Saturday, April 08, 2006
Desktop is Alive but Dying
April 8, 2006
God used my friend to fix the hardware challenge. The On and Off switch had come loose. So now the desktop computer at home can get power. But it is acting slower and stranger than ever.
When I bought this machine more than two years I could open seven programs with several files in each one. It moved quickly from one to the other. I needed to restart every few days when it got slightly sluggish.
By contrast recently when I have only a few programs open and a few file each it can take ten to thirty seconds to move from one to another. I have used all kinds of special software to remove adware and spyware. I have a program to optimize the performance as I go. Yet sometimes I need to restart twice an hour.
I have backed up the data.
This means that the next step is to shop for the replacement. And in this case it will be a laptop. I need a tool that I will use this summer when I go to the areas that are impacted by hurricanes. I have begun to shop online at Dell www.dell.com WOW there are a zillion options.
Pray for God to clearly guide me by the Holy Spirit as to the hardware and software. During this season I do not have the funds in the bank. However while I am making presentations to major donors in the near future this is a obvious tool that the right person could be used by God to sponsor.
THANKS again for your prayers.
Let us agree that God will surely guide and provide.
John 9:37 PM
Friday, April 07, 2006
I Repent
April 7, 2006
I have frequently prayed for God to convict me by His Holy Spirit of my sins so that I might quickly confess my sins and repent of my sinful habits.
I ask you to join me in praying that for me and everyone in Christian ministry for greater personal holiness.
I am often reminded of when Joshua went to attack the city of Ai. The first time the army was defeated because there was sin in the camp. When Achan was found and the sin was cleansed then there was victory. I have been taught and believe that there is an application for Christians today. We need to remove the cancer of sin from our lives. Then as we are walking in purity before God He will bring victory.
The fruit of my repentance is to face my fears and do wht it takes to make many funds raising contacts every week. I have resisted this due to my deep seated fear of rejection.
The car is our of order so I need to start with the phone untiliit is fixed. That means making many phone calls and just asking for generous donations from those people I have already shared the vision of the ministry with in person or as a group. I know from many painful previous experiences that only a small percentage will give. That has stopped me from doing it before, oh well. Thankfully I have a phone, contacts and lots items online at www.fourbridges.org
The various fund raising seminars I have attended over the years have reported that studies show that for every one dollar raised by mail, five dollars are raised by phone and fifty dollars by meeting face to face. So it is most wise to meet face to face with qualified people. I have know that for years but avoided it. I repent. And when the car in fixed I need to be dong that often instead of rarely.
I have an appointment set with one of the pastors of my home church. I have told him about the ministry but shown him the diagrams. He can introduce me to potential advisors and donors.
Here is the game plan that I will be telling donors. Right now I need money to put out the financial fires like the car and tooth. I may need to replace the computer. Then I need to raise the eight thousand that will produce a prototype and lead to the forty thousand for the web platform.
I will complete my training with Red Cross and Billy graham Evangelism Association. I will go to the scene for a few hurricanes and learn how to best apply the many plans on the drawing table. The operations will be bumpy for a short while. We will be designing and developing systems to meet the needs of thousands of people that are suddenly in crisis. There are ways to convert lots of web traffic into incomes. By working with web designer plus Convio www.convio.com and Leverage Software http://www.leveragesoftware.com/ there will be enough income from donations and advertisement sales.
The three ways to focus prayers and actions are as follows.
1. Do what it takes to get into motion and stay in motion in terms of phone calls and meetings. That has been the challenge all along. Yet by His grace He will grant me the courage and strength to face these old fears.
2. Craft a sketch of the initial budget to serve as a guide for the donors and our use of their contributions.
3. Increase the number of items listed on the Wish List on the website. Then intercessors can pray over them and donors can designate their contributions.
I would appreciate your prayers during the coming days and weeks.
It is my hope and expectation that my repenting with these actions there will be both enough money to meet the immediate needs as well as lead to an income so that this kind of a crisis will not occur again.
John 4:56 PM
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