Wired for Service

It's not a puzzle...or is it?

2012-01-16T07:53:00.000-06:00

Have you seen those little boxes printed everywhere with all the little black squares inside? Don't try to solve it...it's not a maze or a puzzle, it's a QR (Quick Response) Code. Download a QR reader on your smartphone or tablet and next time you see a QR code, scan it to see where it takes you. Companies use them to take you to their website or to a video or whatever the they want you to see. The problem is that you don't know where it's taking you until you get there...I'll address that in a minute...keep reading.

More and more companies, churches, and people are starting to use QR codes. You can find them on just about anything these days from cereal boxes to movie posters to the tops of buildings. That's right...some companies that are close to airport runways are putting them on the tops of their buildings so that airline passengers can scan them as they fly overhead. Pretty clever.

But did you know you can customize QR codes? Most people are using the generic black and white codes they generate online. That's great for them...but not for me. I want to brand everything that we use to communicate. Because people are mostly scanning them with smartphones while they are on the go, QR codes are designed with a tolerance rate of approximately 30%. That means you can cover about 30% of your QR code with your logo, a graphic, etc. and it will still be readable.

By adding your logo to the QR code, people will know where you're sending them before they scan it. Here are a few that we've customized. The first takes you to our homepage, the second to our missions page, and the third to our weekly bulletin.

Experiment with the placement of your graphic to be sure the codes are still readable. If you change the color from black and white to something else like we did, make sure the colors are dark enough. We printed a QR code in our weekly bulletin that was too light and had to color in the three squares on all 2,800 bulletins by hand--that's 8,400 squares!!!

Are you dissatisfied?

2011-08-29T15:22:00.008-05:00

My wife and I are always talking about what we can do to improve our home. We love our house, but we're never quite satisfied with how it looks. In our first 4 years of living there, we installed 4 different kitchen floors before we found the one we really loved. Every time we change or add something, we're content for a short time and then it's time to do more. We always want to add that extra little something to make it more "us".

Don't get me wrong...it's not that we're not thankful for or happy with our house...we just know there's always something else we can change or add to make it even better.

Our spiritual lives are like that. When we get to the point where we're satisfied with where we are, we need to stop and take a hard look at ourselves. I believe that God wants us to continually work to improve our prayer times, devotional times, service, worship, and every other aspect of our spiritual lives. There is always room to grow.

So it's OK to be dissatisfied with where your are today...that dissatisfaction will lead to a better tomorrow.

The Eye of the Beholder

2011-08-16T10:08:00.006-05:00

My wife and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary last week. Rather than buying each other gifts that we'd forget about within a few weeks, we decided to look for a piece of art or furniture that would stand as a constant reminder of our love for one another...I know, I know...that's mushy.

So we looked at a couple pieces of furniture and at several art galleries. While walking through the new Antique Archaeology store in Nashville (props to The American Pickers), we saw an old construction sign and both of us said, "That's the one!"

That's the one? Seriously?

This is a bent-up, dented & dinged, rusted out old sign that the Virginia Department of Highways threw out years ago. And then someone found it, stuck it in the back of an old barn, and let it sit for years and years. Technically, it's a pretty ugly and useless sign that can no longer serve it's intended purpose.

But when we saw it, we knew it was perfect for us...that's the one we wanted! The dents, dings and rust didn't bother us at all. We looked past the imperfections and saw a sign with character and with a history. We saw a piece of art that we will cherish for years to come.

Don't you think that's how God sees us? He looks past our rust, dents, and dings and sees a piece of art...a piece of art that He Himself created. He cherishes us greatly, regardless of how others see us or of how we see ourselves. Remember that when you feel dinged and dented. And remember that when you see someone else who is showing some signs of rust. God loves you and He loves them. We are, after all, His most cherished creation.

Media Missionary

2011-06-10T07:35:00.010-05:00

Meet Keith Holloway. Keith is a media missionary. Actually, he is the video editor for First Media and is passionate about using the tool of media to share the love of Christ with others. But he also has a heart for serving in missions. This week he has had the opportunity to combine those passions by serving in Honduras on a medical/evangelism mission team.

Keith took a Canon 5D and a laptop with him and has been posting daily video updates of the team's efforts at http://www.vimeo.com/fbchtn/videos. These updates have been a good reminder to our church to continue to pray as the mission team is ministering in Honduras.

I'm excited to see Keith using his gifts and passions to serve others in our own community and around the world. Pray for him and the rest of the team as they travel back home today.

Just keep swimming...

2011-06-08T14:01:00.007-05:00

It's easy in a church production environment to make a mistake that gets everyone's attention--feedback ringing in the sound system, words mixed up on the screen, lights being cued at the wrong time, etc.

It's inevitable...mistakes are going to happen. You can't do anything to change what has already happened. Once the feedback has occurred, you can't un-feedback it. Once the words are mixed up, they're mixed up. People will notice.

The key is to just keep swimming. Rather than focusing on the mistake and trying to figure out why it happened, you should immediately try to get back on track and keep moving forward. Focus on what's in front of you, not behind you. After the service or event is over, you'll have plenty of time to try to figure out what caused the mistake and how you can prevent it in the future.

Contentment

2011-05-17T10:22:00.010-05:00

The last two months have been crazy for First Media. We have produced three Palm Sunday weekend drama/musicals, Good Friday services, Easter services, a Children's Choir drama/musical, five VBS missions videos, four Transformational Church Sunday School lesson videos for every adult Sunday School class, end of year programs for Upwards sports, Mothers Day Out, schools, and on and on and on plus we've coordinated and staffed a ton of events! Tomorrow morning I leave at 6:00 for a week of shooting in Montana. When I get back I have a week to prepare for VBS and then a week of doing VBS. Whew!

(As I was typing this post, someone else called and wants me to produce yet another video!)

In the midst of all that it's very easy to get overwhelmed and frustrated. Sometimes I feel like I'm everyone's favorite target. I've been praying over the last several days that God would speak to me and help me to handle the frustration and the conflict that comes along with it. Here's where he led me:

"...for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content--whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:11-13

That verse obviously speaks to our physical needs, but I believe it speaks to our situational needs too. I need to learn to be content whether I'm on top of the mountain or down in the valley, whether I'm everyone's favorite hero or their favorite target. God will provide what I need regardless of my circumstances and I will "be able to do all things through Him who strengthens me."

P.S.
Pray for Keith Holloway and I as we are in Montana this week and next. We'll be shooting video with four pastors who are making a real impact for God's Kingdom in a state that's mostly unchurched.

Room in the Inn

2011-03-28T14:50:00.006-05:00

For the last few years, First Baptist Hendersonville has participated in a ministry called Room in the Inn. During the winter months, we pick up about 20 homeless men each Sunday night, feed them dinner, let them take a shower, and give them a warm bed to sleep in for the night. Last night the First Media staff and volunteers hosted Room in the Inn at FBCH.

I had the opportunity to talk with several guys throughout the night. I sat down with a man named Frankie and he began sharing his story with me immediately. I learned that he grew up in Fort Lauderdale, he lived in Lafayette for a while when he moved to Tennessee, he began working in radio when he was 15 years old, and he has done an extensive amount of production work over the years. He's also done some stand up comedy...he was VERY funny!

I sat there with a smile on my face and then after about 45 minutes, I said "Let me tell you a little about me." I told him that I grew up in Vero Beach, FL (about 45 minutes north of Fort Lauderdale), that my mom lived in Lafayette for several years (I know that area pretty well), that I also got involved in radio when I was 15 years old, and that I have done a ton of production work as the Media Minister at First Baptist.

Frankie and I talked for 2 1/2 hours last night and learned that we have a lot in common. The only real difference in the two of us is that he made a few mistakes along the way that cost him more than my mistakes have cost me. I was completely humbled and honored to talk with him and I thank God for arranging that meeting. I was able to encourage Frankie and just be a friend to him.

I can't wait for another opportunity to serve in Room in the Inn next year!

Jesus Loves Me

2011-03-22T08:26:00.006-05:00

Early one morning this weekend I was holding my 9 week-old son and trying to console him as he was crying. I had fed him most of his bottle, but he was still agitated. So I began singing "Jesus Loves Me" to try to calm him down. And do you know what happened? Nothing...he kept crying.

In that moment, at three-something in the morning, God spoke to my heart and reminded me of something that I tend to overlook. We can tell people all day long that Jesus loves them. But if we don't take the time to minister to their needs, they don't care. We need to show people that Jesus loves them, not just tell them. You see, my son was still hungry. Knowing that Jesus loves him didn't fill his tummy. After I fed him a little more, his needs were met and he was much more receptive to my message...even if I was singing it out of tune.

What's for breakfast?

2011-03-15T10:29:00.008-05:00

I’ve talked with many people over the last couple of years about the effectiveness of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms for individuals, families, churches, and other organizations. Some have taken it to heart. Others…not so much.

One of the people with whom I’ve discussed social media is an executive at a marketing and communications firm. His response to Twitter and Facebook is, “I don’t care what people are eating for breakfast.” He doesn’t have time to sort through all of the useless conversation that’s out there. While I understand there is a lot of useless conversation in the social media realm, there are also a lot of people in the social media realm…and that’s where he’s missing the point.

But he’s not the only one who has underestimated a new technology. Take a look at a few quotes:

>>> "This telephone has too many shortcomings to be considered as a means of communication. The device is of inherently no value to us." - Western Union internal memo, 1876

>>> "The phonograph has no commercial value at all." - Thomas Edison, American inventor, 1880s

>>> "Fooling around with alternating current is just a waste of time. Nobody will use it, ever." - Thomas Edison, American inventor, 1889
(Edison often ridiculed the arguments of competitor George Westinghouse for AC power)

>>> "While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially I consider it an impossibility, a development of which we need waste little time dreaming." - Lee DeForest, American radio pioneer and inventor of the vacuum tube, 1926

>>> "Who the h**l wants to hear actors talk?" - H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, maker of silent movies, 1927

>>> "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." - Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

You see, even those who are innovators in their own right (Edison, Warner, Watson) can still get lost in the ever-changing world of technology. Don’t let your vision get blurred by what you’re doing today…keep your focus on what’s coming next and how you can leverage that in your ministry, organization, or personal life.

Groupthink

2011-03-10T11:07:00.005-06:00

I’m taking a class on Organizational Theory. Last week we did a case study on a racing team that had to decide whether or not to race in a particular race the next day. We were provided with statistics, issues, possible consequences of racing/not racing, etc. After examining all the data, each of the three groups in the class came to the same conclusion – we would definitely race…there was too much to lose if we did not.

Then our teacher told us that the case was actually an analogy for a real-life situation from 1986 – the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

We were floored! Each of us had decided that launching (racing) on that cold January morning was the right thing to do. But after looking at the data again, it was clear that our decision was wrong. We were the victims of Groupthink.

Groupthink occurs when the group places more emphasis on coming to a consensus than on analyzing the data critically. This happens quite often in ministry. We get caught up in presenting a unified front as a team or even a church body that we don’t listen when others bring up ideas that oppose the group’s opinion. This proved deadly in the Challenger situation, but when you’re dealing with people’s eternal salvation the stakes are even higher.

If you find your ministry team or church body in a Groupthink situation, take a step back, analyze the data critically, and look at what’s really at stake.

