Presenting God s Word to our World: Visually Clyde Taber 4/25/14 Top World God We Should Be End. Introduction 6

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Jonas Greer
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1 Introduction 6 Presenting God s Word to our World: Visually Clyde Taber 4/25/14 Top World God We Should Be End IMAGE: The 7 Things You Need to Know to Succeed in Media I'm honored to hang out with you guys for a little while. I love to share some of my observations on The 7 Things You Need to Know to Succeed in Media and then we ll do some interactive time. IMAGE: Let me give you a few slices from my life story that will help you know who I am. You could also go to to see a bit more. IMAGE: CT in Fraternity jacket One Monday night when I was a sophomore at the University of Maryland, these guys gave a presentation in my fraternity and they spoke about the importance of relationship with Jesus. I was a failed Lutheran who did not know God. That night put me in touch with people who did and that changed everything. That jacket played a role, because I was wearing that jacket one night leaving a bar and got jumped and wound up in a hospital for a week. IMAGE: CT in Turkey I m an East Coast guy transplanted to West Coast by way of Turkey and France. Here I am with team I led in Istanbul in 1988/89. I m living proof you can learn about visual media without a university degree (my undergrad is in computer science and I have a Masters degree in missions). IMAGE: CT and Shirin from Glendale Library I married an amazing Persian / American women who is tri- lingual and a published author. My father in law is an 83 year- old Iranian, Shiite, Seyed, Hajji Muslim, who we are still praying will choose to follow Jesus. IMAGE: Family and Orange balloon We have three amazing kids who are descendants of Mohammed but followers of Jesus. IMAGE: Casablanca In the late 90 s I was overseeing the campus arm of Campus Crusade for Christ for North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia. That is when I got called into visual media while on a trip to Casablanca, Morocco. In January 2000, I was visiting our team when I witnessed a completely unexpected phenomenon. I was with one of our staff when we met Mohammed, a student in the engineering faculty, for the first time. I began to share some of my story about how Jesus had changed my life when Mohammed said, Yes, Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life and Follow me and I will give you rest. Andy and I looked at each other, then back to Mohammed. Leaning in, I said in a softer voice, Are you a follower of Jesus? Of course not, I m a Muslim. Then how do you know about these teachings of Jesus? Well, I have a notebook where I have been writing them down. I have quite a few pages. How did you learn them? When I come home from my classes, I watch a program on TV that talks about the teachings of Jesus. I want to improve my English and I find his teachings interesting. 1

2 This same kind of story had happened more than a handful of times with our staff in the preceding months. We later learned that God TV had recently started broadcasting from the UK and the footprint reached North Africa. While Mohammed was not a Christian, he certainly was much more open as a result. That was one of my aha moments when the Lord called me to media. I moved from France to California to lead new media at the Jesus Film Project for the next seven years where I let a team of innovators and we created various media content that is still going around the world today. IMAGE: VSN Lineup shot In 2006, God began to stir up a hand full of people to create a new platform to help the church speak more effectively in our visual world. Two guys in particular got me into this mess, Jim Green, the Executive Director of JESUS Film Project, and Rob Hoskins. Rob was just made the new chair of the Board of Trustees of university on the move some of you may know. Oral Roberts University. IMAGE: Evre Turkel Today VSN is a tribe of 1700 visual communicators in 71 countries representing 220 organizations. The Visual Story Network is a global community of visual storytellers leading a movement so everyone can encounter Jesus and His kingdom. IMAGE: Evre Turkel 2 We exist to Connect, Collaborate, and Train. TR: Let s drill down on The 7 Things You Need to Know to Succeed in Media I don t have slides for most of these so I ll turn off screen share. Top World God We Should Be End IMAGE: I. The 7 Things You Need to Know to Succeed in Media (Satellite Dishes) I. Know the Script 8/14 Everyone lives out of one or more narratives. The problem with many people, is they live out of false stories or stories too small. Islam, Mormonism, Buddhism provide big stories...that aren t true. Careerism, following the Lakers, or the Broncos, or living out of your child s sports career are stories that are simply too small. Live out of the Big Story. Be in the Word every day. When I was a young aspiring missionary, I took a class with Dr. J Christy Wilson, a well- respected missiologist at Gordon- Conwell seminary in Massachusetts. I asked what advice would you give to a 24- year- old guy who saw himself in missions for the rest of his life. Without blinking, he said Know the word. Know the word. Know the word. 2

