Whatever

I promised I’d do it, so here I go. Of course, everyone will probably disagree with this list. But for me, these programs have proven highly useful and reliable. They’ve been tested thoroughly, used daily, and have consistently performed as well as any commercial programs. Blah, blah, blah. Let’s get on with it.

1. E-sword
   If you like to study the Bible and don’t have a fat budget (or do have a fat budget), this program’s for you. E-sword absolutely blows me away with its plethora of features, options, and add-ons. Some things you won’t find even in commercial products such as extended search, Bible reading plan, daily devotions, Scripture memory tool . . .

   This program wins my #1 spot not only because of its quality and features, but because it’s a tool for spreading the good news of Jesus Christ to anyone . . . and it’s completely and 100% free.

2. Open Office
   Open Office comes complete with word processing, spreadsheet, drawing, database, presentation, and math (formula editing) software. It’s fully compatible with Microsoft Office, cross-platform (yes, Linux and Mac users - you may rejoice), has saved me hundreds of dollars and allowed me to avoid giving Microsoft any more of my money. And, of course, it’s 100% free. There are also add-ons available for this program. For all this, Open Office wins my #2 spot.
3. AVG Antivirus
   There are many free anti-virus programs out there, but none have performed for me as flawlessly as AVG Antivirus. I’ve tried them all. AVG takes up very little system resources (compared to its nasty competitors . . . um, I won’t mention any names, but the nastiest starts with an “N”), performs all essential functions automatically (amazing for a free program), integrates seamlessly with Thunderbird (my email program of choice), and has a high detection rate. Does its rate compare with its commercial competitors? Yes. It may fall behind by a percentage or two, but for free, who can complain? I’ve been virus-free for over three years. Thanks AVG. I give AVG my #3 spot.
4. Mozilla Firefox
   Firefox has allowed me to dump Internet Explorer, and, therefore, spyware. Since installing Firefox (years ago) I’ve had almost no spyware. Every scan results in zero results, minus a tracking cookie or two. Also, thousands of add-ons make your surfing experience yours. Check out my favorite extensions. When I’m on the computer, I’m usually on the Internet, and subsequently, I’m using Firefox. It’s fast, customizable, and has allowed me to personalize my browsing experience. It’s also available for Linux and Mac users. Mozilla Firefox takes my #4 spot.
5. Picasa
   For a long time, I had a hard time organizing my photos. Manipulating photos seemed arduous. Open this program, open the photo, manipulate it (after figuring out how), save it, decide whether to over-write it or have two copies of it, where to save it . . . Then when emailing photos, I had to find the photo, re-size it, save it (in some organized fashion), attach it, send it, decide whether to keep the resized photo . . . as you can see, dealing with digital photos left a bit to be desired. Now, I simply open Picasa and it organizes all my photos by date (automatically); I can edit and manipulate photos within the program (and it’s so easy my baby could do it), and all edits are un-doable. In other words, I don’t have to figure out where to save photos and the original is never touched. I can email photos with the click of a button. All my photo woes are gone. I give Picasa my #5 spot.

OK . . . somebody’s going to tell me I’m a liar, but I’m not - honest! I had startup issues with this computer for at least a year after buying it. Sometimes it would take over two minutes for this baby to start up. I tried everything. I tried decimating the startup menu, I tried shutting off irrelevant (so I thought) services, I tried messing with the BIOS, turning off the Windows splash screen - I tried everything. Nothing worked. I was about to scream. My buddy’s new computer started up quicker than anything (well, quicker than mine) and he didn’t do anything to it. I just didn’t understand it.

Then I discovered Bootvis. Some people say it doesn’t really do anything. Others wonder why Microsoft discontinued it long ago. Some say it can damage your system (so use at your own risk), but I say “thank you” to whoever came up with it. It truly solved my startup issues. Yes, I’m a bit obsessive. So what?

If you want to use Bootvis, make sure you’re running Windows XP first. Also, be sure your Task Scheduler service is set to automatic. Don’t ask why. It’s important though. Someone once told me to delete everything in the Windows Prefetch folder before running Bootvis, so go ahead and do it. It won’t hurt anything. Then, open Bootvis, click on “Trace,” then click “Next boot + driver delays” then wait. Bootvis will do its thing, reboot then system, then . . . then . . . then . . . well, expect a long pause (much longer than normal). It will say “Optimizing System” during this time. After it’s all done (just wait patiently) your system should (mine did) boot up much faster. If it doesn’t work, well, don’t blame me. If it blows up your system, again, don’t blame me.

But I’ve had great success with it.

Download Bootvis here.

