BEST - Christian Computing Magazine

Founder & Editor-in-Chief 

Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com 

VP of Operations 

Michael Hewitt - mike@ccmag.com 

Applying Tomorrow’s Technology to Today’s Ministry 

Volume 19 October 2007 No. 10 

Cover Story - Page 8 

Special Feature - Page 13 

How To Evaluate CMS Part 2 

Special Feature - Page 34 

PocketBible for Windows Revisited 

by Nick Nicholaou 

by Steve Hewitt 

by Dale Durnell 

Editorial Page 3 

Ministry Tech Institute Opens Enrollment 

by Steve Hewitt 

CCMag NewsBreif 

o 

Page 4 

Press Releases 

o 

Page 7 

Inside the Box Page 17 

Benchmarking: Fact and Fiction Part 2 

by Donald Stratton 

o 

Wordsearch Word Page 20 

What is the Best Value in Bible Software Today? 

by Bob Dasal 

o 

Nick at Church Page 21 

Managing Security vs Controlling Users 

by Nick Nicholaou 

o 

Tech Talk Page 24 

Windows Weirdness 

by Dr. J.D. (Doc) Watson 

o 

ACS Ideas to Impact Page 27 

Premiering an Online Ministry 

by ACS Technologies 

o 

Internet Ministry Page 29 

The Virtual World Dawning 

by Walt Wilson 

o 

Higher Power with Kevin Page 38 

Corrections, Clarifications, Commendation, and Challenges by Kevin A Purcell 

o 

Handheld Devices Page 41 

Better Than an iPhone?! 

by Jim VanDuzer 

o 

Scott Howard’s HotPic Page 43 

Blog Sites and More 

by Scott Howard 

o 

Contributing Editors 

Dr. J.D. “Doc” Watson, Terry Wilhite, 

Yvon Prehn, Nick Nicholaou, Walt 

Wilson, Jim Vanduzer Kevin A. Purcell, 

Ross Gile, Donald Stratton, Ben Woelk 

Copy Editor 

Gene Pearson 

Corporate Home Office 

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© Copyright 2007 by Christian Computing®, Inc. 

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Magazine, or Christian Computing, Inc. 

Articles that are highlighed are provided by our partners 

www.ccmag2.com/2007_03/2007_03editorial.pdf 

2 October 2007 Christian Computing® Magazine

editorial 


Ministry Tech Institute 

Opens Enrollment 

Last week Ministry Technology Institute (MTI) 

opened their enrollment! I am very excited to see 

this new ministry start, and am honored to be a 

part of what God is doing with MTI.(www.ministry-tech. 

com) If you haven’t visited the site lately, I encourage 

you to do so in order to check out the faculty, advisory 

board, and the courses that are being offered. 

Earlier this month, I had the privilege to attend the IT 

Roundtable held at Church of the Resurrection. During 

one of the discussions, I asked a leading IT leader what he thought of the MTI and 

their certification program. He confessed that his first thought was, “great, another 

certificate program”. He shared with me many of the certification programs he 

had taken in the past that prepared him for his present service. We talked about the 

Microsoft Certification program as well as many others that are available by Apple, 

IBM, Universities, and even certification programs offered by some of the top CMS 

companies that enable IT professionals to use their programs and services to their 

fullest. 

I appreciated his input because it helped me realize that what MTI has to offer 

is unique. There is little doubt that most of those serving churches in the field of IT 

have some training in the area of IT. However, most of that training was to prepare 

people to serve business needs in the secular world. Granted churches are a business, 

and many of their IT needs, network maintenance, backup strategies, security 

issues, etc., would be the same for a church as it would be for any business. The 

reason church leaders need what MTI has to offer is because our curriculum and certification 

program centers on the merging of technology with ministry and provides 

training and information on subjects that relate to the specific IT needs of a church! 

I believe a church’s technology needs go beyond network maintenance and 

other IT duties. I believe many people with technology and programming skills have 

developed software and services that churches can implement to enhance and expand 

their present ministry. Furthermore, I believe that MTI can provide a philosophy 

that merges ministry with technology, and provide something that is unique to 

the needs of the church and not taught by any other secular certification program. 

The Ministry Tech Certificate that MTI has to offer is not just another certificate 

program. I think those that take the course and graduate will be prepared to work 

together with the ministry and worship staff to further the Kingdom of God. One 

of the things I heard from people at the IT Roundtable was a need to feel that what 

they were doing was really a part of ministry. Some expressed the opinion that they 

choose to use their IT skills in a church setting 

instead of taking secular employment 

because they are Christians and wanted to 

be involved with ministry. Yet, they found 

themselves disconnected from the very 

thing they were seeking. It is my belief that 

MTI will provide the training to enable 

those serving churches in the area of IT to 

partner with ministry, outreach, discipleship 

and missions, in exciting ways! 

As I have said, our enrollment is now 

open. Soon our first group of students will 

begin orientation and start taking the online 

classes! I am very excited about going 

through this next year with our charter 

class! 

Together We Serve Him, 

Steve Hewitt 

Editor-in-Chief 

Christian Computing® Magazine 

October 2007 

3

Google Doc’s Opens In Beta 

Visit Google and you will see a new option, Google Docs. This is the promised presentation software that 

will allow you to create PowerPoint types of presentations with text, graphics, etc., set to navigate slide-byslide. 

The big difference between this and PowerPoint? It is web-based. Now you don’t have to worry about 

taking a computer with you on the road, or even software. If your destination has an Internet connection, you 

can call up your presentation from the Internet and run it at any location. This new service is FREE. However, 

it doesn’t claim to be as powerful as PowerPoint, so an updated version will be made available for business 

and university use at a charge of $50 a year. For more information, visit 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20829609/ 

Should Microsoft Force Updates? 

Microsoft updates is in the news for two reasons lately. It has been determined that Microsoft did a forced 

update to everyone a bit ago, and tried to do it secretly. You can set your computer to allow updates from 

Microsoft, but ONLY if you are notified and approve. Microsoft sent an update out recently to FIX a problem 

with the updating portion of their operating system. They felt that the fix was necessary, or a bug could have 

caused your computer to not upgrade, even if they had requested it. So, in what they believed was the interest 

to the general public, they pushed a secret update to all of our computers. The question is, do we want to allow 

a company that kind of power? Recently Microsoft also discovered a security leak in their Instant Message 

service. They caused the service to be suspended by all of their users until they uploaded and installed 

the patch. Many users are upset that they could no longer use the product until they upgraded the program. 

Should Microsoft have this kind of power? For more information, visit 

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/331579_windowsupdates14.html 

Viral Marketing To The Rescue 

Viral marketing is a term that has come about as a result of the Internet. If you send something out to 

a small group of people, and they have a motivation to send it to their friends, the email can spread until it 

accomplishes its goal. Normally this is to market a product or service. However, recently a woman found 

a cell phone on her way into an Ohio State Football game. Rather than turn it into the Lost and Found, she 

viewed some of the pictures on the camera. After choosing one of the current pictures, she emailed it to 14 of 

her friends who were also Ohio football fans, and asked them to send it to others that they know were fans. 

After the email went from person-to-person, a couple of hundred people later, the person that lost the phone 

received the information and was able to contact the lady and recover the phone! Way to go, viral marketing! 

For more information, visit http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g5mf5XzT69eSuQWePtwj-s9O4SxA 

Police May Soon Equip Sticky GPS Transmitter Devices to End High Speed Chases 

Police in LA are testing a new device that can be attached to the front grill of their police cars. Using a 

consol within the unit to aim the “cannon” a police officer could shoot a car with a sticky GPS transmitting 

device, allowing the police to back off from high-speed car chases and track the car’s location covertly. It is 

still in the testing phase, but it is expected to be in use by 2008. For more information, visit 

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/magazine/15-10/st_gps 

AT&T Suspends Parental Control On Phones 

AT&T had a service that allowed parents the ability to limit the amount of time a child could talk on their 

cell phone. However, as a safety feature, the child could always call 911. However, it was discovered that if, 


after a child made such a call and lost connection, the authorities could not call the phone back if the child 

had reached their minute limit. Since this poses a serious danger for the child if there actually is an emergency, 

the service has been suspended. I wonder if AT&T is going to pick up the bill if the child talks over the 

limit they promised parents they could set? For more information, visit 

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/phones/2007-09-26-att-cellphone-control_N.htm 

According to Forbes, GodTube Site Fastest Growing Site on Internet 

Most of us have heard about YouTube, but GodTube’s reputation is growing fast. Godtube is a Christian 

alternative to YouTube and is a user-generated content site that focuses on Christian-friendly videos and filters 

out profane or sexual references. The site is attracting over 3 million users a month. Check it out at 

www.godtube.com . 

MN Woman Order To Pay Nearly Half a Million After Loosing Copyrighted Music Case 

Someone finally went to trial instead of settling out of court in the battle over downloading music files. 

Jamie Thomas was sued by a combination of 10 recording companies for allowing people to download songs 

from her computer. She claimed she was innocent, and instead of settling out of court as over 26,000 Americans 

have done so far, she decided to fight. She knew her attorney fee’s would be higher than the cost to fight, 

yet she felt strongly that she was innocent. The jury felt differently and found her guilty and ordered her to 

pay $222,000 for sharing 24 songs. Because in copyright cases like this, she will also be ordered to pay the 

expenses for the other sides attorneys, her costs are expected to reach over half a million dollars. It seems she 

lost credibility because she claimed to have replaced her hard drive, at the suggestion of Best Buy, in 2004, 

but records showed she replaced it in 2005. This seemed to appear that she was seeking to destroy evidence. 

In addition, it seems her attorney was not able to establish reasonable doubt about how the songs might have 

been downloaded from her IP address. The recording companies clearly showed that the songs in question 

were downloaded by people from Ms Thomas’ computer. I still hold that, with the proper information, reasonable 

doubt could be established since no evidence was presented about Malware that allows others outside to 

access your computer. In addition, I personally know of two different churches that were hacked from outside, 

allowing people to download copyrighted materials from the church’s computers. It can happen, and you 

can be innocent. For more information, visit 

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Oct04/0,4670,DownloadingMusic,00.html 

Will Businesses Create Virtual Workplaces? 

Cisco and IBM are two examples of companies that are exploring virtual workplaces for business meetings. 

Since major businesses have employees scattered across the world, getting together for meetings has 

been costly. Of course, email, IM, and conference calls help to take the cost of travel down when people need 

to get together, but many find these methods less than personal. So, the future of virtual meetings may mean 

people meet in virtual worlds, such as Second Life. Each employee can create their own avatar, and virtually 

walk into a room and sit down. It is easy in such meetings to actually talk using programs designed for verbal 

communications in virtual world games, such as TeamSpeak, and people would have the ability to share papers, 

graphs and charts, etc., at a specific time. For more information, visit 

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_7134583 

1,500 Women Walk Across America In Support Of Those With Breast Cancer… Well, Sort Of 

In order to help raise money to support those with breast cancer, a walk covering 31 different cities has 

been established. Famous women, such as Martha Stewart, British actress Lynn Redgrave, actress Mena Suvari 

and Jorja Fox of the “CSI” television show have joined the walk. However, the walk is “virtual”! Women 

can go to http://www.galtogalwalk.org and sign up for just $3. You create an avatar and join the walk, and 

your $3 donation goes to the cause. You can also log in and look up your friends and see where they are 

“virtually” in their walk. It is hoped that over 1 million women will join the walk. For more information, visit 

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?alias=walking-for-good-cause-wi&chanId=sa003&modsrc=reuters 


October 2007 

5

New Reporting on Websites With Malware Show That of the 200,000 Websites, Half Would Be Considered 

“Trusted” 

Most people are aware that their computers can be infected with Malware as a result of visiting a website. 

Most people feel they are safe, as long as they stick with what they believe are “trusted” sites. However, 

a new study conducted by Google and StopBadware, showed that half of the sites that contained Malware 

would be considered trusted legitimate sites that are unaware they have been hacked into and are infecting the 

computer users that visit their site. For more information, visit 

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/100307-webs-dark-corners.html 

iTunes Under Attack as Digital Music Venues Expand 

iTunes is king in the area of digital music sales. However, it appears that this is about to change as several 

different moves are underway to create new services that not only will compete with iTunes, but decrease 

iTunes content. 

