Technology

We all receive more email than we know what to do with. I receive a lot of email from other missionaries sharing their update letters. I love reading those letters and hearing about how the Lord is using my friends around the world. Unfortunately, my friends who send a massive BCC email have no clue how many people are actually opening their emails. Knowing who is reading about your ministry (or group, company or organization) is incredibly valuable. My favorite service for large group e-mailing is MailChimp. It simply blows normal emailing out of the water, and it’s incredibly easy to use. Here’s why: ...

I like making my ears happy. You may enjoy making your ears happy too. Here’s my (eclectic) mix of what’s on my digital turntable, bringing sweet joy to all who listen. Click the album images for a link to Amazon MP3s. Zion – Hillsong United I’ve always preferred Hillsong United’s studio albums (like _Aftermath) _to their live albums. My current go-to worship album. A more electronic sound than usual (even for them), but enjoyable nonetheless. Four word review: Christocenteric electronic extended worship. Favorite tracks: Stay and Wait and Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) ...

Everyone has their own idea of the the best way to use Twitter. I’ve been using it for over three years, and I’ve applied what I’ve learned to aggregate the 14 tips below. You don’t need to follow all of these tips, but if you want to gain followers, be helpful, and use this tool for maximum impact, I highly suggest taking this advice to heart. There’s no condemnation if you decide to eschew the rules of Twitter engagement below, but consider yourself warned: it will be really hard for me (or anyone else) to follow you if you’re tweeting all crazy. ...

I’m a freak for data. I love knowing how I spend my time, tracking fitness, donations to our ministry, books I’ve read–practically anything that is measurable I want to measure. One thing I hadn’t ever done a good job of was tracking my fitness. I kept a journal of my workouts for a few months. I tried a pedometer for all of three days. Then, I heard about the FitBit One and received it as a Christmas gift. The FitBit One is the fanciest pedometer you’ll ever meet. It’s far more than a step counter–it’s a fitness data machine. It tracks your steps per day, flights of stairs you’ve climbed, calories burned, sleep efficiency and more. Here’s my review after two months of daily use. ...

I still prefer physical books to eBooks, but one thing I love about eBooks is having all of my notes and highlights already digitally documented. Unfortunately, Amazon and Apple don’t make saving your notes in a clean format simple. Since I’m a fanatic when it comes to organization and digital hygiene, this is not acceptable (more on how to fix that later). If you are just looking to get all of your notes and save them in a document, PDF or paper copy (because you hate trees and have filing cabinets from the 1980s) here’s the quick and dirty process. ...

I recently gave an update on a charity: water project I started in 2010 that raised over $5,000 to help build three wells in Africa. Some of you may wonder how it happened. Outside of a lot of prayer and generosity, it was a simply telling a compelling story (over and over again) that people wanted to be a part of. Below are the 12 steps I took to create a successful online fundraising campaign. Some of these steps may be out of your control, some may need tweaked for your campaign, and some may need thrown out all together. Nonetheless, best of luck on your exciting adventure. ...

Unless you’re a caveman, you probably put your money in some type of bank. You may stash your money with a mega-corporate bank (aka The Man). In that case you likely pay fees for your bank to hold onto and _use_your money or you jump through hoops to make sure you avoid stupid fees from said institution. I consider myself a bit of a bank connoisseur. Currently, we have five financial institutions at our disposal, and yes, that is too many. If it wasn’t for my rational wife, we’d have even more because I’m a bank addict (further confirming I’m an absolute nerd). From purely anecdotal evidence, lots of people have banks they are moderately happy or even unhappy with, but they don’t know what their other options are or don’t have time to research new options. Friends, your banking problem is about to get solved. Things I commonly hear from people with subpar banking experiences or from those rationalizing paying fees to bank: “My faceless, gimmicky, corporate, bloodsucking bank is everywhere, so I can always find an ATM.” “I’ve always had an account there, so it’s easier to stick with them.” “They have good technology.” “I have a credit card with them, so I might as well have my bank with them.” ...

I was recently reminded what a blessing it is when you take an opportunity to change lives. In 2010, I traded my birthday for a chance to build a clean-water well. I created a charity: water campaign to raise $5,000 and thanks to the generosity of many, over $5,000 was raised and a total of 3 wells were built with funds from my campaign and a few others. Here are a few exciting facts about the projects: Location: two wells in Malawi and one in Ethiopia People: 546 people served in Africa Raised: $5,004 from my project. Funding Breakdown: $2,828.17 went to the Adi Arbea Village in northern Ethiopia helping 350 people. $2,063.24 with an additional $852.21 coming from the Causing Life by Catherine Holloway campaign went to the Kamputeni Village in western Malawi serving 39 people as a hand-dug well. $112.59 went to the Kamtambo Village, also a hand-dug well in western Malawi, with $470.50 from Dirk Maas’ campaign and $2,332.36 from Tim & Maureen’s 30th birthday party campaign. ...

Imagine a junk drawer that had a search bar. You throw everything you’ll ever need into it, but when it comes time to dig out the scissors, rubberbands, or a half used q-tip, you’ll find what you’re looking for in no time. Meet your digital junk drawer: Evernote. I tried to use Evernote a few years ago and I gave up on it fairly quickly. I was using it all wrong. I found if you aren’t using it for everything it’s more of a hassle than a help. It should become your go-to app for absolutely everything that you’re writing, archiving, and referencing digitally. To get started with Evernote, head to Evernote.com and click on the Get Started link near the middle of the page. They also have an app for practically every kind of smartphone. Here are a couple quick pointers: ...

I gave up on major news outlets a long time ago. I haven’t had cable in years. I am not a neanderthal. I don’t need news from traditional sources. I heard that Osama Bin Laden had been killed, about the tragedy at Sandy Hook, and that Ohio University beat Michigan in the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament in 2012–all from Twitter. I think most people give up on Twitter or dismiss it all together because they think it’s best used to find out when your friends have to take a leak or to tweet pictures of omelets. I think if you use Twitter as an information gathering tool as I suggest below you’ll find it will quickly become your favorite news and resource tool. Don’t follow your “friends”. They’re the reason you hate Facebook. “Friends” online are not your friends in real life. They are acquaintances you’ve met once who post pictures of kissy faces in the mirror and complain about how school/work/their life sucks. Remember, Twitter isn’t reciprocal like Facebook is. Just because someone follows you doesn’t mean you should follow them. In fact, don’t. ...