U.B. Formattin'... well, re-formattin'

Ok, now we're moving into troubleshooting a particular issue that occurs in Blogger if you're not a little careful... column-misalignment.

Btw, you FIREFOX users may even be oblivious to this issue, until you start wondering why your hit-counts are down.

[Note: The problem itself is not caused by FireFox, but if you're using FireFox you're probably oblivious to the fact that you have an issue at all. Btw, you COULD get the IE Tab at GetFireFox.com and install it -- then you'll be able to add any particular site to a list of site that you want to see with an MSIE type of look/feel.]

Your blog may look fine to you; but your MS Internet Explorer (MSIE) surfers think it really sucks... because here's what they're seeing....



And of course, our objective today is to help you reformat something to cure the misalignment problem so it will again look like THIS... with perfectly aligned columns... side by side...



The basic problem is a column WIDTH issue. Your two columns are battling for turf. If either column is too 'wide', then they just can't seem to live side-by-side in peace. [Guys, is there a spiritual lesson here for us in our marriages? **wink**] So the objective is to discover what has 'swelled', and how do I get it to (humbly, LOL) return to the proper width.

Ok... the problematic column could be EITHER column.

How to troubleshoot it:

When did the problem surface?

If you use MSIE all the time, and one day you post something and the problem suddenly surfaces... well then, duh.... the problem was probably caused by that particular post.

Or if you just now changed something in your navigation side-bar and you suddenly experienced this formatting issue... duh... the problem is probably in your side-bar column.

[Ah... but if you're regularly a FireFox user... then of course you don't really know WHEN the problem first occurred, so you're going to have to do some further investigating. I'll describe that process further below.]

The basic 'width' problem is probably caused by one or more of the following:

• pics that are too wide.
• a continuous string of characters that are longer than the normal column width. Eg... a bunch of asterisks ***************** or hyphens -----------------
• a continuous text-link that is too wide
  (http://indychristian.com/2005/12/personal-account-of-having-to-face.html

How to cure these? Guess it's obvious. Use the 'Archie Bunker' cure:

"Dat's elementary dere, Meathead. Don't do dat anymore!"

[Now for those of you who may be new to 'resizing' your pics... that cure may have been just a little tiny bit overly-simplistic. So I've included the pic below, giving you a hint how to resize your pic. It'll just take a little time and patience, getting used to click-dragging the corner-handle of the pic. Btw, that 'handle' only appears after you click on the image itself, first. Then when you hover over a corner, the little 'handle' will appear. Click-drag it to any size... larger or smaller.



Hope that helped.

Now... back to the issue of trouble-shooting when you don't KNOW what or when your problem was caused. Here's my process of finding out.

• Intuition -- Just look down your page... especially the sidebar first. Do you have any images that automatically jump out at you that maybe they're wider than normal? If you find that the problem was in the sidebar, you're pretty much home-free... just cure it.

Note: Again, for you folks that are new to picture resizing, that's not quite so easy in the sidebar, because now you'll have to resize it using the html-code itself. Not a huge problem... The image-tag you used to put the picture into the template-code just needs to now have some 'height' and 'width' elements added within it. For now, let's just say that's a trial & error process -- play with those dimensions til you have them the size you want. Example coding...

• Ok, now lastly... if you believe the problem is in one or more of the individual posts but you don't know which one... you may have to now just start looking at each post INDIVIDUALLY... not all together. How to do that? Remember, each post really has its own individual web-page... complete with its own permalink/URL/address. Ahhh... but how do you find out what that page-address is? Here's one example of how that's known... at least in the Blogger-template that I've chosen here at U.B.bloggin'...

Click that little link... and it'll take you to that post's individual webpage address.

Ok, so now you know what you have to do... just go down through your blog and click each post's little permalink, one-by-one... and see if the individual page looks ok. Are the column's in alignment?



If so, that's not the offending post. Go check the next one.

And keep checking the individual posts, one-by-one, until you find the offending culprit post.

Then cure the problem within the post, as we've discussed above.

And if all else fails... and you're about to get entirely frustrated with looking for the problem... or curing it... call me...

I'll pray for you. LOL

[and help you.... 317-490-1255]

***************************

Actually, for you geeks out there, here's a geek-speak version that truly goes into the details of the issue above. And it explains some technical workarounds not mentioned above. Hope it helps some of you.

Internet creates local political movements

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Frustrated by government and empowered by technology, Americans are filling needs and fighting causes through grass-roots organizations they built themselves — some sophisticated, others quaintly ad hoc. This is the era of people-driven politics.

From a homemaker-turned-kingmaker in Pittsburgh to dog owners in New York to a "gym rat" here in southwest Florida, people are using the Internet to do what politicians can't — or won't — do.

This is their story, but it's also an American story because ordinary folks are doing the extraordinary to find people with similar interests, organize them and create causes and connections.

"People are just beginning to realize how much power they have," said Chris Kofinis, a Democratic consultant who specializes in grass-roots organizing via the Internet.

"At a time when we are craving community and meaning in our lives, people are using these technologies to find others with the same..." [continued at PennLive.com]

[hat-tip, Andrew Sears, TechMission.org]

U.B. Connectin'...

Here's an emailed question from Linda, a participant in our "City Blogging" workshop at the recent CCDA Indy 2005 conference:

"Hi, Neil. The workshop at the CCDA conference was sooooo motivational. I came home and started (after catching up on work I'd missed while gone) blogging! I suppose I'll get more and more ideas as I visit others' blogs, but in my eagerness to "strike while the iron's hot" I went ahead and got started. I figured I could learn "in process". I have been having a lot of fun playing with my new blogs the past couple of weeks, but haven't been able to find the "help" topic for how to add my contact info on the sidebar. Can you direct me? Thanks for your help. I so enjoyed meeting you."

[The credit truly should go to Jeremy Del Rio & Rudy Carrasco. I'm honored to be able to work with them. Now, about your question... ]


Hmmm. How to get your contact info in the sidebar, huh? Excellent idea -- especially since a major purpose for 'city blogging' is to connect the Church of Jesus Christ, community by community.