Last month, Amazon.com opened their online music store. They were offering songs without DRM for 89 

and 99 cents. 

NBC has already reported that they are pulling their shows from iTunes and are planning to offer them on 

their site for free (with commercials) because iTunes would not work with them. 

Now, Universal has announced they are going to launch a new music site to compete with iTunes because 

they are unhappy with the way iTunes distributes their music. They claim they are in talks with Sony 

and other recording companies and have their support. One of their biggest complaints is that iTunes insists 

on charging the same amount for each song, regardless if it is a hit, a new song, or an old song. In addition, 

Universal says that their new service will explore a new business model 

on how to pay for music, so that the music itself can be offered for 

free. Universal is also unhappy with DRM and the way iTunes forces 

people to use their iPod. They believe other MP3 players, such as Microsoft’s 

Zune, have to compete in an unfair marketplace since DRM 

songs purchased from iTunes must run on an iPod. For more information, 

visit 

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1700AP_Apple_iTunes.html 

TiVo Announces New Subscription Music Service With Rhapsody 

America 

In addition, TiVo has announced that subscribers with broadbandconnected 

set-top boxes will be able to listen to music streamed 

over the Internet from Rhapsody’s service. The service, now part of 

Rhapsody America, a new joint venture between RealNetworks Inc. 

and Viacom Inc.’s MTV Networks, and offers more than 4 million 

songs. This service will be offered as a subscription service. You pay 

a monthly fee of $12.95 and you can download and play all the music 

you want. For more information, visit http://ap.google.com/article/ 

ALeqM5g75mvROobhzGEk5Z4BYi9sx_mrBQD8S5GM580 

Apple Announces Price Reduction for Songs on iTunes 

Apple has decided to reduce the prices for their DRM free songs. 

They had been charging a higher price of $1.29 for DRM songs that 

could be played on other MP3 players other than Apple’s iPod. Apple 

spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said the price cut was not in response to 

competition. For more information, visit 

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1700AP_Apple_iTunes.html 


Press Releases 

www.WORDsearchMedia.com is Sponsoring Film Fest 

AUSTIN, TX – Today’s pastors are using visual illustrations on a regular basis. While many churches have in house media 

teams to produce the videos, many depend on others that produce videos sermon illustrations. WORDsearchMedia.com 

has collaborated with today’s top producers to provide pastors the best in video sermon illustrations. At WORDsearchMedia. 

com videos are searchable by topic, title, and scripture reference. 

To help amateurs and new producers share their work WORDsearchMedia.com is sponsoring Film Fest. The first Film 

Fest features video sermon illustrations. Full details and rules on entering Film Fest are available on the WORDsearchMedia. 

com web site. There is still time to enter and video entries are now available to view on the web site. Beginning on November 

1 and running through November 15 people will be able to vote for their favorite video entry. The three videos receiving the 

most votes will be Film Fest winners. WORDsearchMedia.com will announce prizewinners on November 20. First Place 

receives $1000, Second Place receives $600, and Third Place receives $400. 

Preview the video entries on the www.WORDsearchMedia.com web site today. 

Truepath Christian Web Hosting Unveils Web Design Plans for Churches 

ESCONDIDO, Calif. - September 6, 2007 - Truepath, a Christian web hosting industry leader, today announced the immediate 

availability of three web design plans for the Christian web hosting market. 

"In regards to web design, we've come to realize that Christian organizations have two major requirements. 1) a smaller 

budget in comparison to for-profit organizations and 2) a desire for a professional web presence. 

Our web design plans deliver on both of these requirements", said Gil Vidals, CEO of Truepath. In order to keep the costs 

down Truepath partnered with Monster Templates, which supplies over 10,000 ready made designs that Truepath customers 

can choose from. 

The three web design plans, 'Genesis', 'Wisdom', and 'Revelation' range from a basic, five-page web site to a complex 

content management system (CMS) using Joomla. The customer can tailor the costs by customizing the plan to meet their 

needs. 

To find out more about Truepath web hosting options, contact them today at 

(760) 480-8791, or visit their web site at www.truepath.com. 

Churches, Nonprofit Agencies Monitor Resources, Reduce Benevolence Fraud and 

Duplication of Services Through CharityTracker Community Assistance Network 

CharityTracker.net Helps Charitable Organizations Share Resources and Stay Informed 

FLORENCE, Al., October 11, 2007 - Charitable organizations such as churches, faith-based nonprofits, and social agencies 

have long since recognized the difficulties involved in allocating resources to those in need. Some organizations have 

even dropped benevolence programs altogether because the process of monitoring giving, avoiding fraud, and working with 

other community organizations to provide meaningful help to those truly in need can be extremely challenging. 

With a sincere desire to help ministries translate their vision into action, Simon Solutions, Inc. (http://www.simonsolutions.com/) 

has built a unique, simple-to-use online assistance tracking network—CharityTracker (http://www.charitytracker.net/) 

—to enable charitable organizations to communicate both locally and nationally in order to share resources, stay 

informed, identify potential fraud, and conserve valuable time and energy. 

The United Way of Northwest Alabama has been using CharityTracker, together with over 30 other nonprofit organizations 

including local churches, Salvation Army, American Red Cross, nonprofit charities, and government agencies, to avoid 

resource duplication, cut down on fraudulent requests, and unify the community’s effort to help those in need. 

Comments United Way Executive Director, Tina Scott, “This technology is the first of its kind and we are excited to accomplish 

what other organizations can’t: CharityTracker is helping to break down barriers; if someone has a need, it doesn’t 

have to stay within boundaries, we can tap into the network and find other communities that have available resources to meet 

the need. It helps to bring us all together.” 

Any verifiable 501c organization, agency, or religious organization with a benevolence program can purchase CharityTracker, 

which operates as a secure online network that organizations subscribe to and utilize over the Internet. There is no 

software to download, making this the perfect application for sharing information over multiple organizations and locations. 

“We’ve witnessed the important role that Internet technology can play in the nonprofit community, and have seen that it 

can provide incredibly valuable ways for individuals and charitable organizations to work together for a greater good,” says 

Mike Simon, President of Simon Solutions. “Our goal is to serve those who are in the business of helping others, and provide 

them with technology applications that embody community and allow them to have greater impact.” 

To implement CharityTracker for your organization, email info@charitytracker.net. 


October 2007 

7

cover story 

Nick Nicholaou - nick@mbsinc.com 

CCMag’s 

Annual Church and 

Donor Management 

Software Overview! 

T 

he number of church management software providers is growing! When 

the personal computer was introduced these programs grew in number to 

262! Then some merged and consolidated, and some went out of business, 

reducing the number to only 34. But with the advent of hosted solutions available 

via the Internet, the number has dramatically increased again to about 70! 

Over the last couple of years we have heard from readers that the list 

was growing so large it was becoming a less valuable tool. They asked 

us to narrow the focus and shorten the list. So the committee that gives 

oversight to this article made some significant adjustments to this year’s 

qualifying criteria. Only 26 qualified! 

While we’d like to say that those listed are the best of the breed, 

some who didn’t qualify this year offer quality solutions. Those on this 

list are solution providers who are actively developing their solutions and 

have marketplace growth that suggests satisfied customers. 

We also made certain that new providers (those less than three years 

old) qualified. This gives them a chance to compete with ‘the big guys’ 

and keeps all of the providers ‘on their toes’ as these up-and-comers 

sometimes develop new approaches that could benefit many churches and 

ministries. 

Why Church Management Software? 

The solution providers on the following pages meet the sophisticated 

needs churches and ministries have. Tracking more than just names, 

addresses, and phone numbers, many of these also track family relationships, 

spiritual gifts, talents, interests, attendance, nursery security, contributions, 

fundraising campaigns, and more. 

Church and ministry offices can be stressful places due to the many 

deadlines that must be met by an administrative staff typically smaller 

than what would be found in a similar-sized secular business. Church 

management software, if well written, can be a soothing balm. If it’s 

powerful, capable, fast, and stable, the ministry team can rely on it to help 

them get the most possible work done quickly and with minimal stress. 

Church Management Software Defined 

Some time ago Steve Hewitt, Editorin-Chief 

of Christian Computing Magazine, 

labeled the software category tailored to meet 

the needs of churches as Church Management 

Software, or CMS. There is also software 

to help the many ministries that aren’t 

churches, yet need to track similar data, 

which we call Donor Management Software. 

Following is a well-researched list of all 

CMS and DMS providers at the time of this 

writing. 

Fund Accounting 

Churches and ministries exist in a unique 

accounting niche that most software (and 

even CPAs!) can’t help with: fund accounting. 

But many of these packages can help in 

this area. 

One of a ministry’s most vulnerable 

areas is finance. We hear often of churches 

and ministries that have been embezzled 

by a trusted team member. One of the best 

protections is an accounting system that has a 

good audit trail that tracks the detail of every 

transaction and cannot be altered in any way. 

For these reasons, some CMS providers have 


written their own accounting software. 

Feature Chart 

We’ve tried to give you as comprehensive a list as 

possible in a quick format of those database and accounting 

functions ministry teams request most. Some regularly 

requested features are met by all solution providers, so 

we removed those from the chart to help highlight differences. 

We’ve also given you information on how to reach 

each provider, how long they’ve been serving the ministry 

community in this way, how many ministries they currently 

serve, their technical support hours, and how often 

they update their software. All of the information was 

provided by the providers. 

The chart is a compilation of unaudited responses 

from the software providers. The “ ” symbol is used on 

those options they said are currently available and that 

they provide directly. The “ ” symbol is used on those 

needs they meet through an outside (third party) source. 

Happy Hunting! 

Shop wisely. We counsel all prospective buyers to 

do their due diligence and check with current users of the 

software. Ask questions like: 

• Does the software do what was promised? 

• Is their technical support team capable and available? 

• If you were faced with the same decision today, 

what would you do differently? 

Feel free to contact any of the providers listed. They 

would love to help you in your ministry. Happy hunting! 

Nick Nicholaou is president of MBS, a consulting 

firm specializing in church and ministry computer networks, 

operational policies, and CPA services. You can 

reach Nick via email (nick@mbsinc.com) and may want 

to check out his firm’s web site (www.mbsinc.com) and 

his unofficial blog at http://ministry-it.blogspot.com. 

