YouVersion & Logos Bible Apps (Favorite iPhone Apps)

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This is the second post in my series on my favorite iPhone apps. See my other review on Angry Birds.

Since you’re probably going to be feeling guilty about playing Angry Birds on your iPhone WAY TOO MUCH, you might be looking for some spiritual encouragement. The cool thing is that there are two Bible apps that will blow you away: YouVersion and Logos Bible Software.

YouVersion

YouVersion is the product of one of the most innovative churches in the world, LifeChurch.tv based out of Edmond, OK. It is one of the most convenient ways I have ever found to read the Bible. It has 16 different English translations available to read (along with a number of other languages). You can share inspirational verses with your friends through Facebook/Twitter/Email/SMS. You can follow one of many reading plans they have available that will help you stay consistent in your daily Bible reading and set it at the pace you want. And the greatest thing about this app is that it is FREE!!!

Really, if you’re a Christ-follower and you have an iPhone this app is a no-brainer. You need to get it. I’ve been using it for well over a year (started with it on my iPod Touch) and it’s my go to app for reading the Bible every day.

Logos

If you’re wanting to go a little deeper than just reading the Bible and jump into deeper studying then you need to check out Logos. I’ve been using Logos Bible Software on my computers for about 15 years. It’s the best Bibly Study Software available, but you’re going to need to slap down some cash to get started with it. I think I’ve invested close to $2,000 in my digital library.

This past fall, in tandem with their release of version 4 of their software, Logos released their free app for the iPhone. If you haven’t bought the software for your computer you’ll still be able to use it with some Bibles and other resources for free. But if you have purchased Logos, or if you’re planning on buying it soon, then you should get the iPhone app.

One of my favorite features of the app is the ability to do quick studies of Greek/Hebrew words or general topics right from my phone. It only takes a few seconds to do what used to take me a few hours. Seriously. If you’re a student of the Bible it’s awesome how deep you can go without getting bogged down flipping through the pages of a concordance or dictionary.

I love being able to tap and hold on an English word to quickly see the Greek/Hebrew word that it came from. I use this many Sundays when I’m curious about the text our preacher is going through that day (I promise, I’m NOT playing Angry Birds in church). I also like being able to quickly check out a few different commentaries whenever a thought comes to me. I really don’t have any excuses to not getting into the word.

If you’d like to see a more in-depth tutorial on what Logos Bible Software on the iPhone can do check out the video below:

YouVersion and Logos are both available for free in the App Store.
Bible

Those are my two favorite Bible apps for the iPhone. Do you have any other Bible apps you’ve found useful??? Share in the comments.

Angry Birds (Favorite iPhone Apps)

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This is my first post in my new series on my favorite iPhone apps.

Any good series on iPhone apps MUST include Angry Birds in it. If you come across a list that doesn’t include you should ignore the the rest of that list and possibly never visit the site again. Angry Birds is without question the best game that I’ve ever played since Tetris and possibly more addictive.

The basic premise of the game is that you’re on the team of the birds, whose eggs have been stolen by some green swine of questionable character, and you’re not happy about. In order to get your eggs back you go after the pigs, knocking down their forts along the way. Check out the promo video below:

At first glance, Angry Birds might look like it’s a kids game. But don’t let the look deceive you. The game is definitely appropriate for kids of all ages. You can choose just to play to beat the levels and get through the game, but there’s also an online leader board that will let you see how your scores stack up against the rest of the world.

One of my favorite parts of Angry Birds is that you’re able to play it whether you have only 5 minute or 5 hours to play and you’ll be able to enjoy it! I’ve spent quite a few nights staying up WAY TOO LATE into the wee hours of the night trying to get past some of the more challenging levels.

If you’re an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad owner and you have not yet bought Angry Birds, what are you waiting for? It’s the best $0.99 you’ll spend in a long time.

Now that Rovio has released the newest levels as of Monday I can resume my quest of swine domination.

Order the app for $0.99 from the App Store.
Angry

Learning to Pray From a Two Year Old

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Almost every night I put my two year old daughter to bed. It’s about an hour long process between bath time, brushing her teeth, reading a book and Bible, prayer time, and singing songs. It’s honestly one of my favorite parts of my day, because I know she will be doing these things on her own in the not too distant future. I remind myself that I’ll miss these moments, so I’m trying my best to relish every moment.

Last night God taught me a lesson on prayer through my daughter’s prayer. I usually lead her through a series of things to thank God for. After a few regular items (family, friends, etc.) I prompt her to say thank you for whatever she thinks of. Typically she will look around the room and say thank you for the things she sees. This usually includes her butterfly mobile, toys, and the flowers her aunt painted on the wall.

Usually I just smile and think it’s cute that she’s just praying for what she can see, but last night God really convicted me that I should be truly thankful for every little thing I own. Sadly, I usually take these things for granted and skip on to the “bigger” things in life. But the life and faith of a two year old doesn’t allow the small things to be skipped over. And so I was reminded again of the importance of coming to Jesus with a childlike faith.

Thank you, Emory, for teaching your daddy one way to be more like Jesus.

Image by Josh Kenzer

New Series Coming Next Week: Favorite iPhone Apps

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Starting next week I’ll be writing a series of posts on my favorite iPhone apps. I’ve tried out quite a few apps and have been able to do some really, really cool things with them that I would never have dreamed of being able to do with a cell phone five years ago. Even though I was a late-comer to the iPhone party I’m now all in. It’s one of the most useful, fun, and innovative products I’ve ever owned.

