Thursday, April 16, 2009

Free Ham Radio E-Magazines



 
 

Sent to you by KC5FM/WX5EM via Google Reader:

 
 


One of the topics tonight on the weekly round-table (8:00 PM Pacific time every Wednesday on Mt Constitution Repeater 146.74 -.6 tone 103.5) was favorite Amateur Radio periodicals.  I thought I would pass along three monthly publications that are perfect for the cost conscious ham- they are free for the downloading.

World Radio - The venerable newsprint monthly ceased paper publication but was purchased by CQ Magazine and continues to publish in PDF format.  Be patient when you download an issue- their servers are slow.

Ham-Mag is a very new publication by F5SLD, recently published issue #4.  The magazine is available in its primary language, French as well as English.  Articles include technical, operational and general interest features.

The K9YA Telegraph is a very slickly produced club monthly that features primarily historical and CW related stories.  Sample issues are on the site, but you need to subscribe to get a link to current issues.


 
 

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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Have You Ever Considered the Internet a “Mission” Field?



 
 

Sent to you by KC5FM/WX5EM via Google Reader:

 
 

via LifeChurch.tv Online Church Blog by Tony Steward on 4/14/09

This is a guest post by John Saddington, the Creative Web Director at North Point Ministries. He also writes at Church Crunch about the intersection of technology and the church.

wifi

A few years ago this would have been an even more absurd thought than it is now but change is happening rapidly, not just at the White House.

More and more people are spending their time online, reading material that they once bought on bookshelves, received on their driveway every morning, or watched on TV. The amount of time that people are spending online is also increasing as more of our daily routine and lives are wrapped up in the activities and applications that enable us to "function" on a day-to-day.

Isn't it appropriate, then, to consider the internet as yet another opportunity to share the Good News of the Gospel? It's a field of opportunity, and our mission is critical.

Being "on mission" or "missional" with my time online is becoming an ever-increasing passion and is one that has spurred me to think critically about the what and the how in terms of engaging with an online landscape and culture.

Although there are many ways to creatively interact with others online and be "on mission" online there is one specific way that have consistently proven to be successful in terms of reaching those that have not heard of Jesus Christ, and that you can easily begin to apply in your own context and within your own strategy:

Providing Value

From my Seminary studies at Dallas Theological Seminary I've learned that a successful strategy that has worked on the physical mission field is providing great value to the surrounding community in which the missionary resides. Investing in the local community provides avenues for conversation, inroads to the local economy, helps foster and develop trust and "authority" in others lives, and gives the missionary a platform of friendship to others.

The same thing can be applied to the online mission field. If you can provide "value" to the context and local sub-culture in which you find yourself or explicitly put yourself in, you'll begin to reach people that you "knew" were there but who may never have come to converse with you otherwise.

A great example of this is my work and development of Wordpress themes and applications. A specific example is my release of a Personal Branding Theme called Ipseity. You can read some of my thoughts in more detail about how I used this Wordpress Theme to reach people strategically through my blog here.

The bottom line is that people who have not yet heard or encountered the Gospel are pouring into my blog because of this Wordpress theme that they are interested in using. As a result, they will begin to encounter "other" targeted content that is more spiritual in nature which is more valuable from my perspective for them to consume. Many of these people Subscribe to my RSS feeds as a result, and now I have an inroad to them on a daily and continual basis.

This is how I personally am "on mission" with my gifts and through my online properties. By providing value to the community, not just the Christian community, I'm enabling connections with people in an effective manner, timely, and valuable manner; they are coming to me and my blogs and I don't even have to entice them or advertise or try to sell them anything.

Even more importantly, it doesn't cost me a penny.

What can you do to be providing value to your local online community in which you find yourself? How can you be more "on mission" in terms of your gifting, talent, and calling online?

A little thought can go a long way, and the "payoff" couldn't be any greater: The Gospel of Jesus Christ is being read (and understood) by those who have not yet heard.


 
 

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Monday, April 06, 2009

Sent to you by KC5FM/WX5EM via Google Reader:

via LifeChurch.tv Online Church Blog by Tony Steward on 4/6/09

This is a guest post by Paul Watson who is a leader in evangelism and missions in online communities. You can read more of Paul's fantastic blog at http://reachingtheonlinegeneration.com .

I am the most disconnected with Christ when I am the most disconnected from lost people. The darker the place, the more my need to Christ slaps me in the face and I have to drop to my knees and seek His holy embrace and drink from His Word.

  • I pray more because I need Jesus.
  • I pray more because the stories that come out of darkness overwhelm me.
  • I seek fellowship with other Christians because I need their encouragement and support.
  • I want accountability because I need it to survive.
  • I read Scripture because I have to have it to bring Light with me as I wander in dark places.

Because walking up to strangers in the mall and saying, "Hey, I'd like to be your friend." is a little awkward; I prefer to meet people online. At some level or another, people are online to connect. So talking with some random person is not weird, it's normal.

Here is a quick way to jump into the online world and strike up conversations with lost people that love them to Jesus:

  1. Get a Twitter account. (http://www.twitter.com) Take the time to set it up right with a picture and a non-religious bio. (People online have had run-ins with religious fanatics. They are hyper-sensitive to religiosity. You don't want to turn them off with your bio. Don't worry. You don't have to tell them you love Jesus. You will show them you love Jesus.)
  2. Download Twhirl. (http://www.twhirl.org) Follow the instructions and connect it with your Twitter account.
  3. Set up filters. In Twhirl you can set up filters so that when people use specific keywords. I have friends who have two kids. They adopted the youngest. They set up filters for 'parenting' and 'international adoption' because these were terms they felt they could talk about. They were also non-religious terms that non-Christians would use in conversation.
  4. As your filters pick up tweets, reply when you have something to add to the conversation. Twhirl makes this easy with the little @ button on people's profile picture. Press it to reply to that person's tweet and then type your message.
  5. As you get to know people, there will be opportunities to pray for them. Do it. Let them know you did it. I've never had anyone get mad at me for praying for them, especially when I've taken the time to get to know them. Say something like, "So sorry to hear that! Wish I could buy you coffee and we could visit. Prayed for you and your family just now. Keep me posted." In doing so, you identify yourself as a spiritual person who is willing to talk about spiritual things. As God works in their hearts, lost people who are spiritually seeking with be drawn to you.
  6. Read their blogs. Many people have links to their blogs in their Twitter profile. Read them. Comment if you have something to add. Don't flame them or pick an argument on their blog!

Remember: as you engage lost people and disciple them to fall in love with Jesus, you join God in His work. You are in the center of Jesus purpose and mission.

And, in running to the lost you will find a deeper passion for Christ than you've ever had before.


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