The TCF complaint is based on the reason that most buyers are installing Windows XP even after buying computers preloaded with Vista. So Microsoft is forcing people to buy Vista in the first place which they find unfair.

A lot of people reason that Microsoft cannot go on supporting Windows XP forever and it would be reasonable for them to expect people to migrate to the latest and greatest from their stables at one point of time. I accept this argument. There is nothing apparently wrong in this. But if Microsoft expects people to move over to a new OS which is plagued with numerous problems, has less hardware support than XP, requires more resources to run, is half baked in a lot of areas, comes in a confusing number of choices, and is marketed in a misleading manner, then they are expecting way too much. Windows Vista's troubles are far from over and Microsoft has acknowledged that. The company quotes increasing sales which is misleading. Due to OEM licenses, most PC manufactures bundle Vista with their computers. So a consumer does not really have a choice not to buy the crappy OS. Consequently, Microsoft's books record increasing sales for Vista.

My take is that most consumers are really buying the hardware and since they do not have a choice of shunning the OS, they have to take it too. The fact of the matter is many have downgraded to XP after buying brand new computers. Ever since Microsoft pulled the plug on XP, a number of users might have even installed pirated versions of XP. The corporates, of course, have stayed clear of Vista.

I would really like to see more of the leading manufactures selling PCs/notebooks that do not have any OS on that. Give more power to the consumers to choose what they want to run on their systems. The Ubuntu/Kubuntu Linux flavors are really good for desktops and are viable alternatives. Why do I have to pay Microsoft money when what I really want is the hardware? Of course I can get a PC assembled. What if I want to have a brand name PC with the advantage of warranties and service agreements? Why should a consumer not have this choice?

Hopefully somebody will see the reasoning behind these questions.

In light of the downgrading of Eskom by Moody's Rating Agency, and pending ratings by Standard & Poor's and Fitch rating agencies, the Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the government to provide a clear plan on how it is going to help Eskom raise the R343 billion for its capital expansion programme without resorting to tariff increases.

Government is the only shareholder in Eskom and should thus adopt actions that will bolster the utility's plummeting credit rating, and ensure that the South African public is receiving the service from Eskom it deserves.

It is a matter of concern that the downgrading comes at a time when the business community and South Africans are reeling from soaring food and fuel prices - any further tariff hikes by Eskom will negatively affect our growth prospects.

Eskom is furthermore in the midst of a major capital expansion programme. One of the prerequisites for economic growth in any industrialized economy is the presence of predictable and sustainable electricity supply.  In the long run, not being able to ensure a steady supply of electricity will pose a threat to South Africa's growth prospects.  Besides this, power outages cause congestion, disrupt business activities and inconvenience millions of South Africans.  The Government must therefore take immediate action to ensure that Eskom's capital expenditure programme is not compromised by the credit or investment downgrading.

There is no doubt that the power outages that South Africa witnessed at the end of last year are the outcome of government's neglect of our electricity generation infrastructure over the past decade, which has resulted in a situation whereby we have insufficient reserve margins to cope with routine failures.  The DA therefore calls for the government to abandon its usual laissez-faire attitude and immediately release the first tranche of the R60 billion it committed to Eskom - and allay fears over insecure funding for the power utility.

The DA is strongly opposed to any unjustifiable tariff hikes as these are likely to have a substantial effect on inflation and hence monetary policy - with vulnerable members of society taking the brunt of such increases, even as they are already suffering due to the escalating prices of food and fuel.

The Government must urgently explain how it will assist the energy utility as certainty on government plans will bring confidence in the utility's funding situation and save it from further downgrading from pending ratings.

The downgrades of such big banks no doubt contributed to today’s dismalness; just the threat that Zion Bancorporation (ZION) may be downgraded sent the stock into a tailspin.  But it may all be a ploy by the big guys to keep the naked shorts away.  The ban on naked short selling was lifted today, and it’s hard to imagine there was no connection between its lift and the big downgrades.  Once a stock is downgraded, it falls sharply, then begins to make a steady increase.  No short money can be made on a stock going up. 