So, in preparation for this series, I’d like to hear from you. What are the apps that you’ve found that you love? What are some apps that you couldn’t imagine living without now? Which games do you love? Which apps do you hate?

Share your apps in the comments!

UPDATE: I’ll be updating this post with links below to all the reviews I’ve done.

Image by Yutaka Tsutano

The Mindset of 2014 College Grads. What will 2030’s List Look Like?

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We had a conversation at our staff lunch today about the Beloit College Mindset List. The list started at the college as an aid to help their faculty understand how to better relate to new students, but it has grown since its inception into a helpful snapshot for people everywhere to understand how rapidly our culture is changing.

Here’s a snippet from this year’s list:

The class of 2014 has never found Korean-made cars unusual on the Interstate and five hundred cable channels, of which they will watch a handful, have always been the norm. Since “digital” has always been in the cultural DNA, they’ve never written in cursive and with cell phones to tell them the time, there is no need for a wrist watch. Dirty Harry (who’s that?) is to them a great Hollywood director. The America they have inherited is one of soaring American trade and budget deficits; Russia has presumably never aimed nukes at the United States and China has always posed an economic threat.

It’s a pretty fun read with a list of 75 items, some of which made me feel pretty old at the ripe old age of 31.

Looking to the future to when my oldest daughter will graduate (possibly) in the year 2030, I imagine the world will be very, VERY different. Here are some ideas that I think might make the list in twenty years:

  • Will think it’s a bargain to pay $5 per gallon for gas.
  • Won’t have a clue what DVDs or CDs are.
  • Blockbuster won’t even be a memory for them.
  • Apple will be seen as an old, unhip company instead of the elite buzz they have now.
  • Will laugh at their parents talking about facebook, since it will be replaced by something newer and better.
  • Won’t know how to use a computer mouse, since they’ll grow up with touch-screens like the iPad.
  • The daily printed newspaper won’t exist in any form.
  • A “home phone” won’t make any sense in their minds.
  • They won’t understand having to schedule a time to watch a TV show or movie since they’ll be able to watch whatever they want whenever and wherever they are.
  • Going to college will be less popular than taking online classes.

As a church leader, I think it’s good for us to keep an eye on what’s happening in culture around us. I’ve written previously on what churches can learn from the demise of the print industry and I think preachers everywhere should keep their eye on the culture so that they can best present the never-changing message of the Gospel to an ever-changing world. We probably could use an update to the statement attributed to Karl Barth to “Read the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other,” don’t you think?

What do you think the list might include in 20 years? Will my list be accurate at all?

Image by flickr user Matti Mattila

Must Watch Video for All MacBook Owners

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I’ve been a MacBook Pro owner for a little over a year now, and apparently I’ve been winding the cable on my power brick the wrong way this whole time. Lifehacker to the rescue. They posted a video and link the the site Tested that will hopefully help me get a much longer life out of my (expensive) power brick.

The main concept is that you don’t want to put too much tension on the two end of the power cord. That could both create a fire hazard and cause the power brick’s life to shorten. Both are not good in my books.

If you own a MacBook, do yourself a favor and watch the video below. If you’re an Apple hater you’ll probably find humor in the video, too. They take a couple shots at Apple and all of its minions. Good stuff.

Got any tips like this for your Mac products or laptop? Share in the comments!

Public Facial Recognition: The End of Privacy or Awesome Use of Technology?

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Mark Cuban just blogged about a new company he just invested in. While he didn’t give any details about who the company is, he did outline some of the key features. The two main features he described are: 1) Accurate, real-time stats on how many people or vehicles are in a given place at a particular time; and 2) Facial recognition of people in public places. Here’s an excerpt of what he wrote:

The next extension is to install it in places where we can add facial recognition software. So rather than someone checking in to a specific application, we would already know you are there.

I’ve been using location-based apps (like foursquare and Gowalla) for a little while now and I have conflicted feelings. At one point it’s kind of fun to let people know the places you’ve been or are at, but at the same time it’s kind of creepy to know that random people can know you’re not at home and can take advantage of that (see PleaseRobMe). I haven’t been creeped out enough yet to stop using Gowalla, but I’ve scaled back my use some.

What Cuban is talking about could take things to a whole new level. He’s right that many of us already have a publicly-accesible picture on our facebook profiles or other sites, so in a sense this data is already out there. But it would be really, really weird to walk into Walmart and hear a computerized voice say “Welcome, Kevin Rossen.” I imagine that something like that will happen in the not too distant future. I can think of some cool ways that churches could use a technology like this.

What do you think? Go read Mark’s post then come back here to discuss. I’d love to read your thoughts!

—UPDATE—
TechCrunch posted about this today and thought they had some interesting thoughts as to when this type of technology might be commonplace. I think they’re on to something. Here’s an exceprt:

But to say that the check-in is 2010 implies that 2011 is going to be the year this stuff starts coming into play. I say no way. We’ll be lucky if we see that kind of stuff in play in 2020. Not because the technology isn’t there — it definitely will be, and probably already is — it’s because we’re just not there yet as a society.

Image by Flickr user Rob Pongsajapan