Ok, so I am finally getting around to giving some thoughts to the iPhone.  I have been using it for about 4 months now, and I think I have worked out the good and bad aspects of the iPhone.  I didn’t come to the iPhone from a dinosaur cell phone - I actually had a Blackberry Pearl - so I was not overawed by the core concept of a smart phone.  I also am not a Steve Jobs fanboy (I can’t see myself ever overpaying for a “cool” and “chic” iMac, iLaptop or iWhatever) so I think about this phone as a phone, not as an extension of my Apple psyche.

Here is the good:

1.      It is the best multipurpose handheld device I have seen.  It does a whole bunch of things pretty well.  And it keeps getting better as more and more applications (”apps”) are developed and available.

2.      It has a great many applications to choose from, because Apple finally wised up and allowed developers to create apps and market them.  (Apple is still way too “Big Brother” about its app store, however.)

3.      The apps work (relatively) seamlessly together.  For example: You are in your contacts; you look at a contact’s address.  Click it and the Maps app opens, showing where the address is.  Touch again and it will map directions from  your current location.  Very nice.

4.      The iPod nature of the phone is very nice.  The speaker is good, and can put out some volume.  On highest setting, you can hear it in a good size room.  16GB is plenty of space for a good deal of music, and you can rotate your music off it.

5.      The internet nature of the device is awesome.  The ability to connect it to wifi is a HUGE plus.  It makes the iPhone much more powerful at home and the office.  The web browser is excellent - and coupled with the iPhone’s large screen, very useful.  The only problem is that (typical Apple) they decided that Flash just wasn’t ready for the “user experience” so no flash websites work.  That is supposed to be fixed in a couple of months.

6.      Reading (not getting) email.  The ability to easily read formatted email is much better than on my Blackberry Pearl.  It was very tiresome to have to wade through html coded emails on my BB.  Very nice.

7.      Access to information.  Between a great web browser and the many information apps available, you can have access to just about any information you need - notes, your blog, sports scores, etc.  There is a great Bible program that means I’m never without my Bible (a big plus for me).  Waiting and bored?  You can read the NY Times, a book or watch a YouTube video.

The bad:

1.      Battery power.  The battery does not last a whole day of decent usage.  But what is worse - in typical Apple fashion you can’t get a spare battery.  Apple is protecting you, you see?  Since firmware updates, the battery usage is much better.  One thing that I need to mention also is that it does charge very fast.  When the battery runs down, I can get a good amout of juice back with a quick 15-30 minute charge.

2.      Accessory incompatibility.  I’m so glad Apple isn’t out just to make money like Microsoft.  That would mean that Apple would make most iPod and original iPhone charging accessories (and therefore portable speakers and car accessories) incompatible with the 3G iPhone.  Oh, that’s right.  They did exactly that.

3.      You have to use iTunes.  iTunes is a decent music player.  I understand that it is designed for people who have never even used a computer to sync their music (and as the father of young boys, I can appreciate that).  But I really don’t like all the background processes running, and the fact that it crashes Outlook.

4.      The camera.  No zoom.  No flash.  Why did they include that again?

5.      Getting email.  The Pull options (15 minutes and 30 minutes) are not even in the same league as Blackberry.  I tried the Mobile Me Push (yeah, right!) service for about two days, before I decided it was the lamest, worst such service on earth.  Buggy, clunky, and you have to have all your emails go out under a .me address.  Real good for business.  Someone explain to Apple how a business works, and how you are not supposed to act like you are 12.  You would have to be nuts to pay $99 per year for that.  There is a solution though that I have found: you can get a shared Microsoft Exchange account for your email for about $9 per month.  That is full Exchange - synced Contacts, Calendar and Email.  Very nice.  Very much worth the price, especially when you get Outlook Web Access and a backup of all that data if the device fails.

6.      The phone.  It is by far the worst phone for dropped calls I have ever had.  As far as integration, it is great (really easy to call contacts, look them up, etc.) but it can be really frustrating to actually have a long call on.  Much of the internet buzz is about how bad the ATT network is (hello? Fanboy alert!).  But I have been on the ATT/Cingular network for six years on several phones (Motorola, Blackberry and now Apple). I never had any problems of significance until the iPhone.

The Sum:

Don’t get me wrong, on the whole the iPhone is nice.  I am happy with it, despite its flaws.  Perhaps most of the flaws are more annoying to me because they appear to be able to be fixed relatively easily, but Apple refuses to fix them.  You get the idea that talking to Apple is like talking to a 1960s Soviet Apparatchik.  “What, you want copy and paste?  You do not need copy and paste, no one uses copy and paste!” “What you want flash camera?  You should be happy you even have camera!!  Who cares if every other phone - even ones built for 10 year olds have flash camera!”

