Is RED a Christian Band?

I wrote a long lengthy blog on the topic about is RED a Christian band, but I decided pull the plug on it. One of my concerns was after I saw an Instagram post from Red Light Management employee Ted Beidler who is a band manager at Red Light. He screenshotted a text message between himself and one of the Red band members, and it had profanity in it. Seriously? Nobody is perfect, but my agent doesn't send me text messages with profanity because they know I don't talk like that. I guess this is a downfall of having your "Christian" band managed by a secular company and a big city slicker in New York like big Ted. If you are going to post that online, what's going on behind the scenes?

Does RED's music say HOLY S%!;?

Here's what Jesus says about knowing if someone is a Christian. In Matthew 7:16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

What do you think after seeing them at Winter Jam and the text message exchange? Post below in the comments.

Knoxville Website Design

Mike Barnes Lead Singer Red from Winter Jam 2016

Knoxville Website Design

For those reading my blog that are not aware, I've been designing websites since the 1990's and own a Knoxville website design company! We're located in Knoxville, TN however I have worked with clients across the globe so if you are not local, that isn't a problem. Visit http://websiteworld.com or http://www.knoxvillewebsitedesigners.com for more information.

My experience in this field has also been a huge asset to my acting career. If you, or your business need help increasing sales or exposure or leveraging social media, I can help! It's not often you find a web developer with over 180,000 followers on instagram, and as I always say, proof is in the pudding! If a web developer cannot promote themselves or their own business, how can they help you promote yours?

If people cannot find you, it doesn't matter how great your website looks. Too many people are focused on the look of the site, and they totally forget that the promotion of the site is the most important aspect. After all, what good is the best looking web site ever made if nobody can find it? Search engine optimization or SEO is one of my areas of expertise, don't take my word for it, check out my Linkedin account with over 80 endorsements for SEO!The bottom line is simple. Your web designer is one of the most important aspects of your business. Hire the wrong person, and you could be leaving money on the table, or worse, sending your business into a downward spiral. Call me today and let me help take your business to the next level! 865-377-WEBS (9327) or http://www.websiteworld.com

 

Removing ad pop-ups and other malware & adware

I wanted to put together a quick and easy Microsoft Windows guide that you can use to remove malware/adware from your computer. If you find this article useful, plus like/share and Google +1 to help others find it!

You may have noticed a lot of extra ads popping up on your computer recently. Some of them are really clever and actually embed themselves on web sites that make it appear as if the ad is part of the site you are visiting when it is actually adware installed on your computer that is adding the ads to the web site you are visiting. You may not even realize you have adware. It's really easy to remove most adware!

First download and install the scanning software here We will use adwcleaner make sure you click the link that is blue that says Download Now from @BleepingComputer . After the software is installed you must run it from safe mode for it to work effectively! See below.

The key to removing malware/adware and viruses is running the scan while you are in safe mode. If you are using Windows 7 or lower, you can boot into safe mode by turning off your computer. After you have shut down, turn your computer back on. Your black screen/bios will appear. Begin slowly intermittently pressing the F8 button on your keyboard and a screen will appear. Choose safe mode with networking. If you are using Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 watch this video tutorial.

If you found something in your scans please comment below and let me know what your results were. Don't forget you can use this same technique to scan your computer using your anti virus software. A good free AV software is AVG. They try to upsell, so you have to read carefully to get the free version on this site.

HGTV cancelled Flip it Forward show Benham brothers

Apparently HGTV didn't learn from the backlash  from millions of Christians last year when A&E network banned Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty from the show for his Christian biblically based views. Today HGTV cancelled Flip it Forward, planned for October, starring twins David and Jason Benham according to many citations online possibly because of their Christian views. Earlier today Mike Huckabee posted about the cancellation and now the HGTV Facebook page is getting blow up with angry people tired of the hypocrisy of people claiming to be tolerant, but are really tolerant of anything except Christian views and beliefs.

Anthony Carrino star of Cousin's Undercover on HGTV wasted no time putting in his two cents in support of this risky move on HGTV's part. I say it's risky because A&E network reversed the decision regarding Phil Robertson. Less than 48 hours after Cracker Barrel pulled Phil Robertson merchandise it was back on the shelves. Interesting Carrino also pulled the hate card as well in his tweet. I watched several speaking engagements from Phil Robertson online and never got the impression he hated anybody, but rather didn't agree with their lifestyle based upon his Biblical beliefs. Judging from the comments on the HGTV facebook page, if I were Carrino I'd be laying low instead of blabbing my mouth on social media about a controversial subject!

