Apps are becoming more and more popular. I use a few on a daily basis, and the last three conferences I’ve attended – Sing!, Ligonier National Conference and the Gospel Coalition National Conference – have all used a helpful app designed to increase the experience for the conference attendees. Here are my favorite Christian apps that I use:
Ligonier. My favorite app is from Ligonier Ministries. I’m amazed at the amount of free content that is included on the app. The app includes:
Daily Renewing Your Mind broadcasts
Daily videos and devotional readings
Ligonier Conference messages
Popular articles from Tabletalk magazine
Posts from the Ligonier blog
More than 50 free teaching series, including The Holiness of God and Chosen by God
Neil Skaggs’ message “Prelude to Wilberforce” delivered recently at the Ithaka Fellowship, is now available via podcast at the Ithaka site. Listen to it and the other previously archived messages at: http://ithakafellowship.org/media.php?pageID=13
The Reformation Study Bible is undergoing a major revision/updating. It should be completed within the next year and will be available in the English Standard Version (ESV) and the New King James Version (NKJV).
Tim Challies recently gave a plug to Books at a Glance, a service that will provide synopses of important Christian books. You can check out their site at http://www.booksataglance.com/
NEEDTOBREATHE has released a video for their song “The Heart” from their April 15 album Rivers in the Wasteland. Check out the video here: http://www.needtobreathe.com/theheart
The AudioFeed Festival will be held at the Champaign County Fairgrounds July 3-5. A few of my favorite artists – Steve Taylor, Peter Furler and the 77s will be among those appearing. Find out more here: http://audiofeedfestival.com/lineup/
Christian hip-hop/rap artist Trip Lee was back in the studio in late February recording his follow-up to his 2012 record The Good Life.
As Jars of Clay continues to celebrate their 20th anniversary, they have plans to record a new album of acoustic versions of their most popular songs. They are launching a PledgeMusic project today and need YOUR HELP to pick the Top 20 Jars of Clay songs for them to record acoustically. The new Jars 20 album will come out in the fall but they need your help today….so they know what to record! Plus, 10% of the proceeds generated from the project will go to Blood: Water Mission.
We recently attended Ligonier Ministries National Conference in Orlando, something we have been blessed to do almost every year since 1997. It was a bit dicey getting out of town as we left in a snowstorm, with the plane having to be de-iced twice before we left. Once we got down there we had a great time with our friends Don and Angela Lusk, who were attending the conference for the first time.
Below are recaps from each of the three days of the conference from Ligonier’s blog:
R.C. Sproul released his new book on systematic theology Everyone’s a Theologian at the conference – the book sold out the first day! This is a fantastic book; look for a review soon.
The conference was again held at First Baptist Church in Orlando. The church will be going through a building/renovation program next year and will not be available for the 2015 conference. The 2015 Ligonier National Conference will be held February 19-21, 2015 at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.
Quotable: You can tell who is being worshiped on Sunday morning in a given church by whom the service is attempting to please. – Michael Horton
Let’s talk about work and leadership for a minute….
Leadership Philosophies ~ What should be your approach to work? Read John Piper’s Lord-Focused Living at Work
Want to build trust in your relationships? Read the Book Review in the Leadership Library of Trust Works! Four Keys to Building Lasting Relationships by Ken Blanchard, Cynthia Olmstead and Martha Lawrence.
Leadership Book Club WEEK FOUR
As we continue working through John Maxwell’s classic book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, this week we’ll look at the following two laws:
• The Law of Priorities
• The Law of Sacrifice
OK, enough of the work stuff, let’s talk books, movies, music, etc.!
Book Reviews ~ If you need a good laugh, listen to Still Foolin’ ‘Em: Where I’ve Been, Where I’m Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys? by Billy Crystal, who also reads the audiobook. Just so you know, Billy likes to use some ‘blue’ language.
Movie Review ~ Go see Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, rated PG-13, for some fun action-adventure.
• The Passion 2014 Atlanta Conference was held in Atlanta January 17-18, with over 20,000 university students attending the two-day event from around the world. Students from over 1,200 universities and 33 countries attended this year’s Passion conference in Atlanta. Joining Passion founders Louie and Shelley Giglio in Atlanta was John Piper, Christine Caine, and Francis Chan. Grammy award winning artists and worship leaders Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman, led worship, along with David Crowder, Kristian Stanfill, Christy Nockels and Hillsong United. The live album should be released in early March. Read more here: http://www.christianpost.com/news/over-20000-students-attend-passion-2014-conference-in-atlanta-112930/
• John Piper recently spoke for the eighteenth time at the Passion conference. Desiring God has collected four of Piper’s pivotal messages from the Passion conferences, including “Boasting Only in the Cross” and three others — into a new free ebook. Read about how to download at An All-Consuming Passion for Jesus: Appeals to the Rising Generation.
• My favorite blogger is Tim Challies. He also posts interesting articles and the best Kindle deals of the day. Sign up for his blog at www.challies.com.
• The latest addition to WORLD News Group’s Saturday lineup is Listening In, an exciting new radio program hosted by Warren Cole Smith and featuring newsmakers and thought leaders. “It is unlike anything on Christian radio,” Smith said. “It’s more like NPR’s Fresh Air or public television’s Charlie Rose, but without those programs’ liberal bias.” Warren’s first guest is Molly Worthen, author of Apostles of Reason, a history of American evangelicalism just published by Oxford University Press. Listen to streaming audio of the debut airing of Listening In.
• Eric Metaxas recently announced that the video of his interview of Malcolm Gladwell at Socrates in the City is now up for viewing. Check it out here: http://vimeo.com/83371650
• Longtime favorite, the very talented Charlie Peacock, recently released a piano improvisations album, Lemonade. It debuted at #1 on the iTunes Jazz chart. Congratulations Charlie!
• Some U2 news to report:
• There’s been some buzz about a new song called ‘Invisible’, a track the band will be releasing as part of an initiative with RED, to support the fight against AIDS. The band has been shooting the video for the song in L.A.
• At the 71st Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles, the band took home the award for ‘Best Original Song’ for ‘Ordinary Love’. All four band members accepted the award, for the song they wrote for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
• Speaking of “Ordinary Love”, the band recently released a new video for the song. You can view it here: http://www.u2.com/news/title/ordinary-love-new-video
Apps are becoming more and more popular. I use a few on a daily basis, and the last three conferences I’ve attended – Sing!, Ligonier National Conference and the Gospel Coalition National Conference – have all used a helpful app designed to increase the experience for the conference attendees. Here are my favorite Christian apps that I use:
