The Joshua Moran Blog

Josh shares about ministry, business, current events, politics from a biblical point of view.

AT&T To Get Rid Of Unlimited Data Plans

Jun 2

Posted by Joshua Moran in Business, Electronics / Toys | No Comments

Starting June 7, 2010 At&T is foregoing the too good to be true, unlimited data plan. As a web designer, mobile notary, and Christian minister, I would suffer from this change if it was mandatory for current iPhone users. The new data plans are masked behind the "make it more affordable" to the masses. It is actually a way out of the unlimited plan that seems to be making AT&T's bandwidth cry for mercy these days. The plans will look like this according to the latest AT&T press release:

The new AT&T plans provide large amounts of data to enable people to enjoy their favorite online activities:

  • DataPlus. Provides 200 megabytes (MB) of data – for example, enough to send/receive 1,000 emails (no attachments), plus send/receive 150 emails with attachments, plus view 400 Web pages, plus post 50 photos on social media sites, plus watch 20 minutes of streaming video – for just $15 per month.**  This plan, which can save customers up to 50 percent off their wireless data charges, is designed for people who primarily like to surf the web, send email and use social networking apps. If customers exceed 200 MB in a monthly billing cycle, they will receive an additional 200 MB of data usage for $15 for use in the cycle.  Currently, 65 percent of AT&T smartphone customers use less than 200 MB of data per month on average.
  • DataPro. Provides 2 gigabytes (GB) of data – for example, enough to send/receive 10,000 emails (no attachments), plus send/receive 1,500 emails with attachments, plus view 4,000 Web pages, plus post 500 photos to social media sites, plus watch 200 minutes of streaming video – for $25 per month.**  Should a customer exceed 2 GB during a billing cycle, they will receive an additional 1 GB of data for $10 for use in the cycle.  Currently, 98 percent of AT&T smartphone customers use less than 2 GB of data a month on average.
  • Tethering. Smartphone customers – including iPhone customers – who choose the DataPro plan have the option to add tethering for an additional $20 per month.  Tethering lets customers use their tethering-enabled smartphones as a modem to provide a broadband connection for laptop computers, netbooks or other computing devices. Tethering for iPhones will be available when Apple releases iPhone OS 4 this summer.

Some good news for current smartphone users: Current smartphone customers are not required to switch to the new plans, but can choose to do so without a contract extension.

Another fabulous addition for mobile notaries or other career-mongers who require tethering: Tethering is available and even for the iPhone, no more jailbreak :)

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Working Out – Lifestyle versus Fad

May 27

Posted by Joshua Moran in Christianity, Nutrition, Sports | No Comments

The alarm rang this morning, and I knew I was to get up and get my daily workout started. This morning was day 67 of my P90X routine and for the last ten days I have been doing doubles. I was not so much exhausted physically as much as I was mentally. Something in me just battled getting up and getting the workout started, and my inner voice was compelling me with some great excuses to not workout. I had just finished telling a youth the day before how working out has become a lifestyle for me, and that I am excited to workout everyday. The irony of staking claim to victory, and shortly thereafter punching my way through apathy and laziness.

Eventually I got up and got to finishing my workout, and it was worth it! My point of writing this morning has more to do with our relationship with Christ versus the physical workout, but the physical sure makes a great illustration for the spiritual. How often do we claim to other believers that we are doing well with our Bible reading, prayer, and walk with Jesus, only to know internally we are struggling, missing out time with God, and blowing it in areas of character that mean the most. The Bible tells us that we do not battle against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of wickedness (Eph. 6:12), yet we can often take our daily Christian disciplines so lightly that if we miss or start a pattern of apathy, we easily shrug it off.

I often tell people that participate in fad-like diets that help you lose weight quickly are not only depressing, but harmful to your well-being. You lose weight fast, people start noticing, you are getting excited… then you hit the plateau! You are losing less and less, you are not as excited, so you let down your guard and gain it all back again. Diet without regular exercise is frustrating and half-hearted, as is Bible reading without quality prayer time, as well as Christian service without discipleship. When we ignore basic Christian disciplines that are meant to be implemented daily, we lose steam and start a downward spiral of spiritual losses that eventually get us frustrated, tired, and burned out.

The Bible tells us to not grow weary while doing good, but that we will reap the rewards if we do not give up (Gal. 6:9). All too often we give up to easily, cutting ourselves short of spiritual victory that is just around the corner if we would simply press in even when it hurts. I preached on the Parable of the Sowers last week, and the truth in this parable rings true today. There are those who will never respond to God's gift of salvation, the seed that hits the road. There are those who respond to God so quickly, but they never become accountable to other believers, they lack discipleship, and eventually when the trials of life come they fall away, the rocky soil. Further there are those who enjoy Christianity for the benefits socially and spiritually, but they enjoy the desires of the secular world too much to give there entire being to God and get choked out of relationship with God… the weeds. Finally there are those who respond to the call of God and they ask questions, they desire discipleship, they press in daily to the basic disciplines, and though trials come they are prepared. They may fall but they get themselves up and keep pressing forward… the good soil.

