Indwelling Sin

I was reading Park Community Church's 8 Minutes With God devotional this morning, and I came across this quote from theologian John Owen regarding the reality of sin in our lives:

"When we realize a constant enemy of the soul abides within us, what diligence and watchfulness we should have! How woeful is the sloth and negligence then of so many who live blind and asleep to this reality of sin. There is an exceeding efficacy and power in the indwelling sin of believers, for it constantly inclines itself towards evil. We need to be awake, then, if our hearts would know the ways of God.

Our enemy is not only upon us, as it was with Samson, but it is also in us. So if we would not dishonor God and His gospel, if we would not scandalize the saints of God, if we would not avoid our own conscience and endanger our own soul, if we would not grieve the Holy Spirit, then we must stay alert to our own danger."

iPad Uses

I said a couple weeks ago that I would write my opinion on what the iPad would be best used for in its early days. With a new device like this thats essentially in a league of its own, many are skeptical of its practicality and functionality. I'm sure as this new device becomes more popular its uses will expand, but in these early stages, here's where I see the iPad working best:

1. In the home: For those who can afford it, the iPad would be a great tool to have around the house in addition to the families computers. It would be perfect to have at the table in the morning to read the days news, around the hose during the day to tweet and keep up with your other social networks, in the kitchen in the evening to find that perfect recipe, and on the nightstand at night to check on some last minute things before bed.

2. In the office: I also see the device being popular among businessmen since iWork is available. Attach the device to a keyboard dock and maybe a larger display at the desk, but when it's time for a meeting or a business trip, pick up the ultra-thin and lightweight, device and hit the road, no file-syncing necessary!

3. With the traveler: Take a trip once or twice a year, a laptop may not be to cumbersome or inconvenient for you. But, if you're job or lifestyle requires you to be on the road week in and week out, a smaller and lighter device could be a much more practical solution. Worried about leaving something behind? Don't! With professional level remote access apps, such as LogMeIn, available at very reasonable prices (around $30), you can have full access to your home computer from anywhere in the world!

So as I said, these obviously aren't the only uses, or even necessarily the best. These are simply some places, off the top of my head, I see the iPad as an extremely powerful tool.

What do you think? Where would you use an iPad? Where have you seen them being used already?

Summer

I just wanted to take a minute to point out how pumped I am about this upcoming summer...

• I'm really looking forward to not having school work hanging over my head. I have a job that I really enjoy now, and it actually goes along with what I want to make a living out of. (Media Arts at Calvary Baptist Church) My friend Josh Burns wrote a post that I identify with while he was doing this same job last summer. I could write my own version, but it would say the same things, so you might as well just read his. Anyway, I'm looking forward to being able to give all my work efforts to that and take on more responsibility there.
• Obviously I'm also looking forward to not having class and being able to chill more
• I'm going to South Carolina with a bunch of my good friends to be in a friends wedding.
• I'm trying to plan a trip to Myrtle Beach with some other friends... it's still in the planning stages, so hopefully that happens.
• I'm trying to work out a way to go to Echo Conference again, but I don't know if that's going to work out or not with all these other trips.
• Even next semester will give me a lot to look forward to throughout the summer as I'm going to be getting in to my major and minor a lot. I only have two gen. ed classes left!

All that to say, I'm really looking forward to summer, to doing cool things, being with cool people, and generally just livin' the dream. Only 3 more weeks of classes and one week of finals to get through! What are you doing this summer?

Here's a couple videos I was able to take while using the iPad on release day. The video's don't have any relevant audio because the wonderful atmosphere in the store was a bit loud.

In this first video I'm simply going through some basic functions and apps on the iPad.

This is a live stream of a baseball game via the MLB At Bat 2010 app. The video is being streamed over the Apple Store's wifi.

My First Taste of Magic: iPad Review

Yesterday, I had the awesome opportunity to demo an iPad on release day! Needless to say I felt very privileged. I was helping a friend shoot an interview at a house near the Kenwood Mall so we decided to stop by afterwords and check it out. Needless to stay the Mac Store was the most popular store in the mall yesterday. It was a great atmosphere! Anyway… on to my thoughts. I'll try to keep it somewhat brief.

I got my hands on the device shortly after walking into the store and I have to admit, it was a bit magical. A multitouch screen that big and that hi-res is something great to experience for sure. I spent some time with the stock apps and I really loved all the interfaces, especially the Calendar interface. It will be so much easier to stay organized with an iPad. Web browsing in Safari was beautiful. Full web pages with little need for zooming (even though that is of course an option) were a beautiful thing to see.

All the iPad designed apps looked great as well. The screen space brings the speed, interface, and portability of the iPhone and iPod touch and the accessibility and view-ability of a laptop together into one "magical" device.

The keyboard was also great to use. I tried using the four finger typing that Steve Jobs used in the release keynote and it worked great! Still not quite as easy as using a full keyboard, of course, but much more functional than I had thought it would be.

One downside, and I think a pretty big one at this point, is the look of iPhone/iPod Touch apps on the iPad. In their original size, the device makes them extremely hard to use. It's nearly impossible to hold the device and interact with the small center screen app with the same hand, and the device is just a bit to large to constantly hold with one hand. When expanded to the 2x view the few apps that I had the chance to use completely lost their luster as they became extremely pixelated. I felt like I was suddenly interacting with a touch screen N64.

All that to say, Apple has done it right (although I would appreciate a camera for video chat purposes.) They have yet another excellent product on the market that you really do have to experience to truly appreciate. The only thing it will take for the iPad to completely take off for me is a majority of developers writing new versions of their apps specially for the iPad.

Well, I think I've written enough for now. I may write another post regarding my opinion on the specific uses for an iPad in the next few weeks. But for now I'll post some pictures and videos below of my first experience with Apple's latest in innovation.

The first thing I saw when I turned it on.

A home screen housing iBooks and iWork.

The Contacts interface.

The Music interface.

iBooks.

There ya go! Looks pretty good doesn't it?

Ephesians

Here's some of my thoughts as I read through Ephesians:

• Chapter 1 keeps noting that everything is "to the praise of His glory."
• So many times we tend to separate our flesh from our mind, but in Chapter 2, Paul notes that the mind is part of the flesh.
• "not a result of works so that no one can boast." God designed grace to protect us. This is not a command against boasting, it's showing that it is impossible to boast because there is simply nothing to boast about.
• Just as Christ built the Church, He's building us into dwelling places for God.
• We are to approach God with humble confidence.
• Christ dwelling in your heart through faith and being rooted in love are the prerequisites to knowing the love and fullness of God.
• The whole body must be working right in order for it to grow.
• GIVE NO OPPORTUNITY TO THE DEVIL!
• Our identity has been changed. We are identified in Christ. IF we aren't acting like it, we are fake!
• Exposed darkness becomes light.
• Let's be crazy! Drunk with the Spirit!
• Alertness is an often overlooked key to a healthy spirituality.

That's what I got. Thanks for reading! Any questions?