John the Baptist Generation

John the Baptist's story is very well known. He is viewed as the man who prepared the way for Jesus' ministry. In modern terms it was John The Baptist's job to do advance public relations for Jesus. He got the word out and told his disciples of the man who was to come. It is now 2000 years later and I believe very strongly that God needs to prepare another John the Baptist. He needs a group of people who will prepare the way for Jesus' second coming just as John did the first time.

My generation is that group.

It is very clear that teens and 20 somethings are the most publicized group in the United States and the world. Most media is geared toward us, politics are finally recognizing us, the work force will soon be run by many of us and most importantly... the church has begun to move with us.

Over the past few years the church has not only recognized youth culture, but they have begun to embrace it and in some ways allowed it to affect and change their church's vision. Many modern churches are now offering contemporary services to attract young adults as well as multiple small groups and youth/college age services. The media content in church has become much more trendy graphically, the music is a few decibels louder, the dress code is more "hip" and the messages are less focused on the working class adults and are being tailored to cater more to the church as a whole... which is starting to gain more and more young people.

We understand that the world and the church have put the spotlight on us, but now we need to embrace that. Our age group is being looked at to see what the future holds for the world. As Christians we need to provide the world with a hope of a bright future. With economic downfalls, more wars, less national focus on morals and radical religions getting more radical it is obvious that our time left on Earth is real short. It is our job to show the world the truth at a time when the truth is so hard to find. Jesus' return is imminent and Christian young people need to prepare the world for it. We need to be the John The Baptist and prepare the way for Christ. I would wager to say that our generation will be the last one to have this opportunity. We should consider ourselves blessed if we get to have families and grow up, but we certainly aren't missing out on anything if Jesus gets here before that. For the saved... the future is much better than anything this temporary place has to offer. We now need to live our lives completely abandoned and make every day count. We don't have enough days left to waste a single one...

Check out my previous blog on the end-times mission without fear if you havent read that one yet...

ORU Week 1

I am a failure.

Between my internet not functioning, my busy-ness and my bit of laziness I have been unable to get a blog up since my actually moving in to ORU. It has been a blast! A bit overwhelming and very tiring, but it has been a total blast and I am so excited about my college life here. So since I have dropped the ball I will recap on my first week here in one long blog.

Friday 8/8/08: Move in day

After a night of anticipation and very little sleep I woke up @ the hotel and drove across the street onto campus. We pulled in through a tunnel of cheering upper-classmen welcoming us to the campus. Our cars were immediately rushed by R.A.s, Chaplains and other students who were helping with freshmen move in day. The rest of that day was spent unpacking and getting my student accounts set up. At night we all went out with our wings for ice cream.

Saturday 8/9/08: Harbor craziness

This day was solely devoted to getting us all acquainted with ORU and with each other. We did tours, devos, games etc. We also had our commissioning service. All of the new students received prayer from the RAs and chaplains while the ORU worship team rocked it on stage. It was awesome.

Sunday 8/10/08: Sabbath

The school made sure that sunday was a free day so we could all find a church and spend it relaxing. We visited Victory Christian Center, which is right across the street and is a great church. Afterward we ate lunch and just relaxed for the afternoon. That night is when I had to say goodbye to my parents because they had to leave early Monday morning. It was very sad, but we all got through it okay.

Monday 8/11/08: Registration

I had to start getting classes settled and set my room up on Monday. 

Tuesday 8/12/08: Worship Audition

I was very nervous, but the audition and placement test for the worship arts major was very easy and I had no problems at all. Once I got through the audition I got my schedule set up and picked up my books. My roommate moved in so it was nice to finally meet him.

Wednesday 8/13/08: Scheduling Craziness

I thought my schedule was done on Tuesday but it wasn't... at all. It took hours of meetings with teachers to get my schedule set up right but I got it all done. I also got to spend some time with Desi's parents before the headed off. Last night we all went to the movies and I really enjoyed a fun night out before the start of classes.

Today 8/14/08: Class begins

Today I had 4 classes. That's a lot for one day in college.... but I have that much everyday. The classes seemed manageable today, but i wont really know until next week. I just know that I am way exhausted and I have to get organized. I will definitely sleep good tonight. Tomorrow is another introductory day for classes and then we get a weekend for all of this to sink in. I hope to keep the blogs up through the craziness. Once life gets into a rhythm I'll return to writing about things more interesting than my life haha. 

But until then...

God Bless & Stay Electric!

900 Miles on the Okie Trail: Travel Day 2

We made it!

Today was our final 5 hours of travel to Tulsa. The driving was a little rougher than yesterday due to heavy rain and sheer boredom, but we got into town successfully and we can finally relax for a little while before the chaos of college move-in begins. 

