Mobile Ministry Magazine

This is worth the time it would take to read. Not just because of the perspective - and how much it will snap reality into the Western-side of the Body, but in the explanation of Technology, Rising Middle Class, and the Future of Evangelism in Africa in Africa, we can see even more why the mobile lens is so important to understand for its abilities and it implications. Here's a snippet:

...Utilize Africa’s New PC to Preach the Gospel...Rather African Christians had better utilize their "New Mobile Phone PCs" to effectively evangelize and mobilize for the Gospel. I recall a New Testament Teaching Seminar I helped organize in Uganda, Africa about three years ago; much of the mobilization was through Text Messages to the many Phone numbers given to us. Interestingly, we did not need to put up radio advertisements and posters, rather we wrote a few letters inviting Pastors and relied on SMS Text messages to the many individuals who then passed over that information to others...

Read the rest of Technology, Rising Middle Class, and the Future of Evangelism in Africa at Yesu Mulungi.

Labels: Africa, education, evangelism, mobility, tech

Given the energy around the recent post about moving MMM to Google Wave, I thought it good to link to a post at my personal site which gives a bit of the history behind me (Antoine) and the technology that's penned a good deal of my life. Key thing to keep in mind, this is just my story, the Body has to enable folks to see this and tell their story and the story of the Gospel within whatever lens is appropriate. How MMM does this is something to be further opened as we get closer to BibleTech.

Labels: computer, mobility, tech

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

After the last post about moving to Google Wave, I thought that it would be good to open the box a bit more as ask the open question about the implications of mobile/web in the Body. I'll throw out a few questions now, and a few more in the next post. Its an open sounding board, so fee free to respond here or via Twitter.

• What are some of the implications from the perspective of simply being connected?
• What are the good and bad points?
• What are the implications on family and social structures? How does the Bible assist in addressing this?
• Or, is this something where we'd need to become more knowledgeable in cross-disciplines such as psychology, sociology, etc. so that Bible application is done in light of Biblical truth, not just guesswork?

More to come in the next post.

Labels: communication, tech

This is a piece that was written for the BibleTech Conference blog: A Technologist Living Outside of the Silos. Its a thinking piece - or a motivational one - you'd have to come to BibleTech to hear this one ;)

Labels: BibleTech, information technology, tech

Caught this over at the Digital Evangelism Issues blog the other day. Suffice to say, MMM definitely sits in the group of culture that thinks differently. Here;s a snippet of what I mean:

Lateral thinking is so often a key to success. For instance, food-processing engineers were trying to create a machine that could crack nuts. Problem was, to adjust the squeeze according to the exact size of the nut and the strength of its shell. Unless they could precisely calibrate the exact pressure needed for each nut, many were damaged. As so often, the answer was completely different: put the nuts in a vaccum and the shells would just burst off with zero damage or loss.

Read the rest of Making Holes, Not Drills and consider your strategies and approaches and whether you are thinking outside of the box enough to see the solution clearer.

Labels: tech

In the last post we talked about being engaged or enslaved to tech, here's an example of taking control of your tech, using it wisely, and being quite productive with it:

...When you look at it from this perspective, it’s pretty easy to understand how always-connected handsets that provide a full-web experience are struggling to take off in emerging markets, and why Opera Mini has 46.3 Million users worldwide. Honestly, what good is a full-web experience when I can only open 10 full websites a month without going over my monthly allowance, and when I have to stare at my screen for 15 minutes before one page completely loads on my snail-speed connection?...

I can't say enough about what Rita has done except to say that even here in the USA, we need to look harder at the solutions and opportunities we propose, and really meet where its appropriate use given the conditions, instead of reaching for something that isn't a good - nor wallet-filling - experience. Read the rest of Rita's post at Symbian Guru and let us know some ways you've taken the bite out of the costs of your mobile use, while staying or increasing in productivity/ministry.

Labels: mobiles, mobility, stewardship, tech

Wish that I could take credit for the title, but this belonged to someone else. And their post on the subject is of the kind of thinking and assessment that we must do often. Here's a snippet:

The reason is quite simple and something I did not quite realize until my friend pointed it out to me. People are increasingly using technology not out of choice but out of pressure. And there are a lot of people who are simply addicted to it, they need to check their Twitter feed, Facebook profile and mailboxes every few minutes and see what is happening, because it's the "in thing" and also because of the constant pressure of being available 'online'.

Read the rest of Enabled or Enslaved by Technology at Aditya Singhvi's Phones blog.

I'd also like to call attention to my comment as it directs this post towards this blog a bit more appropriately:

...my faith is the filter that I use. Its the discipline towards being a Christian that I use as the main filter for determining the value of the technology, its connective need/want, and the implication. Can’t say that I’m always perfect in my application, but like living the rest of life through a faith-based filter, there’s a lot of walking forward, backward, repenting, and relearning.

Assess, but also use your filter.

Labels: accountability, addiction, integrity, misuse, stewardship, tech

In some ways, this piece is framed as a part 2 to the post titled "Responding to the Pope's Message." Think of it as a call-to-action before action is needed kind of post.

