Mobile Ministry Magazine

Let me add something to that last post:
I do not mean the post below to say that there is more revelation that God will give outside of scripture or some knowledge of God that is beyond what is inside of the Word. (specifically the section where I said: "The same with our relationship with God. Yes, there is this base level knowledge we can come to.")

To say that is (in my opinion and via what I have gleaned from Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Revelation) biblically wrong. I do believe that in the context of our life experiences, that we will further understand Scripture and the point(s) that God would have us understand about Him and His character. But not to the point of basing life principles on something that Scripture does not speak on clearly/contextually.

So please, don't think of me as a heritic; I do watch a lot of cartoons and have gotten plenty of parable-like wisdom comparing cartoons and the Word. And I will therefore not go to cartoons before going to the Word. In no way will I ever state, or walk, that there is knowledge of God that can be gain outside of scripture. Everything in our lives should be judged by the standard/context/text of Scripture. If it is not clear to me via the Word, I know that I must spend more time in prayer until it becomes clear. And then check my clarity with the Word that I have been given; even going so far to asking people who have more wisdom (not just knowledge) than I as to what their take is on the matter.

I just wanted to make that clear, before I would receive any emails that state otherwise. Blessings to all.

Was reading this really neat review at All About Palm about this new lanucher called Initiate...
an aside: within all operating systems, there is an aspect called the shell. This is where we interact with programs, and how we know what is going on. Some people call it the general user interface, or GUI. Within the Palm operating system, the shell is called a launcher, since its job is to launch programs. There are many of these launchers, and they are all designed to help someone get more use out of the applications adn functionality within their device

..this new launcher called Initiate and its attention to simplicity had me thinking about the Word and how it is designed to help us better interact with God. The weirdest parallel with Initiate is how it is designed, it does simple for those who need simple, but if you need more, you just have to look deeper.

The same with our relationship with God. Yes, there is this base level knowledge we can come to. I call it the Samartitan Woman level. Bear with me if you will; the Scripture gives no indiciation that the Samaritian Woman in John 4 ever took the water that Jesus offered. Yes, she was excited and told people about Him. But there is no indiciation that she herself dove in. On the other hand, there was Peter, who was also offered a water expereince with Jesus. In his case, he had to get off the boat in order to know Jesus. Walking on the water is a bit more complicated than drinking water, but the concept of walking by faith is the same. Getting to a closer relationship with God is always able to happen, we just have to make the decsion to get off the boat and interact with Him.

Now, Peter never made it to Jesus on that end (doubt and storms will dampen our faith from time to time); but making that step said to Jesus that he was at least willing to attempt to grow. So there was nothing holding Jesus back from saving him when Peter's faith started to wane. This is the interaction of relationship that I see in scripture that God calls us all to. And at the same time, the key is making the decsion to dive deeper into Word to find out how God wants us to walk with/in Him.

Just updated the links on the right side, added a NEW gif (care of VisionNext and Google) so that one can see the new links while they are new (plus the list gets long). Feel free to submit more links. Per usual, I consider all, but not all make it (and just because they arent there now doesnt mean they are rejected, there really only so much time in the day). Peace and blessings to all.

Just wanted to make a post talking about a well designed Palm-oriented site called Palm Insider. I have been taking a good look at it over the past few days and it seems quite well put together. Ironically, there seems to be a lot of new mobile sites popping up here and there. It seems that more and more, people are moving from established sites, to those that offer something better.

I see that when it comes to the Word actually too. The people of Isreal seemed to go through these lulls of wanting something new from their experience with God. Unfortunately, or fortunately with a caveat, God doesn't change and requires just the basics. When the people did something contary to the basics, or wanted something more, her came a prophet or king who pushed people back to the established Word. In the New Testament we see that in Acts when people are preaching a different gospel than that the Apostle preached. Timothy even being encouraged to study diligently enough so that these splinter churches with false doctrines would not move him or those he taught from the Gospel of our Lord.

I don't write that to say that any one web group is wrong or right. Only that we all have different needs that different sites attend to. It is my hope that Mobile Ministry Magazine would not be just a religious technology site, there are plenty of those, but that this would be an equipping station, an encouragment station. Something different that ministers to the needs of those in the ministry/missionary fields, and that would equip those coming into those fields. When I looked at Palm Insider, I had the same feeling. It would not be just a Palm site like PalmInfocenter or Brighthand, but there would be something different there that attended to the needs of a specific group. I wish them success, and look forward to seeing what they bring to the table.

