Jeff Noble's Blog, page 28

Why I got rid of my iPhone X

For those of you panicking and thinking, “Jeff is the one who talked me into my first iPod/Macbook/iPhone etc, don’t worry. I’m still an Apple fanboy. I’ve been a rabid avid cheerleader/spokesperson for Apple since 1988. It’s going to be ok. But strap in, because all is not right with the Apple universe these days.

I am not some snarky Microsoft user who doesn’t know the difference and is lobbing thought bombs over the digital fence. I’ve owned more Apple products than Cher has had facelifts. So this critique comes from someone “in the family.” (It’s ok to talk bad about your own family; you just don’t want anyone else doing so.)

I have skipped very few iPhone versions. I still remember the heady/surreal days of owning the first iPhone. I would have people stop me and ask to see it, marveling at the touchscreen. Since then, I’ve owned all of the iterations of iPhone (except the Pluses).

I recently used an upgrade and got the iPhone X. It looked and felt.. special. It was very 2007ish. When it arrived, I indeed thought, “Now this is different.” It wasn’t just the iPhone 6 repackaged with faster innards. It was an entirely new phone, with new gestures, interactions and features – but still running the familiar iOS. It felt Apple.

I even had college students wanting to see it, to play with it, and to just… feel it in their hands. It felt like those original days of the iPhone. People were curious.

I now think that the underlying curiosity for people is not “Wow! This is an incredible phone!” but it’s more like “Wow! I wonder what kind of device idiots will pay $999 for..”

So here’s my assessment:

[image error] I hated the iPhone X.

Yep. And I’m sad about it. I hate to hate the iPhone X. So let me share what is good and right about the phone before dogging it.

What’s good:

The screen. It’s amazing. Edge to edge. Beautiful. Even the tone of the screen is attractive and strangely… soothing? I’m embarrassed to say that, but it was just a pleasure to look at.
Animojis. The incorporation of facial recognition into the phone’s tech allows you to turn yourself into an emoji. Yep. It’s really cool. I don’t think I would have used it long-term, because it’s… well, juvenile. On the other hand, I am juvenile, so I really enjoyed sending people memos as the poopmoji.
The size. It was just about right. It was only a few centimeters larger than the iPhone 6/7/8. But with the new edge-to-edge screen, it felt much larger. I do NOT like the larger phone sizes of the iPhone pluses, and I wouldn’t have even considered the X if it was a plus size.
Portrait camera. And other camera features. These have been kept from us iPhone minus users and only available to the plus counterparts, so having a camera that is amazing was nice for a bit.
That’s it. Yep.

What’s not

Many of my dislikes of the iPhone are echoed by Dennis’ assessment. He said:

I’ve never had an Apple product that refused to bend to my will with such stubbornness. I realised I didn’t need to be on the cutting edge of technology with a phone with a gorgeous screen and facial recognition – I just need a phone that works for me.

A phone shouldn’t be this difficult to use.

Therein lies my complaints..

The new gestures. I found myself after a week absolutely HATING how you actually get into the phone. It felt like a Herculean digital effort to just unlock it. Granted, this is all #firstworldproblems, but I genuinely felt like Apple had made it harder to simply make a phone call. To unlock the phone..

You must first wake it with a tap on the screen.
Immediately followed by swiping up from the bottom of the screen.

(Both of these can be accomplished with one thumb, but.. the way you have to hold the phone to do this always felt like I didn’t have a firm grip on the phone. As opposed to having your thumb on the home button to wake it, and the resulting pressure of that gives you security in not dropping a $1000 computer on the pavement.)


Then you must look at the phone. It’s amazing to see less than a second of response – when it works. It worked for me 95% of the time. The vast majority. BUT…

It didn’t work for me enough that it was irritating. Which meant that my thumb unlock on my iPhone 7 was more consistent.
Also, it didn’t work if I had on sunglasses.

