Tech Tip Tuesday–Smart Phone PowerPoint

Today's T3 comes from a presentation I gave recently. Below is the Slideshare with a few of the apps that I like to use. Hope you find it helpful. Just click the link below.

“Smartphone Tips for Ministers – Slideshare”

~Daniel Howell

P.S. – Slideshare destroys some of the formatting of my slides – don’t judge me.

Why Should I Care? (Part 2)

For part one of this post, click here.

In the previous part of this series, we examined how the prophets of the Old Testament are an example to us of faith and caring about God’s Word. Peter writes that they “inquired and searched carefully” concerning this salvation (cf. 1 Peter 1:10). But these historical men and women were not the only ones concerned with this salvation.

Someone would have to care an awful lot about something to die for it. When I stop and think about the people or causes that I would give my life for, the list is short. Think about counting them on one hand.

And yet Paul writes of the Apostles the following:

“For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.” (1 Corinthians 4:9 NKJV)

Ask yourself this: Would you die for something that wasn’t real? Maybe, if you were mentally ill. Would you and a few friends die for a cause that didn’t matter? Possibly, but the likelihood of it all being a delusion decreases as the number of people involved increases. What if there were a few hundred people who saw what you saw (see 1 Corinthians 15:1-6)? Would it matter that much to you, then?

Even Peter was told that he eventually would die because of his stand for Christ and preaching the Gospel (cf. John 21:18-19). Would such a man be willing to live that life, and pay such a price, only for a delusion? No.

History and “tradition” speak of many early Christians who suffered a similar fate. Reading through the classic Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, one finds that Paul was likely beheaded, Mark was dragged to death, Luke was hanged, Philip was scourged and crucified. The Bible tells us of a few as well. Stephen was stoned while preaching (Acts 7), James, brother of John, was killed by Herod (Acts 12:1-2). Mass hallucination? Not possible.

It must have been real. It must have been real enough that they were willing to pay the ultimate price on this earth. If it is real (and it is), it’s reality demands a response from everyone (Acts 17:30).

If it mattered that much to them, why can’t it matter that much to you and me?

~Daniel Howell

Women’s Wednesday–“Sleep”

As I lay in bed last night tossing, turning, coughing, and struggling to breathe (thank you Mr. Sinus Infection!), I got to thinking about sleep. Oh how I desperately wanted that sleep! I almost cried because I craved sleep so much. Our bodies were designed to recoup during those precious hours of shut eye, a part of God’s design that should not be ignored.

While many boast about how they can get by with little or no sleep (and I’ll admit, I’ve been jealous of those people at times), Psalm 127:2 reminds us that it is vain to avoid sleep (for earthly pursuits, verse 1) and that sleep is actually a gift from God!

But, can we have too much sleep? Certainly!

Proverbs 20:13 “Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty....”

Ouch! That one hurts. Those of you who know me, know that I do ‘love’ my 10 hours of sleep each night (yes, I do know that will change once Jenaleigh gets here!) But when love of sleep compromises our duties in life, we’ve got a major problem.

We all know the common phrase, “the early bird gets the worm”, which implies that the slothful or late-to-rise may miss out on many opportunities in life. But, did you know that not only are our opportunities to work lessened by too much sleep, but our quality of life can actually be diminished from overdoing the zzzz’s? Called “sleep inertia”, a person who sleeps too much may actually feel groggy, drowsy, and have an inability to ‘wake up’! Perhaps this is just another reason God warns us against too much sleep!

So, not too much sleep. Not too little. But balance. That’s what we should strive for in the amount of sleep we get each night.

But there are some nights that it seems like sleep just won’t happen. What can we do then? Instead of just including the ‘regular’ sleep advice we get (i.e. go to sleep at the same time each night, no TV in the bedroom, drink hot tea, do not exercise right before bed, etc.), I found some more unique tips. Perhaps one of these will work for you tonight:

- Try telling yourself a story (in your head, not out loud, of course)! Children demand their nightly story time, and surprisingly it can work for adults, too. Make up a calm story and focus on it and nothing else as your try to slumber. This will help block out the day’s cares and worries.

