Recently, my sweet husband bought me my own iPhone. I must say that in my humble opinion this phone is one of the best pieces of technology I have ever owned. I have been able to download books and movies that are now available at my finger tips…quite literally. For those iPhone users I thought I would list a few APPS that I think are a must have:
Amazon.com has a Kindle App (FREE) specifically for the iPhone that I have found most definitely one of my favorite apps. Several books I have on my phone I was able to download for free…mostly classics. Books that I downloaded through the Kindle App for my iPhone are:
Jane Austen’s “Emma”, “Mansfield Park”, “Northanger Abbey”, “Pride and Prejudice”, and “Sense and Sensibility” (Downloaded all 6 books for FREE; all unabridged)
Martin Luther’s “Concerning Christian Liberty”, and “The Bondage to the Will” ($2.13)
John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion” translated by Henry Beveridge (Free)
John Bunyan’s “Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners” (Free)
“Curious George Goes Camping” (for my sweetie pie daughters) ($2.07)
More Apps I have on my iPhone:
Charles Spurgeon’s “Morning and Evening” iTunes App devotional. ($0.99)
iBlogger App, which will allow me to blog from my iPhone. ($9.99) (Recommended to me by Miss Jasmine Baucham)
Grocery iQ App ($0.99) (Recommended to me by Miss Jasmine Baucham)
AllRecipes App, a must have! I love referring to this website for recipe ideas, so I was really excited to find out they have an iPhone App too! (FREE)
Facebook App. I have a facebook page and having this app on my phone makes it easy to keep in touch with everyone, even when I am on the go. (FREE)
My sweet husband also downloaded two of my favorite movies to my iPhone through iTunes; “Pride and Prejudice” and “Becoming Jane”. ($9.99 each) I do have a few more on my “wish list”; “Mansfield Park” (2000), “The Importance of Being Earnest” (2002), and “Sense and Sensibility” (1999).
I also subscribed to Wayne Grudem’s “Systematic Theology” podcast and R.C. Sproul’s “Renewing Your Mind” podcast. (FREE)
I have several audio books on my iTunes “wish list” as well. There are just so many things that one can do with their iPhones! I love mine and I am so grateful that my husband got it for me. He has had his for about 2 years now and has enjoyed it.
Enough about the iPhone now; onto other things I recommend!
Monergism Books has this nifty 8 book box set on sale right now for $14.99.
Carole Leah, a Christian educationalist has devised a set of 8 Bible-based reading books geared for preschool. It is also suitable for those in early school years to read on their own. These books will introduce children to key vocabulary as well as fundamental biblical concepts.
With the help of three different children Todd, Joy, and Daniel readers are introduced to God's creation, the story of how he made the world and how mankind fell. Each book has items such as snails, rocks or daisies to spot. With a clear gospel message this series of books is ideal for Christian schools and families. It has uncompromising message and is written to a standard that teachers and school will appreciate.
Vision Forum is featuring the Homestead Blessings collection of Household Skills. This set of 3 DVDs includes The Art of Candle Making, The Art of Soap Making and The Art of Sewing, which are on sale for $45.00. I ordered The Art of Sewing separately a few weeks ago and am waiting on it to arrive, it is sure to be a well needed resource in my home.
She says in her blog: “We have a High Calling from the High King of Heaven to carry out His purpose as mothers of the children He has given to us.” Let us never forget this!
American Vision posted an article today entitled “The High Cost of College and What it Does to Your Children”, which highlighted not only on how much it costs to send our children to college, but the actual outcome of our money spent.
“A recent study confirms what many parents have long suspected: going to college can make kids forget what’s important and embrace values that are counter to what they learned growing up.” (Meyers, 2010)
Take some time to check it out, and do your own research into appropriate colleges for your children; should they choose to go to college. Malachi and I won’t be pressuring our children to attend college, as a trade is just as honorable and probably more practical in some ways. There are many Christian Colleges that adhere to Biblical standards of teaching and such and I think these should be the first options for any Christian young person to seek for first.
New Demonstration (A Reformed Website) has a few free audio books this month, which include Desiring God (John Piper), Pilgrim’s Progress (John Bunyan) and Here I Stand (Martin Luther), to name a few. Head on over and take a look and download them for free this month!
Tabletalk magazine, from Ligonier Ministries has become a favorite of mine. If you’d like to check it out, they are offering a 3 month free trial or you can purchase a year subscription for only $23!
I have the April edition and just can’t seem to put it down. The articles are relevant and challenging to my Christian walk. An article in April’s edition talks about how online social networking has caused a negative shift in our personal relationships. Virtual media has now become the manner in which people “stay connected”, but this article poses the obvious question, are we really connected? There are so many people who become so caught up in these “virtual relationships” that they neglect real ones, family, spouses, children, and church family. We would all do well to limit our “online social networking” to people we know personally, or limit the time we spend on such sites. While the Lord has definitely and undeniably used such things to bring to me close intimate friendships with many godly women, it has also (at times) been a source of contention and strife. I have been careful to limit who I “befriend” on such social networking sites, because quite literally, as the article stated “Friendship is humanly impossible on such a mass scale” (Muether, p.21, 2010). Mr. Muether starts out his article entitled “Virtual Friendship” by stating, “In our digital age, focused attention is made more difficult. Multitasking fragments our thinking, and moments of reflection are punctured by the urgent text message. Concentration drifts after a few paragraphs, and we have lost the art of deep and thoughtful reading” (p.21, 2010).
Recently, when my mother came to visit and we had a very similar discussion, but it revolved around the fact that one day books (the written word) will become obsolete as the internet/computer age dominates all forms of teaching and learning. No longer will students be required to read such classics as “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “Gone with the Wind”, “Romeo and Juliet”, or other great and lengthy novels from esteemed authors of the past. Who would want to sit at their computer screen reading for that long? I am sure this is one reason “Cliff Notes” became so popular. Why read the entire novel if someone else has and took notes on it?
This is not at all surprising given the mere fact that many Christians today have never read the Reformation Classics authored by Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield and the like; if they know of these people at all. If people do know of these particular Reformers the information is vastly incorrect, and it seems no one is forced to do any scholarly research on their own.
I am extremely grateful for the timing of this article in Tabletalk Magazine. I hope that Ligonier Ministries will post this particular article in their Tabletalk section for the April 2010 edition; it is truly worth the read, as well as the entire issue!
Well, looks like that wraps up this post! I hope that you have enjoyed it and that the resources I listed are helpful to you, should you choose to use/purchase them.
Serving God and My Family,
Crystal <><
Resources:
Meyers, J. (2010). The high cost of college and what it does to your children. American Vision. Retrieved 29 March 2010 from, http://www.americanvision.org/article/the-high-cost-of-college-and-what-it-does-to-your-children/
Muether, J.R. (2010). Virtual friendship. Tabletalk magazine. Ligonier Ministries: Lake Mary, FL
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