If you read this on Publish0x, look me up on Paragraph or Hive to stay in touch.

Allen Taylor is the author of Web3 Social: How Creators Are Changing the World Wide Web (And You Can Too!).

I've identified five ways every Christian throughout church history is a priest in function even if not in office. I'd go so far as to say that religious offices are out of step with how Christ initially set up His church.

Without going down that rabbit trail, here are five ways every Christian today can serve as a priest in God's holy nation.

Christians must realize that the priesthood of believers is derived from the High Priest function of Jesus Christ Himself. In Hebrews 5:10, the author of this epistle declares that Christ was designated by God to serve in the role of high priest. This declaration follows from the fact that He was "made perfect" and became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.

The Greek word used in that context is hupakouó, which means "attend to" or "listen". As Jesus said, His sheep listen to His voice and follow Him. The word "obey" is not meant in a legalistic sense. Rather, it is a call to action to all those who believe in Jesus as Messiah and who want to honor Him with their lives. Such persons obey Him to the point that they listen to His voice and follow that voice wherever it leads. To that end, the following five points are exhortations to God's priests to pursue their priestly functions today.

1. All members of the church have access to God through the High Priest Jesus Christ - All members of Christ's church have direct access to God through the High Priest, who is Jesus Christ Himself. We need no other mediator. The idea that your priest or pastor is an "undershepherd" or "co-mediator" is simply unbiblical and untenable. For there is only one mediator, Jesus Christ, in whom all salvation lies. If you believe in Jesus Christ, you have direct access to God through the Savior without the need for any other mediator. That includes wives who can reach God directly through their Lord and Savior rather than through their husbands. That includes children and every member of every church denomination even if you have priests, pastors, deacons, and professional clergy serving "above" you.

2. All members of the church can minister to each other directly - The only mediator you need is Jesus Christ. If you know a fellow believer who is hurting, struggling, or in need of assistance, you have the power, through the Holy Spirit, to directly minister to that individual in Jesus' name. That doesn't mean the other Christian may not need professional help. For instance, they may need to seek counseling or therapy for a mental illness. They may need medical, legal, or other professional assistance. However, if there is a spiritual need accompanying other needs, and there usually is, as a fellow believer, you have the power, responsibility, and duty to provide that spiritual assistance to your brother or sister in Christ as long as you do so in a way that honors the Lord. You don't have to refer them to your priest or pastor, although, if you do not feel confident in the power you possess, you may do so, or you may call in the assistance of a more mature believer. If you do ask for assistance, ask the person you referred your friend to how you can better serve your fellow priest in the future. That's a great opportunity for discipleship.

3. All members of the church are equally responsible for learning, speaking, and adhering to sound doctrine - It is fashionable in our day to say that doctrine isn't necessary as long as we "love" our neighbors. Certainly, we must love our neighbors. However, true Christian love is gated by sound doctrine. That doesn't mean we should be such doctrinaires that we put heady concepts above loving care. As a member of God's church, you are responsible for learning, speaking, and adhering to sound Christian doctrine. That requires being in the presence of others who can teach sound doctrine and listening to them when they teach, then following up by putting into practice what you have learned. If you know sound doctrine, you'll be able to discern when false doctrines are taught.

4. All members of the church are capable of and bear responsibility for modeling Christian behavior and serving as ambassadors to friends and neighbors who are not Christian while serving within our communities - Every Christian does not have the gift of evangelism, however, we are all called to be witnesses. As priests in God's kingdom, we must model good Christian behavior and bring the peace of Christ to our neighbors without placing stumbling blocks in front of them. Many Christians today are more interested in voting for the "right" political candidate than being an ambassador for Christ. Until we can model good Christian character and love our neighbors as we love ourselves, who we vote for should be a secondary consideration.