There are a couple of roads we could take to get your contact info into your blog. Here's an easy one. I'll use our friend Jewel Graham's blog as an excellent example:



Jewel is using the standard Blogger convention of letting you click on her pic, and it'll take you to her bio/contact page... which will show her email address that she filled into her 'profile' at Blogger.com. Try it -- click here first to go to Jewel's Gems, and then click on her picture there. La Voila!

**************************

BUT....

What if you have two or three different blogs that you participate in, and you really want a different look/feel for each? That is, what if your one 'profile' doesn't really work well for all of them? Case in point, I participate in a million different blogs, so I disable my profile section of the template-code. Instead, I easily code my contact info into a blog directly... eg.. LovingChange.com, as shown below.



How? By playing in the template-code. Btw, here's a little primer I call "Mercy, U.B. Codin'." Funny part is, it's not all that tough. You don't need to know how to code... to code. LOL. All of us can do it.

Bottom line, you just need to get something like this inserted into your template-code:



LOL. Of course I'm just kidding about the 'Hey Ma' tag <> in the above code, but it is a clue as to how you can add an exclamation point (!) in front of any tag <> which will effectively disable the tag and instead treat it as just an explanation tag within the coding. Real programmers often insert such comment-tags to help mark important sections, etc.

Ok, can you guess how the mail-link tag work, and insert your own email address? Hope so. If not, check out the primer mentioned above, and if you still have questions, email me. We're anxious to empower as many Christian bloggers as we possibly can.

Btw, now that you know how to disable a tag by inserting an exclamation point (!) in the front part of the tag, I guess you know how to disable the 'profile' portion of your template-code. [Just insert an exclamation mark in the right spot.]

The only trick is... finding the right section in the code. And my favorite way to 'find' stuff among all the coding is to use the Windows 'CNTL-F' feature to 'find' any particular text within a long page of text... eg., the word 'profile' or 'contributor'. Then insert a well-placed exclamation point into one or more tags that would have otherwise displayed your profile.

Here's how I did it...



Like I said, you don't have to know how to code... to code. **smile**

Merry Blogging!

"Grassroots Growth"...

I thought I'd blog a few notes (LIVE!) from a presentation at the Unleavened Bread Cafe by a set of Butler students in an honors course called "Grassroots Growth".


Prof. Allison King, MSW

[Thanks Rachel (Bell) for the pics today!]

These students have studied in the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood as a case-study for their course which was designed to focus on the 'grassroots growth' which can (and does) occur by the indigenous neighbors themselves.

This was a first-ever type of class, constructed by Ms. King with help from our friend-of-the-cafe, Dave Metzger.



Today they're presenting their findings and have invited the neighborhood, and a reception buffett was served.

Throughout their presentations, they frequently mentioned a number of neighborhood favorites such as Ms. Elease, David Metger, Jab, Cocoa, Eric, Bennie, Oscar, Gail, David Woodrupp.... as 'all these wonderful people'.

One presenting team focused on learning from the neighborhood... and then proposed a one solution they could help with -- writing a grant proposal summary to form a "Family Circle" in the neighborhood.

• They quoted from the Central Indiana Community Foundation, who apparently noted a really strong bond among the residents, but just need empowered. The foundation has in neighborhoods given grants to 'Family Circles'. The objectives are to build and strengthen relationships, knowledge, numbers, and small scale actions that have large scale impact. They facilitate neighborhood discussions, and encourage people who step up and commit to lead in a particular action.
• These students also are procuring the help of the CCC -- Center for Citizenship and Community -- an organization lead by Dr. Brabant at Butler. One way the organization can help is by proofing any grant proposals... and help them out with this upcoming request.

Comments heard throughout these presentations...

"I was surprised by the course -- I thought we wouldn't even leave Jordan Hall, but just research data, etc. So what a surprise when I learned we'd actually be GOING to the inner-city neighborhood."

Another team developed a newsletter type of summary about the Unleavened Bread Cafe, their temporary headquarters during their course of study.





They would publish and leave this summary for the cafe visitors to read and enjoy, filled with stories & poems written about their recent experiences. [We can hope to secure a copy for download here.]

Other comments heard during the presentations...

"I discovered I liked going to Tab rather than churches on campus. After church, we walked to the cafe & back... and wrote a poem about it.

"I learned more in 5 hours on a Saturday in the community, than a whole semester at school."

" 'Shoes hanging on the line', I learned, meant there was a death in the neighborhood. I was struggling with some of my own family situations, and it greatly helped me deal with my issues by understanding some of the heartaches in the neighborhood. So I wrote my story about that."

"It was great to learn first-hand from neighbors instead of simply accepting the stereotypes. "

"My team spent 'A Day with Larry'. It was amazing what could be learned from just shadowing a neighborhood resident."

Another team visited Rebuilding the Wall. "We liked it so much we voluntarily went back several times to help rebuild houses with them. The most rewarding thing was getting to know neighborhood people who would become the beneficiaries of these houses. We played some 2-on-2 basketball with some of the younger ones."

"It was fun getting outside the 'Butler bubble'... that is, getting off-campus and learning via service-learning."

"Grassroots involvement really does make things happen -- eg. Rebuilding The Wall really does make things better. Lives change."

And how about this from Andy & Ryan... politically left, and politically right.



"The course isn't particularly political, but it's helped us grow -- sometimes as a result of heated political discussions back in the dorm. It needed to happen -- without it, nothing could start for us... and now we're moving in the same direction... community impact. "

Another student presented from a pharmaceutical perspective... having visted Raphael Health Center, not only as an onlooking student, but also while assisting someone who didn't have health insurance.



She was amazed that so few had insurance, and concluded that one thing that Butler students could do is help staff a pharmacy-function like 'Healthy Horizons' at Butler. Low cost meds aimed at preventative care.

'Gentrification', although not mentioned by name, was alluded to as one team interviewed the local laundrymat owner-operator. "It takes 'mom & pop' stores out of the inner-city, and is replaced by corporations."

