Founder & Editor-in-Chief Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com Managing Editor Kevin Cross - kevin@ccmag.com
Applying Tomorrow’s Technology to Today’s Ministry Volume 26
July 2014
No. 7
3 cover story My prediction has come true!
O h my!!
6
Small Groups
Corporate Home Office
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Copy Editors Gina Hewitt Magen Cross
By Steve Hewitt
Ministry Leadership
Contributing Editors Yvon Prehn Nick Nicholaou Kevin A. Purcell Russ McGuire Michael L White
Protected with Purpose
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Experience 100% Security
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© Copyright 2014 by Christian Computing®, Inc.
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Lose Weight? Great! Lose Bad Habits? Yes! Lose Data? Don’t Let It Happen! By Craig Chadwell
of Christian Computing, Inc. Written materials submitted to Christian Computing® Magazine become the property of Christian Computing®,
Higher Power With Kevin
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By Kevin A. Purcell
Olive Tree Bible for iPhone and iPad Updated
By Russ McGuire
By Michael White
Why Ministry Leaders Aren’t Always Good Communicators and What to Do About It Yvon Prehn - yvon@effectivechurchcom.com
Protecting Your Data - Is It Really Worth the Hassle? Nick Nicholaou - nick@mbsinc.com
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Dropcam
Doing the Work of an Evangelist
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July 2014
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cover story
My prediction has come true!
Oh my!!
By Steve Hewitt
W
hen I speak at conferences or churches, I am normally asked to speak on “What’s Hot”. However, over the years, I also throw in things that I think are coming in the future. It is too late to help anyone if you tell them that desktops are dying and tablets are going to become the way we compute if everyone in the room already has a tablet! I know I found myself telling people that tablets were going to be the wave of the future long before a single person in the room had one!
One of my most outlandish predictions deals with what I call VIC (Visual Interface Computing). I believe I am the only one using this term, but it best describes what I believe is coming down the road for all of us. I believe Microsoft is done, and Apple is definitely struggling. Google is the company I am watching, from their Android OS, to their driverless car. They are also introducing what I believe is the first generation of VIC, Google Glass. Google Glass is cool, and fun to play with, but for now, it is only Christian Computing® Magazine
for those of us that are on the bleeding edge of gadgetry. (No, I don’t have Google Glass yet!) However, before Google Glass and other VIC devices will replace our smart phones and tablets, it has to accomplish two things. First, it has to become completely invisible as a wearable computer. Google Glasses either need to look just like normal glasses, or they will need to continue their evolution (yep, already started) of going to contacts. Google Glass will become the way we compute when it isn’t July 2014
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obviously a nerdy contraption strapped to our heads. The second phase for Google Glass to become a success might seem really out there, but it is something I have predicted WILL happen. Second, Google Glass will become a standard when it is no longer dependent on verbal commands. How would that be possible? Simple! Last year I predicted that within 10 years, we will be using Google Glass or another type of VIC, that will be able to do what we want it to do simply through thought commands. You will use your thoughts to “take a picture”, look up something on Google, pick a song to listen to, check Facebook (if it is still there by then), etc. When I state this in my presentations, I see people roll their eyes. I know some believe I might be crazy or have fallen into science fiction and have left the practical future of technology. However, I have been watching the growth of BCI (Brain Computer Interfaces) and it seemed to me that the future would see the marriage of VIC with BCI and open a whole new way of computing that will drastically change everything. How far off was/is my prediction? This week I discovered a company that is releasing the first app that uses an attachment to Google Glass that will enable a user to tell Google Glass when to take a picture and, if the user likes the picture, to post it on Twitter or Facebook…ALL WITHOUT SAYING A SINGLE WORD by only using their thoughts! Check out the link, but be sure to come back and read my conclusions! http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/09/ forget-ok-glass-mindrdr-is-a-new-google-glass-appthat-you-control-with-your-thoughts/ Yes, it is primitive. Yes it is nerdy. And, yes it isn’t practical for the average user. It is years behind my two part prediction. But, I have been watching technology for over 30 years, making predictions, and I knew Windows 1 and Windows 2 weren’t
Christian Computing® Magazine
ready for the masses, but predicted Windows would be ready one day, and when Windows 3.1 came out, I pushed it as the future of how most of us would compute (which we did). I remember running a cover story many years back encouraging our readers to embrace CD-ROM’s. Believe me, there were many people that thought the technology would never take off because they were slow and subject error with the smallest bump. If you remember, while CDROM players were available for your home, they weren’t readily accepted for your automobile because a pothole could cause them to skip. And they were incredibly slow! I remember being on a panel at on emerging technologies at a Christian Booksellers Convention. I predicted CD-ROMs would make it and everyone else on the panel disagreed! When it was pointed out that they were so slow, my simple response was that I believed they would get faster. If you remember, as they continued to get better, they were marketed as 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x speed. Eventually, the speed wasn’t important since access to data with a CD-ROM and the following DVD was practically instantaneous. I am not telling you the stories about Windows or CD-ROMs to simply blow my own horn, I want to impress upon you that most technologies that become a standard part of our daily lives, start out in a primitive form and there are always those that scoff and disbelieve it will ever take off. I won’t name anyone in particular here, but I remember having to convince one of our technology writers that Windows was going to make it. And I had to convince one of our present, long time writers, that email was going to be important and that they should use it. If Google Glass is the future, one might ask why other companies aren’t working to develop their own VIC glasses? The answer is simply; They are! If you check out this article from Digital Trends, you will see that 13 other companies are either working on their own Google Glass competitor, or have filed patents to do something in the near future. http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-glassalternatives/#!bjTa6O Can you imagine what our world will be like when people start wearing Google Glass in a fashion that is not obvious (they look like normal glasses or are worn as contacts) and people can access the July 2014
