Good Sunday afternoon, my friends. Thank goodness it’s Sunday! I always find I get hungry for church by Sunday. It’s such an uplifting place to spend time, and I always come away with hope and revival for the seven days ahead. It’s increasingly difficult to make it two weeks without church — I can literally feel my heart grow more somber, like a melancholy befalls my days. Church is a great remedy.

And to be certain, church is a wonderful remedy after this week’s events.

It’s easy to sit down at the keyboard and over-estimate your impact on the world. I’m not a particularly important person. I impact my wife and children. I impact my office and clientele. I impact my church in some ways. But beyond those various sets of walls, I’m a pretty inconsequential person.

I think we all grow up under the guise of making an exaggerated impact in the world. Clichés like “Follow your dreams” or “Shoot for the stars” lead to this way of thinking. For those who have their confidence puffed up and take that encouragement to make positive change for the world, great! But that confidence is often misplaced, too. It’s easy to forget how small each of us really is.

My writing here, especially, is pretty impact-less — I like to share some positivity with readers, show off some great writing I found during the week, and spread some love for things I find helpful. My personal values will likely shine through the writing at various points — which is an underlying goal of mine, always — but I avoid negative or tough topics most of the time. Most major world news has little impact on my long-term life, so a pinch of patience usually does the trick.

Which isn’t to say I don’t have a robust list of personal values, like anyone else. Those values greatly direct my focus and my energy. They all relate to my faith, my family, my role as a father, my role as a business owner, and my role as a community volunteer. Those values aren’t exclusive to me — these values were passed down to me from my parents, and them their parents, and so on. These values were grown out of thousands of years of general practice and guidance. These values are not abnormal. They are not rare.

It’s for these reasons why this week’s events have had an impact on me. I’ve shed some tears. A young father with largely the same list of values was killed for having those values. To be sure, his realm of impact far exceeded mine. He presented those values boldly and often discussed them with less grace than those values deserve. But he and I — and I’m sure millions of other young fathers out there — were not all that different.

I have long had these verses highlighted and underlined in my Bible:

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” — John 15:18-19.

Before this week, I knew those words in theory. I knew those words were there, but the world, generally, hadn’t acted on them.

It’s different now. A young man, with the same values, the same stage of life, the same hopes for his children in the future, the same faith — a young man was gunned down for having those values.

We’re all flawed men, living out our faith and values the best we know how. Some take different roads. Some are more humble. Some are more meek. Some have certain strengths. Others have certain weaknesses. But everyone is trying their best. It’s very hard not to look in the mirror and wonder what makes those efforts worthy of such a brutal death.

But, for His glory alone! My body was knit together in the womb by my Almighty Father. My Almighty Father created me for the sole purpose of worshipping Him here on earth. My fleshly body is filled to the brim with sin — I battle the devils and desires of this world every minute of every day, and I fall short in every metric imaginable. Even The Lord’s own chosen individuals — John the Baptist, 11 of 12 apostles, and Jesus Christ Himself! — died horrible and gruesome deaths. When The Lord deems my time over, whichever way He plans for me to go, I rest knowing The Lord’s purpose will reign in the end.

Kirk didn’t deserve such a death. Kirk posed no harm to anyone. He existed to share the gospel truth with those who were directed to listen. Alas, Kirk’s purpose was fulfilled. He met his Saviour. And God, as He has always done in the past, will use the event for His eternal glory. There has never once been a successful story of shutting down the gospel truth from spreading across the globe. The gospel works best in the valleys.

Hallelujah!

To close, my favourite verse in the Bible:

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” — Philippians 1:21

Until the day I die, may The Lord provide courage and hope to spread His gospel truth. And after that day, I so look forward to meeting my Lord and Saviour in person.

Onward, in His name.

Apple’s September 2026 Keynote Event

It’s new iPhone season! I came into Apple’s keynote expecting to upgrade a whole slew of devices: AirPods, Watch Ultra, iPhone, and AirTags. Instead, I’m most likely only upgrading iPhone, and I’m upgrading in a way I wasn’t fully expecting.

I’ve never felt quite so skeptical about an iPhone event in my life. Though I have no empirical evidence, this event felt more puffed up than ever before. Immeasurable claims like “All-day battery life” shortly followed by comments like “traditional camera sensors are 4:3 in size” or discussions of how aluminum is a superior material to titanium — these got to me by the end of the event. I have no problem giving the benefit of the doubt to a massive company being held to an impossible bar of technological progress. But I do have an issue giving that benefit of the doubt when it starts to feel like flat out deception about new features.

It does feel like technological progress has slowed a bit in Cupertino, though. The Pro-tier iPhone could still be mistaken for a five-year-old iPhone, and effectively all shortcomings of the iPhone 16 Pro are going to still be there in the 17 Pro. I’m not in “Apple is doomed” territory or anything. But I have an appetite for something new.

