Apple TV on Wi-Fi No Longer Reliable for Churches – UPDATE

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Jan 23, 2013 in Featured, Ministry, Technology | 0 comments

UPDATE: See my post at GottaBeMobile to understand how this might be a problem fixed.

For over a year we’ve tried to use the Apple TV over Wi-Fi as a presentation tool at the church where I’m a pastor, but this month we’ve given up because the device just doesn’t give us a reliable option anymore.

We connect the Apple TV to a projector in a our fellowship hall, the site of our Wednesday night Bible study and other meetings. The Apple TV connects via Wi-Fi to our network and we stream video and display presentations from an iPad or iPhone using AirPlay. For those who don’t know, AirPlay wirelessly displays content from an iOS device like the iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone to an Apple TV.

At first this solution worked great. I really like using wireless to connect a laptop or my iPad and iPhone to a projector via the Apple TV. It definitely beats hooking up to the VGA port and our stereo system. Tethering to the projector and sound via wires limits where I can stand. With the iPad and AirPlay over Apple TV I was able to stand closer to the attendees. I put the iPad or iPhone on a lectern, tapped the Home button twice and swiped right to show the AirPlay screen mirroring feature. The setup worked great for about a year and I relied on it weekly.

Unfortunately, with iOS 5 and later the Wi-Fi on the Apple TV no longer connects reliably enough. A bunch of Apple customers took to the Apple support communities to describe similar situations in a 58 page tread with hundreds of users suffering unreliable connections.

When I connect to the Apple TV using AirPlay everything seems to work fine at first. Then after a few minutes there’s usually a drop blanking the screen. This usually happens during higher bandwidth functions like streaming video. It’s also happened when display slides in a presentation using Keynote.

Connecting over Ethernet will prove costly to us at this time. We tried adding a Wi-Fi extender from Netgear between our wireless router and the Apple TV. The extender normally works well. We’ve also tried tweaking settings in our router and even removing security features.

For entertainment purposes at home, the Apple TV version 2 and newer became a must have iPad and iPhone accessory that only costs $99. We still believe that for home entertainment, it’s a great tool. Users can stream video from Apple iTunes, their iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and now Mac. Users can enjoy video from third-party services like Netflix, MLB and more. We love using it for an entertainment device and wish they would expand their offerings.

Entertainment users won’t put up with a lot of dropped connections, but the occasional hiccup for a device like this doesn’t make me want to throw it out yet. However, churches need a solid and reliable solution that always works. The Apple TV doesn’t give us that.

Imagine standing in front of dozens of people. They came to watch a video that I promoted for weeks. As the presenter, I didn’t plan for a backup presentation because the video, would last the entire hour. After about 15 minutes it dropped a connection. After reconnecting and starting again, it dropped after another 20 minutes. Nearly every time we’ve planned to use the Apple TV for videos and presentations it dropped the connection. Until something changes, I will longer rely on the Apple TV at church. I can no longer recommend it until Apple fixes this issue.

If you don’t mind the occasional hiccup at home and have a wired connection, the it works great. If you can connect the Apple TV to the church’s network via Ethernet, then it works great. But don’t rely on it using Wi-Fi at this time.

Don’t Get Fooled! It’s a Business Not a Ministry

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Sep 4, 2012 in Featured, Ministry | 0 comments

Don’t get fooled! It’s a business not a ministry?

What am I talking about? The many companies that choose a primary business model of using the church and Christians as their primary target for profit.

Don’t get me wrong. Doing business with the church or with Christians almost exclusively isn’t a sin. I’m not advocating avoiding such companies. It’s not a reason to never do business with such companies. I work with many such businesses to help me in my ministry as a pastor, a writer and as a disciple of Christ. If Lifeway Christian Resources, the many Bible software companies, and some great online resources that help me present the Gospel in church on Sunday didn’t exist, it would make my life more difficult. I once bought a computer from a “Christian” computer reseller and the business helped me get a great machine at a fair price and supported it well when it failed.

But don’t get fooled! They’re businesses and not ministries.

Why am I writing about this now? Because a company reminded me of this today in a disappointing way.

I contacted a company hoping they would help me out. I considered moving from a Windows PC to a Mac for our church’s presentation computer. A video I created failed to play on the Windows machine while it worked perfectly on my Mac at home. I decided to look into the cost of buying a new Mac and transferring the license of our presentation software from Windows to Mac. Other companies did this for me without even a small administration fee. A couple more just charged a small clerical fee. I swapped out my Adobe Photoshop license from Windows to Mac for nothing so long as I didn’t use the Windows version any longer. That’s one of the most expensive programs I own. A couple of other very expensive Bible software applications let me switch without a fee or charged just a small fee and I can keep using the Windows versions as well.

