Biola Digital Ministry Conference

For a great discount use the code Caston2014. Click Here to Register

Two years ago I happen to find an online conference dedicated to Digital Ministry while I was researching universities to pursue a Ph.D. in Digital Ministry. Unfortunately, I didn't find any universities offering the program but this conference was a diamond in the rough. I attended the conference in 2012, was invited to speak in 2013 and again I have been invited to speak in 2014. June 3 - 5, 2014, the Biola Digital Conference will occur at Biola University in La Mirada, California.

This year I will introduce a new topic and speak on The Internet Church Campus, a major theme from my upcoming iChurch Method Vol. 3 release later this year. I will unpack the topic of the Internet Church Campus, the impact of it, how to build one and how it can advance ministries online. I have been building the Internet Church Campus for The Potter's House of Dallas for the last few years and the newest version is getting ready to launch next month and subsequently speak on the process at the Biola Digital Conference.

Another great benefit this year is the amazing lineup of speakers including Tami Heim, Joe "J.R." Miller, Justin Wise, Justin Blaney, Kent Shaffer, John Edminston, hosted by Prof. David Bourgeois and much more. I always enjoy my experience at Biola Digital and look forward to speaking and interacting with this great group of people. You should join us there! For a great discount use the code Caston2014.

Social Media Church Summit Online Event

Let's Have a Social Media Church Summit, a free online conference for church leaders about social media! Go to your calendar now, save the date June 4th, block out 90 minutes starting @ 10:00pm Pacific / 12:00pm Central / 1:00pm Eastern & register for this free event.

Learn from the experts and discover the power of social media for ministry. You’ll hear from these 8 speakers: Nils Smith – Host Gary Vaynerchuk – Social Media Strategy Aaron Tabor – Facebook Best Practices Haley Veturis – Instagram, Pinterest & More Matthew Barnett – The Power of Twitter DJ Chuang – The Future of Social Media Sean Cannell – Maximizing YouTube Jason Caston – Social Media Content Creation

In one 90 minute session, we have brought together seasoned experts in social media and digital ministry to share strategy and best practices for church leaders to better engage their members and grow their ministry through social media. This event is the perfect opportunity to invite church leaders in your network to take advantage of everything without leaving their desk.

This Social Media Summit for Churches is being hosted by Nils Smith (Author of Social Media Guide for Ministry) and Faith Social (who has helped organize the logistics behind this event). This event is supported by key sponsors: Media Fusion, Association of Related Churches, FaithVillage.com, Group Publishing, Vanderbloemen Search Group, and Faith Social.

Register online for the Social Media Summit for Churches to reserve your seat because they’re preparing for 5,000+ church leaders to attend and we don’t want you to be left behind

Biola Digital Ministry Conference

For a great discount use the code Caston2014. Click Here to Register

Two years ago I happen to find an online conference dedicated to Digital Ministry while I was researching universities to pursue a Ph.D. in Digital Ministry. Unfortunately, I didn't find any universities offering the program but this conference was a diamond in the rough. I attended the conference in 2012, was invited to speak in 2013 and again I have been invited to speak in 2014. June 3 - 5, 2014, the Biola Digital Conference will occur at Biola University in La Mirada, California.

This year I will introduce a new topic and speak on The Internet Church Campus, a major theme from my upcoming iChurch Method Vol. 3 release later this year. I will unpack the topic of the Internet Church Campus, the impact of it, how to build one and how it can advance ministries online. I have been building the Internet Church Campus for The Potter's House of Dallas for the last few years and the newest version is getting ready to launch next month and subsequently speak on the process at the Biola Digital Conference.

Another great benefit this year is the amazing lineup of speakers including Tami Heim, Joe "J.R." Miller, Justin Wise, Justin Blaney, Kent Shaffer, John Edminston, hosted by Prof. David Bourgeois and much more. I always enjoy my experience at Biola Digital and look forward to speaking and interacting with this great group of people. You should join us there! For a great discount use the code Caston2014.

3 Innovative Options for your Ministry Website

When I look at the innovative web design/development techniques that are helping take websites to a new level, I see three things happening. One, CMS systems are being used much more consistently, which is a great way to manage websites with a large number of pages, allow internal users to update only their area of the website and a great way to update the website without knowing code. Two, Parallax animation features using jQuery, HTML5 and CSS has rapidly increased and we are now seeing website that are horizontally or vertically scrolling with the click of a button. Three, more and more websites are being built with Responsive Design features that work equally well on every device. Content Management Systems (CMS) If your site has numerous pages and collects information from a variety of ministries and internal departments, a CMS is a must. It allows non-technical users to update their own areas of the website. It also allows the technical staff to manage the website, restrict access and change the look of the website with minimal repetitive work and time. The best feature of the CMS is the ability to add plugins and add ons that enhance and expand the functionality of the CMS much more quickly then having to update and revamp the entire application.