Several students mentioned trips to 'Tab' -- the fond name for the nearby Tabernacle Presbyterian Church. The students observed their soup kitchen, utility assistance, and youth sports programs.

"Tab helped start Raphael Health Center and lots of other things here in the community. They're a Christian family, full-service center. A supervisor there told us, 'I want people to feel like kings and queens when they walk in here.' "

"Coburn Place -- domestic violence center, and transition housing for women. It used to be an IPS school, and now is back in productive service to the community. "

"Everyone mentioned the need for 'funding'... but somehow they always manage to accomplish what needs to be done."

Students Rachel & Emily... spent "A Morning Walk with Jab". [LOL. Everyone in the neighborhood knows our friend 'Jab'.] And they talked about spending time with 'Eric'... who was doing bible-study at the cafe. "We learned a lot from him."

Emily had been to South Africa and wanted to make sure she never forgot what she experienced there -- so she welcomed this opportunity to get out into the inner-city of Indianapolis, thinking it would be comparatively tame. "Maybe I should have a been a little more cautious at times [laughter], but largely I really enjoyed my time here on the streets."

Rachel & Emily drafted a short-plan consisting of... Vision & Goals, Resources & Possible Partners, Current Situation Summary, and Steps to Goal. [I wish we could reproduce it here - it was excellent work by these young college students.]

"This cafe has been a beacon to the community."

"We never expected to be so touched by our experience here."

"We felt the cafe was a really important source of hope & comfort for the community."

"Besides the cafe, we also visited Christamore House, Bethlehem House, Tab (Tabernacle Presbyterian Church), and we helped serve food at Wheeler Mission. "

"I loved getting hugs from Ms. Elease, and learning from her spirituality."

"David [Metzger's] only complaint about the cafe is that it's only open 5 days a week." [laughter] "With David here, it feels like... well... like 'Mr. Roger's Neighborhood' [laughter]. Then when we met the cafe cook, 'Oscar' [more laughter -- everybody loves Oscar] so maybe it was also like Sesame Street!

[Brianna wrote a story about Ms. Elease -- we'll hope to get a copy.]



As a project, her team created a table... [applause] Really! They purchased a restaurant table they would leave at the cafe for posterity, and they painted it decoratively with elements about what they learned from the cafe.

• Purple... the color of spirituality
• With some quotes, like 'Be the change you wish to see in the world.' (Gandhi)
• Butterflies... as a symbol of transformation.
• In the center of it... the CROSS... because that's the center of the cafe, and Ms. Elease's spirituality and sense of love.

"The future? This course has caused us to look at life through a different set of lenses -- we are changed. Our lives will never be the same. There should be more places like the Unleavend Bread Cafe."

"We've been introduced to new issues. We've formed new opinions. We've debated back & forth. Seen problems. And hoped for solutions."

After the presentation a neighbor, 'Bennie' commented: "Ms. Elease tries to bring America together. I take my hat off to you."

Ms. Elease: "From the outset of the cafe, I never dreamed of such things as today's project from these Butler students."

Another neighbor, Gerald, who attends church in this same backroom each week: "The question asked is... Am I my brother's keeper. And the answer is... Yes you are. You now have a testimony to help somebody else."

All these student-teams reflected great processing of their experiences. Kudos! And kudos to Ms. King and David Metzger who designed such an insightful learning experience.

It did not escape my notice that perhaps the primary 'grassroots growth' was the growth occurring in these young students who would make a difference in the world tomorrow.

So I side with Bennie... My hat's off to you, Ms. Elease.

And my hat's off to you as well, Ms. King.

A day at the cafe...

The cafe was hopping, Saturday. A job-wage group was meeting in the back room. So several of us just used the front part of the cafe for "Surfing Saturday" -- a regular time each week that the neighborhood can count on opportunities to learn a few computer skills, or how to get onto the internet. [But don't tell anyone -- the biggest value for any of us is meeting new friends... often NOT like ourselves. It takes us all outside the box a bit.]

We say, "It's not WHAT you know -- it's WHO you know, that counts. That is, with technology, there's way too much to know... so it's more important to know who your friends are that can and are willing to try to help." Thus the cafe is a great place to come to get to know folks who want to get to know folks. **smile** So a good time was had by everyone.

This morning, an old/new friend -- Bryan Rohrer came with me (from Hamilton County) to help. We joined Gerald, Damita, and Mike -- none of us are real techs (well, maybe Bryan), but we can share what we know how to do, to help friends there cross the 'digital divide'. Even though we didn't have access to the computers in the back room, we had 3 wireless laptops to work with. And a number of neighborhood folks stopped in and got involved.

And it was a productive day: We had a chance to help a ministry leader post an online item about an event he's involved in. And we helped a couple of new friends from Jesus House get started learning a few computer skills, and how to find things on the internet. Things maybe you & I take for granted, but things that keep them from being able to get a decent job. These guys represent the transformed life... lives changed by Jesus Christ. Can you think of anyone you'd rather help?

And as usual, it was also a great time to catch up with some neighborhood friends of the cafe like Russell, Eric, David, Mary, Chaus, Claudia, Peggy, Oscar, Marie, and of course... Ms. Elease, "Mother of the Hood". And again this week, there were a number of Butler students who are in the neighborhood working on a case study.

Btw, come by the cafe at 3pm on Tuesday for the presentation to their class regarding what they learned during their case-study. [For instance, one of the students became an active volunteer during CCDA conference as a result of the friendships she developed at the cafe.] So it should be interesting to hear their feedback.

If I could do one thing to help every inner-city neighborhood in the country, it would be to help establish warm, welcoming & wireless, Christ-like cafe ministries everywhere... and encourage Christians to get involved there.



See you all next Saturday, or any/every Saturday at 10:00 am.... ish. LOL.

CCDA Indy 2005

Had a great time at CCDA Indy 2005. Enjoyed working with the TechMission folks from Boston. Also enjoyed seeing Mark & Kira Davis again, who run the Spirit of God Technology Center -- a Christian computing center in Gary, IN.

