Preaching off the iPad
I had to exercise some serious self-control when I came out of my office on Saturday, the day before Easter, and found that my iPad had been delivered. My message was no where near finished and I knew that if I opened the box it would probably stay that way. So, for the rest of the day it sat next to my espresso machine, casting longing eyes at me whenever I made a coffee. It wasn’t easy, but I did not give in to the siren call of technology until I had wrestled my message to the ground and then I was able to enjoy opening it up.
In all seriousness, the iPad is a great tool, and having preached from it this weekend it fully delivered everything that was lacking from the Kindle DX in the pulpit. (see my previous post on that here) And I love that first thing I ever did with it was preach on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! I believe that technology exists for the glory of God and we should harness it to make Jesus famous, however we can.
It did take some time to figure out what would be the best way to get message notes onto the device. The best solution would be to utilize the iBooks app that is on the device which allows for a kindle-like experience and has turning digital pages built in. My creative team and I spent several hours a few weeks ago trying to figure out how to make messages into epub’s that iBooks can receive via iTunes. We were able to get my notes into that format but they lacked the color formatting that sets the iPad apart from Kindle so that wasn’t going to work.
The most straight forward solution is just to use the PDF reading capability that is built into the mail client on the iPad. I don’t love that route though because you have to constantly scroll down as you speak (like you are on the web) and it does not allow for page by page turning with one click or swipe. After some research I ended up purchasing a 99 cent app from iTunes called Good Reader that can read PDF’s and will let you swipe your way through your message notes one page at a time where you can finish a page and with one click move on to the next one. That is what I used in the pulpit on Sunday and it worked great.
A few tips:
Turn the Screen Auto-Lock (under Settings-General-Auto-Lock) to 10 minutes. During first service my iPad turned off when I spent more than 5 minutes on a page.
Turn the Wifi/Bluetooth off to save battery.
Under Sounds turn off the sounds for new emails, calendars, lock sounds etc; so that it doesn’t make itself known during your message.
If you are going with good reader like I did make your pdf the exact size of the iPad’s screen so you don’t have to move around left to right and I recommend you disable the “Double-tap for zooming” feature that is under the viewing PDF files settings so that it doesn’t blow up if your palm accidentally hits it.
Not only is the iPad one of the coolest pieces of tech I have ever owned but it is also the ultimate preaching machine. I highly recommend it.
comments
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Mark Uhde Says:Apr 6th, 2010
Nice post. I’ve considered buying one, but Apple treated me sooo badly with my lemon of a Macbook Pro that I’m actually looking for alternatives to all the Apple gear I do currently use… With ProPresenter (a program we rely on at my church that’s absolutely AMAZING) coming out for Windows this summer, a big piece of the Apple pie has been replicated in the Windows world…
Regardless, very nice review… looks like a great product! How is the Wi-Fi reception, I have heard it’s pretty weak due to poor antenna design?
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Stuart Says:Apr 6th, 2010
Sounds great, also seen the new Logos iPad app!… all I need now is some money for an iPad
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Dave Pierce Says:Apr 7th, 2010
Thanks for the tips! Waiting for the upgrades with a camera! So we can chat from our fave coffee holes! Just bought a 13″ MacBookPro, so I don’t see the need yet!
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levilusko Says:Apr 7th, 2010
Mark, no wifi problems so far but then I pretty much have just used it to speak and check email.
We love pro presenter too!
Blessings,
Levi
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Matt Says:Apr 7th, 2010
Can I site your post as “Exibit A” in my case to my wife why I need one.
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Steve Meyer Says:Apr 8th, 2010
I just searched ‘preaching off an ipad’ and your page was the first hit…and it was exactly what I was looking for. All the info I needed. I’m excited to get one and start using it, and I think my wife is more excited about me getting one than I am (that doesn’t happen too often).
Thanks for the info, brother.
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Danny Says:Apr 10th, 2010
You might be interested in this tool for creating ebooks in the epub format. This is the tool I see recommended most often. I haven’t tried it yet, but just in case you get to it before I do…
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levilusko Says:Apr 11th, 2010
Thanks for the rec,
I have used Calibre and Stanza but the PDF to epub process strips away some of the rich formatting (colors/shaded boxes etc;) that I rely on in my notes.
Thx again
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iPreach « Kevin Miller Says:
Apr 11th, 2010[...] from it was flawless. I took my friend, Levi’s advice and made sure the sounds were turned off and the screen lock was set to 15 minutes [...]
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Aaron Weinzierl Says:Apr 23rd, 2010
I was so excited to be the first to preach from my iPad – then I googled it and found this article! ha oh well, I’m glad others are enjoying it as well. thanks for the tips and your website is great!
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Cla Holmes Says:Apr 26th, 2010
Can anyone supply a copy of a sermon on the iPad? I have my iPad on order and to arrive on 5-7-10 and I really want to try to use it for preaching. Thanks
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thanks for the tips man. I’m stoked to get one and to use it for my messages as well. Awesome to see how we can use this technology for the furtherance of the kingdom.