IN THIS ISSUE:

[1] Greetings from the editor

[2] Featured Article: KEEPING TRACK OF ALL YOUR STUFF: A Filing System that Works!

[3] A Special Endorsement

[4] Preacher's Study Website Updates

[1] ***Greetings!***

I suppose it had to happen eventually, but even with the best preparations I could make, it still set me back. Two weeks ago, the hard drive crashed on my main computer. No matter. I had two full tape backups, except they didn't work right. The irony? I got away unscathed from the Y2K bug, only to be leveled with a mechanical failure! That's why the ezine is two days late, if you're still reading. I'm back up and running now, with no loss of data. Just lost some time. Praise the Lord!

If this is your first issue, I welcome you. Keep reading and perhaps you'll find something that will energize your preaching. That's what it's all about. As always, drop me a note with your comments if you wish. I read and answer all my mail. Send messages to:

editor@preacherstudy.com

God bless.

Dave Redick, Editor

[2] ***Featured Article***

KEEPING TRACK OF ALL YOUR STUFF: A Filing System that Works!
By Dave Redick
(c) 2000, The Preacher's Study - Use by permission only

For years I struggled to find a file system that worked for me. My search yielded nothing that fit my needs as a frequent speaker. The categories were too broad in some systems. Others were so cumbersome to set up and maintain that my interest quickly faded. (I'm a preacher, not a librarian!) In the meantime, clippings, periodicals, articles, illustrations, books, tapes, seminar notes, booklets, and other treasures piled up. Soon I learned what I suspect many of you have learned - the value of an item declines as the unorganized stack it is put into grows. Lack of a system can produce as much frustration as having no resources at all.

I won't tell you that everything in my office is always neat and orderly. Some of my readers know me too well personally for me to get away with such a claim. My books are not always arranged in neat rows. Not all my things are always properly filed as they come in. I live in the real world, too, and I would starve if I had to make my living as a librarian. I do have something that works for me though and it works very well. I've shared it with others and it works for them, too.

Some years ago I came across a super simple, yet fully adequate "system" of keeping track of things that seemed made-to-order for me. Based on 3x5 index cards, it was the first system I found that I could actually use. I guess the best part was that it didn't require perfection before it became useable. In fact, it began to pay dividends just a few weeks after it was started. Its originator, Jay E. Adams, called it "The Shirt Pocket File System." Sounds sort of ordinary, doesn't it? It is. Adams' idea was described in his book, "Shepherding God's Flock." I think its still in print. If you don't want to keep records on your computer, get a copy of Adams' book. The four pages that describe his system are worth the price.

I modified Adams' system to work on my computer, which has made it serve me even better. I started with expensive database software, but soon realized that one of my favorite programs that I already used worked just fine. The program I now use is Parson's Bible Illustrator (affectionately called BI by enthusiastic users). If you are familiar with this excellent tool you know that it is a database designed to file and keep track of stories, anecdotes, and illustrations. It does that superbly. "Cards" (electronic forms) containing the information you have saved in digital form are stored in the database. A quick search will bring these nuggets to your computer screen in seconds. Adding new illustrations is a cinch.

One day while entering items in my *other* database, it suddenly occurred to me that I really didn't need this second program. From that point onward I have filed nearly everything in BI.

Here is how it works. Say I am reading a periodical and find an article I would like to keep for later use. I load BI and select "Create New Card." In the data entry form I place a short description of the article and the source along with any other words I want to add to help me remember what it was in the article that caused me to save it. At the bottom of the information I place a note as to where the magazine will be filed. I then add several topics, any subtopic, and a descriptive title to the card. (Explanation for how to add these found in BI documentation). The electronic "card" is saved and the magazine is put into one of the numbered magazine boxes up on a shelf. In this case we'll say it is put into the box labeled MAG15. The finished card might look something like this on your computer screen (the references are fictitious so don't look for an actual article):

