iPhone's Field Test Mode

How to Access Your iPhone’s Field Test Mode (and See Your Real Signal Strength)

The iPhone has a hidden “field test” mode that shows all kinds of technical details about signal strength, cell towers, and more. Most of it is not very useful to the average person, but you can make it show you your phone’s actual signal strength instead of just how many bars you’re getting. And that can be useful.

Even in urban areas dense with cell towers, signal strength can vary widely depending on the phone’s carrier and current location. Things get worse in rural locations, where large areas may be covered only by a single carrier’s tower, or in a house with thick walls your signal won’t penetrate (in which case a signal booster can help).

In any of these situations, knowing your phone’s precise signal strength rather than just a vague range of 1-5 bars can really help you diagnose the problem, and figure out the best way to fix it. And that’s where your iPhone’s field test mode comes in.

You can access the field test mode on any iPhone. All you have to do is fire up your phone app, dial the following code, and then tap the Call button.

*3001#12345#*



Your iPhone will enter a field test mode that offers up several menus of technical measurements. Most of these are only useful if you’re developing phones or testing cell towers.



What you’re after, though, is not on the menu. If you’re using iOS 8 or any earlier version, your exact signal strength is displayed in the upper left corner of the field test screen. If you’re using iOS 9 or later, that reading is replaced with the “Back to Phone” link instead.

To view your signal strength in iOS 9, you’ll use a little trick to replace your bars on your main screen with the signal strength measurement (and you can also do this on earlier versions of iOS if you want). Hold down the Power button until the “Slide to Power Off” message appears, but don’t power off. Instead, press and hold your Home button until your home screen reappears. You should now see the signal strength displayed where your bars used to be.



This change will last until you restart your phone (or until you repeat the process above).

Once you have your signal strength visible, you can walk around your home (or whatever location you’re testing) and see the precise signal strength wherever you go. Just keep in mind that strength is shown in decibels and will be on a negative scale (so, a signal of -75 is stronger than -115). If you notice that your signal strength is weaker inside your home, but reasonably good outside, you may be a perfect candidate for a signal booster. You can even walk the outside of your home to find where the signal strength is strongest, so you know the best spot to place an external antenna.

Exact signal strengths will vary a bit depending on your carrier and whether you’re on a 3G or 4G network. In general, though, you can consider a signal above -80 to be close to full strength (full bars) and a signal below -110 to be very weak (one bar).

While there’s a lot more in the field test mode that might be of interest to developers and cellular techs, being able to see the actual signal strength rather than just how many bars you have can really help you determine the optimal placement for a signal booster. It can also help you test service in certain areas (like your home) on your friend’s phones before you commit to a carrier.

By How to Geek

Types of Identity Theft

MyIDCare Covers the 9 Types of Identity Theft

Identity theft takes many forms these days. The good news is that your MyIDCare plan has you covered for ALL 9 types – the only plan that does. We have personal Recovery Advocates who help you recover your identity in even the trickiest of cases. Get to know the different types of identity theft and the strategies Recovery Advocates use to successfully rescue your identity.

Financial Identity Theft

Financial identity theft is the most common form of identity fraud. When people hear the words “identity theft,” they often think of credit card fraud, when thieves use stolen credit cards or card numbers to purchase goods and services. If it’s not detected in time, credit card fraud can max out your accounts and affect your credit rating. There are also other, more potentially serious forms of financial identity theft. Thieves can use stolen bank account numbers, debit card numbers, or other personal and financial information to wipe out your accounts, take out loans, or get new credit cards.  MyIDCare’s Recovery Advocates have extensive experience working with with financial institutions and credit bureaus to make sure you’re not liable for fraudulent loans and charges made in your name.

Medical Identity Theft

When someone takes or uses your health insurance, they are committing medical identity theft. Thieves use the insurance themselves or sell it to someone who will pose as you to get healthcare services. Medical identity theft can be deadly because it can introduce false information into your medical file. It can also use up your medical benefits and leave you facing bills for medical treatment you didn’t receive. Recovery from medical identity theft is complicated because of healthcare privacy laws. MyIDCare Recovery Advocates know how to work with medical providers and healthcare insurance companies to repair your medical records, fight false insurance claimsand work with you so you won’t be liable to pay for medical bills that aren’t yours.

Child Identity Theft

A child’s or student’s identity is like pure gold to identity thieves. Children tend to have little or no financial history, and thieves assume that no one is checking a child’s credit report. Criminals can use a child’s Social Security Number to falsely claim dependent children or welfare payments from the government, and to create fake ID documents that they can use to apply for loans or even commit crimes. By the time the child is old enough to be financially independent, they may find their credit rating is ruined. MyIDCare Recovery Advocates have the expertise to handle cases involving individuals of any age, including children.

Social Security Identity Theft

Your social security number (SSN) is the key to your financial and personal identity. With your SSN, thieves can access your taxes and work history, bank accounts, credit cards, loans, government benefits such as Medicare and Medicaid, and sometimes your medical records. They can use your SSN to get a loan or a passport, file for your tax return, or claim your retirement benefits. Even if you’re careful with your Social Security card and financial documents, SSNs are one of the most valuable pieces of personal information stolen in data breaches. Our Recovery Advocates can work with government and other institutions on your behalf to undo damage caused by thieves.

