Ubuntu 14.04

I've been playing around with Ubuntu's Unity for a few weeks now, and I'm having a good time with it. All of my KDE programs still work, so I can choose whether to use the default Unity programs, or my preferred KDE programs.

One thing that I have found that does not work is Newsrover in WINE. The program will open, but I can never access it. If I decide to continue to use Unity, I may have to move it over to the notebook, which is still running KDE.

The default file manager is good, but I still prefer KDE's Dolphin because you can split the screen. Basically it's having two file managers open at once. Makes it very easy to compare files.

An earlier post complained that the weather app (as seen in the screen shot) wouldn't update itself. I'm pleased to discover that after rebooting the computer for a kernel upgrade, it now auto refreshes like I want it to.

Held By the Grip of God.

Philippians 3:12

Never "choose" to be a worker for Christ, but realized that Christ has chosen you to be his worker. Because he choose us, We can't be allowed to think that we're not qualified in some position, nor can we perform the tasks that Christ has asked us to.

In the past I've joked that I'm not qualified to be a preacher, or a missionary, etc. However if God did call me to one of these tasks, or something else, He would give me the ability to perform the work for His glory.

And before we puff ourselves up thinking we're the greatest preacher that ever lived, or whatever, we need to remember that we are simply sinners saved by grace.

The Overshadowing of God's Personal Deliverance

" I am with you to deliver you" says the Lord. (Jeremiah 1:8)

What I pulled from this reading.

1. God will deliver our lives, not our personal property and possessions.

2. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it.

3. If we look for justice, then we'll start to complain about the lack of justice, and could possibly lead to self-pity.

4. We deliver justice as God commands us, but ultimately it's His call if people get away with stuff.

Tonight I had the excitement of a cat walking on the keyboard wanting to play.

My Utmost for His Highest

This weekend I purchased the devotional guide, "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers. I bought the "Updated" edition, because the "Classic" version was $10, and I only had the $5 that the updated version cost. So the updated version it is!

My plan is to read each day's devotion, and post my thoughts on here. Feel free to jump in and read along.

VBS Day One Complete!

Vacation Bible School for 2014 has officially kicked off at Brookwood Baptist Church. We're going with the Lifeway theme of "Agency D3". The "D3" stands for "Discover, Decide & Defend". Basically it's an apologetic theme, getting the kids to think about their faith, and how to answer questions about it.

This year my wife and I get to teach missions, and I'm pretty excited about it. We got a lot of information from the North American Mission Board. What's fascinating (and a little discouraging) is how many cities in the USA have majorities of people who claim no religious affiliation. 

Minneapolis/St Paul (One of my adopted hometowns) is one such city. There is one Southern Baptist Convention church for every 118,248 metro Minneapolis/St. Paul residents.

By comparison, in Oklahoma City there is one Southern Baptist Convention church for every 4910 residents.

Looking at the Minneapolis page, I've discovered that Waconia is considered a "potential" church plant city.

I attended College at St Paul Bible College (Now called Crown College), and it would be a lot of fun to be back in the area!

But for now Oklahoma is home, and I'm content with that.

The kids were a lot of fun, and seemed to be interested in what we were teaching them. The biggest thing we tried to get across tonight was you didn't have to go overseas to be a missionary. You could be one right here in the United States.

More information about Minneapolis/ St Paul - http://www.namb.net/minneapolis-stpaul/

Ubuntu vs Kubuntu

Normally I run Kubuntu (Ubuntu with the KDE on it), but recently I decided to give Unity a try, which is the default program for Ubuntu.

Because it's all Ubuntu underneath, I was able to install the Unity packages from within Kubuntu. After logging off and logging back on, I can now select which one I want to run, KDE or Unity.

One nice thing is that even running Unity, all of my favorite KDE programs are still installed and available! I also have access to all of my files.

I really like KDE, but I've discovered that I'm not much of a tinkerer with the software. I'll do an initial setup, then I'm pretty much happy to run with the defaults.

On Unity I like the launcher bar on the left hand side. I've got my 6-7 favorite applications locked to it.