The presentation software company offered what they called a “crossgrade” for hundreds of dollars. This, they said, let me continue to use both the Windows and Mac versions. Great! I don’t want to use the Windows version. I will only use one copy on the Mac. Too bad. I still had to pay. I reasoned that this didn’t make sense since the two version work almost identically. They look a little different because of the different operating systems, but the basic functions were nearly identical. But the company won’t budge. That’s their right.

I replied to the sales person’s last email saying their policy disappointed me. It felt like they should want to work harder to keep me as a loyal and long time customer. I’ve used and recommended the software for almost a decade. The policy ensured that I will not use that application any longer just as soon as I can afford a suitable replacement. That’s my right.

All of this serves to remind me that the companies that exist to take money out of the church are not ministries. They’re businesses. They may employ Christians. Many run under the control of a Christian. A lot of them work hard to help the church and Christians, but they do so to make money knowing its good business to offer good customer support. Some focus more on the business and less on the support, just like companies run by secular people.

A Higher Standard

If a business calls itself Christian it must operate at a higher standard. A “Christian” mechanic I once had dealings with proved that the term often functions more as a marketing ploy than a real description of their ethics.

Christians who run businesses also must operate at a higher standard because all Christians should operate their lives at a higher standard, whether they own and operate a business, teach school or pick up trash for a living. God expects more of us.

If you own or operate a business, ask yourself this question about how you support the church. Does your business plan center around taking money out of the church or does it focus on adding value to the church seeking payment for this just like a pastor or other staff members get paid. Parasitic companies operate under the first ethic, while other businesses work under the second. I like to work with the second class of company, but they’re hard to spot and the first often look like the second.

If other companies can afford to offer the same service you offer without sucking as much out of the church treasury as your business does, then you’re doing it wrong. If you wake up every day asking, how can I help a pastor, a church secretary, a minster of music or youth, then you’re likely doing it the right way.

Image credit: 401(K) 2012 on Flickr

How to Present Your Message Quickly and Concisely with Message Maps

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Jul 20, 2012 in Featured, Ministry, Preaching, Sermons, Video | 0 comments

Message Maps helps communicators effectively share a single idea in a moment. Use Message Maps to organize your ideas, express them simply and quickly, and effectively offer a convincing message to hearers.

The video below shows communicators how to do this. It’s focused on business communications, but I want to adapt it to Biblical communications.

Thanks to Lifehacker for the post and video.

As the video states, use three steps to help you communicate your truth with Message Maps.

Message Maps Start With a Twitter Friendly Headline

First, boil the message down to a single idea that you can share succinctly enough to post on a service like Twitter that limits the author to 140 characters or less. For preachers this means express the main idea or Big Idea of your message in this same concise statement.

For example, the simple message of the Gospel could be posted on Twitter like this:

Jesus knows you make a lot of mistakes, but he took the consequences for your sin and wants to forgive you.

That’s pretty simple and seems to encompass the whole thing. If I worked harder, I could word it better, but for demo purposes it suffices.

Share the Main Ideas

In the video the speaker shows how to pull the three main ideas from the Headline and state them in a map. You can use something like a mind mapping app or just a piece of paper or whiteboard. Draw a circle with the title in the center. Now draw a line coming from the center to these three other ideas. State them in as simple a fashion as you can. That will help you quickly present the idea to someone.

Using our above idea, we could give the following three lines:

• Jesus knows you sin
• Jesus suffered in your place
• Jesus wants to forgive you and work with you

The man in the video wants us to use three main ideas, but not all ideas include three. You could present two or four. In fact I might prefer to split the third statement above into two:

“Jesus wants to forgive you. Jesus wants to work with you sharing His forgiveness to others.”

Support Your Sub-points

Now that you have the gist of your message, support each of the main ideas. You only do this if your main idea and sub ideas get a hearing. For example, in a witnessing situation you could state the above and ask if its okay to talk with the person more about this. Or you might ask, “Can I tell you how this changed my life?”

In a sermon, you assume they want to hear more. Preaching teachers tell us that each idea must get treatment with the following:

• Explanation – appeal to the mind and answer the question, “What does that mean?”
• Illustration – appeal to the imagination and answer the question, “What does that look like?”
• Argumentation – appeal to the will and answer the question, “Is that true?”
• Application – appeal to the commitment of the person and answer the question, “How do I use that in my life?”

Use the following to do the previous four things:

• Stories: tell your story AKA your testimony of how you were saved
• Facts: share the facts of the Gospel AKA the Roman Road
• Examples: tell about what Jesus did for others you know, if your audience already knows your story

The above could serve as a good presentation. It’s not really a sermon since it’s not based on a text of scripture. It’s a presentation. Use it for a witnessing situation with a friend or as a short message to a civic group.

Other Uses in Ministry

I could see this being useful when you’re presenting ideas to your church board for a potential new ministry or a change in something the church already does. You might use it to communicate your church’s vision to the congregation. Share facts about how your vision will help your church minister. Give stories about ways people have served or how Jesus changed people’s lives.

What do you think? How could you use this ministry to effectively communicate the Gospel? How could an expository preacher use it to get across the idea of a text?

