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My Favorite Apps

07 May

The amazing thing about Apple devices is the app store. Several of the new non-Apple devices seem to be fairly intuitive, which was Apple’s original claim to fame, but their app stores still can’t compete with the apple store. If you’re looking for a way to make life easier, there’s literally an app for that! Here are some of my favorite apps and why.

Waze is a free GPS app, but it’s way cooler than Google Maps. It’s kind of like facebook for navigation in that all the Waze users that are ahead of you post the conditions that are along your route like traffic, cops, gas prices and road construction. You can even talk to the Waze users ahead of you via a Chat right on the app. Another cool, but completely useless, part of the app is your icon indicating your spot on the map. The more miles you log on Waze the better your icon gets. Right now I’m a Waze Ninja. Yeah, I know…you wanna be just like me.

MyWarn ($9.99) is a weather app that sends you push notifications when you enter an area that is under a severe weather warning. You can also watch the local weather from your phone.

 

Yapp is our Campus Ministry App. It’s got a calendar of our events, News section, pics, map to the building, Prayer Wall and more. If you haven’t downloaded this app yet click on the QR code and download the app.

 

Cubby is the online storage that hosts our songbook, sermon outlines, Audio songs and hopefully audio lessons (Coming Soon). If you haven’t downloaded this one you’re missing out. When you download it sign in using chris@anchor619.com as the login and songbook as the password.

FourSquare is one of those apps I’ve heard about for a long time, but just now downloaded. It’s a great tool to build excitement around our events though. If 10 people check in at Campus Devo on Thursdays it could persuade someone who was sitting on the fence to come.

 

E-Sword HD is a pretty cool Bible Study tool. It can tell you the Greek or Hebrew word and what it means behind every word in the Bible. Click on KJV+ for this option. This is pretty much all I do with it, but it’s been very helpful so far. You can also search a phrase or a term in any book or Testament parameter. It has a reference section and a commentary section at the bottom. I think I paid $4.99 for it, but it’s been worth it.

 

Slideshark is a presentation app. Basically you make a PowerPoint Presentation (Mac or PC) then you can upload it to SlideShark. Once in Slideshark you can’t edit the slides other than rearranging them, but you can use your iPhone to control the presentation on your iPad. I’m toying with the idea of using it for my class notes, that way you would only have to download that class’ presentation to remind yourself what we talked about in class. It might be a cool way to share the class with others. Like I said I’m still playing around with it so I might change my mind on using it in class.

What are some of your favorite apps? 

 
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Posted by on May 7, 2013 in #anchor2013

 

Boaz’s Cog in the Wheel

05 May

When Ruth busted onto the scene in Bethlehem she carried sacrifice with her.

Her wealthy father-in-law has died along with her husband and brother-in-law. Now it’s just Naomi, Ruth and Orpah. Naomi is headed home because she’s broke and is possibly thinking that someone back home might take care of her if she can get back. She tells her two daughters-in-law to go back to their father’s house, remarry and have children. Eventually Orpah goes, but Ruth refuses to leave Naomi’s side so they head to Bethlehem together.

There’s something you should know about Ruth. She’s a Moabite, which is only important for our purposes because it means she’s not a Jew. More than likely as Naomi and Ruth walked back into town people ran out to greet Naomi, but when they saw Ruth they gave her a dirty look and turned their nose up at her. If you weren’t a Jew the Jews didn’t want anything to do with you. In fact, if you happened to brush up against them in the marketplace they were unclean for a week and couldn’t go to the Temple to worship. Long story short – people may have been excited to see Naomi, but they all wished Ruth wasn’t with her. Everyone except one, that is.

Naomi and Ruth don’t have money to buy food with, so they rely on the ancient law of gleaning. Say
I own a field of corn and we’re gathering it in one day and a couple of ears fall out of the wagon. We couldn’t stop and get them. We also had to leave the edges of the corn field unharvested. They were for the people too poor to feed themselves to eat (Lev. 19.9-10). We don’t know how many fields Ruth tried before she found Boaz’s, but I’m betting there were a couple. Most likely she met with hostility because of her Moabite status. Maybe they cursed her or threw rocks to make her leave. However many fields she tried first she ended up at Boaz’s and started at the edges getting the grain his workers had left. Eventually Boaz comes to this field to see how the work was going and he saw Ruth. She’s staying away from his workers so it’s a long walk out to her, but he makes it. He tells her to get as much grain as she can glean (she walks away that day with about bushel), feeds her lunch, she gets a to go box, tells the young men not to touch her, brings her in to work among his young women so she’s safer and the crop is fresh, and even tells his guys to intentionally drop some grain for her to pick up!

Boaz has been incredibly generous to Ruth and he even tells you why he did it. He felt like God should bless her for the sacrifices she’s made for Naomi so he takes it upon himself o be generous to her. Eventually at the end of the story Boaz and Ruth marry and have a child. You can even find him in the New Testament. His name is Obed and he’s Jesus’ great great great grandfather. So, if Boaz hadn’t of been so kind to Ruth would Jesus ever have been born? Of course, He would have! The Father has been planning Jesus’ entrance into the world since the beginning. His plans aren’t going to be destroyed or thrown off track for any reason. Had Boaz not treated Ruth in a Godly way Jesus would still have been born, but Boaz wouldn’t have gotten to play a part in God’s plan.

