Where Did The Universe Come From?

Genesis 1     New American Standard Bible (NASB)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.


Colossians 1:16     New American Standard Bible (NASB)

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.

Revelation 4:11     New American Standard Bible (NASB)

“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

Hebrews 1:10     New American Standard Bible (NASB)

And,  “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the works of Your hands;


Posted in Biblical Accounts, Christian

What is the Safest Free Email Service Available to the Public?

This is a good question I will try to answer. There really is no “safest, free” e-mail service out there. However, I will discuss the good, bad, and the ugly of using a “free” email service.

Please remember anytime you use a “free” online service, the service itself is not really free. Why? Well because they have your data. Today, data is like a product to sell. People can sell data they collect to people like advertisers and private companies who can make use of it (for good reasons……or bad reasons).

Unfortunately this data is usually personal information you provided through a “free” e-mail account, “free” instant messaging service, “free” video call (e.g., Skype), “free” web hosting account, “free” file storage (who puts their personal files [like photos] on a random, who-knows-who-really-owns-it server anyway?), “free” video hosting service (e.g., YouTube), etc.  You get the idea.

These companies that provide free e-mail services are probably selling your data to other companies. This is one way they can make money to pay for hosting those “free” e-mail accounts to begin with. Also, this is why if you do anything personal on your “free” e-mail account, it isn’t really private.

The Good

  • No technical knowledge of email needed to get started
  • No worry about making backups (if using a reputable provider like Gmail)
  • No worry about blocking spam (the provider should be doing this for you anyway)
  • No worry about managing your own server to run your own e-mail server
  • No worry about others not getting their e-mails to you (reliable providers should be constantly monitoring their servers for issues like Gmail or Yahoo would do)

The Bad

  • No control over how much disk space you can have
  • No control over who the service provider decides to block e-mails coming from / or going to
  • No control over service outages (they probably will just silently fix the issues with little to no notifications about what happened)
  • Sometimes you may not get the exact name you want for your e-mail address, since someone else may have previously taken the same name (for example: you want john.doe@example.com, but someone has already taken that name; you then may have to settle for john.doe193@example.com instead…not something that everyone may want)

The Ugly

  • No control over your data (they have your e-mails, you do not!)
  • No ownership of your e-mails (not only do you not control your e-mails, you technically do not own them either…they do)  —- I know you may disagree with me, but let’s face facts, like I said before, they have the data, not you!
  • Anyone at the company (or individual hosting free accounts) can snoop into your e-mails that you send or receive.
  • Your “free” e-mail service with _all_ of your e-mails could be deactivated and erased with no prior notice for _any_ reason they deem acceptable.
  • Your emails may also be stored permanently in backups the hosting service makes, which means when you delete an e-mail, it may not really be deleted!

You may want to consider carefully reading the “Terms of Service” agreement for “free” e-mail providers to see how they deal with their users’ privacy.


Posted in Computers, Internet and Servers, Security

When Should You Update Software?

Software updates are one of the things that can cause pain for server and network administrators.  They do not have the luxury to just click an “upgrade to next version” button like you would see on a WordPress website.  There is usually more involved when updating software.

When you have a new software (or operating system) you can upgrade to, there are a few things to check out first.

(Not an exhaustive list)

  1. Does it have any features that are beneficial to my daily work?
  2. Does it have any features that have been removed?
  3. Will the currently running software work with the new OS, or have people complained about the software not working correctly?
  4. Will your hardware work with the new software?
  5. How much downtime will an upgrade incur?
  6. If a lot of downtime will occur, is there a way to minimize the downtime?

Whenever you want to use a newer OS, you should always perform a fresh install on the computer. Never just do an in-place upgrade.  This is a very good way to mess things up on the computer.  Even if the in-place upgrade (not a fresh install) seems to work fine, there may be small issues that will pop-up later that you are not aware of.  Then you will wish you had done a fresh install in the first place. 🙂

Also, whenever you want to update a piece of software, always make sure you are using a “stable” release of the software.  Never run Beta, RC, Alpha, or any “not finished” software in production.  This can cause you grief that you could have avoided.


Posted in Computers, Internet and Servers, Operating Systems, Programming, Software

What Does the Bible Say About Money?

Proverbs 13:11   New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles,
But the one who gathers by labor increases it.

Proverbs 28:20    New American Standard Bible (NASB)

A faithful man will abound with blessings,
But he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished.

1 Timothy 6:10    New American Standard Bible (NASB)

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Proverbs 22:16    New American Standard Bible (NASB)

He who oppresses the poor to make more for himself
Or who gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

Matthew 6:24    New American Standard Bible (NASB)

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

Ecclesiastes 5:10    New American Standard Bible (NASB)

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.

Proverbs 13:22    New American Standard Bible (NASB)

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,
And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.

1 Timothy 6:9    New American Standard Bible (NASB)

But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.


Posted in Christian