Thursday, May 18, 2017

Microsoft Access

Joseph Herrin (05-18-2017)
























I received an e-mail from a brother in Christ yesterday that suggested that since I was going to revamp the Office suite that I use MS Access instead of Excel. I already have MS Access in my package of software and it is more scalable. Furthermore, I have added all the newsletters to the print run and I don’t know that I will add anymore. It will take a little over 6 years to receive all of the newsletters I have now created.

MS Access is geared more toward long runs of databases. I have noticed that MS Excel has been slowing down a bit the more I add to it. I would like to ask anyone who knows Access to please contact me if you are able to create the program for me. You can get a pretty good idea for how it is done by taking a look at the MS Excel program I have been using. I don’t think it should take long to create for it is a fairly simple program.














If anyone is an Access 2016 programmer and is familiar with Visual Basic please contact me. I would really appreciate it.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Visual Basic For Microsoft

Joseph Herrin (05-16-2017)





















As you can tell by reading my blog, I have been greatly enabled to keep up my newsletters that I send to men in prison since I had the programs MS Excel and MS Publisher merged to work together via Visual Basic. Less than two years ago I was doing it all by hand and it was becoming too much for me. I had a brother named Harvey volunteer to streamline things and he wrote a very nice program. At the time I was doing 120 newsletters every week. Now I have 280 newsletters that I am sending out almost continually. But, they need some help.

I have recently upgraded my system to Windows 10 and MS Excel and Publisher 2016. Previously I was using Windows 8.1 and Excel and Publisher 2007. They won’t work now and my software developer cannot figure out what is wrong. I would like to ask someone to fix it for me so that I can carry on with the newsletter ministry to men in prison.


The program has become quite robust when it is working. Following is a screen shot of the main file. 

















(Click on Photo to View Larger)

Following is the next screen of the Newsletters page.




















The next one is called the PrintLedger. It just keeps tab of what has been sent to each person. The following screen is called Settings. It is the screen I access on days that I print.
















I have never used items 3b or 3c. Then there is the BookRef page that lists all the books and there associated newsletters. They are numbered according to how many newsletters it requires to receive the whole book. For example, book number 1.1 takes 6 newsletters to receive the whole book. These are number 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3, 1.1.4, 1.1.5, and 1.1.6. I always want to finish sending a book before I start to send another writing. The writings that start with a 2 are shorter writings.
























I will of course give a more thorough explanation to anyone who is willing to do this job for me. MS Excel and Publisher 2016, are somewhat different from the 2007 versions. They keep on crashing with the Visual Basic that was written for me. If a person does not have Windows 10, or MS Excel or Publisher 2016, they can log onto my computer and access them from there. I have TeamViewer 12 which is a desktop access program that is free. You will just have to download it yourself.

I would greatly appreciate any help I can get with the program.


Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

A Prisoner's Testimony


The following is a testimony by a man in prison. He is slated to be released in 2020.

Testimony

By Bryan Parker

A person’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand their own ways?

Proverbs 20:24

Before realizing that I didn’t understand my own ways I went off in a very dark direction. I was raised by a loving mother and two wonderful sisters. I had a very abusive father who left us when I was a child. My mother remarried in 1980 and my life as I knew it was about to turn. My stepfather did everything he could to drive a wedge between my mother and I. On two different occasions he talked my mother into placing me in different care, one being Lakeside Hospital and the other a group home for a year and a half, called Dogwood Village.

I can’t put all the blame on them because at the age of twelve I began to experiment with drugs and alcohol – marijuana at first, but it didn’t take long before I was using acid and cocaine at the age of thirteen. I was sneaking out of the house late at night and partying all night, then sneaking back in. A lot of it was indeed my fault!

After getting out of group home at the age of fifteen I was already rebelling against my stepfather and I began my addictions again. I didn’t realize it, but I was an addict of the worst kind. I stole from everyone to support my cocaine and now crack addictions. I was an alcoholic along with being a drug addict, a disaster waiting to happen.

I quit school in the 10th grade because I could never stay sober to go to school. I was out on my own by the age of seventeen, a childhood addict sleeping in the bushes, in vacant houses, mom’s garage… anywhere I could fall asleep. I will never forget Christmas morning in 1990. I sat on a tree trunk, drunk and  high, watching from a park as my family had Christmas at my mother’s house. I couldn’t stop crying. I was one hundred yards away.

In 1994 my life hit a very hard time. I won’t go into full detail, but I was drunk and high, and I severely hurt someone, putting them in the hospital and myself in prison for the first time. I served three years and got out in 1997. I was doing good. I got engaged to a bartender, but again I began to drink and do drugs. In 1998 I shot myself in the chest, an inch away from my heart, and again I wasn’t allowed at my mom’s house. I lost my fiancĂ©e, and yet again ended up on the streets, and yes, again by myself and back on drugs and alcohol. It didn’t take long to catch my second prison term, robbing a BP gas station to support my habit. This time I did seven and a half years and got out in 2005. Once again I was back on drugs and alcohol, and yet again in 2005 I was back to prison where I am today writing my testimony, but it was all about to change.