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Internet and all other content simply by using their thoughts. How will this change our schools? How will it change our worship services? It will change the way we do everything. In South Kansas City, we already have police cars equipped with license-plate scanners. As they drive up and down streets, or through the parking lots of Walmart or our grocery stores, every license plate is being scanned and compared with a database of stolen cars or car owners with outstanding warrants. That of course is the purpose. However, at the same time, the data is tracking the location of your car and can come up with a profile of where you go on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Now imagine not just police, but everyone having a device that “takes in” all of the visual data it sees. Facial recognition software is very accurate. Not only will you be informed when your Google Glasses spots someone you have interacted with in the past from across the room, it will remind you when you spoke last, what you talked about, etc. However, at the same time, everything and everybody will be captured and catalogued. Privacy will cease to exist. People will be able to access information about you from across the room without your knowledge, take your picture and send a text, all without moving a muscle. It might be impossible to have an active criminal arrest warrant and go outside your home to catch a simple hamburger. Privacy will become very precious and this sort of power in the wrong hands could be very dangerous and damaging. But if Google Glass evolves and becomes like computers and smart phones, everyone WILL have them and have this ability within 10 years! Something to think about…
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July 2014
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ministry leadership
Small Groups By: Michael L. Jordan
S
mall groups. These two words have become a major movement into today’s church. So much in that small groups have slowly infiltrated the inner workings of countless ministries and become the central focus of church life. And to the credit of today’s church, almost instinctively they’ve altered their entire ministry structure to promote the use of small groups for the entire congregation. Regardless of whether your church refers to them as small groups, community groups, home groups or some other name, these theories are consistent among ministries. Smaller groups serve to develop close relationships, encourage more responsibility, and support spiritual growth, which are all good things in today’s modern world. “People who are part of small groups experience connections with others that can be difficult to foster in a large congregation. For many, small groups act as a second family of which they’d be lost – spiritually and otherwise – without them in their lives. This is truly where the real ministry happens,” according to the authors of the ministry Christian Computing® Magazine
guide Creating Big Success With Small Groups. However, for all the good that can come through the fellowship of small groups in your ministry, some view them as more work than they’re worth. “Despite all the benefits, many groups lack direction from group leaders, a clear understanding about goals and objectives for participants and communication between staff members and other group leaders. Without organized systems and processes in place for managing small groups, staff members can’t know what groups are available, when they meet, what topics are being studied, how many people are in the group, when new members July 2014
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join the group or even which groups are still meeting,” continued the authors of the ministry guide Creating Big Success With Small Groups. This in turn, leads to the dissolving of groups or worse, leaves a bad taste in the mouths of church members about the possibility of joining other small groups. This begs the question of how to mitigate these issues within small groups. The simple answer to this frustration is normally found in web-based solutions that focus on small group management, such as Church Management Software, otherwise known as ChMS. “Online ChMS tools can be implemented by any church, from the newest ministries to the largest congregations with hundreds of small groups. There are great tools and strategies available to help create, structure, and facilitate small groups which can open new doors for outreach and assimilation,” said the authors of the ministry guide Creating Big Success With Small Groups. It’s no secret that managing and implementing small groups can be a daunting task for many churches. However, there are ways that churches can make small groups work for the betterment of everyone. With the right ChMS, churches can: • Effectively create groups that incorporate the interests of the congregation members • Select the proper leadership • Easily communicate important group information to potential members • Invite individuals to take part in group meetings Also, small groups are a great platform for keeping others in the congregation, as well as the community, involved by: • Informing members of the community of future events and volunteer opportunities associated with particular small groups • Increasing outreach opportunities through posts on social networking sites and certain online church software The authors of Creating Big Success With Small Groups delve into great detail on the proper measures to ensure your small group system can be as successful as possible. The guide includes a step by step process which details: Christian Computing® Magazine
• • • •
Designing effective leadership roles Creating groups that further ministry Communicating with specific groups Managing groups for continued success
One of the most important aspects of small groups is they need to be effective in the church. And according to the authors, the key jumping off point for successful small groups is the leader. “There could be 100 small groups, but if they aren’t moving towards a specific mission, then they’re nothing more than a support group. Not only is the effectiveness of the groups a priority, but the person leading them as well. Whether the small group ministry director is the pastor, a staff member or an unpaid volunteer, the end result is the same. The person in charge of small groups is tasked with the responsibility to care for the groups in the congregation,” according to the authors of Big Success With Small Groups. “This person sets the vision and direction of the entire small groups ministry. The small groups director is responsible for developing the mission strategy, choosing and training various types of July 2014
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leaders and communicating that vision to other members of the church staff and the congregation as a whole. Your ministry should begin by creating a small team of people who not only have strong leadership characteristics in your church, but also have the available time to devote to leading.” All in all, there are several key factors that make making your small groups successful for both participants and the church as a whole. By implementing and executing the proper tools and ideas, you can increase the number of people taking part in small groups and redefine how the church helps change lives. If you have been waiting for the perfect time to redefine your ministry, the time is now. Take control of your church’s small group destiny today. Let Us Help You Get Better Connected ACS Technologies can help you properly implement and execute small groups within your ministry. Whether you’re already doing small groups or looking to get started, the keys to success are within reach. When you do get these keys, ultimately your small groups will flourish and the Gospel is spread more effectively. To learn more about small groups and put best practices to use, including stories of how other churches have succeeded, download Creating Big Success With Small Groups today. You can also learn more by visiting www.acstechnologies.com.