ACS Technologies 

Phone: (800) 736-7425 

Email: solutions@acstechnologies.com 

Web: www.acstechnologies.com 

Company Founded in 1978 

Years Marketing CMS: 30 

Ministries Currently Using: 23000 

Number on Team: 320 

Tech Support Hours: 9a-8p (-6p F) Eastern 

Last Major Release: 8/2007 

Updates per Year: Ongoing Via Web 

Acts Group 

Phone: (877) 564-8300 

Email: drmiller@actsgroup.net 

Web: www.actsgroup.net 





Tech Support Hours: Online 24•7 



Blackbaud 

Phone: (800) 443-9441 

Email: solutions@blackbaud.com 

Web: www.blackbaud.com 





Tech Support Hours: Online 24•7 


Updates per Year: 2 

By The Book 

Phone: (800) 554-9116 

Email: info@bythebook.com 

Web: www.bythebook.com 





Tech Support Hours: 8a-5p (-12p F) Central 



C.A.A. Ministries 

Phone: (706) 864-4055 

Email: mike@caaministries.org 

Web: www.caaministries.org 





Tech Support Hours: 8a-7p Eastern 



CCIS Church Software 

Phone: (800) 295-7551 

Email: sales@ccissoftware.com 

Web: www.ccissoftware.com 









October 2007 

9

Church & Donor 

Management Systems 

2007 

ACS Technologies 

Acts Group 

Blackbaud 

By The Book 

C.A.A. Ministries 

CCIS Church Software 

CDM+ 

Church Community Builder 

Church Windows 

Concordia Technology Solutions 

ConnectionPower.com 

Diakonia 

Excellerate 

Fellowship Technologies 

Group Publishing 

Helpmate Technology Solutions 

Logos Management Software 

Membership Plus 

MyFlock.com 

Nuverb Systems 

People Driven Software 

PowerChurch Software 

Software is Focused for Church Management 

Software is Focused for Parachurch Donor Management 

Congregation / Donor Database 

Can Separately Track Multiple Congregations 

Can Move a Family Member w/Their Data Intact 

Individual and Family Photos 

Prints Color Photo Directories 

Tracks Individual's Communication Preferences (Mail, Email, Fax, etc) 

Prints U.S. Postal Bar Codes 

Certified Postal CASS/PAVE 

National Change of Address (NCOA) Updates 

Tracks Contribution of Gifts in Kind 

Gifts in Kind Can Satisfy Pledge without Setting GIK Value 

Can Post Gifts Received via Website 

Can Store Check & Envelope Images 

Can Reassign Envelope Numbers 

Statements Can Be Automatically Sent via Email 

Tracks Attendance 

Has Security / Check-In Capability 

Manages Small Groups 

Facility / Equipment Calendar Scheduler 

Calendar Scheduler Can Feed Ministry's Website 

Retreat / Event Registrations with A/R Tracking 

Can Post Event Registrations Received via Website 

Bookstore (Inventory / POS) Module 

General Ledger 

Automatically Tracks Multiple Fund Balances 

Automatically Balances Funds when Transferring Between Funds 

Has a Secure, Unalterable Audit Trail (not just password protected) 

Can Select Either Fixed (Straight Line) or Variable (Seasonal) Budgeting 

Graphic Analysis 

Fixed Assets Tracking (Inventory, Depreciation, Maintenance, etc) 

Accounts Payable 

Can Set Up as Either Accrual or Cash Basis 

Invoices Can Be Automatically Distributed to Expense Accts 

Annual 1099's 

Purchase Order Tracking (Authorization Process, Budget & GL Interface) 

Payroll with Minister's Salary Capabilities (Housing, SECA, etc) 

Time Clock Interface 

Payroll ACH Direct Deposit 

Accrues Vacation & Sick Time Available 

Vacation Scheduler w/ Ability to Show Composite Schedule 

All Federal & State Payroll Tax Forms 

Workers' Comp Audit 

Can Send Individually-Addressed Bulk Email 

Email Can Have Attachments 

Bulk Email is Mail Merge Capable 

Data Accessible in Real-Time via PDA (Palm, PocketPC, etc) 

Can be Network Based w/ Multiple Concurrent User Access 

Intranet / Internet Web Browser Interface 

Congregants Can Update Contact Info Online 

Users Can Add / Modify Fields to Database 

Data is Accessible & Fully Exportable in Multiple Formats 

Includes Dashboard 

Field-Level Access / Entry Security 

Denomination "Editions" Available 

Runs on Ministry's Local / Internal Server 

Runs Hosted on Off-Site Hosted Server 

If Hosted, Server(s) is Geographically Mirrored 

If Hosted, Server(s) is Multi-Homed to Different Internet Backbones 

QuickBooks Nonprofit Edition 

Shelby Systems 

Specialty Software 

Vian

CDM+ 

Phone: (877) 891-4236 

Email: sales@cdmplus.com 

Web: www.cdmplus.com 





Tech Support Hours: 8:30a-7p (-5p F) Eastern 



Church Community Builder 

Phone: (866) 242-1199 

Email: solutions@churchcommunitybuilder.com 

Web: www.churchcommunitybuilder.com 





Tech Support Hours: 7a-5p Mountain 



Church Windows 

Phone: (800) 533-5227 

Email: info@churchwindows.com 

Web: www.churchwindows.com 








Concordia Technology Solutions 

Phone: (800) 325-2399 

Email: softwaresales@shepherdsstaff.org 

Web: www.cts.cph.org 





Tech Support Hours: 7:30a-5p Central 



ConnectionPower.com 

Phone: (800) 801-9297 

Email: allen@connectionpower.com 

Web: www.connectionpower.com 





Tech Support Hours: 7a-5p Pacific 




October 2007 

Diakonia 

Phone: (800) 325-6642 

Email: info@faithfulsteward.com 

Web: www.faithfulsteward.com 





Tech Support Hours: 9a-5p Central 


Updates per Year: Varies 

Excellerate 

Phone: (888) 371-6878 

Email: info@msdweb.com 

Web: www.excellerate.com 








Fellowship Technologies 

Phone: (866) 690-1104 

Email: sales@fellowshiptech.com 

Web: www.fellowshiptech.com 





Tech Support Hours: 6a-10p, 7 Days Central 



Group Publishing 

Phone: (800) 747-1565 

Email: buzzinfo@group.com 

Web: www.group.com/buzz 





Tech Support Hours: 8a-5p Mountain 



Helpmate Technology Solutions 

Phone: (888) 858-3247 

Email: sales@helpmate.net 

Web: www.helpmate.net 





Tech Support Hours: 9:30a-5p Eastern 



11

Logos Management Software 

Phone: (800) 266-3311 

Email: dsmith@logoscms.com 

Web: www.logoslbe.com 








Membership Plus 

Phone: (888) 459-0078 

Email: sales@quickverse.com 

Web: www.memplushome.com 





Tech Support Hours: 8a-5:30p Central 



MyFlock.com 

Phone: (866) 852-6648 

Email: info@myflock.com 

Web: www.myflock.com 








Nuverb Systems 

Phone: (888) 479-4636 

Email: info@nuverb.com 

Web: www.donarius.com 








People Driven Software 

Phone: (866) 737-9273 

Email: info@peopledrivensoftware.com 

Web: www.peopledrivensoftware.com 








PowerChurch Software 

Phone: (800) 486-1800 

Email: info@powerchurch.com 

Web: www.powerchurch.com 








QuickBooks Nonprofit Edition 

Phone: (888) 729-1996 

Email: www.quickbooks.com/callme 

Web: www.quickbooks.com 








Shelby Systems 

Phone: (800) 877-0222 

Email: mktg@shelbyinc.com 

Web: www.shelbyinc.com 








Specialty Software 

Phone: (800) 568-6350 

Email: sales@specialtysoftware.com 

Web: www.specialtysoftware.com 








Vian 

Phone: (908) 537-4642 

Email: vian@vian.com 

Web: www.vian.com 





Tech Support Hours: 4:30p-6p Eastern 




special feature 


How To Evaluate 

Church Management 

Software 

Part 2 

Last month, in part 1 of this article, I covered a little history about how 

Church Management Software (CMS) products came about. As well, 

I covered the process to begin your evaluation and identifying your 

needs. If you missed last month’s article, please visit http://www.ccmag2. 

com/2007_09/2007_09coverstory.pdf Now, let’s continue with information to 

finish the process of finding the right CMS for your church. 

Picking a Company 

When considering the purchase of a CMS product, 

you have to consider the company that is providing the 

service. When you look at the history of CMS products 

already mentioned, you have to be concerned about 

the longevity of the company that will be supporting 

it. However, there is no guarantee that a company that 

has been around for ten years will be here tomorrow, 

therefore length of existence is not enough to establish 

a relationship of trust. 

The level of trust you will need in the company 

itself would depend upon the level of the investment. If 

you are purchasing a CMS package to meet basic needs 

for a small church, your impact if a product is not supported 

is minimal. I actually have used some products 

for years after the company that sold it to me went out 

of existence. However, if your investment in a CMS 

package is greater and training and support will be vital 

to your decision, you need to believe that the company 

is sound, that they will continue to produce upgrades, 

training opportunities, and that they will be around to 

support the product with technical support. 

It is hard to determine how you will develop your 

level of confidence with a company. History does 

play a part, but in the last 20 years as Editor-in-Chief 

of Christian Computing Magazine, I have been at the 

beginning of many great companies and products. If no 

one purchased a great product from a company simply 

because they were new, the industry would quickly die. 

There are three things that, for me, help build 

confidence and trust in a company that is producing a 

product I am interested in purchasing. First, I like to get 

to know key personnel within a company and seek to 

determine if their excitement for their product is because 

it is going to be very profitable, or if their excitement 

is founded on the ministry aspect of what they are 

providing. There is certainly nothing wrong with Christian 

software companies making money, but I have 

seen those that entered the church software marketplace 

with this as their motivation. Most quickly discover 

they can make more money elsewhere. What I am most 

comfortable with are the companies where I find the 

foundation for a company based upon their belief that 

they are “called” to be where they are, and their greatest 

satisfaction is found in providing software solutions for 

churches and is centered on meeting ministry needs. 

Second, I guess I am a capitalist. In most cases, 

if you spend quality time finding the best product for 


October 2007 

13

your church, you picked a product that other churches will pick as well. Products that meet the needs of the public 

get purchased, and the company should grow. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Again, with my 20 years 

of observation, I have seen great products fail because the company was either mismanaged, or they were under 

funded. 

Third, I personally have more confidence in a company that exhibits a desire (and the ability) to market their 

product. There are many different conferences held across the nation where you will find key CMS companies 

exhibiting. They have the funds to expand their market share by “pressing the flesh” and meeting new potential 

customers. In addition, you will see their advertisements promoting their product and key features. They will issue 

press releases related to new features and product releases. And, they will have reviews written about their company 

and products. They are “out there”, which sends the message that they will “be there” in the years to come. 

Check to see if this company has links to articles about them and their products on their website. Look to see 

if they advertise. Do a Google search specifically for their company and for their products and see what shows up! 

Find out when they last released a major upgrade and/or how often do they release upgrades. No product is 

perfect, and the frequency of upgrades show you that they are keeping up with technology advances as well as 

listening to their customer base and adding requested features. 

Training and Support 

One of the most important components when choosing a CMS package is the training and support they provide. 

Now, this is a very generic statement and I realize up front that the amount of training provided will depend 

on the power, size and cost of the CMS package you purchase. For the certification program offered by Ministry 

Technology Institute, there is a reason we picked a wide variety of CMS packages for our students to study. One 

size does not fit all. Certain CMS programs were created specifically for small churches. They need to be simple to 

install and simple to use. One does not need national training conferences for the low cost programs designed to fit 

this niche. However, for programs designed for larger churches, the cost and availability of training is part of the 

package. 

Years ago at the Ministry and Technology Conference sponsored by CCMag, we had an open discussion with 

about one hundred attendees and vendors. One of the comments I never forgot was from a frustrated representative 

from a CMS company. She vented by expressing an incident that happens all too often. She shared how she had 

come to contact a church staff member who had recently changed from the CMS product her company represented 

and moved to a competitor. While there are certainly sometimes legitimate reasons to change CMS packages, in 

this case the past customer shared that they changed because they wanted a specific feature that the new CMS 

company offered. She was further frustrated by the fact that her company’s CMS package offered the exact same 

feature. Unfortunately, the church 

staff had never attended any of the 

training opportunities offered by 

her company to discover the full 

features of the program they had 

purchased and used for years. 

Many times, churches purchase 

a CMS package to meet a list of 

their immediate specific needs. 

However, once they purchase a 

package and have it up and running, 

if the company provides training, 

they should take advantage of that 

training because they will probably 

learn something new and exciting, 

and find that their investment can 

continue to enhance the church’s 

ministry. I remember I once had 


the opportunity to attend a demonstration of all of the features of PageMaker from Adobe. While I had used the 

program for over a decade to produce Christian Computing Magazine, I decided to take advantage of the local 

training session. I soon found myself taking notes because I discovered dozens of new features I had never taken 

advantage of even though I considered myself a veteran user of the program. 

Support is vital when using any technology on a continuing basis. When you need to produce a report, send 

out a broadcast e-mail, or figure out how to perform a query to provide a list of the parents whose youth are taking 

part in the upcoming mission trip, and this stumps you, support will be worth every penny. If a CMS company 

provides free support, as many of the lower cost packages will, does that mean someone is actually going 

to answer the phone? Give them a call and find out. In addition, if you are paying for support, be sure to find out 

exactly what that means and how they respond and provide that support. When I need an answer, I appreciate getting 

someone on the phone. I 

hate it when they direct me to 

a website where I have to type 

in my question and wait for a 

response! 

