 Okay, welcome back everyone to our second lecture today, BC314 Media and Technology in Ministry. We are just covering several different areas of ministry and looking at how these have evolved or changed to suit contemporary expressions, how the things are happening. And now we're going to talk about another area of ministry which has to do with radio, television, and films. So we'll just look at that. Now radio used to be, and maybe in some parts of the world it still is, a very effective means for mass communication. So back in the 1920s, so that's a long time ago, almost 100 years, the first radio station received a pro-valor license to a Christian programming. Now interestingly, in India, technically, we are not allowed to have religious programming on radio. So therefore technically, within India, we don't have a Christian radio station. We're not allowed to do that. So there are FM radio stations that cover different cities, but a lot of the general things and sometimes they do sneak in, especially in our Hindu vajras and things like that. And maybe during Christmas time they may play a song here and there, but generally we are not allowed to do Christian or religious programming on radio locally within India. But we'll talk about that a little bit later and how in the past, how they're, you know, overcoming that restriction. But going back to what happened in the U.S., 1920s is when first Christian programming came on radio. And I had mentioned about Amy Sample McPherson in the early part of the 20th century or 1900s. She used to radio very effectively. To broadcast her sermon, Strong Horror, Santa Monica-based Church, the Angelus Temple. And they had their own radio station. And so this was the first station that was owned and operated by a church. So I just think about it, you know, a church having their own radio station and broadcasting in a gospel Christian programming, 20 per seven all the time. Back in 1950, Billy Graham had his own radio program broadcast across the nation, the Arab Decision. So the use of radio for Christian broadcasting was back to the 1920s, the early part of the 20th century. And so it has been very effective. What also is very, very important is the use of shortwave radio or AM radio, which can travel long distances. So FM radio is very short distances, but shortwave radio could go long distances, cover long distances. So you can broadcast and you go across continents. So shortwave radio, as we mentioned here, was used by fever. So it has a long history. And it was used very well by fever. FM radio came around in the 1970s so on, but it's localized as for a city and so on. But let's just talk a little bit about fever, Fari's Broadcasting Associates or Association. So back in, you know, around the 1960s, they set up shortwave radio station in Seychelles. And from there, they began to broadcast, especially to regions of the world, that were not easy to access. So now, so the radio waves transcend these political and legal boundaries, because it's coming in the air. Nobody can stop it. You know, I mean, they can try to prevent people from having devices to listen. They can say, I want to control. But generally, if people have radios, they can connect and listen to what's coming in the air. So fever took advantage of that and actually it's a very, very, very strategic move that they began from Seychelles. They began to broadcast all the way into Asia and across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. So they set up their antennas and their transmitters in such a way that they covered a major part of Africa and Africa, Asia and Middle East. So, you know, from 1970 all the way to what the early 2000s, they were broadcasting. Now, for example, I know what happened from here in India. The programs would be produced here in India in all the regional languages. So, you know, here we have more than 15 major languages all across India. So programs would be produced in India by people in India. The program would then be sent to Seychelles. And from there, they would broadcast back into India. So because India didn't have the freedom to broadcast locally, you can broadcast outside and people all across India would be tuning the radios and listening to the program. And it was so wonderful. So it had a huge impact across the nation in bringing, you know, Christian broadcasting and making the preaching and the teaching of God's word accessible to people throughout the, yeah, throughout the life. And so it was just amazing, wonderful work that was done through radio. Now, with time and with all the other things that came in now, this, you know, with the internet, with mobile phones, with the shift to consuming content in other ways, shortwave radio probably doesn't have that much of a, as big as, what do you say, as big as a space in people's daily lives. It's because now people are consuming content in different, in other ways, but definitely between the segmenties to the early 2000s, this had a very huge impact. Now they still continue, people still continues. I know they still have their office here in India and they're producing programs and so on, but the public, people generally are using other forms of consumption. What we have seen, like we mentioned, FM radio is playing a big part these days in many cities around the world, wherever it's possible, you know, you'll find Christian radio stations, FM stations, broadcasting, Christian content, music and sermons and so on. So that a shift has taken place to more localized programming through FM radio. And then there's also internet radio, so people listen online and they can stream songs and so on and everything online. So all the things have changed a lot to where we are today. We shouldn't forget that there was a time when radio played a