Mobile Ministry Magazine

Continuing the discussion on the implications of mobile/web technology. Here are some more questions to spark the discussion. Remember, you can answer here or over at Twitter.

• How does the globalization of mobile/web effect the perception of community?
• Does it matter on a local level where the affluence of mobile/web isn't as felt?
• What are the negatives of mobile/web? How do we adjust?
• What legislation has helped or hindered the Body's ability to respond to these negative issues, and what are the future challenges?

Ok, that's all that I'll throw out there for now. Let's open the box and come to terms with what is the now of this intersection of faith and mobile tech. And start talking about how we'll address these items.

Labels: communication, community, tech

Great article over at Christian Computing Magazine (CCM) talking about Digital Bible Studying and how its evolved with now a near-digital/mobile-native approach that's able to be taken towards Bible studying. Here's a snippet:

...It is truly a great time to be a student of God's word. If you use a computer, smart phone, or book reader, then you have more tools available for studying the Word of God then at any time in history. And I think the best thing this does for us is not cut the time it takes to do our studying, but rather it helps us go much deeper. If your primary goal for doing Bible study on any of these platforms is to cut minutes or hours off your time in the Word, then you are missing the greatest benefit. Instead your goal should be to go deeper in the same amount of time...

Read of the rest of Digital Bible Study Is Breaking the Banks of the Personal Computer at Christian Computing Magazine (CCM).

In terms of a comment from MMM's perspective, I'll repeat a question that was stated in a post a few weeks ago:

So what does it mean to have believers who have instant access to multiple resource and communities, who seek answers to the questions of faith and life, evaluating sources in real-time through online and offline relationships, instead of waiting for a sermon or preacher to smooth the message.

If you will, we've got the ease in getting to the resource now. So what does the Body do in terms of teaching those analytical and spatial-search skills that will enable believers and non-believers alike to engage the Bible, and the people of the Bible, in God-edifying ways? Yes, these are indeed exciting times, but the implications of being able to do digital Bible studies means that we've also got to tweak our methods of teaching and living with one another. Are we up for the challenge, because, its for these implications that these times are exciting too.

Labels: Bible, CCM, communication, community, software, study

It the last weekend in January - when a number of churches on the East Cost of the USA have canceled services due to snow and ice that has blanketed the region. What follows are my thoughts on getting around the weather to continue the fellowship in the respect to biblical models and traditions.

Sitting on Twitter, I saw that my former church had canceled service due to the snow/icy conditions that hit Charlotte. This makes a lot of sense, and I'm pretty sure that many churches are doing the same, since the conditions don't make it pleasant to drive safely.

However, I did have a question in respect to the sermon. Many people attend church for the sermon and the fellowship. Missing one of these for a Sunday usually isn't a problem, but both of those present a bit of a challenge for many believers. And so I ended up tweeting the following (two messages):

Given the state of mobile/web, weather shouldn't impact the ability to preach a message (tweet)? But weather can and does impact the ability to fellowship; how does the church create/use virtual ties when impacts happen (tweet)?

Now, Wellspring's pastor did say that he would be recording and posting the sermon - and this is good. But the second question remains, how can we skillfully and appropriately use mobile/web technology in order to keep the ties of fellowship when weather or other conditions dictate otherwise?

I've got a few ideas:

• Skype or other type of video/conference call
• Sharing an iTunes/Pandora/last.fm/Spotfy/last.fm/etc. playlist at a certain time for "praise and worship," - adding the element of an accompanying blog post on the church blog for those who'd like to post their prayers, "amens," etc.
• (Nearly)-Live streaming of the small groups who are able to meet in the home for worship, fellowship, and prayer

Do any of you employ these methods when weather or some other circumstance interrupts the usual flow of fellowship/worship? And if so, what have been some of the positives and negatives of doing this?

Weather is indeed a limitation of fellowship in the traditional face-to-face sense. But, is the traditional means of fellowship strong enough to deny the versatility of the technology that's now at our fingertips?

Note: I'm not specifically asking about a full internet church experience or internet church campus. I am speaking specifically towards using the mobile and web arenas when normal fellowship and worship methods are interrupted. When we speak on an internet church, we can start talking the fun stuff like location-displacement of elements of the fellowship - which is a good bit different when it happens on a continual basis.

Labels: accessiblity, church, communication, community, flexibility, tech

Here's a press release about a new product called Twext from the folks at Church Community Builder (CCB). Seems like a solid product for those organizations who'd like to add the additional broadcast layers of Twitter and texting to their church/organizational communications.

Colorado Springs, CO, JANUARY 4, 2010—Church Community Builder (CCB) (http://www.churchcommunitybuilder.com), the pioneer of socially-based church management (ChMS), has released an innovative new communications tool that combines Text Messaging and Twitter - called CCB Twext - that will provide church and small group leaders with leading edge communications capabilities.

"Effective communication tools are critical for all churches. Because CCB highly values the interactive social nature of church communities, adding Text Messaging as a communication option was a no-brainer for us," states Steve Caton, VP of Sales and Marketing. "However, we really wanted to take the next step by providing a way to seamlessly integrate texting with Twitter, thereby adding yet another communications vehicle to the mix where appropriate."

CCB Twext™ Offers the Following Benefits:

Group Texting: In addition to email and mail merge, every Group Leader has the option to communicate with their Group participants via Text Messaging.

Twitter Integration: If a group within the church has its own Twitter account, the Group Leader can add that account to their CCB Group. When utilized, a Text Message sent to the group will also immediately post as a Tweet on the group Twitter™ feed. This further extends the reach of the Text Message to those who may not receive text messages but are a member of the Twitter group.

Member Controlled: Group members have full control over their ability to receive text messages. They must proactively edit their CCB profile before receiving them. This ensures people don’t end up paying for text messages they do not wish to receive.

CCB Twext represents another major milestone and differentiator for CCB’s innovative church management solution. In addition to providing benefits to the entire congregation, CCB also offers the most robust communication tools to your leadership so they can remain connected to those they serve in the most relevant manner possible. For more information or to speak with someone at Church Community Builder about this and other valuable functionality, email sales@churchcommunitybuilder.com or call 1-866-242-1199.

Labels: ChMS, Church IT, communication, community, SMS, twitter, Web

Let's start off this year on the right foot with a simple question (reposted from MMM's Twitter actually)

How does mobile change the behavior of living out the message in between the Sundays?

Since Time Online is calling 2010 the year of the mobile - maybe I was two years early in my prediction - this would be an apt question with which to frame our thoughts behind mobile/web use and how our faith is shaped with/by it.

Labels: communication, community, faith, mobility

One of the hardest points that I hear and am asked in conversastions (whether personal or MMM-related) is this idea of what's relevant technology. Now, this question is usually coming from those who are either from an older generation, or from a time/area where there is a such thing as a primary news/information source. This endears the ubquious nature of mobile and web communications to be slightly misunderstood. And that's ok. There are two sides to that perception, and part of that is why MMM exists - the intersection of faith and mobile (and web) technology looks differently to everyone.

But what does that intersection look like and how can we respond? One report talks about the issues relating to digital dependency, and where those aspects of dependency take place:

Seventy percent of respondents across 11 markets say they either could not live without the internet or would miss it a great deal if it wasn't there, while 69% said the same for TV.

Whose digital love affair is the greatest? Ninety-two percent of Brits, 91% of Spaniards, 90% of Australians and 89% of both Dutch and American respondents rate the internet as completely necessary to their lives.

Is dependency an issue? Yes and no. You have to realize that information's relevancy is different depending on what and whom you are talking to. Age, economies, accessiblity, etc. all matters differently. You have to acknowledge the doors that matter to your target group, and then allow them to respond back in kind.

Just because what you have is relevant though doesn't matter that people will want it in the manner you prefer. TechCrunch highlighted this in their recent piece about real-time communitation and how that's changing news reporting, whether TV, radio, and newspapers like it or not. Yes, we want the news from verifiable sources, but we also want the news when its news, not as leftovers after the fact.

Bringing this back to the Body, what we can do to maximize our use of mobile and web technology? Simple, don't get stuck in the mindset that one-way always works (aka, there is no silver bullet). Be willing to experiment with alternate communication methods, and don't be afraid to speak to people, getting from them feedback towards what would work best for them. Nothing is worse than a church passing out paper announcements every Sunday to realize that people aren't reading them - but would have no problem reading them if they came to their email or mobile. Simple things like this need to not just be considered, but utilized.