In the summers of 2002, 2003, and 2004, I taught a few summer classes for the Upward Bound program at Millersville University. One class was about using PDAs as a function of time management, the other was a multimedia and web design class. In the last summer of my teaching, the PDA class was swapped out for teaching a class on developing and learning how to navigate the Internet. In this class, I walked the students how to do things such as evaluate web sources when they are doing research, how to use keywords for searching, how to setup and investigate domain names, and how to create simple web sites.

Now, I started teaching the classes because I wanted to see the potential of mobile in education. What happened though is that I began to understand what it was that students were getting in respect to the technological side of their education. And to be honest, I'm largely self-taught when it comes to tech; so knowing what they were getting would better prepare me for those whom I'd encounter in the world outside of me.

What I saw in that last summer is that students were ill-prepared to deal with the realities of a connected culture. The university library was still teaching - yes in 2004 - that you only knew a veritable web resource because it had a .org or .edu name on the URL. There was little to no understanding at all towards this sphere at all. And that was very scary.

Coming into MMM, one of the statements that gets thrown this way is the idea that learning and applying the Bible will continue in the same ways that it always has. That despite the technology, that there will be the same core skills. And to some extent that's correct and incorrect at the same time.

In this piece at the Britannica blog the question is asked if technology is going to evolve to the point where the written language will become obsolete? And if it does render the written language as such, what are the skillsets that would have to be understood - not only in education, but all of life - towards maneuvering this ultra-connected space?

A few items from this piece jumped out, but this one really nailed things:

...It's not enough for new devices, systems, and gizmos to simply be more expedient than what they are replacing... We owe it to posterity to demand proof that people’s communications will be more intelligent, persuasive, and constructive when they occur over digital media." When confronted by the statistic that fewer than 50% of high-school seniors could differentiate between an objective Web site and a biased source, Norvig replied that he did perceive it as a problem, and astonishingly suggested that the solution was to get rid of reading instruction altogether. "We’re used to teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic; now we should be teaching these evaluation skills in school," Norvig told me. "Some of it could be just-in-time. Education, search engines themselves should be providing clues for this...

Framed in the spirit of this site's mission (the intersection of faith and mobile technology), we could say (as framed in the reflective post some days 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.

I'm speaking of this connected space where the conversation is just as important as the reading itself. What are we doing to prepare religion/faith for that kind of transformation? Or rather, should be we preparing for that kind of transformation?

The Word of God - the Bible - is the probably most consistent piece of oral/written/digital communication used by Westernized nations. Its literally the thread that holds spiritual, moral, legal, and sociological bonds (am not debating whether a person is a Christian or not, only that the Christian influence has been that pervasive). When the fabric of how we transmit the message of the Gospel is purely digital (text, audio, and video) and native to the generation that is using it, does the way that we teach also get a new pair of clothes?

Let me be clear, I'm not advocating that we change the Bible, traditions of the faith, nor the tenants of local and para-churches. I'm asking - as I sat in a class with kids who are now graduates of college in many cases today - are we teaching Biblical literacy in light of the abilities of the generation, or holding fast to something older, and not so effective, because of some fear of irrelevance?

And if we are on-point in teaching Biblical points and principles correctly for this generation and the one(s) to come, should we be asking the same of the institutions and culture in which we live whom may not have adapted such?

The post quoted here is from Britannica's Leaning & Literacy in the Digital Age blog series. There's a lot more that can be said given the depth of materials posted in this series, but I leave it to you the reader to intersect with the entirety of this content.

Labels: commentary, communication, education, literacy, tech

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

Apologies for the post out of sync with the usual posting schedule, but after reading the Washington Posts' views on the Pope's message, I figured that a response from MMM would be most appropriate.

To those who have been following Mobile Ministry Magazine, you know that we've always advocated the use of technology (mobile and web computing) when it intersects with the daily interactions that we have with life around us. Whether that daily interaction is person-to-person, person(s)-to-community, or personal devotions, there's a response to the intersection of faith and technology that's demanded as part of the context of the times that we live in. There doesn't need to be an official statement from anyone on it - this is the DNA of walking in this Christian faith.

That being said, the challenge is to walk not in the ways of others when it comes to the use of this technology. We are defined by our intense love for God and one another - therefore we model our use of this technology after that, not in light of what others are doing.

Personally, I think that its great that others in the Body are coming around to understanding mobile and web technology. However, to just understand it now, and then dive in without understanding of its implications is foolhardy. There's nothing worse than when the Body of Christ puts on something and it looks like a bad copy of what someone else has already done. And then cannot account for the consequences of that display or presentation. We've got to model not just contextual use, but continual maturity.

I'd like to believe that pastors/layleaders have the shared spiritual and technical understanding to use this tech - but history present and past dictates that not being the case. Those are who enabled in the Body to teach spiritual truths need to come up beside those who are technically able to use the tools of this age and together build on our faith. Sorry, we can't wait for a generation of pastors to come forth who have this shared knowledge - it will be too late.

The voice of Christ will remain constant and truthful in every generation that earnestly seeks Him and His Kingdom. On this site, we've espoused this in our asking of you to take a look at your lives at the intersections of faith and mobile technology. We've already responded to the call and demonstrated the ability He's endowed us with. The next steps are to enable others to preach, teach, and live this Gospel. Anything short of that is just a bad attempt at secular marketing.