Rant: I couldn’t stand it. I just couldn’t stand it. I began to think… why are we allowing the technology of facial recognition to drive up the costs and reduce the phone’s usefulness? Who needs that much security on their phone? I don’t work for the NSA. I just want to be able to get into my phone quickly – without interrupting life patterns.

The glass back. It might be beautiful, but really… what is Apple thinking???! I read review after review about the iPhone X being the most “breakable” iPhone ever. Let’s make an expensive technological marvel, that people will be using a LOT and encase it in glass. Greeaaaaat idea.
Accessing apps and closing them. Another example of new gestures that actually make the phone harder to use. Because there’s no home button, you can no longer double click the home button to bring up open apps. On the X, you must swipe up (the apps will show up) and then HOLD your finger there or drag slightly to the left or right to keep the apps open. At this point, you can scroll through them to click on another app, but you cannot swipe up to close/quit an app. There’s ONE MORE STEP. You have to tap and HOLD again to get a little red “x” to appear above each app. Then you can either tap the red x to close the app or swipe up to close the app. This was a definite pain, and I found it inconsistent and difficult to manage after a week of constant use.
Accessibility. On the iPhone 6/7/8, you can tap the Home Button once lightly and the screen will drop down to give you access to buttons near the top of the screen. This is handy for one-handed use – especially with larger phones. It prevents awkward hand stretch moments. On the X, you swipe DOWN from the bottom edge of the screen. Many users say that they get used to it and it’s not an issue. I couldn’t. My phone case (which I bought to protect the $1000 investment) always seemed to prevent me from utilizing this swipe down gesture consistently, and I found myself repeating it — which, again, makes you feel like the phone is preventing ease of use and was instead “an Apple product that refused to bend to my will.”

Overall, why is Apple missing the boat?

I wrote a while back “7 things Apple doesn’t do well,” and here I add an eighth:

Apple is embracing “tweaking” rather than being innovative.

Just look at the form factors of iPhones since the 6. The iPhone 6 is the iPhone 7 is the iPhone 8. One reason the iPhone X captured our imagination is that it felt like a new phone.

However, the facial recognition is a tweak of the thumb print security. I imagine the Apple un-innovators saying, “How can we wow people with security?” Someone says, “How about making every Apple customer have a mark on their skin – like a barcode – that their phone could scan, and they could buy and sell with that mark too?” Someone else says, “That sounds way too much like the mark of the beast in the book of Revelation. First guy responds, “Your FACE is the mark of the beast.” Intern says, “Ooooo. How about we use people’s faces as the key to unlocking their devices?!” Everyone in room: “Oooooo. Yeah!” Then intern says, “And to make it fun, we could use the technology so someone can be a talking pile of crap!!!” Response: “Oooooo. Yeesssss.” And they all kiss the poster of Steve Jobs on the way out of the room on their way to implementing this idea.

The new gestures.. blah. They are just a tweak since, in order to impress, they took away our home button and wanted the entire screen to be interactive. The absence of a home button requires something, however. I would prefer the option of a home button. It’s easier. I promise. Keep it simple. The new gestures just don’t float my boat.

I think the bigger problem is that iPhone versions are just.. faster, better camera, bigger. While the iPhone X offered some innovations, we now see that the innovations are just tweaks of previously existing processes. The iPhone X is not a step forward. It’s a step to the side. It’s more of a technological option in the Apple-verse rather than a marvel.

Maybe Apple has hit a wall with iPhone innovation? What else could be done? I’m merely the consumer. I just get the feeling that Apple isn’t listening to users. That was OK when Steve Jobs was alive. He had this intuitive, scary sense about what we would enjoy and use. The Apple Elite today don’t seem to have the same sense. I think it’s important for them to learn (maybe for the first time) to listen to users.

Until then.. I returned my X to the AT&T store and walked out with an upgrade/downgrade. I had the 7. Now I have the 8. Because it’s the same form factor, it doesn’t feel like I have a new phone. It IS faster. I can tell. But… it just doesn’t feel like I have a new phone. And no one is asking to see it either.

