Mobile Ministry Magazine Interviews Ed Hansberry

[Paul Martin]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://mobileministrymagazine.com/2007/01/mmm-interviews-ed-hansberry.html' target='_blank'>http://mobileministrymagazine.com/2...-hansberry.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Of all the technologies I am interested in that I have been involved with online to some degree, from Windows to Excel to Windows Mobile devices, it is mobile devices that has given me the most opportunity to also talk about my faith, and that was quite unintentional. I had no idea my interest would take me down this path in 1998 when my first device and began online posting about it."</i><br /><br />From his posts to his personal site, it's obvious that Ed takes his faith seriously and finds an intersection with his love of technology. Anyone who seeks to integrate the two would find the article helpful. I've always enjoyed reading about Ed's love of both and it's given me ideas on how to use my device more effectively. So, now we know about Ed. How about you? In what ways do you find your mobile device a help or hindrance in your religious life? Read on for my answer to that question.<br /> <!> <br />Personally, Laridian IS my Bible at church. I also take sermon notes with Pocket Word. I've got a template set up which provides the basic sermon header info so it saves a little time. On some occasions, I've added church activities in Pocket Informant that I've read about in the handouts or on the projection screen. I also keep track of my daily Bible readings in a plan through the PB interface. This time, I'm trying to read through chronologically. At my current schedule, I'm squeezing the 1 year plan into two. :) As a religious broadcaster, I sometimes look up verses while preparing an on-air comment, but frankly it's often easier for me to just pull up Biblegateway since I've got a PC handy there. I've also got a copy of Memorize but honestly have not put it to good use. Maybe there's a good New Year's resolution for me. <br /><br />As far as a hindrance, it's just so easy to pop on and check my e-mail or read an online article while I want to finish a Bible reading, so the distraction factor can be a challenge. I usually turn off the wifi to help with that. So, how do you use your mobile device in study or pursuit of your faith?

[hnelson59]

I use my X50v with the latest version of Pocket eSword (WM2003SE). I have 13 different translations loaded onto my CF card as well as several other reference books that I use to get into more detail about what I am reading. I take notes in eSword and assign them to the verses that are the topic of the teaching.

I like the parallel feature of eSword as I can compare up to 4 different Bibles at the same time.

I don't find any hindrances while using this technology. In fact, I like the portability it affords me. The ability to cross reference various Bibles at my fingertips instead of having them all spread over a table is awesome.

Nice to know that others use their portable devices in a similar fashion.

Gob bless! :D

[Clinton Fitch]

Personally, Laridian IS my Bible at church. I also take sermon notes with Pocket Word. I've got a template set up which provides the basic sermon header info so it saves a little time. On some occasions, I've added church activities in Pocket Informant that I've read about in the handouts or on the projection screen. I also keep track of my daily Bible readings in a plan through the PB interface.

Great stuff Paul and a great article on Ed. I would love to see your templates that you use if you don't mind sharing. This is something that I've struggled with personally.

I use Laridian PocketBible as well for my main Bible text at church/Sunday School but I still take my sermon notes by hand - partly because I can't seem to find a easy way to organize as I type it in.

I will say that I personally think that mobile technology has strengthened my faith. One thing I always struggled with was keeping up daily reading while traveling - and I travel a lot. I would always seem to forget a Bible. Once I got my reading over to PocketBible (and Daily Reader before it) I was set as my WinMo device always is with me.

[Clinton Fitch]

I don't find any hindrances while using this technology. In fact, I like the portability it affords me. The ability to cross reference various Bibles at my fingertips instead of having them all spread over a table is awesome.


Same thing here - and especially when in Sunday School when I can quickly look up something if I'm teaching or if someone has a question.

[Paul Martin]

My template is EXTREMELY simple:

Sermon Notes

Date:
Church: &lt;Name of Church>
Pastor: &lt;Name of Pastor>

Title:
Text:
_________________________



Not real impressive, but it works for me. My pastor does not follow a similar outline structure each week, but at least this saves me the trouble of retyping the name of the church and pastor for regular weeks, but allows flexibility when I travel or we have a guest speaker.

[Paul Martin]

I like the parallel feature of eSword as I can compare up to 4 different Bibles at the same time.