Christianity is a lifestyle that the world is hard-pressed to really find. Most of American Christianity is characterized by small bits of implementation, nominal Christianity. To live a lifestyle of Christianity is difficult! Whoever told you that coming to Christ is like forever walking in a field of your favorite flowers simply lied to you. Christianity is difficult, but true! Each day you live for Christ, make it a full day of surrender, not worrying if you can pull off the same zeal the next day… just living today in fullness creates an atmosphere for tomorrow. Keep running the race.

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Planned Parenthood Endorses Full Sex Education to 10 Year Olds!

Feb 8

Posted by Joshua Moran in Christianity, In The News, Politics | 1 Comment

A fox news article I just read is quite disturbing. A report that is advocated by the International Planned Parenthood Federation states that children should be given a comprehensive sex education at the age of 10 and above, and the report goes on to belittle the Catholic and Islamic movements for depriving their children of such an education. This report condones that the government should be resposible to teach young children about the repoductive process as well the "pleasures" involved.

sex education should be "recast" to show sexuality as a "positive force for change and development, as a source of pleasure, an embodiment of human rights and an expression of self."

In the words of Hillary Clinton "it takes a village to raise children" so this report goes further to tear down the role of Mom and Dad. I encourage all Christians and conservatives to not only read this report, but be on guard, pray, contact your representatives, and board of education. This should not be tolerated, and Planned Parenthood should not be allowed to define what a parent's role is in the home.

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The Tim Tebow Controversy and True Choice

Feb 4

Posted by Joshua Moran in Christianity, In The News, Politics | 2 Comments

I was reading the latest headlines like I usually do each morning, and I read a small article about how Planned Parenthood is responding to the Super Bowl ad paid for by Focus on the Family. NFL star Tim Tebow shares in a 30 second commercial, how he is grateful for his mom deciding to not have an abortion. As I read the article (original article) I could not help but question the motives of Planned Parenthood. The motives of Focus on the Family and Tim Tebow are pretty obvious, to encourage pregnant mothers to see through their pregnancy to full term and make a choice to keep the baby or give away for adoption.

Planned Parenthood began as an organization that reached out to poor black communities, and what looked like a pure motive to help. The real mission of Planned Parenthood was to stop the growth of what they considered an "inferior" race. Planned Parenthood would have you believe that Sanger was a hero and a strong woman wanting the best for all women of all races, but this is not entirely true. By the way you can purchase A Nation Adrift on DVD where I source the above statement at the bottom of this post.

I find this whole argument of Planned Parenthood to be rather weak and rooted in profits rather than mission. In this country we have the freedom of speech and the ability to speak out on issues that are both moral and non-moral. The Focus on the Family ad is giving a testimony of a mother who opted for birth rather than abortion, and in essence she made her "choice". Planned Parenthood and pro-abortion groups would have you believe that they are about choice alone, but the fact is that Planned Parenthood would be shutdown if abortion were illegal. THEY MAKE A PROFIT ON THESE PROCEDURES! How can a group who fronts themselves as a activist group for womens rights stand to make a profit off the same women who they coerce to choose abortions.

Now I am not one who would hold signs in front of a clinic, and shout hell-bound passages at the incoming and outgoing clients. I do support a solid 30 second commercial that would air in front of the largest television audience of the year. How can a woman truly choose, when she is bombarded with one-sided messages. Either political party would cry murder if we only educated the people about one political party and then asked them to make a choice at the polls.

Here is an idea! When seniors over 62 years of age apply for a Reverse Mortgage, they have to go through a Reverse Mortgage counseling. How about each woman that applies for an abortion gets an honest two-sided counseling session and must bring the certificate to the pre-op before an abortion can be performed, which states she made an informed decision. The counseling could be performed by Planned Parenthood for pro-abortion information, and the local pregnancy center for pro-life information. Of course the pro-abortion groups would go nuts over that idea and say it is shackling women.

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said Tebow's story was "compelling," but added that every woman must be able to make important medical decisions for herself and her family. Right… so why is Planned Parenthood fighting abstinence programs in the public schools, asking TV execs to ban this commercial, and paying millions each year to keep lobbying for abortion rights to be extended further than they already are.

So Planned Parenthood responds with a "much" longer video on youtube as a response.

