My New Phone

I've been in the market for a new phone since the day I purchased my 8125. What a brick. I've had to have the device replaced by AT&T twice.

So I regularly make trips to the AT&T store looking at what's new. Given our requirements here at the church and what I've learned about my own preferences here where my specs:

• Win Mo 5 or 6
  
• Must have "real" buttons for dialing
  
• Must be small and somewhat attractive
  
• Must be a phone first and a PDA second
  
• Must be a good PDA
  
• Must have at least pretty good battery life (i.e. shouldn't need a charge mid-day)
  

Things I realized I didn't care about:

• WiFi
• Touchscreen
  
• Cameras (although nice they usually aren't any good anyway, no matter what the megapixel count is)
  

I found it the other day in the Pantech Duo. 

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CNET reviews

Pantech Duo Website

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The phone is as small as my wife's Samsung Sync flip phone, has both a qwerty keyboard and a real phone keypad (due sliders) and if you didn't know it you would think it was only a phone. It runs Win Mo 6 smartphone edition. 

The exterior is pretty good looking. As a bonus it also has 3G wireless. It doesn't have WiFi but see above on that one.

I could forgive quite a few since on it's appearance alone but here are a few quirks after having used it for a week:

• Sometimes freezes up. Hey it's still a MS product.
  
• Keyboard is a little hard to type on.
  
• Couple of personlizing things I would like. Most seem to be an issue with the fact that I'm using smartphone instead of pocket pc.
  
• Vibrate isn't super strong, but it is quiet. 
  

My Christmas Prayer

Humbled. That's what you were. You chose to take a form so beneath you it's incomprehensible. Comparing it to me becoming something like a maggot doesn't even begin the comparison of what you did for me.

Perfection. What heaven is and what you are. You introduction was without notice to most of the world. You met earth and immediately were covered with it. Disease, dirt, and depravity were you cherubim. They surrounded you but could not overcome you.

Dirty. What we were. Instead though you decided to get your hands dirty. Pierced actually. So that we could be clean again. We were trash. Because of you we are treasured.

Overwhelmed. That's me. To think that you would do all of this so that I would be clean. That you would leave, humble yourself from perfection to become dirty so that I could be treasured...overwhelming.

Thankful. Is what I can never be. I can't start to be thankful for the sacrifice you made. I can try. I'll never understand. I can't comprehend the contrast. I can't.

Rest. Is what you tell me to do. In your lap. In your arms. In your grace. So I will. Until the day that I can be risen up with you, to see your perfection. I'll realize my own dirt that you humbled yourselves to save me from so that I can be humble enough to finally thank you the way you deserve.

Speechless. What I am until that day.

Ministry is like a used-car

A friend of mine, Tony Dye, recently purchased about a 15 year old Acura Integra. As he took me for a spin and told me about the car he told me more about the person that had owned it than he did about the car.

He described how meticulous the person was in caring for the car, how in order the records were, how carefully the car had been driven. All of these details told me how good the car was by how good the person was to the car. It wasn't a matter of love, we all love our cars, even when we hate them. It was a matter of care and the realization of that love into affection.

So, question: How many people would want to inherit your ministry after you? How are your records (could anyone pick it up if you suddenly moved to Hawaii)? How many people could successfully adopt your ministry?

A sinking dinghy

I've been reminded recently of the dangers of not focussing on internal communications.

When an organization with a lot of things to be positively proud of stops communicating them to those on the inside terrible things happen.

People need a sense of pride in what they're doing, accomplishing. When organizational pride is removed or not fed people will go looking for that satisfaction. They will attempt to find it in individual or departmental sources, or any way they can.

Instead of pushing the whole ship forward they jump ship, grab a dinghy and start paddling.

Which do you think can go further though, a huge ship or one guy in a dinghy?

How do we convince people that the ship/process isn't a hindrance?

Things I don't want to do (maybe there's 10)

<DRAFT> Sort of- I guess a public draft.