I bought more SSBX in the morning, and it held at about where I bought it all day.  I finally gave up on the dream that the fake OTC IndyMac (IDMC) was more than a fake OTC IndyMac and sold it at a pretty substantial loss.  Looking forward, I can use those funds better investing in UCHB, MF, and/or Community Bancorp (CBON), the last of which weathered today’s storm pretty well, closing up 5%.  A friend of mine says CBON is a good investment and points to the nice steady upward slope the stock has made since July 15.  He thinks “Something must be going on with it.”  I like his technical analysis.  CHC held up pretty well today too.       

The Dow closed down 139 to $11,642.  Oil sank $1.44 to close at $13.01.  Every stock in my portfolio, with the exception of CHC and TMA, closed in the red today, but several of the downers (and the Dow) had small rallies at the very end of the day.  Hopefully it’s an indication of better days ahead.

First, this is not an attack on the people of the Emergent movement. I do not know any of them, but from their writings, if guys like Doug Pagitt and Bryan McLaren are anything, it is sincere. That is not to say, however, that they are not misguided and mistaken. It is my fervent prayer that these zealots for God who seem to be searching diligently for Him would find Him where millions of others have before and will hereafter: in the pages of His Holy Word. If you are searching for God, turn off your computer and pick up a copy. As David said:

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.
Through your precepts, I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path...
The unfolding of your words gives light...
My heart stands in awe of your words.
Taken from the 119^th Psalm

Second, the angle of this critique is not one of philosophy or theology (though we will employ some.) Blogs to those ends abound. This post in particular aims at the paths the Emergent Church now walks and who walked them before. The Emergent Church is a relatively new movement, but its errors are as old as Christianity itself. Remember the words of Solomon?

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"?
It has been already in the ages before us.
There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.
Ecclesiastes 1:9-11

So with love and trepidation, over the next few weeks, I will humbly point out four unfruitful paths now being trod by Emergent feet. The first of these is Syncretism as seen in the early Roman Catholic Church. The second is a sort of Pseudo-Gnosticism that rejects the plain truth of the Word of God for a hidden knowledge. The third is De-emphasis on Theology seen prominently in my own Baptist denomination in 19^th century Britain. The fourth and final critique is on the Social Gospel that has done nothing in modern America but effectively decrease the empathy of churches.

Recently we have a wave of Apple iPhone users send in their hardware for repair.  Their iPhone stopped working totally after owners mistakenly upgrade the software.

If you are one of the Apple iPhone owner who have this problem, perhaps you might consider giving us a ring at (09) 8383943 and get a free software repair quote from us.

Ngga berarti gua akan terus stay di sini sih, cuma saat ini ingin senang2 dulu lagi ah 1.1.4

Oh ya, semua gua lakukan di Mac, langkah2 nya panjang. Nanti ya gua share.

Untuk sementara jangan lupa untuk simpan file2 ini karena akan sangat berguna:

1. Gua downgrade pake iTunes 7.5
2. Setelah itu gua naikin lagi ke iTunes 7.6.2
3. Kalau mau upgrade siapin iTunes 7.7 (atau tinggal upgrade saja).

Certamente existe um enorme conforto em não mudar de sistema operacional, principalmente se o que você já tem está funcionando bem. Ter que transferir todos os seus documentos e instalar todos os programas pode ser um pouco trabalhoso, ainda mais não tendo absoluta certeza que tudo irá funcionar bem.

Com tanta reclamação e tantos "problemas", deveríamos esperar que as vendas do Windos Vista fossem uma desgraça. Acontece que o Vista está vendendo que nem água no deserto! Batendo todos os recordes de vendas!

Será mesmo que está vendendo tanto?
Não estou insinuando que a Microsoft está fraudando essas informações. Porém o Vista não está vendendo tanto assim. As pessoas não vão as lojas e pedem pelo sistema operacional.

O que está ocorrendo é que a venda de notebooks e computadores de legalizados de marca estão batendo todos os recordes. E não só em países desenvolvidos. Aqui no país do presidente analfabeto também! Algo nunca visto por aqui antes.