Contact Other Churches 

Using The System You Are 

Evaluating 

Ask the CMS company 

you are evaluating for a list 

of churches in your area that 

use their product. I have never 

heard of a CMS company 

that is not willing to provide 

this information. Do more 

than just ask these churches 

if they are happy with the 

product. Be specific. When 

they call for tech support, was 

the support available, capable 

and helpful? Ask them if they 

felt that the product met their 

expectations based on the 

marketing of the CMS company. 

Were they satisfied with 

their decision, and if they had 

it to do over, would they pick 

the same product? 

Use A Demo 

Most CMS packages 

have a demo program you can 

download, install and use. In 

the case of many of the new 

packages that work over the 

Internet, there is nothing to 

download! Most of the demos 

I have looked at can even 

provide sample data. This will 


October 2007 

15

give you a real feel for the program. 

If it is web-based, be sure to connect 

and check out the speed. How does 

data entry feel? Do you find it easy 

to use? Print out a report, do a query, 

etc. Be sure to have all of the staff 

members spend some time with the 

demo and give their opinion on the 

look, feel and ease of use. 

Of course power-packed programs 

that offer a lot of features will 

have a learning curve, but a program 

should have a “look-and-feel” that 

relates to your past computer experience. 

You should be able to figure 

out how to enter basic membership 

data, and look up a members address, 

without training. As you delve deeper 

into the workings of a program, does 

it have a consistent use and feel, or 

does it look like it is pieced together 

from several different programmers? 

Meet With A Sales Rep 

In the case of larger packages, 

most of the major companies have 

sales representatives available to 

meet with your staff, in your church, 

and can help to pick the modules and 

package that will meet your needs. 

Even though their job is to sell you 

on their product, do not worry about 

asking the hard questions. 

Conclusion 

Finding the right Church Management 

Software for a church is an 

important process. The right CMS 

will help a church accomplish their 

ministry goals, keep track of their 

membership, facilitate communications, 

help to keep the church in 

good legal standing with contribution 

recording and reporting and much 

more. 


inside the box 

Donald Stratton - Donald@PowerNotebooks.com 

Benchmarking: 

Facts and Fiction 

Part 2 

Real-World Benchmarks 

The two types of benchmarks 

are real-world 

and synthetic benchmarks. 

A real-world benchmark 

is a measurement of how long 

it takes a specific application to 

complete a specific task. That 

task is then run and measured 

on different hardware to quantify 

the performance difference. 

This results in a very concrete figure. You’ll know that X part is 37% faster 

than Y part doing this specific task in that specific application. If you use that 

application a lot, then that will mean everything, and you should lean toward 

X part. However, that level of detail is also its downside. That particular task 

could be perfectly suited to X part, and in general X and Y parts are actually 

equivalent. You have no way of knowing if you only look at one task or one 

application. So, for real-world benchmarks, you have to view many of them to 

see the big picture. If you use your computer for many tasks and applications, 

as do most people, then you have to really dig into the benchmarks to get a feel 

for what is actually equivalent. If there are big gaps on some applications, then 

you have to decide how important those applications are to you. It is very common 

that one part will be good at one thing while another part will be better at 

something else. 

Examples of real-world benchmarks: Running a timedemo on a game to 

measure FPS, measuring how fast a codec can encode the same mp3, measuring 

how fast an application can convert mpg2 to DiVX, and measuring how 

fast a Photoshop filter runs. The BapCo Sysmark benchmarks are generally 

real-world benchmarks because they run scripts on different applications. 

However, the results are typically scored in a single “sysmark” score, which is 

somewhat generic and open to interpretation. You also have to find out what 

applications are being tested and how the scores are being weighted into the 

final score. It can be slightly misleading. 


October 2007 

17

Synthetic Benchmarks 

Synthetic benchmarks are the opposite of real-world benchmarks. 

Instead of measuring a specific application, the goal of a synthetic 

benchmark is to try to quantify a general difference between X part and 

Y part so that you can get a general feel for the performance difference 

from a single number. Other advantages of synthetic benchmarks 

include the fact that they are generally updated to support the newest 

features of the newest hardware before real-world applications have 

been released to support those new features, and they can sometimes be 

written in such a way as to make it easier to compare a single subsystem 

rather than a real-world application which MUST have the same 

hardware between two benchmarked systems to create any real conclusions 

about the part comparison. 

The downside of synthetic benchmarks is that a specific application 

will always be written differently and therefore depend on the hardware 

differently. So the synthetic benchmark is more of a guess than a determination. 

The scores often include more than simply X is faster than 

Y, but also try to compare the features of X and Y, even if those features aren’t supported in applications yet. Synthetic 

benchmarks occasionally disagree dramatically with current real-world applications, though they may end up agreeing 

with future applications if those applications implement the newer features of Y. But you can’t bank on the future as 

some parts never have their full potential realized. 

A more sinster negative to synthetic benchmarks occasionally pops up. A manufacturer sometimes creates specific 

optimizations or even specific hardware to run a certain benchmark faster and so look better than the competition. In 

fact, there have been times that the manufacturer has degraded the “user experience” within that benchmark to create a 

better score. This would be unacceptable in a real-world application, but since it’s just a benchmark that no one actually 

uses, it doesn’t really “matter.” However, it does mean the numbers that come out of the application are even less 

trustworthy. At least with a real game or application, if a manufacturer creates a game-specific optimization, everyone 

who plays that game will benefit. 

Examples of synthetic benchmarks: 3DMark, SPEC, Whetstone, Dhrystone 

Most hardware reviews done today offer a number of scores from a number of applications and 

application types, from games, to media encoding, to business/professional applications, and multitasking 

tasks have even entered the fray as HyperThreading and multi-core CPUs have taken hold. Reading 

these reviews gives a good idea of how a given part compares to its competition. On the other hand, 

ignore the 3DMark scores from forum posters. The only purposes they serve are for bragging and making 

sure that your computer isn’t getting dramatically worse performance than it should since the scores 

for the same configuration should be roughly equivalent. 

Sadly, laptops are the most difficult to compare because they are complete systems instead of offthe-shelf 

parts. So most reviews that compare a 8400M to a HD2400 Go will have those 2 cards in entirely 

different laptops, often with somewhat different configurations. That will be less useful unless you 


are actually comparing those exact 

configurations of those two laptops. 

GPUs in particular are a sticking 

point for laptop benchmarks because 

the clock speed of the GPU core and 

memory is up to the laptop ODM, 

and ODMs can vary widely to what 

speeds those are set. So if you’re 

comparing an 8600M GT to a 7600M 

GT, you can’t be sure that a different 

laptop with an 8600M GT will really 

score that well or that poorly. 

If that all sounds confusing, it’s 

because understanding benchmarks 

is confusing. The right attitude to 

have with any benchmark is one of 

distrust, especially when it’s only 

one or two benchmarks. The good 

news is that most of the time, once 

you have a general handle on X part 

vs. Y part, the devitations from that 

will be less than 10% (again, in the 

range you won’t notice), so you can 

figure you have a decent understanding. 

As I said earlier, go for the big 

gains, and you’ll always win. The 

more you try to sniggle out a few extra 

percentage points, the more likely 

you are to be completely wasting 

your time. 


October 2007 

19

wordsearch word 

Bob Dasal - bdasal@wordsearchbible.com 

What is the BEST Value 

in Bible Software Today? 

And the Answer is - Bible Explorer 4 Limited Edition 

A complete Bible study library for only $9.95 

Bible Explorer 4 Complete Bible Study Library (BE4), regularly price for 

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purchased in quantities of five or more. Single copies are only $15.95. 

This Limited Edition, priced so you can give it away, will help others enjoy a 

richer experience in God’s Word. Churches can now afford to include BE4 in their 

“New Member Pak” and/or Visitors Packet. 

The BE4 Complete Bible Study Library contains: 

• 17 Bible Translations 

• 17 Commentaries 

• 4 Devotionals 

• 5 Bible Dictionaries 

• 3 Greek & Hebrew Helps 

• 6 History/Culture Works 

• 27 Literature Classics 

• 4 Theology Works 

• 3 Topical/Cross-Reference Works 

• 4 Maps/Photo Collections 

a protected online community of other Bible Explorer users. There 

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FREE Community Library - Download 

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Right Click - The right button on your mouse is a shortcut to 

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will copy verses to a Verse List, set up a word or topical search for 

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Click on any Strong’s number and get a full, hot-linked concordance 

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nick at church 

Nick Nicholaou - nick@mbsinc.com 

Managing Security 

vs 

Controlling Users 

Computers and data networks are vulnerable, and 

wise IT Directors establish policies to protect 

them. They are guided by their research and 

experience in protecting these systems that contain valuable 

and sensitive data. But many go further than necessary, 

and without ever intending to, frustrate their staff. 

So let’s talk about some ‘best practices’ ministry security 

strategies. 

The Challenge 

Developers of malware (malicious software) love to exploit computer operating system weaknesses and control 

computers around the world for their benefit. In the form of viruses, trojan horses, spyware, root kits, and more, these 

programs get into computers via the Internet and email and wreak havoc. 

To serve their teams well, IT Directors must do all they can to protect computers from these attacks. 

The Problem 

While at a Church IT Roundtable recently, a colleague who supports ministries nationwide told the IT Directors in 

the room that for years he has felt they go further than necessary in locking down local operating systems. I chimed 

in because I have felt that way too, and have proven 

through the many clients we serve that locking local 

operating systems down is unnecessary in most cases. 

Their thinking is that if users don’t have administrative 

authority on their local systems, they can’t 

install any software, malicious or otherwise. So they 

keep users from logging into their local computers with 

administrative credentials. That protects them from 

malware and keeps them from installing software for which they don’t have a license. 

Local computers are those where users 

do their work, and are in contrast to 

servers which users never work at and to 

which their local computers connect. 

The result, however, is that many users get frustrated when they visit a website and are told that they need to update 

a browser utility to view the site, or a friend tries to share a file with them on a USB drive that needs to install a driver 

to be accessible. In both cases, the user won’t be able to install the necessary software without the intervention of IT 

staff. Thus this policy contributes to the perception of IT staff as people who keep ministry teams from doing what they 

need to. Users feel controlled. 


October 2007 

21


Strategies Worth Considering 

The concept of protecting local systems is important, 

but locking their operating systems down misses the IT 

purpose of serving and supporting teams well. So our 

firm set out to provide the same protection without frustrating 

users. Here’s what we came up with, and by the 

way, it really works: 

• To allow users to install software updates, etc, as 

needed, we automatically log each user into their local 

computer with administrative authority. It only affects 

their local computer. That local authority is very different 

than their network authority where they are restricted as to 

which files and folders they can see, modify, and/or delete. 

• Because logging them in locally as administrators 

increases their malware vulnerability, we established a 

three-part strategy to protect them and keep them productive. 

1. Install a high-quality virus protection program locally 

on every computer. We chose McAfee (www.mcafee. 

com) because it leaves the local operating system alone 

and only does virus checking, leaving as much RAM and 

processing capability as possible for other functions. We 

also run all email through Barracuda Networks’ SPAM 

Firewall (www.barracudanetworks.com) to eliminate 

viruses and SPAM. 

2. We modify the registry (the registry is the operating 

systems’ database that tells it how to run) to have all 

software save files to the network rather than to the local 

hard drive or desktop. For those using notebooks, we install 

a utility, SmartSync Pro (www.regsoft.net), that very 

reliably copies new or changed files to the network every 

time they connect and login. In addition to improving the 

disaster recovery and business continuity strategy, this 

also means that local hard drives have very little on them 

that is unique and/or necessary. 

3. This is the part that is our failsafe protection. We use 

a configuration distribution tool, Ghost (www.ghost.com), 

to create hard drive images and distribute them as needed. 

In addition to dramatically reducing the time necessary 

to deploy new desktop and notebook computers, this also 

allows us to bring an infected system back online in 10-15 

minutes. So, if someone’s computer gets infected with 

malware we can’t quickly resolve, we can just rewrite the 

hard drive. 

This three-part strategy allows us to give users the 

local rights they need to get their work done while also 

giving us a quick path to fix a system if it has problems. It 

also has the benefit of reducing the IT staff workload. 

Yea, But… 

In that Roundtable there were 

churches represented with dozens— 

and even hundreds!— of computers on 

their networks. And they were skeptical. 

