Church IT RoundTable

You must have landed here by mistake. I think where you MEANT to go was www.jeffsuever.com. Just go ahead and ditch that “wordpress” part of the url.

Thanks and see you over there!

I've been trying to catch up on my reading (and my reviews) and recently finished Deep Church by Jim Belcher. In reading this book, I think it's important to understand a bit about who Jim Belcher is. Jim is a graduate of Fuller and Georgetown, and someone who included postmodernism in his doctoral thesis. This is key to me, as I believe Belcher has credibility in this area. A lot of people are

Eric had a follow-up appointment with his pediatrician today and she was very concerned about the lack of movement in the arm. Eric is very sensitive to specific movement in the elbow so she ordered another round of x-rays. When they got to the x-ray room Eric asked if they could just x-ray his other arm instead.

After the x-rays we had an appointment setup with an orthopedic specialist. It turned out to be the same doctor who did my grandfather’s hip surgery back in January. He looked at the x-rays and was unable to see any breaks. Since Eric is only 5 his bones are not done developing so they are not hardened yet therefore it is difficult to see breaks in the cartilage. He examined the arm, with Eric screaming most of the time, and determined based on the limited range of motion that the radial head of the elbow probably has a small fracture in it that you won’t see on the x-ray. Either way the treatment is the same it is broken or not.

They immobilized his elbow and wrist this time in a splint and then put his arm in a sling to prevent any motion. We go back in 2 weeks to see how it has healed. Fortunately if there is a break it is small enough that it won’t create any alignment problems as his arm continues to grow and develop.

The saga continues.

• And our AC is out. How awesome. Outside fan won't start. #
• Home from six flags, now church @watermarkchurch. Hope Blake Holmes and @prcmusic bring the energy, cause mine is gone. #fb #
• Mom, with at least 8 kids in tow, gave them money to order for themselves. Then yelled at them the whole time. Awesome. #
• Any faith that you have in humankind can be erased by simply walking into a mcdonalds. #
• I thought I saw a puddy tat. http://twitpic.com/28l33f #
• Spending a full day on a date with the 5 year old at six flags today. Yep. That makes 3 times this week. http://twitpic.com/28l1rc #
• @bitbud Congrats! in reply to bitbud #
• @Mstanley Kiffin is such an idiot. But he and USC deserve each other. in reply to Mstanley #
• A little Battlefield 1942 gameplay from last night. Had some awesome 7 on 7 battles. http://twitpic.com/289h0k #
• Just read a great article about "garnering a following on twitter". Sadly, I don't really care to garner a following. Oh well. #
• Dear @statefarm, I know we've been in together for 15 years, but if I can save almost half by getting other insurance, we should break up. #
• @rhowell sadly no. I did my best and fell just a bit short. Nauseous… Yes. in reply to rhowell #
• Mission accomplished. @paulrhoades feels "all team built-er-ized". Yep that's a new term. Feel free to use it. #
• After a bajillion rollercoasters, @watermarkmark wants to know if it's possible for your concussion to get a concussion. #
• Confused why people bring newborns to amusement parks. #
• No fear?? http://twitpic.com/27m5f3 #
• Fun team time today at six flags. Good strength finder discussion at breakfast. Now team building via coasters. http://twitpic.com/27lrpk #
• @rhowell Praying for your day today. in reply to rhowell #
• Feeling better this morning. Fever is gone. Thanks for the prayers. #fb #
• @clintmiller what are current echo numbers? in reply to clintmiller #
• Excited about @echoconference at @watermarkchurch next week. We've got lots of wifi and bandwidth. Something tells me we'll use all of it. #
• Dang guys haven't felt this bad in a long time. Gotta be well tomorrow. Prayers appreciated. #citrt #fb #
• @tlphipps excited for what I hope to be true! #citrt in reply to tlphipps #
• Umcka, loads of immunity boost vitamins, and powerade. Gotta kick this thing quick. I ain't playing around. #fb #
• Wants five guys fries for lunch. #justsayin #
• Most random woot purchase I've ever made. http://twitpic.com/27b1a9 #
• RT @EatThisNotThat: WORST FRIES IN AMERICA = Five Guys Fries w/ 1,464 calories & 71 g fat (large)! (via @shannonjmiller) / Dang… #
• @shannonjmiller Had to go and ruin it, didn't you…? =)#fiveguys in reply to shannonjmiller #
• Can. Not. Be. Getting. Sick… Ugggh. #fb #
• @JamesHxcDixon How much to deliver to North Dallas? =) in reply to JamesHxcDixon #
• coming to @echoconference sans tattoos? gotcha covered! http://bit.ly/dgUfvQ (via @mattarmstrong) #
• Two great customer experiences via twitter from @jimmyjohns and @att. using twitter well to reach out and care for customer frustrations. #
• @jimmyjohns you've messed up an order twice in two days. Next time I'll just say "bring whatever you'd like to bring me." when I order. #
• I've been at six flags since 10 am. I'm melting. http://twitpic.com/26w02o #
• Princess of the Roller Coasters. http://twitpic.com/26utyq #

This coming Sunday our church moves into their fall schedule with the start of a new series on the attributes of God. This should be a great look at a few of the many elements that make up the existence and nature of God Himself. I was thrilled when I found out this was the next series since I had just finished my own research on the attributes of God, specifically that of God’s love (research post as The Attributes of God: Analysis on the Basic Dimensions of God’s Love if you are bored), but there are an infinite number attributes that could be studied in detail.  Paul says it best in Romans when he asks “who has known the mind of the Lord?”, for the depth of the riches, wisdom, and knowledge of God is so great, that we could never fully exhaust our understanding of God’s greatness (Romans 11:33-34).

