LaRosa Johnson {dot} com

So, you’re probably wondering how and why you ended up at this website. You were probably trying to go to blog.trailblazinministries.com and got redirected here, to LaRosaJohnson.com. Well, that’s exactly what I wanted to happen.

For a long while now, I had been contemplating the idea of purchasing this domain name, but never did it. There was really no reason behind it, I just didn’t do it. For the longest time, my blog had been housed at UrbanWordz.com, but I let that domain go well over a year ago, after I decided to consolidate my website, blog & photos under a single domain, TrailblazinMinistries.com. That was working very well because it made my blog & thoughts a visible part of the ministry website, and it gave people an opportunity to view pictures of my family and so on. I was enjoying that, but I decided that it was time for a change, hence the change.

Seeing how I’m with Dreamhost, and have been for a few years now, they allow me to register/renew a domain every year. I owned a domain for testing that I wasn’t using anymore, so I decided to go ahead and register this domain. With that, I decided to separate the blog & family photos from the ministry website, and keep them as two separate entities. That’s not to say that my life isn’t ministry, but having a blog apart from the main site gives me the freedom & flexibility to toy around with designs, and other things. Along with the change in domains, I’ve also decided to drop Movable Type and switch to WordPress, since all I plan on doing is simple blogging over here. Plus, given the fact that a lot of the apps I use are written in PHP, it only made sense to use a platform that was compatible (as opposed to CGI/Perl).

That’s about it. Enjoy the new location & look. It’s still under construction, as I learn my way around WordPress, so look for things to change here & there. Also, be on the lookout for a change on the Trailblazin Ministries side of things in the coming weeks. God bless!

Wow, it doesn’t even feel like I’m 27. On the one hand, I feel much younger, like I’m still in my early 20′s; on the other hand, I feel much older than my age because of the way I’ve been grinding of late. Either way, I’m tremendously blessed to have reached this point in my life and I must say that I’m pleased with where I am.

When I turned 18, I really didn’t have a clue of where I’d be ten years from that point. I figured that I would have graduated college with a degree in computer science, be working for some company like Microsoft, maybe be married, possibly have a kid or two, own my own home, and so on. Well, it’s nine years since then and I can’t help but look back and reflect. College? I didn’t finish, but I don’t feel the least bit concerned about it, and don’t have the desire to finish at this point (for what? put myself in more debt to make a few more dollars, maybe?!). Even without the computer science degree, I’m working for a software company, and a Christian one at that, which I find to be totally cool. Seriously, after only two years on the job, I’ve become the head of my department; I never saw that coming. I’m married to a gorgeous wife, who’s a believer, and I have three lovely children. I have the family that only God could’ve given me, that’s for sure. The house? Well, I owned a house for two years before moving to Texas, where we’re renting a brand new (bigger) home, so no complaints there. As far as goals go, I’d say that I met, if not exceeded, all of my expectations.

Furthermore, my two birthdays in Texas have been particularly interesting. Last year it was on a Sunday and I spent the entire day in church (morning service, Greek in the afternoon, and then evening services), and I didn’t have any problem with that at all. I was happy to squeeze in lunch with Robin & the kids after service & before the next. This year was much the same way. I had a full day of work (didn’t leave the office until 6:30) and then went from the office right to my Greek class & Hebrew study hall. I didn’t get home until a few minutes before 10pm. Again, I was content with meeting Robin & the kids for lunch (at Red Robin) as a means of celebrating my birthday. Sure, I wished I had taken the day off of work (but had a project due, so I couldn’t), but I wouldn’t have been anywhere else that night. What better way to spend my birthday than being about my Father’s business? The past two birthdays have definitely shown a shift in my priorities and what I find to be important.

I’m looking forward to another year of the Lord’s blessings, both through success and trials. The one thing I do know, I’m in for a lot more growth & stretching, and I’m ready for it. It feels good to be 27 & in the Lord!

Last time, I talked about my decision to purchase a T-Mobile G1. It seemed like the logical choice given the way I used my mobile devices in times past, and I figured it was one that I could grow with. But now that I’ve had the phone for a week, I thought I’d give a bit of a review and share my thoughts.

First and foremost, the best part about purchasing this device is that it didn’t require me to change my plan, other than adding data service. Robin & I already had unlimited texting on our accounting, so I was able to simply add the $24.99/mo data plan without affecting our texting plan. As far as the initial purchase is concerned, the only issue I had upfront was that the data plan didn’t get properly added to my account at Wal-Mart and ended up having to call T-Mobile customer service when I got home to get it added. That was a minor hassle, and a one time event, so no complaints there.

