Tablet Decisions...

Fall is the time for tablets.  Most major Android tablets have recently been released or are set to announce soon, the new Amazon Kindle Fires were just recently announced, and the iPad event is coming up this month.

Some may say that a tablet is an unnecessary device but I find that they do many things very well, and for me fill a specific need.  I've had both 7 and 10 inch tablets and have used both sizes of iPads as well.  I had the first Amazon Kindle Fire, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Asus Nexus 7, and now the 2nd generation Asus Nexus 7.  My particular use case has some to do with my vocation and some to do with how I use technology.  7 inch tablets are a particular need for me because I use them to preach and to officiate weddings a funerals.  I've found that a 7 inch tablet in a nice leather case simulates the look of a Bible or book from the front for those that may balk at the use of such a device in worship.  Using technology for preaching has helped me be better prepared as well as keeps sermons organized within my chosen file system - Google Drive.  A second important use for me is for reading.  I have all of my books on my tablet, whether in the Google Play Books app or Amazon Kindle app.  I never have to decide which books to carry with me, cause they're all there.  (In a future post, I'll outline which e-book app I prefer and why.)  I also use my tablet for content creation, such as outlining my sermon notes using a bluetooth keyboard.  And of course I use my tablets to surf the web and play games as well.

So which tablet is best.  That completely depends on you.  Let me outline a case for each option.

• Apple iPad: If you're reading this, you probably know I am not a fan of Apple's products, services, or business practices.  But there are cases that an ipad is the best purchase for a user.  Also, iPads are well made and very well supported.  Here are a few reasons to go with an ipad.
• You have an iPhone:  Stick with an ecosystem.  Whether you choose Android or IOS, apps you purchase are sharable between multiple devices on your account, so if you have an iPhone, you should stick with IOS for a tablet.  Plus, you know how the OS works, so it makes sense to you.
• Tech illiterate?: Are you a little less than what we'd call tech-savvy?  If you want the simplest experience on a tablet, the iPad is for you.  (Though IOS 7 is changing that somewhat.)  IOS is not easy enough for a kindergartener, it's easy enough for a nursing home resident.  (Kindergarteners pick up on this stuff incredibly quickly.)  For the most part, IOS is a grid of app icons that you touch to open, and a home button to take you back to the grid.  Easy peasy.  (Yes, there is much more that you can do, but that's the simple basics.)
• Specific App Needs: My wife is a preschool director and teacher.  Some educational resources only work in IOS apps.  And many school districts issue iPads to teachers and/or students.  If the apps you need are only on IOS, then the iPad is the way to go.  (One of the reasons I don't like Apple; they work hard to get exclusive apps and services so no one else can offer them.  Anti-competitive much?)

• Amazon Kindle Fire HDX: Amazon's new 7" and 8.9" tablets are not even released yet, but offer some nice upgrades from previous models.  I haven't used them but there are definite benefits to being in the Amazon ecosystem.


• Great services from Amazon: Amazon has their own Appstore, Prime videos, and music offerings that work flawlessly with the Kindles.  If you're a big Amazon user, this is a great way to go.
• Best current specs: With the top of the line Qualcom Snapdragon 800 quad core processor, and incredible 2560x1600 resolution screen (on the 8.9" version), this thing is a beast.  (The 7" version has great 1920x1200 resolution matching the Nexus 7.)
• Mayday: If you're not particularly tech savvy, this new feature lets you get live support with the touch of the screen.  Very cool for those that aren't sure how to use all the features, or even if you want some ideas for good apps.
• Price: Much better priced for the quality compared to Apple tablets.