Justice Journey... Nov. 16th

The Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic invites you to join us for a "Journey to Justice," a CCDA event designed to explore Indianapolis' history and bring to light sources of racial injustice and how they are affecting our community today. The prayer bus will travel to three sites within Indianapolis where participants will meet community members, learn how injustice has touched their lives, and, most importantly, pray. NCLC views the "Journey to Justice" as chapter one in a continued process of bringing racial healing to our city.

[continued at Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic]

[Click for more CCDA info on the national convention coming to Indy, Nov.16-20th]

"Light Up The Night"

Halloween brings all kinds of challenges for Christians today.

...And opportunities!

[continued at 'Neighborhood By Neighborhood']

[What are YOUR special plans for Halloween time? We'd like to help direct people to your special events. Email us.]

FAMILY DAY OF PRAYER

God Bless you brothers & sisters! You are invited to attend this wonderful Family Day of Prayer - for our city, our people, our neighborhoods, our world. COME CATCH THE FIRE!

The Holy Spirit has set forth this Vision in our own local icon, Evangelist Nettie Lester, President/General Mgr of Gospel Radio station, WHTJ 1690-AM. This powerful and obedient woman of God is moving forward with this Vision, planned for Saturday, October 15, 2005, from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. @ Phillips Temple CME in partnership w/the following ministries: Grandma's Porch, All About Him, The Ladies Corner, Reverend Rosalie Burns, Evangelist Ann Rustin, Youth Rapping & Mapping to Save Youth, Inc., H.I.S. Spirit Ministries, and many more.

An organizational meeting will be held this Thursday, 10/06/05 at 6:00 p.m. at 3737 N Meridian, Suite 202 (the radio station) for anyone wishing to help further this awesome work of God.

Spirit filled, spirit driven men are truly needed in this endeavor - please follow the Lord's leading, and plan to attend this meeting. If you are unable to attend, and would like to help, please contact Evangelist Lester at 924-9485.

[flyer.pdf]

Blog columns, like people, sometimes just can't get along.

LOL.

Actually, this short article is simply a behind-the-scenes, little-known tip I've discovered, regarding why Blogger.com acts strangely at times... like today at IndyChristian.com, when the 2 columns got 'out of sorts' and just couldn't seem to get along side-by-side.

I've found that happens anytime something in one column or the other gets 'too big for its britches' -- ie, it gets 'too wide' and starts encroaching on the other column's 'space'.

Sorta like people at times, I suppose.

So the cure was, finding what was 'too wide'... usually it's an image that's too wide, but this time it was a piece of text that was too wide. Blogger doesn't know how to wrap really long pieces of text (including symbols, like **************************** or ___________________________ ). Or long hyperlink addresses.

Since I have learned this, it's easy to spot, like this morning when I noticed columns were out of sync... I simply went into the offending post and reduced the swollen string of characters the author had used as a divider between paragraphs.

Maybe that's the trick with people too -- just try to reduce our swollen heads. Our pride.

"Act justly, love mercy, and walk HUMBLY."

God bless all you bloggers out there... and the rest of you trying to emmulate Jesus.

Thanks for posting! We've only just begun.

YBIC,
Neil

God's Word

Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. Daniel 2:20-22 NIV

3rd "Jailbreak Attempt" at cafe... Aug. 9th

August 9th, noon-til-2pm...
at the Unleavened Bread Cafe (30th x Central - map).



Transform Indiana will be continuing the topic of Christians coming together to make a greater collective impact in the name of Christ, as we seek to positively impact our neighbors & communities... now & forever.

We'll be following up on our previous TI & CCDA meetings, but also especially regarding what we heard at the "Call To Action" meeting called Aug.4th, by Christian leaders Olgen Williams, Mel Jackson and many others. [Here's a link to some of the reports from that great community meeting attended by more than 400 community pastors, leaders, the mayor, U.S. congresswoman, city council, etc.]

Come be with us for the 3rd jailbreak attempt.

Surprise visitors at the cafe...

See who showed up unexpectedly in Indy for our CCDA Host Team meeting last Friday morning....

...and who showed up in the wrong (Texas) city.

...and who's showing up soon, in Indy... and where.

[continued at CCDAblog.com]

J.A.M..... Jesus And Me...

"I am writing on behalf of Jesus And Me (J.A.M.) Explosion 2005, this is an annual community event held in the Martindale-Brightwood Community. The event takes place on June 25, 2005 at Oasis of Hope Baptist Church. J.A.M. Explosion is in partnership with Indy Parks, Oasis of Hope Baptist Church, other local churches and several community organizations. Last year J.A.M. Explosion was attended by 2500 to 3000 community residents.

J.A.M. Explosion is the culmination of outreach and community development efforts spearheaded by Oasis of Hope Baptist Church, and several partnering churches and community organizations in an effort to create an opportunity for the community to to address these issues experience unity and revitalization. This all day celebration, for all people of all ages, is filled with fun, entertainment, recreational and athletic events, clothing give-away, various health and dental screenings, food pantry and much, much more. The Martindale-Brightwood Community is an area plagued in high crime and various health issues. It is our contention that community celebrations such as J.A.M. Explosion are important attempts."


[Oasis of Hope Baptist Church is a great partner among the growing "CCDA Indy 2005" 'Host City Team' as we work together to glorify God and enjoy Him forever... TOGETHER. If you're not yet part of this city-team effort... by all means, consider yourself warmly invited. We meet on the first Friday of every month (July 1st), right here at the cafe at 30th x Central. See you then!]

Mayor Peterson declares "Faith, Hope & Love Day", July 30th

Mayor Bart Peterson today declared July 30th will be "Faith, Hope & Love Day" in Indianapolis. The day will conclude a week-long period of helping neighbors throughout the metro community, and will culminate in an annual festival to celebrate together.

The vision is to build communities of faith, hope & love through active participation in improving neighborhoods and helping those in need... and to bridge the social, economic and spiritual gap in our community.

For more information on the collaborative Christian efforts that week, visit... FHLcommunity.org.

Bikehiker's Bible-study Blogpost...

[Here's an example of a Christian leader blogging -- Pastor John Hay, in this case. I just noticed his recent blogpost about the Bible-study at the cafe! I always like the pics that John uses at his blog, too. Makes blogging much more interesting.]



