The right foods will help you, the wrong foods will... well...

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:01:12 -0500

When I interned at a church in southern Florida during my college years, I ate out a lot, and I mean a lot. Moving from home to home and never bringing a lunch to work meant I would eat out almost every day. My restaurant of choice was Wendy’s because it was close to the church. Bad decision for me.

By the end of the summer, I had gain almost 15 pounds. I could have chosen to eat better, but convenience won out and the weight was gained. Right before school, I went home to visit my family and my mom didn’t recognize me at first.

From that point, I never really lost all that weight. That’s the danger we all face in ministry. Even now, I am in danger of gaining lost of weight, because my job is primarily a desk job. Getting fat is a danger if I don’t eat right and exercise.

Many pastors will eat out because of the convenience of it. The danger here is again you eat unhealthy food and most of the time don’t exercise at all. Those extra calories add up and so do the pounds. All these makes us slow and ineffective for the ministry. We get tired easily and health problems begin to develop.

Here are some websites that will help you see the high cost of fast food living (sounds like a sermon, eh?).

Fast Food Facts

Calorie Count

Calorie King

I like to eat at Taco Bell because it is cheap and I fill up. However, the calories in those foods are really high and if I don’t watch it, my weight will get high as well. Losing weight at its simplest is watching calories and exercising. Cutting back on those fatty foods can help you out, but exercise will help you burn off the fat. You need to do both.

Too many preachers are over weight and have a poor testimony because it shows their lack of taking care of the temple of God. Sometimes it cannot be helped because of health problems, but most often that is not a the case.

If you have added a few more pounds then you should, consult your doctor and get started on an exercise program. It will benefit your ministry in many ways from your longevity to your testimony.

Dell’s Eee PC killer is coming soon.

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:41:34 -0500

I love the many ultra mobile PCs that keep coming out. They’re small and have some great features to them. I have said it before and I’ll say it again, an UMPC like Eee PC or Dell’s Mini-note would make a good laptop for students. Parents ask me all the time what laptop should we buy our college bound son or daughter? I do encourage them towards a Macbook first, but let’s face it, parents of college students and college students don’t have a lot of money to spend.

That’s why these UMPC’s can really be the cost effective measure for parents and students alike. They are more easily carried around because of their small size and their light weight.

Dell’s new UMPC line looks to compete very well with Asus Eee PC line. Engadget has some “leaked” information about it. The release date is said to be August 22nd which is just a few days away. Dell would be wise to have this baby available for college bound students.

Price for the Dell mini-note is rumored to start at $299 and go up from there. Very reasonable for a missionary on the road, traveling pastor, or any one the needs a laptop on the go. I for one cannot wait for this device to come out and we can see how it will stack up to the Eee PC and MSI Wind.

Palm Mobile Heist promotion.

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:23:34 -0500

A popular way to sell a lot of software is to have a heist sale where buyers can pickup applications for a steal. The folks over at Palminfocenter got the idea to have a Mobile Heist of Palm software. Sounds like a great idea for software that is probably sluggish and high priced when compared to other apps.

If you are a Palm user, I’d recommend checking out this selection of software as you just might find something useful for a steal.

“The PalmInfocenter Software Store is offering 25 of the best-selling Palm applications on sale for only $9.95 each!!! This limited time, special "mobile heist" promotion provides an average discount of 42% with some discounts as high as 67%.
A few of the titles up for grabs include: CallRec, Softick Audio Gateway, Astraware Casino, Ultimate Phone, Mundu IM and many more...
The sale is currently going on now and ends at midnight PST on Sunday, August 17 ...so act fast.
Mobile Heist Software Sale Page”

Cables for your gadgets for a reasonable price.

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:45:35 -0500

Having gadgets, home theater systems, TVs, VCRs, stereo, mobile phones.... I could go on and on about the devices we have in our homes. The one thing that can really stinks is having to be a cable just to hook up your device.

Enter in MonoPrice.com, the great place to go and save money on cables. Those expensive cables don’t always work better or sound better than the ones you’ll find at MonoPrice. In fact, you can read reviews from others who have purchased the cable and read what they think about it. I purchased a cable for my Wii and it works great. I would have had to pay around $30, but at I got it at MonoPrice for $10 which included shipping.

I’d definitely recommend these folks as churches don’t need to pay high prices for the cables and other electronic accessories. It’s a great way to save money while still getting a good product.

Money tips for the pastor and his family.

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:09:12 -0500

Like many pastors and their families, extra money is not a phase we use often. Many times we are living from paycheck to paycheck looking to the Lord to meet our needs along the way. I really don’t believe that the Lord intends for us to manage our finances this way.