Irving Janis' Eight Symptoms of Groupthink:

Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking.
Rationalizing warnings that might challenge the group's assumptions.
Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions.
Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, biased, spiteful, impotent, or stupid.
Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of "disloyalty".
Self-censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.
Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.
Mind guards — self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information. (Irving Janis, 1977)

Oscar

2011-03-08T07:53:00.009-06:00

God's been stirring something up in my heart for a little while now.

You see, I love movies...I mean I really love movies. So much so that I owned a video store for a couple of years. I've got a DVD collection that rivals any I've ever seen. There's not much that's better than kicking back on a Sunday afternoon, unwinding, and enjoying a good action or comedy flick in my home theater. And that's right where God is working on me now.

Last week I found myself watching the Academy Awards. I don't typically enjoy watching awards shows, but I stopped and watched for a few minutes anyway. As the stars made their way down the red carpet, they were interviewed by various media outlets who just wanted to know one thing - "Who are you wearing?" It was all so glamorous. Cameras were flashing and fans were lining the streets screaming their names. These stars must have felt like they were the most important people in the world at that moment.

But all I felt as I watched them was sadness and heartbreak. This was probably the pinnacle of their careers and maybe their lives. Their whole goal was to get a little gold statue named Oscar. Then God led me to Psalm 135: 15-18:

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands.
They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see.
They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths.
Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.

Verse 21 goes on to say, "Praise be to the LORD from Zion, to him who dwells in Jerusalem."

You see, many celebrities are pursuing an idol made by human hands instead of the one true God. And so I pray that those who walk the red carpet will one day walk a church aisle and give their lives to the living God.

Getting outside the box

2011-02-23T16:19:00.006-06:00

I love media ministry. If you've ever met me, you know that because that's all I talk about...it just radiates from within me. But there's more to ministry than just media. I believe we are all wired for service, but not in just one area. That's why First Media is getting outside our box.

On Sunday mornings, we literally serve in a 60 x 20 box (control room) that separates us from the rest of the church. It's my mission to get our staff and volunteers even more involved in our church and in our community. We're currently collecting diapers for our local Crisis Pregnancy Center. In March we'll host Room in the Inn where we bring homeless men from downtown Nashville, feed them, do their laundry, spend time talking with them, etc. We'll be working in the coming weeks to identify even more ministry opportunities in our community.

Our primary ministry may always be media, but there are so many other opportunities to minister to those around us. It's time to focus on them!

Perfectionism vs. Volunteerism

2010-11-23T08:26:00.007-06:00

We just wrapped up our annual He Has Been Good concert. This year it featured Grammy and Dove Award winner Jason Crabb. Our media ministry volunteers did a great job as usual. However, as amazing as their talent is, they are not professionals. These are men, women, and students who work or are in school. They serve in media on Sundays and for special events, so they get very little time to hone their production skills. I try to remember that as we work through rehearsals, concerts, and even Sunday worship services. Sometimes, they're going to miss the mark...but that's OK. That's an opportunity for me to help them grow skills...and it often gives me an opportunity to share God's love with them.

But, that's not to say that creativity is not important.

In his book, Creative Christian Media, Phil Cooke (Media Ministry guru) wrote, “How a program looks and sounds, the special effects used, the stars--the ‘packaging’--is just as important as the content.”

That sounds odd, even from a Media Minister’s point of view. But look at what he writes next, “No matter how brilliant or anointed the program, if it's not packaged in a compelling way, the viewer won't watch long enough to hear the message.”

That puts a lot of responsibility on our shoulders (our = media ministry staff + media ministry volunteers). It's our job to "package" the message of the pastor, the worship minister, the special guest, etc. in a way that will help the audience or congregation engage and ultimately respond to the message being shared.

In the end, I believe you have to find that perfect balance between perfectionism and volunteerism. Only then will you be able to effectively impact the people immediately around you and people around the world.

Biola University

2010-09-23T13:16:00.003-05:00

I love sharing my passion for Media Ministry with others. Tonight I have another opportunity to do just that.

I'll be speaking to graduate students at the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University via Tok Box. I'll be part of a panel of six Media Ministers who will discuss roles, responsibilities, expectations, competencies and challenges of being a Media Minister in the local church.

I look forward to sharing my heart and hearing others do the same. In the end, I hope the students will walk away with a better understanding of and respect for Media Ministers as they embark on their own ministries.

The B-Team

2010-08-15T14:36:00.002-05:00

Do you remember the old TV show the A-Team? When the world was in trouble and the regular guys couldn't handle the situation, the A-Team would be called in. They would do their thing and by the end of the episode they would have saved the day. They actually made an A-Team movie this year. I haven't seen the new movie yet, but I loved that show as a kid!

Did you ever wonder if there was a B-Team? Does your media ministry have a B-Team?

In our church, we run media for worship services in our main Worship Center (1500 people), our Fellowship Hall (500 people) and our Children's Praise Room (200 kids) simultaneously on Sunday mornings. Because of the size difference in the services it would be easy to feel like you are on the B-Team if you're serving in the Children's Praise Room or even the Fellowship Hall.

But, we don't have a B-Team...our volunteers are all on the A-Team! Without them serving in every area, we would miss the opportunity to serve people in all of our worship services. The kids hearing the Gospel in the Praise Room is equally as important as the senior adults hearing it in Classic Worship or the young adults hearing it in Modern Worship.

By planning to work together as a unified team (even if you're serving in different rooms) you'll have the opportunity to use media as a tool to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with people throughout your congregation. And as Hannibal would always say on the A-Team, "I love it when a plan comes together!"

Subtractive EQ

2010-08-12T16:10:00.013-05:00

Have you ever been mixing for a worship service or band and the more you tweak it, the more it sounds like mud? I sure have.

This week at Yamaha's Audioversity (their new training event), one of the trainers said something that will completely change the way I mix from now on. It's actually quite a simple, yet genius concept.

Think of your mix as a room. As you start adding items (instruments, vocalists, etc.) to your room, they begin to stack on top of each other. Eventualy, your room is so cluttered that you can't hear anything clearly. If you'll move each item a separate space within that room, you'll begin to hear each one individually. So how do you do that? Subtractive EQ.

Listen to each instrument and determine where it belongs dynamically. For instance, a bass guitar naturally lives at the low end of your mix. So, scoop out the high frequencies and that will open up the high end for another instrument. By doing this for each instrument, you'll eventually create a mix in which everything has its own space and you can hear it all clearly.

Try it for yourself. I think you'll be amazed at how removing the right frequencies from an instrument will make it sound so much cleaner.

Mic Janitors?

2010-08-05T09:40:00.003-05:00

My friend Doug Stancil says that people in the church think of Media Ministers as mic janitors. If people think that Media Ministers set up mics or make videos just because it sounds like a cool job, they're not getting the full picture.

Yes, Media Ministry is about audio, video, lighting and many other technical and creative things. But, there's so much more to it than that!

Media Ministry is about using those tools to share the love of Jesus. Using lights to enhance the mood of the worship service. Using video to drive home a sermon point. Using audio for the choir to sing about God's love for us.

Media Ministers serve. They serve the other ministries of the church by providing the technical and creative support they need to share the Gospel. They serve the community as it uses our facilities for meetings, banquets, etc. They serve every member of the congregation that hears the pastor preach or the choir sing. They serve the middle school and high school students who participate in high-energy worship services each Wednesday. They serve the children who attend Children's Worship on Sunday mornings.

Media Ministry is about people. It's about encouraging and discipling those who serve in their ministry. It's about counseling a volunteer when they don't understand why they lost their job. It's about visiting with them when a family member is hospitalized or when they lose a loved one. It's about being there in their time of need.

Media Ministry is about ministry.

That's why we do what we do.

Depth of Field

2010-08-04T16:26:00.005-05:00

My friend Chris Forte (stereocanvas.com) came to me this afternoon to ask about getting a specific shot with his new toy..I mean camera. He wanted to achieve one of those amazing cinematic shots where a person or object close to the camera is in focus and the background is completely out of focus. This is done by having a shallow depth of field.

Many people get frustrated by not being able to pull off great depth of field shots, but it's really not that hard to do. In fact, there's a formula to follow.

Large depth of field = short focal length (wide angle) + small aperture + high light level

Shallow depth of field = long focal length (narrow angle) + large aperture + low light level

Only a few minutes after seeing the formula and adjusting his camera, Chris was getting some really nice shots with a shallow depth of field. And you can do the same!

DSLR for Video

2010-07-28T12:24:00.006-05:00

As much as I hate to, I have to say something that I dread saying.

For months now I've been hearing about how people are using DSLR cameras to shoot amazing video. And for months I've been saying that it's just a fad.

Last week I attended the Metro Media Ministers Association annual conference. There was a lot of talk about the Canon 5D and how Media Ministers across the country have started using it as their primary camera for shooting video. I was skeptical, but the more they talked, the more it made sense. I watched both raw and edited footage shot with the 5D, including a series of promo spots for the North American Mission Board...it truly was amazing!

So why is it so amazing?

> Lenses - You can use any Canon EF lens made since 1987. Many of us already have several of these for our still cameras that we can now use for video.

> Processor - The surface area of the processor is nearly 3x that of a standard video camera (Canon GL2 for instance).

> Depth of Field - Because of the wide array of lenses available, you can achieve a very narrow depth of field.

> Still shots - You can grab the still shots you need for your project while you're shooting video.

> Size - The 5D is a lot smaller than the average video camera.

> Cost - It costs less than many professional video cameras...and it's a still camera too!

There are a couple of drawbacks to using the 5D to shoot video.

> Audio - The quality of the audio would not be suitable for most productions. You would want to record audio to an external field recorder (many producers already do that) and then sync it with your video.

> Record time - The 5D will only record 12 minutes of footage at a time. However, when it stops recording, you simply press the record button again and it picks right back up. You will have missed about 1 second of recording, but if you're recording audio separately you can simply cover that glitch with b-roll.

> Zooming - It's harder to achieve a smooth zoom. However, the picture is large enough that you can "zoom" within Final Cut without any loss of quality. One of the Media Ministers said to the rest of the group, "You're zooms aren't any good, so you shouldn't be doing them anyways."

After talking with others who are using it and seeing the quality of the footage, I believe the benefits of using the Canon 5D for shooting video greatly outweigh the drawbacks. My next camera purchase will undoubtedly be the Canon 5D.

So here it goes..."I was wrong".

Ugggghhh! I hate saying that!

But it's true...I was wrong.

Unknown

2010-07-22T17:35:00.000-05:00

This week I’m attending the Metro Media Ministers Association annual meeting which is in Franklin, TN. This is an amazing group of creative and technical guys who are using media to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tonight we ate dinner at and toured the Carnton House Plantation near the historic site of the Battle of Franklin. One of the historians gave us a detailed description of the Battle of Franklin and of the McGavock family’s role in the Civil War. Their home (the Carnton House) was used as a field hospital. In fact, several of the rooms still have blood stained floors.

Outside the house, next to their family cemetery, is a 2-acre plot of land that they donated to use as a soldier’s cemetery. Around 1,500 soldiers are buried there.

Now, I’m not one who typically strolls through cemeteries. But tonight I decided to do so. There were rows and rows of small concrete grave markers. Near the center of the cemetery I saw a grave marker that stopped me in my tracks. It said, “This section contains 15 unknown”.

“Unknown”.

These men died in battle, yet they were unknown. They fought for freedom, yet they were unknown. They couldn’t be identified by their appearance...their clothes...their scars...anything. They were “unknown”.

Matthew 7:21-23 says, “"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name? Then I will announce to them, 'I never knew you! Depart from Me you lawbreakers!”