On our previous trip to the school I put the wrong address into my gps and we ended up in the ghetto of Tulsa (yes they really have one and it is quite creepy). Due to having to redirect we then had to go through downtown to get to the campus. This time we had the right address in and we got to go around the city through a very nice residential area. We pulled up to the school and ran right up to the huge praying hands statue to take our first picture at the school. We decided to get some registration stuff done in the admissions office and I got to get my ORU lanyard at the bookstore. Woot! 

Now I'm sitting in the lobby of our hotel because you have to pay for in-room internet... 10 bucks a night to be exact... I know, ridiculous. I think we're gonna grab some grub that is not fast food for once and then just chill here for the night. Tomorrow is a way hectic day with moving in and all so I might write in tomorrow night, but I don't know when I'll end up getting time. Either way keep checking in and I'll be writing more soon.

Stay Electric!

Due to driving I wasn't able to take many pics today. I'll be taking more pictures of the school throughout the week and today's pics should be on Flickr later or tomorrow. 

900 Miles on the Okie Trail : Travel Day 1

 I am currently writing from a hotel room in the small town of Sullivan, Missouri. It is about an hour west of St. Louis. We have almost exactly 5 hours of drive time left until we get to Tulsa so I am very happy about that. 

My day started with a frantic hour of last minute packing for the trip. After having a breakdown with my sister as we said our goodbyes, I grabbed a drink at Sbux ( an iced caramel macchiato to be exact... just in case you were curious) and we hit the road. It was a pretty easy drive, but it got long. I've never driven further than 3 hours at a time and today was more than double that so it took a toll on me. Destiny kept me company for the majority of the day and we had the iPod so it was fairly smooth sailing. 

As far as the sights out west go there's not much. Just a lot of green flatness. We did get to see Indianapolis and the massive Colts arena which was awesome. We also saw a humongous cross, fighter jets doing flight formations over head and the famous St. louis arch. I've seen this all on previous trips, but it is still a cool experience. After fighting through St. Louis traffic we decided to find a hotel. We werent thinking about the fact that Six Flags St Louis was in its busy season and all rooms within 20 some exits were booked solid. That brings us to now. Were in a very nice Baymont inn and we are that much closer to our future.

I'll have another more detailed blog soon talking about the overall experience of packing up an moving out to school. I'll also be putting one up tomorrow night after we're settled in in Tulsa about tomorrow's trip.

Thanks for reading and next time you hear from me I'll be an Okie! (not really... I hate that word... I'm a Pittsburgher ... I just live  in Tulsa for a while)

A few pics of today

900 Miles on the Okie Trail : Final Prep Day

The packing is finally finished. After hours of hauling boxes to the van in the heat all of my stuff is finally out of the house. I was particularly impressed with the way that my father configured all of my junk into a mini-van jigsaw puzzle. I must admit trying to get all of my stuff together was rather stressful but now that we're done I am very relieved and I am nothing but excited to get goin

I know that I didn't get the pictures uploaded last night, but no fear... my pictures of my packing adventure are now on my new flickr page! Click the link to check em out and feel free to subscribe to my photocast in my favorite blogs list on this site. I'll be writing from the road tomorrow afternoon. Here we go!

ORU Packing Day Photocast

900 Miles on the Okie Trail : Prep day 1

Welcome to my series of blogs about my trek across the country to Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Last night/today was my first big prep day for the trip. I began the daunting task of packing my life into boxes this weekend and today I drove all over from 1:30 until 11:00 saying goodbye to friends and family members. Tomorrow will be my final day of prep for the trip. I'll be doing my final bit of packing and loading up the copper cruiser (my corolla) for my voyage. At the bottom of this post I've included some pics of the school just in case you haven't seen it. These were taken on our February visit. Tomorrow I'll post pics of my mess of stuff that needs packed and things of that nature. Make sure you check back in tomorrow evening and everyday this week. Every time we stop at a hotel/panera/sbux or other wi-fi hot spot I'll be doing little trip updates. Keep our families in your prayers and  I'll be talkin to ya soon!

*pics are gettin updated tomorrow am*

FYI: Most of the good pics were taken by Desi

My Top Ten Favorite Podcasts

The radio as we know it is dying. With so many people having thousands of songs in their pocket at any given time or subscribing to satellite services such as sirius or XM radio the am/fm radio is quickly fading out.

One modern form of broadcasting that is quickly taking over is the downloadable podcast. iTunes alone has tens of thousands of podcasts in any genre/category imaginable. Podcasts can be created by anyone and can contain any video or audio content that you can think to put into it. I have been listening to and watching podcasts ever since I first got an iPod, but I never really dove into the podcasting world until this year. After weeding out the bad stuff and picking out the gems I decided to share some of my top podcast picks with you. Enjoy!