What do you think? Are you tired of the mainstream media being "tolerant" of everything but Christians? Does it seem hypocritical to you? Let me know in the comments below!

UPDATE: http://www.flipthisdecision.com/ site launched and already has thousands of signatures.

@craigchu I have zero tolerance for hate and intolerance. I am happy they acted as fast as they did as well. #OneLove
— Anthony Carrino (@CarrinoAnthony) May 7, 2014

HGTV has decided not to move forward with the Benham Brothers' series.
— HGTV (@hgtv) May 7, 2014

Smoky Mountains Hiking Abrams Falls

Finally hiked to Abrams Falls in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with my girlfriend Kendra! It took us about 90 minutes to get to the Falls because we took photos, and enjoyed the trail. It is amazing that such beauty is here and preserved for our enjoyment. If you have never been to the Smoky Mountains, I highly recommend you visit. We were there May 3rd, and there were thousands of Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus) flying around all over the park. As you can see in the video, we stopped at the river to take a photo, and I spotted a group of them at the river bed. Pretty cool sight. I can remember as a boy that hundreds of these butterflies would gather at our house on a mimosa tree, but I've never seen those great numbers again except in the National Park.

If you've been to the Smoky's please share your story in the comments below, you can do so without signing in.

Hope you enjoyed the video!

Invest in People that Invest in you!

Have you ever noticed on Facebook when someone has a birthday, the page goes nuts? I actually hide my birthday to prevent this, because I think it's a joke. It's effortless to go on someone's page and write happy birthday on the page. You can actually send people gift cards on facebook now, I bet that was a big epic fail! There are people who use apps to automatically post happy birthday to the page, that's an even bigger farce! The reality is, it was free, convenient and effortless for someone to wish you a happy birthday and facebook prompted them to do so with a reminder. Try posting that you are moving and you need help this weekend on facebook, and all you hear is crickets, or sorry I'm going to be out of town, or my kid has a game that day. I had a men's group study yesterday for lunch. This wasn't a google hangout, or live chat, people actually drove somewhere and met in person! Before I arrived, I was already having a challenging morning. I'm not sure if it was obvious, or divine intervention, but right before we started class, the group leader stopped and came over and said I forgot to give you some love and gave me a hug. I'm not big on hugging. I think it's likely a product of my environment, etc. I did however realize I needed this hug and greatly appreciated it, and it helped get my day back on track. The problem is the world we live in. We were taught by our parents and teachers, and now we are teaching our kids that the world revolves around little junior or Sally and that everyone is a winner! Came in last place in the race? No problem, you still get an award! The reason you hear crickets and excuses when you need help moving is people are lazy, self centered, and no matter what type of show they put on, or how many times they like your photo on facebook, they don't care about anybody but themselves or their immediate family. Invest in people, and things, that invest in you! If you are doing something or invest your time in something, and people are just taking and not giving, move on to something else. Realize though, it's going to be very hard to find other people that are willing to sacrifice of themselves, because it's not our nature, and it's not what the world teaches. We are not meant to have dozens of friends according to scripture!

A man of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

Instagram- Removed deactivated and spam accounts

You may have noticed today that Instagram has a new message when you log into the app that says Change in followers. We've removed deactivated and spam accounts. Your list of followers and people may have changed.

In case you are curious what this means, they are trying to cut back on the number of fake accounts and followers that people purchase or have spamming them. This doesn't mean you've done anything wrong on your account, so there is no need to worry. 

I didn't see any drop in my followers today, I have had quite a few new followers today though, nearly 200 already! All real. :-)

Please check out my Instagram account and follow! http://instagram.com/ActorMike

Did you get the message on your Instagram? Let me know in the comments below!

Thyroid condition weight loss

A majority of people encourage and thank me for sharing my weight loss story, but it's amazing that there is always someone sensitive to talking about weight that raises a fuss! In this case, I had posted about "Food Addicts" and the excuses they use. One thing food addicts do, just like drug addicts is lie. Example, they will lie and say they have a thyroid problem or medical condition, when they have no thyroid problem at all. That doesn't mean that everyone that says they have a thyroid problem is lying though!

The Thyroid Diet Revolution: Manage Your Master Gland of Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss

Even though my post was clearly not directed toward people with medical conditions, I learned something very interesting after attempting to explain my position to her. Her concern was simple, she misread my post and thought I was saying people with a thyroid problem need to stop using that as an excuse to be overweight, but what was ironic, right after that, she said that she had started working with a personal trainer 6 months ago, and dieting and I had lost 3 sizes and a little over 30 pounds. 30 pounds in 6 months represents a TYPICAL weight loss of 1-2 pounds a week!