Ok, I know that I have been infrequent here, and that has had to do with work. But I wanted to say, just in case anyone else got the idea that it was me; I am not the newly drafted Net Antoine Wright. Yes, same name, but I am not him. Plus, I am a Sixers guy, no way I'd let myself be drafted by the Nets if I played NBA ball.

Normal posting will resume in a few days. I have just gotten a new apartment and am coming up on a deadline at work. If you come across a story that would be great to share on MMM, please email it in, and I will make sure to post it with your name as the headliner. Peace and blessings to all and thanks for visiting.

In another email sent in, Kevin from Kansas wrote in to say hello and mention that two of his clients offer bible-related software for your PDA, Laridian and Beiks. Now, I have mention Laridian and their MyBible and PocketBible software, but Beiks I have not mentioned. Beiks offers a ton of dictionaries and lexicons at great prices. For example, I got a spanish-english-spanish dictonary bundle from there for less that $20 at the time. I also have the Strong's Concordiance, Vines Expository, Eastons Bible Dictionary, Thompsons Bible Dictionary, and a few others. Check out Beiks if you are interested in lexicons. And tell them that Kevin sent you.

PS. Be sure to check out Kevin's site, True Believers, it is an excellent look at politics and religion in Kansas.

Hello all; Top of the morning to you. I am still up, and after a long weekend, I am back and ready to bring some good news. Here is something sent in by Tien concerning eBible for PalmOS and where it is going. This is great news, so check it out if you need a bible reader, or interested in what other readers are out there.

Bible+ is a great program, but for some of us, assess to commercial references are very important as well. Thus, there is Laridian's bible software, and Thomas Nelson's Ebible for PDAs. (http://www.ebibleforpda.com).

One of the biggest sore point though, is Ebible was released for the Palm despite having many bugs (Tanker Bob was one of the beta testers, apparently). One of the bug is especially crippling --- a memory leak bug that crashes the program after using it for awhile, requiring a soft reset to regain proper function (if you run it after crashing out, it will work, but then it will crash again in progressive shorter periods of time. Thus, soft resets will eventually be required anyway). This has angered many customers. But, here's a news you might share in Mobile Ministry:
http://www.ebiblepda.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=20. Looks like they are targeting an update for the Palm in July. Hopefully this will resolve all the current problems.

I know that I am late in doing this, but I have added PalmSolo's website to the right side links column. If there is a site that you think would be great to add for the right side links area, please send an email with the link and why you think it should be added. Please know that I will pray about the links before adding them.

I confess, there was a good chunck of time in the recent past where no matter what the gadget was, I wanted it. If for no other reason but to have it to play with, I wanted the latest. It didnt matter how much it was either, I just wanted it. I would visit sites like Engadget, that talk all the time about new and weird gadgets, and some of them I just wanted.

Things really changed for me last fall when my Palm Zire71 got wet and became inoperable. I was no longer able to rely on it for phone numbers, meeting times, or anything else. I was without an appendage, and it made me feel like less of a person. Like I had nothing else to offer people. Unfortunately, or maybe a blessing in disguise, I was still writing for BargainPDA and had to come up with articles each week that were techie focused, even though my only techie tool was my phone.

For that two months, I had to come to realize that gadgets are not everything. Yes, tech has its place and it really is a nice tool to have. But I have coveted the functionality of it so much, that I had made it into an idol. That was not healthy, and sadly, there was no one who really spoke to me about it. Most people just took that as who I am, and didnt give any rebuke whatsoever.

When I got a refirb Tungsten E from my fiance after Thanksgiving, I made a promise to myself that I would not let tech be an idol again. I would be functional, but also know when to put it down. Items would have their place, but their place would not be everywhere. I learned to put down my PDA, and leave it down. I learnded to stay out of Circuit CIty and other places, and pick up the Word. It was and is a hard process to make sure that I have the right perspective about these devices and their abilities.

There are days that I do feel that even with MMM, that I need to slow down and let tech be tech. That is part of the reason why you will notice that some days there is only one post, and other days there are up to five. Sometimes, those days with one post is not for lack of news, but because I am disciplining myself to not get so tech speaking that I lose the purpose of this site to equip believers with the tech tools needed for ministry. By no means is this site necessary to reach the world for Chist. As talked about the if 'If Paul Had A Blog' series, Paul didnt need this to make the world change. He only needed the Spirit of God and a willing heart on his end. I would urge all of you that as you come to MMM and read the different postings, that you take inventory of your life and make sure that you are not making tech, or anything else an idol. Yes, it is hard to make that break, but I am proof, as well as PalmSolo, that devoting time to God and family are always more rewarding that bragging about the latest gadget or program.

