Igniting a Digital Revolution

Can you think back 20, 30, or maybe 40 years and recall when your church was drastically different than it is now? Do you remember packed pews and what seemed like hundreds of children invading the church? Do you remember when your church bus was used for more than decorating the parking lot? Over the past 40 years, church attendance in America has dropped by 50% and 3,500-4,000 churches close their doors each year (Source: Keeping God in America). Many churches are struggling, dying, or dead. Recently, we've discussed why your church may need a digital revolution to help bring the life back. I want to offer two quick suggestions on how to go digital now. Both of these topics have already been covered in previous weeks. This is where we...

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We Have a Winner!

The $20 Walmart Gift Card Giveaway has ended and a winner has been chosen. There were 17 people that entered and 57 entries. Wondering how some people received more than one entry? You receive an entry for liking us on Facebook, following us on twitter, tweeting about our post, and sharing it on Facebook. Plus, each person that uses your link on Facebook gets you an extra entry. BUT, what was amazing was that our winner only had one entry. It proves that anyone can win. If you are curious how it works, in front of me I see a list of all the entries. I push a button and the punch tab program begins scrolling up and down the page running over multiple entries. Then it stops, and a winner is chosen at random! This is our second giveaway and...

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Media Tip: Pumping Life Into the Church

There is a man, let's call him Bob, who is 55 years old. Bob has lived a full life, he's seen some great times in his life and some bad times. One day, Bob was in a car accident, a pretty bad one at that. He careened off the side of the road as he fell asleep at the wheel. His car bounced off the guard rails and back into the center of the road where he was hit by an oncoming car at 60 mph. The rescue workers spent an hour prying him out his car with the "jaws of life." They immediately put Bob on an ambulance and sent him racing toward the hospital; he was barely hanging on. As Bob was rushed into the operating room, he flat-lined. Immediately, the doctors reach for the defibrillators. He charged them up and said, "Clear!" They made a high-pitched...

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From the Experts: The Contemporary Debate

If ever there were to be a post this week that gets close to touching on the music debate, it would be this one. I scoured the net looking for great music articles to share with you, but the ones I found more or less supported the contemporary/christian rock movement to the extent where they could care less about compromising their Biblical standards. When I did manage to find one from a conservative fellow, it was almost too conservative. I know that the Bible says, "I would thou wert cold or hot," but come on, we aren't talking doctrine here. In the media tip this week I listed a few Biblical principles to follow. The Bible isn't dogmatic about music, and so neither am I, but I do insist that it honor and uplift God every single time. Without...

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How the Hymns Were Written

Do you know how those solid hymns of the faith were written? Do you know what situations caused the writer to pen those mighty words? The hymns are just songs to us, but did you know they were often the fruit of suffering or great joy? Most hymns are loaded with history. You can research that history in various books or online. I want to share some of that history with you. I've picked some of the most touching stories to share with you. There are countless more, this is just a selection. I didn't write these short stories, the sources have been given a link to the originating page. It is Well With My Soul (Bible Study Charts) Horatio Spafford decided to take his wife and four daughters on a holiday to England. And, not only did they need...

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Songs that Shouldn't Be Sung Part 2

This post is a continuation of Conservative Songs that Shouldn't Be Sung. If you haven't read that post yet, read it first. I've studied out some of these songs at the request of some readers, and I've also left out some that were mentioned by others yesterday. You'll want to check out what has or has not been discussed already. 6. We've a Story to Tell to the Nations. A reader left a comment about this song in yesterday's post and I really wanted to research it a bit more and share with you what I learned. This is the worst kind of song. That's because it's tricky. It reminds me of the verse in Jude where the false teachers have "crept in unawares." A lot of people don't understand the theology behind a song like this. In a way, that's a...

