New Microsoft Windows Live Writer

August 15, 2006 in Technology with 1 Comment

For all you computer guys & gals, I’m trying out the beta of the new Windows Live Writer. It’s a new editor that allows you to post to your blog with more formatting options. So far so good. It even has a better spell checker. Wasn’t it ironic that blogger always flagged the word blog as being misspelled. The Microsoft editor is also WYSIWYG, which means the blog entry in the editor should look just like the post on the blog. I’ll try it out for a while and see how it works.

I also noticed that blogger has a new beta available. Unfortunately, you can’t switch your current blogs over to it yet. The coolest new feature is tags so you can categorize your posts. I’m already trying out a ton of different Google betas like Notebook, Spreadsheet, Picasa Web Albums, and Calendar. I guess you can tell, that I like trying out new technology. Part of my engineering job is trying out and testing the new ServicePacks and beta of the 3d Design Solidworks.

Update: Now since I have started using the new Beta of Blogger, the Live Writer will no longer work. But at least the new beta has a decent spell checker.

Take a Step of Faith!

August 14, 2006 in Youth Ministry with 0 Comments

Do you remember the scene from Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade where Harrison Ford is standing on the edge of the cliff, trying to decide what to do? His guidebook that his father gave him, tells of taking a step of faith. So Indy believes, and is willing to step out and trust that he will get across. When he takes the first step, he realizes that there is a bridge that was hidden from his vantage point. He must walk straight across the bridge, because it is narrow, and reach the other side.

As I was studying and preparing to preach last week on courage from Joshua 1:1-9, I was continually reminded about this scene from the movie. So I showed the clip at the end of my message to wrap things up and I titled my sermon “Taking a Step of Faith”

Looking at Joshua, we see that

  1. We need to believe in the promises of God (vs 3) Joshua had to believe in the promises that God had given Moses. Just like Indy had to trust his guidebook, we are given a guidebook for life. Do we truly believe in it? Enough to take a step of faith into the unknown.
  2. We need to sense God’s presence and power (vs 5) God told Joshua that he would never leave him or forsake him, that God would be with him. Indy had to take a deep breath and collect himself and believe. Do we slow down enough to breathe in God’s presence and realize the power that we have living inside us?
  3. We need to live strong and courageous lives (vss 6,7, & 9) Whenever God repeats himself 3 times in 4 verses, I think we need to pay attention. Be Strong and courageous. Joshua was going into a land of giants, to take possession of land that they did not want to give up. Do you see why he was told to be courageous? Indy is the embodiment of strength and courage.
  4. We need to step out on faith and follow God There comes a point and time where we have the knowledge, we have been given the command, and the choice is in front of us. Do we trust the promises and take that step, or do we retreat into the safety and security of the past. Joshua had to take that step to cross the Jordan and enter the promised land. Indy had to put his fears aside and step, even he though he didn’t know how it would turn out.
  5. Finally, we need to walk straight in life (vs 7) God told Joshua to walk straight ahead, to not look to the right or the left and become distracted and off track. To be strong and courageous requires us to follow a narrow path in life and ignore distractions and traps set along the way. After Indy took that step, he had to walk straight because the bridge was narrow. He had a mission, a purpose, and he had to stay straight and not veer off course.

Remember that there is a fine line between living a life of purpose and adventure and living a life of missed opportunity.

When faced with opportunities, decisions, and God’s calling, will we take that step of faith, and step into the unknown?

Grilled, Honey, or Crispy?

August 13, 2006 in Crazy Stuff with 1 Comment


I had an interesting misunderstanding while ordering at Arby’s this weekend. We just had a new Arby’s open up, so Jennifer and I headed out on a hot date to check it out (without the kids I might add). I guess you can tell there’s not much to do around here. Well I ordered a Chicken Bacon Swiss and the lady asked me “Grilled, Honey, or Crispy?” Well I didn’t know that had it any way other than fried, so I asked “What is Honey?” She then proceeded to tell me Grilled or Crispy. I said Crispy and went on. While this was going on, my wife was about to laugh herself silly. Since I was kind of agitated that it took forever to get my order in, I didn’t even realize what she was saying. She was calling me “honey” Oh well, I guess I looked like a “honey” Anyway, that’s why I love the South.