“I never knew you!”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be unknown by the King of Kings, the Creator of the Universe, the Almighty God.

I want Him to know me...for my faithfulness...for my obedience...for my desire to see His kingdom come and His will be done...for my compassion...for my humbleness...for my love....I want Him to know me.

It was sad to see that these men were buried without being identified. But it completely breaks my heart to know that there are so many more out there who are “unknown” to our Savior.

Open House

2010-07-15T17:34:00.000-05:00

Last night we hosted a First Media open house for current and potential volunteers. We had about 20 people show up; 7 of them were new to our ministry. We spent time walking them through the church to the different areas where Media volunteers serve. Along the way, I explained what each position does and how it fits in the bigger picture of the worship services.

At the end of the night, all 7 volunteers committed to serve in First Media!

One of the new volunteers emailed me this morning. He’s someone who has always loved music. He came last night thinking that maybe he’d sign up to run PowerPoint or something along those lines. But in that one hour span of time, something happened...something “in his heart just clicked”.

Through a conversation with Chris Forte (our staff FOH guru), he realized that his experience as a musician could serve him well at an audio board, too. He’s very excited and feels like this is where he’s supposed to be serving right now.

He wrote, “Thank you very much for hosting the open house and spending time with the group as you guys did, because I may never have found my voice if it wasn’t for that experience.”

Wow. That’s a great reminder of why we’re here.

Connecting people to God.

Connecting people to others.

Connecting people to service.

Why are you serving?

2010-06-15T17:34:00.000-05:00

Most churches that I know have difficulty enlisting enough people to do the ministry that God has called the church to do. Mega-churches are no exception. Each year we make a plea to our congregation to serve as Sunday School teachers. In the past, we’ve typically used humorous videos to do so. This year we’re trying something a little different.

Instead of trying to enlist Sunday School teachers, we’re launching a campaign to just get people to serve...somewhere...anywhere. We’re calling it iServe.

On Wednesday evening we’ll shoot the video portion of the campaign. We’ll line up 20-30 people with our church in the background and do a dolly shot across them. We’ll have 10-12 of the people give a 1-line testimony about where they serve and what it means in their lives.

We’ll use the footage we capture on Wednesday to produce 3 or 4 short videos. Each video will start with the dolly shot...starting each video from a different place in the line of people. We’ll edit 3 or 4 of the 1-line testimonies with close-ups or medium shots into each video. They will all end by flashing to a graphic saying “Where are YOU serving?”.

I’ll post one of the videos once we get them done.

Montana - Day 2

2010-05-25T17:31:00.000-05:00

Our next stop took us through the Kootenai National Forest to Troy, Montana. As with all of Montana, the scenery as we drove was amazing!

We spent the day with Pastor Cam Foote at Troy Community Baptist Church. Cam shared with us about their evangelism efforts in Troy and the surrounding communities. Their evangelism strategy is simple...gain people’s trust and then you’ll get an opportunity to share heart.

It’s working. Last year they hosted an event where 300 people made commitments...in a town of only 900!

Pray for Cam Foote and Troy Community Baptist Church as they continue to reach out to the people in Northwest Montana.

Montana - Day 3

2010-05-23T17:31:00.000-05:00

Today we’re in Kalispell, Montana. We spent the morning filming downtown and the surrounding areas. Kalispell is in a valley surrounded on all sides by snowcapped mountains. No matter where you look, the views are spectacular.

We visited with Pastor Daniel Lambert at Easthaven Baptist Church this evening. Daniel strongly believes that prayer is the key to their success in ministry. Easthaven’s members spend time prayer walking in and interceding for their community on a regular basis.

Pray that as they are out sowing the seeds of prayer in their community that God would provide the harvest.

Montana again!

2010-05-23T17:30:00.000-05:00

First Media is once again partnering with the Montana Southern Baptist Convention to produce a video for the Baker State Missions Offering. This video will be distributed to churches all across Montana to raise awareness for the missions work being done and for the need to continue to support the Baker State Missions Offering.

This year we’ll also be shooting and producing a video for MSBC’s church planting strategy (City Reach Initiative).

David Hobbs and I will spend the next seven days traveling across Montana to shoot video interviews and b-roll for both projects. Today we flew into Kalispell and traveled two hours along the spectacular Flathead Lake (I think I want to live there!!!) to Missoula.

While in Missoula we met up with Dave Howeth (Church Planting Strategist ) and Craig Lipscomb (Church Planter). Both of these guys are working hard to reach Montana for Christ.

Pray for them as they work on the City Reach Initiative and pray for us as we’re traveling and filming this week.

The flood

2010-05-05T17:34:00.000-05:00

Wired for service took on a whole new perspective this week.

This weekend I watched as waters all around our community began to rise. I saw people trapped in cars, houses completely submerged and a portable classroom floating down the interstate. Many roads and bridges have been destroyed. Many business will be unable to reopen. Many lives have been changed forever.

The devastation in our community is great...but our God is greater.

As the waters in our community rose higher and higher, so did the spirit of service in our community. I watched (and helped) as countless people cut up and removed fallen trees from yards, carried soaked carpet and furniture from houses and set up shelters for those who lost everything. As we got reports of different areas being affected by the flood waters, teams were sent out to help those areas. It started with a few saying, "I'll serve". Now there are many. The spirit of serving is shining in every corner of our community. People are serving other people.

Why?

Because we are ALL wired for service. We are ALL wired to see the needs of those around us and help meet those needs. We are All wired to help those who can't help themselves. We are ALL wired to love one another. And that love is manifesting itself this week in Hendersonville, TN.

That's why we serve.

Montana - Day 7

2010-04-30T17:33:00.000-05:00

Our final stop was Billings, MT. We shot two interviews for the City Reach Initiative project and one for the Baker State Missions project.

We’ve visited with pastors from the northwest corner of Montana to the southeast corner this week. All are in different sized cities with unique makeups. Each church has its own way of doing things. But their common thread is their passion for reaching the lost of their communities. They know that they ARE missionaries and their mission field is in their own back yard.

Continue to pray for the pastors and churches of Montana. With an unchurched population of around 90%, they have their work cut out for them...but they’re headed in the right direction.

Montana - Days 5 & 6

2010-04-28T17:33:00.000-05:00

Well, apparently it’s still too early in the season to fish in Yellowstone. But we didn’t mind...we drove through about a third of Yellowstone National Park yesterday and saw its breathtaking landscapes, Old Faithful (and several other geysers) and dozens of bison and elk. I can’t wait to take my family there to see the whole park.

Today we traveled to Miles City on the eastern side of Montana. We visited with Pastor Jeff Cahill at Valley Drive Baptist Church. Valley Drive is a church of about 90 members. On the week before Palm Sunday, 31 of their members set out to invite every household in Miles City to their Easter Service. Eight hours and 4000 houses later, they had done just that. Over 170 people attended their Easter service...nearly double their normal attendance. Nine people accepted Christ.

What would happen if First Baptist Hendersonville did the same thing? It would take a few more people to accomplish it...and maybe we wouldn’t double our attendance...but how many people would accept Christ as a result?

P.S.
That’s a Littlest Pet Shop hamster in the picture. That’s what my daughter wanted from Montana. So I got her one and it has traveled with us everywhere we’ve gone. I’ve taken photos of it in many of those places and texted them to her. She likes it...so it makes me happy, too.

Montana - Day 4

2010-04-26T17:32:00.000-05:00

If you haven’t figured it out yet, Montana is amazing! Every time we go around a curve or over a mountain, we’re surprised by another unbelievable view. God’s artistry is evident all around us.

We traveled from Kalispell along Flathead Lake again (didn’t mind that a bit!) through Missoula to Helena, Butte and finally Bozeman. We shot b-roll in these 3 cities for the City Reach Initiative project.

Even though we spent about 8 hours in the car today, we really didn’t mind. When you’re in awe at everything around you, time flies!

Tomorrow we fish in Yellowstone!

Saddle up!

2010-04-05T17:29:00.000-05:00

It’s almost VBS time so the First Media crew recently saddled up and headed out to Marion Stables at Long Hollow Farm to get a taste of the ranch life. We brought along Bronco Bill Gruenewald (FBC Minister of Business Administration) to lend us a hand.

While we were there, we shot video for four VBS promo spots featuring Bronco Bill. The first episode aired on on Easter Sunday and new a episode will air each of the next three weeks.

Click HERE to see the first episode and stay tuned for future episodes.

Holy Week

2010-03-24T17:27:00.000-05:00

Holy Week is just around the corner and that means the First Media staff is in high gear. We’re working to prepare the production elements for “Tell the Story”. Rehearsals are tonight and tomorrow night, and there will be 3 concerts on Sunday morning.

On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday of next week First Baptist will host luncheons featuring Bruce Chesser. The Cross Service will return on Good Friday evening and we’ll celebrate on Easter Sunday morning with 4 morning worship services and 2 special services for our Children’s Ministry.

Pray as we prepare for and run all of these events.

First Media TV

2010-03-03T17:26:00.000-06:00

We’re running the final tests on First Media TV!

“What’s First Media TV?” Well, I’m glad you asked!

We currently have about 50 LCD TVs mounted throughout our campus. Most of them are in our Family Ministry Center (gym/recreation area) and our Education building since these areas have the most traffic flow throughout the week. We’ve been using them to run PowerPoint slide promos for our events, worship services, etc. We also run background music from a separate source throughout our Family Ministry Center.

In two weeks we are replacing PowerPoint with Key West Technology’s Digital Signage software. This will enable us to run our promo slides and our background music from a single source. It will also allow us to run videos, lower third crawls with specific messages and much more. We’ll be able to separate the screen into different zones to show different things simultaneously. Best of all, we can schedule it to play what we want when we want it. The possibilities are only limited by our imaginations!

This tool will help us more effectively communicate to hundreds of unchurched people from our community that utilize our facilities every week. Our first two endeavors will be adding The First 90 (our weekly announcement video) and a message from our pastor inviting the community to join us for Holy Week.

I’ll update you as we find new ways to utilize this tool to impact our community. In the mean time, if your church is looking for a good digital signage solution, I’d recommend looking into Key West Technologies.

Call to ministry

2010-02-24T17:25:00.000-06:00

I had the opportunity this morning to share in our weekly staff meeting about my ministry area. I dedicated a portion of this time to talk about my call to ministry. It helps me to re-live this time in my life to keep the calling that God has placed on my life fresh and exciting. It’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day minutia of ministry. What it is that God has called you to do…or is currently calling you to do.

In 2001 my wife and I moved to Hendersonville and joined First Baptist Church. I immediately got involved in the newly forming media ministry as our first media minister (Justin Diel) was coming on staff. I served as a volunteer for several years, watching the ministry grow rapidly.

During this time I was working in the corporate offices at LifeWay Christian Resources. I enjoyed my job there, but felt like God was calling me to do something else. So I spent several months praying and asking God to show me what it was He was calling me to do. At the same time, I was thanking God for allowing me to serve in our media ministry and continually prayed that he would give me more opportunities to serve.

While praying one day in April 2003, God said “I want you to do media ministry as your career.” I didn’t audibly hear Him, but I heard Him! I immediately realized what God had been preparing me to do…what His purpose for my life was.

I began pursuing media ministry with a laser focus. I attended any training I could find, started doing freelance video production, went back to school and spent time being mentored by Justin Diel and later Jeff Stoll when he came to First Baptist. Basically I took every opportunity that was given to me. When God opened a door, I walked through it. I’m pretty sure my family thought I was crazy.