Here is what I'm thinking! Instead of attacking and critiquing me about how I encourage people to take control of their health, why aren't you telling people, hey, I have a medical condition that HINDERS my weight loss, but I will NO LONGER throw in the towel and succumb to it! I know it's going to be harder than someone without a medical condition, but I will no longer use that as an EXCUSE! Instead of helping and inspiring people, there was a big facebook pity party. Her own words and story revealed that she has struggled with weight for years because of a medical condition and finally found the right person to help her and has lost 30 pounds in six months.

So now I know that people with thyroid conditions who have struggled for years can also lose weight too!
Not because she wrote an inspiring story, but because she incidentally revealed it while complaining. Honestly I wasn't really sure about people losing weight with thyroid conditions until she told me about her story.

One last thing, if you see someone that is giving a personal testimony and trying to help people, you should be careful how you respond. We live in a very selfish world and a lot of people keep valuable testimonies to themselves exactly for this reason, fear of being attacked. Weight isn't a fun subject to talk about. Unlike drugs or alcohol, it can't be hidden unless you stay home and have no contact with anyone.


RESOURCES:

The Thyroid Diet Revolution: Manage Your Master Gland of Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss
 KINDLE VERSION:

When it's your time to go you're going to die. A lie!

Ever heard anyone say when it's your time to go, it's your time. A friend I've known most of my life tossed this excuse at me as a reason to keep smoking. This statement implies God is a puppeteer that dictates every outcome of our life,  however it's not true, we have choices. And choices have consequences. 

This yogurt pictured has an expiration date, but if you leave it out in the hot sun, it's going to expire quicker! Believing God set your death date like you're a cup of Yogurt expires means your choices don't matter! Does God know when you're going to die? Sure He does. That doesn't mean He caused it, or gave you an expiration date, and a specific way of dying. If you jump off a 20 story building on to concrete, you're dead, and it was your choice. Did someone make you jump off the building? You made it your time, by choice! Same theory applies in these scenarios as well: Did someone make you smoke, drink alcohol to excess, get obese? Sure, some smokers live quite a while, however many don't, and that smoker that lived 70 years might have lived to 100 as a non-smoker. 

Could the Yogurt accidentally fall out of the refrigerator and bust open?  Sure it could, but that doesn't mean you leave it setting out to spoil because it's going to expire anyway!

This isn't rocket science.  Take care of yourself.  Put on your big boy/girl pants and put down the cigarettes, booze and drugs, start exercising and stop enabling yourself with the lame excuse that when it's your time to go, it's your time to go, so I might as well sit around smoke, drink,  be lazy and get fat, because when it's my time to go, it's my time to go. 

Protecting your children's home computers, Iphone, Ipad from pornography

Did you know, 9 of 10 kids aged 8-16 have viewed pornography on the Internet, often in the process of doing homework? (Source: London School of Economics) That's pretty scary! As a parent it's our responsibility to protect our children. You wouldn't take your kids to a XXX video store and let them shop around, so why openly allow it in your home? Did your parents allow you to go into the back room of the video store in the 80s? While many kids are incidentally exposed to pornography, it's just naive to think that little junior who has raging hormones isn't going to be curious and try to pull up naked photos online. Kids are very savvy to technology so it's important to filter the internet at the wireless router itself. When you filter the internet at the router, it filters any and most devices connected to the router including cell phones, Ipad's, Android Tablets, Laptops, and PC's. There are some exclusions, but its definitely better than nothing! If you don't know how to do this, there are directions here. If you can't figure it out, that's not a good enough excuse, you can click here to place an order, and have someone configure it for you by connecting to your computer remotely for 75.00! If you have configured your network properly with openDNS and have it set to block pornography, you should be able to visit this test site http://internetbadguys.com and see the message below about a phishing site being blocked.

This filter isn't just for porn! It can also protect your network from malicious sites, phishing sites, illegal sites, etc. It's also great for accountability if you have someone in the home with a pornography addiction, etc. It's also useful for small businesses to increase productivity and protect employees from offensive sites.

Please share this blog on your social media sites and let's get the word out about how easy it is to protect our home and small business networks! There's no excuse to have unfiltered internet at home!  If you can't get it to work, visit my business secure site to pay online and I will contact you after your order and configure it for you by connecting to you remotely.