5. All members of the church can offer forgiveness of sins to others by pointing to Christ as the sole sacrifice for such sins - All of us are sinners. To point out that someone has sinned and should repent does not mean we think we are better than they are. It means that we take sin, repentance, and salvation seriously. However, before we run around and begin telling everyone else how sinful they are, we must ensure we are on sure spiritual footing ourselves. The purpose of pointing out sin is to demonstrate the forgiveness of God. Sadly, many Christians are eager to point out sin but fail to minister forgiveness. As priests in God's kingdom, we are not here to offer a sacrifice for sins. Christ has already done that, and continually intercedes on our behalf. Our function as priests in God's kingdom is to pass this peace on.

To be a priest in God's kingdom is not something to boast about as a personal achievement. It is a gift to be honored by living our lives as a holy sacrifice. Here's to your continued peace as a priest in God's royal nation. May you experience His peace today.

Allen Taylor is the author of I Am Not the King.

Remember when the World Wide Web was decentralized? If you started using the Web some time in the last 15 years, you probably don't. I discuss the reasons why in two books I've written in the last two years.

• Cryptosocial: How Cryptocurrencies Are Changing Social Media gives a history of the internet with source citations and pays particularly close attention to the development of social media.

• Web3 Social: How Creators Are Changing the World Wide Web (And You Can Too!) includes some of the same information without citations and is written for the creator class specifically.

In both books, I show how the Internet started as a decentralized Department of Defense asset and, with the introduction of the World Wide Web in 1990, morphed into a commercialized collage of walled gardens and Internet siloes. Beyond that, the audience for each book is different and the discussion on how to fix that is slightly different with emphasis on specific Web3 or crypto-based social media platforms that promise to make the Web decentralized again.

Now, the Web's chief architect, Sir Tim Berners-Lee is endorsing another solution.

Project Liberty, founded by billionaire Frank McCourt, is a grassroots organization intent on making the Web decentralized again. Chief among their aims is putting user data back into the hands of users again, and out of the grubby hands of app developers. One of the tools they plan to use to make that happen is called SOLID, developed by the aforementioned Berners-Lee.

If you've read my books, then you know I'm a huge advocate for (almost) anything that promises to take user data out of the hands of Big Tech and put it back into the hands of users. A lot of other people are on board with that idea, as well.

There are plenty of solutions to the problem. The European Union came up with a legislative solution that requires Big Tech companies to follow certain rules when handling user data. The problem with legislative solutions is that they require governments to enforce them and companies may decide to accept whatever penalties are assigned to them for non-compliance rather than follow the rules. Of course, big companies can often find loopholes in the laws and use technology and money to get around such laws.

What SOLID and Project Liberty hope to do is use technology to create a solution that doesn't require government oversight. Of course, I'm definitely on board with that.

One of the chief initiatives for Project Liberty is to purchase TikTok and use it as a prototype for McCourt's vision to protect children and usher in a new age of technological utopia. If they succeed, AllInCrypto says the platform could end up running on Polkadot.

It appears the plan for implementing Polkadot has to do with building a parachain for Project Liberty. The project will then tokenize its bandwidth resources for messaging and social media. That sounds like a pretty cool idea. But will it solve the problem?

First, I like Polkadot. I also like that Project Liberty is considering the idea of tokenization for solving the data ownership and social media decentralization concept. It would be cool if TikTok did end up in the hands of people using these features to decentralize the platform and reward users with a token. However, I'm a bit skeptical.

I don't mean to be cynical, but when was the last time a billionaire had the interests of everyone in mind? Well, like Al Gore before him, this billionaire wrote a book. McCourt's book is titled Our Biggest Fight.

If we ignore the hyperbole, we can at least say that McCourt understands the issue simply by looking at 5 key insights from the book (parentheses include my editorial comments):

1. The Internet is broken (and it wasn't done by some guy named Ralph)

2. It doesn't have to be this way (that's not very insightful)

3. Data is personal (it's also impersonally profitable)

4. A decentralized Web is good for prosperity (whose prosperity are we talking about, exactly?)

5. Time is of the essence (again, not very insightful; that's two out of five)

On the surface, this looks like a decent attempt to decentralize a single social media application that could benefit that application's users. However, I wonder how many current TikTok users would support it. Or, would current TikTok users make like former Twitter users and vacate the premises after being taken over by billionaire Elon Musk?

