Macs in the Ministry

inthe

DAVID LANGAuthor

Copyright © 2010 by Th omas Nelson Publishers

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, TN, by Th omas Nelson. Th omas Nelson is a trademark of Th omas Nelson, Inc.

Th omas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please email: SpecialMarkets@Th omasNelson.com

Book Interior: Stephen Ramirez

Editor: Mary Cosola

Series Editor: Michael Lawson

Produced in Association with Lawson Music Media, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN: 1418541729

ISBN-13: 9781418541729

All Rights Reserved

Printed in the United States of America

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 — 13 12 11 10

Acknowledgements

If this book proves helpful to you in your ministry, it will be because of the help and support I received from so many others.

Mike Lawson, who fi rst approached me about writing this book and who off ered the encouragement needed to complete it.

My employers at OakTree Soft ware, who graciously let me scale back my workload at a time when there was no shortage of work to do so that I could complete the manuscript.

Th e many ìMac ministers who responded to my questions and surveys. Th e pages of this book are seasoned with their wisdom, experience, and practical advice.

Th e gurus on the Mac-Ministry e-mail list, who expertly answered all my technical questions about Mac hardware and soft ware.

Tim David of Apple Inc., who repeatedly pointed me to helpful resources and helped spark new ideas.

My fi ve wonderful children—David, Caleb, Bethany, Alexa, and Josiah—who patiently understood when their father had to tell them, “I can’t right now. I need to write.”

My incredible wife, Lisa, who not only gave me the time I needed to write, but who also served as a sounding board, editor, and inexhaustible source of encouragement.

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viiiMacs in Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ixInsanely Great Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ixUsing Technology in Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiiInspiration and Perspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xivMac Ministers and Mac Literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvMy Mac Cred . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi

Part OneInspiration: Discovering What’s Possible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 1 Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3In the Beginning Was the Word, So Start Th ere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Paper versus Electronic Bible Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Web-Based Bible Study Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Bible Soft ware for Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Web-Based Tools or Bible Soft ware? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Choosing Bible-Study Soft ware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Chapter 2 Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Presenting to a Small Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Presenting to a Congregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Multimedia in Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Ways to Use Multimedia in Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Multimedia in Conjunction with the Sermon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Presenting in Other Kinds of Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Chapter 3 Publication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47From Desktop Publishing to Desktop Anything . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Print Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Publishing on CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Publishing on the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Power of the Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

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Chapter 4 Promotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Biblical Examples of Self-Promotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Promoting Your Message in Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67PDF: Bridging Print and Electronic Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Promoting Your Message on CD and DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Promoting Your Message on the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72A Message Worth Hearing and Promoting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Chapter 5 Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Why We Fail to Involve Others in Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Encouraging Participation in Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Creating Ministry Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Fill in the Blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Chapter 6 Practical Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Creative Fund-Raising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Technical and Creative Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Off ering Vocational Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Building Fellowship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98How to Build Unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Loving Your Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103Family Memories = Family Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Th e Most Important Part of Your Ministry Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Part TwoPerspiration: Making It Happen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Chapter 7 Ten Basic Steps to In-Depth Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Look Up Your Passage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Read the Passage for Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Understand the Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115Compare Multiple Translations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116Examine Key People, Places, Concepts, and Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Consult Related Passages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Record Your Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123Examine Key Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124Consult Commentaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127Organize Your Th oughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Make It Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

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Chapter 8 Making an iMovie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Planning Your Movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136Modifying a Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137Adding a Soundtrack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139Recording a Voiceover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Fine-Tuning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Adding Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144Making It Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Chapter 9 Creating iPhoto Slideshows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154Creating an iPhoto Slideshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155Eff ort Well Spent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Chapter 10 Creating iPhoto Cards, Calendars, and Photo Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160Creating a Promotional Postcard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160Creating a Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162Creating a Photo Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169My One Gripe with iPhoto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Chapter 11 Making Music with GarageBand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Working with Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Adding Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Using the Arrange Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176Mixing Th ings Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178Sharing Your Masterpiece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180Going Beyond GarageBand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Chapter 12 Recording and Sharing a Podcast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183Recording Your Narration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184Editing the Narration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185Adding Jingles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185Adding Images and Chapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189Sharing Your Podcast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

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Chapter 13 Creating a DVD with iDVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Chapter 14 Designing a Website with iWeb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198Adding a Blog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201Th e Blog Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205Adding a Podcast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207Publishing Your Podcast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209Adding Hypertext Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209Publishing Your Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210Submitting Your Podcast to iTunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Chapter 15 Getting to iWork, Part 1: Creating Documents with Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212Developing a Sermon Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212Developing a Weekly Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Chapter 16 Getting to iWork, Part 2: Creating Presentations with Keynote . . . . . . . . . . 225Working with Master Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228Building Your Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230Delivering Your Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239Beyond the Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Chapter 17 Worship Presentation Soft ware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243Flexibility Is Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Chapter 18 Finding Help When You Need It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248Apple Online Documentation and Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248Apple Store Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249Finding Th ird-Party Mac Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250Christian Macintosh User’s Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250Macs in Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251Wisdom from Experienced Mac Ministers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Introduction

It was a missionary Sunday at my church. Th e normal Sunday school classes had been suspended so we could hear reports from visiting missionaries and members of the congregation

who had recently participated in short-term missions projects. Th is particular Sunday we were to hear from a couple doing mis-sions work in the South Pacifi c and from a teenage girl who had done a summer mission to a poor village in Mexico.

Th e professional missionaries had clearly done this before. Th ey showed us a computerized slide presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows. I seem to recall having to wait a few minutes while they tried to get their Windows laptop to communicate with the projector, but eventually they were able to give their presentation.

I’ve heard it said that power corrupts, and PowerPoint corrupts absolutely. Th at adage was certainly evident in the missionary couple’s presentation. It was hideous, with poorly chosen fonts, a garish combination of backgrounds and colored text, and the indiscriminate use of every conceivable slide transition eff ect (wipes, dissolves, page fl ips, spinning text, and so on). While their ministry was well worth hearing about, their presentation was woefully amateurish and distracting.

Then it was the teenage girl’s turn. She went up, plugged her laptop into the projector, and was immediately up and running. She showed us a couple of videos a friend had created using photographs and foot-age taken on the trip. Th e music was engaging and perfectly in sync with the still images and video clips shown. A judicious use of subtle transitions and titles gave these videos a professional, polished look. All of this had the net eff ect of giving us a feel for what this young lady had experienced. We saw the muddy roads and drab buildings of the village. We saw the grinning faces of the children who were being helped both physically and spiritually. We saw the teenagers on the mission trip goofi ng off together and working hard to build houses. In a matter of minutes, we had shared in this student’s experience.