• Nexus 7/Nexus 10: Out of all the possible Android tablets, these are the only two I'd consider buying.  The only exception may be the new Galaxy Note 8.0 or 10.1 from Samsung if you're looking for the Wacom stylus support.  Otherwise, Android tablets that aren't the Nexus are usually too expensive, have lesser specs, and are behind in software.
• Quality/Price: These tablets are great quality for great prices.  The new Asus Nexus 7 sets you back only $229, has great resolution (1920x1200), a fast quad core processor, and a really nice feel.  It's very light and thin, and can easily fit in a back pocket.  (Unlike the $329 iPad Mini)  The Nexus 10 has the same high resolution screen as the Kindle Fire HDX and is very nicely made materials with a price point over $100 less than iPad.  (A new refreshed version is due out in November.)
• Customizable: Unlike either the Kindles or iPads, Android tablets are endlessly customizable.  You can change launchers, keyboards, default apps, and homescreens as much as you want.  That means you get a tablet that works how you want it to, instead of having the manufacturer decide for you how it should work and look.
• Apps: Apple lovers will tell you that Android tablets are behind in apps because there aren't as many tablet-specific apps, but that's not a major problem to a real user.  Unlike IOS, Android apps are scalable to many different screen sizes and resolutions.  Apps that are made for phones can scale very well to tablets without major problems.  And i-users also don't realize that Android devices are capable of actually using something called the internet.  Not everything has to be an app when the browser works so well.  
• Updates: It's exciting to have a device that gets better with time.  Nexus devices get very quick updates to the latest versions of Android so your tablet just get better and better.  (iPads benefit from the same updates, but don't always get all the new features.)

It's exciting that there are so many good tablets available right now, and it's a growing market.  While I'm an Android fan and have been weaning myself off of many of Amazon's services for Googles, I can see some great things in the Kindle Fires.  Apple may be a company I have no interest in purchasing from, but I can also see the quality in their products and the benefit for some.  (Dare I admit that I've even recommended IOS devices to people.)  

Ultimately, find something you like in your price range and spend some time learning how to use it.  Tablets are a relatively new market still, but I find myself using computers less and less and picking up my Nexus 7 more.

Back again!

So... I'm the worst at blogging.

What's worse, is that technology changes so fast that I've changed pretty much all of my devices since writing last.

What am I using now?

Phone: My Sprint HTC One is by far the nicest phone I've ever used.  It's also my first HTC phone.  The device is machined from one block of aluminum, sports a 1080p screen (yes, that's as much as an HDTV), a quad core processor, and "ultrapixel" camera.  I love this phone!  While I've always said that materials were not that important when I had plastic Samsung phones, I did always understand the premium feel the iPhones had.  This is the best of any device I've ever seen.  It's nicer than even the newest iPhones, and the only Android phone that was nicely built was the LG Nexus 4.  The only downside is that this phone is behind in software, and I'm anxiously awaiting Android 4.3 - which is supposed to be here any day.
Update: 4.3 is here for Sprint HTC One phones.  A great phone just got better!!  BTW: That makes this the first manufacturer-skinned phone released before Android 4.3 to be updated to the latest version.




Tablet: Gone is the original Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and original Asus Nexus 7, and replacing them is my new 2nd generation Nexus 7 by Asus.  And this thing is awesome.  With it's super high resolution of 1920x1200 pixels, it looks amazing.  The new quad core processor and Android 4.3 make it screaming fast too.  And it even has a camera on the back.  To be honest, I still miss the dimpled pleather back of the original Nexus 7, and the wider bezel gave you something more to hold onto, but the thinness and lightness of this new one more than make up for it.  I use this to preach, read, surf the web, and even put my thoughts down for my sermons.


Watch: My new favorite toy is my Pebble Smartwatch!  It's a watch with an e-paper screen with backlighting, and it connects to my phone via bluetooth.  I get all my texts, messages, emails, etc with a little vibrate on my wrist and scrolling text.  I can also change the watchfaces and monitor things like weather and battery of my phone.  It even works with apps like Runkeeper to track running through the phone's GPS.  It's great to get my notifications

Propaganda - Be Present

Hits me right between the eyes.  You?

Bad Things

You know that question people always ask? "Why do bad things happen?" I found myself asking it a few weeks ago as our beautiful 2 year old boxer dog died suddenly and without warning on Thanksgiving day. Our poor dog-sitter returned to the house to find her body while we were hours away with family.