A great example of this is Wordpress, Wordpress has long been considered a blogging platform and initially it was, but over time it has evolved into one of the best Content Management Systems for websites on the market. It's price tag of FREE is very attractive to many churches and ministries who have limited budgets but would like unlimited website capabilities. With over 23,000 plugins, Wordpress has an ecosystem of developers that are continually enhancing the abilities of the CMS. There are hundreds of thousands of websites that are using Wordpress as a solution and with great plugins such as "adapt to mobile", "block spam comments", "online shopping cart" and "social media sharing", this system is a great one fore ministries. Likewise, there are over 20,000 templates, which give Wordpress the ability to change layouts quickly with the click of a few buttons. Anyone who has participated in the redesign of a website knows how drawn out this process can be and to see the possibility of it occurring in a few clicks is great progress.

Responsive design According to Mashable.com, responsive design uses "media queries" to figure out what resolution of device it's being served on. Flexible images and fluid grids then size correctly to fit the screen. Responsive design techniques also detect the type of device and change the site's behavior accordingly.

As we look to the evolution of websites that churches and ministries can use to reach the masses, it's imperative that we use techniques like responsive design to give online users great website experiences no matter the device. Google and Facebook are leading the charge in this space in their rollout of websites that are based on Responsive design. In March 2013, Facebook launched a major update to their users and created a timeline that looked the same no matter the device the user was on. The only way Facebook can look the same on a smartphone, tablet and laptop is by the brilliant responsive design layout. Likewise, Google+ started using responsive design techniques late 2012. This was the first time Google showed any real attention to their design aspects of their products. Google had already established itself as a company with great online software products but their design was always simplistic and minimal. With responsive design, Google is now showing their design chops and creating a synonymous experience on all devices.

In the mobile section of "The iChurch Method Volume 1" I spoke about creating websites that have a version for the Laptop/Desktop and a version for mobile devices, which is a great solution but essentially double work. With responsive design, you can create one website and program it accordingly to adjust and adapt to multiple devices and give a unified online experience. Here is a good website with great responsive design templates, http://elegantthemes.com

Parallax Design Another amazing website design/development feature that is gaining popularity is Parallax. Parallax animation features using jQuery, HTML5 and CSS has rapidly increased and we are now seeing websites that are horizontally or vertically scrolling with the click of a button. This development style is creating a single loading, interactive, animated web experience that engages users in a more effective manner and is often integrated into the responsive design layout. There are many templates that are available to create this experience for online users. Good ones that I have seen are: http://five3.me (a wordpress template) and http://pagescroller.com/ (a HTML5/CSS template).

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of "The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online." or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

The Importance of Having Online Donations

The effectiveness of online donations cannot be denied. President Obama received over $690 million in online donations during the 2012 presidential campaign. With the ability to quickly and safely donate small amounts online, politicians running for office have discovered this tool. Now, the iChurch can harness this powerful force too. It is very simple to add a free donation form using Paypal.com, Jotform.com or Kimbia.com to your website to collect money online. With this online form, a website user can easily select their own amount and donate in seconds using a credit card. Your ministry, however, must still pay the credit card processing fees for handling the transaction. There are also donation programs/modules where an online user can set up automatic recurring withdrawals from their bank account or credit card to give to the church.

eChecks are yet another way for users to pay/donate online. eChecks are payments that you make directly from your bank account. Note that the ability to use debit cards for online donations is not easily done for free at this time so that feature is not prominent in eCommerce.

For some, the convenience factor is a big reason for iChurch online donations. The younger generation is very familiar with donating online. In fact, many young people have never written a check but they are very familiar with online shopping (or donations) from their computer or mobile devices and using a credit card online. If you add a mobile component to the iChurch such as "text to give" or a mobile website/app with online donation capabilities, you can harness the power of impulse donations. When a person is at an event where your church is represented, with a mobile module as part of your iChurch, that person can donate right there as the spirit moves them instead of having to drive home, log on to their computer and then donate. This may be hours later.

Another feature is record keeping. These online donations modules give an instant receipt to the person donating which is often very important to them. For the church, this also saves staff time months later because these online donation modules keep records for the church such as who donated, how much they donated and when they donated. This information is important for the ministry’s financial records.

An online donation eCommerce module added to your website can collect a large amount of money from online users, many of whom may never set foot in your church. These online users may donate smaller amounts, as President Obama showed but volume, not size, is what counts.

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of "The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online." or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

Using Offline Marketing to Promote Online Social Media

There are a variety of additional ways that social media can be integrated into your organization’s marketing strategy to make sure people are able to stay connected online even while they are experiencing offline events. The lines are blurring between online and offline. The more your organization is able to stay connected to your online users, even during offline events, the more your organization will have deeper social media connections with your social media fans. Here are some examples: Marketing materials – Add your social media pages to your marketing materials. No matter what it is, if your organization creates it and distributes it, make sure it has your social media channels on it. When people see your social media pages on marketing materials, they realize they can stay connected with your organization in a variety of ways.

Leadership Buy In – When the leader uses social media and guides the organization towards using social media, there’s a fundamental shift in the corporate culture. Customers see the organization embracing social media and employees see the leadership embracing social media. This motivates employees to use social media internally as well as communicate with customers externally via social media channels, thus increasing the online audience.

