Some of the insightful comments and approaches to mobile and web technology comes from the hearts and mouths of kids that I run across. Whether its their impressions of a device that I have, or just their general curiosity, there’s something about them (and some retirees) which grants a view into this paradigm shift in ways that only deep research seems to expose.

For example, this past weekend, I sat down with twin 10yr olds to talk about technology, their interests, and to offer them some wisdom on how to move forward. Now, your first thought might be, “they’re 10 – they will probably change their minds a few dozen times before they are 13. Why speak to them about this subject?” But, that’s just it. If their imaginations and passions are sparked now, and then matured and cultivated by parents, teachers, and other community members, these small passions become the actions by adults which change the world.

As we sat to chat, one of the twins asked me about the microprocessor in my iPad, and started to detail much of what he read by researching on Google (and elsewhere) about its internal components. He could tell me all that he read, but didn’t understand how it worked. I was delightfully surprised and took the time to answer his question – and give him and his brother some unsupervised time on my iPad.

You see, these kids were already acute to the abilities of using search engines to find the high-level information towards those things they are interested in. They were well acquainted with both the Internet their parents know, and the one their parents don’t want them to see. And like some kids I’ve come across, they are very respectful of those persons that will take the time with them to talk to them about their interests, and how they could use them right now to move forward, and what it could look like in the future.

These kids aren’t starting from penmanship classes with $2 calculators. They have mobile phones with unlimited SMS plans, and have already figured out how to connect IM, Facebook, and their parent’s email to them. They are curious to a fault. And are simply asking to be directed.

Their father and I talked about me coming to sit with them ever 2-3 months to see how they are progressing with tech and life, and to continue to give them pointers. I’m not just serving the kids, I’m also enabling the parents to understand the kind of knowledge that these kids are willing to find on their own. The parents need a means to cultivate this into mature understanding, and later wisdom in application.

I believe that as we see the age for kids with mobile and web access come down (some areas this is as young as 7/8, in the US its 11/12), we will see the need to cultivate this kind of conversation with them so that they don’t just get enamored with the shiny, but that they also learn the implications of the world that will soon be theirs to shape and mold.

So the next time you ask someone to speak to you like a 4th grader, just remember, the bar for what these kids know is a lot higher than what it was for you in some areas. Be prepared to address some heady topics, while cultivating the wisdom and understanding of things relevant  to both them and you, but which are also needed for a child that age to mature.

Over this summer, I’ve been blessed to meet and fellowship with Chip Furr. Chip is a pretty energetic guy, and as I’m finding out, he lives his life in such a way that there’s nothing between him and life except this thin place where God exists, manifests Himself, and [frequently] shocks all senses of things logical and normal. And my life this life that he lives, Chip’s book Thin Places, describes and leads the reader towards a startling end question: “are you all-in when it comes to your relationships with God, or content sitting on the sidelines?”

Thin Places is a collection of 17 stories, formatted and spoken more like journal entries, which describe some of these collisions between Chip and God – either directly or indirectly – and how they have compelled him to reflect on the actuality of the presence of God in our everyday lives. As a reader, you are taken through these entries and left to ponder this account of these God-happenings, while also being asked to consider your own run-ins with thin places between yourself and God.

One of the more positive notes about Thin Places is the set of questions (just three) which appear at the end of each entry. It almost creates a devotional-like approach to the book which allows you to take time and process not only the content of the entry, but your own response to God and life at these moments.

Though, there’s not a need to reflect. The format of the entries, and brevity of Thin Places (156pgs) allows you to read as fast or as slow as you’d like. I was able to finish the entire book in about 6hrs – but have it already scheduled to be read again, and take some different approaches towards some of those entries which struck my heart a bit hard.

On the negative side, some readers might find the swapping between journal/entries and teaching paragraphs a bit jarring. Much of Chip’s career as a pastor-teacher shines through, and while its helpful to get those teaching moments, some might feel that these might have been better left towards another edition of Thin Places, or even an end-chapter lesson for each entry.