After getting the phone charged and the 3G service working, the phone did its thing in syncing my hosted Google account (larosa@trailblazinministries.com), bringing over my contacts, email, and calendar without any issue. I double checked and everything looked good, especially with my contacts. From there, I hit the Android Marketplace and started to download some applications for the device, so that I could start getting some good use out of it. Given that Google doesn’t natively have a tasks app (yet) and are just getting around to implementing it in Gmail, one of the first things I downloaded was a tasks/to do list application. At first I tried Tag ToDo, but that didn’t work out too well; it was a bit too simple. So, I ended up settling on TooDo, which seems to fit my workflow and needs a lot better. Once I settled on the tasks app, I spent a little while configuring it and porting (manually) all of the tasks that I needed to complete. Other than what came preinstalled, that was the only application that I really needed for productivity’s sake.

A few of the other apps I downloaded included: SMS Popup (an app that shows a pop-up when a new text comes, instead of the standard alert), Bank of America, Note pad, ShopSavvy (which scans barcodes & looks for prices online), Toggle Settings (a quick app to change the phone’s mode, i.e. turning the ringer to vibrate or turning Wi-Fi off/on), the Weather Channel, and a few games (Sudoku, Blackjack, Maths Workout, Chess & Tic-Tac-Toe). I also downloaded a Facebook application (which replicates the iPhone browser view of Facebook) and CadreBible, a Bible software application. So far, the only thing that I feel like I’m missing is having my Google Reader in its own app, but since that’s not available in hosted Google, I’m not surprised; either way, I can still view it from the browser.

Once I found all the apps I wanted, I took some time to customize the home screen so that my most important apps were always quickly available (i.e. TooDo, Toggle Settings, Contacts, Mail, Weather, etc.), then with my games & other items on one of the other screens.

In terms of usage, this phone isn’t much different than how I used my T-Mobile Dash, other than how certain things operate. Given my knowledge of tech, I didn’t bother reading the manual and felt right at home using the device. The only thing I had to really figure out was how to scroll the window, but once I figured that out, the device was super easy to use. About the only complaint I have with the device itself is when it locks itself (after timing out) and then I have to go through the process of unlocking the phone to get back to what I need, especially while on a call. Granted, I have a pattern set to unlock the phone for security reasons, but it can be annoying at times. I may end up delaying the timeout past 1 minute & see if that changes things (hopefully without negatively affecting my battery life too much).

Given my schedule, I haven’t had too much time to “play” with the phone, but I have given most of the features a try, including the Google Maps, which became invaluable just the other day. I had to take Ryan to Awana for the first time and I had never been to the church where it’s held, so I used Google Maps to chart out my course. Well, I ended up missing my turn and used the GPS to pinpoint my location and then find my way back. It was totally a lifesaver that night! Other than the Google stuff, this is really no different than any other smartphone, which is a good thing for me, as it’s very consumer friendly.

The last thing I want to note is the accessories, which I wasn’t all too pleased with. The one I purchased came with all the new stuff (1GB SD card, headphone adapter, etc.), but it really didn’t impress me that much. given that the adapter/headphones are supposed to double as your headset, I found the headphone cord way too long to be useful for that purpose (because it leaves the mic hanging too low). I haven’t even bothered trying it yet because I didn’t feel like messing with it to get it to be the length I needed. Instead, I purchased a Jawbone 2 bluetooth headset, which should be here Monday, so that I don’t have to worry about wires at all. The other complaint is the case that comes with the phone. Granted, it’s a nice case & all, but there’s no belt clip or loop, so users are forced to stick it in their pocket or a bag when traveling. I tried that for the first few days, but found the phone to be too bulky, even in my roomier jeans. I eventually settled on using the case that came with my Dash (the G1 amazingly fit in it, albeit very snug) so that I could continue carrying my phone on my hip. The only concern I had with that was the magnetic closure, as I had read in some Android forums that magnetic case closures can screw with the compass. I figured I’d live with that for now until I’m able to find a better case, seeing how I couldn’t tolerate the standard case that came with the phone.

Overall, I’m very pleased with my purchase and very glad that I made it. It’s made things a lot easier to work with, especially now that I don’t have to worry about having a lot of my data in multiple locations (i.e. my calendar & tasks). I look forward to seeing what they come out with next, and I think I’ll be using this device for a long time to come. For a first generation OS, this is a very solid and stable device and I’m pleased to be a part of the android community & movement.

