I write for Christian Computing Magazine, which is a decidedly Windows focused world. So when I submitted an article on using Linux, I was not surprised when my editor asked me to go in a different direction. So instead of letting it go to waste on my hard drive, I’m posting in here on my web site. You can find it be clicking on the Page Link to the right entitled “Do You Ubuntu?”

I am experimenting with Linux. Awhile back I installed Ubuntu Linux to give a review of the OS for Christian Computing Magazine. I liked it, but it is a little bit difficult to get used to it. I then went with PCLinuxOS. It is based on a different interface called KDE. KDE is a little easier for Windows users and PCLinux is a lot easier with its graphical interface for configurations. However, the support community is not nearly as big as Ubuntu’s. So I decided to give their KDE version called Kubuntu a shot. I have enjoyed it alot. I am running VMWare for the three or four programs that run under windows but won’t install in WINE (an interface allowing you to run Windows software in Linux natively).

This post is being written with a Linux tool called Drivel. It is easy to post without having to go to my web site and login. And I will be doing my Bible Study using VMWare with Logos and Bibleworks installed on it. I have e-Sword running under WINE and then I am using OpenOffice.org for word processing.

I haven’t read the book, but in a recent Preaching Now email newsletter, it was mentioned. The book is called Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones. In it, according to Preaching Now, which I recommend you subscribe to, says , that a relationsional outline that might be very effective would go something like this.

ME = Start with an illustration of a personal matter or struggle. Be specific and transparent.
WE = Connect with the listener by showing ways this could be a part of their lives.
GOD = Then transition to your text to discuss/discover what God says about the issue.
YOU = Give real-world, specific application of how the hearer can live out that text in this situation.
WE = End with visualizations of what would happen in our community if we all lived God’s word in these ways.

I like this approach and hope to get a copy of the book.