"Every Wednesday morning I meet for Men's Prayer Breakfast at WEMO at 6:15 am, then drive to 30th & Central Avenue on the northside of Indy for a 7:30 am roundtable that I've been a part of for about five years now. My father-in-law (shown here) has become a part of this table fellowship of prayer, Bible reading, and discussion of how faith intersects with urban community...." [continued at Bikehiker]

Paradigm-shifting... in Indy...

[This was too good to pass up. Enjoy.]



"In a strange twist of fate, Indianapolis--once known for its proud athletic heritage--is becoming the geek Mecca..." [continued at The Keyhole]


[For some other Christian geeks around Indy... visit "Wireless Coffee Blog".]

Cafe Anniversary #8...

Today's the special celebration of the cafe's 8th anniversary.

Oh boy, cake & ice-cream! Actually much more... ya'll come. Open house, 12noon til...

Phat Place...

Look who's coming for lunch...April 5th

Photo, U.S. News & World Report

"Brick by Brick, He Fights the Inner-city Blues"

Allan & Susan Tibbels are coming to Indy for the 'Faith Community Forum' (downtown) [continue for details - RSVP required by April 1st]

But then they'll be coming to the cafe for the lunchtime meeting of 'Transform Indiana', starting at 11:30am. Everyone is welcome.

The Tibbels are having great impact in Baltimore's inner-city, and serve as one of the fine examples of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA).

So come be with us for lunch next Tuesday (April 5th).

Helping Neighbors...

Some more of our friends of the cafe are in the news... Chris & Mary Provence. Most of you would recognize Chris from our morning Bible Study, and as an active participant in CCDA Indy 2005.

[Great article, Russ!]


Russ Pulliam, Columnist, IndyStar

"Chris Provence moved to the poverty-stricken neighborhood for convenient access to drugs. Now, he stays there to share the freedom he gained from drug addiction in 1998. But he's not preaching on street corners in the neighborhood around 24th and Guilford near the Monon Trail. He and his wife, Mary, are helping their neighbors buy homes." [continued at IndyStar.com]

[Also visit their ministry site: RebuildingTheWall.org]

[Also visit CCDA Blog]

Sister Elease's church home... on the move.

[This article is about the church that Sister Elease attends!]




"New Life, a predominantly black church, has reached a deal to buy the Northwestside facilities of Traders Point Christian Church, a predominantly white church that's moving to a site in Boone County."

"It's a win-win situation for the kingdom."

"The deal announced recently is making this a special Easter season for both congregations. But the shuffling will cost a lot of money for both churches."

[continue at IndyStar.com]

Video Bloggin'...

Too cute. [continue at Superhua's blog]

Transform Indiana... What's the latest?

Transform Indiana... What's the latest?




Connecting the Puzzle Pieces
By Becki Jenkins
President/Director
Missionary Connection

Over the years, working in various ministry capacities, I have wondered why Churches, ministries, faith groups and outreach initiatives do not unite. As a whole, we as the collective body of Christ tend to do our own things in our own buildings in our own little spaces and claimed geographical territories with little connection with our brothers and sisters locally, nationally or internationally. It seems that every new Church, ministry or faith based group that pops up recreates the wheel, by duplicating outreach initiatives and resources, all acting as if there are none of these resources already available in their communities and that their particular ministry is didactically unique and singular in relation to the outside world.


for the rest of the story: http://mcconnect.blogspot.com/



What's New with Missionary Connection?



Church on Wheels:

Missionary Connection has just began a ministry initiative that takes the Church to the shut in or shut out. A bus is being converted into a Church on wheels providing physical and spiritual help in our streets and our communities! The bus will also be used as a traveling school of various educational offerings. If you or your Church would like to use the bus or other resources,please contact Missionary Connection: becki5789@msn.com.

Living Bread to the World:

Missionary Connection provides baked goods: bread,treats, unleavened bread and many other items at a low cost to raise money for community programs. If you would like to help,please contact: becki5789@msn.com or support The Unleavened Bread Cafe at 30th and Central with your patronage. Ask about Living Bread to the World through Missionary Connection baked goods.

Save your cans,lend a helping hand!

Missionary Connection is particiapting inan on-going program of saving your aluminum cans to help local community programs. We will pick up. If you or your business would like to participate,please call: 317-471-0156 or e-mail: becki5789@msn.com.

Baltimore to Indy... April 5th

Photo, U.S. News & World Report

"Brick by Brick, He Fights the Inner-city Blues"

The Tibbels are coming to Indy for the specially combined sessions of 'Faith Community Forum' and 'Transform Indiana'.

Don't miss them... [location: Sagamore Institute, April 5th]

[continue]

U.B. Goin'....

I love the folks at the cafe. All of 'em. And now that we're a little bit underway with the "U.B. Bloggin'" computer-training program, maybe it's time to add a new available training-item to the program, for those who might want it...

After all, so far, we tell folks that we can train 'em in 3 weeks on the 3 important aspects of the internet...

1. U.B. Surfin'
2. U.B. Emailin'
3. U.B. Bloggin'

And it's fun, especially if you love people. Our trained friends will tell you what we always say... "It's not WHAT ya know that's as important as WHO ya know."... because if you know the right kind of people, they can help you learn anything you want to learn. [And the cafe has the 'right' kind of people!]

So people that love ya and want to help you learn computer skills will tell you... these 3 skills above are the most important ones on the internet.

But important as those are, there's nothing more important than the 4th module...

4. U.B. Goin'

Goin' where? Goin' how?


U.B. Goin' to heaven... if you want to, and if you learn how.

But it's like surfin', emailin' and bloggin' -- what's important is... that you want to do it, and you're willing to learn the RIGHT way.

Bill Gates doesn't ask your opinion about how to surf.... because opinions may be interesting, but the only thing that counts is... are you doin' it the right way. Right?

Same with heaven. Opinions are interesting, but the only thing that counts is... Are you doin' it the right way? And the 'right way' of course, has to be GOD's way.