big part in the dissemination of the preaching and the teaching of God's word all over the world. It did play a big part and we shouldn't forget that. Another major technology that was used, subsequent to radio was television. Very interestingly, the people who started using television for ministry were evangelists and there are three main evangelists. This was back in the 1950s, Rex Hombard, Earl Roberts and Billy Graham. They were the ones who saw the potential. So they saw the hey, we can actually use television and, you know, the sermons, the church or the meat that could say, if we put it on television, we can actually reach so many more people. So Rex Hombard was a pastor when he got so, I turned minister and then he also had his Sunday services in Akron, Ohio and so he started putting his Sunday services on television and he started as way back as 1950. Then by the 70s, 1970s, he was on 650 television stations, 700 radio stations across America and then also reached out into other parts of the world. So they began to see that here we can actually use television to get thoughts word out to people. Robert Schiller was another televangelist who followed that and he needs to go live from Crystal Cathedral on radio as well as on television. Earl Roberts was the very first one to bring his healing crusades on television. So this was amazing because in those days in the 1950s, they had these tent crusades. People should come to the tent to be here to see, you know, if you have a gospel priest and to be a minister too. And he was the first one to say, hey, we can take what's happening here in the tent into the homes of people lying. And so he had these television cameras and people across North America would actually be part of the crusade from their homes and they would pray, pray for them on television and so on and this began back in the 1950s. Similarly, Billy Graham also began to use television and began to telecast his crusade live starting from the 1950s. So if you look and from then on and it just exploded, people all over the world today, you got huge huge number of Christian networks and at one point TV was television was a big tool to share the gospel or to get the word of caught up. It still is there, but like I said, because of the internet and how people are consuming, it has gone down a little bit and maybe not as low as the radio, but it's there, maybe. But today, a lot of people are consuming through the internet. But television, there was a time when television was a big instrument, a big tool that was being used for the proclamation of God's way and so on. What we saw once individuals that are using these means, people who could afford rather money to do it shortly after that, television networks began to come into existence. A lot of CBN, TVN, PTL, lots of others. And many of them are continuing till today. CBN, TVN, I think continue till today. So television networks basically, they bring in many, many people, many ministers and, you know, have them, but by time and deliver the content to the homes of people. So TV networks began to play an important role. And this spread globally. So by the 1980s, TV networks, Christian television networks became more of a global phenomenon. You'll find them across the world. In the 1990s, early 2000s, we had some here in India as well. So, ABC as a church, we did orbit on radio and cable TV as well as satellite TV. We no longer are on these channels, but we used to do them. So I remember the early 2000s, we were producing radio programs. It was called Voice to the Nations. We did that for a few years and we did it through Shortwave. So we would record the programs, radio programs here in Bangalore, India. And they would go through FIBA radio from Sessions. So they would be broadcast on FIBA radio from Sessions. And we did that for a little bit of time. And then we discontinued that because then after that, television became a big thing. The people were not so much on radio. So we moved. So we also did cable TV locally, right from the early days like this. I can remember the early 2000s, we would record our programs separately and put them on cable TV here locally in Bangalore to reach homes here in our city. And then if I remember correctly, I think it was 2012 on those days, God television, God TV was quite big. And they were from the UK and they also had God TV Asia, I think, a TV network on Asia. So God TV reached out to us in 2012. They asked us, you know, we could get on God TV Asia. And again, if I'm not mistaken, we were the first church in India to get on God TV Asia or for sure this was church in our city. Anyway, so we were on God TV, the cable TV network, satellite network from 2012 to 2019. So and this was a weekly program, 30 minutes program on the evenings, 9 p.m. to 9 30 p.m. once a week. Now it was a lot of work, a lot of money, because you had to pay for 30 minutes and people could only watch at that time. So they have to sit in front of the TV at 9 o'clock to watch. And it cost us money to make those programs and produce them. But we went from 2012 to 2019. But in 2019, he decided to go off television because we realized that people were shifting, people moving away from television to YouTube. Why would people want to pay for cable television or television networks in order to see this? And so intentionally, we decided December 2019 was the last broadcast on God TV, the TV network, and we moved off television. So we came off radio, we came off television. And we decided that, hey, everything is available now online on the internet and people are consuming when they want to, how they want to. So we also focused on just releasing our content through our website and YouTube and other channels so that people can consume it whenever they want to. But there was