Driver’s License Identity Theft

Criminals have many ways to use a stolen driver’s license or information from a driver’s license. They may alter the picture on a driver’s license and sell it to someone who fits the description on the license, or they may use the number to create a completely fake ID card. If the imposter is caught for a traffic violation, drunk driving or drug-related charge, the crime goes on your record. When the violator doesn’t show up in court, police will be looking for you. Driver’s licenses are also shown to cash checks, pass domestic airport security, get insurance, and to provide ID for many activities, so an imposter could commit all kinds of crimes that would be traced back to you. MyIDCare works with government agencies on your behalf to undo the damage done by driver’s license identity theft.

Criminal Identity Theft

Once a thief has your identity, they can commit crimesundercover by using your name. When victims call the police or the criminals are cited or arrested, law enforcement will be given your name, resulting in a warrant or a criminal record. You then may have problems with employment background checks, face legal action, or even be arrested. Criminal identity theft is uncommon but potentially serious. MyIDCare Recovery Advocates have a proven record of working with law enforcement to clear a victim’s name.

Employment Identity Theft

Employers are now required to see a Social Security card, passport, or other personal document to verify citizenship before hiring someone. Fake or stolen IDs are sometimes used to get a job by people who are not legal U.S. residents or who have a criminal history that would show up in a background check. You might find out about this kind of identity theft when you receive a W-2 from an employer you don’t know or a Social Security statement that doesn’t match your employment history. If the imposter commits crimes on the job, law enforcement could come looking for you. MyIDCare works with the Social Security Administration, other government bureaus, and employers to stop thieves and clear your identity and employment history.

Insurance Identity Theft

In addition to medical identity theft, thieves can use stolen identities to claim other kinds of insurance and benefits. For example, someone using a stolen identity could have an accident (or multiple accidents) and make auto insurance claims. Insurance identity fraud can result in higher premiums, denial of insurance, or legal action if the insurance company discovers the fraud and blames it on you. MyIDCare Recovery Advocates work with insurance payors and law enforcement to fix your insurance and clear you of criminal claims.

Synthetic Identity Theft

Thieves can use information from several different people to create a new identity, which they can then use to commit many types of fraud. The person whose phone number is used may end up getting calls from angry creditors, and the person whose address is used may get collections letters or even summons. The person whose Social Security Number or driver’s license number is used can face ruined credit or even criminal charges. MyIDCare Recovery Advocates can manage helping an individual recover from a full or partially stolen identity.

Hacking Phones?

Can a phone be hacked? Watch Lookout on 60 Minutes

Plex - Watch Movies on Any Device

How to Set Up Plex (and Watch Your Movies on Any Device)

Plex Media Server is a user-friendly way to store all your movies, shows, and other media in one place–and make it accessible from any device, whether you’re at home or on-the-go. If you’re looking for a no-headache way to watch your movies anywhere, this is it.

What Is Plex Media Server?

Here’s a common situation that all too many people find themselves in. You have media files–music, movies, TV shows, and even photos–but you don’t have an easy way to easily access them on your plentiful and varied devices.

Do you copy your Blu-ray rips over to your laptop? What about your phone–do you convert the files so they’re smaller and compatible? Do you fling shows to your TV via your desktop and Chromecast? Do you upload all your photos to your iCloud account to send them to your TV via Apple TV? What about your music? What if you’re away from home on a business trip and you want to stream your TV shows to your iPad?

Even for serious geeks with a lot of experience managing their media, it’s a huge pain to get all your devices talking and accessing the same collection. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Plex is a centralized media server system that eliminates virtually every problem you run into while managing a large personal media collection.

The Plex model is simple: you park all your media on a single computer with the Plex server software installed, and then you install Plex on on all your other devices. You can install it on Windows, Linux, or Mac computers as well as Android and iOS, video game consoles like Xbox and PlayStation, your Apple TV, and there are even smart TVs that come with Plex built right in. Then, from any of those devices, you can remotely access your entire media library and watch it with no hassle.



Further, because the Plex model is a server/client one, you don’t have to worry about copying files to your various devices and dealing with issues like playback quality, video resolution, and other details. Your Plex server will, transcode all your media content on the fly, so that it plays properly on whatever device you’re using. Want to watch your TV show in the backyard on your iPhone? No problem. Want to watch it on your laptop at your in-laws’ house? Also no problem. Want to hook your new smart TV right into your media collection without any additional hardware? Buy the right TV and that’s no problem either. In short, running Plex is like running your own private and polished streaming service, where you’re the one curating the library.

That sounds pretty great, huh? Not only do you get on-demand streaming to all your devices but you get absolutely beautiful metadata and art to go along with it.


The Plex media library as seen from the Apple TV Plex app.

Let’s take a closer look at what you need to get started and then jump right into preparing your media collection for Plex, installing Plex, and–everyone’s favorite part–accessing your Plex media collection.

What You’ll Need

Plex is a really polished product, and once you get it up and running it’s about as headache free as it gets. That said, however, the most important thing is to go into the experience with a clear picture of what you need and how all the pieces of your Plex setup work together.