Quando a Microsoft lançou o Windows 95, os computadores de marca passaram a vir com o novo sistema instalado. No lançamento do Windows 98, idem. Só que como a venda de máquinas Xing-Ling era muito maior - existiu uma época em que a venda de computadores Xing-Ling era de 90% do mercado - esta nova adaptação na base da ditadura não era percebida. Simplesmente aquele menino da informática colocava o sistema operacional que estávamos acostumados, e acabávamos mudando bem depois do lançamento. Tempo suficiente para todos os periféricos estarem compatíveis com o sistema operacional mais atual.

A pequena quantidade de novos adpetos do novo sistema operacional logo após o lançamento não fazia tanto estardalhaço. E convenhamos, naquela época, quem instalava o recém lançado é porque gostava de testar as novidades do momento e tinha um interesse maior pelo assunto. Provavelmente era um nerd, daqueles que são amantes de Star Wars e não muito habilidosos para conquistar mulheres.

Agora usuários finais reclamam da obrigatoriedade de usar um lançamento pouco estável e compatível com o resto de suas bugigangas virtuais. Estão com todo o seu direito. Mas só agora estão reclamando? Há pelo menos 13 anos a Microsoft faz isso e até então isso nunca foi motivo para revoltas e cartinhas para o jornal.

Podiam pelo menos se informar um pouco mais. É possível, sim, utilizar a licença mais atual em versões anteriores. Downgrade é permitido. Maiores explicações aqui.

Só pra deixar claro, estou muito satisfeito com meu Vista e não estou fazendo nenhum tipo de campanha para as pessoas fazerem downgrade. Mas se não gostou do novo, mude e pronto.

Aliás, eu gostava bem mais daquele modelo mais antigo do Pálio. Aqueles primeiros modelos mesmo, de uns cinco anos atrás, com a traseira mais arredondada. Vou mandar uma cartinha pro jornal reclamando que a Fiat não está mais vendendo carros naquele modelo. Quem sabe ela me escuta e não faz um modelo especial pra mim?

El "downgrade" es lo que quiero hacer en mi vida, bajar un nivel, bajar la intensidad de mis pensamientos, molestias, desengaños y vivir una vida mas frugal. Todo esto se debe a que se llega a un punto en el cual me di cuenta que de nada sirve, vivir por vivir, sin metas sin sueños, sin algo porque luchar. Sin hacer ejercicio, Sin disfrutar, Sin vacaciones, solo despertarse ir al trabajo.

Pasos de preparación:

1. Habrás instalado la version 7.7 de iTunes, así que necesitarás quitarla e instalar la versión 7.6 o 7.5 que puedes descargar desde aquí. (Reiniciar después de desinstalar iTunes 7.7)

2. Bájate una copia del firmware 1.1.4 para el iPhone

3. Descarga la versión parcheada del ZiPhone para bajar el baseband (ZiPhoneOSX patched by kIREmK 04.05.04_G)

4. Descarga el ZiPhone original.

Empecemos con el proceso de restauración:

1. Pon el iPhone en modo DFU

Extraido del genial comentario de Molatrix:

” - DFU MODE: Es el segundo modo de recuperación y básicamente lo usamos cuando la cosa se pone peliaguda, por decirlo de alguna manera. Para acceder a él:

1- Encendemos el iPhone y lo conectamos al ordenador, da exactamente igual en que modo esté.

2- Presionamos el botón HOME y POWER al mismo tiempo (es lo mismo que para resetearlo cuando se queda colgado) durante 10seg exactos (a los 7 u 8 la pantalla se queda en negra) y soltamos el botón POWER manteniendo el HOME (la mayoría de las veces se queda en negro la pantalla como si estuviera apagado, pero iTunes nos lo reconocerá en modo de recuperación).”