Which is why I am moving to the iPhone Air this year. I suspected ahead of the event that the Air was going to be my choice, despite perceived shortcomings. Initial rumours pegged the Air to have significantly poorer battery life than what we’ve come to expect from this class of smartphone, and I was surely led to believe the Air to have a poorer display, a poorer camera system, and more.

Instead, it seems Apple has delivered far beyond expectations for the Air (I write this before actual findings are published, so I write with asterisks everywhere):

• Battery life is rumoured to be in line with the iPhone 16 Pro. I’ve never been wanting for battery life in my current 16 Pro. Who knows what we’ll end up with, but I am betting battery life will be a pleasant surprise.
• The main camera on the backside of the Air appears to be largely equivalent to the main camera on the backside of the 17 Pro. In fact, the lens may be slightly better, in that it appears to have a slightly larger aperture than the 17 Pro’s main camera. I recognize there is only one camera on the back, which may impact everyone differently. I’d just suggest looking at your camera roll to determine how often you actually use the various camera focal lengths before making a pure judgement. I use the main camera at least 90% of the time.
• The front-facing camera is equivalent to other 2026 iPhones. I am sensing this will be one of the best improvements of the year.
• The display is effectively the same as the 17 Pro and comes complete with ProMotion, 3,000 nits of brightness, and all the high-end goodies. Impressive. It sounds like the Dynamic Island housing is situated slightly lower than the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro.
• The display is also bigger than the base Pro. I’ve always found the Pro Max to be too big and the Pro to be too small. A combination of a slightly larger screen but a thinner chassis is a physical experience I am excited to try.

Overall, I think Apple exceeded rumours and expectations in relation to the iPhone Air. I am betting this phone will be the iPhone that sells better than expected. I wouldn’t be that it’ll be the best selling iPhone. But I think it is going to sell better than pundits expect. It also helps it’s by far the best-looking iPhone Apple has on tap right now — perhaps even of all-time. The shiny titanium rails and thin chassis emit pure elegance. Of all iPhones since Jony’s time, this one feels like it was built for him.

Of course, I could be entirely wrong. This feels like the biggest gamble iPhone ever. I am excited to report back on Friday.

Three or four bullet points from Apple’s other products:

• I was very excited about blood pressure monitoring and hypertension detection rumours ahead of the event. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear this panned out — hypertension detection is great for those who may not know they have high blood pressure. But I know I have high blood pressure, and so I am excited for Apple’s next step. I’d really like to monitor my blood pressure throughout the day via my Watch, even if that Watch’s reading isn’t as accurate as a dedicated monitor.
• Fortunately, the rest of the Watch and Watch Ultra lineup is another evolutionary step forward. I do not have pangs of want for either of the new Watches, and await blood pressure monitoring features in the 2026 Apple Watch. The Apple Watch continues to be an excellent device for an accessible price, one which I wonder will be my daughters’ first “phone” in a few years.
• I don’t use my AirPods Pro as much as I’d like to, mainly because I find the ear tips uncomfortable. Apple has addressed this, it appears — “Fit and Feel” are at the top of Apple’s new feature list. Ears are a funny thing.
• No new AirTags. Bummer. These are some of Apple’s most underrated devices. Once you find a good use for them, they feel completely indispensable.

I’m glad we’re back in the September and October technology season! It’s great to have something exciting and positive to discuss — new hardware and new software brings a dose of change to what seems like a plateauing element of life. It’ll be fun to hear what everyone thinks of Liquid Glass, iOS/iPadOS 26 and macOS 26 this coming week.

The Second Cup

MyMind continues to be a widely used app in my life right now, so coming up with inspiration to share in this Second Cup section is easier than ever. I apologize ahead of time for the increase in interesting links. (Perhaps I need to go back to writing some Fresh Links during the week?)

Barcelona House

I think, if you told me I could build a house anywhere in the world, this is precisely what I’d build. (But let’s be clear, there’s no way I am imaginative enough for this. This is why there are spectacular designers in the world.)

A Tribute to Charlie Kirk and an Exhortation to Christians as we Process, Pray and Plan for the Future

An intriguing read from a pastor in Grande Prairie, Alberta.

reMarkable Paper Pro Move

Never mind the eye-watering price, this is one of the coolest devices on the planet right now. We’re talking about an endless Field Notes memo book for your pocket, with synced notes to your computer for future archival and reflection. I’m so jealous of all the wonderful tools students have these days to learn.

The Sketch

What a beautiful vision of moulding the past and the future in one building.

Time is On My Side

It’s been a long time since Frank Chimero showed up in my RSS feed. He has long been one of my favourite writers. Such a personable style.

A high bar is high respect

I played a round of golf recently with an old friend who has long been known for being ultra-competitive. I admit to being very nervous ahead of the round of golf — I expected the competition to be fierce, the trash talking deep, and the critiques to be at an all-time high. Instead, I remembered why I appreciate my friend’s company. He was competitive, but encouraging. Chirpy, but light-hearted. And by the end of the round, it was clear that a high bar had been set, and we all lived up to those expectations.

I learned a lot in that round of golf.

Happy Sunday. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.