Writing, Transcribing and Archiving Your Sermons

March 25, 2013 — Leave a comment

This is part 3 of the Increase Your Sermon’s Lifespan series. In the last post for this series I discussed how to record your sermon.

Recording your sermon is the most important thing you can do to extend its life. However, if recording your sermon (video and audio) is the most important thing, having digital text is a very close second.

Photo Credit: Sylvain Mazas cc

Although audio and video are on the rise, text is still the most popular form of learning, transmitting, and storing information.

Having you message written digitally will resource every idea coming up in this series that does not deal with video or audio.

3 ways to write down your sermon:

1) Manuscript

When you are preparing your sermon, write it out in a word for word manuscript. Having a full manuscript of your message saved will allow you to do so much more with it. You will be able to either use the entire message or copy and paste portions of it for whatever you wish. Continue Reading…

In Writing archiving, Evernote, transcribing

5 Awesome Ways Evernote Makes A Pastor’s Life Easier

March 4, 2013 — 6 Comments

Evernote is my digital brain. It is by far the app I use most, because it has made my life as a pastor so much easier!

Photo Credit: Joe Ross cc

Here are just 5 of the ways Evernote has simplified my life and boosted my productivity:

1.Paperless Office

My office used to be cluttered. Stacks of paper would pile up on my desk, because I knew I would need to reference them later and I didn’t have time to properly file them.

Evernote has now allowed me to go completely paperless in the office and at home. Plus, I can look through my digital file cabinet anywhere on my computer, iPhone, iPad or online.

I use the built-in Evernote function on Genius Scan to take pictures quickly sync them to Evernote. Amazingly, Evernote allows you to search for text in a picture. So if you scan a document and want to find it later, no problem. Just search for something in the document and it will pop up in seconds. Continue Reading…

In Sermon Prep, Technology Apps, Evernote, Illustrations, iPad, iPhone, Quotes

The Secret to Getting Ahead on Sermon Preparation

January 8, 2013 — Leave a comment

Pastors, do any of the following describe you?

You are constantly worried about what you are going to preach next.
You often find yourself pulling out a Saturday night special (finishing your sermon just before you preach it).
Nobody in your church knows what you are preaching about next (staff included).
You often feel overwhelmed, and have occasional anxiety attacks.
You feel like your messages are stale – like you keep preaching about the same things or you have run out of creative ideas.
You feel like you never have enough time to work on your messages.

If any of the above descriptions describe you, you need to get ahead on your sermon preparation. This article will show you how. Continue Reading…

In Free Stuff, Sermon Prep, Writing Best year yet, Brainstorming, Creative team, Evernote, Get ahead, Getting away, message prep, Preaching calendar, sermon prep, Sermon writing, Stress, Teaching team, Writing

I love my iPhone. I tell her all the time. Unfortunately, she doesn’t love me back.

If you have an iPhone and you are a pastor like me, you are probably always looking for the newest and best apps for your iPhone to make it even better. I thought I would share my opinion the best apps in the iTunes store for pastors. Also, Android users, don’t worry, most of these are available for Android as well.

As I was making this list, I realized I had way too many Apps for one blog post. Read Part 2 here.

Note: The links are affiliate links, which means I get a small commission on products sold at no cost to you. I barely make any money from this. It is just a tiny way to help cover the cost of keeping this blog running. I will also never recommend a product I don’t use. So if you click a link, thanks for the support!

Here are my favorite apps in no particular order:

Downcast – The best podcast listener out there. I love listening to podcasts! Downcast syncs all my favorite podcasts. The best feature is the ability to increase the playback speed. I can cut a 30 minute podcast to 10 minutes. It takes a little getting used to, but our brains process things we hear a whole lot faster than we can speak. This helps me listen to all my favorite preachers and leadership podcasts. This is a must for all pastors who want to continue growing.

Evernote – Evernote helps me never forget a thing. I add everything to Evernote, articles, blog ideas, sermon illustrations, quotes, meeting notes, receipts, etc. I have a database in Evernote of every sermon I have ever preached.

Archives For Evernote