The Link
The Weekly E-Newsletter of Disciples Christian Church
In This Issue
- Updated Prayer Requests
- Disciples Regional Assembly
- Disciples Women’s Ministry
- DCC Education Department News
- From The TechnoManor
- Men’s Bible Study
- Music Notes
- Children’s Sunday School
Updated Prayer Requests
- Tom Kimball, brother of Rosie Lewallen, will have open heart surgery
September 8 for multiple bypasses.
Recent heart catheterization indicated vessels too small for
angioplasty.
- Paul Reed, friend of the Clark’s, had aneurism surgery last
week.
- Joanne Pieper, Agnes Pieper’s daughter-in-law, is being moved to The Meadows
rehabilitation facility in
- Jack Jones, friend of the Bertschis, was recently diagnosed with
prostate cancer.
- Lois Prewitt, John Prewitt’s father’s wife, fell and has been hospitalized
at
- Shane Shupak, Jan and Ean Sullivan’s son-in-law, has moved to a different base
in
- Bill Ramsey had quintuple bypass surgery on Thursday, August
21. He and wife Barbara are asking
for prayers for healing and gratitude.
- Aaron Leach, son of Stacy Bell’s co-worker, has been diagnosed with four
mental health diseases. They are
trying to get the proper help.
- Gena Clark, Rev. Galen’s daughter, got results from her stress
tests indicating no problems.
The prayer
requests in The Link each week are recent updates. A list of ongoing prayer
requests appears in our worship bulletin each Sunday.
Did you
know that ‘polynesia’ is memory loss in parrots? Did you know that clones are people two? And did you know that the apostles drove a
Honda? (Apparently they only had one
auto.)
The need
for translators at the Olympics reminded me of the fellow who felt called to
foreign missions. Going to
Puns are
so much fun. But puns rely on mutual
understanding of words’ meanings. Much
verbal communication relies on mutual understanding. When it comes to communicating faith you need
to be on the same page as your listener(s).
And you need to live it; it may even be more important for you to show
others what you mean by example. (I am
reminded that there some preachers who truly believe in, “Do as I say; not as I
do.”)
Enjoy your
faith, my friends, as you live it, and as you tell it. I saw the first two puns quoted in this
article on church signs; I think they must enjoy being Christians.
GGC
DCC Education Department News
by
Youth News
- THIS Saturday, August 30 – Six Flags Over Texas Experience starting at
- Sunday, August 31 – Final day of the Youth
Collection/Computer Campaign
- Sunday, September 7 – Webmaster Computer Session
with “Dave the Rave” Gillen. This
event will take place at
- Saturday, September 13 – Movie afternoon for DCC and
FCCC youth starting at 11 am.
Details to follow.
- Sept./Oct. – “Holy Spirit Experience” This event is still in the planning
stages. Information will be
provided as it becomes available.
Adult News
n A Christian Men’s Fellowship group is being organized. Contact Mark Mueller for more information.
From The TechnoManor
From the TechnoManor
A nice
email showed up in my Inbox last week:
“Thanks for all the help yesterday. I thought
that this would be a good place for you to address the security thingy that we
talked about yesterday. I went to my campus with my new laptop and found that
the wireless connection there is not secure.
I'm sure I'm not the only one with questions about this.”
I talked
about wireless connections (also called “Wi-Fi”) in my August 1st
column. There I briefly mention wireless
security. Now it’s time to expand on it.
Let me
draw some pictures to help illustrate this.
In Figure
1, we have a basic Wi-Fi network. Your
computer broadcasts information to a wireless router and receives information
from that wireless router. There is no
security at all. All of this information
is “visible” to anyone. In Figure 1,
when I log in to my Gmail account, my username (frenchygrey@gmail.com) and password (mysecret) can be seen by the Snooper, who is not necessarily part
of the Wi-Fi network.
So, the
first level of security is to encrypt (or scramble) the information on the
network. Doing this makes it secure from
outside viewers (the Snooper). See
Figure 2.
Securing
the Wi-Fi network involves adding something called a network password, network
key, or encryption key. They are
different names for the same thing. You
may also see the acronyms: AES, WPA, and
WPA2. These are the underlying
technology to scramble the information on the Wi-Fi network. The wireless router and all laptops must be
given this network password when they are set up. All must use the same one for this to work.
Encrypting
your Wi-Fi network makes it secure from outside snooping. Trouble is, other people on the wireless
network, like at a Starbucks or DCC, can “see” the information you send and
receive. This may be acceptable for
casual use of the Internet. But what if
you want to check your bank balance? How
can you make it secure and private?
You use
something called a Virtual Private Network, or VPN. See Figure 3.
Think of a
VPN as a tunnel using the wireless network.
The end points of this tunnel are your computer and a special server
computer on the other end (the VPN server).
This VPN server is on the other side of the wireless router, connected
to the Internet.
