Celebrating 5 years of God's blessings
Celebrating five years of God's blessings... training and mentoring Christians as they use today's media tools to share today's hope...Jesus.
Thank you to all who have partnered with MEDIAlliance for these past five years.
The Future
MEDIAlliance International begins 2018 with plans to more than double the number of global media training seminars in the next twelve months. We currently work with scores of Christian media leaders in over 20 countries, that they might more effectively share the hope of the Gospel with those living in darkness.
Would you consider joining the MEDIAlliance team by giving monthly to the ministry? Your prayers and your gifts are the foundation upon which the ministry is built. Everywhere I go there is an urgency to share God's Hope with a lost world. India, Ukraine, Haiti, the Middle East, Thailand. Help us serve dedicated servants in Christian media.
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Giving Impact
Have you considered giving monthly to MEDIAlliance?
MEDIAlliance International continues to grow its global impact month by month. God has blessed us for over five years with wonderful donors who have stepped in at important moments to help fund the ministry. Now, as more doors open for media training and mentoring, we need to grow the foundational support that monthly giving can bring.
In addition to the help it is to those whom we serve around the world, monthly gifts often mean that a donor can give more than through one-time gifts. The monthly support becomes a triple blessing.
You can sign up today on our secure web page: http://medialliance.cc/donations/
MEDIAlliance is active with ministries in over 20 countries, helping them reach the unreached people of their culture with the hope of the Gospel. Your gifts help them to be more effective in sharing the love of the Lord Jesus with millions.
Prayerfully consider giving monthly, and see what God will do in you and through you.
Sign Up Here for Monthly Giving
Privilege, Power, or Responsibility
I was reading some quotes from Peter Drucker the other day. Drucker was an Austrian-born American management consultant, educator, and author, whose wisdom helped lay the corporate business foundation as we know it today.
I remember reading his book, The Effective Executive many years ago, and being amazed with his insight. Later I picked up a copy of his book, Managing the Non-Profit Organization: Principles and Practices. I learned a lot. For instance, Drucker talked about the “product” of a nonprofit organization. See if it applies to your organization or church.
[blockquote author="" link="" target="_blank"]The ‘non-profit’ institution neither supplies goods or services nor controls. Its ‘product’ is neither a pair of shoes nor an effective regulation. Its product is a changed human being. The non-profit institutions are human-change agents. Their ‘product’ is a cured patient, a child that learns, a young man or woman grown into a self-respecting adult; a changed human life altogether.[/blockquote]
That is powerful. What is the purpose...the product...of our Christian radio or television ministry? What about our online efforts? I believe the goal should be that changed life.
There is debate about whether Drucker was a Christian, though some, like Rick Warren, believe the business guru was a believer. At any rate, Drucker shared words of wisdom in the management and corporate realm that many value. He died in 2005.
Another one of Peter Drucker’s quotes:
[blockquote author="" link="" target="_blank"]Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility.[/blockquote]
I have seen quite a few leaders get in trouble because they didn’t understand that truth. They think that their position gives them a lot of privileges and power. Soon they are bending rules, spending ministry money for themselves, and generally not being accountable. They consider themselves above the rules because of the rank they have achieved. Dangerous. Certainly in the corporate world. But in the faith-based realm, devastating.
In The Message, Eugene Peterson shares Paul’s warning to the Corinthians about thinking too highly of your position or your possessions.
[blockquote author="1 Corinthians 4:7-8 MSG" link="" target="_blank"]For who do you know that really knows you, knows your heart? And even if they did, is there anything they would discover in you that you could take credit for? Isn’t everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God?[/blockquote]
Is the focus of your ministry a changed life...changed by the power of the Lord Jesus? And do you serve in leadership with a humble heart...knowing that every ability, every gift you have is from above, from the Father of lights? (James 1:17)
Privilege? Power? Or humble responsibility?
Know Your Audience
Do you know who your listeners or viewers are? Do you have a target for the programming you produce or carry on your media outlet? In the United States we have broadcast consultants who encourage most radio broadcasters to narrow their focus, to find a niche and super serve that audience. There is some wisdom in that, especially in a major market of millions of people with 50 or more radio stations. If you are going to sell products or grow an audience, you have to stand out and connect with a particular group.
By the way, this is nothing new. All the way back in ancient history, Aristotle understood the need to know your audience and to tailor your message for the audience if you were going to be effective in persuading them to action.
What about Christian broadcasters? Do we need to know our audience? Absolutely. It is not enough to have a message to deliver. We need to deliver it in a way that our particular audience can receive it and act upon it. In simple terms, we need to speak their language. In fact, Aristotle spoke about this, too.