Can McCourt and his team convince the crypto skeptics to get on board with his plan despite having no interest in crypto to date? Will the millions of current TikTok users continue using TikTok if it migrates to a blockchain? Would TikTok have to start over in terms of building credibility among its target audience? Or, would the TikTok user base shift from its current demographic to another demographic?

As I said, I'm all for seeing user data owned and controlled by users rather than Big Tech and their fancy applications. However, until I know more about this particular initiative, and whether it will succeed, I'm withholding judgment as it could go nowhere.

I think it's clear that there is a data problem coupled with a centralization issue on the modern Web. The Web's creator sees it. Others, including Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, have commented on it. We know there is a problem. But no one agrees on how to fix it. Regardless, there is already a technology present that has fixed the issue if we can only get everyone to use it.

It's called blockchain technology.

To be more specific, I'm talking about a network of distributed computing systems that, collectively, secure the network and reward network contributors through a value system known as cryptocurrency. While many such networks claim to be decentralized, they are venture-capital-funded entities owned and controlled by individuals or corporations masquerading as decentralized networks. I hope Project Liberty (and TikTok) doesn't become another one of those.

Hive is the most decentralized social media platform I've seen to date. While it isn't perfectly decentralized, it is more so than any other Web3 social media platform I've encountered. Yet, most people trying to solve the centralization and data ownership problems in social media have either never heard of it or aren't willing to try it for themselves. I can't help but wonder why. Is Frank McCourt in one of those two buckets?

To be sure, decentralization is a difficult thing to behold. It's not easy to achieve. And if it is ever achieved, some inefficiencies come with decentralization that participants would have to live with. The experiment in American democracy has taught us that, at least. The question isn't whether decentralization is a good thing but whether there is a collective will to pursue it and the associated pros and cons.

Why do you think Hive, with its multiple frontends, a distributed network of witnesses, and its core rewards system hasn't gained more traction than it has? Is it because few people know about it, because they don't want it, or is there another reason? Comment below and let me know what you think.

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I decided to poke the bear and say something to the effect that this is precisely why seminaries are a waste of time and money. Now, that wasn't to say that seminary graduates are all bad people, nor did I mean to say that they are terrible servants of the Lord. To be sure, I've met some great people who've graduated from seminary, and some of them were pastors. However, I am questioning whether the leadership model the church has developed over the last 500 years is working, and seminary is central to that model.

After my little comment, several people showed up to defend the seminary, but virtually every response was a human-centered argument. Below are some of the reasons people in the group defended seminary, along with my responses.

The following bullet points are the reasons people defend a seminary education while what follows is my response.

• Pastors learn church history in seminary - Church history isn't all that hard to learn. All one must do is read a few books. Ligonier Ministries, founded by the late R.C. Sproul, one of the great philosophers of the modern church, has a list of recommended reading on church history. Astute pastors can find mentors who have a great understanding of church history and learn from them the old-fashioned way—direct mentorship. Otherwise known as discipleship. But I must ask: Is church history necessary for a pastor? Does a church pastor need to know the root causes that led to the development of monasticism to pastor a modern church? I'd much rather be shepherded by someone with spiritual maturity and wisdom than someone with a broad body of knowledge rolling around in his head. That doesn't mean I don't value knowledge or education. It's a statement about priorities regarding a very important ministry role within the church. The role of a pastor is to equip others in the congregation for ministry. Church history may be a "nice to know" body of knowledge for performing that function, but it's not a required body of knowledge.

