Category Archives: Church

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Got a Question for God? There’s an app for that…

Hello World,

The temperature has finally gone down in the A…”from 96 degrees in the shade” to about 87 degrees in the rain, but I guess I won’t complain…

Anywho…Know what? Although I have a blog and a Facebook account, I am woefully behind on and insecure about emerging technology…I mean I am only on my second cell phone, and my parents bought my first one for me a few years back because they correctly deduced as a reporter I needed one…plus I was the only one  in our immediate family that did not have one…nearly unbelievable huh? but it’s true…

Thankfully, however, God has placed people (including my parents)  in my life who have made sure that I have slowly but surely acquainted myself with the latest technology – people like my friend Tess Gadwa who designed my beloved blog for instance…Well about two months ago at the Faith & Fiction Retreat in the A, I met someone who actually designed an iPhone application! Isn’t that impressive?! Who does that? Catherine Helzerman’s app is cleverly named, Ask God.  I knew she had to be featured on this blog…Read on for my exclusive interview!

1. For those who are not technologically savvy or current (me), what is an Iphone app?

An iPhone App is simply any application that is made specifically to run on Apple’s iPhone.

 
2. What is “Ask God?” Why did you develop the application? 

 Ask God is an application developed for iPhone that allows users to easily find Bible scripture on a variety of topics.  The application is designed to offer a fun introduction to those new to the Bible, as well as give Christians a quick way to get a Word on a topic, such as work, faith or marriage.  Favorite verses can be shared on popular social networks such as Twitter or Facebook. 

 I wrote Ask God because I wanted to give people a fun way to get relevant scripture from the Bible.  Too often, Bibles online can be intimidating or not interesting to the new or non-Christian.  My app has fun features such as shaking your phone for verses and sharing them with friends.  Many users who are sharing God’s Word through my app do not even consider themselves “religious.”

3. How did you develop this application? Please tell me all of the nitty-gritty “techy” details. How long did this process take?

 I’m not sure how long it took because I was working on it in my spare time, but the process was somewhat unique.  I felt drawn to develop an application for those needing quick access to Bible scripture.  With no experience in iPhone programming, I purchased a book called “Program for the iPhone in 24 hours,” and I was on my way.  Fortunately my husband and some friends helped with some of the more technical aspects of the program.

4. How does one get access to Ask God? How much does it cost? Have you made any money? Please describe as it think it would inspire people:)

Ask God can be purchased on your iPhone. Go to the App Store and search for Ask God or Bible verses or on iTunes.  You need to have an iPhone for it to work.  It will not run on Blackberry and other phones because the software is not compatible.

Right now, Ask God is free.  I’m working on an upgrade that will enable the application to work on iPad and also give it a new look and feel.  At some point I might charge 99 cents, but for now,  it is free to anyone who wants it.

For a while I did charge 99 cents.  It did not make a lot of money; however, I think part of the reason was that I was holding back on doing a lot of publicity until I got the software right where I wanted it to be.

5. How are you getting the word out about Ask God?  Have you gotten any feedback from “subscribers?” Is that the correct word for people who download the application?

Feedback from users has been great.  Some encourage me to add more technical features –and they’re right.  Much of this has already been done and is available in the version out now.  Many times I will post a scripture to Facebook and get a comment that the Word was “right on time” and what that person needed to hear.  I love moments like that.

Once I have the version out that works on both iPhone and iPad I will promote the software more to get the word out.  I’ll do this through a press release, Twitter, Facebook and targeted publications that cater to the Christian community.  I’ll also ask pastors to share the word about the application if they’re comfortable in informal settings such as weekly men’s and women’s groups, volunteer and outreach groups, etc.

Any thoughts?

Catherine Helzerman has worked in the high-tech industry since the early ’90s for companies including Gateway, IBM and her current company McAfee  In addition to her responsibilities as a communications director at McAfee, Catherine is active in her church Bible Way Christian Center in San Jose, California, particularly in homeless and low-income outreach.  Catherine also enjoys programming and is the co-founder of Snark Software.  Catherine is working on her first book, a Christian fiction novel that will explore how God orders our steps in a way that makes events that are seemingly unconnected and sometimes painful work toward our good.

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The Outsiders…

Hello World!!!

