Welcome back, Pilgrim. Here’s what’s happened in town since you’ve been away…
Welcome back to the Reformer Newsletter, where we can take a dive into various projects and activities from around web3 and across the Christian community. You have joined this network to contribute to our collective mission of building for Christ’s Kingdom, and we will use this newsletter as a platform to encourage that.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth… And God saw everything he had made, and behold, it was very good.
Genesis 1:1, 31
How do we reconcile the brokenness we see around us with a pronouncement from God that “it [creation] is good”? That paradox is played out in the two key moments in history: (1) the Fall that established a curse of brokenness in our world, and (2) the Death and Resurrection of Christ which brought us, redeemed, into the Kingdom of God. The tension is described in another Biblical account of Creation:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:1, 4-5
This latter reference of “the beginning” and life, light, and darkness comes to us from the New Testament Gospels in which we receive the good news that we are both called to act and given power to act.
Look around this community at the brothers and sisters who are taking that call seriously and explicitly using web3 and crypto tools to build projects to glorify God. You can also look outside this community, where many other people are creating and reforming some of the corrupted systems of the broken world- bringing ownership and responsibility to finance, turning education into a pursuit of enlightenment instead of a race to the bottom of victimhood, and freeing citizens from the overbearing techno-political ruling elite. If you look closely enough, you might find something “very good” that you can join and fulfill our call to drive out the darkness.
Around Web3
Out of an abundance of caution and recent scar tissue, we have avoided focusing on the mini-bull rally of this past month, but I think it is worth taking a look at possible causes of the bounce back, trends to watch for, and maybe even start looking for the eventual path out of the current Crypto Winter. Everyone is encouraged to do their own research, and I think the good team at Coin Telegraph have released some solid analysis of industry price and stability trends. Is the crypto market starting to follow “normie” markets in what Forbes calls the “January Playbook”?:
· The market is likely to rise through January.
· Small stocks will excel.
· Last year’s losers will rebound.
· As January goes, so will go the year.
Let’s just see what February has to bring…
The biggest tech news of 2022 had to be the new AI digital content creation tools DALL-E and ChatGPT. Is the age of narrow AI (not General AI) on us? And if so, what happens when this trends cross-pollinates with blockchain projects? Check out this article on the Top 5 AI Cryptos to learn more.
Around the Community
Mustardseed Realms: This is a very cool project brought to us by one of our own Reformers Community members. Mustardseed Realms is a publishing company that has embraced web3 to create multimedia experiences using stories. From the founder: “We have products instead of false promises, and plan to continue producing stories for years. While we have diversity in the deliverables, covering ebooks, to video games to NFT’s to merch, the core remains the same, Christian themed stories.” Check this one out at the link above, and don’t forget to sign up for the Newsletter!
Check out the Give Different podcast where you can catch interviews with individuals and organizations who are working in the web3 ecosystem to enable human flourishing. In the most recent episode, the Senior VP of Operations from Vayner3 is on to discuss how nonprofits can use web3.
Around the Kingdom
Sixpence: This one is not actually crypto-based, but it is not too hard to see a bridge to this application. Sixpence seeks to introduce a new user experience into the discipline of tithing and charity. Check out this project and look at how they align around the three pillars of “Connected Community”, “Connected Finances”, and “Connected Lifestyles” to engage users more effectively in today’s church.