A last note about relevancy and mobile/web: I'm very well acquainted about the fears people have about being too connected (this story illustrates probably the scariest reality for many); but the truth is that this will continue. People will connect and share - not even realizing personal, communial, or national issues involved. People want to continue the intimacy of humanity with one another. And despite those fears, this tech is moving on. Relevancy at the intersection means that we don't jump in the way, but we provide the signs towards wisdom and understanding so that others follow right-standing, not just shiny-tweeting.

Labels: community, mobility, tech, Web

In some respects, I should apologize for recycling this title from the last post. But I won't because its the same words, but a totally different approach - social networks.

Many people enjoy the idea of being on or using social networks as part of their outreach components. And this isn't a bad thing as social networks have taken storm worldwide as virtual meeting places for all types of people within all types of social circles. The problem becomes when people in the Body, start facing the social network more than they are facing God thru Christ Jesus.

For instance, there are over 300 million people on Facebook - that's more than the total population of the United States. Of those 300 million active users, there are a number of groups, walls, and fans of all kinds. Many ministries are using Facebook as engagement platforms for their endeavors - such as Digital Disciples. The thing is, its only an engagement - the relationship has to go forth after that so that the network remains within the social times.

As believers, we have to constantly check ourselves within the use of these social networks towards making sure that we aren't just engaging people within these spaces, but that we are literally facing the commission as it was given to us. We don't just engage with people, but we also find a ways to get both them and us to face the Book so that the work of Christ has a place to take root. If you will, be Jesus with skin on to people, don't just pass them a business card with His name and address on it.

Its easy to fall into this while going out and about online. But I want to encourage you to not be lax in this aspect of your calling. And when you do make those discipleship relationships, treat those persons with the same grace and gentleness that you were given. You never know when it would come back to you, abounding in pages and pages of grace.

Labels: community, Digital Disciples, discipliship, social networking

Just a question to throw out there: how many of you lead or attend a church/organization meeting in which someone has an accessiblity need (and I mean anything from reprints of materials, to sign language, to special accomodiations)? Have you used any type of mobile device or service to aid your ability to be more accessible, and if so, what are those tools?

Labels: accessiblity, community, mobile accessories

This week, I received notice that my presentation topic Mobile's Christ-Led Encounters was accepted and therefore I'll be representing MMM as a presenter at the BibleTech 2010 Conference in San Jose, CA.

I'm pretty excited about the opportunity, and hope to build on the topic and technology exploration done both at BibleTech and the Visual Story Network's conferences. Here's the submitted abstrat, as to the topic direction, you will want to be there for this one:

Mobile has now taken place within the regular consciousness of most mainstream thought. From sociology to psychology, transportation to entertainment, Facebook to the Good Book, mobile is now at the tip of every tongue in being that next great area. Mobile though suffers from the same growing pains that every other media suffers from when its new - specifically, what's its relevance. Within the Body, we see many examples of mobile taking root as an engagement, evangelistic, and opportunistic medium. Within this topic, we will look at some of these areas that mobile has taken root in, as well as exploring some areas that have not yet been explored.

For more information and to register, visit the BibleTech 2010 Conference website. Hope to see you there

Labels: BibleTech, community, tech

This past Monday was the second meeting of Digital Disciples Charlotte. Compared to the last time we met, there was double the people (six people!), and tons more stories to go around.

For this, our second meeting, I was asked to facilitate the discussion and have something of a flow to things being done. We opened up in prayer, and then had some time where we gave a small introduction (name, how long in Charlotte, and something about that 'intersection of faith and technology that brought you out to Digital Disciples'). We are a storied bunch, and I (personally) really enjoyed hearing all of the ways that we have kind of gotten to that one point. A common theme early on was transition.

We then moved into a small section of time where we just reflected on the Word a bit. I read from Proverbs 2:1-8 and talked about 5-10min on how our use of technology has to follow in the ways of Godly wisdom and understanding. How it is a good thing to acquire knowledge and use this technology, but we have to hold ourselves to a high standard of integrity if others are going to receive this gift as wisdom and understanding (applied) from us.

Honestly, I didn't want to be overly long with that section of things, but God impressed on my heart that the Word should be broken some that night.

After that I asked a discussion question that pretty much led us into the rest of the time together (about 1hr 30min total time for the evening). The question was, what are some of the ways that you are using or seeing technology being used that you can share with us to learn from? From that we talked about email adoption (and overall the speed of tech adoption) in some churches, to what constitues a tech strategy, to the effectiveness of Facebook and Twitter when groups are cross-generational, to Twitter Lists. Overall, a nice suite of topics and some of which we need to circle back around to and share best practices.

The ended in prayer and basically the same kind of fellowhsip and connecting that had been happening throughout the night. I came out of Digital Disciples Charlotte encouraged and challenged. Personally, I've been mulling over a number of things, and Monday night just kind of put me in a place where God filled me up some, and now I am challenged to live out another testimony. I'd like to say that in the next meeting that I'll have a solid success story to share of a faith-technology encounter. Hopefully, everyone else who shows up will as well.

In terms of the next meeting, the first Monday in December (Dec. 7th) is most likely going to be the date. However, that's not firm just yet. I asked the question about what other days would be suitable (and proposed Saturday, but I know how packed Saturdays in December can be). If you have some suggestions, please respond to this post, on Twitter (use the hashtag #ddclt), or at Facebook. We'd like to get a firm date as soon as possible so that people can start planning. This Monday we had one person come from Columbia, SC (about 75min south of Charlotte), so we want to be respective to distance and time where possible.

Other than that, let's continue to connect. If you would like to connect with any of us who have met at Digital Disciples Charlotte, catch us on Twitter (@susanjspaulding, @BrettQ, @itybtyctykty, @faithandhealth, @JustWarrenC, and @mobileminmag) or Facebook. Hope to connect with you next time, and stay tuned to these connected spaces for updates towards the next meeting time.

Labels: community, Digital Disciples, tech

Here's part two of one user's experience with mobile devices and its intersection with their life. Check out Part One of this story and then submit yours.

Then I heard about the upcoming [Nokia] N95. And I wanted it. That wasn't ideal as I found that Orange had sneakily locked me in for an extra 6 months (actually, they've gone and done that again this time, now I think about it, by a different method). I bought out of the contract and got me a new Nokia N95 on the day of release. Some people had all sorts of problems with the device, but mine has been going strong with regular daily use for over two and a half years. There's no silver left on some of the buttons (and hasn't been for a long time). But it's still up and running.

The N95 uses the Symbian operating system, which brought me back into the realm of available software: Olive Tree Bible means I can always turn up a reference when requested. E-Reader saves me taking a case full of books when I travel (or it did – these days everything I want seems to require a US credit card). A card full of MP3 files means I am never without a range of music (and I have a cable to connect it to the car radio). I don't carry files - data protection is a hot topic within my circles.

Then last autumn, I invested in a netbook. In conjunction with a phone dongle, I now have the full internet anywhere there's a signal. I chose the netbook with windows on because of the dongle plug and play, and it has given me access to anything I can possibly need: Open Office, Firefox browser, email, and I can run the Methodist liturgy programme and such things. I even use it as a music player for dance practice. On holiday, I carry a camera cable, and turn my blog into a travelogue. The netbook nicely fits into my handbag.

And these days my primary phone is a c905. (The N95 has my work sim-card). I have to say I am not impressed. It has all the limitations of the k750i but has none of the advantages: the build quality extremely poor, and the camera, while boasting a wealth of megapixels lacks either the excellent software of the k750i or the optical lens of the N95.

Which brings me to where I am now... looking for something to replace the c905 as my primary phone (because the case it broken, the earpiece doesn't work and it's now having problems charging). I've looked at the Sony Ericsson Satio (but I'm wary of SE after the c905), I've looked at the HTC HD2 (But I actively dislike the capacitive screen, and the camera is weak). So I've almost settled on a Nokia N900. If I could just get the nerve up to click that 'buy now' button.