• Pastors also learn Greek and Hebrew - Studying Greek and Hebrew and becoming proficient in them are two different things. I'll go out on a limb and say that most pastors who graduate from seminary do not become Greek and Hebrew experts. They become familiar with the underlying language of the Bible, but that isn't a necessary skill for a pastor. It's a helpful skill, for sure, but pastors need not be scholars. As noted above, their ministry role is to equip the saints for Christian service (and "build up" the church), and knowledge of Greek and Hebrew isn't required for that role. Furthermore, with the bevy of translations available today, no one must understand Greek and Hebrew to fully understand the Bible. Such knowledge may enhance one's understanding of the biblical text, but it isn't a requirement. Even if it were, Christians with such knowledge could mentor those without it, the same way Christian discipleship has always taken place for two thousand years.

• Pastors learn the theological basics - I'm not sure what these are. No one in the group defined them. But I will say that every Christian should be trained in theological basics. It's the pastor's function to perform that training. Again, this can be done through discipleship and good expositional preaching.

• Pastors learn sound doctrine from seminary - Our churches are full of doctrinaires who see it as their mission to defend anything and everything that threatens to undermine the sanctity of their precious doctrines. Jesus never said, "They will know you are my people by your doctrine." He said, "By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another." Sound doctrine does not underpin a posture of love. It is love that underpins sound doctrine. Love of God and love of neighbor. Sound doctrine can be taught through discipleship grounded in these two loves and, again, expositional preaching. In a word, if sound doctrine was taught at the local church level, as it should be, would-be pastors would already have a handle on it before they enter seminary, which would then make seminary unnecessary.

• Pastors learn hermeneutics - Hermeneutics is a fancy word that points to one's method of interpretation. Ligonier Ministries calls it "the science and the art of biblical interpretation." Logos.com points out that biblical hermeneutics has changed a lot over the last 2,000 years and goes so far as to define the dominant hermeneutics of various church periods. Hermeneutics, of course, is not just applied to the Bible. Stanford University applies it more broadly to other academic disciplines such as art, literature, science, law, and medicine. In the modern church, hermeneutics is used to differentiate one's theological preferences from another's. In fact, the church has been divided and splintered by hermeneutics due to vast differences in approaching biblical interpretation. Seminarians defend seminary education because it allows them to continue dividing the church through hermeneutics by practicing philosophy under the guise of theology. To be sure, hermeneutics is necessary to understand the Bible clearly, and it's much more important today when every literate person in the world has access to the Bible allowing them to perform their interpretation of the text. However, any hermeneutic that doesn't begin with the two loves (love of God and love of neighbor) is wrong from the start. Biblical interpretation is another discipline that can be taught through discipleship as it gets to the heart of what sound doctrine means. Since sound doctrine should be taught at the local church, its fundamental building blocks (hermeneutics) should be taught there, as well.

• "Seminary broadened my understanding of the faith" - I'm sure it did. Of course, there's value in broadening one's understanding of faith, but can't that happen in other ways? Perhaps, discipleship? Again, this response is human-centered. It focuses on the benefits of the experience to the individual rather than the value of the process to the church.

• "Seminary taught me how to pray" - This is the response I find most baffling. If an individual must get a formal education to learn how to pray, what does that say about the local church?

None of the respondents to my snarky comment said anything about how seminaries benefit the local church. Rather, many of the respondents seemed to look down their noses at laypeople for being "biblically illiterate". But one must ask, why are Christians biblically illiterate? What are the factors that have led to biblical illiteracy? Could one of those factors be the leadership model of the church itself?

My views regarding this subject are not unique. I'm not the first person to question whether seminary degrees are a benefit to the church. Bob Thune, a seminary graduate himself, also questions whether seminary is valuable to the modern church. His blog post had such a reception that he published Part 2. Tim Challies (a church pastor), quoting a seminary president, concludes that seminary isn't necessary while admitting it is advisable.

Well, let's talk about advisable.

For a little more than 500 years, seminary has been the predominant way of training pastors for ministry. It might have been the best way at one time, but I doubt it. Even so, times have changed. On that note, I'd also like to point out that seminary is better for training theologians than for training pastors. Of course, we certainly need theologians.