*These are in no specific order*

1. The RELEVANT Podcast 

-The audio companion to Relevant Magazine and relevantmagazine.com

This podcast first caught my eye this winter when I was searching through the top Christian podcasts on iTunes. If you haven't seen the magazine or website Relevant is a resource focused on Christian 20-somethings. The site/magazine, and podcast hold a collection of reviews, news, blogs and thought provoking articles geared toward the emergent church. While some of their doctrine is anything but traditional their overall mission is sound. Their goal is to take the church to pop culture like never before. They have found that college age Christians arent looking to Christian tv and bookstores for their culture and they have bridged that gap.

Their podcast contains new music, exclusive interviews (i.e. Barack Obama, John McCain, Dan Merchant, Mark Steele), "Slices"(humorous and interesting news reports found by the gang), listener feedback and consistent hilarity throughout. The podcast is always a good time and is nice background for an hour of your life each week

2. Jentezen Franklin Ministries Podcast

-Sermons from minister, Jentzen Franklin

I always love listening to good preaching and Jentzen Franklin never disappoints. After years of ministry he has compiled countless powerful messages that are now readily downloadable. The podcast is very simple. It usually contains a sermon clip that is about 25 minutes long in most cases. That is shorter than some others, but it is power-packed and it always gets the job done. If you want a quick message to challenge you, get you thinking and get you psyched up for the week the Jentzen Franklin Ministries Podcast is an unbeatable choice.

3. The Passion Podcast

-Music & ministry commentary from Passion leader, Louie Giglio

If you have been involved with worship or youth ministry at all in the last 8 years or so you've most likely heard of Passion. Their CDs have held multiple instant classics for worship such as How Great Is Our God, O Praise Him, Blessed Be Your Name etc. The podcast is the work of Passion pastor Louie Giglio. His podcast isn't preaching, but more of a news podcast. He interviews Passion artists (I.E. Chris Tomlin), discusses their current tours/ministry happenings worldwide, highlights new cd releases and announces various ministry news. This podcast is usually between 30-60 minutes in length and updating is very random. It is a great podcast because of the news and interviews, but it doesn't hold anything horribly groundbreaking. Hopefully they will develop a more consistent schedule or even a video podcast of the worship events.

4. SWITCHFOOT Video Podcast

-Your behind the scenes pass to the crazy life of Switchfoot

The Switchfoot podcast has been one of my favorites since the summer of 2006. It is updated every few weeks or so and it never exceeds 5 or 6 minutes, but it is always fun to watch. Not only is it awesome to see the band performing around the world, hear rare songs and watch recording sessions and video shoots, but their off-stage antics are what really makes the podcast great. I remember spending an entire night watching through about 30 of the podcasts right in a row with one of my best friends. We just couldn't get enough of it and never stopped laughing. If that isn't an indication of the podcast's awesomeness i don't know what is... so go watch it... now! No wait... read the rest of this blog and then go watch it!

5. Worship House Media

-Church media releases, news and exclusives

I'm watching this one at this very moment. It probably won't be interesting to the average viewer, but being involved in worship arts and church media I love it. Worship House Media is a website that holds a vast quantity of church media resources including short films, motion backgrounds, countdown videos and graphics for worship services. The format of the podcast is two of the Worship House guys sitting on a couch in front of a giant green screen that shows the video content that they are discussing on the show. Obviously the graphics and video presentation of the podcast is very slick looking and is what gives this podcast the cutting edge. This podcast always comes in at under 20 minutes and I highly recommend it if you are involved at all with church media and wanna see what's new and available to enhance your church service. *As an added bonus they always promote deals and sales on the show*

6. The Bored-Again Christian

-Your source for the best music that you've never heard of

I found this podcast through meeting the creator in a Christian music discussion on Roov.com (i'll tell you about that in a later blog). This podcast is nothing but music. There is a brief intro from the host and then an hour of continuous Christian music. That is great, but the thing that sets this show apart from normal Christian radio is the actual music content. In the last episode there was not a single song that i'd heard previously and it was all great music. Pete goes to great lengths to find indie and un-signed bands. This podcast comes out once a month and is definitely worth a listen if you're looking for some new music to add to your collection.

7. Relient K Official Podcast

-Relient K with a camera... nuff said

After an over 18 month long podcasting hiatus Relient K has finally returned to the web with their new "Official" video podcast. The format is almost exactly the same as Switchfoot's and has the same general effect. Their old audio podcasts had interviews and things of that nature but the move to video brought about all of the hilarious antics and fun to watch characters that make up the band known as Relient K. Their last episode about bats was pretty funny and I hope to see this podcast continuing on for a while.

