Using Media
"Not only do billions around the world now have access to the Bible online, and not only are many of them actually reading it, they're also actively engaging with the Word of God—and with one another in far flung virtual communities across the planet.
With these trends, the vocabulary of Bible dissemination is changing. For centuries, the buzzword was distribution, with a focus on quantity delivered. The new buzzword is engagement."
In this Christianity Today article, Robert Crosby examines Scripture engagement in the online world of smartphones, tablets and Facebook.
He points to four principles we can learn from online engagement:
Initiative: "Those who start simply, and simply start, rule the new roads."
Responsiveness: "The pulse of online Bible engagement is rapid response and connections."
Frequency: "To try repeatedly is vital in engaging people with Scripture online."
Saturation: "...a constant awareness of reaching broadly—that a small impact on one soul has the potential of reaching thousands more in a short span of time." [more...]
"The Story of Jesus for Children" provides a solution to the challenge of teaching children the truth about God and His Son Jesus. This video uses 40 minutes of the original "JESUS" film* and integrates into the drama 22 minutes of new footage with children who might have lived in A.D.30. The video allows children to hear and see the whole story at once, answering questions in clear and concrete terms, and providing fast action. It ends with an invitation, by a child to children, to accept Christ into their lives.
The Story Teller from MegaVoice is the most affordable of all the pocket-sized solar-powered audio players available at the moment. It’s also one of the most lightest and simple to use, with a single 4-way button. Sound quality is excellent as is battery life, and the volume is impressive for a pocket-sized player. Files can be copied onto it using a proprietary USB cable and MegaVoice software.
As its name indicates, the Story Teller is ideal for containing audio stories or any other Scripture content when you have less than 10 hours to distribute. It is not designed for whole New Testaments or situations where you want to arrange audio files in hierarchies of books and chapters.
Download the PDF file below for the full review. [more...]
 | Matthew, John, Acts Published by: Visual Bible International Visual Bible International has produced film adaptations of Bible books on a word-for-word basis. Available are the Gospels of Matthew and John, and the book of Acts. [more...] |
"My daily appointment with my Bible has come alive since I discovered this video Bible. God not only speaks to me as I see the words of scripture but hearing them read keeps me concentrating."
The WatchWORD Bible is an example of a video-text Bible product, where you hear can the Bible read and see the text on the screen against the background of quality video photography.
The combination of seeing and hearing aids concentration and memory. [more...]
 | TWR is the most far-reaching Christian radio network in the world. They provide training and studios around the world, and a global system for archiving recordings. |
"We wanted the research to address fairly both the positive impact and the challenges facing the FCBH program... This research took a brutally honest look at our own program, and found factual evidence to support our contention that audio scriptures are a valuable tool for use in making disciples in oral cultures."
Greg Fisher is the Regional Manager for Africa for Hosanna/Faith Comes By Hearing. In this 43-page ebook, he describes the methodology and results of a recent research project looking into the FCBH listening group programmes in Africa.
He asks: "What use had the end user made of the FCBH program? We knew what had been introduced into the field through our trainers, but, how had the program actually been used? In what interesting ways was it contextualized in different areas of Africa? What long term impacts would the end users of the program report to our researchers? We knew the long term impacts we hoped to see; however, we wanted to know the impacts the end user reported to help us to measure impacts hoped for against actual impacts seen."
The ebook is available as a download from Smashwords. [more...]
 | JAARS, Waxhaw, NC, USA Sponsor: JAARS VMS |
Courses offered include:
1. Vernacular Media Specialist Training
This training gives instruction and hands-on experience in all aspects of vernacular media work in Wycliffe. Concepts covered range from strategizing for use of appropriate media, communication principles, evaluating media, designing programs, choosing an appropriate recording platform, and instruction in various recording platforms.
2. Program and Curriculum Design [more...]
"Those under 20 are ‘digital natives’ — fearless and proficient in manipulating the media with understanding of it structure and potential. It is these young people we must harness to help Christians be salt and light on the internet social networking sites."
One person can only shake hands with about 25 people in 15 seconds - but if they all keep shaking hands with others, a whole room of 250 people can be reached in 15 secs. Such is the nature of viral videos!
Roy Meredith (Logosdor, Australia) tells us about 'R U Smarter than a Fly?' - a 5 part video narrative about the birth, life and death of Jesus as seen through the eyes of flies. He discusses the idea of viral videos and how Scripture engagement needs to take place where young people are online (e.g. social networking sites). [more...]
"For 1500 years the church preached. For 500 years the church has printed. We live in a transitional time in the history of the Church. Today we must preach, print and portray Jesus and His kingdom."
The Visual Story Network is a coalition of missional and creative Christians, seeking to (1) advocate for the need for visual story, (2) provide opportunities to connect and collaborate, (3) equip God’s people to create and use visual story, and (4) promote best practices and products.