Josie was a new dog to us, that we had gotten through Craigslist 8 months before from a nice family who just didn't have time for her. She spent her days in a kennel while they went to work and school. At 15 months old, she still wasn't potty trained when we got her. But our Chloe needed a playmate and Josie was a sweet little boxer and we brought her home. She quickly learned her place in our lives; playing in the yard with Chloe, going on runs with me, and following my wife Katie to every single room she went to throughout the day. Josie was always touching someone, as lovable as they come. We always believed that her previous neglect caused her to be so dependent on us for affection, and we loved that. And therefore, she wiggled her way into our hearts quickly.


Then she was gone. I am not a cryer. The last time I cried was ten years ago when my grandpa died, and even then, I did it in secret. I am a practical, logical person, and emotion rarely bubbles to the surface in this way. (In fact, I sometimes laugh at inappropriate times instead.) But I balled at the loss of my Josie. Katie and I were a mess. It ruined our Thanksgiving and made us terrible parents to our boys; we just lost all patience for their behavior and yelled unnecessarily. It was a rough weekend.


I, being the impatient person that I am, started looking at Craigslist for another boxer. No, another one wouldn't erase the hurt from missing Josie, but we knew we'd want another for us and for Chloe, and I'm not much for waiting. And there he was; a 6 month old brindle boxer named Prince in Des Moines, who needed a new home. So there we went, 50 miles out of the way on our already horrendous 8 hour drive home from Wichita, to Des Moines to see a dog. And we brought him home.


Cassius - the dog formerly known as Prince - is possibly the tamest boxer I've ever seen. He is mild mannered, sweet, and extremely loving; and a great addition to our family.


So let me get back to the question. "Why did our sweet little Josie have to die?" While I don't know specifically, I do know this. We live in a world wrought with sin, illness, and death; and all of these are a result of the Fall. And because of this, we all die. I don't for a second believe God took my Josie away from me. Not to test my faith, not to punish me, not to make way for Cassius. Jesus loves me, this I know, and His desire is not to hurt me. In fact, I believe He was with my family as we grieved.


But our God is a God of redemption. And He can redeem the worst situations. I've seen it before in my life, and I'm seeing it now. While we miss Josie and would never have wanted her gone, Katie and I talked at lunch today at how happy Cash seems to be now. His previous owners had no room and he went from inside kennel to outdoor kennel and back. Now, he runs and plays with Chloe, chases our boys, and lays on the couch with us at night. In fact, he follows Katie around all day just like Josie did. In the midst of our loss, God is redeeming our family, our hurts, and working for our good.


I know what some of you are thinking: You have way bigger problems than losing a dog. I agree. There are much worse situations in many peoples' lives. But God is there too; redeeming your story and working to give you a hope and a future.


Our world is broken and bad things happen, but our God is hard at work redeeming His creation; getting His hands dirty on our behalf. And I am grateful for His faithfulness, even when my faith wanes.


Thanks, Jesus, for Your love and grace. And tell Josie we love and miss her.

For the Parents... The Machine

This is kind about technology so I'm going to write it.

If you are a parents of a young boy or girl struggling with bed wetting at all, you need to try this.  I've hesitated writing this review out of respect for my son being possibly embarrassed, but I feel like others need to know about this type of product.

We call it "The Machine".

The story: Our oldest son was great with potty training.  At about two and a half years old, he learned quickly how to use the real toilet and has never looked back.  But nighttime was a different story.  He just never woke up when he needed to go, so he'd wet the bed.  From two and a half until five, he would wear Pull Ups at night; unable to stay dry.

Our second son was a potty training rockstar!  At about the same age, he was ready to get out of diapers too and learned in just a couple of days.  But this kid is a camel.  He never has to go potty.  I swear, he goes less than I do.  So nights were never an issue either.  He could hold it all night, wake up in the morning, have breakfast, play, and then a few hours later go to the bathroom.  So imagine the frustration for our oldest when his younger brother could wear underwear to bed while he was still wearing pull ups.  We tried incentives; even to the point of bribing him for staying dry, but he just couldn't control it.

