Gospel Tech with Nathan Sutherland

This episode is designed to help us as parents remember our role and recall important parenting truths. We address four lies we believe as parents about the tech our children use. When our children struggle with tech use, when they are way out of hand and we can see that things have gone from bad to worse, we often find ourselves paralyzed by one of these four lies: I'm not enough to help in this...

Today we get the opportunity to talk with my friend, and pastor (@gospellifechurch), Rob Mayer about what it looks like to apply the gospel to our daily tech lives. We'll cover the bases on our own hearts, raising our families in a tech world, and even doing our ministries with and through tech. This conversation is an encouragement to keep our focus on how we can best love God and use tech. 

Tech makes promises it can't keep. It promises: You’ll get rich quick You’ll be happy You’ll have a purpose You’ll be famous You’ll be wanted You’ll be in charge You’ll be anonymous We believe these lies in little ways every day. Maybe it's going to my phone one extra time when I could have just been quiet, or even done something more productive. Maybe it's feeling great when I gain followers onli...

Pornography is a topic we don't even like to admit is a thing. There's so much shame, guilt and confusion (along with a healthy slice of denial) in the area of sex and pornography that we often just don't want to address the topic with our kids. Today we get a chance to talk with Greta Eskridge of Ma and Pa Modern (@maandpamodern) about her work to help families address pornography early in health...

Today we get to talk about intentionally pursuing our children and what that looks like when we are often competing with tech for  time (either our own tech use or the tech use of our children).  Often the default setting is to turn to tech when we are fatigued (individually and as we parent). We aren’t going to say that there isn’t ever a place for tech (in our own lives, for our kids to use, or...

Today we're going to talk about the lie of anonymity. It's one of the most painful lies we believe in Drool Tech today. We are invited to believe we can be whoever we want, say whatever we like, do whatever we feel, and see only what we desire. We can be whoever we want because there's no tether to reality. We can say whatever we like because there is nothing too inane or profane to shout on the i...

It's easy to find ourselves using our phones when we don't need to be. My personal favorite is finding myself swiping through social media when I'm supposed to be heading up to bed. What are the odds what I see on there will actually help me sleep?  So to help us make better tech choices we're going to talk today about how we make our smart phone into a dumb phone. We'll also talk a little about h...

Gospel Tech is a resource to help families love God and use tech, so today we’re going to dive into the second half of that: How do I raise my kids to love God? We’re going to look at four specific areas: Love God In Front of Them Share your Testimony Model…     -humility     -value in Christ     -identity & purpose (child of God, saved for good works)     -options: guilt vs. shame. Shame is the n...

This week Anna is back and we share a conversation that's been going on for a couple weeks now: What to do once the kids are in bed! Maybe it's the Covid talking, but there came a point where we felt like life was just on repeat - and the shows were burning time that we should have been using elsewhere. But where? In today's conversation we'll talk about how we ensure that our time, and the conten...

There's a short list of questions that come up a lot. Today we're going to address the top four:  1. Should my child have a smart phone? 2. How much time should they spend on tech? 3. Which video games should they play? 4. Should they be on social media?   We'll tie these in with our understanding of the gospel to ensure that we're not just making more rules but are faithfully teaching our kids ho...

Anna and I get a chance to discuss the perks of being unavailable, both in our tech lives and in the craziness of regular life. There are lots of reasons we choose to be busy to the point of distraction, in our lives it is often “good” things we choose instead of the few “great” things we’ve been called to. Today we’ll look at Jesus’ example - he made time to refresh his mind, body, and spirit eve...

Today we’re going to talk about Transparent Tech—how do we lovingly keep tech open to conversation and in line with who we are and what we are called to be, have and do in Christ. We will address how our tech can be transparent in five areas. How we: Model tech use and raise children in way they should go Set expectations that exemplify what is true, honorable, just and pure Create support to take...

It's one thing to know my kid's had too much tech, it's entirely another to know what I can do about it! In the episode we talk about this idea of analog adventures - real world experiences that encourage their gifts, interests, and passions. God has uniquely designed each of our kids to love different activities, and be skilled in different areas. So while there isn't one single activity that fit...

It's been three weeks - how is it going?  I know in our house, Pre Covid, the kids watched minimal TV. In Covid times, Miss Frizzle comes on once/day to teach science—and even that tiny change means my 6 year old will start asking at 8 am “When’s it show time?”. And I think I'm losing my mind. So today's episode is dedicated to finding some tech wins! We'll look at five specific areas we can claim...

I think the last two weeks of quarantine have taught me a valuable lesson - I’m terrible at being bored. How about you? It doesn’t take much down time for me to begin thinking back with fondness on tedious activities done outside the house - suddenly a trip with the kids to Costco feels like a vacation I’ve been forbidden to take. And never in my life have I so wanted to get out of my home and do...

Anna is back! In this episode we address the concept of creating tech free rhythms in our lives. We first came across this idea in Andy Crouch’s book The Tech Wise Family a few years ago—if you haven’t read, it’s a must read. It is equal parts challenging/convicting on how we use tech and encouraging with some real tangible ways to live intentionally. So the principle is this—we mentioned this on...

As I'm recording this from Washington State new measures are going in on this escalating virus pandemic: No groups larger than 50 can meet (so most churches are down), schools are closed for six weeks, and as of this morning all restaurants are closed for two weeks. We all fear six weeks without plans with our kiddos and no outside resources or activities that can be counted on. But in the midst o...

As parents we are called to: Raise our children up in the way they should go. (Proverbs 22:6, Ephesians 6:1 - children obey your parents, which implies the parents are tea ching them things) Hold a standard for what we find joy in: “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right , whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, excellent, praiseworthy” (Philippians 4:8) Model...

Last week we answered one of the most commonly asked questions we receive from families: Which games should my child play? This week I'm doing an interview with my good friend Justin Pavey in an episode we're calling a Tech Testimony. Justin and I aren't tech experts, we're two 30 something dads who have a shared passion for all things tech, love video games [and handle that differently] and want...

In this episode we're digging into one of the most questions I get asked most frequently: Should my child play this game?  As parents we want to provide amazing experiences for our children and we don't want to feel like a big mean ogre withholding awesome things just because we don't understand "kids these days". But is that what's going on? Are there games worth playing and, if so, how can we kn...

It's officially here! Welcome to the Gospel Tech Podcast! This is our first official episode and the only one Anna and I have actually been able to record together so far. =)  We will walk through some of the research and personal challenges of setting tech boundaries, and talk through what is actually applicable for real-life families (not just in theory) as well as how it ties in with being fami...

I hear this question a lot: How much is too much? How do I know if my child's tech use (or my own tech use, or my spouses tech use) is healthy? In this episode we'll look at a couple tools to help us assess our tech. The goal is to be more effective at fighting for our families, not just with them, when it comes to tech use. We do this by keeping their purpose, not just our rules, as the focus of...

Since last episode addressed the fact that sometimes our tech isn't always healthy, this episode works through some alternative adventures and opportunities that don't involve Drool Tech. The goal isn't simply to avoid digital tech, but to remove the tech that is a distraction from our full potential (see Episode 2 for Drool Tech and the idea of a RESET) and replace it with opportunities to grow i...

The Gospel Tech Podcast is arriving next Wednesday, 2/18/2020! We are going to talk about how we can be families who love God and use tech (not the other way around).  Our goal is to equip parents with the resources they need to fight for their families, not just with them, when it comes to tech.  Join us as we work together to better love God and use tech. Want to know more? Check us out! website...