The following are some of my favorite cross-platform apps for Christian disciplines. What is probably most valuable for me is that because they can be loaded onto a smartphone, tablet, or computer, syncronized across multple devices, and used offline, it makes it a lot easier for me to keep up with reading the Bible and praying even while traveling, and without being required to carry a long a lot of extra materials. They are easy to use and easy on the eyes. And all of these apps are free.
1. The Bible App
Platforms available: iOS & Android (YouVersion); Web (bible.com)
Lots of translations, hundreds of trackable reading plans, a social network, and an account that syncs across all of your devices. This is really helpful when traveling or commuting. I also really enjoy the listen feature, whether to hear the Bible read while performing another task or just listening to the audio while reading along in the text. You also get a giant checkmark when you complete a daily reading assignment!
2. Echo Prayer
Platforms available: iOS & Android; Web (under reconstruction).
The author describes it as “pulling prayers out of a hat” - this app provides a way for you to store your prayer list, and then randomly samples from the list to prompt you about for which to pray during your prayer time. For me, it’s a great way to help cover my prayer list, including things that I might forget otherwise. You can also set reminders and alerts for specific requests. It’s great to have all of the prayers, old and new, in one place, You can even mark them as answered and reactivate old ones if they come up again.
3. Fighter Verses
Platforms available:iOS & Android
This is a scripture memorization app that even comes with songs and mini games to help with the memorization. You can keep track of the scriptures that you’ve memorized. It also provides links to another free app, Pocket Sword, which includes commentaries (in-app purchases). You can set periodic reminders (daily, weekly, etc.) to remind you to memorize the verse. Finally, each scripture is referenced with tags (Sovereignty of God, Battling Fear, Salvation, etc), that allow you to quickly locate scriptures relevant to a particular situation or struggle.
Lately I’ve been struggling with a lot of things - transition, assurance, relationships, doubt - and in the midst, one niggling question posed to me long ago by a friend: How do you know that God is good? After all, he is the one who told us about himself. If, for a moment, we take the definition of good as something in the best interests of you, or me, or of humanity as a whole, then not only does it seem that things are not necessarily working in that way, but - as John Piper declares, God is for God. It would seem that an almighty, infinite, self-sufficient being is really under no obligation to be for anything or anyone else, except as he obliges himself. At the time, what I believe I told my friend was that I could think of two ways to look at it. First, from the perspective of his own self-witness: he said that he was good, and he is God, so we believe him. The second way is similar - because he is God, he can set himself as the definition or standard for “good”, and in so doing is good essentially by default.
I’m not sure if these answers are completely satisfying, and I don’t think that they fully address the heart of what my friend was asking. Hard things have happened in both of our lives. And the question is not new. if you’ve ever listened to scholars debate the related issue of a God who is both omnipotent and omnibenevolent being in charge of our broken, sometimes savage world, then you know that this is a question with which people have struggled for centuries, even millenia. How do you know that God is not one who actually takes pleasure in the evil and trouble occuring every moment across the globe, or that his commandments and decrees are in any way for the benefit of humanity?
When I question whether or not God is actually for me (that is, in my corner, on my side, and wanting good things for me), it becomes difficult to make decisions on multiple levels. If I follow his commands to serve others first, then who will ever take care of me? Do I follow his instruction even when I don’t understand it or do I do something which may be contrary to what he says but seems to make more sense?
Last Sunday during our church sermon the pastor said something which suddenly put things in a new perspective for me: The question “How do you know that God is good?” is the same question posed to Eve by satan in the garden of Eden. When he questioned God’s instructions to the couple regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he questioned God’s motives and his truthfulness.
I”ll continue these thoughts in the next post. To be continued ...
I have long suspected that J. R. R. Tolkien’s use of the word “blessed” to describe the Elves throughout The Lord of the Rings hinted at a deeper meaning than the one that so many modern English speakers summarize as “happy”. After all, “happy” is not the first word that I would use to describe the elves - to be sure, they were not an unhappy people, but everything about them was so much bigger than that - they were deeper, more serene, more noble, more steady, more timeless, and generally above reproach. There was some abiding inner joy that gave them courage and strength in the darkest times. They were good but solemn, ethereal yet telluric, and kind but fierce.
