Wow the ideas for the iPhone app were great and we’re trying to figure out right now how to make it happen. With the way the economy is we’re either going to design an amazing iPhone app for the Stuff Christians Like book or a sticker. I’m pulling for app.
Here are the three comments that won a new book from Shane Hipps. If you’re on this list please email me your mailing address at [email protected] with “book winner” in the subject line. The “want to do something for God” book winners are below as well. So make sure you check if you’re one of the lucky (whoops, I mean Godly) 7 winners
3 Winning iPhone App Comments
Nicodemus at Nite said
The Iphone has an app to turn the camera into a barcode scanner.
The SCL app would use the barcode scanner. Say you’re in a Christian book store and you want to see what SCL says about those minty goods that are Testamints. You scan the barcode and it pulls up any blogs that are associated with it for quick laughs. This would be especially handy if the blog pulled up is in the “You can do this, if this happens…” form.
Buying the, “I kissed Dating Goodbye book?” No problem, scan it and the app pulls up a blog to give you some humorous comfort in why you should or shouldn’t buy it.
Etc, etc, etc.
Or it could be used in any store that you see something that SCL may write about, take a pic and it uploads straight to the SCL website. Which then in turn, gives Jon more ideas to write about. The more SCL minions out there scavenging the marketplace, the more ideas, the more humor, turning into more books. And with all that, more minions. It’s a perfect cycle for SCL.
In conclusion, the SCL app with the barcode scanner is really the mark of the beast 😉
Tim DuMont said
First of all I’m typing this before I read any comments so its fresh from my mind and I haven’t stolen any ideas (other than from Jon Acuff, but that is kinda the point… right?).
I think it should be a game where you run a church. You would have to hire staff (a metrosexual worship leader, a crazy youth pastor, and a senior pastor). You would then try to grow the size of your church to a specific number of members or attendees.
Different characters that you could hire would have different styles and stats. One preacher might be funnier, another might be better at teaching. One worship leader might have a country flare, while another would be U2 styled. One youth pastor would be that funny old guy who is still a teenager on the inside, and another youth pastor would be the crazy 25 year old who plays in the X-games in the summer.
After the initial hiring phase, the game moves into a real-time-strategy phase where you have to manage services. This could involve clicking on the worship leader so that he doesn’t spontaneously burst into song, clicking on disruptive church attendees so that deacons will come and remove them, click on the church elders/deacons to have them begin communion.
As a bonus feature or reward for winning the regular game you could also manage the children’s church program in a similar manner.
Prior to each service you could pick a theme for the sermon and music. Depending on what you choose you will attract more or less people the next week.
This also allows for some expansion pack type stuff, like a christmas or easter service version of the game!
There is just so much that could be done. I can’t come up with every idea, but I just think that this would be amazing!
Sam Vimes said
The app needs to be huge and all inclusive. Yes it needs to have simple features like, such as (u.s Americans…. sorry old joke) easy ways to navigate the site thru the iphone, and a links feature to your friends blogs/blogs you admire. But thats childs play. on to the cool stuff.
A face in hole feature, namely one where we look like we’re totally side hugging Jon Acuff creator of the extremely awesome site SCL, so be jealous that we side hugged him. Also one where we look like we’re holding a worship eagle or side hugging one, and side hugging Psalty.
Play by play guides to passing the communion tray (with etiquette guide), closing your eyes during worship, finding out if your friends drink the devil’s bathwat… I mean beer, etc.
A worship eagle that responds to whatever Christian music you are listening to.
A prayer reminder, so you’ll never “forget” to pray for someone when you say you will
Every quiz ever on this site, with live updating in case you make more
bootleg cookie identifier
Church name generator
“godly” breakup excuse generator
a feature that takes your bible verse of choice and turns it into a cross stitch version, for use as a wallpaper
SCL dictionary
Frisbee rule book
relevancy meter, it’ll alert you if you drop below “relevant in the late nineties”
Chick fil-a locator
a booty, God, booty alarm. When you do go booty, God, booty it’ll alert you, so you can get back into the word, you sweaty heathen sinner.
thats all i got for now…. anyways.
4 Winning “Want to do something for God/What did you give up?” Comments
Tracie said
In January 2005 my unsaved husband walked out. At the time I’d been saved nearly six years, and my efforts to share the gospel with him had been met with everything from light teasing to verbal cruelty.
Moments after he left, while I was sobbing in the bathroom, God told me to give up on my marriage. I saw a picture of my own hand, visibly straining to hold a heavy bag. If I let go, it would drop over the edge a sheer cliff.