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A Jesus Christmas

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Here’s my disclaimer: I’m a pastor. Now you know. But that’s not why I write about a Jesus Christmas.

Last week I preached a message in which I encouraged my church to allow a “tsunami of praise” to flow through them this Christmas season. One of our church members blogged about the message. You can also listen to it here.

I asked two questions in the message:

How have I communicated it this week?
What would it look like if everyone in our church to use their voices, their pens, their social media to sing, proclaim, and declare God’s faithful love to our world?

So here’s my answer… and I don’t write this as a pastor:

I love Jesus Christ with all my heart. 

I want others to discover His goodness, His mercy, His forgiveness, His hope, His peace, His power to change you. He has changed (and is changing) me.

I was seven years old when I was “saved” – when I made a conscious decision to pray and ask Jesus to come into my life. When I released my seven year-old self into His arms, committing all that I knew of myself then into His hands, trusting that He is real, that He is who the Bible says He is, and believing with all my heart that He will joyfully allow me into heaven because of my simple belief in Him.

I was a regular church-goer as a child and youth – sometimes dragged to church when my immaturity or selfishness craved more bed or wanted to forgo “Sunday night church.” It was in junior high that I heard a man – he wasn’t a minister – speak at a youth group retreat on the importance of “daily quiet time.” He explained that reading the Bible daily and growing in prayer was important to cultivate and enjoy my relationship with God.

It wasn’t about attending church (though that is significant because God made us interdependent). It was about loving Jesus and discovering daily with new surprise.. just HOW MUCH Jesus loves ME. The childhood song so many of us learned is true:

Jesus loves me! This I know

For the Bible tells me so

Little ones to Him belong

They are weak, but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me

Yes, Jesus loves me

Yes, Jesus loves me

The Bible tells me so.

 

And so this Christmas, as I reflect on this amazing journey of life I’ve been on, I can sing, declare, and proclaim with everyone else that Jesus is Christmas. He is life. He is joy. He is my Savior.

All the trite Christmas expressions..

(“Jesus is the reason for the season”)

cannot sustain the sublime significance of a Savior born to die. The manger leads to the cross.

(“Wise men still seek him.”)

Indeed.  But the deeper reality is that for me – not a pastor, just a guy – Jesus lives. He loves me. It is my earnest desire that you explore the story of Jesus. Start with Google, or start with Luke 2. The important thing is just that you begin. That YOU seek.

Merry Christmas, and may you encounter and embrace the love of Jesus.

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Four responses to Jesus at Christmas

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I’ve been reading through Desiring God’s Advent Devotionals this season. They are soul-refreshing. The December 9 entry is Two Kinds of Opposition to Jesus, and it struck me deeply. For me, it illuminated four responses to Jesus at Christmas that have been present since the first Christmas.

Indifference.

These are people who know who Jesus is (or who He claims to be) and just. don’t. care. They shrug their shoulders and live their lives but completely factor faith out of life. They innoculate the thirst of their souls with egg nog and activity, lights and sounds, distractions and pursuits.

“Assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [Herod] inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.” (Matthew 2.4)

So they told him, and that was that: back to business as usual. The sheer silence and inactivity of the leaders is overwhelming in view of the magnitude of what was happening.

These people were “in the know,” but they were not “in the now.” They had the knowledge of the Savior’s birth location, but in the presence of these mysterious and regal visitors from the East (the wise men), they simply did nothing. Such are people today who have brushed against the wonder and mystery of Jesus and live as if He doesn’t matter.

Inactive.

Ask yourself.. how the CHIEF PRIESTS of Israel (responsible for leading people into a right relationship with God) could encounter these magi from the East who had traveled so far, claiming to be searching for the JEWISH Messiah and them not follow them to Bethlehem?!!! It’s ludicrous. If there was a chance that the Messiah had been born, don’t you think they should have been there with gifts as well? They simply did nothing. They weren’t indifferent. They cared. They just cared for themselves and their own influence, and They chose inactivity.