Our current model of church leadership takes an ordinary layperson, sends him or her off to a seminary or Bible college for three or four years to study in a classroom, and then assigns that pastor a role in a local church different than the one in which he was spiritually raised. He or she then uses that seminary training to lecture the congregation, supposedly to teach them sound doctrine, while the rest of the congregation sits passively listening and then heads home for lunch and a week of doing spiritual battle all by themselves. Not only do we not see this model in scripture, but there are reasons to question whether it's even effective.

The biblical model for pastoral training is personal discipleship. Jesus called twelve men out of their worldly occupations and trained them to be spiritual leaders without having any formal education. He was their formal education!

After His resurrection, He appeared before a well-trained pharisee He had hand-selected to be the apostle to the Gentiles. Paul, in turn, trained pastors, such as Timothy and Titus, mentoring and discipling them personally (sometimes from a distance during a time when the only means of communication was a handwritten letter).

At no point in his letters to Timothy and Titus did Paul say to pursue a formal education. But he did write to Timothy, "Avoid irreverent, empty chatter and the opposing arguments of so-called 'knowledge', which some professing, have gone astray from the faith."

I am not, in any way, opposed to higher education. It's quite necessary for some professions. I wouldn't walk into a doctor's office without expecting the physician to have a degree in medicine. However, I am opposed to treating pastoral ministry as if it is just another occupation or career option with a path toward retirement. Yet, that is precisely how many church denominations of our modern era treat it. As a result, the church has suffered. We have allowed spiritual wolves in sheep's clothing to infiltrate the church in vital leadership positions simply by requiring them to pursue a formal education that has trained their minds in philosophy without giving them spiritual insight. That isn't true of every seminary-trained person, of course, but it is true enough generally that the church should find alternative ways to train its pastors for the ministry of service and to select such persons based on their spiritual maturity rather than the keenness of their minds.

Allen Taylor is the author of I Am Not the King.

I'm back for another Web3 social media earnings report. Let's dive in and see what the earnings look like this month.

I've been using the same few platforms since January without adding any new ones or dropping any. I am beginning to reconsider which platforms to continue with. Hive is an obvious keeper. However, which of the following platforms I'll continue posting on through the rest of the year is up in the air.

More than simply considering the earnings, I'm also reconsidering the amount of time I spend on these platforms. Some take longer than others, but it also makes sense to spend more time on those with the most potential. On top of that, since the beginning of the year, I've spent considerably more time offline selling books in the real world. That takes up a lot of my time. I need to free up more time for writing more books and selling the books I've already published.

Bottom line: Time is a premium commodity.

Without further ado, these are my earnings on Web3 social media in May 2024.

May was my third-best month this year on gFam. In April, I won a leadership award and a 25 XRP reward that resulted in total earnings of 29.362 XRP for the month. That translated into $14.446104 USD. In January, I earned 5.994 XRP ($3.0503466 USD). May earnings fall in right behind January's. Take away the 25 XRP reward in April and my rewards for may topped April.

My posts earned 4.723 XRP in May, which translates into $2.4597384 USD.

Total earnings for May (rounded down) = $2.45

In contrast to my earnings on gFam, my earnings on Hive are pretty close to the worst for the year. The only month where I earned less was February.

In terms of tokens, May resulted in the third-highest earnings in HIVE, the second-worst earnings in HBD, and the highest earnings in HBD savings interest for the year. The numbers were 72.009 HIVE, 6.879 HBD, and 15.616 HBD savings interest. In terms of USD value, those translate into $21.9555441, $6.755178, and $15.3286656, respectively. The total USD value in all three Hive categories comes to $44.0393877.

Total earnings for May (rounded down) = $44.03

Paragraph offers me an opportunity to monetize my newsletter. I admit that I'm not making the most of the opportunity. I could be doing better. For example, I'm not yet taking advantage of subscriptions, but I am thinking about it. Meanwhile, I earned 6 MATIC in May, which translates into $4.2102 USD.

Total earnings for May (rounded down) = $4.21

I'm still contemplating the future of Publish0x as a platform. The bright light it has for me is the engagement I get on posts. By far, I get more engagement on Publish0x than I do any of the other platforms on this list. That must account for something.

