One Man's Junk - Bruce Atchison

A friend at church gave me a CD-ROM more than a decade ago. He had no more use for it so he gave it to me. I found it to be extremely useful since I used Windows 98 on my PC at that time.

Though I don't have the key to unlock all the resources on this disk, the QuickVerse King James Version Bible is free to read. I've found it most useful in finding verses which I need for my blogs and books.

For example, suppose I want to find all the verses with "forbear" in them. I type the word or phrase into the search box and all the verses with what I requested show up in a dialogue box. I can select just one or all the verses and send them to the clipboard or the printer. It can also create a file with the texts in it.

This function is handy for copying and pasting direct quotes into documents. Instead of having to type each letter from a print Bible, I merely use the copy and paste functions of NotePad to insert the text into my writing. In fact, I can even have the QuickVerse program insert quotes around the verses I choose.

And though it won't work in Windows 7 or newer, I use it on an old PC with Windows XP on it. The local library gave me that computer and I use it to do all of my writing. It isn't connected to the Internet either so I don't feel the temptation to check e-mail or what's happening on social media.

Since we need to be good stewards of what we have, we shouldn't turn down out-of-date equipment and resources. I've certainly benefited from discarded items and I believe we all need to do the same.

WRITING IN THE SUNLIT LAND - Bruce Atchison

It has been a dream of mine for years. As I sat indoors on many beautiful days, I wished I could sit in my yard and write. At long last, I bought a laptop.

I must admit that it's difficult for me to get used to a laptop. Having began my computer experience with MS DOS, typing in commands seems more convenient than moving a mouse pointer around.

I eventually surrendered to Windows in 2000 when I bought a new computer. It had Windows 98, an operating system designed by a masochist. Freezes and crashes were a common occurrence as I struggled to learn this new system.

How I wish I'd switched to Windows XP sooner than 2008. It worked much better than 98 for starters. Though the command prompt was hidden in a nested directory, I made a shortcut to the desktop so I could have easy access  to it. It was most useful for scrounging files from old CD-ROMs which a friend sent me. I've now amassed a large folder of images for my blog. I also found other useful file types.

Now I'm exploring Windows 8.1 and my new laptop. Though I'm slow when it comes to adopting new technology, like the cell phone a friend gave me last year, I expect to find many new features which I should have availed myself of years ago.

My computer experiences have also given me an understanding of people who feel reluctant to become a Christian. After all, it's a totally different operating system from that of the world.  My hope is that God will work through me to help those reluctant souls to see the benefits of being a follower of Christ.