As for using devices for 'my ministry', I suppose I'm not sure how that works for two reasons. Firstly because I'm nervous of pretending that my history of gadgets is anything other than a closet materialism that just enjoys toys. It can be easy to make 'holy' noises to cover up the bits of our humanity we're less proud of, and I wouldn't want to do that. And secondly, I'm not sure I make a distinction between my 'ministry' and other aspects of my life. If I support someone who's having a tough time over Twitter or Skype, is that 'ministry'?

If my teddy bear chats to children struggling with understanding a death in the family, or offers his stories free for worship leaders and teachers on his website, is that ministry? Is my presence in various communities 'ministry'? To me, it's all just me, being the person I am called to be wherever I am, online or off. Loving people and God to the best of my (limited) ability in whatever environment. And enjoying playing with the tools God has blessed me with. ;-)

Labels: communication, community, HTC, minister, N95, Olivetree, sony ericsson

Since the Visual Story Network Summit last month, I've had a number of happenings around things related to MMM and outside ministry interests. So much so, that I've had to restart some prayers towards increasing my time and attention towards MMM and these other pieces.

Until a decision is made though, there are a few notes about the Visual Story Network that I'd like to share in the hopes that you, or those whom you live/minister with who are involved in the visual arts would have an additional outlet towards life and ministry.

The first item of note is that there are several initiatives that have come out of the September summit. These have galvanized into virtual groups that have met a few times already in many cases. These groups are all designed around the idea that media platforms are moving from just preaching and printing platforms, to a platform that also portrays Christ. Check out the Groups section of VSN and read some about what is going on.

Another item - more along the mobile angle - is that of the investigation of what a mobile media ministry/platform looks like. I sat in on half of a call with a few other folks who are interested in this, and there's a group started and notes from that call. Check it out and get involved if you are interested in this. One thing that I can say from just sitting in on the call is that its very important that MMM does a better job of presenting examples of what has been and will be working in this area. Its a huge world of mobile to cover.

Lastly, I want to remind you to stay tuned to VSN as next year's summit seems as if it will be much deeper and bigger than this year's. I've just got a feeling that the next one isn't one to be missed and will further encourage, equip, and empower a lot of missions and missionaries, local and global, for Christ. And who knows, maybe more folks will be presenting towards the effect of mobile ;)

Labels: community, VSN

In Charlotte this past Monday, I became a part of what could be a major milestone in my life - and definitely in the lives of others. The first meeting of Digital Disciples has just happened. Digital Disciples is actually the product of Gave Tavino and I was one of many people that he's asked to see about interest in a Digital Disciples group in Charlotte, NC. What can I say, I like discipliship.

Tonight's meeting was pretty much just an interest meeting. We just established basic communication with one another. We talked :)

The other two persons who were there tonight were Dale Fletcher and Susan Spalding. Weirdly enough, I sat back for a while when I made it to the venue, I want to watch them for a bit before engaging them. And that was good, both Susan and Dale have a lot that I can learn from.

During this time of just building an initial relationship, we talked about what we expect to get out of this kind of group and two key things stuck out to me: establishing a core group and paying attention to the context of those who'd like to be a part of this group whether walking in the Faith or not. Being one who is already mentoring/discipling a number of people, I see Digital Disciples as just another branch on the tree God is planting me to be. And at the same time, I think He'll use Digital Disciples to further tweak areas I'm not so strong in.

At the end of the night it was clear though that our hearts were definitely knit towards making Digital Disciples Charlotte a place where people can and will mature in the faith. It will be very interesting towards seeing how God leads us from this point as I think one of the best things is that not all of those interested have showed up yet. That part will definitely add a good kind of sweetness to the tea.

Until next month though, there will just have to be prayer and administration work done. Thankfully, there's something of a piece of groundwork that is happening. From Twitter, to Facebook, to SMS messaging (yea!), we'll be working towards getting the word out. So stay tuned, and at the same time keep prayerful. Technology is only a doorway. The key is all things should point us towards maturing in our relationships with God and others by grace through faith. Beyond that, its just tech.

To find out more about Digital Disciples, make sure to visit the website and click on the Local Gatherings tab. There will be some info posted here, Twitter, Facebook, and a few other places as to how to get connected and what's coming in the next meetings, so stay tuned.

Here's the hCal event for the next meeting:

November 2, 2009 7 - 8:30pm : Digital Disciples Charlotte at Dilworth Coffee Ballentyne, Charlotte, NC

Labels: community, Digital Disciples, tech

When I was in Seattle earlier this year for the BibleTech Conference when I heard from and connected with Gabe Taviano from Digital Disciples. Suffice to say, after meeting him, conversing a few times, and listening to his presentation, I was totally moved to see how MMM and Digital Disciples could work together towards tilling the landscape in terms of using technology as a component towards maturing believers after Christ.

This past Monday evening will be the first meeting of the Charlotte "campus" of Digital Disciples. Considering that I'm writing this a good 4 days before that happens, you'll have to stay tuned to Facebook or Twitter (#DigitalDisciples, #DigitalDisciplesCLT, and @mobileminmag) for updates. Nevertheless, its a really good thing that if you are anywhere near a Digital Disciples' plant that you should check out.

IMPORTANT!!! - before some folks get up and arms. Digital Disciples is not designed to replace churches, its designed to augment them by offering technology-enabled discipleship that will lead to greater involvement into and by the local Body. Personally speaking, I look forward to this as items such as the 4Cs and segments like Parents and Mobile Kids will get more face-time in front of the Body.

There's no denying that this is needed. And in terms of MMM's mission to educate and edify at the intersection of faith and mobile technology, we are totally making a point to be a part of this movement.

For more information, especially towards looking to start a Digital Disciple's branch where you are - internationally too - check out the Digital Disciples website. Hope to see you in Charlotte or beyond :D

Labels: community, Digital Disciples, discipliship, tech

Not long after penning the last post, I came across this link to a rant from another perspective of idoltry and how our affluence just sometimes looks really bad. I don't want to dig into the entire post, but there was a part of the rant that stuck out just from what I've dealt with personally on this issue:

...Yesterday I had students begging me for a copy of the Portuguese NIV Study Bible. If they only knew that people in America are spending the equivalent of several months salary on yet one more Bible when their shelves are already sagging from the weight of an endless collection of devotional Bibles and study Bibles in colors to match your every Sunday outfit and target each and every consumer niche...

The entire post with several comments is here, but the explaination of it in better detail and context is over at Think Christian (by the same author).

In light of our gifts, we are also responsible to those who have not.

Labels: affluence, Bible, community, stewardship

You ever have one of those moments when you have a presentation, but moments before you go up, you realize that one of the analogies that you wanted to use to frame your presentation was way off?

That happened to me while in LA for the VSN Summit. And it was probably the best thing that could have happened - as I've been able to reflect on things. You see, even though I had this nice slide deck ready to go. I really was a stranger in the mist of this group of media vetrans and innovators. That is, until I started introducing myself to them.

When it came time for me to speak (#3 of the first day), I had the exact metaphor that worked not only for the presentation topic, but for exactly the impression that I think people should be getting from a mobile-enabled lifestyle: a handshake.

One of the things about a handshake is that it is almost like getting a second chance for a first impression. Someone might look a particular way, but once you've been introduced and the handshake happens, your perceptions adapt and change. That's a good thing, physical and personal interactions should cause us to change our perceptions of people and the world around us. Its my hope that one of the uses of mobiles within the Body would follow along a similar action-set. That the introduction of mobile enabled services and applications would extend another chance for someone to get to know us just as much as we want to introduce them to our faith.

And to be honest, I think its something that could work - just given the response from those at the summit. You see, I don't think that its just about the development environment, bling, applications, or even the ability of us to be connected that makes the point that mobile is useful in ministry. Its that avenue with mobile that we take that invites others to want to change their perceptions of us.

This is something that can happen with mobile devices, apps, or whatever. But we go to others in full confidence that God will take our faith in that moment and produce something that will someday turn into a part of life that glorifies Him. We go into those communicative events hands open so to speak. Our hands - while holding a mobile device - are open with the possibilities that someone wants to connect with us and see just how our lives are intersecting with theirs at that point.

Its just an idea, and it could be fleshed out in so many ways - hence the title being called an idea. But, its something that I think many times, if we just grasp the fact that our mobiles are a part of just presenting an open handshake to Christ, that we could have that second chance to use that fourth screen for a first impression that just might take us all to an eternal joy. Your thoughts?