Nevertheless, my earnings have fallen drastically this year from last. In May, I earned 0.00055935 ETH and 0.57388571, which translates into $2.126492082 and $1.4174977037, respectively.

My total earnings among the two cryptocurrencies came to $3.5439897857.

Total earnings for May (rounded down) = $3.54

I feel like it won't be long before I'm done with Torum. I'm not active on it every day. I post and leave and do little active engagement on the platform. However, I do have more than 5,000 followers, which makes it one of my biggest accounts. If I cared about social media engagement that much, it would be my favorite platform. But I don't. No sense pretending.

For me, the value of social media is in content creation. To the extent that I see engagement around that content, I can get into it. I don't get into it for engagement's sake. Maybe that's a bad attitude, but that's my attitude toward social media in general.

Torum feels a lot like Facebook to me, and I'm not a big fan of Facebook. In May, I earned 14 XTM. With daily and weekly rewards, the potential is to earn 102.5 XTM each month. That's showing up every day, creating a new post each day, and engaging with 5 or more posts per day. I'm not doing that. If I did, my earnings could be in the $3 to $5 range every month. As it is, in May, the 14 XTM I earned amounts to just $0.57302.

As you can see, I'm just not into it.

Total earnings for May (rounded down) = $0.57

As I've said before, Presearch isn't a social media platform. It's a search engine, but they do pay based on the number of searches each month. Since most of my time these days is selling books and I spend less time researching because I'm not writing for clients as much, my Presarch rewards are slowing down. I still like seeing them.

In May, I earned 3.4 PRE. That's in the range of what I've been earning for the better part of this year. My best month in 2024 was April when I earned 3.79 PRE. The worst month was January when I earned 2.15 PRE. In USD, the best month was February when I earned $0.0830681 USD, because the value of PRE was higher then than in May. The worst month was, again, January when I earned $0.0500735 USD.

The 3.4 PRE I earned in May equates to $0.059364 USD.

Total earnings for May (rounded down) = $0.05

I've talked about Hive layer-2 tokens before, but I haven't reported on them to any extent. Today, I'm going to briefly share some of the tokens I earn on Hive, their value, and where I see Hive tokenization going.

Ecency Points are earned in the Ecency platform, which is a Hive frontend allowing anyone to post content to the Hive blockchain from a different interface. I use it less often for that these days, but I continue to use Ecency, primarily for promoting my posts.

Before one can use Ecency Points to promote posts, one must either earn them or buy them. I earn them.

One of the ways I earn Ecency Points is by delegating Hive. I've delegated 303.02 HP to Ecency, which earns me over 30 Ecency Points daily. I also earn Ecency Points for upvotes and comments. I then use these Ecency Points to promote my Hive posts once or twice a week. Promoting the posts does earn me a few additional upvotes, but whether it is enough to pay for the Ecency Points is another question. I haven't done the math, so I can't be sure. I guess that's a project for another day.

In May, I earned a total of 1057.345 Ecency Points. At the end of the month, I had 108.544 left over. The value of those points was $0.217 USD.

I use InLeo for posting now more than any other Hive frontend. There are a couple of different ways I earn LEO on the platform.

First, I publish posts and receive organic votes from other users. That earns me LEO in addition to HIVE and HBD. I also delegate 252.07 HP to the Leo Voter bot and receive curated upvotes in exchange for that delegation. A third way I earn LEO each month is through InLeo Premium. I pay 10 HBD and receive a slate of benefits that include the ability to write long InLeo Threads, edit them, use certain formatting features, and so on. While this doesn't directly earn me additional rewards, I do earn some extra upvotes as a result of better-quality posts. Finally, I earn additional rewards by staking my LEO.

I currently have 439.476 LEO staked. That earns me an additional 4 percent rewards on my delegated HP. As you can see from the below screenshot, my currently expected LEO earnings from staking in June is 11.701 LEO. The cool thing about LEO staking rewards is that they payout daily.