(este post puede ser de ayuda si se te resiste, para ver como ponerlo en ese modo, una vez en ese modo vuelve a este post  )

2. Usando el iTunes 7.6 o 7.5 debería detectarlo en modo restauración, pulsamos sobre el boton “Restaurar” pero teniendo apretada la tecla de mayusculas (Shift). Si obtienes un error que empieza por 16xx, reinicia el ordenador o intenta usar otro.

3. Después de poner el firmware 1.1.4 verás un error 1015, esto es normal en este caso.

4. Saca el iPhone del modo recuperación utilizando el ZiPhone no parcheado u otra herramienta como iLiberty o WinPwn… (tienen una opcion para reiniciar normalmente el iPhone). Después de haberlo sacado de ese modo, cierra cualquier herramienta de jailbreak que tengas abierta.

5. Ejecuta la versión parcheada de ZiPhone que has descargado antes. Asegúrate de tener marcada la opción de “Baseband downgrading” y presiona “Start”.

6. Ahora ya deberías tener tu iPhone normal, sin el jailbreak, así que ahora tocará hacer el jailbreak como lo habías hecho en otras ocasiones  (acuérdate de no usar el ZiPhone Parcheado para esto)

via iphoneapps

But, in the midst of this, there is yet another silver lining.
Gold!
Gold has not shown that "jalwa" when we look in the same lens as that of oil. Hope the situation changes now.
My bet would be to invest in companies which has anything (even remotely) to do with oil infrastructure [Reliance] or anything to do with gold, like futures, or etfs.

With valuable insights from Chris Ciovacco from his article GSEs: Raw Deal for Tax Payers & Investors

La verdad, aparte del Windows Aero y las evidentes mejorías en el área de seguridad, el usuario promedio no le dió la acogida que se esperaba a esta nueva versión del OS. Ni siquiera con la entrega del primer Service Pack se logró levantar el interés de la mayoría.
En palabras de varios de mis conocidos (y algunos familiares) las descripciones varían desde "Ese Windows es un monstruo devora-recursos..."  hasta "... Mas que Windows Vista parece un Windows Mickey Mouse... mucho color, muy divertido pero, nada productivo..."

Comentarios como esos y otros por el estilo: "¿Yo? ¿Vista? Nooo! yo todavía quiero a mi máquina!!" o "No hay nada que mi bueno y viejo Windows XP Professional o mi Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 no hagan igual o hasta mejor que Vista... Y con menos memoria!!!" No me extrañarían de usuarios finales, lo malo es que algunos de ellos son Desarrolladores, IT's o Power Users con bastante experiencia.

No pasó mucho tiempo antes que las llamadas de auxilio empezaran a sonar: Quejas por los Drivers, Quejas por compatibilidad con los Juegos o cualquier otro programa, quejas por esto y aquello... Hasta una ROD (Red Screen Of Death) con un Windows Vista RC1!

Aunque ya transcurrió un poco más de un año desde el primer downgrade que le hice a una PC con Windows Vista a Windows XP Professional (... la verdad la práctica ha sido constante...  Y a veces llena de sorpresas!)no dejo de sorprenderme  cuando veo que un SO tan elegante y sólidamente diseñado pueda provocar fallas tan horribles por cosas tan simples como un periférico.

A instancias de Bracamonte, Galvez y Rodríguez (Tres amigos y colegas en las lides informáticas) decidí publicar una especie de tutorial. Sé que hay muchas personas (Y hasta empresas!) que han estado buscando la manera de lograrlo, así que sin más vueltas:

"There is no knowledge that is not power."

"No hay conocimiento que no sea poder."

Decía cierto videojuego de peleas con el que solía entretenerme durante mi adolescencia y ¿Saben? ¡Es verdad! Así que antes de sacar los CD's o empezar a borrar archivos y quitar particiones; Prestemos atención a lo que tienen que decir los diferentes proveedores de PC's de marcas reconocidas y a la propia Microsoft con respecto a los "Derechos de Downgrade" (No sé a ustedes, pero me suena mejor "Derechos de Downgrade" que "Derechos de Desactualización")   La mayoría de ellos proveen el servicio, drivers, utilerías y/o los medios físicos para efectuar esta labor.