Simple Church

August 11, 2006 in Book and Music Reviews with 0 Comments

I just started reading a new book by Thom Ranier and I’m already excited about it! (Thanks Jenni for the B-Day Book) Simple Church: Returning to God’s process for Making Disciples. Just a few months ago, I finished his excellent book Breakout Churches, which conceptually was based on the business research by Jim Collins in Good to Great. Dr. Ranier studied churches all over America and only found 13 that fit his criteria for a breakout church. The churches had to breakout of a decline or plateau in growth, they had to be committed to evangelism evidenced by conversion growth, and they had to make the change under the same leadership. It gave me hope for churches that are struggling or just starting out. Even Cornerstone has really just been holding steady as we get organized and decided what type of church we want to be. We need to breakout of our rut and become focused on making a difference for the Kingdom.

Now this book is out, and it really hits us right where we are as a church. We complicate so many things, sometimes we just need to simplify and focus on the essentials. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about “what is the purpose and function of the church” and “how do we make disciples”. This is a book about having a common purpose and having a united effort as a church. You can have a ‘Simple’ church without being ‘Simplistic’ An organized church without being paralyzed by structure. It is not a book on a methodology, but a book to help churches realize the big picture of what they are doing. I’ve already ordered more for the elders to read with me. Here is the info from the book jacket.

The simple revolution has begun. From the design of the iPod to the uncluttered Google home page, simple ideas are changing the world.

Simple Church clearly calls for Christians to return to the simple gospel-sharing methods of Jesus. No bells or whistles required, so to speak. Based on case studies of four hundred American churches, authors Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger prove that the process for making disciples has quite often become too complex. Simple churches are thriving, and they are doing so by taking these four ideas to heart:

Clarity. Movement. Alignment. Focus.

Each idea is examined here, simply showing why it is time to simplify.

ifrogz

August 11, 2006 in Uncategorized with 1 Comment

I just ordered a new case for my Ipod Nano from ifrogz thanks to the gift certificate from Boni & Travis. They are really pretty cool. You can custom configure the case and band to any color. They have tons of stickers for the click wheel as well. Check out the colors I picked out. What do ya think? I chose the gun metal color for the case and the glow in the dark band. Since I am an official card carrying computer nerd, I had to get the power button sticker.

It comes with a lanyard and a belt clip and It will also work with my new Nike+ Ipod Sensor.
BTW, I love playing with all these new toys after my Birthday. I’m still a kid when it comes to gadgets.

Be courageous

August 11, 2006 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

I was just flipping through my Bible last night, thinking about some ideas for messages. I settled on Joshua chapter 1. When I think about Joshua, I think about a real man. A man that was able to lead a military campaign that was ordained by God. Think about men like Moses, Joshua, David, Elijah, John the Baptist, Jesus, & Paul. When you picture them in your mind, do you picture real men? I mean men that were courageous and bold, that were not afraid of taking a stand and doing something about it. Now think about most men in church today. What do you picture? Polite, timid, quiet, kind, gentle, effeminate? I see a great need for the church to allow men to be men, to allow them to be courageous and strong leaders.

I was watching a podcast video about the Desiring God National Pastors Conference and apparently, Pastor Mark Driscoll feels the same way. He laments the fact that the 22-25 male age group is largely unrepresented in church. So, what do we do about it? We allow the church to affirm and reach out to Godly young men who are bold and courageous. Instead of trying to make everyone fit into the mold of timidity, let’s be courageous in our calling(one of the points from Catalyst last year)

Check out the videos for the conference.

There are a lot of good videos here about the state of the church today. These videos define and describe … Seeker vs Purpose Driven vs Missional vs Emergent vs Emerging and all the other terms that are being bounced around lately. I highly recommend these videos.

Cool Experiment

August 8, 2006 in Crazy Stuff with 0 Comments

I know everyone has probably seen this video by now, but I still think it’s pretty cool. The engineer in me wants to try this. Maybe even a youth experiment? Who’s bringing the diet coke & Mentos? Check out the link for details on how they set it up.


ISmell?

August 8, 2006 in Crazy Stuff with 0 Comments

For the guy that has everything. Here’s the link from ilounge.

Unquestionably in the running for the “weirdest iPod accessory ever” award, Atech Flash’s iCarta improbably combines an iPod speaker dock with a toilet paper holder. Four total “moisture resistant” speaker drivers are found in the unit’s left and right sides, while separate docks for Dock Connecting iPods and the iPod shuffle are found on top.


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