Christian Computing® Magazine
July 2014
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protected with purpose
Experience 100% Security
By: Steven Sundermeier
U
p until this month, all my columns have been geared toward online security, and informing readers on how to better equip and protect themselves against today’s top malware and cybercriminal behaviors. And while computer security awareness and education is ever-important in today’s battle against evil doers, I wanted to share a strange phenomenon that I experienced earlier this month, and quite possibly something I haven’t felt in (maybe) 15 years.
The month of July brings a lot a fun for my family, and hopefully yours too. Warm weather means splash parks, picnics and sports camps. In the food arena, we get to enjoy juice-down-your-elbows watermelon and salty-sweet corn on the cob. Towards the end of the month we begin harvesting our homegrown garden vegetables and tomatoes. Another aspect of July that we typically look forward to is the annual summer vacation. For this year’s adventure (By the way: I am a bit of a Clark Griswold when it comes to family trips), we decided to team up with my wife’s side of the family and head north into Christian Computing® Magazine
Canada to a fishing camp in northern Ontario. This would mark my first time there, but our children carry on the 5th generation on my wife’s side to vacation and fish at this lake. It is important to note that my passion for fishing equals my passion for computers, software, and keeping them safe. I was very much looking forward to the vacation. As we embarked on the car trip and minutes slowly turned into hundreds of miles (please remember that we have three kids in the backseat: “Are we THERE yet? Are we there, YET?”), we eventually crossed the United States border into Canada. After July 2014
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passing through customs (Why is that so stressful?) and entering Canada, it wasn’t long before we noticed that our cell phone service (including calling, texting, data usage, etc.) was no longer valid. As the owner of Thirtyseven4, anytime I leave the office (within the States) it is very hard for me to stay disconnected from the office long---and I don’t: I check in often with the office and my email. So losing cell phone service completely was a bit unsettling. But I have to give credit to my amazing team within the Thirtyseven4 office, whom I put full trust in while I am out. (Thanks, guys!) Hundreds more snaking miles northeast later, we arrived at our fishing camp. While checking into the camp’s office (aka. the owner’s home), I asked the owner where I might be able to get the best Wi-Fi signal on their premises. (Keep in mind I had no intention of spending the entire vacation online (Family first!) but I did intend to check into the office regularly, especially now since I had no cell phone service.) So after I asked the Wi-Fi question, initially all I received back was a dumbfounded stare. After a few awkward moments of silence she followed up with: “Do you not understand how much campsite wide Wi-Fi would cost me?” I did find out from another family that I would be able to get Wi-Fi at the “local” Tim Horton’s Doughnuts…40 miles away. Please note: I am in no-way a workaholic. But I DO run my own business, fighting for every sale against the big dogs in my market. I have to admit, it took me the better part of the day to wrap my mind around not having instant access to the internet or any way to communicate with my Thirtyseven4 Team and customers, hundreds of miles away. But a note to self (and reader): God is always working. Just as it took me a little time to adjust, I also really thought it would take my oldest son some time to settle-in to “no technology” as well. I have one son who loves to be active, outside and playing (we knew he would love the camp) and I have another one that likes computers, video games and all things T.V. Don’t get me wrong, he’s no couch potato, as he loves scoring goals and 7:00 AM bike rides through our neighborhood while Daddy jogs beside him. But Wow, he loves his “media” as well. However, we were a family on a mission for quality-time by the lake, and so his video game console was left at home, and in addition to not being able to escape to watch his favorite Super Mario videos on YouTube or play his educational games online (given the Wi-Fi situation), there were also no working TV’s in any of the Christian Computing® Magazine
July 2014
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cabins. (I know that some of you are hyperventilating at the thought of this. Breathe. Breathe.) Please keep in mind that one of the “best parts” of past family vacations for this son has been the access to Hub or Sprout or some other fancy/premium kid’s cable channel that we don’t subscribe to at our house. As the days went on without our digital luxuries, I really witnessed something beautiful…all three of my kids outside joyfully playing with each other and with all the other campsite kids from dawn to dusk. There was no mention of T.V., video games and computers, instead the concerns of the week turned to when the next kickball game was happening and who was on whose team, when everyone was heading down to the lake to swim and who was creating the next obstacle course challenge. As I sat in an adirondack down by the lake with my wife, watching the pastel sunset and the camp’s Canadian and American flags flap fiercely in the breeze, I realized that I personally was experiencing something that I haven’t felt in (maybe) 15 years…100% digital security. As a father, I had no concerns that my kids were getting purposely re-directed to malicious or obscene pages by accidentally clicking on the wrong thing. I wasn’t worried that apps were being accidentally purchased on my tablet because of child-focused marketing efforts. There was also no anxiety about someone snooping on me, logging my keystrokes or collecting my login credentials as I checked our bank statement online due to some undisclosed, yet-to-be-discovered zero day exploit, etc. Nor did I have to worry about any digital security breach while swiping a credit card at a local retailer (again, nearest town was 40 miles away). I didn’t have to invest in multiple cutting edge technologies to experience this freedom for myself and my family, but instead all we had to do was to get away and unplug. I will repeat that, and I also encourage you to try it: Get away and unplug! Christian Computing® Magazine
This technical situation was not by choice but I praise the Lord for allowing us to experience the 100% freedom that it provided. While security tips and suggestions for keeping safe while online are always a very good thing and should be followed (because we can’t remain unplugged forever), I do highly recommend unplugging yourself and the family for a day and enjoying the freedom that it has shown us. There is something old-fashioned, healthy and cleansing about “un-plugging.” Try it, eh?
