A Heart To Witness

Building the BEST PC for Movie Edit Pro

2010-01-19T11:08:00.000-08:00

I was asked today for some advice about building a PC to make the best use of Movie Edit Pro, and I took some time to write a kind of long-winded response. So I decided if it was good enough to write all this, I should share it in a blog:

I have an ASUS P5N-E SLI motherboard. I think it's about 3 years old. However, I recently found out the guy that sold it to me really did me well because I was still able to install one of the new quad-core processors, the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0gHz, giving me a total of 12gHz of cpu power. Also, I've installed two 2-gig PC-2 6400 sticks of memory, for 4 gigs of RAM total, however, since I'm running WinXP 32-bit, it doesn't see any more than 3.5 gigs. Originally I had purchased 8 gigs, but after finding out the 3.5gig limitation, I returned two of the sticks. In my PC currently is a 750 gig SATA300 drive by Seagate. Unfortunately, it is already full. I learned fairly early that IDE hard drives, while functional, are not really ideal for video editing because the transfer speeds can't keep up in the long haul. Actually, SATA drives, even over USB2.0 buses, are faster still than IDE/UDMA600 drives. This isn't really all that noticeable on a regular Windows system to the average user, but once you start working with HD video files, like AVCHD/Blu-Ray or stuff like that, you'll see the difference. For a video card, I bought a PCI-Express16 ATI Radeon 4670 w/1gig of dedicated video RAM. I recommend either the ATI/DIAMOND brand or the eVGA brand. Both will surely give you incredible performance. Anything less than PCI-Express16 in a video card will buy you a serious bottleneck in editing. Virtually all the processing that happens during editing is done by the video card. During render times, it's more the CPU, editing times, it's the GPU. So make sure you have a TON of video ram and a killer GPU. SPEND THIS EXTRA MONEY.

I cannot stress enough how important stability is. If you're looking to overclock, you might do well to rethink your strategy, because there's nothing more frustrating than learning you don't have enough of a cooling setup and your system crashes while you have 4 hours of unsaved work on the screen. In my opinion, I feel it is best to start out with a motherboard that will support FIRST the highest-end CPU's available TODAY AND TOMORROW, and SECOND will also allow you to start out with a lower-end, more affordable CPU right now. This gives you both balance and budget. Then buy a CPU that does the best OUT-OF-THE-BOX performance you can afford. One of the things I learned about Movie Edit Pro is that it doesn't seem to take full advantage of my quad core. I can boost it up by using CTRL-ALT-DEL and right-clicking on the MovieEdit.exe process and jumping the priority up the "Realtime" or "Critical", but it still only uses about 29-33% of my processor power... I don't know what gives with that, as I've set the affinity to use all 4 CPU cores. Still, it runs circles around my old Core 2 Duo 2.4gHz processor. I am told 3 things about this:
1. The i7 processors work better with Movie Edit Pro 15 plus on 32-bit systems
2. Magix Video Pro X handles the Core 2 Quad processors better.
3. Windows 7 solves this problem.

Since I have none of the above, I can't verify this information. I'm also told that MEP doesn't like 64-bit Windows XP and I know it has problems using the 3D Text functions on Vista.

Let me come back to cooling for a minute. We all know fans make noise. If you're going to be doing any filming or recording of audio around the PC, try to make sure you spend a tiny bit of extra money (seriously, it might mean $10 difference) on quieter fans. Also try to use a case that offers MAXIMUM ventilation. This will reduce the need for bigger fans, and make for quicker escape routes for the heat. When it comes to rendering out your final video cut, your CPU fan will be fighting for its life, and you will surely hear it whirring up to full speed. And don't be too cheap to buy a decent fan. If you try to pinch a penny on this, you'll end up kicking yourself when you have to buy a new CPU because you turned it into a cinder chip.

For video cards, I chose the one I have because of expandability. Because I was thinking ahead, I bought the right motherboard, and now I can buy two of these video cards and have twice the rendering power. Many of the newer cards have some sort of built-in pairing ability. You'll need to be sure your motherboard supports it first, but after that, just get the best card you can afford that can take advantage of this feature. Start out buying ONE. In another year, that card will drop easily in half in price, so you should be able to find one cheap to pair it with on ebay or something.... come to think of it, I need to start shopping for that! LOL!

With all this being said, I should probably tell you that NOBODY I know has a system good enough for silky-smooth editing using Movie Edit Pro on a PC. All of us experience choppy video at times while editing. So don't get all bummed out when you spend all this time and money building the PC of your dreams only to find out MEP still "stutters" when you're watching the edits in the preview window. Your end product will still look amazing if you're using the program right.

Also don't be afraid to shop around for individual parts. If you do it right, you can save yourself a thousand dollars or more, especially if you take advantage of rebates that often come around for hard drives, memory, and motherboard/CPU combos. But be aware that price has to come SECOND to practicality. Start out buying the best motherboard you can afford for the job, and go from there.

-Bryce
http://www.newdepthmedia.com

2009-03-31T09:08:00.001-07:00

Are You Ready To Stand?

From: cbfadamsjohn316
Date: 03/26/09

The Lord has called upon His Workers Today:

We need to finish the Work that God began in us, for we are free from this world and nothing and no one is gonna separate us!!!!...UNLESS we let it. But I know that through faith and been showed everything that we can do through Christ our Lord, we won't let Go of His Unchanging Hand.

Now that Tomorrow is Here, there are fifthy thousand fists in the sky swearing that no matter what, they will serve the Lord come rain, disasters, shine, oppressions whatever, nothing is gonna stop from spreading God's Word.

We need to pick up our cross and Go!

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble wilt revive me;...and thy right hand shall save me"Psalm 138:7

"My people shall be satisfied with My goodness,"saith the Lord Jer. 31:14

"With the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be mesured to you again"Luke 6:38

"Behold I send the promise of My Father upon you"Luke 24:49

"As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" I Corinthians 15:49

Isaiah 62:2
And the nations shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory, and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall name.

Protect yourself against the Conficker Worm "Virus" and others!

2009-03-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Go to Microsoft.com and install this security patch, MS08-067 released in October 2008. Select the version of Windows you are running and select "Download" to get the patch. Save it to your desktop and double-click the item in the desktop when it is done downloading.

Step 2: Download Avast! FREE Antivirus and install it. Then use the instructions at: http://www.ahearttowitness.com/blog/2009 /03/how-to-schedule-daily-virus-scans-us ing.php to schedule daily scans on your system.

Step 3: Follow the directions in BetaFlux's Avast! video to setup Avast! to run all internet traffic through Avast as a proxy.

Q: What's the difference between a "WORM" and a "VIRUS"?
A: A virus is usually a result of something you've done or obtained. Like Cousin Bob that comes over and gives you the flu. Bob means well, but he still got you sick. A worm sneaks in through any kind of hole it can find in your security. Despite your best efforts, it gets in. Like a catburglar with the bubonic plague.

How to Schedule Daily Virus Scans using Avast! Free Edition

2009-03-30T21:28:00.000-07:00

This article applies ONLY to Microsoft Windows and Avast Antivirus. I performed this on Windows XP Home Edition, and your version of Windows may vary slightly or drastically from mine. I claim no responsibility for the use or misuse of this information and whatever consequences it may render on your machine or in your life.

That being said, I hope this helps:

1. Select "RUN..." from your start menu and type in "tasks".
2. Run the "Add Scheduled Task" item.
3. When the window comes up, click NEXT, then click "Browse" and go to "C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashQuick". Selecte AshQUick and click "OPEN"
4. Schedule it to run daily. Click NEXT.
5. Select a good time to scan. I leave my PC running all day and night, so I just have it do maintainence when I'm asleep, like 3am or so. Once you're done, click NEXT.
6. If you're the type of person that has to LOG OUT of windows whenever you're not using it, type in your username and password (your username should already be typed in). If you stay logged in all the time, just click NEXT. In fact, either way, click NEXT.
7. On the next screen, check the box that says "Open advanced properties for this task when I click "Finish". Click FINISH. You might get a pop-up that says "Access denied" or something like that... ignore it, and click "OK".
8. Now you should be looking at the advanced settings window. Where it says "Run:" edit the contents of that field so that it reads:
"C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashQuick.exe" c:\
9. Again, if you're the kind of person like me who doesn't ever log out of Windows (see step 6 above), check the box that says "Run only if logged on"
10. Make sure the "Enabled" box is checked. Click OK

Enjoy a much more secure, safe computer.

-Bryce L. Tomlinson

This post can be republished ONLY with written permission from its author, Bryce L. Tomlinson

FAITH IS ALL YOU NEED.

2008-12-11T02:44:00.000-08:00

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” -2 Peter 1:5-8(NIV)

Dear Friend;
In September,the United States treasury secretary Henry Paulson sold the biggest bailout plan to the congress. The biggest ever in the United States history,if not the world!The congressional leaders sat in “stunned silence”,as reported by The New York Times,as they were told that America was falling into an apocalyptic abyss if tax payers did not cough up to $700 billion to get the toxic mortgages off the banks books,the whole system could go down!Fast forward,America has just issued the historical $ 700 billion check but you will be rather astonished to learn,as some commentators say,”the stimulus plan is doomed to fail".President George Bush,Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke may all be grappling with the mechanics to grease the rusty economic machine into motion but your faith can fix everything in your life.

Your faith is a universal currency more stronger than the economy of the United States,China or any currency under heaven. It delivers the proceeds at the same rate in every nation on earth. It's only your faith that can overcome foreclosures and unbearable unemployment rates in a disturbed economy. Faith is never affected by depreciation,inflation or deflation ,it still has the same purchasing power or value in any environment anywhere on the earth. Clearly stated;without faith there is no future!As Peter put it,”....make every effort to add to your faith.....”.You do not add faith to anything,you add everything else to faith. This means prayers,speaking in tongues,going to church,tithing,praise and worship and all the others that are required of us to do must be added to faith for without faith it's impossible to please God.

Faith commits God's integrity and when God is committed all is done including seeing you through the tough economic times. With absolute faith,we are assured of absolute victory. Victory is a lifestyle to those in whom faith works. Almost 60 years ago,Sony Corporation faced very hard and harsh business times when it got an order to manufacture 100,000 transistor radios for Bulova on condition that they put the 'bulova trademark' on them. A condition that made the financially stressed Sony not to supply the order.In his 1986 autobiography,“Made in Japan”, one of the co-founders of Sony,Mr.Akio Morita said he envisioned where Sony was to be in 60 years and backed it with “active and absolute faith”.Today,Sony is not only the leading manufacturer of electronics,videos,communication,video game consoles and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets but also boasts of a total assets of $ 117.603 billion,a revenue of over $ 88.7 billion,a work force of 180,501 people and over 20 acquisitions.

These are no mean achievements of an “active and absolute faith” of a man am not sure was a believer even by the time of his death in 1999.Faith is what makes the journey of life a great success. If people who have faith in dreams,goals and self can bring forth results how much more you the child of God whose faith is rooted in Him?What you can accomplish only eternity can compute the magnitude. The situation you are in today could be the only test of faith you need to pass; “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”-James 1:2 Tests of faith are not meant to destroy you but to find out whether you are depending on yourself,other human beings or God. Every time you pass these tests,God ushers you into a new phase of life.

Promotions that even the devil has nothing to do about become synonymous with you!Just think about the attention Daniel commanded after coming out of the lion's den alive!When Satan desired to have Peter,look at what Jesus did,”"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."-Luke 22:31-32Jesus said,”...I have prayed for you,Simon,that your faith may not fail...” When your faith fails in any situation,you suffer defeat because faith is your strength against the enemy. It's my prayer that your faith fail not for that much needed financial breakthrough or healing!But what is faith?Join me next time as we answer this question and discover the mystery behind this all powerful spiritual force that every believer from the White House to the Ghetto needs.

Pastor Moses Tumwine can be reached via:tumwine5@aol.com

"Piracy is a Crime" vs. "Copy Protection is Theft"

2008-11-26T07:47:00.000-08:00

by Bryce L. Tomlinson
November 26th, 2008

I'm sure you're asking yourself, "What kinda hocus-pocus title is that for a blog?!" As hard as it is for society today to acknowledge that their bootleg copies of Windows and Office, and other programs that perhaps we couldn't afford to buy for our home computers, are a criminal offense under modern law, it is even harder to consider that the very copy protection that is intended to prevent that theft could be theft itself. I'm not a lawyer. I don't pretend to know the fullest extent of law as it pertains to copyright infringement. But as a person who has been transformed by Christ to testify against the sins of software piracy, I have been faced with many challenges. One of those challenges has been the way that software companies make it as difficult as possible for legitimate software owners to remain legitimate.

Let's take for example the obvious: Windows. If you make significant changes to your hardware configuration, like changing the motherboard or the master hard drive, you will most likely be faced with Microsoft's Genuine Advantage software telling you that you're not running "Genuine Windows", because your copy of Windows is registered to another computer. Well, you gotta have Windows, right? So what do you do?

Another fine example might be Alcohol 120%, a CD/DVD recording program by Alcoholsoft. Again, if you change your configuration, even slightly, it thinks of your computer as a different computer. With Alcohol, their web site "allows" you to "unregister" your "old" computer and register your "new" computer. But this process is so complex, and truthfully, so inconsistent (really-half the time it just doesn't even work), it is very frustrating. To add to this, the same programming that makes this so-called protection possible, also makes it so that the underlying drivers that Alcohol requires very often will crash your computer with a "Blue Screen Of Death" (or BSOD) that could cause infinite reboot-loops and the eventual need for the average user to reinstall or "rescue" their operating system. Once you get the computer working again, you might think twice about installing Alcohol again, for fear it will irreparably crash your computer again, which begs the question, "Can someone please tell me again why I paid for this software?" True story. I bought Alcohol 120%. And I can't use it because I bought a bigger hard drive.

Or how about AI RoboForm, an awesome web password management program by Siber Systems? They will allow you to install this program 3 times before you have to pay again for a registration. In my house, I tinker. As some of you who have looked through the software page on AHeartToWitness.com already know, I install a lot of software, sometimes just to try the stuff out. This style of computing can sometimes require frequent reinstallations of the operating system. Every time you reinstall Windows, you've got to reinstall the programs. So it wasn't too long before I had used up all my 3 installations of RoboForm, and it's a program I've come to depend on. In fact, since Roboform encrypts all the passwords it stores, and I couldn't reinstall it, I couldn't even access the passwords that I had backed up. So what does one do?