Laridian has gotten better in being able to display multiple translations and synchronize them. I should add that I keep a copy of eSword as well for it's great free resources.

[vilasman]

Where to begin...
I have Olive tree's bible reader and e-sword loaded into my 4700 on a SD card. I have about 6-7 versions of the bible loaded in e-sword another 2-3 loaded into bible reader. I orginally got bible reader because it had a NKJV version and e-sword didnt at that point in time. Now they do.
I also have e-sword loaded into my mda. I did that in case i ever went to church without the 4700 or if my wife wanted to use it because she had forgotten her bible. I am running it from a mini sd card on the MDA.
Bible reader has some interesting features including auto scroll, you can set it to scroll through the verses at a certain rate so your pda can just sit there and you can read with out having to even touch it. I also have it on my mda so that if I am out and about and want to catch up on my reading, I am trying to get in the habit of reading some bible every day, I have it with me.

But I much prefer e-sword. I looked at laridian ounce, I guess I am to used to e-sword.

E-sword is my main bible at church. I am trying to use phatnotes to take notes in church with a task switcher to flip back and forth. This works well with pocket plus, there is something that i must be missing about ilauncher cause e-sword would always close if I went to phatnotes. Phatnotes stayed open all the time. SPB uses to much memory on the 4700 and eventually phatnotes will become a memory burden cause i use phatnotes alot. I may try using onenote for this if I can find it and if it dosent store to main memory.

In anycase, I like e-sword in church for the following reasons.
1) I can look up a verse faster than anyone else
2) I create a verse list for that day at church and add to it as the speaker goes along, and I can jump between verse quickly.
3) I have the verse list so that i can re-read and study the verses later
4) I can compare versions
5) I can check the definitions of word from the orginal greek or hebrew.
For those times when a speaker tries to show of his education by saying..."If you look at this verse in the original language, you will see that this word is translated from----- and in the orginal---- if you look up the meaning of the word it is-----"; sometimes they get it right and sometimes they are twisting the meaning of the word
6)I have the websters dictionary loaded, occasionally i use it in church and sometimes i use it just cause I am out and i want to know the meaning of the word.
7) Lastly, if I am I at church and nothing is going on I can look up a verse and read the commentary entries for it.

In addition, i keep bible reader cause one day I will load the maps for it so that i can use that, while I am out and about

One day I will set it up so that it wakes me up in the morning and goes straight to where i left off reading the day before.

My church has a open wifi network so I can get tempted to check email and such but I do my best to be good.

[Paul Martin]

Thanks for the reponse, vilasman. I had not thought about trying Phatnotes. How does it work compared to PocketWord? As far as switching, I use Alt-TAB, one of the PHM utils and map it to one of my Axim buttons. Handy for switching back and forth.

BTW, not sure if I should be disappointed or thankful our church wifi is on an encrypted network. :lol:

[Clinton Fitch]

Thanks for the reponse, vilasman. I had not thought about trying Phatnotes. How does it work compared to PocketWord? As far as switching, I use Alt-TAB, one of the PHM utils and map it to one of my Axim buttons. Handy for switching back and forth.

BTW, not sure if I should be disappointed or thankful our church wifi is on an encrypted network. :lol:

Thanks for posting your template Paul. I'm going to give it a whirl and see what happens. :-)

I personally use PhatNotes for my note taking and love it - especially the new version. I did a review of it over at my site at http://www.clintonfitch.com/reviews/phatware/phatnotes-4-7/default.asp.

The thing I like about PhatNotes is the synchronization with the desktop version is perfect so I can use my PC to do any final edits or corrections and those will be saved back to the WinMo device. Also, on WinMo, I use CalliGrapher in PhatNotes so I can write out the notes a bit more quickly.

I'm also the director of our IT ministry at my church and we keep the current WiFi closed but will be establishing an open network soon. I love VLANS. :-)

[azhiker]

I use my PPC is so many ways. I listen to devotional music while hiking or biking. (I carry a second battery so I can keep going.)

I use the Laridan Bible in church or at any occasion. I usually have two translations open at one time which is helpful during a sermon. I have four translations, One Bible Dictionary, and the NIV Study Bible. I never try to make a seeen with it or try to impress those in the same pew by making it stand out. I just find it so much easier to use quickly and easily. I have a hot button set the bible and can get it open and ready without even looking at my PPC.

