The PreacherNorm Blog

How Dropbox Saved My Bacon, Step-by-Step

2009-05-09T22:40:00.000-05:00

I've written before about the very helpful web app, Dropbox. Today this great software really saved my bacon. Here's what happened.

When I write my weekly bulletin I start with the previous week's, plug in the new article, change the date and volume number, update the announcements and "save as" the new bulletin. Usually, the first thing I do is the "save as" in a new folder and new file name so that I don't save over the older bulletin. Today I forgot the "save as" part of the process and as I worked on the new bulletin I was saving it over the older one. I didn't even realize I had done it until I started to post it online.

"Oh, no," I thought, "I've erased last week's bulletin!" Then I remembered that I save my bulletin in Dropbox. "What a relief!" All I had to do was open up the web interface of my Dropbox and click "restore." Vwala, last week's bulletin back safe and sound in its folder.

Here's how I recovered my file:

Can you believe that something so cool is free!

Bible Quiz eBook

2009-05-04T18:44:00.000-05:00

This is an eBook from a series of articles I published in The Bawcomville Banner.

Hope its helpful. Let me know what you think.

How To Use RSS Feeds For Productive Reading

2009-05-04T17:03:00.000-05:00

RSS stands for “really simple syndication.” It is the technology used to syndicate online content to a list of subscribers. Once subscribed, the readers receive automatic updates of content posted to that web site.

Depending on how the content provider has the feed set up, the subscriber will get a summary of the newly posted content or the entire article in their RSS reader. This automatic notification makes RSS a great way to rapidly review content of interest.

For people who have to read a lot of material from various sources, like preachers, RSS subscriptions can be extremely helpful and time saving.

RSS Readers

The first thing a person needs to know about RSS Feeds is how to collect and read them.

Many email applications and web browsers have build in RSS readers. For example, in Internet Explorer you can click on the RSS button to subscribe to feeds. New content will automatically be added to your feeds folder.

Check your email or web browser for an RSS icon. Odds are you’re already all set up to start receiving RSS Subscriptions.

Another option, and the one that I use, is the Google Reader. It is very easy to set up and can be accessed anywhere you can get online. It also has good mobile clients for most modern cells phones.

Here’s a link to Google’s tour of their RSS Reader

. I have Google set as my homepage so whenever I open my web browser the first thing I see is any new content in my Google Reader. I can quickly read through the updates and go from there.

Here are some other RSS readers you might be interested in:

Bloglines (Online):

http://www.bloglines.com

/
NetNewsWire (Mac):

http://www.newsgator.com/Individuals/NetNewsWire/

SharpReader (Windows):

http://www.sharpreader.net/index.html

The Advantages Of RSS Feeds

However you get set up to receive RSS feeds, it is a great way to consolidate your reading resources in one location for quick reading.

Almost all web sites, that post regular updates to their content, provide their readers with RSS feeds to keep up with new additions. Here are several advantages to using RSS feeds for your reading:

It greatly reduces the time you spend reading online.

It greatly increases the amount of information you can get in less time.

You get all of your content in one place rather than scattered across several web sites. “Its like having an inbox for the Internet” - Google

It helps you keep up with current events, news, interests, hobbies, and just about anything else you want to keep up with.

It can help you be a more eclectic reader - an important thing for preachers to be.

Use a mobile reader, like your cell phone, to read your RSS feeds during down time (i.e., waiting in offices, airports, etc.) to be a more productive reader.

My Favorites

Here are some of my favorite RSS feeds:

My web sites, of course:
Norm’s Notes:

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/NormsRssFeed

Bible Q-n-A Blog:

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/BibleQnA

Bible Q-n-A Videos:

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/BibleQ-n-AVids

The Productive Preacher Blog:

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/preachersblog

News Feeds:
Fox News:

feed://www.foxnews.com/xmlfeed/rss/0,4313,0,00.rss

Productivity:
The David Allen Company:

feed://www.davidco.com/master_rss.php

Stepcase Lifehack:

feed://feeds.lifehack.org/Lifehack

Zen Habits:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/zenhabits

Writing:
Copyblogger:

http://feeds.copyblogger.com/Copyblogger

Write To Done:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/writetodone

Lateral Action:

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/LateralAction

Caution!