3 If some of the best advice I ve ever received. If you want to run long, and run well, you need to be well fed. If you want to be able to live out your unfolding story each day, you need to know the Script. If you are well acquainted with God's script, you will be able to be led by his spirit to live in a way that is powerfully consistent with with his character and nature. This is obvious to you as a student surrounded by a strong community of faith, but as the years pass by, you ll be tempted to withdraw or isolate. You always need to be involved in a dynamic community of believers. Know Your Calling 5/19 IMAGE: I. Know the Script II: Know Your Calling Top World God We Should Be End Who is God calling you to be. This one thing you must do. It is what I pray most consistently for my kids. Starting points... What do you enjoy most? When do you feel most alive? What have others affirmed in you? How are you most able to help others? It might take a while, but you should have a decent idea by the age of 30. There are many great resources to help you with this. The one book I would recommend would be Living the Life You Were Meant to Live by Tom Patterson. It s out of print, but you can you get used for $17. My calling: Make disciples of all nations by going where others won't and harnessing the power of the body of Christ to work together to that end. Professor Eland, how would you describe your calling in a few sentences? IMAGE: I. Know the Script II: Know Your Calling IMAGE: III. We Should be Visual in Presenting God and His Word. III. Excel At Your Craft 11/38 Top World God We Should Be End There is no substitute for excellence. There are no shortcuts to excellence. 3

4 Learn from others. Make your biggest mistakes early. Hone your craft. Hone your craft. Hone your craft. Malcolm Gladwell as popularized the idea of excellent requiring 10,000 hours in his book, Outliers. If you want to excel, get your 10,000 hours. If you can get paid to do it, that s five years of full- time work. if your craft is a hobby it will take much longer. Exceptional talent is a rare commodity. If you commit to excellence, you will be surprised by the doors that will open. Leaders are always looking to get the right people on their bus. If you truly excel, you will have multiple buses stopping at your intersection asking you to get on board. If you excel over the long haul, you might find yourself driving your own boss. IV. Do it Long. Decades Long. 11/38 Once you figured out your calling, you have to do it long. I love the book by Eugene Peterson, "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction" (actually, I've never read it, but I think I get the idea). I ve seen some extraordinary 5-10 year runs, but those who have the biggest impact, don't flame out or cash out quickly. Mark Zuckerberg could have cashed out at $1 billion with Yahoo s offer in July 2006 when they had 9 million users. Peter Thiel recalled Zuckerberg said, in a nutshell: "I don't know what I could do with the money. I'd just start another social networking site. I kind of like the one I already have." I m a member of Saddleback Church here in Southern California. Last Sunday, Saddleback celebrated its 34 th anniversary. Rick Warren could ve easily become a seminary president with his success through the year 2000 after 20 years in pastoral ministry. If he would have done that, we would not have the Purpose Driven Life, the peace plan, that AIDS initiative, the emptying of the orphanages in Rwanda, the Daniel Plan, and now a new mental health initiative. In an age of Snapchat, this is where you see Psalm 1 come in to play. You ve got to let your roots run deep for your branches to go wide. Don't exchange your birthright after two years or even five. Do something for 30 years. Or 50. That is how you change the world. 4

5 My heroes have have exemplified this pattern. Paul the Apostle, Bill Bright, Steve Holt, Paul Eshleman, Rick Warren, Phill Butler and Ken Hutcherson. I m 51. I hope I get another two or three decades to fulfill my calling. V. Become a story practitioner. 11/38 Story is the essence of life. The world is desperate for those who can capture their imagination. Story is visual whether it is on a screen, surface, or in the mind s eye. 1. Be a Story Student. Do this and I promise you will never be bored or be guilty of the greater sin being boring. - Ten Laws of Story - Oral Storying of Scripture. - Culture of Story within your ministry. We customize a one- day seminar for the leadership level of a ministry to help create a culture of story in your ministry. See me if you are interested. 2. Be One Who Lives the Story. Live Fully into the Story God has for You. If you don t have God stories occurring in your life regularly, you re either disconnected from Him or need to develop eyes to see His handiwork. 3. Be a Story Seeker. Know the stories in current culture. 4. Be a Story Teller. Know your own God story. Tell Your Story. On my flight from Hong Kong to Chiang Mai I sat next to young Persian / American couple. In the course of a 30 minute conversation comparing notes about her half Persian family and my wife s upbringing, I had several opportunities to share about how our faith has altered our lives. 5. Be a Story Sharer. Promote your favorite visual stories. When you see a great film, documentary, TV episode, or short film, put it on your favorites list. Post it your Facebook page. Tweet it. Tell others. When I travel, I always bring something I can give away. With Rosha and Imran, the couple on the plane to Chiang Mai, I gave a copy of the movie, Magadalena. 6. Be a Story Creator. If you have an idea, dare to write, photograph, film, paint, etc. VI. Be the Person Others Want to Work With. 11/38 Your reputation is one of the most precious things you possess. It is built slowly, but tarnished quickly. And I m not just talking about major moral issues, although moral failure can be overcome, but will haunt you for very long time. 5