Note:
This post is based on the message recently shared by Pope Benedict XVI at the 44th World Communications Day event and the resulting article at the Washington Post (via Smart Mobs).

Labels: devotion, discipliship, faith, innovation, mobility, tech, Web

Saw this over at Mental Floss the other week and it struck a good bit of a chord as to where we need to be thinking in respect to mobile/web use and adoption, and how to prepare for what's next:

The decade according to 9-year-olds from allison louie-garcia on Vimeo.

Having seen this, its important that we don't just think about mobile/web in the context of where it is now, or even where it will be in a few years. We've got to think about the longer repercussions and what that will mean for those kids who are playing with our work devices as simple toys.

Think about the tech context, where will they be and what are we building?

Labels: commentary, tech

If you are in or near mobile, then chances are you are around a lot of voices. All of these voices vie for your attention - whether its a call, text message, music and multimedia, and even the vibration of something happening towards the former three items. Its because of this personal and very immediate stimuli that mobile has been a disruptive technology for so many people. Its introduction to life has literally changed every culture that it had touched.

Though mobile changes a lot of facets of life; there will be some areas where the technology enables the change that was already simmering, and others where people will find innovative uses of tech that more or less works along with the technology.

What I like though is the understanding that tech isn't the answer. It requires a response, and that response will change our lives. If you will, the tech points the very need that individual and communities would have. I like how this article puts it:

...The mistake both the utopians and neo-Luddites make is by giving too much credence to the idea that technology can fundamentally change human nature. For every article about how Twitter will save the world, a cyber-fatalist will argue that smartphones have turned us all into zombies. Both are wrong. It is not technology per se that has the power to change the world (for good or bad), but rather the innovation and creativity of the people enabling and using it.

Of course, technology isn't the answer - its just a tool, and one that ends up being more or less another manner of bringing the reality of our human-ness (or brokenness) closer to one another. We have to be adept with these tools, but really understand that for that it is, its just another part in that story of how technology has threaded our lives.

Hence why I like mobile (as a tool, media, and movement). It causes us to think about the personal application of technology, and how life ensues afterward.

Hence, why I really like what could happen in the Body. It doesn't take much to see that mobile has and will continue to not just foster new communication activities. It will also add a bit of spice towards how the Body adapts to and molds culture around it. I see mobile merely pointing a way to innovation - so that the voice of the Christ remains not just something people are going to hear, but be able to hear to the point of wanting to do life on different - God's - terms. How the Body uses mobile to tell and share its story will show this voice of innovation, and life around the Body will then be threaded in His effectual graces.

Labels: innovation, mobility, tech

Via IntoMobile

Here are my five (as posted on Twitter a few days ago). Items are posted with a link to the associated tweet so that you could either respond here or there.

1. Mobile will be the primary avenue for telling the church's story over the next 10yrs (tweet)
2. Mobile increases the church's need to have cross-functional knowledge of culture and context (tweet)
3. Censorship and copyright will drive mobile sharing of religious texts to innovative solutions (tweet)
4. Mobile will be vilified by a significant generation of traditionally-minded church and lay leaders (tweet)
5. Education + genuine faith + mobile = education and community redefined (L. Amer India, & Africa)(tweet)

Ok folks, given the several trends spoken, as well as the MMM-5, do you have any thoughts on these - especially in terms of what you are seeing in the places you are in. Remember, one of the characteristics of mobile is that its personal and hyper-local. Where is this media going, and how do we steer it within the context of it intersection with faith? Because what we experience as tech in the Body, will not be the same experience of those considered youth now.

*The hashtag in the title is deliberate as I'd like to see this link automatically when this posts to Twitter.

Labels: innovation, mobility, statistics, tech

Via The Digital Sanctuary:

Dallas Theological Seminary’s Center for Christian Leadership is hosting Shane Hipps, author of Flickering Pixels (my review), for a one day conference in Dallas called The Electronic Gospel: How Technology Shapes Our Faith on February 8th, 2010... John Dyer will lead one on controlling technology in our daily lives, Scott McClellan of Collide Magazine will lead a session on social media, and Bill Buchanan of Irving Bible Church will lead one on technology in the worship service.

This looks like a great conference. Don't see MMM going as there's a scheduling conflict (and poor planning on my part), but we will try and get some coverage of it from various vantage points.

For more information and to register, visit the The Electronic Gospel: How Technology Shapes Our Faith website.

Labels: conferences, faith, How Tech Shapes Faith, information technology, social networking, tech, worship

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

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

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

I ranted this topic/subject on my personal blog, but really it can be summed up in saying that innovation within mobile has nothing to do with applications or devices, it has everything to do with empowerment, education, and enablement.

When the Body is ready to step into mobile - shoot, technology period - in that fashion, then we change things.

Labels: innovation, mobility, 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

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

If I had to rank my experiences of the Visual Story Network Summit, it would have to be one of the questions that I was asked after presenting:

(Paraphrased) Can I ask you a question? And you can be honest with me, I hope that you are. Do you send text messages while you drive? I looked at him blankly, impressed, and convicted - simply saying that "yes, I do SMS while driving.