In a recent sermon of the RISE series (April 3 - Counter Culture for the Common Good), Timothy Keller reviews the meaning of the word blessed in the context of the Sermon on the Mount and our role as Christians as a city on a hill, the light of the world. According to Keller, many commentators believe that a better translation of blessed in Matthew 5 would be “successful”. In ancient cultures, those who were successful were revered, and to be emulated, or copied. So when Jesus gave the sermon on the mount, he turned the idea of success on its head. As Christians, we are successful when we are persecuted for Christ’s sake, because we are being made into his image, and living counter-culturally to show the world his love and expose the lies of the enemy that hold people captive. So when we are persecuted, maligned, mistreated, and hurt because of Him (and not because of our own shortcomings, which are at times still quite evident), then we are blessed.
One of my favorite songs is "We are Blessed" by All Sons and Daughters. It’s the same paradoxical feeling - whether life is at it’s worst, best, or somewhere in between, we have a deeper hope in Christ. We are blessed.
I spent this evening deleting several hundred, perhaps over a thousand emails, and have thousands left to go. It’s probably better that I don’t have the exact number - the unread emails in one account alone topped 3K when I began. And it isn’t as though I didn’t greatly need to use the time elsewhere. It’s one of those low priority but mid-importance things that is continually pushed aside unti the amount of work needed to address it reaches great proportions. It needs to be done - someday. But if I don’t start now, who knows when. And if I don’t keep hammering away at it, the digitally hoarded mail pile will just grow back. So by the help of the Lord, I’m establishing a new life rhythm. One day my inbox will once again be
So here’s a list of recommendations for addressing your pile of digitally hoarded email.
1. Clean out your inbox every day. Anything you leave in your inbox will just have to be opened and addressed later. If you must save something, try to give yourself a time limit or move it to a clearly labeled archive. However, beware having dozens of specially labeled archives that you never revisit...
2. Don’t procrastinate with your replies. If you can answer, why wait? This can be a digital application of Proverbs 3:27: “Withold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it”. Also, anything you leave now you still has to be addressed later. If you plan to address it, it can also help you avoid forgetting. If you never plan to address it, —> delete. This can be aided by the common recommendation to have a designated time during the day for email; setting aside the time can also alleviate the stress of putting something off due to feeling like you don’t have the enough to address it thoroughly.
3. Don’t fall for the promotional email subscriptions. This is the worst. Tonight I had hundreds and hundreds of daily emails that I never even opened from places at which I rarely spend a dime.
I still have a lot of work before me but I’m hoping to someday soon see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I think that Abraham is here not only saying that whatever God does, as the judge of all the earth, will be right, but also, from the context, something even more specific: He’s assuming that both he and God are on the same page about what the right thing is, and that the right thing is to not destroy the righteous with the wicked. The Bible is replete with statements and examples of God’s righteousness and mercy and grace and goodness, and the ways in which he makes his character known. So while we will not understand everything that God does, he reveals to us enough of his character that we can form distinctions between good and evil, and between righteousness and unrighteousness.
So when Paul talks about vessels of honor and dishonor, it is very much right that God has sovereignty to save and harden whom he will. But we do not have the liberty to speculate about who that will be. And to assume that someone’s suffering is because they are a vessel of dishonor and just assume that what will be, will be, is not the Christian gospel. Because Jesus came to bring life and liberty.
This is why we don’t get to use God’s soverignty as an excuse for laziness in addressing the ills of the world. This is what gives us liberty to speak out in the name of justice. God told us to go to every nation making disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. He told us to be his hands and feet. He told us that we would do greater works than the ones that he performed while he was on the earth. He wept with those who wept. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. He was the greatest servant of all, and he bore our sins and became sin for us when he died on the cross so that we could live in Him. He made us fellow heirs, irrespective of class, gender, or ethnicity. The things that he calls us to in obedience to his created order are for our protection, and not for our exploitation.
When Jesus told the blind man his affliction was for God’s glory, he proceeded to heal him. God repeatedly calls himself the protector of the orphan and widow, and the father to the fatherless.
I generally enjoy trains and subways. I like the white noise, the vibration, the sounds, and when traveling above ground, the scenery. For me, trains represent travel, adventure, and new places.