Thankfully, He loves us way more than Bill Gates loves us. And He's provided a way that's way simpler than surfin', emailin' or bloggin'.

He loves us so much that He humbled Himself came down to earth 2000 years ago and lived as one of us. And even though He was perfect, He allowed Himself to be cruelly tortured and crucified... as a sacrifice, to pay the penalty for our sins. And He rose again from the grave and was seen by over 500 people... to demonstrate His power and authority.

And several of those who saw Him do miracles, saw Him die on the cross, and even saw Him after rising from the dead.... they wrote about Him... and died at the hands of folks who hated Jesus... rather than 'give in' about what they had seen and known to be true.

Do you know anyone who willingly died instead of telling the truth? I don't. But many of the writers of the New Testament did just exactly that. [And some of the Old Testament writers, as well.]

So these friends of Jesus.... Did they record what Jesus said about how 'U.B. Goin'??? Yep. Lots.

Take John for instance -- one of Jesus' closest friends. Look what he said about why he went to the trouble of writing down what he observed:

"Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. "

And of course it was John who wrote down Jesus' words that are famous throughout the world:

John 3:16... "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes [trusts] in him shall not perish, but will have eternal life." [clarification added]

Actually, if you want to read John's book about Jesus, you can even do it online. It's pretty short. Read it for yourself. Learn what Jesus said about "U.B.Goin'" (or U.NOT.B.Goin').

CCDA Indy Planning Meeting...

We had a great CCDA Indy 2005 planning meeting/breakfast at the cafe yesterday. They've decided to meet the first Friday of every month, at the cafe (8am).

This is the local group associated with the national organization... "Christian Community Development Association". Our local 'host committee' is preparing for the national convention coming to Indy this November. Lots to do. Come join us at the cafe when we meet April 1st.

Gizoogle... Don't try this at home... LOL

Too funny! Gizoogle attempts to translate any website into an ebonics version. Here, try a sample search for IndyChristian.com.

With the growing controversy about the TNIV changing the meaning of the scriptures, this was a timely piece of comic relief.

[But beware -- it doesn't always come out pretty! Cover your ears & eyes at times.]

[hat-tip, Pastor Tim Bayly]

Picture Bloggin' ?

[part of our ongoing 'U.B. Bloggin/Learnin' program]

Some of our new bloggers have asked... "How do I add pictures to my posts?"

Like this...

Unfortunately, at the moment Blogger.com doesn't support (easy) picture posting in our blogs. [Give 'em time -- no doubt in the future they'll facilitate picture posting too.]

So here's my simplest advice (esp. for Microsoft Internet Explorer users):

• Find an existing picture already on the web.
• Make sure it's ok to use it at your blog. [That is, don't violate copyright laws -- which is a separate topic all by itself. In most cases, common sense and a conscience will help guide you. In most cases, the pictures you'd like to add to your blog are people you know and/or their logos... and they'd be easy to get permissions from.]
• You need to know the exact URL for the particular existing picture (example). But how do you know the exact URL when you just see a picture in a webpage? (example) Easy. Just RIGHT-click the pic, and choose PROPERTIES. Notice the URL is shown. [Highlighting through that URL and copying it, is a handy thing so you can later paste it into your code.] Caveat: If it's a long URL, you may not be seeing the whole thing, unless you highlight all the way through it.
• Now, as you're writing your post and hoping to include that picture, look at the two little TABS Blogger gives you to work with, just above your white posting area. You're probably in the COMPOSE tab, so switch to the EDIT HTML tab (briefly) so we can add a line of code -- Then we'll come back to the COMPOSE tab, ok?
• In the EDIT HTML mode, look for wherever you think is the most likely place to insert your code -- don't be afraid to experiment.
• Then type the following, within little 'tag' brackets < >
  img src=http://indychristian.com/images/Neil3.jpg
  [except use the URL of the picture you want to appear in your post.]
• Switch back to the COMPOSE mode tab... and La Voila!!!... your pic should appear.
• Resize it to suit yourself. If you're not familiar with resizing, you can leave it as is, or you can play with it and learn, especially clicking on the little diagonal arrow that appears when you hover over the very corner of the pic... then dragging it, to resize.
• Also... you can hyperlink a pic just like you can hyperlink a piece of text. But that's another lesson. **smile**

Good luck. If you have trouble -- come see us any Saturday morning at the cafe (10am til noon)

And don't forget, Orangejack Blogging University is always there to help.

They've got a great section on photo-blogging. Give it a try.

Judy O'Bannon's Visit Video...

Here's yet another example of how the cafe is a warm & welcoming center-point in the community...

...and the many interesting people come to visit the cafe.

Indiana's former 'first lady', Judy O'Bannon, visited last summer... cameramen in tow... and included the cafe in her weekly tv show, "Communities Building Community".


Judy O'Bannon

And here's the video link to that week's episode. Enjoy.

February... Black History Month...

February is Black History Month. Christianity Today has a number of great articles & resources you'd want to be aware of... and enjoy. [continued]

See more articles today at IndyChristian.com .

Pastor Hunt... quoted in the Star...

Clipped from today's Indianapolis Star:

"The Rev. Andrew Hun[t] of Body of Christ Community Church in Indianapolis decried any comparison of the fight for gay rights to the fight for civil rights by African-Americans."
[continued]

Takin' It Back...

Now look who's joined the blogosphere...

CCDA Indy 2005 now is building a blogsite called "Takin' It Back".

Pastor B. Bloggin'... Again...

Pastor Andrew Hunt, III

Andy's at it again. **smile**

Two weeks ago, thanks to the Unleavened Bread Cafe hosting the 'U.B.Bloggin' computer-training program, this inner-city pastor was suddenly able to publish the heart-beat of his soul, out onto the world wide web... for free... and very easily. No webmaster. No hosting fee.

Y'just gotta know somebody. Jesus. And the people He knows. Like many of our friends here at the UB Cafe. They'll help you be able to do all sorts of things. But we just have to 'connect' and get to know each other, and who to turn to.

