Cards on the table: When I started the Original Church Community here on Locals, I thought that participation was only for supporters - in other words, supporting me here at $10 per month was the price of entry into the conversation - and I wanted that because I wanted a kind of closed community where the people in the conversation were serious about the Christian faith and we would not be distracted by antagonistic trolls or politics or other drama.
Also, I was really opposed to any kind of "tier" system (like how it works in other communities or similar platforms) where if you pay more you get more access to me. I wanted to avoid that at all costs, no pun intended, I just wanted everyone to be equal and we could all have some great conversation here in a place without the trolls and haters that would be there on YouTube or other social media sites.
I did not realize that it was possible to be a "follower" without being a supporter, and once it was too late to go back, I found out that there are all these things built into Locals to encourage followers to become supporters - for example - I could flip a switch in the middle of the Bible Study, and people who are not supporters would be kicked out. I never want to do that. But I admit I had tried other things like making the translations available only to supporters. But I'm done with that - from now on, everything I do here is available to everyone - whether or not you are a supporter for the $10/month.
Supporting is optional, and I'm leaving it at that. I'm done with anything that smells anything like marketing. So please become a supporter, if you want to, but if you don't, you are just as welcome here, and just as welcome to participate in everything as anyone else. I won't even look to see who supports and who doesn't. For those who do become supporters, I will work hard to keep the community active, and if you think of the Bible Study like a kind of course (but with no homework) that alone should be worth the ten bucks a month.
Full disclosure - 100% of the money I receive from supporters goes to fulfilling my commitment to help support my step-daughter, who is a single mom with two kids, ages 5 and almost 1. (The five-year-old is the one we are getting from the Philippines). With both of these sweet boys, when their mom was pregnant with them, there was a brief time when some people whispered the A-word, and I made a promise to help support her so she could keep them. So any money I get here goes toward keeping that promise.
Dear friends - Please take 10 minutes to watch this personal update from me:
I'm back, up and running, and ready to go - I should have a new JOURNEY episode within the next week or so - and because you are my loyal peeps, here is an exclusive, just-for-you, behind the scenes SNEAK PEEK into my new office:
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
St. Albert the Great - teacher and mentor of St. Thomas Aquinas
The Original Church
And don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven't already...
The problem with us men is that often we don't have the wisdom to be a father until we're a grandfather.
This may sounds like some ironic statement that makes you nod your head in agreement but shrug your shoulders in resignation, thinking, well there's nothing we can do about that. But the practical application of that is that it demonstrates how important it is for kids to grow up around their grandparents. But as in our culture the family becomes ever more fractured and spread out, that is harder and harder to do.
Lately I've been thinking that part of the problem is the whole concept of college. It used to be that everyone thought a person had to go to college to make a good living. Not only is that not the case (truck drivers make more money than I do) but now college has gone from useless to actually ruining our kids. But when I went to college, what you were supposed to do is figure out what career you wanted (as if anyone knows that at age 18) and then go away to the college ...