I use the bible reading program to keep me reading through the Bible each year. I use the calendar portion for prayer reminders. I can read scripture even when soaking in the bathtub after a hard day. Always careful not to drop it.

At other occasions, I maintain a lot of Word documents on ministry issues for pastors. I can easily "beam" them. I have a few electronic evangelism tools I use with seekers. I even have a sermon in Word if I need it and have used my PPC to refer to my notes.

I sometimes record sermons on it for later review. I definitely do this as seminars.

I have to wait a lot in airports and also on flight I can study with everything right at my hand.

I keep lots of good reading in MS Reader format, I have the Book of Common Prayer, Thomas a Kempis Imitation of Christ, Brother Andrew, and other devotional reading. I can make my own devotional material using the MS Word Macro of making MS Reader documents

I keep records of all my donations to charities and offerings at church. I use PowerPoint presentations on Christian themes to share with friends.

In short, my PPC has helped me reduce a lot of extra baggage, and still have my library, several Bibles, etc. with me. And I can record great sermons and speakers for later review.

[signs]

I use Pocket Quran, and have been using it for more than a year now. This app has the entire Quran with audio playback for all the verses. This past Ramadan which is the fasting month, I read the entire Quran for the first time. And I used the included explanation footnotes for understanding the more complex scripts. Also, I sometimes use the English translation just to understand how the meaning is reflected in another language.
I even use it in down times, like waiting to pick up the kids getting out of school or in long lines. It has really increased my understanding and appreciation for the Quran and Islam.
If I did not have it with me all the time, I would have probably not read the Quran this much. But, since I can access it almost any time, I use it much more than otherwise.

[Lex]

Great post about Ed and everyone's use of Bible apps. I must mention that I'm sensing a slight improved acceptance to using PDAs in church, although I think I'm the only one where we worship amidst about 250-300 others at a time. My daughter mentioned to me last Sunday, "Dad, it's OK to read that thing in church but when you make notes on it people think you're playing around." The fam. used to think it was taboo to even power it up in a service. An errant alarm once moved a guy two rows back to say, "did you score extra points ?" I've registered Laridian and OliveTree but have settled on Pocket e-Sword for several years. God bless you all, through Christ, in your New Year.

[Clinton Fitch]

Great post about Ed and everyone's use of Bible apps. I must mention that I'm sensing a slight improved acceptance to using PDAs in church, although I think I'm the only one where we worship amidst about 250-300 others at a time.

I do think it depends on the congregation of a church to an extent if the PDAs will be "accepted". My church is around 500 members but many in the congregation are in the technology industry at some level (a lot of Cisco Systems people for example). In my church, technology is an assumption not the exception which I think helps.

The only rule we have is everything has to be silenced so we don't get the alarm or phone rings in service.

[vilasman]

I just don't have a lot of love for pocket word or any of the other pocket ms products. I geuss in truth you could do everything with pocket word that you can do with phatnotes but
phatnotes makes it easier and that is the point of these toys. Using word seemed to much like using scraps of paper or the agenda note book that I used before.
Now how well does a pda record sermons or seminars?
And better question yet does any one know of a working link to a bible import tool ?

[Paul Martin]

I use Pocket Quran, and have been using it for more than a year now.

Signs,

Thanks for chiming in. I was hoping we'd hear from a variety of faiths and the use of mobile technology. I had heard that there was an issue with translating the Quran into another language so I wasn't sure what techology options were available to followers of Islam. I didn't realize that Pocket Quran was in Arabic. Thanks again!

[Paul Martin]

I just don't have a lot of love for pocket word or any of the other pocket ms products. I geuss in truth you could do everything with pocket word that you can do with phatnotes but
phatnotes makes it easier and that is the point of these toys. Using word seemed to much like using scraps of paper or the agenda note book that I used before. Now how well does a pda record sermons or seminars?
And better question yet does any one know of a working link to a bible import tool ?

I use PW because it's handy, not because of an particular love for the product. :) I've never tried recording much audio...should be interesting to hear what others have done. Also, I'm not sure what you mean by a "Bible import tool". Could you explain?