BUY THIS DVD

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Government Says Breast Cancer Exams For Over 50 Only

Nov 16

Posted by Joshua Moran in In The News, Politics | No Comments

My mom passed away in 2002 from what was originally breast cancer and spread to her lymph nodes and lungs. She was only 42 years old at her passing, and the cancer was found in stage three to four in 1994 when she was only 34 years old. The reason for my post tonight is based solely on a fox news article I read a few moments ago, and my jaw was dropped.

Most women don't need a mammogram in their 40s and should get one every two years starting at 50, a government task force said Monday. It's a major reversal that conflicts with the American Cancer Society's long-standing position.

The article goes on to say that the new guidelines were issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, whose stance influences coverage of screening tests by Medicare and many insurance companies. Now that sounds like another one of the panels that we will be hearing more about due to the possibility of Obamacare passing through. I am fearful of any government in full control of healthcare, deciding when you are just too old to care for, and what services are really worth the bottom line.

What is ironic is that the American Cancer Society stands against the opinion. I further read about study done in Russia and China (read about it) where the study found out only ambigious findings to somehow support their opinion that women who do self breast exams are more anxious and so it must be more harmful.

Personally, I believe this is a move by the federal govenrment to make budget cuts in Medicare (which I am not against overall) and the setup for the new ObamaCare where panels will make decisions that most doctors would stand to disagree with while making fsical decisions in light of health emergencies. Are you comfortable with the governement telling you to not check your own body for changes? What will be next?

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Net of Fish

Nov 13

Posted by Joshua Moran in Christianity, My Sermons | No Comments

Tonight I am discussing the Parable of the Net of Fish, and once again the focus is put back on both eternal punishment and eternal life. As we know the world will be judged one day, and God will separate the good from the bad.

This parable is important because Jesus is emphasizing that within the church or movement of the gospel (the net), there are bad fish and good fish together. The scripture where Jesus clearly says that there will be those who did things in His name will be told to get away from Him. How can this be? Can someone who has grown up in church, attended every event the church had, raised a family in the church still not go to heaven in the end. The answer is an unfortunate yes.

The churches job is to separate themselves from the world in character, but reach the world in deed. We are not to make any final judgments, but we are to have discernment about what is truly godly and what is truly ungodly. The problem many of us church goers have is calling something that is not godly, evil. Now we could take that to an extreme, but we should make it a priority to think things through spiritually.

For example we may look at a slice of pizza and we know it is not the best food for our bodies, and is spiritually neutral for someone like myself. Is it right to label pizza one or the other?  Now let's say you are in church and your favorite praise song is playing, the congregation is asked to sit for a duration, but you decide to stand and worship with your hands raised high anyway. Is this godly or evil? The pizza issue is a spiritually neutral issue, yet the praise issue is a matter of rebellion.

We must be full of the Holy Spirit and His wisdom to live life for Christ. His grace is truly sufficient, but may we always be aware of good and evil.

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An Act of Terror at Fort Hood… Uh Uh Uh Uh

Nov 10

Posted by Joshua Moran in In The News, Politics | No Comments

Fort Hood Shooting - HassanNidal Hassan, not worthy of being called by any rank, was awake yesterday! Now I find it imperative to label his acts on Fort Hood as terrorism. Of course President Obama tells the nation to be cautious before jumping to conclusions about Hassan, Chris Matthews then tells the nation that "it's not illegal to contact Al Qaeda is it?". All this while Anwar al-Awlaki, praising Hassan's shooting spree on Fort Hood, is calling Hassan a hero (see the article).

When Robert Gibbs was asked if he would, by definition, call Hassan's act as terrorism, Gibb's backed off and studdered his way into political correctness by saying that he is not law enforcement and that is a question for the FBI. Do we honor the victim's of this terrorist by telling them to call it a tragedy, not look at Hassan as a terrorist, and grieve together. While we should be grieved and pray for the victims and their families during this time, we should as a nation be angry! We should be angry enough to classify this criminal what he really is… a terrorist! Some may say what's the big deal, he will still get justice, who cares if we classify him as a terrorist. The important thing to remember is that this world and our current government is not willing to call evil what it is… evil.

I am reminded of a season (I believe the 2nd Season) of 24 where the president was under the control of unnamed benefactors who would not allow him to act like a good president should. I believe it was former Governor Palin who says plainly "there is a time for politics and a time for leadership", and this is one of those times. Perhaps we should adhere to the Washington Post's partial take on Hassan, where he is described as one who lives in the porrest conditions, the worst of cars to drive, and trying to make it on an Army salary (see the article). Perhaps we should just say Hassan snapped like President Obama said in a recent interview, and expect, that due to deployment stress, others may do the same thing and kill 13 soldiers, regardless of religious beliefs.