As I thought about the contrast between these two presenta-tions, it occurred to me that the missionaries’ awkward presentation had likely taken many hours to produce, while I’m confi dent the young lady’s videos had been produced in a fraction of the time.

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Was this just a case of the teenager and her friend having a better grasp on how to use technology than the grownups? I don’t think so. It was simply that the teenagers had the benefi t of tools that helped them look professional and polished.

Th ese teenagers had Macs.

MACS IN MINISTRY

Th is young lady and her friend were not professional ministers. Neither were they professional videographers. Yet they were able to use the Mac to help communicate a message and minister to others.

Th is book is about Macs in Ministry: how you can use your Mac to minister to others. Whether your ministry consists of preaching, teaching, leading worship, youth ministry, missions, or serving behind-the-scenes, the Mac can help make your ministry easier and more eff ective.

All computers promise to make life easier by saving you time and eff ort, but the Mac actually delivers on that promise. First of all, the Mac is easy enough for mere mortals to fi gure out how to use. Secondly, it requires less under-the-hood maintenance than other computers do. Th irdly, Macs just work, without the need for frequent restarts and reinstalls. All of these strengths combine to off er you a tool to help you accomplish your ministry goals, rather than distract you from ministry.

Your Mac can make your ministry more eff ective because the Mac has been designed to make its users look good. Apple’s iLife suite of applications (iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, and iWeb) makes it easy for rank amateurs to create professional-quality media such as photos, video, music, podcasts, and Web pages. Apple’s iWork suite includes offi ce productivity programs like Pages for word-processing and page-layout, Numbers for data and spreadsheets, and Keynote for slide presentations. Yet, unlike most offi ce productivity suites, iWork is designed to help you incorporate great design into your documents and presentations. Other Mac applications we’ll cover in this book are likewise designed to help you do quality work and present a professional image.

INSANELY GREAT MINISTRY

In the Mac universe, the goal is never to be “good enough,” but to be “insanely great.” In fact, the desire to be insanely great is

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central to Apple’s corporate culture (see sidebar “Mac Literacy: Good Enough or Insanely Great?”).

Can your Mac help you to have an insanely great ministry? Sure it can, but an insanely great ministry ultimately depends on three things, none of which is driven by a microchip.

Sacrifi cial Service When Jesus commissioned Peter to lead His church, He com-manded Peter repeatedly to “feed” and “shepherd” His sheep (John 21:15–17). James, the brother of Jesus, defi ned “pure and undefi led religion” as taking care of “orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). Paul taught that “Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). Finally, Jesus made it clear that Christian life and ministry are about serving rather than being served:

Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be fi rst among you must be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life—a ransom for many. (Mark 10:43-45)

Clear Communication Sacrifi cial service must be coupled with clear communica-tion of the gospel. Aft er all, we don’t just serve others in order

Mac Literacy: Good Enough or Insanely Great?

When Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was overseeing the development of the fi rst Macintosh computer, he repeatedly inspired the Mac team to create a computer that would be “insanely great”: something so forward-thinking, it would eventually change the world.

In 1984 when the fi rst Mac was released, most computers used a command-line interface in which the computer user would enter arcane text commands that had to be memorized. The Mac introduced the graphical user interface typical of most computers today. It was so easy to use that many computer geeks dismissed it as a toy, but eventually the innovations popularized by the Mac would forever change the way people interact with computers. The Mac did indeed prove to be insanely great.

When Microsoft eventually released Windows 95, some argued that PCs were now “good enough” to be considered comparable to Macs. Whether or not that was true can be debated, but the contrast in standards is striking. Mac users expect their computer and its software to be insanely great. They’re never satisfi ed with good enough, and it shows in the hardware and software that gets developed for them.

xiIntroduction

to be do-gooders, but to exalt the name of Christ and to reveal His love. Jesus said, “Whoever gives just a cup of cold water . . . because he is a disciple . . . will never lose his reward!” (Matthew 10:42). Jesus also commissioned us to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20). In other words, the ministry of making disciples requires clearly communicating whose disciples we are to become and how we are to follow.

Similarly, Paul underscored the need for clear communication of the gospel when he wrote:

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? . . . So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ” (Romans 10:13-17).

An insanely great ministry is one that clearly communicates the message about Christ, the good news that any who call on His name can be saved from the penalty and power of sin.

The Work of the Holy SpiritNo matter how ardently we serve or how eloquently we preach, the success of our ministry ultimately depends on how the Holy Spirit works in it, through it, and sometimes even in spite of it. Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44); and Paul made it clear that “the natural man does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to know it since it is evaluated spiritually” (1 Corinthians 2:14). In other words, the hardness of the human heart can only be overcome by the power of the Spirit. We are blind to the truth until He enables us to see it.

When I was in college, I was involved in a ministry that was strongly focused on evangelism and prided itself on fi nding the best methods of communicating the gospel to unbelievers. It was a wonderful ministry and a wonderful experience for me, but one thing always struck me as odd. Whenever they would introduce us to some new evangelism method or technique, they would give us some statistic like, “Forty percent of those who hear this evangelistic presentation make professions of faith.” I remember

xii Introduction

thinking when I would hear these statistics that I didn’t realize the Holy Spirit graded on a curve!

We can do many things to make our ministries more eff ective. We can ramp up our service, improve our communication, make better use of technology, and learn new methods. Most of this book is dedicated to helping you do exactly that. Yet ultimately, the eff ectiveness of our ministries depends on God.

Jesus said, “Th e one who remains in Me and I in him pro-duces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me” (John 15:5). As you use your insanely great computer to help you in your ministry, don’t lose sight of the fact that an insanely great ministry “does not depend on human will or eff ort, but on God who shows mercy” (Romans 9:16).

USING TECHNOLOGY IN MINISTRY

Th roughout church history, Christians have embraced new technologies as a means of spreading the gospel. Roman roads enabled the fi rst Christians to evangelize an empire. Christians led the way in moving from the scroll to the codex (bound books as we know them today), probably because books were more economical, portable, and durable. When Gutenberg’s printing press made the mass production of books and pamphlets easier and more aff ordable than ever, Christians embraced the new technology to increase circulation of the Bible, carry on theological discussions, and evangelize previously unreached parts of the world. More recently, Christians have utilized air travel, the telegraph, radio, television, computers, and the Internet to spread the gospel and minister to others.