The whole point of using RSS feeds is to be a more productive reader. If your accumulation of feeds becomes a time sink instead of time saver, its time to cut back.

Try not to get carried away when subscribing to RSS feeds. If you notice after a while that your inbox is filling up with old unread content try cutting back on your subscriptions. If you’re skipping over certain providers then you’re probably not as interested in their content as you thought you would be. Unsubscribe from them. There’s nothing wrong with unsubscribing from older feeds as you add new ones, as long as they’re not mine.

Hope this helps. Let me know what you think.

Christianity Summarized (2 Cor. 11:4).

2009-05-02T17:47:00.000-05:00

Here's just a really short sermon seed I found while reorganizing my sermon folders. I have no clue where it came from. It found its way into my folder somehow. I wonder what else I might find as I get my folders in order?

Hope you can use it.

“Christianity Summarized” (2 Cor. 11:4).

Jesus, The Savior
The Spirit, Newness Of Life
The Gospel, Instrument Of Spreading The Spirit

A Review Of Nozbe

2009-04-29T11:18:00.000-05:00

As you know, I'm a fan of the Getting Things Done productivity system. With the popularity of this system it is no surprise that there are literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of tools designed to work specifically with GTD. I've experimented with many of them and have really enjoyed looking for that "perfect" GTD application.

One of the problems, though, is that I use different computers with different operating systems. Sometimes I'm using a PC and sometimes, most of the time, I'm using a Mac. And what about those times I'm not at a computer at all? The best GTD tools are those that don't tie you down to one point of access to use them. That's where I think Nozbe has the rest beat, hands down.

You can use Nozbe online when you're at your computer, which means it is compatible with any operating system. When you're away from your computer you can use Nozbe on your mobile phone. If you're really "old school" you can even use Nozbe with pen and paper. It is the only GTD application I have found that is truly universal.

While I highly recommend the GTD books, if you want a quick overview of the GTD system, Nozbe has a 10-step Simply Get Things Done Video Course. It covers the core principles of the GTD system and shows you how to implement those principles using Nozbe.

Implementing Nozbe into the way you work is simplicity to the extreme. Within about 10 minutes after signing up for Nozbe I had it on my iGoogle home page, on my iPhone, connected with my Twitter account and set up to take email tasks.

This wide range of connectivity with your Nozbe makes it very easy to use as your catch-all inbox. I've written previously about the GTD principle of ubiquitous capture . That is, get it out of your head and captured into a trusted system. With Nozbe, I can capture ideas and tasks into my inbox from almost anywhere. I can send a direct message to Nozbe in Twitter and it will automatically appear in my inbox (a very fast and easy capture method). If there is an email that needs to be acted on I can just forward it to an email address, provided by my Nozbe account, to have it captured in my inbox for processing. If I'm away from my computer I can use my mobile phone to capture information into my Nozbe inbox.

***Here's a realtime example: While writing this post I received an email with something that I needed to act on. I hit "alt+T" to open Tweetie (my Twitter app), then "shift+comm+N" to start a new direct message. Typed in the necessary next action and sent it off to Nozbe. In a matter of just a few seconds I had captured a task to my inbox that I can act on when I'm done with my current task of writing this post. I also got a text message about someone who needs to be visited. Again, just a few keystrokes and a few seconds and I now have a task, "Visit ***," in my inbox. It couldn't be easier and faster to capture to Nozbe! Now back to the regularly scheduled review.***

I signed up for a free trial of Nozbe but very quickly upgraded to a full account. It didn't take long for me to see that this great web application would quickly become an integral part of my productive GTD workflow. Try it out and let me know what you think.

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RR: "Three Techniques to Avoid Being a Boring Writer"

2009-04-21T15:13:00.003-05:00

Here's another "Recommended Reading" post from a great blog for writers, www.WriteToDone.com.

"Three Techniques to Avoid Being a Boring Writer" reviews Sol Stein's book, "Stein on Writing." I don't have the book but after reading this I'll be ordering it today!

When we write bulletin articles and/or blog posts we want people to pay attention to what we're saying. What we're saying is important because it is, or should be, instructing in God's word. But if our presentation is boring and hard to read people will put it down. They will move on to something else and our work will be for naught.