8. Steelehouse Podcast

A variety of news, reviews, and discussions with Steelhouse Media Creators Mark Steele and Jeff Huston

Steelhouse media is the producer of some of the best media available for church and event use. This however has almost nothing to do with the podcast. The podcast is very very similar to The Relevant podcast with the only major difference being length. The average Steelehouse podcast clocks in at nearly an hour and a half which makes it by far the longest podcast on this list. This can make it hard to fit in in one car ride, but the extra length is achieved by in-depth content. The hosts go into deep discussions about faith, church structures, books, movies, music, technology and did I mention the office? Their show is very well rounded and always interesting. It is not as edgy as Relevant, but still has an appeal with the emergent generation. I should add this podcast takes full advantage of the iTunes interface by using different pictures throughout the show and links hidden in the now playing window. This obviously doesn't do you any good if you listen on the road, but it makes the experience more enjoyable at home or in the office.

9. Tooth & Nail Podcast

-Monthly music updates from Christian rock record label, Tooth & Nail Records

Tooth & Nail records has arguably become the most popular and most succesfull Christian record label ever. Their artists are in rock genres that vary from Hawk Nelson & Capital Light's melodic punk to the hardcore sounds of Underoath & Demon Hunter. Their podcast is all about the music. The half hour show is packed full of interviews, news, and song clips from the best tooth & nail artists. The only downfall to this show is that it is a monthly so don't expect to be super up to date as far as the music news goes, but when it does come out there is always something new and exciting to hear. This podcast also takes advantage of the picture links so be sure to watch for links to your favorite artists and new music sites as well as album releases and pre-orders.

10. XXXchurch.com

-The podcast produced by the self-proclaimed #1 Christian porn site

Before you get freaked out XXXchurch is not at all what it sounds like. It is a ministry focused on people breaking their porn addictions and reaching the people that work in the adult film industry. Over the past few years their ministry has grown substantially and they are reaching countless numbers of people all around the world. Their next endeavor is going to be an actual XXXChurch on the Las Vegas Strip. As far as the podcast goes it has a lot of variety. The shows range from video clips of their ministry trips, various short film clips/commercials and their actual panel podcast show. The show is called Dirty Little Secrets and it has a lot of the same format as Relevant/Steelehouse. They discuss pop culture as well as their own ministry. They have interviews with authors/artists etc just like the other podcasts. Their podcast is the longest running out of all of these. Last weeks podcast was #97 and it has been running for nearly 3 years now. They will soon move over to a fully video show and they have a lot planned for their 100th episode. Their content is very groundbreaking, sometimes humorous and always unique and thought provoking.

Well that wraps up my top ten podcasts. You can listen to them all for free by clicking the links and downloading them on iTunes. If you don't have iTunes for some reason you can get all of these and other podcasts just by looking them up on the web. Feel free to leave comments on this blog with links to your own favorites. Happy listening!

Look out for The Electrified Life Podcast which is set to launch this fall!

My Warped Experience

After 7 years or so of listening to Punk, Alternative, Pop-punk, "emo", screamo, etc. , wearing skate shoes and lots of black t-shirts, and watching the x-games (cuz I can't skate) I finally made my first pilgrimage to the punk-fest that is the Vans Warped Tour. 

*Disclaimer* This is no way a professional review of the show. This blog is me simply sharing my experience yesterday and my opinion on some of the bands and the festivities. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog...

My Warped experience began as soon as I pulled into the massive parking lot at the Post-Gazette Pavilion. All of the cars were in two lines slowly making their way down the driveway(if that's what you call it?) toward the main lot. I had my windows down so that I could talk to the parking attendants and the car next to me offered me a smoke (i'm not sure of what tho). Of course I declined and just put the window up when he started asking me why and stuff (I totally missed a ministry opportunity there, but of course I didn't know what to say). The funny part of that wasn't that he did that, but that he was really just trying to be nice. That's just not my crowd I guess.

After finally getting into the parking lot we watched a kid climb out of the trunk of the car next to us (who needs mini-vans when compact cars have such spacious trunks?). We then made our way to the first of many long lines that we would stand in throughout the day. We stood in the sun and listened to a guy running up and down the line promoting a band. That's cool and all, but I can't even type some of the stuff that guy was saying in order to be humorous. Why do kids find that vulgar stuff funny anyway?

After getting into the amphitheater and making our first trek over the steep hill and down through the bazaar of band-merch we had finally made it to the main stage (Which was no where near the actual main stage. There was no one big at all playing on the amphitheater's stage. I still can't figure that one out.).