Yet at every step along the way, some Christians have ques-tioned whether these technological advances were indeed a good thing. Aft er all, each new advance brought with it unintended consequences, created new problems and new opportunities for sin, and was used by non-Christians to advance their own agen-das and ideas. Today, new technologies are being introduced at such a dizzying pace that their long-term benefi ts and drawbacks are increasingly hard to discern.

Th is book will expose you to a wide variety of ways a particular technology—Macintosh computers and soft ware—can be used in ministry. It will also introduce you to a wide range of people and ministries who are using Macs in innovative ways. Which methods you choose to adopt and which examples you

xiiiIntroduction

choose to follow will depend on your own philosophy of ministry and technology.

Don’t know what your “philosophy of ministry and technology” is? Start by considering the following examples. Which one sounds the most like you?

The TechnophileSteve is a 23-year-old seminary student who is serving as a youth minister at a church of about 400 members. He barely has two nickels to rub together, but somehow he owns a MacBook and an iPhone. He has set up a Web page for the youth group and frequently blogs about his latest seminary class or the last movie he watched. He uses Twitter to give up-to-the-minute reports on what he is doing and uses instant messaging to keep in constant communication with the kids from the youth group.

At youth-group meetings, Steve loves to illustrate his points with video clips and snippets of popular songs. He’s very concerned with being relevant and engaging. In fact, he worries that the church is losing young people because the worship service and sermon might not hold their interest. He is constantly preaching the virtues of new technology as a way to improve outreach and pushes the church staff to get up-to-date.

High-Tech Prep, Low-Tech PreachingMike is the 49-year-old senior pastor of the church. He’s no technophobe; he uses computers all the time. He uses e-mail to communicate and Bible soft ware to prepare his sermons. He sends his sermon outline to the church secretary so she can prepare the print bulletin. He may even use instant messaging occasionally. Yet when it comes to the weekly sermon, he sees solid content as far more important than fl ashy delivery. In fact, he worries that too many visuals will distract his congregation from the message he is trying to preach. He’s suspicious of churches that focus too much on entertainment and not enough on sound doctrine.

He’s not quite sure what to do with Steve, his enthusiastic youth minister. On the one hand, he admires how Steve uses technology to make himself so accessible to the kids. On the other hand, he wonders if all these brief tweets and IMs are lead-ing to a fragmented, disjointed form of communication, which he feels ultimately results in shallow relationships. Is the Facebook generation capable of deep conversation and clear theological understanding? Sometimes he wonders.

xiv Introduction

The PresenterJosh is the 32-year-old assistant pastor of the church. He’s not nearly as connected as Steve, but not quite as suspicious of new technology as Mike. He preaches from time to time in relief of Mike, and when he does, he uses a video projector to display bullet points and the occasional video clip. While Mike isn’t crazy about Josh’s high-tech delivery style, he tolerates it so long as Josh is careful not to let fl ash get in the way of content. Most of the congregation responds positively to Josh’s preaching, and he feels that the visuals help hold their interest. Still, he sometimes wonders if they’re really listening to what he is saying or merely focusing on his bullet points. He therefore sees some validity in Mike’s concerns, but he nevertheless feels the advantages of his presentation style outweigh the disadvantages.

While these three characters are fi ctional, they represent a spectrum of attitudes toward technology that can be found in any church or ministry setting. Some, like Steve, embrace all the latest technologies uncritically, without any thought to their potential downsides. Others, like Mike, embrace technology to a point but worry that too much emphasis on it will have a variety of negative side eff ects. Still others, like Josh, fall somewhere in between, cautiously adopting an extensive use of technology.

Wherever you fall along this spectrum, I would encourage you to think through how best to use technology in general, and your Mac in particular, to enhance your ministry. Some of the ideas in this book may appeal to you, but if they don’t fi t well with your approach to ministry, or if the people to whom you minister will not respond well to them, you should avoid them. Don’t get caught up in the use of technology merely for its own sake, and don’t avoid it just because you’re suspicious of it. Instead, strive to use technology in a way that meshes well with your theologi-cal commitments and ministry goals. You’re not backward if you decide not to use multimedia to enhance your sermon, and you’re not necessarily being an eff ective preacher if you do.

INSPIRATION AND PERSPIRATION

Th omas Edison famously remarked that genius is “one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” Th e goal of this book is to help you use your Mac to become a ministry genius by

xvIntroduction

giving you the inspiration you need and reducing the amount of perspiration required.

Part One of this book will off er you inspiration by showing you what’s possible. In it, we’ll explore how your Mac can be used in six distinct and alliterative areas of ministry.

Preparation Discover resources to help you study the Bible and organize a lesson or sermon.

Presentation Learn how to present your message in a way that enhances communication.

Publication Find out how to publish your message for a wider audience: in print; on the Web, CD, or DVD; or even through iTunes.

Promotion See how you can publicize ministry activities, communicate with your congregation or supporters, and reach out to the community.

Participation Get other people involved in the creation of all this content, helping to develop their gift s and giving them a broader understanding of what “ministry” entails.

Practical Needs Use your Mac to develop innovative fund-raisers, service projects, and outreach opportunities.

Part Two of this book is about perspiration: showing you how to make all these things happen. Here we’ll take a single Bible passage (the story of David and Bathsheba) and use it in a series of step-by-step projects: preparing a sermon, pre-senting a lesson, publishing it in a variety of ways, and so on. Once you’ve worked your way through these sample projects, you’ll be able to customize them for your own lessons and ministry activities.

MAC MINISTERS AND MAC LITERACY

Th roughout each chapter, you’ll benefi t from the examples of vari-ous Mac Ministers. Th ese are folks who are using Macs to enhance their own ministries. Th ese include pastors, youth workers, Sunday school teachers, missionaries, laypeople, churches, and parachurch ministries. Th e best form of inspiration comes from real-world examples, and the best advice comes from those who have been there. So you’ll fi nd plenty of these Mac Minister profi les.

xvi Introduction

You’ll also fi nd brief lessons in Mac Literacy. Th ese lessons will expose you to interesting Mac facts and trivia, history lessons about Apple and the Mac, and things you need to know to avoid looking like a Mac newbie. (See sidebar “Mac Literacy: It’s a Mac, not a MAC.”)