My friends used to tell me that I talked a lot about vision and the steps that I was doing to get there. And then there was sometimes those people with whom I wanted to show how my brain worked and that was never very successful. For one reason or another, I could never get my mind mapped in such a way that others could follow my thinking. Well, with the right software on your computer or PDA, this mind mapping can be wasil done. And even make it easier to give lessons, display your vision, or just make sure that you are making a solid purchase decsion.

PocketPC Thoughts ran a story about a program called Inspiration that works on both PalmOS and Windows Mobile devices. Inspiration is marketed as a tool for students and teachers, but if you think and plan, mind mapping software is always a good thing to check out. Click here to visit the Inspiration website and learn more about this program. There is a trial version availiable, and to purchase there are some options for educational and business users. Check it out, and get that vision upon the tablets of your heart so that you may walk and not faint.

Sorry to be flooding the posts with upgrade notices, but it seems that everyone wants your PDAs at the same time. Here is a post from PocketPC Thoughts that mentions that HP Releases a ROM Upgrade For hx2000 Series.

Right now there is just the English download and it is 23.3MB in size. There are a ton of fixes and a few enhancements. It is for the hx2700, hx2400 and hx2100 devices. This will totally wipe the memory from your device and cause you to establish a new partnership with your PC. It is strongly recommended you do not restore from a pre-upgrade backup to get your data on the device...Read More

Reading some PDA websites lately has been an excellent lesson in administration and purpose. I have also finished my reading of 1 Chronicles and can see some parallels in the way Isreal was organized by David with the way that companies such as palmOne and PalmSource have done business.

THe most important thing that I have noticed is the very hard stance on vision and following established leadership. In the case of David in 1 Chronicles, he many times said that he wanted to do this or that to bring honor to his father's house. In the same way, leadership in place at PalmSource has made the assessment that if they are to stay a leader in mobile technology, that they will have to live up to the high standards created by the Palm company of just 10 years ago.

Following that, I read one interview that talked about product development and noticed the care to detail they took in making sure that people just didn't get features, but they were really empowered to improve themselves with the technology. Judging from the success of the Treo PDA-phone line, I can say that they are doing a great job. And even still, in Chronicles, David (and the author) spent a lot of time talking about the people who were responsible for maintaining the court, maintaining the temple, and even who would sing psalms. The intent being that if these matters were taken care of, people could concentrate on living their lives for God, instead of being wrapped in doing things that didnt always lead to life in Him.

Now, all of this organization was not without some dissention. Within some of these discussions, there are people who make comments that offend, or short-change what the board or leadership thinks. This is probably pretty discouraging to leadership. In the case of David, he became his own worst enemy when he allowed pride to erode the confidence that he had in God to take care of his people. In some ways, I think that Chronicles probably shouldnt have been written. The assessment of Isreal throughtout the book contradicted what God spoke to David thru Gad when David was told that his pride would cause him to have to choose the fate of Isreal. At least in his case, he chose the hand of God versus the hand of man. In the boards, man runs things, and people will only get a fair shake as it relates to the rules that have been put in place (reminds me too of the scripture that says that the law is made for the lawless).

All in all, I think that for companies today, as much as it was for David in his day, that to walk without a clear vision dooms the people who call you leader. I believe in this time that everyone should have some type of vision; whether that is to run a company, or when to switch lanes on a highway. Without vision, people will have no reason to walk with you, let alone buy your product. Good to see that companies are interested in sharing their vision with those who purchase their products.

Here are links to some of the discussions I have been reading:
Mike Mace at All About Palm
Rob Haitani at TreoCentral
Mike Mace and John Cook at Mobile Read

Another one of those Paulie things; I just wanted to say thanks to a ton of you who support Mobile Ministry Magazine, talk about MMM here and there, and encourage me with email. Sammy, Andrew, Adrian, J Doss, Kevin, PalmSolo, BobR, Life Faith, and everyone that I didn't mention in name. I thank all of you for your continued encuoragement and notes of interest. I hope that MMM can grow and be a place of blessings for a long time.

In some exciting news for those who use the Windows Mobile operating system, NetFront, an alternative web browser to Internet Explorer, has been updated. Mobile Read has a good clip of the features and news here.