- Massage your feet with warm oil, right before bedtime. (I’m getting sleepy just thinking about it!)

- Make your last hour before bedtime as calm and peaceful as possible. This would be a great time to devote to God in prayer and study. (And don’t forget to pray for that good night’s sleep!)

- Keep your bed made. Did you know that getting into a snuggly bed that’s been neatly prepared can be more sleep inducing that climbing into one that has sheets thrown about?

- Work during the day! Tire yourself out and enjoy a relaxing rest afterwards. This Biblical principle is shown to us in Ecclesiastes 5:12 “The sleep of a laboring man is sweet.”

Sleep Tight,

~Martha Howell

Why Should I Care?

Indifference. Mediocrity. Good enough. It just simply doesn’t matter.

Whether through actions, or through words, all of these sentiments point toward the same root problem: A lack of concern. Granted, there are some aspects of life in which a lack of concern doesn’t make a huge impact. What or where to eat for dinner is a question which often receives the “it doesn’t matter to me” treatment. Unfortunately, many flippantly apply the same logic to religion.

Why does it matter what I believe? What difference does it make whether I choose to obey or disobey God? Why should I care?

When we can’t find motivation within ourselves to care about something, sometimes it helps to look at why other people care or have cared about the same thing. If it was real to someone else, what could make it real to us?

There are many external things we could look at, i.e. the existence of God, the inspiration of the Bible, archeology, etc. which all should give us a reason to be concerned. If God does exist, his demands of us are real, and so are the consequences. For the sake of simplicity, though, I’d like to simply take a walk through the scriptures, and look at some internal reasons.

From the very outset of the scriptures we are confronted with men and women whose lives were greatly impacted by God’s plan for saving mankind through his Son. Peter writes the following about the prophets of the Old Testament:

1 Peter 1:10-12 NKJV
(10)  Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
(11)  searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
(12)  To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things which angels desire to look into.

These men were not mere characters in a literary work. These were real, historical people! They were part of God’s working, for our benefit. They made real, fulfilled, prophecies concerning the coming Messiah (study Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, just to name a couple obvious ones) hundreds of years before these prophecies came to fruition. Many even died because of what they were doing (cf. Matthew 23:3; 2 Chronicles 24:20-21). These people never even saw the fulfillment of the predictions the Holy Spirit made through them!

The most compelling thing about their situation? They acted, yet didn’t know all of the particulars of God’s plan! By the way, it was all to benefit you and me.

The Hebrew writer further comments “And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,”(Hebrews 11:39). If these people could care enough to follow the commands of God, despite never seeing the fruition of those plans, why can’t I care?

~Daniel Howell

P.S. – Come back next week as we continue this thought, “Why Should I Care?”

“Essential Elements for Understanding the Scriptures–#3”

For part 2 of this series, click here.

So far we have noted two essential elements for understanding the Scriptures. The first is a good and honest heart and the second is a heart which believes God’s Word can be understood. In our efforts to be better students of God’s Book, what other essentials are needed for understanding?

We tend to spend time with the people and things we love. Concerning the people we love, we want to learn as much about them as we possibly can. We do not do this to be “nosey,” but so that we will know their likes and dislikes so that we can better please them. Concerning the things we love, we try to learn as much about them as we possibly can. For example, if a person “loves to fish,” he will spend time researching all he can about fishing. He tries to find the best rod and reel to help him catch the big one. He searches out the best bait and scopes out the best “fishing holes.” He even studies the best time of day to help make him the most successful fisherman he can possibly be. And guess what. None of this is a chore because he is learning about something he loves!

The same is true with our understanding the Scriptures. God’s Word has to be something we have grown to love. That helps keep our interest impassioned and our curiosity keen. The tediousness of study is not a chore when we have developed a sincere adoration of the Bible which in turn produces more fruitful investigation.