The 16 percent APR on delegation is the highest possible APR. The value of my LEO holdings on the last day of May was $33.07.

Through Actifit, I earn AFIT rewards just for performing everyday activities like walking. I try to hit 5,000 Activity Points each day. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don't. When I do, I post my Actifit activity through the Actifit app, which earns me AFIT as well as HIVE and HBD.

My current AFIT earnings amount to 2,805.536. I have no way of knowing how much that is worth, but it isn't much.

I also have a delegation of 302.14 HP to Actifit, which earns me additional rewards through the app.

In addition to these three layer-2 tokens, I've earned several other tokens on the Hive blockchain. In fact, I currently hold 68 tokens. Most of them aren't worth much.

The layer-2 token with the highest value is LEO. After that, WAIV, which has a USD value of $8.581. I currently have less than 200 WAIV in my account.

Of all the tokens I possess, only 4 of them have a value of more than $1. All 4 of them have a value over $2. The next-highest-valued token I have is NEOXAG, which is worth $0.653. I have more than 2,000 NEOXAG tokens. It's one of my favorite tokens simply because the Hive user Neoxian has built a community around his persona, a concept I am considering for myself.

The total value of all of my Hive layer-2 tokens at the end of May was $49.107 USD.

When I add up the total value of earnings on the social media platforms for May 2024, it comes to $54.88569989. That does not include the Hive layer-2 tokens.

At the end of April, the value of my Hive layer-2 tokens was $45.167 USD. That means, the total value of Hive layer-2 tokens I earned for May (including LEO but not Ecency Points) was $3.94.

My total earnings for May 2024 was $58.82569989.

Total earnings for May (rounded down) = $58.82

That's the end of this month's report. The question on my mind is, if I focused solely on Paragraph and Hive, could I impact these earnings for the positive? That's my thought to ponder this month.

In my wanderings, I've found more than 180 different Web3 social media platforms. For the most comprehensive list of Web3 social media platforms anywhere, click here. You won't find this list anywhere else.

Immediately upon completion of his speech, the voices of rage and ruin in American culture rose to a fevered pitch. "How dare he!" they cried. "Why, the nerve!" they shouted. And what was it that raised the ire of the cultural elite? None other than the usual fanfare of progressive talking points:

• It was misogynistic

• It was racist

• He condemned a woman's right to abort her baby

• And he referred to Taylor Swift as his "teammate's girlfriend" (Gasp!)

I'm going to pause right here and say I've read the speech. I didn't listen to it. Before there was a lot of brouhaha about it, I couldn't have cared less what he said. But I have noticed that much of the criticism of Butker has little to do with his career or politics and more to do with his opinions about what it means to be a Catholic. Much of it is coming from non-Catholics.

Since I'm not a Catholic, why should I care?

I care because the Catholic church is a part of the church that Jesus Christ built, but Butker treated it as if it was THE church that Christ built, and he made some rather interesting statements about what it means to be a Christian in the 21st century.

Before I go on, I'd like to point out that liberal celebrities Whoopi Goldberg and Bill Maher have stated that they fully support Butker's right to free speech, even if they disagree with what he said. I also want to point out that this would have been the response of any liberal before the Feminist Brigade and the LGBTQ apparatchiks took it over. Liberalism used to be all about free speech.

I, too, believe in free speech, even if I disagree with what is being said. In Butker's case, I think he made some rather awkward statements about what it means to be a person of faith in America.

I'll say here, as well, before moving on, that I am not a Christian who believes that Catholics aren't real Christians. I disagree with much of what the Catholic church teaches, but a person can belong to a church whose doctrines are disagreeable and remain a Christian. We could say the same thing about virtually every Evangelical in America. But this is a digression. Let's get down to brass tacks.

I want to separate Butker's political statements from his statements about the church and what it means to be a person of faith. This is important because I don't believe a person's faith should be judged by their political opinions. I do believe, however, that if a statement is true about what it means to be a good Catholic, then it's also true about what it means to be a good Christian regardless of denomination. And that's where I draw a line on much of Butker's speech.