MY MAC CRED

Th e Mac Literacy lessons are designed to give you Mac credibility, so it’s only fair that I should tell you a little about my own Mac cred. Put another way, if you’re going to read a book about how to get more out of your Mac, you want to know the guy writing it has something to teach you. So here’s a brief account of my own experience with using Macs in ministry.

I bought my fi rst Mac in January of 1992 as a student in seminary. Aft er telling a fellow student that I was looking to buy a computer, he began “evangelizing” me to my need for a Mac and dragged me to a demo of a pre-release Mac Bible soft ware program called Accordance. When I saw this somewhat eccentric programmer using a Mac to do sophisticated searches of the Greek New Testament, I was hooked. “Th is,” I thought, “is what I want to do with a computer!” I stretched my budget as far as I could to get a Mac Performa 600.

I used that computer to write papers for school, develop a home-group curriculum for my church, and even run a side business called Cyrano’s Custom Calligraphy. Eventually, the work I had done for my church turned into a full-time job ghost-writing books for the senior pastor. Th e church supplied me with QuarkXPress, a professional (and expensive!) page-layout program, and Accordance Bible soft ware, which offi cially had been released.

Not long aft er I sent in my registration card for the Bible soft ware, I got a call asking if I’d like to work for the company

Mac Literacy: It’s a Mac, not a MAC

One sure sign of a non-Mac user or a recent switcher is that they will write MAC in all caps. Trust me, it’s a Mac, not a MAC.

PC is written in all caps because it is an abbreviation for Personal Computer. Mac, on the other hand, is merely a shortened form of the word Macintosh. Written in all caps, MAC looks like an acronym for a three-word phrase, which, of course, it is not.

So don’t look like a Mac newbie. Write Mac not MAC!

xviiIntroduction

part-time! It was a local company named OakTree Soft ware, which was so small at that point they were willing to approach a local kid who had bought their soft ware. I had no prior experience in soft ware development and only a couple years of experience using Macs, but they assured me they would teach me everything I needed to know. I started working for them from home on a part-time basis and have been with the company ever since. I started out converting e-texts of Bibles and commentaries into the modules that work with the Bible soft ware, and I eventually moved on to helping design the program interface, writing tutorials and online help, developing a company blog, and even creating our own custom Bible-study materials. I also got to demonstrate the soft ware at numerous MacWorld expos, conferences for biblical scholars, pastors’ conferences, and training seminars. My work for OakTree on Accordance has taught me a great deal about the Mac, a great deal about the Bible, and a great deal about the needs of people in all types of ministry.

About the time I started working for OakTree, my new boss—the same programmer I had seen at the seminary a couple of years earlier—invited me to come to a local meeting of the Christian Macintosh User’s Group (CMUG). He had been asked to participate in a panel discussion with CMUG’s president, the president of a company that developed church-management soft ware for the Mac, and a woman who wrote books and articles about using Macs in desktop publishing. CMUG was based in California and had monthly meetings there, but they also had a worldwide membership. CMUG published a monthly newsletter with tips for using Macs in ministry, and they also had an e-mail list called the Mac-Ministry List. Originally designed as a way to support Mac-using missionaries who might not have local Mac tech support, the Mac-Ministry List has grown into an online community of Christian Mac users. Aft er I attended my fi rst CMUG meeting, I became a member, began writing articles for the newsletter, and became an active contributor to the Mac-Ministry e-mail list.

I’ve been involved with CMUG since 1995 and have been its vice president and maintained its Website for the better part of a decade. Eventually, the local CMUG chapters kind of fi zzled out, and the print newsletter became too diffi cult to produce and dis-tribute, but the Mac-Ministry List is still very active and CMUG continues to have a Web presence at www.cmug.org.

My work on Accordance and my involvement in CMUG have given me a broad view of how Macs are used in ministry, but I’ve

xviii Introduction

also personally used Macs in a wide range of ministry activities. Th ese activities include leading worship and doing special music, teaching Sunday school classes and leading small groups, work-ing with high school and college students, and even helping with a Bible study for residents of a nursing home.

In short, I’ve been around Macs for a long time, and I’ve seen fi rsthand how incredibly helpful they can be in ministry. Hopefully that gives me enough cred to write a book on the subject!

Okay, that’s enough about me. Th is book is really about you. Let’s explore how your Mac can help you be more eff ective in your ministry.

Part OneInspiration: Discovering What’s Possible

CHAPTER 1

Preparation

As I said in the Introduction, your Mac is designed to make you look good. iPhoto lets you take digital photos and turn them into great looking cards, calendars, slide-

shows, and Web pages. iMovie can help you turn home movies into fi rst-rate productions. Keynote lets you create great-looking presentations while discouraging you from going overboard with text eff ects and transitions. Pages goes beyond word processing to help you create stunning page layouts. At every turn, it’s as if you have your own team of designers helping you to look polished and professional.

Yet all of this design help is useless without great content to share. iPhoto will sit unused until you actually import some of your photos into it. iMovie just consumes disk space until you upload a movie to edit. Without your text, Pages layouts are filled with such stimulating phrases as “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet” (see sidebar “Mac Literacy: Why ‘Lorem ipsum’?”). And what good is iTunes without some actual tunes? Good design and a polished presentation can enhance good content, but if the content isn’t there, all that design is like frosting without any cake.

Before we see how your Mac can help you present your message, let’s look at some ways your Mac can help you prepare your message. In other words, let’s learn how to put together some great content before we focus on how best to deliver it.

4 Macs in the Ministry

IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, SO START THERE

For Christians, any message worth communicating begins with the Bible, which we believe to be the very Word of God. All preparation for ministry—whatever that ministry happens to be—must therefore begin with the Bible.

So how can our Macs help us study the Bible? Th rough Web-based Bible-study tools and powerful Bible soft ware programs. Which resources you choose will depend on your needs and your budget. In this chapter, I’ll survey the options that are currently available and expose you to what’s possible with each one. In Chapter 7, I’ll actually describe the process of using Bible soft ware to prepare a sermon or lesson. You’ll also fi nd a demonstration video in the Bible Soft ware folder of the accompanying DVD.

Before I list the resources available for studying the Bible on your Mac, let me talk for just a moment about why you would want to use your Mac to study the Bible.

PAPER VERSUS ELECTRONIC BIBLE STUDY

I love books. I love the way they feel in your hands. I love the smell of the paper. I love the way they look on the shelf. I love the

Mac Literacy: Why “Lorem ipsum”?