One of the first performances of the day was the alternative-rock act Anberlin. They were a great way to start the day. While their show wasn't too high-energy, the music was great and they put on a decent show. One of the best parts of the show was listening to lead singer, Stephen Christian. I love when a band's singer has a voice that really sticks out, especially when it is the same live as on their recordings. Christian has one of those voices so it was really cool to hear that unmistakable sound at a live show. I can't say that it was one of my favorite shows I've ever seen, but it was still enjoyable and I can now take Anberlin off of my list. 

After Anberlin's set we wasted an hour at the merch tables waiting for Family Force 5 to start. They were the single biggest reason for me attending the warped tour yesterday. I have been addicted to their music since winter and I could not wait to see how their crunk-rock craziness translated into a live show.

We went over to their stage a little early so we could be close and we got to see the stage being set. Their logos all over the amps made it cool enough, but I got way excited when I watched Nadaddy bring out the Family Force 5000. I'd explain what that is to you, but words wouldn't be enough so enjoy this video clip:

Pretty awesome eh? Being a music-tech geek I sat there figuring it out the entire time they were setting it up. I love that stuff.

After getting all set the band came out and kicked into "Drama Queen". This set the tone for the rest of their set. The best way to describe their show is just fun. The lead singer (Soul Glow Activatur) was just having fun the whole time and seemed to be a really cool guy. They were all real laid back for as insane as they can get while they're rockin. All of their music is fun on CD, but it goes from a fun CD to jam to to a full fledged party when they do it live. There was never a low-point in the show. It was 30 minutes of crunk-rock fun. 

The only thing I didn't really like about the show was their support of Sen. Obama by changing the lyrics of their single Kountry Gentleman from "My momma raised me in the dirty south" to "Obama raised me in the dirty south". I was disappointed just because I'm so against Obama's run for presidency. I certainly wasn't holding that against FF5 though and I enjoyed the rest of their show. I am really looking forward to seeing them do a longer set at the Winter Wonder Jam tour @ ORU.

After FF5 we got in line for Relient K's signing @ the "Kia Lounge" tent. After briefly meeting my favorite band of the last 6 years we grabbed some food and wasted more money at the merch tents. 

The next band we watched was Relient K. Yet again, we pushed to the front and got to see them up close. This was my third time seeing them live, but i had never got to be that close before so that added to the experience.

Due to the shortness of the set they didn't get to do many classics (Sadie Hawkins, etc.). They just started with "Be My Escape" and played their singles off of the last couple of albums. Their live shows are known for covers and other randomness and even at the warped tour they didn't disappoint. They kicked off one of their newest singles "The Best Thing" by playing a brief cover of Kanye West's "The Good Life". It was random, but fun to listen to. One the highlights of their show for me was their ode to The Office (my favorite show). Here's a clip of them doing it on another tour:

As you just heard their ode segued right into the theme song from The Office. I thought the ode was hilarious and I loved listening to them play the theme. I had heard them do this bit last winter when they were on the Appetite for Construction tour with Switchfoot, but I couldn't quite make out the ode's lyrics from where I was sitting.  

They continued to play some great songs off of their latest full-length CD as well as one song off of their EP that came out this month. They concluded with their boldly christian anthem "I Need You" and singer Matt Thiessen Stood on the rail in the crowd and sang out the last song with the crowd's help. Their show was great and they proved once again why they have always been one of my favorite bands and will continue to be for years to come.

We had all been getting really beat down from standing around in the sun all day and I didn't want the girls to get sick so we decided that we'd leave early after catching a little bit of Angels & Airwaves' set. We moved toward the back of the massive crowd and listened to their first song and decided to leave when lead singer Tom DeLonge introduced them as "Angels & F****ing Airwaves". I wasn't shocked, but I just would rather not listen to that on pupose. Their first album was parental advisory, but their recent "I-empire" album had considerably less profanity than usual and contained a few tracks that were blatantly pointing to God. I thought that was awesome and was hoping that their live show would contain that same spirit, but I wasn't too surprised by DeLonge's  language. He is a former member of Blink-182 after all. I understand that it's the Warped Tour and all, but is that really necessary? DeLonge is quoted as saying that they will be the biggest band in the world someday. I would argue that cutting the profanity out of their show would help them achieve their goal and make them appealing to a much wider audience. Who knows, maybe their maturing sound and content will continue over the coming years. They might be a whole different band when they're on their own headlining tour and maybe they will be the biggest band in the world.