But beyond that, the incredible interconnected nature of the iPhone and all its apps is great.  And every week a new app comes out, often making up for the shortcomings built in by Apple (for example, for some reason Apple gave landscape view web browsing, but not email - and a bunch of apps filled in that gap).

I love the fact that the iPhone keeps me connected.  Connected to my congregation by email, phone and text.  Connected in that I can blog post from anywhere (I did that from a Sproul conference).  Connected to the stock market (although Deb thinks I should stop looking and thinking about it).  Other phones may do similar things - but the iPhone does them faster and often with a single click. It is remarkable how easy it makes some tasks.

Now here is a list of the apps that I am currently using, mostly free ones, but a few I paid for because they are useful (and all of them are relatively cheap at that):

• Adela Voice Dialer - I got this when it was free (now it is $4.99).  This is a pretty good voice dialer.  The downside is that you can’t activate it just from a Bluetooth headset (like Blackberry dialers), you have to open the app.  The upside is that the voice recognition is good
• AOL Radio - this allows you to get a large number of radio stations (internet and web versions of air stations) to play over your iPhone’s speakers.
• AirSharing - this app uses WebDev (a network protocol built into Windows) to transfer files (PDF, Word docs, etc) to your iPhone and also allows you to view them.  A very nice app.  So if you need information to carry around (like your wife’s Christmas list), just make a PDF of it and put it on your iPhone
• Bloomberg - the built it Stocks app is great for checking out whether the market is up or down 500 points today, but this app gives much more detail.  And it is free.
• Constitution for iPhone - a free copy of the Constitution, optimized for iPhone viewing
• Dial Zero - this app gives you details on how to get through a key prompt maze to get a real person at a great many companies.
• Evernote - this is the iPhone version of the Evernote service (which is free)
• Expense2Go - you can track expenses, submit them to salesforce.com and even take and attach pictures of receipts
• Firemail/SpellCheck TouchType - Firemail is a free version of a landscape email keyboard.  SpellCheck Touch Type costs like $1, and has a few better features.
• GasHog - lets you track gas usage and mileage.
• Google Mobile App - perhaps the best app out there.  The new version allows you to submit a voice search to Google.  So if you are driving around and need an address for a company, you can simply speak into the phone the name of the company and it will provide Google search results.  It also intergrates with Google Docs, and Google Apps.
• iheart Radio - streams Clearchannel radio stations.  I use it to listen to Rush Limbaugh on the Houston talk station occasionally.
• LifeChurch.tv Bible - a very nice and user friendly Bible program.  You can download free versions (KJV, NKJV, ASV) but need an internet connection for others (ESV, NIV, NASB).
• NY Times - read the NY Times in easy format.
• Pandora Radio - a free radio program that allows you to create your own type of radio stations (by music selections).  It integrates with the web version.
• Remote - control iTunes on your computer from your iPhone
• reQall - allows you to speak notes, tasks, etc into your iPhone and it converts them to text.  You can view them in the app, and also have them emailed to you.
• Sportacular - easily see sports scores
• The Weather Channel - see weather for your area quickly and easily without having to input into a web page.
• Wordpress - create and read your Wordpress blog entries

Ligonier MInistries has a very good message by R.C. Sproul on the Church’s need to speak prophetically on issues in the public sphere - abortion, justice, etc. - regardless of the consequences.

You can listen to it at the Ligonier website, here.

Pastor Carroll and I are on the middle of a wonderful week at the Pastors’ Conference. So far it has been a time of refreshment, good conversation, and encouraging teaching.

The main speakers are RC Sproul, Sinclair Ferguson, and Steve Lawson. It is amazing to me how different their styles are, and yet each is powerful in his own way. The main theme has been the glory of God and how that is manifested in our worship, preaching and teaching, among other things.

I wanted to thank all of you at Christ Church for giving me the opportunity to take the week of “study leave” away from you, and be refreshed. Although I am enjoying myself, I do miss being with you all, and look forward to being back. I will try, as time permits, to blog a bit about the conference itself. I believe that you can watch a webcast of the conference by going to the Ligonier website: http://www.ligonier.org

As some of you may have heard, the Katy Independent School District has closed all of its facilities through the weekend.  That means that just like last weekend we are unable to worship at Taylor high school this coming Sunday.  The good news, however, is that because the Katy area is on its way to recovering from Hurricane Ike, we were able to make other arrangements for worship.  Cornerstone EPC has graciously offered to allow us to use their gym building for worship Sunday morning.  While this is not our usual setup for worship, it does place us in a better position than the other Katy churches that use KISD facilities on a regular basis.