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church windows software
CHURCH WINDOWS SOFTWARE
Lose Weight? Great! Lose Bad Habits? Yes! Lose Data? Don’t Let It Happen! By Craig Chadwell
H
ere at Computer Helper Publishing, the most frustrating calls our Support Techs get from Church Windows users involve hard drive crashes or other computer malfunctions where the PC is no longer working correctly or has been reformatted and the church does not have a current backup. As a Tech, they are powerless to help and, possibly even more frustrating, it’s a preventable issue! Although many computers have software in place that will back up the entire hard drive, we’ve also seen situations where those are fallible and have left churches without data. So, regardless of what software you use, we beg and plead for you to get a data backup routine in place. (Please!)
Christian Computing® Magazine
Jumping back in time a bit, it has been a fascinating progression in the past 20 years to see the types of data backup media that have come and gone. And it has been amazing to see the data storage capacity of the devices increase exponentially. When Church Windows was in its infancy as we had just stopped developJuly 2014
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ment of LCCS, our DOS-based church software program, churches would back up onto a 5-1/4” floppy disk of about 720kB capacity. Along came the smaller but more powerful 3-1/2” floppy disk of 1.44MB capacity. (There are some variations to these because of “double density” and developing technologies, but these numbers work to demonstrate the progression.) As floppy drives faded into technological obsolescence, there were the CD-R and CD-RW variations. Though the new technology was new and shiny (literally), the process of “burning” was sometimes a cumbersome process. With some software, it was necessary to create a backup, place it somewhere on the hard drive, and then transfer it to CD. Zip drives and Shark drives made the process easier and offered 50MB, then 100MB, then 250MB storage. Many different technologies have come and gone in the past few decades. Computer media storage devices definitely have had a number of iterations. But let’s move forward and stick to the important stuff. You can use a USB/thumb drive, an automated backup system, or some sort of cloud storage, but please ensure that you have a consistent routine in place. These days, “capacity” won’t be an issue as it was in our flashback. For backups, a monthly backup is not enough, unless you feel extremely lucky or unless you completely trust computers. (In either case, you really shouldn’t.) We suggest weekly or a few times a week. After all, a backup only takes seconds to make! And though we never want to think about anything happening to the church as a building, things can and,
sadly, do happen. Consequently, make absolutely certain to keep one current backup copy off-site. Make it a routine. Take a copy home every Tuesday and Thursday – whatever works for you. Just please make it consistent and convenient. The Techs at Church Windows (and any other software you use) will thank you not for not having that awkward, embarrassing phone call where we must deliver the bad news: Sorry, your data is gone.
The Church is people!
Christian Computing® Magazine
You’ve been called to minister to the people of your church. Let Church Windows manage the information so you can minister to your people.
CHURCH WINDOWS DESKTOP & WEB contain integrated: .FNCFSTIJQ t 4DIFEVMFS t %POBUJPOT "DDPVOUJOH t "DDPVOUT 3FDFJWBCMF t 1BZSPMM
July 2014
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higher power with kevin
Olive Tree Bible for iPhone and iPad Updated Kevin A. Purcell - kevin@kevinpurcell.org
T
his month Olive Tree updated their popular Bible app for the iPhone and iPad bringing along some under-the-hood improvements that should power future updates and features. For now, the changes focus on things most users won’t notice. However, people who like this app should take note. The update to version 5.9.0 will fuel some nice things to come. What’s New According to the changelog in the iOS app store, version 5.9.0 brings with it “Over two years of hard work” that results in a new text display system. This new system makes the Bible app noticeably faster. It also shrinks file sizes. Users will get a faster app that takes up less of the precious storage space on their iPhone or iPad. The user-interface looks better in a subtle way. Text wraps around images tightly making it display more content on the screen at one time. When a user installs the app and opens it the first time, the app will take the user through the process of downloading their books again to take advantage of the new text display engine. Be sure to do the auto-download to save some time. I’ve been asking for a one-button download all feature for awhile. Christian Computing® Magazine
From their blog, the following list explains what this means for the future of Olive Tree Bible app. • We’ll be able to support more language fonts like Korean, Japanese, Russian, and more • Greek Interlinears • Enables us to do things like dynamic timelines and flashcards (memorization aids) • Enables multi-media like video and audio resources They also claim this will benefit users of Android and the desktop apps. Those of us on Android feel a little left out compared to the iOS Bible app users. Let’s hope these aren’t hollow promises and they actually deliver some goodness to us. July 2014
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A Few Problems Sadly, the app introduces a few glitches too. I don’t doubt that Olive Tree will work the kinks out. They already updated 5.9.0 to 5.9.8 with some unspecified bug fixes. However, users report the app crashing more. One reviewer in the app store reported that the onscreen content keeps redrawing the screen making the app sluggish. Olive Tree warns that some slowdowns will occur as the system downloads updated content. The new update has to update every book because of the new text display engine, so my advice is to download the update, log in if necessary and let it do its thing for as long as it takes. Open it up before going to bed and set the iPad or iPhone down while charging overnight. When you wake up, the update will finish and be ready for morning reading. Learn More at Olive Tree or YouTube Users and potential users can learn more at http://blog.olivetree. com/2014/07/14/5-9-updatecoming-soon-for-ios/. See a YouTube video about the update at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=BkvAWvVgs7M. For users looking to get some new books, they’re running a “Christmas in July” sale with nice discounts. Learn more about those at https://www.olivetree.com/store/ home.php?cat=483&sort=title_ popular&set_page_size=50 where you can get things like Word Biblical Commentary for $299.99. By the way, users of other software can get this deal since I think it’s coming from the publisher and not just Olive Tree. I saw it advertised for Accordance Bible too.