Do these overkill approaches to copy protection amount to stealing? It can sometimes feel that way. Do your basic human, or "civil", rights extend to your computer? In most cases, sadly, you find the answer is a pompous "NO."

While my expertise is not necessarily in the "letter of the law," I do know one thing. No matter what copy protection you put on your program, if someone wants to copy or crack it, they just will. Sort of like putting "SEE ID" on your credit card, it's something that largely goes unchecked, and if someone wants to steal, they are gonna steal.

Game sites such as RealArcade and Reflexive have proven that you don't have to focus on copy protection to turn a massive profit. Cabel Sasser of Panic.com made the observation that when they released Coda, a web development tool for the Mac, a serial number was enough. He noted that once in a great while, you find a serial number that's had mass distribution on pirate sites, and you blacklist that one. Panic decided not to spend huge resources on copy protection at the expense of making users pull their hair out if they've decided to upgrade their Mac and need to reinstall the software. As a result, their users are loyal. And their profits are up.

In the end, elaborate copy protections like the ones used in Windows, Alcohol, and RoboForm eventually end up with one of three results: (1) The user has to buy another license, usually at the full original price tag, (2) The user stops using the software or (3) The user cracks the software so they can continue using it, essentially "criminalizing" a legal license holder.

So beyond asking hypothetical or unanswerable questions, we need practical solutions for the situations that we are in, right?

In the case of Microsoft, you have very few options but to buy another license. If you plan to continue using Windows, MS has a way of making it nearly impossible to get around their Genuine Advantage software, to the point where even if you did find a way to crack Windows' security measures, you will eventually be faced with another situation where you are told you're not running Genuine Windows, mostly when it's time to use Windows Update. In my house, I almost went broke buying copies of Windows for every computer I had. I have resolved that I will not be upgrading to Vista, mostly because of the overprotectiveness of the GA software. I will be making the slow transition to the Mac and to Linux.

It is bad enough that software pirates have long used the price of software as their primary excuse for stealing software. It is worse when that excuse becomes the truth. We don't need the situation exacerbated by software companies making you buy the software more than once on the same computer.

As for Alcohol, I have since found that there are many fully capable FREEWARE burning programs that will do the same or better job. They can be found on the software page at AHeartToWitness.com.

For RoboForm, I found out that version 4.6.8 is the last freeware version, and can also be found on the software page at AHeartToWitness.com.

For myself, I have found very few instances where there has not been some freeware alternative to software which I would have had to purchase, perhaps more than once. This is my way of "fighting the good fight". I'm personally tired of software companies using piracy as an excuse to "steal" from legal software consumers.

This opinion, and this published material, is the copyrighted work and property of Bryce L. Tomlinson, and cannot be reprinted or redistributed without permission.

My Testimony - Part 1: Childhood

2008-11-26T07:21:00.000-08:00

by Bryce L. Tomlinson

So you want to know something about me? First, you should know that I have hesitated to write my testimony. Part of the reason is that my intention for this site is to give GLORY to GOD, and declare that JESUS is LORD. Even so, I can see how it will be hard for one to see me as their brother in Christ if they don't know anything about me personally. So this is about me. The good and the bad. If you see something you don't like here, please know that I have been there, and done that. The Holy Spirit has done a lot in my life, and Jesus has told me that He is "making a new man" in me.

That being said, let's get on with it...

I grew up in Northeast Portland, Oregon, on 23rd Avenue, in a cool house, with a great family -- my Mom, Dad, and sister Felecia. We grew up poor, but Dad worked very hard and Mom was a wiz with the finances and in the kitchen. She could make $100 go all month, and a pound of beef fed us all week. Dad did all sorts of jobs to make ends meet, from drywall contracting to hauling wood to helping people build their fence, if needed. Whatever it was, he'd do it. One of the things that still touches me today is that sometimes dad would be out at a job, and he'd find a broken toy laying in the mud somewhere. He'd bring it home, and he'd fix it. And then he'd give it to me. It was humble, but I had some of the coolest toy trucks in the neighborhood, and I always had something for show-and-tell. I wanted to be just like my Dad. Smart and strong and able to fix anything.

My grandfather was what we would today call a "Mad Scientist." Literally. You know all those movies where you see the guy in his laboratory with the tubes and wires, and sparks flying everywhere? Well, that was pretty much him. Anything that there ever was to know about electronics, or science, or computers, he knew it. He'd be sitting at the kitchen table, making up the layout for a circuit board on this big light board using little strips and circles of electric tape. Then he'd take it down in the basement and etch it onto a silicon board in an acid bath. I'm not really sure how that worked, but I know he had a brain the size of a planet. Grampa had all the social skills of a block of wood, though. He was a very hard man. He taught my sister and I how to write programs for computers at a very early age. We were able to convert decimal to hexidecimal and program in machine code at age 9 and 7, respectively. I even learned how to program on those old punch-cards that you would push into the front of a "Teletype" machine (a sort of glorified wide-carriage typewriter with half a brain). Grampa taught me some stuff about electronics, but he didn't have the patience to teach me very much. He gave me books and told me to study hard. I did for a while, but I didn't live up to his expectations.

Around this same time, Mom and Dad were getting into someting called CB (or Citizen's Band) Radio. They could talk to people miles away for free on a radio just by pushing a microphone. Since telephones weren't flat rate yet, this was a big thing! And since lots of people were talking on the radio at the same time, they'd have conversations with all kinds of folks. Pretty soon, they'd want to meet those people, and so we'd go to these huge get-togethers at restaurants all over the place. Everyone would bring their kids, and all us kids would meet and play, or fight, whichever came first. Mom & Dad made several new friends, some of which are still hanging around today. While we were hanging out at one of our CB friend's houses, my sister and I would play with their kids, and Felecia and her new friends started drawing horses. I asked if I could join them, and most of the time, they would say no, since I was a boy, and they were all girls. But I watched anyway, and I learned how to draw horses. That was when I first learned how to draw.

My folks had met some other folks during our time being involved with CB radio, and I was introduced to the Jehovah's Witnesses. Our family became heavily involved in their activity, and we'd given up celebrating birthdays, mother's day, Christmas, and pretty much every fun thing we ever did. We stayed with it for some time, going to Kingdom Hall and studying The New World Translations Of The Holy Scriptures. One thing we were never taught about was God's grace. We were told that if you danced a certain way, God would kill you. If you talked a certain way, God would kill you. We were told supposedly "true" stories about modern-day people whom God had killed because of their racy behavior. Wow. This actually had me crying my eyes out right in church. There was never any talk about the deity of Christ. This God was not a God of forgiveness. It wasn't too much longer and my parents decided we would leave the Jehovah's Witnesses.

When I was in the 7th grade, Dad bought the family our first home computer, a Commodore Vic-20. He bought it for an outrageous price, from one of my friends' dads, who, it just so happens, was also another mad scientist. He'd built some sort of memory expansion board for it from an Odyssey video game console, which boosted the Vic's memory from a meek 3k to a COLOSSAL 32k! Anyway, with this in my hands, I learned the basics of the Commodore BASIC programming language. Some friends and I learned how to make video games on it, and I even wrote a BBS (Bulletin Board System) program for it -- I think I called it Odyssey, too. It didn't work very well, and it bothered my folks to have people calling the home phone all the time with their modems. I was also intrigued with the sounds that this computer could make, and I would write programs that would mimic music I'd heard in some of my video games.

Dad was working with a really nice guy named Bruce, and Bruce was a church-going man. Eventually, he introduced our family to his church. For a while, it seemed we went all the time. They were Lutherans. I remember that I loved going there. The people always treated me very nicely. However, my Mom and Dad weren't comfortable being the only white family there. It didn't seem to matter that much to me, and I was eventually baptized. But I did so without even knowing the real reason why I was supposed to be baptized. I didn't really understand anything about Jesus, and I just thought it was what I would do to fit in. These people seemed to have it together alright, and maybe I should just hang out with them more, right? Well, it wasn't long before my family stopped going, and I didn't find out anything about racial issues OR Jesus for a long time after that.

By this time, my teachers were concerned that I was not focusing on my work in school. I was always turning in my papers with doodles all over them, little drawings I'd thrown together on my assignments -- faces, aliens, computers and, of course, horses. Everywhere I went, I was drawing. When I was in outdoor school, other kids were hounding me to draw them stuff to send home with their letters or whatever. My folks, in an effort to both encourage my artwork and to take it out of the classroom, kept buying me art kits -- paint sets, pastels, canvas paper, charcoal, colored pens, etc. This did not sway me, since my favorite medium (even to this day!) was a pen & notebook paper.

When I was in the 8th grade, my grandfather called me up early in the morning, and told me to get up and get ready. He was coming over to pick me up, and we were going to go out and buy a Commodore 64 computer for me. He was sure that if he bought me a more serious computer, I could do more serious stuff with it, and cease with this silly video game nonsense. He was not a man of recreation. If you did anything, it should be useful. Fun was not useful to him. Again, I went on to do more creative things with this C64 than I could have ever done with my Vic-20. As time went on, I wrote several video games, and got my hands on some great drawing programs. Grampa was so disappointed, he quit trying to teach me anything, since it was obvious to him that I was not going to follow in his utilitarian footsteps.

I got more involved with the Commodore 64 scene, going to huge pizza parties where people would bring their entire computer setups, set them up at a table in a pizza parlor, and we'd soon have 200+ C64's around the room, all either playing video games, running demos or copying stuff. This copying business really had me hooked. I couldn't do much of it because I was stuck using a C2N data cassette deck. Everyone else used disk drives. And while they all had nice 1701 or 1702 monitors, I had a 22" color TV that weighed about as much as a Jeep. I was quite an eyesore at some of the parties. But alas, I strugged to fit in, and I still made a few friends. I gradually learned some computer hacking tricks that allowed me to put some of these disk-based games onto tape, and I was copying games with the rest of them, just at a much, much slower pace.

Now I was really into the graphics end of computers. I had gotten my hands on a copy of Koala Paint that used a mouse, and I started to draw color pictures of musicians, fantasy characters, cartoons, and more. At the same time, there came an emergence of Color 64 BBS's that came up all over Portland. Somehow I got my hands on a terminal program that would load off of tape, and started getting on these bulletin board systems. So here in the early stages of ONLINE activity, Commodore computers were at the forefront. You could use your modem to call out to any bulletin board in town, and post and read messages -- and what's more, on the Color 64 systems (as well as some other BBS software like Ivory and AA BBS) you could post and look at some amazing graphics made entirely with Commodore keyboard graphics.

This was all very exciting to me, because I wanted to get involved in all this online graphics stuff. However, we couldn't afford to buy a disk drive, and all the graphics programs that were made in that day required one. So I took my programming knowledge and put it to work. After several failed attempts to make a mainstream program that would make those nifty graphics, I had only succeeded in making a program that I could use. I could make my graphics with it, and I could get online with it, but nobody else would use it... ever. I had gone to great lengths to make it work on disk drives, but not having one to test it on, it had many problems. Still, it WAS the only program of its type that supported tape. Maybe some poor soul in Germany (where, by the way, everyone was stuck on tape for a long, long time!) would use it, right? Well, I wasn't sure what would happen, but I always said if I ever got my hands on a disk drive, I would be able to do much better than the competition.

Eventually, I got my first job, bussing tables at a restaurant called "The Alibi" over on Interstate Ave. I didn't last but about 2 weeks. After a while I got my second job, pumping gas at an Astro station on Interstate & Lombard. Again, it was short lived. However, I managed to save up enough money to get myself a higher speed modem and a DISK DRIVE! It wasn't long before I was off and running again at the keyboard, and all at once, I succeeded with a program I made called "Kaleidoscope." My friend Ken helped me bug test it (in fact, we grew to call him Captain Crash), and made some clip art for it, and after 4 versions, we succeeded in making the most downloaded program ever put up on Q-Link (which was the Commodore version of what is now known as AOL). It also became the program of choice worldwide for use in making Commodore keyboard graphics. We distributed it with another cute program, called "Kaleidoscope Animator" which would allow you to make animated messages using recorded cursor movements and such. Together, these two programs were the programs that sysops (or System Operators) used to make all their menus, logon and logoff screens (or splash screens as we'd call them today), and online games.

On a more serious note, by this time I was 17, and during a boating incident with my father, I had witnesed God's supernatural power. We were late coming back in to the boat ramp, and the tide had gone out. We were travelling upstream on the Sandy River, and Dad and I were stuck in a spot where the river bottlenecked into sort of a jet of water that blew out from under a bridge. We hit the bottom of the river, had broken a shear pin, and the prop was now just floating there at the end of the shaft. Dad threw out the anchor, wrapped it around a cleat and handed me the slack. He then went to the back of the boat to start working on the motor. I was holding the rope, but even in the shallow water, the current was bouncing the anchor along the bottom like so many pebbles. We were drifting rapidly downstream, with no way to control our direction. Rocks were everywhere, and we could impact at any time! I was terrified, and I started to pray. I asked God to please make the anchor stay, and that I would tell it to the world if he would make it so! As soon as I said "Amen," he did it. The anchor stuck. The boat twirled around at the end of the rope, and I looked to see where we were. Only a few feet away from us was a rock sticking about 3 feet up out of the water, and at the speed we'd been going, we'd have smashed a huge hole in the side of the boat. We went on to break 2 more shear pins, in exactly the same spot. Both times, the boat drifted a bit, and the anchor stuck immediately. And then, fed up, Dad let me drive the boat. He got up on the bow with a flashlight, and told me that if I could get us home, he'd let me drive any boat he ever got. We were on our last shear pin. This was it. With God at my side, and the immediate memory of what he'd just done, I did my best. We went right through under the bridge, and we made it all the way back to the ramp without further incident. This was a miracle, and one that I've never forgotten. However, without any further guidance in my family regarding God and all things spiritual, I didn't follow through and seek Jesus. I just knew that God existed. Well, pretty much. I was still hard-headed.