We will have to make several changes to our ordinary Sunday morning program as a result.  The most significant and immediate change is that our morning worship service will begin at 10 AM on Sunday.  This will allow us to be prepared for worship, and allow us to station some people at Taylor in case visitors show up.  There are a few other changes that you should be aware of:

• There will be no Sunday school. Teachers should not bring their materials, and everyone should be aware that there will only be a worship service.

• We will be permitted to stay and have some fellowship, but because Global Mission Church has an early afternoon service and in order to reduce the logistics around setup, there will be no “snack time.” The service will end before 11:30 AM, so families can plan accordingly.

• Parking at Cornerstone is limited. Because our service and Cornerstone’s service will be at roughly the same time, we need to make sure that we leave sufficient parking for Cornerstone. I would ask that if possible: (1) families drive over in one car, and (2) families park either on the street (Park York) or over by the gym. Please do not park close to our office or the front building.

• We will not be using hymnals, nor will the ensemble be playing. Copies of the hymns have been included in the bulletin. As always, you can get a copy of the bulletin from our website.

• There will be a Sunday evening service. It will be at 6 PM as usual. We are canceling, however, the supper that was planned. Because we were not able to have worship last Sunday, I will be continuing my series on “Sins That Entangle” with a sermon on “Misplaced Love - Worldliness.”

If you have any questions, please feel free to call the office and speak to either John or myself.

With this storm headed our way, I trust everyone has or will be making preparations to sustain your families for at least 5 days. Things you should think about:

• We will likely loose electrical power for several days - for those who have generators - READ your safety section of the manual - know what you can and cannot plug into that generator based on it KV size. For the rest of us, batteries for flashlight, radio’s, etc…
• For those living around overhead electric lines - falling trees will likely knock these lines down. Please do not go out riding or walking to see damage, as you could put yourself in danger from fallen trees and power lines - A wooden limb can conduct electricity, so in no way use a stick broom handle, etc.. to try and move a downed power line. Leave it to the professionals!
• Use your ice chest or any big containers (bathtubs) to store water. Used to flush toilets, if you have camping stoves, used for cooking if needed.
• Charcoal & lighter fluid for BBQ grills if you should need to cook meats that maybe in your freezers. (NOTE: if you limit opening freezers doors, they will maintain coolness for several days)
• Those who have homes should store large tarps, 1×4 boards and nails to patch any holes in roofs that could be damaged. (Please do not climb on your roof while it is still storming - wait till it passes and do this only if you have experience and are able)
• If you were able to purchase plywood for doors and windows, know how your home is oriented (North, S, E, W) to put protected where needed the most. EX: My front door faces East. At the current path of Ike, the east and north sides will likely be the hardest hit, so cover those areas where you could see the potential for most damage.
• Likely most will struggle to get a cell phone call through. What most people don’t realize is that a cell text message will sit in cue and whenever a signal opens it will drop the text to your cell phone designation. During Katrina, I worked on the BP Emergency Team and this is how I communicated and found all BP employees who had not checked in before the storm hit. So if you need to reach someone and can’t get a call thru, text them over your cell phone.

NOW - Once this storm passes, I will be available to help anyone in need. I have tools and some supplies if you need a roof patched, window covered, etc… You can call me on my cell or text me and I’ll get back to you. If there are those who make it through the storm OK and are able to assist me, then please let me know.

Daryl Brister

I am now sitting in the Jackson, MS airport with Pastor Carroll, ready to make our way home. Our annual time at the Twin Lakes Fellowship is over.  It was a very good time - seeing old friends, making new ones, and being encouraged from the Word of God (yes, pastors need that too!) was a real blessing.  I was able to spend some time on the ride to the airport with some folks planting a church in Lansing, Michigan.  Lansing was one of the places that Deb and I considered upon graduation, as we sought the Lord’s will for future ministry.  It was so good to hear from them that the work is going forward well.

As good as our time was, it will be very nice to be back home.  I enjoy talking about PCA goings on, theology and ministry; but I miss throwing the ball with my boys, having Abby jump up on my lap, and Deb.  I miss my house.  I miss Houston.  And I miss Christ Church.  I joked with Rick Phillips, a PCA pastor and prolific author, who had recently moved to Greenville and is happy with his new work, that I might be the only guy happier in his ministry that he is!

I hope to have opportunities to share with you some of the things we heard and saw there, and to answer the questions you always had about dogs barking in the middle of of the night.