God’s plan for redeeming the lost is going to happen. He will bring glory to Himself thru the church. Make sure you’re a part of the plan!

 

 
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Posted by on May 5, 2013 in #anchor2013

 

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What Would You Do?

27 Apr

If the Bible said to jump off a cliff would you? We usually hear this expression used as a rhetorical question with an understood answer in the negative. Most of the time it’s a parent trying to help their child see the idiocy in blindly following someone into stupid activities, but do we carry that idea into our Bible study?

Have you ever thought that something you read was just not worth it? You understand all of God’s promises, but the price you’re going to pay is just too much to obey. Romans 12 comes to mind as an example. Toward the end of the chapter God says that we shouldn’t retaliate. When someone hurts us we should just accept the offense and move on. He’s going to be the One to repay that offense. I should focus on letting it go. That’s going to cost me a lot. That means people will take advantage of me. They’re going to walk all over me and God knows it and says I should just let them!

Do you blindly follow the Bible or do you pick which parts you want to obey? I’ve done the study. If you haven’t stop reading this and start studying the authenticity and reliability of Scripture. There’s not a section of Scripture that I shouldn’t follow blindly, no questions asked. Sound radical? It’s certainly not a new idea. Remember Abraham? In Gen.12 God tells him to pack up his stuff and leave everything he’s ever known and start walking. God would tell him when to stop. Go back and find all of Abraham’s questions. You can’t, because they’re not there. He didn’t ask any! God told him to go and Abraham went, even though it sounded crazy. Abraham apparently made a practice out of this. Check out Gen. 22. God tells Abraham to kill his son that he’s been expecting for the last century. Isaac is probably in his late teen years, and just starting to become a man Abraham could be proud of. Now God tells Abraham to kill him…and he doesn’t ask a single question. He just starts to do it! The Bible is full of God telling people to do outrageous things without questioning. Remember Job? Yeah.

I can trust the Bible without reservation. If He says to do something I need to do it, no matter the cost. Notice that Abraham left a life that looked pretty sweet to go live in a tent and walk everyday until God told him it was time to stop, but he became one of the most powerful people in the Middle East in his day. Note also that Isaac did not die. We serve a faithful God who finds pleasure in blessing His people. You can obey without reservation. If the Bible said to jump off a cliff make sure you get a running start!

 
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Posted by on April 27, 2013 in Biographies

 

Full Circle

26 Apr
Full Circle

The curse is finally gone!

When Satan tricked Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit their sin opened their descendants to pain. Life was going to be hard now because of sin and because of sin our stay in the Garden of Eden was cut short. God kicked man out of perfect relationship with Him and set up an angel to protect the entrance to the Garden of Eden just in case man tried to sneak back in (Gen. 3.24). The rest of the Bible is the story of God working out how to bring man back into perfect relationship with Him. The last book of the Bible tells us that one day that curse will finally be gone and we can go back to having a perfect relationship with God.

Notice all the flags God includes in Revelation 21-22 to help us remember the Garden of Eden. In Revelation 21.12 as He’s describing the new Jerusalem He tells us that this “city” has twelve gates, each one made out of one massive pearl (Rev. 21.21), and an angel to guard each gate. No longer are the angels keeping man out. Now they’re a sign of the protection and safety God’s people will find in Heaven. You don’t have to worry about being dragged out of your house and killed for your beliefs. This safety is real and eternal.

The Tree of Life also reappears in this new “city”. It’s been withheld from mankind since the Fall, but in Heaven it sits in the very middle of the city where anyone may see it. In fact, God says that it’s leaves are for the purpose of healing the nations. The curse has been lifted! We have been healed! In Heaven we’ll return to perfect relationship with God. We will “see His face” (Rev. 22.4), just as Adam and Eve experienced with God before the Fall.

Things have come full circle. This kind of intimate relationship with God was once so thoughtlessly discarded has now become the most precious commodity, worth whatever you must sacrifice to attain it even if that sacrifice is your life. God’s work of redemption is finished. He wanted us, but couldn’t have relationship with us because of our sin, so He made a way for us to put on His Son so when He looked at us He didn’t see us, but Jesus. Whatever you have to sacrifice is worth this relationship.

Over the next few days I’ll be posting some thoughts from various chapters in Revelation. It’s such a powerful book and so often overlooked. Perhaps these short thoughts will give you encouragement as it did the 1st century Christians.

 
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Posted by on April 26, 2013 in Revelation

 

“Narrow”

10 Apr

I know it’s been a while since the last post. The sound you hear in the background is my head hanging in shame. I’ve been thinking about some new articles to dive into though and this one has come up a couple of times so I thought I’d go ahead and deal with it now. This new series I’ve been kicking around focuses on the original word and the picture that word should paint in our minds. I’m not a Greek (and certainly not a Hebrew) scholar, but I do love finding these words and trying to understand what they mean. This series then will preview a word and attempt to paint the picture the word conveys. One word has come across my desk multiple times in the last six months: “narrow”.