The Topical Method of Preaching from Joe Miller

Posted by Kevin Purcell on May 16, 2012 in Ministry, Preaching, Sermons | 0 comments

If you’re a preacher, then you’ve likely used the topical method of preaching. My colleague Joe Miller shares his explanation and evaluation of Topical Preaching in a even-handed fair way. I’d likely not offer as positive view of it. I do agree with all that he says in this excellent video.

Check out Joe’s other videos and his excellent website More Than Cake. Also check out his book by the same name.

New iPad for Bible Study

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Mar 19, 2012 in Apps, Bible Software, Digital Bible Study, Ministry, Software, Technology | 0 comments

The new iPad is excellent for Digital Bible Study.

I picked up my new iPad from the FedEx shipping facility last Friday because I wanted to get it as soon as possible instead of waiting for them to deliver it late in the day. Immediately I opened the box and looked at the bright, crisp new screen. My first thought: this will be awesome for reading – the Bible, books, or anything.

Since Friday I’ve been able to use it for a few things and one of my favorite uses of the new iPad with the retina display is Bible study.

In case you don’t know, the retina display on the new iPad has four times as many pixels than the earlier model. The resolution doubled both horizontally and vertically while the screen size remained the same. This means that each dot used to draw the screen is smaller and looking at the screen at normal reading distance they are imperceptible.

If you use your iPad for reading the Bible or Bible study resources, the new retinal display will help you see the text cleanly. It looks almost like you’re looking at paper.

The other benefits of the iPad for Bible study include long battery life, something it always had, and if you get one with 4G you can download content quicker. I don’t live near 4G, but if you do, this will make Bible apps that need an Internet connection much more useful. One of my favorite Bible apps is Logos. It lets you download books to your device so you can read them while offline. You cannot use the more advanced search functions without the Internet. Now, with a faster 4G radio you don’t have to wait as long to read your Bible or books.

If you already have an iPad and you’re pleased, don’t waste the money to upgrade. If you don’t have one, this one is worth the cost and then some. If you’re using another tablet, the iPad will be a big improvement. I don’t care which other tablet you’re using. None of them are as good as the iPad.

What the Grammys Taught Me About Church

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Feb 13, 2012 in Editorial, Featured, Ministry | 1 comment

I didn’t watch the Grammys last night. My wife enjoyed a wonder episode of Downton Abbey, our new favorite TV show. If you know about both that will explain a lot about what I learned.

I learned that we’re so far out of touch that it might be over.

When I say “we” I mean the church. And that means all of us, not just the old-fashioned church.

I didn’t watch the Grammys even though most of the known world did. I can’t bear to. I joke with my wife that it’s because I don’t enjoy seeing rich people get awards, but in reality it’s because I’m a musical snob. I like what I like and don’t want to listen to the rest unless their’s a good motivation to listen outside my favorite genres of music – in other words, in a worship service or because I’m trying to learn something.

All the glitz and showiness of pop music detracts from any talent they really display. I don’t know who Nicki Minaj is, but from reading Twitter, it sounds like she’s this generation’s Madonna trying to outdo Lady Gaga, whom I also can’t bear to watch despite what seems like some amazing musical talent.

I’m not a Beatles fan but I did catch Paul McCartney at the end when we switched to the local CBS channel looking for news. Despite that his voice is about shot, that was the kind of performance that seems credible. It was about the music with just enough showmanship to keep awake those who don’t care about the music.

I also realized that if the church has to do what they did at the Grammys to get a crowd it’s over.

We can’t do that. Some mega churches might have a shot, but not every week. Most of us don’t have the time, budget or skill to pull off a tenth of that kind of show. We’re doomed if we have to do that to interest people in the Gospel.

The third thing I realized after thing about this today: We’re not doomed if we focus on what we’re supposed to do.

We just need to realize what we can and should do. We can help people deal with things like the loss of a loved one better than they can. I’m also not a big Whitney fan, but I know many loved her and some really felt the sadness of her death. We can help in times like these better than the people who put on big rock and roll shows.

The church has to learn that it’s all about our community, not our weekly show called worship.

The transformation we need is to make church about relationships and community again, not about music and performance. That’s the casualty of the worship wars. We made it all about the style of music and not about the style of community and we’ve lost out. We have to return to our roots where the church met together from house to house and remember that Jesus scolded the crowds for showing up for spectacle instead of the Word!

Making this transition won’t be easy. It will be easier than figuring out what to do with all of our property when our congregations die because they can’t out perform Hollywood. It will be easier than looking for a new community to fill the needs of companionship, love and acceptance and finding a place where everybody knows your name. Mediocre 80s sitcoms aside, bars and civic organizations can’t do what we can do if we get serious about this. They may have more people than we do. The rockers have more glitz and showmanship than we do. The movie house has better acting and performers than we do. But the church has the Triune God who didn’t just invent community but IS community. When we make church about that, we win!