The weather application "my-weather-indicater" has a lot of features I like, but the auto refresh doesn't work. I have to manually refresh it. No big deal, as it's easy to refresh from the top menu bar.

I'll run with this for a few weeks. I'm hoping to buy a new hard drive in a few weeks, and that will require a fresh install of Linux.

Rain!

This time last month we were looking at a serious drought for the summer in Oklahoma. Happily June brought much needed rain, so the drought situation has improved. Hopefully that will push the 100 degree temperatures further down the road.

The End is Near for my Air Force Career

After 21.5 years, it's time to hang up my uniform and call it a day. I'll retire from the Air Force in December. Looking forward to being a civilian again, and getting my weekends back!

Congrats to the 2014 AFC Champion Denver Broncos!

Super Bowl in Two Weeks!!

VBS 2014 Music Lyrics - Agency D3

Lifeway is going for an apologetics theme for Vacation Bible School this summer. The songs have already been released, and my daughter is working on learning the lyrics so she can perform the songs in a few weeks at a conference in Dallas.
Because we couldn't find the lyrics online, my wife sat at the computer and typed the lyrics out as the songs played.

I'm posting the lyrics online hoping others will find them useful.

Agency D3

Look around. See the clues. The evidence is clear.

God is real. His love is true. The proof is all right here.

We’re on the case to investigate (Yeah!) this awesome mystery!

Agency D3 Discover, Decide, Defend!
Agency D3 Discover, Decide, Defend!

We’re following all the leads. We’re special agent kids.

We’ll trace it back to just the facts who Jesus really is.

We’re on the case to investigate (Yeah!) this awesome mystery!

Agency D3 Discover, Decide, Defend!
Agency D3 Discover, Decide, Defend!

Agency D3 Discover, Decide, Defend!
Agency D3 Discover, Decide, Defend!

We’ll always be ready to tell anybody what we know about Jesus!

Mission possible. It’s not impossible to share the gospel of Jesus!

We’ll always be ready to tell anybody what we know about Jesus!

Mission possible. It’s not impossible to share the gospel of Jesus!

Agency D3 Discover, Decide, Defend!
Agency D3 Discover, Decide, Defend!

Agency D3 Discover, Decide, Defend!
Agency D3 Discover, Decide, Defend!

Discover, Decide, Defend! Discover, Decide, Defend!

  

God’s Son

Long before Messiah walked the planet

Long before the telling of His birth

Prophets said that God would bring salvation

Spread His hope and love across the earth

The Word says it, so we believe it.

He is the Lord and Savior, He is the only one

Who takes away the sins of the world, yes, Jesus, He is God’s Son

There are many things we can discover

When we have the eyes and faith to see

There is no one else, no one but Jesus

Who could change the course of history

The Word says it, so we believe it.

He is the Lord and Savior, He is the only one

Who takes away the sins of the world, yes, Jesus, He is God’s Son

The Word says it, so we believe it.

He is the Lord and Savior, He is the only one

Who takes away the sins of the world, yes, Jesus, He is God’s Son

He is the Lord and Savior, He is the only one

Who takes away the sins of the world, yes, Jesus, He is God’s Son

He is God’s Son, He is God’s Son

More than Just a Good Man

He made the lame to walk, He made the blind to see

Did more than talk the talk, He did, He did

He feed a hungry crowd, He walked upon the see

He lived His message out, He did, He did

Hey, Hey, this Jesus

Hey, Hey, yeah He was

More, more, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

More, more, more than just a good man

More, more, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

More, more, more than just a good man

He told us who He was, He taught us how to live

He demonstrated love, He did, He did

With every miracle He lead us to believe

In the impossible, He did, He did

Hey, Hey, this Jesus

Hey, Hey, yeah He was

More, more, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

More, more, more than just a good man

More, more, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

More, more, more than just a good man

Hey, Hey, this Jesus

Hey, Hey, yeah He was

Hey, Hey, this Jesus

Hey, Hey, yeah He was

More, more, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

More, more, more than just a good man

More, more, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

More, more, more than just a good man

More, more, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

More, more, more than just a good man

More, more, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

More, more, more than just a good man

 

We Stand Forgiven

Did it really happen, tell me, can it be?