To avoid being a boring writer, Sol Stein's advice is to accelerate the pace. Here are his three tips for accelerated pace in writing:

Use short sentences.
Use frequent paragraphs.
Use jump cuts.

The article at WriteToDone gives some good examples of these techniques. Hope it helps!

Stein On Writing: A Master Editor of Some of the Most Successful Writers of Our Century Shares His Craft Techniques and Strategies

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Seed: Things Tied To The Blood Of Christ

2009-04-21T08:00:00.001-05:00

Here's a Sermon Seed I picked up at a Gospel Meeting recently.

Things Tied To The Blood Of Christ:

The Body (church).
The Lord's Supper.
Baptism.

Preached by Bob Swain at the Central church of Christ in Bastrop, LA.

When I listen to another preacher I usually just write down their main points and any particularly attention getting quotes. The reason I don't take detailed notes is because I don't want what they said to overly affect my own development of the points. There's nothing wrong with getting sermons from other preachers but that doesn't mean letting them do your work for you. Take the points and develop them yourself. Make it your sermon (but if you do use their words at all be sure to give them credit when you do). I'm not even going to give you the thesis of the sermon! You develop the points and make application the way you need to preach it to your audience. Then it will be your sermon.

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What I'm Reading

2009-04-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

Here's a quote from a good book I'm reading right now:

"After more than twenty years of listening to daughters - and doling out antibiotics, antidepressants, and stimulants to girls who have gone without a father's love - I know just how important fathers are."

The book is Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters and I highly recommend it!

DropBox

2009-04-18T21:58:00.000-05:00

One of the applications that I use a great deal is DropBox. If you're like me then you work between multiple computers. Most preachers have this challenge to deal with. There is the home computer, the building computer, the notebook. Most congregations have a Windows PC at the building but more and more preachers are switching to Mac. With DropBox you can not only keep your files synced across multiple computers but it syncs between multiple operating systems too. There's also some really nice file sharing and file recovery features. I've clipped the intro from the DropBox website for you (click them to enlarge). I highly recommend this app.

New Book: 30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family

2009-04-11T16:58:00.004-05:00

Our congregations are only as strong as the families of which they are composed! That's why we, as ministers, have to preach God's upbuilding word on the value and importance of a strong and healthy family.

When I heard Rebecca Hagelin interviewed about her new book, "30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family," it sounded like a valuable resource on ascertaining the modern needs of our families. When we have a better knowledge of what our teens are facing, and the struggles of parents to deal with those problems, we are better enable to apply the timeless gospel of Christ to these modern needs.

In doing some further research on the book, I was even more intrigued and decided to order a copy. I'll be doing a full book review when I get it and read it. In the meantime, here's the table of contents to help you get an idea of what's inside.

Commit To The Daily Battle
Envision The Childhood You Want For Your Children, And The Adults You Want Them To Become
Assess Your Home
Understand How Marketers Target Your Children
Make Your Home Inviting, Warm, And Fun!
Create Family Time
Discuss The Modern Challenges Of Friendship With Your Teens And Evaluate Your Own Friendships
Know The Difference Between Your Principles And Your Preferences
Write A Letter To Your Teen
Battle The Culture, Not Your Child
Direct Your Child's Education
Learn How To Have Meaningful Discussions With Your Child
Vow To Be The Parent (Not Your Child's Best Friend)
Secure Allies In The Battle
Develop And Follow Your "Mother's Intuition" And "Father Knows Best" Instincts
Install Parental Controls On Your Televisions - And Be The Ultimate Control
Be Your Family's Movie Critic
Tell Your Children What Makes A True Hero, And Pledge To Be A Hero, Too
Teach Your Children Every Day That They Have God-Given Value
Establish A Family Tradition Of A Daily Quiet Time
Set The Example
Follow Ten Simple Steps With Your Teens To Foster Ongoing Support For Their Purity
Set Clothing Standards For Your Daughter That Reflect She Is To Be Respected And Admired For Who She Truly Is
Dress Your Son In Respect
Obtain A Reliable Internet Filter
Keep Your Kids Safe In Online Social Networking
Let The Golden Rule, Rule Your Home
Help Your Children to Connect Ownership Of Material Things And Privileges With Work
Teach Your Children To Be Good Stewards
Make Your Own List

From the table of contents, this looks like it will be a very insightful and helpful book. Look for the full review soon. If you read it before I do post your comments about it here.