Before you enter your own content, Pages and iWeb layouts are fi lled with the modifi ed Latin text beginning “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.” Why is that?

Lorem ipsum is the standard dummy text used by the printing industry. This text is used as a placeholder to show how text and graphic elements will combine in a particular page lay-out. Although the Latin text is derived from an ancient ethical treatise by the Roman orator Cicero, it has been modifi ed and is not intended to be meaningful. The presence of meaning-ful text in a page layout would actually distract us from looking at the layout itself, so at some point, a wise printer took an obscure Latin passage, modifi ed it somewhat, and used it as a placeholder. Presumably no one else wanted to go to the trouble of chopping up perfectly good Latin, so the text of Lorem ipsum became a kind of standard—one that even made the transition to digital media through font samples and page-layout programs. It would appear that Lorem ipsum is with us to stay.

5Chapter 1 Preparation

experience of lounging somewhere reading them. However, I don’t love having to shuffl e between a half-dozen reference works spread out across a desk. I don’t love scanning the small print of a paper concordance in an attempt to fi nd some half-remembered verse. I don’t love fl ipping back and forth between the main text and the index, or the main text and the end notes, or the main text and a glossary. Finally, I don’t love lugging a bunch of books around.

Doing in-depth Bible study with paper books is cumbersome. It takes time and eff ort to fi nd the information you’re looking for, and the eff ort required can actually interfere with the quality of your study. If you’ve ever sat at your desk and thought about consulting a book on your shelf, only to decide that it would be too much trouble to get up, you know exactly what I mean.

Th e beauty of doing Bible study or other research electronically is that it is easier to fi nd the information you need, which in turn enables you to consult more resources and dig deeper than you otherwise might.

Th at said, paper still has some advantages. When reading an entire book, most people still prefer the experience of curling up with a good book to staring at a computer screen for hours on end. With electronic books, it can be so easy to access the relevant sections that it likewise becomes easy to take passages out of context or miss an author’s wider argument. Paper books, on the other hand, encourage you to read from beginning to end, or at least to skim forward and back enough to get the broader context of an argument.

In the fi nal analysis, paper books are best for extended read-ing, but electronic books are best for consulting reference works and doing nonlinear research. Put another way: When you’re doing your daily devotions, you might want to reach for your print Bible; but when you’re engaged in serious Bible study, you’ll probably want to start up your Mac.

WEB-BASED BIBLE STUDY TOOLS

So many Web-based tools for studying the Bible are available today that it would be impossible for me to survey them all. All I can do is expose you to a few of the best and most popular.

Th e primary advantage of Web-based tools is that you can get free access to some top-notch resources, including modern Bible translations, study Bibles, dictionaries, language tools, and


commentaries. If you’re working with a limited budget, Web-based tools will become an indispensable resource.

Bible Gateway www.biblegateway.comTh e Bible Gateway lets you look up and read passages in a wide variety of Bible texts and translations (see Fig. 1.01). You can search for passages by verse, do basic word and phrase searches, or fi nd passages related to a particular topic. A modest selection of commentaries, dictionaries, and reading plans is also available. You can even access a handful of audio Bibles.

FIG. 1.01: Th e Bible Gateway Website allows you to compare diff erent versions of the same Bible passages side by side.

Blue Letter Bible www.blueletterbible.org Th e Blue Letter Bible brings together a powerful collection of study tools. Enter your passage on the home page to view that passage in the translation of your choice. Beside each verse, a series of icons gives you access to a variety of Bible study tools.

� Th e K button shows cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

� Th e C button brings up a Strong’s Concordance giving information about the Greek or Hebrew words being translated.

� Th e L button gives a Listing of commentaries on the passage, including some modern Bible teaching and even audio and video resources.

� Th e I button provides links to related Images.


� Th e V button lets you see the verse in every available Version.

� Th e D button lists Bible Dictionary entries for words in the passage.

You can also access these and other resources by clicking the links in the contents bar to the left or using the search fi elds on the right (see Fig. 1.02).

FIG. 1.02: A page from the Blue Letter Bible site showing the Bible-study tools on the left and the search options on the right.

YouVersion www.YouVersion.comYouVersion off ers a pleasant reading experience coupled with a social-networking component. Featuring an attractive layout and simple design, YouVersion’s basic view off ers one Bible trans-lation on the left of the page, with a collection of Bible study tools to the right (see Fig. 1.03). You can also opt for a view that replaces the Bible study tools with a second Bible translation. YouVersion off ers a wide selection of translations.

Th e Bible Study Tools section includes a daily reading plan, a journal option that can only be viewed by you, and a Community Contributions section that acts as a sort of running commentary. You can even add your own contributions (including images and video) and share them with the rest of the community. You can follow members whose contributions you fi nd helpful, or tag the contributions you “like.”


FIG. 1.03: Th e YouVersion Website off ers a social-networking component with its Bible-study aids.

YouVersion also lets you search for keywords, add tags or bookmarks to passages, and copy links to passages that you can add to your own documents or Web pages. YouVersion even off ers an iPhone app.

BIBLE SOFTWARE FOR MAC

When I was in seminary, I used to work nights cleaning offi ce buildings and churches, including the church I happened to attend at the time. I remember dusting the shelves of my senior pastor’s offi ce and lingering over all the books on the shelves. Th ere were numerous Bible translations, commentary sets, dictionaries, lexicons, literary works, Bible atlases, systematic theologies, and more. Th is pastor was an avid reader, and aft er twenty years in ministry he had amassed quite a library. As a young seminarian, I dreamed of having a library like that some day.

Today, I have access to a library at least as large as my pastor’s, and it all resides on the hard drive of my MacBook! Th at’s the beauty of Bible-study soft ware. It’s designed to give you instant access to all the material anyone in ministry might need: multiple translations, original language texts, lexicons, commentaries, and even maps, timelines, and images. Mac users have always enjoyed some of the best Bible soft ware tools available. Here’s a brief rundown of the commercial, free, and shareware programs currently available.


Commercial ApplicationsAt the risk of stating the obvious, commercial Bible soft ware programs are those that are purchased by the user, and the companies that produce them rely on product sales to stay in business. Commercial Bible programs usually cost more than other alternatives, but they also tend to off er more features, better support, and a greater breadth of materials, particularly modern Bibles and study aids that need to be licensed from their respective publishers. Th ere are currently four commercial Bible programs available for the Mac:

AccordanceDeveloper: OakTree Soft ware, Inc.Website: www.accordancebible.comCurrent Version: 8.4Cost: $49 and up

Accordance Bible soft ware is a full-featured commercial Bible program developed exclusively for the Mac. You can use it to do everything from basic Bible study to in-depth scholarly research.