[vilasman]

Do a google search for Bible Import tool. I forget how I came across it. In any case what it does is this. Say your favorite version of the Bible is the NCV, the new century version, which I happen to like right now. It's the Max Lucado Devotional Bible. And lets say there is no version of this Bible for any of the pocket pc bible programs. And lets say that you can find a copy of this bible online somewhere. The Bible import tool lets you import this version of the bible into E-sword.

As I have read the rules, this is legal for personal usage.

[Paul Martin]

It looks like the tool has moved to the Yahoo groups pages for the various esword products, like this one: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eSword. Join the group and you will have support to import free online Bible resources into esword and pocket esword.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Signs,

Thanks for chiming in. I was hoping we'd hear from a variety of faiths and the use of mobile technology. I had heard that there was an issue with translating the Quran into another language so I wasn't sure what techology options were available to followers of Islam. I didn't realize that Pocket Quran was in Arabic. Thanks again!

There isn't a problem with translations of the Quran per se, you just can't use excerpts from translated versions for any doctrinal or devotional activity - they're only for personal reference and understanding purposes only.

There are a number of Quran programs available. Pocket Quran (if it is this version (http://www.imaginet-software.com/index.aspx?p=quran)) is the only certified pocket pc version of the Quran that I know of. There's also this (http://www.pocketquran.com/) freeware application which is supported on a lot of platforms, but it's not certified and doesn't have VGA support. :cry:

My preference is for Pocket Islam (http://www.smartnetwireless.com/PocketIslamPPC.htm), which combines a (uncertified) version of the Quran with support for translation plugins and optional audio component (beware: HUGE if high quality download, almost a full CD), prayer times module with automatic reminders and adjustable per your lat/long and a today screen plugin, Islamic calender/holidays module, kiblat (direction of Makkah) module (superb tool if you travel frequently), a collection of hadith (also in Arabic), solar/lunar calculator, and 3 themes among other things ;). It's more useful on a practical, day to day basis than Pocket Quran, though as I've noted the version used here is uncertified (it's been submitted to Al-Azhar for certification, but I've no idea what's the progress there) and for personal use only. Best yet, the app is freeware, and very frequently updated (they've gone from version 3 to version 6.5 in the three years I've used it).

[signs]

Nurhisham Hussein,

Wow that seems to be a nice app. I have the Imate Kjam arabic build, and it came preloaded with the prayertimes and direction of prayer(also by Imaginet) but the Lunar Solar calculater, well that is just neet.
I always wanted to know the exact date in the Gregorian calender of when the Prophet Mohammad was born, day-month-year. Is there any way you could find that out using that calculater?

[Nurhisham Hussein]

:lol: TBH I'm not sure it can do that - it appears to be more on the phases of the moon more than anything else. Are you looking for the original date, or just the date every year?

[signs]

:lol: TBH I'm not sure it can do that - it appears to be more on the phases of the moon more than anything else. Are you looking for the original date, or just the date every year?

Oh I see. I was just wanting to know for a long time the exact birth date of the Prophet Mohammad in relation to the gregorian calender.

[vilasman]

There is a little program that some of you might be interested in called ephemeris. It is free . It give sunset and sunrise times for a lot of cities and any longitude and lattitude in the world. It also gives the phases of the moon and such.

[ddhsoftware]

This is such a great thread. I use my 700wx in church and have used a PDA there for a long time now. Just recently at a bible study I saw my first 'other person' using one and relieved I'm finally not alone ;)

I use Laridian Pocket Bible. I have many translations, but we typically use NIV at church and for my own quiet time I use the NIV study notes, Life applicable bible notes (my fav of this type) and Mathew Henry's not-so-concise commentary of the bible. They have helped me immeasurably.

Not to pimp my own software in a spiritual thread, but I do use HanDBase quite a bit for my quiet time and sermon notes. I am planning on posting the databases I use after we finish and release 4.0 as they take advantage of some features in there, but basically I have this kind of setup:

Bible Study Aid- a database that has fields like Book, Chapter, Verse, Notes, keywords, etc. I use this centrally from other places to enter any interested verses I read with notes on them.

Books of the Bible- lists all the books of the bible and some historical info on each. I use this as a popup list from other dbs.

