A Strange Thing Happened on the Way to Work

A strange thing happened to me on the way to work the other day. The radio in my old T-Bird decided to lose its memory. All of sudden I was listening to NOISE on 600 AM, the clock was 0:00 and all my presets were back to factory default. I switched back to FM and started searching through the frequencies to re-enter my presets. When I did I ran across a station that was playing a song that hit a chord with me. I'm mostly a praise & worship (Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Don Moen, Paul Baloche) and contemporary (Building 429, Casting Crowns, Third Day) fan but this black gospel song really grabbed me.

First of all I was pleased that there was another Christian station in the market because Christian radio is on the decline according to the Barna Group. (See More People Use Christian Media Than Attend Church) I discovered this station was put on the air at the beginning of this year by Radio One. I don't really care for the slogan of "Get Your Praise On" but I'm really enjoying the music and songs. If you are in the Charlotte, NC area or if you ever visit the station is 100.9 WPRZ.

Anyway, I was really getting into this song I was hearing. Naturally I had to do some research. I found out the song was titled "War Cry" and it was by a new artist on the scene, Micah Stampley. Then I needed to know more about the artist and his heart and I found the answer in an interview conducted by Gospelflava.com He truly has a heart for the Lord and the song is a get you up off your seat anthem for the present day. A day in which I believe that we as Christians should be doing more for the kingdom of God on Who this great nation was built. I think of that more as we are approaching Independence Day. (More on that at my Christian Action web site)

The Lord is always at work in our everyday lives. He uses people, songs and even malfunctioning radios in an old T-Bird to speak to us in some way. Even we think that something is to our detriment we can be sure that God is teaching us, growing us, refining us or just plain looking out for us in a way we just didn't understand at the time.

OK when I go out of town where can I find a great Christian radio station? What are your favorites? Another one for Charlotte is WMIT 106.9

Fellowship of Technical Ministries

If there is one thing that I have learned very quickly in media ministry is that many times you feel all alone. In a small church you are all alone because the talent pool is not that deep. In any church you are often misunderstood by the lead or senior pastor and the worship leader just drives you nuts. So, when I heard that Greg Silby(FTM Announced) was founding the Fellowship of Technical Ministries then I got excited. I have thought of contacting the various churches in our community many times to touch base with whoever is leading their audiovisual ministries. If for nothing more than to coordinate frequency use. I have not followed through though because I thought I needed to get my own house in order. I'm hoping that this Fellowship will enable us to actually start a chapter some day in this area. I envision a technical fellowship that can help all media teams to get their houses in order together by:

• Sharing information on equipment, procedures and consultants etc.
• Holding joint training sessions and hosting manufacturing representatives.
• Periodically conducting a worship service for media ministry teams where most of us can actually relax and enjoy good music and good speaking without thinking of what is coming up next.

Any other ideas out there?

Dates Conflict

It has come to my attention that the dates August 5-6 that are slated for the How-To Church Audio Workshop at Tri-County Technical College in Pendleton, SC are the same dates that the Promise Keepers event will be in Charleston, SC
Although I believe that media is a very effective and important tool in ministry and needs to be done with excellence which comes through training; I believe that men being built up to love Christ, love their wives and families and other brothers is so much more important.
If it comes down to a decision then it would have to be Promise Keepers!

How-To Church Sound Workshop

I attended this workshop last year and although Mike Sokol is a brilliant sound engineer I was not planning to participate again this year. Then I looked closer and saw that in fact they had actually heeded the feedback that they had received from evaluations and made some changes. This year they will be offering a 3 hour Friday night session along with the all day Saturday and it appears that the workshops will be more hands-on and more in-depth than in previous years. The Friday night session will cover the basic church audio system and Saturday will really get into the equipment, techniques and physics of sound. The workshop may be definitely worthwhile to attend again.
Unlike some other seminars and workshops I have attended Fits and Starts Production provides an excellent participants guide to go along with the workshop and as a added bonus if you attend the workshop at a college or university then credit hours are also awarded for completion. At least that was the case with the college I attended.
These workshops are scheduled for 8 out of 12 months so check out their website to see if they will be at a church or institution of higher learning near you. I noticed that they do not have any workshops scheduled for July (vacation I'm sure). The workshops will resume in August in my state of South Carolina. After that they will be in VA, NJ, TN, DE & IN. Worth the money for quality training on live sound reinforcement.

Still Finding Great Stuff Online

Ever since I attended the Technology for Worship Magazine Inspiration 2005 Conference in Charlotte, NC (the thorn in my side) last month the Lord has been working on me hard to persevere and stay the course that He has laid out for me. He has also provided to me, through that conference and further research, a network of like minded believers who are just as passionate about using media and technology to the glory of God and who encounter the same problems and frustrations that I do.
Although when I was looking in the wrong direction the Lord provided me with a gem of His wisdom through Gary Lamb and that is how I discovered blogging. Now I'm discovering a whole new way of communicating what God has laid on my heart.
Tonight I was catching up on my SVC Enewletters (they provide a Houses of Worship newsletter too) when I ran across an article titled Home On the Web for Church AV Specialist Now I have a new avenue to explore in several more blogs and websites that I can turn to for support and learning. I will be reading and probably linking to these blogs and websites very soon.