Overall, I have to give a hearty recommendation to Thin Places. It is probably not a book for everyone – but it is the kind of book that almost anyone can get something from. In some respects, it reminds me of a few books which claim spirituality, but it offers that grounding in Christ without option that so many of those books often bring. About the only thing missing from Thin Places is a version for mobile devices/Kindles. I’m sure that will come in time given how much God’s already moved this project forward.

For more information about the author, and to purchase Thin Places, visit Chip Furr’s website.

This is Part 5 (and the final piece) of a series proposing a methodology towards implementing and understanding the implications of mobile tool-sets within ministries. It is deliberately shortened, and at the same time, should assist the understanding behind MMM’s specific expertise offerings.

Defining Mobile Strategies
While it is many times helpful to look to other industries to define and implement strategies around new technologies, mobile is one of those clear areas where everyone is still trying to develop a sense of what works and how. MMM is one of many groups at the front of this intersection between faith and mobile, and proposes a framework which might assist many of you towards not just seeing the value of mobile (devices, services, etc.) and discerning the impacts personally, locally, and globally.

Mobile as Cohesion
As a part or driver of faith engagements, mobile ministry strategies begin and end with the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20):

…Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Specifically, all things that we do in any ministry context either have the ability to affirm or deny the prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17 (quoted here in part; v20-24):

…I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me(R) before the foundation of the world.

This is stating simply that the short-term goal has to mesh with this long-term reality – all things defined under the content of God/Jesus/Holy Spirit and defined within their context (that is, salvation, evangelism and discipleship), have to cross-reference at the end of the day with the reality (creed) of being an example of God’s Spirit threading Himself amongst us for His glory.

It can be easy to see mobile, and produce something with it that might have fanfare and draw people to the technology or us.  Be mindful of your methods when diving into a mobile ministry endeavor (whether mobile is primary or accessory), because as a ministry, your effectiveness isn’t just being judged on how well you use the technology at hand, but how much it connected us to one another to display the Father’s love to all. The mobile ministry strategy must have an overreaching eternal focus inline with and affirmed by Scripture.

To talk more MMM on how to establish or refine your mobile strategy, or to firm up one of the areas spoken about in this series, connect with us and let’s make something great happen.

Some days ago, a notable comment was made in reference to the NYT (via editorsweblog.org):

Asked about his response to the suggestion that the NYT might print its last edition in 2015, Sulzberger said he saw no point in making such predictions and said all he could say was that “we will stop printing the New York Times sometime in the future, date TBD.”

Depending on where you stand in reference to this digital evolution of content, that could either be an ominous sign, or the most blatant one yet that things are changing for publishers and readers alike. For Logos and the contributors of the Evangelical Exegetical Commentary, such a comment isn’t so much a sign of the times to come, but a reality that’s worth tackling head-on.

As far as what I’ve been able to research, the Evangelical Exegetical Commentary’s claims of being “the only major evangelical commentary to date to be released first in a digital format instead of print” is a powerful one indeed. Here we have a reference desk that has traditionally taken to conventional models of a larger collection bring broken up into volumes, and sometimes even into abridged versions, that’s now going the digital route. And if going the digital route, we might want to get a hold on a better understanding of what exactly a book is.

From the perspective of a publisher, a book isn’t just the content in between the cover, it’s the entire system of author development, compensation, and marketing that leads readers into the experience the author or publisher is trying to convey. For readers, content is a lead into a moment of imagination, contemplation, and education. Are we truly at that point where the aims of the reader outweigh the traditional aims of the publisher (or even author)?

The Evangelical Exegetical Commentary takes an approach we talked about in our report on the future of Bible software. A completely digital-first production, the commentary will be released as part of the Logos library. This makes it accessible through all of Logo’s currently supported software platforms (Windows, Mac, iOS), but also makes it accessible though the Biblia API Project and website – taking the commentary from something defined by pages and volumes, to something that can be combined (mashed-up) with other software, content, and imaginations (depending on the developer’s whims).

