Gospel Tech with Nathan Sutherland

We've all got one resolution for this year: Win at tech. It's been two straight years of bad tech habits and feeling like we "should" do better, and now we're resolved to do it. In today's episode we'll discuss three resolutions we can implement today that will help us all live healthier tech lives.

This Christmas I (Nathan) am picking up a tradition passed along by my papa Pete: Every Christmas Eve Papa would sit us down and read the Christmas story from the Bible--he'd make sure we all heard the promises of God before we dove headlong into our presents. As I prepared to do the same thing with my own children, nieces, and nephews I was convicted that I need to tell them more than simply a ba...

Anna's back! It has been a LONG time, 48 episodes to be exact, since we were last graced by Anna's presence on this podcast. We get an update, talk tech, kids, life, and dive into a bit of how this Advent season should be shaping the way we use our tech.  

There is a lot of new tech coming out for Christmas, and the Q is asked: Should I get get my child (insert new amazing tech) device? To help, we want reviews of new VR set, that new smartphone and smart watch. We want to know if we should get that reader, tablet, or Echo Dot. We want more info on that PS5, Xbox One X, Nintendo Switch, and Steam Deck. Is it worth it? Should they have it? But the co...

Sometimes I feel like I need permission to parent. It's not that I feel I'm doing a bad job, but I just feel like I'm in over my head. In business, teaching, and speaking we call it the imposter syndrome. It's that feeling you get when you give a presentation, or discipline your child, that you're not nearly qualified enough to be making these decisions. Today I want to tell you that you are every...

There’s a solid book on parenting written by Ted Tripp called Shephering Your Child’s Heart. It’s worth a read. I just reread it and realized there isn’t really a book like this about tech. So while I may never write that book, I figured this episode could be a crash course in how we can apply Biblical principles of parenting to raising healthy youth in a tech world. Our conversation today follows...

We are all experts at judging ourselves. We are incredibly critical of our flaws, mistakes, and shortcomings. One reaction to these harsh critiques is to make excuses: It wasn't that bad, I couldn't done worse, it's "relatively harmless".  Today's conversation looks at how we have a higher standard than simply explaining our mistakes away, and we must accept that hope for ourselves so that we can...

I often get asked “But why is it Gospel Tech?” Why not just something like ‘Healthy Tech’ or something that focuses on making good tech decisions? The answer is pretty simple: the Gospel is the only thing that gives us the power to make meaningful change. Yes, we could remove smartphones and that would provide a benefit. We could protect from pornography, and that would stave off some addictions a...

Christmas is coming and, given the oddities with logistics and shipping in this 2021 Covid year, I decided to address healthy-tech Christmas choices early enough for it to still be useful for you! In today's conversation we're diving into how we can wow our children this Christmas while giving gifts that reflect the truth of the Gospel and the hope we have for our children. 

Parenting can be tough! In this digital world it's easy to feel like you're constantly one step behind. There are just so many apps, games, websites, videos and, on top of it, voices of people who seem to know more who keep telling you what to do. Today's episode is about setting aside our very real, but overwhelming, worries and concerns and turning our hearts back to what is most important in ou...

We were made for adventure. The God of the universe saw all he made and said "Let's make men and women in our image" (Gen. 1:27), and in the process we bring God glory not simply be being obedient, but by reveling in all of God's amazing creation. As John Piper says it: We are called to be Christian Hedonists, finding our adventure in fully enjoying God each and every day.  In today's conversation...

Digital tech is everywhere, and it can be an amazing blessing. But how do we know when it's a blessing and when it's a distraction? Even more importantly, how do we talk about such a complicated subject with our children, teens and young adults?  In today's podcast we're going to walk through how to point our children to the big picture of the Gospel, address the truths about tech when it is unhea...