One of the more recent theological champions of the attributes of God is the author, theologian, and pastor, A. W. Tozer (April 21, 1897 – May 12, 1963). Tozer wrote a book entitled The Attributes of God (Volume 1): A Journey Into the Father’s Heart, which takes a look at God’s infinitude, immensity, goodness, justice, mercy, grace, omnipresence, immanence, holiness and perfection, and this is the reference book for our upcoming series on the attributes of God.  Tozer spent much of his ministry studying what he deemed to be one of the most important questions to ask, what is God like?

Can We Actually Know God?

I think too often today we take a more pluralistic (or post-modern if you like) view of this question, and answer “who are we to think we can know God?”, and then push it off to the back burner and say why bother trying something impossible.  To answer in that manner is to excuse oneself from the rigors of pursuing a relationship with God, but it is more than that, it is to deny scripture itself.

In Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians he talks to the church about Christ’s judgment at the second coming (2 Thessalonians 1:8).  At the time of the second coming, Christ will punish two distinct classes of people; those who “do not know God” (cf. Romans 1:18-32), and those who “do not obey the gospel” (cf. John 3:36).  Jeremiah the Prophet spoke to Judah just before the impending invasion of the Babylonian army and told them they were fools because they didn’t know God, but instead certainly knew the way of evil (Jeremiah 4:22, Isaiah 1:3 and Psalm 82:5).

There are many other examples, but the point is, if we are called by His name, we are called to know God.  We can spend a lifetime doing this, but God loves those, and has made Himself known, to those who seek Him out (Proverbs 8:17).

Great Resource for Audiobooks

A quick plug to those who enjoy digging in deeper to these and other topics of faith.  Christian Audio (christianaudio.com) has one of the largest selections of Christian audiobooks, and each month they give away a free audiobook.  This month happens to be The Pursuit Of God (Unabridged) by A. W. Tozer, and you can download it for free until July 31st.  Not only is this title free, but all of A. W. Tozer’s other books are only $4.95 until the end of the month.  This is a fantastic resource, and I would recommend Christianaudio to anyone interested in audiobooks (you can listen on your iPod, MP3 player, iPad, iPhone, whatever, and you can also follow them on Twitter @ChristianAudio).

I have no stake in the company or know anyone personally over there, I have just used their resources and have never had any issues with quality or service (only wish they had even more titles than they do).  I often depend on a wide range of resources for studying, but even iTunes can’t beat an unabridged book like that for $4.95.  That’s my plug for the month, if audiobooks are not your thing, get a copy of Tozer’s books in print, you won’t be disappointed.

Other Posts Related to this Topic

• Three Solutions to the Problem of Evil
• The Position and Argument for the Inerrancy of the Bible
• Defiance Movie :: Bielski Partisans Jewish Life Not Comprehended Today
• Is it Really Important to Ask God Why Anymore?
• The Principle of Context from Joshua 7:1-26

• The day I don't feel well and don't go to Church early, the network completely fails. So much for sick days. #

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Identity or ID fraud is huge.

Here are some facts to make you think ….

90% of users never check all their transactions on their bank or credit card statements. (ID Theft Protect, Aug 2007)

89% of users do not use a password manager to store their online and offline usernames and passwords. (ID Theft Protect, Sept 2007)

Identity theft is costing the British economy over £1.7 billion annually. (2006 – CIFAS)

Impersonation of the dead is growing at a rate of increase of 60% each year. (2004 – UK Home Office)

In 2004 most UK card fraud was committed via face-to-face transactions in shops. (2004 – Cardwatch)

These are just UK figures.

So what can you or should you do to help protect your ID in an ever increasingly connected and online world?

• Keep personal information secure.
• Keep all your plastic (credit / debit / identity) cards safe.
• Keep your documents safe.
• Keep your passwords and PINs safe.
• Use individual passwords for anything that requires online transactions – monetary or not.
• Protect the identity of deceased family members.
• Shred letters / documents that contain identifying information.

I will almost certainly expand on some of these in the weeks and months to come, but if you need any specific information or answers now then please do ask via the comments section or via my contact form or even by using the Skribit suggestions tab.

Protect Against ID Fraud is a post from: Church Techy

Continuing on ideas for the "Perfect" SOHO Backup System.