Share Your Bulletins With The World

2009-04-10T08:51:00.003-05:00

Want a quick and easy way to publish your weekly bulletins to the Internet? Use Evernote! Here's how:

Create a new notebook in Evernote for your bulletins.
Open the notebook settings and check the "Publish this notebook" box.
That's it! It gives you a link that you can send out to tell people where to your find your notebook online.

Here's an example.

Everywhere Spoken Against

2009-04-09T22:37:00.003-05:00

In our family reading tonight we finished the book of Acts. As we read through chapter 24 I jotted down a few things that came to mind. After we were done reading I put my daughter to bed and went to my mind map. I thought you might like to see what I came up with. Take it, use it, make it yours. Send me your comments. Here's your sermon seed for today.

"Ubiquitous Capture" & My Favorite Tools

2009-04-09T11:14:00.000-05:00

I've been working to implement the GTD principles into my work habits for some time. It is a gradual process of getting rid of old bad habits and replacing them with new "best practices" habits. One of the principles of the GTD system that has had the greatest impact on the way I work is the "ubiquitous capture." It means that you get everything, and that means everything, out of your head and recorded into some kind of capture device. The idea is, if you free up your mental energy from keeping track of all the loose ends in your life then you will have greater mental energy for creativity and productivity. David Allen calls it "mental RAM." If you're using up all your mental "RAM" to remember to do this or that, to keep up with all your random ideas, to keep track of your shopping list, to remember all the errands you need to do, to keep track of your appointments, etc., etc., etc., then you don't have any free RAM to process the important things that you need to be focussing on right now. By capturing all of these "loose ends" somewhere other than in your head, you are "Ready For Anything," that is, at any given time your processor (your brain) has nice clean RAM to utilize on the task at hand when it comes up.

Before I implemented this principle I was characterized by the phrase, "I forgot." However, now that I'm not trying to keep track of everything in my head, when I don't do something it's because I didn't want to do it, not because "I forgot." I've found several tools that help me "capture everything." Here are some of my favorites:

EVERNOTE!!! - this is by far my favorite capture tool. It is something that I am able to use in several different formats that keeps whatever I capture in one synchronized location. I'll have an example below of how I used this to capture some notes from a conversation at lunch with another preacher. I can capture snapshots for later use, notes of random thoughts, articles, web pages, etc. It really does a great job of being a "ubiquitous" capture device. This is a must get application and it's FREE.
Next to Evernote, my favorite capture tool is my "Hipster PDA." This is the most functional and versatile PDA I have ever used! What I really love about it is that I built it myself. I found the instructions on 43Folders.com and thought, "hey, I can do that." I capture more information on it than any other capture device I currently use, or have ever used. It even syncs with my Evernote account! I'll show how below. Not only is it great for capturing everything but it also works very well as a means of sharing information with others. It's so cheep and easy to build that you can just give it to whoever you want to share the information with.
I use mind maps also. When I capture an idea in my Hipster PDA and/or my Evernote account, if it is something that needs to be developed, I will then put it on a mind map and let the creativity flow! The great thing about mind maps is that you're not forced into a linear mindset. You don't get stuck on "what should follow this?" You just have your main idea at the hub and connect any thoughts relating directly to it. If these branches spur more ideas, you add them as branches to that point. It is a very effective way of organizing your ideas that allows you to think in a more natural mindset to creativity. Below is an example of how I incorporated all three of these capture tools on a single idea.

Using the tools above, when I process the information I've captured, I'm not missing anything. I have everything captured and don't have to rely on my memory to act on it. As I process through the information - usually first thing in the morning - I am able to plan my day and do some really productive work.

Here's an example:

While at lunch with another preacher recently I was asked about the word "captivity" in Ephesians 4:8. Our conversation sparked an interest to do some further study on this word. So I immediately took out my Hipster and wrote it down (yes, the Hipster PDA is just a stack of index cards clipped together in my pocket).