I had become pretty heavily involved in those pizza parties. I was busily promoting my program, showing it off to lots of people, and at the same time copying games, utility and office programs, even copy programs themselves, and pretty much everything. I was a software pirate. Big time. I had gotten involved with people who were bringing stuff in from overseas and I was bringing software to these parties that nobody in these parts had ever seen before. It wasn't long before I had amassed a collection of thousands of floppy disks, many of which I would never use. I would just copy stuff so that I would have more than anyone else. It didn't matter what it was. And I was the guy you came to if you needed something. I felt like I ruled the world. And when you're 17, you pretty much wanna rule the world. That was me. I was pretty sure I'd found where I belonged. Deep in the piracy scene.

During this time, I had dropped out of public school. I had become quite the obnoxious jerk by this time, and my mouth got me into trouble with some of the local gang members in my school. I said just the wrong thing at just the wrong time, and the next thing I knew, they were ready to throw me down the long concrete stairs on the back side of Madison High School. If you've seen these steps, you know that I probably would not have lived to tell about it. The tardy bell had already rung for first period, and the grumpiest librarian I'd ever met in my life came out and started yelling about how everyone was late to class -- I bolted into the library, and there I stayed. I managed to convince the school that I was sick, and when Mom came and picked me up, I told her I was never coming back. She freaked out. We had no idea what I was going to do, but we had to act fast, because I was failing all my classes, except Graphic Production and Graphic Arts. So we started home schooling. Mom got involved with a Christian family down the street, and we started the Alpha-Omega cirriculum. We found out that I was not failing in public school -- my public school was failing me. I was ready to work at a much higher pace, and my school was not able to accommodate that. My math class alone had over 40 kids in it. There's not a lot of room for individuality in that realm. So now that I was in home school, the first time I got tested I proved to be scoring in the top 1% of my age group, working well ahead of my grade level.

As far as my social life went, I was juggling my life as a computer junkie with my life as a so-called Christian student. Some of my school friends knew that I was into computers, and on some rare occasions we'd get together and play video games. I think back now and understand why my friends' parents kept them away from the games for the most part. Partly, they must've known that it would grow to be a distraction away from their Christian studies. But I'm sure now that they were aware of the eternal consequences of the path I was following with computers. I was going to class in the day with my friends, and then going to these pirating parties by night, sometimes going to sleepovers with my computer buddies, or working my eyeballs into a salty sweat in the wee hours of the evening downloading games and such from the BBS's. Now I was the Graphics Op (Operator) for several of the bulletin boards around town, and so was my friend Ken (or Captain Kenby back then). Back in this day, I remember I was on "The Cop Shop" "Oregon Eagle," "Crystal Palace," and "The Lord's BBS."

I continued in my home schooling. While I was going to class with the kids down the street, I was also going to their family church. I took on some of the Christian traits that they talked about, and even got baptized again. This alone was proof that I really didn't understand anything about the faith that I was professing. It was like it was being told to me on an almost daily basis, but I just didn't get it. But I sure thought I did. I still knew nothing about why Jesus died for us, and what grace and mercy are all about, and I was a long way off from knowing the Holy Spirit. But I kept on with the schooling, even after the Christian family down the street had left. I eventually got my G.E.D. and graduated with my class in 1988. And again, I left the church.

I had a job working as a box boy at the local Sentry market on 33rd Ave. It wasn't too long before I was working 40+ hours a week, and became both head box boy and employee of the month for several months running. I worked my tail off, and for a lot less money than anyone would do it for nowadays. But it supported my computer habits. I was pretty much able to buy any of the toys I'd wanted for so long. I got a RAM Expander, a Super Snapshot cracking cartridge, a bunch of disk drives, a 1702 monitor, and lots of other stuff that littered my desk for almost a decade.

In 1988, I turned 18, and I moved out of my parents' house, and into an apartment in Southeast Portland with a coworker, Mike, at the Lloyd Center Orange Julius. I quickly became the night manager at the shop, and was able to upgrade to a Commodore 128 computer. So now we had the C64 sitting out in the kitchen where the whole household could use it, and the 128 set up in my bedroom. I had a "Snoopy" bank in my room where I was putting cash aside to buy an Amiga computer. I had played with Amigas at one of the software stores in Clackamas, and at a friend's house, and I was sure it would rocket me to new heights.

A friend of mine and I started a GEOS (Graphic Environment Operating System) user group for Commodore Computers, called "geoMetrix". We built up a library of public domain and shareware software for the GEOS 64 and 128 operating systems, as well as a newsletter that ended up with more than 300 subscribers. At some point, a magazine editor who considered us to be "competition" began selling cheap, shrunk down photocopies of our 20-40 page newsletters overseas. While that didn't go on for very long, it opened up a new market when one of the subscribers to the "pirated" newsletter found our address in one of the screenshots used for a software article.

That user group needed a local place to meet. Since we were all used to pizza parties by this time, we got a deal with the local Pietro's Pizza parlor on 122nd & Stark. We would publish an advertisement for Pietro's every month, and they let us have a meeting there once a month, and they gave me a free pizza once a month. Roommate Mike was over 21, and he could get alcohol. We had a giant New Year's bash in our apartment, and I realized I would have access to alcohol on a regular basis, far from sneaking drinks out of my friend's dad's basement liquor cabinet while he was passed out drunk. It wasn't long before I had pizza and beer most mornings for breakfast.

To be continued...

Prayer Requests are NOW WORKING!

2008-11-22T03:28:00.000-08:00

Yeah buddy! I can't believe I finally got it working, and I'm still not exactly sure how it works (Currently, it is technically beyond me!). But I can do all things through Jesus Christ!

Please share your prayer requests with our Prayer Team! Click HERE to access the prayer request form!

-BroBryce

PS: If anyone finds this useful, please let the folks at EPrayer know that they need some tutorials.

King James Version MP3 Bible in English - FREE DOWNLOAD

2008-11-18T21:09:00.000-08:00

Okay, here it is... by the time you read this, you should be able to download the KJV English Bible in MP3 Audio for your listening pleasure!

Click here to see the Bible page (soon I will have it attached to the navigation bar at the top and bottom of the pages)

Soon it will include The Thru The Bible program and PDF versions of the Bible!

-Brother Bryce

Coming Soon - MP3 Bibles Hosted at A Heart To Witness!

2008-11-18T18:25:00.000-08:00

Wow! A am amazed at how God has things planned! Check this out - I was on a web site where they said that they can no longer give their MP3 bible recordings away for free because it takes too much of their bandwidth. Evidently, the downloads were taking upward of 1 terabyte (1,000,000 megabytes) of bandwidth per month. As it turns out, AHTW is set up with 1.5 terabytes of bandwidth. Each version of the MP3 bible takes about 1.5 gigs of space, and we here have 150 gigs. We should be able to host a MULTITUDE of free Bibles in MANY languages and versions! Currently, my FTP program just finished uploading the book of Isaiah (English KJV) to our host, and next I will be uploading the "Thru The Bible" 5-year Bible Study by Dr. J. Vernon McGee. These are freely distributable, and once we get them online, I would encourage you to share them with as many people as possible, so as to SAVE SOULS in JESUS' HOLY NAME!!!! PRAISE GOD!

If you feel led to contribute to the costs of hosting these huge resources, Please click the "DONATE" button at the top of this page. Thank you very much and God Bless You!

-Brother Bryce

WISDOM: YOUR VICTORY OVER DEATH!

2008-11-18T18:07:00.000-08:00

A Sermon by Pastor Moses Tumwine
Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 06:30 AM

"In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease. Yet even with the severity of his disease, he did not seek the Lord's help but turned only to his physicians he died in the forty-first year of his reign.He was buried in the tomb he had carved out for himself in the City of David. He was laid on a bed perfumed with sweet spices and fragrant ointments, and the people built a huge funeral fire in his honor" - 2 Chronicles 16:12-14(NLT)

It may be shocking for you to know that by the time you celebrate your 70th birthday, you will have survived 3.9 billion chances of dying! Simply put, knowingly or unknowingly; had it not been God on your side one out of the 56 million attempts per year by this enemy called death would have robbed you of your precious life. These figures, experts say, are factual but not infallible, until verified, will never become the truth!

The fact still holds, however, that many people are still dying around us, and many still alive are living in uncertainty and fear of being caught unawares by death.

Like King Asa who "was buried in the tomb he carved out for himself in the city of David," many are busy doing the most difficult thing: talking to their beloved ones about their death, and planning out the way they would want their funeral to look like! They are channeling their savings into funeral policies for their final arrangements before "need" arises. This is no easy task as an average traditional funeral in the United States may cost $4,600 in addition to $1,000 for flowers, obituary notices, acknowledgment cards, burial liners and special transportation burial can cost an additional $2,400.

Funeral arrangement is not a new concept even King Asa embraced it, this is another front on which spiritual values are under attack! This is an organized campaign to weaken the faith of God's people in the value of life. The world lives in great fear of death today, yet death no longer has power over you as a child of God! The disobedience of the first Adam brought sin and death thereof; while the death of the Second Adam-Jesus was the release of mankind. Jesus loves you too greatly to let your life go before your appointed time.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command" -John 15:13-14

Jesus laid down his life for you to live, all you need is to tap into the wisdom of overpowering death whenever it knocks at the door of your life. Very simple; all you have to do is what Jesus commands! Until your days are fulfilled, death is a matter of choice. Not even the most dreaded accidents that rock the air, rail and road systems can kill you; you did not come by accident, you are not permitted to go by one in the name of Jesus Christ! God is committed to keeping you alive because He created you to meet a need, if you were not needed He would not have created you. That need is not met yet, how far have you advanced the kingdom for you to die now when the population of unbelievers is on the increase!

"If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body" -Phil 1: 22-24

Your choice should be to remain in the body so as to accomplish God's purpose and plans for your life. God's thoughts for you are "thoughts of peace,and not of evil,to give you an expected end"-Jeremiah 29:11

The pain and grief that comes with the death of a beloved one, is questionably beyond what God wants for you. Is the pain and the grief to those left behind the "expected end" according to God that repeatedly says "the end of a matter is better than its beginning thereof;..." I do not think so, friend!

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life"-John 6:63(KJV)

When you accept Jesus as your personal savior, the spirit becomes responsible over quickening your life. To "quicken" means "to come or return to life". The spirit has and will always return to life what the enemy has taken away to initiate death in your body. The spirit of God makes you to live above natural circumstances that go on rampage killing everybody around you. This explains why that illness will not kill your husband or why that accident did not take your life!

Your faith is the instrument with which you plug into this supreme reality, fear not. It's upon you to determine the duration of your stay on Earth not physicians or those that predict doom over your life.

"Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!" -Deuteronomy 30:19(NLT)

Death is a choice that we ignorantly make because even God admonishes us to choose life. This is a very serious matter that the two principle witnesses are the heaven and the earth. This partially explains why when you die, you are kept in your grave on earth because its not time for you to heaven yet. Whichever way, you have to wait. Why then not make a choice to "remain in the flesh" since its more necessary or "more needful" as King James Version puts it! -Phil1:24

The word of God created you, it also take the same word to sustain you, to preserve you and to elongate your life. The word of God that you learn and apply is the wisdom that death hears about in rumors:

"Destruction and Death say,'Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.' God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells.." -Job 28:21-23

When you walk into this wisdom, death will too hear about your name through its rumor machine but it will never locate your physical address. Let your mouth confess the state of your heart formed by God's word, you will live as long as you want;

"From the fruit of his mouth a man's stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied. The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." -Proverbs 18:20-21

Your authority over death starts with your thoughts, then your tongue. You can not spend more time thinking about the most qualified apothecaries in your city, cremation, flowers, the burial plot, the casket and the cost of the best grave makers at hand like king Asa did and speak death and expect to live even if your pastor and all the church elders lay hands on you. "For as a man thinketh in his heart, is he:..." -Proverbs 23:7

You will never die physically 'til you have died in your mind, God will never change your life beyond your thoughts. It's high time you renewed your mind over this death hokum that has become another god in the lives of even the elect. Therefore "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." -2 Corinthians 10:5

Start thinking about "... whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things" -Phil 4:8

Only your knowledge of the truth guarantees your freedom in the area of your bondage and absolutely nothing can tie you down. There's a place that death can not access and the only way to it is knowledge. Acquire knowledge and apply it!

"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of deathï¿½that is, the devil" -Heb 2:14

The death of Jesus disarmed Satan and Jesus empowered us to live. Jesus will never use that power in favor of the enemy other than you and I his friend. What you own you control, we have power to control death. Death no longer has power over you at all!

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where,O death,is your sting?" -1 Corinthians 15:55

Death lost its "sting" which means it has lost its "ability to get your life by deceitful means or trickery". And the grave has lost its victory because the victory of the grave depends on the deceitfulness of death, it obtains people's lives by tricks but only the knowledge transformed into wisdom traps it. Only the truth weakens this enemy force called death, whenever it speaks to you answer with God's word.

Friends, God says "With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." -Psalm 91:16

All of us agree the life we have lived is not "long" enough for us to go now. Do not worry about your medical condition, this truth will make those tricks of the devil to vanish from your life in the name of Jesus Christ! May the unction under which I am writing this piece fall upon you. The Lord will preserve your life, your family and everybody you care about in the name of Jesus Christ! For it is He that "preserves the lives of those appointed to die." He shall do according to his word in the name of Jesus Christ!

-Pastor Moses Tumwater has granted permission for this sermon to be reprinted here at A Heart To Witness. -

"I AM With Thee"

2008-11-17T09:47:00.000-08:00

Insight from Cassandra Flores-Adams

Date: Monday, November 17, 2008 at 08:54 AM

Many things happen in our lives, some bad and some good, we wonder what is the purpose for all these things to happen? Why must we always struggle to keep focus on His Word? You know something, we are the ones who are making things hard for us, all we need to do is pray and ask God to lead us out and He will.

"Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isaiah 1:18

"I am the bread of life; he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst." John 6:35

"If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." John 14:14

"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up." James 4:10

God has promised us an eternal life, believe it! God has promised never to leave nor forsake us, Don't Forsake Him! He has promised to always Lead, Guide, Enlighten; Don't put Him SECOND! God doesn't play 'Second Fiddle' Move down World, Jobs, Families, Self Life, etc GOD IS FIRST IN EVERYTHING!!!!

