I was spending a little time reviewing the google analytics information for Bible Geek Gone Wild this morning and noticed that the 10 highest viewed pages this year are:

1. Home Page – 4275 Page Views
2. Continued Controversy over the Shack? – 1005 Page Views
3. Cheap Book Stand from IKEA – 517 Page Views
4. Does John MacArthur Hate Mark Driscoll? – 449 Page Views
5. Free Audiobook: The Divine Comedy (Unabridged) by Dante Alighieri – 411 Page Views
6. Book Review: New Testament Text and Translation Commentary – 347 Page Views
7. Free E-Book – Porn-Again Christian by Mark Driscoll – 310 Page Views
8. Bible Software Showdown – BibleWorks Versus LOGOS – A Discussion – 272 Page Views
9. Free Audiobook: Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan – 238 Page Views
10. Free Easter Movie for the Kiddies! – 232 Page Views

After 10 years of resistance I finally took the plunge and am converting from PC to Mac. I’m interested in doing more audio and video stuff for Bible Geek Gone Wild and I really felt that the Mac platform was the better way to go. I opted for the 13.3″ MacBook Pro. So far, my favorite features are the integrated webcam, LED display and the backlit keyboard. I guess all those switch adds and Peter’s (www.edstrom.net) many encouragements finally paid off.

If you have a Kindle or iPad, I encourage you to take a few minutes and listen to some of the innovative ideas Kevin Rose has for the social media potential of internet connected e-book readers.  Many thanks to Bitsy Griffin who blogs over at Jack Of All Trades (bgjackofalltrades.wordpress.com) for bringing it to my attention.

Update: The conference will get underway Friday June 25th at 7:00 PM eastern.

The Epicenter Conference 2010 will be taking place on June 25-26, 2010 in Philadelphia, PA.  I was excited to learn that they’ll be live webcasting the event for free.  Simply browse to www.epicenterconference.com during the event to watch.

Greetings to all of my friends and readers out there in cyberspace.  Many of you have probably noticed somewhat of a slowdown in my blogging over the past few months.  For those of you who are curious about what I’ve been up to, below is a summary of where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing.

• Been finishing up a massive update/remodel to the upper level of our home
• Been helping a good friend hang drywall, etc. before his big move to California
• Traveled to California in May for the TSIA conference
• Traveled to Des Moines, IA this month for the NCFIC Road Trip event (WWW.NCFIC.ORG)
• Manned a book table for Christian Focus Publications at the 2010 Association of Christian Librarians conference (WWW.CHRISTIANFOCUS.COM)
• Traveled to Chicago, IL this month to visit with a customer
• Butchered chickens (Yum!)
• Working my day job
• Working my night “job” (i.e. husband, father)
• Reading books (Lots of reviews in the works, thank you for your patience…)
• Trying to get back into running (boy do I feel old)

I’m excited to get back to writing and blogging as it’s a very gratifying creative outlet for me.  I have several other blogging projects in the works that I’ll be talking about more soon, so stay tuned….

Much to my friend Peter Edstrom’s (www.edstrom.net/blog) delight, I finally took the plunge and bought something other than an iPod Shuffle from the Apple store.  I’ve had my iPad for a little more than a week now and I’m loving it.  Since I’ve never had an iPod with an acutal screen, my ease of listening to audiobooks, music, and podcasts has gone up exponentially.  I like the ease of keeping up with my e-mail and web surfing utilizing Mail and Safari.  I also like that I’m able to add apps and music/podcasts from iTunes and App Store right on the iPad.  Look Mom, no more synching.    Battery life has been awesome at about 12 hours.  I haven’t had the chance to read a full e-book on the iPad, but will try to get a review book for the iPad and will let my readers know how the experience goes.  Last but not least, below is a list of my favorite apps thus far:

• ESV Bible HD
• Kindle
• LOGOS
• NFS Shift
• TweeetDeck
• WordPress
• Skype

Chances are you’ve heard today that the U.S. senate passed the healthcare bill with a vote of 60 to 39.  This vote was historic in its content and in the sense that this is the first time the senate has voted on Christmas Eve since 1895.  My initial reaction is one of fear as I believe this bill will further destroy our country’s collapsing economy.  However, I do not feel that all is lost.  I am hopeful that the disappearing freedoms in our country will help to wake U.S. Christians out of their fat, happy, and complacent slumber.  We need to be on our knees daily in prayer for our country, its leaders, our families, our communities, our churches, and so much more.  As I try to put aside my fear, I take comfort in the following verses:

• “Daniel answered and said:  “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might.  He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; ” (Daniel 2:20-21, English Standard Version)
• “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” (2 Corinthians 5:1-10, English Standard Version)

Be blessed as you celebrate the birth of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ this Christmas weekend.  Take hope in the fact that God is sovereign and in control.  Take comfort in the fact that this world is not our true home.  Be challenged in the new year to increasingly live out the gospel in all areas of your life and to earnestly seek an ever deepening relationship with Jesus Christ.

I had to stop by IKEA tonight to pick up a few last minute Swedish Christmas goodies for my lovely wife and I happened across the BRADA laptop support in the home office section of the store.  However, I didn’t see a laptop support, I saw an inexpensive book stand.  At a mere $2.49, I figured I couldn’t go wrong.  I got it home and had to try it out right away with my ESV Study Bible.  It works great.  I might like it better if it was a little taller, but for the price I’m very excited.  I’ve been wanting a book stand for some of my reference books and this fits the bill as well as the budget.    The stands come in either yellow or black.  You can learn more at the IKEA web site:  LINK.

Learn more here:  www.TyrannyEve.com.

I just had to put this up for my good friend Peter who blogs over at Project Oriel (www.edstrom.net/blog).