The Sunday Edition — 04.13.25

It’s another Sunday morning, suddenly! I hope you’ve all had a wonderful week. It was a beautiful 20C yesterday, ensuring everyone was on the deck barbecuing for their family. There’s nothing like that fresh spring air after a long, long winter.

This week, I want to share my opinions on phone calls. The opinion: Phone calls are power moves that are unproductive, anxiety-inducing, and the least effective method of communication. There are certainly positives to phone calls — if executed effectively, a person’s tone can be productive and a quick answer can be provided — but phone calls do not produce much value. They are also unreferenceable (unless you record the call, which still feels taboo).

Let’s start with an unscheduled phone call. This is the worst method of communication available. At best, an unscheduled phone call catches you at an opportune moment and you are able to answer the caller’s question quickly. At worst, well, it’s awful.

The caller drops a complicated question on you that you cannot answer effectively on the spot.
If you attempt to answer confidently without the proper information, you risk leading them down the wrong path. This can cost money, time, confidence, and more. I don’t feel this is the best course of action.
If you say you don’t have an answer, this is often construed as though you may not “know your stuff”, which bears the risk of lowered confidence in you in the future.
If you say you don’t have an immediate answer, you have to find the time to research the question, either call or write out the answer, and send that answer in the future.

Unscheduled phone calls turn what the caller thinks should be a 10-minute discussion into a multi-hour affair for the recipient. The recipient often has to eat crow by not knowing something on the spot, the caller doesn’t achieve the quick answer they’re looking for, the recipient has to spend time researching and worrying about answering, and the recipient has to schedule time to provide that answer, either via phone or some other form of communication. And this is all assuming an unscheduled phone call back to the original caller is picked up at an opportune time to discuss.

Don’t be the person who calls people unannounced. Send a text or an email ahead of time. Ask if the recipient has time to discuss a particular topic. This allows them to be prepared for your call, research the topic, and make the best use of everyone's time. They can also perform the research part whenever works best for them, ensuring they can do it efficiently. They can respond in a referenceable format.

Yes, this is a generational issue. But an entire generation can be wrong about something.

Simply Scripture

I discovered this AI tool when viewing Tim Wildsmith’s video about choosing the right study Bible. I jumped in for free and gave it a shot and was underwhelmed. I could see the paid version being much more helpful (and it’s a reasonable price too), though I believe you can achieve most of the functionality with a free customGPT in ChatGPT as well.

But this begs the question: Should Bible study be supplemented by AI? Should you rely on AI to help make scriptural connections? Can AI help a pastor to build out a sermon?

For most, the answer will be an emphatic “No!”. AI is a soulless computer, effectively building a barrier between your study and the Spirit guiding you. I sympathize with this.

But I also think this is short-sighted. When used right, AI is effective at quickly finding references and connections to other information. You may know that reference is there and you just can’t remember the specific details. You may not know that reference is there and something becomes unlocked in your thinking.

I liken it much to our use of BlueJ, AI software built out for tax lawyers and tax accountants to make short work of tax research for complex problems. After years of study, I know of many topics addressed by the Income Tax Act. Do I know each topic like the back of my hand? No. AI is good at unlocking much of the topic in short order. To me, Bible study can and should be treated the same way.

I would never advocate for AI to take the place of patience and prayer when studying or building out a sermon. Never, ever, ever. God must do His work in those moments with you. A computer must not take that place.

But when used as a supplemental tool — to quickly compile multiple references to a particular topic — I don’t think AI should be overlooked by those looking to study the Word.

Oliur’s Four-Year Look at the Pro Display XDR

This video isn’t so much a review of the Pro Display XDR, but rather a look at whether Oliur feels the Pro Display XDR was a good purchase four years ago. Spoiler alert: He feels it was a great purchase.

Oliur focuses on the cost of the Pro Display XDR here. Which makes sense — the display is a $5,000 USD purchase, let alone the stand. He specifically states the display is made for businesses and professional users who are making money with the display.

Now that I’m on this side of the coin — both the “Business-owner” side and the “have enough money to buy this kind of thing” side — I feel Oliur is correct. It’s easier to spend business money on a tool that improves your work; may improve your work. And improving your work takes many forms — either productivity and efficiency improvements, or morale improvements, or long-term durability savings — ensuring it’s easy to throw money at good tools like the Pro Display XDR or the Studio Display.

I’ve purchased three Studio Displays in the last two or three years, which feels outrageous. Do they improve my efficiency over a less expensive display? Almost surely not. Could I get a better specced display for the same money? Almost surely, yes.

But the Studio Display improves work morale, looks excellent on my desk, and just works no matter what. I never run into technical issues with the Studio Display. We have LG displays and Dell displays in the office too, and they certainly run into glitches. Each glitch has to be addressed by the in-house tech guru, and each glitch costs time and money. I hate technology issues in the office.

I don’t see myself buying the current Pro Display XDR, but I do see myself buying yet another Studio Display. There’s something about the way these displays drive creativity and productivity, and how they just work, no matter how you use them.

I have many favourite devices these days, but I would reckon the Studio Display is at the tippy top of the list.