I normally keep my Uber rides under 45 mins. But for a few reasons I ended up just getting a two-hour Uber from an airport the other day.

The driver was nice but was like, “damn lol I hope Uber pays me well for this”. The issue with long rides is that the Uber driver is far away after the ride in a new territory and has to try to earn rides back to their normal location. He asked if he could at least stop for coffee or something and I said of course.

So we go for a while and eventually pull over over at a convenience store and he goes to get some coffee and a snack. I go out and get a coffee too and then I pick up his tab and pay for both of us. Uber ended up calling both of us for a health check because the car was stopped.

Buying him a coffee opened him up a bit so we talked for a while. He asked where I was coming from and I said Egypt, and he said he was from Ghana. While chatting and me explaining why I am coming from Egypt, he made a great point that in many places outside of the US, family is a big deal whereas in the US, it is much diminished. And as a result, it’s very important to build connections with neighbors and coworkers in place of that. Even just tell people “good morning” if you usually see them on the way to work so that people know who you are. He came to the US alone four years ago so that is something he describes having learned and a strategy he is using.

Anyway as we pulled up to my destination I gave him an unusually big tip to compensate any inconvenience or unpaid time he might have getting back. A few mins later my doorbell rang and he had come up to say was super thankful for the big tip. The Uber algorithm had kind of screwed him over and the trip price (and thus his share) was low for the hassle, and he felt screwed over by Uber, but then he saw my tip which instantly fixed it.

I should have checked to see if he had a lightning wallet or tried to convince him to download one if not, because then I could have done one of those social media “okay everybody tip this guy” posts. :/

The human mind is “amazing”

Imagine watching what happens to other nations and their people as their currencies lose value…..yet failing to connect the dots to the consequences of it in your own country.

Just “imagine”

#Bitcoin

#Nostr.

Looks great!

Want a custom bitcoin.rocks Nostr address?

Reply to this note with a photo of your latest #bitcoin sticker spot and your desired username. Must be a new sticker spot to qualify.

First come, first served!

Should we launch a Nostr badge for people who put our stickers in public? 🤔 nostr:note1zl4j29w4u8hl2w8qw5vxz0flsap5fvxts9gpzuhh9a3qzf3z3hqsssc3zd

Doing well! I will be zapping a lot of sats out soon. Just finishing up the process of going through everything

Gooooood morning Nostr!

I hope you have a great day 😄

Are we rich yet!?!

Romans 13:3, government function, "taxation" and the limitation clause we all forget.

"For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,"

Rulers are supposed to be a terror to BAD conduct, not to good. When governing authorities become tyrannical, it is our duty to defy them and obey God.

Romans 13 tells us to pay taxes to the authorities who are ministers of God who are "attending to this very thing." What thing? Being a terror to bad conduct.

He tells us to pay taxes to whom taxes are OWED. Owed, being the key word. The word taxes is the Greek "Phoros" and has the sense, "Tribute - payment from one nation to another for protection and as an acknowledgement of submission."

This tax is to be paid to the authorities for their legitimate service of punishing bad conduct and rewarding good. It is not an arbitrary payment extracted from the populace to make government fatter. It is owed for services rendered. And a specific service, ADMINISTERING JUSTICE.

Thats it. Government has no biblical precedent to steal your wealth for any reason. Not to build infrastructure, not for health care, not for welfare, not for anything.

They are to be paid tribute because they are owed for administering God's justice with the sword God gave them. This is their legitimately ordained function, and paying them to do this function is not theft because you are paying for services rendered, services GOD ordained them to perform.

This is not to say we should withhold taxes from our governments who have clearly stepped outside their ordained role. We should, but as we do, we need to expose that it is theft and wrong and that they need to get back in their ordained lane. It is the churches job to disciple the nations and teach government where their legitimate authority ends.

Not rebuking them for stealing wealth from the people to fund things that are outside their sphere of influence is unloving.

No where in the bible does the government get authority to, tax your land, tax your income, tax your energy, tax your death or tax your food. Their only legitimate area where you owe them payment is for administering righteous justice and punishment of evil in service to God.

Remember the limitation clause. Paul here is not praising the wicked pagan Roman Empire, he is laying out the TRUE function of government how God intended it. He is also exhorting Christians to live as good citizens even in a wicked system while the Gospel goes forth and transforms hearts.