Ok, so maybe I was a bit out there saying exciting news. But if there is a browser that will let you stay on top of MMM, who am I to say that there isn't some excitement :)

PalmOne has posted Version 1.1 of the Tungsten T5 Updater. It addresses the following issues:
New in version 1.1:

* Resolves problems caused when synchronizing large databases and files
* Fixes problems in the Calendar relating to Birthdays or recurring notes
* Fixes an issue with the Find feature and Calculator application
* Provides non-volatile file system improvements

Also included from version 1.0 (released October 2004):

* Fixes a problem in the Calendar that can cause a crash when the default view is changed from Agenda to Month View
* Fixes an issue in Contacts when using the Menu drop down list for new entries
* Adjusts the Palm OS® soft keyboard to prevent system instability in certain situations

I have installed the update and can verify that it does very nice for my T5. I went from 29.2 megs free to 35.4 to give an idea of how much space that one adds. I have also investigated the Find feature and can confirm that it works just fine. Make sure to follow the directions to the tee as if you mess up the ROM then you will end up with a doorstop or paper holder.

To download the Tungsten T5 Version 1.1 update, visit PalmOne's website via this address:
LINK WAS TOO LONG, CLICK HERE TO GET TO IT

One of my many jobs outside of my day job is being a webmaster for the Bible+ website. It is a very good community, with a nice amount of development on a free bible reader for the PalmOS. Probably one of the most interesting aspects of the development of Bible+ though, has been the fork of another bible reader that uses the same bibles that Bible+ uses.

The S60 Bible Reader is essentially Bible+, but made for phones running the Symbian Series 60 operating system. For the most part, it is just a simple port of an older version of Bible+, but like the main Bible+ community, there is a large amount of support and work that goes into this bible reader. And because it uses the same bibles that Bible+ uses, there is not very far to go in order to find a suitable translation. It is lacking support for displaying Chinese, but like most good things, this too will come in time. If you are outside of the US, you probably have a Symbian phone. Check out S60 Bible Reader and see if it would be something really good for you. Who knows, Jesus might even call you while you are reading Matthew 28:18 to give you more instructions.

This is today's scripture:
“ For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? ” (Mark 8:36)

I imagine that more often than not, the pursuit of convenience puts us in the position that we are willing to give up time and attention to other areas of our life. I look at a person like PalmSolo who has made the decsion to make sure that Jesus is more exhalted than the technology that he keeps. I have been just reading his website over the past few weeks and it has been amazing to see how much he has gotten back when he gave up his "world" of technology this and that. To see a person be able to give as much energy to making sure that their technology is properly submitted to Christ is just encouraging to me.

Other people that I meet online have also share this same philosophy. People like Alex Pruss and Gary Chan have made availiable many resourcecs to Christians all over the world, not to exhalt themselves, but so that Christ is preached to all. I hope that MMM allows me to grow in that application of wisdom as well. Many times, I do not have content to write about, but just meditating on what these men, and other men and women, have done with the Word and technology makes me relieved that the Net has some powerful light shining on it.

I encourage you to check out the links on the right side and see what else the Holy Spirit has spawned on the net. I am sure that you too will be blessed by those who dropped the world and took up the Word.

Writing about Paul having a blog has me thiking lately more critically about how churches can integrate mobile technology into different functions. Granted, I don't think that we are at the point yet where people would like a tract sent to their phone or PDA via Bluetooth, but with the rise in computer technology in many churches and mission fields, it pays to take an assessment of where one can really go with the technology.

More and more, I find that in visiting a church, especially smaller ones, that there is some use of PowerPoint during praise and worship to show the lyrics to songs, or to show announcements. Some churches even go so far as to make 'commericals' with which to drum-up interest for an upcoming conference or related function. This is all well and good; but what if churches would 'push' that information to those in the congreation who have PDAs or TabletPCs. Using wifi or Bluetooth, this would be possible in may church settings. There would, however, need to be careful teaching and administration of this functionality. As if abused, members will easily talk about invasion of privacy and/or being spammed.

A very big consideration before doing anything 21st century like this, is how to extend it as a service, and not allow pride or gadget envy to become the attitude of the people. Having training workshops on the healthy use of technology, doing small things like making the suggestion that "for mobile device users, you can download the flyer or commerical from the church website" would help ease that integration. My personal favorite would be a class that would teach how to evangelize and church build with the help of mobile technology. There you could get into the facny points of technology, but would also have a means where there is no choice but to teach someone else when the class is over. Much like when the Apostles received the Holy Spirit and were all but compelled to tell the world about Jesus; have a full understanding also puts you in position to bless others with appropriate technical know-how.