Home Is Where The Server Is

First and foremost, you need a computer that houses all the files and runs Plex Media Server. You can install Plex on Windows, Linux, OS X, and even on dedicated server software like FreeNAS and on NAS hardware like the Synology system (you can see all their supported platforms for the Media Server app here). But regardless of what platform you choose, it’ll have to be a computer that’s always turned on. There’s no point in having a comprehensive streaming solution for all your personal media needs if, when you go to access it, the content is offline.

In addition to always being on, you’ll want the server computer to have a decent amount of processing power to handle the aforementioned transcoding. The more users you expect to be watching at once, the better hardware you want. Plex media server still works on older hardware but it will automatically disable transcoding if the hardware is insufficient, and playback will suffer and stutter on really old or under-powered hardware.

So, you’ll want as beefy of a CPU as you can spare. Plex recommend at least an Intel i3 processor (or equivalent) or better with at least 2GB of RAM (RAM isn’t particularly important to Plex). You can read over their hardware recommendations here.

Lastly, you’ll want a lot of hard drive space–enough to store all the movies, TV shows, music, and photos you have.

If you already have some hardware laying around you aren’t using, by all means give it a shot. Worst case scenario, you find that file playback is unsatisfactory. Best case scenario, you find that the old hardware works fine and you avoid purchasing any new gear.

You can check out the available platforms for the server software here.

A Client For Every Device

The server just one half of the Plex system. The other half is the “client” app, or the app you do all the watching from. While you can play the media from the server’s web-based control panel, it’s like watching Netflix in your web browser–most people prefer to sit down in their living room or watch on their mobile devices. And for that, you need the Plex client to access the server.



You can find a Plex app for just about every platform you can imagine: Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Apple TV, Roku, and more. One thing that has been a source of perennial confusion regarding Plex is whether or not it is free–and a big amount of this confusion  hinges on the fact that the mobile apps have an “activiation fee”.

The Plex media server software has always been free. Most of the client apps have always been free. Some of the client apps have a nominal one time activation fee a few dollars (e.g. the iOS Plex client app costs $4.99).

Plex has two ways of dealing with the paid apps. If you only need one app, you may wish to just activate that single app. The other option is to buy a Plex Pass, which is like a subscription service that gives you both access to all paid apps, plus benefits like syncing to your mobile devices for offline access and cloud-based file storage. If you need many apps across multiple platforms and you want the premium features, you might consider the Pass subscription for $4.99 a month or a $149.99 lifetime pass.

You can read more about which apps are paid, which are free, and the differences between a free Plex membership and a premium one here. To check platform availability and download a client app for your platform, check out the Plex downloads page here.

Now that we’ve looked at the general guidelines for selecting a device for your Plex server, and how to get the client software, let’s look at the rather important step of organizing your media.

Step One: Consolidate and Organize Your Media

Plex works best if all your media content is well organized and in the same place. To that end, you should have all your media on the same device you’re installing the Plex server software–whether it’s an old desktop computer, a dedicated storage server in your basement, or a NAS device, all your media should be on it.

Further, you want to organize your media into a clean folder structure that keeps major media types separated and easy for both you and Plex to parse through.

If you’ve already invested any time in organizing your media, especially if you’ve used media center software like XBMC/Kodi in the past, then there’s a good chance you’ve already got a perfect (or nearly perfect) folder structure in place.

Here’s a simple example of a best-practice directory structure for Plex:

/Media/
    /Movies/
        /MovieName (Year)/
            MovieName (Year).ext
    /Music/
        /ArtistName - AlbumName/
            Track# - TrackName.ext
    /TV Shows/
        /ShowName/
            /Season 01/
                ShowName - s01e01.ext
    /Photos/
        /Album Name/
            Image.ext

In the above directory structure, you see that the major media categories are separated into distinct sub-folders (like Movies and TV Shows) and that each media type has a pretty straight forward naming convention. Movies go in folders named after the movie; best practice is to include the year in parentheses to cut down on confusion. Music is organized in a straight forward Artist Name/Album Name format. TV shows are organized by the name, season, and episodes are tagged with both stats with the “sXXeXX” format. Photos are even easier–Plex just reads the album name off the folder and loads up the images inside.

While the above examples cover pretty much 99% of the territory you may find you need a little extra guidance when naming DVD .ISO files or other less common formats. If you need additional help cleaning up your media check out the Plex guide to media preparation here.

A final note on organizing your media for Plex: if you’ve used or are currently using another media center software (like XBMC), don’t worry about your metadata. You can safely run XBMC and Plex completely in parallel with no risk to your metadata, as neither application uses the same metadata files.

Step Two: Install Plex Media Server

The foundation of the setup, beautifully organized media aside, is the Plex Media Server application. For our tutorial today we’ll be installing it on a Windows machine but, small nuances aside, the installation process is practically identical across all platforms as the majority of the process is done from within the Plex web-based control panel.



Head over to the downloads page and grab a copy of Plex Media Server for your platform. Run the installer and relax for a minute. When the installer is complete, Plex will automatically launch, and should load the web control panel for you. If it does not, open your web browser and navigate to http://127.0.0.1:32400/ on that computer. (Alternatively, you can access it from another computer on your network by replacing the 127.0.0.1 address with the local network IP address of your computer or NAS device).