After a conversation with my mom and the things they used when we were kids, I went to the web for something that would help.  Mom mentioned some kind of alarm that would wake up a kid when they were wet in the night, so I started to search.  I found some $100 machines that made that claim, but wasn't sure I could invest that much.  Good ol' Ebay had a better answer.  A DryNite Bed Wetting Alarm.  This was the best $15 I've ever spent.  I knew that for such a low price, it may not even work, but I could handle losing $15 if it didn't.

The Machine came in the mail a few days later, small and cheap looking.  The Machine is a small clip wired to a little pouch which holds a tiny speaker and a 9v battery.  The claim is that if you clip it to the outside of a child's underwear, it will sound the alarm when any moisture touches it.  So if the child starts to go potty, it will wake them up; hopefully training their brain to wake up when they need to go.  To try it, we put a 9v battery in it, and I clipped it to a wet washcloth.  A loud, high pitched alarm pierced our ears.

That first night, I couldn't believe he even was willing to wear it.  But he did, and woke up in the middle of the night crying from the sound of the alarm.  The next night the same, and the next night again.  But over a few days, we noticed that the amount of wetness was decreasing.  He was waking up and stopping.

Two weeks into it, we retired The Machine.  And after several months, he hasn't had a wet night yet.  Often in the middle of the night, he'll wake up needing to go to the bathroom, but always dry.

If you have this situation with your child, spend $15 and help him/her.  I'm so glad we were able to get him past this before he felt more embarrassed about it.

Viva la Machine!!
Ebay Listing

God in the Theater

Where was God when a young man walked into a theater showing of The Dark Knight Rises and began to shoot?  Isn’t that the question we ask when things like this happen?  What a terrible tragedy that seems so senseless and evil. 

Since the shooting, I’ve read response after response of religious and secular people alike giving their opinions of who and what is to blame for this event; as well as trying to explain how and why this could happen.  Many of those questions and blame are aimed at the God who let it all transpire.

While God doesn’t need me to defend Him, I do think it’s helpful to try to understand the world we live in and God’s part in it.

Who’s to blame?  That’s easy; the young man doing the shooting made a choice.  Going all the way back to Adam and Eve, God has given us a choice.  Rather than creating robots programmed to love Him, God made us with the capacity to decide to do our own thing.  The consequences of our choices can affect not only us, but others; and this has been going on for millennia. 

James 1 says, “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”  God is not the originator of evil acts, but His desire for real love from us requires Him to offer us freedom to sin.

So where was God?  There in the theater.  God has never promised that life would be easy but He did promise to be with us.  And He’s not only there; He’s working on us and in us.  Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  That’s not an “Everything happens for a reason…” cliché; it’s a reality that God can be in the midst of pain and suffering working to heal.  His desire is for good for all of us.

I wish I could say I understand all that God does and doesn’t do, but the truth is, I don’t.  God, the creator of the universe knows and sees beyond anything that we can understand.  How amazing is it that He chooses to invite us into relationship with Him?  So I choose to trust Him in the midst of tragedy.  My prayer is that you do too.

Facebook Filter

Filters are important.  I know, profound, right?  But it's true; we have filters in our coffee makers to keep grounds out of our cup, filters in our vacuums to keep dust from shooting back into the air, and filters in our vehicles to keep our oil clean. 

Right now the important question is: How is your Facebook Filter? Don't have one?  Yeah, we've all noticed.

I've been there.  I've gotten myself in trouble by making angry comments through Facebook, and it doesn't go well.  As a Christian and pastor, I'm ashamed of the times I've used Facebook or Twitter to harm someone.  So, I'm trying to use the filter.

What's a Facebook Filter?  It's the filter you need to use to protect yourself, your relationships, and your witness when using social networking.  It's important for not only Facebook, but also for Google+ and Twitter as well.  This is not a guide for keeping yourself and your family safe or private.  Just a way to control what you do and say through social media.  Here are some basic ways to filter your content.  (Note: I had to turn off my filter to even write this, but I think it needs to be said.  So sorry if you feel like I'm talking about you.  I might be.)