At that moment, everything that I spoke in that presentation meant nothing, as I showed by that answer my clear selfishness towards tech over people.

For all of the adrenaline that I had going through me, feeling a lot like I did a horrible job - that question not only slapped me back to reality, but in so many respects, leveled the kind of accountability to mobile that I many times do not display at all.

Truly, I've thought about that question all weekend; and today when driving back and forth to/from the office, I picked up my mobile intending to SMS a few people, only to remember that for all that I have in my hands, the lives of others on the road are so much more important.

Christ asks us simply to give our lives for someone else. When we text while driving, we are being selfish; taking the inventory call that their lives matter less than our own. Totally convicted by that moment, I'm changed. I hope that in Christ's stead, and as accountabilty for yourself and others around you, that you would consider putting down the mobile while driving as well.

Labels: accessiblity, SMS, tech, VSN

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 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

Remember that post (a long time ago) where we warned you about the ethical aspects of jailbreaking your iPhone devices as a Christian? Well, Apple has (another) official statement on it:

...Apple strongly cautions against installing any software that hacks the iPhone OS. It is also important to note that unauthorized modification of the iPhone OS is a violation of the iPhone end-user license agreement and because of this, Apple may deny service for an iPhone or iPod touch that has installed any unauthorized software.

Read the rest of the support article, and remember that agreeing to your terms of service is a vow you make between you, the carrier, and Apple. Breaking a vow tends to not look so well in the eyes of God and man.

If you don't like the restriction, get to know what an unlocked phone is, and change the way you do mobile.

Labels: Apple, iPhone, mobile, stewardship, tech

One of the newer projects that I'm doing with some guys I mentor is to do a Bible study within the book of Isaiah. We are basically going through a lesson of learning how to use reference materials. A key point in the lesson for me has been how to enable the mobile tool to be useful in this context, and then use as many mobile-enabled pieces to pull things together. I've only been partially successful... so far.

One of the bigger issues actually has to do with the notes. Though I've settled on a doing a wiki, the browsers on my mobiles don't play so well with the site. I also have the problem of how to link resources - as both of the browsers on my device don't give the ability to copy a page's URL.

Nevertheless, there's still this neat thing happening in terms of reading and making time to research. Being on the mobile, I'm more apt to find tangents that lead into additional notes, and in terms of just a plain reading of Scripture, the size of my mobile's screen gives me chunks to chew on without that gestalt aspect of ignoring other text around the page.

All in all, I think this will work, but it definitely highlights some of the issues present when using a mobile tool as a main element in organizing, leading, and managing a Bible study. Have any of you had similar experiences with mobiles's and leading/facilitating Bible studies? What has and hasn't worked for you?

Labels: Bible, mobiles, study, tech

In a conversation via Twitter (yes, I know that's a bit of an oxymoron) after yesterday's post, the idea that content needs to be independent was in some respects validated, but there's that aspect of publishers and developer rights that's rarely heard in this discussion. So I asked, what would this question of content independence look like if we didn't just say "we want it" but actually proposed a "how to do it?"

So let's try and answer that. And your feedback is key (especially those of you with some vested careers in this).

Here are some thoughts I have:

• Start with the content that is already within the domain of users (notes, bookmarks, etc.). This content should already be using an XML-based format that is readable in any Bible application regardless of platform (PC, mobile, Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.). This much should be done now. I'd say a commonly supported plugin that any Bible application can use that would unify formatting and content types would be enough for this.
• Concerning those newer translations which are already available in the public domain through publisher agreements (thinking ESV, NET, and a few others); where can open source developers and advocates join together in coding and marketing this raw content to whatsoever persons/orgs need it? In this way, we leverage open source not so much for the cost savings, but for the people-energy that it generates. Allow the push to use the software come from the grassroots angle (small groups, the pastorate, etc.) and then also the bigger angles (software and educational organizations banding together to promote code and/or study camps for example). Use that energy to create points of engagement and interest from those outside of those groups.
• Publishers have a vested interest in keeping their formats licensed, so how about instead of attaching the license to the Bibles, the license is attached to the user(s). Much like what some software companies do, publishers would allow a user or group of users to purchase a license which allows limited usage of that content; and a digital token is given that is simply asked to be reregistered a few times a year at no cost. Publishers get sales and metrics; people get content in as many ways as they can view it.

Those are some of my ideas. What about yours?

Labels: accessiblity, accountability, Bible, content, open source, software, tech

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

This is another great post series that has been going on and has recently concluded. Over at Challies the topic of discussion is simply titled "Don't Take Your iPod to Church." The series is in multiple parts (Part 1, Part 1.5, and Part 2), but all are some great reading.

And you can bet that I've made a post there. Here's my comment towards what was written in Part Two. Hope to see you commenting there (and here) :D

Labels: communication, education, iPhone, iPod, study, tech

As much as yesterday's post was about what could be the future of engaging with one another, there's also the present reality that not everything is so clear cut and easy to deal with. Most definitely there are pirates, spammers, bots, trojans, and numerous other entities on this world wide web that has made it just as dangerous as it is adventurous. Check out this snippet from the piece titled Loki's Net:

Social media like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, GovLoop, and many others are very attractive venues for CNE by our adversaries because they are easily accessible, target-rich environments that can be exploited with little to no risk under cover of anonymity.