I even went to my boss and told her that I was in the wrong job…kind of a risky thing to do! She wasn’t real sure what to do with that, so she sent me to her boss (our director). I met with him and told him the same thing – that I was in the wrong job. The advice he gave me was possibly the best advice I’ve ever been given. He asked me what I wanted to be doing in 5 years. When I laid it out, he said, “Let’s start today.” He sent me to do more training and even allowed me opportunities to do video production work in our department and other areas as much as possible.

In 2006 I accepted a position at First Baptist Goodlettsville as their Interim Minister of Media. This was a new position for them and they weren’t even sure that they needed it, but were willing to give it a try. By the time I left about a year later, they insisted that I find someone to fill that position. Thankfully, God had already been working and someone stepped into that position immediately.

I came to First Baptist Hendersonville as Director of Audio and Video in March 2007. I spent the next several months working closely with Jeff Stoll…he’s been a great friend, confidant, and mentor. When he left in November 2007, I took over as Minister of Media.

Less than 5 years after the meeting with my director, I was doing what God had called me to do. Don’t give up…don’t worry about what other people think…if God is calling you to do something, do it. God has a very specific plan for your life.

Letterboxing

2010-02-03T17:25:00.000-06:00

Have you ever wondered why some movies and TV programs are letterboxed? Do you even know what that means? Do those black bars at the top and bottom of your TV screen drive you crazy?

If so, watch this video . It does a good job of explaining a technique called Pan and Scan and showing how it’s used. After you watch it, you might surprise yourself and start picking up the letterbox version of the movies every time.

Sanctity of Human Life

2010-01-28T17:24:00.000-06:00

I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again - I love the fact that serving in Media Ministry allows me to take part in so many other ministries.

Last Sunday First Baptist celebrated Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. The focus this year was on adoption. Selah joined our morning worship services and then came back that evening for a very moving concert.

While Selah was singing “Bless The Broken Road” on Sunday morning, families that had either adopted or had been adopted flooded the aisles and made their way up to the stage. Just seeing the impact that adoption had made in our church alone was amazing. I pray for those who have been adopted, who have adopted children and who are going through the adoption process now.

* Click HERE to see the adoption stories shown in our worship services on Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.

Adoption stories

2010-01-11T17:23:00.000-06:00

Today I have the opportunity to shoot interviews with two couples who have chosen adoption. We filmed the first couple this afternoon. They chose to adopt a child domestically (east Tennessee). Hearing the story of not only their unconditional love for this child, but of the birth mother’s unselfish sacrifice is a great reminder of the love God has for us.

The second couple adopted internationally (China). They brought their baby home just after Christmas. We’ll film them in a couple hours. I can’t wait to see how God is using them to change the course of this child’s life forever...and how He is using this little baby to change theirs.

A clean slate

2010-01-04T17:22:00.000-06:00

So tell me, is it two-thousand-ten or is it twenty-ten? Either way, it's a new year!

I love turning the calendar from December to January and beginning a new year. I always feel like I get to start with a clean slate.

In the book of Lamentations, Jeremiah wrote:
"Because of the LORD's faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! I say: The LORD is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him."

His mercies are new EVERY morning...not because of what I did or didn't do, but because of "the Lord's faithful love".

I pray that you will put your hope in Him this year...regardless of your circumstances. His faithfulness is great; His mercies never end; He is our portion.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T17:21:00.000-06:00

I began writing this blog post and realized that it was going to be a mile long if I talked about everything we did in 2009 and everything we hope to do in 2010. So here’s the short, short version.

Ed Stetzer – never boring! (watch “Thanks Ed” here)
Bruce Chesser – New senior pastor
Videos - Dr. Thom Rainer (President of LifeWay Christian Resources), Dr. Morris Chapman (President of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee), Phillip Nation, Dr. RT Kendall (renown author), Cumberland Crisis Pregnancy Center and many more.

Events - Rick Burgess from the Rick & Bubba Show, the African Children’s Choir, Denver & the Mile High Orchestra, and hundreds others.

Added 2 new team members to the First Media staff, trained several volunteers for key leadership positions in our control room, welcomed many new media volunteers, and introduced “The First 90” (a 90-second update on the ministries of First Baptist) which shows during each Sunday morning worship service.

2010 promises to be just as exciting.

We’ll start working on videos for Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, preparing to host Selah in concert and preparing for our annual Wild Game Dinner as soon as we get back in the office on Monday.

Training for our volunteers will be essential this year and we’ll continue to move volunteers into key leadership roles. We’re also working on programming content for a digital signage system that will run on more than 50 LCD TVs throughout our campus.

I can’t wait to see what else God has in store for 2010!

A little Christmas gathering

2009-12-16T17:20:00.000-06:00

You know that feeling you get after a big Christmas party at your house? You spent several days cleaning and decorating your house, making sure everything was perfect. You cooked for hours and used ingredients that you’ve never used before. You invited 30 of your closest friends and spent 3 hours entertaining them and making them feel at home. And when the last guest leaves, you sit down on the sofa, exhausted yet fulfilled in what you accomplished, and you let out a big “ahhhhh”.

You know, putting on a Christmas production at a Southern Baptist mega-church is just like hosting a Christmas party at your house…with a few minor exceptions.

We spent several weeks preparing and decorating our “house”, including installing picture frames around two 17x14 foot video screens. We produced videos and put together instrumental, vocal and click tracks (which no one even realized were playing). We ran cables through ceilings, floors and walls. We added a camera for just one shot of our drums. We also temporarily installed a 3rd 15,000 lumen projector. Over 4,200 of our closest friends popped in (without RSVPing) and we entertained them for 3 1/2 hours with a 125-voice choir, a 35-piece orchestra and 18 media volunteers behind the scenes pulling the strings to make it all work.

And now that the party’s over…”ahhhhh!”

Merry Christmas!

Black Friday

2009-11-27T17:19:00.000-06:00

Each year, on the day after Thanksgiving, thousands of people wake up early and wait in long lines in the cold outside major retail stores just hoping to get a deal on a flat screen TV or a Tickle-Me-Elmo or whatever that year’s must-have gift is.

Several stores opened at 4:00 a.m. this year and Toys-R-Us opened its doors at midnight. The Twitterati reported that there were 1,500 people in line at our local Toys-R-Us store…waiting for toys! If you’ve ever taken part in the Black Friday ritual, you know how passionate people are about this experience.

Part of my responsibilities as a media minister includes arriving at church early each Sunday morning to setup for our four worship services. When I pull in, typically before 6:00 a.m., the only people who are there are the pastor (studying and praying), 1 or 2 of the facilities staff (unlocking doors and turning on lights) and one elderly gentleman who always meets me at the door (gotta get that coffee brewing before the masses arrive!).

I wonder what it would be like to pull into church at 6:00 a.m. this Sunday, Bible and Starbucks in hand, and see 1,500 people waiting in line to get in…waiting to get a gift that isn’t a passing fad and doesn’t need an extended warranty…the most valuable gift ever…Jesus Christ.

Maybe it’s time for us to re-examine our priorities.

Production week

2009-11-19T17:19:00.000-06:00

It’s PRODUCTION WEEK again! We’ve been working on lighting, audio, staging, video and more trying to get ready for “He Has Been Good” - this Sunday’s Children’s Choir concert. Production weeks are always hectic as we try to nail down every detail to pull off the perfect concert or event.

That made me think this week...unusual, I know! Are we working as hard as we can to pull of the perfect Sunday morning worship service (basically an event) every week? Are we paying close attention to every detail? Are we preparing with our best efforts to create an environment that will help people come in on Sunday and worship the King of all Creation without distraction?

Wow...I’ve got to get busy working on Sunday’s stuff!!!

Missions Sunday School Lesson

2009-11-12T17:14:00.000-06:00

We wrapped up production on the Missions video this afternoon. DVDs are being duplicated as I type.

Pray for those who will watch the lesson on November 22. Ask God to use this to inspire them to live their lives on mission for Him.

I’ll be uploading the video segments (5) to Youtube next week. Stay tuned...

"...and to the ends of the earth"

2009-11-02T17:14:00.000-06:00

This week I’ll be editing videos for a Missions Sunday School lesson DVD that will be shown to all of our adult Sunday School classes on November 22. We interviewed several people for this video last week. Brandon and Nikki James shared about God’s calling in their lives to serve in the Dominican Republic, Jason Cline told us about the mission of Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Jason Egly told us how First Baptist Hendersonville is partnering with church plants throughout our country.

We also filmed Philip Nation who will be leading the Sunday School lesson video. He challenged us to be Christ’s witnesses “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

I’m excited to see how this project is coming together. I’ll post portions of the video as I finish them up.

The Walk - Part 2

2009-10-21T17:13:00.000-05:00

We’ve wrapped up production on our Student Ministry Fall Retreat promo video “The Walk”. If you’re a Monty Python fan, you’re gonna love it. CLICK HERE to see the final version. Let me know what you think.

Artist vs. Artistry

2009-10-15T17:12:00.000-05:00

Have you ever admired a painting or seen a movie or heard a song that you absolutely loved and then, when you later found out the artist/director/actor/singer had a moral flaw, your opinion of their art was somehow changed. I must admit, I have done this. But why?

Art is art. It’s a beautiful thing. God Himself is an artist. Look around you…art is everywhere. It’s in the flowers on a hillside that no human will ever explore, it’s in the colors of the sea life deep in the ocean, it’s in the galaxies that no human eye will ever see. Why did He create these things? Because they bring Him pleasure. That’s the purpose of art…to bring us pleasure.

People are people. We are all flawed. If you’re basing your approval of art on the artist’s degree of moral excellence, then please don’t ever watch any of the videos I’ve directed or produced. I am a flawed man. I have to bow before the Creator of the universe each day and thank Him that He is so merciful. If moral excellence is your guideline for appreciating art, you’ll never be able to watch any movies, listen to any music or admire any paintings…we are ALL flawed.

You should be able to separate the art from the artist. I’m just going to be honest here…many Christians have a real problem with this. We wind up living our lives in vacuums. We don’t watch the movies that non-believers watch or listen to the same music or go to the same plays. In John 17 Jesus prays, “The world hated them because they are not of the world, as I am not of the world. I am not praying that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one…As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”

That’s right, you’ve heard it before - we are not of the world, but we are in the world. And music, TV and movies are the language of our world today. If we don’t know how to speak their language, how are we expecting to reach those we are sent to reach?

Now don’t get me wrong…I’m not advocating that this is a free pass for you to go and watch any movie you want or listen to any music regardless of its content. You have to be on guard about what you allow into your heart. After all…garbage in garbage out!

But instead of being so negatively focused on the art of flawed people, perhaps we should be praying for the artists who need to find Christ. And then, just maybe, once these artists realize their need for a Savior, they’ll offer up their talents as gifts for His glory and not their own.

The Walk

2009-10-13T17:11:00.000-05:00

I’m working on a promo video for our upcoming middle school retreat “The Walk”.

Chris Forte, Keith Holloway, David Hobbs and I filmed on location last week in Coopertown, TN with our Student Ministry staff - Dave Paxton, Chad Crawford, Brandon James and Jeff Henry.

I’ve been editing this week and I’ll be shooting a few 2nd unit scenes this afternoon. The final video should be ready early next week, but you can get a sneak peek by clicking HERE.

Enjoy!