When I first got to prison this time I got involved with a white supremacist group and I did terrible things, hurting others and ordering hits on others just because I could. Well, that took ten years of my life, until they turned on me, so that now I found myself in protective custody. I was a violent man, a hard nosed criminal and drug addict in fear for his life.

In 2010 I received the worst news imaginable. While serving time in maximum security for assault and possession of a cell phone, I got the terrible news that my mother had passed away on June 24th. It broke my heart and I cried for three days straight until finally I got on my knees and prayed.

That day, June 27th 2010, I asked God to come into my life and take control. Brothers and sisters, I prayed and cried for about 20 minutes, and when I opened my eyes I felt full of the thing they call the Spirit. Being a beginner I had always heard about the Spirit, but I tell you I felt this sensation throughout my body that was a life changer.

I knew something had happened. I was tired of my way of living. I was tired of hurting innocent people. I was tired of the pain. I was tired of being afraid. In order for me to change my old ways I had to be born again, is what the Bible told me.

“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
John 3:3

So again I asked God for me to be born again. I read my Bible daily and tried so hard to do what it says.

“Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Matthew 19:19

It is hard to love your neighbor in prison because in here people prey upon weakness and you have to be humble to be a man of God. Like my brother Saul turned into Paul, I was in prison trying to live for Christ. The persecution was endless. I’ve been assaulted several times while trying to be humble, and I’ve been robbed trying to be humble. But even after Satan made numerous attempts to come between me and God, to this day I haven’t given up. For seven years I have been clean and sober thanks to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For seven years I have lived for the Lord. Through trials and tribulations along the way I have lived for the Lord. Today as I write this I have been in the hole for four months with a broken knee cap. At times I feel so alone. But I know that even though no one is physically around me, I have Christ with me at all times. In the Bible it says:

“Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”
John 16:24

I ask every day to be fed the word, but I have to take baby steps. The Bible takes time and studying to understand.

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.
I Peter 2:2

I had to learn that I can’t just say that I am saved by faith – I had to put it to work like the Bible says.

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
James 2:26

We have to work every day, every minute, to be a believer. It’s not easy. We have to believe that Jesus died on the cross at Calvary to save us from our sins. We have to repent daily for the sins we commit daily. We have to pray daily.

Brothers and sisters of Christ, we are in a struggle to be true Christians. But I tell you, if a drug addicted alcoholic for thirty years can change his life in prison after becoming a white supremacist and hurting people, I tell you anyone can! Saul sought to kill Christians before changing his life, so why can’t you? It is never too late.

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that who so ever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

Now if God can give up His Son on a cross, to be nailed there for our sins for us to be saved, should we not at least try to live right and live for Christ? I have a very good friend and he helps me daily live for Christ. We study together through the mail and I have found that it truly helps to have a support group.

I live my life for Christ today. I’m happy today. I’m sober today. I can love any and everybody today because it says:

You were taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:22-24

Brothers and sisters, we are all one body in Christ Jesus. We all have our part. We are still sinners, but Christ died for us so that we could have eternal life.

This is my testimony, written in hope that at least one person can give their life to Christ and live for the Lord. I ask that we all understand that a man died on the cross – a brutal death – for us sinners. So why can’t we at least try to live right? If I can, we all can! It’s not easy and I still sin, but now I know I can be forgiven just like you. I’m here for you.

“Father, please let this testimony teach someone’s heart and lead them into eternal life. Amen.”

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Monday, May 8, 2017

The New Day

Joseph Herrin (05-08-2017)























Kristin and I

The above picture shows my daughter Kristin and I as I am trying out a new chair she got me for my birthday. The chair was an outdoor rocker. It fit me just right. Yesterday was a blessed day. It was right before we left for supper with Nicholas and George. Once again the weather was unusually cool for Middle Georgia. It has taken a step back from the nineties and the high was in the seventies. It is forecast to be nice today as well.



















Nicholas and George are great friends to me. The Lord has allowed us to remain strong friends and we get together often to discuss things. Even our drive to the restaurant was productive. My daughter told us of her and another girl sharing with a young Hispanic girl about the Lord. They have started a Bible study together, and since the young girl didn’t seem to know much about the Bible though she has been in Catholic church all her life, my daughter started in Genesis. She told us how wonderful it was to hear the girl say she had never heard about the rainbow. Her remark was “Wow! That is where the rainbow came from? I have never heard about that.” The reason it is wonderful to hear such things is that the word of God is a new book for her. She does not know any of the stories from the Bible. She had not even heard of Moses though she is in Catholic church every Sunday.

When Kristin and I move next month George and Nicholas will only be 2-3 miles from us. Right now they are 10 or 11 miles. The move will have many positive benefits.