After accepting the user agreement,  you’ll be prompted to sign into your Plex account. On the off chance that you have an old Plex account from previous experiments with the platform, sign in. Otherwise, click on the “Sign Up” link and sign up for a new account.



After your first sign in, you’ll get a rundown of all the features of the Plex Pass premium service. While we happen to think the premium service is pretty great, let’s not get ahead of ourselves–use Plex for awhile to determine if you want to invest in it. Close out the popup window to return to the server setup.

The first step is to name your server. By default, the server is named after the network name of the machine upon which it is installed. You can change the server name to something more exciting than say “Dad Office” or leave it as is.



Next, it’s time to add media to our library. Select “Add Library”.



Here you can add many different library types: movies, TV shows, music, photos, and home videos.



Let’s start off by adding some movie files. Select “Movies” and then, in the drop down menu that appears, name your movie library and select a language. For most people leaving the default name of “Movies” should suffice. Click “Next”.



Now it’s time to point Plex at the actual files, select “Browse for media folder” and select the folder that houses your movie files. Once you’ve selected the folder(s), click “Add library” to complete the process.



Repeat these steps for TV shows, music, and/or photos. It isn’t necessary to populate all the libraries, ofo course–if you’re using Plex solely for TV shows, then go ahead and ignore all the other library entries.

The final step of the initial server setup is to allow remote access to your media server and send anonymous data to Plex. Both are checked by default, and we recommend you leave them checked unless you have a pressing reason to uncheck them. Select “Done”.



At this point you’ll be kicked into the web-based control panel for your Plex server. Depending on how quickly your machine is working, you may see “Updating libraries…” or you may already have content to display like this.



Note, for the first few hours or even for the first day, the “recently added” section isn’t particularly useful as everything was recently added to the library. Things will calm down shortly and recently added will become useful again over the coming days.

While you can browse through all your media libraries right from the Plex control panel (and even watch content right in the web browser), it’s more useful for checking in on your library and less useful for actually enjoying your content. Let’s look at how you can access Plex with a remote client.

Step Three: Access Your Plex Media Server from Elsewhere

At this point we’ve done all the hard work (and it wasn’t even that hard). Once you have the actual Plex media server up and running, it’s totally smooth sailing. How smooth? Because your entire library is stored on one central server, you can easily tap into it from any computer, smartphone, or other device and get the exact same experience–the same media, same meta data, same recently added list, same database tracking what shows you’ve watched and which ones you need to catch up on.

Search for the app in your phone/tablet/TV’s app store, install it, and launch it. Again, we’re using the iOS app, but they’re all essentially interchangeable. Click “Sign In” and use the same credentials you created when you set up your server.



Boom. You are instantly connected to your media collection. Do you see how the screen on our iPhone mirrors, down to the show titles, the screenshot you just saw of the media server control panel?



That’s Plex’s strongest element right there: centralization makes everything run so smoothly. If we tap on the “Browse” button, seen in the lower right corner of the screenshot above, we can then select from our available media. Let’s do that and then select “TV shows”.



How about some Family Guy? Why not, we’ll select a season and an episode.



With but a few taps after logging in, we’re watching an episode without a hiccup:



And that’s all there is to it! If you have local media and a desire to watch that local media anywhere in your house (or even away from home) and on any device, Plex Media Center is an all-in-one solution that makes enjoying your movies, TV shows, and even family photos and videos, an absolute breeze.

Thoughts for the Day

According to Jesus, what determines whether or not you are going to see the Kingdom of God and enter the Kingdom of God is your answer to this question, “How many times have you been born?” If you have only been born once, you are going to die twice. You are going to die physically and then you are going to die spiritually. If you have been born twice, you are only going to die at most once. So, “How many times have you been born?”-Pastor Merritt

Power of Deception

The Power of Deception: What I Learned from My Affair

• Emily Massey

10 years ago I considered myself a born-again Christian. I called on the name of Jesus at the age of 16 and confessed Him as my Savior. But as I attempted to walk with the Lord, I did not seek out His truth and began venturing off the narrow road and into heavy bondage and severe deception.

I had just turned 19 and found myself entangled in an adulterous relationship with a 28-year-old married man. I was an accomplice in a potentially devastating affair, a pawn in the Enemy’s hand. I lived with a dark secret and hated myself for it daily. I experienced toxic passion along with an overhaul of debilitating pain and utter despair. I pushed away all of my friends and created my own fantasy world in hidden sin and emptiness that would increase for three and half more years. It seems so unreal to even type those words out, considering my life now.

Today, I’ve been married for five wonderful years to the most amazing man of God, and we have the most precious son. I'm a worship leader and a youth pastor. I love the Lord with everything in me and want nothing more than to see a generation discover their true identity in Christ.

But I know now that it doesn’t take much to deceive yourself and destroy your life. Because Satan is the Great Deceiver.

Deception is deadly and a major weapon in the enemy's arsenal.

When we begin to believe his lies as truth, we move further away from God's Word, which is the ultimate Truth, and into the bondage of "the father of lies" (John 8:44). Of course, his lies are usually disguised with partial truth, luring us to take a bite--almost like a rotten, worm-infested apple covered with caramel.