This does bring to light issues of citation (how to do so when going digital to digital, or digital reference to print-first access), and would then authors need to become analysts in the vein of learning how to read the analytics related to how their content is being used. But, I see these points as areas where publishers have an ability to get up to speed and take the lead. Enabling authors not to just product an audience for their content, but leading them towards growing their audiences by having better tools and more refined information to better direct content to them.

For the curators and contributors of the Evangelical Exegetical Commentary, including the folks at Logos doing the development work, this will be a notable mark in terms of how content will be distributed and presented. We can be sure that there’s going to be some base level of interaction and immersion that the Logos software suite will create for this (especially considering the wealth of multimedia components that will bolster the textual content). I wonder how (if) those in the Body with gifts to chop and mix content will also take this commentary series and explore other types of interactions with the content that go beyond display-and-click. How will learning curriculum be affected by this, and will such a commentary (or the next projects at Logos and other places in similar scope) usher in different teaching methods around learning, citing, and contributing to these traditionally locked tomes of information.

Or, will this have the negative effect of leaving access to content only to those who could afford it (device, data connection, subscription to Logos, access to commentary)? Will denominational affiliations curb the use and promotion of such content because while the content is malleable, people aren’t being taught how to critically think and compare in the midst of it?

There are a number of questions that this move to a digital-first offering brings. But, we’d be remiss to not pay attention to the paradigm shift. The Evangelical Exegetical Commentary and Logos are taking a huge step in doing this, and in my opinion, this should eventually be creditable for all. There are questions to be answered, but these are better met head-on, rather than in reaction to the change that’s already happened.

For more information about the Evangelical Exegetical Commentary, including the volume list and how to pre-order, visit their website. According to the Evangelical Exegetical Commentary website, the first publishing should hit next year, with the entire publishing schedule completed by 2019. That’s a long time in digital terms, a lot can and will happen by that point.

Change that’s been caused by mobile can sometimes be very swift and loud, or something that happens quietly, starting at first slowly, and then there’s a watershed moment. This has been the case in respect to the cellular subscriptions (in the hundreds of thousands 15 years ago, nearing 5 Billion at this moment), SMS use, mobile internet use, and even mobiles replacing digital cameras.

In the case of these mobile disruptions, there’s always been ripe opportunity for enterprising persons to take what we knew, and then mix in the new, and create something new. I wonder what some of those opportunities would look like in respect to mobile TV?

Why mobile TV? Well, look at the announcement that Nokia made today in respect to a new mobile TV accessory. Given their projections towards the devices they will sell that would be compatible with this device (tens of millions per year), this could have a profound effect on our concept of TV.

We’d do best not to ignore some context here. The digital TV standard being used with the accessory (DVB-H) isn’t widely deployed all over the world – there are about a dozen or so regions that have it up and running now, and not too many of them seem to be advertising it as much. So, opportunity isn’t as obvious, but it is there for those areas where DVB-H is in play.

That being said, those who move first usually get the benefit of making (or breaking) the best impressions to the general public. Given what we know that’s happening around digital media, visual storytelling, and YouTube/Hulu’s redefinition of broadcast TV, what are some of the opportunities that lie out there for ministries who can use mobile TV as part of their communications and outreach strategies?

And if the opportunities are there, are you moving with them, or waiting until something else comes along validating your venture into another mobile disruption?

This is Part 4 of a series proposing a methodology towards implementing and understanding the implications of mobile tool-sets within ministries. It is deliberately shortened, and at the same time, should assist the understanding behind MMM’s specific expertise offerings.

Defining Mobile Strategies
While it is many times helpful to look to other industries to define and implement strategies around new technologies, mobile is one of those clear areas where everyone is still trying to develop a sense of what works and how. MMM is one of many groups at the front of this intersection between faith and mobile, and proposes a framework which might assist many of you towards not just seeing the value of mobile (devices, services, etc.) and discerning the impacts personally, locally, and globally.