Th e Accordance interface is designed around the idea that the text of the Bible should be the central focus of your study. Th e main Bible view is designed to let you search by words or verses, as well as display multiple Bible texts, commentaries, and user notes in parallel panes (see Fig. 1.04).

FIG. 1.04: Accordance Bible soft ware is designed to keep the user’s focus on the text of the Bible.


Th e Resource palette at the right lets you quickly access com-mentaries, dictionaries, lexicons, and a large library of study aids. Searching any of these resources is built right into the top part of the tabs in which they’re displayed.

You can also instantly search any resource by amplifying to it. You do this by selecting something you’re looking at—a word or phrase in an English translation, a place name on a map, Greek or Hebrew text, or whatever—and then choosing the resource you want to consult from the Resource palette. Th e resource you choose will immediately be opened and searched for the text you had selected.

Th is kind of quick look-up capability results in a workfl ow that keeps you focused on the text of the Bible. You run across a word you want to look up in a dictionary, so you instantly pull up the dictionary, get the information you need, and return to the text. Th en you come across a place name you want to fi nd on a map, so you click a button, work with the map, and return to the text. Th en you fi nd the name of a person you want to place on a Timeline, so you click another button, view the Timeline, and return to the text. All of these resources are kept neatly arranged in tabs, so you can always get back to your passage of study.

Accordance off ers a wide range of Bible study materials in a variety of diff erent packages, but most people begin with one of Accordance’s primary collections. Choose some level of the Library Collection for a wide selection of English Bibles and study aids, some level of the Scholar’s Collection if you need Greek and Hebrew texts and lexicons, or some bundle of the two collections if you need both. Other collections, add-ons, and custom options are also available.

Th e least expensive way to get Accordance is to purchase the application for $49 and download a free collection of starter modules.

iLuminaDeveloper: Tyndale HouseWebsite: www.ilumina.comCurrent Version: 2.6Cost: $89.99

Most Bible programs tend to emphasize tools for studying texts. Th ey may off er some multimedia resources like maps, time-lines, and images, but the bulk of your time is spent searching the Bible, consulting dictionaries, and reading commentaries.


iLumina is the opposite. It off ers some text-based study tools, but its main focus is on multimedia resources.

What kind of multimedia resources? You name it. iLumina has pictures. It has a basic timeline. It has maps. It has videos of Biblical events like the showdown between David and Goliath. It has 3D reconstructions of fi rst-century Jerusalem and Herod’s temple. It even has some instructional videos narrated by an archaeologist.

All of this media-rich content is presented in a custom-built interface that is relatively simple but not particularly Mac-like. A Bible view gives you the option of viewing the text of Tyndale’s own New Living Translation, the King James Bible, or both side by side. A portion of the window is dedicated to showing media related to your passage, and another portion lets you view commentaries or cross-references (see Fig. 1.05).

FIG. 1.05: iLumina’s Bible view lets you read a passage in the New Living Translation and King James Version.

Other views include an Encyclopedia view for looking up dictionary articles and topics, a Time Travel view that shows a Timeline, and the Media Center, where you can explore all of iLumina’s media content directly (see Fig. 1.06).

iLumina is designed to meet the needs of those who are doing basic Bible study and who may not know how to study the Bible. It therefore includes just two Bible translations, a relatively small number of commentaries and reference material, and a huge amount of visual content. If you want to do in-depth study and need a large library of resources, you’ll have to look elsewhere.


Yet even if you do choose another program as your main study tool, iLumina’s rich media content and educational materials, coupled with its low cost, make it a worthwhile supplement to the other programs listed here.

FIG. 1.06: iLumina’s Media Center lets you explore 3D virtual tours of the First Century Jerusalem Temple.

Logos Bible Soft ware Developer: Logos Research Systems, Inc.Website: www.logos.com; www.macbiblesoft ware.comCurrent Version: pre-release alpha of Logos 4Cost: $149.95 and up

Logos Bible soft ware (also known as the Libronix Digital Library System) places an emphasis on working with large libraries of electronic books. Originally developed for Windows and released in 1992, Logos is notable for off ering the largest selection of Biblical and theological books currently available in Bible study soft ware.

In March of 2005, Logos announced that they would soon release a native Mac version of their soft ware. Th is initial porting eff ort, which Logos had outsourced to another company, faced repeated delays and was eventually released in December of 2008 as Libronix DLS for Mac. Th is program lacked many of the features of the Windows version, including user notes, highlighting, eff ective window management, and some advanced original language searches.

Meanwhile, Logos had embarked on a major rewrite of their Windows product (Logos 4), and the existing Mac product was in danger of falling further and further behind. Logos therefore decided to abandon its existing Mac product and begin develop-ing Logos 4 for both Windows and Mac.


In November of 2009, Logos released Logos 4. Th e Windows application currently features a revamped interface but is missing many of the features of Logos 3 for Windows. At the time of this writing, the Mac version of Logos 4 is a pre-release alpha, which is extremely limited, but it does give Mac users a glimpse into where Logos is heading.

For the time being, Mac users wanting to use Logos 4 must use the Windows version in a virtualization program like Parallels or Fusion. Mac users can also request an install disc for the older Libronix DLS for Mac and use that.

Th e Logos interface places a great deal of emphasis on broad searches and automated reports (see Figs. 1.07 and 1.08). Th e screenshots shown in Figures 1.07 and 1.08 are of Libronix DLS for Mac. Th e pre-release alpha of Logos 4 has a diff erent look but the same kinds of reports.

FIG. 1.07: Th e Logos Passage Guide (left ) organizes resources related to your passage of study (top right).

FIG. 1.08: Th e Logos Exegetical Guide lets you delve into each word in your passage.


Logos off ers a series of base packages ranging in price from $149.95 to $4,290.00. Logos encourages customers to purchase the largest package they can aff ord in order to get the best value.

QuickVerseDeveloper: Findex.com, Inc.Website: www.quickverse.comCurrent Version: 3.0Cost: $59.95 and up

QuickVerse has long been a popular Bible program for Windows. A Mac version of the program was released in the summer of 2005. While the Mac program retains the QuickVerse name and some similar functionality, it essentially is a separate program developed for the Mac. Th e Mac program therefore has a more Mac-like interface than its Windows counterpart, yet it lacks many of the features of the Windows program.

