The first non-intro episode of #TGFN (which I cohost alongside @hodlbod) is live on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Fountain, and TGFB.com.

Spotify

Why You Should Thank God For Nostr, Part 1

Thank God for Nostr · Episode

Things are rarely what they seem.

Fountain

It seems foolish to think that God cares about monetary policy, but things are rarely what they seem. • Clip by @tgfb • Listen on Fountain

Clipped from Thank God for Bitcoin • Thank God for Bitcoin Introduction Listen in as we chat about our newest podcast, Thank God for Bitcoin!

Just in time for the weekend... All four TGFB podcasts (including the one hosted by @hodlbod and myself) are live on TGFB.com, Apple, and in the @fountain_app now (and will be on Spotify Monday). tgfb.com/podcasts/

It’s better to have non-censorable money and not need it than to not have it and need it. There are way too many people that only see the risks of holding #Bitcoin  and don’t see the risks in not holding it.

Bitcoin is not valuable based on an increase in its dollar-denominated price. Bitcoin's dollar-denominated price increases because Bitcoin is valuable.

Coming next week: the long-awaited launch of three more TGFB podcast offerings: Our flagship "Thank God For Bitcoin" podcast, hosted by @jmbushwrites and a variety of guests, digs into what Bitcoin is, why Christians should care, and a wide range of related issues. 1/3

It's impossible to separate value from the concept of money, but it's very easy to separate money from the concept of value.

🧵20th century pastor and theologian J. Gresham Machen was a proto-Bitcoiner. Machen was one of the most brilliant and courageous Christian intellectual figures of the 20th century. He staunchly opposed WWI and an imperialism thinly guised as a desire to spread democracy abroad. This set him at odds with his Presbyterian ruling elder and family friend Woodrow Wilson. Machen stood against the advance of theological liberalism at Princeton University and the PCUSA, which led him to found Westminster Theological Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. He was also incensed by Executive Order 6102, in which FDR declared it illegal for ordinary citizens to own gold, which the constitution enshrined as one of only two tenders that states could issue to settle debts. His objections weren’t on pragmatic grounds, but rather on the basis of honor. Listen to Machen’s evaluation of Executive Order 6102 in his own words: “I think the really significant thing that we find is that America has turned away from God. In the political and social discussions of the day, God’s law has ceased to be regarded as a factor that deserves be reckoned with at all. That is true in regard to the higher ranges of human life; it is also true in regard to that mammon in which our Lord said a man must be faithful if he is to be faithful in higher things. We hear much about mammon today: We hear much about the currency; we hear much about the question whether what is euphemistically called a “managed currency” is or is not economically more advantageous than the gold standard. But the sad thing is that in all this discussion we hear little about simple honesty, which is the law of God. I can remember when I had a certain patriotic pride in the good faith of the United States government, in those bygone days when the phrase “sound as a dollar” had not yet become a jest. The United States government, in its business dealings, seemed to me to be the very embodiment of integrity; I regarded it as almost inconceivable that it would repudiate its corporate obligations. Yet today it has done just that. Of course, there are times when a government or an individual must fail to meet obligations. That is when the government or the individual is bankrupt, when the government or the individual acknowledges the justice of the obligations but is under the necessity of pleading that they cannot be met. I am not saying, therefore, that when a country goes off the gold standard it is necessarily acting dishonestly. But it is not such an honest bankruptcy which we have in the United States at the present time. On the contrary, what we have is a very ruthless application of the devil's principle that “might makes right.” Look at a United States gold certificate, if you can find one somewhere in a museum today without being put in jail for looking at it. Upon it the United States government promises to pay very specifically not in some other currency but in gold. It is a solemn obligation of the United States. It is a solemn contract–not of any individual, but of the United States government–a contract to the fulfillment of which the honor of the American people is pledged, a contract with the holder of the note. Today not only is that contract not fulfilled, but the holder of the contract is threatened with imprisonment unless he hands over to the defaulting party the contract itself. I tell you, my friends, there are many things that are uncertain about the future, but of one thing we can be sure: A nation that tramples thus upon the law of God, that tramples upon the basic principles of integrity, is headed for destruction unless it repents in time.” Imagine a world where pastors and theologians were leading the way in resisting industrial-scale theft and destruction via warmongering, debt, and currency devaluation all over the world. It happened before. And it can happen again. @ThankGodForBTC exists to help Christians understand why ethics of money production matter, to explain what Bitcoin is and why it matters, and how to use it for the glory of God and the good of people everywhere.

The second announcement from #TGFB23 was a children’s book that @CypherpunkCine and I have been working on entitled, “The Orange Umbrella.” This is designed to be your go-to proto-orange pill for all of your friends, especially those with children. The word “Bitcoin” doesn’t appear a single time, but the message comes through in a humorous, moving and poignant way, and is beautifully illustrated by a jaw-droppingly incredible watercolor artist from Scotland. We are launching Geyser fundraisers for both books next week, but both books can also be preordered here: tgfb.start.page

I said this onstage at #TGFB23. There is a non-zero chance that #Bitcoin will be the only way that most people will feasibly be able to support foreign aid workers, including missionaries working in closed, hostile countries. Taking the Good News of Jesus to the world has been the non-negotiable duty for the people of God since the beginning. The only faithful response to a hypothetical #BitcoinBan? Do it anyway.

X (formerly Twitter)

Marty Bent (@MartyBent) on X

I always planned on doing bitcoin no matter what the government says. Access to an open monetary protocol is an unalienable right that I will never...

One of the announcements that @ThankGodForBTC made at #TGFB23 was the publishing of two forthcoming book projects. The first, authored by @HodlingJ and myself, will be entitled, “The Gospel According to Bitcoin: 21 Meditations” and is an exploration of Bitcoin through Christian eyes. The book seeks to make the case that it isn’t an accident that many irreligious Bitcoiners have found themselves more open to (and in many cases embracing) Christian faith.

This 2am sushi sesh was also when the phrases “toxic autisity” and “spectrally regarded” were born. View quoted note →

Making mems (not memes).

‪I don’t care what you think anywhere near as much as why you think what you do.‬ ‪How do you know what you know?‬ ‪By what standard?‬

Decentralize education (and shrink the State in the process) by self-custodying your children.

Imagine looking at the countless lies and utter buffoonery of US politicians in the last 20 years and boasting about the fact that your currency was backed entirely by confidence in said government. #Bitcoin fixes this.

While the Bible appears to be full of ancient history and esoteric information, it actually repeats, restates, and expands upon a singular two-part message: 1) The greatest commandment and most important thing in the world is to love God and love people. 2) God is the greatest keeper of the greatest commandment.