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Scriptive: Match Scripture with Your Emotions


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Scriptive is an iPhone-only app designed to help individuals find Scripture verses that match their emotional tone (positive or negative) and then direct their attention to God. I love the idea of this app because I have struggled with depression and negative emotions for years. There have been many times when I could have used a verse tailor to my emotional state. That’s not to say that a mere drop of scripture can stave away the storm clouds of depression, but it can certainly help.

And those who are up and feeling great? Then this app is still for you because you still need to give God praise for being on that mountaintop. (See Isaiah 42:11 for confirmation of that.)

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The Best Tech of 2015 [Video]


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With it being the end of the year, we see a lot of “best of’s,” including within the technology industry. The world of gadgets has seen a huge rise in stuff this year: drones, tablets to replace notebooks, phones that are replacing tablets, Windows making a HUGE comeback, and stuff that can kill us (besides the previously stated drones).

This video by Mashable covers them all. Honestly though, I would love to see their 30 second version, cutting out a lot of the fat.

What is your favorite gadget from this year?

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A User and Publisher’s Guide to Apple News


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For the longest time I was a strong RSS advocate. I loved the simplicity of the RSS system and the way it allowed me to follow a selection of sites I chose, never missing a thing. When Google Reader went away I started paying for a service (Feed Wrangler since you asked) that would let me track my RSS feeds.

However, in the last month I’ve started cutting down on the distractions and inputs in my life. As part of that I wanted a system where I could dip in and out to find the best news. Not only from sources I specifically choose, but also from popular items other people recommended. Although I knew about Flipboard and how useful many people find it, I decided to give the built in Apple News app a try and really liked it.

The rest of this post is divided into two parts. The first is about the user side of Apple News and the second is about the publisher side of Apple News. If you are looking to publish something (which is a good idea considering this app is now installed on every iPhone running iOS 9 [that’s a lot of devices]) then I recommend you also read the user guide too.

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The Pastor and the iPad: Why You Shouldn’t Buy an iPad


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[Note: This is the final part in a series discussing practical, pastoral uses of an iPad. You might find it helpful to start with part one, two, three, four, and/or five.]

Last Christmas, I skipped my iPhone upgrade—that’s right! I’m rocking an iPhone 5, still—and used my Christmas money to buy an iPad. For a while, I wished I hadn’t.

At least then.

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The Pastor and the iPad: Intellectual Stimulation [Series]


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[Note: This is part three in a series discussing practical, pastoral uses of an iPad. You might find it helpful to start with part one, two, three, and/or four.]

Though it may not be an overly emphasized element, pastors need a keen mind and a sharp wit. The need for wit is a bit obvious—ever sat through a boring sermon?—but the need for keen mind is a bit more subtle. Ministers are communicators, administrators, leaders, vision-casters, and so much more that requires continual intellectual development and maintenance.

The question, then, is how an iPad or tablet can help in that process. Let’s answer that question.* Also, as some have noted, this post series is, perhaps, needless restricted to iPads. The reasons for this notwithstanding, this post is probably the most inclusive. I hope you find it useful, Android users.

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The Pastor and the iPad: Sermoncraft [Series]


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[Note: This is part three in a series discussing practical, pastoral uses of an iPad. You might find it helpful to start with part one, two, and/or three.]

A great many gifts and skills are needed to be a pastor, but I do think that the skill that most parishioners take for grated is that of preaching. And while most pastors are skilled preachers, not every single pastor was born to be a preacher. Nor is every great preacher skilled in the art of sermoncraft. I’ve heard many pastors who have excellently delivered a sermon that said nothing at all, and yet their congregation ate it up…but that’s for another blog post.

Right now, we’re going to focus on how a pastor can use his or her iPad (or tablet or smartphone) to craft a sermon that is both logical, comprehensible, and effective. To do this, we’ll look at sermon prep in three stages: planning, researching/reading, and writing.

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