a time when radio and television was important and useful, very useful, in reaching out to people. Just add a little, one more thought on Christian films and then we'll just have a little bit of discussion on these three things, on radio, television and films. So Christian films are also very, very powerful medium to communicate truth, communicate the Word of God and biblical values and principles if it's done properly. So I think we should say the pioneer in Christian films, right, so of course, general films, lots of people, the pioneer in Christian films, making Christian films would be this man Cecil Blonde de Mil, American film producer. And as early as 1914, so we saw him more than 100 years ago, he made about 70 films. And remember early days it was silent films, just film, no sound before they could add the sound to it. So there were silent films and then came sound films. So he pioneered these things and then he produced Christian films. So the 1923, the Ten Commandments was produced as a silent film then. And for 25 years it was the highest grossing film. And so you just think about this, that the Ten Commandments about Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, that film produced by that studio was the highest earning film for a long time. And those are silent films, so no music, no sound. Then he produced many others, King of Kings, Samson and Delilah was the first sound film in 1949, Bible based sound film. And then of course, lots and lots of other films have been produced. I think one which really went global, I think at least in recent, not in the last few decades, which made big news all over the world was The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson. This was in the early 2000s and so on. So films have been a very powerful tool. And I think the biggest testimony to the use of films is the Jesus film that was produced by Campus Crusade. So this was way back in 1979, they produced the life story of Jesus, the story of the life of Jesus in film and launched it in 1977, launched in the US and then translating other languages. So 1980, shown in Hindi in India to 21 million people and launched another part of the world. 1984, 100 languages, this one film translated into 100 languages, 1984. And then they also launched the Jesus film project, launched it online. So just imagine back in the 80s, they had to carry these big films, physical roles and put on these big projectors and put on the screen like that. And so of course, then came movie theaters, DVDs and so on. And now it's online. So from 1997, online, one billion people have seen the Jesus film, translated into 400 languages, audio version and so on so forth. 2003, 800, 2022, 2000 translations. So just imagine this one film is the most translated film in the history of human history, the Jesus film. It just makes us feel so happy. But think about how powerful a tool this is. We don't know, we don't know how many people all over the world have been brought to Jesus by watching this film. We don't know, only eternity will tell us the impact. So imagine the person or the people who produced the film first in 1979. Imagine they may not have envisioned how big a reach and how big an impact this would have had. But here we are today. This one film has impacted millions of people all over the world. Now, some of the other things to keep in mind are short films. So there was a time, of course, it still is where people sit for two hours, sometimes three hours watching movie. But then there's this whole thing about short films, putting smaller versions, 20 minutes sometimes anywhere from five to 20 minutes, short films, using that to engage audiences. So that's also another area that we should think about. Very interestingly, very interestingly, a local church entered into filmmaking. You'd usually think about big studios making film, but Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, I don't know how God led them into this, but they ventured into Christian filmmaking early 2000. And since that time, they've made some amazing movies, films. Flywheel, Facing Science, Fireproof, which became a number one independent film, and Courageous, Ballroom, and so they have produced many. And imagine this is a local church producing high quality movies, films, which are going global all over the world. And they're communicating something from the world of God in this form, which is amazing. It's amazing. And I think they're continuing to do that. So that's, again, something for us to think about and praise God for. A couple of other things that I'd like to mention is children's videos. So Veggie Tales, you know, the company doesn't exist anymore, but you can see some of what they produced. So actually, this very interesting story, how it all started, a man, Phil Visham, he was without a job at some point. And then he decided to kind of, you know, just do something for his children. And I started working on some ideas. And out of that came this Veggie Tales, these children's movies or animated movies with vegetable characters, communicating Bible stories, very nice. And so at one point, this was in the 90s, 1990s, it was one of them, highly, you know, the most watched children's, Christian children's videos. That was very, very, very. And so, and then they produced so many good short films, all about, you know, maybe 20 to 30 minute long, many meaningful videos. Somehow, you know, the success of this animation, then they thought they can produce bigger movies. And that's where I think maybe they took a wrong step because trying to produce as big movies actually sunk the company. And the company got into financial trouble and they couldn't stay alive. But whatever they did, the work they did was amazing. And so you could still watch Veggie Tales