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Judah’s Big List O’ Messianics On Twitter

Most religious folks are way behind the technological curve, sadly. Few of us are on the internet, even fewer have high-speed connections to the internet, most of us don’t have our own websites, and the few that do tend to have embarrassingly poor web designs circa 1995, complete with animated .gifs and a visitor ticker at the bottom – God help us!

Many religious people are still forwarding those ridiculous chain emails promising a blessing for – or worse, a threat of a curse for failing to – forward the email to everyone in your address book. Or those guilt-trip emails: “I forwarded this to everyone in my inbox for Jesus’ name. Let’s see if you’ll do the same.” Spamming our inboxes with emails containing tall stories and unbelievable myths long since busted..and these emails have been circulating since 1995. Emails urgently requesting our assistance on their virtual farms in Farmville.

Religious people are lame.

This reality is unnerving: are religious people too dumb? Ignorant? Behind the times? Slow? Then maybe I am, too! Oh nooees!

Perhaps a more charitable interpretation of that reality is that religious people are preoccupied with more important things than the internet, blogs, social networks, twitter, and they don’t really understand the web just yet. They’re still stuck in 1995 when we were all forwarding nonsense from our AOL accounts.

(There, I’ve just convinced myself I’m Not Too Dumb©. )

Still, it’s lonely out here in the blogosphere and twitterverse. So few Messianics in these here parts, Josey. Buzzards gotta eat, same as the worms. Errmm…I digress.

What I’m trying to say is, I’d like to see more Messianics get blogs. I’d like to see more Messianics get on Twitter. I’d like to see more Messianics with a voice on the open web, which is increasingly becoming the predominant media where people get their information. In the years to come, it’s likely newspapers and even television will kick the bucket – the internet is the place for information, and its eventual triumph is inevitable. Thus, it’s important for us to get our message out there and not let other people define us.

Yesterday, a Messianic leader and friend, Yisrael Avraham, joined Twitter. In other words, he signed up, only to be presented with a empty screen and no followers. It’s kind of like Facebook without people: totally useless. Twitter without a list of people to follow is absolutely worthless.

You need to follow people, and lots of ‘em, to make Twitter valuable.

To this end, and to encourage more Messianics to get on Twitter, behold, I present to you…

Judah’s Big List O’ Messianics On Twitter

Individuals – Regular folk make better tweeple than ministries/businesses, follow these people first:

  • @judahgabriel – That’s me. I give the Twitter sheep what they want, yo.
  • @judeoXian – Seth on politics, theology, and more.
  • @RoshPinaProject – Documenting persecution of Messiah’s followers, counter-missionary abuses, Jewish-Christian theology, Israel news.
  • @yahnatan – Quotes and short goodies from Messianic blogger Jonathan Lasko.
  • @drschiffman – Dr. Schiffman tweets life, the Holocaust, links to articles on his Messianic blog. Occasionally suffers from “post what I’m doing right at this moment no matter how mundane” syndrome.
  • @jamespyles – Messianic congregational leader and blogger James Pyles shares Scriptures, pictures, politics, and tech.
  • @arbaminim – Messianic author Aaron Eby links to biblical archeological finds and news items.
  • @johnmcquary – Israel news, Two House musings.
  • @derek4messiah – Updates for the popular Derek4Messiah blog. Theology.
  • @TruthCeeker333 – If there’s a video on YouTube and it’s Messianic, he’ll shine the light.
  • @sharonwilbur – Messianic music, life. Her dog. (argggh)
  • @monstordh – Longtime Messianic blogger Darren Huckey.
  • @RomanAndAlaina – Messianic life, Messianic music, and more.
  • @ynoti – Scripture, quotes, Messianic life, family.
  • @SeanEmslie – Macs. Politics. Messianic Judaism.
  • @HaNavi_Report – Nazarene, Two House, end times, conspiracy theories, politics.
  • @PapaMordechai – Messianic life, Israel news. Colts football.
  • @Lioness4Yeshua – Messianic life from the Hebrew roots + Two House perspective.
  • @rebyosh – Messianic rabbi Joshua Brumbach offers Jewish quotes, liturgy tidbits, Scripture.
  • @midrashetc – Carl Kinbar on midrash, occasional discussion.
  • @actsofmessiah – Life as a Messianic missionary.
  • @DrTrimm – Nazarene Israel leader James Trimm on Messianic matters.
  • @yeshuaisrael – Israel news, bits relevant to Messianics in particular.
  • @rebjimmy – Theology and Israel politics from a Messianic rabbi.

Ministries

  • @messianictimes – News for Messianic believers worldwide.
  • @firstfruits – Mostly promotional stuff, but an occasionally interesting bit here and there.
  • @mjtimedia – Quotes from Yeshua, thoughts on Messianic Judaism futures.
  • @messianicisrael – Updates, Scriptures, and tidbits from the major Two House organization, Messianic Israel Alliance.
  • @vineofdavid – New updates and material from Vine of David Messianic Jewish publishing.
  • @paulwilburmin – Updates from the Messianic ministry of Paul Wilbur.
  • @umjc – Highlighting teachings and commentaries from UMJC rabbis.

And while not strictly Messianic, you might also like…

  • @haaretzonline and @Jerusalem_Post – news from respected Israeli sources.
  • @TorahInHaiku – Yes, it’s possible.
  • @scotmcknight – New Testament scholar and theologian. If you’re interested in staying up-to-date with modern Christian scholarly thought, follow him.
  • @RabbiShmuley – Bits of wisdom from one of the most popular and well-known rabbis in the world.
  • @BibArch – If Biblical archeology tickles your Messianic fancy, follow for interesting finds, theological articles, and more.
  • @DovBear – A look at the Orthodox Jewish world from the inside. Straight talk, not watered down. Mixes some left-wing politics.
  • @Xianity – A bit of comic relief at the expense of Christian culture.