The Psalmist had a love affair with the Lord’s Word. Consider the following from Psalm 119:

V. 47 “And I will delight myself in Your commandments, Which I love.”

V. 48 “My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, Which I love, And I will meditate on Your statutes.”

V. 97 “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.”

V. 113 “I hate the double-minded, But I love Your law.”

V. 119 “You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross; Therefore I love Your testimonies.”

V. 127 “Therefore I love Your commandments More than gold, yes, than fine gold!”

V. 159 “Consider how I love Your precepts; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness.”

V. 163 “I hate and abhor lying, But I love Your law.”

V. 167 “My soul keeps Your testimonies, And I love them exceedingly.”

The words “commandments,” “statutes,” “law,” “testimonies,” and “precepts” all refer to God’s Word. And, no matter how one referred to it, the Psalmist loved it! He loved it “more than gold”—he loved it “exceedingly.” No wonder he was willing to “meditate” on it all day. The Psalmist also says that the righteous man will do the same: “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2). Commenting on this verse Albert Barnes writes,

“The meaning here is, he thinks of it; he endeavors to understand its meaning; he has pleasure in reflecting on it. It is not a subject which he puts away from him, or in respect to which he is indifferent, but he keeps it before his mind, and has satisfaction in doing it (Notes on the Bible).

Paul makes it clear that some “believe a lie” and as a result are condemned” (2 Thessalonians 2:11, 12). He also states a reason, “because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (v. 10). The implication is this. A love of the truth may have caused further investigation and understanding so that the person would not have perished due to disobedience.

To sum it up, if you desire to come to a better understanding of the Scriptures, one element that is needed is a love for them. Work diligently on growing your affection for, and appreciation of God’s Word.

~Mark Howell

#2 - Learn the Value of Humility

For an explanation of this series, click here.

For the previous installment in this series, click here.

Jenaleigh,

Last time we talked about daring to be different. You remember, not different for the sake of being different, but different in the way that a child of God is different from the world.

If you are different the way you ought to be, it’s going to be tempting to look around at others and say to yourself, “Wow, I’m doing pretty well! I have this all figured out. If only these other people could catch up to how righteous I am!”

That is the wrong attitude.

Instead, learn the value of true humility. Learning humility is not easy. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes the lessons in life which lead us to be humble show us some things about ourselves that we didn’t realize, and that are not pretty. But be ready to learn what to change, and you’ll do just fine.

Paul wrote to the church in Romans 12:16, “Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.” I suppose this is the best starting point for anyone.

Being humble means not telling others that you are. They’ll figure it out through your actions.

Being humble means not being so full of yourself that you can’t see others.

Being humble means being willing to learn (Proverbs 11:2).

Being humble means being willing to listen to someone teach you something you think you already know.

Being humble means being willing to share what you have with a grateful recipient.

Being humble means being willing to share what you have with someone who is ungrateful, and wants even more (Luke 6:30).

Being humble sometimes means not saying exactly what’s on your mind.

Being humble means being willing to be last, even when you deserve to be first in the line.

Being humble doesn’t mean that you let someone do something they shouldn’t, but you aren’t self-righteous when you correct them (2 Timothy 2:25).

Being humble also means being strong enough to stand up for what is right (Zephaniah 2:3).

Being humble means being willing to sacrifice (Philippians 2:8).

There are so many things involved in being humble. If you keep God first, and always think of your responsibilities to others (and then act on those thoughts) you’ll be headed down the right track.

Remember what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:5, “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

 

 

 

For the next in this series, click here.

Women’s Wednesday–A Simple Pair of Black Tights

Every Wednesday, writer Martha Howell brings a thought geared toward all of the ladies.

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Let me tell you a little bit about my adventures one Sunday morning. This particular Lord’s Day started off wonderfully, I woke up early, started getting ready leisurely and waited for Daniel to come back home and pick me up for Bible Class.

Daniel arrived home, and I was on track. My makeup was on, my dress was picked out, and I still had 20 minutes left before we needed to leave.

But then mayhem ensued with a simple pair of black tights.

After struggling for 5 minutes to put them on, I realized that they in no way fit my new maternity figure I had at the time. I knew I had a pair of maternity tights somewhere; so, I went back to the dresser drawer. It took a few minutes, but I found them! After an even greater struggle to put that pair on, I realized that, alas, my joy was in vain – they weren’t the right pair either!