videos on YouTube, I guess they're available. But it was an amazing time for the time that Veggie Tales was being produced for almost 20 some years. It was big, it was very useful. Right. So we'll pause here. I just want to hear your thoughts, your experience with radio, television and films. Nowadays consumption has moved to the internet. Not so many people are watching it on television, but many people are on their phones or laptops consuming content. Not many people are necessarily listening to radio, but many are listening to podcasts on their phones. So there's been this whole shift. And so we'll be talking about that in the weeks to come. So is there a place for films and movies? Yeah, just that people are consuming it differently. So people may watch things on YouTube or other social media. And so we have to adapt to the way people are consuming these things today. And also think of how we can produce films that will be relevant to people in the world in which they live, today's world, bringing biblical truth to address today's challenges. We'll have to think about that. So there's an air and be as a church are also getting into. We've just been putting together a team of people here, start producing short films, one produce five minute films, very powerful, effective, addressing challenges that are facing people in the community in urban settings, bring biblical truth and so on. So that's an area we are working on. We're just excited about that, hopefully. And this year we'll come up with some short films, five minute films. And we'll see how that goes. And it's a learning for us as well. All right. So let me stop here. I just want to hear your thoughts, your ideas on radio, television and films. Any comments? Any thoughts? Regarding radio and television as you are talking about it, I remembered I used to get up for radio programs when I was a small child to listen to God's word, 650 names. And it was the program which I used to listen was so impactful for many people because many people used to say, even if they were from different faiths, they used to listen to that. And many people got saved, many people got healed of all the small radio programs which we had. And talking about the short films and the movie productions, I think as there is one series of shows and series which is talking about life of Jesus which had impacted many, many lives, I think. So because now it's an era of seasons and series, we watch all this in Netflix and all the other streaming platforms, OTT platforms, that is also an area of, people like to see that even though the, I think the same part, something like chosen also has an important role in this generation because people like to see it even, I think yesterday or the day before yesterday I was reading an article, the most watched series has at least 20 episodes, 20 seasons actually. So people are interested to watch if it is engaging and if it is beneficial for people. So I think we as a church also can look at that in, in, in long run. And I think as a church worldwide has a scope for this because even young people in the coming, in this generation are also interested in very engaging seats or anything of that sort. And also as the attention span is reducing, it should be less than an hour or 10 or so because unless it is so engaging, people won't even like movies now is what I have seen and hear from people. So thank you for sharing that, that's good observations. Yeah, and you know, like the last thought that we shared about the attention span, yeah, it's like, you know, people are everything, big, fast, short, very engaging, that's true. Anyone else want to share anything on this, radio, television, finance? All right, so I think we'll wrap for today with that. And next week, we'll do a little bit on entertainment and gaming. So it's kind of connected to short films, but it's a different, different space. We'll talk a little bit about entertainment gaming, gaming basically video games. I know that we seem like a little controversial, but it's an important area because gaming is not always a bad thing like video games, you know, it can be used for education, it can be used for training people. So for example, the military will use video games to train its pilots or doctors, physicians and surgeries, all kinds of things. So gaming is being used widely, and it's an area where we can engage people. That means you're watching a video, but you're interacting with the video. So that's what we mean. So we'll talk a little about that, and then we're going to start getting into the media and technology part. We'll be talking about digital communication. So, you know, how you and I, how we can leverage the internet and all the tools that are available to communicate for church and ministry, and it's going into a lot of those areas. Okay, so let's close in prayer today. Somebody could pray with us and then we'll dismiss please. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, I come to you under the name of Jesus. I thank you for this day and God. Thank you for all the creativity that you have given us, the talent that you have placed in us Jesus, and God help us to not to dig our talents and just wish it away, but to use it for your glory Jesus. Fill us with your ideas, fill us with your revelation and knowledge, so that we can reach out to this generation in various means, Lord. Be with us and guide us. We need your knowledge and help us to always keep our thoughts centered to you Jesus, centered to your kingdom, for your glory, Lord God. We thank you for our strategies and I thank you for all my classmates. We give you all the glory and honor in Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you everyone. Enjoy the rest of your day. We can hang back next week. God bless you. Thank you.