[blockquote author="Aristotle, 384-322 BC" link="" target="_blank"]To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man.[/blockquote]
We need to remember, however, that our understanding of the audience isn’t simply for selling a product or building an audience, it is for proclaiming truth...God’s Truth. There is a point where we, as Christian communicators, need to broadly and boldly broadcast the truth of salvation...of sin...of being lost if we are without Christ as Lord...to our audience. In that case, we may need to define our audience differently.
My recent Bible reading took me through 1 Kings and 2 Kings. In these portions of God’s Word, the kings of Israel and of Juda are defined in the broadest of terms. Either they did right in the sight of the Lord, or they did evil in the sight of the Lord. They either followed God’s ways or they followed the ways of idol worship. While there were other things written about the various kings of Israel and Judah, this is what stands out most.
Sometimes we need to recognize that our audience falls into one of two categories. Saved or lost. Followers of Christ or followers of the world. On the narrow path to heaven or on the wide road to hell. And there are times we need to make programming decisions that address this audience. My friend, Dr. O. S. Hawkins says that many people don’t know they need to be saved because they don’t know they are lost. We need to be sure that the lost in our audience...and they are there...understand their lost condition. And they need to know how to get on that narrow path that leads to eternal joy.
Do you know your audience? Will they understand and act upon your message?
The “Whatever’s” of Ministry
The tree, the decorations, the lights are going down. The fireworks and celebrations for the New Year are over. Now, for most…it’s back to the “ordinary.”
When people ask me about this wonderful ministry in which God has allowed me to serve, I occasionally answer that, as great as it is, sometimes ministry just seems like work. And it does. Balancing out the great experience I have serving those in Christian media around the globe are days where I just work. Head down. On the computer. Writing. Scheduling. Fundraising. Filing papers. The list goes on.
It is on those days that I need to recall God’s direction from Ecclesiastes that says,
[blockquote author="Ecclesiasts 9:10a NASB" link="" target="_blank"]Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might;[/blockquote]
The “whatever’s” of ministry can be pretty broad…and occasionally boring. Yet they are part of what the Lord has for us to do.
Most if the time, those days of preparation…the day-to-day…the mundane…the ordinary…enable us to enjoy and experience the mountaintop experiences.
By the way, those ordinary days are no less ministry than the exciting days. They are no less a part of what God has for us than when we see His amazing hand moving, with lives being changed and souls being saved.
Eugene Peterson, who is well known for his paraphrase of the Bible, called The Message, also wrote a book on discipleship. I love the name of it.
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction:
Discipleship in an Instant Society.
Our long-term goal of serving the Lord does not change in the midst of the mundane. We are carried through the days of “just work” by the high calling of Christ.
It is the same reason the athlete prepares for years, to reach for the prize at the Olympics or the World Cup. It is the reason the pastor spends untold hours in research and in prayer before stepping into the pulpit. And it is the reason we stay everlastingly at the task, even when we don’t see the immediate gratification that our culture longs for.
[blockquote author="II Thessalonians 3:13" link="" target="_blank"]But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.[/blockquote]
[blockquote author="Galatians 6:9" link="" target="_blank"]Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.[/blockquote]
So…with the promise of God’s Word, the encouragement of His admonition, and the hope of His high calling…hang in there today. It’s all ministry...and it’s all for His good.
New Things
I like new things. New clothes. New tools. Even new “toys” like the quad-copter drone one of my daughters got me for Christmas. Wait. It has a camera. It’s a media tool, right?
God understands us so well. He knows how we react to something new. Through Isaiah, God let us know what He was doing was something different from the past.
[blockquote author="Isaiah 48:19a NLT" link="" target="_blank"]...I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?[/blockquote]
The New Year will surely hold new things for all of us. Yes, we will likely drag some of the old stuff over into 2018. But our Lord is creative, and He is working out His new thing right now. See, the Lord says, I have already started on the new things for you. Don’t you see it?
If you are like me, I’m wondering what God’s new thing will be. I want to see it. I have to improve my faith vision to see what the Lord is placing before me. Of course, it may stretch us and move us beyond what is comfortable. It may rock us back on our spiritual heels as we confront the new things. But if it is from the Lord Jesus, you know it is going to ultimately be good.
[blockquote author="Isaiah 48:19b NLT" link="" target="_blank"]The rest of that passage in Isaiah is interesting. Listen.
I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.[/blockquote]
A pathway. A river. A communication link. A way to get from here to there. A new frequency. A new digital technology. Who knows what the Lord has for us in this new year and the years that follows? Will we embrace it? Will we explore it? Will we even see that it is God who is providing this new thing?
Yes, it is easier to keep doing the same thing the same way. It is more comfortable to stay in our own area of understanding and experience. But God is up to something new. And the results will be amazing. Refreshing. Powerful. Again, from Isaiah 48:
[blockquote author="Isaiah 48:20 NLT" link="" target="_blank"]The wild animals in the fields will thank me, the jackals and owls, too, for giving them water in the desert. Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland so my chosen people can be refreshed.[/blockquote]
So...what is the new thing that God is doing in your life, in your ministry in this New Year?