Now before I sound too much like a revolutionary and say "down with paper, up with your Palms!" There has to be wisdom applied in all levels of technical know how. Just because you have 'x' number bibles of varying translations, several dictionaries, and everything musical piece Jesus produced in 2001 doesn't give you the right to hoard that information over people. In my reading of 1 Chronicles 21, David took an assessment of the number of Isrealites before a battle, when he was clearly supposed to be relying on God. And because he took that assessment, and got the wrong number since two tribes were not counted; Isreal met defeat in the battle. In the same way, having these tools are great, but its speaks a lot when we can not get a big head about what we have. I am ever guilty according to my fiance. Counting what you have only takes the glory away from God who gave it to you. Yes, the point is to use the technology. And you should know what you have at your disposal. But when it comes to how it is best used, only God can say what's best there as He blessed you with it. Anything else would be setting yourself up for a battle and repentance.

I have been thinking again about Paul and that blog again (see part 2 here). And this time, I wanted to highlight that although Paul didnt have a blog with which to disperse his letters, the letters that he wrote do provide some really neat frameworks for making a successful blog towards your ministrial areas. Since this is in part an applications exercise, I will have to lay down some tools of the trade.

First off, since this is Mobile Ministry Magazine, the tools have to be mobile. Either a smartphone-type PDA (such as a Treo 650 or Audiovox SMT 5600) or a combination of PDA and phone (in my case I use the palmOne Tungsten T5 and a Sony Ericcson T616 - they connect using Bluetooth).

Once you have your means of getting online established, you will need a program to facillitate the matter. From your desktop, you can set up a blog via a service such as Blogger.com or Typepad.com. This is probably the most fun step as you will want to design a blog that will be easily updatable and will be easily remembered in the minds of your visitors.

On your PDA, you will want to look at a program called Mo:Blog (or similar blogging tool). This program will enable you to post to your blog from your PDA. Using the manual, you can setup Mo:Blog (or whatever you are using), to create the posts that you will be able to upload to your device.

Ok, now that you have the tools, here are the rules. The EFF Legal Guide for Bloggers is the basis for the rules that you will be needing to govern your posting online. And yes, according to scripture, one must obey the law of the land (read this excellent post at Holy Culture Radio that explains that point). Knowing the rules will keep you from doing something that would get you fired, or sued. Understand that blogging is new, and blogger's rights are still being hashed out. No need going into a new arena and then making God look off.

Now for the frame work. And though this might not be every post, many of your posts will have this kind of format:
Greeting
Exhortation to holiness
Identification of a problem
Explaination of solution
References to the Word
Exhortation to holiness repeated
Closing

While this will not be all of your posts, many times when you are wanting to address your audience on particular issues of scripture or church function, this will be a format that will be easily used to speak and be received.

The other thing to remember is that if you are posting from a mobile device, and you do not have a keyboard, you may not want to write out a 20minute sermon. It is best to get in and get out. That way you don't tire yourself in making solid points.

A final and important feature (I believe) in any blog posting, is to have the ability for people to leave comments. When people are able to leave comments, they feel more connected to what it is that you are writing and become more connected to the application of the point that you are trying to make.

So yes, it is possible to be a Paul online. And maybe Paul himself would have done the same thing. The key is making sure that one covers the bases and stays sound in scripture. From there, the tools are there to make things happen for the kingdom.

(I will edit the links in later, got to get back to work)
EDIT: Links have now been added to this post to help all who are wondering about the different products mentioned here.
EDIT 2: Added scripture reference to Joshua and Achan.

Saw this posted at PalmInfocenter today;

The new Ultra II SD PLUS, which can be used in a wide variety of SD-based products—including digital cameras, PDAs, camcorders and camera phones—means greater convenience and cost savings for consumers. Now, to transfer data, images, audio or video between computers, digital cameras and other electronic devices, you don’t need a card reader, cables or card adapters. Just flip the card to engage the USB connector and simply plug the Ultra II SD PLUS into any USB port. And the card also features an LED that blinks when data transfer is taking place to indicate that the card is being used as a USB flash drive." says Tanya Chuang, SanDisk retail product marketing manager.

This is a very impressive SD memory card, and for those of you needing to take data from a computer to a memory card, but do not have a card reader, this would prove to be a well made device for you.

NOTE: Make sure to get the prices online, no need to pay CC or others who are much more, even after shipping in a lot of cases.

I know me, sometimes I get into a mode and don't like to be stretched any. But occasionally, more like oftentimes, God puts me in situations where I have to stretch past my notions of boundaries, and press towards His vision of whom I am.

I say that in preface of highlighting a review of a PalmOS smartphone that is only sold in Asia (at least for now). The GSPDA Qool QDA700 is reviewed as being a viable alternative to the Treo, for those Asian and selected European markets. But itself doesn't seem to stretch the boundaries of use for a smartphone. Admitidly, the size and design of it are a lot more phone like than many other smartphones, but the exculsion of features such as Bluetooth make me think that GSPDA saw the opportunity to stretch, but decided to do just enough to remain comfortable.

