15 posts tagged with "Technology"

Coming soon.

Life Updates and Projects​

The video game project took an interesting turn recently. I ended up starting the project over again, but this time with a different goal in mind. Instead of building a single-player game first and trying to force multiplayer in later, I decided to design the architecture from the start to support four players. It seemed like the smarter approach long term.

I’ve now figured out the controller side of things for four-player local co-op, which was one of the bigger hurdles. With that part working, the rest of the work is mostly building the actual game systems on top of that foundation.

On the work side of life, negotiations have also started about the possibility of moving to part-time. Nothing final yet, but it is something I’ve been thinking and praying about for a while.

We also hosted a small event recently called “Faith, Fishing, and Franks.” It was a simple fishing day at a local lake where we cooked hotdogs and spent time with the youth from our church class. I teach the 9th and 10th grade boys, so it was a good chance to get outside, relax, and spend time together outside the normal church setting.

Another small project I’ve been experimenting with came from watching a talk by a former Google employee about how much free data is publicly available on the internet. That led me down a rabbit hole of seeing what could actually be tracked using open data. I ended up building a small program that can track satellites and airplanes in real time. I’m currently experimenting with adding cars and boats as well. It’s really just a fun side project to see what is possible with publicly available information, nothing financial or serious.

Overall, it has been a mix of coding projects, ministry opportunities, and thinking through some life decisions. Busy, but good.

This past stretch has been full of projects, church activities, and time with friends and family.

On the technical side, I made a lot of progress on my video game project. The game originally started as a single-player project, but I’ve been working on expanding it to support four players. That turned out to be a bigger challenge than expected. Designing something for one player is fairly straightforward, but once multiple players are involved you have to rethink controls, player management, and how everything interacts. It has been a good challenge though, and progress is being made.

Aurora also joined a singing group at church. I jokingly call it T-POP. Like K-POP, but the "T" stands for Trinity. She has been enjoying it, and it has been fun watching her get involved.

We had the Nichols family visit us as well. They are from Wisconsin and travel in a skoolie. It was good spending time with them and hearing more about their travels and experiences living on the road.

We also hosted what we call Pierson Christmas at our house again this year. Our place works well as a central location for my wife's side of the family to gather, so everyone comes here. It is always a good time catching up, sharing a meal, and spending time together.

Another highlight was getting to see Jim again while he was visiting from Brazil. It is always good reconnecting and hearing what the Lord has been doing in different places.

I also had the opportunity to do some teen talks for Swarm to the Shepherd, which takes place in Melrose. It is an event where a number of Christians who travel in skoolies gather together. I had the chance to talk with the teens there about the Gospel, which was a meaningful time.

We also went to Yesterday's Festival, which is a local event focused on old-time crafts, tools, and demonstrations of how things used to be done. It is always interesting seeing those traditional skills and ways of life.

Finally, youth group at church started back up again after the Christmas break. With everyone traveling and schedules shifting during the holidays, things had been quiet for a bit. It was good seeing everyone again and getting things moving.

Overall, it has been a full month with a mix of coding, ministry, family time, and reconnecting with friends.

Ministry​

We received word from one of our ministry partners that persecution in India is increasing. I was shown graphic images of one of the victims. It was sobering. Prayer is needed, and practical support is needed as well. Unfortunately, the news came at the very end of the year, and finances take time to reach families on the ground.

On a lighter note, the kids participated in the church Christmas play. My daughter served as the news anchor, and my son played multiple roles, mostly as an angel. I’m attaching the link for anyone who wants to see it. Watch video Requires Facebook for now, might be able to watch it by clicking X on sign in.

Technology​

I unintentionally built a roguelite game in Godot 4.4.x. The original goal was to build a tower defense game, but along the way I started questioning what actually makes a game fun.

I’ve been playing roguelites recently and wanted to see how much could be stripped away while still keeping something playable. The experiment was simple: remove about 90% of the polish and leave only the core mechanics. The result is a very barebones roguelite.

Personally, I’m not impressed with it. That said, people who have playtested it say it’s fun, which is interesting. At this point, the goal is to get it to an MVP and sell it. The market can decide whether it needs more polish or whether it should be left alone.

I’ve also been setting up a local Gitea infrastructure to act as test and build agents. The goal there is straightforward: increase automation and reduce friction across my other projects.

