I have been preaching from my iPad for well over a year now. I bit the bullet and purchased a 16gb iPad 2 from Best Buy early last year and I'm so glad that I did. I have found the iPad to be a great tool that has helped me incredibly in my preaching.
At first I was like a lot of guys, I thought that the iPad was nothing more than a gloried iPhone with one major difference, a larger screen. For the first couple of weeks that I owned my iPad I didn't use it to preach from because I couldn't quite figure out a way to do it that I felt good about. I knew that I couldn't just upload my Word document through a Word Processing app like Pages because I might accidentally delete a section of my notes or accidentally bring up the keyboard in the middle of my sermon, which would be a total disaster. So I knew that I would have to save the Word document files as a PDF to keep anything like that from happening. Now for what program to use? I didn't like iBooks because it lacked features, i didn't need that fancy turning 3D bookshelf, plus I didn't like the idea that my sermons would be mixed in with other eBooks that I might have uploaded to my iPad. Then I discovered GoodReader!
At first I was like a lot of guys, I thought that the iPad was nothing more than a gloried iPhone with one major difference, a larger screen. For the first couple of weeks that I owned my iPad I didn't use it to preach from because I couldn't quite figure out a way to do it that I felt good about. I knew that I couldn't just upload my Word document through a Word Processing app like Pages because I might accidentally delete a section of my notes or accidentally bring up the keyboard in the middle of my sermon, which would be a total disaster. So I knew that I would have to save the Word document files as a PDF to keep anything like that from happening. Now for what program to use? I didn't like iBooks because it lacked features, i didn't need that fancy turning 3D bookshelf, plus I didn't like the idea that my sermons would be mixed in with other eBooks that I might have uploaded to my iPad. Then I discovered GoodReader!
GOODREADER
GoodReader was the answer that I was looking for. It was the #1 App on the iPad in 2010, it's packed with features such as cropping, highlighting, annotating, etc. it alphabetizes your files, plus it gives you the opportunity to create folders to store your sermons in. It's a great feeling to know that I have all of the messages that I have preached in the last almost year and a half stored right there on my iPad to pull up at a moments notice! The program is clean and easy to use, all you need is a few minutes to really get used to it. For me it was really important that I be able to crop my PDF files because I have terrible vision and really need to be able to zoom in on my text. GoodReader gives you the option to crop the margins out of you PDF file so that you can be as close to the text of your document as you'd like; and the cool thing is that it stays that way! So whenever you go back to a message you have already preached it will still be in the same format you left it. I then turn my iPad sideways (Landscape style) and bam, I have my message right there in front of me as large as I need it ready to deliver. As I am preaching I scroll through each page from top to bottom, then when i'm through with that page I can easily flip to the next by sliding my pointer finger on the screen from right to left as if I was flipping through an actual binder.
GoodReader was the answer that I was looking for. It was the #1 App on the iPad in 2010, it's packed with features such as cropping, highlighting, annotating, etc. it alphabetizes your files, plus it gives you the opportunity to create folders to store your sermons in. It's a great feeling to know that I have all of the messages that I have preached in the last almost year and a half stored right there on my iPad to pull up at a moments notice! The program is clean and easy to use, all you need is a few minutes to really get used to it. For me it was really important that I be able to crop my PDF files because I have terrible vision and really need to be able to zoom in on my text. GoodReader gives you the option to crop the margins out of you PDF file so that you can be as close to the text of your document as you'd like; and the cool thing is that it stays that way! So whenever you go back to a message you have already preached it will still be in the same format you left it. I then turn my iPad sideways (Landscape style) and bam, I have my message right there in front of me as large as I need it ready to deliver. As I am preaching I scroll through each page from top to bottom, then when i'm through with that page I can easily flip to the next by sliding my pointer finger on the screen from right to left as if I was flipping through an actual binder.
HOW I DO IT
So what I do is I type up my sermons on my Mac Book through Microsoft Word, then once I'm finished I make sure that I insert Page Numbers on the top and bottom right hand of my document. This is important because it helps you know how close you are to the end of your message while preaching it from your iPad. For example; my messages are typically about 10 pages long, so if I see that i am on page 5 or 6 I know that I'm half way through my message, then I know whether to speed up or slow down depending on the time. After my document is finished I save it as a PDF to my Dropbox folder. Dropbox, if you haven't discovered it yet, is a life saver! I then pick up my iPad and access my Dropbox. I find my PDF then tap on it, once it comes up on the right I then click "Open In" on the upper right hand corner of the screen, a drop down menu appears, then I tap "GoodReader". GoodReader will then open and automatically save the PDF file within my GoodReader app adding it to my collection of messages. Then I am free to edit my PDF message by cropping (as I stated above), highlighting key words, adding annotations, etc.It's a solid app that has served me without fail for over a year now.