Labels: communication, community, mobility, tech, VSN

A few days ago, I came across a really neat link from Nokia's recent Nokia World Conference. It was of a possibility for some future uses of mobile-like technologies combined with the real world and the Internet. Here's the video:

For the way that I think about how I interact with media and information, especially within a church or bible study setting, I can see some value in some of the interaction approaches taken here.

One of those things that I really like though, and something that I could see in some level - maybe not with the glasses - is that idea of the world as an interface layer. If you will, seeing and interacting with the world around you, with the context of linked data on top of it.

So much like the woman viewing her news posts within the "browser," I could see a host of users within a church or bible study setting instead of being shown the text of Scripture, seeing just verses on a screen. And then as they hold up their mobile's cameras, or special glasses, they would unlock the ability to interact with that data. Sort of like Logos' RefTagger, but instead of being done on a browser, its being done with some character recognition, along with connection to data streams (personal, church's, and publisher's - all working together).

Beyond that, I would see a shared space, something like YouVersion Live that would be an aggregate place for those saved/shared discussions. With this total interactive experience being a part of that door that we as the Body offer to the world around us.

Its a dream, and one that I have often - everytime that I open my mobile in church I want to do just this scene of linking my data to the pastor's and others in the community. But, its one that I think would be possible, if we were to take a chance by mixing up things a bit, and allowing the tech to actually speak towards how it was created to be used. What do you think?

Labels: Bible, community, visual media, Web

A nice post has gone up recently at Collide Magazine titled A Biblical Definition of Ministry in a Technological Age. I know that I have some opinions about this piece, but I'm really more interested in hearing what some of you have to say. Given the highly techie nature of this blog and its audience, I know that our responses can be biased, but I'm intrigued what this community thinks after reading this piece.

Labels: community, minister, tech

I wonder sometimes what would happen if there was ever a situation where the publicly available Internet were unavailable. Where you would only be able to get on the Internet to Google or wherever with some kind of token, and even then, you were being tracked and led down roads where you might think are free to go, but are really dead ends.

Truthfully, I do see this happening sooner rather than never. And for some people that visit MMM, I've been told that this is their reality now. That the networks while "open" are really being monitored and tweaked so that the Word doesn't get out. I keep wondering if there is a way around or through this that is legal, and only come to one really solid conclusion - mesh networking can be a short term, short distance solution.

Now, what I mean by mesh networking is that there are people whose computing devices are designated as the main connections - if you will, like a teacher in a classroom as the gateway point to inserting knowledge into a session. The other students (computers) would be able to connect to that computer over what is called an ad-hoc connection. Ad-hoc being a connection that is computer to computer, and does not have a router or third party network in-between.

Once connected, those computers would share that connection, and that main computer would have the information needed by the others to collaborate, share, and edify. Once that session is over, all persons with a computer would have that information, and then go to other places to be a node and share information with others. In a sense, creating a network that multiplies itself through the introduction of a "fellowship" event.

This idea of mesh networking to share ideas isn't really new. In terms of how we pass information from one to another, its pretty much how we've always done it. But in the context of those communities where the Internet is so heavily censored that passing this "Body knowledge" over the web is hazadorous, using computing devices within these fellowhsip events to share information and push out the Body might be a solid idea.

This isn't the first time I've had this thought, but a conversation brought it back up as something that the Body might be good to understand better, and then take advantage of. And who knows, this might be the future of how we have to pass our electronic bibles from one person to another.

Labels: communication, community, networking

I don't know that I could have said this better, but the perspective is indeed something that should follow in the steps of wise walking with technology:

...Technology is a wonderful tool but it is not a panacea. It cannot solve all societal ills just by its mere existence. To have relevance and power, it must be leveraged by people to meet needs. This requires all of us to push past what we hope might happen and focus on introducing technology in a context that makes sense.

Read of the rest of Some Thoughts on Technophilia at apophenia.

Labels: community, tech

Church Crunch made a great point last week in a post highlighting one area in web/mobile where the Body doesn't have to look at things the way other industries do - the idea of competition.

In the church, since the challenge is giving everyone the same message, the struggle doesn't come in numbers or profitability, but in effectiveness of the message. And due to the nature of Christianity, putting down those vices of pride, ego, lust, covetiousness, etc., means that we can simply focus on what matters most, making sure that people get the message of Christ as clearly and efficiently as possible.

Never had I read something that made me feel so calm and at peace about how MMM is positioned, and at the same time challenges the very core of why web/mobile effectiveness is at the core of what we talk about here. Challenging to the internals, but such a fruitful endeavor.

Labels: community, tech

Great article over at GigaOM talking about the differences between two styles of education. The really interesting this is the tie-in to web/mobile-based education and the ways that we have traditionally gone about teaching. This article highlights that there could be a better way if the technology was better utilized, and the focus taken off of memorization and scoring and put into contextualization, comprehension, and application.

I know that to me this is very interesting stuff. I personally tend to try all kinds of learning/teaching methods in order to see what works for me/groups and what doesn't. I've found out a lot about myself in doing so. I've also found that some people just don't like change, no matter how ineffective a current method is.

When we start doing things with web and mobile, there's a chance to reassess how we learn and teach, and then seek to find better solutions to common problems. In light of this, has there been anything that web or mobile technology has exposed to you as an issue in teaching/being taught by others? Or, has web/mobile been a solution for you where other paradigms weren't as useful?

Labels: commentary, communication, community, education, mobility, tech, Web

Hate is a pretty strong word; but, you cannot deny that in many faiths, recent computer tech advances have pretty much had their share of being panned by pretty much everyone.

Over at the Open Gardens (Futuretext) blog, a question was posed and answers attempted towards the question of the resistance to social networking tech in religious circles.

Now, I don't agree with many of the conclusions in the post, but I will not deny that there is a stretching point that social/mobile technology is causing for religious institutions (as it is everything else). In looking at the intersection of faith and technology, this push-pull is something that we as individuals, communities, and faiths have to ask and address.

Its probably not an issue of hating social networks, but it is one of not knowing how to proceed, and therefore keeping the brakes on where others accelerate.

So where do we go from here? How do we take those steps to understand the tech, and not be reckless embracers of ideals that make core tenants, such as salvation by grace through faith, no longer threads to be reached for?

Labels: community, faith, social networking, tech

Your church should be using SMS a lot more. Seriously. You should have groups that get notified by SMS for church-wide announcements, offerings/tithe payments via SMS, etc. There's no reason to not be doing this right now. Most of you have communities where over 95% of the people have a mobile phone and some type of SMS plan to them. Use it? Become the point of reference towards using the technology in a manner that's relevant to the needs of your community. Then sit back and watch interaction happen. Its not that hard really. You should just do it.

Or maybe that was too blunt. Its really easy to take a service like Twitter, add your church, and teach people how to subscribe to Twitter via SMS. Then you have a means for broadcasting announcements and other items, that's always from a single verified place, and promotes interaction with those who want to be interactive.

I'm simply saying that instead of wondering how this tech could work, SMS is an easy and relatively pain-free means to trying something new. Why not?

Labels: communication, community, SMS

I'm leading a small group of guys through a Bible study within the book of Isaiah. In the mist of this study, there are a lot of notes being compared and contrasted. And frankly, more than I want to have to deal with individually. The main issue is syncronizing all of those notes with the different persons, and then putting it in a format that would make it easy for all of us to read and collaborate with one another.

A wiki would be the best type of online document for this. Speficially, a wiki where anyone can edit, and at the same time exercise some IM/SMS functionality so that some conversation can be done over distances.

Right now, I'm looking at PBWorks,as it hits on part of what I'm looking for. But I wonder, is there something that's a bit closer to Google Wave out there that could be used?

Labels: collaboration, community, tools, wiki

Earlier this week, I submitted a panel topic to a few folks that are working on setting up a panel for next year's SXSW Conference. However, the topic was a bit late in getting to them, and therefore had to be shelved for a while.

Nevertheless, I'm pretty confident in saying that the topic is one that could offer considerable insight into technology leadership within the Body, and even more, be something that promotes the Body to seek to be not just "the same" as what people expect in terms of tech development, use, and adoption, but that we take an active part in being the innovators.

To that end, I'd like to share the topic as I presented it to the SXSW panel group for discussion here. Hopefully, there can be enough of a discussion about this that we could get consideration for a side panel or present this at another venue before 2011.