Hay que tener presente que hay que considerar cuidadosamente ciertos puntos antes de solicitar o intentar hacer el downgrade: 

1. No todas las versiones de Windows Vista tienen derecho a Downgrade.
2. Las versiones de Windows Vista que tienen derecho a Downgrade son: Windows Vista Business (OEM) y Windows Vista Ultimate (OEM) (Esto excluye de los Derechos de Downgrade a Windows Vista Starter, Windows Vista Basic, Windows Vista Home y Windows Vista Home Premium).
3. El Downgrade del SO es posible únicamente de las versiones autorizadas de Windows Vista hacia Windows XP Professional (Incluyendo Windows XP Tablet PC Edition y Windows XP x64 Edition) quedando entonces fuera del derecho de downgrade cualquiera de las otras versiones de éste SO (O sea que Windows XP Starter, Windows XP Home y Windows XP Media Center quedan excluidos)
4. Una vez hecho el Downgrade no pueden utilizarse ambas versiones del SO
5. Cuando el cliente final así lo desee o considere que ya está en capacidad de usar nuevamente la versión de Windows Vista que fué objeto de Downgrading, puede reinstalarla sin ningun obstáculo o penalización.

Información Sobre Derechos de Downgrade (Microsoft) Español English

Tabla Comparativa Sobre Derechos de Downgrade (Microsoft) Español English

Información sobre Derechos de Downgrade:

Lenovo      Dell      HP/Compaq      Toshiba 

• Fuentes:

1. http://www.microsoft.com
2. http://www.microsoft.com/guatemala/socios
3. http://www.microsoft.com/latam/socios/OEM/Licenciamiento/Licencias_SB/downgrade.aspx
4. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4f4b3cfd-7f4e-46cb-8117-8275f7683d3f&DisplayLang=en
5. http://www.lenovo.com/mx/es/index.html
6. http://www.hp.com/latam/
7. http://www.toshibalatino.com/
8. http://www.dell.com/la 

Bueno! He tratado de ser lo más claro y lo más legal posible... Acepto sugerencias y si hay que aclarar algún punto en especial no duden en comentarlo.

En la siguiente entrega les explicaré como hacer un Downgrade Legal "Desde Cero" (Formateando la PC) y Un Downgrade usando la consola de recuperación de Windows XP. 

P.S Antes que salga a colación la bendita pregunta: Yo tengo ambos OS! Me quedé con Windows XP Professional SP3 en mi PC de trabajo, (Mi adorada HAL 7) y un poco a regañadientes con el Windows Vista Ultimate en mi Media Center PC...

Ok, so you updated to iTunes 7.7 and then installed 2.0 and you’re stuck. Here are the steps to downgrade to 1.1.4. Note that the result of this guide will be that you will be back to 1.1.4 version of firmware with baseband of 2.0 (4.05.04_G).

1) The first problem in your downgrade is that you probably are getting error 20 in restore mode and error 160x in DFU mode. This is due to iTunes 7.7.  So, you now you need to uninstall iTunes 7.7 and install iTunes 7.5. Make sure after your iTunes 7.7 uninstall you reboot your pc as it requests you to. **OSX users, see note at bottom of page to downgrade your iTunes.

2) Now that you have  iTunes 7.5, you will still have the DFU driver for 7.7. This is good and will allow the process to work. Put your phone into DFU mode using the DFU steps.

3) Restore using iTunes 7.5. You will get an error like 1011, 1013, 1015. This is normal and expected. An error 1601, 1602, 1600 or anything else is not ok.

4) Once you get error above, leave iTunes open and kick your phone out of restore mode. I recommend just loading winpwn(PC) or pwnage(MAC) and pwning the device at this point. If pwnage fails to work, you need to restore your phone again. You should be able to use normal restore mode, however. Other ways to kick out of restore mode may be ibrickr, jailbreak 1.1.2 (boot phone), iLiberty+.

5) Once completed, you have a pwned device with baseband 4.05.04_G from firmware v2.0.