Reaching Children and Youth

One of the most important reasons to use media in our worship services and teaching is children and youth. More than anyone the young have a need for sensory stimulation. The kids have never known anything but excellence in sound and video. They are also able to learn in environments that would seem distracting to us. They are able to type a term paper while surfing the internet, while talking on the phone, while listening to their favorite CD or MP3 and are able to comprehend what all is going on. The use of media is a very important tool to reach children and youth for Jesus Christ.
Why so much emphasis on children?

• Nearly half (43%) of all Americans who accept Jesus Christ as their savior do so before reaching the age of 13 (2004)
• Two out of three born again Christians (64%) accept Jesus Christ as their savior before their 18th birthday. (2004)
• One out of eight born again people (13%) made their profession of faith while 18 to 21 years old. (2004)

Barna Research Group

The probability of someone accepting Christ as the Lord and Savior drops dramatically as they get older. Core values and beliefs are shaped in a young mind. Satan knows this full well. That is why videos that promote questionable sexual themes are being made to distribute in elementary schools, why children's books are being written with sexual themes, why children's programming giants Disney and Nickelodeon are major supporters of homosexual activism. That is just one issue. Our kids are bombarded with images and sound that tell them that they deserve this or that and many other instances of moral and religious relativism. We need to use this same media to reach the children for Jesus Christ. The battle is on for the minds of our children and we need to use the same tools that the opposition uses to let our children know that Jesus in the only way to peace, security and eternal life.

Patience-Waiting On the Lord

Now that I have found out what the Lord's will is for my life I want to go, go, GO! I'm struggling with "working heartily as unto the Lord and not unto man" (Col. 3:23) with anything else. I have heard Pastor Greg Laurie speak that God has 4 answers to prayer: No, Slow, Grow and GO! Now that the Lord is pulling me out of a valley in my spirtual walk I know that He is telling me to Grow. But I'm so ready to GO! I'm so thankful that God is all knowing and in His infinite wisdom knows exactly when to open and close doors of opportunity and blessing for us.

Behind the Wheel Again

Let me tell you right now how much more joyful life is when you are in the will of God. My frown has been turned upside down. It has been several months since I enjoyed worship services like I did today. Today I actually heard the lyrics to "That's Why We Praise Him" by Tommy Walker. The chorus goes like this:

And that's why we praise Him,
That's why we sing
That's why we offer Him our everything
That's why we bow down and worship this King
'Cause He gave His everything
'Cause He gave His everything.

At anytime we are not giving God our everything then we are robbing God of the praise and glory He so richly deserves. 'Cause He gave His everything.

A few people asked me today how it felt to be back doing sound or media as a whole. I had to say that it just feels right. I believe that when you are doing what God wants you to do then it is right. I love being behind the wheel, so to speak, of the audio mixing console; the sound board. Being used of God to make voices and instruments lifted up in praise to Him is a great honor. May I never stray from the path of God's will again.

More People Use Christian Media Than Attend Church

Respected researchers/pollsters The Barna Group released their findings with the above title back in March. A couple of things that jumped out me were these bullets:

• The Internet is the only mass medium among those tested whose audience share has grown during the past decade. The proportion of the population using the Internet for faith purposes has increased by two-thirds since 1998.
• More than two-thirds of the born again public – and well over 90% of evangelicals – have exposure to Christian media each month. Nearly half of all non-born again adults use Christian media during a typical month. Even a significant share of the unchurched market – more than one-third – utilizes these resources.

Check out the rest of the report at http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=184

Now I know why I have been hearing about cyber churches. I think that the internet is another great media tool to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ but I do not believe that it should ever replace the assembly of ourselves together.

Communications

The Lord has really impressed upon me the need for clear, effective communications. I'm not talking about media though. Success of any ministry team is how they communicate. I have not been good at this in the past. Instead of going to the source of problems to resolve it in a Christ-like manner I have become very angry to the point that I walked out on my team. Although there are problems that still need to be resolved, I pray that the Lord gives me the correct words to say that I may be the leader He wants me to be. I pray that the Holy Spirit speaks through me to show another leader exactly how he is affecting our church. I pray that through this communication that I grow a relationship with my brother and with God. Hopefully a better relationship with this leader will enable us together to show our church what can be done with media to communicate the Word of God.

My very first blog

You know, I thought someday when I finally started a blog that it would be about Christian action; about legislation or moral issues but when it came time I saw a need for talking about ministry.
The paticular ministry that I have been called and see a need for explanation is using media. We have become a visually stimulated, interactive society and I see a need for the church to change with that society. Not to be of the world but to be in the world. I hardly know anyone that doesn't have a computer. We all interact with the internet and use e-mail to communicate. Almost everyone has a DVD player with a big screen television and surrond sound home theatre system. We have come to expect excellence in audio, video and computers.
Why do we not do the same in our churches? When someone finally gets a lost soul to enter a church and they are distracted by bad sound, poor video or mistakes with sound or video during a service then they are more likely not to come back. The same goes for Christians who are searching for a church home. We have come to expect excellence in our consumer electronics and we should expect the same of our media in the church.