Sermons, Sermon Notes, etc. - these are a set of DBs I wrote to facilitate note taking on Sunday morning. It auto numbers each bullet point. Each point has a tab for related verses, which links to the Bible Study Aid db above.

Prayer List- a database that tracks the people and things I'm praying for and whether there has been any developments or answered prayers.

Quiet Time - a database that I use to track what chapters I read (links to Bible Study Aid above), and things I prayed for (links to Prayer List above).

Lastly, this all links into a Family Journal I try to do once in a while to journal cute things that my kids say or memories I'd soon forget about my family life. I have grown a lot in my quiet time life at reading the Bible and keeping a prayer journal, but unfortunately I don't do very good at keeping up with this important database!

Sorry so long- obviously you got my interest picqued with this one. :)

[vilasman]

First, I want to say that I am happy, that we have been able to have this thread, with out it turning sour.
Second, this may be an indication that someone needs to host a forum on technology and religion. With the emphasis on technology and no discussion of religion itself.

3rd to my friend from ddhsoftware. You really should write your database so that it can work with e-sword or all of the popular bible softwares. I sorta like some of the features that you have incorporated into it. I hope it will sync to a desktop version. I use both on a regular basis and it hope that it will store to a memory card.

[vilasman]

dhhsoftware...
How can I get a clear picture of what your diferent software packages do? I have been looking at your website and I am still a little confused

[ddhsoftware]

vilasman, I'll PM you with the salesy stuff. I do want to integrate into esword, PocketBilble, etc. On the Palm, Laridian had an API to do so, but I hadn't heard about a PPC equivalent. Anyone know of one? What I'd like to do is have a HanDBase plugin that you assign a book, chapter and optionally verse(s) and it would retrieve that from whatever translation of the bible you have set as active. Then my Bible Study Aid, could auto-fill in the verse text to go along with my notes.

[Ed Hansberry]

Not to pimp my own software in a spiritual thread, but I do use HanDBase quite a bit for my quiet time and sermon notes. I am planning on posting the databases I use after we finish and release 4.0 as they take advantage of some features in there, but basically I have this kind of setup:
I am seriously anxious to see this. Thanks for stopping by! :)

[Paul Martin]

Thanks for providing an interesting interview Ed, and a good springboard for the rest of us.

[martin_ayton]

There isn't a problem with translations of the Quran per se, you just can't use excerpts from translated versions for any doctrinal or devotional activity - they're only for personal reference and understanding purposes only.

I'd quite like to read the Quran, but, being honest about it, I'm not going to be learning Arabic to enable me to do so. I could Google and come up with any number of english translations readable on my Pocket PC, but what I'd prefer is a recommendation from someone here.

Cards on the table: I'm a Christian and I'm not going to be reading the Quran for devotional purposes. But out of respect for my fellow man, I'd like to make the effort to read this very key text and, hopefully, gain a better understanding of the islamic faith. Could anyone suggest a suitable app.?

Not to pimp my own software in a spiritual thread, but I do use HanDBase quite a bit for my quiet time and sermon notes
I am seriously anxious to see this. Me too! :)

[Ed Hansberry]

Cards on the table: I'm a Christian and I'm not going to be reading the Quran for devotional purposes. But out of respect for my fellow man, I'd like to make the effort to read this very key text and, hopefully, gain a better understanding of the islamic faith. Could anyone suggest a suitable app.?
ereader.com has it. They have a free version of their book reader.

[martin_ayton]

ereader.com has it. They have a free version of their book reader.

I have eReaderPro and read books on it all the time. I just completely missed this one 8O. Thanks for the tip, Ed :)

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Are you referring to this one (http://www.ereader.com/product/detail/16849?book=The_Koran), Ed? Gutenburg's got a free txt version (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2800).

[martin_ayton]

Are you referring to this one (http://www.ereader.com/product/detail/16849?book=The_Koran), Ed? Gutenburg's got a free txt version (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2800).

Actually, I downloaded this one (http://www.ereader.com/product/detail/4563?book=The_Quran). At the newsletter price of $4.46 I think it was well worth it. I like the Gutenberg stuff but their txt files can have some weird formatting...

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Yusuf Ali - nice one. I hadn't heard of the Rodwell translation before.