As in, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

When you look “narrow” up in Strong’s or on your handy dandy E-sword app you bought for like $4.99 you’ll find that it conveys the picture of an obstacle course. There are so many things trying to trip you up that it’s tough to get thru it. I’m picturing American Gladiators from back in the day. Yeah, my opinion of me just went down too. The basic idea was that the contestant had to get from point A to point B. Sounds easy, right? The problem is that at least one steroid induced gym addict is standing in the way usually hoisting some sort of foam medieval weapon that they intend to put through your face. Jesus says that if we’re His disciple Satan is going to throw all kinds of obstacles in our way in an effort to knock us off track. You’re going to have to work on your endurance, patience and faith to get thru this obstacle course. Friends will leave and betray you, you will be ridiculed, bad things will happen to you, sacrifice will become a daily ritual the moment you take this narrow path. The path that leads to Hell is well paved, no potholes and no obstacles and there’s going to be a lot of people on it, but this narrow path is going to be tough.

Jesus uses another interesting word in this same passage. In verse 14 He says the narrow path is “hard”. Implicit in this word is struggle, pain and trouble. If you’re walking down this narrow obstacle course you had better expect it to be hard. That’s why Jesus reminds His would be followers to count the cost. They needed to know the pain inherent in following Him before they ever started.

 
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Posted by on April 10, 2013 in One Word

 

Holy Quest Pt. 5 – Radical

31 Jan
Holy Quest Pt. 5 – Radical

To make the people around you holy you need to lead a radical life. Your faith needs to be evident.

Go check out Joshua 2.1-5. Israel has already entered the Promised Land, they’ve fought against many of the Canaanites and pretty much set up shop in the Promised Land. Now it’s time to enjoy their new land…but wait. They hadn’t killed all the Canaanites. They had made pacts with some and let others live in the land with them. Because they disobeyed God He promised to make the unrighteous people around them become a “thorn” in their sides. Because they half way followed God’s command there were going to be unrighteous people around them. For at least a generation they had the possibility of completely surrounding themselves with God’s people and they didn’t take it!

You won’t have that possibility, but take heart! A life completely devoted to God touches more people than you know. It’s kind of like the ripples in a pond after you throw a rock in. They start small at the epicenter, but those rings get bigger and bigger the further out they go. The longer you lead a radical life the more righteous people you’ll attract. That’s how you make everyone around you holy! You lead a righteous life.

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2013 in Biographies

 

Holy Quest Pt. 4 – Insulate Yourself

30 Jan

To make everyone around you holy you MUST insulate yourself with righteous people. Just like insulation in a house helps keeps out the unwanted temperatures from outside from coming in righteous people surrounding you can keep the negative influences from the ones you’re trying to help from getting into you. Without this barrier you will fall sooner rather than later. We were never meant to serve God alone. It works best in community. That way we can watch out for each other. Do you remember when Cain killed Abel? God started looking for Abel, but He found Cain. He asked Cain where Abel was and Cain said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” God doesn’t answer Cain’s question then, but we know from the rest of Scripture what the answer to his question is. Am I my brother’s keeper? Absolutely! I’ve got a responsibility toward you to help you be more holy. I won’t answer for your sins on Judgment Day, but I will answer for my lack of effort in helping you out of yours. However, it’s easier for the unrighteous people around me to bring me into their sin than it is for me to bring them out of theirs, so I need several people holding onto my other hand as I reach over the ledge and try to help the unrighteous back onto solid ground. Without these people in your life you will fall to sin just like you would fall over the ledge trying to hoist someone up a cliff face if you weren’t holding onto something with deep roots.

Make sure these people who you’re trusting to pull you back up are rooted deeply themselves. That doesn’t have to mean that they’ve got everything together and that their life is perfect, but it does have to mean that they are trying with everything they’ve got. We don’t need to lean on a broken staff. It’s a good way to get hurt! As these righteous people minister to you then you have the strength to minister to the people around you who need your help.

You see Joshua doing this same thing. He surrounded himself with the leaders of Israel who were holy people. Leading Israel was tough. Moses and Joshua both give us a pretty good account of the struggles with leading this particular nation. Moses was probably where Joshua learned about this whole insulation thing. In Numbers 11 Moses pleads with God, if God loves him, to kill him. The people are whining, yet again, about not having meat to eat and you got to love Moses’ reaction to God. “Are these people my kids? Why are they my burden? I’m tired of dealing with them alone!” God tells Moses to appoint 70 leaders among Israel’s tribes to help him deal with the people. Apparently Joshua continued the custom because in Judges 2.7 it says that the nation of Israel was faithful while Joshua lived and even after he died as long as the elders who helped him were still alive. Like Moses, Joshua has a great burden to bear in leading this nation, but he’s surrounded himself with righteous people he can trust to minister to him as he helps the struggling people around him. You will need to do the same.

 

 
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Posted by on January 30, 2013 in Biographies

 

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