I hope to begin a more upright trike ride every morning. Right now I am walking a couple of miles every morning. Those who keep up with me know that I recently sold my tricycle.


















Tricycle That Was Sold

I have been looking at some other trikes that are not so low to the ground. The trike above served me well until I had a stroke. I think it is too low to the ground now. I have been looking at some others. Bicycles are a bit of a challenge with their balance requirements. It will only be about 3 miles to the post office and I will have the whole town of Montezuma around. Taking a morning or evening ride the other direction will afford me a wonderful view through the countryside.

I will provide one picture of a more upright tricycle now. When I get closer to buying one I will be sure to show it.

















I am not sure if this is the one I’m going to get, but it is a type of upright trike. It would certainly be good for recuperation, providing lots of exercise. I find that the more physically capable I am, the more it requires that I have something to keep me physically fit. I have enjoyed bicycling all my life, and the tricycle is the best option of the bicycle line.cc

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Nearly All Ready

Joseph Herrin (05-04-2017)




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have gotten my computer system nearly all ready to go. It was having a few problems caused by a non-functioning M.2 card. For those unfamiliar with what an M.2 card is, it is a new type of memory device that plugs into a slot on the motherboard. It looks like a memory card, but is in fact a hard drive. They are some of the fastest cards around. These insanely faster Non Volatile Memory Express cards (NVMe) offer a five-fold speed increase over the SSD cards that have replaced the traditional spinning Hard Disk Drives (HDD) in the past decade. The SSD cards also offer a five-fold speed increase over the HDD.

I decided to go back to a SSD Drive, which is actually what the computer recognizes the NVMe drive as - only faster. The problem was that the computer builders had placed a wrong model of NVMe card in the system and it was causing sporadic errors which were keeping me from dealing with the errors I was trying to fix. They had placed a Samsung 960 EVO NVMe card in the system. Upon calling ASUS, the motherboard manufacturer, I got a list of NVMe boards that work with this system and the 960 was not on it. I had to go with the 950 or 951.

Rather than dealing with the M.2 card, I decided to just go with a SSD card which is considerably faster than a standard HDD. I made the swap, and the computer booted up to Windows 10 without going into the BIOS. Through it all I learned a good bit about my system, though I did have to re-install Windows 10 and all of my programs. Fortunately I keep a back up of my unit on a removable SSD Drive.

I also was able to remove my Sound Blaster ZxR cards.



 

 



 

 

 

 

 


Sound Blaster ZxR

If I had not been checking out my system I would not know that I didn’t need them. I was trying to get the Sound Blaster to work again after reloading the Operating System when I discovered that it already had a sound card and an optical out slot on the motherboard. This was the first motherboard that I had found an optical slot on. The sound of the onboard audio was as good as the Sound Blaster to my ears so I took the Sound Blaster out.

(The Sound Blaster ZxR is for sale. I am asking $150 dollars for it. It is selling for $219 on Amazon.)

As you can tell from the photo at the top of the page, I have exchanged the two 24" monitors on the computer for a single 34" monitor. The 34" monitor fits very well on my desk. It does a good job at displaying 3 screens in the size of 1. I will be able to show one or two screens of Bible software and a third screen of my input on the Bible. It should solve many problems for me.

One final thing relating to the PC that I would mention is that the keyboard I had gotten as a temporary measure to help me get over the stroke is for sale. I would like to give someone a good deal on it. It cost me a little over $200, but I will sell it for $125. These are quality keyboards that work with both QWERTY and Dvorak formats. The only thing necessary to switch between them is a key press. They sell refurbished on the manufacturer’s website for $229.



 



 

 

 

 

 


Advantage Keyboard
As you may notice, I am trying to get rid of my extra goods. I live in a motorhome so space is at a premium.

Besides getting things ready for a new launch on my PC, I will tell you that some progress has been made on the Heart4God website. There is nothing you can see yet. I am not going to put it online until it is ready. I will give you a sample of it though.




 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

This is just the beginning of the Books page. You will notice that the Heart4God symbol is different. There are also fewer sections at the top. The former groups "Presentations" and "Videos" have been reduced or folded into other sections. In the square underneath each book there will be buttons to click on to download them free, including in Flip Page format, as well as a description of each book. There are currently 22 different books.

The Home Page for the website will also see a good bit of change with a decorative tree of life and leaves that will do different things as one hovers over them. George Young is doing the design work for me. I will post it as soon as I am able.

On to the subject of moving. My daughter says that she is feeling pretty strongly about moving. Those familiar with where I have my motorhome parked will realize that it is at her house. The move date has been changed to some time in June. My daughter’s friend, who is moving out of the house she is moving into, is pregnant and due in May. She wanted to have some time to recoup from her pregnancy before she had to move. So it looks like I will still be moving in the days ahead.

I have been clearing some things out of my motorhome and trailer in preparation for moving. In the coming days I will be doing some more.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063