...According to a recent study conducted for one of the U.S. Armed Services, 60% of the service members involved in the study have posted enough information on MySpace to make themselves vulnerable to adversary targeting. And these weren’t only young recruits making bad Operations Security (OPSEC) decisions. The 60% group included officers and enlisted troops from Intelligence and Security postings as well as other sensitive positions posting such things as units they have deployed with, new duty stations, personal medical data, job duties, information about training, and pictures of themselves at deployed locations...

Read the rest of Loki's Net at O'Reilly Radar.

Nevertheless, knowing and being aware of how and how much you connect with one another online helps you be aware of potential issues, and from there, you can make contingency plans for if you do encounter anything of dire consequence.

Labels: government, innovation, privacy, social networking, tech

This was pointed out to me a few days ago and is a pretty neat service for those of you looking to share Bible verses with folks on Twitter, and would like to have them actually link to the verse.

The service is called Ref.ly (http://ref.ly) and is by the folks over at Logos. Basically, its a URL shortening service just for Bible verses.

Sure, there's a pretty narrow need for something like this, but there is a need. And the best part is that this works whether you are just posting the links to twitter, or looking for a short URL to send to someone via SMS.

Check it out and let us know (via twitter - @mobileminmag) what you think of Ref.ly. And, can you think of other uses for this kind of service?

Labels: Bible, SMS, tech, twitter

I just posted this on my personal website, but the feelings probably should ressonate here some too. Here's a snippet:

...I tend to think though that if I can display Christ in this, that somehow I can reform my heart and mind to understanding that there is a servant's heart aspect to mobile that is missed and that I'm probably pioneering to some level. Its an honest assessment that I don't always feel that this is service. There's just so much out there that I get hit with in terms of the who, what, and what's next. But when Christ isn't left out of it, mobile is a fruit to someone else... somehow...

Read the rest at my personal site (well, for as long as I'm not in the mist of moving to yet another mobile).

Just the thoughts of a guy in mobile whose faith intersects with every piece of his use with it.

Labels: mobility, tech

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

Great guy I met at BibleTech (Gave Taviano) published part four in a series called WWJD With Technology. This piece is called Contentment, and while its something that we've spoken about a few times here, its great to hear it said a bit differently. Here's a snippet:

...We're not really familiar with making do with what we have. At all times there's at least one things we DON'T have. The idea of just needing necessities is foreign to us. Paul gives us a dose of advice in 1 Timothy 6:6-8, reminding us that all we really need is food and a place of shelter. No matter what circumstances we are in, like Paul in Philippians 4:11-13, we usually have more than we need...

Read the rest at Gave Taviano's blog.

Other items in this series include: Piracy, Popularity, Social, and Pornography. All great topics, and some solid wisdom being passed along here. Definitely should be bookmarked for memory and lessons.

Labels: contentment, education, piracy, pornography, tech

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

I was asked a question a few times this past weekend. Mainly in regards to me, but also when sitting with a few people who are looking towards tech trends and don't want to be caught behind the 8-ball.

So, what is next? What will be the next defining trends that will push and prod people even further out of their comfort zones, and how can the Body adequately prepare and engage life then as well as now?

Let's start with what isn't next:

• social networking
• mobile web
• SMS-marketing and engagement services
• mobile devices that use virtual screens
• devices and behaviors which point to better energy resource utilization

I know. Seems like we aren't even to these areas and I'm saying that they aren't what's next. Well, they aren't. They are the present. And these are and will be for the forseeable future the areas where tech will mature and be fostered.

Next will include more emphasis on context (mesh learning, acclimation of resources, and purity of truth), automated personal computing (mobile devices and services which act automatically to environments), and interactions with communities and governments (laws, policies, economies, environmental, and resource issues which are interdependent of one another). If you will, people are the drivers and the focus on how to grow and teach will be next (just as much as we are the now).

So if you are looking for the next big thing, and the next major focus, start with people and getting them to understand the times and how to apply the knowledge in a way that befits the children of God (1 Chronicles 12:32).

Update: And this is another one of those adds after this has met the cutting room floor. In an article speaking about the newly demoed Google Wave platform, a statement was made that was very profound and fits the context of this discussion:

...The world of computing has changed, profoundly, yet so many of our applications bear the burden of decades of old thinking. We need to challenge our assumptions and re-imagine the tools we take for granted...

Let's talk next :)

Labels: commentary, tech

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

One of the more popular topics this past week was in the video of the White House Press Secretary and the mobiles going off during a press conference. Now, besides just about everyone agreeing that this was a rude moment, it is something that we do acknowledge that happens all of the time. Simply speaking, we are still trying to get a handle on making sure that we observe manners and mode with mobile devices - in just about every social context.

Granted, we can do things like have signs and vocal reminders that people should turn mobiles to silent, not use the flash on their cameras, etc. But, part of the onus also has to go on the user. Especially those of us who are more forgetful about these moments.

One of the things that I have done recently is to look for software that would automate the process of managing my mobile's sounds. If you will, when I get into certain locations, my mobile changes - without my intervention. And this is good, because I not only use my mobile everywhere, but I engage with people everywhere. The less that I have to do in terms of minding my mobile's manners, the better I feel about using it when I need to.