By this time it was 9:20 -- time to leave in order to be at the church building before everyone else. I told Daniel to go on ahead, and I continued to search for the tights. After looking through every hamper and laundry basket, I gave up and squeezed into a non-maternity pair and headed off to the building about 15 minutes after I had planned on.

Little did I realize that morning that poor planning, placement, and preparation on my part would lead to such consequences on that Sunday morning. Sure I had found tights and was dressed and was present on time, but…

I was rushed as I left the house that morning. So, on my drive to the building, my mind was busy wondering if the dogs got fed and the oven got turned off instead of on the Lord and preparing my heart for worship.

I arrived only 10 minutes before Bible study started, so I didn’t have time to go over my lesson plan one last time before teaching 5-8 year olds that morning.

During worship, I was uncomfortable in my binding tights, so it was a constant fight for me to focus my mind and heart where it needed to be.

Those three things should never have happened, if I had followed these simple three P’s.

1. PLAN FOR TOMORROW. On Saturday nights plan what you’re going to wear, down to every last detail (yes, even tights), what you’ll eat for breakfast, and what time you’ll leave in the morning. While we never know when the Lord may return, planning -- with the right mindset -- is a must for every Christian, for we see that Paul made plans (Acts 15:36) as did our Savior, Christ (Matthew 10:5-15).

2. A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING, AND EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE. The key is to be organized. Place your planned clothes out where you can find them! Make sure you have anything else you’ll need for Sunday morning organized neatly and accessible (Bibles, lesson plans, etc.). Imagine what a difference this would have made in my mad hunt for the maternity tights!

3. PREPARE YOUR HEART AND MIND. You’ve planned and organized the external, now it’s time to prepare your heart for the next day. Why? Hebrews 12:28 answers:

“… and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe…” [ESV]

We want our worship to be acceptable and in order to do so we must not neglect our hearts. God “knows the hearts of all men” (Acts 1:34); what do you want him to see when he looks into your heart, especially while you are worshipping him?

How sad it is to think that my Heavenly Father may have seen in me a heart that was focused on my discomfort due to ill fitting clothes instead a heart devoted to worshiping Him. Let’s make sure that we do everything we can to have our worship to him be pleasing and acceptable, including preparing our hearts the day BEFORE worship! This could include a special family devotional focused on preparing for the Lord’s Day and/or special prayer time devoted to preparation.

Join me in my resolution to prepare for every Lord’s Day, before the Lord’s Day using the 3 P’s systems!

~Martha Howell

Tech Tip Tuesday–Practical Ministry Uses for Evernote Mobile

If you are a listener to the Ministry Geek This Week podcast on The Equip Network, there’s no doubt that you’ve heard the ongoing discussion about Evernote. As Dale Jenkins often points out, the logo is an elephant, and elephants never forget.

Now that doesn’t mean that Evernote is going to jump into your brain and remind you of things that you need to know, but it certainly can help you remember ideas or information that you might scribble on a post-it note (my pre-Evernote favorite) and then misplace. I find that Evernote is especially powerful when used from a smartphone.

As previously mentioned, I’m an android user (a Droid X to be exact), and I don’t know what I did before I had the thing. Probably one of the most handy features of the mobile version is the Evernote widget, which I have placed right on the front of my home screen. It allows lightning quick access to creating a new note, audio recording, picture, or even to search Evernote notes.

The following are a few of the practical things I use the mobile version of Evernote for (in conjunction with the desktop version). Maybe they will stir your mind onward to other possible uses:

1. I have a notebook called “Writing Ideas” that I will drop a quick note of inspiration into whenever I see something. This could also be used to take a picture of something inspiring and do the save it as well. It’s helped me have material to write about quite often. I also do the same for sermon ideas.
   
2. It doesn’t just have to be a writing idea, but any other idea. I keep notebooks for project ideas for care groups, media work, and just about anything that I think would be great to do with the congregation here.
   