Christian Computing® Magazine
July 2014
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the power and the danger
Dropcam
By Russ McGuire - russ.mcguire@gmail.com
L
ast month Nest, the connected home company acquired by Google for $3.2 billion, announced it was acquiring Dropcam. The reported price of the home monitoring company is $555 million. Apparently, Google sees value in people installing video streaming cameras in their homes. Is there an opportunity for such devices in our churches? Or are there dangers that should give us pause?
What is Dropcam? Dropcam is a startup technology company based in San Francisco. Their website tells the story of how they got started. One of the founders’ fathers was trying to figure out which neighbor’s dog was getting into his yard. The son decided to invent a solution. But investors weren’t interested in another video camera company. So they repositioned as a “cloud video” company, and raised money from top tier venture capitalists. Christian Computing® Magazine
The company sells a WiFi connected video camera that can mount in flexible ways around the house. Since the camera is always connected, you can peek in on your home anytime from anywhere using mobile and web apps. You can even have a two-way voice conversation with anyone near the camera. You can get notifications of motion or sound when there shouldn’t be either, so the camera doubles as a security monitoring system. You can sign up for optional cloud video storage so you July 2014
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can see what happened when you weren’t watching. You can also choose to share your video stream with friends, or make it public for the whole world to see. Dropcam also markets their product for businesses, with all of the same features, for security and sharing with customers. What is Nest? Nest is a startup technology company based in Silicon Valley. Their first product was a WiFi connected thermostat for homes that adapts to your lifestyle. Their second product was a WiFi connected smoke detector. The company describes themselves this way: “Nest reinvents unloved but important home products, like the thermostat and smoke alarm. The company focuses on delighting customers with simple, beautiful and thoughtful hardware, software and services.” In January, Google announced they were acquiring Nest for $3.2 billion. It appears that Google was motivated by its desire to be a major player in the “Internet of Things” (IoT). As everyday items (like thermostats and smoke detectors) become wirelessly connected, the ways in which we interact with them change, and the way in which their value is realized is redefined. Nest has proven that they understand this and can deliver quality products that make it happen. Nest’s CEO and co-founder, Tony Fadell, is best known as the designer of the iPod when he was an Apple employee, and we know the impact that the iPod has had on how we interact with music and the revolutionary impact it has had on the music industry. Google is betting on Nest’s team to have a similar impact on many other product categories. Christian Computing® Magazine
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How could Dropcam help churches and ministries? Dropcam’s topline marketing message for their products is “Super Simple Security.” Most of the applications they talk about on their website are security-related uses. Clearly, with a price starting at $149, Dropcam is an affordable solution for securing critical areas of your facility. For a small church building, a single Dropcam with alerts set for motion and sound could replace an elaborate monitored security system. For larger ministries, having Dropcams in your Chil-
dren’s ministry wing, along with video storage, can provide peace of mind to parents and a strong deterrent to vile sin. Even those that don’t believe or fear Proverbs 15:3 (“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.”) will likely fear human prosecution. Theoretically, Dropcam could even provide live streaming of your church service to “visitors” around the world.
What is dangerous about Dropcam? Dropcam has taken many steps to address obvious concerns with streaming live video from your home or ministry, but these concerns are still worth considering. get your free demo The biggest concern is that the wrong people will watch your video stream. In 2010, a high profile court case featured a school system that allegedly spied on students by secretly Manage your ministry with turning on the webcams in their school-issued laptops. This case helped make us all aware Track donations, Email Statements, of how creepy and scary it was that someone might be watchManage: Small Groups, Classes, Attendance, ing us through the webcams in Visitor follow-up, Outreach and MORE! our computers. But, a criminal doesn’t need to own a laptop (as the school system did) to be able to tap into its webcam, as exploits posted on the web demonKeep children safe with strate. These stories should make us all nervous. A small piece of tape over your webcam lens isn’t Easy check-in, secure check-out, a bad idea if you even slightly Syncs with Servant Keeper, value your privacy. Name badges w/ allergies, notes, alerts, class info. I haven’t come across any Claim tickets for parents/guardians, run background checks reports of unauthorized users tapping into Dropcam video streams. The company gives the owner of the camera the ability to control who can legitimately watch video Plan worship effortlessly with streams and sets the default to private (meaning only the owner can see). The camera can also be Keeps your song library at your fingertips, set to automatically turn itself off Quickly plan and schedule services and teams when the owner is nearby - makEasily track song usage and do reports ing it easy to monitor your prop-
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erty while you’re away while not worrying about received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good generating video streams when you are there. stewards of God’s varied grace.” On their website, Dropcam also says “Dropcam Russ McGuire is an executive for a Fortune uses bank-level security to ensure that your live 100 company and the founder/co-founder of three and stored video are safe, even on open wireless technology start-ups. His latest entrepreneurial networks. Your video is encrypted on the camera venture is CXfriends (https://cxfriends.com), a before it is transmitted to the cloud and streamed social network for Christian families. securely to your devices using SSL encryption.” The second concern is that Dropcam could let its new owner’s owner (Google) use data from your camera for a variety of “big data analytics” purposes, including fine tuning the ads that get presented to you across the Internet. Even without access video streams, Google could determine what hours you are home (or your facility is in use), how much activity there is in the building, and who you authorize … reach out to access your video streams. These same concerns arose … minister to people when Google bought Nest. … create fellowship Dropcam has said that they will adopt Nest’s privacy policy … contribute to upon completion of the deal. In your community a FAQ about their acquisition by Google, Nest CEO Fadell wrote PowerChurch Plus was “Our privacy policy clearly limcreated for just that! its the use of customer information to providing and improving Nest’s products and services. We’ve always taken privacy Membership We provide you with the tools to seriously and this will not increase administrative efficiency change.” However, “providing and streamline accounting tasks, and improving” is pretty broad Accounting freeing you up to perform the work language, and what Google considers an “improvement” may that matters. Contributions not match your definition. It is my hope and prayer that Install on your PC or network, or access online. these articles on the power and Events danger of technology will enChoose which fits your needs. Calendar courage you in your daily walk with Christ. Whether it is the Check In printing press, radio, television, personal computers, the Internet, the Cloud, smartphones, or secuCompletely rity cameras, new technologies We provide software tools, Integrated continue to advance our ability freeing you up to fulfill your mission. to know God and to serve Him, wherever we go. As 1 Peter www.PowerChurch.com • 800.486.1800 4:10 teaches us “As each has