But I told them our firm manages 

dozens of networks that include thousands 

of computers. Almost every one 

of our desktop and notebook computers 

are set up this way, and it works very 

well. I encourage you to consider this 

strategy which will reduce your IT staff 

workload, improve your disaster recovery 

and business continuity strategy, 

protect your computers, and help your 

team feel they are not being controlled. 

Nick Nicholaou is president of 

MBS, a consulting firm specializing in 

ministry computer networks, operational 

policies, and CPA services. You can 

reach Nick via email (nick@mbsinc. 

com) and may want to check out his 

firm’s web site (www.mbsinc.com) and 

his unofficial blog at http://ministry-it. 

blogspot.com. 


October 2007 

23

tech talk 

Dr. J.D. (Doc) Watson - docwatson3228@quest.net 

Windows Weirdness 

I 

could have titled this month’s column several things: Windows 

Wackiness, Stupid Windows Tricks, or maybe even 

What Was Bill Smoking When He Thought of That? Have 

you noticed some of the weird “features” in Windows these 

days? Here are three of the odder ones and one more that is a 

little odder still. 

Stopping Automatic Reboot 

What’s worse than walking into your office and finding 

out that your toddler has been playing with your computer 

and accidentally rebooted it? What’s worse is discovering 

that Windows Update actually did this by design and 

without your consent! The first time this happened to me, I 

almost came unglued. Here I had a half dozen applications 

running, several documents open for reference and editing, 

everything set up the way I wanted, and then . . . poof! 

Yes, I know the reason for this. Most users simply 

won’t download updates regularly, so I guess the boys and 

girls at Microsoft 

think they have 

to help us. On the 

other hand, that’s 

what socialism is all 

about, too, right?— 

we can’t think for 

ourselves so the 

government has to 

do it for us. (Sorry 

about the political 

commentary.) 

The fact is, in my 

view, no program, 

much less an operating 

system, has 

the right to reboot my machine without my consent. I come 

from the ancient DOS world where such an act spelled total 

disaster. Besides, isn’t there something in the constitution 

about the inalienable right to not be rebooted without notification? 

Maybe not! 

At any rate, if you would like to take back control of 

your machine, open Control Panel and then “Automatic 

Updates,” and then select the “Download updates for me, 

but let me choose when to install them” option. (Fig. 1). 

Turning off FilterKeys 

Yes, if you hold down the Shift key for eight seconds, 

you have the option of turning on FilterKeys (Fig. 2), an 

accessibility feature that ignores keyboard input unless a 

key is held down a long time, but how many users actually 

need this? Okay, if some folks do, fine, but let them turn it 

on; don’t leave it on for everyone else to stumble over, like 

shoes in the middle of the floor. More than once I’ve forgot- 


ten it exists, held down the Shift key while thinking about 

something, only to have this thing pop up. 

Open Control Panel again and then “Accessibility Options.” 

Now click the “Settings” button in the “FilterKeys” 

box and clear the checkmark 

beside the “Use Shortcut” option 

(Fig. 3). Click OK, make 

sure there are no checkmarks 

in the previous dialog box, 

and click OK again. There! 

Turning off the Rotating 

Screen 

You just won’t believe 

this one! Actually, my son 

Paul, who is currently away at 

Bible College, is to be credited 

with this bizarre “tip.” 

He stumbled onto it purely by 

accident (which was actually 

the catalyst for this column). 

Try this on your computer to 

see if it works. Hold down 

Ctrl+Alt and then press the 

Right Arrow key. That’s right; 

the screen rotates 90 degrees 

to the right. Repeat this using 

the Left Arrow, which flips the screen to the left. Do it again 

with the Down Arrow to flip the screen upside down. Then 

do it one more time with the Up Arrow to bring it back to 

normal. 

Being a pretty practical 

fellow, I immediately wondered 

what you would use this for. 

Possibly while reading your 

screen while doing Pilates? 

While relaxing in the tub? Practicing 

your handstands? To be 

fair, this feature makes sense in 

Windows Tablet PC Edition, but 

apparently the folks at Intel do 

a lot of Pilates so they put it in 

their video card. If you care, go 

to Control Panel and then “Display 

> Settings > Advanced” 

and look for the “Intel Graphics 

Media Accelerator Driver” tab. 

Click the “Graphics Properties” 

button and then the “Hot Keys” 

option (Fig. 4). If you want 

to turn this feature off so you 

never hit it by accident, clear the 

checkmark beside “Enable Hot 

Keys.” 


October 2007 

25

Turning off “Windows Genuine Advantage Notification” 

If you read the above section title and then said, 

“Huh?” I don’t blame you. This actually goes further than 

just wacky; it’s more along the lines of intrusion, as it calls 

home to Mama (I guess 

that should actually be 

Papa [Bill], right?) every 

single time you boot. 

Why? To verify that 

your copy of Windows 

is legit! Yes, I can agree 

that this should happen 

the first time you started 

your computer, but 

from then on there is no 

rhyme or reason whatsoever. 

In fact, some savvy 

users out there are dubbing 

this with the strong 

epithet spyware because 

privacy (and even security) issues are being raised, such as 

exactly what info is being sent each time, for example, not 

to mention that Microsoft isn’t really being up totally front 

about what’s going on in the first place. 

So, it you want to get rid of this, RemoveWGA is a 

free utility that will do it for you. It first tells you whether or 

not WGAN is active on your system and 

then goes from there. Go to http://www.softpedia.com/get/ 

Tweak/Uninstallers/RemoveWGA.shtml, read more about 

it, and decide for yourself. 

“Windows Hot Tips 3” and More 

Windows Hot Tips 3 covers all the tips and 

other stuff presented in my column from 

January 2004 to January 2007 (including 

graphics). Order yours today (it will be 

greatly appreciated). Like its predecessors, 

it makes a great quick reference because it’s 

divided into sections, each of which contains 

related tips. 

There are two other booklets in this Hot 

Tips series, Windows Hot Tips 1 and 2. A 

single copy of each is $6.50 (sorry for the 

rise in price, but printing costs demanded 

it). Bulk prices are: $6.00 for 2-9 copies 

of the same title and $5.50 for 10 or more 

copies. If you’d like to help with costs (not 

required), add 50 cents for any number of 

booklets you order. 

Doc’s Giant Utility Collection on CD is still postage paid 

at $14 (2-5 copies $13 each, and 6 or more copies $12 each). 

Send orders to: MicroManuals; PO Box 235; Meeker, CO; 

81641. Thanks again for your faithful support. God bless. 


ACS ideas to impact 

Russ Fortier - russ.fortier@acstechnologies.com 

Roll Out the Red Carpet: 

Premiering an Online Ministry 

from ACS Technologies 

As manager of implementation services at ACS 

Technologies, I work hands-on with thousands of 

churches across America to help determine their 

ministry goals and then plan for success. I worked as an 

administrator in a church office for 14 years, so I’ve seen 

first-hand what these churches are going through. 

In speaking with them, I see that many struggle with 

taking their ministry online. It’s not that it’s an extremely 

difficult task – it’s that the churches don’t know where to begin. 

While the churches I visit primarily use the online 

church management system (ChMS) Access ACS, the advice 

I give them really can pertain to any Web ChMS. No matter 

what system it is, churches generally are going to hit the 

same roadblocks when they start their online ministry. 

When you make the decision to start, keep in mind that 

it’s best to roll out an online ministry in stages. You shouldn’t 

overwhelm the church and its staff by trying to do everything 

at once. Think of these roll-outs as a way of promoting your 

online ministry. With roll-outs scheduled at regular intervals, 

it’s less likely that your congregation will lose interest. 

Churches are essentially the people who worship, so 

start your online ministry roll-out by taking care of them. 

Begin by encouraging members and attendees to sign on, 

get a password, and explore their profiles. The members 

themselves know better than anyone what their addresses and 

telephone numbers are, so let them update their own information. 

Leaders should ask these members to focus on the information 

that is prone to rapid change – cell phone numbers, 

e-mail addresses, and places of employment. It’s also a good 

idea for members to verify birthdays, anniversary dates, and 

groups they belong to as they explore their profiles. 

Another great way to draw people in is to let them view 

their giving records online. People love to check what they 

have given to date, so if your church chooses to upload this 

information, don’t hesitate to promote that feature straight 

away. 

From there, the next feature to roll out really depends 

on the primary need of your church. If small groups are a big 

part of your ministry, start there. Your system administrator 

can train leaders to use the system’s small groups feature for 

communicating regularly, marking attendance, and viewing 

the attendance patterns of their groups. Members, in turn, can 

use the small groups feature to e-mail other members and 

keep in touch. 

For a church that is heavily event-centric, the next option 

to launch may be event registration. Keep in mind that if you 

want to receive payments online, it takes time to establish a 

merchant account and then set up your system to receive payments 

(expect 6 to 8 weeks). Thus, event registration needs 

some advance planning. 


October 2007 

27

If this sounds too complicated, you can 

opt to use your system’s event registration 

feature without online payments so that 

setup is minimal. You can always incorporate 

the payment feature later. 

With this type of roll-out, you can 

get creative. One church I visited uses the 

Access ACS event registration feature as 

a survey tool. They simply set up an event 

and use the Custom Questions option to 

create brief surveys for the congregation. 

Some churches offer prizes to members 

who sign on. I’ve seen churches give 

away iPods as incentives to use their online 

ChMS, especially if the church offers podcasts 

of sermons on their Web site. Regardless 

of what you use to entice members 

to join, stick to your roll-out plan so that 

interest doesn’t wane. 

Oftentimes, the last feature in an online 

ministry roll-out is volunteer management. 

This is due to the internal work a church 

needs to perform in order to “go live” on 

the Web. This tremendous task requires 

you to think through your church’s internal 

processes on how you use volunteers and 

recruit them. Before you can implement this 

feature in your online ministry, you’ve got 

to determine whether or not your leadership 

is ready to receive these requests. 

There’s plenty more to consider when 

scheduling online ministry roll-outs, so 

if you’re interested in discussing this 

topic, feel free to e-mail implementation@ 

acstechnologies.com. We’ve also got lots 

of great ministry ideas and tools at www. 

ideastoimpact.com. When you’re there, be 

sure to download our free white papers on 

Web ministry at www.ideastoimpact.com/ 

whitepapers. 

Russ Fortier is a church ministry 

operations expert. His advice can be sought 

regularly in various Christian publications 

and speaking engagements nationwide. He 

is manager of Implementation Services at 

ACS Technologies, the leading church management 

solution provider, serving 22,000 

clients. 


internet ministry 

Walt Wilson - waltccm@aol.com 

The Virtual 

World Dawning 

Major companies realized years ago that business 

doesn’t end at the waters edge. Nor 

does it end at the virtual waters edge as the 

new world continues to develop. 

Cisco Systems, the Silicon Valley based provider 

of network solutions owns four islands in the virtual 

world of Second Life, each populated with pavilions 

for product demonstrations, training and meetings. 

How cool is that? Start thinking church. 

Its push into virtual workspaces – where offices 

tion. The process cut cost, improved quality, and 

and conference rooms exist inside computers reduced cycle time for competitive advantage. 

instead of concrete and steel buildings – reaches With its interest in virtual environments, Cisco 

well beyond Second Life’s quirky environment of has placed itself at the forefront of workplace 

flying avatars and digital people. 

transformation now reaching a new plateau for US 

Cisco has launched a virtual site for business corporations. The goal is to enhance communications 

partners and service providers where visitors can 

and productivity as workforces go global. 

wander among product exhibits as if they were The overall effect will be a radically different 

at the local convention center. A visitor can also distributed model of the office of tomorrow. 

wander among workrooms where engineers, represented 

Is this a model for the church? Of the top 100 

by avatars, collaborate on new product fastest growing churches in America, 47 of them 

designs, despite being spread around the world. are using the multi-site distributed model. If we 

Some time ago when working on a project with look at the business model, i.e., the global model, 

Hewlett-Packard, we developed a design system the distributed church can go anywhere in the 

that chased daylight across the globe so that a project 

world. The trend in multi-site, distributed churches 

was being worked on 24/7. At the same time, utilizes the concept of bringing the gospel out of 

the product was globalized for rollout across the the single church fortress into the community. The 

world without having to be regionalized over the sites can be in storefronts, industrial boxes or the 

course of a year following US product introduc- 

back of an ACE hardware store. The Sunday mes- 


October 2007 

29

sage is piped in on a big screen 

and the man or woman out walking 

the dog while drinking coffee 

can walk in and take it all in. The 

distributed modules become a 

non-threatening place to share the 

Good News by brining it out to the 

community. 