Blessings Flow!
God is amazing! Working through faithful friends like you, we are nearing the finish line. And we are close to a victory as we seek a strong finish for 2017. With new opportunities in the coming year, we need to get off the starting blocks in a powerful way, and run the new race God has placed before us.
We give thanks to the Lord for those who have gotten us this far towards our goal. Gifts large and small were committed yesterday, bringing us to within a few hundred dollars of our goal. Will you be one to help carry us to the finish line? All for the Lord's glory and purpose.
Goal $135,000
Given to date $ 134,315
Needed to reach goal $ 685
Deadline December 31, 2017
By the Lord's direction and His provision through you, our faithful supporters, MEDIAlliance has been a part of the life and ministry of many in Christian media around the world. This picture, taken at our 2017 International Media Leadership Summit, is simply representative of the hundreds of people that MEDIAlliance serves.
These key leaders from twenty countries make the Gospel accessible to hundreds of millions of people. Unreached people... now reachable through Christian media. In 2018 we hope to hold five media training seminars in five distinctly different parts of the world, to strengthen God's people as they serve their Savior.
It is your financial support that allows MEDIAlliance to be there... to help, encourage, train, and mentor Christian media folks serving in their own country and culture. We can only go through those doors before us with your help.
Time is short. Please help us reach our goal. More importantly, help us take Jesus...the Light of the world...into some of the dark places in our world...reaching the unreachable with the Gospel.
If you would like to mail a check, you can address it to:
MEDIAlliance International
3309 Shellbrook Court
Arlington, Texas 76016
For your tax purposes, be sure the mail is postmarked by December 31, 2017. MEDIAlliance is a 501 (c) 3 Texas nonprofit ministry.
We have a secure way of donating through our website by clicking HERE.
If you would like to know more about MEDIAlliance International, visit our website at www.medialliance.cc
One time gifts, monthly gifts, and pledges can all be done on our secure donations page.
Will you pray...and will you help? A generous gift today will have impact for all eternity.
Come Alongside Us and Help Us
With only two days left until our deadline, we are just short of our goal... but not short on faith. God has shown Himself faithful through recent commitments to MEDIAlliance to take us close to our overall goal. And we believe that the Lord will provide for MEDIAlliance through 2018. He may want to do it through you.
Goal $135,000
Given to date $ 133,690
Needed to reach goal $ 1,310
Deadline December 31, 2017
God has shown us that along with media training, one of the key roles for MEDIAlliance is bringing encouragement to His faithful servants in other lands. And God has blessed the ministry in these areas.
MEDIAlliance has served Radio 7 in Albania and Kosovo for many years. And their leadership team has been a key partner in media training, initiated in the Balkans eight years ago. Albania was the most closed, officially atheistic country for decades. Believers there are first-generation Christians. It has been a joy to watch God grow these dedicated servants through the years.
Jonida Kumaraku is one of those faithful servants. As a principal leader in Radio 7's work in Albania and Kosovo, she has seen the needs of her culture.
[blockquote author="Jonida Kumaraku" link="" target="_blank"]...we come from a country that had never had any Christian heritage, so we are building something. We need someone to teach us, to mentor us, and to come alongside us and to help us in what we are doing. That is what MEDIAlliance has done for us. I am very grateful for that....[/blockquote]
It is your financial support that allows MEDIAlliance to be there... to help, encourage, train, and mentor Christian media folks serving in their own country and culture. Your gifts help us plan and prepare Christian media training seminars all over the world. With your support, we will be in Ukraine, Haiti, Egypt, India, and Thailand... training and encouraging hundreds of Christian media leaders. These places need the light of the Gospel, and Christian media can deliver it effectively. God is opening doors. We can only go through those doors with your help.
Time is short. Please help us reach our goal. More importantly, help us take Jesus...the Light of the world...into some of the dark places in our world...reaching the unreachable with the Gospel.
MEDIAlliance can accept gifts of appreciated stock, which is a help to us and has tax advantages for you. In addition, if you receive a RMD (Required Minimum Distribution) from your retirement account, you can give that or a portion of the RMD with a great tax advantage. Talk to your financial advisor about the ways you can support MEDIAlliance.
Deadline Near
With US tax laws changing, this may be the best time to make your donation to MEDIAlliance. Pray...and give as the God's Spirit leads.
If you would like to mail a check, you can address it to:
MEDIAlliance International
3309 Shellbrook Court
Arlington, Texas 76016
For your tax purposes, be sure the mail is postmarked by December 31, 2017. MEDIAlliance is a 501 (c) 3 Texas nonprofit ministry.
