anchorite.org

Budget Caclulator- Mint.com

Dave Ramsey on How to Get out of Debt

Stealing a page from #citrt (Church IT Round Table) playbook, I setup a 24/7 chat room we can use to discuss Orthodox Christianity and any other related topics.

http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=orthodox

#orthodox on freenode

IRC Primer

I use xchat on Windows and Linux as an IRC client…

Login and we will go from there.

After the worst earthquake in a long time, Haiti needs your prayers first and foremost.  If you would like to support organization that do work there, here is few good places to start learning about them.

• Consumer Reports Money Blog – Haitian earthquake relief: What to know before you donate
• Good Intentions Are Not Enough – The DOs and DON’Ts of Disaster Donations

• International Orthodox Christian Charities – Relief for the Beleaguered People of Haiti
• Bread for the World – How to Help in Haiti
• Compassion International – Haiti Earthquake Response Fund
• Convoy of Hope
• Samaritan’s Purse
• Squashed – Responding to the Haiti Earthquake

I am sure most of my Coptic Orthodox Readers have heard about the StMarkDC Graduate Passion Retreat, but for the rest of you who haven’t this is not the event to miss!  The winning entry to the video contest says it all…

The retreat is from February 19-21, 2010 and will be held at Sandy Cove in North East, Maryland.

This retreat will prepare you for Holy Week and change your life if you let it. Discussions will be given by Bishop David, Father Bishoy Andrawes, Father Anthony Messeh and Father Paul Guirgis.

Registration Information and details at http://www.stmarkdc.org/en/gradretreat and on Facebook.

From the Drupal/F1 project page…

This project’s goal is to create a solution for integrating Drupal with the Fellowship One Church Management System (ChMS).

Use the chipin widget here to help make this project happen. When the chipin amount is reached, development will begin. The development approach will be incremental, so once the base module is developed we will be adding features as time goes along.

The chipin here will fund the following features:

• Base Drupal/F1 integration for both Drupal 6 & Drupal 7
• The core work will basically get Drupal talking to the F1 database, doing core API integrations.
• The initial focus will be on user integration. User accounts from Fellowship One will be integrated into the Drupal user database. This includes basic profile information as well as login and site access.

Once these features are complete, more will be added. Next stages will focus on event integration and registrations.

Many thanks to Rob Feature and Matt Farina for getting this going.

Kaweem, a good buddy of mine and extreme gadget aficionado has recorded an awesome 3-part video review of Google’s Nexus One.

Google announced support for push email for Gmail and Google Apps User today via ActiveSync. The feature is already active and works well. Google now offers a somewhat complete mobile sync solution supporting contacts, calendar and email. Syncing is supported on Windows Mobile, iPhone and S60 platforms, Google Android already supported push Gmail.

Push mail for iPhone and Windows Mobile: the choice is yours

I know I am long overdue for an update on what’s been going on with OrthodoxSermons.org, we launched the new site on July 12th.  The team at Mustardseed Media did a wonderful job and we are continuing to work with them for additional features on the site.

One of the features I am most excited about on the new site is the ability for other Orthodox Churches to easily upload their sermons, once uploaded those sermons can be embedded back on the church site.

For the techies who may be interested, we are currently hosting the site on a Virtual Private Server at Slicehost and and all the media is stored on Amazon S3.

It was decided to not do a national Fall roundtable due to the economy, and the expensive nature of travel in general.  Instead, we are going to make a strong push for some GREAT regional roundtables in the fall. DC is hosting one such round table at McLean Bible Church in Vienna, VA. The cost for this event is $35.00 and you can register at dc.citrt.org. Finally the deadline for registration is 10-20-09.

We are having a meet and greet dinner the night before (Sunday the 25th) for people that plan to come into town early. Be sure to indicate that on the registration so we can plan accordingly. There is no additional charge if you are coming the night before.

So, now you are thinking, what is my part.  Right?  Well I’m glad you asked…  The goal of the Church IT Roundtable is to further community, relationships, and information sharing among IT folks in the church.  So your part in all of this is to spread the word.  Get in touch with the IT folks at churches you have relationships with and let them know about the event.

Register at dc.citrt.org.

Growing up in today’s culture, our children are inundated with all types of media throughout the day, from tv to radio to print.  A lot of that media is negative or not appropriate for children, some Christians advocate having our kids grow up in a bubble, avoiding media completely.  I think that a more moderate approach is better for the children, with the understanding that you can’t take something away without replacing it.  That said, here is a list of wonderful resources where you can find positive, wholesome media for your kids.  Using these resources in a moderate way (growing up I was limited to 1hr/day of TV in the summer and 2hr/weekend of TV during the school year) can be a wonderful, educational and entertaining benefit for our children.

• LifeKids.tv – teachings, videos, worship music, activities to do at home and answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about a child’s relationship with Jesus.
• Jellytelly – A new, online daily show from the creators of VeggieTales.
• HisKids.net – positive. powerful. radio on-demand
• Adventures in Odyssey – original audio stories brought to life by actors who make you feel like part of the experience.

Plugged In Online is a good place to check for reviews and discussions of mainstream media before watching it with your kids.

What media resources for children do you use and recommend?