Today's podcast is dedicated to answering a listener-submitted question (Thank you amazing listeners!), and it also happens to be one of the more common questions we hear from parents: When should my child get a smartphone? 
This conversation is foundational to applying the Gospel to our daily tech lives and we'll tackle it in three parts:
1) the big picture around smartphones
2) weighing the upsides
3) engaging this conversation within your home

Resources: 

Gospel Tech resources including the game review resource: https://www.gospeltech.net/resources/ 
The online workshop to help your family build a tech framework: gospeltechworkshop.com
For online accountability we strongly suggest Covenant Eyes with Android smartphones and home computers: https://www.covenanteyes.com
For an additional layer Circle is a great resource to help maintain safe wifi access at home: https://meetcircle.com/app/

We talk a lot on this podcast about how we can intentionally raise healthy youth in a tech world. We talk a lot about the Gospel and how it empowers our actions, but what about when our child makes poor choices on purpose? What if we've done all the right stuff and they simply refuse to go along with it? 
Today's conversation is dedicated to the reality that sometimes our children are prodigals: They make bad decisions on purpose. They do so openly, and they are not sorry or repentant. Join us today as we dive into how we can process this as parents and should, and shouldn't, do when trying to love a tech prodigal. 

note: Nathan tried to mix his enthusiasm for this topic with using big words. Please forgive his misuse of the word "glut" at 9:38. He meant deficit.

Modern life often requires we adopt digital tech, but some tech has been slow to drop the Drool tech and enhance the Tool tech. Today we talk with Chris Kaspar, founder of Techless and the Wisephone—a phone for those who want a phone, pure and simple. 
Chris talks to us about his experiences in the tech industry, what inspired his creation of Wisephone, and how we as loving parents can use tech such as this to encourage and support healthy tech in our lives as well as the lives of our kids. 

resources: 

The Techless Website
article: The Dangerous Riches of Our Smart Phones

When we go online we need to act out of the truth of the Gospel. The Gospel transforms us, it changes who we are, what we want, and why we want it. So when we go online, the same is true.
Today we walk through how the Gospel changes our social media use. We’ll base our discussion out of Matthew 22:35-40 and look at what it can mean for us to truly love God and love our neighbors in this online, digital world.

We need to learn how to talk about tech, especially in our marriages. Today we talk about lessons we learned from a reason tech-instigated kerfuffle and how we can all apply these lessons to strengthen our resolve to truly love one another as God has called us to, and use tech in the process.

Today’s podcast is going to focus entirely on a question asked by a concerned parent: “What are the best tools, workshops, and tips for protecting our families [from sexual content online]?”
Today we’re going to talk specifically about online accountability, pornography, and some specific tools, workshops, and resources you can use to equip and support your family in this critical area.

Resources: 
website:https://fightthenewdrug.org
check them out on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fightthenewdrug/
S.3, Ep.8: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gospel-tech/id1498508882?i=1000495377769
S.3, Ep.4 talks about that if you’d like a general overview: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gospel-tech/id1498508882?i=1000492084424
gospeltechworkshop.com
Tools:

Covenant Eyes for accountability (it's the one I use personally),
Meet Circle for help with home wifi,
Swap any smartphones to something like the Wisephone or Gabb Mobile.

We get told a lot of things in a day:

our kids tell us what they want from us.
our spouse tells us what he or she needs.
our boss tells us (usually) that we could do better.
social media tells us how amazing other people are.
the news tells us the world is going down in flames.
our flesh tells us we’ve worked hard and deserve an escape.

Yet what does God tell us? We only know when we listen.
Let’s make time to read God’s word today.
Carve out a total of 10 minutes.
Start in Psalms, maybe alternate each day between that and the Gospel of Matthew.
Finally, don’t expect it to be perfect. Expect it to be intentional. Expect God to show you that he’s never left you nor forsaken you, and he will continue to walk through this season—and the next—for as many as he’ll give you.
Take some time today, plan some time for tomorrow, and let’s make the space and time to hear God in our lives.

Today marks one year of doing this podcast! 
A year ago Anna and I sat in our kitchen trying to figure out how to do this podcast thing. I spent two hours trying to figure out why only one mic would work (spoiler alert, it’s because computers can’t recognize two yeti mics at the same time. THAT SHOULD BE ON THE BOX).
Now we're in 2021 and so thankful to God for His many provisions and to each of you for joining us on this journey as we work together to love God and use tech.
In today's episode we'll share some of how God has been faithful and also share a few of the big dreams we're praying through as we look into year two of the podcast!

Resources referenced in the podcast:
Top 5 Most Listened to Episodes.

Tech Boundaries - Ep.1.
How do we address pornography with our children? (ep. 20)
Why your child doesn’t need a smartphone (ep.24)
How do I know if my tech use is healthy? (ep.2) - we talk about it again here (s.3, ep.19)
Interview with Roger Smith—Raising healthy youth in a tech world (30 year educator and VP of largest basketball camp in the US) (s.3, ep.1)

Today we complete our conversation about the seven steps to healthy tech. Do you want to have healthy tech? Do you want to know what to do if your tech isn't healthy? We'll get you there by the end of today's conversation.
Today we specifically address:

Replace with Amazement
Create Analog Adventures
Question what you’re consuming
Have hard conversations

In the last two years of running Gospel Tech I've been asked the same question a LOT: "What does my family need to do to fix our tech?"
Today I'm diving in to give everyone what they have asked for: A few simple steps to get this healthy tech conversation started! Ok, I say a few, but I mean seven...it feels like a few. 
I've broken it into a two-part conversation and today we will focus on the critical first steps that we can all take today to begin our journey toward better loving God and using tech.