Profile
Who are We? Or rather, What is It? This ministry and the ongoing gifts that it will provide is what we like to call, Digital Manna.
digital [dij-i-tl]
- information stored in 2 states (on/off), represented by 1s and 0s
- a medium that is delivered instantly through electronic signals
manna [man-uh]
- literally means "what is it?"
- an allotment or gift
- spiritual nourishment
The Ministry
In 2015, we started to 'download' details to do something big, something new, in order to solve a real-world problem. That problem was and still is the separation of knowledge and faith when it is our faith that is grounded in truth!
I am the way and the truth and the life.- Jesus (John 14:6)
As with any journey, at least where God is involved, you have to be shaped and molded. Call it... on the job training! But while normal jobs are all about teaching you how to do a job, ministry training is all about learning how to let GOD do a job through you. And we are no different!
While we were getting our sea legs, God allowed us to create a ~10,000-page prototype Bible Encyclopedia that didn't go as WE planned. We thought it would be enough to take off! God had other plans, however. He knew we weren't ready.
In addition to spiritual growth on our part, that first prototype did do something we did not expect. That was to connect us with others around the world to prepare for something even bigger...
The Network
We know that matters of sin shall be confirmed as fact by 2 or 3 witnesses, but perhaps a matter of fact is also confirmed by the same manner. In our case, it seems like the matter that we were looking to solve also needed 2 or 3 like-minded brothers in Christ to confirm the issue, and be required to come together to resolve it.
Three men with three digital ministries each trying to solve the same problem but from different angles. Each had to realize that what had been laid upon our hearts and minds would require more. And, it was something further and farther than either one of us could achieve... on our own.
To be clear, we were never alone. To this day, we each hold to our belief that God was calling us, pulling us toward something. We also had our loved ones to thank for their ongoing, never-ending support, even amidst the greatest of doubts. But what God sees is not what man sees, and sometimes, He gives us a glimpse that is just enough to cause us to step back and take another look.
That second look, during a release of our desire to control our own lives, is what has lead us to this day. Only God could know that this endeavor would make all the pieces of the puzzle fit into a picture that gets clearer and clearer by the day. What we needed wasn't a cool idea, a never-before-seen app, or a free version of something that's been reserved for the few. It was and is more than that. It's something that is much harder to destroy or to face failure. The solution, then, backed by Biblical standards, was and is... to build a network.
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.- Solomon (Proverbs 15:22)
The Solution
Pooling resources into a unified front while supporting each other as members of the Body. This website is designed to present the best of what the Body of Christ has to offer, as a whole, to the world, and while doing so, it supports the endeavors of the many.
With the distribution of free, high quality content being our goal, we needed to think and encourage others to think of more clever ways to support each other. Let us present to you the 4 pillars of resources that we believe will make all of this possible...
Encyclopedia
The Encyclopedia is our front man for the entire network. This is where we will be getting the Word out with high level, highly visible content that is easily shared across the globe. Everything about it will be designed with pulling people in and encouraging them to share the excitement and joy that comes with getting to know God in vivid detail! It's also a way to get your feet wet with studying God's Word as Truth.
This is also where you will be able to see visualizations provided by the massive data sets that are foundational to our unique approach. Also, if you are a developer, you'll be able to access the majority of that data for your own use!
Articles
Articles shifts the focus to supplimentary reading material, adding context to God's word - with topics including interesting Biblical facts you may not have known, and discoveries of historical artifacts which confirm the accuracy of the Biblical account.
Our articles are crosslinked with the rest of our pages, so you can always find a relevant jumping off point for further study. Moving between the encyclopedia's profile pages to relevant articles, and then looping back to the relevant passages is made easy through our site's deep semantic knowledge of the relationships between Biblical entities.
Resources
Having a website to help with your Bible Studies is a good thing, being able to share discoveries with those on social media is another good thing, but what about everyone else? What about the kids? The grandparents?
Here is where we open the doors wider, not only for those we've yet to provide for, but for the ministries that are already trying their best to make those provisions. Using the same navigational, crosslinked system that has been setup for the Encyclopedia and Articles, Resources will archive and continually present some of the finest digital and printable media that we can find! Ministries with a laser focus will now fit in alongside others and be able to help fill in the gaps. Digital Manna will help distribute the content that they have been lead to share with you!
Store
The network Store is one of the ways we will be supporting the endevours of free content. Every ministry needs funding and struggles with the notion of giving everything away. And if our hearts are right, giving will be our desire. However, we are still called to be good stewards, and it is our belief that with enough support from the Body and the Network, then we can go much further towards holding nothing back!
Digital Manna will be assisting smaller ministries with being found, being promoted and helping them find clever ways to raise funds without hiding the light that we're all called to share. As the network grows, each member grows and everyone benefits from the resulting resources. It's really that simple.