Pornography is real and it is hurting our children's minds. 7/10 tweens and 8/10 teens will encounter nudity or content of a sexual nature online (Bark, January 2021). So what can we do? A lot! There is great hope for this conversation and very practical, loving steps we can take to help our children know what love is, what God says about their bodies and sex, and how to handle pornography when th...

What can we do with the Gospel when it comes to tech? What can we do, starting today, to apply the tech to our lives in faith? Today's conversation gives seven steps every family can take that put the Gospel at the center of our tech lives in practical ways, and that will challenge all of us to trust God more in areas of our lives that can be easy to excuse because they're "not that bad". Let this...

Roger Smith is a 30+ year educator, the VP of a national sports camp, a parent of two young adults, and a major advocate for young people growing up in a tech world. Roger has been on the front lines of education since the advent of the personal computer and the internet. Now his elementary school students show up with smartphones and are issued school laptops. In today’ interview he shares encour...

We need to have transparent tech. Many of our digital devices are branded with the idea of freedom, privacy, and personal exultation: Our shows are selected based on our preferences. Our social media is populated by people who follow us. Our devices are encrypted and personal. Our online identities are easily obscured or hidden. Yet instead of online anonymity healthy tech means we: Avoid digital...

It’s back to school time! So how do we keep our technology safe? Or, for many of us, how do we push tech back into the normal little box we used to keep it in? Today we’re going to talk specifically about how we can prepare for this new season of school and tech in three areas: our home networks and devices smartphones specific steps for safe tech times and places

We have a problem with comparison. We are constantly trying to decide if we’re good enough for God, as parents, as citizens, based on how we perceive we rank to those around us. It’s for this reason social media is so devastating to so many of us. We are constantly bombarded by our inadequacy but, unlike the Gospel, social media offers us no recourse. This is a problem in our personal lives, as it...

It can be easy to tell when our children are unhealthy with their tech (check out episodes, 71, 54, 53, 49 and many others!), but what should we do about it? One of my all-time favorite options is the Analog Adventure. Today we'll discuss how we can find real-world outlets for energy and creativity that our children will love to do and that will inspire more of who God has created them to be rathe...

Should our children be on social media? This conversation can feel loaded. Kids often believe it includes a request for a smartphone (because which kid honestly would prefer to use social media from a shared public computer?) and parents frequently have no idea what to make of most of the apps out there.  Today we're going to clarify that there is, in fact, a Biblical standard for social media. We...

Should our children play video games?  More than 2/3 of Americans play video games, and it's a fairly even split between males and females (although mays tend to put in the most time). So there's a good chance our children will ask us if they can play video games, and we want to have an answer built out of the Gospel not simply our opinions or feelings in the moment.  In today's conversation we'll...

What gets you out of bed every morning? There is a difference between making through today, and living with the legacy God has given us. Legacy is a word fraught with the middle school trauma of poorly-executed motivational speeches. We have come to think of legacy as the influence we have on the world after we're gone, but is that what the Bible tells us? Today we're going to discuss how legacy i...

Healthy tech doesn't have to be elusive or overwhelming. In fact, it can be practical, accessible, and something you can begin to live out today. With our foundation in the Gospel we have a basis for truth, and therefore reality. Now we just need a practical way to live it out. Today we'll discuss the #1 thing every family can do to begin healthy tech at home, as well as a couple bonus ideas for c...

We’ve all seen it: someone we know uses a screen and comes away distracted, moody, forgetful, or just a little bit off: broken commitments, dropping friends, change in attitude, low energy or motivation. At some point we’ve probably all been that annoying tech-user. But what is that screen actually doing? Is it rotting our brain? Is that screen really responsible, or is it just a personal issue? T...

Healthy tech takes work. It requires we remove the unhealthy and replace it with _________, what? Alternatives seem daunting when we're talking about replacing some of our favorite unhealthy tech outlets.  Today we discuss how we can intentionally select activities that are high-interest, build healthy habits, and are accessible for this stage and time of life. In the process we can ensure we use...