Free E-Book - Firing Jesus by Greg Stier

I had the opportunity to participate in a webinar hosted by Greg Stier, the president of Dare2Share Ministries. I will be sharing some of the notes that I took during the webinar in a later post, but I wanted to get this into your hands quickly.

Not only is Greg the president of Dare2Share, he is also a prolific writer. His latest book is called Firing Jesus. The idea behind Firing Jesus is whether or not Jesus would make it as a youth pastor in many of today's churches. While I have not had the opportunity to read the whole thing, I have read the first two chapters and it is really good stuff. The book is fairly short (about 112 pages) and many have told me on Twitter that they read it in one sitting.

Because Greg is so gracious, he gave me permission to give out the link for the book. If you would like to get a free copy of Firing Jesus, you simply need to follow this link. In return for the book, you simply need to give them some information and get signed up for their newsletter. Dare2Share is an incredible ministry and their newsletter is always backed full of great stuff.

Go here to get your free copy of Firing Jesus.

If you have never taken the time to read Greg Stier's book Outbreak, I highly recommend you do so. It will give you a passion to train students to share the Gospel.

Free Kindle Books Worth Looking At

In light of my post about preaching from a tablet, here are some Kindle books that may be worth looking into. The price can't be beat: all of these books are being offered for FREE (at least for a limited time).

Heaven for Kids by Randy Alcorn

Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up by Francis Chan

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan

Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan

And, for those of you who haven't gotten your Kindle yet, you may want to think about picking one up. It is a great ministry tool and good item to have in general (at least in my opinion).

Kindle Fire

(HT to Tim Challies for the book list.)

Preaching from a Tablet - Yes or No?

There has been some discussion as of late as to whether a preacher should use an iPad or other device when speaking to a group. Some say yes, some say no. Personally, I nearly always preach from either my Kindle or an iPad. Here are some reasons why.

1. Preaching from a device keeps me on track. I type up my notes and load them as a PDF onto the device. This prevents me from losing my notes or having the pages get mixed up. There is nothing worse than losing your place on the paper or having one of your sheets fall out.
   
2. The device is more efficient. With just a swipe of my finger, I can go to the next page or go back to a previous page. There is no shuffling of notes or pages to drop.
   
3. Putting my notes on a device is more economical. Let's face it, paper and ink cost money. The average sermon outline is around 4 pages and the average manuscript can run up to about 10 pages (well, if you are verbose like me). Those little ink cartridges are expensive and they always seem to run short on the day I am supposed to preach. Putting my notes or manuscripts on my device lets me use as much color and "ink" as I want without the fear of running out or having to shell out $20 just to print my maunscript.
   

I have had the privilege to preach from a Kindle, Kindle Fire, and an iPad. All have their benefits, but I think the best option is the iPad. The screen is bigger and it is much easier to flip to the next page just by swiping. The Kindle Fire is also a good option, but the screen is a bit smaller.

Three Reasons I Love My Kindle

I have had a Kindle for about a year and a few months ago my wife bought me a Kindle Fire. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, a Kindle is a portable e-book reading device. They have become hugely popular since they were first introduced on the market and many think they will eventually replace physical books, even if there is some push-back to that thinking.

Here are three reasons why I love my Kindle.

1. The Kindle allows me to carry a large library with me anywhere I go. I am a book guy (much to the chagrin of my wife). I love to read and try to read and learn as much as possible. One of the big problems about books, though, is that they take up a lot of space. Carrying two or three books can be quite a problem, especially if the books are fairly large. The Kindle reduces the size and allows me to carry my whole library in my pocket.
   
2. The Kindle allows me to highlight and take notes in the book - without damaging the book. I struggle with the idea of writing in a book. It is so...permanent. I have highlighted and written in books before, only to go back years later and have no idea why I did so. The Kindle allows me to highlight passages for later use and I can simply un-highlight later on if the passage is no longer relevant.
   
3. I do a lot more reading on my Kindle. This may be because I skim a little more. It may also be that I carry my Kindle nearly everywhere I go. My Kindle Fire functions like a tablet, so I can get email, connect to Evernote, and even check Facebook (if it is available). By constantly having it with me, I can get a lot of reading done in a short period of time, even if it is just a paragraph or two at the copy machine or red light.
   

There are a lot of other reasons I love my Kindle, but those should be enough for now. Do you have a Kindle? Why do you love your Kindle?

Important Tools for Kindle Fire

Many of you know that I am a big Kindle guy. I've actually moved from my love for physical books to a love for reading on my Kindle. A few months back, my wife got me a Kindle Fire. It was an early Christmas present and I have enjoyed it from the day I got it. It actually has some great ministry uses, but in order to make adequate use of it, you need to make sure that you have the right tools.

The first tool I would recommend is Evernote. Evernote is a file-storing app that lets you store and organize just about anything you can think of. I store articles from the internet, PDFs that I make, and photos. You can organize the files into specific notebooks and tag them accordingly.

The Bible app is incredibly important for you to have as you working in ministry. While connected to an internet source, you can download a large variety of Bible translations. By downloading the versions to your Kindle Fire, you will have access to them when you are not connected to the Internet. When you are connected, you can access a number of other versions as well as a large number of reading plans to help you study God's Word.

Okay, so this one isn't exactly a tool, but it is definitely worth getting. Plants vs. Zombies is a pretty fun game that allows you to make choices as to what "weapons" you will use to keep the zombies out of your house. There are a number of levels and some of them are pretty difficult. Definitely worth the money.

The worst part for me about using the Kindle Fire is the fact that my fingers leave smudges quite easily. A stylus is a great tool to help you keep your screen clean. The price on these styli can't be beat. You can get 3 of them for less than $5. They aren't the most durable of items, but, for the price, it is worth looking into.

Of course none of this will make any sense if you don't already have a Kindle Fire. Trust me, it is well worth the investment. It is a great tool and one that you will use quite often.