Read this later

2009-10-11T17:08:00.000-05:00

I’ve been wanting to blog about this for a while, but I’ve kept putting it off until later. I guess later is here.

Procrastination. Now I’m not gonna preach at you because I’m just as guilty as you are. But I do want to talk about procrastinating in the production process.

“Pre-production, pre-production, pre-production” was the motto that James Ruddy drilled into our heads in a video production course at The Maine Media Workshops several years ago. I’ve shot and edited countless videos since then and his motto still holds true. The videos that I’ve taken the time to do the pre-production work for almost always turn out better.

You see, video production is typically deadline driven. The video needs to be done for a worship service or a banquet or as promo for an event..there’s always a deadline. When we put off the pre-production work, it usually ends up getting cut out of the process and we jump right into filming. When we do that, we miss the opportunity to think through the hundreds of details that we’ll need while we’re filming...and our filming suffers because of it.

So do yourself a favor...don’t procrastinate on your productions...the results will be worth the extra time and effort.

By the way, just in case you’re wondering - I’m gonna add a blog picture later.

Rocket science?

2009-10-04T17:07:00.001-05:00

OK guys, let’s talk about how to use Twitter...and how NOT to use it. Twitter is all about creating a conversation. It can be a conversation about ministry, business, music or cupcakes. It really doesn’t matter what it’s about, it’s simply a way to share ideas. It is not a Magic 8 Ball. You cannot wave your magic Twitter wand and make it rain money from the sky.

Twitter is a networking tool. Here’s how you use it:

Connect to others - You do this by “following” people and by being “followed” by people. As you build your followership, you will build your circle of influence. You’ll be able to connect with more people through Twitter than you would in everyday life.
Share - “Tweet” (or post) your ideas, thoughts and messages. Remember to always be real and be honest. People can smell a phony a mile away. If you’re in ministry, tweet about ministry successes and failures. Others in ministry will begin to converse with you and share their successes and failures. If you’re in business, tweet about what your company’s doing or about a new product or service. Regardless of what you’re tweeting about, use it to build a buzz about your cause or product or service.
Get a response - Depending on what you’re trying to accomplish, you may ask for a response. That response could be in the form of a reply, a visit to your blog or website, a sale or even a donation.

Once people are following and conversing with you, you have a platform. What you choose to do with that platform is up to you.

Now that you know a little about how to use Twitter, here are my suggestions on how NOT to use Twitter:

Don’t overpost - Nobody is interested in knowing every time you take a sip of coffee or every song you’re listening to on iTunes. Overposting will cause people to unfollow you.
Don’t be so negative - Nobody wants to read about how much you hate your boss or traffic or your computer. If you continually post negative comments, people will unfollow you.
Don’t be phony - I already said this, but it’s worth mentioning twice. If you’re posting JUST to get people to do something for you, they will unfollow you. Be genuine. People want to know who you are and what you’re all about. Once they feel like they have a connection with you, they will be much more willing to respond to you.

Here’s a good example of using Twitter effectively:
I know a couple who were in the process of adopting two sisters from Ethiopia earlier this year. They had been blogging about their journey for some time. They even had a PayPal link set up on their blog to accept donations. In April, they found out that their court date was being moved up by several months...they were going to get custody of their adopted children in a few weeks instead of a few months. They needed to raise a large amount of money for their final adoption and travel expenses.

We leveraged the networking power of Twitter by posting something like this: “Help give two orphans a forever family. Visit (their blog). Please retweet & update your Facebook status.” And that’s exactly what people did. They visited their blog, retweeted, updated their Facebook status and many of them donated. Because of the retweeting and Facebook status updating, their request spread to a huge number of people very quickly. Within 3 days, they had raised most of the money they needed for their expenses.

REMEMBER - I said earlier that Twitter is not a Magic 8 Ball...and I stand by that!

This would not have worked if they had not already been blogging and tweeting. Did you catch that...they were genuine. People already knew who they were and what they were about because they had been blogging and tweeting. People felt a connection to them, read their story and gave them donations.

Now, I’m not advocating that Twitter become a fund-raising platform...that’s just what worked in this situation. What I am saying is that Twitter is a powerful tool. But just like any other tool, you need to know how to use it for it to be effective.

Passionate people

2009-10-04T17:07:00.000-05:00

This weekend, my wife and I visited with some of her family in Louisville, KY. It was a great weekend! The highlight of the weekend was attending the St. James Court Art Show where hundreds of artists displayed and sold their creative works. These were all people who are passionate about using their gifts and talents...and their passion shows.

Not all of us can paint a portrait or create a sculpture, but all of us are given gifts and talents by our Creator. Whether you’re an artist, a video editor, an accountant or a landscaper, God wants you to use the gifts He gave you to glorify Him.

I don’t know about you, but I want my passion to show.

Is print dead?

2009-10-01T17:05:00.001-05:00

Dan Brown (The DaVinci Code) released his new book The Lost Symbol on September 17. And for the first time ever, the e-book version of a new release title is outselling the hardcover edition (people.com).

This shift in print media is indicative of what’s happening across the board in media...C-H-A-N-G-E. The way people consume their media is evolving at a rapid pace. We’re no longer tied to the tube, waiting for the networks to broadcast our favorite shows. Now we DVR or download WHAT we want to watch and watch it WHEN we want to. Phil Cooke said in a recent blog post that “Bob Garfield, author of The Chaos Scenario predicts that within 5 years, one of the major 4 TV networks will drop out, maybe two”. That’s not surprising considering that the usage of the internet for broadcast purposes (YouTube, Tangle, blogs, etc.) is growing exponentially.

So what does that mean for those of us in media ministry? It means we either need to get on the bus or get left behind. If we keep the status quo, there will be nobody left to see or hear our message...they will have gotten on the bus themselves.

Tape ministry is dead. DVD/CD ministry is dying. Podcasting and internet broadcasting is where we need to be now, so that we’ll be ready for the next thing when it comes along...and trust me...IT IS COMING!

And the award goes to...

2009-09-21T17:04:00.000-05:00

Last night I watched about 30 minutes of the Emmy Awards on TV. I’m not a huge award show watcher, but I do like to see some of the production elements they incorporate into their broadcast. The coolest thing I saw last night was the moving LCD panels...sweet! But that’s not what this post is about.

This post is about excellence. The purpose of the Emmys, Oscars, Grammys, etc. is to award those who are excellent in their respective fields. The recipients of these awards are truly the best of the best. But the best at doing what? They do what they do to entertain or inform their audience. They are so good at entertaining that the world stands up, applauds and gives them an award...a little statue.

So why do we do what we do? What’s our purpose? Are we the best of the best? Do we know who our audience truly is? What are we working toward...a little statue or an eternal crown?

FBC TV

2009-08-31T17:04:00.000-05:00

About two years ago, our church opened its new Family Ministry Center, Student Ministry area (The Underground) and our new Fellowship Hall. One of the things that sets this part of our campus apart from the rest is the media technology that was incorporated into the design plan. Part of that technology includes a background music system and over 30 LCD TVs mounted throughout the new areas (along with a few other secrets). Since then we’ve added over 30 LCD TVs to our Education Building as well.

Up until now, we’ve used these screens to run announcements via PowerPoint. That’s been pretty good for promoting events, ministries, etc. But what if we could do more? What if we could take it to the next level?

Stay tuned for FBC TV!

There are no time machines

2009-08-27T17:03:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite movie series of all time is the Back to the Future series. Not only do I love the story lines, but the continuity of the three stories is amazing...it’s basically one long, interwoven story. Even more than that though, I love the thought of being able to go back in time.

I don’t know about you, but I could use a time machine to create more time. As media ministers and staff, we stay so busy that we often neglect to take time off to rest. It’s easy because there’s ALWAYS something to do...and 100 more things waiting to get done. But, we must make the time! Burning ourselves out won’t do anyone any good and it certainly won’t bring glory to God.

This is an area that I need to work on in my own life. I need to make time for myself, my family and most importantly my God...and I encourage you to do the same.

Making the connections

2009-08-24T17:02:00.000-05:00

First Media worked a long weekend to install the fiber optic cable and the components necessary to connect our Worship Center video and audio feeds to our Living Room (contemporary) service. We ran into a few snags along the way, but we got it done.

The feed originates at our Control Room IMAG switcher (Panasonic MX70) and runs to a Sony Hard Disk Recorder...we use that to delay the programming that’s sent to the Living Room. It then runs through an Extron fiber transimitter, down the fiber cable to an Extron fiber receiver in the Living Room tech booth and ultimately to another MX70 IMAG swticher.

But if that’s where the connections stop, then we’ve missed our target completely. Our purpose as media ministers, staff and volunteers is not just to provide and operate technology, but to use that technology to connect people...to one another, to service and to God. Technology is a ministry tool. If we remember that, we’ll approach our tech projects with a renewed enthusiasm and intentionality.

Here I Stand!

2009-08-19T17:02:00.000-05:00

This week we have several items on our plate. I’m taking the “Here I Stand!” logo created by David Hobbs and making a sermon bumper in Motion. We didn’t want anything over the top, just some subtle movement as our pastor walks up on stage. I’m enjoying learning more about Motion...it’s amazing what you can do with it. I’ll post the bumper when it’s done. We’re also working on our second installment of the First 90. We’ll continue to tweak it each week until we’ve got it where we want it.

This weekend we’ll be working to install the components necessary to pipe our audio and video signal to and from our Worship Center Control Room and our Living Room Tech Booth. This is my first foray into fiber, so I’m looking forwarding to learning something new. We’ll use this as a backup for sending our weekly sermons to the Living Room and as an overflow. It will also allow us to feed a signal from either of those rooms to any/all of the 50+ LCD displays throughout our campus...the possibilities with that are endless.

Thanks, Ed!

2009-08-12T17:01:00.000-05:00

For the last two years, Dr. Ed Stetzer has been our Interim Teaching Pastor. God has used Ed to bless our congregation with his teaching, his leadership, and his humor. Last Sunday, we thanked Ed for serving at First Baptist. Click here to see our “Thanks, Ed!” video.

New Pastor and the First 90

2009-08-10T17:00:00.000-05:00

It’s gonna be an exciting week in First Media!

Today is Dr. Bruce Chesser’s first day. Bruce will preach this coming Sunday morning and we will celebrate with fellowship, fun, food and a concert on Sunday evening. First Media will have a busy week preparing for Sunday’s celebration.

Also, after a year in the making, we will be unveiling the First Ninety this Sunday. The First Ninety is a weekly 90-second update of the ministries of First Baptist Church. I’ll post each episode of the First Ninety on Wired for Service.

Busy Summer

2009-08-03T17:00:00.000-05:00

We’ve had a busy summer in First Media. We’ve done VBS, end of year projects, four videos for the Montana Southern Baptist Convention, a video to introduce our new pastor, and many more projects.

This week we’re shooting and producing videos for 4 different projects...deacon ordination testimonies, The First 90 (coming soon to Wired for Service!!!) and two others which will be unveiled soon. Today we’ll be shooting several people on location, including Dr. Morris Chapman, President of the Southern Baptist Convention. I’ll post those videos in the coming days.

We’re also working on a new tech project. Our IT department will be installing fiber that we’ll use to connect our Worship Center and our Fellowship Hall so that we can pipe the sermon from one room to the other. This will also send our Worship Center feed to the 60+ LCD monitors that we have throughout our campus.