Mobile as Creed
Mobile as Creed means simply the process of implementing your mobile strategy. And just as creeds when through a period of testing/debate, acceptance, and then reteaching/refinements, so does your mobile strategy.

By this point, you’ve identified the content you are trying to deliver (content), you made your assessments of the environment you are launching into (context), and have observed possible positive and negative impacts (cross-referencing).

Therefore, what’s left to do is build and test. This starts internally, then can move to an outside testing group, then finally is released.

All the while you are gathering data towards what’s working and what isn’t, and setting plans in place (sometimes publicly) for what’s to be refreshed or refined later.

To those groups/persons you’ve launched and promoted your mobile strategy towards, you will want to watch your reaction. For just as much as it is that you believe in your approach, you also have to take the posture of a teacher, guiding others who might not share your same perspective. You might use social media, increased employees/volunteers, or even different language/regional models in order to keep the conversation alive and fresh, while following after that core vision.

The core vision is most important. And it is in this core that mobile ministry strategies find their differentiation from other types of mobile strategies (part 5).

This is Part 3 of a series proposing a methodology towards implementing and understanding the implications of mobile tool-sets within ministries. It is deliberately shortened, and at the same time, should assist the understanding behind MMM’s specific expertise offerings.

Defining Mobile Strategies
While it is many times helpful to look to other industries to define and implement strategies around new technologies, mobile is one of those clear areas where everyone is still trying to develop a sense of what works and how. MMM is one of many groups at the front of this intersection between faith and mobile, and proposes a framework which might assist many of you towards not just seeing the value of mobile (devices, services, etc.) and discerning the impacts personally, locally, and globally.

Cross-Referencing a Mobile Strategy
It is indeed difficult to look outside of your strategy as something that might have been done before. But, proving that your context is correct towards implementing any mobile strategy requires that such research is done.

By definition, cross-referencing is a task by which we determine the meaning or context of an item by analyizing it against an index or an accompanying passage/document.

Being that every mobile strategy is an intersection of faith and technological practices, two indexes should be selected: the Bible (or religious group’s primary document of faith, but not a creed) and reputable technology researchers/sources (Pew Internet, ITU, etc.).

The Bible gives the spiritual baseline by which any mobile-faith engagement would be measured against. This is not to say that it will speak directly to your mobile initiative, but like the fathers of the faith disputing their daily concerns with what they could understand by the Spirit and text, so we also measure our engagements in the same way. Be very careful here not to pull Scripture outside of its context in order to fit your context, this amounts to blasphemy.

Standards bodies such as the ITU keep a (mostly) up-to-date and unbiased series of data sets related to everything mobile that’s happening regionally and internationally. Your mobile strategy should be checked against these standards bodies, in addition to any software developer kits (SDKs) which might be a part of a specific platform. Understanding the trends, and then the capabilities already exposed within existing data, merits a refining of your strategy to something better able to be implemented and succeed.

With such a bearing on existing data, you can being implementing your product/service (part 4)

Today, the US celebrates the holiday of Labor Day. It is on this day that we celebrate those whose labors made this country during its more industrial times.

Thinking about this holiday this weekend got me to thinking about how we ceelbrate those folks in the Body who have labored in pioneering areas as well. Those folks whose sheer faith towatds something that many others didn’t see immediately was rewarded a long ways off, sometimes after their death.

I’d like to just put out there that there’s much work to be done all the time. But, we would do our Body a disservice if we didn’t take the time to reflect on the impact of that work on the lives of others. Some people might never get fame by name, only by the output of what they’ve put their hands and hearts towards. So, let’s remember to celebrate them. And find ways ourselves to allow work to be more than just what we do, but how we improve the faith and lives of those people around us.

Been thinking a bit about some of the statements made in that Future of Bible Software piece. Sometimes, a bro can be a bit far-reaching, and other times, I simply expect more out of us all than what’s probably realistic.