Then, after lunch when I had some time to flip though the cards in my pocket (processing), I knew I would not be able to do anything about this card that said "Captivity word study" until I was back at my computer. So I took out my phone and snapped a picture of the card and sent it to Evernote. Then I could throw the card away and get it out of my pocket.

When I was at my computer again and saw the card in Evernote, I wanted to just quickly capture some ideas for developing this later when I had more time. I opened up my MindMeister account and plugged it in.

The card is filed under "Sermon Thoughts" in Evernote with a note to "see MindMeister." When I'm ready to begin development on a new sermon I'll open the "Sermon Thoughts" folder and see the card, it will point me to MindMeister where I've already started developing some ideas on it.

When its fully developed I'll move the card to my "Ready To Preach" folder with links to MindMeister, presentations, notes, etc. Then, once I've preached it, I'll move it to my "Sermons Preached" folder with a note of the place and date it was preached.

Hope this is helpful. Let me know what you think.

Mind Mapping

2009-04-08T16:01:00.002-05:00

I just finished reading a great article on mind mapping over at one of my favorite productivity blogs, GTD Times.

If you're not familiar with GTD, it refers to David Allen's personal productivity system - Getting Things Done (GTD). I would highly recommend his books, "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" and "Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life."

In his books he talks some about mind mapping, but the article linked above will give you a quick overview of its benefits for planning and brain storming. I've found that if I make my sermon presentations more like a mind map, instead of a linear outline, the audience retains it better.

There are several ways to do your mind mapping, either old school or hight tech. For example, I carry a stack of index cards in my pocket. If I'm not at my computer or don't have access to the net when an idea hits me, I can just take out a card and map it out real quick and dirty. Then I can transfer it to a more permanent media when I'm back at my computer.

Let me recommend a free online app that's good to start out with. Here's a simple example I did with Mindomo.

Hope this is helpful information. Let me know what you think.

Remote Blogging

2009-04-07T23:33:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to check my remote blogging settings. I'm sending this
from my phone.

If it works right I might as well give you a software tip. GET
EVERNOTE! www.evernote.com. They have versions for about whatever kind
of phone or computer you use and it is a great program. You'll be
hearing more about in future posts. Right now I'll just say that I use
it for just about everything. Check it out and let me know what you
think.

What To Expect

2009-04-07T22:26:00.000-05:00

This is just a quick post to let you know what to expect on this blog.

This is not a Bible study blog! I want to make it very clear that the resources posted here will cover a wide range of topics but it is not specifically a Bible study site. If you are looking for the Bible study resources I have online, please go back to the index page and click through to the page you're looking for.

On this site I'll be posting things relevant to assisting those of use who preach. Time management and productivity are big ones, so I'll have a lot to post on that subject. I'll be referring you to useful web sites and articles that may not have anything to do with the church or the Bible, but they will be relevant to the work of preaching.

And I'll also be posting links and updates to my Bible study sites that, I pray, will be useful for your sermons and bulletins.

The thing I pray you find the most useful is the sermon outlines and seeds. I'll be posting my sermon presentations in various formats that most of you will be able to use. I use Apple's Keynote presentation software, which most of you probably don't have. So, though I would highly recommend switching to Mac, I'll convert them to MS PowerPoint and PDF presentations for you. I'll also do posts on tips for making effective presentations. When I'm reading something that inspires a good sermon seed, I'll share it with you here. If you want to send me sermons and sermon seeds to post on the blog, I'll happily take them - with the understanding that I'm going to take them and preach them too!

Stay tuned, there's good stuff ahead.

The PreacherNorm Blog

How Dropbox Saved My Bacon, Step-by-Step

Bible Quiz eBook

How To Use RSS Feeds For Productive Reading

Christianity Summarized (2 Cor. 11:4).

A Review Of Nozbe

RR: "Three Techniques to Avoid Being a Boring Writer"

Seed: Things Tied To The Blood Of Christ

What I'm Reading

Recommended Reading: "50 Trigger Words"

DropBox

New Book: 30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family

Share Your Bulletins With The World

Everywhere Spoken Against

"Ubiquitous Capture" & My Favorite Tools

Mind Mapping

Remote Blogging

What To Expect