Topic Title: How Do Faith-Based Organizations Respond to Increasingly Mobile-Connected Members and Communities

Short Summary: The effect of mobile on faith-based communities has further reaching effects than spirituality.

Longer Summary: Each mass media technology has faced an uphill fight towards being adopted and used effectively by faith-based organizations. Mobile presents a special kind of challenge because of its seeemingly personal nature which contradicts with the communal approaches many faith based organizations take towards conducting their business. This panel asks whether faith-based organizations are up to the task of addressing not only the web-connected contigent, but also the mobile-enabled one. And then what are the implications of giving this mobile arena attention, when education towards the effectiveness of the 6 mass media (internet) has not yet been perfected?

I know its not the most simple of things to talk about; but we should. So, let's chat :)

Labels: community, innovation, mobility

Picked this up from Strategic Digital Outreach:

Dave Hackett, will be leading a conference call tonight on "Sharing God's Message Intimately - Online and On Phone."

The conference call will be held on tonight at 7 p.m. CDT (5 p.m. Pacific and 8 p.m. Eastern). Dave will inform us about the growing influence and practice of digital evangelism and newly emerging issues of online/on-phone evangelism, and time will allow for questions and answers. All are welcomed to join in on this call.

The presentation will use an audio conference call and an online presentation to be accessed simultaneously.

Voice Conference Call

Join the audio call by calling the Conference Call line at 1-616-597-8000. Enter the Participant Access Code 258593#. This audio call will be recorded and the call will be available for playback beginning Wednesday by calling 641-715-3443 and entering Access Code 258593#.

Presentation Site
To view the PowerPoint that Dave Hackett will present during the call, please have this Google Docs [presentation] up on your screen at the time of the presentation.

Labels: communication, community, conference call, mobility, presentations

With the new version of the Firefox web browser (v3.5) released today, I thought that it would be great to bring back up that topic of content independence. Specifically, when it comes to reading materials (Bibles, commentaries, etc.), are these items independent of a particular browser or reading application?

I don't know that it is. Sure; there are more powerful and capable devices than ever before. And we can say that there's more digital content out there than ever before as well. But when it comes to moving that content from one device to another (for example from PC to mobile), a lot of times, we are locked into one method and don't realize it until we want to move.

I liken it to many of the desktop-grade Bible applications that are out there. All of them have some excellent content available; however, if you want to take that content with you, for many of these you would have to either purchase an entirely different library (software client and content), or manage some complex tasks before it can even be in a complimentary format.

And I don't want to say it to fault the publishers and developers; truly, they do a great work in building and supporting the breadth of languages, regions, devices, and content available to date. However, I do want to call them to attention - especially in light of the move to users becoming more and more independent of a PC-based computing paradigm.

Content should be just that; content. It shouldn't be attached to the presentation layer, nor should politics allow one silo to have prominence over another. If we are truly looking to good on teaching people to the ends of the earth, at the very least, content needs to be independent of the former ideas of reader/application.

This might look like Firefox, where mobile browsers take on an ability to utilize extensions which enable more functionality (this done at the developer or publisher level). Or this could simply look like more partnerships between publishers, developers, and users towards making content available, and sharing the load for marketing, management, and support.

Whatever is the solution though, I'm not sure that many Bible publishers and software companies will be able to stand pat as they are now: using dedicated readers, coding for specific browsers only, or limiting themselves to policial divisions in the hope of keeping marketshare. If the goal is to educate to the point of making disciples, then the content needs to be independent so that the accountability (individually and corporately) can take the primary focus of ministry activity.

Labels: accessiblity, accountability, Bible, community, content, software, tech

I responded to another of Gabe's insightful posts (Twittering in Church) because its a subject that I think needs all kinds of abilities to understand. Afterwards, I wanted to post the response here - as this is a slightly different audience - and continue some of that discussion because it hits on areas of contention that have been had online and off. At the same time, this is the kind of discussion that we should be having as a gathering (here @ MMM) of tech-enabled, worshipers of God. Here's the comment (please do read the blog posting and comments afterwards for the complete context):

Teaching what is appropriate and not is a cultural and social function [of technology]; this should be something that is done independent of the technology trends [for example in discipleship], and at the same time it [the teaching/discipling] should mind those trends and give wisdom where needed.

Simply saying that "because a pastor is preaching doesn't mean you should be texting and tweeting" is not a remedy for the issue – that is, you are only addressing symptoms of a greater thought that most likely wasn't taught. Namely: ethics (re: Proverbs and Ecc.).

It is only after teaching these ethical issues of social, technology, and culture that one can sit and make the rules that others suppose should be the case of this digitally native and very social generation. I’m sorry folks, but most of you commenting are more like myself where you sit as a late Gen X or early Gen Y-er; you aren’t native to this way of communitating and therefore your "rules" and "perceptions" will cause more problems than they solve.

To those peeved that people can text better than they can recite books and doctrine, do a better job discipling and then maybe you won't have the tech issue to harp on as loudly. And yes, I very much practice what I preach – Gabe can totally vouch for that much.

Lastly, I too am of the opinion that "church" is what happens in-between the Sunday worship gatherings. That the active acts of creating community with people in and outside of the Christian faith should be what defines church. If this action is spilling over into our use of tech, and moreso into those worship gatherings, then we need to (a) redefine and further emphasize what it means to be a gathering of worshippers, and (b) do a much better job of discipling one another towards healthy boundaries and margins, making sure that we don't miss that knowledge and understanding of this specific time and space towards technology, while sharing the implications of this change and what it needs to mean for us and those around us as we engage in this thing called church.

Labels: church, community, mobility, SMS, twitter

I've been trying to figure out how to best comment on Google Wave, but really, all I can say is that it would be great that if as a web destination, that the conversations and interactivity here could mimic what was demonstrated with Google Wave. I think that in terms of conversations, connecting, and communication, that this is the kind of rich functionality that we should be looking towards here.

That being said, doing such things is near impossible at this point. There are too many variables that need to be taken into account (I think). Not to say that its impossible, but in this case, finding out how to beat impossible is fun and taxing.

That being said, I do think that Opera Unite points a direction as to how this could be done. It would have to be something in respect to making literal connections, but allowing collaboration and shared learning to be the thread moreso than it is now.

I see the content here as a smattering of social objects that we take like pieces of Legos then going back and forth crafting out appropriate uses of them. Commenting in places; literally dialoging in others; but all together making the conversation named MMM. While all the subjects within these conversations uses these elements to further empower people and communities towards seeing "Jesus with skin on" beyond this intersection of faith and mobile tech.

Labels: collaboration, communication, community, Google Wave, messaging, Opera Unite, sharing, social objects

This is a subject that I'm working on understanding a bit more these days - in part because I sit on the line between Gen X and Y - that being the subject of the role that mobile (devices, services, lifestyles, etc.) play in the cognitive development of youth (youth being under the age of 18yrs).

There is a post over at the Next Great Thing blog which goes into this and takes a similar view to what we took here during the Parents and Mobile Kids series. Namely, that even though technology is moving faster, for these kids who are digital natives they "will still have to navigate developmental cognitive stages" just as we all have. Though the NGT blog is geared towards marketers, this article shows some of the insight within other fields which helps to recognize and better understand the implications of mobile technology within this intersection.

Labels: community, development, mobility, parenting, teens, teens. youth

I embarked on a bit of communication cleansing this week. In the early part of the week, I answered some questions relating to ministry activities. Then some items at work had be both flustered and prayerful. And then the (near) big thing; I made a call to eliminate email from my life.

Now let me say this. Its almost impossible to do so due to MMM, Brighthand, and work responsibilities. However, personally, I can do this, and it would be hard, but possible. So I set about forwarding various personal email addresses to my mobile phone number's email address. Every mobile phone number is an email address, and messages sent to it would become SMS (text) messages.

I then set up some autoresponders for those email addresses letting people know that its best from this point out to contact me via SMS and/or IM. And because I'm stingy with both SMS and IM, I know (based on relationship to me) whom will contact me how.

So I made this change and you know the first thing I noticed? I get way too much email that I don't read. I'm speaking of newsletters and such. I just don't read them. And getting these extremely long messages as SMSes didn't help one bit to make me read them. So I've set about unsubscribing from them all.