Isaiah 41:13
For I, Jehovah thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto
thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

-Cassandra Flores-Adams has granted permission for this material to be reprinted here at A Heart To Witness. -

2008-11-14T09:40:00.000-08:00

DIVINE DIRECTION:THE KEY TO PROFITABILITY.

A Sermon by Pastor Moses Tumwine
Date: Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 03:30PM

"You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore"-Psalms 16:11(Amplified Version)
The biggest problem of the world today is neither politics nor economics but lack of divine direction at both the leadership and individual levels. This explains why even the church or we the children of God are seemingly callow in the eyes of the world over which we are meant to be in charge and to command success that will attract the world to the church not vice-versa.
Divine direction is your heritage as a child of God but you must seek it to find it and when you do,you enjoy it. The psalmist said "you will show me the path of life." It's very vital for us to express our willingness to be shown that path. There is a path that God ordained for your Ministry,marriage,health,career,finances etc but disappointingly we prefer going the path that our ego, parents and friends show to us and we end up doing the wrong businesses,marrying the wrong partners and dying miserably!

All the answers to these challenges are obtainable in the presence of God which is our ultimate goal in prayer. Many a time when we do not seek direction from God we find ourselves being cajoled into temptations by the pressures of life because of our lack of access to His right hand where there are pleasures forevermore! When this happens,the results are very sure; a schizoid relationship with God and those that truly follow His direction. When you locate the path of your life, you enjoy fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. "THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters."-Psalms 23:1-2 When God leads you, you become outstanding in life. The shepherd always knows the best grazing fields whose pasture will satisfy the sheep, he takes them to green pastures, not deserts. Always advise friends not be in hurry to run away from Africa in search of "green pastures" elsewhere without being sure that where they are running to is where really God wants them to go.

Many are in the deserts of their lives not because the devil is tormenting them but lack of divine direction. Not even speaking in tongues can take the place of divine direction. For example if I did not know the way to the airport to catch my flight, the least thing I need is to close my eyes and speak in tongues, but somebody to give direction on how to get there. God leads us beside "still and restful waters" not troubled and restless marriages and businesses. Some people were not shaped or formed for business at all but have chosen to it out of social influence or personal choices. Others are in professions where their star will never shine even one day because they have not located the right path.

You can not spend all the days of your life like this, doing what looks good and correct, but not right! "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with ^[a]oil; my [brimming] cup runs over. Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place." -Psalms 23:5-6 Even when you are being led by God,the path of life is not free from enemies but with God the mighty Man of war on your side,who can fight against you and prevail. No wonder God promises to prepare a table for you before their very eyes. All those that are gossiping about you and ruining your marriage or bewitching you will see you getting blessed beyond measure in the name of Jesus Christ!And God does not stop there but He makes sure that "only goodness,mercy,and unfailing love shall follow..." all the days of your life, not some days!

God knows that without His direction your destiny is not secure. That's why He is committed to leading you in His ordained path which He knew "Before I formed thee in the belly,...".-Jeremiah 1:5 Does this not convince you that God knew the woman or man you would marry, the places to set your foot on, the businesses you would do and many other things before you came into being! When you allow God to lead you, He makes a leader out of you. Moses is a good example, as many times as you can count "And the Lord Said to Moses" appears in the Bible meaning Moses used to do according to the direction God was giving him. He was a stammerer but the journey could not continue before he finished giving direction even if it would take him eight hours to brief Aaron and the children of Israel.

A man that allows God to lead Him, God makes him a voice. I have met many braggarts whose names no one remembers anymore because their attitudes were not founded in God but their cognitive ability. "Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way that you should go." -Isaiah 48:17 All the profit your life,job, marriage etc is meant to provide is in God's ordained path. "Ask....Seek....Knock" for Him to teach you according to this promise in Matthew 7:7. Only then shall you stop drawing circles around yourself in the name of working hard. Hard work devoid of God's direction is a waste of time for all is vanity! I see the Lord guiding you into your profitable path in the Name of Jesus Christ! Some of you had been written off but God is lifting you above your imagination. Keep seeking His guidance in prayer. He will be found sooner than you expected.

-Pastor Moses Tumwater has granted permission for this sermon to be reprinted here at A Heart To Witness. -

More substance, more planning, more Jesus! Raise Your Expectations!

2008-11-12T06:48:00.000-08:00

I was having a talk with my wife Julie the other day, and about the labor and blessings of this web site. We have been blessed to be able to witness to more than 100 unique people a day who visit this site. I handed a business card to someone, and they immediately asked me, "Is it supposed to be so... Christian-y?" to which I replied "Uh, yeah."

AHeartToWitness.com is now called home to roughly one thousand people per week. I was just looking at a blog I wrote on July 18th, 2007 (just over a year ago) noting a remarkable 54 visitors on one Saturday... And now I'm only surprised when we get over 200. As our beloved Pastor Steve has been telling us over and over these last couple of months, "Raise Your Expectations". So that's the plan.

When David took off Saul's armor, it wasn't JUST because it didn't fit (at that time, David was a little guy, pretty scrawny to be wearing big, buff Saul's shoulder pads & breastplate). It was because he knew if he beat down Goliath with all that armor on, it would do less to show God was the power on top of it all (I almost said "behind it all" but God is NEVER behind anything). David remembered how he killed a lion and a bear, something that he KNEW was not possible without God's power! So David picked up 5 smooth stones, and pegged Goliath with the first one. In essence, by taking off Saul's armor, David was telling the WORLD, "Raise Your Expectations". And because he had absolute faith, it was a slam dunk. He was guaranteed success.

We here at AHeartToWitness.com are raising our expectations.

As I told my wife, since we started this ministry, we've received almost zero financial support. From our measurements, the "donate" button has been pressed TWICE in the last 5 years, giving us a whopping $30 in donations.

I'm not telling you this to try to pry money out of you. What I am doing is putting faith in God, and not money, and I'm asking you to do the same.

Regardless of whether visitors can give or not, we are praying that they will be saved. That Christ will minister to souls through this web site and our examples, and that WE will BE examples. And that means staying Romans 12 citizens of Christ, holy and acceptable to God, so that our witness will not be tainted by our sins, or even the perception thereof. Not only that, but we will continue to support and dispense TOOLS to make this possible in your household, too!

About 3 years ago, as I recall, I told my wife that I had envisioned this web site to be a center of media, a lot of material... Pictures, music, video, articles, and more. And now, it has become that. Back then, I really didn't think I would be the one posting most of the material. I had always thought more people would try to come forward and contribute material to the web site (have you tried the Feedback Form?) So back then, I made that declaration, and now, I'm making another one.

We will press on. We will continue to run the race, with our eye on the prize (Jesus).

Technically speaking, this site has become more than I had imagined, but it's been done through the power of God, because I couldn't have done it myself. So here is the part where I take off Saul's armor. I am declaring now that this site will be technically beyond me. Completely beyond my skill set. It will be an EXPLOSIVE ministry tool for Jesus! If no person comes forth with better skills than I have, then God will perform it through my wife and myself. And if he doesn't, we will still press on!

Some of our immediate goals:
1. A Prayer Request form (eprayer php script) - if anyone knows MySQL enough to help me with this, please help! Prayer is not just -A- tool, it is -THE- tool!
2. Ministry store (Bibles, bumper/window stickers, t-shirts, mugs, keychains, etc)
3. Moderated Bulletin Board/Forum
4. Visitor-Submitted photo & art gallery (moderated, obviously)
5. Internet radio station

This is our declaration. I would say, "sit back and watch the fireworks," but it's much more fun to light them yourself.

-Brother Bryce

2008-07-10T10:02:00.001-07:00

True Romance

I wonder if she knew you, my dear.
Laying awake at night, waiting out the end of the torrent
The flood of tears, the flood of harsh words spoken.
I wonder if she'd met you, my love.
I know that I'd hardly known her myself.
Hidden behind a shroud of silence and shallowness
Perhaps in fear that if the real her showed up,
She'd find herself more alone and helpless than she already was.
Someone should've introduced her to you, my dear.
Someone who knew that even though her body and mind were bruised,
And the only love she had truly known was in the pages
Of magazines about other people's lives,
She could've always counted on you, my love.
It is cliche, but if only I knew then what I know now.
You could've taught her how to walk on her sea of tears,
Even when she had long since become bent on drowning.
Now I know that there was someone who could have shown her True Romance,
If only she had met you, my love.
Though she left this world empty, she has left a bit of herself behind
Teaching others in their youth to handle things the way she did.
The legacy lives on.
And so does yours.
This time I will be more aware, more steadfast.
I will introduce her to you, my dear...
...Savior.

-Bryce L. Tomlinson, 10-13-2006

Bryce L. Tomlinson's poetry is not to be considered affiliated with any organization or entity other than himself. Bryce L. Tomlinson's poetry is the sole property of its owner, Bryce L. Tomlinson, and is not to be sold for profit, though it can be borrowed with permission (if you ask with cherries on top).

Who else wants to make $2000 a month with these cool little crosses! .

2008-07-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

Thank you notes to GOD

There was a time I dwelt in darkness,
for I did not know the light.

There was a time I lived without faith,
for I lived with all hope lost.

There was a time I did not  love my self,
for I learned to live without love.

Time passed and I was content 
to sit  in darkness because
I was never shown your might.

But then you reached up and
beheld me in your light,
lifting me up, so that I could see.

You spoke to me in your 
many silent songs,
and gave my faith wings
to set me free.

How can you truly know what you lost
if you do not know it's gone?

You waited, you stayed, ever knowing, ever loving. 

Though I  had  lost Faith in my self
you  never lost Faith in me.

There was a time, I looked up and smiled
and was at peace... thank you.

-Shinar Stephens

Shinar Stephens makes her contributory debut at A Heart To Witness with this poem, "Thank You Notes To GOD". She hopes to relate to those who have been lost at some time (which is basically all of us, right?). Please ask permission if you wish to republish this poem.

Who else wants to make $2000 a month with these cool little crosses! .

2008-07-10T09:59:00.001-07:00

Sometimes This Is What I am Thinking Of 

In spite of the rainy days 
God always comes through
Even though I wonder why he did it
His love for us never changes
Sometimes we all get mad
And make mistakes
But still Jesus was still always right there
When we repent and tell him sorry
Sometimes I want to cry
When I remember of how he died
For me and you so that we might have everlasting life
Sometimes I want to give my all
At times I feel it’s not my best
But I know in God’s eyes he’s smiling down on all of us
Showing us that we all done perfect 
Sometimes I want to just thank him
Because he’s so worthy
Sometimes I feel, feel so deeply of his love
That I just want to spread the news out to the whole wide world
That Jesus Christ is Lord of my life
And he loves you just as who you are
He takes you in, renews your soul
And makes you a right spirit
Just to read his word
And to do his will 
Sometimes that’s all that I am thinking of

~Shioni Smith

Shioni Smith was very gracious when I asked her if I could reprint her poem, which has already recieved a lot of positive response. We are glad to have her contribution on ths page! Prasie God for you, Shi!

Who else wants to make $2000 a month with these cool little crosses! .

2008-07-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

CONTRADICTIONS

Life is full of contradictions.
We live to die,
We work to pay,
We play to keep sane.

Some believe, some don't.
If you don't believe,
then why are you here?

We create questions,
so we can have answers.
We create answers,
so we can have questions.

Why do we live in a world of
should haves & could haves?
Why not make our own reality?
Instead of being upset or unconscious.

Life is what we make of it.
So, what will you do with yours?

I now know that I was made to Love You!!

-Julie F. Tomlinson, 11-1-2006

Julie F. Tomlinson's poetry is not to be considered affiliated with any organization or entity other than herself. Julie F. Tomlinson's poetry is the sole property of its owner, Julie F. Tomlinson, and is not to be sold for profit, though it can be borrowed with permission (if you ask with cherries on top).

Who else wants to make $2000 a month with these cool little crosses! .

2008-07-10T09:56:00.001-07:00

A REASON TO GO ON

When you feel there is nothing to live for,
Remember:
Your daughter's wedding day,
and she cries as she says,
"I wish mom were here with us."

When you despair, and lose all hope,
Remember:
Your first grandchild's birth,
and your only son says,
"Mom would have loved to be here."

When you are self-absorbed to the point
where you could destroy the gift of life you've been given,
Remember:
Your husband's face, streaming with an avalanche of tears,
as he imagines the rest of his life without you.

When there is nothing left inside, except an empty hole,
Remember:
The day your mom died,
and you weren't there to hold her lonely hand,
kiss her, and say goodbye.

Imagine THESE Realities:
An empty seat at the dinner table
Tearful Christmas mornings.
A garden, left untended.
Your familiar smells, gone.
Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren you will never meet, and they will never meet you.
The memory of you will fade, over time..........

This truly is "A Wonderful Life", and it would be "Sadder still to watch it die".
Remember that life is not just about today and the sadness that sometimes encompasses us.
There will be moments to treasure in our lives, even if we have to wait for them.
We do not belong to ourselves.
We were not put here to gratify ourselves.
We are here to touch others, and add to the quality
of other's lives.

-Felecia Walls, 8-8-2006

Felecia R. Walls is the beloved sister of Bryce L. Tomlinson. This poem is published with the appreciated permission from its author.

Who else wants to make $2000 a month with these cool little crosses! .

2008-07-10T09:53:00.001-07:00

Lost Your Patience??
Remember God's!!!

There are times when I feel that I have lost all patience.
I start to get upset & complain about things that are going
on around me, I feel overwhelmed, then I stop and remember
God's Patience.

How often have I strayed from the path & purpose that He
has set before me? How often have I turned from His
outstretched hand, knowingly?!
Yet there He is despite my disobedience.
Thank you God for your persistent patience & love!!

When I start to feel as if my patience is dwindling, I now
stop and remember Yours. I then quickly remember that
my life is not my own but Yours, forever & always!!

When I try to reach out to people and they don't reach back,
I remember God's Patience!

God, thank you for always watching over me & being
Patient!!!