6) To get back to 04.04.05_G (1.1.4 baseband) load bootneuter. If you don’t have this, install it from installer. Run bootneuter with Neuter, 4.6, and unlock. When it’s done, you will have an unlocked 04.04.05_G right back where you started.

Note: if you get  a boot neuter error like 05, 02 or such, you probably have more steps. Unfortunately, there is no safe answer to this one.The only method I know of to do this is to use a patched version of Ziphone as described here. Before you do this, you should know the risks. Read my Ziphone warning here. Your other option is to just wait for dev teams pwnage v2.0. Direct download link for pc and mac: http://iphone-freak.com/en/page1/page1.html

Note for OSX users:
If you are on OSX and want to attempt to downgrade your iTunes, you can try these steps:

Load up Terminal and type the following:
killall iTunesHelper
sudo -s
rm -r /Applications/iTunes.app
rm -r /Library/Receipts/iTunesX.pkg
rm  ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iTunes*
rm -r /Applications/iTunes.app
rm -r /Library/Receipts/iTunesX.pkg
rm  ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iTunes*
rm -r /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework

Troubleshooting:
Some of you have reported “I am in DFU mode and keep getting error 20 from iTunes restore”. Answer, you are not in DFU mode. Follow the guide and the DFU link. An iPhone in DFU mode has no image on the screen and looks powered down.

Some of you are reporting error 160x (1600, 1601, 1602, 1604 etc) on the iTunes downgrade while in DFU mode. I suggest trying another PC. You may still have some residual files left over from the 7.7 install. Make sure you are in iTunes 7.5 with drivers from 7.7.

Source: http://sleepers.net/news/?page_id=216

W każdym razie dopóki sytuacja mnie nie zmusi (czytaj: najprawdopodobniej jakiś wredny chwyt M$ lub ich "sojuszników" :P) to z Vistą nie chce mieć nic wspólnego*, zwłaszcza iż jest to system nie spełnionych obietnic (gdzie jest ten rewolucyjny, nowy system plików? albo te bajerki z konceptu? - patrz nizej:

Cóż, pozostanę przy XP raczej aż do premiery Windows 7 (chyba że powtórzy się historia z Vistą...) a teraz przesiadam się też pomalutku na system spod znaku pingwina.

Wracając zaś do tematu tego wpisu...Ostatnio wręcz niemożliwą rzeczą jest kupienie porządnego laptopa/notebooka bez preinstalowanej Visty. Na domiar złego nie z każdej Visty da się "legalnie, łatwo i przyjemnie** downgrejdować" do XP (trzeba posiadać Vista Business i Ultimate czyli odpada większośc laptopów :/).

Mimo że ja się dopiero szykuję do zakupu notebooka (tak swoją drogą to różnica między laptopem a notebookiem jest dość cienka - laptop jest mniejszy choć teoretycznie widzę że terminy te stosuje się zamiennie?) to ostatnio obserwowałem zmagania mojego kolegi z przesiadką z Visty na XP w połączeniu z Ubuntu.

Zawsze myślałem że łatwiej jest znaleźć sterownik pod XPka aniżeli linuksa jednak byłem w błędzie. Otóż okazało się że XP miał kłopoty z prawidłowym wykryciem sprzętu (min. kartę dźwiękową oraz sieciową i wifi) i trzeba było szukać sterowników. Niestety XPek nie potrafił określić jakiej firmy są urządzenia (a kumpel zapomniał sprawdzić i zapisać.. najzabawniejsze że w internecie nie było nic więcej poza informacjami typu: zawiera kartę sieciową i wifi karta dźwiękowa 5.1 :/) No nic, jako że bylem w pobliżu nakazałem mu uruchomić LiveCD z Ubuntu.

Kilka magicznych poleceń i bach! Mamy producenta i model sprzętu :)

Dodatkowo nie było żadnych większych trudności z wykryciem sprzętu - wszystko działało ot tak (nawet Compiz śmigał choć Emerald ustawił się w tryb "dla ślepca" i tytuły okien zajmowały 2/3 ekranu z czym sobie jednak później poradziliśmy). W tym momencie Windows XP poległ na polu bitwy :) Ubuntu działało znacznie lepiej i bardziej poradziło sobie z wykrywaniem sprzętu.