Did it really happen, did Jesus die for you and me?

So let us go, and let us see, the evidence at Calvary

This man, is the Son of God

His hands, nailed to the cross

His plan is for everyone to stand forgiven

He died, so that we can live

His life, is the love He gives

In Christ, who was crucified, we stand forgiven

Did it really happen, tell me, can it be?

Did it really happen, did He predict His destiny?

So let us go, and let us see, the evidence at Calvary

This man, is the Son of God

His hands, nailed to the cross

His plan is for everyone to stand forgiven

He died, so that we can live

His life, is the love He gives

In Christ, who was crucified, we stand forgiven

It is finished, once and for all

It is finished, on the cross

It is finished, once and for all

It is finished, on the cross

This man, is the Son of God

His hands, nailed to the cross

His plan is for everyone to stand forgiven

He died, so that we can live

His life, is the love He gives

In Christ, who was crucified, we stand forgiven

He died, so that we can live

His life, is the love He gives

In Christ, who was crucified, we stand forgiven

 

He is Alive

Why are you looking for the living among the dead?

He is not here, He has been resurrected

There’s only one way to see Him alive again

Here it is, Here it is

A – Admit to God that you’re a sinner and repent

B – Believe that Jesus is the Son of God

C – Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior

He is alive, He is alive

Come and see that He is risen, He is alive

He is alive, He is alive

All your sin have been forgiven, He is alive

Why are you looking for the living among the dead?

He is not here, He has been resurrected

There’s only one way to see Him alive again

Here it is, Here it is

A – Admit to God that you’re a sinner and repent

B – Believe that Jesus is the Son of God

C – Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior

He is alive, He is alive

Come and see that He is risen, He is alive

He is alive, He is alive

All your sin have been forgiven, He is alive

He is alive, He is alive

Come and see that He is risen, He is alive

He is alive, He is alive

All your sin have been forgiven, He is alive

A – Admit to God that you’re a sinner and repent

B – Believe that Jesus is the Son of God

C – Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior

He is alive, He is alive

Come and see that He is risen, He is alive

He is alive, He is alive

All your sin have been forgiven, He is alive

He is alive, He is alive

Come and see that He is risen, He is alive

He is alive, He is alive

All your sin have been forgiven, He is alive

All your sin have been forgiven, He is alive

All your sin have been forgiven, He is alive

He is King

We know what’s real

We’ve seen it with our own eyes

God proved His love

By laying down His own life

So let us go and defend our faith

In what we do and what we say

We will sing, we will shout, tell the news of His salvation

We rise, we will shine for the world to see

He is truth, He is life, He is Lord of all creation

We believe His God, He is King

Our time has come

We are the generation

To share Jesus

With every tribe and nation

So let us go and defend our faith

In what we do and what we He is King

say

We will sing, we will shout, tell the news of His salvation

We rise, we will shine for the world to see

He is truth, He is life, He is Lord of all creation

We believe His God, He is King

Let His light shine, let His light shine

Let His light shine in you and me

Let His light shine, let His light shine

Let His light shine in you and me

We will sing, we will shout, tell the news of His salvation

We rise, we will shine for the world to see

He is truth, He is life, He is Lord of all creation

We believe His God, He is King

He is truth, He is life, He is Lord of all creation

We believe His God, He is King

We believe His God, He is King

Yes to VBS

Everybody say yes (yes)

To VBS (S)

Gonna say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes to V, V, V, VBS

Gonna say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes to V, V, V, VBS

Gonna say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes to V, V, V, VBS

Gonna say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes to V, V, V, VBS

Yes to the blessing of studying God’s Word

Yes to the best thing, Jesus is Lord

Gonna say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes to V, V, V, VBS

Gonna say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes to V, V, V, VBS

Y-E-S to V-B-S

Y-E-S to V-B-S!

