Written by: Mobile Ministry Magazine

Beginning the recaps of the time at the 2010 BibleTech Conference, I’d like to start with talking some about the first presentation: Mobile in the Next 10yrs (The Churchy Version).

One of the reasons for doing this presentation was to set some of the (needed) perspective to what is clearly in the mind and code snippets of many in the software and publishing industries. This year, there was a lot of talk about mobile (and the iPad) and what it has meant as there’s clearly a change in what’s possible when not just data is available, but it needs to be constructed to fit contextual situations as well.

For MMM’s presentation, these were these five speaking points:

• Mobile will be the primary avenue for telling the church’s story over the next 10yrs
• Mobile increases the church’s need to have cross-functional knowledge of culture and context
• Censorship and copyright will drive mobile sharing of religious texts to innovative solutions
• Mobile will be vilified and affirmed by traditionally-minded church and lay leaders
• Education + genuine faith + mobile = education and community redefined (Africa, SE Asia, and Global South)

Aside from a technical glitch (red and yellow are different colors, doh), I believe that it set the stage very well towards what will be better understood not just in respect to Bible software and studies, but how the Body responds to the context of people who get, learn, and assume that information is a commodity.

The last two bullets are better understood in the context of the change of generations and economics. Those who are leaders in spirit and business within the Body need to not just understand these changes, but also (in some cases) adapt to the reality that language, innovation, education, and even enterprise will not start with the former leaders, but those who learned from previous generations/leaders.

The hope was that presentation would set the ground also for the second – and main – presentation. As this was demo night, there was only 10 minutes to present what MMM knows best (Proverbs 4:7-8). I only wish that I had not rushed it – demonstrating any kind of knowledge needs to keep room open for conversation – of which there was a lot of at BibleTech. You can bet that I learned a quick lesson that night, and at the same time gained some insight towards what some in the Body are looking towards mobile for. Suffice to say, there’s a lot out there, and excitement of all kinds.

Stay tuned for part two of the MMM BibleTech Recap where some of these meetings and conversations will be talked about. And after that, we’ll talk about the main presentation, and some of the changes that it will cause for MMM.

View the presentation: The 5 Areas Where Mobile and the Church Intersect/Mobile in the Next 10 Years (The Churchy Version)

There’s some additional conversation about these points over at the Visual Story Network’s Mobile Ministry forums.

This post originally appeared on Mobile Ministry Magazine

Written by: Mobile Ministry Magazine

Just wanted to post a quick update on the Maemo/MeeGo open source Bible reader named Katana. At this point, its in an early alpha phase and is getting still some of the core functionality within it.

Right now, Katana supports the ability to use Bible modules from Sword (user needs to already have them installed on their device), uses the volume control buttons to page up/down, and the initiation of the search feature by simply sliding open the keyboard and beginning to type. Navigating to another Bible is done in the same way search is.

The next features include the ability to download texts from the web (Sword-only, I have put in a request to use Logos’ Biblia API which was announced at BibleTech).

You can follow updates towards the development of Katana by following this thread at Talk.Maemo. The project is in need of more (Qt) developers, testers, and any other Bible software companies who are utilizing web services to serve their Biblical content.

As a note: one of the features planned for Katana is to allow users the ability to download a module which would enable the use of a publishers/software service’s APIs in a manner that keeps licenses and ethics intact. Consider using Katana as a test bed for this method of delivering your content and encourage a strong open source development community in the process. There’s a lot of good that can come to publishers and developers who contribute to this effort, its essentially changing the way users get and use Bible software.

Very important note: to download and use Katana, you would need to enable the extras-devel repository. This repository is for very alpha software and may cause unintended effects to other applications or your device as a whole. The use of the repository is for the testing of applications before they enter the testing repository and undergo more formal testing. Use Katana and this repository at your own risks.

This post originally appeared on Mobile Ministry Magazine

Written by: Mobile Ministry Magazine

Woah, didn’t know that this was posted. Here’s the presentation that I did last September at the Visual Story Network’s Leadership Conference (The 4th Screen Reinvents the 1st Chance). As of this writing, I’ve not seen the video, but yea, am digging the person who’s giving it.

Check it out via Vimeo and VSN.

This post originally appeared on Mobile Ministry Magazine

Written by: Mobile Ministry Magazine

We’ve talked about the use of SMS to send money to one another and various places before. But, what about using your mobile device in a physical manner?