Over the past few years, I’ve really come a long way with my usage of mobile devices. I remember back in December 2005 when I bought my first handheld device, which was the Palm Z22. That was my first exposure to the PalmOS and PDAs. I was immediately impressed and hooked. I loved the fact that I could keep track of my calendar, to do list, important numbers, take notes, and even carry around a small biblical library with me.

I used that device until I upgraded to the T-Mobile Dash, a Windows Mobile device, in February 2007. It was at that time that I moved to Texas and decided it was time to invest in a smartphone with more storage and capability. I had wanted to get a Palm Treo to remain with the PalmOS, but T-Mobile didn’t carry them, and the carriers that did wanted a hefty security deposit. With that in mind I opted to go the WinMobile route with the Dash and take my chances. Again, I was very pleased with its capabilities and especially enjoyed having the full keyboard on which to type. I made good use of it, purchasing software as needed, getting to the point where I had all the functionality that I had in my Z22, and then some. I was able to connect via Wi-Fi, removing the need for a data plan, and rocked that device until a week ago today.

It was last Friday, just one week ago, that I decided to go to Wal-Mart and purchase the T-Mobile G1 aka the Google Phone. I had been pondering the purchase since its initial release back in September/October of last year, but hadn’t fully made up my mind on the matter. Then my pastor got one, along with a few co-workers, so I decided to do my research and read just about everything I could to see if this was the device for me. I read all of the positive reviews, and most of them didn’t sway me one way or the other. I was particularly interested in the negative reviews and their feedback, to which I was unable to find anything that would hinder me from enjoying & using the phone.

In deciding to make the purchase, there were a few things about the phone that really piqued my interest. First, I really liked the touch screen. When I moved to the T-Mobile Dash, that was one of the things that I really missed about the Z22; I missed having the touch screen, with or without the stylus. So, having that capability again, would really prove to be beneficial because I knew just how useful it was to me. I also liked the fact that it still had a full keyboard (that hides away), which was a major asset with my Dash. Combining the touch screen with a full QWERTY keyboard gave me the best of both worlds. The next thing was the open source factor. I really enjoyed the fact that the G1 was an “open” device and one that could be actively developed on (not that I’d be doing any development). Having that option leaves the door wide open for a world of possibilities and future enhancements. Plus, I didn’t want to be tied down to Windows, as much as I appreciated their mobile OS. The final thing that really caught my attention was the syncing with Google. You see, I use a hosted Google Apps account for Trailblazin Ministries, which includes my mail, contacts, & calendar, so having those seamlessly sync with my phone was an added benefit. I never really liked syncing my Dash to my PC (only did when I absolutely needed to), so never having to sync the G1 with my computer, while still keeping my data synced, is the best thing possible for me. It’ll stay synced without me even having to think about it.

So, in anticipation of buying the device, I went into my Gmail and completely organized my contacts, merging emails, adding phone numbers from my phonebook, and so on so that it would be 100% ready to sync with my phone when I got it. I had read about horror stories with people spending days trying to reorganize their contacts after buying their G1, so I wanted to be prepared for a super easy experience, plus it was something I needed to do anyway. Even in doing that, I still wasn’t absolutely sure that I wanted to spend the money to buy a new phone, considering I thought I’d have to pay full price ($400). After finding out that I qualified for a discount & could get it for $179.99 (being a customer in good standing for 2 years @ T-Mobile), I still wasn’t convinced that I needed a new phone.

It wasn’t until my wife expressed interest in having a phone with a keyboard (for texting purposes) that we decided together to go ahead and make the purchase (with her inheriting my Dash). So, after getting the necessary funds, I went to Wal-Mart and made the purchase. So, now I’m the proud owner of a new T-Mobile G1 (black).

In the next part of this entry, I’ll talk more about the device itself and my experience with it. Until then, God bless!

Yeah, I know what I said about study Bibles. I said I’d never buy another study Bible. I even selected the next (and last) Bible that I was going to buy, all $160 dollars of it from Amazon’s website. Well, you know what? Neither one of those happened. I bought another study Bible, and I didn’t purchase that mammoth of a Bible. So, what happened?

After writing that piece on stewardship a few days ago, I really took time to sit down and think through things. I talked with Robin and discussed where we were, how we planned on wisely using our tax return, and so forth. The more I thought about it, I just couldn’t bring myself to break down and spend $160 for a Bible, even if it’s the one that was formatted exactly like I wanted it to be. True, the Word of God is priceless, but when you can buy a paperback Bible for less than $5, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to put that kind of money into one. With many hours spent in thought, I ultimately decided that I wasn’t going to spend that much money on a Bible when my MacArthur Study Bible was still in great working order (study notes aside).