Previously:
1. Local Backup
2. 3-2-1 Rule
3. Off-Site doesn't have to be instant

Today:
4. Reporting
Have you ever discovered (usually at a very unfortunate time) that the backup you thought you were running every day hasn't actually run in several weeks? A key of a great backup solution is that you can tell that a backup has happened, and what was included, but even more importantly, if something goes wrong, make sure that somebody knows there's a problem.

Personally, I don't care to get flooded with success reports. When those start coming in daily (or more often?) then they become noise and I don't look at them much, so they actually have a negative value. I do like the idea of being able to audit success, but I don't need to have it flashed in my face every day. On the other hand, if something is NOT working right, I'd like to make sure that anyone and everyone knows it. Should that be an email, or a text message, or a pop-up on every station, or something else? Yes!

Another nit I have with some existing systems. When a "reasonable exception" occurs, don't call that a failure. For instance, let's say that some desktop is turned off for a few days, so it's not getting backed up. That is NOT a daily failure! When a machine hasn't been backed up in several days, that's another story and is worth reporting.

Next: Backup set selection

A while back Mark with BigBadCollab gave us a demo of ShadeTree. ShadeTree is a platform being developed that seeks to integrate church members into church life through social networking, spiritual formation, etc. In some ways ShadeTree could lead to a full blown ChMS at some point, but right now it's really meant to augment what you currently have in place. I was privileged to look "behind the

Today was a fairly normal day, aside from getting some bad news regarding the compatibility of our MSA 1000 series SAN and Windows Server 2008 Core. I was looking forward to a quiet evening at home when around 4:30pm my wife calls me and tells me that Eric fell at school and they think he broke his arm.

Since we are all at Faith each day, she had picked Eric up and brought him over to the building I work in. He was crying like I’ve not seen him cry before and any attention we tried to pay to his arm only made things work. We called our pediatrician and Heather and Eric headed to Urgent Care.

I went back to my office to grab a few things and then followed behind them. By the time I got to Urgent Care, they were already back seeing the doctor. Apparently, I still look a lot like Eric because when I walked in the receptionist immediately asked if I was with the little boy that had just come in. She took me back and I could hear Eric crying in the exam room. I really appreciate the quick service the staff provided us although I don’t know if they were helping us out of concern for Eric or concern for their ears. Have I mentioned I’ve never seen Eric that upset?

While they were taking his vitals, Heather explained the story details. They were playing Red Rover and Eric was trying to break through the other team but instead of breaking through, he fell backwards and tried to catch himself landing on his arm. This got my attention as I had received a tweet earlier in the day from someone saying Red Rover should be called “Get Stitches”. Yet another example of Twitter predicting the future.

They took him back to x-ray and even from the lobby I could hear Eric screaming as they tried to get his arm in position for several pictures. The doctor was concerned about the wrist, arm, and elbow areas. Based on the amount of pain I was assuming a break of some sort.

We got back to the exam room and the doctor arrived a few minutes later after reading the films. His arm was not broke. The swelling and pain were caused by contusions and over extensions of the tendons and ligaments. I was surprised to say the least but very relieved. They put his arm in a splint (through Monday’s follow-up appointment), another enjoyable process, and we were on our way.

It is pictures like this that I make public that will inevitably scar Eric for life.

We want to thank everyone for the kind words we received via many technology means and their prayers for Eric.

I am way behind on book reviews, so it's time to get caught up. The first book I read recently is Deliberate Simplicity. This book is written by Dave Browning, who is a friend of our senior pastor's. We read this book as a staff, and I expected a lot from it. Perhaps my expectations are part of why i was disappointed (a theme you will find repeats itself in this round of reviews). The book

One of my audio trainees recently had his first time at the helm during a Sunday morning service. Because we have a digital sound board (Yamaha’s LS9), I was able to do a few things to make his first time a little less hectic. I start out my newbies during rehearsals and working our Sunday night service. But there is a sharp contrast between our morning and evening services. Mornings involve four vocalists and a full band, videos all quickly moving from one element to the next. Evenings are more laid back with just the Music Minister and keyboardist.

My trainee’s job didn’t allow him to attend the weekly band rehearsal, and that concerned me, but since I’ve been moving toward saving a scene on the board for each song during the service, I decided to do that for him. I linked each scene for the service to a user defined key and noted on the worship flow which UDK to press for each song.

Next I sat my laptop beside the board that morning to make changes that his trainee user profile on the LS9 doesn’t allow him to do yet, like save settings. So while he was driving with his limited permissions, I had full use of my administrator permissions from my laptop using Yamaha’s LS9 Editor in Studio Manager. Kind of like the instructor in Driver’s Ed with the brake peddle on his side of the car.

We have used this method for a weeks, and it has worked very well. It allows the trainee to focus on timing and mechanics over mixing changes from one song to the next. Now that he is getting broken in to the Sunday routine, we can migrate to focusing on mixing.

Studio Manager and the LS9 Editor are free. All you need is a network connection, preferably wireless so you can move around. Mike Sessler has some great setup info here.

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