Then I heard God whisper, “Let it go,” and I realized the bag was my marriage that I’d been working so hard to maintain.
So I let it go, and I watched the bag plummet until I couldn’t see it anymore.
In January 2006–one year later–my husband came to me with tears in his eyes and humbly told me he’d given his life to Jesus Christ. I wasn’t there when he got saved. It had nothing to do with me or my efforts. It was God’s doing entirely.
The year in between my husband’s leaving and his return was difficult (and that’s putting it lightly). But I’d never, ever trade it.
Mikki Black said
We had to give up to go to college.
We had to completely go on faith: we were married and had two kids and were the ripe old age of 24.
While we were there, time after time, we would look at our situation and say, “One of us is going to have to drop out next semester and earn more money.” We knew there was nothing we could do to stay in school. But time after time, God would pull us through.
– needed to win the kindergarten “lottery” to have daughter in full-day instead of half-day. Nothing we could do, but God provided.
– needed to get out of a car payment, but no one was buying our cars, and dealers wouldn’t give us much. Husband won a free car at work. Apparently they put everyone who signed up for benefits into a drawing for a PT Cruiser. God provided.
– our sitter for the first two years had a new baby and couldn’t watch ours anymore. Needed $ for a new one, no way to make more; in fact, I had to quit work to do my student teaching. Mom called out of the blue one day, “I’ve recently come into some $, and I’m pretty sure God wants me to give it to you. Do you need $ right now for something?” We hadn’t told family of our troubles, but again, God provided.
Each time, we had said, “God, if you want this to continue, if you want us to get through college together, we need your help. There’s nothing more we can do.”
And in 3 years, with full class loads, full-time jobs, 2 kids, student teaching, and no money, we both graduated college. Together.
Thanks to God.
Richard said
I was driven to give up my life plan by the haunting words of a mildly successful traveling comedian named Tommy Johnigan.
He performed at my college, before about 100 people. Me and a few friends were convinced to go with this couple who absolutely loved Johnigan. So I was sitting next to a girl I liked, in this half-empty room, kinda bored, and I committed the comic audience cardinal sin… I responded when he asked a question.
Eventually he asked me what my major was, and I told him “History”. He asked me, “Are you gonna teach?” and I said no. He questioned my logic, then asked if I had minors. I had two, political science and French. He responded with what seemed to be genuine concern, calling my degree:
“The Trifecta of Unemployment”
Tommy then asked if I had any hobbies or passions, and I told him I loved music, that I was a musician. He jumped on that, telling me to go and seek out my dream, to “just do something” because he couldn’t see how my degree was helping matters.
Now, I didn’t expect to take career advice from a mildly successful traveling comedian who had lost on Last Comic Standing, but five months later those words rang in my ears. I had spent the last five months interviewing at different places for government jobs, office jobs that I just knew I’d be miserable in. My greatest happiness came in leading worship with my band and at my student ministry, but my impending graduation was bringing a lot of that to a stopping point.
I was miserable thinking about the future, even though I had this whole “noble” plan to work full time and lead worship in my spare time for a church that couldn’t afford a worship leader or find somewhere to play. The only problem was, there was nothing else I was truly passionate about. My engineering friends could talk about engineering stuff for hours, as could my teaching friends with teaching topics. I only wanted to lead music in a way that caused response in peoples lives.
So, I gave up my noble plan, and decided to start looking for some way to become a full-time “worship leader”. I applied all over the country, and ended up living up in Dallas, working at a coffee place, and planning on seminary, with only one more possibility before academia swallowed me whole once again.
That one last possibility ended up being where God has me today, a full-time worship-leading “resident” at an 8,000 member church in Arizona, in a program designed to prepare ministers for a life of full-time ministry. It hasn’t always been easy, but it is so much fun, and I’m learning so much and meeting so many amazing new people.
And it all started with the words of a traveling comedian.
Kelley said
Oh, man. I thought last summer that I was supposed to go to Honduras on a missions trip. I had prayed about it, and I started raising support.
Enter my missions contact, who told me that the trip was closed, but that I could go to Mexico if I wanted. Now, I don’t have anything against Mexico, but I really didn’t want to go there. I wanted to go someplace more exotic. Like Honduras. So I told her no.
That night I woke up in the middle of the night and could not go back to sleep. I knew God was telling me to go to Mexico. So I tried to ignore God in the most ironic way possible: reading the Bible. I sat in my room reading my Bible for an hour, trying to drown out God. Finally I gave up and listened. When I woke up the next morning, I called my missions contact and told her I would go to Mexico. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made in my life.
