Well, I have been pretty much absent for the past few weeks. There have been some personal issues that have restricted me but there were also some very significant issues related to this site. Particularly, I was able to acquire the chiefshepherd.com domain. I already owned the .net version and that is where the system has resided for the past year or two. Now, I am working to make BOTH domains point to the same site. That is significantly more difficult than it seems on the  surface but it is almost done.

The BIG difference is that the new site will have a new look and theme. I hope you like it! It seems much easier to read and it loads faster. There are also some minor changes that, hopefully, will make your visit here more pleasant. Everything (existant and new) should be intuitive – it should work as you would expect. If you are not sure what something does, just TRY IT! You will not break anything here or on your computer <grin>.

For those of you who have registered on the .net site, you will need to complete another registration for the new site (sorry, but I cannot find any way to avoid that). However, I have started the process and you should receive an email with instructions. Basically, you should not have to do much more than click on the link in the email.

For those of you who have subscribed via email or RSS, I don’t know what the effect will be. Please let me know if you do not receive any updates within the next few days. I will be adding new articles and they should appear as they normally would. If they do not, please visit http://chiefshepherd.com and click on one of the subscribe links.

Alternately, if you have any difficulties that you can not seem to fix, use the links on the Contacts page http://chiefshepherd.com/contact-us/.

It seems “religion” is becoming an ever more popular topic of discussion among politicians and the stars of movies and television these days. But, invariably, when their conversations turn to matters of faith, there’s a glaring omission in their professions. They firmly believe that “good” people who live “good” lives, loving and caring for others, are going to get into heaven. As if to validate their beliefs, a growing number of them are very active and vocal in charitable endeavors. But you seldom, if ever, hear any of them mention Jesus. It seems very few of them have any room for Him in their varied systems of belief.

The fact is, this questioning, or at least omitting of the New Testament doctrine of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ seems to be spreading. The words vary, but the central theme remains, “How can God (at least the one Christians worship) say He is love and then condemn so many people to Hell on a technicality? Isn’t that just plain hypocritical!” I don’t doubt that some of you may have heard similar statements from friends or relatives and are struggling to give an answer. We’ve struggled to give those we love an answer too. What follows are the results of that struggle, prefaced by three things God set as the anchor points for His response: Read the rest of this entry »

In November ’08, I converted my laptop & desktop from Windows XP to Ubuntu Linux. Over the preceding weeks, I had become more and more concerned about some security issues in Windows. I finally decided to do something about it.

Look at this screen shot of my NEW desktop:

Pretty AWESOME isn’t it! This on my little Dell laptop. The actual resolution is 3360 x 1056 (unbelievable!)

You may not be able to see the entire photo (click on the image to see the larger image) – When I am using my laptop, I have to scroll to see the right half of the desktop.

Windows XP runs INSIDE Ubuntu Linux:

Update Dec 30, 2009: With the current version of Ubuntu (9.10) and Wine, I can now run my OnlineBible program (newest version 4.02) on my Ubuntu Linux! And, it is FAST!! I no longer need to run Windows at all! See a new post on my RayWaldo.com site for additional info.

BTW, YES, that *IS* Microsoft Windows XP running INSIDE of Ubuntu! I used the Sun Microsystems “Virtual Box” program (free for personal use) to create a virtual computer onto which I installed the copy of XP that I was previously using on the laptop.

This virtual machine runs XP at about the same speed as before but since I don’t need very many programs and extra junk installed, it feels very quick (not as quick as Linux, but quick as normal winDOZ.) <grin>

Windows ONLY programs Read the rest of this entry »

Life is so full of uncertainties. Wouldn’t it be great if there were at least a few things we could count on? Some constants to give us a reliable foundation for the beginning of each new day? Well, Jesus assures us there are. Unfortunately, not all of them are good:

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

Haven’t you found that to be true? In my sixty odd years of living, I’ve yet to come across a day that didn’t have MORE than enough trouble in it to keep me well occupied. Even on the best of days, little nagging things will go wrong.

And our response to those troubles is equally consistent. We worry. And we are so terribly good at it. I’m reminded of English class and how we used to conjugate all the various forms of a verb. Well worry is a verb and we’ve leaned to worry in a way that has all the verb forms covered: Past, present and future tenses; singular and plural; first, second and third person; we do them all. And no matter what form our worrying takes, it is so insidiously destructive. Literally billions of dollars are spent every year treating the physical and emotional damage we do to ourselves through our worrying. The list of ailments being attributed to worry, including some forms of cancer and heart disease, grows daily. Despite this growing evidence against worrying and the clear instructions of our Savior to avoid it, we continue to make it one of our constant companions of every day.

In His instructions against worry (Matthew 6:25-34), Jesus tells us to look at the evidence of the Father’s faithfulness in the world around us. Birds that don’t plant or harvest, but are fed. Grass that does not labor or spin but is clothed in splendid beauty. Then Jesus asks us this simple but awesome question, “Are you not much more valuable than they?” Read the rest of this entry »