Note that I have omitted some Messianics who are on Twitter but don’t post anything Messianic related. (The In-Name-Only’s, perhaps?)

I’ve also omitted Messianics whose twitter accounts are inactive for months. You’re not worth following.

That said, if there are any worthwhile tweeple I’ve missed, please let me know in the comments.

Tips for Twitter beginners:

That about sums it up!

I’ll leave you with some words from Christian author Frank Viola, who now runs one of the most popular religious blogs on the internet. He wrote,

I remember as far back as 2001, some of my friends encouraged me to start a blog. And I kept saying to them, ‘I don’t have the time.’ Well, I didn’t…and I still don’t. But here I am, blogging every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Fine blog readers, why not get on Twitter and join the conversation? Why not get a website or a blog and get your voice out there? Some of the best blogs are from regular individuals like yourself.

If anything, it will perpetuate you. Just think: in generations past, the pharaohs of Egypt would build huge monuments so that history wouldn’t forget them, at great expense to human life and Egyptian treasury.

But you, living in the 21st century, can simply start a blog, and you’ll be remembered in some way, some form, for generations to come, for as long as the civilized world exists.

See, nothing on the open internet dies, or, as one observer put it, the internet never forgets. Facebook is not the open web, it’s a walled garden that will eventually disappear. If you have a voice on Facebook alone, your voice will one day disappear. But put something on the open web (Twitter, blogs, website, etc.), it’s there forever thanks to Google Cache, Archive.org, and other archiving services.

Get your message out there, and the open web will perpetuate it for generations to come.

Get on Twitter. Get a blog. Speak your mind, fine Kineti blog readers, and speak it to the world.

13 comments:

  1. I love it! That's good advice, whether Messianic or a Gentile believer.

    Get on the open web, expose your thoughts and experiences and advocate your point of view. Right now, the shiny, attractive parts of the web are overwhelmingly non-religious and even actively anti-religious. Although I'm not Jewish, I agree. You should be online.

    Thank you, Judah.

    Walt. (@lnxwalt on Twitter, @lnxwalt140 on identi.ca)

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  2. Judah,

    I have no understanding whatsoever what you wrote in this here blog. So please splain this to me because I am a complete Computer illiterate. Don;t have a fogiest notion what a twitter is. So pleaser Messianic guru, teach me and walk me step by step. Since you did not mention my blog which is one of the best on the web (Just kidding...) I figured something is amis. so please help this poor dummy brother...woll you?

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Walt, You're right. Reddit, Digg, Slashdot, for example are strictly secular and in some cases (Reddit) are actively anti-religious, anti-Israel, anti-Christian, anti-Zionist. It's an unfortunate reality.

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  4. @Dan,

    My post was only for Twitter list, not blogs. But good on you for getting a blog despite not being technologically inclined. Kudos for that. You've done more than most.

    Twitter is kind of like a blog, but only shorter, instant, and live.

    Try going to search.twitter.com. Search for something popular, you'll see hundreds of posts coming in on that topic every second. It's hard to explain -- best way is to go to Twitter, set up an account, and try it out!

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  5. I'm a Messianic believer who blogs, but not usually about my beliefs. ;-) And now I'm seriously thinking about getting Twitter... *groan* Too much technology, too little time!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Reddit reminds me of a bunch of 15 year olds "partying" together.

    Twitter rocks, but I warn you, I'm not politically correct, I post quotes from the Bible, I am politically and economically conservative, and I support open source (though I'm not a fanatic about it). If you follow me, be prepared. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. @Krista,

    Just checked out your blog. You're a good writer and run a nice blog. You ought to, on occasion, write about spiritual matters. We could use more Messianic voices like yours on the open web.

    Blessings.

    ReplyDelete
  8. @James,

    LOL, yeah, there is a lot of immaturity on Reddit. When I think of Reddit, I think of whiny kids, atheists, extreme left wing politics, Israel-demonizing, and porn.

    LOL.

    Well, there's occasionally amusing items there. Lots of "har har look at the clapping monkey" stuff. I still prefer Slashdot all these years later, less political, more news for nerds, even despite their crazy anti-Microsoft nonsense. :-)

    You're a fun guy to follow on Twitter, by the way, I would highly recommend folks follow @JamesPyles. :thumb up:

    ReplyDelete
  9. A lot of people don't use Twitter because of privacy issues. If I were a thief, I would love Twitter! Let me know when you're not at home, please...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Meh, I've heard that before too, but I think it's mostly bogus. How does the thief know your SO isn't home? Or your family?

    He doesn't.

    The thief would have to know you live alone, or would have to be scouting you out, in which case you're already screwed. He would have to know where you live, and he would have to know your Twitter account. (If he knows where you live, forget twitter, he would just wait for you to leave your house!)

    I think we're being a bit paranoid here. We shouldn't live in fear. That's not living.

    I dunno. That's another thing with religious people, if I may politely suggest, we're paranoid. We're afraid of someone "out there" coming to get us.

    Reality is, I've had my real full name on this blog for 8+ years. I've been on Twitter for several years. All my personal information is available on the web. Nobody's broken into my house, my identity has not been stolen. I'm good. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. *Secretly starts plotting to steal Judah's identity and break into this house using information from his blog and twitter account.* :evillaugh

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  12. *tweets he's away for a week vacation while sitting patiently in his house with a double-barrel shotgun*

    ReplyDelete

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