You want the freedom to
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July 2014
digital evangelism
Doing the Work of an Evangelist Michael L White - mlwhite@parsonplace.com
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n the Apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he states, “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5 NKJV). It is intriguing to me that Paul specifically urges Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist” here. Although Paul was primarily an itinerant evangelist – and Timothy had also traveled with him on numerous occasions – Paul had appointed Timothy to the ministry of being a pastor and teacher to the congregation at Ephesus in order to continue their spiritual growth as well as to protect them from false teachers who often came after Paul contradicting what he had taught (see 1 Timothy 1:3-4). Perhaps Paul was concerned that Timothy might become so focused on pastoring and teaching in the church at Ephesus that he would forget to share the Gospel with others outside the congregation. Unfortunately, this is a very real possibility for both pastors and teachers in churches even today. Having served as a pastor myself for nearly three decades, I understand how easy it is to get caught up in the responsibilities of tending a flock Christian Computing® Magazine
and forget about the importance of sharing the Good News with potential believers outside the local church. I often tried to soothe my conscience in this regard by telling myself that I was evangelizing by preaching and teaching in my congregation each week, because there were always some attendees (such as children, teens, visitors, or even some adults who attended regularly just to please their spouses) who hadn’t made a profession of faith in Christ yet, but I knew in my heart that this July 2014
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was still inadequate to what Jesus required of me. Therefore, I would occasionally visit door-to-door in my community inviting folks to attend my local church. However, even this effort was inadequate because I usually failed to ask them pointedly about their relationship with Jesus Christ. Furthermore, I was occasionally disheartened to learn from some of my faithful congregants who also invited folks to our church or from a pastor of a different denomination that some of these people with whom I had visited had lied to me when they told me they were members of another church. The reason one of those other pastors would share his experience with me was because those same folks would lie to him that they attended my church! It soon became a game with me to inquire further from folks like these what the name of their pastor was or who some of the folks were who also attended that church, because I usually knew both the pastor and a few of the members of those local churches from community interactions. Although I would rarely challenge them on it when they stammered to think of the right response, my smile likely conveyed to them what I was thinking: “Gotcha!” Unfortunately, confronting these people with their lies neither shamed nor converted them. Just as my knowing smile communicated, “Gotcha!” to them, their faintly embarrassed look conveyed, “Touché!” to me. I prayed afterwards for God to convict their hearts and draw them into a saving relationship with Him, but I have no idea how many ever eventually entered the Kingdom, if any. I suppose I’ll have to wait until Christ’s return to get the answer to that question. While wrestling with Paul’s Christian Computing® Magazine
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command to Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist”, there are some in the church who argue that this work is either a spiritual gift or a divine calling. Is the work of evangelism a spiritual gift that some Christians have and others do not or is it a work to which God calls some but doesn’t call others? Well, let’s consider these questions for a moment. When we read the two extensive lists of spiritual gifts which the Apostle Paul gave in his letters to the churches in Rome and Corinth (see Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:4-11), it’s clear that there is no mention of a gift of evangelism. However, when Paul mentions the ministry of evangelism in his letter to the Ephesians (the same church where he sent Timothy to be the pastor, incidentally), he describes it as an office (Ephesians 4:11-12). So, does this mean that only those ordained as clergy are tasked with the work of evangelism, teaching, etc.? This always seemed to be the prevailing opinion throughout every congregation I ever served, despite my preaching to the contrary. I wonder if some may have thought I was preaching and teaching on “the priesthood of all believers” as a way of shirking my duty as a clergyman, but others would take the message to heart and begin sharing their faith after hearing me preach and teach on it for a while. Nevertheless, if the work of an evangelist is a particular office for ordained clergy only, why was Paul instructing the Ephesians (not Timothy alone) that God gave the offices of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:11-12)? And what ministry might that be? Could that ministry also include being an evangelist? Moreover, if we truly believe in “the priesthood of all believers” (which we base largely upon 1 Peter 2:9) why do we still make distinctions between clergy and laity? Well, I think we should make these distinctions in order to differentiate between those appointed to these different offices and those being trained for ministry by those in these different offices. Therefore, it is my personal understanding that those described as “laity” are saints in training “for the work of ministry” by other saints in one of these five offices, even though these saints in training may continue to perform another vocation as well, such as a truck driver or electrician or CEO of a major corporation. July 2014
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So, whether we are clergy or laity how can and should we “do the work of an evangelist”? It’s very easy: simply share the Good News about the saving work that Jesus Christ has done in our personal lives and how He wants to do the same in the lives of those with whom we share our individual faith experience. It’s not rocket science. While it does require courage (especially if you’re an acute introvert, like me), that’s where the power of God’s Holy Spirit comes in. He will give to each of us a holy boldness like unto that which He gave to the Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost. This same man who, weeks before, had denied even knowing Jesus for fear of his life became one of the most courageous proclaimers of the Gospel ever mentioned in the Bible. The same Holy Spirit will do the same for each of us. In fact, I can personally testify that He has already done so for me or else I couldn’t continue to evangelize, preach or teach or be able to write about this topic with any sort of authority or genuineness. For those of us dedicated to doing digital evangelism along with our face-to-face evange-
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lism, we have a host of other options by which to share our faith, too, including blogging and social media. Before I conclude this article, I’d like to illustrate that point by directing you to my blog and to an interchange I had recently with a stranger via an online friend’s Facebook page on the sensitive subject of abortion and contraception. I doubt I changed his thinking, but at least I shined the light of God’s truth on the subject. Who knows who else was following our discussion or who else will stumble upon our discussion in the future? Only God knows the impact it will have on saving souls. Michael L. White is the founder and Managing Editor of Parson Place Press, an independent Christian publishing house in Mobile, Alabama. His book Digital Evangelism: You Can Do It, Too! (Parson Place Press, 2011) is available wherever books are sold. Visit his Website at books.parsonplace.com for a list of his other books and articles.