People today who KNOW Jesus and understand who He is and yet choose to look the other way, choose not to serve, choose not to be involved in ministry, choose not to give, choose not to enjoy a love relationship with Him… it’s ludicrous. Christmas invites our investment and involvement.

Incensed.

Herod the King would tolerate no challenger to his throne.

“When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.” (Matthew 2.3)

Disturbed was an understatement. He inquired of the scribes and priests to learn of the prophesied birthplace of the Messiah. He was even helpful in pointing the magi on their way to Bethlehem, but he deviously requested them to “report back.” When they didn’t, it was not long after before he ordered the massacre of Jesus-aged babies in the region, seeking to wipe out any “king” other than himself that might garner the loyalty of the people.

“When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.” (Matthew 2.16)
Invited.

Angels from the Realms of Glory was written in 1816. Its chorus is an invitation:

Come and worship,

Come and worship;

Worship Christ, the new-born King.

Wise men were invited into the Messiah’s presence. Shepherds were invited to celebrate Jesus’ birth. Children are invited into His presence. YOU are invited into Jesus’ presence. That’s what Christmas is. It’s an invitation to mankind to care (not indifferent), to turn (not be inactive), to release our desire to be in control (not be incensed when we are not the star) and to come.. humbly.. into Jesus’ presence and worship.

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Giving Tuesday.. not a time for leftovers

[image error]It’s just five years old, this Giving Tuesday thing. According the the fount of all things true on the internet, Wikipedia says that the concept and social momentum behind Giving Tuesday was created by Mashable, a technology website in 2012. On the other hand, the GT website says it was created by the team at the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact at the 92nd Street Y. We’ll let them sort that out..

The November rush toward commercialism almost obliterates Thanksgiving in its wake. Shoppers line up and wage battle for Black Friday, and trackpads and mice get clicked to death on Cyber Monday. Perhaps it was cultural guilt for our unashamed and excessive embrace of hyper materialism? Whatever the prompting, I am grateful that our culture has begun to make #GivingTuesday a “thing.”

A quick peek at the graphic at Wiki shows the giving momentum behind this social initiative:

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What culture is just recently embracing, the Spirit behind Christmas has always said:

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

One thing I believe #GivingTuesday gets wrong is the placement following the mad rush to spend. I’d love to see the day moved to the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. That would prioritize our giving and challenge us to plan accordingly rather than allowing #GivingTuesday to be a recipient of our financial leftovers.

What will you give to today?

Here’s my plan:

[image error] I’m giving to the International Mission Board’s  Jesus Storybook Bible Translation Project . The goal is to raise $20,000 to provide a translation of this excellent children’s Bible in the Basque language. This unreached people group in Spain is one that our church has embraced. I’d encourage you to at least give to it what you might spend on a latte. [Give here]
Northstar Church’s Immeasurably More campaign. I love this faith family, and I am excited about their first ministry center! Consider giving what you’d spend on internet over the course of a month (or year!). [Give here]
University of Arkansas at Monticello Baptist Collegiate Ministry is also on my giving radar. I served as the BCM Director there for eight years, and a former student is now the director. I love how God continues to make disciples through this excellent ministry. I’d encourage you to consider supporting them with at least what you’d pay for a month of Netflix. [Give here]
Virginia Tech Baptist Collegiate Ministry. Last year I wrote about giving to campus ministries, and as you can tell, I feel strongly about supporting them and hope you do too. They are strategically instrumental in reaching young adults for Jesus and training leaders for our churches. [Give here]
Virginia Tech Cru. [Give here]

What’s your plan? Leave a comment!

If you are giving today, leave the name of the church, charity, or organization that you will be giving to in the comments. And share about #GivingTuesday on your social media accounts or blog. It helps spread the word. Mashable has a great list of 5 reasons why you should participate in #GivingTuesday, but I honestly think they are rather anemic.