So, that’s where I stood, I wasn’t going to buy that wide-margin Bible, and I wasn’t going to look at buying another. Then I went out with the family today to run some errands. I had promised Robin a new dining room table with our tax return, so we went and purchased that (to be delivered in 2-3 weeks). The day was supposed to be spent visiting different furniture stores to find the right table, but we found the perfect one at the first store we visited, which meant we had the rest of the afternoon to do some other shopping as we made our way back home.

I decided to ask Robin to stop by Family Christian so that we could look around; they had a necklace she wanted to get for her mom (wasn’t in stock) and I wanted to get a copy of Fireproof. Generally when I walk into Family Christian, or any Christian store for that matter, I make a B line for the Bibles. Well, today I happened to spot a centennial anniversary edition of the Scofield study Bible. I’d been wanting to buy a Scofield just to have in my library (yes, I already own a digital copy in WORDsearch), but I never bought one because no one every had the NASB in stock. So, it just happened to be my luck and this copy was NASB, and the last one on the shelf. I debated for a minute and decided to crack it open (luckily it wasn’t wrapped in plastic, cuz if it is, I leave it alone). I flipped through the pages (thumb-indexed, nice!) and saw that the notes were sparse and didn’t overpower the Scripture in any way, that’s just what I was looking for. The cross references were in the margin, which wasn’t that big of a deal and the price was right (regular price $79.99 on sale for $49.99). So, I decided to buy it and let it become my Bible of choice for everyday use, replacing my MacArthur.

Knowing that this isn’t a top of the line Bible, although pretty high quality, I wanted to make sure I took care of it. You know, throwing a bare Bible into a book bag isn’t always the nicest environment for keeping a Bible looking nice. So, I opted to find a Bible cover to put this new Bible in; which is funny because I hadn’t owned one in years because I had always enjoyed looking at the leather and the way it felt in my hands. Anyway, I found a nice one for $20 that had the names of Jesus written on the front. I picked it up, gave it a look over and determined that it was large enough to fit my Bible, so I opted to get it.

Once I got both of them home, I was pretty impressed and pleased with my new purchase. I now have a Bible that is of good quality and a sturdy means of keeping it well protected, especially when putting it into my book bag for carrying around.

In making this purchase, there is one thing that I wanted to comment on. It amazes me just how much Christian bookstores sometimes mark up their items. Remember, I said that the sticker on the Bible had the Scofield listed at $79.99, which I thought was a fair price, and a steal at $49.99. Well, when I got ready to write this entry and find an image of the Bible, you wouldn’t believe that the MSRP for this Bible (the exact one I just purchased) is $49.99. That means the bookstore marked it up $30 above MSRP and were touting it as a “sale” when selling it at MSRP, when that should be its regular price. That just bugged me a bit, and these stores wonder why they’re losing out to online retailers and chain bookstores. If I wasn’t in the buying mood and wanted to do some comparison shopping, I would have been appalled at seeing the marked up value. Either way, $70 for a Bible & cover isn’t bad when you compare it to the $160 I was looking to spend on that other Bible.

That aside, I’m happy with my purchase and I look forward to using it. And being a centennial edition makes me feel good, especially given my pastor’s recent emphasis on remembering our doctrinal heritage. It’s good to know that this Bible will always be a reminder of Dr. Scofield’s original 1909 edition of the Scofield reference Bible. Now, to dig back into my 1 Thessalonians study…

Over the past few days I’ve been thinking a lot about my wants versus my needs. For the most part, I’m a pretty simple guy and it doesn’t take much for me to get by, although I love tech and music. For the most part, I’m able to get my music fix by covering Christian rap on this website, as well as having a Zune pass subscription for $14.95/month which gives me (nearly) unlimited access to the Zune Marketplace’s catalog. This keeps me from impulsive buys & being disappointed later, and saving my funds for music purchases that I know for sure that I’ll enjoy. And I’m able to keep the tech side subdued for the most part because I constantly keep in mind that I don’t need the latest & greatest to do what I need to get done on a computer. Overall, in those areas of my life, I tend to have a pretty decent balance between what I want and need.

