It is important to keep your system up-to-date as far as anti-virus signatures and system updates are concerned. I suggest leaving your computer ON at all times so these things can happen in the middle of the night, usually around 2 or 3 O’clock in the morning. Never use the “shutdown” option but rather save your files and “logoff” instead. For those of you who are are energy-conscious, you may want to turn off your monitor but these days, even that is somewhat unnecessary because many monitors are now energy-efficient and go into standby mode after a period of inactivity.
Archive for April, 2011
Things SHOULD Go Bump In The Night
2011/04/29E-mail “Reply” vs. “Reply-All”
2011/04/21When you open an E-mail message, take notice of who is on copy. All messages come from only one person but many others may be copied. There are three fields: TO, CC, and BCC. TO is the person or persons that need to understand and take action on the contents of your note. CC is “carbon copy”, an old typewriter term for those who may be interested but are not directly involved in your conversation with the people on the TO list. BCC stands for “blind carbon copy” and is rarely used.
For example, somebody sends a message to all employees in the building saying that they are going to be away for a few hours at an off-site meeting. Most read the message and say to themselves, “That’s interesting”, and go about their daily business. However, one employee has a question and replies-all saying “Thanks for letting me know, I’ll see you when you get back”. Does the whole building need to know this? I think not! The proper thing to do in the case is to “Reply” only to the sender rather than to “Reply-All”.
Think before you send a reply; is it really necessary to reply to everybody or just to the sender?
National Day of Prayer is Constitutional
2011/04/20The National Day of Prayer tradition predates the founding of the United States of America, evidenced by the Continental Congress’ proclamation in 1775 setting aside a day of prayer. In 1952, Congress established an annual day of prayer and, in 1988, that law was amended, designating the National Day of Prayer as the first Thursday in May.
On April 14, 2011, a panel of the U.S. court of appeals overturned a ruling that previously found the law requiring the President to proclaim a National Day of Prayer each year as unconstitutional. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, based in Chicago, ruled 3-0 that the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) and its plaintiffs do not have standing to continue their challenge of the 1952 congressional act declaring an annual National Day of Prayer.
According to the appeals court ruling, the proclamation imposes no requirement on a person and therefore no one is hurt by a request that can be declined. “Those who do not agree with a president’s statement may speak in opposition to it, they are not entitled to silence the speech of which they disapprove.”
Shirley Dobson said, “Since the days of our Founding Fathers, the government has protected and encouraged public prayer and other expressions of dependence on the Almighty. Prayer is an indispensable part of our heritage, and as citizens, we must remain faithful in our commitment to intercede for our nation during this pivotal and challenging time.”
The 60th annual observance of the National Day of Prayer will take place on Thursday, May 5th — this year’s theme, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” is based on Psalm 91:2: “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
See http://www.CapitalRegionNDP.org for information about the observance on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.
If God did exist what would you ask?
2011/04/19So far, over 1,000 questions were submitted by visitors to the Alpha USA website. I have selected a few that I find interesting. The following words were not edited before being published.
- If all the prophets, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed were all talking about the same God, why is there such conflict between them all?
- Why are there so many Denominations?
- Would Jesus recognize our christian churches?
- Why don’t people realize that Jesus is Santa-Claus for grownups?
Click on the link below to read all the questions or to add your own response.
http://www.alphausa.org/Articles/1000087448/If_Gods_Exists.aspx
Spiritual Gift Categories
2011/04/04The basic New Testament texts regarding spiritual gifts are found in Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 2:1-27; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Ephesians 4:1-7; Ephesians 4:11-16 and 1 Peter 4:8-11.
They can be grouped into 4 categories as follows: Expression, Leadership, Perception and Service.
Expression: Artistry, Communication/Speaking/Writing, Craftmanship, Giving, Humor, Music/Voice/Instrument.
Leadership: Administration/Ruling, Apostleship/Pioneering, Encouraging/Exhorting, Evangelist, Leadership, Pastor/Shepherding, Teaching, Missionary.
Perception: Discernment, Faith, Knowledge, Prophecy/Perceiving, Wisdom, Visions/Dreams, Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues
Service: Healing, Helping, Hospitality, Mercy/Compassion, Prayer/Intercession, Serving/Ministry, Miracles.
Do you know what your spiritual gifts are? If not, you are not alone. 75% of Christians in America wonder the same thing! According to Barna Research in 1995, 2000 and 2008, “less than one in four can identify a spiritual gift which they believe they possess.” Yet the Bible says that every Christian is given at least one gift, that spiritual gifts are given to build up the church, and that the Holy Spirit is in control of giving these gifts.
The survey asked people who said they were Christian and who claimed to have heard of spiritual gifts to identify which gifts they believe God has granted to them. The most commonly claimed gifts were teaching (9%), service (8%) and faith (7%). Those were followed by encouragement (4%), healing (4%), knowledge (4%), and tongues (3%). The gift of leadership was mentioned by just 2%.
Since 1995, the proportion of born again Christian adults claiming the gift of evangelism dropped from 4% to 1%. The stagnation of evangelism relates to many factors, but one of those is probably the fact that just 1% of Christian adults (self-described or born again) now claim the gift of evangelism. While the Bible never suggests that one must possess this gift in order to share the gospel, the depressed proportion of believers who identify with that gift reflects the stalled growth of the Christian body in America.
Monetary Donation vs. Value of Volunteer Time
2011/04/02“… you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8 (NIV)
Jesus’ disciples were sent not only throughout Israel to preach His Gospel, but to foreign lands like Samaria as well. Christ made it clear that his message was for all people, not just any particular single nation.
Your Jerusalem is here, your own home town, your community and local region. Many people find it easy to write a check and send money to Africa, Central America or another place at the ends of the earth, far, far away. But where is the local involvement? He said to go to all nations, not just to the ends of the earth.
The estimated dollar value of volunteer time for 2010 is $21.36 per hour.
The estimate helps acknowledge the millions of individuals who dedicate their time, talents, and energy to making a difference. Charitable organizations can use this estimate to quantify the enormous value volunteers provide.
According to the “Research Brief: Volunteering in America Research Highlights” published in 2010 by the Corporation for National and Community Service, about 63.4 million Americans, or 26.8 percent of the adult population, gave 8.1 billion hours of volunteer service worth $169 billion in 2009.
Figures are also available for each state. Virginia: $22.03, Maryland: $22.32 and DC $32.79 per hour!
Of course monetary donations are appreciated but what are you doing to better your local community through volunteer service?
David Robert Lambert 