Another thing that I do is to be mindful of the age and demographics of those whom I am around. For example, some people can stand you visiting their church and then pulling your mobile out to read the Scriptures. Other folks are flat out offended (and won't say a word to you about it either). Sure, there is something towards education that can be done, but that is not the point. The key is to always make sure that our use of tech follows as best as possible along with the manners and customs of those around us.

Last note on this (because I really wanted to post it on the weekend but tech issues happened) - when you use your mobile device in a public place, its apt to cause conversations, but it is one of those small and subtle things that points out your observance of cultural norms. In terms of our relationship with God and others, we would do best to show maturity and mind our manners, even if that means or mobiles have to become silent stationary creatures.

Labels: culture, mobility, tech

I read this interesting article over at Time just a little bit ago. I think that the post could have dug a bit more, but it still had a measure of good points in there. One of points that stuck out sits at the center of my mind pretty often, especially these days:

...These political interests have chosen to avoid the nearly intractable problem of giving tools to those who are inadequately trained to do any skilled labor. Even if they are lucky enough to find something at the minimum wage, they will still live just around the poverty level...

Simply put, just putting things in people's hands doesn't make them better off. You need to work on things at the foundational levels so that when they do get those tools, they end up actually improving their situation.

I think of this here and there when it comes to me and mobile tech. Not just the statement, "technology is only relevant when it is personal," but the other pressing side that if it is relevant, what can I do to emphasize the foundational skills (reading, writing, comprehension, analysis, etc.) that will not just endear folks to like the shiny, but to actually live and improve the lives of others.

Thing is, I don't know if this has to mean that people need to take classes. For some things, yes, there should be some measure of a workshop and introduction into whatever that "new" is. But I wonder what this could mean if we went to the core items, and then started working on things from there. Then, doing things like infrastructure and technology improvements can have a suitable goal/aim.

There's a friend of mine who wants very badly to use mobile tech in the same way I do. He asks questions, and even tries to get similar devices. But to date, he's not gotten there yet. Besides not understanding how to handle a budget, he doesn't have the handle of Scripture in order to be able to use that mobile device/service as a mechanism for teaching. So we sit often and talk about "how" to read and study Scripture. And we do simple things like talking about budgets, lifestyle choices, and making sure to not forget appointments by putting them into the phone he has. Its a long process, but whether its me or someone else, he will end up in a place where he has a stable foundation, and will be able to do a lot more because he got a real(er) foundation than just another piece of tech - he got an example and a lesson on how to live.

Labels: education, tech

Christianity Today talks about technology and its positive and negative implications in an interview with Shane Hipps. Here's a snippet of that article:

...No, because it is impossible. It's like resisting the wind and the tides. Everything around me is a technology. It's silly to resist. But you can try to understand it. Christians are quick to critique it or adapt it or reject it
without understanding it. My interest is to have deep discernment, to understand the actual power of these things, and then decide whether or not a technology is useful. I didn't own a cell phone until five months ago because of the way I feared it would shape my soul. I have to be disciplined about how this thing shapes me...

Read the rest of the article at Christianity Today.

Its obvious that technology has positive and negative implications; what are you doing to enable you and your community to better understand it in light of the tech that has come before, and the tech that will come afterwards?

Labels: Christianity Today, commentary, communication, interview, tech

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

I've had this post from Church Relevance sitting in my Google Reader starred items list for a while. About the best part of the post is stated here:

Tech Novelty is: Being blinded by the novelty of an exciting new technology and consequently misusing the technology for novelty's sake. Misuse of technology may be caused by lack of training and/or from the inability to focus on anything except the novelty.

The post goes on to say,

When used correctly, I think modern worship environments can spark wonder and awe in the beauty of God's creation much like the architecture of Gothic and Renaissance cathedrals did. Or when used correctly, worship environments can help, often through simplicity, guide worshipers' attention to what truly matters - God. When used improperly, worship environments distract worshippers from God and even at times focus their "worship" on the worship leader, another church "celebrity," or even technology itself.

We talked some many posts ago about how technology can be a distraction even in the setting where we are using it to grow theologically. This post at Church Relevance just drives home this point all the more, no matter what areas of tech and worship we are addressing with the rest of the Body.

Labels: church, misuse, tech, worship

In the earlier years of MMM, we had this series called "If Paul Had A Blog." What was really interesting about this series was looking at the effect of the technology that we use now on the missionary journeys that Paul experienced.

Since its been a while, I wanted to take another look at this. And given the attention that smartphones and mobility have taken with a more mainstream audience, we can get a glimpse of just how indepth technology is today, and some of the challenges that could be had.

First thing to note, Paul would have had a mobile phone. Probably not the N95 that I get to carry around, but something along the lines of the Nokia 6210 Navigator. This device has a few things that would have been beneficial - at least until a shipwreck or three - GPS with a built-in compass for Nokia Maps, ability to access the web, and a camera that had the ability to not just send text of what he was experiencing and whom he was thankful for, but images as well.

Now, he would have had to do all of this on a prepay system because there would be no way that a person could move that much across various countries and have a contract, it would just be a hassle in dealing with the billing.