As pastors, our example ought to extend to our finances and not just stop our raising a godly family or having a knowledge of the Scriptures. Too many pastors are falling into debt and mismanaging their God-given monies. What is a pastor suppose to do?

I read these tips from Lifehack and thought they would be a help to you as they are a help to me. Be sure to take the time to look at your finances and see if these tips can help you be a better example for your church.

“Just like most folks, I don’t consider my financial situation perfect. I have some debt that I need to pay off and some goals I want to achieve. Moving forward on financial matters can seem so difficult. Saying that ‘I want to get out of debt’ is general — there’s no clear starting point. And that’s just the minor stuff: figuring out taxes can make you wish we all still relied on barter. But setting your financial house in order isn’t impossible. You just need a starting point.”

Continue Reading...

More Windows Vista more productive.

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 21:08:28 -0500

We all don’t live in a Mac world, some of us do have Windows XP or Vista. If that is you, then maybe this tip from Lifehacker will be just the ticket for you. It might look a bit Mac-like, but who says you can’t have it all?! These tweaks can really help improve your Windows experience and give you a boost in productivity. Plus, it’s fun trying new programs out.

Source: Lifehacker

Toothbrush+motor+battery= Bristlebot

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 20:49:24 -0500

Want to have some fun with your kids or impress your Sunday School class (lots of illustrations can come from this little project)? Get yourself a tooth brush, watch battery, pager motor, and some self stick tape. How’s it all work? Click play below and enjoy the show!

Some random thoughts on prayer.

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 21:39:29 -0500

The Lord has been convicting me over the amount of time I spent in prayer and how often I say I will pray for someone and then forget. It is a powerful weapon we have, but often it is one that sits and collects dust.
In a message at my church the other night, the pastor reminded us that too often we think that America is hopeless, that if certain officials get elected it is over for the church and believers, yet when we think that, are we not saying God is too weak to overcome these “impossibilities”.
The Bible says that God can do the impossible and ought we not think, rather believe that He can and will.
As you continue this week, keep in mind that prayer does work and thru it, we can overcome the wickedness of this world. God is not weak as we often portray Him. He is strong and more than able.

TGP’s top five iPhone apps.

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 21:22:55 -0500

With the Apple App Store being online for almost a month, I thought it was high time that I listed my top five iPhone apps. These are the ones that I could not live without on my iPhone. I mean I need these like I need a Pepsi and some Dorritos. :)

Here begins the top five iPhone apps selected by the Gadget Pastor!

Phonesaber - It may seem to be a bit on the “Huh?” or “Oh, brother” side, but it is a fun way to show off your iPhone. Unless of course you happen to lose grip of it.

4. Mobile Banking BofA - Accessing my bank has been a huge help to me and this app works well on my iPhone. It is free and has saved me from paying bank fees a couple times now.

3. Sketches - When I need to draw something quickly or give my boys something to do, Sketches works wonderfully. It may be a tad expensive to some, but I seen Palm apps higher priced and with less features.

Todo - This program has become a recent favorite of mine and has helped me increase my productivity, unlike Phonesaber. Organizing my todos for the day is simple and looks really good on my iPhone. I especially like the different ways you can mark a todo as complete. It does make accomplishing them a bit more rewarding.

1. Biblescope - While only offering the KJV and NSV, Biblescope is a worthy Bible app that offers features such as split screen, search, and adding bookmarks. It even has Matthew Henry’s concise commentary to help aid in your studying.

Splash Data hones in on the iPhone.

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:43:58 -0500

Here’s an announcement from Splash Data talking about their latest venture into Apple’s App Store. They recently released Splash Money, SplashID, and Splash Shopper for the iPhone.

“Hello iPhone users,
Our iPhone applications are here! Download now:
SplashData iPhone Downloads
In case you haven't already heard, SplashID, SplashMoney and SplashShopper are available for iPhone. We wanted to wait to let you know until we had released the desktop companion software for all three.
One note of warning to customers with more than 255 records in SplashID - please wait for the 4.03 release.
Here's the deal - if you own a license for the application you are switching over to iPhone, the desktop software is free. Your Palm or Standalone registration code will most likely work automatically, and Windows Mobile and BlackBerry users can contact us for a free registration code.
The handheld applications are sold separately through the App Store for $9.95 each. We cannot discount this or bundle it.
SplashWallet customers will have to purchase each handheld application they want to use on the iPhone, but they will get all 3 desktop applications for free.
Thanks for your support and patience waiting for these releases. Customers like you are why we love our work! If you like our iPhone applications, be sure to post a positive review on the App Store!
Thanks,
--Justin SplashData”