Of course, not everything was that simple. I needed to also change the email addresses for those entities that I like to the mobile email/SMS address. That was harder than I thought it would be because I needed to click on links to verify the change, but the links were usually broken. So I had to type (copy) the link down in Notepad and then click on it in another web browser so that I could make that change. Thankfully, that only had to be done twice.

Lastly, its responding to people. Already I've had some people message me asking what is the correct email address because a SMS is too small; I simply responded that if it can't be said in 160 characters, then you probably are saying too much, or should call/visit to discuss it.

Sounds harsh, but there's a point I'm trying to make with this. We have all noticed that (certain types of) tech has gotten to the point where its ruling our lives. Where we are bending-over-backwards-and-above to see who is contacting us when, and a lot of times the messages can wait or be better prioritized. Because SMS is about as pervasive as messaging gets and not web-based, I ensure that I get the message, but the response time is still up to me. If you will, I'm changing my behavior to address the content/context, not the will of the technology.

Given this story, I'd like to encourage you to think about your use of technology. It may very well be that you need certain types of interactions for your life/work. However, if you are letting the Facebooks, tweets, emails, SMSes, IMs, and voice calls rule you, then you are no more than one of Pavlov's dogs, simply responding to a bell, rather than using your will to delegate the importance of the communication. Find better filters; then change your response to messages with them. You have only so-large of a bucket of things you can take in (directly and indirectly).

To those messaging you, they too should respect context. Not everything needs to be said in three pages (like this post), and many things need more than 160 characters. Find a balance, and then clearly communicate which methods are best for them to best reach you. You might not get rid of all the junk that comes your way, but the reduction in stress will allow you to better serve Christ and others with the tech you've resigned yourself to use.

Labels: communication, community, SMS, tech

Still looking for some responses from the reading audience towards last week's poll question:

If MMM was available to you as a small group that meets semi-locally once or twice a month, would that appeal to you?

Place your thoughts in the comments.

Labels: community

Two things of note since this is pretty much a light posting day.

First is to let you know of the 177th Carnival of the Mobilists. As usual, there are a smattering of pieces by mobile-oriented bloggers from all over. I've got a piece in this week's postings as well, though I'll warn you that it might offend a bit ;)

Then there are these thoughts/actions on mobile that I'm pondering in my head: for instance, my church is small, and we have a few college students home for the summer. There aren't many things to do towards keeping them occupied, and so I wanted to do a bit of Friday night fellowships. However, being so SMS/mobile-oriented, I'm debating on the best usages of a service like Church Texting Manager to make it happen best and keep it in a position where others can just find out about it on a whim.

Then I have some thoughts about how to handle some of the requests from friends and family towards helping them to attain a solid mobile device. Now personally, I simply go to Craigslist and find a good deal. But really, who has the time for that. Maybe something like the MMM Smartphone Guide can be done in a smaller, more search-friendly format that would make it easier for people to not just shop, but purchase devices on their own effectively.

I'm also wondering if MMM can include those who bike. You know? Just keeping it mobile ;) hehehe.

Labels: biking, Carnival of the Mobilists, community, mission, SMS

This post follows the meme of many of the other thoughts posted this week, and at the same time, it plays on its own. The meme is that innovation requires space, freedom (in Christ), and a good bit of tinkering.

Tinkering? Yes. The ability to play with something for the desired effect of creating something new, but protracted over an extended period of time. If you will, using that inventor's juice and crafting a world around you that is (hopefully) better than it was the day before.

Now, I like to tinker. And if you've been around MMM since its inception (or for just the past two weeks), you might notice that I tinker all over the place. Sometimes its web design, sometimes it content, sometimes it something else entirely that points back and through here. All in all, its that "innovator's juice" that keeps me tweaking and looking for something that sparks others (to Him).

I think that is where this comment came into play best for me:

...These are problems that cannot be entrusted to technocrats or elites: complex problems have to be solved collectively. In such a world, the only way to make a better future is to have people learn to create their own futures: to develop the capacity to solve problems, to see the consequences of their actions, and to be able to act now in ways that help them reach a better future. In other words, people have to learn how to tinker with the future. Not only that, but tinkering's lack of respect for intellectual boundaries, its willingness to experiment, its emphasis on solutions and goals, and its social openness, make it a match for wicked problems...

This is from a post titled Tinkering to the Future. This author makes the statement that we have to continue to allow people to tweak and tinker with whatever we are doing now in cyberspace to create something next.

I want to take that a bit further. We should create spaces to tinker. Whether that is something as simple as learning workshops where all you do is play, or something less structured like meetups and tech-play-dates where coders, developers, parents, leaders, all galvanize around a common aim - play and see what happens.

There's a young teen that I mentor. The past few weeks has seen him playing with my phones and asking me questions about how/why I got into writing about mobile. The conversations almost seem to go nowhere, and at the same time, its a time for him to play within himself to something that might or might not be what's next for him. To me, fostering that kind of environment for him is just as important as keeping him on task about his grades. I wonder. Can the Body become a place where tinkering is not just allowed, but fostered into something new?

Labels: community, innovation

If MMM was available to you as a small group that meets semi-locally once or twice a month, would that appeal to you? If so, respond below and with any thoughts on what that would look like for you.

Labels: community

Something that many of us who are leaders and innovators grapple with is this constant pull of being ahead of the call, and at the same time behind in profitable use. Over at Brighthand, my latest editorial titled Ahead and Behind at the Same Time speaks to this. Here's a snippet:

...There's the grapple with those of us at the utter edge of technology that is just perpetual and never-ceasing: we are ahead of the curve. We learn and apply, do and administrate, faster than analysts can analyze. And at the same time we are laughed at and called fools because we see technology now as it will eventually be seen by others -- years later...

Read the entire piece at Brighthand.

Speaking with a pastor friend recently, this is something that's just hard to come to grips with. We want to be ahead. Its literally a spiritual, mental, and physical leaning that we want to try new things and be ahead. And at the same time, this press to be ahead puts us behind the skillful use that many people simply need.

Something that I always found amazing about Jesus' approach towards "innovating" in his time was that he'd use parables - clearly expounding on things that were far and beyond the grasp of normal understanding, and at the same time packed so simply that it remained relevant to people whether they received him or not. Oh how to be ahead and behind in the same way with this tech, even moreso towards using it as a means to displaying God's eternal truths by solving simple, everyday issues.

Labels: communication, community, innovation, mobility, tech

In trying to better understand where you are going, its best to see what has already happened. If you will, history is a good indicator to the future, though not always accurate to a tee.

This excellent post from the Jewish Publication Society's Dr. Ellen Frankel is a key piece of understanding for those who want to use Web 2.0 tech and principles towards their ministries/organizations. Also, for students doing research towards how mobile tech mirrors prior art, this is an excellent starting piece. Here's a snippet:

The Mishnah was the Rabbis' first attempt to expand beyond the Bible, but it failed because it was a closed system. In effect, it was Web 1.0: top-down, non-participatory, read-only, and designed for repetition, as its own name suggests. The Rabbis’ next effort, the Talmud, was a much more dynamic system. In fact, the Talmud has dominated Jewish practice and study for almost 1500 years. It also represented a leap from Web 1.0 to 2.0.

The Talmud is built upon the content architecture of the Mishnah. Each Talmudic discussion, called a sugya (Aramaic for "a walk" or "path") begins with a short passage from the Mishnah. It then proceeds to walk the reader through a meandering conversation about what the passage means, what it doesn’t mean, and how many permutations various rabbis can dream up to read it in different ways

Read the rest.

By the way, you can listen to this as it was presented at the Bible Tech 2009 Conference (Speaker Abstract, MP3 audio, PowerPoint via Slideshare). I will not lie one bit when I say how excited listening/seeing this presentation at Seattle made me. Some things are just clearer when history is given.

Labels: BibleTech, community, Jewish, Mishnah, Talmud, Web

This past weekend, I spent a lot of time in PA reconnecting with friends and family. I got to see that "beautiful" God-daughter of mine, but more importantly, I got a chance to reconnect with a mentor that I had not seen in some time. We (along with my best friend) walked around the neighborhood where we used to do some urban ministry work and remarked on the many changes and similarities these days. The effect of serving God is not lost on those people who remember you, but may not have changed their lives towards Him.

