Tag: technology

Categories
motivation

Phone check…or not?

Cartoon of a business man and homeless man

When I drew this cartoon, I did not have a smartphone. Ten years has made quite a difference when it has come to phone tech. But are we better for it?

This article on the morning habit of checking your phone first thing in the morning was written before all the coronavirus hit. I’m sure some of the warnings would be even more true today. It’s not a good idea for me to check my phone in the morning. All the stress and anxiety that comes through the phone does not put you me a good mindset to begin the day.

We face a constant battle each day to either control the content in our lives or let it control us. We are not facing a scarcity of information. On the contrary, we face a flood of information each day. We have to consider whether the information we receive is fact or opinion, accurate or made-up. And even if it is factual and accurate, we need to consider whether this is helping us or not. Does it put us in the right frame of mind? Does it help us start the day on a good, right footing, or just put us in despair?

It is tempting to just grab the phone and let the tsunami of information flood us. But remember, we have the control. We can choose how much and what information we consume. Otherwise, we may need a sign that says, “I have a smartphone. Please help me!”

Cartoon of a business man and homeless man
Categories
church cartoons

Electronic Giving is NOT E-Waste!

Cartoon of a guy lugging an old PC. Another guy says, "Electronic Giving doesn't mean you donate your old PC!"
© 2019 Kevin Spear. Published in the October 2019 Church of God Newsletter

Cartoon of a guy lugging an old PC. Another guy says, "Electronic Giving doesn't mean you donate your old PC!"
© 2019 Kevin Spear. Published in the October 2019 Church of God Newsletter

I noticed this has been an issue anywhere I worked with more than twenty years of history. There’s an old PC in the corner. There are old hard drives, zip disks and even floppy disks. Does anyone remember the old 5 1/4″ floppy disks? They still make great coasters. But they’re not very good for storage these days.

Today, you can get a 64mb flash drive for the same price an old floppy once cost and it could contain the equivalent of 42,667 floppies! Yes, I did the math. You can get a 64 mb flash drive for about $2.00 USD today (October 20, 2019). That is what I remember floppy drives going for in the late eighties and nineties. They carried about 1.5 kb. Alas, that old hardware, software and storage devices aren’t useful anymore. So please don’t donate them to a church or charity. They don’t need your ancient e-junk!

Electronic giving has been a thing at the churches I’ve attended for over five years now. You can have funds withdrawn to your account and not have to worry about bringing cash or paper check for the offering plate. When I’ve heard the phrase “electronic giving” from the pulpit, I’ve often wondered what if would look like if someone took it literally and placed a flash drive in the plate as proof they actually gave something!

I drew this for the October, 2019 CHOGNews.

Categories
motivation Proverbs

Get All the Advice and Instruction You Can

Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life.

Proverbs 19:20 NLT

We live in an age where we have access to instant information. If we have a question, we can always Google it on our phones. Libraries have buildings and online version. We have access to online universities, podcasts, and audiobooks. We can communicate with experts on the other side of the world. The opportunities to learn are endless.

At the same time, technology had made knowledge advance at lightning speed. Are you still relying on what you learned in school? That knowledge was probably obsolete by the time you graduated. Even if you are an expert in a field, choosing not to learn more can make you a dinosaur within a few years.

Whether you are just starting in your career, or have been working for decades, there is always something to learn. The old can learn from the young as well as the young from the old.

It is a great time to be a learner. Choose to learn something new every day!

Categories
cartoon

Just because you receive my tweets doesn’t mean we’re communicating.

Social media has change the way we communicate. We don’t consider when we post something, it is really one way communication. We don’t consider that we have become our own media outlet, much like a newspaper or TV news show. We are all broadcasters now.

But broadcasters are not the same as communicators. True communication is two-way. We speak and listen.

Blogging, tweeting and Facebook posts are fine. But we need to remember true communication is a different entity.

Categories
church cartoons

Was That Really Anonymous?

cartoon of a man at a desk talking on the phoneThis cartoon has a man at a desk and telephone. He says, “Hey Ed. It’s Pastor Mark. If you really wanted to send that comment anonymously, you shouldn’t use your home email address.”

There are ways to send anonymous emails, but I’m not telling. Besides, if you think you have to say it anonymously, you probably shouldn’t say it at all.