Tag Archives: LifeChurch.tv

Multi-Lingual Digital Libraries

Responding to a friend’s email, we were asked what might be some of the best multi-lingual digital libraries? First, a small listing, then some reasoning to why this isn’t a separate page on this site (unlike the way we’ve done apps, resources, and services).

Reasons Why This Isn’t A Separate Page

When this question was asked, I remembered a conversation with the late WS Keel as to why this wasn’t out there already? Why is it that people have to search  far and hard to find a semblance of a library of digital content that works with various connected and mobile devices? My answer to him was quite simple: “a digital library is of no good use when there’s nothing to read it on.” MMM took the approach of pointing to mobile containers for this content. And left it to the greater digital-enabled Body to develop the hooks to connect content into these and former relevant media spaces.

The other reason that you don’t see this as a separate page is that there’s really not much in they way of local content except by a few providers. When you speak of audio content, much of it comes through Faith Comes By Hearing. They really are the leaders of audio biblical resources in this respect. That also means that if there’s work being done, its either under their umbrella, or overshadowed by the legal and logistical issues of being a small fish in a big pond.

Lastly, and most importantly, the legal issues. Instead of writing this again, I recommend the Copyright and the Kingdom (slideshow, PDF) from Tim Jore of Distant Shores Media.

Now, if there’s enough buzz from this post (probably from those libraries that I’ve missed), to make this a page to itself, I’ll do it. But, until the Body gets it together in several facets, we’ll continue to have a hard go of things finding not just multi-lingual Christian resources, but simply finding resources at all.

Content Submission

If you create content and would like to submit it for inclusion into any of these libraries, let me recommend that you do so to open libraries such as Open Bible Stories, Project Gutenberg, and Open Church. Its not that the others aren’t good, its just that they aren’t open to all of the world (yet).

Streaming Media Thoughts

As I write this, I’m taking advantage of the NBA’s League Pass free preview at the beginning of this NBA season over my friend’s Roku and its got me thinking about how we use and discuss the best uses for streaming media. Sure, there’s this practice that when in a home/sitting setting that one can use a stationary media device to get multimedia content, but how would such a connection point fit within what we understand about mobile? Or better yet, where are some of the opportunities for mobile ministry engagement?

One of the things that I do when not exposed to media via some kinds of station like the Roku or Amazon (Instant Video and Cloud Player have become used a bit more since getting my Kindle Fire HD), is looking into the websites of some of the brands or industries I’m interested in and looking for/at short video clips. This works great for sports and with some of the indie music that I listen for, and its pretty decent as well. I’m simple in searching for these though, I just use a search engine or my existing social media accounts, and search from there.

On the Roku, there’s this idea of subscribing to different channels. And to be open, there’s a number of larger ministries that have gone the route of having Roku stations for their ministries. LifeChurch.TV is a good example here as you can pretty much tune in anytime to a church online session. This isn’t different from saving a favorite in my browser then going to it, or subscribing to an RSS channel. Again though, I’m doing this in a stationary moment. When mobile, its a bit different.

I can see a situation where I visit an organization’s mobile website, and one of the options is to view some video clips. After clicking on a clip, I’d be asked if I want to either download an application that preloads these video clips and offers some other kinds of functionality, or asked if I would like to subscribe to updates of new videos and then given options of doing so (RSS, email, social media, etc.).

Because as I think about it, video on my mobile makes sense. But only in the case where I’m able to sit and give attention to it. Music on the other hand, I like to use streaming music as kind of a background filler.

My primary streaming service is last.fm. I have had a paid and free account there for sometime, and so there’s a decent library of music and music recommendations that I can choose from. On any of my mobile devices, streaming from there is just a matter of launching the app and choosing the station/artist. Should churches also have a presence on something like last.fm? You know, where you can choose to listen to either their own mix of commercial and indie artists? Or, where if they are a ministry that produces their own music, that you can choose to listen to that instead (would definitely make visiting those churches easier, in the respect of knowing some of the songs before you get there).