QuickVerse opens with a window that has four tabs. Th e Library tab lists all your available books (see Fig. 1.09). Double-clicking a book in the list will open that book in a separate book window. You can also drag a book into an existing book window to view two or more books in the same window.

Th e Find tab is where you perform searches of your QuickVerse library. You can choose to search for text or verse references, to search the full text or just the article titles, to select a portion of the Bible to search, and the type of search performed. You can also choose which books you want to be searched (choices are All Books, Open Books, the Current Book, or a custom selection of Specifi c Books).

Searches are performed relatively quickly, and the results are displayed in a pane at the bottom of the window. Single-clicking a specifi c occurrence causes it to be displayed in context in a Preview drawer to the right (see Fig. 1.10). Double-clicking an occurrence causes it to be displayed in a separate Book window.

FIG. 1.09 (L): Th e Library tab in QuickVerse lists your available books.

FIG. 1.10 (R): Th e QuickVerse Find tab displays the results of a search.


QuickVerse uses a Strong’s Concordance to give some access to the Greek and Hebrew behind the King James, but it does not appear to off er direct access to the Greek and Hebrew texts.

Th e 2005 version of QuickVerse for Mac is incompatible with Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) or above. An upgrade released in 2007 fi xed this problem, but users of the fi rst release must pay for the upgrade to use QuickVerse under Leopard. Th e 2007 version of QuickVerse for Mac also added new features such as user notes and the ability to access Web pages and PDFs from within the program.

In the summer of 2009, Findex released version 3.0 of their QuickVerse for Mac engine. Th is version adds no new features, but reportedly fi xes a number of known problems with searching.

QuickVerse Mac is currently available in three boxed editions ranging in price from $59.95 to $349.95.

Shareware and Freeware Applications Shareware and freeware Bible programs generally are developed by individuals who are not relying on sale of the soft ware for their primary incomes. Th ese developers could be anyone from a self-trained hobbyist learning to program to professional programmers developing Bible soft ware in their off hours.

Th e advantage of shareware programs is that they are generally inexpensive, and freeware programs are, of course, free. Th e primary disadvantage is that these programs typically are not able to off er modern translations and study aids (with some notable exceptions). Th e other major disadvantage is that ongoing development of the soft ware cannot always be the developer’s top priority. Th e following list of shareware and freeware programs may not be exhaustive, but it should cover most of the programs currently available.

Bible Reader FreeDeveloper: Hiddenfi eld Soft wareWebsite: www.hiddenfi eld.com/bible-readerCurrent Version: 0.99Cost: Free

Bible Reader Free is a basic program that lets you view and search a handful of public domain English Bible texts, including a version of the King James with Strong’s numbers (see Fig. 1.11). You can do basic word searches, but you cannot use wildcards or Boolean commands. You can create notes in the form of simple text docu-ments, but the program does not appear to keep track of these.


FIG. 1.11: Bible Reader Free allows users to search and view some public domain English Bibles.

Bible Reader Free’s unique feature is Swaps, which Hiddenfi eld calls “a user-defi nable list of words or phrases that will replace matched words in the text.” In other words, you can specify that every occurrence of “thee” in a Bible text will be replaced with “you.” When you view that text, you’ll see “you” where “thee” would normally appear.

Bible DesktopDeveloper: Th e Sword ProjectWebsite: www.crosswire.org/bibledesktopCurrent Version: 1.6Cost: Free

Bible Desktop is an open-source program written in the Java programming language to run on various platforms, including Mac OS X. It reads modules created by the Sword Project, which you can download for free from www.crosswire.org. Most of these are older, public-domain works, but a few modern Bibles are available, including the English Standard Version. Th e Sword Project also off ers a large number of foreign-language resources.

Surprisingly powerful, Bible Desktop lets you view multiple Bibles in parallel (see Fig. 1.12). It can even show the diff erences between them. A version of the King James Bible with Strong’s numbers enables you to see the Greek and Hebrew words behind the English. Bible Desktop also off ers some powerful search options, which you can enter using a somewhat cryptic search syntax or by selecting options in an Advanced Search dialog.


FIG. 1.12: Bible Desktop is a surprisingly powerful freeware program.

iBibleDeveloper: Leif WrightWebsite: www.leifwright.com/page5/page5.htmlCurrent Version: 2.7Cost: Free

iBible is a very basic Bible program that has not been updated in quite some time. It off ers the King James Version and World English Bible translations, a Strong’s number view, and a simple word-search capability.

MacSwordDeveloper: Th e Sword ProjectWebsite: www.macsword.com Current Version: 2.0Cost: Free

MacSword, like Bible Desktop, is based on the open-source Sword Project and is capable of reading Sword modules. Although not currently as full-featured as Bible Desktop, MacSword features a more attractive Mac-like interface.

MacSword 1.0 was released in March of 2004. Perhaps its greatest strengths were its simple interface and its attractive text formatting. It received incremental updates over the years, and version 1.4.4 is still supported and available for download.


In October of 2009, MacSword 2.0 was released. Th is new version looks less like an upgrade than it does like a completely dif-ferent program. Th e text-formatting fl exibility has been lost, and there are some not so Mac-like aspects like the new “Mod Options” menu. On the other hand, MacSword 2.0 features a much more inte-grated and fl exible Workspace interface. Within the Workspace, you can open and view multiple resources in diff erent tabs. You can also view multiple Bible texts and commentaries in parallel panes within the same tab (see Fig. 1.13). MacSword also lets you access Strong’s number information, perform reasonably powerful searches, and create your own notes in the form of personal modules.

FIG. 1.13: MacSword lets you view multiple Bible texts and commentaries in parallel.

Online BibleDeveloper: Ken Hamel (deceased) and successorsWebsite: www.online-bible.comCurrent Version: 4.1Cost: Free to Download, $39.95 or $79.95 on CD-ROM

Online Bible is the trusted old guard of Mac Bible shareware. A Macintosh search engine designed to work with the large number of modules created by the makers of Online Bible for DOS (and eventually Windows), Online Bible for Mac soon established itself as one of the most full-featured Bible programs available for the Mac. Th e basic program along with a number of public domain works could be downloaded from the Internet for free. If you wanted a larger library of materials, you could purchase a CD-ROM at $39.95 or $79.95. Th e more expensive of these included a handful of modern translations.


