I Love to Batch

Ahhh, batch processing... the wonders of making your computer do the boring repetitive work, so you don't have to!

Right now, I have a video for church batch rendering into DV, DVD mpeg, DivX, and Quicktime.

Ohhh, but it applies to so much more. I can record what's called an Action in my audio editing software, and set it to do as many functions as I want, to as many files as I want. Like normalize, filter, and save them all to mp3.

Or in Photoshop, I can record all sorts of crazy things to make my job a lot easier. For example, you can tell it to Open a picture, Desaturate, Save, and Close. Batch, wait a moment, and it's done. It just turned all of your photos black and white without you having to do the work. (How to)

Just wind it up, and off it goes!

Is Christian Media Really "Christian"?

So there's been some talk about how media, and in this case, Christian TV programming, isn't actually "Christian" unless it directly presents the gospel. And so here's my response:

The only problem is that people don't watch blatantly Christian shows. Studies show that television audiences today only take about 3-5 seconds to decide whether they're going to watch your show or not. And if you've ever had a TV remote and surfed through the channels, you'll know what I'm talking about.

The same thing applies to missions work. If all you're doing is shoving the gospel in peoples faces or inviting them to church, they just won't come... and we've all seen proof of that right in our own churches. You need to invite them to a BBQ or some other event where you'll have the chance to sit them down and show them how much Jesus cares.

It's about planting seeds, and opening peoples hearts to be receptive to the Gospel. Accepting salvation is a process, and rarely ever happens the first time you hear about it. And there's many ways to present the gospel too.

Here's an example from "Finding Common Ground: How to Communicate with Those Outside the Christian Community... While We Still Can": two people go to a Missions Committee at their local church looking for financial support. One wants to go into the mission field, and the other wants to attend film school. Guess which one gets the money? Even though the film school student has a far greater potential of reaching more people with the gospel through media, it's the missionary who gets the funding.

It's all about the message. And because of that, I urge you to try new and creative ways to present it in ways that people can understand and relate to. We're not trying to impress anyone by striving for excellence... we're trying to do the best we can, for the glory of God, to change as many peoples lives as we can.

Here's a link to an online version of the article from the last post.

Why Are We Losing to the Competition?

Here's an excerpt from a great article my dad cut out for me about production and creativity.

We're losing the culture war because our competitors are telling better stories than we are. Let's face it, we work in the industry, yet how many of us race home from work so we can enjoy our favorite Christian TV or radio program? We're being out-thought by the secular world and it shows in the creative aspects of the programs we produce.
I'm sick to death of people pitching me programs with the line "Phil, what we need is a Christian version of Oprah," or "Have you seen Jay Leno? Why can't we do a Christian version of that?"
I'll tell you why I hate it: because we ought to be doing so much better. We worship the ultimate Creator of the universe, and yet our creativity stinks. My dream is to walk down the corridors at a major Hollywood studio and overhear a conversation from their executives saying, "You know, what we need is a secular version of this really great program I saw on a Christian network last night."

"Fostering a More Creative, Visionary Environment" by Phil Cooke. NRB Magazine.

One Wonderful Week(ish)

Wow that was quite a busy week. I was rushing to master the TV series, and get my proposals done for a contract I'm working on. But through all that, I managed to spend a whole bunch of time with Shannon, who was in town visiting.

It was a very productive week for her too! She secured a new job, and a second one, and an apartment, and a roommate.

Not to mention we had a fantastic weekend together. Full of romance, excitement, praising God, and spending time with friends and family. We even took off to Niagara Falls with the family.

It's going to be great having her living here in Ottawa! She's a wonderful sweetheart, with a great passion for Jesus, and I love every moment I spend with her.

When Love Comes to Town

Less than a day from now, my sweetheart, Shannon, is coming to town!

She's here on vacation for over a week. Not only that, but she'll be attending an interview, and looking for an apartment here in town. Please pray that these details will work out. With God's help, they always will.

God has really blessed our relationship so much. I'm looking forward to spending time with her. Getting to know her better, and experiencing life together.

Of course, sometimes we have our challenges; we are different people. But we share our values, faith, and love... and those have always helped us to grow stronger in our relationship.

Those of you who have known me for any length of time, know that I'm serious about leading a God-glorifying relationship with Shannon. Lately I've been reading an interesting book on the matter: "Boundaries in Dating".

hmm, I could write a whole blog on dating and relationships *lol* complete with numerous book recommendations.

Webcast

The CCSB convention is here in town this week. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. But with work and other things keeping me home, I am not able to get out to the conference itself.

Luckily, the entire thing is being webcasted. So I can go onto their webpage, and watch it live, in the comfort of my own home.

Awesome.

Oh, and Henry Blackaby, and his son Richard, are the main speakers for the conference. They run an exciting ministry that reaches some of the top leaders around the world.

Anyways, I'm going back to watching Bob Shelton talk about enabling ministries through e-quip.net

God Provides

Wow, God is aware of your needs, and if you have faith in Him, He will never fail to provide. Matthew 6:25-34.

For years, Shannon has had to move around because of school... and each and every time, she's trusted God to help her find an apartment, or a new church, or a job... and God has always provided.

And yesterday afternoon... Jesus did it again. Shannon received an amazing job offer, far above the dreams and expectations we've been praying for. When Jesus provides... HE PROVIDES. With Style. There can be no mistake that something this amazing came from any other source than God.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7