(Everybody say) yes, yes to VBS

(Everybody say) yes, yes to VBS

(Everybody say) yes, yes to VBS

(Everybody say) yes, yes to VBS

(How you gonna say yes to VBS?) By rocking in worship rally

(How you gonna say yes to VBS?) By learning my ABC’s

(How you gonna say yes to VBS?) By reading the Word of God

(How you gonna say yes to VBS?) By living my life like Jesus

Yes to the blessing of studying God’s Word

Yes to the best thing, Jesus is Lord

Gonna say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes to V, V, V, VBS

Gonna say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes to V, V, V, VBS

Gonna say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes to V, V, V, VBS

Gonna say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes to V, V, V, VBS

Round one of three for winter weather

Round one has moved through. Added moisture to the lower atmosphere, and prepared it for some decent snow tomorrow morning. Lots of school closings tomorrow also.

Winter Storm!

Winter storm inbound for Oklahoma. Loving it!

Kubuntu vs OpenSUSE

I've got Kubuntu 13.10 running on my main desktop, Notebook, and netbook. I'm a big fan of KDE, so I stick to the distros that feature KDE.

Now in the past I've read that OpenSUSE is supposed to be the best KDE distro out there. For a while I had 12.1 installed on my desktop, but ran into problems that I just didn't have time to solve.

Now OpenSUSE 13.1 is out, and from what I read in the reviews, it's supposed to be even better than 12.x! I'm seriously thinking about switching my netbook over to 13.1 and learn the distro from that computer.

The only thing that is slowing me down is that the netbook has no DVD drive, so I'll have to install via USB flashdrive. OpenSUSE has a great step by step instruction to set it up, so soon I'll do it.

Instead of trying to install the full 4.7 GB DVD, I've downloaded the live KDE CD, which should make installation easier. Plus since it's the netbook, I won't need all the bells and whistles of the full blown installation. 

Black Friday Blues

Once again Thanksgiving is over, and the American tradition of Black Friday shopping is in full swing. In years past the stores would remain closed on Thanksgiving day, and would open early Friday morning.

Over the last ten years or so, I've noticed a gradual encroachment upon the Thanksgiving holiday. Midnight openings gave way this year to 8pm openings. Wal-Mart, not to be outdone by other stores, opened at 6pm.

I believe that everybody should remain closed on Thanksgiving, and open the doors on Friday morning. However I've heard from the Black Friday crowd that if I believe that, then Facebook, NFL, and parades need to be shut down on Thanksgiving. Otherwise I'm being hypocritical.

I believe that one of the purposes of the Thanksgiving holiday is to share in a national event of giving thanks. Even though the number of people claiming Christ as their Savior continues to fall, everybody could come together with friends and family and celebrate.

There was something special when you drove to Grandma's house on Thanksgiving day to see little traffic out, and everything but 7-11 closed.

So another tradition of my childhood appears to be going by the wayside. I'm sure next year we'll see stores beat Wal-Mart's opening by a few hours, and perhaps in ten years nothing will be closed on Thursday. Maybe the holiday will be changed to "Black Thanksgiving".

As for me and my family, we've stayed home. I don't need to save 50% on junk that I really don't need. I'm already tired of the commercialism of the Christimas season.

We're celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday on Friday to ensure all of our immediate family can be here. While the mongrel hordes are out attacking the malls, I'm staying home.

It's a new year, and time for a new post!

Another eight or so months have gone by without a post. I just remembered I had this thing. I guess it's time to take out the part that I'm a "new" Oklahoman.

First post in six months. I really need to do something with this blog. If you are still following this after two years of non-activity, wow!

Today is Elyanne's Fifth Birthday, and my first post in over a year. Wow.

Today is supposed to be the hottest day of the year here in Oklahoma City. Next week in Minneapolis the highs are supposed to be in the 80's. That is going to feel so nice after all of this heat!

This is the last day of June, and Oklahoma is in the middle of a record amount of rainfall! As of today, Oklahoma City has received over 31 inches of rain for the year. Our average at this point is 18 inches of rain, and last year we only had 11 inches of rain.

Today is the 18th consecutive day of rain, with more in sight. I for one sure miss the sun!