That's the objective of IndyChristian.com, as we seek to make these 'connections' possible now in an age where God has gifted us with this new paradigm tool we call the Internet.

Join us any Saturday morning at 10am (til noon), here at the cafe, and learn all sorts of things you wanted to know or be able to do with computers.

Now... click to continue reading Andy's great article.]

Greater Faith....

See Pastor Joe's new blog for Greater Faith House of Prayer... that meets at the cafe.

School building needed....

Please contact Darwin Burks, International Praise and Worship Center,at dburks@ipwc.org or 1-317-201-5773 if you have any information on a school building available in Indianapolis or surrounding areas. This is an international ministry that wiuld like to open a school for all ages. If you have questions about this ministry please contact Darwin Burks, minsitry leader. "

Posted by Missionary Connection.

Accepting donations...

Missionary Connection is now accepting donations for computers,software,hardware,cell phones,medical supplies,cars,trucks,semis,buses,VCR's and monitors to be shipped over seas and to be used here in the USA for missionary needs in the USA and abroad. Financial donations are also being accepted for shipping cost and direct donation to missionaries in need. For a comprehensive list of the needs and the missionaries that financial support will be going to,please contact Becki Jenkins,director at 317-471-0156 or becki5789@msn.com. When e-mailing please identify in the subject: Missionary needs. Thank you and may G-ds peace be upon you! "

Pastor B Bloggin....

Pastor Andrew Hunt, III

Oh my, what HAVE we done??????

This pastor dropped by the cafe yesterday, and now has the potential for citywide, statewide (worldwide, even) impact ! [for free? is this a great new paradigm or what!]

Check out his new blog-site, and see his first article there... "Mitch is worth the switch!"

Mercy... U.B. Codin'...

Some of our trainees were so smart yesterday, they already jumped ahead, surfed to Blogger.com and started a blog of their own... and now they're asking questions about the blog coding.

Why? So you can do some things that you may not be able to do otherwise, as just the 'normal' blogger. Like add links in the side-bar, to all your friends. And adding pictures to your blog.

[The 'coding' of blog pages is found in the 'template' tabbed-section. And it's not as spooky as it looks when you spend a few minutes looking down through it. Try to find some things you recognize.... For instance, lots of Blogger webpages contain a section called "Previous Posts"... so you might look for that, to get your bearings a little bit. Try experimenting just a little -- change it to say "Recent Posts". Then preview what you've done by using the PREVIEW button. And when you're happy with it so far, SAVE your newly-modified template. Easy, right?]



Here's what I call "night burglary programming" -- learn to do things to your webpage by checking out how other folks do it, and cut/pasting their code... into your webpage's "template" (the part with all the programming code).

Example: Go look at how IndyChristian.com lists all their friends (Indy Bloggers section of their navbar).

To see the code, when you're using MS Internet Explorer, just look up at your browser's menu bar and click on View -- Source. Here's the section of their source-code we might want to cut/paste into OUR template...

******************************************************

<h2 class="sidebar-title">Who's Who - Indy Bloggers?</h2>



<ul id="recently">



<li><a href="http://lovingchange.com">Neil Cox, LovingChange.com</a></li>

<li><a href="http://mcconnect.blogspot.com">Becki Jenkins, Missionary Connection</a></li>

<li><a href="http://billbean.t1host.net/">Bill Bean, Unnecessary Pastor</a></li>

<li><a href="http://briangroce.com">Brian Groce, Tech</a></li>

<li><a href="http://intheagora.com">Josh Claybourn, In The Agora</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.xanga.com/superhua">Justin Young, Chinese Church</a></li>

<li><a href="http://bikehiker.blogspot.com/">John Hay, Bike Hiker, Pastor</a></li>

<li><a href="http://ubbloggin.blogspot.com/">"U B Bloggin"</a></li>

<li><a href="http://indychurch.org">IndyChurch.org</a></li>

<li><a href="http://realbody.blogspot.com">Pastor Andrew Hunt, III</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.lifecarecounselingservices.blogspot.com/">Noah Kersey, Lifecare Counseling</a></li>

<li><a href="mailto:coach@goal-partners.com?subject=Neil... Add me to Indy Bloggers?">Add me to Indy Bloggers?</a></li>



</ul>

*****************************************************************************************

Y'know... If a person simply knew <WHY ALL THE BRACKETS?>... we'd be well on our way to modifying the code to use it ourselves at any website, right?

I found out that the coding inside of brackets are called 'tags'. Using my 'night burglary' method of coding, I found I didn't need to understand them to be able to use them. I just experimented and watched to see what happened when I used certain ones.

Example: That very first one... <h2> seems to be the header-tag that prints stuff real big.

And importantly, I found that when we 'open a tag', we also have to later 'close a tag' using the slash mark... example </h2>. Apparently that tells the program to STOP making big header-styled fonts.

Pretty simple, once I knew that.

Oh, and it also helped to know that all the indented space or white blank areas between lines of code just don't matter. Apparently programmers just write code that way to make it a little simpler for themselves to read and not get lost in all the goobledygock coding.

So go look at the code above and notice the 'opening tags' and their corresponding 'closer tags' (with the slash). See how they match up?

Everything else in between you can pretty much figure out what it does, by experimenting. Say change the names of their blogging friends, to YOUR blogging friends. And change the URL's of their friends' web-addresses, to YOUR friends' web addresses. That would be easy enough, right? Just cut/pasting from their programming-source-code to our blog template.

Question is... where, within our template's code, do we do this?
Answer... Just look down through the template coding til you see something you recognize... say the "Previous Posts" header. So you may want to insert your new code before that section.

[Tip: When I experiment, I just change a little at a time and then PREVIEW it to see how it comes out. And then after I'm comfortable with what I've done so far, I SAVE the template.]

Want more tips & tricks for playing in the code? Check out "Oh Yeah, U.B. Connectin' "

Now for sure... U.B. Bloggin'.....

