Category: discipleship

Follow Jesus

digitalstorytelling, discipleship, Jesus, technology

Today was the fourth time this semester I’ve prepared a full lesson for our sixth grade Sunday school class and not been able to teach. I’m quite frustrated and mystified at the fact that I’ve been a co-teacher in our class all semester (since we started at the end of August) and have not been able to teach a single lesson yet. Our schedule is changeable and chaotic and communication has left much to be desired. Through it all, whatever my personal experiences and perceptions, I pray our students are gaining a deeper understanding and living a deeper relationship with Jesus as a result of their experiences in Sunday School.

I used ReelDirector on my iPad to create a short (6 min, 40 sec) narrated slideshow tonight highlighting the main ideas I’d planned to share with our sixth graders today. I originally created this slideshow in Keynote on my iPad, primarily using photos from Flickr I took this Friday and Saturday in New York City. There’s no way (at last that I could find) to convert an iPad Keynote presentation on the iPad (without syncing) to images which can be used in another program. So, I created screenshots of my Keynote slides and then imported them into ReelDirector. I used my iRig microphone to record the voiceover in ReelDirector, and set each photo to display in the video for the maximum (20 seconds) permitted by the program. The last few seconds of my recording got cut off, but at this point I’m just going to go with “my first take!”

Hopefully next week I’ll actually be able to teach our kids. It’s exceptionally frustrating to work hard and prepare lessons for multiple weeks and then not be able to teach.

Narrated slideshow using ReelDirector for iPad

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Missional Church – Set Apart

discipleship, God, worship

Today our associate pastor, John Gruel, shared his final “scheduled sermon” at our church in Edmond, Oklahoma. John emphasized the importance of EVERYONE in the church being an active servant of Christ, rather than a passive spectator. He reminded us there is NOT a New Testament basis for the stark separation in most churches between “clergy” and “laity.” I recorded his sermon with my iPhone and the free app Cinch, using an iRig mic in the pew. I posted this in my Christian channel on Cinch. Check it out. Great sermon, great exhortations for us. John preached on John 17: 16-19. The sermon was 20 minutes long.

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Free 1 Year Bible on YouVersion

books, discipleship, technology

At the encouragement of others in my church and Friday morning men’s group, I’ve started reading the “One Year Bible.” Rather than purchase this Bible version in paper form, however, I’ve started reading it for free on the YouVersion Bible iPad app. It is free and not only tracks your reading, but also lets you save notes. You can make these notes public to share or keep them private. You can also read notes others have shared publicly, which is a very interesting and potentially valuable way to socially interact as well as reflect when reading.

YouVersion 1 Year Bible (free) on iPad

YouVersion 1 Year Bible (free) on iPad

I started this a few days late after the new year, but thankfully the app lets you catch up. Just read ahead, and then in your reading plan select “catch me up.”

YouVersion 1 Year Bible (free) on iPad

Since I read the first three days of verses today and chose “catch me up” twice, I’m on the right schedule to finish by December 31st. You will need to create a free account on the app, or directly on the YouVersion website, which you use to login on the app and track your Bible reading. I’ve completed a couple of shorter reading plans previously using this system. I have never read through the entire Bible in a year, however, so this will be a first for me. My wife has talked about doing this too, and I’m going to encourage her so we can share in our discussions and learning throughout the year. Consider reading the Bible this year with this great plan! Another alternative is the website www.oneyearbibleonline.com. I really prefer the option to read on my mobile devices, however. YouVersion syncs whether you read on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. The latest nagging of my wife has been for me to get a hobby, so I started looking up the finest top drone brands like I did when I was a teenager so I could get into RC planes again.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad, edited later with Mars Edit. Cross-posted from “Moving at the Speed of Creativity”

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Keep Putting God’s Commandments’ Inside You

discipleship
Great reminders in these verses. This relates to what we choose to put in front of our eyes, in our ears, and into our minds each day.

“Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.”

Deut 6: 6-9
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%206:6-9&version=MSG

Sent from my iPhone

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Crucified with Christ (5th grade Sunday School lesson this week)

BLASTcast, discipleship, God

This Sunday in 5th grade Sunday School, we’re discussing and exploring the meaning of Paul’s words in Galatians 2:20.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

We’re using the following presentation in class, along with a movie clip from “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.” Specifically, we’re watching scene 17, titled “Aslan’s Sacrifice.”

Please take some time this week to discuss this verse with your child, which is our memory verse of the week. Discuss what it means to sacrifice, and to live with the knowledge that Christ lives in us. Talk about your own understanding and belief in the crucifixion as well as resurrection of Christ. Talk together about why this belief is a cornerstone of our faith as Christians, and how you live differently each day with this knowledge as well as the faith it provides.