And here’s the core of these thoughts: how does a ministry that creates stuff allow me (the prospective audience) to plug in and get a taste of what they do to glorify God? Sure, making me read a website, sign up for an email newsletter, etc. might be great and works well for those folks that want to learn about you that way. But, what about those folks who would rather be engaged with other senses or don’t have the value proposition that reading about you is a good use of their time? Shouldn’t we be looking at this a bit more from context of how do people wish to receive us not just what can we offer them?

Am up for your thoughts here…

Learning Life From…

AT&T Terms of Service Screenshot from Apple mobile deivce

When talking to a friend about a new computer for one of his kids, I stumbled upon an analogy that I think really fits how we need to consider the choices around computing that we need to take these days:

…which version of the Internet do you want your son to learn life from Google’s (we will index/organize everything, monetize your connection to it w/o necessarily giving you back the money) or MS’s (3 screens and a cloud, we make money when you purchase from us or our approved partners, your limits on creation is what you can build w/our tools/methods)

I mean these as blanket statements, but these are also the lenses at which we have in front of us. Let’s expand on that a bit more.

When I was coming up into computing, I had to learn DOS in order to wrangle Windows 3.1 into subjection; I had to learn what and how MacOS and Windows were and weren’t compatible with one another, and the tedious nature of making sure that I didn’t lose anything in the process; I had to learn how to design with tables, and then relearn how to design websites without them; and so on. Today, the question of learning life can start from the Internet. And if you do so, then there are many competing voices, and a few loud ones in which we need to consider if they are suitable teachers for whatever comes next:

  • If your lens of the Internet is that you mostly interact with it through Facebook, then can you speak to what happens outside of that network, what happens if/when that point of connection is no longer available, the reliability of security controls, and the value of reading and understanding terms of service agreements?
  • If your lens of the Internet is that you only use Google to search for content, can you speak to what other search engines can/do uncover that Google doesn’t (for whatever reason), what happens when Google’s results are limited to you because of regional, commercial, or governmental interests, the positives and negatives of a single-sign-on system across multiple devices and what kinds of data is collected, analyzed, and monetized through those connections?
  • If your lens of the Internet comes first through Microsoft products such as SharePoint, Internet Explorer, Windows Phone, or XBox, then you can speak to other ecosystems that combine hardware, software, and subscription services; what does it mean to have an open programming environment; do you understand how past market and governmental systems shaped the current software or services’ functions, and what freedoms does your region or the terms of service allow in that?
  • If your lens of the Internet comes through Apple, how do you convey design and aesthetics when it isn’t within Apple’s style-guide or an approved developer’s highlighted application; how do you discuss the impact of logistics and planning on the final product (do you recognize how much Apple does here), and there’s that terms of service again – what are your rights as prescribed by a document you can’t append?

There are other companies with which we’d have to consider their lens as well – Samsung, Amazon, Logos, LifeChurch.TV, etc. – all of whom have differing viewpoints as to how Internet, mobile and other media are best used to forward their aims, and to help enable (or disable) yours. Are you ready to learn from life this way, or is there another solution on tap?

Understanding and Differences Between Internet Ministry and Mobile Ministry

Am writing this a few hours after listening to Dr. Markus Pfeffier from Regent University give a talk on the implications of the Internet and virtual environments. Much of this talk I’d already known, but both the speaker and audience were more unfamiliar (association and generational differences). As I listened, I wrote a bit of notes on items covered and not covered and realized by the end that much of what has been, and will happen, when mobile is added to the list for many of you, is that you will draw mobile into the same body of work as you do Internet ministry activities. There is some overlap, but not quite the same.

Let me summarize by restating the tweets (@mobileminmag) that relate to this point published before the writing of this piece:

This morning, listened to chat about the 6th mass media (web) & the need for a ministry response; good to hear others in this space…

Despite talk, still feel that simply shooting for web and social media is a miss for all but a few economies & generations, mobile is better… Mobile includes what we know (& are learning) about Internet as media/medium. Some of us would be good to skip to mobile, then bridge back…

For many, Internet ministry is stuck as a visual/screen ministry; mobile by nature moves well beyond that to spatial experiences… When media moves beyond screen, we get audio, behavioral (gesture), & even potential for smells to augment reality of faith experiences… But, to think like that means you need to know how your biological body functions; that’s the key to understanding mobile… Remember, currently the reach for mobile (individual accounts) is just under 4 billion; reach for net is 1.2billion, unique cross-overs here… But that’s just numbers, mobile = personal = accountable, Internet doesn’t do that w/o analytics, tracking, or optional disclosure…

So, depending on how you see ministry = discipleship, that accountability piece plays a huge factor into where you put energies/resources… If ministry = broadcast then teach/disciple, Net is nearly perfect for channel… Then, net ministry should embrace what makes it unique for the effort… to whom it’s most suited for.

