Staying Synced & Collaborated With Dropbox

May 062011

Anyone who uses more than one computer or wants to share files with other people for the purpose of producing something should check out Dropbox. I’ve been using it for a couple months now, and the more I use it the more reliant I become upon it. I find myself dumping more files into my Dropbox than anywhere else, because I am becoming so used to being able to access files wherever I am.

If you’re not familiar with Dropbox, you can check out their website for a great introduction video. The two videos below are one’s I made for the teachers at my school. They show how to save files to Dropbox and how to retrieve previous versions of files and even files that have been deleted.

Dropbox Basics from Chris Storms on Vimeo.

Viewing Previous Versions & Deleted Files On Dropbox from Chris Storms on Vimeo.

It Can't Hug You - Why Government Isn't The Answer

Simply Put, Someone's Gotta Say It Comments Off

Aug 192010

Caring for the poor, helping the needy, lifting up the oppressed -The church is supposed to do it, but it doesn’t. Ok. But what is it in many of us that moves from the local church all the way to the federal government? Why do we skip the in between? There are so many other options besides the impersonal bureaucracy of Washington, DC politics.

If I run out of eggs and I’m making a cake, I go to my neighbor for help, because that’s the closest helper to me. They know me. They know I like to make cakes and they like to eat my cakes. They’d be more than willing to give me an egg, because we have a relationship and I just loaned them my weedeater a week ago. We have a relationship. I don’t call my mayor, my county commissioner, or the President. What are the chances I would get an egg if I did that? In fact, if I did end up getting an egg, by the time I got it it’d be sour. But that’s exactly how we treat so many needs in our local communities. We immediately want our federal government to fix it.

First of all, I would not be so quick to just say the church doesn’t do it. Why don’t we make the church do it? Let’s set high expectations for our local church to do what it is supposed to do. But, for the sake of argument and for those who are not part of a faith community let’s just focus on the previous question. Why do we our brains automatically zoom to the federal government to solve our problems?

It’s gotten so bad that Barack Obama actually made one of his campaign slogan’s “HOPE”, as if the federal government – politicians thousands of miles away from most of us – are worthy of our hope. That’s just crazy. But the American people bought that crap hook, line, & sinker. (Not that wanting to have something to hope in is a bad thing. But, hope is only good if it’s hope in Jesus Christ.) Continue reading »

Evolution Of A Coward: Why I Only Send Nice E-mails

Living, One Another, Work In Progress Comments Off

Aug 172010

E-mail made my life easy. I’ m the kind of person who has strong feelings about a lot of things, and e-mail allowed me to quickly shoot off an e-mail when I disagreed with someone, never having to deal with them as an actual God-created & God-loved person. I sent my thoughts out into cyberspace and didn’t really think much about what happened on the other end of that e-mail…until after I hit the send button. That’s when I’d picture the actual person, sitting at their computer reading what I wrote. I can’t tell you how many times I have regretted sending an e-mail the second I sent it. What a terrible feeling.

My quick tempered & ill advised e-mails have hurt feelings and damaged relationships with all kinds of people; my friends, my pastors, & my colleagues, just to name a few.

One time, I sent an e-mail to another teacher that simply said “You’ve lost your mind!” He had sent a hurtful e-mail to our entire faculty and I made sure he (& everyone else thanks to the “reply all” button) knew that I thought he was nuts.

I like e-mail because it allows me to edit. I can be precise. That’s great if I’m being encouraging and uplifting, but it’s awful if I’m attempting to communicate a disagreement, because I come off as someone who’s sarcastic, mean & angry. The thing is, I’m really not like that at all. Even when I am justifiably upset about something, if I sit down and talk face to face with the person, I am civil, compassionate, & peace-seeking. But put me at a keyboard and watch out. Continue reading »

Your Church Youth Group Doesn’t Have To Suck!

Earning The Right, Living, One Another, Simply Put, Someone's Gotta Say It 3 Responses »

Aug 122010

Only about one in four teens now participate in church youth groups, considered the hallmark of involvement; numbers have been flat since 1999. Other measures of religiosity — prayer, Bible reading and going to church — lag as well, according to Barna Group, a Ventura, Calif., evangelical research company. This all has churches canceling their summer teen camps and youth pastors looking worriedly toward the fall, when school-year youth groups kick in.

I mean, who doesn't love to drive to church to get to play an awesome game of "Piece The Bible."

I cringe when I read this article in the USA Today not because the slumping numbers bother me, but for 2 other reasons.

There is an assumption that our priority is to “get kids in church” which undoubtedly means that stupid building and…
The word “relationships” doesn’t appear anywhere in the article.

I’m biased, but Young Life’s emphasis on going where kids are & earning the right to be heard (through relationships) just seems so much more logical, biblical, and effective. But, it’s a lot harder than simply throwing a pizza party. You actually have to recruit and train leaders to go outside the walls of the church and convince them that it’s important to enter the scary lives of teenagers – even if that seems to be the most uncomfortable thing in the world to them. I promise you, teenagers are craving it. Continue reading »

Chris Storms