Why do YOU think it’s important to give?
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The humility of Thanksgiving

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It’s Thanksgiving. Family. Parades. Turkey and sweet potato casserole. Fireplaces. Football. 5Ks.

While the history of Thanksgiving as a holiday is slippery to pinpoint, we do know that George Washington proclaimed November 26, 1789 as a nationwide day of Thanksgiving. It is also documented that pilgrims and Puritans celebrated a time of thanksgiving in 1619 (Virginia) and 1621(Massachusetts). If you’re interested in more, the History Channel has a great page here with more.

Thanksgiving – with all its tradition and time with family and friends – invites you deeper than the trimmings. Last Sunday, I preached a message on being thankful where I observed that humility is required to be thankful. You cannot be full of pride and simultaneously full of gratitude. By its nature, gratitude is a posture of the heart in which we acknowledge that something/someone external has influenced us in a sublime way.

There was a moment in Jesus’ ministry where he healed 10 people at one time. (Luke 17:11-19) They were all lepers, and He did it simply by speaking and sending them to be examined by the priest (a necessary step before they would be readmitted into society). As the lepers were on their way, they were healed. Imagine. All 10 would soon be able to walk among crowds without announcing “Unclean! Unclean!” They would be able to sit and eat with family and friends again. They would be accepted and not outcast. Jesus’ healing not only gave them health but community.

They were obviously in a hurry to see the priest as their skin cleared along the way. Their voices were lifted in alternating tones of astonishment and joy. They had had their great need in life met – in a moment. The thing they all longed for most had been suddenly, and graciously met. In a moment, all had changed. Years of longing, praying, crying out had dramatically been replaced by a hurried rush to begin life again. First stop… the priest.

Except for one ex-leper.

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. (v15-16)

It was a beautiful scene of thanksgiving. Here’s one thing I don’t want to forget. If we are not careful, we will forget to thank Jesus for what He has done. In moments of dramatic provision, we will – in our enthusiasm – embrace the gift and neglect the giver. If such ingratitude can happen in big moments, imagine the shocking repetition of our ingratitude for how God blesses and provides in our mundane regularity.

We forget that our very breath is a gift.

[image error]Here’s how the leper entered into Thanksgiving: he turned back. He stopped what he was doing. He reversed his course. And he turned back into the presence of Jesus. When he got there, “he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks.” THAT is humility, and it’s the necessary posture for true Thanksgiving.

Beyond our breath, be thankful…

For excitement. For joyful disbelief (no way, no way!). For wonder. For provision. For breath. For hope. For encouragement. For tears. For eyes. For brilliant leaves. For blankets and fuzzy socks. For children. For emotions. For parents. For things that go beep. For fear. For health (good and bad). For Christians. For electricity. For coffee. For peace.

But most of all.. most of all… let us be thankful for the person who gifts all of these to us for our good and growth and enjoyment and blessing…. for Jesus. Where Jesus is, ingratitude cannot reign.

May your Thanksgiving be truly full of thanksgiving.

Be present. Be gracious. Be hopeful. Don’t focus so much on your great need in life (GNIL). Focus on the Great Giver of Life.

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D28 – enjoying “small” in discipleship

Back in 2014, I wrote about how our church was in the process of rethinking how we do discipleship. At the time, we had a box on our Sunday response card that said “I’d like to be discipled.” When someone checked that box, we attempted to pair them with someone in our church who would meet weekly with them to lead them through recommended books on growing in their faith.

[image error]We became overwhelmed with the requests and were unable to sustain that model. As we gathered to rethink things, we created a small group (3-4) discipleship model which we call D28. You can read more about it here.