The other day, I was observing a mock argument between two transit employees, one of whom had been unwittingly trapped in the car she was cleaning when the driver started up the engines and and left the transit center. The driver had apparently been unaware that anyone was on the train. Back and forth they went for several minutes, with the maintenance worker insisting that she had been taken away against her will. “I might as well be wearing an orange jumpsuit!” she proclaimed loudly against the protests of the driver, before rolling her eyes and walking away with a laugh.
At first I was nervous. It was eight or nine o’clock in the morning, and no one wants to start the day with the drama of disgruntled transit employees. I was relieved when the woman began to laugh. But oddly enough, her argument put me in mind of the Nazi trains to Auschwitz. As we pulled out of the station into a long, dark tunnel, I imagined the train car packed with people and luggage. I imagined children clinging to the legs of their parents, while the adults wearily guarded their families and the few meager, precious goods that they had left. As my car raced into the darkness, I was safe. Barring some weird hostile takeover, I knew where I was going. Nevertheless, I could actually feel a growing apprehension as I thought of people speeding towards an unknown, and ultimately tragic, destination.
It was a sobering reflection for a Sunday morning. Millions of people lost their lives, their families, and their livelihoods for the sake of an ideology that refused to recognize them as bearers of the imago dei. And although we look back on that time in horror and shame, even today we receive almost daily news reports of the systematic perpetration of slavery and genocide in various places across the world. We can’t fix ourselves. But we have hope in Christ:
“ In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Excerpt From: Crossway. “ESV® Global Study Bible.” iBooks.
After DJ Khaled’s recent snapchat mishap I was trying to understand the jokes and proceeded to Google to figure out who this man was. Obviously, I have not been up on pop culture as of late, but as I read it dawned on me that from his snapchat (and other social media accounts) originates “Bless Up” and all of the New Year references to the nebulous haters that didn’t want you to have a good time (a.k.a. “they”). I think the assumption is usually that he’s referencing “the man”, and more specifically, as a person of color, probably the perpetrators and proponents of the ongoing systemic injustices that some people still face on a regular basis. On his snapchat, though, references to “they” are so frequent that it’s become sort of a humorous catchphrase that shows up whenever he’s giving one of his motivational speeches or keys (“&KEY;") to life. In spite of the fact that I am quite aware of the existence of systemic and personal racism and prejudice, when I hear a statement like that, I tend to brush off the grammatical subject as a conceptual entity which, while getting the point across, exists primarily in the mind of the speaker.
Today, however, I was walking home, a little heavy-hearted with the cares of my life and a couple of borrowed ones, when I suddenly realized that there really is a “they”. It’s just not who we think.
The Bible says that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 4:12).
They don’t want Christians to be in unity. They don’t want you or your soul to prosper. They don’t want you to be in perfect peace. They don’t want you to be in perfect love. They want us to walk around burdened with the all of our own cares and the cares of world, instead of casting them onto Christ. All of these things are available to us in the Scripture. Take these references to start:
John 17
3 John 1:2
Isaiah 26:3
1 John 4:18
Psalm 55:22
1 Peter 5:7
Matthew 11:30
Right after telling us who the enemy really is, the Bible gives a full description of the armor provided for defense against the enemy’s attacks. Christians often refer to this passage as the “Full Armor of God”. Here’s the list, found in Ephesians chapter 6:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
The Bible also explicitly states that the "weapons of our warfare are not carnal” (1 Corinthians 10:4). I think what this means for us is that
We are to pray. Unceasingly. The Bible says this in several places, but it is our primary . We should also pray according to the word of God, which is described as “sword of the Spirit”, which tells us God’s will and is revealed to us in the Scripture (Ephesians 6:17)
Since people are not the real enemy, we are free, and mandated, to love them and to share the good news of Christ, even to the extremes described by Jesus in the sermon on the mount. (Matthew 5)
Your supervisor is not your enemy. Your siblings are not the source of your problems. Neither are your parents, your children, nor your unmotivated employees… No doubt, all of these people contribute to the messes that we find ourselves in, but the real problem is our need to make war against our own flesh and against lies of satan and his hordes.
If you want to celebrate your hard-won freedom from the bondage in which “they” want to keep you, or if you need a reminder of the depth of that freedom, check out this great song by Jonathan David and Melissa Helser with Bethel Music. It’s called “No Longer Slaves”.