Think of the first account we have of Satan’s deception:

'You won’t die!’ the serpent replied to the woman. ‘God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil’ (Genesis 3:4-5, NLT).

And then verse 6 says, “The woman was convinced.”

She chose to trust and believe in the words of the serpent (the enemy) instead of God’s. This passage in Genesis is so familiar to us as believers, (and non-believers too!), that we often dismiss the deep message it reveals to us:

Not only does Satan hate man-kind, he hates marriage because it is a direct reflection of Christ’s redemptive act of love for us through the Cross, that was finished “from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 12:8), as discussed in Ephesians 5:22-33.

“Adam recognized that he needed a companion ‘after his own kind’ to be complete. This was fulfilled in natural Eve. But the Son of God finds His companion ‘after His own kind’ in the redeemed human race, His Bride [Church].” –Tammy Riddering, director of Gateway House of Prayer in St. Louis

Since the beginning of man-kind, the enemy has tried to destroy marriages and uses deception as his weapon of choice.

Adultery and divorce hit very close to home, not only in my own personal life, but in many lives around me. I know that no matter the details of the unraveling of the marriage, deception was found somewhere in the midst of it. Somewhere along the lines, each person began to stray from the Word of God and even twisted scripture to fit their desires.

Beloved, we must be alert to the enemy’s devices. We must be aware of the signs of what the Bible calls “the last days,” especially of what Paul tells Timothy in Second Timothy, chapter three, verse 13:

“Evil people and imposters will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived” (NLT).

Deception is going to increase and as people of God, we must know and trust His Word above all else. It needs to be our weapon of choice. It is the sword that we can cut down the enemy’s lies with (Ephesians 6:17). Without it, we are defenseless to the deception of the enemy. It is time to read and study the Word of God now more than ever before. I want you to be able to look back over the next 10 years and know that deception held no place in your life or in your marriage.

"I have hidden Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11, NLT)
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When You Don't Know

8 Things to Pray When You Don't Know What to Say

• Inside BSTThoughts from the Editors of BibleStudyTools.com

For those who are new to their faith, prayer can seem daunting and overwhelming. How do I talk to God? What does that even mean? Are there things I’m supposed to say? Are there things I’m not allowed to say? Is there a set prayer or do I just make one up?

Even for those who have been in a relationship with the Lord for many years, prayer can still seem challenging for a whole host of reasons. It can get stale, feel useless, fall to the wayside, or just seem to lose its power.

So what do we do when we need new words to pray? How we can we revitalize our prayer lives? Here are some ideas!

Pray through passages of Scripture. 

The book of Psalms are an excellent place to start-- there are psalms for when our souls feel troubled (Psalm 6), for when we are filled with joy (Psalm 30), for when we are praising His deeds (Psalm 66), for when we desire revival (Psalm 85), for when we need help (Psalm 109), and for all other emotions we experience as well. Here are five other powerful prayers straight from Scripture.

Pray the words of hymns or contemporary modern music.

So many hymns come from Scripture, and the poetic way that hymns present themes of our faith is a beautiful way to pray. You can find a whole collection of hymns here and modern worship music videos here. 

Pray through journaling.

This is something I’ve found personally to be extremely helpful-- journaling my prayers, as random or rambling as they may be, helps me focus on what I’m saying and process through my emotions. An added bonus of journaling prayer is being able to look back over them and see how the Lord has answered and moved in your life.

Pray as you dwell on one word.

If the idea of prayer is overwhelming, choose just one word to focus on. Maybe it’s “peace” or “grace” or “strength.” Think about what that word means, remember verses or songs you have heard that include that word, think about what that word means for you in your faith, and ask God to show you new things about that word. Prayer doesn’t need to be lengthy or complicated. It can be as simple as just focusing on one word and praying something like, “Lord, I need peace. I want peace. Show me what peace looks like. May I experience more of Your peace this week.”

Pray in questions.

Sometimes, the questions about faith or who God is or why things have happened in our lives seem overwhelming. It can be hard to get past them to feel like we can actually pray...but why not pray those questions and take them to God? You don’t have to have any answers, and you might not even feel like your questions are immediately answered, but just honestly come before the Lord and list all of your doubts, worries, fears, uncertainty to him in prayer.

Pray through the names of Jesus.

There are so many names for the Lord all throughout Scripture, and when we don’t have words to pray, just speaking them can be a comfort to our souls. Abba Father (Galatians 4:6); Prince and Savior (Acts 5:31); Chosen One (Isaiah 42:1); King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:15); Immanuel (Matthew 1:23); Stronghold, Refuge, Savior (2 Samuel 22:3); and the list continues. Say these names in prayer and think about what they mean for your life.

Pray using the ACTS acrostic.

This article from our archives by Greg Laurie gives a helpful acrostic for prayer: ACTS.
A stands for adoration or worship.
C stands for confession.
T stands for thanksgiving.
S stands for supplication.
This is a helpful way of orienting ourselves in prayer and giving ourselves a simple blueprint to follow.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer.
Matthew 6:9-15 gives us a prayer straight from the mouth of Jesus. Read through these words and repeat them to yourself line by line. Read it in several translations (you can do this easily on our site) and compare the different ways they word this prayer. Write it out, reflect on it, and learn to memorize the famous words of this prayer.