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Conservative Songs That Shouldn't Be Sung

Do you have any songs that just irk you? I mean, they really rub you the wrong way. I'm not talking about songs that you don't like because they're not your style or "flavor." I'm talking about songs that just sound unbiblical or that stretch the truth. I've got a few of them. Now let me make something abundantly clear from the beginning. I am a conservative, I'm proud to be a conservative, and have no desire to be otherwise. However, I'm also not a hyper-conservative or anyone that believes "Hymns and nothing but." As a matter of fact, I'd strongly disagree with that approach. I align myself with the Bible, "Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs." Again, lest I sound like I'm about to start debating contemporary vs. traditional...

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$20 Walmart Gift Card Giveaway

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED So I decided to end the other giveaway early. Despite it being a popularly read post, not many of you seemed interested in a poster. The winners have been contacted and will receive their free posters shortly. Though not related to Media in anyway, I decided to just go the safe route for this next giveaway and it will be a $20 Walmart Gift Card. If you are interested in me giving away more FREE things in the future, please participate. Who doesn't like free stuff right? There are no strings attached, no trojan viruses that will come and conquer your computer, and no obligations. This is a promotional tool designed with the purpose of you sharing this blog with other people. After all, you obviously like this blog,...

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Media Tip: The Ins and Outs of Church Music

Have you ever gotten into a hot debate with someone about how the church should run their music program? Well that's...NOT what this media tip is about. Instead, this is about how you can improve your current music program. Church music is a big deal because it sets the tone for the entire service. Bad church music makes for a bad service. Media is about communication and music is a communication tool. So here are 10 tips for your church music ministry. 1. Biblical Principles about Music. Music should be God-centered, not man centered. Music that focuses on you and me and our life is misdirected. Music ought glorify and uplift God. Music is spiritual in nature and affects our emotions and inner being. Songs must be Biblical and based on...

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Media Missions joins Twitter

I've just recently started a Twitter account. Facebook primarily exists to give major updates, however, our Twitter page will feature the more moment by moment events. For instance, just a moment ago I posted a preview of this week's media tip on Twitter. Follow us on Twitter to find out what it i...

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From the Experts: The Design Process

From the Experts is a brand new series I'll be running each week. I've already told you that each week has a theme. Each tip, inspiration, and tutorial is always (as best as I can) focused on the same topic to bring you a greater understanding of working with that topic. From the Experts will do the same thing. It will bring you articles around the net that are...from the experts. Here are a couple of articles that I found through my searching. I thought they were good enough to share with you, though I don't necessarily 100% agree with everything they say. I'll add my own mini-review with each link. Creating Effective Visual Presentations by Andrew Jones (Ministry127.com) Teaser "Nothing can be more powerful or distracting than a presentation....

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User Feedback

Here at Media Missions, I'm always trying to improve by making everything more relevant to you, the reader. I strive to make content that is helpful and interesting. But I don't want to just provide good content, I want to provide it at the right time of day that benefits you. To help me do this, I've installed a poll widget to the right of this article. Will you take a brief moment and answer when you'd most like to see content appear on the site? Your opinion matters....

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Tutorial: How to Make a Powerpoint

This is a simple guide designed to teach you how to make a Powerpoint. It is by no means detailed or technical and I am in no way an expert on Powerpoint. Again, I cannot over emphasize the importance of using Powerpoint in your services. It will increase attention and memory retention, it helps with those who didn't hear what you said, and it will boost the excitement of your church. I have given you all the instructions that you need to get this setup in your church. I strongly encourage you to start using Powerpoint as soon as you are able. The biggest obstacle for doing this is not knowing how to make a Powerpoint in the first place. Well here it is: Step 1: Purchase Powerpoint Chances are you already have Powerpoint. If you have Microsoft...

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20 Great Church Powerpoint Slide Ideas

This week's set of Design Inspiration features none other than...Powerpoints! I've already mentioned it earlier this week: There are plenty of different ways to use Powerpoint in your church services. This post features a variety of those different options including some freebies for download and use in your church this Sunday. Update: Thanks to a reader, I was made aware of some really great resources available at West Coast Baptist College's website Ministry 127. Check it out for more great free slides. This first one should look a little familiar if you saw my post yesterday afternoon. I'm not trying to be proud, but I am trying to advertise. I'll be putting out a lot of great free material for your use and I want you to know that it...

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