A garden hoe made from the barrel of a handgun

Culture of Redemption

I find physical examples of redemption to be really potent and impacting. When I see or hear stories of things that brought destruction being transformed into tools to bring life, it excites me and stirs hope in me more than I can easily express. Literal examples of Isaiah’s swords beaten into ploughshares are really beautiful to me. A want to see more of them! It’s made me wonder, what would it look like to have a culture built on that kind of redemption and restoration?...

November 30, 2022 · 2 min · Josh
📸: Studying the Greek New Testament, by [@kellysikkema](https://unsplash.com/@kellysikkema)

Some Koine Greek Resources I use (Basically) Daily

I try to read at least a little bit of the Greek New Testament and/or Septuagint every day. Here are a few tools that have helped me do that in a sustainable way, while still keeping a fairly busy schedule. Audio Recordings One of the things that I’ve found most helpful in keeping a sustainable relationship with Biblical Greek over the years has been having audio resources to study with. I find that following along to the text being read aloud really helps me focus on what I’m reading (in any language, but especially with Koine)....

November 30, 2022 · 6 min · Josh
📸: [@tents_and_tread](https://unsplash.com/photos/SPcACjrq9ss)

Take One Step

We’ve all got things we’ve been putting off dealing with. Even as I say that, you probably have a bit of anxiety well up thinking about (or trying to not think about) one of those things. So, let’s do this together: Think of one thing you’ve been putting off. Now, before you sleep tonight, Take One Step towards making it happen. Think of the one “next action”, no matter how small, that you can take to move forward....

November 22, 2022 · 1 min · Josh
📸: [@aaronburden](https://unsplash.com/@aaronburden)

Every Chapter of the Bible on One Page

A couple years ago I scoured the internet for something I thought would be easy to find, and which I’m confident exists somewhere, but which I couldn’t turn up in my searching. So, I made it myself… I was looking for a printable sheet that had every chapter of the Bible listed as checkboxes, so that I could mark anytime I had read a chapter, and keep track of which chapters I had read....

November 19, 2022 · 2 min · Josh
📸: [@nerfee](https://unsplash.com/@nerfee)

Add an Acid

The most useful cooking advice I’ve ever heard: If you can tell there’s just “something missing” in what you’re cooking, simply add an acid. 1 A good squeeze of lemon juice on something bland can bring it to life in surprisingly magical way. It can take a meal from “meh, passable” to “daaang! not bad!” in mere seconds. I’ve tried it with a range of acids: lemon juice, lime juice, apple cider vinegar....

November 15, 2022 · 2 min · Josh
📸: [@samscrim](https://unsplash.com/@samscrim)

"Race to the Top"

Lots of issues in the world today seem to come back to the “race to the bottom”. Creating the lowest prices and most convenience for consumers… Even if that comes at the cost of the lives of children. Taking as much attention as possible… Even if that results in nations destablizing, and teen suicide rates skyrocketing. Getting as deeply as possible ingrained into people’s habits and brain stems, becoming as addictive as the technology and the law allows, extracting every gram of monetization we can, no matter the cost or the side effects…...

November 9, 2022 · 2 min · Josh

The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like Vibranium

This week I wrote a guest post over on at Emmaus Apparel, the faith-based streetwear company run by brother Stephen. It’s an ultra-nerdy article about the intersection between Christian faith and the 2018 movie, Black Panther. “Wait….. huh?” Yeah, I know. 😆 I had a great time writing it! Hopefully you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I did creating it! You can check it out here! And while you’re there, take a look at some of the cool merch Stephen is selling!...

November 8, 2022 · 1 min · Josh
📸: [Christian Albrecht Jensen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Friedrich_Gauss)

A Lost 1805 Discovery Could Have Stopped the Cold War

Today I watched a video from Derek Muller (great name 😎👍🏽) called The Most Important Algorithm Of All Time. The video discusses a game-changing piece of mathematical and scientific wisdom that, had it been known to the scientific community in 1958, could have prevented the nuclear proliferation of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, and would have likely ended the Cold War 30 years early! 1 It’s a great video! I love and recommend Derek’s content!...

November 7, 2022 · 2 min · Josh
📸: [@iamchang](https://unsplash.com/@iamchang)

Make Friends With "One of Them"

I recently stumbled upon Johnny Harris’ video from a few years ago titled “What I learned by befriending Iranians on Facebook”. In it, he talks about how, in an effort to better understand the situation in Iran in 2015, he reached out to a couple dozen Iranians online to hear their stories. This act of befriending, talking with, and hearing stories of Iranians — a group that Harris admitted he had viewed through the West’s media lens as militant and hateful to a large extent — ended up humanizing the Iranian people in a way Harris wasn’t expecting....

November 6, 2022 · 3 min · Josh
📸: [@marvelous](https://unsplash.com/@marvelous)

Protocols Over Platforms

In technology, a protocol is a standard and agreed upon language that allows different systems to communicate with each other. It’s the idea underneath every layer of technology that is allowing you to be reading this right now. The web is based on protocols. It’s a paradigm that focuses on freedom, on accessibility, and on interoperability. Protocols grant the ability for anyone to access, use, and build on top of the work of those who came before them....

November 5, 2022 · 5 min · Josh