-Julie F. Tomlinson, 11-1-2006

Who else wants to make $2000 a month with these cool little crosses! .

2008-07-10T09:01:00.001-07:00

Kaleidoscope V4.0: A program I wrote for the Commodore 64 computer back in 1989, reputed to be the best keyboard graphics editor for the 64 ever made.

Who else wants to make $2000 a month with these cool little crosses! .

2008-07-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

Spyware Warrior's ROGUE/SUSPECT index: Think you've got the best anti-virus/anti-spyware program installed on your computer? If it's on the Rogue/Suspect index, you've probably already GOT a big problem! Check this out, you'll be surprised!

Who else wants to make $2000 a month with these cool little crosses! .

2008-07-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

The Evil Power of
To:

An attempt to educate the masses
by Bryce L. Tomlinson

I'm writing this because it desperately needs to be said. It's not because I choose to be hurtful or bitter toward anyone. I've had to send similar emails to people before, and it's always seemed to cause needless problems, and in fact, some individuals almost never email me anymore. And that is sad.

I really love hearing from my family and friends, and I appreciate that they think of me often enough to send me things.

...but...

EVERYONE needs to learn about the Evil Power of To:.

This is a gripping attempt to teach people why they get SPAM, and why all of their friends get SPAM, as well as how these disturbing "e" mailing lists are amassed.

If you must send something that you are sending to a multitude of people, PLEASE put all of those people's email addresses (especially MINE) on the "BCC:" (blind carbon copy) line of that email INSTEAD of the "TO:" line. I have a very legit reason for requesting this...

Programs are being used by HUGE corporations now, which monitor email addresses of all kinds of people, and they "harvest" email addresses from the messages they receive. i.e. you send a message to Bob, Sally, John, and Sarah. Sarah sends the message to Mary, Joe, Kerry, and Max. It just so happens that Kerry works for Office Max, and Sarah only has her work email "kerry@officemax.net" and it just so happens that Office Max has a contract with a company which sends out random Office Max offers to people through mass emailings. This company has been authorized to use a program which "harvests" addresses from everyone's email on officemax.net, and since Kerry gets the message at work, this contractor now has the addresses of Bob, Sally, John, Sarah, Mary, Joe and Max, not to mention Kerry, and of course, YOU. So the next thing you know this company sends out Office Max offers to Sarah, Mary, Joe, Max, Bob, Sally John, and you. Then they sell all those addresses to other similar mass mailing companies, possibly including ones about breakfast cereals, home security systems, auto insurance, and maybe even a farm animal or two.

The point is, there is not one person who is immune to spam. The only ways to prevent it are to (A) delete it instead of forwarding it, (B) only sending it to one person at a time (thusly eliminating the possibility that someone might harvest OTHER addresses from a single email), and (C) using the BCC: line instead of the TO: line... one easy way to do this is to put your OWN email address on the TO: line (thusly sending it only to yourself--but wait!) and then putting all the other email addresses on the BCC: line. This way everyone's addresses stay private, the way they should. Even then though, it seems someone inevitably gets you once in a while.

By putting my email address on the TO: line of a message you send to lots of people, you give them, and many others, access to my personal address, which is much the same as giving them my phone number, at least as far as I'm concerned. How many times have you opened up a forwarded message from someone and literally had to sift through 5 or more pages of other people's addresses before you actually got to the content of the message? Believe me, ALL of those addresses have been harvested by these mass mailing companies.

Please don't take this wrong.... Like I said, I love to hear from my family and friends, and I like a joke or an interesting headline about as much as anyone else. But at the expense of exposing my email to everyone on the net, I have to object. At least one of my email accounts is virtually unusable because of spam, and I'd hate to have to abandon any other addresses just because people choose not to educate themselves about the Evil Power of To:.

-Bryce

Who else wants to make $2000 a month with these cool little crosses! .

2008-03-11T00:04:00.001-07:00

Hope you are all enjoying the web site... I am working hard on my vacation to make it better for both you and I. Thanks so much for visiting. -Bryce

Who else wants to make $2000 a month with these cool little crosses! .

2008-02-11T00:14:00.000-08:00

Study Notes - Sunday Morning Sermon, January 20th & 27th, 2008

U 'n' I-TY

To get the results that God has promised, I must commit myself to the process that God has outlined.

The presence of God is realized through UNITY
The power of God is released through UNITY
The purpose of God is recognized by UNITY

Greatness is the result of intention.
Greatness is fulfilled living.

We are made to rule, reign, prevail, against ANYTHING - TOGETHER.

Acts 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. (KJV)

We MUST work together...
* ...at working together
* ...at being unified
* ...within ourselves - FIRST!

Satan cannot create a thing - he can only pervert a thing.

Matthew 18:19-20
19Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

This means working w/REAL PEOPLE.
I have to accept YOU for YOU.
You have to accept ME for ME.
We have to commit ourselves to doing our best.

U 'n' I-TY:
* We are made to prevail against anything-TOGETHER!
* God's strategy for success is TEAMWORK!
* Definition: agreement, harmony, accord, union, unanimity.

Division:
* It is the work of the devil.
* It is the work of the flesh.
* It is the work of immaturity.
* Definition: separation, dissection, split, rift, break, schism

When God says, "Let them have dominion," he is talking ABOUT us, talking TO Himself and all creation.
* Let: Allow, give permission, consent, permit, agree to.
* Them: The people in right relationship with God.
* Have: posess, own, retain, hold, control, contain, obtain, get, gain, experience, partake of, engage in, take part in, enjoy.
* Many of us have not seen dominion yet.
* You don't have to pray for dominion, just act in UNITY!
* If you don't move into the position of UNITY, you will not experience the dominion God has put over you.
* God gave dominion to US, not to ME.

UNITY is what makes us believable:
* It is impossible to be in His image AND be divided.
* God is not interested in your promotion - He equips you to help others.
* If I fly off the handle, it's because I'm off the handle. How I handle myself tells about what's inside.
* I can't be right with God if I'm not right with you.
* If you really want UNITY, make a list of all the relationships in your life where there is a rift. Take that list and place it on an altar where you can see it daily. Share it with an accountability partner. Put red ink over each name - and ask God to cover the conflict with the Blood of Jesus.

We live in a body, but we are spirit.
We must work at it -- ALL THE TIME.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could just pray about a conflict, and it be over? But really, as soon as you're don't praying, you'll face the conflict again.

Levels of Conflict:
PEBBLE: Let it slide.
ROCK: Hurts, proceed with caution.
STONE: Don't Go There.
BOULDER: You'd better wait for the Holy Spirit.

2008-02-10T23:56:00.000-08:00

Study Notes - Wednesday Night Bible Study, January 23rd, 2008

From the middle of Exodus chapter 3 to chapter 4, Moses makes excuses.
"An excuse is a bold-faced lie, wrapped in the onion-skin of reason."

Self Image:
* God always speaks to your potential.
* What you believe about yourself determines where you will be.
* The will of God is not automatic.
* How you see yourself will determine what God can do with you.

In Judges, Gideon hadn't stepped into his identity.

Prejection: Put off on others what is in you.

People who are afraid are not an asset - they are a liability.

* Pay attention to where you are - "Do you know where you are? Favor!"
* Don't reason away what God is doing. ie God works a miracle - man tries to explain it away.
* Remain God Conscious.
* Greatness is not an accident.

Are there opportunities of faith that you may have missed because of what you thought about yourself?

2008-01-27T06:13:00.000-08:00

Study Notes: Wednesday, January 16th, 2008

1. Pay attention to where you are
2. Be God Conscious - be careful not to reason away what God is doing
3. Let go of every excuse
4. Use these principles every day
5. Greatness is not an accident

I am: Flaky, Procrastinating, Logical, Manipulative, Funny, Wierd, Smart

Coult it be that Moses' excuses came from his:
1. Self-image?
What you believe about yourself has more influence than: God, the devil, and others.
2. Past experience?
Learn from past experiences, but don't live in them!
3. Lack of desire?
Preaching & Teaching won't help you if you don't do something with it.

When you believe in yourself, the devil can't stop you.

2008-01-17T00:19:00.000-08:00

Nintendo DS Freeware

Yes, that's right, you read it correctly. If you know me, you already are aware that I'm a big fan of freeware and homebrew stuff, so this shouldn't come as any real big surprise. But since we here at AHTW are all about releasing folks from the bondage of sin, how about another great reason not to pirate game cartridges? There are HUNDREDS of utilities and games out there for your handheld game machine for -FREE-. Folks just love to write these programs, well, just because! And I'm gonna point you in the right direction to get it all (well, all of it that I'm aware of)! Check this stuff out on the Software page.

Introducing Pastor Steven Holt - D2E - Steven Holt Ministries

2008-01-08T15:13:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

This video was produced to be presented at the National Inspirational Youth Conference, December 2007 in Dallas, Texas USA

See more of my videos at http://www.youtube.com/brobryce

If you like this, please come and visit me at

1800+ photos, original music, blog, technical articles, free software & much much more!

2007-12-15T00:56:00.000-08:00

Realization Ministries - Reverend Raymond Rippenkroeger

As some of you may know, on October 8th, 2005, Julie & I were married on the beach at Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, Oregon. You may also know that the man who officiated the service was my friend and co-worker, Rev. Ray Rippenkroeger. Since then, Ray moved to Texas, and began taking on a role that Paul, a bondservant of our Lord Jesus Christ, took -- starting ministries. As you can see by his words in the article below, he is passionate about introducing people to Jesus. He has given me permission to reprint his writings here, but I urge you to visit his web site:

http://www.realizationministries.com

God bless you Rev. Ray, and I thank God that we've been reunited through the gift of the internet!

-Bryce

2007-12-15T00:40:00.000-08:00

"Have you ever noticed that the World is Watching You?"

By Rev. Raymond Rippenkroeger
Posted October 11, 07

References:

1 John 4: 4, "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (NIV)

1 Timothy 1: 7; 1 John 1: 5 to 2: 6; John 3: 16.

I am truly amazed how so many Christians have been wondering why the "unsaved" people of the world do not want to listen to what is said about needing Jesus Christ.; that they do not want to come to Church or received Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

People view "only on Sunday" Christians as hypocrites, bigots, judgmental, opinionated, holier-than-thou, fanatics or "religious" people. The type that say one thing, but do another; those that only behave "holy" or Christian on Sunday, while the rest of the week they are like "non-believers" in daily activities or conversations.

Bickering, denominational churches divided in doctrine, that can't get along, and clashing church members that don't speak or fellowship with those of other denominations. Even worse is when Christians are seen treating one another within the church as the World treats each other; judgmental, bigoted, slanderous, gossiping, lying, blatantly opinionated that don't care what others think or feel. Lowest of all, however, are those that believe they are better than those around them, that have a higher position in the ministry than someone else that exaggerates their own importance.

How can we expect the world that watches us to want to be with us, let alone come to the saving grace of Christ? This may seem negative, or harsh, but people should be rushing to church and to Christians for knowledge of God's gifts. Instead, they watch as Christians stumble and fall, putting people off from Christianity and Christ. Before I came to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior in November 1980, the divisive, outward appearance is why I initially stayed away. We need to refocus our attention from why people aren't coming, to what keeps people from wanting to come.

The divisive, hypocritical words and actions have to stop. Pastors, Ministers, and Evangelists who try to push their own agenda, or amass a huge church or following can begin to spiral around money, money, money, money. They don't study the fullness of the Word of God to know what it says about the key subjects (Scriptures) that tend to cause division amongst the churches or church members. There is an unbelievable arrogance of "These are the only things I will allow or accept in my church;" or when discussion of Scripture is stifled because it could require change, even radical change, to the way things have always been. Change is feared, and new ideas are often over looked in favor of the tried-and-true. Remember, Spiritual Leader, it is God's church. The Holy Spirit does the leading, and prayer (communion) should be of the utmost importance. "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4: 4), that "God has not given you the spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and of a sound mind" (1 Tim. 1: 7).

Church members must show love and humility ALL of the time, to ALL of the members, regardless of whether they are young, old, new members, seasoned members, and even those of different thought. Christians need to be a Christ-ian at home, work, the store, or the mall throughout the week--Monday through Sunday! Sunday is not a "Show Out day" or just a day of atonement to feel better about what you did in the past week, or even Sunday morning before you arrived at church.

I am so thankful for those that call themselves Believers or that are "religious," because if it were not for them we would be really behind on "saved souls." I truly want ALL of those claiming to be saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Spirit to follow the Lord God Almighty's commandments and let the world see Jesus talking, walking, working, and loving every one, everywhere, at all times through them! 1 John 1: 5 to 2: 6 tell us, "If we claim" to be Christian, then according to Chapters 2 and 3 we are commanded by God in how we should live before Man and God.

If someone thinks that the course of their life is not how the Scriptures describe how it should be, then it may be a good time for them to reflect on how they act before God and in the presence of all other people--men, women, and children alike. Furthermore, it's important to remember that God often reminded people they would Reap what they Sowed; acting against the will of God could bring about serious, undesired consequences.

I am guilty of some of these things myself and so this message is for me as well. God as put it on my heart for many years, and I have spoken to many people about this one-on-one in part or in whole. The Spirit has been moving upon my own and I had to write this. You can try to slip past the leading of the Spirit, but God will always win out.

I have been given the spiritual gift of love; even toward those people I would not have been able to years ago. I must obey God's calling to share this gift and to express, utilize, or use it. I know how wonderful, holy, magnificent, mighty, majestic, and almighty our heavenly Father is. I reverence Him with all my spirit; with humility I bow down before even His name. I am unworthy of anything He blesses me with and I am ashamed how I do not do all I am commanded to do, even the little things. But, the Lord God our Savior and our Redeemer loves me; He loves you enough to be so merciful that He gave us His only begotten Son to show us the Way and to be crucified on the Cross (praise you Lord Jesus!) so that the price of all my sins would be paid for. Hallelujah!

I pray that you will, this day, turn your eyes, heart, and spirit up unto the Lord our God and repent of your unacceptable ways, so that the "unsaved" will desire, and see, the wonderful gift of God and come running to receive it. The Lord Jesus (praise Him) will reward you and allow the harvest to be good and plentiful from now on.