3. When I visit people, I make notes of any surgeries, requests, etc., and tag the note as “visit”. I can then access Evernote from my computer to follow up on that information. I also use it to keep track of who I have visited.
   
4. The audio note function is quite handy if you are driving down the road and are suddenly struck with an idea. Much safer than note pads or texting.
   
5. I try to keep visitor information up to date on my phone through Evernote (entered through my computer) so that I have constant access to it. As a side note, I don’t keep the member directory in Evernote. With android, I simply add the member directory to my Gmail contacts, and save them as a group called “Hardin”.
   
6. I tend to keep Bible classes or sermons saved in Evernote as well. I can then use it to refresh or review a lesson when I’m sitting anywhere. Very helpful to make use of waiting room time. I also use OfficeSuite Pro in conjunction with Dropbox, but I’ll have more on that in a different post.

You can probably see from the above list that most of what I use the mobile app for is information input, but hey, that’s where this app shines. I know that if I can get the information put down somewhere, I can always sort it out later. That’s what really makes this service great. I can take all of those ideas that would otherwise escape, or be relegated to an obscure piece or paper or napkin, and have them safely stored away, and even organized.

Have any more ideas? Leave them in the comments section.

~Daniel

Bananas

Not long after Martha and I married, I landed a job with the local Wal-Mart working in the photo department. One of the things that stuck with me from that experience is something that one of the assistant managers told us during orientation. He was trying to impress upon us the volume of sales of some items in the store. The example he used was bananas.

Evidently, this store sold hundreds of pounds of bananas each day. He posed the question to us: “Why do you think this is so?”

His answer?

“When you have kids, what do they like to eat? Bananas. They are soft and sweet. What do older folks like to eat? Bananas. While they can’t as easily chew other foods, bananas are soft enough for them to easily eat.”

I confirmed this line of logic in my mind by thinking about my great grandparents. I can remember going to visit them, and finding tons of banana peels strewn across the back yard (they were good ‘ole country folks). They ate a lot of bananas, but I had never thought about why.

Think about this: Is it possible that you are spiritually headed back to bananas? Now I don’t mean that you are going crazy, but is it that you are reverting back to some form of your spiritual immaturity?

The Hebrew writer’s words from chapter 5, beginning in verse 11 are famous. Verse 14 is especially poignant:

(14)  But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Is it possible that we can revert back to the point, spiritually speaking, that we can no longer handle solid food? Absolutely. How could someone get to that point? Disuse. Maturity, spiritually speaking, is not about age, but about use.

It is my prayer that you will continue to exercise those spiritual chewing muscles. After all, the admonition from Peter is a daily exercise:

2 Peter 3:18 NKJV
(18)  but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

~Daniel Howell

The Wedding Box

Moving is not fun. Plain and simple.

After a while of packing box, after box, after box, for our move to Hardin, I finally got tired of digging through all of our things, trying to decide what to keep. I made an executive decision. If I hadn’t touched it in at least a year (with a few exceptions) it was not going with me.

That was especially true for the storage shed behind our house. It was full of items that we had intended to “yard sale” with. I figured since we had not even opened the boxes in a couple years, they were safe to leave behind.

Oh, how wrong I was.

You see, one of those boxes contained items from my wedding! It contained several articles of clothing, books, and other priceless items. I had mistakenly put the box out with the yard sale items a couple years before! Thankfully, one of the members at the Sweetwater congregation was kind enough to call and tell me of the mistake.

It’s easy to make light of things when we haven’t touched them in a while. Making light of wearing the proper wedding garments caused problems for the man in Jesus’ parable in Matthew 22:11-14. He came to a wedding, but made light of the situation. His disrespect in not having the proper attire was what made the king angry, and brought about his demise.

Are you making light of that spiritual wedding between the Christ, the bridegroom (John 3:29), and His bride, the church (Revelation 21:2)? Have you also packed away your “wedding garments” in a long forgotten box?

~Daniel Howell

New Posts Coming Soon!

I want to thank all of our subscribers who have been patient with us over the past couple weeks! I finally have my office up and going, so next week expect a fresh crop of new posts!

Hope that you’ll come back and check them out.

~Daniel