Nevertheless, it was a great time. And another one of those moments where I could reboot and see life as it was and where I need to move next. One of those things happened to be with the Kindle. A minister friend of mine and I got together for lunch yesterday and we talked a good bit about tech and how just using it puts us in a position where we can enable people to see Christ clearer when we take up that mantle of just using it.

For this minister, he has an iPhone, Kindle, MacBook, and several other tools that he uses - all in an attempt to better deliver the Word and live this Christian life with people in his community. What struck me as he spoke though is that responsibility that he took towards making sure that he knew the tool, and that he made sure that it would not rule him. In this, he was not only allowing tech to be a tool for ministry, but himself ministering to the tech an appropriate usage pattern that can be modeled to others around him.

Hopefully, I'll get a post or two from him towards some of the challenges and successes that he has. I'm really angling for that "preaching from a Kindle" piece. I think there's value in seeing how others are using this tech - whether it fits our usage modes or not. It makes for a sticky point where we can look back and say whether we were effective or not in preaching/living the Gospel in that season. For those things that we remember, the effect of Christ on all things should be easily seen and endure in our hearts and minds.

Labels: Apple, community, iPhone, Kindle, tech

Not a lot of feedback in our last post about how folks share notes and part of that is probably because most of you don't. I mean really, how many teachers think that their notes would be valuable to others - especially in light of the fact that many that are being taught have not the resources or background to parse the same conclusions that you have?

This made me think a bit, sharing is good, but there's this friction. Friction is the resistance to current motion imposed by and external influence. And if we want people to learn, we have to reduce their friction towards doing so. I think that sharing notes would be one way of doing so (of course the wider reaching things of schools, trainings, etc. also apply).

I assume - and this is purely based on my experiences with the guys I've discipled over the years - that many people don't know where to begin. We see the problems - lack of reading Scripture, inability to understand passages, etc. - and usually loudly identify these week after week. But in terms of solving these problems, what are we doing to reduce this friction?

And if we aren't for some more elitist reason (we don't want to become insignificant because of position, power, economy, etc.), does then the tech that could enable this reduced friction point to something more damming - our own pride keeps others from realizing the hope in Christ we say we wish them to reach?

Friction. It causes change, and exposes the weaker points.

Labels: community, education

Anyone taking mobile to another means for Bike-to-Work Day?

For example, we did an interview some time ago of a user using Earthcomber and getting out to visit their members. Using a bike, one can connect with others for the work of ministry. What could you do on the 15th?

Labels: biking, community, mission

In some emails passed with Judy Breck (judybreck.com, Golden Swamp) concerning my upcoming hosting of the Carnival of the Mobilists, she made this really astute observation concerning the application of problem solving with the greatest commandment (Deut. 6:4-6, Luke 10:27). This is what she said:

...I have always been helped by the "all your mind" part of this. Inventiveness and thinking through problems are affirmed :) If we can build an effective global network of communication, the Lord will use it in ways of His design...

Think about that for a bit. When we apply all of our intellectual capital towards solving issues that cause the Light of Christ to be displayed, we are literally living out an aspect of this (sometimes difficult to comprehend) commandment.

Imagine now if we take our hearts and souls to also capitalize on this aspect of meeting the needs of the world around us. Imagine then the kind of effect that the technology in your hands/lap/life can have.

Labels: community, innovation

An article at ReadWrite/Web spoke on the issue of the increasing technology gap between Boomers, Gen-Xers, and Gen-Yers in the workplace. Is such a gap also the case in the Body? Does it even matter that there's a gap at all?

Labels: community, computer, innovation, tech

One of the more interesting notes to come out of BibleTech (and even in my preparation for my presentation) was the idea of added SMS to the texture of community interactions.

One company, Church Texting Manager, from the founder of Laridian Bible Software, aims to hit that niche squarely by enabling announcements and group management via SMS. The great thing about this is that there are some churches already in the game and enabling SMS within their services now.

For example, Ricky Cadden (of Symbian Guru and Mobile Burn fame) has posted on his personal website about the new experience of his church doing SMS during service. Here's a snippet of his reflections:

... I rather like the ability to pose questions anonymously, and definitely think that it helps others who might not be comfortable speaking out to ask a question, or who might not know who to ask. This setup also closely adheres to my belief that technology should enrich and enable real life, and not get in the way. In this case, it enables others to easily get answers to questions they might have, in a nonthreatening way. It also enriches others, as it helps the staff know what things the congregation might be confused about, or what things would be good to focus future sermons on.

Read the rest of Ricky's experience over at RickyCadden.com.

Much like we've chatted about on several occasions, SMS is the kind of mobile-enabling technology that can not only cut down response times in admistrative facilities, but it invites the kind of interactions that offer new windows towards being open in faith - whether that is simply being available for a question, or including someone on a random request for a group prayer/fellowship. And as Ricky's post showed, enabling SMS messaging also has the side-benefit of driving people to the church/org's main website. Making for some more potential avenues of feedback and interaction.

Just think, what if your kids were able to use SMS for more than just random chats to friends, but had an outlet - a personal one - to get the questions answered they'd been looking to have. What could the response to life and faith be there?

Labels: community, mobility, SMS

The past weeks since BibleTech has seen me talking to a lot more peolpe about how important it is that the Body remains technically literate. Not that we need tod o everything under the digital sun, but that we do need to have an awareness of what's going on and then set an approach to understanding it so that later generations are not simple digital and naieve.

That being said, its sometimes more difficult to broach the subject of technical literacy (as aspect of the digital divide) because its not the younger or connected (digital imports and digital natives) that aren't on board, but those who feel that digital goes to fast and that they have no time to engage digital trends that are happening. Unfortunately, its this group that needs to be the voice of reason and accountability, else we end up with lots of shiny gadgets, but dull minds and hearts.

Howard Rheingold has been a huge influence in my life as he has been at the forfront of understanding digital communities and the implications of this technology. In a recent blog post at City Brights (via Smart Mobs), he says:

...only after confronting this issue for a long time did I become convinced that the difference between the haves and have nots, between education and disinfotainment, is not a matter of hardware or software or even (entirely) of being able to afford access to the Web. The most important critical uncertainty today is how many of us learn to use digital media and networks effectively, reasonably, credibly, collaboratively, civilly, humanely.

Its not enough to just use these services, we have to mature in our ability to use and understand these. As Reingold says also in that post, "don't assume [teens] know the rhetoric of blogging, collective knowledge gathering techniques of taggers and social bookmarkers, collaborative norms of wiki work, how to tune and feed a Twitter network, the art of multimedia argumentation - and, by far most importantly, online crap detection."

How then do we manufacture a better understanding of technical literacy? How do we not just learn what's new and coming, but also give those core lessons that other media and tech have done before?

Personally, I believe that we start at the cross and the stone. We start with the simple understanding that literacy begins and ends with knowing Christ. And even if a person doesn't subscribe to Jesus, we still walk in His frame towards displaying and being "Jesus with skin on" around them. Its not just bible software and filters, its teaching people to deal with the reality that their actions have consequences that will filter into eternity.

From there, teaching the tech becomes a matter of legacy for us, and survival for them. A point that everyone can agree with is more important to understand as the world around us drives itself into a more digital context.

Labels: Bible, commentary, community, education, literacy, mobility

This past week, the social networking service Jaiku had undergone a major upgrade. Unfortunately, one of the things lost in this upgrade happened to be one of my favorite features - feed aggregation. Essentially, you could have a place where all your favorite feeds came in and then comment on them with others.

Now, I took that I idea and created the MMM Jaiku Channel, which pulled together a slew of links that I found as relevant to the conversations here, and then put those on one page. A public favorites and RSS list if you will. That feature is no longer there, and I'm therefore closing the MMM Jaiku Channel since it has no other use.

That being said, Google has announced a new feature within its Google Reader product called Conversations. Basically, within one's Google Reader RSS feed, they can share and converse over a particular post that is of interest to them. This duplicates that Jaiku functionality almost exactly, however its not public. You can only converse with those you share those feeds with - those who are already in Google.

Personally, that's a good bit limiting, and not a road that I'd want to go with here. Information shouldn't be locked into silos in that respect, and nor should the conversations around it. In an idea for this site, I'd like to be able to display a series of subscribed posts, and then allow conversation to be engaged within them. As a custom system though, this would require more development than I have the time to learn and implement. So I'm thinking and looking for solutions that can work (and be mobile-friendly while at it).