6 I m talking about small things that offer clues about the deeper nature of your character. Do you show up on time? Or better still, a few minutes early. Do you deliver on what you say you will do? Do you honor those who reach out to you by responding to them? Daniel Lin was one of Variety s Top 10 Producers to Watch. He produced the Sherlock Holmes films and the Lego movie amongst other works. Is a dedicated Christ follower who will tell you how important it is to respond to your s, phone calls, texts, whatever. As a young producer, a senior executive told him to respond to every phone message. After 15 years of following that example, he found that he was a trusted entity within a very difficult industry. I know it s harder for a younger generation because you feel so saturated. But if someone has taken the time to reach out to you, you should honor them by giving them some personal response. We live in a world of tribes. We all belong to various tribes. Most people hire people who have received positive endorsements from within their existing tribe. it s not what you know, but who you know is only half true. Trusted connections can get you in the door, but you need to earned the right to stay in the room. Text me your name and if you are interested in staying apprised of the intersection of media and the missional church. VII. Think Global. 11/ clyde@visualstory.org You can impact the World. IMAGE: Kaiser Study, kid in Chair before ball In 2010, the Kaiser Family Foundation released the results of an exhaustive survey done among teens in America between the ages of 8 and 18. IMAGE: Andrea and breakdown of media consumption The average teen consumes 10 hours 45 minutes of media content a day. This occurs in 7 hours 30 minutes of time. Which led to the idea of media multitasking. This data is already several years old so I fear that the media consumption has even increased. Lest you think this is only problem with young people, a 2011 Barna Report Indicated that parents are not far behind. I am not aware of similar studies in other parts of the world, but I m confident as media access increases, similar trends will follow. IMAGE: Bar Chart 6

7 C. This is the best I could do to come up with a count of the screens in our world. Cinema Screens 149,676 Tablets several hundred million (195M sold in 2013) Computer Screens 1-2 B (use 1.5 B for calculation) Television Screens 1.6B (about 1B in emerging world, 630M industrialized world) Mobile Phones 7 B (6 B feature, 1 B Smart phones) Total D. This does not include 10.4 B IMAGE: Magazine, Graphic Novel, Art, Old school (Non- pixilated) media such as print, Graphic novel and art. IMAGE: Google Glass, watch Or the next generation of wearables. The world is highly visual and mediated. E. So, just how far- reaching is this? IMAGE: Afghan Kids A year ago I spoke with a brother working among semi- literate Muslims along the Afghan Pakistan border where 50% of the population is under the age of 15. The people in this remote, mountainous region where the Taliban rule, have limited access to media at least in the way most industrialized nations know it. NEW IMAGE: Taliban guy w/ cell phone No one has TV, some have short- wave radio, 10% have Internet access, but 60% have mobile phones. And these phones are their TVs. They get content at shops that sell 2GB cards that fit into their phones. They then share content freely through Bluetooth. Our friend has figured out the most popular forms of media for these people is IMAGE: Have each category appear Music videos (local or Bollywood), nature videos (bears fighting bears), Muslim preachers, pornography. Theres no way to know how many people with the Muslim preacher content are actually devout vs. having religious content in an effort to throw off the Taliban, should their phones be confiscated? NEW IMAGE: Just Taliban guy Unless you are the Taliban, then you make hostage videos. There are huge opportunities all over the world to create content that will bring wine instead of darkness. Every year tens of thousands of people come to Southern California hoping to make it big in the entertainment industry. It s a much steeper hill done any of them truly imagine. And we need mature Christ followers like Daniel Lin who can impact the industry from the inside. But in my mind, the big opportunities are all over the world in places like Afghanistan, Iran, Morocco, China, Loas. There are 7

8 numerous opportunities to create content and equip generation of content creators who will reach the wrong people. The Lord is asking who will go? 8

WHY ALPHA? Alpha and the Local Church

WHY ALPHA? Alpha and the Local Church 2 Why Alpha? Culture-Shift Where in our churches can people go when they have questions? American culture is shifting. Increasingly, people are not satisfied to just