DISABLE AUTO SCREEN LOCK
One really important thing is to make sure that you turn off your Auto Screen Lock feature. I forgot to do this once during a message and my iPad kept locking on me throughout my message which totally broke up the flow of my sermon and caused me to be distracted while preaching, not good! The last thing you want is to be wrestling with your iPad while your on stage in front of your audience, pressing buttons and switching screens, the iPad should be a help not a hindrance! You don't want your audience to even know that your preaching from a tablet, you want them focused on the message God has given you.
DRAWBACKS OF PREACHING FROM A LAPTOP
For a few months before I got my iPad I used to preach from my Mac Book. Although it might have made me appear to be techie or trendy to be the Student Pastor who preaches from a "Mac" I found that there were a few major drawbacks; first of all it caused there to be barrier between me and the audience, namely my laptop screen. I didn't want to preach to my screen I wanted to preach to my students, and I found that my laptop just hindered that connection between me and my audience. Secondly, the whole time I was preaching the white Apple logo on the front of my Mac was lit up for all to see, now this may not seem like a big deal to some but when I'm preaching I want my audience focused on Jesus not Steve Jobs, it's just distracting. Also I found myself answering more questions after my sermons about Apple Computers than I was about Jesus, I'm not here to promote Apple I'm here to promote the Cause of Christ. Finally, it was just too big and clunky to lug around. The iPad thankfully has resolved all of those problems for me.
ONE WORD OF CAUTION
Although I love technology and believe that it is a gift that can be used for great good, we have to understand that none of it is perfect. It's always possible that your iPad can get dropped, broken, stolen, get a virus, or just quit working. Make sure that you back up all of your sermons to a computer or external hard drive so that in case something ever goes wrong you still have copies of your message saved somewhere. I know of guys who type and store all of their messages right on their iPad, if something bad happens to it then they have lost everything. Always backup your work.
Anyway I hope this little article was helpful, give GoodReader a shot I'm sure you'll come to love it as I have! Check out the brief video below of how I upload my messages onto my iPad using GoodReader.
So what I do is I type up my sermons on my Mac Book through Microsoft Word, then once I'm finished I make sure that I insert Page Numbers on the top and bottom right hand of my document. This is important because it helps you know how close you are to the end of your message while preaching it from your iPad. For example; my messages are typically about 10 pages long, so if I see that i am on page 5 or 6 I know that I'm half way through my message, then I know whether to speed up or slow down depending on the time. After my document is finished I save it as a PDF to my Dropbox folder. Dropbox, if you haven't discovered it yet, is a life saver! I then pick up my iPad and access my Dropbox. I find my PDF then tap on it, once it comes up on the right I then click "Open In" on the upper right hand corner of the screen, a drop down menu appears, then I tap "GoodReader". GoodReader will then open and automatically save the PDF file within my GoodReader app adding it to my collection of messages. Then I am free to edit my PDF message by cropping (as I stated above), highlighting key words, adding annotations, etc.It's a solid app that has served me without fail for over a year now.
DISABLE AUTO SCREEN LOCK
One really important thing is to make sure that you turn off your Auto Screen Lock feature. I forgot to do this once during a message and my iPad kept locking on me throughout my message which totally broke up the flow of my sermon and caused me to be distracted while preaching, not good! The last thing you want is to be wrestling with your iPad while your on stage in front of your audience, pressing buttons and switching screens, the iPad should be a help not a hindrance! You don't want your audience to even know that your preaching from a tablet, you want them focused on the message God has given you.
DRAWBACKS OF PREACHING FROM A LAPTOP
For a few months before I got my iPad I used to preach from my Mac Book. Although it might have made me appear to be techie or trendy to be the Student Pastor who preaches from a "Mac" I found that there were a few major drawbacks; first of all it caused there to be barrier between me and the audience, namely my laptop screen. I didn't want to preach to my screen I wanted to preach to my students, and I found that my laptop just hindered that connection between me and my audience. Secondly, the whole time I was preaching the white Apple logo on the front of my Mac was lit up for all to see, now this may not seem like a big deal to some but when I'm preaching I want my audience focused on Jesus not Steve Jobs, it's just distracting. Also I found myself answering more questions after my sermons about Apple Computers than I was about Jesus, I'm not here to promote Apple I'm here to promote the Cause of Christ. Finally, it was just too big and clunky to lug around. The iPad thankfully has resolved all of those problems for me.
ONE WORD OF CAUTION
Although I love technology and believe that it is a gift that can be used for great good, we have to understand that none of it is perfect. It's always possible that your iPad can get dropped, broken, stolen, get a virus, or just quit working. Make sure that you back up all of your sermons to a computer or external hard drive so that in case something ever goes wrong you still have copies of your message saved somewhere. I know of guys who type and store all of their messages right on their iPad, if something bad happens to it then they have lost everything. Always backup your work.
Anyway I hope this little article was helpful, give GoodReader a shot I'm sure you'll come to love it as I have! Check out the brief video below of how I upload my messages onto my iPad using GoodReader.
RSS Feed