Saturdays Inspiration

Morning Inspiration with Pastor Merritt

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Not everybody can say, “Don’t worry, everything will work out.” Because everything does not work out for everybody. Everything only works out for God’s children. You may be sitting there thinking “Well, I’m not a child of God, and everything is working out for me.” I submit to you that ultimately if you die, and spend eternity without God, things really didn’t work out for you.

You may not always like what God is doing in your life, and you may not always understand what God is doing in your life. But you can know that God is involved in your life 24-7 making all things work together for your good. Think about that. This verse did not say that God works all things out for our good most of the time, nor does it say that God works most things out for our good all of the time. It says God works all things out together for our good all of the time.

Now, it doesn’t say that we "see that all things work together for good.” But you can know it whether you can see it or not. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean he can’t see it. Never doubt in the dark what God has told you in the light. That does not mean that all things that happen to us are good. As you well know, everything that happens to you is not good. But everything that happens to you will ultimately work together for your good.

Behind every promise of God is the providence of God. Do you know what the word providence means? It comes from two words: the word pro meaning “before,” and the word video meaning, “to see.” Providence simply means to see beforehand and to provide for what is seen. Do you hear that word “provide” in the word providence? The providence of God simply means that God sees every event before it occurs, and provides for that event and makes sure that it fits into His plan for your life.

Normally we would think that thanking God for a flat tire would be crazy, but now we know that we can give thanks “in all things.” Good does not necessarily mean health, because not all Christians are healthy. It does not necessarily mean wealth, because not all Christians are wealthy. God’s purpose for you is neither to be healthy or happy, nor to be rich or famous. His purpose for you is found in that next verse, Romans 8:29, where Paul said, we have been “predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. God’s purpose for you is to be just like Jesus.

The best thing that can ever happen to you in this life is not to make millions of dollars, not to become famous, not to live in a mansion, not to drive a Mercedes. The best thing that can ever happen to you in this life is to become just like Jesus. And because God is working everything in the life of the Christ-follower to that ultimate end, we can know He works everything for our good.

Saturdays Devotional

God’s Love is Always with You 

God’s Love Is Always with You
By Rick Warren

“Surely your … unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6a NLT, second edition).

Like goodness, God’s unfailing love follows us in life.

King David says it pursues us! Picture a parent following a little kid around and picking up after the child. When we’re struggling with hurts, habits, and hang-ups, God comes right alongside us, helping to pick up our messes and telling us that his unfailing love is always there.

This means that, rather than entering the future with a question mark, you can do it with an exclamation point! God will be with you no matter what happens. He willhelp you out: “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6 NLT, second edition).

Goodness is the fact that God gives us good things in life that we don’t deserve. Mercy means God holds back the condemnation we deserve.

Remember this:

• God’s goodness will provide and protect.
• God’s mercy (unfailing love) will pardon and forgive.
• God’s goodness will supply.
• God’s mercy will soothe.
• God’s goodness will help.
• God’s mercy and love will heal. 

You can count on it!

Talk It Over

• What big dream would you pursue if you fully believed God’s goodness and love were pursuing you every day of your life?
• What does it mean to you to enter the future with an exclamation point?
• How can you share with others about God’s goodness to you and his same offer to them?

Saturday Verse of the Day

Good morning and Happy Saturday. Hope you all have a great day!

Day 4

Well today went really well. I got to spend it with my son from 8a to 430p. It was fun. We got to play around, I read him his ABC's, some from the children's bible and I got to hold him close (which was the best part of course). He did some poopies, which stunk pretty bad lol and ate a lot, which was cool. He got to see himself in the mirror which totally fascinated him and was pretty funny. He learned to eat from a spoon instead of a bottle also. I liked being able to do something new with him that has not been done before. The part that got me upset was when I dropped him off with his mom I had put new clothes on him because the others were dirty from the eating. Well instead of being grateful she changed him back to the dirty ones. I mean really, what the heck was that about? That didn't make any kind of sense at all. Anyway now I have to wait until the beginning of Aug to see him again. Only God knows whats going to happen in the future. Tomorrow is the travel day so hopefully I will be able to get some rest because I am one worn out person. Well I hope you all have a good weekend and Ill be back on tomorrow. Thanks for reading. 

Uber Passenger Ratings

How to See Your Uber Passenger Rating

After every Uber ride, you can rate your driver out of five stars based on how good or bad the ride was, but you may not know that Uber drivers also rate you as a passenger. Here’s how to view your Uber passenger rating.


When you request an Uber, the closest Uber driver will receive the request, and they’ll have the option to accept or deny it. If it’s denied, the request moves onto the next-closest driver. Generally, you shouldn’t have a hard time getting a driver to accept your request, but if you have a low passenger rating, that can affect your chances severely.

You may not even know what your Uber passenger rating is, but there’s an easy way to find out.

Start off by opening up the Uber app on your phone and tap on the menu button in the top-left corner of the screen.



Tap on “Help”.



Select “Account”.



In the list, find and select “I’d like to know my rating”.



Tap on “Submit”.



You’ll get a pop-up that tells you what your passenger rating is out of five stars. Tap “OK” to clear the pop-up.



