Peter and Andrew, James and John—they all responded with haste. While their initial response is immediate, the text they certainly didn’t know what they were getting themselves [...]]]> Just a brief note today because my laptop hard drive has disintegrated!

Jesus can say that the kingdom of God is near because He, the King, is near.

Peter and Andrew, James and John—they all responded with haste. While their initial response is immediate, the text they certainly didn’t know what they were getting themselves into. They failed to consider the cost. And the cost turned out to be too high; they all abandoned Jesus before ultimately coming back to him.

John Mark was another one who failed to count the cost. He was taken by Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. Mark abandoned Paul and Barnabas, let’s presume when the going got tough. Could it be that Mark too hadn’t counted the cost? It is speculation, but possible.

Later, Barnabas allowed Mark to join him on another challenging journey, and this time Mark succeeded. Likewise, the same disciples that follow Jesus “immediately” in this chapter will abandon him just as quickly at Gethsemane. There is nothing wrong with following immediately; there is everything wrong with following immediately without counting the cost. The Gospel of Mark places a higher priority on a lasting response than an immediate one.

Geoff’s blog is always worth a visit: geoffcolmer.blogspot.com ]]> My good friend Geoff Colmer was kind enough to say this about my induction service:

A bonus was that we were served mulled wine as we arrived. I think this should become standard practice for inductions, or maybe Pimms in the summer!

Geoff’s blog is always worth a visit: geoffcolmer.blogspot.com
]]> http://behindthewillowtrees.org.uk/uncategorized/well-some-people-are-easily-pleased/feed/ 0 http://behindthewillowtrees.org.uk/uncategorized/moving-on-1/ http://behindthewillowtrees.org.uk/uncategorized/moving-on-1/#comments Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:35:00 +0000 John Smith http://hollidaysjohn.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/moving-on-1 Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how [...]]]>

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, Hebrews 10:19-24

What an appropriate verse from my Bible reading today – the day after I recieve a call to a new pastorate!

If you look at the control panel shown in Figure 1, you can see the To-Do Bar on the right-hand side of the Calendar. With this bar, you [...]]]> In my campaign for an empty Inbox, you need to set up your To-Do Bar so that you can use it effectively.

Setting up the To-Do Bar

If you look at the control panel shown in Figure 1, you can see the To-Do Bar on the right-hand side of the Calendar. With this bar, you can easily view your “To-Do List” with all of the relevant Categories.

The beauty of the To-Do Bar is that it’s accessible not only from the Inbox, but also from the Calendar, Tasks, and Contacts. This means that whichever part of Outlook you’re working in you can easily add Actions, delete them, or plan and prioritise them onto your Calendar.

The To-Do List is basically the same list with the following exceptions:

• The To-Do List can be accessed only from Tasks and it shows both completed and active Tasks.

• The To-Do Bar does not show completed Tasks and is accessible from all parts of Outlook.

Following are the technical instructions to set up your To-Do Bar.

Adding Click Here to add a new task and changing Custom to Customize Current View

If you don’t see the words Click Here To Add A New Task at the top of the To-Do Bar, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the Subject heading above Categories: (none), and select Custom or Customize Current View. If you see Custom instead of Customize Current View, be sure to follow step 4 below.

2. In the Customize View: To-Do List dialog box, click the Other Settings button.
3. In the Other Settings dialog box, in the Column Headings And Rows section, be sure both Allow In-Cell Editing and Show “New Item” Row are selected, as shown in Figure 2.



Figure 2. Adding Click Here To Add A New Task to the To-Do Bar.

4. In the Other Options section, be sure the Always Use Single-Line Layout is selected.
5. Click OK.
6. Click OK again.
7. The words Click Here To Add A New Task will appear below your field headings and above Categories: (none).

To-Do Bar fields and grouping by categories

The next two settings are necessary to choose the To-Do Bar fields and to group your Tasks by categories. Follow these steps:

1. Go to the To-Do Bar, right-click the words Click Here To Add A New Task, and then click Customize Current View on the shortcut menu. Here you will choose the fields to view in the To-Do Bar and group your actions by category.

2. In the Customize View: To-Do List dialog box, click Fields.
3. Under the heading Select Available Fields From, choose All Task Fields from the drop-down menu.
4. In the Show These Fields In This Order section, select Icon and Due Date.
5. Under the heading Select Available Fields From, choose All Mail Fields from the drop-down menu.
6. Select Task Subject and add to the Show These Fields In This Order area. Rearrange your fields so they’re listed in the order shown in Figure 3 and then click OK.



Figure 3. Selecting the To-Do List fields

7. In the Customize View: To-Do List dialog box, click Group By.
8. In the Group By dialog box, in the Group Items By drop-down menu, select Categories, and in the Expand/Collapse Defaults drop-down menu, select All Collapsed, as shown in Figure 4. Then, click OK.



Figure 4. Grouping tasks by categories.

9. Click OK again.

Attaching contacts to your tasks

To complete the final setting that allows you to attach contacts to your Tasks, follow these steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.

2. In the Options dialog box, on the Preferences tab, in the Contacts And Notes section, click the Contact Options button.
3. In the Contact Options dialog box, in the Contact Linking section, select Show Contact Linking On All Forms, as shown in Figure 5, and then click OK.
4. Click OK again.



Figure 5. Linking contacts to your Tasks in the To-Do List.