After stopping by the Relient K booth one more time for a shirt we found the car and headed home. I am glad that I finally went to the Warped Tour, but I don't know that I'll go back. I vastly prefer arena tours to outdoor concerts. The lights and stuff just make it feel more like a show. As far as the bands go I'll be seeing the ones that I liked again at other locations and I think it'll be a more enjoyable experience. All of the vendors and stuff is cool, but when you aren't into that many of the bands it isn't that big of a deal. If it was a Christian festival where I knew I'd like all of the bands I know that I would enjoy it all much more. I'm glad I went once and I can't say that I hated it, but in the end it just wasn't for me. I know that I am in the small minority, but I normally avoid profane language in music and all secular music for the most part. I can respect the artists musically and 6 years ago when I listened to everything regardless of language I would have loved everything there. I just live by a different standard now and I know how to enjoy music with some redemptive value to it. There are plenty of awesome bands out there that are completely devoid of four letter words. Hopefully bands like Relient K and FF5 keep rising up in the mainstream and creating a new standard for everyone at Warped Tour and all of the music industry. The whole scene is changing and I can't wait to see where the music industry goes over the next few years.

I'm lazy... and warped

So I have actually typed out the beginnings of 3 different blogs, but after roughly 30 minutes of typing on each I stopped for whatever reason. They are all nearing completion and once I think it out and research some stuff for them they'll be done and posted for your reading enjoyment.

Tomorrow I will be attending the Vans Warped Tour. I will be sure to post a review. 

I will also be doing a series of blogs that I'm calling 900 miles. So stay tuned for that next week.

Tech Geek Guide to College

All of my friends, acquaintences and most people that I meet find out relatively quickly that I am a tech-geek. I always have been, but since meeting my macbook pro (November,2006) I have become much geekier... in a good way (if that's possible?). I just like technology and i value its importance in creating media and living everyday life... especially in college. With all of that said... here is  my little guide to having a techno-savy college life.

Part 1: The Necessities

1. Laptop (preferably a mac).

It is nearly impossible to function in college without a laptop handy at all times. E-mail is the number one form of communication on college campuses. The internet is the place for checking grades, submitting homework/projects, contacting teachers, communicating with friends and classmates, doing research and of course... for watching youtube videos and using Facebook.

Aside from the internet having a laptop handy is very useful for note-taking. It can keep all of your notes very well organized. (The newest versions of Microsoft Word have a built in notebook layout. If you have a mac there is a very useful app called notebook available online @ circusponies.com for about 35$).

2. Printer

Once your projects are done they need printed out. Most campuses have computer labs where you can print (sometimes not for free) , but if you are a procrastinator  you most likely wont have the extra 10 minutes to run to the lab and print it out before class.

3. Digital Camera

College only happens once, and after four years are up you wont be attending many more wing nights or foam dance parties... so these memories need captured. Not to mention the fact that your Facebook will be very boring if you don't upload thousands of pictures a day and tag all of your friends. 

4. Flash drive

Floppy disks are long gone and constantly burning/carrying around CDs is annoying. The easiest way to transfer media to friends' computers, take projects to class, or store a few important documents is a flash drive. They have gotten relatively inexpensive and are highly useful for storing and transferring anything from pictures to powerpoint presentations (nice alliteration eh?).

5. TV

Video games, DVDs, Sports and The Office...nuff said

6. Coaxial cable 

This is very easily overlooked when packing up for school, but without it you cant watch TV. Dorm rooms dont normally come with anything more than a jack to plug your TV in to. This cable is inexpensive and easy to find, but it can be annoying if you forget about it until move-in day. (But you'll be running out to walmart that night anyway so i guess it doesnt really matter)

7. USB Cables

Yet again, cheap, easy to find and annoying if you forget them. Everything you want to plug into your computer needs a USB cable... and for some reason almost nothing comes with one. Pick a few extra up if you can swing it. They get used often.

8. External Hard Drive

Viruses and computer crashes happen (unless you have a mac ;-]) and with so much valuable media being stored on computers these days losing your hard drive can be devastating. The easiest prevention is to get an external hard drive and be sure to regularly back up all of your information. The hard drives can be expensive, but they are invaluable as far as security goes. If something goes wrong with your computer all you have to do is dump it and restore it from one of your previous backups. All of your information will be put back in place and you will have lost nothing more than time

9. iPod (or other mp3 player)

With all music being stored on computers the need for cd players as a portable media device has gone way down. CDs have been replaced by mp3s and the radio has been replaced by podcasts. It is no secret that vast quantities of music files are "shared" at college and you need a way to listen to all of the music that you acquire throughout your 4 years. The easiest way to listen to music is by uploading it to an iPod or other digital media player. These devices have gone from being thought of as a luxury(which the still are if you think about it) to a near necessity especially among young people and college students. 

Part 2: Keeping your tech-stuff safe

1. Passwords

You need a password for everything you access online. Making them something hard to guess at, but easy for you to remember is crucial to keeping your digital media safe. It is also important to use different passwords for each site just in case one is cracked. And don't just write the passwords down and leave it in your dorm. Regardless of how much you trust your roomie anyone can walk in your room and mess with all of your stuff online.