When I first looked at this Psalm, I thought, “Save?” What does David mean? Save him from all the evil ones? Save Israel? Save the faithful? Then I kept reading. Later, the Psalm says that God will give refuge to the poor (verse 5), then David puts himself with them (verse 7). My thought is that David prayed for safety for himself, the poor, and all the righteous in Israel. David sounds depressed, but he handled it well - he prayed.

The way he described the environment reminds me of the world today.

¹ Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone;
for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
² Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

⁸ On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

David’s black mood fits mine this morning. Godliness seems invisible at my workplace. Who is faithful? Don’t you know that fundamentalism stops a thinking mind? People utter lies for their own gain; people flatter to get themselves ahead.

When we feel this way, God wants us to look to Him. While it may seem that darkness encloses us on every side, He protects those who seek Him. In the midst of the onslaught of evil we can rely upon God’s pure, holy words.

⁶ The words of the LORD are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.

And what does God say?

⁵“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
I will now arise,” says the LORD;
“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.
Nahum 1:7 (ESV)

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
John 10:11 (ESV)

Don’t let the darkness overwhelm you.

. . . no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD
and their vindication from me, declares the LORD.”
Isaiah 54:17 (ESV)

We’ve recently (like a few minutes ago) posted a new outline on truthsaves. It’s on the book of Job.

Check it out if you have a few minutes.

Have you ever wanted to connect to your computer remotely but been stymied? Have you ever wanted to be able to stop your mom from messing up her computer but been confused by how to access her computer remotely (or been too cheap to pay for a good solution)? Well, welcome to my world.

I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out VNC, but finally gave up. I hate complicated things. I tried other options, like GoToMyPC, but it’s not really free . . . just a trial. Finally I happened upon LogMeIn, and it worked like a charm, even for a computer dunce like myself. The computer running the remote operation doesn’t even need to install any software! How can you beat that?

All you have to do is sign up for a free account at logmein.com. Then, on your “target” computer, log into your account and click “add computer.” You’ll be prompted to install LogMeIn Free, and you do so! Then, next time you log into LogMeIn, as long as the target computer is up and running, you’ll be able to access it from any web browser. I just tried it tonight on a machine running Windows Vista. The install and remote session went smoothly. The only bumps I encountered were:

• the target computer must have a password protected Windows account,
• UAC (User Account Control) must be disabled.

When we took care of those little issues, LogMeIn Free worked like a charm. Give it a shot. It’s free. It’s easy. You won’t be disappointed.

Try LogMeIn.

I’d list a “best” free chat program, but I’m not sure which program really is the best. For a long time, I used Skype. It worked well, with great voice quality, even on a dial-up connection. Of course I moved on from living in the dark ages (have you?) and I got DSL. Skype continued to work well for me, whether calling land-lines or other Skype users. I called my wife (dirt cheap rates, too!) while she visited her sister in England for two weeks. Calls went through perfectly.

Of course, over time, I continued to move upward and onward with Skype, until (drumroll, please) I downloaded the latest version. All of a sudden, my video calls started dropping randomly. I uninstalled the program, cleaned every trace of it off my machine, downloaded it again and even signed up for a new account. Still, my video calls dropped - every single call - within about two minutes. Finally, after trying again and again and again, I gave up and tried Yahoo! Messenger. The video quality sucked (sorry to say), and the voice quality left a bit to be desired. Finally, I tried Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger, and even though I get loud “popping” every once in a while during video calls, the video quality is the best of the three programs and the voice quality beats out Yahoo! Messenger handily.

So, for now, I’m using Windows Live Messenger as my video and voice calling program. It works consistently, which is more than I can say for its competitors. Sorry, Microsoft haters.

Of course, I’m willing to give Skype a try again . . . but I think I’m going to wait for a few more upgrades.

Typically I promote open source software, and guess what? There are some open source alternatives out there. I’ve given one of them a try, and I promptly uninstalled it. I use these programs for smooth communication with friends and family and frankly, the open source chat program I tried didn’t cut the mustard.

Download Windows Live Messenger here.

Download Skype here (the best if it works for you).

Download Yahoo! Messenger here.

Paint.NET started as a collaboration between Microsoft and Washington State University. Designers intended it as a replacement for the woefully inadequate Paint program that comes with all Windows installations. If I were to place Paint.net on a line of free graphics editors (with #1 having the most features), I’d place it right after the GIMP, and right before PhotoFiltre. It supports layers, as does the GIMP, but lacks the plethora of advanced (but nearly impossible to figure out) features. However, most of these features will only be necessary for advanced graphics manipulations. It has more features than PhotoFiltre (like layers) and is simple to use (like PhotoFiltre). One of the drawbacks is that it only runs on Microsoft’s .NET Framework. So, you anti-Microsoft folks can spit upon this program (and this post as well).