As you might realize, you can file anything using this system, including, as Adams said in his words about his Shirt Pocket System, "a record of the blue socks that are in your second bureau drawer." Suppose you are reading a book and find a footnote or a chapter or an illustration you wish to save for possible later use. Fire up BI and enter the description, Title, Subtitle, and Topic(s). Add a description of where the book is filed and what page the item is on. File the book on your shelf and you'll always be able to find that item again by doing a search in BI. Of course you need to devise some sort of numbering system for your books. This can be as simple as numbering them "1,2,3,4" or something more elaborate that groups your books according to author or subject. That part really doesn't matter, as you'll be searching with your computer anyway. Just make sure you can find the book from your terse description in BI.

This also works with items in your file cabinet. Start with two dozen file folders. Label them FA-1, FA-2, FA-3, etc. Put them in your top file drawer. Label the drawer "A". You will later label a second drawer "B" and a third "C" and so forth, as your system grows.

Suppose you don't want to save the entire issue of Time Magazine in the example I gave above. Simply tear out the article (or photocopy it). Staple the pages together and toss them into the folder labeled FA-1. Fill out a card just as you did in the earlier example except this time, instead of adding MAG15, you add FA-1. This will later tell you to go to file drawer "A" of your file cabinet and pull the folder labeled FA-1. Simply thumb through whatever is in the folder until you find the Time article and you're ready to go. Articles, charts, transparencies, seminar notes, booklets, and anything else that can fit into a file folder are added until the first folder, FA-1 is full (usually 10-12 items). Then start filling folder FA-2 as you go, etc. These filed items need not be grouped in any particular fashion. Just don't put 50 items in a single folder unless you like to sit around and thumb through 50 items!

The keys to the above are your BI program and your computer. You will not be able to find much by just going to your shelf or file cabinet, but you'll be able to find even a single sentence (or anything else if you've filed it properly) by using your computer. Audio and videotapes can be filed using this system as well. You simply need to number them for easy location and enter what you want to file on a BI card.

I label each magazine, article, tape, note, etc. with the little Avery stick-on circles. On each circle I put a reference to the location where it is kept. Each item in folder FA-1, for instance, has a stick-on circle with FA-1 on it so that if it gets separated from its folder, it can be returned once my research is done.

If you set this system up, and begin to use it, you will soon discover that a single keyword search will yield books, booklets, articles, tapes, personal notes, and even that pair of blue socks we mentioned earlier, if they are filed properly. The gathering part of your research will be complete in less than 15 minutes. That's effectiveness!

It's simple, effective, and immediately useful. I wish I had known about it back in 1977 when I started my ministry.

(c) 2000. Dave Redick - The Preacher's Study. All Rights Reserved. Reprint by permission only. Please do not cut articles out of this ezine and paste them anywhere else. You may, however, forward the entire Ezine to friends freely.

[3] ***A Special Endorsement***

Some of you know about my long time friendship and association with Alan Walker, minister of the Mt. Vernon Church of Christ in Springfield, Oregon. I have a few of his sermons on my website. Alan has been my "Accountability Partner" in times past and we've shared a lot together, including the preparation of sermons. I'm writing this to let you know that Alan also edits a very practical preaching Ezine called THE PREACHER'S CORNER EZINE. It would certainly be worth your time to subscribe at:

http://preacherscorner.com

[4] ***Preacher's Study Website Updates***

The next few weeks will see me playing "catch up" due to the events described earlier. There was one new sermon added to the Premium Section in the last interval though. It's called, "How to Get Back on Solid Ground with God." Based on Psalm 51, I think you'll find it practical and useful. If you are a subscriber, you may view it at:

http://preacherstudy.com/premium/sground.html

If you would like to become a subscriber, you may do so at:

http://preacherstudy.com

God bless.

Dave Redick

[5] ***Contact Info***

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"Energize Your Preaching"
Owner: Dave Redick
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