1 Now I, Paul, urge you by the gentleness and graciousness of Christ—I who am meek [so they say] when with you face to face, but bold [outspoken and fearless] toward you when absent!
So let’s talk about our speech, both when we are talking to people face to face and when we are writing and posting online. 2 I ask that when I do come I will not be driven to the boldness that I intend to show toward those few who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh [like men without the Spirit]. Anyone who posts online has been attacked (if you are standing for righteousness). My nephew yesterday called me an idiot and a psycho. Others are condescending. The tabernacle had a very thick skin for a covering and you need one too.
3 For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our [spiritual] warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man.
So let’s talk about our weapons versus the weapons of the flesh. The flesh will do personal attacks (idiot, psycho) and this is called an “ad hominem” attack and is the go to weapon for someone who has nothing else. When they do this it reminds me of the guy whose sword has just been demolished taking his shoe and throwing it at the person. For example, my nephews comments came after his first comment where twice he spelled thee as the. You can’t spell the word “thee” yet you call someone else an idiot?
4 The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
So truth is obviously critical, facts are critical, but neither of these are “tempered steel”. You can make a weapon out of iron and it is certainly much better than throwing shoes or having a sword out of cardboard, but it is still not as good as tempered steel. The word of God is tempered steel. But you can’t just use the Bible. What is totally awesome is when you mix the word of God with the facts, combine the two like a forged weapon. That will detroy fortresses.
5 We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ, 6 being ready to punish every act of disobedience, when your own obedience [as a church] is complete.
So obviously a “sophisticated argument” is much better than to just call someone an idiot, or a “chump” (Joe Biden did that) or the “deplorables” (Hillary Clinton did that). The techniques they are using are extremely sophisticated so let’s explain. These technology platforms like Facebook, Youtube, TikTok, Twitter all have algorithms that recommend other content you might like. The goal is to get you “hooked”. So if you like cute cats you will see more videos of cute cats. But it is even more sophisticated, they will look at GPS data, see where you work, where you live, where you go throughout the day and then recommend content that people in your neighborhood and place of work like. But they also will begin to try and not just give you what you want but to manipulate you into wanting what they want you to want. China is the best at this which is why their apps are being seen as an attack on our state. So for example, let’s say I want you to like a candidate that the Chinese Communist Party prefers one candidate over another (they have manipulated and bribed this person in the past and know they can control them). There are things they can do, they can use TikTok to get many people to sign up for a rally that don’t show up to undermine their campaign. They can also send you stories they want you to read while not sending you the stories that might change your opinion about their candidate. They censor stories, claim they are fake news with their “fact checkers” and do many other things to manipulate what people see and believe. But here is their achilles heel, every word, every action they have taken is recorded. It is very easy to lie to people when they trust you but once they realize you have been lying to them everything changes. We can punish every act of disobedience that they have committed but only when the church’s obedience is complete. Otherwise the church gets caught up in the hypocrisy. Judgement begins with the house of God, the dross is removed and we are fashioned into a weapon that the Lord can use. For example, I have heard that the Texas AG’s lawsuit was motivated by some lawsuit that he is hoping the President will pardon him. Reminds me of something they once said about a man I admire more than any other, He was casting out demons and they said that He cast out demons by the prince of the demons. Oh, yea, an ad hominem attack, didn’t address the facts of the case at all.
So let’s talk about our speech, both when we are talking to people face to face and when we are writing and posting online. 2 I ask that when I do come I will not be driven to the boldness that I intend to show toward those few who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh [like men without the Spirit]. Anyone who posts online has been attacked (if you are standing for righteousness). My nephew yesterday called me an idiot and a psycho. Others are condescending. The tabernacle had a very thick skin for a covering and you need one too.
3 For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our [spiritual] warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man.
So let’s talk about our weapons versus the weapons of the flesh. The flesh will do personal attacks (idiot, psycho) and this is called an “ad hominem” attack and is the go to weapon for someone who has nothing else. When they do this it reminds me of the guy whose sword has just been demolished taking his shoe and throwing it at the person. For example, my nephews comments came after his first comment where twice he spelled thee as the. You can’t spell the word “thee” yet you call someone else an idiot?
4 The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
So truth is obviously critical, facts are critical, but neither of these are “tempered steel”. You can make a weapon out of iron and it is certainly much better than throwing shoes or having a sword out of cardboard, but it is still not as good as tempered steel. The word of God is tempered steel. But you can’t just use the Bible. What is totally awesome is when you mix the word of God with the facts, combine the two like a forged weapon. That will detroy fortresses.
5 We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ, 6 being ready to punish every act of disobedience, when your own obedience [as a church] is complete.
So obviously a “sophisticated argument” is much better than to just call someone an idiot, or a “chump” (Joe Biden did that) or the “deplorables” (Hillary Clinton did that). The techniques they are using are extremely sophisticated so let’s explain. These technology platforms like Facebook, Youtube, TikTok, Twitter all have algorithms that recommend other content you might like. The goal is to get you “hooked”. So if you like cute cats you will see more videos of cute cats. But it is even more sophisticated, they will look at GPS data, see where you work, where you live, where you go throughout the day and then recommend content that people in your neighborhood and place of work like. But they also will begin to try and not just give you what you want but to manipulate you into wanting what they want you to want. China is the best at this which is why their apps are being seen as an attack on our state. So for example, let’s say I want you to like a candidate that the Chinese Communist Party prefers one candidate over another (they have manipulated and bribed this person in the past and know they can control them). There are things they can do, they can use TikTok to get many people to sign up for a rally that don’t show up to undermine their campaign. They can also send you stories they want you to read while not sending you the stories that might change your opinion about their candidate. They censor stories, claim they are fake news with their “fact checkers” and do many other things to manipulate what people see and believe. But here is their achilles heel, every word, every action they have taken is recorded. It is very easy to lie to people when they trust you but once they realize you have been lying to them everything changes. We can punish every act of disobedience that they have committed but only when the church’s obedience is complete. Otherwise the church gets caught up in the hypocrisy. Judgement begins with the house of God, the dross is removed and we are fashioned into a weapon that the Lord can use. For example, I have heard that the Texas AG’s lawsuit was motivated by some lawsuit that he is hoping the President will pardon him. Reminds me of something they once said about a man I admire more than any other, He was casting out demons and they said that He cast out demons by the prince of the demons. Oh, yea, an ad hominem attack, didn’t address the facts of the case at all.