It is important to remember 

that we have transitioned from a 

push communications model to 

a pull communications model in 

America. Under the old push model, 

ABC, CBS and NBC told us 

when we would watch the news, 

for how long we would watch 

the news, and the content they 

thought was news. The networks 

pushed content out. In the emerging 

digital world, the pull model 

means I have a greater selection of 

news options not only on TV but 

also on Internet. I watch the news 

when I want, for as long as I want, 

and pick the stories I wish to learn 

about. Carried a step further, with 

TIVO and Apple I can pre-select 

my own programming and in effect 

create my own TV network 

for viewing. This is the pull world. 

The church must now consider 

how its own model must change 

and how we provide content that 

enables people to pull down what 

is of interest and relevant to their 

lives. Herein lies the importance 

of the on line digital library indexed 

by topic. The opportunity 

is to show your church in its best 

light, allowing seekers to pull 

down content. 

Cisco’s chief architect for network 

virtual environments points 

out, “The technology is now coming 

of age. It is at a point where it 

can potentially get really big.” 

Advocates say the virtual 


world offers new and convenient 

ways for people to connect 

and collaborate. It fosters 

a workplace interaction in an 

age of dispersed employment 

across multiple time zones and 

locations. Companies can save 

on travel time and costs by using 

the collaborative systems 

of the virtual world. 

For years many of us talked 

about the development of 

video for Internet but we had 

ourselves convinced we had 

a bandwidth issue. Suddenly 

YouTube burst upon the scene 

with home made videos and 

we were all shocked with 

one hundred thousand downloads 

each day. The same 

could develop in the virtual 

world. IBM’s guru of virtual 

world systems says, “Eighteen 

months ago this was considered 

insane. Suddenly it has 

become real”. 

Skeptics point out that security 

issues remain unsolved 

and virtual worlds cannot 

interact with each other. While 

some corporations have yet to 

give this idea serious thought 

others are moving very aggressively. 

IBM, which has 

a variety of special projects 

underway that allow employees 

to hold meetings in virtual 

office buildings also have chats around camp fires or out doors at lake side. Participants select from a 

variety of avatars as well as settings to hold a conference. 

IBM has noticed that their people mingle in the virtual world as they do in real life. The pre-event 

mingle gets to be very important and then there is always the meeting after the meeting where people debrief 

and chat with each other. Allowing people to visit informally regardless of location is a big feature. 

Sun Microsystems has a project underway entitled MKP20 (Menlo Park Building 20), which is a 

virtual location in addition to their current 19 brick and mortar buildings on the campus. MKP20 is set 

up with seven rooms and is being used by developers for team meetings. Other small groups are now 

beginning to use building 20 for their meetings. In the team room workers can post documents they are 

working on and can speak to each other about their work and how their piece fits into the larger project. 


October 2007 

31

It’s important to note that a Sun 

employee can attend a meeting in 

building 20 from Tokyo or London 

without leaving home. 

On any given day more than 

50 percent of Sun’s employees 

work remotely. Some report 

missing the spontaneous discussions 

that take place when in the 

office with others. In building 20 

after a virtual meeting they form 

groups spontaneously to visit and 

continue personal discussions. 

Sun executives point out that this 

is what they designed the virtual 

world for and is something that 

cannot be done with video conferencing. 

Vendors of virtual world 

software, and their investors, are 

convinced the market is about to 

explode. Forterra Systems of San 

Mateo, CA has already begun 

shipments of its virtual-world 

software and claims 20 customers 

including the US Army. 

The army is training recruits in 

checkpoint procedures by connecting 

them directly to (virtual) 

Baghdad. Qwaq of Palo Alto, CA 

reports “scores” of customers for 

their virtual-world hosting services, 

one of them being Intel. 

Church in the virtual world 

is an interesting concept. If we 

are honest with ourselves we 

must admit that Christianity has 

an image problem. The world 

perceives that we are judgmental 

and narrow-minded. The result 

is an impression that church is 

the last place you want to go if 

you have a problem. How many 

times have we heard, “church 

just makes me feel worse”? Yet 

at the same time we see so many 

seeking a relationship with God 


as evidenced by almost six-million 

Google searches daily. Put that all 

together and the opportunity the 

church has to reach seekers in the 

virtual world fills a marketplace 

niche, to use a business term. 

What are the advantages to the 

virtual world church? 

1. A seeker can explore the 

claims of Christ in anonymous 

intimacy. 

2. A seeker can explore your 

church itself 

3. Properly designed a gospel 

presentation and opportunity to 

make a decision for Christ can be 

accomplished in cyberspace 

4. The entire process acts as a 

funnel into church growth 

5. The model begins to build the 

platform for the distributed (multifacility) 

church 

6. The model also builds a global 

presence on the World Wide Web 

allowing people from anywhere 

in the world to attend and to be 

discipled. 

When Jesus said this gospel 

will be preached to the entire 

world as a witness to every nation 

(Matthew 24:14) we should 

consider that bits are a part of the 

natural landscape meaning they 

were created at the foundation of 

the world, not a recent invention 

of the Digital Age. Did He – as 

the Creator and Sustainer of all 

things, both visible and invisible, 

see the virtual world at the time 

of this statement? Evidence would 

indicate the answer is an affirmative. 


October 2007 

33

special feature 

PocketBible for 

Windows Revisited 

Like an Old Friend and More 

—Rev. Dale Durnell, 1st United Methodist Church 

I’ve been using Bible software since 1989. For the last decade or so, and always 

only a click away, was my copy of QuickVerse 4.0g which was quick to 

load, search, and use. It was an old friend. And, even though I have migrated 

through umpteen desktops (and other Bible software packages), QV4 always 

came with me. Although other companies offer more powerful programs with 

larger libraries, when I needed to perform a quick, simple, search of the Bible – I 

relied on QV4 to get the job done. 

No more. All that has changed. There’s a new kid 

on the block, and it’s called PocketBible for Windows 

from Laridian. 

Five years ago, with two new mini-tower computers, 

and a new church appointment, I also bought a 

handheld computer and went looking for Bible software 

that would run on my PDA. In answer to my 

search, I found that the folks who originally created 

QuickVerse had started a new company (Laridian) 

and they now produced a Bible software product for 

portable Windows units. So, with a new piece of technology, 

in a new setting, I began using PocketBible for 

my PDA. 

Recently, Laridian produced PocketBible for Windows 

and the same books that I owned and used on 

my PDA could be used in the new desktop version of 

Laridian’s software. What a novel idea, what a blessing: 

a desktop that could talk to a PDA and vice versa. 

When I fired up PocketBible for Windows, I 

found the interface a little different than many of the 

other programs I’ve used over the years. But, at the 

same time, I found the functionality of the program 

to be very familiar. No, it wasn’t QV4 in a new coat 

of paint, it was much more. Yes, it was still fast, and 

responsive (a really neat trick in a 32 bit environment). 

But it was also easy to use, and well let’s face it - who 

reads the manuals anyway. It was just so intuitive. 

Some Really Neat Features 

One of the really great things about a digital Bible 

is that you can almost instantly go to any location 

that you want. In many software programs (including 

PocketBible for Windows) typing Ctrl+G brings up 

a dialog box to get you where you want to go. And, 

if you would rather work through a series of mouse 

clicks, you could click the “Go To” icon on the toolbar, 

then click on the book of the Bible you want to go to, 

then on the chapter, and then the verse. 

But (and this is really slick), without any wasted 

real estate on the desktop, without opening any dialog 

boxes, all I had to do was put my cursor in a Bible 

window on the desktop and type “Jn 3.16” or “Rev 

3.7” and press “Enter.” Et voila, I was where I wanted 

to be. Yes, you can see the text appearing on your 

desktop, in the title bar of the Bible translation that 

has the focus. And, since at least a couple of the Bible 


translations available from 

Laridian include the apocrypha, 

typing “1 Macc 2.1” or “Bel” 

with my cursor on a Bible that 

includes the apocrypha immediately 

opens the appropriate 

book. And since I had two 

such Bibles available in a Bible 

window, and had “synchronize” 

turned on, both Bibles immediately 

went to the appropriate 

location. 

I loved QV4, but searching 

was always limited to the 

current translation in the active 

window. Now, in PocketBible 

for Windows, I can either 

search in as many books as I 

have open (my normal desktop 

happens to have two Bible windows 

open with three translations 

available in each window, 

as well as several devotional 

works) or in all available books (the user sets that option themselves). 

When I searched for “God is Love” I immediately found that phrase occurs 4 times in The Message, 3 times 

each in the ESV, the NASB, and the NRSV. It also occurs 2 times each in the NIV and the NLT as well as in one 

of the devotional books I have open. The search results were instantaneous which is not something I can say for 

some of the other programs I use. 

Again I didn’t need a separate dialog box. Just like the Bible “go to” feature, I simply typed “find grace,” 

“John the Baptist,” or “find Peter & Paul.” When I hit enter, the “find” dialog box opened, the phrase I searched 

for immediately shows in the data input box. Again, the results are instantly revealed. And, if I want the results 

of that search in another document, I can simply click on the “Search” menu and click “Find Results to Clipboard.” 

Is that all too cool or not? 

One of the primary uses I have for digital Bibles is to be able to copy Bible text for use in research papers, 

Bible studies, and even church bulletins or newsletters. Again, simply placing my cursor in an active Bible window 

and typing “Copy Jn 1.1-8” and pressing enter transfers the appropriate verses from the active translation 

into my clipboard. A simple Alt+Tab brings me to my word processing document and a simple paste puts those 

verses into my document. Now, that’s pretty slick by anyone’s standards. 

I’m not a big fan of notes in Bible software (they don’t transfer from one program to another, and haven’t 

always transferred from one version of the same software as the program is upgraded). I say this knowing that at 

the same time I have colleagues who would argue that Bible software without a note taking capability is inadequate 

(or incomplete). PocketBible responds nicely to the needs of the user with the ability to not only create 

notes, but to search those notes (something others could learn from). And, the notes that are created can be 

everything from simple text to fully formatted documents using html code. 

In addition to creating and searching notes, I can highlight text in my books and even search for those highlighted 

colors. For example, in the NRSV, I highlighted verse 2 of Bel and the Dragon, in Crimson. If I click the 

“Find” icon, and click the “highlight” tab in the dialog box, Bel 2 is immediately identified as being a highlighted 

text. I can search my open books for “any highlight” or only a specific color. 

The Ability to Self-Author 

A feature many of my colleagues constantly ask for is a tool to “self author” works either for their own ben- 


October 2007 

35

efit, or to share with others. Many of the big name Bible software programs have self authoring tools; the usability 

and price varies from company to company. Laridian offers two versions of their BookBuilder program – a 

basic version and a professional version that includes some additional tools to speed up the tagging process, and 

to aid in creating commercial setup programs for your books. So, do you want to build something for yourself, 

or do you want to create a book to sell. I tried both versions of Laridian’s BookBuilder programs and found them 

quite simple to use. However, as the User’s Guide for BookBuilder notes – “Tagging books is hard; running 

BookBuilder is easy.” 

The User’s Guide for BookBuilder admonishes against trying to work with Word or other word processor 

generated html code when trying to compile for BookBuilder. And, since it’s been years since I manually created 

html code, I initially ignored that warning and became frustrated with myself. But, when I conceded the point, I 

found that the process of manually generating the code gradually came back to me. When I began to work with, 

instead of against, the program it became a much easier and less stressful process. 

Working from a research paper I had created, I was able to self author that work as a PocketBible book and 

it is now readable on my desktop and on my handheld. I was able to embed the same graphics I placed in the 

original hard copy document, and the finished product contains all of my footnotes to document the many quotations 

throughout the paper. 