Given that many churches use the option of electronic payments from their websites, would it be a stretch to take that to a mobile device? So, instead of there just being a bucket in front of the church, there would be someone holding an iPhone/iPod Touch (owned and tracked by the church) and then using the updated PayPal application, collecting tithes/offerings from those who’d like to transfer funds that way

Sure that might make for a slightly longer time in the offering line, but would be a neat way to use mobile in a context that people recognize, and in many ways exercises more stewardship than checks and credit cards (PayPal won’t let you transfer money you don’t have).

I like the idea and think it has very far-reaching implications if someone/company/church were innovative enough. But for now, I would love to know if anyone is doing it (or now planning to). Your thoughts?

This post originally appeared on Mobile Ministry Magazine

Written by: Mobile Ministry Magazine

Ok, so “ramblings” might not be the best of words. But, it is about where things sit with MMM at this point. And for good reason, this week is the BibleTech Conference and another one of those changing moments for MMM.

First BibleTech, as you know, MMM will be present there. I (Antoine) will be giving a presentation titled Mobile’s Christ-Led Encounters. I cannot tell you how man times in the past two months that this presentation has/could have been rewritten – and outright thrown away – but I think that what’s been given will be a good step in the right direction towards this intersection of life and mobile/web. There’s always a story before, during, and after the intersection.

Logistically, MMM was supposed to be on a new content management system (CMS) by this point – or at least in the testing phase towards a new one. Google has given until May 1st to either go to a custom domain or another host. We’ll be going to another CMS, just not quite yet. There’s some more homework to be done, but I can say this much – simplicity needs to stand out front.

In terms of needs, MMM is in need of the following items:

• A (nearly) local team of mobile-enabled, Christ and community-focused persons
• Another 2-3 consistent writing voices on this site
• A few folks, from a few churches local and not so local, for spiritual oversight
• And someone who does marketing and business development quite well

Those are needs, not wants. Its been nearly 5 years of MMM being a primarily one-person show. And that’s great, but the faith that we have is manifested best when we are working as one Body.

At the 5 year anniversary (at the end of April), the vision for MMM will be restated. And hopefully that focus and intent for this little place on the web will be clearer to those of you who have been visiting here for sometime.

Personally, I’ve been going through a ton of pruning and resetting. There’s absolutely nothing normal about some of what’s happen. I’m questioning everything and being challenged in the very core aspects of my life. Its not fun, its been pretty painful actually, but my life has been served this time… pruning and purging is happening in spades. I believe that much will happen personally, spiritually, and professionally after this week. I’ve had that feeling for many months now, and well, by faith I’ll watch God do what He does best.

Its a bit of rambling I know, but you (the reader) needs to know where we (MMM) are. I covet your prayers for me (Antoine) and MMM. Stay tuned to more of God’s doings, there will be more to this story.

As a programming note: there will be no more posts until after I return from Cali. Until then, stay tuned to Twitter for MMM-styled updates. See ya there, or in the mist of the biggest wedding party eternity has ever seen

This post originally appeared on Mobile Ministry Magazine

Written by: Mobile Ministry Magazine

Wish that MMM could take credit for this line of thought, but really, this is where mobile and web are going. The idea is that the effects of mature networks and platforms are going to turn traditional models of software ownership on its head. Those companies who lead or adapt quickly to this trend will find the business side of the connected economy easier to deal with. Those who wish to lock people into the former model will have a harder time growing marketshare, and might find their content – while the same as a network/platform – diminished in value because it cannot be extended by the user or user communities to draw even more relevance and value from it.

Get your networks/platforms/apps ready, things are changing.

This post originally appeared on Mobile Ministry Magazine

Written by: Mobile Ministry Magazine

Another great look at mobile use in Africa, this time from the side of mobile enabling social change. Here’s a snippet:

Technology in itself does not lead to social change. For change to take place technology needs to be appropriate and rooted in local knowledge. People decide why and how a particular technology will be used and, depending on the political and socio-economic environment in which they live, adapt it accordingly. As we shall see from the case studies in this book, there are considerable local innovations and non-instrumental uses of the phone – using phones in ways not intended, that step outside their technological aspects and which attempt to bypass traditional power structures. Firoze Manji describes this process as ordinary people taking control of their destiny rather than technology driving the change: ‘Social change is actually driven not by technologies but by ordinary people being able to exert an authority over their own experience and, through common actions, developing the courage to determine their own destiny.’

Read the rest of the excerpted chapter of SMS Uprising: Mobile Activism in Africa and order the entire book from Pambazuka Press.

This post originally appeared on Mobile Ministry Magazine

Written by: 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.

This post originally appeared on Mobile Ministry Magazine

Written by: Mobile Ministry Magazine

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.

This post originally appeared on Mobile Ministry Magazine

Written by: Mobile Ministry Magazine

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

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

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