For Everyone:

1. Is it too personal?  Let me say this plainly.  FACEBOOK IS NOT YOUR DIARY.  Your deepest darkest thoughts and secrets shouldn't be shared with your 500 friends.  (And depending on your privacy settings, anyone else that finds you.)  Don't make the mistake of sharing too much.  Instead, write in a diary or journal; it's good for you to put your thoughts down.  Even better, make it a prayer journal.
2. No public attacks.  Whether you mean to harm someone directly or passive/aggressively doesn't matter.  Online is not the place to attack someone.  I've seen friends call friends out in a status and even tag them in it.  Not a good idea.  This is definitely true of couples.  A good rule of thumb is to never criticize your spouse in public; but even more so online.  If you have something to say to someone, do as Jesus teaches, and go directly to them.  (I don't mean directly to their timeline either.)
3. Beware of judgmental attitudes.  Have strong opinions about abortion, gay marriage, politics, or religion?  Fine, you can share your thoughts through social media.  But don't make judgmental statements about the other side.  In recent weeks following President Obama's comments on gay marriage, I've seen people on both sides not only state their opinion on the matter, but also attack those of the other side.  Don't do it.  You'd be surprised how many of your friends disagree with you, and feel judged when you criticize.  On the other side, I have a scientist friend from college who disagrees vehemently with me about the origins of the world, but treats me and those he debates with great respect.  Because of that, we've had some rousing discussions online as friends.  (One more note: this includes the things you share on your timeline.  Sharing an article that attacks others is no better than saying it yourself.)
4. Watch your language.  It's funny how quickly we forget who we allow as friends on Facebook.  I can't tell you how many of the youth of our church forget that I'm their friend and can see the way they talk online.  I'm not a prude, and I understand the desire to drop word bombs sometimes, but Facebook isn't the place to do it.  There's a great conversation in the movie Batman Begins where Bruce Wayne tries to tell his childhood friend Rachel that the playboy jerk he seems to be isn't who he is inside.  What Rachel replies is very poignant.  She says that what's inside doesn't matter.  It's what you do that defines you.  On Facebook, people only see what you post, not what is inside your heart.  So make sure the right you comes out.                                                                                                        This is especially true for Christians.  Your testimony - life with Jesus - is out there for the world to see.  People that know of your faith are watching your every move, post, and uploaded picture.  If you're a counselor at church camp who's friends with campers, quit posting pics of your partying with F-bombs in the description.  Remember, we are responsible for the people we influence for or against Christ.

Special Ministers' Section:

1. We're on the same team!  Love your church?  I love mine too.  Really excited about what God is doing in your church body?  So am I.  So promote it.  Facebook and Twitter are great places to invite, promote, and share about God's work through your church.  But don't be arrogant and self-serving by making comments that hurt your brother and sister churches.  Remember that the Church is not just your group, but all followers of Jesus in this world.  So be careful not to act like your church is the Temple where Jesus Himself resides.  Instead, humbly share what Jesus is doing and invite others to experience it.  I can't believe how many pastors I've seen make comments about their churches being the best one around, or bragging about every little thing they're doing.  Let's remember, the successes we see are God's, not ours.  (BTW, I'm with you.  I want to brag about growing numbers, baptisms, and people coming to Christ too.  But before you do, see #2.)
2. Check your motivations.  Want to tell everyone about all the great stuff going on at church or in your ministry?  Before you post, take a moment in meditation and prayer to make sure you're posting for God's glory and not your own.  We pastors are a confident - sometimes a bit arrogant - attention seeking bunch.  Are you excited to draw attention to yourself or to God?  Make sure before you post.  Remember, Paul tells us to boast only  in our weakness and God's strength.

Most importantly, remember that people see what you're doing, so think before you post.  Hope this helps.