He'd have the ability to use something like Nokia nviNe in order to allow others to keep up with his journeys. The really interesting part about this would be that we could see where he would be shipwrecked, and then when he gets a new mobile and starts up the service again, we can see that break in action and begin to keep him in prayer or launch a search.

Now, it would also be of his benefit to create sermons that could be uploaded and shared to places like YouTube, Flickr, Ovi, Facebook, or MySpace. He'd also have the benefit of being able to keep tabs with the latest policy changes happening from Rome with SMS alerts (if he was willing to sign up for an SMS service from Rome that is).

I would be interesting to see also how Paul would teach the use of this tech. He speaks on his ability to speak many languages to the Corinithians, but always emphasized the need to make sure that the Body was best served with whatever was brought to the table.

The more I think about it, the mobile tech tools of today present an easier means for us who are missions minded to be like Paul. Sure, we might not travel the world, nor need everyone to know what we are doing. But we can create lines that intersect with the lives of others, and then allow the technology to better accent or even encourage the lives of those who might not get a chance to see us in person.

I wonder if the Body is looking to go back towards doing this in various applications? It would be pretty interesting don't you think?

Labels: blog, camera, maps, mission, mobility, multimedia, Nokia, Nokia Maps, SMS, tech

Earlier this year, we pointed to Abilene Christian University's mobile initiative. The university would be the first to offer incoming freshmen iPhone and iPod Touch devices, and then integrate them into an entire mobile-culture.

An article at Network World peeks into what has happened at Abilene Christian University, and some of the blessings and challenges of going mobile in a university setting. Here's a snippet:

...When iPhone was released, the school bought nearly two dozen to test out. By December 2007, campus officials decided they had what they needed.

Well, almost.

The university decided to focus on just the incoming freshmen, rather than try to equip and support all nearly 4,000 undergrads. Even so, IT staff realized the campus Wi-Fi net had not been designed to support a fully and constantly connected population. "As I thought this through, I realized these [handhelds] were wireless-only devices, and much better positioned than laptops for doing all kinds of things like quick lookups," says Arthur Brant, ACU's director of networking services. "That meant these devices would be used a lot more than laptops..."

Read the rest of the article at Network World.

What can we gather from initiative that is beneficial for the Body at large? Specifically, from an implementation standpoint, we can see that there was a vision for use that had a lot of hands towards making this mobile-enabled culture happen. There was an acknowledgement of limitations, and a quick response to issues (where possible).

What ACU does as well as point towards a response to technology as the Body has has to understand. There are elements of use and culture, but moreso there is a methodology of equipping for the world at hand that needs to be done if we are going to live in this changing world.

As one who wanted to pull this off with PDAs while I was an undergrade (article written in late 2001, I graduated 2002), there is definitely some interest in me seeing the successes and failures here. But it also is encouraging to see that mobile tech can be used as a part of the education and Christian-life-skills processes.

Labels: community, education, information technology, iPhone, iPod Touch, mobility, tech

The Nokia Conversations blog has highlighted an article and its source post speaking about internet etiquette education in [South] Korea. Being that mobile and internet use is very high in terms of use and lifestyle in [South] Korea, its almost appropriate that they would be one of the first to take a whole sale approach to addressing use and ethics for parents, youth, and culture.

This quote speaks to why this matters and why as a Body we need to jump in and learn/apply these same lessons:

...many children including myself go through the phase when they relate their identity to imaginary or fictional characters. i am no expert in this area so i do wonder how future children would discover and exploit the fact that they can be the imaginary character to a certain extent if they want to, aided by other ‘people’ in the digital world, not just by their own imagination while they are going through the blossoming age of developing their social perception and individual identity. it is up to whether the child will be able to master the delicate skill set of constructing and maintaining the perception of a world in a non-physical form...

This is a subject that begs discussion on so many levels, not the least of which is because the technology moves so fast that education can sometimes be seen as a chore and something that holds it back. I disagree with this notion, and therefore discussions and policies like these are needed so that we don't end up with a culture that has a jaded sense of what is real versus what is virtual - or in other words find their identity in more than just the social programs they are engaged in.

Check out the posts at Nokia Conversations and Nokia Design Researcher Younghee Jung, and then the original Korean article (its in Korean) speaking about these policies for more insight and backstory on this.

As leaders and parents, how do you teach ethics, while allowing the technology to be a place where imaginations can form maturely?

Labels: children, church, communication, community, computer, education, parenting, teaching, tech, teens

One of the difficulties that people have with mobile devices is that idea of managing the resources. Speaking just of books right now, its pretty easy to manage a print library. You see colors and text and then organize how you feel. On an electronic device, its a bit harder because they all are in the same place and the organization is usually the department of the developer towards what ways would work best.

But I'm mobile and like to give books away, so that presents yet another issue. Some ways I am thinking about better managing my print and digital assets actually include using bar codes (or QR codes) and a bit of fun with the digital camera.

First I would take a picture of all of my books as they sit on their shelf. Ideally, taking a picture of the binding in this way would also give me a view of the bar code or QR code that is on the book. My camera would then read that information and ask if I want to save it into my digital library (think bookmarks in the browser). Depending on the license, that digital library would indicate if there is an electronic version of that book for download (free or reduced purchase).