In Figure
3, information you type on your laptop is encrypted by VPN software on your
computer. It is sent through this
“tunnel” to the VPN server. The information is decrypted on the VPN server and
sent to the Internet. No one on the
outside of the VPN can understand the information. They see mumbo jumbo, not the content.
You can
use the VPN on an unsecured Wi-Fi network (Figure 1) or a secure Wi-Fi network
(Figure 2). That’s the good news. The bad news is that setting up a VPN is a
little tricky. This is something you
want a technically-savvy friend to do for you or with you.
How do you
get a VPN?
Some
companies provide a VPN if you’re working from home or on the road. The VPN server in Figure 3 would be on the corporate
network. If you’re company provides a
VPN, their information technology department can help you set it up.
If your
company doesn’t offer a VPN, or you want this service for your personal
protection, there are a couple of for-pay VPN services on the Internet.
www.hotspotvpn.com and www.publicvpn.com are 2 such services that I’m aware of. Prices vary depending on the strength of
encryption and how long you want to use the service. Prices range from $3.88 for a single day’s
use to $139 for a year at the strongest encryption level. I use www.hotspotvpn.com
and pay $89 / year for the basic strength.
It is adequate for my occasional use on public networks.
What do
you need for a VPN? Typically a credit
card (if you’re paying for your own service), some software that you download
from the Internet, and patience to following the setup instructions. There is no hardware to install. However, if you’re using your company’s VPN,
you may have a little token about the size of a credit card, with an ever-changing
number. They’ll tell you what to do with
it.
To use
your VPN, you connect your laptop to a Wi-Fi network. Then you start the VPN software which will
connect to the VPN server. Then you surf
the Internet. Your messages are
unreadable expect by the Internet server you’re talking to. You are now secure in your use of a wireless
connection, and your information is kept private.
Before I
close I must mention that what I’ve described are the basic concepts for
securing a Wi-Fi network and ensuring your privacy with a VPN. There are exceptions and “what if” scenarios
that are outside the bounds of this column.
Also, if you’re paying real close attention, Figure 3 has an interesting
“trick.” I’ll see if you catch it.
Has a
computer question been bugging you lately?
Heard some technobabble in the press and wonder what it means? Drop me a line at:
I’ll
attempt to answer one each week in
Dave
Gillen
Men’s Bible Study
Calling
all men! Come join us at IHOP (
The 2008 Regional Assembly for the Christian Church in the
Southwest will take place October 17-19 at University Christian Church and TCU
in
Disciples Women’s Ministry
The next Disciples Women’s Ministry
meeting will take place THIS Tuesday, September 2 at 7 p.m. Contact Mary Carroll with any
questions. 214-473-8778
Music Notes
by Laura Young
Music
Director
Chancel
choir’s first Sunday to sing will be September 7, so be sure to come to
practice on September 3. Choir practice
is scheduled every Wednesday evening during the month of September from 6:30 –
7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary. New members are welcome. We have members as
young as middle school up through senior adults. Music reading is not required
(but don't be surprised if you find it easy to learn as we go). If you can
carry a tune in a bucket, as the old saying goes, and you love to sing for the
Lord, we have a place for you. We will all be fitted for robes that night, as
all of the robes and stoles have been cleaned and pressed during our break.
Handbells
will meet seasonally, beginning in plenty of time for Christmas. For planning purposes,
please let me know if you would like to participate in bell choir.
Children's
and youth choirs will also meet seasonally. Please let me know if you have a child or
grandchild who would enjoy singing with us!
Upcoming
local concerts:
The
Plano Symphony Orchestra will present a concert on Sat. Sept. 20th at the
As always,
if you know of local concerts or school arts events which you would like to
have publicized in the "Music Notes" column in "The Link,"
please let me know. Thank you!
Laura
Young, Music Director, 972-744-9941
Children’s Sunday School
ALL PARENTS,
GRANDPARENTS, AND KIDS!! A SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS FOR
PRE-K
THROUGH 5TH GRADERS MEET, AT 9:30 A.M. SUNDAY MORNINGS
ALL KIDS WELCOME
BIBLE
STORIES, ACTIVITIES, FUN, MAKING NEW FRIENDS
=
LOTS OF LEARNING AND GROWING!
For more information contact pharbaugh@verizon.net
The
In order to follow Jesus and worship God, we will serve our neighbors. We will
minister to our fellow Christians. We will live and tell the good news of Jesus
Christ in all we do.
Disciples Christian Church Staff
Diane & Galen Clark, Co-Transitional Pastors
Laura Young, Music Director
Linda Gulick, Preschool Director
Julie Chen, Pianist
Jan Carter, Administrative Assistant
Dave Gillen, Webmaster frenchygrey@gmail.com
email: theoffice@dccplano.com
phone: 972-398-2240