Yea, that was a lot of tweets. And if you saw that stream in the middle of it going up, things might not have made as much sense. But, now looking at the whole statement, we can start to draw some of those needed conclusions that lend towards understanding both Internet and Mobile Ministry efforts.

First, know that there is already a Body of discussion happening about Internet and mobile ministries. Web efforts such as Internet Evangelism Day, Jesus.net, eDot Geek, ministries such as Every Student, Cru, and LifeChurch are some of those voices, and associations such as GCIA, ICCM, the Center for Church Communication, and Catalyst do a great effort towards enabling and facilitating the discussion about Internet ministry (evangelism, marketing, discipleship, etc). On the Mobile Ministry side, there’s MMM, IE Day, Cybermissions, Mobile Advance, and the groups partnering within the Mobile Ministry Forum.

Second, Internet and mobile ministries are subject to cultural, contextual, and generational differences. I don’t subscribe to the terms digital native/digital immigrant (mainly because there is no validated research to prove it, and it’s an assumption based on 100% equal access and ability which is totally not the case). I do subscribe to the differences which can be and continue to be understood when we look at economic class, gender differences, cultural transformations, urbanization/environmentalism, commodities management, change management, and other social sciences which tend to do a decent job of describing the differences that lead to our different uses and applications of communications technologies (yes, that’s supposed to be communications with an ‘s’). You have to understand those pieces in respect to the unique qualities of Internet or mobile. Generally speaking, mobile builds on what you understand about Internet when viewing both as participatory/event communication mediums. Trends point to being able to understand this data, then creating the avenues for appropriate products and services to be developed/enhanced.

About Internet ministry being visual: I am being mean, but truthful. Curent Internet ministry efforts start with visuals. This is either the readability needed for engaging in text-driven Bible apps, social networks, or multimedia streams (ever wonder why audio ministries rely on you needing to read text to download an audio message), or the implementing of the structures which foster digital story creations. Unfortunately, this leaves out those who might have access, but cannot read. Or, leaves out those who don’t have access because they don’t have the terminal with which to engage Internet-first ministries. Mobile, being that it has built on the Internet as a participat-media channel, does much of the same. However it’s not, nor should it be limited to visual-first efforts. That’s worth another article to dive into. But it starts at a basic question, whom are you limiting access to the Gospel to because of what you know or don’t know about those who touch that channel? And if you are going to go visual, at least follow accessibility best practices for the web.

The global reach for mobile is currently almost 3x that of Internet. The purchasing power of mobile is collectively greater than that of Internet. The logistical savy of Internet-based efforts is more mature than that of mobile, as are the tools, services, practices, and standards that make those happen. This means that specific engagements on the Internet have a better chance of success towards some groups more than others. However, you are limited by being online. Unless the effort starts online and is able to get offline, it can only have an effect in that virtual space (the Kiosk Evangelism Project, Door 43, and Open Church projects actually seeks to address this specific limitation/opportunity of Internet efforts).

Therefore, how you (your culture, your generation, your bias) defines minstry will determine how Internet or mobile ministry can play a part in your efforts. It’s possible to do both, but not possible to pigeon-hole yourself so long into one that the other isn’t relevant.

Taking from Dr. Pfeffier and Tomi Ahonen, Internet is the first participatory mass media in the history of humanity (you can argue the performance stage was its precursor), mobile is the second. What Internet ministry cannot do in terms of personalized (not algorithmic) attention, mobile can. What mobile cannot do in terms of being standardized across every device, Internet evangelism efforts can. They aren’t the same. Yet, in order to see digital spaces here and beyond (augmented reality, virtual reality, and cybernetics for example) as opportunities for ministry efforts, knowing this is key to making the most of your time and resources.