Connecting

2009-06-16T16:59:00.000-05:00

“Connecting people to God, to one another, and to service.” That’s been our focus at First Baptist Hendersonville for some time now. We’ve done a good job of making one-on-one connections through our various ministries, but there’s always room for improvement. So how can we make more connections and make them more meaningful?

Social networking...Facebook, Twitter, etc. We’re in the process of learning all that we can about social networking and how to to leverage it to connect people to God, to one another and to service. The potential for impact in our community is huge. Pray for us as we continue to develop our social networking plan at First Baptist.

Media Training

2009-06-10T16:59:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wondered exactly what the Producer in the Living Room does? Or maybe you’d like to know more about running a camera or directing video.

If so, plan on attending the Media 101 on Wednesday evenings in July. We’ll be leading training sessions on the equipment and processes in the Worship Center and the Living Room. In the Worship Center, we’ll train on Video Directing, Cameras, Engineering and FOH Audio. In the Fellowship Hall (Living Room), we’ll train on FOH Audio, Lighting, Media Shout, Camera and Producing.

Media 101 will be designed for those who are currently serving in these positions or anyone who is interested in one of these areas.

We’ll post sign-up sheets soon. Be thinking about others you might want to invite to come with you!

VBS

2009-06-03T16:58:00.000-05:00

Vacation Bible School is in full swing! Our hallways have been taken over by little people in yellow shirts. First Media is running full crews for the Worship Rallies each day and also producing a highlight video of each day’s activities. Thank you to all of the First Media volunteers who have given their time and talents to make this another successful year of VBS!

Operation LIFE

2009-05-11T16:57:00.000-05:00

Last week Chris Forte and I had another opportunity to serve our community. We went to Station Camp High School to help with Operation L.I.F.E. (Living Intoxicated Free Everyday). Chris set up and ran our portable sound system and I filmed all the action. We’ll take our footage and create a video that will be shared with many other schools as a part of the Operation LIFE campaign.

As the Juniors and Seniors were entering the football stadium, they passed by a scene of a post-graduation party where graduates were celebrating with alcohol. Once everyone was seated, the sound of screeching tires and a car wreck was heard over the sound system. Next fire trucks, police cars and ambulances raced to the scene. These first responders worked the accident as if it were real, while the students heard statistics related to drunk driving.

Derrick Smith, the keynote speaker, astounded the students with another statistic: 25%. That’s the amount of his life that he spent in prison because of his involvement in an alcohol-related traffic fatality. He spoke honestly about his mistakes and about his efforts to turn his life around.

It was a great event that I pray will cause the students to think about the choices they make and the consequences of those choices.

Summer Bible College

2009-05-06T16:57:00.000-05:00

I just added a promo video for our Summer Bible College (middle school VBS) to my video page. This year is all about “living sent”...getting off campus and serving our community. Check it out...

Earth Day

2009-04-22T16:56:00.000-05:00

April 22 is Earth Day...a day designed to raise awareness of the need to take better care of our planet. And one of the easiest ways to “save our planet” is to recycle.

So what does Earth Day and recycling have to do with Media Ministry? I’m glad you asked.

When I was in Montana last month, one of the pastors we filmed told us they had a need for a new tape duplicator. Their duplicator died and they weren’t ready to switch entirely to CD yet. Since we’re no longer using tapes, we had a duplicator that was just collecting dust. So I recycled it. Now that church can continue their tape ministry as they prepare to make their transition to CDs.

I’ve recycled a lot of other media gear to churches, including recycling a projector to another church in our community recently. They were overwhelmed because they simply could not afford a new projector.

I’m sure I have more gear that I’ll be able to recycle as I hear about churches with needs. What can your media ministry recycle to help another church?

Town Hall for Hope

2009-04-20T16:55:00.000-05:00

I’ve mentioned before how I love that serving through media allows us to take part in so many other ministries. We get to share in another amazing event this Thursday evening.

Dave Ramsey will be hosting a live webcast called “Town Hall for Hope”. He will be sharing “what’s happening with the economy, how we got here, and where we’re going.”

First Media ran a broadcast test last week to work out any technical issues with the webcast and the backup broadcast via satellite. Dave had a few technical issues and we had a few, but by the end of the night all was running smoothly. We’ll do more testing this week before the webcast goes live.

I hope you’ll attend Thursday night and share in the hope that Christ has given to us.

It just couldn't get any better than this!

2009-04-13T16:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my daughter’s fifth birthday. I was thinking about how much she has changed in the last five years. When she was a newborn, I’d hold her in my arms, stare at her and think “it just couldn’t get any better than this.” And when she started crawling...”it just couldn’t get better than this.” And when she said “Dadda” for the first time....ummmmmm! And while we were out riding her new bike yesterday, I thought, ”it simply couldn’t get better than this!” I want to freeze time and keep her just the way she is...but I know that I can’t.

And so it is with technology, too. Technology is changing faster now than any other time in our history. And the tendency for most people is to hold the status quo. “We love what we already have, so why do we need something different?”

I know that change can be scary...but it’s exciting, too! Over the next five years, technology will drive changes in the way we do business, the way we interact socially and even the way we do church. Think about how we could be intentionally using technologies such as Facebook and Twitter to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ...if that doesn’t excite you then you may need to check see your doctor (aren’t you glad he’s keeping up with technology!)

As much as I want my daughter to stay a little princess forever, I cannot wait to see how she’ll change and grow over the next few years...it just couldn’t get any better than that!

Help Ansley and Karis

2009-03-31T16:52:00.000-05:00

Jason and Shelley are in the process of adopting two sisters from Ethiopia. Ansley is 4 1/2 and Karis is 3 1/2 years old. They may gain custody of the girls by late spring (they weren't expecting this to happen until the fall). Because of the abbreviated time table, they are trying to quickly raise money for their travel expenses to Ethiopia (about $10k). You can read their story adoption story here. Please consider helping these two sisters have a forever family. You can help by praying, donating (even if it's $1, every penny helps) or by re-blogging this post (see instructions here). Thank you so much for your support!

Help Ansley and Karis...

Production Week

2009-03-29T16:51:00.000-05:00

It’s production week!

We’ll be kicking off Holy Week at First Baptist Hendersonville with the choir musical “East to West” this Sunday at 8:00, 9:15 and 10:45 a.m. in the Worship Center. First Media will spend the week tweaking lights, creating a string section in the orchestra pit, adding a 4th camera and handling the 782 other details that go into productions. Production week is always fun and always challenging...I love it!

It takes a huge effort to pull of an event like this, and the feeling of accomplishment you get is awesome! But if that’s why we do what we do, then we’ve missed it completely. We do what we do to share the love of the One who gave His life for us...He took our sin upon Himself, knowing that if we carried it, we would surely die. Instead, He bore our sin and died on the cross. But the story doesn’t end there. Three days later, having defeated death, He rose victorious! Because He died and rose again, we can live.

I hope you’ll take time this week to focus on the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for you.

I’ll keep you updated on the progress we make this week.

Less Can Be More

2009-03-29T16:50:00.001-05:00

This afternoon I’m shooting a promo video for our Men’s Ministry annual camp out that’s coming up in a few weeks. In the camp out and Men’s Fraternity videos that I’ve done in the last couple of years, I’ve included humor or “edginess” and have gotten mixed reviews. Although I still think that this style is definitely appropriate for Men’s Ministry, I’ve decided to cut out the gimmicks and simplify this year’s video.

I’ll get a talking head shot our Men’s Minister in a wooded setting giving all of the details for the camp out and encouraging men to attend. Then I’ll add b-roll that I shot at last year’s camp out. The last shot will be a stationary shot of something in the wooded area (I think there’s a large fallen tree in that area) that I can use as a background for the sign-up info.

This will probably take about an hour to shoot and a couple of hours to edit. Hopefully the “less is more” concept will hold true. I’ll post the video when I’ve finished it and you can let me know how it turned out (as iron sharpens iron...).

Social Media

2009-03-18T16:49:00.001-05:00

If you haven’t noticed, I’m on a bit of a quest right now. I’m learning everything I can about social media and how churches can effectively use it to communicate their message. For those that don’t know what I’m talking about, social media includes blogs (such as wiredforservice.com), Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. These sites are amazingly effective ways to tell people what you think. When you log onto Facebook, it asks “What’s on your mind?” You respond and it posts something like this “Chad Conger is thinking about social media”. Twitter’s version is “What are you doing?”...“Chad Conger is blogging about social media”. So what’s the big deal about that?

The big deal is that all of the various social media outlets allow you to have followers, friends and subscribers...all of the sudden you’ve got an online community. These are people that read what you’re doing or what’s on your mind and then share what they’re thinking or doing with you. If what’s on our mind is bringing people to Christ and what we’re doing leads to that...and if we allow them to interact with us about such things...now we’ve got some ministry happening!

Stay tuned...I’ll post more when I know more.

Projector throw distance

2009-03-16T16:48:00.000-05:00

I got an email today asking for help identifying what type of projector a church should purchase. In their email, they said they need a multi-purpose projector that would be used in their church service and as a mobile projector. They also mentioned that the projector would sit 75 feet from the screen in their church service.

Throw distance is probably the detail that most people overlook when researching and purchasing a projector. If you have a projector that’s 5 feet from your screen, the image is going to be very small. As you move the projector backwards, the image size increases. You have to be careful to purchase a projector that will fit your screen based on where the projector is located in your room. But never fear, the good folks at projectorcentral.com are here to save the day! They have included a calculator on their website that allows you to see and adjust the throw distance and the screen size to help you determine which projector and screen is right for you. Check them out...they’re a great resource.

RT Fisher

2009-03-15T16:47:00.000-05:00

The mission of RT Fisher Alternative School in Gallatin is “in partnership with parents, to encourage and equip each student with the emotional, social, and academic skills to successfully return to their home school.” On Friday and Saturday, the mission of more than 100 First Baptist members was to serve the faculty, students and parents of RT Fisher by painting the inside of their school. First Media was on hand to document our church serving the community.

While there, I spoke with Principal Bob Cotter who told me the school had not been painted in over 10 years and was not slated to be painted in the immediate future. Projects like this would typically rest on his shoulders. Principal Cotter said he was overwhelmed by the response from First Baptist to come in do what would have taken him an entire summer to do.

Because a small portion of our congregation was willing to give a few hours of their week, the students and teachers of RT Fisher will have a fresher coat of paint on their walls and hopefully a fresher perspective of Christ’s love.

Steady now!

2009-03-10T16:46:00.000-05:00

I visited a blog recently that had some amazing content. The guy obviously is an expert in his field and he’s out there trying to help others succeed. He posted a video clip from a conference that he spoke at recently. Again, the content of the clip was amazing, however, the delivery system was not so impressive...it was almost annoying. They filmed it with a small hand-held video camera and were obviously in a large convention center. The camera shot was shaking the entire time and it was as wide a shot as they could get, you could barely see who was speaking. The chatter of the people in the background was almost as loud as the speaker’s voice and the loudspeakers overpowered the camera’s microphone.

If the quality of your video is so bad that people stop watching it, you’ll never get your message to them. So how do you create a video of a presentation that looks and sounds as good as the content that’s being delivered? I’m glad you asked...

1. Use a tripod. There’s nothing worse than a shaky shot...unless you’re filming an action movie. You can purchase a tripod for as little as $20. Trust me, your viewers will save that much in nausea medicine.

2. Frame your shot. Since your video will mostly be seen in a small box on your blog or website, make sure the speaker can be seen. Try a “head to waist” shot. If the speaker is antsy and wants to move around a lot, you’ll have to loosen (zoom out) your shot a little bit. You may even want to experiment with following the speaker as he moves around the stage (panning left and right)...but be careful that you’re not being shaky again!

