I get distracted easily, so I wrote a little script to toggle the visibility of the desktop icons on Mac OSX.
Here it is:
#!/bin/bash
CURRENT=$(defaults read com.apple.finder CreateDesktop 2>/dev/null || echo 1)
defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop $((! $CURRENT))
killall Finder
Just run this script and if the icons are on your desktop, they will all disappear… if you have already hidden them, run this script to get them back.
I’ve been disappointed that the Mac OS doesn’t provide a watch command. It’s a very useful command, so its absence from the operating system has always baffled me. Well, after using simple bash before, I finally implemented a better replacement in python.
Here is version 0.1 Continue reading
Today, I learned that there is an app for breaking up. That’s right. There is an app to help you end a relationship. Click this link if you want to see it in action.
Some of you need to download the app today, and I’m not joking. Continue reading
This past Sunday, I closed out my message with a statement that I honestly felt was controversial but something that should be said nevertheless.
I said that tithing is not giving to God. Continue reading
The Mac Terminal.app is one of the best Terminals I have used, but it has some annoying quirks like not supporting standard key definitions out of the box. The most frustrating ones are Home and End.
In nearly every OS, Home has meant “go to the beginning of the line” and End has meant “go to the end of the line,” but on the Mac, the default has always been for Home to scroll a document up to the top and for End to scroll the document down to the bottom.
However, since most Terminal applications aim for the Unixy world, they don’t care about scrolling through documents as much as dealing with the line you are on.
Luckily, the Mac Terminal has the ability to let the intrepid user customize it’s keybindings. If you want to make your Terminal operate like a standard Unix-like terminal, follow these simple steps:
Some Linux/Unix Friendly Keycodes (submit your own in the comments):
\033OH\033OF\033[11~\033[12~\033[13~\033[14~The main problem with each solution below is that they only work part of the time. My solution above is compatible with the latest version of Mac OS X (Mountain Lion), and is also the default key binding for xterm, remote shells (ssh), vi(m), and also GNU screen. Each of the solutions below only work in a few of the cases for me.
I got a very interesting question on a Connect Card this past Sunday, and I’d like to interact with it here on my site. Here’s what it said:
With all of the prayers God hears every day – how does he hear yours? What makes me as important as everyone else in the world that I am heard?
In a recent conversation I had with a church planting friend of mine, the topic of the tithe came up, and I thought it might be interesting for me to put down in this forum what I am teaching my church regarding giving.
Having been heavily influenced by the likes of Andy Stanley, Randy Alcorn, and my own Dad, I have become convinced that teaching percentage-based giving is not only the number one kind of giving to encourage in our people, but I have also become convinced that the church organization should structure its budget based on the tithes of the people without regard to special offerings, designated funds, or anything above and beyond the tithe.
However, I know there are two major problems with my approach: Continue reading
Occasionally, I get really deep questions turned in on our Sunday Connect Cards, and this past Sunday, I received this one:
I noticed that two of the songs played in service this morning mentioned justice as something God has and uses to demonstrate his goodness. If one of the classic arguments against belief in a personal God is perceived injustice in the Bible – God plays favorites, the wholesale slaughter of thousands of men, women, children by the Hebrews, the concept of Hell, etc. – how should we answer that charge? On a less philosophical level, how should Christians demonstrate the ideal of God’s justice in our daily lives? How do we commit to something so ephemeral and confusing?
This is such a big question that I responded to the author by email but thought it might be worthwhile to post it here as well. What follows is my response. Continue reading
Recently, a note came to me from someone in our church with an interesting question. It said this:
Why is it that sometimes your prayers do not end with “Amen”? Is there a biblical reason why we do or do not say amen after prayers?
I responded personally, but I also felt my answer might benefit others, so here it is in blog form.
First, the word Amen is a Hebrew word that comes from the Hebrew root AMN which means faith/faithfulness. Strangely enough, this same root word shows up in a variety of other Hebrew words including words for the firm columns supporting a roof. Continue reading
This is part of a series of posts aimed at supporting and encouraging the volunteers of Lafayette Community Church.
Our past two Sunday gatherings have been truly refreshing to me. For one thing, Jake Steffes has been selecting our music, and he has done a great job of not only picking songs that resonate with the theme but also ordering them in a way that encourages us on Sundays to release ourselves into God’s presence. His work has taken a load off of my mind and has given our band more time to prepare! Continue reading
This is part of a series of posts aimed at supporting and encouraging the volunteers of Lafayette Community Church.
What an incredible Sunday we experienced last week! Not only did we get the weekend started right with our Volunteer Refresh event on Saturday evening, but the whole weekend we were blessed to have Brian Fraaza and his band with us.
It was also a great blessing to have Greg Shackleford, a great friend of mine and a founding member of this church, joining us this weekend as a part of Brian’s band. I also want to recognize Kelsey and Ben who drove down from Kalamazoo with Brian and Greg to bless us with their musical talents. Continue reading
This is part of a series of posts aimed at supporting and encouraging the volunteers of Lafayette Community Church.
http://grooveshark.com/playlist/2012+10+21+LCC+WORSHIP/78537924
What made the music for this past Sunday extra special and extra refreshing for me was that Jake Steffes took the lead on planning the setlist and coordinating the band practice. I still say it is a joy to work with Jake, and I know all the rest of the band appreciates him as much as I do. Thanks Jake!
This Sunday brought the second message in my series on conflict resolution called “f.i.g.h.t.” and there were aspects of it that were really personal for me. Continue reading
This is part of a series of posts aimed at supporting and encouraging the volunteers of Lafayette Community Church.
On Sunday, I started a brand new series of messages I’m calling “f.i.g.h.t” to cover the five skills you need to handle any kind of conflict that may come your way.
This is a really personal issue for me. I remember as a child seeing all the conflict that arose in my home church. There were debates over whether the leaders of the church should be called Deacons, Elders, or Overseers. There were debates on whether the missionaries should get more money or the school. There were debates over whether the pastor really deserved as much money as they gave him. Continue reading
During the Summer, I worked through the book of Romans in my Sunday messages at Lafayette Community Church. To hear the messages, visit the Great News II page.
One of the topics that Romans raises is the notion of election vs. free will. I took a rather strong position from Romans 9-11 that God chooses who will be saved. I taught that everyone has the freedom to choose God, but because of sin’s deceitfulness no one does unless God makes the first move to choose them and draw them to himself.
This has raised some very interesting questions in our church’s “CONNECT” cards over the past couple of months, and one that came in this past week really got me thinking. Tonight, I wrote a long response to the couple that asked the question, and I thought it would make sense to post the answer here as well. Continue reading
This is part of a series of posts aimed at supporting and encouraging the volunteers of Lafayette Community Church.
Before I report on this last Sunday, I need to apologize for not putting out a report for the previous week. I have no excuse other than I let myself get too busy with other things.
This past Sunday, we were blessed with Andrew Johnson’s return to the stage as our worship leader. Even though I enjoy leading worship music, I was grateful to have him on stage because this past Sunday was PACKED with some really great stuff. Continue reading