Its something that I personally try to avoid, but in this case of a human trying to live under divine law (aka the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus); reading this review just reminds me that I have the opportunity more often than not to be a blessing to others when I am stretched fully, and not when I retract in fear of non-acceptance.

EDIT: Apologies for not linking the reivew. That has now been corrected. Thanks to PalmInfocenter for the link.

Good evening to all. Hopefully, your weekend is going well and you are finding ample time to work and fellowship. Dont forget to get some rest in. Rest is always important as a means to build strength.

I wanted to share an article that I read over at Crosswalk.com. It asks an interesting question about technology and the Word.

It is my opinion that the means to get to the Word may change, but the effectivness of it is never lessened. Though even more people may be able to get a hold of the Word and appropriate resources, the Word will always remain constant.

What are your thoughts? Read the article here and leave comments below to share what you feel on the issue.

I've been mining on the web to find some quality reviews and while at PalmSolo's site, I fonud one that he did of Laridian PocketBible for Windows Mobile Smartphones. If a Windows Mobile smartphone is your device, this review might be really helpful for you.

I don't want to speak too much ahead of this excellent posting by PalmSolo (editor at PDAGeek and purveyor of much in terms of mobile technology), but his reflection and observations really tend to make one remeber that liking tech is one thing, but there is a life to live that requires more than just electrical bits.

I feel that God has given me some talent in the mobile device and writing areas so I am going to try to use these gifts to serve Him. The devices do allow me to always have a Bible in my hand and now I need to ensure I am actually using them...
Read More

I cannot speak for a whole country, nor will I think that anyone should have their rights abridged so that they can remain in bondage. But, when I read a story like this; I am reminded more and more of the need to inject Christ into the net. No; a non-Christian country will not automatically submit to a freer internet just because I say so. But one of the reasons for a site like MMM is to make it planly known of the issues of freedom that shackle even this electronic arena.

I look at this and think of how determined that Paul was in Romans 7 to live above the constraints of the law within his members. I do hope that there will be those who are able to rise above this and keep their online voice. That today is my prayer.

As reported by PocketPC Thoughts, PocketBible, a bible reader for the PocketPC/WinMobile platform by Laridian, has been reduced by 10%. And for a limited time, "save 10% on your entire order of downloadable software that includes the PocketBible program by using Priority Code PDAOFFERS02 when you order" (re: PocketPC Thoughts). Its a great deal, and even better when you see the different versions that are availiable for free and purcahse.

One more review for you. This one is the review of the Zondervan’s NIV Study Bible for MyBible for both PalmOS and PocketPC/WinMobile. This review is also conducted by TankerBob at MobileTechReview and makes for a great read. If the NIV is in your needs for a mobile bible, check it out by going to Laridian's website and downloading the Zondervan’s NIV Study Bible.

In a republish of an excellent compairson review of bible software for the PalmOS platform, MobileTechReview has a review of some well known bible reader packages. Though the review is older, it does give one a great spot to search if you are looking for bible software for your PDA. Here is a snippet of that review:

This review looks at five of the most popular Scripture programs, but digs a bit deeper. I specifically looked at their capabilities as Bible study references, including original language study and commentary availability and implementation. These days, large flash memory cards and fast CPUs provide Palm OS apps with the hardware to take reference software to higher plain. I looked primarily at five criteria: reader features, versions available, study materials available, study materials integration, and search capabilities. The reviews are in alphabetical order. All evaluations used a Palm Tungsten|T3, which has the new implementation of Palm’s Dynamic Input Area (DIA) and landscape modes which provides a 320x480 or 480x320 display. I concentrated on the KJV w/Strong’s numbering, as this translation tends to have the strongest (no pun intended) original language support, and this also provided a common evaluation point of reference.

As a note, some of these packages also work with WinMobile devices; so, its worth a check to the manufacturer's website for the latest news and downloads.

In news from theChan;

TRC - Tyndale (Rogers, Coverdale, Cranmer) wholy bible is updated with emphasis on the word of Christ the Lord, although still retains the needed archaic, along with updated variants to reflect the original translation of the martyrs as they intended it to be faithfully given.

Download and more information can be found here.

In speaking with many of my friends in the ministry, one thing that they make mention of is the need to have a device that will help them manage the many lists that occur in their lives. Whether it is a shopping list, or a prayer list; there is always a list of things to do and usually a ton of post-it notes that follow closley behind.