10 Things I hate doing/feeling:

1. I don't want to say no.
2. I don't want to be perceived as a road block.
3. I don't want to have to justify good practices.
4. I don't want to have to charge people, even if it was their mistake.
5. I don't want to lose my calling.
6. I don't want people to not like me.
7. I don't want to care so much.
8. I don't want to care so little.
9. I don't want to sacrifice relationship for process.
10. I don't want to have mistrust for those around me.

10 Things I wish I had more of:

1. I do want to help people everyday.
2. I want to make people's day.
3. I want to advance ministry.
4. I want to love on people personally and professionally.
5. I want to be affirmed in my calling.
6. I want to care more.
7. I want to care less.
8. I want to surround myself with fun, Christ centric people.
9. I want support from above and below.
10. I want Christ to be honored in my every action.
    

It's cold

It's a cold day here in Atlanta. That is there are a few patches of ice on the ground and I needed to wear a coat this morning.

As I was driving in I had the thought from my childhood. My dad once told me air conditioners don't make the air cold, that take the heat out of the air. Sort of made sense. So I had this thought, cold is the absence of heat, sort of like black is the absence of color. The edges of the universe are cold, because there is no sun to heat them. The default if you will is cold.

Similar in people, our default is sin and negativity. Negativity can be seen as the absence of positivity or some counter active force. You have to have something counter active to the negativity to create a positive environment. You will always be going against the default.

This has another implication as well: The amount of positivity can only be equal to the ratio of the positive force to the environment. Since the environment is inherently negative you have to have a significant ratio of positivity to create an overall positive environment.

The problem we're all left with is how can we create enough positive force to counter act our negative tendencies?

Flip Video- First Review

From one of our global outreach teams: 

Thanks to Communications for the use of the “just over $100 Flip video camera” in Sao Paulo, Brazil & Buenos Aires, Argentina November 27- December 5, 2007.  Brian & I filmed 60 minutes, dumped the files on a laptop, and then took another half hour or so of footage.  Here’s my review:

I found it to be very user-friendly, considering I’d never used a video camera before. All I had to do was turn it on and push record!  Timid GO Journey team members will definitely appreciate that, as well as its small size (fit in my purse so I had it with me every minute of the trip), the ease of getting it through airport security, and its use of simple AA batteries.  Not having to charge it came in handy in countries where you need an adapter to use electrical outlets.  The Flip camera didn’t run out of juice until 7 days into the trip.

From what I can tell viewing our clips on a computer, the quality is good, but I am eager to verify this by seeing a clip incorporated into a video and played on the big screens.

For GO Journey teams, I’ll need a quick instruction sheet for:

1. How to use the Flip video software to dump the files (and that saving them in a new folder each time will mean no duplicate names)

2. How to use Real Time to view them on the computer

3. How to post clips to a blog

Crystal Steadham

Global Outreach Mobilization

Perimeter Church, Duluth, GA

Flip Video

After many ministry requests to borrow a camera, about two months ago I purchased a cute little device called a Flip Video recorder to see if it could meet our needs. 

We purchased them to be a small, fast, and inexpensive device that used an international power standard that would allow people to vlog from anywhere in the world pending an internet connection.

I was so impessed when I unpacked the box. First of all it was small and inexpensive. Given that the request came mostly from our Global Outreach ministry that was a big deal. We have cameras, but the thought of losing a high-def Panny over the side of a ship (don't ask) just didn't seem like good stewardship. 

I intentionally didn't read the directions. I'm a pretty tech savvy guy but wanted to see how easily I could use it. Took me about 30 seconds to figure out how to install the battery, turn it on and shoot the video.

Getting the videos off was equally as easy. The device has it's own USB the "flips" out so that you can attach it to your computer. The software contains all the needed drivers and doesn't actually "install" but instead runs off the device. Tony Dye did a great first user experience post on his blog, tonydye.net.

We just sent this little device oversees with one of GO teams, which was it's original intent.So far our global ministry has asked us to purchase somewhere between four and six of the devices.