For those books that are completely digital, these also appear in that digital library, incdicated with an icon that it is digital only. Like the print books, there would be a link to the physical version, purchasable at a reduced price as well.

After that I would manage thing via that digital picture that I took. Physical assets would sit on that bookshelf, and the digital ones would be shown overlayed on an additional "shelf." By moving the device up/down/in/out I would be able to view books zoomed in on a level that makes it easy to see what I want to read next, or what was lent out. Finally, I would be given a prompt every time a new book is added digitally to update my bookcase picture.

Given the breadth of books that many have, and most will not go completely digital for a while, this would seem an idea means to not only keep track of books, but also integrate our mobile devices for a more organic book experience. For all of you who are teachers and pastors, with shelves and shelves of books (some of which not seeing an eye in years), how does a solution for managing your collections in a manner like this work for you? And to others, how could you see solutions like Logos, Laridian, Olive Tree, etc. working in something like this to make it easier to read more and share what you've read?

Labels: Bible, camera, Laridian, Logos, mobiles, Olivetree, print, reading, tech

A new friend from Logos might get on me a bit for this, but I did tell him that I wanted to post about something he showed me when we got together Friday night :)

My friend had a Samsung Q1 UMPC (review of this at Brighthand) with him and explained to me how the paradigm of Logos and the TabletPC led him to really embrace mobile computing. Being that we were both of the background of developers, some of the conversation got technical, but the more interesting part of things is where he spoke about ownership, and how many of the principles of Web 2.0 take that away from the user for the sake of short term profits.

Needless to say, I was very impressed at his disection of the marketplace, and what it means for uses both now and in the future. Of course, he is highly invested into Logos, which wants to keep the paradigm of ownership with the user, rather than with the company or publisher.

Getting some back to the mobile tech, he told me about how he uses Logos as a reader, moreso than a sermon prep application. With the number of books that he has on the Samsung Q1, in addition to the size and mobility of the device, he is able to essentially take his Bibles with him, and read in a manner that gives him the knowledge of a serminary's library at his fingertips, but the usability of a Moleskin with the touchscreen.

That's pretty much one of the best applications of desktop Bible applications in a mobile setting I've seen to date. How do you use your electronic Bible solutions and what do you feel about the concept of ownership as it relates to having all resources in your possession versus a website where you subscribe and rent them?

Labels: Bible, Logos, ownership, tablet PC, tech, web application

Given the topics already talked about this week, to have this post come across the inbox was enlightening and challenging all the same. For as much as I like what tech can do, to lose the interpersonal interactions of fellowship should be a careful observation of any technologist.

Here's a snippet of a great article for reflection and discussion:

...That goal also means that Christians need to be encouraged to see their individual spiritual lives as essentially and meaningfully connected with the spiritual life of their churches. Most Christians have what one author calls a "devotional theology" that fails to see the relevance of the local church. But the New Testament places greatest emphasis not on our private, personal lives but on our public, corporate lives. God's plan for disciplining His people is the local church...

Read the rest at the New Attitude blog.

Labels: church, community, tech

Change is a weird thing. Its one part exciting and another part very uncomfortable. Jesus's life was marked by these challenges to general conventions and perceptions that were sometimes received with gladness (for example, forgiving the sins of the lame man then healing him) and other times mocked and scorned (the Pharasees, council, and Pilate questioning Jesus' divinity).

These challenges to change mark our very lives though. Whether we are the agent of change, or being subjected to it, at some point, we have to accept that the way we think, do, percieve, etc. must adapt, or we die.

I'd like to believe that Body has done an impressive job of eventually adapting to whatever the world has done around it. When there was a need for educators, the church stepped up. When there was a need for doctors in war-torn areas, people in the Body formed organizations to address those needs. It would see that the Body always has had the right, if not late, reaction to change.

However, I've not see us as proactive (instead of reactive) to change. If you will, pulling a card from Jesus' life and being an agent of change, even in respect to the fact that people won't get it until we're gone to glory. It seems to me that we've lost that edge a bit, and that edge is something that could have mitigated several items that we react and fight against even today.

I've just finished reading an article titled Of Cell Phones, Maps and Mental Models: Why Doing What Was Right Is Sometimes Wrong. This article is aimed at those who analyze the trends and their impacts; those in the technology field who get blinded by their light of what looks good and successful now, but they miss the little thing that signals the change that will overturn things sooner rather than later. Here's one of many quotes from that piece that stood out:

..Thus, the first and critical point about why we fail to see the need for change stems from the fact that we stand blinded by the light of successful past mental maps. The longer these maps have worked, the more it makes sense to hold on to them and the more difficult it is to see beyond them to recognize the need for changing them. This applies not only to companies and macro issues like strategies or technology, but also to individuals and issues as small as how to communicate or provide feedback to someone.

Placing this in the context of the Body, church, and technology, it would seem that we'd be wise not to rest on our laurels, or even fight against the change that is happening right under our noses. We'd be better learning how we can be apart of what's changing, and then be like Jesus and prepare those who will be taking the mantle to the ends of the earth with the tools and Gift needed to do so.

Labels: commentary, community, innovation, tech