Paint.NET is an excellent choice for those who want layers support and ease of use (and who are Windows users). The GIMP has more advanced features, but it’s hard (very hard) to figure out (for the average user like myself) and very non-intuitive (especially for Windows users).

So, if you’ve checked out some of my other free programs recommendations, you’ll see there’s simply no reason to pay for a graphics editor - unless you’re a professional who absolutely needs features still only found on Photoshop (and has many hundreds of dollars to spend).

Download Paint.NET here.

Once again we have received a new poem . . . and once again Tim submitted it! As the site administrator, I’ve decided to publish it. Since we only accept high quality written work, Tim should feel very honored that this poem has been accepted as worthy of publication on truthsaves. O.K., I’m just messing around, obviously. I welcome Tim’s submissions and I’d welcome yours as well! Have you ever written a poem you want to share? Do you have a testimony you’d like to share? Do you have an article or lesson plan you feel people would benefit from? Submit it to us! We want it . . . so we can share it with the world. The site got almost 10,000 unique visitors in January, so traffic continues to increase. If you submit something to us, people will definitely read it.

Anyway, I’ll quit rambling.

Read Tim’s new poem here. It’s called “A Lesson From A Tree.”

The content’s just rolling in now!

I’ve just posted another outline on truthsaves. This one gives a brief overview and outline of the Old Testament book of Esther.

I’ve also posted another poem from Tim. Again, his poetic abilities have floored me! The poem reminds me how easy it is to let sin creep into our lives and take up residence there. We have to make a conscious decision to eject it. Read this little vignette . . . the story of three words.

Read Tim’s poem, “I Have Sinned,” here.

Check out our outline of Esther here.

This little gem just might ease a few of your life’s minor frustrations.

Have you ever been sent a .pps file and wondered how to open it? Well, your search ends right here. A .pps file opens with Microsoft PowerPoint. Uh-oh. You don’t have PowerPoint, do you?

Well, never fear. This little freebie from Microsoft will do the job for you. Just download it, install it, and voila! When you have a .pps file that needs opening, just double click it and watch it.

You’re welcome.

Oh, you can download it here.

God tests us. He doesn’t let us float through life without adversity. It’s often a sign that we belong to Him. We see this concept here in Psalm 11, and throughout Scripture.

The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
Psalm 11:5 (ESV)

Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous– you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God!
Psalm 7:9 (ESV)

You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have tested me, and you will find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
Psalm 17:3 (ESV)

For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.
Psalm 66:10 (ESV)

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.”
Genesis 22:1 (ESV)

And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them . . .
Exodus 15:25 (ESV)

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
Exodus 16:4 (ESV)

And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.
Deuteronomy 8:2 (ESV)

. . . who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.
Deuteronomy 8:16

. . . you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 13:3 (ESV)

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts.
Proverbs 17:3 (ESV)

Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
Isaiah 48:10 (ESV)

And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, “They are my people”; and they will say, “The LORD is my God.”
Zechariah 13:9 (ESV)

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
I Peter 1:6-7 (ESV)

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:2 (ESV)

I haven’t covered all the places in Scripture where God says He tests those who love Him. Why did I give so many examples? Because I’m a bit tired of hearing the prosperity gospel; I’m tired of hearing pastors and preachers say that Christians don’t have to be sick, or poor, or depressed . . . that we can live this life victoriously! I agree that we can live victoriously, and that we have nothing to fear:

For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.
Psalm 11:7 (ESV)

Ultimately, if we trust God and take refuge in Him, we will see Him and defeat death. But we will face trials while on earth. There is a distinct possibility that we will be sick, or poor, or depressed, or even die. God’s not like a giant candy machine in the sky. He wants us to prove our love to Him. He wants to have a living, breathing, interactive relationship with us. So, if you’re trusting God with hopes of becoming rich or successful here on earth, don’t believe the lie. You might be successful by human standards, and you might not be. But one thing you can be sure of - if you love God, you will be tested.

We’ve recently (like a few minutes ago) added two new outlines to truthsaves. Each gives a brief overview of the book and a brief outline of the main points of the book. The outlines are on the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. We’ve (well, Tim has) finished Old Testament outlines up through Jeremiah. I simply have to get them formatted (which will take me a bit of time) for the site. So keep checking back in the next few days and you’ll see some new outlines.

See the outline of Ezra here.

See the outline of Nehemiah here.