monthly focus ~ it's a bird, it's a plane, its

IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S . . .

It’s a bird…It’s a plane…It’s ….  Well you know where I’m going with this. 

I  have often wondered if Jesus chose to appear on earth to do his ministry in today’s culture would he use media-- specifically radio, television, DVD’s, websites, podcasts?   Would Moses, Abraham, and other Old Testament heroes used media to communicate God’s commands to His people? After some imaginary, mind bending thinking I have concluded… Absolutely!

It’s a truth…It’s a principle…It’s “Biblevision!”

 In my readings through God’s Word I have noticed how frequently God used audio/visuals to convey important and specific information. He used them because he designed humans with five senses, two of them being the eyes and ears. Through these two gates we gather an enormous amount of information a day, process it, learn from it, and retrain it for use later on. This gathered information shapes our thinking, opinions, and belief systems. These two avenues to our minds ultimately provide one of the most effective and powerful ways to communicate to other human beings.

To take this an additional step, communicating in a story format greatly increases the communication level. Jesus told many stories and parables to communicate deep spiritual truths and lessons. The Old Testament prophet Nathan used a story to deeply pierce the heart of David for the sin in his life (2 Samuel 12). God designed us to be impacted by stories because we relate to other people’s experiences that helps us to identify and empathize and through that, we learn.

Media has a huge impact on people and their culture. If this were not true, then why would secular media spend billions of dollars yearly to propagate their message; often  a destructive message. Today’s media is literally reshaping our country’s thinking in almost every aspect our way of life. What we considered as absolutes a few years ago are now being questioned and abandoned. Morality and purity are scoffed at and rejected. Our political processes are being reshaped as a result of years of bombardment from a very powerful media. In the hands of Satan the media is a powerful weapon against people and culture.

But stop and consider this:  In the hands of God, the media is a very powerful tool to impact culture and people for eternity. Christians must use this tool effectively to proclaim a message of greater significance.  Media cannot be abandoned, but must be utilized as often and imaginatively as possible. Whether it is through DVDs or books or web driven media, God’s Word will change lives forever!  We must become aggressive in using this “super” powerful tool—It’s a truth….It’s a principle…It’s Biblevision!

                                                                        Dennis Schermer

                                                                        EBM missionary with Harvest Productions

                                                                        Media ministry of EBM