2. Virus Protection

College students send each-other everything from projects and papers to mp3s and funny videos and e-mails. This makes it very easy to pass along viruses and wipe out everyone's computers at once. That makes having anti-virus software essential at college. The software isn't too expensive and most schools have something specific that they will install on your computer at the IT office. Check in to that before buying anything.

3. Backup

I discussed this before when talking about buying an external hard drive... do it... you'll thank me later.

Part 3: Living a happy and healthy college life on the web

1. Facebook, Myspace and other social networking sites

These websites have become very effective forms of communication and have completely revolutionized the way that people communicate. These have also become very useful tools for employers and colleges to keep tabs on potential workers and students. So be smart with your online profiles. As cool as it may be to put funny quotes and pictures on your main page it may not make you very appealing. The best bet is to keep your profiles limited to be viewed only by your friends, and make your main page as if it was part of a resume'. First impessions made online are just as important those made in person.

2. E-mail

Yet again, something i have already discussed. Just be sure to keep your accounts looked and clear out your inboxes often. An e-mail doesn't take up much drive space individually, but with as many as you receive each day your inbox can soon become a space-hog on your computer and your online storage might fill up and lead to the loss of important messages. Keep what you need and delete the rest or just archive it onto your hard drive somewhere else.

3. Blackboard (or whatever your school uses)

Online grading tools are marvelous forms of communication if you use them right. Be sure to check these often and check with each teachers page  regularly. I had a few classes where Blackboard was the only way to get assignments and grades, so if you forgot to check it you wouldn't get the assignment in and fail... and college is hard enough as it is. You don't need to fail just because you didn't check up online.

4. Online Banking

This resource has developed a lot in the last couple of years. It is a very easy way to keep track of  bank accounts and is a great way for your parents to keep track and help you out when you need it. 

Part 4: Getting the Most Out of Your Digital Media

1. Keep it organized

Having thousands of songs and pictures is great, but you won't use them to their full potential if you fail to keep them organized. Most people tend to just upload pictures onto their computer and leave them in a my pictures folder. This is easy, but there is no way to quickly find what you're look for. If you are a Mac OSX or Windows Vista user your system comes with some sort of media viewer. Take advantage of this by keeping all of your pictures and uploaded videos organized by date, keyword, event etc. As far as music goes music management software is a must. The best application available currently is iTunes and anyone with an iPod will already have that installed. Keep your music organized on itunes by ensuring that all songs have proper artist/album names and they are all stored in an organized fashion on your hard drive. I have my iTunes library set to automatically copy all songs into itunes library folders. If i downloaded the songs i can delete the originals and my music stays nice and organized in the iTunes folders.

2. Avoid P2P

I know that without Limewire and software like it most students would not have half of the music that they are currently listening to. Besides the obvious downside that this form of file sharing is illegal when it comes to music/movies, it is also hazardous to your machine's health. These "free" programs contain adware and are constantly invading your system. P2p sharing is responsible for the trafficking of a good majority of the current viruses affecting student's computers (p2p software can even slow down a mac if you aren't careful). With media stores providing music for as little as .99 cents per song  and $10.00 for full albums sharing has become almost unnecessary. There also services available such as Rhapsody that allow the user to listen to anything and just pay a monthly fee.

3. Keep your computer on a diet

  Pictures, music and movies especially will take up your computer's space very quickly so you'll need to manage what you put on your hard-drive to avoid slow-downs and crashes. The best way to save space without losing your media is to store it on an easily accessible external hard-drive(not the same one you use for backups though). I currently have an 160gb portable hard-drive where i store all of the movies that I copied from home. I just plug it in and play them through iTunes. This takes up none of my computer's memory and is easily accessible wherever I take my laptop. If a hard-drive is too costly another option is to use disks or just get rid of the stuff that you never watch or listen to. If you run out of space and don't want to use CDs or buy a hard-drive another option is to compress large files into zip folders. This is easily done, but takes some time and is not useful for media that you want to access often. This option is best for storing all of those pictures you never look at but cannot stand to part with. 

Well that's all for now. I know that much of this has probably insulted your intelligence(if you even read this far), but I hope that you learned something. I'm sure I will post more tech-geek articles in the future and will happy to discuss any questions you have. I will also be posting some how-to's (maybe even videos) involving some of the techniques that I discussed in this article. 

God bless and enjoy your digital college life!