It's not just the name of our site, it's one of the newest, most important things we train folks on. Why? Because suddenly, blogging gives the average everyday person the ability to get what's important to them... out onto the net, just like everyone else. It's having your own webpage... with the easy ability to post new stuff all the time... and the ability to link to your friends... create your own blog network for impact. No special skills needed. No cash needed. Just enthusiasm. **smile**

And it's not 'what you know' as much as it is... 'WHO you know'. It's a relational bunch, these bloggers. And they help each other learn more and accomplish more.

Bottom Line: Blogging is a free & easy publishing/learning system which creates new networking opportunities and uniquely impacts the new culture in which we live!

"Blogging is not about a web-SITE; it's about a web-STRATEGY."

Still need more proof that it's important and is becoming increasingly so? Read "Why Blog? Top 50 Reasons"

How to blog? Where to blog? We'll show folks that on Saturday mornings at 10am til noon -- so y'all come.

Here are some helpful tips for now:

• 'Blog' generally refers to the blog SITE... example: "U. B. Bloggin".
• The URL of a blog might be something like... http://UBbloggin.blogspot.com.
• A particular 'post' at a blogsite refers to a specific entry on a given day. Example: today's post..."Now for sure U.B. Bloggin' ".
• If there are 8 million blogs (as reported this month by the Pew Internet & American Life Project), then there are probably 8 million different ways to do a blog. So get crazy -- don't limit your thinking; there's no particular rules about blogging. Just know that anyone can see them, so don't slander anyone or embarrass your employer, etc. Bloggers have been fired already... hello courtroom!
• Blogger.com is a free & easy place to create your own blog. Don't get distracted by the fact that when you do use Blogger.com to create/edit your blog, your resulting blog will be located on their 'blogspot' server... so it'll have a name like http://UBbloggin.blogspot.com.
• Keep reading UBbloggin.blogspot.com regularly -- we'll continue posting helpful tips, such as... Hyperlinks... Picture Bloggin' ... RSS... Aggregators... How to add links, do html-coding & edit your template... etc.

And here's a great (Christian) site that will be very helpful to learn more...



Orangejack Blogging University

U B Learnin'...

Welcome. Come on in. Enjoy. Learn. Help others. Have fun...

The heart of our "Surfin' Saturdays" computer training time together at the cafe will be relationship building -- making friends over coffee & keyboards... and sharing what we learned from someone else... with someone else.


Our goals for our informal time together, are simple: To develop the 3 basic capabilities of the internet... in just 3 weeks. Unbelievable? See for yourself as you come help?

• "U. B. Surfin" -- Gotta learn to surf the net, to know how to start finding important information, and to learn whatever you want to learn in life.
• "U. B. Emailin" -- Gotta get yourself a free email account, learn to email, and avoid the pitfalls.
• "U. B. Bloggin" -- Gotta learn to post something out where anyone can get to it from anywhere in the world... in order to hook-up with others and to impact people for the common good. In just one lesson, participants will get their own blog & automatic RSS feed... for free. And learn why that's important.

Each one, teach one: Although our Saturday training is free, trainees are obligated to train someone else in the coming weeks. So after 3 more sessions -- now as trainers themselves -- they will be considered for adding to our common neighborhood blog here... "U.B. bloggin". Stay tuned -- we'll be posting their pics & links to THEIR new blog-sites!

And in case you ever wonder 'Why?': Why would anyone take their time, talents and treasure to build these relationships and programs to help other people... the reason is simple: Jesus has loved us so much, forgiven us of much, and He extends His offer to everyone to enjoy life now and forevermore; how could we not want to share that good news with others and in turn share love & help others as we've been loved & helped in so many ways. [continue at DoYouKnowForSure.com]

Who's Who For Breakfast?

Eric Swanson

When Swanson gets tired of eating tv dinners, where does he come to eat? The cafe, of course!Just kidding, wrong 'Swanson'. This 'Swanson' is Eric Swanson, as in "10 Paradigm Shifts For Community Transformation".

Thanks to the Center for Congregations, Eric is coming to Indy to conduct a two day seminar January 28-29 -- "The Externally-focused Church" -- and will be having breakfast here at the cafe on the 29th at 7am, along with several other friends involved in "Transform Indiana". If you're interested in community transformation, come listen in.

Continue reading about Eric at IndyChristian.com.

Surfin' Saturday....

Starts this Saturday -- and then EVERY Saturday -- 10am til noon at the cafe.

We have volunteers that will be helping folks for free, to learn to surf, email and even publish online!

We say we're 'crossing the 3 great divides'...

• digital divide
• multi-ethnic divide
• and God's eternal divide.

Come join us... to learn... and then help someone else do whatever you know how to do.

Welcome... Come on in and make yourself at home...

Hi. Welcome to the neighborhood blog... coming to you from the Unleavened Bread Cafe -- 'Food for the Stomach & Soul'.

[Wanna watch the video?]

We hope you'll find it's a good way to get to know us... and also keep up with what all is going on in the cafe neighborhood here in the 'heart' of Indy... at the corner of 30th & Central.

The cafe is a lot like 'Cheers' -- everybody knows your name... so stop by anytime, get a hug and let us get to know you too.


Elease Womack is the proprietoress -- we just call her 'Mother-of-the-hood'. **smile** And she's never too busy to give you a hug and welcome you to the cafe.

The cafe is a work of grace: a ministry to the neighborhood -- faith expressing itself in love.

The cafe blog here online will introduce you to a number of our other people... especially those who have become part of the urban tech-training offered here at the cafe. Btw, a special thanks to those of you who specially help fund the wireless internet here at the cafe so we can provide this site and this training. It's important that our neighborhood folks have access & involvement on the information highway. And we've found it's equally important that everyone have friends & fun as we help each other learn the necessary skills.

We say that "Surfin' Saturdays" are to help people cross the '3 great divides'... the digital divide... the multicultural divide... and God's eternal divide.

Ok, it's time to get started -- and you can participate too. Stop by "Surfin' Saturdays" (any Saturday from 10am til noon) to surf & learn along with us for FREE.

Until then, may God specially bless you... and those you love. And if you just can't wait to find out how very much He loves you, then click here and let us share Him with you... so you can know for sure that you have eternal life... that is, enjoy peace with God now &amp;amp; forever & ever.