John Carroll and I have just arrived at the Twin Lakes Fellowship outside Jackson, MS.  Right now, Dr. Ligon Duncan is speaking to us about the purpose and mission of the Fellowship.  It is a time for pastors to be refreshed, encouraged and energized for the work of a pastor - bringing the ordinary means of grace (the Word of God and Sacramets) to the people of God.

Our flight was uneventful, and even though when we got off the plane the weather was colder and stormier than when we got on.  Already I have seen more than a dozen old friends, and been encouraged by the way in which the Lord is working throughout the country.

I hope to give more updates during the Conference.  Stay tuned.

In case you were wondering if the latest cinematic assault on God would spell the end of Christianity, never fear. Noted atheist Phillip Pullman’s The Golden Compass was release a few weeks ago to a flurry of news and entertainment stories. Was it an atheist manifesto? A secular Lord of the Rings? An epic fantasy? A sanitized effort to get unsuspecting children to read the books? The answer is in: what it actually is, is a ringing dud. After three weeks, Compass managed to take in “just” $48 million dollars. That sounds like a lot of money, until you realize that the investors who put up the cold hard cash to make the movie – and who were hoping to start a money-generating machine like The Lord of the Rings or National Treasure – spent more than $150 million to make the movie. The investors may recoup their losses through foreign ticket sales and DVDs, but you can bet that no one will be lining up to make installment 2 in this series. Producers may not like bad reviews, but they cannot stand bad financial returns. The movie business is after all, a business. Compare Compass’ meager take to the old-fashioned Disney move, Enchanted, which has taken in more than $98 in almost the same length of time. Even the campy Alvin and the Chipmunks (with far less CGI effects) managed to take in more than $80 in just more than half the time.

Of course, even if this movie was the greatest financial success ever, it would not change the truth that God created man, that Adam fell by sinning against God, and that God made provision for reconciling a people to Himself through the most unlikely of methods: sending His Son, the eternal Second Person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ into the world as a baby. How can we possibly think that God is afraid of a piece of colloid when He was confident enough to change the entire world through a baby?

I was able to spend a few hours this morning working on some the “back page” issues on the website. This all started when I reminded myself that I have to get a Sunday school page up on the site, so that I can meet the requests that have been made for PowerPoint slides and audio of my Sunday school class on Covenant theology and Pastor Carroll’s class on Revelation. I am not there yet - I have to build the ground floor before I can work on the second story. So I added a subsection of the website on our church body life (including some pictures!) and then I will map Sunday school into that section.

Stay tuned for more modifications to, and additional material on, the website.

Today I had a wonderful experience. It was the experience of worshipping at Christ Church with virtually no pastoral duties. In God’s Providence, and thanks to Pastor Carroll’s hard work, I did not have to preach this week. We also do not have an evening service – so no evening sermon. I did not have to teach at all, in fact. (This is a sharp change from next week, when I’ll preach twice and teach my new Sunday school class – which will have its own kind of different pleasure and benefits for me!) I was able for the most part to simply relax with my family both before and during the service. I did not have to focus at all on the sermon that needed to be finished towards the end of this week. On my favorite of all holidays - Thanksgiving – I rested and played with the kids and enjoyed company. The next day, I did not even feel the need to fight traffic and the hordes of shoppers on “Black Friday.” (And if you know of my love for all things electronic, you know what a sacrifice that was for me!) Two days of complete rest from all duties and cares!! To top it all off, we had the Lord’s Supper this morning. What a wonderful week.

But there is another good thing that I was reminded of this week. It is that Christ Church is much more than the place where I work, or the place where I am allowed to minister. Christ Church is the Grecos’ church family. It is the place that we long to be. You may have noticed that on our last week of vacation (in September) that we showed up for church at Taylor High School. I thought about visiting another church to see what was going on around town (there are few opportunities for a minister to do that), but the kids wouldn’t hear of missing their Sunday school classes, or their friends, or the opportunity to hear Pastor Carroll preach. Deb and I couldn’t think of a good reason to be away from the where we wanted to be. Even though it might seem “unusual” or a “waste of a vacation opportunity,” we wanted to be with Christ Church. In fact, I can say with all honesty that if I were not a pastor but still a lawyer who lived in Houston that we would attend Christ Church because of the people and the commitment to ministry. There is no other place where I would rather be. All this was brought to my mind when I read an internet article from 9 Marks Ministries entitled, “You shouldn’t work at a church you wouldn’t attend.” Praise be to God that is in no way the case for me. I am incredible blessed.