-Brandon

Welcome

After toying around with multiple blog names and blog types i finally decided on this one. At first I was going to have two separate blogs for spiritual stuff and everyday life stuff/reviews. Then I figured that it is all part of my life in some way and that those two things never need to be separated. So from now on I will have blog site simply titled an electrified life. This title is a simple reflection of how I live my life in Christ as well as my every day existence. Just as before, this blog will contain my ramblings both theological and personal, movie/music/whatever reviews and any thing else i feel like posting. I hope that you enjoy... and possibly learn something. Just try not to get shocked... on second thought... high voltage might do your life some good.

An End-Times Mission Without Fear

We are living in the end times...

If you've attended any church or youth group in the last 7 years you've undoubtedly heard that from some pastor at some point. Most everyone has been focused on the "end times" in the wake of 9/11, Katrina, the war on terror and all of the other seemingly apocalyptic events taking place throughout the world. My question however is not one of whether or not the end times are being addressed because I know it is practically common knowledge at this point. My question i why is so much fear being instilled in christians when or entire focus should be one of excitement and a mission.

From a little boy I was always scared when I heard of the tribulation and Christ's return. I was always scared to death of being left behind. So of course I was never quick to tell others about Christ's return because I wouldn't want them sharing in my fear.

I am afraid that the church as a whole has placed that fear in us. I think the end times is far too broad a subject to be squished into one sermon and I think that is where the fear comes from. The church has done a great job at letting us know of Christ's return, and it has done a great job of leading people to salvation through end times prophecy, but that's where it ends. People all around the world are being given salvation without a mission which is almost useless. We are not called to merely get saved... We are called to serve and get others saved as well. The word says that salvation without works is nothing and a salvation gained through fear does not lead to works.

That is the part of the end times story that we have missed out on. The truth of Christ's return and the possibility of being left behind for the great tribulation is a very important topic and needs to be addressed first, but i feel that it is imperative to not stop there. We christians are now embarking on the greatest soul harvest in history and we need to lay hold of that. We need to be sure in our salvation. (There is no fear when you know that you know that your home will one day be heaven.) Once we are sure in ourselves we need to accept our own mission to lead people to Christ and a real life. People need something real right now, and they will need it even more as things get worse. 

I have started reading the left behind series and I have found that I am not filled with fear as a would've been in my Christian adolescence, but I am filled with a new purpose and mission. While the books are fiction they are completely founded in bible prophecy and I know without a doubt that those horrific events will take place in the very near future. I don't want to scare people into salvation just so they avoid that, but I want them to have a purpose. My end times mission is not focused on the end times at all. The truth of Christ's soon-coming return is not my sole message, but a catalyst that keeps me focused on my true mission in life.

In 2 short months I will be going to ORU where i will be trained and developed for 4 years. After that I will be embarking on my own mission to get this nation and world saved through Worship and the arts. My goal is not to become famous for the popularity and money, but to become known throughout the world so the He will be seen through me. God spoke to me very clearly in a packed arena once and showed me that while the audience was listening to music with a message they were still there to see the band. He said that I will be on stages just like that, but they wont be there to see me... but to see Him. That is a high calling and something that I will embrace.

My final word on this subject is simply to not allow fear to drive your christian life or your ministry. Show people the full life and mission that they can have in these last days... give them something to live for. 

"Lord though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death 
I’m not scared cause You’re holding my breath
I only fear that I don’t have enough time left 
To tell the world that there’s no time left" -Group 1 Crew

New Years' Revolution *old*

Every year people all around the world use the new year to make false goals for themselves. Most of which last a week, maybe two, but rarely do these seasonal ambitions carry any weight. I personally think New Year's resolutions were invented as a way to pig out on Christmas & get trashed on New Year's Eve knowing that you can fix it "next year". This attitude can be seen all throughout modern Christians. Some people use Lent, confessionals, prayer services, conventions, or bible camps as an excuse to live poorly beforehand. We think that if we can just get forgiven and get back on track later we can just pig out on sin until then.

Many times, just like New Year's resolutions these ideas of forgiveness never happen. We get into a rut and think that we could stop it all in a seccond so why stop now? We enjoy our sin and we continually feast on it with a hope of later returning to God. The only problem is that he is'nt always where you left him. It is much more work to get back on track than it is to just stay on. Every Christian knows that the road isn't always easy, but its much easier than driving through the dirt.

This year forget about your goals to lose a few pounds (Trust me the calories burn right off when youre dead...have you ever seen a fat skeleton?) and focus on a New Year's Revolution. Use this time of new beginnings to completely turn yourself around. Do not merely make minor changes that can be easily forgotten. Allow God to take you over completely inside and out. The bible does not call for us to be a little bit better. The bible says to "Repent" and that means to completely turn from sin. So turn yourself inisde-out upside down and backwards so that God can give you the best year of your life.