I love you who may be reading this and to those whom may it be shared with. I hope that these words will help you grow in Christ and let the world see Christ-ians (littles Christs). It is always my desire to help you, help the world, to God's blessings and that the Lord is pleased with what He sees.

If you have any questions, comments, or prayers, and praise reports just let me known through this website.

John 3: 16 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, and whosoever believes in Him, shall not die, but have everlasting life." Amen. Make the decision today and do not let another day pass by without your eternal salvation.

Rev. Raymond J. Rippenkroeger ( Rev. Ray )

Read more here: [Sermon Index]

2007-12-08T01:58:00.001-08:00

Andrew Wiskow & Kaleidoscope V4.0 on CNN.COM!!

I come home from an exhilerating night of karaoke, and here in my email is a feedback from my good friend Andrew Wiskow -- telling me to go to this CNN.com page, and look at PHOTO #13. Sure enough, there we are! Andrew with his trusty Commodore 64, showing a convention of loyal Commodore owners a certain graphic editor, called Kaleidoscope (written by myself AKA Quicksilver). Andrew, we've arrived!!

(Click the photo to see the page)

Also, check out Andrew's homepage at: http://mysite.verizon.net/wiskow/

The picture is from the Anything Commodore User Group (ACUG, Located in Astoria, Oregon) web site: http://hometown.aol.com/acug0447/

...and my Kaleidoscope V4 page is at: http://www.ahearttowitness.com/kscope

2007-12-05T23:19:00.000-08:00

Pastor Steven Holt Oct. 8th, 2005

This is picture of Pastor Holt back in '05, performing the benediction for our wedding cerimony at Cannon Beach, Oregon. At the time, he still had his braids. Since then he's gone for a little closer haircut. :)

Pastor Steven Holt, The International Fellowship Family
http://www.tiff-usa.org
Photo 2005 by Raymond M. Walls Jr.

2007-11-30T23:40:00.000-08:00

What
if there were
no more Christmas?

Opinionated Commentary by Bryce L. Tomlinson

-----EDITOR'S NOTE-----
This post was originally an article I released two years ago in the essays section of this site. After hearing about Lowe's choosing to sell "Family" trees instead of Christmas trees, I thought it suitable to post this here.
----------------------------

So the question is asked. What if there were no more Christmas?

You go to the supermarket, buy your fruitcake, greeting cards, wrapping paper, and an artificial tree complete with fiber-optic lights. You wait through the mile-long line and make your purchase with your special edition green-and-red credit card. Your friendly department store clerk, clad in Santa hat and ringing with pigtail-hung bells, chimes with a smile, "Thank you, and...." and then it comes, "Happy Holidays"

Wow. Now to many people, this generic greeting is so normalized as to be no big deal. And maybe that makes me just a person who has been oblivious to this change for the last 34 of my 35 years. And maybe you could be one of those folks who's going to say I don't have a lot of room to talk, considering that many of my Christmases might well have been spent completely without acknowledgement of the very person whom Christmas is intended to honor. But, if I do say so myself, and I do, my train of thoughts come from a different direction these days. The Lord has opened my eyes to a great many things in the no-so-distant past, many of those things being about yours truly, myself. But he's also given me an ability to be more observant. So without terrying any longer, I shall now dispense my observations.

As I understand it, the many branches of the military are currently (and I mean very currently) seeing to it that military chaplains do not pray "in Jesus' name". You know, the enemy would love to have you think this is coincidence. This is not the time of year to be gambling with the souls of our loved ones overseas. Scripture teaches us that by invoking the Lord's name in prayer, we both honor Him and also recognise that we come to the Father but by way of the Son. Scripture also tells us that we will be persecuted for loving Christ. The fact that this news comes at Christmastime doesn't say to me it's a coincidence. This is the time of year that Christians are most likely to honor our Lord. The enemy's most efficient way of preventing that has ALWAYS been to erase him from our minds.

As humans, we have always managed to find ways to deny Christ. Even beloved Peter, though he was sure he would be dedicated to the very end, was told by Jesus himself, "Verily I say unto thee, that this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." (Matthew 26:34) Lo and behold, Peter did deny knowing him three times. And this was a man who had spent much of the last 3 years ministering side-by-side with Jesus.

In Isaiah Chapter 1, we see a SHINING example of how God has gone out of his way to remind us of him, despite the fact that we wander so far off the path... (1) Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: "I have nourished and brought up children. And they have rebelled against Me; (2) The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master's crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider."

Watch your televisions, folks. Watch for it. Notice how you never hear that annoying but happy PayLess jingle "Merry Christmas, from..." okay okay. I just remembered that not only don't I ever hear from them, I'm pretty sure they don't exist anymore. (For those of you who are thinking about the shoe store, I'm talking about an old department store--and I'm showing the world how old I'm getting). PayLess isn't the only thing to disappear, though. Sears, Wal-Mart, Fred Meyer, and more have all changed their tune. In fact, I even saw an ad where someone actually changed "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to "We Wish You a Happy Honda Day". How absurd. That song would have never been written if Christ hadn't been born. Christmas carols wouldn't have ever been thought up in the first place.

I saw an edition of "The View" where these four women had a rather heated debate about greeting cards. The argument started when one of the women read an article where President Bush had sent out over a million greeting cards and they all wished their recipients a happy "holiday season." This coming from a conservative and self-proclaimed Christian has drawn some serious criticism, and understandably, has set the example for many folks to follow suit. So back to these four women. They started arguing visciously over whether it was okay to send out cards that say "Merry Christmas." Two of the women (I'll call them Sane Sister #1 and Sane Sister #2) were agreed that they send out cards that reflect their own faith, and if someone on their list gets offended, well, they're scratched off the list for next year. Simple as that. But the other two women were so concerned with the harm that even ONE year's "Christmas" card could do, it was all they could do to restrain themselves and return the show to some semblance of order. I can say with confidence you will NEVER get a Christmas card from me without the word C-H-R-I-S-T in it.

I have a news flash for you. We've gone way beyond the days of writing "XMAS". Not only have we taken the Christ out, we've virtually erased the entire word from our super-duper-politically-correct-extra-non-offensive vocabulary.

So here's my point: What if this were the last year you were allowed to celebrate Christmas? After all that talk, it doesn't seem so far off base now, does it? What if there were no more Christmas? What if you went out and bought your 2006 calendar and it didn't say "Christmas" on December 25th? I mean, if it's not okay for the guy at the Burger King window to say it, why would it be okay to put it on the calendar?

WHAT IF THERE WERE NO MORE CHRISTMAS, I ASK YOU.

What will you do? I ask it this way because that time is coming. It might already be here.

Make sure you celebrate Christmas -- the celebration of our Lord and Saviour's birth -- literally meaning "Christ Mass". And teach it to your children. It is your job. "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4) "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him." (Genesis 18:19) Without His birth, He could have never died for our sins. My sins, your sins, and the sins of those yet to come. He became sin itself so that sin could be destroyed upon the cross. Without Jesus Christ, we are unworthy to face the judgement of the Father. But with Him, we can have the peace, love, and everlasting life that comes only from being purified by blood that was shed by someone whose name is NOT "X".
-------------------------------
Bryce L. Tomlinson's opinion is not to be considered affiliated with any organization or entity other than himself. Bryce L. Tomlinson's opinion is the sole property of its owner, Bryce L. Tomlinson, and is not to be sold for profit, though it can be borrowed with permission (if you ask with cherries on top).

2007-11-30T21:06:00.000-08:00

Blossom & Sasha - Pug Puppies on the Beach

Here's a picture I took last year when we were staying at Seaside, Oregon. They were just babies!

2007-11-28T10:53:00.001-08:00

Panorama of San Francisco by Bryce L. Tomlinson

Check out this 180-degree panorama of San Francisco taken from the site of the radio tower. I used a Fuji Finepix 3800 digital camera and a micro-tripod. I think this is comprised of 20 or so shots. Click on the image to enlarge it, and then use your browser to pan back and forth across the picture. Amazing, isn't it!?

2007-11-28T10:39:00.000-08:00

This is a picture that I promised my Aunt Terry back in 2005 I would publish on the web site. There is a low-res version of this in the photo gallery, but as far as this hi-res copy, I just have not gotten to it. I don't have any decent excuses, but here it is. Aunt Terry & Family!

2007-11-19T01:24:00.001-08:00

How to Install FREE MP3 & MIDI Ringtones on Your Samsung M500 Cell Phone Using Your USB Cable

NOTE: I've gotten a lot of emails about folks getting a "Media Saving Has Failed" error. To remedy this, please MAKE SURE that you rename your files without spaces in the filename. (ie: "Whole Lotta Love" should be renamed "wholelottalove").

Click To Play

Click HERE if you want to see this video FULL SCREEN

Here is the video which explains EVERYTHING you need to know about installing ringtones on your Samsung SPH-M500 cell phone!

Come see the original article, and so much more at

http://www.ahearttowitness.com/blog/2007/11/how-to-install-mp3-midi-ringtones-on.html

See more of my videos at http://www.ahearttowitness.com/videos.html

2007-11-13T01:16:00.000-08:00

The Original Modem Locker
Keep Your Internet On Lockdown!
Created by Webmaster & Host: Bryce L. Tomlinson

How many times have you told your kids to do their homework, only to find that they were in their room instant messaging their friends on AOL?

Have a boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse that spends too much time on "shady" web sites when you're not around or in bed?

Just want more control over the internet consumption in your household?

HERE'S YOUR ANSWER!

The Original Modem Locker actually puts the internet in a BOX. A big metal BOX. With a geniune Master 4-cylinder combination lock. All the cables run into the box, where they can't be touched. The opening for the cables is sealed with a special sealant foam that is VERY tamper-resistant. In essence, nobody is going to get into the internet without either destroying the box entirely (which would be NO SMALL TASK), or by asking your permission. Your cable modem or DSL modem goes inside The Original Modem Locker, along with its power supply, which gets plugged into a power strip that is fastened inside the Locker. When you want to disable or enable the internet, you simply unlock the combination lock, open The Original Modem Locker, and flip the switch on the power strip. Because the switch is INSIDE, it is inaccessible to anyone other than the person knowing the combination, and since the combination can be custom set by the owner, you can change it as often as you like to increase security. Put this on the wall, and it becomes a very conspicuous symbol, telling everyone in your household that someone is definitely in charge!

The kit includes:

The Locker (10.25"H x 10.5"W x 4.25"D)
A Genuine Master 4-cylinder Combination Lock
Power Strip (brand and model may vary)
Sealant Foam
Wall Anchors
Wall Screws

If you are mounting it on a wall, you will need a drill and a screwdriver. Otherwise, it works just as well sitting on a shelf or on the floor.

Simple instructions are included.

For the discounted price of $90 + $25 Shipping & Handling (United States Customers ONLY), you can finally have TOTAL peace of mind about the internet in your household.

To buy The Original Modem Locker, click the "Buy Now" button.

2007-11-13T01:10:00.000-08:00

BUGSHOOT: Spybot Search & Destroy's TeaTimer Keeps Popping Up With Notifications and Won't Operate In Silent Mode
by Bryce L. Tomlinson

*** WARNING WARNING WARNING ***

Some of these solutions are VERY advanced! While I encourage everyone to learn by experimentation, if you are a novice, and your computer has anything important on it, I must insist that you get have an expert fix it for you! I do NOT claim that any of these solutions will fix your computer! Furthermore, I recommend that you have your computer fully scanned, and RID of all viruses, spyware, and other malware before attempting any modification at all. I cannot and do NOT claim responsibility for your computer working or not working, and I do NOT claim the feasibility of any of these solutions to fit your need or any other purpose whatsoever. In other words, if you perform one of these solutions, and your computer stops working as a result of it, I will pray for you, but that's about as far as I can go!

*** WARNING WARNING WARNING ***

If you use Spybot Search & Destroy (which I highly recommend you do) to protect your system from spyware and malware, it comes with two little extra accessories which keep your system clean constantly. One of those peices is called "SDHelper" which is used by the system to prevent Internet Explorer from going to certain known web sites that might harm your computer. The other part, which is what we'll be dealing with today, is called "TeaTimer".

TeaTimer is used to keep your registry safe (if you don't know what the registry is, it's basically where almost all of Windows' settings are stored -- if they get messed up, you can be in big trouble), and to monitor your computer for known spyware/malware processes. If you accidentally run a program that it suspects is bad for you, or if a program makes a change to the registry (Windows' settings) that it thinks are suspicious, it will pop up with a dialog box and ask you what to do about it.

To begin with, it should be made clear that Spybot's TeaTimer doesn't have a silent mode. If it sees a suspicious registry change happening, it's going to let you know about it (especially when it comes to the startup section of the registry), sometimes over and over again. For this fix, I'll use an example of what was happening to me, and then I'll explain how I solved it.

I had just installed all the software on my new computer, and now I had decided to use MSConfig to eliminate some of the junk that Windows was booting up every time I turned my computer on. Once the changes were made, I clicked "Apply" and then TeaTimer popped up. For each change, I clicked the "Allow" button and also checked the "Remember this decision" box so I wouldn't have to keep answering that dialog.

Next, I rebooted my system. Once all the programs were run, and TeaTimer popped back up in the system tray, it popped up with about 8 boxes saying that it allowed these changes to the registry. Well, this was kind of annoying, even though the boxes went away very quickly. I thought to myself, "well, if you know already that I allowed it, why tell me about it?" So I rebooted the system again to see if it was going to be a persistant problem, and it was. Once again, the boxes came up. Again and again, the boxes came up.

After a little research, I found that Teatimer takes a "snapshot" of the registry the first time it is run. It then takes a look at the changes that happen to the registry and compares them to the snapshot. So TeaTimer was seeing changes every time I rebooted the computer, because it was still comparing the registry to the snapshot it had taken the first time I ran it.

To correct it, try the following:

1. Right-click on the Resident icon in the system tray (it's the one that looks like a little window with a tiny lock in front of it) and select "Exit Spybot S&D Resident). This will effectively quit TeaTimer and SDHelper.

2. Go to the program's folder (not in your Start Menu!) in "C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\" and double-click on the "TeaTimer" program to restart it.

