Evernote

This past week I was introduced to the program Evernote. The capabilities of this program will change the way I file information, organize my research, and prepare for sermons. Evernote, which is available online as a free download, allows you to clip, save, and search photos, videos, and articles. Here's a look at a couple of the coolest features of Evernote: 

If you are using Firefox as your web browser you will have the Evernote helper in the toolbar (the elephant head in the top right corner). 

 
When you find an article or webpage that you would like to save for future reference simply click the Evernote helper. In reading the New York Times I found an article on a recent federal court ruling concerning the Morning-After Pill. The Evernote web clipper tool will pop up and allow you to edit the title of your article, add keyword tags, and further notation. 

When you log into Evernote you can sync your Evernote so that it retrieves data you've saved while browsing the Internet on your computer or smartphone.

Evernote's search feature searches every article (not just keywords or tags) so you can retrieve any articles that contain the subject that you're researching. In the example below I have searched the word 'contraception' and Evernote recalls the New York Times article I just copied along with any other previously saved articles and notes. 

 
Evernote searches documents and articles. It also searches images for text (my favorite feature of the program). While researching the Puritans I came across a couple of books that I thought would be helpful and so I took a picture of the books on my Iphone, which I then uploaded to Evernote. When I search 'Puritan' later on, Evernote highlights 'Puritan' in the image file.

 
You can also link your Google searches with Evernote so that Evernote searches the information database you've created and identifies resources that you have already marked as helpful or significant. These search results are presented along with Google's results. In the image below I searched Google for information on John Owen. Beside Google's findings, Evernote presents those notes and articles I have saved that may be relevant to my information search.

The benefits of such a program become quickly obvious to students and pastors who spend a great deal of time researching or reading information online. But Evernote also has software that is designed for saving culinary information: pictures of food, pictures of recipes, online recipes, and more. Plus, with any information you save to Evernote-- whether it be a recipe or a scholarly article-- you can share through Facebook, Twitter, or Email with only a couple clicks. 

Here is a video introduction to Evernote: 

Summer Fellowship at Westminster Chapel in Toronto

Over the past couple years, my wife and I have had enjoyed several opportunities to worship with friends at Westminster Chapel in Toronto. I have a great deal of respect for Westminster Chapel, their pastoral staff, their commitment to biblical, gospel-centered worship, and their vision for the city of Toronto.

If I was in the Greater Toronto Area this summer (which, alas, I am not), I would certainly take advantage of the summer series that Westminster Chapel is hosting on Wednesday evenings. They have a number of excellent preachers lined up to give a series of sermons on the Minor Prophets. The series started two weeks ago, but will be continuing throughout July and August.

Ligon Duncan will be preaching, as will Victor Shepherd (one of my former professors) and Joe Boot (pastor of Westminster Chapel). The teaching promises to be both intellectually and spiritually stimulating. If you're in the GTA, consider checking out this special opportunity to hear top-notch biblical exposition. For more details look at the Ezra Institute's website here.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The Martyn Lloyd-Jones trust made news last week by announcing that they would be making 1600 sermons from the good doctor available free of charge (what a gift! what an image of the gospel!). Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was known for his thorough exposition of the Scripture, his gospel preaching, and his love for the gospel of Jesus. Here is an introduction to his life:

Hopefully this has piqued your interest in the work and gospel ministry of Dr. Lloyd-Jones and you will make good use of this new (and free!) resource. Register now at the MLJ trust website and begin downloading today.

Free: Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners

Logos Bible Software's free book of the month for April is John Bunyan's spiritual autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. Bunyan's most famous work is The Pilgrim's Progress. Both Grace Abounding and The Pilgrim's Progress were written during Bunyan's 12 year imprisonment for choosing to not stop preaching in a manner that upset the Church of England.