The Bible - Anywhere 

Now, this is where PocketBible for Windows really excels. In the old days of 16 bit operating systems and 

.ini files in the Windows directory, you could move a Bible program fairly easily from one computer to another. 

This is what has made moving QV4 from one computer to another all these 

years, so easy. But, back then we didn’t have much capacity for portability 

(an external “Bernoulli Box” was relatively huge and very cumbersome by 

anyone’s standards). 

However, with the advent of Windows 2000 and later operating systems 

that rely on the registry during installation, such portability is no longer very 

doable. For example, it was a major operation to install and move my Libronix 

DLS configuration and all of my resources from my desktop to my 

new laptop last month. 

At the same time, I got a copy of PocketBible for Windows and easily installed 

the program (and all my books) on my desktop, and on a thumbdrive which I carry with me everywhere. 

With this flexibility and transportability, I can take all my books, notes and highlighting from my desktop (or my 

PDA) and put everything on the thumbdrive on my key ring. 

Now, when I go to the library, or I travel to my son or daughter’s home, and I need to look up something in the 

Bible, or I want to work on a sermon while I’m away from home, I can simply plug my thumbdrive into someone 

else’s computer and I’m off and running. There are no registry settings to fool with, the Laridian specific 

fonts are installed with the program in the appropriate directory and the program itself gives you the ability to 

place the books for PocketBible in several locations, all of which are easily found by the program itself. 

PocketBible for Windows – Synchronized 

One area that has long been missing in the world of Bible software is how to sync between our various desktops 

and laptops and handheld computers. Laridian has cracked the code, solved the problem, and provided the 

technology. I was privileged to get an early look at the synchronization tools between PocketBible for Windows 

and PocketBible (on my handheld). It is obvious that a lot of effort and thought has gone into the process. 

Last night, I created a set of notes on my handheld, and a different set on my desktop. I created bookmarks 

and highlighted text on both my desktop and on my PDA. I then simply clicked to “Synchronize Personal Data” 

and in less than a minute my notes and bookmarks from on the desktop became part of the data on my PDA 

while the data I created on my PDA was now merged into the data on my desktop. Even my daily devotional 

reading was synchronized between where I was reading on my desktop and the handheld. Although it took me 

some time to understand the difference between verse highlight mode and word highlight mode on my Pocket 

PC, once I figured it out I found that my highlights were accurately being synchronized between my desktop and 


my handheld. The program is smart enough to know that the data needs to flow both directions; both computers 

now held the same information. 

What’s missing you might ask? Being able to run from the USB drive is very convenient if you’re constantly 

moving between machines. But, it would be nice if the synchronization feature could be used to make sure the 

occasional thumbdrive user can keep his database up-to-date with his or her desktop. Laridian says that such a 

feature would be possible in the future with their synchronization engine and technology. 

Laridian has cracked the code on being able to sync between devices running PocketBible software. And, for 

the industry’s sake, it is about time. The user community – regardless of which software package is being run, 

has long had to find work arounds to merge notes from office, home, or laptop to the handheld. Well done Laridian! 

Some Last Thoughts 

Years ago, every software package on the market (including most shareware products) came with a users 

guide. The more elaborate the program, the more detailed the book. This killed a lot of trees, but gave the user 

something to fall back on when they could not figure out how to use the program. But, as I said early on, who 

ever reads the manual anyway? Today, all we get is a help system (that may or may not be useful). Or, we’re 

referred to a website where there is a FAQ file (which also may not be anymore useful than the help file). Laridian 

has really excelled with PocketBible for Windows. The help file is extensive. It is well laid out and is very 

functional. 

One final thought – I don’t think many reviews ever talk about the EULA. Let’s face it, there are probably 

more of us who read the user’s manual than really read the EULA. But again, who reads the manual? Still, I am 

impressed with the forthright statement in the EULA that the program can be used on every computer I own, as 

long as I’m the only one using it. This is the most mature and enlightened statement I’ve seen in a long time. 

Some software packages are limited to one machine, and one machine only. 

Occasionally, a company permits installation 

on a home and an office machine computer, or a 

desktop and a laptop. But, in my case, I have a 

home machine (in my study at the parsonage), and 

an office machine (in my office at the church), and 

a laptop for portability. Now, with my thumbdrive 

– I have access to the program anywhere. And, I 

have a license to freely use this software where 

ever I am, on whatever computer I happen to be 

using. 

In A Nutshell 

PocketBible for Windows is a quick and simple 

Bible program with some unique features that 

make it easy to use and more powerful than it 

might at appear to the casual observer. Its clean 

installation process makes it easy to run the program 

from a USB thumbdrive for portability, 

and to move it from machine to machine as you 

upgrade. Synchronization of your personal data 

between your desktop and your PDA lets you take 

your Bible study with you wherever you go, and 

puts Laridian a step ahead of other Bible programs. 

Despite the emphasis on portability and mobility, 

PocketBible for Windows is a fully capable desktop 

Bible study program that anyone who studies 

the Bible would find useful. Thanks Laridian!! 


October 2007 

37

higher power with kevin 

Kevin A. Purcell - kevin@kevinpurcell.org 

Corrections, Clarifications, 

Commendation, and Challenges 

Correction 

Last month I provided an overview of PocketBible 

for Windows, the first effort at a desktop Bible 

Study package from Laridian. I have to apologize 

for some errors. First, I stated that Laridian had a 

“glaring omission”; I said that they did not include a way 

to input text references directly as nearly all other programs 

do. I was wrong. It is true that there is no box to 

directly enter a reference. There is a better method to 

directly enter references. You simply open the program and type John 3:16 or any 

other reference. If you have the Bible windows highlighted it will jump there 

directly. This is actually a very new and interesting 

concept. I missed it and I am very sorry. I think the other 

Bible Study Software publishers could learn something 

from the new kid on the block! 

Clarification 

The other correction I need to make is that I stated 

there is no content creation system in the program. That 

is both true and false. If you purchase PocketBible for 

Windows you will not have this capability directly inside 

the program by itself. This is something that is present in 

a couple of other popular packages. However, Laridian 

does offer an add-on that allows you to create books. You 

cannot make a translation of the Scripture, but you could 

create other content with it. For example, if you want 

your sermons in book format readable inside the program, 

you could purchase the add-on and create the book. I 

have not used it but I was wrong in saying it is not possible. 

It is. The version for non-profit use is $29.99 and 

a professional version is $99.99. Laridian is not the only 

company to charge for this capability; others do as well. 

In fact their basic version, which most users would want, 

is inexpensive by comparison. Finally, if you do not 

want to pay an extra fee, you can create notes within the 

program and they are searchable and can be synched with 

a PDA. Searching notes is something that is not available 

in some other packages that cost much more. 

Finally, if I left the impression that PocketBible 4 

Windows is a bad program, that is false. It is quite good. 

Please read the other more complete review of the program 

from Dale Durnell. Dale really knows his stuff. I 

was using his macros for QuickVerse back in the day 

when I still used WordPerfect. He is a good writer and 

knows a great deal about software in general but specifically 

Bible Study software. He is active the volunteer 

support community for at least one or two other Bible 

programs and has helped me a number of times. 

Throughout this article you will notice I have highlighted 

words like overview and review. The reason is I 

want to clarify that I was not really reviewing the program. 

I simply wanted to make you aware of it. However, 

my third mistake is that I lapsed into review mode 

and got a little critical about some features I did not really 

spend enough time using. Normally, I will put a program 


through the paces by preparing one of my weekly Bible Studies or Sermons 

using that software primarily. This gives it a real-world-application kind of 

experience. I was so excited about what PocketBible represented that I did not 

take the time to do that because I did not have the time. I wrote the article after 

I had already submitted another article for last month. I then asked our editor, 

Steve Hewitt, to replace that article with the overview of PocketBible because I 

was excited about it. 

Commendation 

At this point let me offer some praise to the folks at Laridian. Their program 

now does something that I’ve wanted for years. When I wrote my last 

article this innovative feature was only slated as a future update and I said I 

would write more when it was available. It is here. 

As far as I know, PocketBible for Windows is the only Bible Study software 

out there that will allow me to sync things like notes and bookmarks between a 

PC and a Mobile device. You can read about it in Dale Durnell’s article. Laridian 

has already added the feature. Way to go! Most software companies promise 

such things and take years to get them to the market place if at all. (Can 

you say Windows Vista’s revolutionary, new, super-fast, file system? Haven’t 

seen it yet. And MS has billions of dollars and a few hundred thousand of the 

best programmers in the world working for them.) So that bodes well for the 

folks at Laridian. I contacted the folks at QuickVerse who also have a desktop 

and mobile version of their Bible software and they do not have this feature nor 

does e-Sword’s desktop and mobile version. Add the fact that I also can buy a 

book for the desktop version and Laridian does not require me to buy the same 

book for their mobile version or vice versa. These are GREAT! developments. 

I hope others will follow suit. 

I am happy to make corrections or clarifications if I misstate something. 

Thanks to the people at Laridian for helping us get it right on these issues. Also 

thanks to reader Adam Coleman who is a user of Laridian’s program and also 

pointed out my error. My apologies first to Laridian for misleading and misstating 

the facts. But more importantly to you the reader. You trust us to help 

you when you are making decisions regarding where to invest your hard earned 

money in the area of Bible software. We do want to get it right. 

Challenges 

Finally, let me offer a challenge to all Bible Study software publishers. I 

have conversed via email with many different people at many of the different 

suppliers. I have also talked via phone with a few more. I have no doubt that 

they are fine people. It seems that they are truly doing their work, not with 

hopes of gaining great wealth, but rather to serve the Lord, the Christian community, 

and to put food on the table for themselves and their families. Many of 

these programmers probably could make more money with Microsoft, Adobe 

or some other big name software company. As a pastor who takes a salary for 

what I do, I recognize that, as the bible says, they too who labor in our work for 

the Lord and His church are worthy of our hire. But I have one wish. 

For years I’ve been saying that the first company to create a system that 

would allow me to synchronize notes between my PC and my PDA using 

the same books on both would do well. Now that Laridian has provided that 

functionality we get to see if I’m right. I immediately purchased the program as 

soon as I learned of its availability and had the extra coin. I’m thankful for this 

development. So now I no longer can chant that mantra. I am glad they heard 

me. (Yeah, I know. I can’t take credit for it, but let’s let that be our secret.) 

Here is a new one! I wish that the publishers of Bible Study software 

would find a way to come together and produce a Christian book publishing 


October 2007 

39

standard that everyone could get behind. 

If you’ve been reading Christian 

Computing Magazine as long as I have, 

this will sound familiar. I seem to 

remember reading a few editorials from 

Steve Hewitt in earlier days. Craig 

Rairdin from Laridian was working on 

QuickVerse back then and they were 

part of the group that came out with 

STEP, a system designed as a standard 

for Bible and book publishers. It was 

great to be able to use my QuickVerse 

STEP reader and have all of the books 

that came with it. But when I needed 

a new commentary I purchased one 

from Zondervan. The Expositor’s 

Bible Commentary was a great addition 

to my collection. And it worked with 

QuickVerse. Today there is the ability 

to license technology from many of the 

software publishers to produce works 

for their software. Or you can purchase 

book creation software as mentioned 

above and others publish books that I 

can use in one of the Bible programs. 

In order to get your book to all of different 

users of the various software 

packages, a publisher would have to 

either give it away free to the various 

companies or license all of the different software packages publishing systems and create a different one for each program. 

There is no real standardized format even though many of them use very similar technologies. 

In a world where there are over 170 Baptist denominations alone, not to mention the many other denominations, I 

guess it is no wonder that the Bible Study software people cannot get together to produce one basic standard that everyone 

wants to get behind. So until then I will have to settle for having purchased 6 copies of the King James Version so 

that I can read it in each of the different programs I have on my hard drive or PDA, because I like this book that is only 

available from Zondervan and another one which is only available from Logos and only Laridian offers synching with 

my PDA. I prefer the notes taking feature in one program but I like the original language study features from another. 

See – even I cannot agree with myself. It is a shame because they are all duplicating one another’s work and the kingdom 

of God is the lesser for it. 