This will effectively create a new snapshot of your registry, as if it were the first time you were running the program. After this, the dialog boxes for the registry changes that have occurred before this should go away for good.

No guarantees, but this SHOULD work if you know what you're doing!

2007-11-13T01:08:00.000-08:00

BUGSHOOT: System32 Folder Opens on Startup/Login
by Bryce L. Tomlinson

*** WARNING WARNING WARNING ***

An incorrect entry in the RUN section of your Windows registry can cause your computer to open the System32 folder upon startup or login.

To correct it, try the following:

1. Start regedit.exe (if you don't know how, please DON'T TRY this)
2. Go to the key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

In this key, you will see several things which windows runs when it starts up. what you are looking for here is anything that looks incomplete or incorrect, particularly when it comes to QUOTE marks (" "). If it looks like there is an entry which has way too many quote marks (and really out of place) or if it only has ONE quote ("), that's probably your culprit. Left click on that registry entry, and go on to step 3.

3. Going to your RegEdit FILE menu, choose "Export", so you can revert your changes later if needed. Save the file on your desktop for easy access (call it BUGSHOOT for this instance). If anything goes haywire, just go to the desktop and double-click the BUGSHOOT file you just created.
4. Now, right click the item you spotted in RegEdit, and select "Modify" Try to fix the entry, most likely just by repairing the placement of the quotes. For example, when I did it, I had an entry that looked like this:

"" "C:\Program Files\Stardock\Object Desktop\DesktopX\DesktopX.exe" -blablahwhatever" (or something to that effect, right?)

Well if you look closely at it, you can see that there are 5 quote marks, and there should be only 2. Repaired, it should look like this:

"C:\Program Files\Stardock\Object Desktop\DesktopX\DesktopX.exe" -blablahwhatever

Get it? There should always be an EVEN number of quote marks, and they should never have NULL values (nothing between them, like "").

5. Exit RegEdit and restart Windows.
6. Once Windows is done running, if the System32 folder still pops up, you've gotten the wrong one. So double-click the "BUGSHOOT" file you put on your desktop and restore the values that were there before. Go back and start over at step 1.

7. If it STILL won't fix, then go back and look at THIS key instead:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and resume your editing at step 3.

No guarantees, but this SHOULD work if you know what you're doing!

2007-11-13T00:50:00.000-08:00

BUGSHOOT: Right-Click or CTRL+C Causes Crash
by Bryce L. Tomlinson

*** WARNING WARNING WARNING ***

A faulty Explorer shell extension can cause Explorer to crash when right-clicking on a file, or when pressing Ctrl+C (copy).

To correct it, try the following:

1. Start regedit.exe (if you don't know how, please DON'T TRY this)
2. Go to the key

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

In this key, all shell extensions are listed which work with all files. The * is a real star (asterisk), it does not mean 'just any old key' here!

3. Choose "Registry" - "export registry", so you can revert your changes later if needed.
4. Right click on an individual branch inside "ContextMenuHandlers" and choose to export only the selected branch. When you save it, be sure to save it somewhere where you can find it (i.e. the Desktop) and name it something relevant (Like, if the handler says "ClamWin Scan" you might want to name it that when you save it)
5. Now delete the branch you just exported, and then try to right-click on whatever item was giving you problems before. If it still crashes, keep going back to step 4 and go through the handlers one by one until it works.
6. Once you have found the defective registry entry (i.e. you can now right click on stuff, right?), you will need to restore the other extensions that you previously exported and deleted. Go to Regedit's menu and select File>Import. Select the keys one by one and click Open. Keep doing this until you have all the working extensions back in place. BE CAREFUL not to put the defective key back in, or you will have to delete it again (or start over at step 1, as the case may be)!

If the error happens with directories or with virtual folders, you may have to repeat this process with the keys:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
or
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

2007-11-13T00:44:00.000-08:00

BUGSHOOT: Tools -> Folder Options Item Disappears
by Bryce L. Tomlinson

*** WARNING WARNING WARNING ***

I had just written an article about how to copy ringtones to a Samsung M500 cell phone, when someone (Thank you K!) emailed me saying that they couldn't follow Step 8 in that tutorial because the Folder Options item did not show up in their Tools menu. So I sent myself on a mad quest to figure out the problem, and here's my solution.

When you go to a folder on your computer, for example, "My Computer" or "My Documents", you see the Tools menu at the top of the window. When you click on Tools, you should see several items, including "Folder Options" at the bottom of the list. If not, it is most likely that the group policy for your computer, or your user/class, has been changed so as to hide it from your menu. If you are using Windows XP Professional, you can simply use the Group Policies Editor to fix this problem. However, XP Home does not come with this program. So we have to use a different method. To change the Folder Options setting, follow these steps:

1. Start regedit.exe (if you don't know how, please DON'T TRY this)
2. Go to the key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows
\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

In this key, you will see many string and dword values. You should see the item "NoFolderOptions". Double-click it.

3. Now you should see a dialog that will allow you to edit the value, which is probably set currently at "01". Change it to 0 (zero).
4. Click OK and then exit RegEdit.
5. You'll have to restart your computer for the change to take effect.

This method will also work on Windows XP Professional and 2000, because these are the same registry entries that the Group Policies Editor changes. However, with Pro and 2000, it seems the GPE is a simpler solution to use.

Special Thanks MUST go to Joe Zeiler for the article he wrote describing the Group Policies registry settings!

2007-11-13T00:38:00.000-08:00

How to install free MIDI & MP3 ringtones on a Samsung SPH-M500 cell phone
Webmaster, Host, PC Technician: Bryce L. Tomlinson

*** DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER ***

No warranty is offered on any of the following information. I do not guarantee customer support or technical support on any of this information, nor can I claim the feasibility of this article for any purposes, including, but not limited to, your purposes. In other words, if you mess up your phone or your computer using this information, we'll pray for you, but that's as far as we go. Just because an article has a great review or seems like a good idea, does NOT necessarily mean it is good for YOU. I cannot, and will not, claim responsibility for anyone's action and/or misaction regarding information that can be found on this page. Reprinting of this article is to be done ONLY with written permission and ONLY with this notice intact on the reprinted article. Users beware!

*** DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER ***

Click To Play

Click HERE if you want to see this video FULL SCREEN

Okay, here's the deal. I just switched over from Verizon to Sprint. It seems with all those commercials about the crowd of people called The Network following folks all over town, they're far too busy to come to my house. I can't get coverage with Verizon except in my bedroom, and even then I have to hold my face just right.

But I'm not here to gab on about Verizon.

My old phone was an LG VX-6100, which was quite easy to install ringtones on, using BitPim, a freeware program used to install and back up files on your cell phone. I had to get a data cable, of course, but other than that, it was pretty simple and straightforward.

So now I'm on Sprint, and we got this family package, and Julie & I decided to get these cool new Samsung M500 phones. It's kind of a multimedia extravaganza. You can play internet radio, watch videos, internet TV, games, etc. All that great stuff that you would want out of today's phones. It even comes with the USB data cable INCLUDED in the package! But it seems it is just TOO NEW for BitPim or anything else to help me put polyphonic ringtones on it. Julie & I experimented with these things for HOURS, to no avail. I finally decided that in order to get my favorite ringtone for when my wife would call me, I pointed the camera at the speaker of our stereo while my computer played Etta James' "At Last", and shot a video of the speaker. It sounded like garbage, but it worked. It really stunk.

But early the next morning, I figured out how. Really, it's probably not the RIGHT way to do it, and it's kind of a hack. But it works, and it doesn't damage the phone in any way.

NOTE: When I originally wrote this article, I had only experimented with MIDI ringtones. However, after doing further work, I discovered that this exact same method will also work with MP3 files. You have to edit them down using an audio editor (I recommend Audacity - you can find it listed under FREE PC SOFTWARE in my Family Resource Center) so that they're no bigger than 512k, or your phone won't use them as ringtones. Otherwise, follow the same instructions as you see below for MIDI files. Also, of course, I discourage using copyrighted material which you do not legally own. Using copyrighted music without paying for it is illegal.

Step 1: Be sure that you've got some ringtones. Go online and search for your favorite song in midi format. Type in "hallelujah midi" into Google for example. I'm sure you'll get a hit or two.

Step 2: Get yourself a MIDI editor. Most MIDI files are, for some reason, pretty quiet. Too quiet to really use as a ringer in most cases. It's pretty easy to fix, though. I used Anvil, it's free and easy to use (you can find it listed under FREE PC SOFTWARE in my Family Resource Center). Just click on the volume sliders next to each channel and pump them up. I also found this Online MIDI Editor where you can edit and create MIDI files via your web browser without installing anything. You should also cut down the length of the song, if you can. Most times, the song's only gonna go on for a minute or so before the person's sent off to voice mail anyway, and many of the midi files have a few seconds of silence or quiet at the beginning of the song, which means your caller is sitting there waiting for 5-10 seconds sometimes before you even HEAR your ringer.

Step 3: Now we get into the grits of the phone. First off, make sure you've got your memory card installed. Mine came with a 32MB MicroSD card, about as big as my pinky fingernail. Put that into the side of the phone and powercycle it (turn it off, and then back on), if you haven't already installed it.

Step 4: Plug in your data cable. If you haven't installed the cell phone modem drivers, you don't really have to right now. In fact, if you're using most modern versions of Linux, it's already installed. But for the purpose we're going to use right now, we don't need them. If Windows XP comes up and tells you about it, just hit "Cancel". If you choose to install them later (it might get annoying seeing that message every time), go ahead.

Step 5: Now, from your phone's MENU, select TOOLS. Go to "Mass Storage". If you've just installed your card for the first time, you'll have to use the FORMAT command. If not, just select "Connect to PC". If you're running Windows XP or Linux, it should detect the USB Mass Storage Device automatically.

Step 6: Open up your USB device (the phone) using Windows Explorer (click My Computer and then click the new device that's appeared there). You should see a folder there, called "DCIM". If not, create it (right-click, select NEW, and select FOLDER). Now, open up the DCIM folder. Inside, there should be another folder, called "100SSMED". again, if not, create it. Now open up that folder.

Step 7: Choose ONE midi file that you want to be your default ringer,. On mine, I chose the SuperMario All Stars video game theme. Drag and drop that midi file into the DCIM\100SSMED folder. You could put them all in there at once, but you probably won't want to, once you've read the rest of this article.

Step 8. Using your Explorer menu, select "Tools", then "Folder Options". Click on the "View" tab at the top of the window, and find the "Hide extensions for known file types" box in the list. Make sure that box is UNCHECKED. Click "Apply" and then "OK".

Step 9. It is now time to rename our MIDI file. We need to do 2 things here. First make sure there aren't any SPACES in the filename. For instance, if the name of the song is "All My Lovin'" we'll rename it "allmylovin". Secondly, we need to change the extension of the file from ".mid" to ".3g2". These phones use that fancy new 3rd Generation phone format. Now you should note that we're not actually converting the midi file into a real 3g2 file. We're just fooling the phone into playing it. So, to sum this step up, we've renamed our file from "All My Lovin'.mid" to "allmylovin.3g2". Okay so far? Let's keep going.

Step 10: Press the left button on your phone (you should see "DONE" as the option that appears above the button on the screen). This should disconnect the USB Storage device on the PC. Now exit all the way out of the menu using the END key.

Step 11: Now press the MENU/OK button, and select SETTINGS, then SOUNDS, then RINGER TYPE, then VOICE CALLS, and then WITH CALLER ID. Now you'll see all the different types of ringers you have in your phone. Go all the way to the bottom, and select MY VIDEOS., and then click on MEMORY CARD.

Step 12: If you don't have anything in there other than your ONE ringtone you just copied, you should just see 4 boxes, and one of them with a little "X" mark in the middle of it. Here's why you will probably only want to copy one ringer at a time. You don't get to see any filenames here. All you'll see is an "X" on each ringer, and from what I can tell, it doesn't seem to have a very consistent way of putting them in order. At first, I thought they'd be in alphabetical order, but I found that to be wrong. Then I thought reverse alphabetical, and I was mostly right, but still some seemed out of order. I would spend a half hour trying to pick the right ringer, just because it doesn't show the filenames. This is because a REAL 3g2 file contains its filename inside the file in a place called the "header". Since MIDI files have a completely different type of header, the phone doesn't find the filename. Anyways, long story short, I ended up just copying one or two files over at a time to make it easier to find the one I wanted. Select the file with the "X" on it, and click the MENU/OK button.

Step 13: Test it out. Go into your phone book and find someone's name that is set to use the Default Ringer (or just set one that way). Move down their entry until you reach where it actually says "Default Ringer" and you should see "Play" appear over your top-left button. Click on it, and you should now hear the midi ringtone you just sent to your phone.

Step 14: Now that you've designated the midi file to a specific ringer, you can delete it from your phone's memory card, because the phone already copied it into its own memory (although it still won't show up in any of the lists of ringers--in fact, if you change the default ringer in this case to some other ringtone, the MIDI file you just put on it mysteriously disappears into non-existence, so BE CAREFUL!). You can do this using the phone's own File Manager (Menu -> Tools -> Mass Storage -> File Manager), or from your PC using the USB cable.

Congrats! You've just installed a new ringtone! I know this method is a HUGE pain the rear, but it works pretty reliably if you do it right.

-Bryce L. Tomlinson, Webmaster & Author

This article is the sole property of Bryce L. Tomlinson. You may only reprint this article if you have written permission to do so, and only so long as the disclaimer at the top of the article as well as this notice are left intact.

SOME OF THE FEEDBACK I'VE RECIEVED...

June 26th, 2007 - "Hey Bryce, I just want to say that you're a GENIUS! I have the Samsung M500 phone and have been frustrated with ringtones. Using your method, I have put my own ringers on my phone! Thanks so much! Sincerely, -Charles ... P.S. If people do not have their data cable (or like me...hate to use that cable), they can just get a memory card reader for the microSD card and open the card's content that way. Food for thought. Thanks!"