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ministry communication
Why Ministry Leaders Aren’t Always Good Communicators and What to Do About It
Yvon Prehn - yvon@effectivechurchcom.com
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he important term in the headline here is “aren’t always.” Ministry leaders, including pastors, leaders of groups like Young Life, and missionaries are almost always great verbal communicators or they wouldn’t be in ministry. They do great talking to groups, teaching, challenging, motivating. But in today’s multi-channel communication universe, that isn’t enough. Today you have to have additional skills and most often a team to help carry them out— and this article will help you get started. What communication skills are needed by a leader today When the Apostle Paul said he needed to be “all things to all people that he might win some,” he had no idea of the multitude of communication tools and effective ministry program needs today, but his words couldn’t be more true in this area. You need a variety of communication tools because no church or ministry is a homogeneous group when it comes to what communication tools works best for each person in it. Your message stays the same, but for differChristian Computing® Magazine
ent groups of people to take it in and act on your teaching or call to action, you need different ways to reach them. Here are some examples: What works in a church In the church, some people like the traditional bulletin and print newsletter to find out what’s going on at the church. Others prefer to get their church news online. Others will only pay attention if they get a text message just before an event and others need large print format to stay informed. In the church if you want your people to July 2014
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know what is going on and to take part, it doesn’t matter what you as a leader like or think is useful and proper for the church. It doesn’t matter what latest cool communication tool young leaders were using at the last conference you attended. What matters is what channels of communication the various people in your church are responding to. In the church we always need to remember that the majority does not rule when it comes to being a servant to all. There may only be 4-5 or 10-20 people who still need the newsletter printed out and mailed to them, but we must always remember that our Lord went after the one little sheep. He expects us to treat people the same way. You may get very irritated with the small group of seniors who won’t get on email—but you are called to serve and love them even if that means a tiny bit of extra work. What works in a ministry In a ministry, such as Young Life, the kids may communicate via text and Instagram, and sometimes Facebook, but if the leaders want to reach donors they need to have a solid, fact-filled website, email newsletters, and certainly a Facebook page directed towards adults. Adults, perhaps grandparents, who might be committed to the group financially and who are faithful prayer partners are often avid Facebook users because that’s how they keep in touch with kids and grandkids. One of the biggest mistakes made by ministry communicators such as Young Life or other leaders who work with young people, is designing ALL their communications to appeal to the kids. To effectively communicate to all the groups involved in the success of the ministry from your target audience to donor support, you need to target specific communications to specific groups. These communications then often require different channels, for example, the same message may go out via text to the kids and via a postcard to grandparents. Once again, it isn’t about you or what you think is the best way to reach a certain group. Always ask what they are using and conform to their needs and communication habits. Two more observations for both groups One, don’t always make assumptions on what channels people in a group prefer based on age. Some Baby Booomers are very tech savvy—they invented much of the technology today and have been around since it started; however some still can’t figure out how to use a mobile phone. You have to know your people. Knowing your people is a pastoral task that involves asking them what channels Christian Computing® Magazine
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they use both verbally and in periodic surveys. Again, yes this is more work, but if you want to communicate effectively you must know their communication preferences. Two, don’t get too comfortable with targeting certain channels to certain groups. New communication channels are constantly being created and current ones constantly changing in features and use. Facebook was a very big deal with young people when it first came out, but the demographic who uses it has since added many parents and grandparents. Young people are using whatever is new and primarily visual to share instant images of their
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lives. People in different parts of the country may use different channels in different ways—again, no one size fits all solution works for every church. What ministry and church leaders need to do Who could have imagined how pervasive and essential mobile phones, the web, and all forms of digital communications would be in our lives today and that ministries and churches would need to make the most of all of them to reach their world for Jesus? However, who has time to learn to use and become proficient in all the channels? Obviously not the ministry leaders. With the people and leadership demands their schedules are full. But lack of time to create the needed communications doesn’t resolve the ministry need for comprehensive communications that reach all the necessary audiences. So what are leaders to do? As in every area, the answers are in the Bible and in this case Paul’s teachings about the church being a body with different gifts are useful. To translate this teaching into the area of communications means that you need to create a communications team. Not every member will have the same skills or be good at the same communication channels. You need to create a team of church communicators to effectively communicate all things to all your audience so you might win some. Next month we’ll talk about creating a communication team, but for now, get to know what your people use so you’ll know what skills to look for in your team. For more on this and other topics related to effective church communications, please go to: www. effectivechurchcom.com
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nick at church
Protecting Your Data
Is It Really Worth the Hassle?