I hope you have found a way to keep cool during what feels like the heat wave of my 36 years! I ran yesterday morning and during the last mile or so, I felt I like I was gulping oven air…

So on to the topic of today…It all started when I about six years old…At least that is as far back that I can remember feeling a certain way…At that time I lived in a black neighborhood just off Camp Creek Parkway…but I went a white private elementary school miles away….and on top of that, my parents had thick Jamaican accents…I was an outsider without question…So what did that little girl do…A lot of the time I found myself by myself…By the time I got to the sixth grade, I convinced my parents to send me to public school…but they chose a white public school miles away from our College Park neighborhood…in fact, it took over an hour for my brother and I to get to our schools in Sandy Springs…and because I was black and from way across town, I was an outsider there too….And by the time I got to high school age and actually convinced my parents to send me to the neighborhood high school, nothing had changed…I was still an outsider there too because I was ridiculed for “talking white” and because they hadn’t known me since elementary school…

But by then, it was all good…I had gotten accustomed to my outsider status, and I relished hanging around other people who felt like oddballs too…people who didn’t have the best clothes, people who had strict parents, people who were “lames,” people who weren’t the prettiest or the most popular, people who dressed in all black and wore skull jewelry, people who rode skateboards and hung out at Little Five Points – those were the people that I wanted to be around…

That’s why there is a part of me that totally gets famous author Anne Rice’s (author of “Interview with the Vampire”) recent announcement via Facebook…

As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of …Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.

For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten …years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.

While I don’t agree with all of Anne’s views, I get where she is coming from…I have literally been going to church all of my life, and I became an official Christian myself when I was about 13 years old…But I have struggled with what has been widely perceived as Christian — at least in the South…Yeah, I’m blessed and highly favored as a Christian but I’m not always going to say that because it’s just weird…And even if I never get  filthy rich, I still feel that I am prosperous…And sometimes the people that say that they are sanctificed all of the time seem like they are just fakin’….I could go on but this is the Internet…

But I love, love, love Jesus…And He was the ultimate outsider….He didn’t care for the religious people of the day either…He preferred the prostitutes, the liars, the poor, the humble….Although Jesus was blessed and highly favored, He didn’t always say that…And Jesus was not rich while He was on earth and didn’t seem to be into material goods that much either…and He chastised the religious people of the day for acting like they were God’s favorite while their thoughts betrayed them…

I don’t know what God thinks of Anne Rice’s Facebook announcement, but I don’t have to…I do know that if she is sincere in her faith in Christ, He will lead her to His truth…

Any thoughts?

This song reminds me of my outsider childhood…

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OMG is taking the name of the Lord in vain…Yeah, I said it!

Hello World,

the image from the ABC News' "Nightline" piece...

Back in September 2009, when I saw that ABC News’ “Nightline” did a feature on the popularity of the exclamation “OMG” and explored if such an exclamation is taking the name of the Lord in vain, I realized there must be a Christian or at least a Christ-friendly person in their ranks…

Reporter John Donovan interviewed high school students from the Washington Hebrew Congregation youth group in Bethseda, Md. who have surely been taught the Lord’s name is not to be used lightly…

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.  Exodus 20:7

As Donovan spoke with them about how they used this exclamation via text or in casual conversation, you could visibly see the students connecting what they had been taught versus their actual behavior. It was enlightening…Donovan also explored how the view of taking the name of the Lord in vain has softened over the years in this country (God help us)…In fact, in years past, words like golly or gosh, which dated back to the 1700s according to Donovan, were developed to avoid wrongly using the name of the Lord.  And if one did use the name of the Lord in vain back then, that person was severely criticized…

But that has all changed, the Parents Television Council reports that in 2007, 95.9 percent of the uses of the name God in primetime television were in vain…I mean, even my e-mail provider has a OMG emoticon…I confessed I used it too until this report reminded me of the seriousness of this oft-forgotten and ignored transgression…(Thanks John Donovan for this reminder!)

While I’m on my soapbox, people often the name of Jesus Christ as an exclamation as well – which is a sin…plain and simple…

Anyway, I had planned to write a post about this report, but I must have forgotten…but the report came back to memory when I heard one of Usher’s new songs on the radio a few weeks or so ago…The title of the song is “OMG.” In Googling this song, sometimes it sounds he is saying, “Oh My God” and sometimes it sounds like, “Oh My Gosh.” Well, even if it is the latter version, the title of the song suggests that he is wrongly calling on the name of the Father…

Now, I am a big fan of Usher’s music dating back to my college days at UGA…but I plan to turn the station whenever I hear this song…It makes me uncomfortable…The Lord is our Creator, Father and Savior – not our lil homie…we do not have the right to use His name casually…

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those Christians that believes that every singer should be singing Christian songs all of the time…but I do believe that every Christian whether they decide to be a gospel singer or a secular singer should respect the name of the Lord at all times…

That’s why in spite of what people say about Kanye West, I still like him…He always speaks from the heart – even if it’s controversial or ill-advised…And I think that his song “Jesus Walks” was groundbreaking…And he properly addressed Jesus Christ in this song in spite of its controversial language and themes…Ultimately, he displayed his desire to be in the presence and counsel of Jesus Christ…in spite of his propensity to sin…

The truth is we are all sinners, but that is no excuse to not try to do right, when we know something is wrong…

Any thoughts?

P.S. Thank God Jesus walks with me!!!