July 4th, 2007 - "Thank you so much for posting the information on ringtones for the m500. I purposely purchased this phone because it has a mem card slot and I thought I could transfer ringtones, etc without the internet. I have been so frustrated and was about to purchase the internet service for a month so I could load my ringtones - what a blessing you are and a Christian too, that is AWESOME! THANK YOU!!!! -Angela"

July 22nd, 2007 - "Putting ringtones on the Samsung M500. GREAT WORK!!!! Thank you. I have been trying to figure out how to do this for months and have tried others' suggestions which didn't work. Yours did!!! I used the Audacity program with the Lame_enc.dll to put a MP3 cut on my phone. I followed the steps you outlined on your site and it worked very well. Thanks again for sharing your 'find' and not being selfish. -Dave"

2007-11-12T22:40:00.001-08:00

FOR SALE to USA BUYERS ONLY

Skechers Mens Size 10 Casual Shoes
$10 plus $9 (flat rate USPS Priority) shipping & handling

As you can see by the images, there is some normal wear on these shoes, but they still look very nice to wear, and the all-leather upper has been treated very nicely with Dr. Marten's Wonder Balsam to keep it supple and safe from water.

(Click an image to enlarge)

using PayPal, your Credit/Debit card, or your bank account (where available).

2007-11-12T12:33:00.000-08:00

Oh Thank God!

Hi folks, HE IS GOOD! After moving the web site to GoDaddy, I've had some issues to resolve. None of these were easy, nor were the solutions obvious. But I got them all working!

#1. The feedback form. I had to learn a little bit about PHP and such in order to reconfigure my feedback form to work on GoDaddy.
#2. Blogger. Blogger had errors publishing the blog. It kept on telling me it couldn't publish "atom.xml" or "rss.xml" because it "couldn't find the specified path". I found out I had to go back to Godaddy.com and change my account from a Windows host to a Linux host. That fixed it.
#3. With the new "Traffic Facts" statistics GoDaddy offers, I am able to see lots of other stuff that I couldn't see before on FreeServers, like missed hits, and referrer reports. One of the referrers I found, was revealing my personal information to the public. So I found out this is not an isolated issue, but I was able to subscribe to a service that protects that information. This site is nickel-and-diming me all over the place (Hey! What a great place to remind people to donate, eh? -- check out the DONATE button at the top of this page!)

2007-08-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our collection... if you want to see more click on the "Pictures" link above or go to http://www.ahearttowitness.com/pictures

Me (Bryce L. Tomlinson) & My Dad, Tom.

My wife Julie & I (Bryce L. Tomlinson).

2007-07-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

JONNY LANG HITS PORTLAND 2 TIMES IN 2007!!!

Here in Portland, Oregon, it's not really normal for top-name act to come more than once a year. Most folks don't even gig here THAT often.

Enter Jonny Lang. If you saw him back in March (I did!) you know that Portland is about to have its head rocked off. After getting sick with an upper respiratory infection and not being able to make the Kink Holiday Benefit for the Oregon Food Bank in 2006 with Feist, Nu Shooz, and Mindy Smith, he came back in 2007 for the Kink Holiday Benefit II to make good for all of us who crowded the Roseland the first time, and we ended up getting 2 full blown concerts for the price of one. This time, Mat Kearney and The Colour opened up for him, and both of those were awesome shows, too!

Okay, so now it's later on in the year, and Julie and I were thinking about flying down to Vegas to see Jonny at The House Of Blues on July 27th, 2007. But it ended up that we would have spent like $700 just to get down there and back, not including the concert tickets (which we would have gladly paid for). So we decided with our current situation that it would be prudent just to save the cash and wait for a closer show that we could drive to.

What is up with KINK and Jonny Lang?! I'm listening to the radio the other day on the way home and they tell me Jonny's coming back August 2nd to the Roseland again! I'm so there, Julie bought us tickets about 1/2 hour after I found out about it. Tickets are $43 available only from TicketsWest

Anyways, for those of you who don't know, Jonny's been up and down the road. He's been the child prodigy, learning to play guitar at 12 years old and having a platinum record by the time he was 15. Leading "Kid Jonny Lang and The Big Bang", he came into what we have come to know as Child Stardom, which comes with all its long list of complications. Drugs, alcohol, women, and for Jonny, it also involved the occult. He got into witchcraft and other bad habits that were leading him farther away from God. But The Lord had other plans for him. Check out his testimony at JonnyLang.com.

I've seen about a thousand concerts in my short time on Earth, and I'd put Jonny in the top 3.

BTW: Jonny, if you are reading this, please know that your testimony touches me. I've been looking for songs from your latest album on CD+G karaoke and simply can't find 'em. I'd love to sing your songs with you. If you'd like your tracks put on karaoke, please look me up. I've got all the best software for doing that sort of stuff. I know you're not short of cash, but I'll do it for free if you'll let me.

2007-07-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

Can I get a WITNESS?

Saturday this web site broke a record! 54 users came in and saw what we have to offer here. Most people have been looking at one particular article I wrote. But because I've learned a thing or two about how to move traffic around on the web site, some folks have actually taken the time to notice that there's a LOT of material here to enjoy--not just that one article.

For starters, you might enjoy some of the 1800+ photos I've posted in the Pictures section, or the tunes we've produced here in the studio and released in our Music page.

To add to this, there's the ALMOST-all-encompassing Family Resource Center. In here you'll find a huge library of FREE software you can download, some poems & essays, articles and more. This section is probably where you'll end up finding most of the goodies you want for your family.

I'm also working on an "About Me" page so that some folks who want to can learn some stuff about my past--who I was and who I've become.... more ahout that later.

I'll tell you where most of this web site's traffic is coming from... #1 - Mobiledia.com (a forum entry I made where I mentioned this site) #2 - Howardforums.com (another forum), #3 - Your bookmarks (people who have bookmarked the site or have memorized the address), and #4, Google. People search for stuff and find it here. That's my real intention. If I can type in something and have my web site come up on the first page of Google, I'm impressed. Someone told me that if I use a bunch of keywords having to do with certain celebrity names in my html, I'll get more hits. Who wants those kinds of hits? I mean, if I someone is searching for information about that celebrity, I would hope that my web site would have something to offer them. But for them to go looking for some star's name and just hit my web site by accident, well I don't think they're going to be witnessed to very well if they leave immediately because of being deceived. One of these days I'll write an article about how I got more hits using legitimate tactics. Preferrably I will write that article after it's actually happened though :)

One thing I will ask you all, and maybe you can help me out? If I go to Google, and type in my name "Bryce Tomlinson" I will get this page, and evidently a number of other pages having to do with some actor and some musician who just happen to share my name. But if I do an Image search on Google, my picture never comes up. I mean, out of 1800+ pictures, I should think some of them that have me in them would come up on google, but they don't! How is that possible? Please tell me how to make my pictures show up in google's image search.

Anyways, I've babbled enough for this morning. I'm off to bed (3 more weeks of graveyard shift and then I go to day shift!!!)

Alright Talk @ U Later! -BrotherBryce

2007-07-14T17:19:00.000-07:00

CRUSADE ENDS - LIVES CHANGED & SOULS SAVED!

As some of you may know, our church, The International Fellowship Family held a crusade this week. First off, I would like to extend my own personal thanks to Olivia McClurkin, who graciously and tenderly lead our congregation and praise team in praise and worship songs for the entire week. She is a friendly person, and she will be missed when she leaves. On Sunday Vickie Winans performed an entire concert. Vickie is a very funny comedienne and a very talented singer. Once the show got started, she was very easy to work with, even when our CD player didn't want to play the tracks she provided and we had to switch to another CD player in the middle of her performance. Dave Hollister (formerly of the group "Blackstreet") came on Thursday and Friday and blessed us with all with his vocal talents and his AMAZING story of deliverance.

Hmm... Let me just stop right there. I would love to tell you that all people who are saved are delivered. In fact, they are. But many don't portray that in the way they act. It is refreshing to see folks that recognize what they have been brought out of, and that Jesus Christ is the one who did it! Dave Hollister makes no issue about telling you Jesus saved him from a life that was totally separated from God. He even tells about being in a car accident that should have killed him, walking off without a scratch -- but COVERED IN BLOOD! WOW!!

Dave went on to tell our own in-the-house superstar rapper, Asa, that he and Dave were to enter into a "David and Jonathan covenant". So it will be interesting to see what comes of that relationship!!! God is good!

Tonight at 6pm, KPDQ.fm will be streaming (and playing on the radio here in Portland) an interview with our Pastor Steven Holt and Dave Hollister. Enjoy!

2007-07-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

WORKS IN PROGRESS IN THE MUSIC STUDIO

Just wanted to share with you how things are going in the music studio. Currently, we have 2 singles that we are working hard on. One new one we are particularly excited about is with Pastor Tressie (see "I Love The Lord" in the music page). On the other one, we are undecided about the vocalist. Wendell and I have been getting together at least once a week for some time now. Currently, I've been very sick, and I'm trying to get better ASAP so I can work hard during our church's July 8th - 13th here in Portland Oregon. I put off my whole calendar of studio time this week because I need time to get better. I now have some more really great software and hardware for producing the kind of tunes that our friends and supporters have come to expect. Praise God!!! I'm excited to see what will come out of A Heart To Witness Studios this summer! I'll get back to you all after the crusade about it.

2007-07-06T11:23:00.000-07:00

Hi, I know it's been a long time since I've posted a blog. Really, I'm not a blogger. So you'll have to excuse me in that I was hoping more OTHER people would want to participate. Since I've put up the blog, sister Elaine Bean, my wife Julie and myself have posted. Any comments I have recieved have simply been junk mail submitted by spam-bots. Thank you Jesus for moderation.

2006-11-15T10:21:00.000-08:00

What does your bank account look like?

I’m talking about the deposits you’re making in the Kingdom of Heaven. God promises rewards for our diligent work while we are here on earth. Hebrews 11:6 states, “He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek after Him." I believe we focus mostly on the reward of God’s goodness here on earth. Do we ever think about or seek after the rewards that are promised when we enter in the Kingdom of God? What are you worrying about – your bank account on earth or your bank account in heaven? Are you an earthly-minded believer or a heavenly-mind believer? Our work should be done in mind with increasing our heavenly account where our eternal home is.

Revelation 22:12 – "And behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to everyone according to his work."

Psalms 33:13 -15 - "The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashions their hearts individually. He considers all their works."

Your reward in heaven is dictated by what you do on earth. Have you considered the magnitude of your reward? God will judge our works here on earth and we control our destiny in heaven.

I Corinthians 3:13 -15 13 - "each one’s work will become clear; for the day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire."

The practice of excellence should never cease. What does your bank account look like? Are you mindful of the balance in your bank account. The balance can be affected and will not grow when we don’t follow God’s will. Likewise, the balance can be affected by stepping out of His will, as stated in 2 John 7-8 – "For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward."

The earth is temporal and heaven is eternal, so preparation for our new home is driven by the works on earth. For a new believer it’s not just about accepting Him as your Savior. A new believer must be able to see the big picture – he is preparing for a life with God – he is preparing for Kingdom business.

Jesus repeatedly talks about the rewards for overcoming because He wants us to stay focus and receive the full reward.

Some of the rewards are:

Ruler over many things – faithful over a few things, faithful over many things (Matt: 25:23)
Power over the nations – for he who overcomes and keeps His works (Rev 2:26)
A pillar in the temple of God – (Rev 3:12)
To sit on the throne with Jesus – (Rev 3:21)
Rewarded greatly when persecuted for His name’s sake – (Matt 5:21)
Be called great in the Kingdom for teaching God’s commandments – (Matt 5:19)
He will have abundance - For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance (Matt: 25:29)

Colossians 3:1-2 – "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth."

Final thought - Matthew 6:19-20 – "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal."

2006-11-01T23:53:00.000-08:00

Hi Familee,
Just a few reminders on a couple of special requests of mine. I would like to request that everyone keep Aisha & Greg in their prayers these next 2 weeks as they travel to Guatemala for their missionary trip. Also, keep my father Andy Purnama in yours prayers as he travels to Indonesia this month, he left on 10-31-06. Please pray for our government officials as we get ready to make our voices heard, remember everyone has a part in who comes to office. This includes our international government officials. Campaigns are going on all over the world at this time. So, please pray specifically for my family in Indonesia, I have several relatives running for office there and hopefully they can make a difference in that part of the world.

Everyone who was unable to attend this Wednesday evening 11-01-06 service: Our assignment is to remember our Prayer Hit List. We are to pray for everyone that we have listed. Then, we are to create a strategy on how to approach those on that list. Everyone, be prepared for next Weds. it will involve more of us and less of Pastor!!

Remember, this is the month to love on Pastors, yeah!!!
Well, that's all for this evening.
God Bless you all,
Jewelz

2006-10-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

Hey folks,

Just to keep you up to date, you may have noticed that we joined 2 web rings as of late, so as to further both this ministry and the ministries of other people who might be down the line in those rings. If you go back to our HOME page (click on the AHTW logo at the top of the screen), and then scroll down just below the news, you'll see our web ring information. You can then EASILY find a HUGE wealth of SAFE, CHRISTIAN sites to go to. There are more of us out there than you know! Check that resource out!
Also, you may have seen that we haven't had a lot of traffic here on the blog. If you'd like to chime in and contribute to the banter, PLEASE use the feedback links at the top and bottom of the page to send me an email, and I'll send you an invite to join the blog. We'd love to have you included in the action!

With Love, Your Host
-Bryce

2006-10-03T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hello Familee:
I was so blessed by last night's event. I could feel the opposition fleeing. I want to thank our Pastors' Steve & Aundria Holt for being obedient to God. Praise God for the power of His Word. He is good, all the time!! Familee, it's time for us to step it up and do our part of receiving God's harvest. Thank you all for your time
and commitment.

God Bless all, Julie Tomlinson

2006-09-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

Two Services @ TIFF!
It's great to see that everyone is on point for our new service this Sunday at The International Fellowship Family. 9am-10:30 for the first service, and then 11:15am-12:45pm for the second, or as Pastor Steve says, "until Jesus tells us to stop." This is a great change, and we shall embrace it! Thanks Pastor Steve for your great leadership!

-Bryce

2006-09-26T16:31:00.000-07:00

Bless the LORD! Thank you JESUS for allowing us this ministry to reach out to those in need with so many avenues to praise you! In the song, in the dance, with artwork and with our obedience to you we will PRAISE YOU!

-Bryce