Accountability

As technology is changing, we should all give ourselves an accountability checkup. As christians we should be striving to live our lives in accordance to the word of God. We should protect our hearts by shielding the junk that is thrown our way.  The internet has become a valuable resource to ministries across the globe. This same resource has also become a stumbling block for many. Most churches have internet filters within the church walls, but don’t offer the same protection to their staff outside of work.  As Christians we should all have someone that keeps us accountable in are walk, but what happens when no one is watching? xxxchurch.com will provide internet accountability for free. 

x3watch is a free accountability software that will monitor your internet use, then provide an accountability report to someone of your choice. The software doesn’t block internet sites or filter them out, it simply provides accountability for those that need it. They offer free downloads for mac & pc, so there is no excuse. You simply download and instal the software, type in your accountability partners email address, then set how often you want x3watch to generate a report. I personally have mine set to generate a report every two weeks, if any questionable site has been visited, a report is sent to my accountability partner to encourage honest accountability. Thats is!  

They also offer x3watchPro for $19.99. This has more benifits like monitoring myspace, but is only available for Windows PC users. They also offer SafeEyes, (Mac & PC) which is a parental control software for $49.99.

SafeEyes will:

• Control how much time is spent on the Internet (and what hours it is available)
• Record and list all websites that each user visits from the computer
• Send an alert when someone attempts to access objectionable content
• Control the types of programs your computer can access from the Internet
• Record (and limit) Instant Messenger chat sessions
• Block pop-up windows

Animated Backgrounds

This article came from Media317.com. I couldn’t have said it better.

Animated Backgrounds:
In worship services all over the country, projectors are displaying the text of the song on large screens for the audience to view.  Most of these presentations use animated backgrounds to enhance the display.  There are several places that I would recommend you look when getting ready to acquire these animated backgrounds.

Digital Juice produces high quality backgrounds that have been packed in what they call Jumpbacks. They have over 50 different bundles to choose from each containing a wide array of backgrounds. They are packaged according to themes and are a high quality. The range retail for $99, but are frequently on sale for much less. They are a great resource for your graphic needs.

Another quality source for animated backgrounds is Digital Hotcakes. They have an entire worship series of animated backgrounds. They are high quality products for about $49 per package. The one thing that Digital Hotcakes provides that is exciting is access to free backgrounds. The offer free downloads from their current inventory and they offer a free demo DVD containing several backgrounds.

by Alan Smith.