As a compromise, I just wish that I could buy a book from one company and have an export feature in their software 

that would allow me to export that book and then import it into my favorite program. For example, if I bought 

Joe’s Commentary, which is only available from Joe’s Barbecue and Commentary Company, then I could export into 

standardized database format. If my favorite program could import that standardized format, I could get Joe’s Commentary 

into the other software. Joe would still get a piece of the action, but I would not have to duplicate the books I 

already own and I would not have to open multiple pieces of software. If Joe came out with a second edition, like book 

publishers do, and it was worth buying again, or if he came out with Joe’s Bible Handbook and Golf Guide, then he’d 

get more of my cash even though I’m not using his program to read his books. If the heads of all the software companies 

would like to meet together to discuss this, I’d be happy to host them at my church and feed them for free! Joe has 

already accepted the invitation and promised to provide the barbecue and sweet tea. I’ll let you know when I hear from 

all the others. We could sell tickets and make a killing. (wink) 

Oh, and by the way – if you have some orphaned STEP books lying around you want to use with a program that 

is still being developed and updated, try e-Sword. It comes with a STEP reader. Also contact your software publisher. 

They may update your STEP books to work with their current software offering. 


handheld devices 

Jim VanDuzer - jimv@laridian.com 

Better Than an iPhone?! 

It’s been a while since I’ve written an article. Frankly, 

there hasn’t been much worth writing about. But a number 

of months ago I picked up a new cell phone and headset 

that I’m extremely happy with. So happy in fact that when 

I had the opportunity to get an iPhone…I turned it down (I 

asked for an iPod Touch instead). 

The phone is the HTC S710 (VOX). I had heard about it 

before it was released but then lost track of it. I got an email 

from www.onthegosolutions.com letting me know that it was available. The phone 

is sold unlocked so it works on any network worldwide that uses SIM cards. That 


October 2007 

also means that you pay full retail for the phone (no price 

reduction for a service agreement) which is a hefty $525 

plus tax. That’s the bad news. But after having used the 

phone for about six months, that’s the only bad news. This 

phone is amazing! It’s a small candy bar design (4 x 1.97 

x 0.73) and weighs less than 5 ounces. All of that to say, it 

easily fits in your pocket. The phone runs Windows Mobile 

6 Standard. What makes this phone so great (as you can see 

from the picture) is that it has a sliding keyboard. Obviously 

it’s too small to touch type on, but it’s big enough to 

hold in both hands and use your thumbs to text message or 

even type a decent length email. The predictive typing is 

extremely responsive and good at…well…predicting what 

you’re typing. If you’ve ever used a phone with Windows 

Mobile you know that the operating system is straight 

forward and easy to use. Because of the processor on this 

phone it’s also very quick. I’ve used Windows Smartphones 

before and run into times when the operating system was 

trying to do too much and you weren’t even able to answer 

the phone when it rang. I haven’t had that happen once with 

this phone. 

There are many reviews about Windows Mobile available 

on the web so I won’t go into much detail about the 

operating system. What I will say is that this phone (and operating 

system) work as a phone first. Start typing a name or 

a phone number and your contact list eliminates everything 

not matching what you’re typing in real time. After typing 

four or five letters or numbers you’ll more than likely see 

the name you want to dial (if it’s in your contacts). Second, 

this phone handles text messaging and emails without batting 

an eye (whatever that means). The inbox on the phone 

is very similar to what you’re used to on the desktop and it 

easily handles multiple email addresses. With the keyboard 

built in you can easily respond to messages. You can set the 

phone to check for email periodically, but it does not work 

as push mail (think Blackberry). (You can load emoze (a 

free push-email service available at http://www.emoze.com) 

onto the phone and have it push email to you if you wish. 

Third this phone makes a great Bible! Obviously, I have 

PocketBible for Windows Smartphone installed. Having 

the keyboard makes me wish I were able to attach notes to 

verses…anyone know who I should talk to about having a 

feature added to PocketBible? There is also a web browser 

on the phone that works adequately. (I was able to pull up 

41

the Eagles schedule the other day while we were driving back from my wife’s family in NJ to our home in PA.) But you 

wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time browsing the Internet on this phone. Oh…and there’s a 2 mega pixel camera built in. 

Besides taking decent pictures and adequate video, there is a feature that allows you to take a small picture to attach to a 

contact. 

The phone has WiFi built in so if you’re at a Starbucks or Paneras or somewhere else with a WiFi network you don’t 

need to use your data plan to browse the Internet or get your email. You can even install Skype on the phone and use it to 

make calls (tried this in Hungary this year, but there was so much of a delay and echo that I ended up just making a regular 

call). 

The phone allows the use of a MicroSD card (cards are available up to 4GB). This allows me to load all of the Bibles I 

want for PocketBible for Windows Smartphone, and still have room to load a lot of music onto the phone. Since the operating 

system comes with Windows Media Player I can synchronize playlists and use it as an MP3 player too. This brings me 

up to the next item. If I’m going to listen to music I need a headset (there is one that comes with the phone, but since the 

phone has Bluetooth I wanted a Bluetooth headset). After doing a little bit of research I came across the Plantronics Pulsar 

590. 

I think I picked mine up for about $100, but I see that they are selling for much more than that now. The headset is Bluetooth 

enabled so I can pair it with my HTC and use it without any wires…gotta love that! It is stereo so when I’m listening 

to my music it sounds great. If a call comes in the cell phone pauses the music so I can answer the call. The headset has a 

call answer button on the side. Simply pressing the button allows me to take the call. When the call is over, pressing the button 

again ends the call and the music resumes. There are also buttons on the headset that allow me to move to the previous 

song or the next song, change the volume and mute the call. 

The headset came with a Bluetooth adapter that allows me to plug into any device with a normal headset plug and use 

the headset without wires with any device. There’s also a wire that can go directly to the headset if needed and an adapter 

that allows me to plug into those strange two holed jacks that you find on airplanes. I like this headset so much that I use it 

for all of my phone calls at work. 

I’ve used this headset when I’ve gone into NYC on business…two hour bus ride each way. I used it to listen to music 

while I was walking in the city and used it for phone calls, all without draining the battery. I think I’ve only completely 

drained the battery once and that was because I was using it away from home over a weekend and didn’t plug it in until 

Tuesday when it ran low. I’m very impressed with everything about this headset! Combined with my HTC phone I’ve 

found something that I think I’ll hold on to for quite a while. (Even passing over an iPhone!) 

Admittedly this phone isn’t as exciting as the iPhone, but some of the things that make it better for me than an iPhone 

are 1) the size…it’s really small…it fits in the pockets of my jeans, 2) the ability to install software…you can use www. 

ipocketbible.com on your iPhone, but only when you have network access…I can load PocketBible on my HTC and use it 

no matter where I am, even if I’m on a plane and 3) the fact that I can get to the SIM card and switch it to a different phone, 

or put a SIM card from another network in this phone…my understanding of the iPhone is that it’s really hard, if not impossible 

to get to the SIM card. I’ve gone through a lot of cell phones and this one is by far my favorite…for now. 


scott howard’s hotPics 

Scott Howard - scottdhoward@gmail.com 

Blog Sites and More 

It is hard to believe that fall is already here and that it is 

the middle of October. The leaves are starting to fall, 

the Indianapolis Colts are back at it again, and people 

are already starting to talk about the winter holidays. 

Speaking of October, I am excited for the final release of 

the latest Ubuntu operating system that is going to be released 

on October 18th which is called Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy 

Gibbon. Whether you choose to use Windows, Linux, or 

Mac as your operating system of choice is up to you, but 

if you are thinking about buying a new computer anytime soon I would hold off 

until shortly after the holidays to see if you can find an after Christmas special and 

possibly even service pack one will be available in the first quarter of 2008 for 

Vista. If you don’t do Windows or you’re just interested in 

trying something new and you have a question about Ubuntu 

or Vista, send me an email and I will help you out in any way 

that I can. 

Again, I would like to encourage anyone that has a blog 

or a site that they really think would be great to share with 

the Christian Computing reader base to send me a link and I 

can look it over. I consider us a great resource to each other 

and I know that there is a lot of information out there that I 

could never pick through all by myself. It has been a privilege 

to be able to interact with different readers and to share 

useful, interesting, and fun things with everyone out there. 

www.korministries.com is a site for the ministry that 

Ryan Dobson started back in 2002 for training leaders that 

will spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Kor started out as 

a ministry to the skate community and now they speak in 


October 2007 

places all over the world. Ryan and 

his wife Laura both have blogs on the 

site that you may want to check out. 

You can also get on the forum that 

they have if you’re a social bug. There 

is an online store as well which has 

three books that Ryan has published. I 

have never read any of his books but 

they look like they are good and I may 

just have to do that sometime. From 

the look of it, I would say that their 

podcasts get the most attention, so 

definitely listen to their podcasts and 

see what you can apply from them. 

www.thinkbroadband.com can be 

a very useful and interesting site if 

43

Read CCMag’s Review of our LogosGiving Service!Visit 

www.ccmag2.com/logos/0205coverstory.pdf 

you’re wanting to stay up 

on the broadband realm. 

Thinkbroadband is a UK 

based site so there maybe an 

occasional fact or opinion 

that is related to that region 

in particular but the majority 

of the info can be applied 

anywhere and I have always 

felt like it is good to get a 

diversified mix of information 

and news from various 

geographic locations 

anyhow. So, just because 

you live in the continental 

United States, Germany, 

or even somewhere in the 

Eastern Pacific doesn’t 

mean you can’t apply this 

knowledge. It can be easy to 

get wrapped up in our own 

little world that we forget 

about what others are doing 

in distant lands. Of course, 

these days, hardly anywhere 

is considered distant with 

the travel luxuries that we 

can so easily partake in. So 

make sure you check this 

site out as it has everything 

from beginner guides to 

how broadband works to 

problem solving and reviews 

of all different types 

of hardware. 

www.bit-tech.net is a 

site that I just absolutely 

love. I really enjoy reading 

just about everything on this site except for maybe the gaming stuff since I am not much of a 

gamer. I have found this site to be a very nicely laid out site. Kudos to the design and makeup team. 

As far as content, they specialize in modding (the term that is now being used for people that modify 

computers) but as you will soon see, they cover a lot more including games, shopping for technology 

products, and the latest happenings in the IT industry. Another cool benefit that they have is that they 

do tutorials on different subject areas to either get you started in the right direction or to deepen your 

understanding in a particular niche. To find those tutorials you can just click on the bits tab. If you are 

a techie or think you may want to become one someday, you may want to go ahead and add www.bittech.net 

to your bookmarks/favorites in your browser as you won’t have to cipher through a bunch of 

unnecessary articles that are unnecessary like you would on some news sites that are out there. 


www.eiae.org has information that 

I believe just about everyone this day 

and age could benefit from. I know 

that many people including myself 

fail to recycle in a lot of ways that we 

could if we would just take a little bit 

more time. The benefits to recycling 

are a lot bigger than some may think. 

The Electronic Industries Alliance 

has made it so easy to find out where 

we can go in our local area to drop 

off our electronics so that they can be 

reused by others. Whether it may be 

that they don’t have the advantage we 

have of having the latest and greatest 

or that someone else can use the 

resources within those electronics for 

other needs. Recycling can also help 

improve our natural environments 

which our Lord has given us that we 

should appreciate so much. Look it 

over and see if you can help out by 

participating and make sure you look 

over the Questions for Recyclers page 

as there are probably some specifics 

you need to know that I may not be 

aware of for your area. 

www.micropersuasion.com is a 

personal blog by Steve Rubel. Steve is 

a knowledgeable man when it comes 

to technology, media, and marketing. 

Better yet, when you start to 

mix those three together he would be 

considered a champion of that realm. 

If you are interested in the combination 

of these topics then you’re sure 

to enjoy keeping up with his posts. 

Don’t worry, he is not one that only 

posts once in a blue moon, his blog is 

pretty active. It looks like Steve prefers 

Typepad as his blogging platform 

and most importantly he is one of my 

fellow gmail comrades. You can also 

check out Steve in Facebook, LinkedIn, 

and Flickr. 


October 2007 

45

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