3. Use a lav mic. Purchase a digital voice recorder with a lav mic (about $50). Even if you’re using another microphone while you speak, clip this mic on your shirt and press record just before you walk up to give your presentation. You should be able to import your video and your audio files into iMovie or another editing program and line them up with one another. You’ll get a much cleaner sounding video without all the background noise.

You’ll be amazed at how much difference these three steps will make in the overall look of your video presentation.

Back from Montana...so now what?

2009-03-09T16:45:00.000-05:00

Well, we made it back safely and I’ve had a few days now to digest our trip.

The seven days that we spent in Montana were simply amazing. We saw some of the most beautiful scenery that we have ever seen. We saw four churches getting outside their own walls to serve their communities and build relationships. We saw those communities embracing those relationships. And we saw God working through a few faithful people who said, “I will go”. We learned a lot about them, their ministries, and their strategies for using church plants to reach the 90% of Montanans that are unchurched.

So now what? We could mark that up as just another good experience and go about our lives or we could learn from what God showed us through these churches. The story that we were sent to cover was “Church Planting”, but the message God kept giving to me was “getting out into the community”. So that’s what we’re going to do.

Many of the ministries at First Baptist are out in our community partnering with schools, prisons, and other organizations and building relationships by serving them. Some First Media volunteers have joined in and served along side others from our church. But now it’s time for us to be intentional about getting out in the community and building those relationships.

As we learn about ways that First Baptist is involved in serving our community, First Media will be there to capture it via video and/or photos. And that doesn’t mean that Chad runs out with a camera every time there’s a service project...that means that WE (you and me) are out there filming the work that’s being done and capturing the stories of those who have chosen to serve. We’re in the process of developing outlets for sharing these stories with our congregation to encourage and challenge them in serving our community as well.

If you are interested in taking part in this ministry, please email me at cconger@fbchtn.org.

Montana - Day 7

2009-03-05T16:43:00.001-06:00

Today was our final day in Montana. A snow storm came through and dumped more than 4 inches of snow in the Bozeman area and almost 8 inches in the pass between here and Livingston...which is where we drove this morning. It was a slow drive, but it was beautiful.

In Livingston we met with two couples: Paul & Christine Seddon and Cody & Tiffany Wood. They came from the east coast about two years ago to plant a church in Montana. Cornerstone Community Fellowship meets on Sundays in the local Red Roof Inn. They started with only 3 families and now have about 30 members. Cornerstone’s ministry is very missional. They are out serving the community and building relationships along the way. They have really challenged me to look at the ways I serve our community...and the ways I don’t serve it.

If you were watching Fox News this morning, you may have seen a story on a gas main explosion in downtown Bozeman, MT. The explosion originated in a bakery called Boodles and destroyed several surrounding buildings. David and I ate lunch across the street from Boodles yesterday and planned on being back in that area this morning since our video shoot wasn’t until 1:00 today...or so we thought. While talking with the Pastor Seddon, I realized that I had actually scheduled the shoot for 10:00 which kept us out of the area. So thank you for praying for us while we’ve been traveling...God has been faithful to keep us safe. Please pray for the citizens of Bozeman...this is a tight-knit community that has been struck hard by this tragedy. The last information we got from the local radio said that one person was still missing. Please pray for them and their family tonight.

Montana - Day 6

2009-03-04T16:42:00.000-06:00

You know...when you’re in the ministry...some days are just harder than others!

Montana - Day 5

2009-03-03T16:40:00.000-06:00

This morning we traveled from the Missoula Valley five hours east to Billings. Along the way we crossed the Continental Divide, which I’ve always wanted to see...I was not disappointed!

In Billings we talked with 99-year-old Dr. Donald Held of Emmanuel Baptist Church. Dr. Held told us the story of his father going to the 1925 Southern Baptist Convention in Memphis. While there, Southern Baptists from across the country adopted a plan to raise funding for missionaries, thereby allowing them to stay in the field rather than returning home sporadically to raise funds. Today this ministry is known as the Cooperative Program. He also told us about his father’s part in starting the very first BSU. It’s amazing to see how God has used Dr. Held and his father over the last 100+ years. It was a good reminder that one person dedicated to God can truly make a difference in His Kingdom!

NERD ALERT: All non-nerds may want to tune me out for a minute!

Dr. Held was a Technical Theater/Speech Communications major in college. He went on later to teach in both of these areas, which eventually landed in him in Montana. While in college, Dr. Held assisted Dr. Theodore Fuchs in the creation and development of using sub-faders on lighting boards. Dr. Held’s and Dr. Fuchs’ designs changed the course of theatrical and production lighting processes forever!

Montana - Day 4

2009-03-02T16:40:00.000-06:00

Today we traveled from Kalispell to Missoula. I know this is gonna shock you, but it was beautiful! We followed the edge of Flathead Lake for much of the way and just admired the post-card view. The mountains were reflecting in the perfectly calm water. To quote Forest Gump, “I couldn’t tell where the mountains stopped and the sky started.”

In Missoula we spent the day with Pastor Rich Ratts of Convergence Ministries. Convergence has targeted their ministry efforts toward the 24 and younger demographic which makes up 38% of Missoula’s 100,000 citizens.
More than 90% of this age group in the Missoula area is unchurched. Rich told us that “it’s not that they’re hostile toward the Gospel, they’re just ignorant of it.” Rich and his team are trying to change that...and it’s working.

We asked Rich to tell us more about the AA Church Planting Strategy. He said there are 14 AA school districts in the seven most-populated cities in Montana. The vision is to plant substantial churches that will make a large impact on these seven cities. It’s a monumental task that cannot be completed by just one or two church planters, so the AA Church Planting Strategy team is looking for others to come alongside them to pray, participate, provide and partner.

Montana - Day 3

2009-03-01T16:39:00.000-06:00

Our four hour road trip this morning took us from Great Falls through the Blackfoot Indian Nation, along ice-covered roads on the edge of Glacier National Park, and through the Rocky Mountains to Kalispell. Just when we thought we had seen everything Montana had to offer, we’d drive around a curve and see something spectacular. God’s creativity is clearly evident in these mountains and rivers. I’m sure the locals aren’t as awe-struck as I have been over the last couple of days...but then again, I’m like them when I’m at home. I need to stop and enjoy the beauty of what God has given us in Middle Tennessee more often.

Once in Kalispell, we spotted moose (or is it mooses...or maybe moosi) everywhere - a moose statue in front of the bank, a moose statue in front of the sporting goods store, a moose statue in front of the pizza place, a moose statue’s head in the lobby of our hotel...this town loves moose statues!

But the reason we traveled to Kalispell was to talk with Pastor Daniel Lambert of Easthaven Baptist Church (he had an elk head and a mule dear head in his office, but no moosi). He told us about his church’s vision for sending people out to minister to the lost through church plants. They are doing so locally (literally planting another church in Kalispell), throughout Montana and around the world.

In the Kalispell church plant, Easthaven sent 120 of their 450 members to start the new church and to make sure they would make an impact on the part of the community they were trying to reach. He said they were scared of the negative impact that would have on their congregation and their budget, but knew that God was in control and that “when He guides, He provides”. Within 6 months, their giving was back on track and within a year their attendance was surpassing 500.

But Easthaven isn’t just throwing darts at a map to decide when and where to plant churches, they have a strategy...and their strategy is catching on. Tomorrow we’ll talk with another church planter who has worked closely with Pastor Lambert in developing the AA Church Planting Strategy in Montana.

MOntana - Day 2

2009-02-28T16:38:00.000-06:00

Today we traveled to Great Falls. Along the way we stopped to get more Montana b-roll and photos. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the scenery today was even more spectacular than yesterday. We passed by Canyon Ferry Lake which is positioned at the foot of the mountains just outside of Helena. We could see something on the lake and decided to investigate. We didn’t realize how big the lake was until we got down to the shoreline...it is massive! What we saw on the lake was people ice fishing, riding ATVs and ice skating. We also spotted a bald eagle resting in a nearby tree.

When we arrived in Great Falls, we were greeted in the parking lot by Pastor JT Coughlan from Set Free Church and some of his “Soldiers”. We interviewed Pastor JT and his wife, Nona, asking them about the history, ministries and people of Set Free Church. They are ministering to the people in this community by providing dinner each week before the worship service, free clothes to anyone in need, bunks for those looking to get off the streets and even haircuts to those who were turned away from other barber shops.

We saw first-hand how Pastor JT, Nona, and the Set Free Soldiers love on the people they have been called to serve. The seven hours we spent with them was simply amazing. It has challenged me to do more to love on those I’m called to serve. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us tomorrow.

Montana - Day 1

2009-02-27T16:38:00.000-06:00

Our adventure begins in Bozeman, where five inches of snow fell yesterday. The locals said the snow wreaked havoc on the area 24 hours ago...but today it’s absolutely beautiful! The sky is sunny, the snow is glistening, and the cameras are rolling.

After flying into Bozeman around noon, David and I spent the afternoon driving around the area’s back roads filming and photographing the scenery. I’ve seen the deserts of the Red Rock Canyon in Nevada, the harbors of Maine in the fall, the southernmost point of the US in Key West, Florida, the clarity of the beaches in the Bahamas, and many other places and sites along the way...but I’ve never seen anything quite like this.

The whole city of Bozeman is surrounded by snow-covered mountains. There are shoots of golden wheat in all the fields piercing through the shimmering snow that is covering nearly everything. There are ducks playing on frozen ponds, mule deer bedding down in the sunshine, and pheasant dancing across open fields. It’s simply mesmerizing. Although most of the roads were clear, we found ourselves looking for shots on a few back roads that hardly seemed like roads at all...more like paths. It’s a good thing we rented a four-wheel drive. We even saw several cross-country skiers doing just that - skiing across the countryside.

It has been a great day. Tomorrow we’ll travel to Great Falls (2.5 hours north of Bozeman). We will film at Set Free Church, a church plant that is ministering to bikers in north central Montana. Pray for us as we travel and pray that all goes well with the video shoot tomorrow. Most of all, pray that God will use what we’re doing to grow His Kingdom.

Look out Montana...here we come!

2009-02-25T16:37:00.000-06:00

David Hobbs and I will fly to Montana on Friday to shoot a series of videos for the Montana Southern Baptist Convention. We’ll spend a week traveling to church plants in Great Falls, Kalispell, Missoula, Billings and Livingston.

Some of the interviews we capture on film will include:

- A 99-year old pastor who is believed to be the last living person who was at the 1925 Southern Baptist Convention (where the Cooperative Program was birthed)

- A pastor at a contemporary church plant that is meeting in the same building as a traditional church (sound familiar FBC?)

- A church planter who is working to develop the strategy that will be used by the Montana Southern Baptist Convention for church plants all across the state

- A pastor at a biker church who said he’d have to stand up and make an announcement before we start filming so that those in the congregation who have outstanding warrants will have an opportunity to leave.

We’ll use these interviews and other footage we shoot throughout the week to tell the story of how God is working through church plants across Montana. Each story will be a stand-alone feature about a particular aspect of church planting, and all four of the stories will connect with one another to tell the greater story of the need for the Baker State Missions Offering.

Pray for us as we travel, pray for our families while we’re away, pray for the churches we’ll be visiting, and pray that God would be glorified in all we say and do.