This semester, we overhauled the material again, and we’ve offered participants (over 60) a two-track approach. We’ve studied Ephesians together, using various study guides (leader’s choice) and we’ve focused the D28 materials on two foundational Christian practices:

How to have a quiet time (Time Alone With God)
How to share your faith

My group meets each Thursday morning at 6:00. It’s earrrrrrly. But after we make coffee and get a few swigs in us, we are quite the chatter boxes. I’ve really enjoyed the guys in it, which have consisted of a CFO, a dentist and a campus ministry staffer. We have used Scott Duvall’s book Getting the Most Out of Ephesians as our study text. While I may be facilitating the group, the guys in the group contribute just as much as I do, and it’s been rewarding for me to be a participant just as much as a leader in the group.

One of the things I love about how our D28 groups are structured now is that they focus on scripture. Previously, we were assigning four books (all great books), but we discovered that it was hard to get participants to read them all. So we shortened the D28 term (from 5 months down to 10 sessions) and offer a second D28 term for those who would like to continue. We have read through Ephesians this term while simultaneously teaching the two practices.

During the 10 weeks, we offer two D28 Labs – these are 90 minute breakouts which we’ve offered on Saturday mornings. They focused on the two Christian practices mentioned above.

As our church has focused on being intentional with our discipleship ministry, we’ve seen fruit. People who were previously participants are now leading groups, and we emphasize the importance of being a disciple-maker from the very first session. We want to cast the vision early that what you receive should be passed on.

Questions/Feedback

What does your church use for discipleship ministry?
Have you ever been involved in intentional discipleship – either one-on-one or in a small group?
What materials have been most helpful to you in your Christian growth?

D-Harmony

Back when we were still trying to match people up, we had a LOT of fun producing this video…

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Is Facebook listening to your phone calls?

I recently listened to the Reply All podcast which asked this very question. Not only are Matt Lieber and Alex Blumberg very funny together, the conclusion of their 33 minute podcast will make you ask yourself one question: Should I delete my Facebook account?

Their research attempted to get to the bottom of whether Facebook listens in on your phone calls. Anecdotal evidence provided by interviews and podcast listeners who called in for the episode will make you think twice.

Give the podcast a listen here.

After listening, you’ll be deeply disturbed by how much Facebook already knows about you. If you would like a quick peek, click this link, which will take you to your Settings in Facebook and from there to Ads, which will show you how they have you described and what information they provide to their advertisers about you.

Here’s a quick look at what they knew about me:

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Got the heebie-jeebies yet? To ensure more privacy (if you even trust them to abide by it), here’s some things you can do:

To get more privacy on Facebook:

On each of the categories (shown above – yours will be different from mine), click on the bar, and then click on the “x” that will appear on the right. It will turn off that category.
Then you should click on Ad Settings and turn off each category there:

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Click on “Your Interests” and a bunch of stuff will pop up. Notice that there are tabs at the top of this as well. You will need to click on the “x” next to each tile to remove it. Facebook uses your interests to market you to its advertisers.[image error]
Finally, click on “Advertisers You’ve Interacted with” and click the “x” on each tile there as well.

What else can you do?

[image error] For starters, you can visit the Webchoices site and check your browser so that you can opt-out of advertisers using your information when you visit certain sites.
If you use Safari, make sure the options in Preferences to “Prevent cross-site tracking” and “Prevent sites from tracking me” are checked.
If you are now uber concerned about how search engines sell what you’ve searched for to others, try using the Duck Duck Go search engine as your default. It will not track you.
Finally, Gimlet Media (the host of the Reply All podcast) has a great source here on How to Avoid Being Tracked by Facebook that has other tips for internet privacy.

Remember all that talk about the NSA listening in on us? It turns out that it may be our devices. Do you own an Amazon Echo or Dot? If you want a really official freak-out moment, check out this YouTube video. I did it with my Dot a few months back, and it did the same thing. Nowadays, it responds to you rather than just shutting off. (They’re on to us!)

 

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Life Hack: Get Pocket

From Wiki:

Life hack refers to any trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method that increases productivity and efficiency, in all walks of life. The term was primarily used by computer experts who suffer from information overload or those with a playful curiosity in the ways they can accelerate their workflow in ways other than programming.