Hassan did not simply go postal, and some his closest friends and colleagues saw the signs clear as day. We live in a world where crosses, ten commandments, and bibles are being removed from public places, and laws about calling homosexuality sin from the pulpit illegal are being passed. We also live in the same world that is willing to cower to extremism in Islam and not call terrorism what it is. I know this… the White House is making a public push to remove the word terrorism from the country's vocabulary, seen first in the change of the "War on Terror", and now this.

What is really hypocritical is President Obama's ability to jump to conclusions on the Harvard shooting in May 2009. He said that first, anyone would be angry over this, and secondly that the Cambridge Police acted stupidly. Now the President is able to make these conclusions on the Harvard incident, but clearly is avoiding making conclusions on this act of terrorism at Fort Hood.I believe that President Obama is fearful of the backlash this may have on the Muslim community here in the US, and I believe a vigilante backlash would be wrong. I do believe that scrutiny of Muslim soldiers is called for, and I can assume most Muslims in our military are true patriots and serve their country honorably, but scrutiny is still necessary.

Two final thoughts… President Obama will probably not sign the warrant for Hassan's death penalty should that come to play, and how soon we forget that President Bush made a promise that terrorism on US soil would not happen on his watch and he kept his word. President Obama is in office less than a year now, and not only did this happen (not really his fault of course), but he cannot even lead this by calling it terrorism. Perhaps we should get a junior high choir to write another song for the praises of President Obama to help us forget this ever happened!

I usually do not come out this strong on political issues, but this is ridiculous!

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Egg nog latte’s are now out an…

Nov 7

Posted by Joshua Moran in Business | No Comments

Egg nog latte’s are now out and cranberry bliss bars on the 17th… At least in hachie

Parable of the Mustard Seed

Nov 3

Posted by Joshua Moran in Christianity, My Sermons | No Comments

This week spoke about the Parable of the Mustard Seed. I am so encouraged to know that faith does not start with me. The Bible tells us in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Too many times we hear on the television or conferences that faith is something we conjure up.

The kingdom of God is expanding! First in the individual and then in the overall Body of Christ. This week we will learn about faith most of all, and that the seed of faith belongs to God alone. We do not have to manufacture the mustard seed of faith but it is rather a gift from our Father.

When we take the faith He started in us, and offer it completely to God He is faithful to make our faith grow. We will jump from the parable to another time when Jesus used the mustard seed as a small lesson in Matthew 17:19-21. 

I. The Kingdom of Heaven in each of us starts small, and grows big!

  • The Jews never understood the beginning of God’s kingdom this way so this illustration would have been shocking to it’s listeners
  • Many comparisons could be made in this fashion
  • Jesus, born in a manger, died on the cross, raised to heaven, coming back as King
  • The Israelites, before Exodus 1, were small in number and eventually grew into a nation
  • The nation of Israel today, born in 1948, is a tiny speck in the middle of hostile nations, will be the center of future worldwide events including the tribulation, the temple, the second coming of Christ, the new heavens and new earth.
  • You decide as a child to put your trust in Jesus in CM one Sunday, you walk with God and are being taught, as a teenager you are on fire for God and shine the light of Jesus, as an adult you go into ministry and see thousands repent, then you die only to be with Jesus, people still read your books and hear your sermons.
  • The mustard seed regarding the individual is God's planting of faith when you first believed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Allow God to nurture that seed and watch out… growth beyond comprehension!
  • The mustard seed in the overall Body of Christ are the people God chose, the nurturing happens by way of God, and the tree represents the growth of not just one but also the growth of many.
  • The birds resting in the trees, represent the wisdom, character, and security exemplified by a true believer of Christ. Many will come to you because they see the character of Jesus in you.

II. Your faith is only as large as your obedience to God.

  • Read Matthew 17:19-21
  • As believers, we should see our doubts as faith that is not submitted to God yet.
  • When doubt first creeps in, we should submit it to prayer and if necessary fast.
  • Doubt itself is not sin but it becomes sin when we attribute the doubt to the character of God.
  • We sin when we transform the doubt to unbelief!

III.     Nothing is impossible for God!

  • Abraham’s Sacrifice | Joseph’s Imprisonment | Gideon’s Courage | Elijah’s Boldness | Stephen’s Sermon | Paul’s Steadfastness | The demoniac's Father's Unbelief

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Socialized Medicine… A Warning from 1961

Oct 29

Posted by Joshua Moran in Web Design | No Comments

I was on facebook and saw this video posted and thought it wise to share it. I like many fear the day that approaches on us, when health care reform will be packaged in bundles of paper that non can seem to fully understand excpet for some Washington insiders who know just what this bill means in regards to the US moving closer to Socialism.

Ronald Reagan warned us then and now we watch before our eyes a bill that will change the course of history for this nation. I wonder if those who support the bill actually believe in it or do they simply want to be known for the drastic change it will create, a sort of half-witted legacy.

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