For the most part, you shouldn’t have to worry about your passenger rating as long as you know that you’ve been a decently good Uber passenger. However, you might be curious if you got dinged during that one ride where you took forever to come out. If so, you can now easily view your rating to see if it took a hit.

How to Be a Good Uber Passenger

If your Uber passenger rating isn’t as good as you’d hoped, or you just want to keep that perfect five-star rating intact, there are some things you should keep in mind whenever you take an Uber.



Over on Reddit, many Uber drivers and passengers alike have chimed in on what makes a good or bad Uber passenger. Here are some key points to know:

• Don’t reek of smoke or any other pungent odor that can linger.
• Likewise, don’t smoke or drink during the ride.
• Don’t vomit in the car (a pretty obvious tip).
• Be ready when your Uber arrives.
• Don’t be loud or obnoxious.

In the end, it really just comes down to not being a jerk and having some common courtesy, which isn’t hard to do at all. If you can manage that, then your Uber passenger rating should stay pretty high and you shouldn’t have to worry about it for the most part.

Todays HaHa

Read Mac on a Windows PC

How to Read a Mac-Formatted Drive on a Windows PC

Windows can’t normally read Mac-formatted drives, and will offer to erase them instead. But third-party tools fill the gap and provide access to drives formatted with Apple’s HFS+ file system on Windows. This also allows you to restore Time Machine backups on Windows.

If you know you’re going to use a drive on both Mac and Windows, you should use the exFAT file system, which is compatible with both. But if you didn’t foresee that, you may have formatted your drive with Apple’s HFS Plus, which Windows can’t read by default. In fact, some manufacturers sell “Mac” drives pre-formatted with this Mac-only file system.

Don’t Format the Drive! (Yet)

When you connect a Mac-formatted drive to Windows, you’ll be informed that “you need to format the disk in drive X: before you can use it.” Don’t click the “Format disk” button or Windows will erase the contents of the drive–click “Cancel”!

This message appears because Windows doesn’t understand Apple’s HFS+ file system. That’s fine, because other applications do. Just don’t format the drive until you get the important files off the drive.

Of course, if the drive doesn’t have any important files on it, you can go ahead and format it. But be absolutely sure there’s nothing you need before you do.

Option One: HFSExplorer Is Free and Basic

If you only need to get a couple files off the drive, we recommend HFSExplorer. It’s the only completely free way to access a Mac-formatted drive. It does require Java, however, so you’ll have to install that first. Then, install HFSExplorer like you would any other Windows program.

HFSExplorer isn’t fancy, though, and doesn’t have a lot of features. You can’t use it to write to Mac-formatted drives, and it doesn’t install a file system driver that integrates into File Explorer. But you can open HFSExplorer, read a Mac-formatted drive, and copy the files to your Windows PC without paying a dime. It can also mount Mac .dmg disk images to get at the files inside them.

This application’s read-only nature isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It ensures that no bug in the third-party driver can damage your Mac-formatted drive and the files on it. You can set read-only mode in other applications, too–but, if you’re not going to use their write support, there’s less reason to pay for them.

To use HFSExplorer, connect your Mac-formatted drive to your Windows PC and launch HFSExplorer. Click the “File” menu and select “Load File System From Device.” It will automatically locate the connected drive, and you can load it. You’ll see the contents of the HFS+ drive in the graphical window. Just select the files or folders you want, click “Extract,” and choose a folder. They’ll be copied to the location you choose on your PC.

Option Two: Paragon HFS+ is $20, But Offers Write Access and Better Integration

Paragon’s HFS+ for Windows is a bit fancier, but it’ll cost you. This tool installs a file system driver that allows you to access a Mac-formatted drive like any other drive in File Explorer, or any other Windows application with an open or save dialog. It boasts improved speed, and we wouldn’t be surprised if it were faster than HFSExplorer. And, unlike HFSExplorer, it offers full read/write access to Mac-formatted drives, so you can write to them from within Windows. Just install it, and Mac drives will show up like any other drive.

If you need to work with Mac-formatted drives on a regular basis and you want the operating system integration, speed, and write access, Paragon HFS+ is a great choice and will be worth it for you. But, if you just need to get some files off a Mac-formatted drive occasionally, this is overkill and you can save $20 by sticking with HFSExplorer.

Paragon does offer a 10-day free trial of HFS+ for Windows, so you can give it a try and see if it works for you. And, if you just need to get files off of a Mac-formatted drive once, you can just use the trial and be done with the application by the time it expires.

Option Three: Mediafour MacDrive Costs $50 to $70, But Includes More Features

Mediafour’s MacDrive is similar to Paragon’s HFS+ for Windows, but with more features and polish. It’s noticeably more expensive than Paragon HFS+ too, at $50 for the Standard version and $70 for the Pro version.

For most people, this software won’t really be worth it. But it offers a few unique features, like support for Mac-formatted RAID disks. It also offers a graphical interface with support for verifying, repairing, and formatting Mac-formatted drives. Paragon’s HFS+ gets out of your way and doesn’t provide a graphical interface–it just enables access to HFS+ drives in File Explorer and other applications.

If you need all these tools, go for it–this is the most full-featured solution for working with Mac-formatted drives on Windows. But you probably don’t need all these tools.

