I wonder if IBM would shut us down if...

I have boxes and boxes of junk which hasn't even been unpacked since we moved here over a year ago... Included in those boxes is everything from my previous life of a Lotus Notes consultant.

Now, somewhere in one of those boxes are old sample CDs of old versions of Lotus Notes... and I'm quite tempted to find those and install it on our server at the church.

Over the last few months I really noticed the lack of tools at my disposal for organizing all the little details of my responsibilities at the church. We've been exploring different software options at the church... but the reality is we can't afford to put that on the budget this year with so many other needs which are of higher importance... and besides, let's be honest, I'd be the only one using it :-)

I've been trying to organize everything with Outlook... and it stinks. It's just too darn limiting... I can't customize anything to meet my preferences or what I need... and I've been trying to find something in the open source world but not having much luck there either.

So... I'll have to go and check the license agreement on these old CDs before think of installing it... I wouldn't want IBM to come and shut the church down over license issues :-)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Practical Atheist

Image
Over the past few weeks our church has been doing a preaching series called Practical Atheist. This is based on the book The Christian Atheist by Pastor Craig Groeschel. I've been blown away by how God has worked in the hearts of so many people over the past few weeks. Mind you, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Pastor Craig's ministry has had such a huge influence on my personal walk with Jesus so just is just a continuation of that blessing. This week we're probably going to hit the hardest topic for me to preach on, I Believe in God but I Pursue Happiness at All Costs. I'm going to be using Jesus' parable of the sower and look at how our pursuit of happiness causes us to miss out on truly how God wants from our lives. This topic hits me right between the eyes as I'm being open and honest with God about what allow to be entertainment or how I go about trying to be happy. Do I allow myself to be entertained by sin? Do I pursue the world's view ...
Read more

Wellness Journey Update

Image
  In early April 2020, I decided to take better care of my health. Actually, the decision was made on January 1st, 2020. It just took me time and a month of lockdown in my basement to get me to do something about it. My focus was to care for myself physically, emotionally/mentally, and spiritually. In the first year of the journey, I saw some significant changes. I dropped nearly 60 pounds of weight, reduced back pain, and began sleeping through the night for the first time in my adult life! I also did some great work with my Christian therapist to strengthen my mental health. I began deepening my walk with Christ through strengthening devotions and intentional mentoring. As I experienced these blessings, my hope was to pass along these blessings to others. I became certified as a DDPY Fitness Level 1 Instructor and a FastTrack coach.  While there were blessings, there were also challenges. Particularly in the area of whether my involvement in particular exercise programs was ...
Read more

Revitalized Pastors and Leaders

Image
On March 15, 2023, the Barna Research Group released the "The Resilient Pastor Initiative". Its goal was to explore and share the state of pastors in America in the post-COVID climate we find ourselves in. According to the data, the state of pastors may not be as good as it appears from behind the pulpit. From 2015 to 2022 Barna notes the following where pastors responded "Excellent" in a number of categories: Spiritual well-being dropped from 37% to 14% Physical well-being fell from 24% to 9% Mental and emotional health plummeted from 39% to 11% The overall quality of life dipped from 42% to 18% The level of respect they felt from the community tanked from 22% to 10% Level of ‘true friends’ dropped by 50% from 34% to 17% The data also showed that this drop in wellness was more prevalent in younger pastors! Older pastors are riding it out to retirement. Now, before anyone from my church begins to panic, I'm OK. As shared in a blog post from January 2023 entitled...
Read more