Homestead​

The cold has officially arrived, with several nights dropping below freezing, yet we still get random 85-degree days out of nowhere.

The plants are confused, and so is my immune system. The 40-degree temperature swings in a single day are rough, especially when plants start throwing pollen during a heat spike right before another freeze.

Ministry​

I had a surprise visit from Jim, who does full-time ministry in Brazil. He was in the U.S. for about a week handling some logistics. You can read more about what he does at https://sitioshalom.org/blog.

Thanksgiving was a blast this year. We ate leftovers well into the end of the month and even into December. It also turned into a LAN party with some of the volunteers from Camp Good News. Our families have been doing Thanksgiving together for several years now.

Youth ministry has been going well. I genuinely enjoy my class this year, which makes a big difference.

Technology​

I built a new app called Radio Forge. It came out of a need to add radio-style communications to a video game we were playing during the LAN party (Local Area Network). In short, it turns your voice into a radio.

I spent over an hour trying to learn a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) just to do one simple thing. Eventually I decided it wasn’t worth the friction and built my own tool instead. I plan to release the software online and on Steam sometime next year.

I’ve also been doing a lot of work related to server hardware, remote KVMs (Keyboard, Video, Mouse), and PXE booting (Preboot Execution Environment), which allows a computer to boot from the network instead of a local disk. Because of that, I’ve been driving into the Gainesville office about once a week to work hands-on with some of this setup. Honestly, the best part of those trips has been meeting homeless people along the way. I think I’ve officially run out of the homeless kits I put together, so it’s time to restock supplies and make more.

Life​

I’ve been tilling ground through our centipede grass, which has been a real grind. I’m working on a 12' x 25' section of the yard and plan to plant onions soon. We also had two fully developed fruit trees delivered and installed on our property. If all goes well, we should have olives and avocados next season. On top of that, I celebrated my 16th wedding anniversary with my wife. We rented a hotel, bought a pile of appetizer food, watched a movie, and played video games. A match made in Heaven.

Ministry Update​

We’re back from Japan, and it’s been a joy jumping right back into working with the 10th-grade boys in youth. I already knew about half of them through their families, and now I’m slowly learning the new faces. I even brought them some “seaweed candy” from Japan just to mess with them—it gave us all a good laugh.

On the home front, the Lord has been working in unexpected ways. We recently received a letter from the county informing us that our neighbors across the street were planning to build a community park: a splash pad, an outdoor wedding gazebo, and a 30-car parking lot—all directly across from our home. That one letter stirred up the entire neighborhood. Twenty-two neighbors showed up at the Putnam County meeting to oppose the rezoning.

For the past two years, my wife and I have walked the block across the street, hoping to meet our very quiet, very private neighbors. Well—upset everyone enough, and suddenly the hermits come out. I collected phone numbers and emails so we could all stay organized, and I spent the next three hours talking with neighbors I had never met before.

The Lord truly works in mysterious ways. What initially looked like a problem turned into a ministry opportunity. I ended up speaking with the couple planning the project for about two hours about the Lord and His goodness. Had this situation never happened, I would not have had the chance to meet every person around us. I thanked them sincerely, telling them that God used their plans to grow our neighborhood ministry in a way I never could have done on my own.

On a personal note, I have also been trying to grow wheat—partly because of that passage in Revelation:

“A measure of wheat for a penny…” (Revelation 6:6, KJV)

And finally, for the next six weeks I’ll be going into the office once a week (even though I’m normally remote). I don't care for it much, but God is still good.

In all these things—home, work, and ministry—I’m grateful for how the Lord arranges conversations, connections, and open doors that we could never plan ourselves.

Ministry​

This month began with an opportunity to share the Gospel with two individuals—one familiar to me and one a stranger. Out of respect for their personal testimonies, I will not go into detail, but I can say with confidence that God is moving.

While I was in Japan, I received the devastating news that Charlie Kirk was assassinated for his faith in God. What shook me even further was watching people on the political left openly celebrate his death. It was a raw reminder of Isaiah’s words—that we live in a world where many call evil good and good evil. The wickedness is not hidden; it is being promoted and rejoiced in.

And yet, this only strengthens my resolve. If I had ever wavered about using platforms like YouTube or writing a book to proclaim the Gospel, I no longer do. The urgency is clear. The need is great and my conviction to spread the Good News boldly and publicly has only grown stronger.