Recently though, I’ve given some thought to some new purchases I want to make, such as the Bible I’d mentioned before and a few other items, including upgrading some software and purchasing a new smartphone. Given the current state of the economy, along with a desire to be a good steward of my finances, I’ve really been trying to gauge whether or not these are legitimate purchases of need or if they’re merely wants that won’t provide much usefulness. In writing this out, I’m hoping that it’ll provide further clarity for me, as well as provide you, the reader, with a lesson in stewardship & decision making.

Let’s start with the Bible. As I’ve said many times before, I currently own a MacArthur Study Bible (NASB) and I’m pleased with it, minus the excessive footnotes at times. Other than the footnotes, the only other drawback is that there is quite obviously no room for me to take my own notes. Plus, I want to train myself to not rely on "study notes," but to work through the text myself first. Either way, I decided that I wanted a wide margin cross reference Bible. I narrowed it down to a Bible that retails for $230 (roughly $160 on Amazon.com). The question is: do I really need to spend $160 on a Bible? Can’t I find something cheaper? To be frank, I’m pretty particular in what I’m looking for in a Bible and how I want the text (and cross references) to be laid out, and this is the only wide margin Bible that does it the way I want. All the cheaper ones are "flawed" in at least one way that’s significant enough for me to not want to purchase it. So now the question becomes, will I really be taking that many notes to necessitate the wide margins? Honestly, that’s a question I’m still working my way through, but it’s my desire to jot down more notes in the print Bible as I read/study, so that I can have them handy by chance I don’t have my computer & software handy. Is it a need? Not really, but it would be nice; although, I can continue getting along just fine with the Bible I currently own.

The next item that I have my eye on is upgrading my smartphone from the T-Mobile Dash to the G1 (aka Google phone). Over the past few days I’ve done my research, and given how much I currently use Google (hosted email for TM, calendar, etc.) it would be nice to have a phone that integrates nicely with all of that. Plus, throw in the fact that I’ve been a T-Mobile customer for two years and can get it for the upgrade/new customer price (half off), it seems like a pretty good purchase. The main drawback is that it’ll require me to add a $20-25/month data plan to my account. Over the course of a year, that’s a pretty good chunk of change (roughly $300) just to have Internet access on my phone. Granted, there’s nothing wrong with my current phone (and I don’t even use a data plan with it), but Robin has expressed the desire for owning a phone with a qwerty keyboard, so it’s the perfect opportunity to upgrade. I don’t want that to be an excuse, though, for spending $180 for a new phone and giving my carrier an extra $300/year. Again, it’s a matter of need versus want. Do I need the new phone? Obviously, no. Do I need the features? Not really, I have most in my current phone in one form or another. So, the question comes down to this: what benefit will come from owning this phone over my current one? That’s the question that I have to ask myself; and, just like the last item, it’s one that I’m still mulling over.

So, is there anything that can be justified as a need on my part? How about that software upgrade? Now that’s something that I can legitimately say is a need. As I’m training for ministry, there are some purchases that will be necessitated, and one of those comes in the form of expanding my digital library. This is a purchase I’ve been planning for some time, but it’s one that always makes me weary because of its price tag ($800+). Sure, I have the option to do a payment plan, but I’ve learned through experience that if I have the ability to pay for something upfront without creating a lingering bill that I need to go that route. But, I just have a hard time convincing myself that spending that much money is worth the price (even though I know it is when compared with its print equivalent). Unlike the wants above, the need is there because I know that these resources are something that I’ll use for the remainder of my life as I continue in the work of the Lord, and they’ll continue to be with me even as the software gets upgraded in the future. There’s no question that I’ll be buying this (if not now, then some point in the future), but the question is stewardship of finances and knowing what I can afford, especially having a family to care for (can’t be selfish).

As I take a step back and look at the larger picture, I have to be faithful with my finances and look at what is going to bring the most glory to Jesus Christ. The software is a no brainer. The Bible? Well, I have a Bible that’s in good shape, and if I purchase this new one, it frees the MacArthur SB to be a blessing for someone who has need of one. How about the phone? That one is clearly a want in all ways, although there’s nothing wrong with wants and fulfilling them every once & a while. Sure, it’ll help keep me organized & centralized (I’d love the fact of not having to ever sync with a PC), but I can do that well enough with what I already have. For that, it’ll be a matter of whether I decide it’s worth splurging on and being committed to the addition to my monthly bill. As with all things, I’ll continue to take it to the Lord in prayer, and then walk in faith with whatever decision I make, asking the Lord to keep me from making an unwise decision.

Stewardship… yeah, it’s not always fun, but entirely necessary.