3) Learn Disciple Making Movement Principles a Chunk at a Time
The idea behind the 30-Day Challenge at…
is that you’ll be able to pick up Disciple Making Movement principles and practices by investing just 5-15 minutes per day during a 30-day window. Once you’ve got them “down pat” for 30 days, you’ll find they’re like any new positive habit. Maybe Christmas break is the perfect time to launch a 30-Day Challenge. Try it. You can always unsubscribe at any time. Log on to MoreDisciples and sign up for the 30-Day Challenge today.
4) LOGOS (Bible software) Wants to Win Your Vote
Here’s your chance to snag a free month of Logos Cloud. You’ll have all of your favorite books on Christian living, comprehensive Bible dictionaries, encyclopedias, commentaries, and more in an easily searchable digital format. Logos Cloud does away with endless page turning and deadend searching. Plus, every six weeks you’ll get new updates, features, tools, and more. And guess what — there aren’t any contracts or fees. You can cancel at any time. If aren’t using Logos Cloud yet, get started with a free month today.
At that page, choose
“Essentials” (for everything from daily devotions to leading a Bible study group)
“Plus” (to prepare a sermon or write your next paper) or
“Premium” (for advanced biblical study)
You can have a free month of any of the three. Take your pick. Either way, your materials will automatically be improved every six weeks minimum AND you can access via your desktop (Mac/PC), your mobile devices (iOS/Android), and in your web browser (beta). On top of that, you’ll be able to cancel at any time after the free month. So why not give it a try if you’d like to deepen your walk with the Word!?!
5) Reach Thai University Students AND learn TESOL
Are you looking for an opportunity to reach Thai university students for Christ? Or do you need a place to do your TESOL internship for Bible school? Check out The Centre where they teach english and other skills that students might be interested in to university students in Chiang Mai, Thailand. They are praying for more teachers to fill all the classrooms, and corresponding students to go with them (1:00-7:00pm weekdays). They want to have an impact on several campuses in their area, and on Chiang Mai, and on Thailand! For more information, … thecentrecm@gmail.com, or 088-258-1015.
http://www.thecentrethailand.org .
6) US State Dept. Will Stop Adding Extra Passport Pages
That’s the rumor — after January 1st. So if you’re a USA passport holder and you’d like to get in on this window of opportunity while it lasts, better act fast. Groups like CIBT will be glad to help you…
http://cibtvisas.com/additional-pages-passport
(Thanks Andrew!)
7) American missionary? How to Avoid ISRP Penalties
If you are a U.S. citizen or resident and came back to the USA for more than 35 days in 2015, according to Good Neighbor Insurance, you may be subject to penalties due to the IRS “Individual Shared Responsibility Payment” when you file your taxes. There are exemptions that apply. Good Neighbor Insurance has created a document that helps make all this understandable as well as link to all the pertinent government sites and resources. The free white paper, “The ACA Individual Mandate and Expatriates: International Health Insurance and Avoiding Fines From the IRS”
https://www.gninsurance.com/documents/ACA-Individual-Mandate-and-Expatriates.pdf
is available on
https://www.gninsurance.com/aca-ppaca_how_does_it_affect_me/
If you are on a group health insurance plan, the Individual Mandate does not apply to you or your family. If your January health insurance renewals seem high, Good Neighbor Insurance might be able to help you with that too. Call 866-636-9100 or Skype “Good Neighbor Insurance” from overseas.
8) Stay “Well Connected” (the Book)
It’s like a networking classic. Maybe it’s THE networking classic. And now it’s free, as a PDF, ready for you to download:
VisionSynergy.net/resources/books/wellconnected
Looks like you can get a summary white paper, or — the Russian, French, Spanish, and Arabic version. Take your pick. : )
9) How to Discover if there’s a Pre-existing Network for Your UPG
Suppose you’ve selected an unreached and/or unengaged people group for your team or church. What do you do next? One GREAT place to start is…
http://www.linkingglobalvoices.com/
Eldon, the guy behind this site, has pulled off a major deal here by creating a listing of global and regional networks, country networks, and issue specific networks as well. What’s more, if the particular network or conference has no public website, he’s volunteering to serve as a broker to vet identities to connect you with a particular network to learn more. Great stuff. Bravo Eldon.
10) Synergycommons.net is Like a Forum for Networkers
This past week at Finishing the Task, I heard some conversations about Synergy Commons. So I just visited and registered.
Looks like a place you’d want to go if you wanted to learn about and link up with others who wanted to finish the Great Commission. Joining was free — there was no “subscription” fee or entry fee. Looks like you can write, read, link, and love. Give it a try!
11) Speaking of New Year’s Resolutions… : Memorize the Bible?
Seriously. Let’s at least start memorizing some big chunks. Take a look at Jon Bloom’s strong set of recommendations at…
http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/ten-reasons-to-memorize-big-chunks-of-the-bible
So why are we mentioning this now? We’re hoping to get a shot at reserving a spot on your New Year’s Resolution list. : )
12) Tech-Tactics: Redundant Communications Pathways
What if one of your core communications pathways were suddenly yanked? Would you have options? This past week, I was following a discussion between the I.T. guy for our org (May God bless his name — and his wife and kids; thank you Greg) and one of our field workers in a sensitive land. Our I.T. guy was discussing “redudant mediums.” Now at first, I thought maybe they were talking about extra mind-readers, but very shortly, I realized Greg was actually recommending having communications options in case the bottom fell out of one pathway. For example, he recommended one pathway for an “alert” level message, and another pathway for the ‘main’ message. He gave several options, breaking down the security of each:
iMessage – Relatively high security for content (Apple potentially can read), Only Apple products, Only 9 participants in a group, medium metadata security to keep from linking people together, high traceback since everyone gets everything, difficult to see a summary, based on running conversation of IM style, high reliability of receipt with read notices
Skype – Medium to low security for content (MS can definitely read content, may give access to others), Wide availability of devices, high number of participants in a group, metadata security is expected to be low, high traceback since everyone gets everything, difficult to see a summary, based on running conversation of IM style, relatively high reliability of receipt
VSee – Pretty similar to Skype, with a touch higher security, since it only uses servers to establish contact, then goes device to device.
Threema – High security for content (encrypted inside app), Threema is only on mobile devices, IM platform, high metadata security, IM traceback, high reliability of receipt. Threema is here:
E-Mail – High to Low content security, high availability, high number of participants in a group, metadata security can be all over the board, high traceback, low conversation mode, summary reports are relatively easy
Hushmail – Relatively high content security, mobile can be tricky, high number of group participants, metadata security is fairly high, high traceback since everyone gets everything, low conversation mode, summary reports are relatively easy
Phone calls – Low security for content, Only phones, low participant group size, no metadata security, no traceback, summary consistency is difficult, high receipt reliability
One of my take-aways from all of this discussion was to make sure our workers have options. A laptop for email, Skype and VSee, a phone for texts and Skype, and in some cases in which the situation is particularly volatile, a third channel such as a satellite beacon (like the “Spot Messenger” service). As a result of all the above, if you’re a local church or agency, why not do an assessment of your workers’ options? If you’re a worker, maybe put a Spot Messenger on your Christmas list? : )
Recent Comments