Mediafour does offer a 5-day free trial of MacDrive–both the Standard and Pro versions–so you can give it a try and see if those features are worth it for you.

Option Four: Format the Drive as exFAT–But Warning, This Will Erase Your Data!

Once you’ve gotten all the data off the Mac-formatted drive, you’ll probably want to format it with the exFAT file system. Both Windows and Mac OS X have full read-write support for exFAT drives without any additional third-party software. FAT32 has some serious limitations–individual files can only be up to 4GB in size each, for example–but exFAT doesn’t.

Rather than use a Mac-formatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exFAT-formatted drives for moving data between Macs and PCs.

To format the drive in Windows, right-click it in the File Explorer window and select “Format.” Choose the “exFAT” file system in the list and click “Start.” Remember, this will erase all the files on the drive! Be absolutely sure you have your files off the drive and that you’ve selected the correct drive you want to format!



When you’re done, the drive should work on both Windows PCs and Macs with no problem.

By the way, this works great for Windows users too–Macs can’t natively write to the Windows NTFS file system, although they can read files from NTFS drives. So no matter what your primary platform, exFAT is probably the way to go.

Share iPhone w/out Snoopers

How to Share Your iPhone Without People Snooping Around

Phones are private, full of personal data and messages. Guided Access allows you to share your iPhone with someone without being able to access that data–allowing them to look at photos, place a phone call, or play a game while your stuff stays hidden.

Guided Access is ideal for situations where you want to show photos to friends or family, allow someone to place a phone call, or let a kid play a game. Whoever you share your phone with won’t be able to access anything sensitive. You can even lock down features within specific apps. This works on iPads, too.

How to Enable Guided Access

This requires the Guided Access feature, which isn’t enabled by default. We’ve covered Guided Access as a parental control to lock down your iPhone or iPad for children, but Guided Access can be used for much more than that. It’s a way of temporarily restricting your device to a single app–and then restricting what can be done in that app. You’ll need a PIN or your fingerprint to leave Guided Access mode.

To enable Guided Access, launch the “Settings” app and head to General > Accessibility. Scroll down and tap “Guided Access” under Learning.



Activate the “Guided Access” slider here and then tap “Passcode Settings” to set a passcode. You can enter the same PIN you use to unlock your iPhone, or set a different PIN–it’s up to you.

On iPhones with a Touch ID sensor, you can enable the “Touch ID” option here. You’ll be able to exit Guided Access mode with just your fingerprint, so you won’t have to type the longer passcode.

Restrict the Phone to a Single App and Disable Notifications

Now, you just need to place your iPhone into Guided Access mode before handing it to someone else. Not only will your iPhone be restricted to only the app you choose, but it won’t display incoming notifications or provide access to the notification center while Guided Access mode is enabled. Any incoming messages you receive will be kept private and for your eyes only.

To enable Guided Access mode, open the app you want to use–for example, the Photos app, the Phone app, or a game. Quickly press the “Home” button three times in a row. The Guided Access screen will appear. Tap “Start” in the top-right corner to enter Guided Access mode.



Your phone will now be restricted to the single app you chose, and it won’t display any notifications. You can hand the phone to other people, knowing they won’t accidentally see private notifications and ensuring a child playing a game won’t go through your emails and other personal information.

To leave Guided Access mode, press the “Home” button three times in a row and enter your PIN. If you enabled Touch ID for this, you can press the Home button once and leave your finger on the sensor. Your iPhone will automatically leave Guided Access mode if it recognizes your fingerprint.

Disable the Entire Touch Screen

The above method just restricts the phone to a specific application, but sometimes that isn’t good enough. For example, you might want to show people a specific photo in the Photos app without them swiping through your other, potentially private photos.

To prevent this from happening, first launch the Photos app and find the one photo you want to show off. Press the “Home” button three times in a row to enable Guided Access mode. Tap the “Options” button at the bottom-left corner of the Guided Access screen and disable the “Touch” option. Tap “Start” or “Resume” at the top-right corner of the screen when you’re done.

You can now hand your phone to someone and they can look at the image on the screen–or watch a video, if a video is playing. However, they won’t be able to interact with the phone until you leave Guided Access mode. The entire touch screen will be disabled until you enter your PIN or use your fingerprint.

Disable Specific Areas of the Touch Screen

In other cases, you may just want to disable individual areas of your screen. For example, perhaps you want to share your phone with someone who wants to make a phone call. The Phone app doesn’t just include a number pad for dialing a phone number–it includes your contacts list, recent calls, and your voicemails.

To restrict access to this private data, launch the Phone app and head to the dialer screen. Press the “Home” button three times to enable Guided Access mode. Use your finger to draw circles around areas of the app you don’t want anyone interacting with. For example, in the Phone app, you could block off the bottom navigation bar. The person who you share your phone with could now just use the dial pad in the middle of the screen to place a phone call. They won’t be able to snoop around using the bottom navigation bar.

When you exit Guided Access, the restriction will be removed and you can interact with the entire screen again.



Guided Access is usually thought of as a parental control feature, but it’s so much more than that. It’s all in the name–rather than providing someone with unrestricted access to your iPhone or iPad, you can control exactly what they can do on your device.