iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 23/03/2025

Hyundai Ioniq is a great option too 👍

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 23/03/2025

I have a Polestar 2 in 🇦🇺. It’s a brilliant car, thoroughly recommend 👍

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Josiah Hawthorne @josiahhawthorne.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

I should have read Arendt's "The Origins of Totaltarianism" ten years ago. Because this is mind-blowing.

For the propaganda of totalitarian movements which precede and accom
pany totalitarian regimes is invariably as frank as it is mendacious, and
would-be totalitarian rulers usually start their careers by boasting of their
past crimes and carefully outlining their future ones. The Nazis "were con
vinced that evil-doing in our time has a morbid force of attraction," 5 Bol
shevik assurances inside and outside Russia that they do not recognize
ordinary moral standards have become a mainstay of Communist propa
ganda, and experience has proved time and again that the propaganda value
of evil deeds and general contempt for moral standards is independent of
mere self-interest, supposedly the most powerful psychological factor in
politics.
The attraction of evil and crime for the mob mentality is nothing new. It
has always been true that the mob will greet "deeds of violence with the
admiring remark: it may be mean but it is very clever." 6 The disturbing
factor in the success of totalitarianism is rather the true selflessness of its
adherents : it may be understandable that a Nazi or Bolshevik will not be
shaken in his conviction by crimes against people who do not belong to
the movement or are even hostile to it; but the amazing fact is that neither
is he likely to waver when the monster begins to devour its own children
and not even if he becomes a victim of persecution himself, if he is framed
and condemned, if he is purged from the party and sent to a forced-labor
or a concentration camp. On the contrary, to the wonder of the whole
civilized world, he may even be willing to help in his own prosecution and
frame his own death sentence if only his status as a member of the move
ment is not touched.7 It would be naive to consider this stubbornness of
conviction which outlives all actual experiences and cancels all immediate
self-interest a simple expression of fervent idealism. Idealism, foolish or
heroic, always springs from some individual decision and conviction and
is s…

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 27/02/2025

Gosh, that bleeding person sure does love bandages!

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 26/02/2025

I think Musk would stop that now. Trump's too valuable for him!

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Beth Moore @bethmoorelpm.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

DO NOT forget what prayer can do. Amid all else God’s calling you to do or speak, never for a moment forget that nothing’s more powerful than earnest audacious persistent prayer. The devil—yes, boomer here said the devil, the ever-real prince of vilest darkness—hopes we’ll lose confidence in prayer.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 24/02/2025

So, how to synthesise those two strands that seem to be in tension? Will be chewing on that for a while…

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 24/02/2025

I know some have used these verses as a foundational justification for capital punishment: See, it says right there! People are made in God's image, so if you kill them, you should be killed in return. That's justice! But to do that would treat the verses as "policy" – and I don't know about that.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 24/02/2025

So what's the implication? First reading seems to imply something like: If people spill human blood, then others will spill theirs in turn? But not you, readers – you focus on "being fruitful and multiplying". But then the line "for in the image of God has God made mankind" seems a bit… clunky?

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 24/02/2025

And it had that same fourth-wall-break feel to it, for 2 reasons: 1. You could take those two verses out, and the flow of God's words wouldn't be interrupted. 2. It speaks of God in the 3rd person when God is speaking in the 1st person around it.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 24/02/2025

So I was reading #genesis 9 this week, and read this: "Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind. As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it." (Genesis 9:6-7)

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 24/02/2025

I think it's too strong to say that editors would be putting words in God's mouth, but it does feel to me like an implied editorial "look-to-camera". A sort of "explains a lot, doesn't it?" kind of glance.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 24/02/2025

In #Genesis 3, when God is talking to Eve, he says "your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." I've heard it said (and it's compelling to me) that that statement is "prophecy, not policy"

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 24/02/2025

I'm studying their Intro to OT subject, which covers Genesis through 2 Kings. There's a lot to read and a lot to learn, and I'm hoping/planning to share thoughts about it with you all as I go.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 24/02/2025

Excited (and a little overwhelmed) to be starting some theological study! It's only a single subject, but it's super great to be enrolled at Melbourne's excellent Ridley College :D ridley.edu.au

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 18/02/2025

"Don't piss on the Constitution and tell me it's reigning?"

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𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕖 𝔾𝕦𝕣𝕝 @sundaedivine.lol · 05/02/2025

Two paths diverged in the woods and America took the psychopath.

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Trey Ferguson @pastortrey05.com · 04/02/2025

Jesus did not die instead of his followers. Jesus died ahead of his followers. The word was not “take your cross and give it to me.” The word was “deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.” Those who follow that word will, like Jesus, be counted among the rebels.

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Raymond Chang @raymondchang.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Privilege is the ability to look away at injustice because you aren’t personally impacted by it.

