Last summer, I began experimenting with the idea of using a computer to run our home television. Being too cheap and indifferent to traditional television programming to pay for cable, I sought out a way to use ESPN’s 360 website to watch college football games for free. (They stream all their live football games via the web now). And wishing to preserve my VHS collection without buying more shelf space, I looked for a computer that would allow me to hold electronic copies of my movies.

A little research, a little experimentation, and a bit of searching for a good deal on ebay, and I had a home theater PC: a computer designed like a large DVD player, complete with wireless keyboard, mouse, and remote control. I also had free software to catalog my music, pictures, and videos.

Since then, Stacy and I have watched countless movies, football games, and television episodes on our 32” computer monitor via the web. Although we occasionally still tune into a local program using our antenna, we are happy to get programming differently. Very happy.

If you are looking for a change, a cheaper entertainment solution, or a way to preserve your precious VHS collection, I suggest looking into Boxee’s Home Theater PC application. It’s free and easy to download and install (only registration required because it works off your profile via their website), and it works great. It will allow you to see how a computer will soon replace the television, and it will allow you to consider a future transition away from cable TV by purchasing a PC or a Boxee box for your home television.

www.boxee.tv

Let me add a few important disclaimers to this post:

Please keep in mind as you read this, that I am a bit of a computer guru. If you are not computer saavy, remember the MythBusters disclaimer: don’t try this at home. (Find a tech saavy friend to help)

Home Theater PC’s are not mainstream and difficult to find. If you are looking to make a leap to a home theater PC, I do suggest searching for an HP machine (the only time you’ll see me suggest an HP computer), because they are the only ones I have found that come with Blu-Ray, TV Tuner cards, and a remote. Try searching tigerdirect.com or newegg.com

VHS tapes are not easy to convert into electronic copies. I didn’t do the conversions myself in most cases, but rather collected the movies I own from others, being careful to keep proof of my VHS purchases and only obtain copies of movies that I own.

To Save a Life hit box offices this past week, but as someone who looks at movies trailers on a frequent basis, watches the local theaters for good flicks, and is always interested in discussing the next big film, this one has totally escaped my notice…and I don’t think it is because the movie is bad…it’s because the movie is evangelically Christian.

Yahoo does not even reference this movie in it’s section. Apple has a page, but it requires a search. I can only do so much, but if you haven’t seen the trailer or need a movie suggestion, take this one from me. Go see it. I can’t promise it will be amazing, but I can promise that you’ll leave the theater edified, which is more than I can say for most movies in the theater right now…save maybe one I will blog about later, after I have seen it.

It’s the constant and determined effort
that breaks down all resistance, sweeps away all obstacles.
~ Claude M. Bristol

A great pleasure in life
is doing what people say you cannot do.
~Walter Gagehot

Genius is one percent inspiration
and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
~ Thomas Edison

Any man can work when every stroke of his hands brings down the fruit rattling from the tree…
but to labor in season and out of season, under every discouragement…
that requires heroism which is transcendent.
~ Henry Ward Beecher

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
~ Galatians 6:9, Paul, the Bible

My time here at DTS continues to press some important details into my heart and mind. None so much as this: When you preach or teach from the Bible, make sure you are saying what Bible really intended to say!

Too many sermons, books, and teachers have abused the Word of God with “good intentions”, and I strongly desire to help break the cycle. In that spirit, I recommend using good tools in all your Bible study, and avoiding outdated ones. I have purchased the entire volume of work on the Bible by Warren Wiersbe for that very reason…hoping to keep it open next to my Bible whenever I am preparing a sermon, to ensure I am following a clear train of thought.

Let me place the weight of my comments on a far smarter person than I, however. If this blrub peaks your interest, than PLEASE read the post by one of the translators of the NET Bible, on good and bad tools, and see why we are so blessed to studying the Bible in 2010. Read it here.

When one door closes another door opens;
but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door,
that we do not see the ones which open for us.
~ Alexander Graham Bell

“Lead me not into temptation;”
I can find the way myself.
~ Rita Mae Brown

We pay a heavy price for our fear of failure.
It is a powerful obstacle to growth.
It assures the progressive narrowing of the personality
and prevents exploration and experimentation.
There is no learning without some difficulty and fumbling.
If you want to keep on learning,
you must keep on risking failure—all your life.
~ John W. Gardner

Most great people have attained their greatest success
just one step beyond their greatest failure.
~ Napolean HIll