If you would like to know more about MEDIAlliance International, visit our website at www.medialliance.cc
We have a secure way of donating through our website by clicking HERE.
One time gifts, monthly gifts, pledges, can all be done on our secure donations page.
Will you pray...and will you help? A generous gift today will have impact for all eternity.
Latest Update: Five Days Left to Give
Here's the latest update on giving and current needs for MEDIAlliance.
Goal $135,000
Given to date $ 72,380
Needed to reach goal $ 62,620
Deadline December 31, 2017
We are humbled and blessed. God is using many of our friends to help meet the critical financial need for MEDIAlliance International. We have had gifts from $10 to $10,000. Gifts from those in the US who want to shine light in the darkness, who recognize that the "unreached" are reachable through Christian media. And we have received gifts from international ministry partners who are blessed by MEDIAlliance with the training and encouragement the we provide.
Our ministry partners are grateful for MEDIAlliance, and the many who support this work. Tani and Efti Baraku lead Radio Emanuel in Korçë, Albania. They recently shared the impact of MEDIAlliance in their ministry.
Tani: MEDIAlliance is a blessing.... there are people that take care, that worry about us and that pray about us, and that will encourage us and motivate us to do more.
Efti: MEDIAlliance has given us a great opportunity to have a broader vision for our ministry.... And we want to thank all the donors.... We are thankful that they trust in what we do, and they entrust that God can change our nation through us. So thank you all....
The most effective and efficient way to make the Gospel accessible to millions not yet reached...is Christian media. Radio, television, even the internet and social media are penetrating the "unreached" people of our world. And you can help with your gift to MEDIAlliance International.
MEDIAlliance can accept gifts of appreciated stock, which is a blessing to us and has wonderful tax advantages for you. In addition, if you receive a RMD (Required Minimum Distribution) from your retirement account, you can give that or a portion of the RMD with a great tax advantage. Talk to your financial advisor about the ways you can support MEDIAlliance.
Want to know more about MEDIAlliance International? Visit our website at www.medialliance.cc
You can donate on our secure website by clicking HERE.
One time gifts, monthly gifts, pledges, can all be done on our secure donations page.
Will you pray...and will you help? A generous gift today will have impact for all eternity.
Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!
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Quiet sacrifice
Our breakfast table conversations are quite interesting. They range from the sublime to the ridiculous. And a lot of points in between. This morning it was one of those “in between” times.
Judy and I began to recall the investment in our lives that our parents made. Judy’s mom was instrumental in seeing that Judy got the musical training that has shaped her life so much. Judy recalled the joy of taking the bus to downtown Kansas City to go to one of the main music stores to buy some new piano music. Then she would head home to sight-read the difficult music. As a result of the sacrifice of her parents and Judy’s joy in her musical journey, she has been an amazing accompanist for decades, and a teacher to hundreds of students through the years.
My folks also sacrificed for us kids. Whether it was music lessons, educational trips, or college, they somehow made it happen. For me, it was spending several years in the Texas Boys Choir, and traveling for six weeks in Europe on a concert tour. I learned through that amazing process what it takes to be excellent...how much work is necessary to achieve at a high level. It is a lesson I have tried to apply and teach for most of my life. I have yet to figure out how my folks paid for that.
By the way...our families were not financially in the upper class. I doubt if we were even middle class. In fact, by most standards, we could have been called “poor.” Our parents were working class people who did whatever it took to provide for us kids. We didn’t have a lot of “stuff,” that’s for sure. But our parents made sure we had what was the most important...love, faith, and the critical extras that would serve us for all our lives.
One thing Judy and I noted in our morning conversation. Our parents never talked of the sacrifice they were making. They never came back with things like, “If you only knew what I’ve given up for you.” They never made us feel bad about the good things they were providing. They wanted us to have the joy, and not the guilt.
Why am I sharing this? There may be times in your life...with your family, with your ministry...that you will have to sacrifice for others. If you do so, try to do it in such a way that they have the joy of what you provide, and not carry a guilt for having it. Yes, there are times that others need to know that opportunities come at a price. But that should only enhance the value of what is received, not bring on any guilt.
I think of our salvation, provided by the sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus. His death on the cross brings us today’s joy...and purpose... and value. While we are not worthy of such a sacrifice, we can rejoice in what the Lord has done and is doing.
Jesus saw the sacrifice as a joy. No... not the cross and all of its agony... but the result of the sacrifice. The writer of Hebrews wanted us to see that when he wrote of Jesus in Hebrews 12:2:
[blockquote author="NLT" link="" target="_blank"]Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame....[/blockquote]
You may find you need to give up something for those whom God has placed in your life, whether it is your children or even your co-laborers in ministry. Do it with joy.
Then... watch what the Lord does with your sacrifice.