The Gospel and Sexual Assault

An important resource from The Resurgence is being made available for free today and tomorrow (April 2-3) from Amazon and The Resurgence. Rid of my Disgrace: Hope and Healing for the Victims of Sexual Assault by Dr. Justin Holcomb and Lindsey Holcomb is being made available for Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The prevalence of sexual assaults is overwhelming (according to the Holcombs research, one in four women and one in six men have been sexually assaulted-- you probably know a sexual assault victim, perhaps without knowing that they're a victim), and this book will help provide a compassionate response grounded in the good news of our Hope and Healer, Jesus. 

A thanks to Calvin Seminary

One of the really cool things that Calvin Seminary does for its community is the Book of the Semester program. Each semester (Fall and Spring) a book is chosen by the powers that be and a free copy is given to any student, faculty, or staff that promises to read the book. In the past, the school has then brought in the author to give a lecture about the book at semester's end (not to mention the lecture last semester was accompanied by a free lunch). 

Last semester, the book of the semester was Letters to a Young Calvinist: An Invitation to the Reformed Tradition by James K.A. Smith, a Calvin professor. The books chosen are not necessarily theological in nature. For instance, past books have included: Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, and Gilead: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson. For a full list of past selections see here. 

This semester's book of the semester is Letters from the Land of Cancer by Walter Wangerin Jr. I hope to provide some comments on the book later in the semester. In the meantime, I am grateful for a school that generously makes available the opportunities to read widely and cost-effectively. For a poor, Dutch seminary student, free is about as good as it gets.

Free Books: Warfield, Ryle, and Bridges

More free books are available in the month of February!

For Logos Bible Software users, you can download Benjamin B. Warfield's Revelation and Inspiration (volume one of the 20-volume collection). Click here for more details. 


Logos, in partnership with Desiring God ministries, will also be making available a free download of the J.C. Ryle classic, Holiness. This offer is available for the next five days.

For those who listen to audiobooks, this month ChristianAudio.com is giving away Trusting God by Jerry Bridges. You can download that here. 

Also, not that this has anything to do with free books (it's Star Wars... it doesn't have to do with anything! It's just cool!)...

NBD.

Free Trial Audible Membership

A free trial of Audible.com is available to Amazon shoppers. Amazon customers can apply for a 30-day trial of Audible by logging in with their Amazon account. The trial grants new customers two credits, which can be applied to any of the thousands of audiobooks that Audible sells. Audible has a great selection of books on a wide range of topics and would be worth checking out if you like to listen to audio books in your car, while working out, or working around the house.

My trial purchases were A History of the American People by British historian Paul Johnson and The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd by Richard Zacks.
 

Note: Upon the completion of your free trial you will automatically be charged a membership fee if you fail to cancel your subscription. If you are trying the Audible service and do not wish to be charged a membership fee, be sure to access your account details (top right corner), log in, and click on change membership. If you scroll down, underneath the various memberships options is a link ("Cancel my membership") that will allow you to cancel your trail, thus avoiding the monthly fee of $14.95. Any audio books that your applied your trial credits to will remain on your hard drive.

Free Commentary & Free Book by John Piper

For those who have Kindle, Amazon is giving away Robert Gundry's commentary on James for free today only. 

Also, John Piper's recent book, Bloodlines, is being offered as a free, downloadable pdf file over at the Desiring God website.

ChristianAudio.com and Free J. I. Packer Book

Christianaudio.com is an excellent website to bookmark for anyone who has long commutes, likes to listen to their Ipod while working out at the gym, or who would rather listen to a book than pick one up. They sell Christian books in audio format and can be downloaded in several audio file formats. 

Every month Christianaudio.com gives away a free audio book. Allow me to repeat that for any non-Dutch, non-seminarian readers whose interest wasn't immediately piqued by the word 'free': they give away an audio book and you do not have to pay for it! Books they have offered in the past include Think! by John Piper, The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff.

In January they are offering a free download of J. I. Packer's classic book, Knowing God. First published in book format in 1973, Packer's work has since sold over one million copies. For anyone who wishes to grow in knowledge and in faith, Packer's book should be well received.