Cross-posted from BLASTcast, except here the Zoho Show embed works! (iframe tags are stripped on WordPress.com sites like BLASTcast, but not from self-hosted WordPress blogs like this one when the “visual” editor is not used.)

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2010 Men’s Conference at Mo Ranch, Texas

discipleship, God, worship

Last weekend I had an opportunity to attend the 2010 Men’s Conference at Mo Ranch, Texas. Mo Ranch is a Presbyterian camp located in the Texas Hill Country. The following are three panoramic images I took during the conference with my iPhone using Pano.

Panorama at Mo Ranch

This photo shows the river area and the big water slide, which unfortunately was closed this year. Last year I went down it several times. It was very exciting!

Panorama at Mo Ranch

The BBQ on Saturday night is always a highlight food-wise. The brisket this year was some of the best I’ve ever had.

Panorama at Mo Ranch - Saturday BBQ!

The best parts of the men’s conference at Mo Ranch are fellowship and worship. The short video below of the men’s choir on Saturday night will give you a small taste of the experience. It really is wonderful singing with over 400 men and worshipping God together. Most of the songs we sing are in unison with just two leaders up front, but a choir practices during the weekend twice for this Saturday evening performance.

Choir singing at Mo Ranch

The Sunday morning sunrise service at the Men’s Conference is another highlight. It’s rare for me to get up this early and worship God with other men as the sun is rising, so this makes for special memories.

Sunday morning service at Mo Ranch

This year at Mo Ranch was particularly special because my father, Tom, was able to attend with me. This is a photo of us after the Sunday sunrise service. The original photo was a bit underexposed, so I tweaked it using ToonFX Paint.

Wesley and Tom Fryer at Mo Ranch

The monday morning after the Mo Ranch weekend, Dad and I were able to play 9 holes of golf before he drove home at Cimarron National Golf Club in Guthrie, just north of Edmond where I live. This was a REAL treat as well, even though I didn’t play very well! Best ball is a great thing at times like these.

Golf in Guthrie, Oklahoma

Golf in Guthrie, Oklahoma

Each day, every day is a gift from God. I am thankful for this past weekend’s opportunity to draw closer to God, my father, and other men from our men’s group in Edmond. The weather was perfect, and the time “offline” and in God’s beautiful creation was sorely needed by yours truly.

If there is any way you can attend I strongly recommend the annual Mo Ranch Men’s Conference. It’s always held in early May.

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Daily Reading Plans with the free YouVersion iPhone Bible App

discipleship, evangelism, technology

Two of my primary resolutions for 2010 involve balance and pruning. I need to live my life with more balance, including more time spent reading God’s Word, praying, and inviting his Holy Spirit to take charge of my life. I need to “prune” activities in and from my life, and seek God’s guidance in this process.

I recently updated the free YouVersion Bible application on my iPhone, and discovered the authors have added a variety of daily Bible reading plans in addition to the original plan by Robert Roberts. After logging in with a free account you create on YouVersion, click READ PLANS at the bottom of the application to view available plan options. After selecting a plan, you can read more information about it including how long each plan will take to complete.

New Bible Reading Plans available

Available Bible Reading Plans

The Gospels Reading Plan

Chronological Reading Plan

New Thru 30 Reading Plan

One-2-One Reading Plan

Verses included in each day’s reading plan are linked, and backlinks are provided which return directly to the day’s plan. You can also return to your plan by clicking the READ PLANS button at the bottom of the app.

Day 1 of the One-2-One Reading Plan

Like many other mobile applications today seeking to leverage the power of social media for sharing, the YouVersion Bible App provides options to share your daily reading with others via Twitter and email.

Options to share each day's reading plan

The developer of this YouVersion Bible application is a young man who I understand worked for a time out of the Oklahoma City CoCo, where I office periodically. He has developed this iPhone app for Life Church, which is a large non-denominantional church based here in Oklahoma City. They have an Edmond campus, but I have not yet attended one of their services face-to-face. Because our own church’s Christmas Eve service was cancelled this year due to snowstorms and ice, our family actually watched part of the life LifeChurch Christmas Eve message at home. I first found it via Twitter, and started watching it on my iPhone, but then connected one of our laptops to the living room television so everyone could watch. It’s amazing to see how LifeChurch leaders are using technology to reach out to others and share the good news of the Gospel.

I really enjoy using this YouVersion Bible application and plan to make regular use of its daily reading plans this year as I strive to live my life in greater balance. The program does appear to have some glitches (it gave an error when I returned to the reading plan which I’d already started) but I’m sure these will be updated/fixed in the weeks ahead.

This two minute YouTube video gives a visual overview of the new reading plan options on the YouVersion Bible application.

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