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Dr. Laura Robinson @laurarbnsn.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

I am... baffled. What did you want, Rachel? You wanted Gaiman to be held accountable, but you didn't want him to lose publishing deals? What did you want us to do? Drive to his house and yell at him? This is what accountability looks like! People feel differently about him!

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 30/01/2025

I agree with this in theory! Where this gets very hard, in praxis, is the shrinking effect of the internet. Every disaster I read about is now “closer” to me than it ever was, even on the other side of the world. It’s really hard not to feel I should be “doing all I can” in each and every one…

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🔥The Quirky Pastor🔥 @quirkypastor.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

“But i hate him for he never prophesies anything favorable about me, only disaster.” “She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart…the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She’s not very good at her job!” Who said it better? King Ahab or Biff?

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 26/01/2025

For lots of my right-wing Christian friends, “the system” is Ahab. So I’ve taken them to asking why the arrival of a Jehu figure is cause for celebration?

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 23/01/2025

This is what I am trying to focus on when every fibre of my being wants to argue and yell. 🙏 #lordhavemercy

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Rich Villodas @richvillodas.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

It’s incredibly challenging when Christians on various sides think the other side is delusional, blind, trapped, etc. How do we know who is being faithful to God? The litmus test I believe is: Cruciform love. Living the Beatitudes. The Sermon on the Mount. That’s how we know.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 22/01/2025

Thank you #Jesus, the Word of God, the Living Water who alone can fully satisfy the thirst of my heart.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 22/01/2025

Instead, the more satisfied you are in Christ, the more your life will display those fruit no matter how harsh the weather. If you’re not satisfied in Him, those other things, while good, just don’t have what it takes to satisfy you fully.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 22/01/2025

That’s like trying to water a fruit tree with its own juice. It misses the point of the fruit, it’s not sustainable, and you’ll probably end up trying to use juice from elsewhere to make the difference.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 22/01/2025

So, so often I want to treat the results of a satisfied life as if they were the source of that satisfaction.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 22/01/2025

Preached on #Psalm 1 Sunday past, and it’s continuing to kick my butt. All the ways I attempt to self-satisfy are staring me in the face.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 06/01/2025

Come to Jesus, ask Him for water. The air may be hot and the wind scorching, but you'll never run dry again.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 06/01/2025

When #Jesus met the woman at the well, he tells her "Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14)

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 06/01/2025

Maybe that's not you. Maybe you don't feel like a little seedling in a wicking bed, let alone a mighty tree. Maybe you feel like a chopped up piece of chaff blowing in a hot wind. Maybe your soul feels as dry as an empty creek bed.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 06/01/2025

But also like a tree, they're radiating it out into the air around them. They don't hog it, they live it and breathe it.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 06/01/2025

And that source of Life? "[Their] delight is in the law of the Lord, and [they meditate] on his law day and night". (v2) For the writer, thinking about God's teaching is what brings them life. Like a tree, they're constantly drawing it up through their roots.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 06/01/2025

Psalm 1 describes someone who is "like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither" (v3). They're tapped deeply into a source of Life that allows them to be steadfast and dependable, no matter what happens.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 06/01/2025

By being planted above a water source that would not evaporate in the heat of the day, they could draw refreshment even though the weather was baking hot. And that made me think of Psalm 1.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 06/01/2025

It's summer here in Australia, and in my area that means dry heat. Just a couple of days ago it was 40℃, and the air was like an oven. Concerned, I went to look at the vegetables we had planted. Not only were they not wilting, they were thriving!

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 06/01/2025

A reflection on #Psalm 1: A few months ago, we put in some wicking garden beds at our place. You water them from the bottom and the water draws up, or "wicks" through a spongy layer into the soil at the top.

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Rich Villodas @richvillodas.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Keep Christ in Christians.

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 09/12/2024

#Aussie Christians, I'm looking for awesome homegrown theologians and cultural observers to follow. Any suggestions?

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 08/12/2024

We watched this a couple nights ago :D

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 05/12/2024

One of them tried to DM me. I asked them if they’d taken the photos they posted. They said yes, but I’d reverse Google searched them and knew this was not true. Stay careful out there, folks. Gentle as doves but crafty as snakes

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 05/12/2024

I’ve been followed by a bunch of accounts now that seem to follow the same pattern: 1) be from an African country 2) have a Christianish byline 3) posted 2 photos and nothing else

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Andy Nicholson @jesusthings.dotni.ch · 03/12/2024

Currently reading “Bullies & Saints” by John Dickson. He’s a Christian historian who treats this topic better than most 😀

Photo of the cover of “Bullies and Saints” by John Dickson. It’s a mixture of a couple Renaissance (?) paintings, with Gothic typography for the title.

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