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:
- Read How To Twitter – First Steps and a Twitter Glossary by Scott Hansleman.
- Follow liberally.
- Get a Twitter client like Blu, TweetDeck, or Twhirl. They’re all free, they’re available for PC, Mac, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, you name it. Nobody tweets from the web – use a Twitter client.
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.