Issue 3: Holy Week

This issue of Mobile Ministry Magazine (MMM) is deliberately begin set against the backdrop of Holy Week. The tools and technology should always take a backseat to the faith and its impacts, but as we find even in this famous week – the tools used (the whip, crown of thorns, nails, cross, and stone) speak just as loudly as the participants in the story.

Discover

In remembrance of this week, we want to once again highlight a few pieces we’ve posted previously around this time of year – looking at the story of the end of Holy Week/Passion Week through the lens of mobile.

…Finally making it to the safe house, I pop my duped SIM into the emergency mobile and shoot some MMS messages to my wife and kids. I wanted them to see that I was ok. Hopefully, their devices aren’t being traced, but I have little time to care. I just need them to know that I’m ok. And then, almost like a symphony, all of us in the room hear all of our mobiles go off at the same time – all of us received the same MMS message. Was it them? Did they know where we were at after all? No one dared to even open the message, let along click off the prompt that a message was received. One of the guys who ran out of the house when the messages initially came in reentered the room saying that everyone has received the message. “Open it, look what they are doing to him!”…

Read the rest of Good Friday, Narrated Through a Mobile Lens

…A few minutes later the mobile beeps. This time just an SMS, and from the mobile held by the women. It was a short message, but stirred all kinds of emotions in all of us when it was read, “He is risen!” First one, then a few more started wailing. The pain of Jesus leaving just a few days ago, and how this – “He is risen” – what does it mean? Was he telling us the truth after all? Is this what it all meant…

Read the rest of Easter Sunday, Narrated Through a Mobile Lens

Observe

There are always several projects happening in and around the mobile ministry (#mobmin) space. Some of these don’t get the kinds of eyes they should as they really are breaking ground in familiar and not-so-familiar ways.

Find a Bible by the Digital Bible Society

This issue, we are going to point out projects by the Digital Bible Society (here). Really neat things happening, and at the same time, some of the items happening with the DBS Projects are similar to others you might be familiar with.

Now, you might be wondering what kinds of projects have happened in the past so that you can do something forward. In this look back at digital Bible software at Church Mag, you can get some great ideas. There are a lot of areas worth exploring and experimenting towards. We’d also recommend looking into enrolling into the MMF Mobile Ministry Training Course at Cybermissions. Its just getting started, and there are always lots of ideas for projects that come up during the weekly discussions.

Relate

In our April videocast, we looked at some mobile items of concern to churches:

The questions in that videocast were also addressed in an interview that’s since been published at Capterra. Take a look at our responses, along with those from a few others in the church software/mobile space.

Check out older videocasts and interviews, or subscribe so that you can be automatically notified of upcoming videos, via our YouTube channel.

At the recent EMDC Conference, a Mobile Missions Manifesto was published by our co-laborers at Mobile Advance. View at Vimeo

EMDC Mobile Ministry Plenary from the Mobile Ministry Forum.

Release

The #mobmin Event Calendar is an easy-to-subscribe listing of events happening in and around mobile ministry. Its not every tech event, just those which might make the most sense to those of you looking at this intersection of faith and mobile technology.

Upcoming events include:

Learn more and subscribe to the #mobmin Event Calendar. If you’ve got events not present on the calendar that should be, get in contact with us so that it can be added.

Intersection

At the intersection of faith and mobile technology, its more than just the tools or even our voice. Its about how this precious faith causes us to see, hear, behave differently – better – towards God and our neighbors. The cross and the stone demand a response. Mobile ministry is just a means we use to provoke you to see that.

Thanks for tuning in to Issue 3. Remember, you can read past issues, or even check out other presentations and experiments as they continue to happen.

If you are interested in commenting, please use any of the contact methods noted. If you’d like to contribute something which could be highlighted, or would like to lend financial support to MMM, please also utilize those contact methods. Consulting services and speaking engagements are available – as are some other limited-service engagements.

Stay tuned to social media and the conference circuit as MMM will be keeping the vision going. Or, get MMM via email or RSS so that you are notified when the new issue publishes immediately.

This month’s headline image comes from a gallery of photos shared over at GooglePlus.