Well, being enterprising with PDAs, I have found that making my list on my PDA requires me to do a few things differently. One, I end up making shorter list items because I want to see more on the screen. Secondly, I think more about the goal rather than the length of the process (a bit of self encouragement if you will). And finally, my lists all have alarms and times/dates, so I can always see whetehr I am making my goals or not.

All in all its a good system, and one mimiced well here by Andrew from TreoNauts in his listing of favorite listing applications for his Treo smartphone. Having lists is an important thing, it helps you walk towards your vision clearly, and makes touching the stars attainable.

There is a new eBook reader at eReader.com today. It is called Don't Know much About the Bible and seems geared towards the biblical skeptic. While I am not one to turn down a good biblical challenge, my current schedule prohibits me from getting into this book. But at some point, if you have a chance, check this out and see if it is more fact, or fiction.

I find myself on this Monday thinking again on the issue of what life would have been like for the early church if Paul had a blog. Can you imagine something like this, happening in Corinith. And then Paul, wanting to set things straight, would just post to his blog and then people would be able to read and see right there the issues that might have been otherwise disputed. Or what if Peter had a blog, would he be able to then spend more time with his wife (and possibly family) seeing that some of his footwork would be done electronically.

Of course, saying that brings of the all important issue that the GM article can also show. When people hear an issue, but do not have a connection to the person brining the message, the effectiveness of the message dulls. This is why today it is so important to know Jesus. To know the heart of God towards us. And then, knowing that heart, we become beacons to a dark world. Yes, sometimes we have to be mobile and go some where, other times we have to be mobile and stay put. But all in all, imagine the effectiveness of a Gospel that can be preach on a personal level. Much like GM notices, results are easier to come by when people see your heart.

I know that usually I cover news that pertians to the PalmOS side of things, and I will make a point to not do that as much, or at least give equal space to the Windows Mobile side of things. Here are a few bits of news found around the web today concerning Windows Mobile:

BargainPDA reports on Windows Mobile phones at the Computex computer show. I particularly like the Einstein model they talked about. It looks small enough to be nice to carry, and at the same time has enough features to really be a mobile communicator.

PocketPCThoughts looks at the E-Ten M600 Windows Mobile smartphone and also teh Ferrari themed Acer N50. Both look great, I wonder how well they will perform (note, I am not trying to think about price).

And finally, Cingular announces that they will sell the Windows Mobile 2003 Second edition powered HP iPaq h6320/h6325 models. This model has taken quite a beating from users and T-Mobile (who has been selling it for a while). I don't know why Cingular is selling the HP model now, but with a new HP model coming, it might be a good way for Cingular to gain a few new sales and help HP clear some inventory.

And for now the Windows are closing :)

If you use a PalmOS handheld (Palm, Sony, Tapwave, Handera, palmOne) and use Documents to Go by Dataviz, then you might be interested to know that they have released an update to the program today. The update addresses some bugs, as well as introduces the ability to sync .txt files to your PalmOS handheld.

Now, if you aren't using Documents to Go and what to know what it is about, here is a primer. Documents to Go is basically MS Office for your PalmOS handheld. With the ability to sync and read Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Txt, and (via conversion) PDF files, you can essentially take your office with you. It can read both native format documents (.doc, .xls, .ppt) as well as WordToGo/SheetToGo formatted documents. I have found that it does a great job of keeping your complex formatting elements on the device (though I do admit that hyperlinking within Word documents is not supported). And syning can be done from a drag and drop interface on your desktop. Check it out here and see if this is something that would work for you. And if you are already using DTG, make sure to get this update.

Listened to an excellent program called The Common Demoniator over at Holy Culture Radio today. It is an excellent talk show on the issues of Christian hip hop, culture versus the nature of man, and tidbits inbetween. I personally find many similarities with this discussion and what can/will happen with Christians on the web. If you have a few spare hours (its 2.5 hrs long), take a listen. Make sure to have a note pad as there will be some things you will want to make note of. I do not say that you will agree with everything, but if you are interested in how God can/will infulence hip hop, or just wondering why I plug HCR so much (really, its a blessed show, by some blessed brothers), check it out.

Hello all;
Welcome back to the beginning of the week. It is good to have had a weekend of fellowship and rest. Things have been up and down for me personally, and this weekend I noticed that my palmOne Universal Keyboard doesnt work, so I'll need to get a new one of those so that I can post and write on the weekends when I dont carry my laptop.