In his speech, Butker made this statement:

As members of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, it is our duty and ultimately privilege to be authentically and unapologetically Catholic.

I'm not certain I understand what Butker meant by that, but I am certain that to be Catholic should not any different than to be a Christian faithful to any other persuasion. A true Christian—whether Catholic, Anglican, Evangelical, or otherwise—should understand that Christ is all. He is the reason any of us have faith and our faith should be entirely focused on Him. If it is placed in an institution, then it is misplaced.

In the next paragraph, Butker let this little gem slip:

Our Catholic faith has always been countercultural. Our Lord, along with countless followers, were all put to death for their adherence to her teachings.

I agree that the Christian religion has always been, and always will be, countercultural. However, the countercultural aspect of the faith is not a political position as it is often presented. It is countercultural in its practice due to the values that Christ brings into our consciences. But let's be clear that Jesus Christ was not put to death for His adherence to the church's teachings. After all, He was the Teacher. Rather, He was put to death for claiming to be the Jewish Messiah, and every martyr in history was put to death for believing Him in His claim. It is that claim that separates the faithful Christian from everyone else.

In the next sentence, Butker drops this political bomb:

The world around us says that we should keep our beliefs to ourselves whenever they go against the tyranny of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Like Butker, I don't believe Christians should be silent when it comes to matters of justice and peace. However, it has always been a tenet of the faith to be obedient and respectful to civil authority so long as that authority does not violate the commands of the all-righteous God. While many progressives can be over-the-top in their insistence on conforming to the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, there is nothing inherently anti-Christian or unGodly about those values. What's wrong with expecting people of all races, religions, nationalities, etc. to be treated equally under the law? In practice, Christians in the workplace should support diversity, equity, and inclusion so long as it doesn't force faith-based institutions to violate their bylaws and principles (and when that happens, it is an exception, not a norm). Most Christians who work in corporations, governments, and other human-centered institutions do so by the laws that make such institutions possible. We should live by the laws of the land insofar as they do not violate the laws of God.

Another point I'd like to make is that Butker seems confused about the nature of the church itself, and it's a common confusion. Not just among Catholics but among all Christians. What I'm alluding to is the commonplace idea that there is some kind of division between the priesthood and the laity.

To be clear, there is no such division. The Apostle Peter spoke of the priesthood of all believers and the early church practiced it. It wasn't until the end of the second century that the clergy-laity divide began to show itself. That division was formalized by the end of the third century and sanctioned by the Catholic Church upon its organization. The Protestant Reformation never corrected that problem and now thousands of denominations practice a hierarchical division that our Lord never endorsed, embraced, nor taught.

Butker, however, does endorse this division in several ways throughout his speech. Here are a few ways he misguidedly endorses a bad ecclesiology:

• He draws a parallel between parish priests and lay people with the father-son relationship in speaking to the practice of lay people helping parish priests solve personal problems;

• He criticizes priests for becoming "overly familiar" with parishioners;

• He cautions lay people against studying theology contrary to the Apostle Luke's praise toward the Bereans for doing so.

I readily admit that Butker said some decent things in his speech, and I agree with some of those things. He is a man who loves his family and prioritizes his roles as father and husband. Those are commendable virtues, both as a Christian and as a member of society. However, the idea of a dividing line between lay members of the church and the priesthood is a manmade division that ought not to exist.

The watching world will continue to criticize Christians for what we believe and what we stand for, and they will continue to condemn us for not buying into their value system. For recognizing that and standing against that, I give Butker an A+ for the ideas he expressed in his speech. On the other hand, we do not live for the world. We live for Christ. To be a strong witness for the Lord in these "post-God" times, as Butker put it, we must know who He is and what He stands for. That is not a Catholic problem; it is a Christian one.

I hope that the young men and women Butker addressed earlier this month embrace the Christ of history rather than place their hopes in a historical institution painted by the hands of man.

Allen Taylor is the author of I Am Not the King.