Nick Nicholaou - nick@mbsinc.com
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he value of some church assets is difficult to assess. Personnel, congregational goodwill, and data are just a few examples of assets whose value is usually understood only once it’s gone. None of us would say our data has no value to the organization, but trying to figure out what it’s worth so we can adequately protect it is challenging. Data is one of the most valuable assets a church has. Protecting it isn’t difficult, but must be approached as deliberately and strategically as fire and security protection. Data Categories Churches have different kinds of data, and categorizing them can help set a value to strategically protect them. While some data (like email, databases, etc.) is mission-critical, other data might just be convenient. Mission critical data may include: • Communications. Our availability to our congregation when they need us is important. That includes email, telephone (like our VoIP system), and letters. • Databases. Our databases contain names and contact information, contribution, attendance, baptism, and other data that help us serve our Christian Computing® Magazine
congregations well. • Sermons/ Lesson Prep/ Program. The research behind them, and the actual sermon, lesson, and program files themselves are valuable in that replacing them would be costly and, to some degree, impossible. • Graphic Files. Photos, videos, bulletins/ programs, promotional posters, and audio files. • Governmental Documents. Church minutes, agendas, meeting notices, etc. • Custom Programming. Templates and anything else that has been customized to help communicate and serve with uniqueness. What would happen if some of these, like email or the database, were made public or were destroyed? Data Threats Data threats are internal and external: July 2014
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• Internal. Good employees sometimes become disgruntled employees, hardware sometimes crashes, vendors sometimes have sticky fingers, we are constantly being attacked with malicious software (called ‘malware’), and buildings are sometimes destroyed by internal causes. • External. Thieves, external catastrophes like storms and earthquakes, and those who try to hack into our systems just because our systems are connected to the Internet. In fact, our firm sees evidence of almost constant Internet programs (called ‘bots’) trying to exploit system vulnerabilities. Their goal is to grab our data or computers to serve the interests of others. Prioritizing Data Protection Some data, if lost, would cause no serious damage. But other data losses could really hurt! Consider, for instance, if the database were no longer available, or if members’ private information was made public! We recommend thinking through the data you have and how it’s protection should be prioritized.
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Ask the following question about each category of data: How long are we willing to be without this category of data when going through a disaster of some kind? The answer will help determine the priority of which data needs to be restored first in the case of a major disaster. The answer will also set the disaster recovery/ business continuity budget. For instance: • If all data needs to come back online within a couple of hours, the cost for that strategy will be in the tens of thousands. • If, instead, the data were prioritized, the cost may only be a few thousand dollars. Some strategies worth considering: • Communications (email and telephone) is probably the highest priority category for business continuity, followed closely by the database. The best way to ensure the highest possible uptime for these is to have them hosted off-site in a high-availability datacen-
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ter. A high-availability datacenter is one that never goes offline, which means that if you can get someplace where you have an internet connection, you can access and use these systems. • Data of other types may not be as critical, and can be located on the church premises as long as a good backup strategy is in place. We recommend: • Centralize all data so it can be easily backed up. • Use current tape backup hardware that has adequate capacity and speed to do a full data backup every night. Some recommend incremental backups (only backing up changed files on a daily basis with a full backup once weekly, for instance), but that only makes restoration more difficult at a time when you’ll have many pressures and would appreciate not having that too. We disagree with the incremental backup strategy. Our clients use LTO 3, 4, 5, or 6 tape drives depending on their capacity needs. We set them up with four weeks of tapes so they can have a backlog in rotation in case a file corruption isn’t discovered for a few weeks. This is also a better strategy than using portable hard drives, which can fail due to their many moving parts, drops, etc. • Most churches would say that Monday is their heaviest data processing day. We tell our church clients to take the backup tape from Monday night off-site every week so that if the church buildings were lost in a disaster we could still quickly get them within a week of their data. An additional strategy worth considering is to reduce the number of databases your team relies on (actual databases, spreadsheets, etc) as much as possible, the ideal being only one. This helps ensure that a high-priority focus on protecting it will be maximally effective. It also has the benefits of saving staff time (updating a record only once takes less time than updating it multiple times in every database or list) and increasing staff synergies. The downside is Christian Computing® Magazine
that some ministry areas may have to adjust the way they maintain their data. Layers of Protection Protection from those who want to do you harm only shows its value when it’s needed. We recommend: • Server rooms should be locked and accessible only to those with a need for access. And they should not be used as storage areas since doing so reduces security and increases the fire hazard. • Passwords should meet or exceed minimal policy requirements, avoiding words, names, dates, etc that are easily guessed, and should never be shared with other staff members. • Most of today’s systems have fulltime connections to the Internet. That means the following are a must: • A firewall that is fully configured, updated, and tested to keep unwanted intruders, like bots and hackers, out. • SPAM filtering that is fully configured and updated to minimize the impact of malware in email. • Anti-Malware software installed on all servers, desktop computers, and notebooks. These each usually come with an annual subscription that keeps them current on the latest attack strategies, and should always be kept current. Your data, though difficult to objectively value, is one of your most significant assets. Implementing some fairly simple policies and procedures can go a long way towards protecting your data and your ministry. Nick Nicholaou is president of MBS, an IT consulting firm specializing in church and ministry computer networks, VoIP, and private cloud hosted services. You can reach Nick at nick@mbsinc.com, and may want to check out his firm’s website (www. mbsinc.com) and his blog at http://ministry-it.blogspot.com.
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