Some good things will be coming soon to MMM so I just ask that you keep MMM in prayer. I have been looking at forum packages and think that it is just abuot time to get that going. I would like to do the whole cha-bang and get the domain name and some space so that MMM can be an entity to itself. I would be still using Blogger, just changing up somethings to make it more friendly to mobile users and those without the means to use the most modern browsers.

Since its the beginning of the week, I'd like to start things off as well with reemphazing why I started MMM, and where it can go:
Mobile Ministry Magazine grew out of the want for me to walk out Acts 1:8 many years ago. When I was young in the Lord, I saw that scrpture and wanted to go to the ends of teh earth but could not go. I was in school and had no funds to travel. Silly part was that I was online and just staring at the screen wondering what could be done. THe Lord just said to look up and there I saw it. Websites. The means to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

After that point, I began teaching myself how to design websites. I also got into tech support for computers. And later, got into helping friends and family make purchases for computers they needed. During that time in college, I also became introduced to PDAs and mobile computing. For me to just get into that arena was just the next step in my development of tech and ministry.

I worked for a teen center in Lancaster and saw the need for teens to be educated in the areas of technology. But not for just keeping up with the world around them, but teaching them how to shape the world around them. God used me and all that tech that I ammassed to be the conduit to teach them the truths of the Gospel and how fun walking with God can be. After I left there, I began working for myself as a freelance website designer.

Needless to say, that didnt go so well and I found myself living back at home with my mother without a job. The endless job searching was tiring me out (online one day, offline the next). I asked God for something to do while I waited for that job to come about. The idea came to start a magazine that would talk about technology and the web in such a way that persons in ministry would most benefit. After some prayer, and some dedicated afternoons working on content and design, Mobile Ministry Magazine Issue 1 was born. I started by sending it out to 20 people just asking for opinons, proofing, etc. But no one got back to me. I was discoruaged. I made some edits and then sent it to a larger group, but still only got 2 responses. The project faded until this year.

In the mist of a study that I was doing towards the relationship I have with my wife to be; I came to the knowledge that to steer clear of the sin holding me back, I needed to direct my time and energies towards something that would produce fruit in all of my relationships, and get me back on track with God's plan for my life. The Lord brought back Mobile Ministry Magazine with a caveat; I had to be able to work on it consistantly enough that it would truley be a mission, and not just a hobby. In working on the second issue, I said to why not do a front page, blog-style site (similar to Palm Addict). Having the mentality that the web should be a holy culture too, I put my hands to the ground for MMM to have a website.

And so that is what is here now. MMM on the web, the front end of a magazine designed to help ministers reach the ends of the earth. The magazine sent to the ends of the earth in the hope that my physical body would soon follow (Gospel in hand and heart).

I hope that wasn't too long. I did want to let people who might have only visited for a week or days know what's behind MMM. To be honest, I don't know what God will do and how many people MMM will infulence/spark to be lighhouses. I do know that this is part of His plan for my life. Thanks for reading this far, and for your prayers. Stay tuned for the news to return (once I get another free moment here at work or later). Blessings to you.

Hello to all;
Apologies for there not being so many posts the past few days. I am under the wire at work and my energies are there. I hope to resume some normacy in posting on next week as the deadline will still be here, but I will be needing to run to the Lord for more than just a prayer or two.

I was able to do an update to the site today that just might work for those of use who use mobile devices. I have added a CSS property to the Blogger template that I am using to allow for use by handheld devices. Now, I am posting this having not tested it at all. I would like the opinion of all of you as to whether this would work. Take note, the CSS proprty effects those who use a wireless device to view this page. Not the RSS page. It is basically a take off of an Opera designed scheme along with some CSS rules. And if it works, then I will be able to expand the accessiblity of MMM to people who cannot see the web at all.

So check out MMM thoughout the weekend. I have a busted keyboard for my palm (I think) and so I will be handwriting posts in throughout the weekend via Mo:Blog. Blessings to all of you and thanks for tuning in.

PS: I didn't forget abuot Issue 2, still wading thru the content for it, but its about 50% done. Lord willing, I will have it done soon so that it can be shared. Shalom.

This is what happens when I add a link and do not take a look at it for a few weeks. CARM (Chrisitan Apologiteics and Research Ministry) has redesigned their website. It is a lot less busy, but still filled with the same informative content. Their site is nontheless a great resource for all things Biblical. Check it out.

Having some time at the end of the work day to Google MMM can bring up some interesting things. One site that I could was called Operation Mobilization and they are essentially a roving ministry team in Hungary that seeks to spread the Gospel via shows, and other informational sessions. Check out their website if you have the time and keep them in prayer. Nothing like other people putting their feet down for the Lord.