Do any of you have thoughts about how to utilize the share-converse nature of social networks to enhance things here, and maybe some suggestions as to what tools would be suitable? I'm all ears.

Labels: community, Jaiku

BibleTech 2009 is in a few weeks and I'm in the mist of preparing. Unfortunately, that plus a new project have really sapped the energies needed to push out content here. I won't leave you all totally devoid though, here's a snippet of what's going to be part of the BibleTech presentation:

In April 2005, MMM launched as a website and expounding on various approaches towards looking at mobile devices and connected technologies - reviewing them, asking questions, tying the understanding and reflection of Scripture, trying and failing at several types of communication solutions, and connecting with others in the Body who share similar passions - in order to demonstrate and create a baseline of knowledge that will enable current and new leaders the ability to discern how to correctly apply these and future technologies in ways that mirror that first passing of a lesson by word-of-mouth.

In effect, look at MMM as a signpost signifying that from this point on, things change.

Like I said, just a piece ;). If I make my goal this weekend, I'll post another piece of the presentation, and something that I hope to get you thinking more about what's in your hand and how that intersects with God's heart.

Labels: BibleTech, communication, community

We talked earlier this week about 30sec versus 30min tasks and how mobiles can play one role better than the other. What about in the case of mobiles assisting doctors as said in this piece? Should a mobile device enable the doctor to be able to diagnose items that need short and quick attention versus longer term? And how has the Body enabled those communities already using mobiles in the medical field?

Labels: community, doctors, medical, mobiles

One of the points that I picked up in reading Mobile as 7th of the Mass Media is that mobility can be defined in a number of ways. One really effective way to look at things is in respect to the time it takes to do tasks - or as it was stated there, 30 second and 30 minute tasks.

There are some things that we just do since its immediate: check weather, look at a calendar, sports scores, etc. There are other things that we do in longer durations: read and reply to email, watch videos, blog, etc. For some of these tasks, mobile devices can be pretty effective. When you need information right now, SMS search services and the mobile internet can be pretty effective. However, as many of those systems are built, if you want to do something like invite people to something, it takes sitting down and patching information from many places - turning that 30sec task into a 30min one.

Now, let's frame this in the context of some of the things we do in the Body. For example, we have various services and meetings. For many of us, we'd do well to have those meetings near us in some kind of calendar, and maybe even a reminder. How about then your church having a service where in addition to a church calendar that you can view from your normal browser, that you can elect to get SMS alerts for the most upcoming events?

Or let's make it even better. Suppose you are at that point in the service where the pastor will be preaching in a few minutes. A notification is made (voice or big screen) that you can dial a shortcode in order to get the outline sent to you via SMS before the pastor starts preaching. To those who are visiting a new church who aren't in that church's directory, they are made aware that they will get a second SMS asking if they want to opt-in to other announcements. Those who are on that list already would just continue with having the outline on one screen, notes and Bible on others (or not).

The idea is simply that with mobile devices in the hands of most of us, we can start looking at better enabling those types of content that can fit within 30sec stints, instead of forcing them into 30min ones.

Yes, there is always that case where you will want to do more. I'm not saying that you cannot. I am saying that skilfully using this technology means that we start looking at better ways to do simple tasks. Its in doing this that we start to see the potential for mobile-enabled devices and services to come alongside what we are already familiar with, and create that 4th screen (or 7th dimension) to a fuller expression of unity in Christ and beyond.

Small additional note: Tomi Ahonen expounded on this from the perspective of mobile on a post at Communities Dominate Brands today.

Labels: communication, community, innovation, mobility, SMS

I've been thinking about ways to enable some of the MMM content to reach people a bit more readily. Things like email newsletters and RSS are conventional, and they do work, but I was looking for something a bit more... immediate.

What if MMM was available to be delivered right to you mobile as a SMS (text) message. When a new item is posted - or at a time you determined - you would get an SMS with the latest post (title and link) or a list of the last five posts with a link to the front page?

From there, you'd be encouraged to share (forward) the SMS with friends, and others would also be able to subscribe either via email or sending an SMS shortcode.

Of course, I also think of a service like this working for something like church announcements - where your church has a shortcode where you simply type it and then are subscribed to SMS updates in a digest form from your church. You would then have a place on your church's website where you could also have the articles sent to an email address, or change SMS delivery options.

Thoughts? Its just something in my head I'm playing around with for now.

Update: I found out that there are two services similar to this idea, SMS Gupshup and Google India's SMS Channels (found via Digital Inspiration). Uhmmm...

Labels: community, mobility, SMS

Two things to remind you, even though this seems to be a very busy week all around.

• BibleTech: Don't forget to register if you are intending on going. Remember also that there's a special room rate at the Hilton where the conference is being held. Keep up with the speaker schedule and other updates via Twitter (#BibleTech09)
• Pretty cool event going on in Barcelona, Spain called the Mobile World Congress. Basically, every mobile, web, and IT folks from all over the world showing their wares and presenting what will be coming down the pipe. And believe it or not, innovation and ingenious use doesn't slow down because of recessions. Just imagine what areas the Body can plug into given the state of those things mobile and web.

Labels: BibleTech, community, G1, MWC, review

If there is one thing that we can gather of these days and times, its that the Internet, and to another avenue mobile devies, offer kids the ability to deal with stresses differently than our parents might have.

When we looked before at parents and mobile kids (Part 1 and Part 2 of this series), we identified how differnt kids are from parents and how both groups need to come together towards working out how usage is different for each generation. Essentially, there are expections that each has of the other which may not be totally realistic, and at the time time, they are relevant towards shaping family life.

Another aspect that's only recently being looked at is the effect of using mobile and web services as a means of managing stress. We know that all people have a means of sheltering out the rest of the world, focusing on some object, and then dealing with the stress. But what we don't know is the relevance of such activities in a mobile/web context.

Thankfully there is some research being started in this area. Louis Leung, Ph.D. Associate Professor & Director of the Center for Communication Research at the School of Journalism & Communication at The Chinese University of Hong Kong actually did a study where he looked at over 700, 8-15 year olds to get an answer to the question of how does technology help or hinder our lives when we encounter stressful life events and become upset.

Here's a quote of one of the conclusions of that study from the website The Next Great Thing:

What did Dr. Leung find? He found that when kids are stressed they use technology to help moderate their emotions. That is, when kids in his study found themselves under stress, they interacted with technology to both moderate their moods and access social networks. Through the Internet, they accessed entertainment and information and sought “social compensation” through recognition and relationship management.

Consistent with good mental health, they recognized the need to seek help. The more social support a subject was able to access, the less impact stress had on their lives.

Looking at this quote, we can see that as before, previous generations of adults dealt with things in the same way, just not with the immediacy of the Internet or the funnel of a personal mobile device (Game Boy, mobile phone, etc.). And while there is most probably some cultural leaning that can also be said of the study - for example, possible fewer technological distractions - one can see that there is a healthy trend here towards managing stress, even though its different.

In light of this, what is something that parents and kids can do though to bridge the gap of what might be misintrepreted communication? First off, establish early on that the Internet and mobile devices should not be an "escape place," but a place of "simmering down." Emphasize the need to verbially and face-t-face address issues, using mobile and web technolgies as initial ice breakers towards opening those lines of communication.

Another possiblity here is alloting time for those "distractions" so that parents and youth alike can have a transistion moment from a stressful environment (school or work day) to a different one (home life, afterschool activities, etc.).

I would also emphasize that the kids be encouraged to also do things such as art and music, with and without connected devices, so that they are dependent on just one method of dealing with stresses.

Again, there's a lot to be learned in respect to how mobile and web technolgies are reshaping how we think about the world around us. And at the same time, its really all the same as its always been. The key as always is seeing what the basic needs are, and then making sure that the tools stay as tools, and the people stay as the focus.

Labels: children, community, discipliship, Internet, mobiles, parenting, Parents and Mobile Kids, teens, youth

An interesting question was posed over at Church Marketing Sucks:

Is your church community known for facilitating face-time?

Let's add one more piece to the focus of that question in posing it here?

Does your computer use (mobile, web, work, etc.) work alongside your church communitiy's ability to facilitate face-time? If not, what could be done better by you and/or your church community?

Place your responses here, on Jaiku, or at Twitter?

Labels: community