Unfortunately, Online Bible’s transition to Mac OS X has been extremely slow. No one expects a shareware developer to be the fi rst to adopt new technology, but it was four years before an OS X-native version of Online Bible was made available, and even that was a beta release. By that time, many Online Bible users had moved on to other programs.

Th is slowness was apparently due in part to the developer’s ongoing battle with cancer. Ken Hamel passed away in 2009, but before his death, he reportedly handed off development of Online Bible to others.

In spite of all this, Online Bible for Mac remains one of the more full-featured shareware Bible programs available. You can access a wide range of materials, easily create your own notes, and take advantage of reasonably powerful search capabilities (see Fig. 1.14).

FIG. 1.14: Some of the features in Online Bible for Mac include powerful search functions and the ability to create your own notes.

WEB-BASED TOOLS OR BIBLE SOFTWARE?

As you can see from this survey of Web-based Bible-study tools and Bible soft ware programs, Mac users currently have a lot to choose from. So which should you choose?

For those with a limited budget, Web-based tools such as those listed above off er free access to a wide range of transla-tions and some pretty powerful study tools. With such quality resources available for free, why would anyone pay for Bible soft ware?

One obvious downside of Web-based tools is that you have to be connected to the Internet to use them. If you have a laptop


and you rely heavily on Web-based tools, doing your Bible study at the local park or while you’re sitting in a doctor’s waiting room may not be an option. If inclement weather interferes with your satellite connection or a hurricane knocks out your cable con-nection (a real possibility here in Florida!), you’ll be forced to do without those resources.

Another downside to Web-based tools is their lack of speed. First, we all know that the quality of our experience using the Internet depends heavily on the speed of our Internet connec-tion. Yet, even if you have a blazing fast connection, a Web-based interface can be inherently slow and cumbersome. For example, a Website might off er access to the latest Bible translation, but you may fi nd that you can view it only one chapter at a time. Turning to multiple passages will therefore involve a process of navigat-ing back and forth from some table of contents or verse lookup interface. Websites are designed to break information up into digestible chunks and give you a means of navigating to the bits you want. Th e speed and convenience of your study will depend on how much you have to jump from page to page to page.

Finally, Web-based Bible study does not have the advantage of a consistent interface. You may access Bibles from one Website that is very slick and well designed, then consult a commentary from another Website that is more cumbersome to work with. Since no one Website will have it all, any in-depth study you do will require visiting multiple Websites and dealing with multiple interfaces.

As sophisticated as Web-based tools have become in recent years, these drawbacks are enough to lead many people to look for a more streamlined user experience. In most cases, Bible soft -ware off ers that. Th en, of course, some Bible programs also off er powerful features and access to large libraries of books not cur-rently available online. If your needs go beyond basic Bible study or you want access to a wider range of study material, a good Bible program is worth the investment.

CHOOSING BIBLE-STUDY SOFTWARE

If you decide to invest in Bible-study soft ware, here are a few tips for choosing a program you’ll be happy with.


Consider Your NeedsIf you want to be able to look up the occasional Greek or Hebrew word behind an English translation, most Bible programs off er that capability. But if you need to be able to read, search, parse, and analyze the actual Greek and Hebrew texts, the only programs that will meet that need are Accordance and Logos. Likewise, if you want a simple, media-rich Bible-study experience to help your children better understand the Bible, iLumina is clearly the right fi t.

Look Past the Videos and ScreenshotsMost commercial Bible soft ware developers now use video demos or screenshots to wow with you all the cool stuff their soft ware can do. Th at’s fi ne, but make sure you look beyond the sales pitch. Be careful not to get so wowed by features you may not actually use that you forget to ask about the features you really need. Watch the videos, get excited, but be sure to ask if it will do what you need it to do.

Compare Packages CarefullyMost commercial Bible programs off er diff erent packages you can buy at various price points. Each package will contain diff erent translations and study aids, and sorting out what you get in each package can be bewildering. Most developers try to minimize con-fusion by off ering charts detailing what you get in each package.

If you’re trying to decide between two or more programs, comparing the packages can get even more bewildering. Your best bet is to pick a price point and then compare the two pro-grams’ packages at that price point. You might even print off the list of contents for each package and then compare the lists. Cross out the stuff they have in common and then look at what’s diff erent. Of the stuff that’s diff erent, which one has more of the resources you’re looking for?

Also, consider how the contents of each program are listed. One program might list a 10-volume commentary as one item, while another might list each volume separately. Consequently, the advertised number of included resources can be misleading. Make sure you know exactly what you’re getting.

Consider the Developer’s History, Rate of Development, and Level of SupportIs the developer of a program likely to continue its Macintosh development? How oft en do they release improvements


and upgrades to their soft ware? How committed are they to supporting their users? When you buy commercial soft ware, you’ve paid for the right to expect reasonable support and ongoing development.

Read Published ReviewsGood thorough soft ware reviews are hard to fi nd, but they are out there. Most Bible soft ware developers have links to published reviews of their soft ware.

Solicit User FeedbackReviewers are generally provided with complementary review copies of soft ware, but users actually pay money for it. So they can tell you whether the purchase was worthwhile, whether they’ve been disappointed in any way, and so on. Th ey can also help you decide which packages or modules you should purchase.

Many commercial Bible programs have user forums or e-mail lists you can join. Try asking the users on those forums for their opinions and purchasing advice. Tell them what you want to use the soft ware for, what your budget is, what your initial impressions and concerns are, and so on. Most are happy to help.

Another place to ask those kinds of questions is on the Christian Macintosh Users Group’s Mac-Ministry e-mail list. Th e folks there have seen it all and can give you very informed opinions. You can subscribe at www.cmug.org/MacMin.html.

Choosing Bible soft ware is a little like choosing a computer platform. One of the great barriers to switching computer platforms is the amount of time and money you’ve invested in your current platform. Th e same goes for Bible soft ware. Th e time spent learning to use a given program and the money spent on resources for that program will not usually transfer to a new program you later fi nd to be a better option. So take a little time up front to research your options. You’ll be much happier if you get it right the fi rst time

In Chapter 7, I’ll show you how to use these kinds of tools to prepare an actual sermon or lesson. Whatever your ministry, it needs to begin with God’s Word, and your Mac gives you access to some pretty incredible tools for studying it.