Fearing God is the beginning of wisdom because it means that we have begun to understand the impossible gap that exists between us. We cannot cross it on our own. This was the point of the Law as I pointed out in yesterday’s post. This is why God sent Jesus to earth to live, die, and rise from the dead. So that he could build a way for us to cross that gap. Yet another incredible reason to live in awe of his power, grace, mercy, love, and splendor.
Read MoreAssurance means ‘*a positive declaration intended to give confidence or certainty’ or ‘a promise*’. So we could read this verse as “*now faith is the confident declaration of things hoped for, the certainty of things not seen.*” When we have faith, when we say we believe in something, we are exercising our ability to hold on to the promises that God has made to us through the Bible.
Read MoreRecently, this Bible passage has been occupying a lot of the personal time that I set aside to ponder. It fascinates me because of its brevity, clarity, and gospel-centered message. There is no fluff here, there is no room for small talk or kid gloves, this passage delivered from Paul to Titus is all about the mission of making God’s Kingdom known on Earth.
Read MoreBoth my wife and my daughter often smile while sleeping. It is one of the most endearing things about them, that even when they are asleep they are pleasant, happy, and beautiful.
Read MorePictures from our family trip to Saugatuck, MI.
Read MoreIf you've been following these monthly Home Screen updates you know that I've been on a mission to find the perfect Home Screen setup. Each month has been an iteration getting closer to what I want. Sometimes in these iterative cycles you see small changes, sometimes you see huge ones. This month definitely falls into the latter category...huge change.
Read More“Hey I know we’ve proven ourselves to be incapable of keeping your information secure, that we’ve allowed fake news to possibly sway the outcome of a Presidential election, that 50 Million users’ information just got stolen two weeks ago, and that we logged an additional 40 million users out of their accounts just in case their info was stolen as well…but hey, we’ve got this fancy new Portal thing that puts a microphone and camera inside your home. You should totally try it out, I mean what could go wrong?”
Read MoreIn the continuing effort to make my iPhone work for me, and not against me, I’ve settled into a new notification system, optimized my home screen, and now I’ve a found a system for productivity that I really like.
My workflow centers around three main apps: Ulysses, Things, and Fantasical. In fact, these are the three apps in my dock, so I can easily access them from anywhere on my phone. These apps are used as the foundation for what I’m calling the three pillars of my productivity workflow
Read MoreMy favorite update rolling out in the new Google Maps is the ‘Mixed-Mode Commutes’ feature. This allows you to customize your commute to include driving, walking, and using public transit. Using this mode will give you traffic info for the driving leg, departure times for the next train, and give you a time estimate for any walking portions. In addition to this, you will be able to see in real-time on the map where your bus or train is, so you’ll know if can finish reading this article or if you need to head to your pickup location.
Read MoreThe concepts, shown in this Tweet, look to add functionality to your ride. What if you could catch up with a friend over a latte while a robot drove you to work? What if you could work in an office while you commuted?
Read MoreThe iOS 12.1 public beta is now available for those of you who would like to embrace the future before the masses. To get the beta go to beta.apple.com and follow the instructions there. A quick warning though, a beta is not a complete piece of software. It’s mostly complete but there will be a higher potential for bugs, so only join the beta if you are willing to deal with some issues.
Read MoreSince last month’s Home Screen article I’ve moved 500 miles, stopped working at the Coffee Shop, and begun focusing more intently on my Podcast Network, Super Mega Corp, and this website. As such, my Home Screen has changed to accommodate this major shift in my life.
My apps are still arranged by color but due to the number of changes this month I’ve had to get a little creative with the finish product. My white row is now vertical, leaving room for four rows of three apps to complete the square. I now have a red/orange row as well as the ever present green row, purple row, and now an almost perfect blue row.
Read MoreEach Fall Apple releases a new version of iOS, the operating system that powers iPhones and iPads the world over. In line with that release Federico Viticci releases his comprehensive review on MacStories.
Read MoreI love photography, and while I prefer shooting with my DSLR, there is no denying that the cameras on today’s smartphones are incredibly capable, especially when paired with high quality apps that allow you to shoot, edit, and share all on the same device. Recently, there have been a few articles on the App Store aimed at helping you get better at photography with your phone that I have found helpful:
Long Exposure
Urban Photography
A few things have changed on my Home Screen but overall this month maintains the organizational ideas from last month.
The biggest change is the absence of a Blue row. I've kept Trello and Day One (Which just received a big update) but gotten rid of the dedicated icons for my Toggl timer Workflows. I did this because the Workflows themselves are better when triggered from the Workflow widget itself. When launched from the Home Screen the Toggl Workflows open the Workflow app, run the Workflow, and then show on-screen popups with the relevant information. When triggered from the Workflow widget, however, the Workflow runs in the background and then displays the relevant information from within the widget itself. No app switching, no popups...much nicer to use and to look at, plus this decision frees up two slots on my Home Screen, so I consider this a big win.
Read MoreMonument Valley 2 is a stellar game and this little behind the scenes editorial article on the iOS App Store is a neat look at the concepts and designs that didn’t make it into the final game. Highly suggest clicking the title of this article to go read the App Store editorial.
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Instagram is an amazing platform. You can use it to meet new people, see new places, find inspiration, and even grow your business if you are so inclined. In other words Instagram is an app that can open the world to you and, as such, a proper review of the entire app would take seven thousand of words at minimum. In this article, a mere three thousand four hundred words, I want to focus on one key feature of Instagram, the Story.
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My iPhone is a tool that I love to use. As such, I take particular care to make sure that my home screen is set up to work for me (link to taking back my iPhone). Each month I plan on sharing my home screen with you all as a way to let you know about any new cool apps I’m using, to provide my thoughts on productivity and technological usefulness, as well as to provide an online archive for myself of how I was thinking and working in the past. Ultimately, however, I hope you will find these posts helpful and informative.
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We live in a time where access to information and other people is ubiquitous. Need an answer to a question? Google it. Want to know what your friends are up to? Check their Social Media profiles. Want to communicate at all hours of the day with co-workers? Email them, Slack them, assign a new task on the company Trello Board.
This constant access has its benefits but it can also cause stress, ruin our work focus, and cause mental health problems. Our lives can easily become overrun with the requests for our time, attention, and focus whether they be from other people or from the apps and services we rely on. This is not right. Technology is supposed to work for us not against us.
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I'm making a concerted effort to write more.
It's something that I love to do but have been neglecting over the past two years in pursuit of other things (video making and podcasting). No more! Writing is my first and true love when it comes to creativity and expression. So I'm forcing myself to write on a regular basis and publish the results either here or on my Medium page depending on the topic.
This selection contains some very underdeveloped thoughts on patience and growing up. I really want to dig more into these topics but in the spirit of putting my thoughts out there, here we go.
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