Information overload. You can’t scan twitter or scroll Facebook or read the news on your phone or computer without feeling like you’ve got your mouth to a fire hydrant. Because there IS SO MUCH INFORMATION, you are quickly reduced to “scan mode.” The problem with scanning is that not everything you read is equal.

One of the downsides to our technology and information is that it tends to delude us into thinking everything readable is to be consumed at a fast pace. We click and browse and jump from news, to YouTube, to the latest culture screamer topic with little discipline to process what should truly deserve our careful attention.

[image error]What if you NEED to read a blog entry by a friend that will encourage you deeply, but because you’re in the seek and scan cycle of clicking and surfing, you merely glance instead of glean?

That’s where this LIFE HACK comes in handy. I want to encourage you to get Pocket. It’s both an app and a website. It allows you set up a short cut button in your browser even.

What’s Pocket?

It’s an online tool that allows you to save/bookmark content on the web for later reading. I’ve been using it for several years now, and it’s invaluable. I discipline myself to read the content on my Pocket when I can process well and think.

Most of my “A La Carte” entries on this blog come from reviewing entries on Pocket. When I read an entry, I’ll “tag” it with a subject so that I’m essentially indexing and filing great web content for future research and review. It’s also helpful for my sermon prep at times, as I can dive into a subject I’ve tagged for further information.

I encourage you to try it and set aside a 15 minute window, one day a week, to review what you’ve “pocketed.” See if it doesn’t help you engage with content better.

And if you find yourself being encouraged by that friend’s blog article that you otherwise would have missed, make sure to click over and leave them a comment!

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For the Love of Money

This past Sunday at church, I preached a message that launched a three-week series called For the Love of Money. I rarely promote a sermon that I’ve preached. It’s just a little.. self-promotional? However, we’ve received significant feedback on this message, and the college small group that meets in our house engaged with the material well this past Monday.

I wanted to tackle the issue of “money” without shying away from the typical allegation that “churches always talk about money.” That default defense actually keeps churches from talking about something that radically affects (and infects) our churches today – a love of money.

In the message, I address our use, misuse and abuse of money and examine why the Bible says that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. In our series, we have promised to “pull no punches in an all-out attack on faulty thinking, greed and fear related to our finances.”

Listen here:

http://northstarfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/sermons/2017/10/10152017.mp3

You can also review the sermon notes here.

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Tithe your social media influence

I keep hoping Facebook will die. Back in 2013, I said, “Facebook is dying with the younger generation” based on anecdotal observations with my kids who preferred Instagram, Snapchat and GroupMe.

Whatever the digital pipeline, this thing called social media isn’t going away.

What does that mean for those of us who are followers of Jesus?

[image error]While I could post about ensuring that your content is passed through the testing of Ephesians 4:29, this post is about tithing your social media influence. The Bible teaches tithing clearly in the Old Testament, and it’s assumed in the New Testament, with the additional encouragement to give cheerfully and sacrificially. Tithing is the practice of giving at least 10% of one’s income to God.

I’d like to suggest that believers tithe their social media influence. Consider using 1/10 posts that you make for the glory of God and the blessing of others. There are endless ways to do this. You can post/share:

Scripture
Something about your church
Reflections from your devotional time
Encouragement
Links to sermons
Links to worship videos that inspire you
Links to stories that uplifting and reflect Christ
Thanksgiving for answered prayers
Recognizing those in the church who serve
Respond to posts you see with promised prayers or encouragement from scripture

Social media doesn’t seem to be fading in influence. In fact, it continues to reshape the way we communicate, interact and it even has dramatically impacted our attention spans. The challenge for Christ followers is to avoid being mastered by social media and instead to seek to be a steward of your social media influence.

Commit today to experiment by tithing your social media influence. Leave a comment below if you’re up to the experiment!

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