Live From Rest:
Apple/Android
Free

Blaise Pascal famously said: ‘All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone’

Into this frantic and addictive restlessness, the Live from Rest app offers an invitation to the practice of Biblical meditation ‘rooted in the way of Jesus’. As the app slogan puts it: ‘In a world obsessed with doing, we are discovering the ancient art of being’.

In essence the app allows you to customise a range of spoken-word meditations, with a variety of themes, backing tracks and lengths. Father and son duo Steve and Joshua Luke Smith say they created the app because ‘they needed it’. Instinctively we can find ourselves busily rushing through life to get to rest, rather than living from rest. Their burden is to help Christians ‘find and maintain a place of peace’ by discovering the ‘rhythm of rest God always intended you to have’.

I’m sure Live from Rest offers something that many readers won’t be used to. Whilst the creators are unashamed about the ‘up front’ role Scripture plays in the meditations, it is intentionally not a ‘study-based’ approach to the Bible. Passages are read out in the context of a themed reflection, and then gently explored in dulcet tones, perhaps with calming synths or birdsong in the background.

Often the meditations will also reference breathing and body positions, with a recognition that we are embodied creatures. I know evangelical friends who have found this holistic focus both refreshing and rewarding. These are bitesize and accessible and could be done on a commute, a lunch-break, or while a toddler naps.

Steve Smith is a medical doctor specialising in addiction, and one of the strengths of the meditations is the collection on ‘freedom’. There are meditations on battling shame, pornography and lust, anger, and over-eating. These include prayers of confession and repentance; the language is often framed as choosing truth and ‘breaking agreement’ with lies.

A minor quibble was that once you download the app, you have to share your email address before you can access it. As someone keen to trial the app, this rather put me off and didn’t feel too restful a welcome!

A lot of wisdom, expertise and skill has gone into the app, and it is now all available for free. Pastorally, my instinct is that, as a part of someone’s devotional practice, Live from Rest will undoubtedly holistically enrich a Christian’s life.

The Live From Rest website is here.

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A version of this article was first published here in the May 2021 Issue of Evangelicals Now and is shared here with permission. EN is a monthly newspaper published in print and online, offering a biblical perspective on current issues and insight on what’s happening with God’s people worldwide. Online subscription is just £10 p/a with print & online combined for just £18. Order a free sample or subscribe here.

Spurgeon In Your Pocket

Despite a slightly uninspiring name (Daily Readings), this is a delightful little app bringing you cherished daily wisdom on the Scriptures, as well as the chance to sing along to treasured hymns.

DAILY READINGS:
Apple/Android
Free

A joint project of Christian Hymns and the Evangelical Movement of Wales, Daily Readings provides the user with daily morning and evening Bible readings and reflections from two of British evangelicalism’s most respected pastors: Charles Spurgeon and J.C. Ryle.

Spurgeon and Ryle

Both Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening reflections and J.C.Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels have edified countless Christians since their release in the 19th century. Pithy, perceptive and practical, now they’re readily and freely available through this app.

Simply open it up and you’ll be presented with the day’s devotional, with the option of switching between Ryle and Spurgeon (and for him, both morning and evening). Advocates of Morning and Evening will know Spurgeon tends to focus on a verse or part thereof, so there’s also an optional additional Bible reading for those who want more. The app has the ESV Bible text built-in and offers a helpful and applicatory ‘For Thought and Prayer’ section at the end of each reading too.

A Daily Hymn

But perhaps the unique aspect is the daily hymn for each reading. Click through and you’ll be presented with lyrics and the option of playing an instrumental accompaniment. This is clearly a labour of love.

The whole Daily Readings app interface has been well designed to be both aesthetically pleasing and easy to use, with a clean font and simple colour scheme. Spurgeon has been ‘lightly modernised’ and the app is actually a real gem.

I was more impressed than I expected from this app. It makes Spurgeon and Ryle highly accessible, and if you’re particularly familiar with hymnody, this is well worth downloading.

More info on Daily Readings here.

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A version of this article was first published here in the March 2021 Issue of Evangelicals Now and is shared here with permission. EN is a monthly newspaper published in print and online, offering a biblical perspective on current issues and insight on what’s happening with God’s people worldwide. Online subscription is just £10 p/a with print & online combined for just £18. Order a free sample or subscribe here.

Do you have a new year resolution for how much you’ll use your smartphone? What about one for what you’ll use it for?

EXPLORE:
Apple/Android
Free

Readers are likely to be familiar with The Good Book Company’s flagship daily Bible-reading notes, Explore, perhaps fewer have realised there is also a popular app option. Rather than lugging a Bible and paper devotional around, the app combines both, meaning that daily Bible reading can occur wherever you have your phone.

Cultivating a good routine

The app is simple, attractively designed, and harnesses the kind of features you’d expect: font size can be increased depending on preference; a daily reminder feature offers a helpful prompt when it comes to cultivating a routine of Bible reading; bookmarks can save your place in a particular study.

Once in the app, you can purchase from a plethora of reading plans, whether buying the latest month’s plan, or choosing to focus on a Bible book or topic of your own choice. In that sense, Explore app users have more flexibility than those reading the paper version.

A 28-day helpful introduction to daily Bible reading, ‘Time with God’, can be downloaded free of charge (as can studies on Titus) but other plans range from £0.99 to £2.99, depending on number of daily studies. Once bought, these then remain in the app’s library.

Physical or Digital?

Some may argue that the act of physically getting your Bible out in public, e.g. on the train or in the office, was a helpful step in both discipleship and witness. But in reality, perhaps the inconvenience of such Bible reading ‘on the go’ ends up limiting the amount of Bible reading that is actually done.

By the way, a little disclaimer: this reviewer occasionally writes notes for Explore, but here our focus is on the app rather than the quality of the devotional writing!

However, if you value Explore’s careful, well-applied book-by-book approach, yet you struggle to ‘make it happen’, perhaps because your best times for Bible reading aren’t at home, then this app is well worth considering.

More info on Explore here.

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A version of this article was first published here in the January 2021 Issue of Evangelicals Now and is shared here with permission. EN is a monthly newspaper published in print and online, offering a biblical perspective on current issues and insight on what’s happening with God’s people worldwide. Online subscription is just £10 p/a with print & online combined for just £18. Order a free sample or subscribe here.