I’ll be blogging throughout the week (as long as I have internet access), so be sure to check back and follow along.

What year is it anyway?

2009-02-24T16:36:00.000-06:00

Have you looked at new cars recently? You can get one with Bluetooth, a sunroof, and flat-tire proof. It seems like they come with everything…On-Star, hybrid engines, heated and cooled seats, keyless starting systems…but there’s one accessory that’s becoming harder and harder to find…a cassette player. You can’t buy a car that comes standard with a cassette player, you have to special order it…and it won’t be cheap. In fact, you can’t buy a cassette player at your local electronics store any more either.

So, if they’ve quit selling mechanisms to play cassettes (for the most part)…WHY ARE CHURCHES STILL MAKING CASSETTES? And if that ruffles your feathers, you might want to close your ears for this next part. I think we (churches) should consider not making CDs in the near future, too!

It seems like churches are always 10 years behind the technology curve. Why is that? We should be using technology to engage people where they’re at…not where they were 10 years ago. Today more than 10% of Americans own an iPod or MP3 player; that figure doubles for those under the age of 30. Over the next couple of years, I anticipate that these numbers will increase sharply. As this number grows and the process of adding audio files to your church website and iTunes gets easier, the amount of physical audio media your church produces should decrease significantly.

DISCLAIMER: I understand that there are shut-ins and those in retirement centers that are accustomed to receiving a weekly cassette from their church, and I say “keep delivering.” But as that generation fades, those technologies will also fade and you’ll be behind the ball again. Up until last year, our church was still providing cassette tapes to shut-ins. I was amazed/appalled at that when I came on board. We remedied that by buying a few inexpensive portable CD players. Now they get the sermon each week on CD. The next step will be to provide them with iPods and set up an automated Podcast download for them…you think I’m kidding?

People don’t like change, but if you could begin to acclimate your congregation to getting their sermon audio from your church website or from iTunes, you could save your Media Ministry a lot of time, energy and even money. Over the next year, we will be more intentional about making our congregation aware of the availability of our online audio files and Podcasts. I hope you’ll do the same.

I've moved!

2009-02-18T13:22:00.002-06:00

I've moved my blog to a new host. Please visit and RSS or bookmark

www.wiredforservice.com

Thanks.

How does the DTV transition affect the local church?

2009-02-13T16:34:00.001-06:00

Most wireless mic systems manufactured before 2008 occupy the 700 MHz band…actually 698-806 MHz. Analog TV stations also fall within this range. When the government-mandated DTV transition occurs on June 12, 2009 (originally scheduled for February 17, 2009), the 700 MHz band will be occupied by Public Safety stations and new commercial wireless services (awarded by competitive bidding). All analog TV stations must switch to a digital transmission and all wireless microphones within that range are required to cease operation by the June 12 deadline.

So how does that affect us? When we installed new Yamaha M7CL digital audio consoles in our Worship Center and Fellowship Hall (secondary worship venue) a little over a year ago, we replaced the wireless systems with Sure UR2 Beta 87C systems. The wireless systems that were in those venues were migrated to our Chapel and Student Ministry Rally Room (The Pit). We knew that we would have to replace these systems, but decided to wait until we were a little closer to the DTV deadline. We are currently in the process of replacing those systems to meet the government requirements.

For more details on DTV and wireless mics, visit Sure DTV information page.

New Missions

2009-02-09T16:32:00.001-06:00

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…I love that serving in First Media allows me to be a part of so many other ministries. Last night it was Missions. “Laugh All Night” was presented by New Missions, an organization dedicated to making a difference in the lives of the people of Haiti.
Comedians Bean & Bailey and David Dean had me laughing so much that I could barely direct the camera crew. The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll/King of Pop skit was hilarious. But in the end, we were there to learn more about the work being done by New Missions.

My wife and I were so impacted by New Missions’ ministry that we decided to sponsor a child. Thamara will be 5 years old next week, just a few weeks earlier than our own daughter’s 5th birthday. We hope that through giving to Thamara, we will be able to teach Walker the value and the blessing of giving to those in need. So, thank you New Missions for your work in Haiti and in the life of my family.

Confessions of a control freak

2009-02-05T16:32:00.000-06:00

Do you feel like you're in continual learning mode? I do almost all the time. As soon as I think I've got it figured out, God shows me that I have a long way to go. He's currently educating me on how to utilize those around me to accomplish the ministry He's called me to. This is a tough one for me. I'm very much a control freak.

I know that He has called me to be a full-time vocational minister...specifically a media minister. But that doesn't mean that I'm the only one in the media area that needs to be doing ministry. He has called many others to be media ministry volunteers...and we have a great team of volunteers...I have to be willing to give them more opportunities to minister.
So that's what I'm working through right now...I'm not saying that I'll be able to flip a switch and change my control freak personality before Sunday, but I'm certainly working on it.

1. The less you do, the more you accomplish.
2. The less you do, the more you enable others to accomplish.

Montana Project...Take 2

2009-02-02T16:24:00.001-06:00

Last September I was planning on traveling to Montana to shoot a series of four videos for the Montana Southern Baptist Convention. That trip got cancelled due to scheduling conflicts. I glad to say that we've finally worked out all the kinks and I'll be flying to the "Treasure State" on February 27.

David Hobbs and I will spend a week traveling between four of the highest populated cities in Montana. We will interview church planters in each city to learn more about what God is doing through their ministry. We will use this footage to create four Dateline style pieces to be used by churches throughout Montana. We'll also shoot additional interview footage with one of the churches to create an information video that they can share with prospective members.

The purpose of the video is to help Montana Southern Baptists see Montana with missional eyes, consider various ministry strategies for reaching Montanans, and receive God's vision for His Kingdom in Montana.

A few stats about Montana:  

- 62% of Montana's population lives in seven cities.  

- The unchurched/unreached population is as high as 90% in some of the seven cities.  

- There are only 32 SBC churches which have a combined weekly average attendance of 2,869 in the seven cities. That's one SBC church for every 18,569 people (0.0048% of the population)!  

- Montana is now the number one state in the United States for suicide (22 suicides per 100,000 people).

Please pray for us as we prepare for this project and as we're traveling.

West Africa Summitt

2008-11-07T16:31:00.000-06:00

Today we’ll wrap up the West Africa Summit at our church. It’s been an eye-opening conference. It’s amazing to see how much these missionaries love the people they are serving. These are the true hands and feet of Christ.

First Media has been on hand to provide media support for the Summit. I’d like to say that it’s been a smooth week, but I’d be lying. We’ve been plagued by small issues that have become bigger issues. For example, most of the media (PowerPoint, DVD’s, etc.) haven’t reached our hands until either just before the service or after the service has begun. When that happens, there’s no time for testing and that’s when issues tend to rear their head. As I’m typing this, I was told that there’s another video or PowerPoint (he wasn’t sure which) for this morning…and I don’t have it yet. The other set of issues occurred because we didn’t know ahead of time which teachers needed what type of media support in their classrooms.

So how do you overcome obstacles like this?

Pre-production, pre-production, pre-production! Meet with the organizers and learn as much as you can beforehand. The more you know, the more you can plan. But that won’t prevent every media glitch. In events where you have a lot of outside speakers coming in, you’re going to get media requests at the last minute. When you do, smile and do your best to make it work. Your attitude in the midst of the “crisis” will speak volumes about your heart. Remember, we’re serving an audience of one.

Busy days!

2008-10-30T16:30:00.000-05:00

I bet you thought I dissappeared! Sorry to dissappoint you. The last several weeks have been crazy and the next several will be as well.

We hosted a Connect 3 on 3 basketball tournament on 10.04.08. We did not know how many people would attend, estimates were from 1,000 to 4,000. Approximately 2,500 people attended. It was a huge success and we're looking forward to next year's tournament.

My family and I left the next day and spent a week in Florida. It was my 4-year-old's first trip to Disney...she loved it!

On 10.16.08 we hosted the Phil Wickham/Steve Fee concert in our newest venue. I think this was a make or break situation for hosting concerts at our church. We've done some in the past with nominal success. Sometimes it feels like the effort outweighs the benefit...but not so in this case. It was a great evening.

We spent the last two weeks rebuilding the front portion of our worship center stage and rearranging the orchestra pit. I'll post pictures soon.

We have a few big events coming up, as well. We will host the West Africa Summit this week, a pastor's conference and the Tennessee Baptist Convention next week, and our annual He Has Been Good children's choir concert in 3 weeks.

9/11

2008-09-11T16:29:00.000-05:00

What was the first thing you did after you heard that a plane had flown into the side of the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001? Did you go online or turn on the TV to witness what was happening for yourself? I did too. The media coverage of these attacks was unprecedented. Never in history had the entire world been able to witness something of that scale as it was unfolding. Hour by hour we watched. We waited anxiously to see what would happen next. So much information was coming in that Fox News, CNN and MSNBC put news tickers at the bottom of their program feeds to supplement their broadcast for the first time that morning. We watched, listened to and read the reports, praying for the victims and their families…praying for our safety…praying for our nation.

I believe the true power of media was revealed that day. As media ministers and volunteers, you and I have been entrusted with a very powerful tool. How will we choose to use it.

Media 101

2008-09-09T16:27:00.000-05:00

Training volunteers has always had its fair share of issues. How much training should you do? Should it be just technical training or should it include a devotion time? How deep should you go technically? Do you do it as one large group or several small groups?

Most of our training up to this point has been on-the-job training. It’s easy enough to quickly show a volunteer how to adjust the iris or how to cut and dissolve on the switcher, but if they’re wired like I am, they’ll want to know WHY they’re doing what they’re doing. That’s what I’m hoping to address. Over the next several weeks, we will begin developing training classes that will help our volunteers develop a better understanding of the technical, philosophical, spiritual, and community aspects of ministry through media. Below are some of the topics we’ll cover.

The Camera
The Director’s Seat
Producing for Worship
Engineering
Lighting Theory and Design
FOH Audio
Pro Tools

Although the primary purpose of Media 101 is to develop our current volunteers in these areas, I intend to use this as a tool to recruit new volunteers as well. I’m planning on rolling out a couple of sessions on Wednesday evenings this fall and then the entire series in the winter/spring semester. As we develop content, I will post it for your enjoyment.

Are you wired for service?

2008-08-12T16:26:00.000-05:00

So what is Wired for Service all about anyways? Well, it’s simple. I believe that as followers of Jesus Christ, we are all wired for service. God has equipped each of us with gifts and talents to be used in service to His glory.

In John 13, Jesus does something that sets an example for us to follow. At the last supper, He tied a towel around Himself, poured water into a basin, and washed his disciples’ feet. I’m sure they were quite uneasy with this at first. They knew He was the Christ. How could Jesus lower Himself to washing their feet?

But it was more than just an act; more than just cleaning the dust off the disciples’ feet. Jesus said to them in verses 12-15, “Do you know what I have done for you? You call Me Teacher and Lord. This is well said, for I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done for you.”

He doesn’t say, “If you enjoy serving, you should maybe try it sometime, but only if it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.” No! He says, “I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done for you.”

So, what does that mean for you and me? Well, if the Son of God humbled Himself in service to others, we ought to do the same. Should you get a towel and start washing feet? Not necessarily.

You see, God not only expects us to serve, but He has uniquely gifted each of us to do so. Romans 12: 6-8 says, “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”

In other words, He has given us gifts and talents to use, and we should be using them.

My gifts and talents fall within the realm of Media Ministry. And so that’s what I’ll be blogging about.