My Favorite Olympic Video Spoof

My daughter claims she was embarrassed when I performed this Olympic homage at the community pool in the late eighties….

From the Google Video description: Harry Shearer’s masterpeice on the art of Synchro swimming, featuring Martin Short and Christopher Guest.

Can Power Be Good?

Did your credit call ever call you as you left the store? Mine did. 

Here is the audio portion of Sunday’s message about power.

10 Reasons To Use PDF files instead of Word files

Ever get a poster, announcement, or handout in Word format that wouldn’t print right? If the person sent the information in PDF (Portable Document Format) you could print with confidence from any computer on any printer. PDF was designed to make printing easy regardless of the varieties of computer and printer combinations.

Here are 10 reasons PDF files are better for distributing information than Microsoft Word files, (which are made for easy editing not universal distribution and printing.)

1. Word reformats documents every time it opens a document on a different computer.
2. Word reformats docs every time a different printer is chosen even on the same computer.
3. This reformatting can change page numbers on long documents, ruining references and producing different versions for different people.
4. Reformatting can put hyphens in the middle of sentences making meaning of words harder to understand (mis-son or mission?).
5. Old versions of Word cannot open versions formatted for newer versions of Word (2007 vs, 2003 vs, 2000 vs. 97).
6. Word documents can easily be changed either accidentally or for reasons not agreeable to the author.
7. Every version of Word (or Word with add-ons to view different versions of Word files) is not available on all computers 
8. Free PDF viewers are easily available while Word is a commerical program that users must pay to obtain and upgrade.
9. PDF is created for electronic distribution and use on a wide variety of computer configurations.
10. PDF can be easily opened and viewed from the web sites.

PDF viewers

You probably already have one on your computer.  

Adobe is the creator of PDF and has the most common reader It is free, but I recommend unchecking the option box that installs McAfee Security Scan.

FoxIt Reader is also free and less demanding on computers. 

Making a PDF file

Version 2007 of Microsoft Office has a free download plug-in that will save files as PDF

Recent versions of Wordperfect have a built-in option to print to PDF

PrimoPDF has a free version that installs as a “printer” that prints by saving a PDF version of the document (or any file) to your computer.

CutePDF also installs as a “printer”

Wikipedia has a list of other PDF programs 

Online options (nothing to install!) include NitroPDF’s free pdftoword and Adobe’s CreatePDF (previously free, an annual paid subscription required) You send a file via a web page and they email you a link to download the PDF file in a few hours.

The original post was on Eastminster Presbytery’s website.

What Kind of Church Will We Be?

From Luke 18:9-14

A message in the wake of this year’s Presbyterian General Assembly looking at the church through the lens of unity and purity: What Kind of Church Will We Be about the struggles among the faithful and the possibility of help in Sinners Anonymous.

220th Presbyterian General Assembly Video Clip Guide

(C) Presbyterian Church (USA) Used by Permission. Photo by Danny Bolin

Here are some video clips of some of the mountaintop moments and walks through the valley of the 220th General Assembly of the PC(USA) meeting in Pittsburgh in July 2012. Not official or complete! Have one not on this list? Leave a comment to get it considered! 

Mountaintops - Inspirational

• Welcome to Pittsburgh! by Committee on Local Arrangements (COLA)
  Muli-Media presentation 
  A LIVE Speedy Delivery from Mr. McFeely of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood  (David Newell)
• Neal D. Presa Speech for Election to Moderator
• Small group prayer
• Mark 2:1-12 Reading & “The Welcome Mat” worship drama
• Jump Prayer with Children at Tribute to Mister Rogers
• Energizer by the YAAD to “Revolution” by Kirk Franklin & the Family
• Advisors are here to advise

Valleys - Difficult

• Vice Moderator resigns office “I am a pastor”
• Redwoods Presbytery’s compliance with the PJC decision’s rebuking Rev. Jamie Sphar
• We Need Greed
• “…large number of people incarcerated through our social justice system”
• Abortion payments by the Board of Pensions
• Merging Pensions & the EPC church discussion
• Same gender domestic partner benefits
• Divestment discussion

 Memorable Speak-Outs

• Jeremy Glideen welcomes cousin Sally & Andy’s upcoming child
• Followed by Dale Deist leading the Assembly in “God Bless America”

 Featured Overtures

• Forwarding of Per Capita  03-02 (Presbytery of Detroit)
• Property Trust Clause Intro 06-06 (Stockton Presbytery) & 06-07 (Santa Barbara Presbytery)
   Resuming Property Trust Clause 
   Mr. GA Help himself, Robert Austell asking about ruling recorded above
• End of Corporal Punishment (Spanking) 11-05 (Presbytery of Grace)

The Best of Gradye

• Strange Birds
• Limits of the Clerk’s Expertise
• Counting Abstentions in a Majority Vote
• Praying Gnome for Bills & Overtures

Videos

COLA’s Welcome to Pittsburgh

• Walk
• Run
• Soar

1001 Worshipping Communities

• The Bridge @ Union Church
• Northland Village
• Common Table
• New Hope
• Team Sweaty Sheep 
• Thien An
• Water’s Edge
• Bare Bulb Coffee
• El Buen Pastor
• New Faith

Last General Assembly’s Come Walk with Us video invitation to Pittsburgh

Reports

•  PCUSA Demographics Report

Still working on this as I go through the videos, emails and comments.

Other Sites

There are other individual sites for General Assembly information.

Robert Austell at the GAHelp.net site

 Steve Salyards at the GA Junkie site