Postanowienie XPka trwało znacznie dłużej, zwłaszcza że dość ciężko było znalesć dobre sterowniki. Pech chciał ze padła strona Realteka, inne strony kazały sobie płacić za drivery lub w końcu odnalezione okazywały się "Vieśiek only" :(

Jednak z moimi zdolnościami posługiwania się Google udało się odnaleźć działające sterowniki (jak się nie ma co się lubi, to się lubi co się ma - zainstalowaliśmy najbardziej zbliżone)

I tak o to nasze egzorcyzmy wypędził deVilste z opętanego notebooka, a kolega żyje i używa Ubuntu oraz XPka (to pierwsze jednak częściej :P)

Tak szczerze mówiąc to nie spodziewałem się, że z XPkiem będzie tak cienko...

* choć przyznam się że miałem (legalnie!) betę przed premierą ale że nie działała za stabilnie na moim komputerze pozbyłem się jej.

** nie jestem tego pewien bo nigdy tego nie robiłem :P Ale gorzej chyba być nie może =^;^=

Another indicator is the evidence that "Christian" radio and television provide. There is a wide spectrum teachers that label themselves as Christian, promoting all manner of doctrine that either stands in contradiction to the historic Christian faith, or is diametrically opposed to Jesus and His teachings, and those of the apostles, as recorded in the Scriptures.

Lastly, on a local level, the church can be a place where the individual believer is presented much style but little substance due to the wholesale shift in practice that has taken place as a result of the church growth movement (CGM). Churches are either trying to stay on the cutting edge and grow their brand, or are hopelessly lost in a legalistic response to the CGM that pushes them to the edge of being irrelevant.

So when you go to be with the church this Sunday, as you walk in the door and make your way to the sanctuary, take note of which Jesus you are being presented with. Is it:

• Jesus the example (WWJD?)
• Jesus, the solution to your financial problems (The Prosperity gospel)
• Jesus will make your life / marriage / career better (Oprah, Dr. Phil, etc...)
• Jesus the New Law Giver (Moses ³)
• Jesus, the life coach (Joel Osteen, Robert Schueller, et al.)

There are others, but you get the idea. Compare what you hear with what the Bible says about Jesus. Listen to see what the speaker tells you your biggest problem is. Will it be your sin problem, or something else? And will Jesus crucified for you be presented as the solution to your sin problem, or will it be something, or someone else?

Most of the evangelical world presents Jesus as the entry point into the Christian life, and then as someone you leave behind at the starting gate. Once your in, the rest is up to you. The idea that the good news (Gospel) is something that you need to hear all throughout your Christian life is a foreign concept to them. You will hear "deeds, not creeds", or "do more, try harder, be better" instead. There will be lots of talk about how you should live with your spouse/ children / co-workers / boss / neighbor / etc, but probably very little about Christ in you, living in and through you, dying for you.

And if you are brave enough, ask a few polite but pointed questions of your church leaders about the Gospel. Find out what they think it is, and what they think the Christian life is all about. Compare their answers with scripture and see what you find. Just don't expect any of them to know what you are talking about. See how often Jesus is even mentioned in the sermons you hear, or does He get the day off most of the time? I know he does in my church, and I suspect that He does in most evangelical churches as well.

What is the point? Why even think about doing something like this? I suspect that there are others out there who have grown weary of the way that the church panders to the popular culture, or panders to the "christian sub-culture". If you are like me, and you would like to see the church change, then the men and women that fill the pews every Sunday need to wake up and begin the process of holding their leaders accountable to the Word of God, and asking them to give their flock what is really needed; the straight, unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ. It needs to be preached unspoiled and often, both to the unbelievers and to those who claim to know Christ.

So that is my little project in my little corner of the world. It's something I can do for the God who saved me, not to earn favor or score points, but out of love for Him because He first loved me, and saved me with His precious blood.

Peace, in Christ,

Doug