I mention this because I’m thinking about my primary mobile device (a Nokia N97 running the Symbian^1 operating system) and why I no longer have a Bible reader application on it. Part of the reason is becasue I’ve found it better in many of the gatherings that I attend to simply listen to what’s being said, using my mobile to note important points. Other times, I’m in a setting where the larger screen and UX of the iPad plays a better role for things.

I wonder though about going back to having something more than a link to preferred Biblical resources on my device. Something that isn’t a Bible reader, but does give me some of the benefits of a quick and targeted search. I don’t (necessarly) need to even bookmark the passage, but I do need to possibly copy it (or tweet it) so that I can recall it later.

And so, I thought some about the Biblia API project started by Logos, and how simply their releasing of this API releases them from an expectation of having to create an application [for me] – but it puts the onus on me to learn how to use that pipe for the kind of content experince that I desire. I’m in favor of such a move, because it is indirectly causing some aspects of the user-base of Bible applications to become fishers of content themselves, and creators of more personal solutions.

However, I’ve not started to crack open the book(s) on learning this API, nor how best it could be used in my kind of a scenario. In some passing conversations with Brett (MMM’s latest team member), his expressed desire to learn to develop for various platforms has rubbed off on me. I want to learn how to use that API, and do it in such a way that adds value to my Biblical needs, not just scratches an itch for information at my fingertips.

What I have been doing is planning my approach. For example, I know that I want something that’s not a native application – it needs to be a web runtime (WRT) widget. The widget would need to have two panels: the static one on my homescreen would just display an icon to the left and the Scripture references to the last two or three items I searched for (there’s no room for more than that). Clicking on the widget would take me to an expanded view where I see a listing of my latest searches (5-7 perhaps) and a search box at the bottom where I could put into it any measure of references, boolean operators, and phrases, which would then spit back to me on a similar screen the results of the search. Clicking on a search result would automatically add it to my “history,” open the browser to the biblia.com website to that reference, and on the widget there’d be a button at the bottom to go back to my search results screen. Because this is a widget, it wouldn’t need to save anything, so when I close it, the only things really saved are my history of the references I went to, not the search queries.

In my mind, on my mobile device, this is something that’s very possible. I don’t necessarly need an app anymore than I can develop one myself. The pipes are there, and I can do with the content what I can based on legal and ethical agreements.

It has me thinking hard about the future of applications as a whole, but also how we are motivated towards creating our own experiences or doors into searching and valuing the availability of Scriptural content. I can’t say that at this moment that I’ve moved forward past what I’ve said here, but I am thinking that something like this should happen nearer than in the future.

This is Part 2 of a series proposing a methodology towards implementing and understanding the implications of mobile tool-sets within ministries. It is deliberately shortened, and at the same time, should assist the understanding behind MMM’s specific expertise offerings.

Defining Mobile Strategies
While it is many times helpful to look to other industries to define and implement strategies around new technologies, mobile is one of those clear areas where everyone is still trying to develop a sense of what works and how. MMM is one of many groups at the front of this intersection between faith and mobile, and proposes a framework which might assist many of you towards not just seeing the value of mobile (devices, services, etc.) and discerning the impacts personally, locally, and globally.

Mobile as Context
Once you have gathered and organized the base data (Mobile as Content) to your approach, the next step is to understand the gaps and build a contextual profile. Or, to put it more simply, understand what all the data you collected means.

Again, here you haven’t implemented a solution, you are still building the framework to a solution.

By definition, context is the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc. When you are regarding mobile as context, you are making an assumption (hopefully based on the data you collected or already understand) that mobile is a profitable strategy for your endeavor. Or, at the very least, mobile provides a means for a greater goal to be met more efficiently.

Context regards a few constants: (a) you have content that is valuable to someone else; (b) there is enough infrastructure and behavioral tendencies that your method will cause/disrupt change; and (c) you have the means to carry out your plans.

Once you have understood your data and further refined the context of your strategy, it is time to start cross-referencing your goals with existing (similar or near-similar) approaches (part 3).