Though this trip to Japan was meant to be a vacation, I have also been working—developing a one-page Gospel presentation in Japanese. The vision is to partner with others to produce this same presentation in every language possible and to work alongside local churches that faithfully preach the true Gospel. The pamphlet will serve as a simple, clear proclamation of salvation through Christ, while discipleship and ongoing teaching will be entrusted to local congregations. In this way, the Holy Spirit will do His work in drawing hearts, and the church will do its work in nurturing and guiding new believers.

Ministry​

This month I had the opportunity to teach twice at Camp Good News. My focus was on addressing false doctrines and helping the teens navigate truth from error. Afterward, we held a Q&A session where the teens asked thoughtful and challenging questions. It was encouraging to see their engagement and desire to learn.

Random Blessings​

This month has brought some unexpected and strange financial opportunities. The Lord has opened doors that now allow me to receive free products directly from manufacturers in exchange for honest reviews. It’s been a surprising provision—one that we didn’t anticipate, but are grateful for.

Travel & Family​

We made a trip to Arkansas to visit family. Though it was meant to be a bit of a break, I ended up working the entire time. That said, I also took the opportunity to build out and test our skoolie (school bus conversion) for the journey. The trip revealed a few areas that still need fine-tuning, but it was a productive first run.

On the cultural and educational front, we’ve continued our family studies in Japanese. Oddly enough, even after studying it longer, I still feel far more comfortable in Portuguese. Nonetheless, we’re moving forward and starting to align things for our future time in Japan.

Ministry Focus​

Over the summer, I’ve taken a break from youth ministry but plan to return around August as the kids settle back into their routines. In the meantime, it’s been refreshing to simply sit beside my wife during Wednesday night services—something we’ve both enjoyed.

We’ve been deeply in prayer about the future, asking the Lord for clarity to ensure our plans are aligned with His will, not just our ambitions.

One exciting development has been the progress we’ve made on the website and online presence for Sitio Shalom Ministries. This has been a joint effort between my wife and me, and we’re excited to see it taking shape.

Technology Projects​

On the tech side, I’ve been making progress on a personal project called Plant Rodeo—a tool that helps track gardening data and offers features like revenue forecasting and user management. I recently added an admin panel that lets me do deeper calculations and manage users more effectively.

On the DevOps side, I’ve been swamped by GitHub team webhooks firing due to unit test alerts. It’s a noisy but necessary part of the development workflow, and I’ve been refining our processes to handle those alerts more efficiently.

Ministry​

With summer in full swing, I’ve taken a brief pause from attending youth services, as the usual small group sessions for in-depth Bible study are currently on hold. However, ministry hasn’t stopped. I had the opportunity to volunteer at Camp Good News for two full days, where I was invited to teach on two important topics: Marriage and False Doctrines. These sessions sparked meaningful conversations with the students, and I’ve made the accompanying cheat sheets and study materials available on this website for anyone who wants to go deeper into those subjects.

In addition to Camp Good News, my wife and I have been actively developing the Sitio Shalom Ministries website. This includes weekly meetings to review, plan, and update content—ensuring the online presence reflects the heart and vision of the ministry. These efforts are laying a digital foundation that will allow us to serve more effectively and communicate clearly with those we’re called to reach.

Technology​

This past month has been filled with progress in the homelab and self-hosting space. I’ve been diving deep into CasaOS, an open-source platform for managing self-hosted services, and refining the way I deploy and expose local applications.

Instead of relying on traditional port forwarding, which can be both a security risk and a configuration hassle, I’ve been utilizing Cloudflare Tunnels. This allows me to expose specific services running on different ports—such as media servers, dashboards, or internal tools—securely and reliably without opening up my entire network to the outside world. It’s been a game changer for remote access and overall network architecture.

Other technical highlights include:

• Setting up internal authentication and firewall rules for better zero-trust network access.
• Automating backup routines for critical apps using scheduled scripts and versioned storage.
• Experimenting with new lightweight containers for hosting tools like static websites, project trackers, and developer dashboards.
• Monitoring GitHub repository activity and webhook events to track automated tests and deployment statuses.

All of this plays into a larger goal: building a resilient, secure, and portable infrastructure that supports not just personal projects but future ministry applications as well.