Events – Offline events need an online component. I have worked with churches extensively and during weekend services there are some churches that do a great job of interacting with people via social media. New visitors are greeted when they tweet they are at the church or check in via Foursquare. The organization thanks them for coming and sometimes offers free gifts for letting the church know they were there. Likewise, during conferences there are great examples of social media usage with examples such as adding hashtags to banners that are located throughout the conference. Letting attendees know the hashtag that represents the conference prior to them getting there, allows them to market the conference via their social networks. Providing a page on their website that lets people share conference content right from that website makes it easy for people to share by just clicking on certain icons and sharing information. Another great strategy I have seen for conferences is to have Google+ hangouts with key speakers of the conference. This hangout can be recorded and distributed via Social Networks. This type of video content generates interest in the event as well as providing potential attendees with shareable content that can be viewed and shared with their networks.

There are many more offline options that are available. Be creative and integrate social media into your marketing plans. Then sit back and watch how interactive your online results can be.

For more information on this and other Social Media topics, get your copy or How to Get One Million Social Media Fans today.

Who is your audience for your social media strategy? – Part 2

In case you missed Part 1 you can read it here So let’s ask some questions: What’s your ministry’s message? What’s the voice of your church? What will be the message that you will convey to people via social media and how will you convey it? Will your church speak on societal and current issues? Will your church quote scriptures on every network? Will your church push out announcements and never respond to people?

Make sure your church isn’t one dimensional. There are many types of people that you can reach therefore you should distribute many types of social media posts. Here are three focal points in establishing your church’s message via social media:

1. Inspiration - Make sure to provide inspiration and motivation via your social networks. These are the best types of posts, whether they are quotes, scriptures or photos with encouraging words on them, everyone wants some type of inspiration in their life.

2. Information - Provide information about your church via your social networks. Don’t assume that everyone comes to church, reads your website or saw your eblast. Distribute the information about events and other happenings within the church via your social networks. You can repurpose flyers, newsletters, eblasts and other marketing materials and send them out via social networks.

3. Communication - Social media is “Social” therefore it should be a two-way communication. If you post to a network and people comment, ask questions and take time out of their busy day to respond, then make sure your church takes time to acknowledge them and respond back. Don’t let your church appear too arrogant to respond to its social network fans. Even if you don’t have the staff or time to answer every comment or question, at least answer some. Show that the ministry is seeing their comments and questions.

Notice how I haven’t stated whether to use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or any other social media network yet. The network that you push content out to your online users is irrelevant if there isn’t a consistent strategy behind it. Ten years ago, everyone was using AOL email to communicate with the masses. Five years ago it was MySpace. Three years ago Facebook and Twitter became popular. Just recently, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram have been introduced to the masses. The networks will come and go but the strategy remains the same: make sure the content from your ministry flows consistently via your online properties to your online users.

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of "The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online." or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

Who is your audience for your social media strategy? – Part 1

Begin to segment your audience into categories so that you can gather church content geared towards a specific audience. For example, if you are targeting non-church members then you will tailor a social media post differently than if you are targeting church members. Most churches say they are focusing on members and non-members but their messages are always catered to members only, wasting a great opportunity to reach millions of other social networkers that may not attend their church. There are times when we need to speak to church members via social media and update them on local ministries activities and events. Also, there are times when we need to speak to non-church members and offer them information, wisdom, guidance, compassion and a variety of other solutions that the gospel has for those that are not a part of the local body. We even need to offer messages that are tailored for those that are on the fence, looking for a reason to step in as well as a reason to step out. Social Media has the advantage of reaching people right where they are, speaking to them in a way they need to receive and moving them to make necessary changes for the better. This is one of the best ways to take ministry to the people.

Look at the content you currently generate. Social media is an excellent use for repurposed content. Take a careful inventory of your weekly production of content and make a list of how many different items your staff can produce. Content is king. If you have plenty of staff and time to post to social media sites yet have poor or inconsistent content, the effectiveness of the iChurch is greatly diminished.

Another aspect to consider when assessing the ministry’s content for social media is the impact of visual content. With the rise of visual social media (which we will get into later), we see the impact of visual content. Visual content such as photos and videos have a much larger impact on your social media audience. Photos have quickly become the most uploaded and shared form of social media content. 250 million photos are uploaded to Facebook every day with an additional 5 million uploaded to Instagram daily. Imagine the impact that your ministry could have by sharing photos of your ministry in action, worship photos from service and images that showcase the impact of your church in your community. Likewise, videos are the most engaging form of multimedia on the Internet. The term “going viral” appeared due to the massive sharing and popularity of certain videos passed around via social media. Here’s a great stat to consider, every minute 72 hours of video content is uploaded to YouTube. Therefore, when developing social media content, video must be included.

Part 2 Coming later this week!!

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of "The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online." or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

How Can a Small Organization Establish a Large Social Media Following?

“We are just a small organization, One Million fans seems unattainable.” I cannot count how many times I have heard this statement. Yes, I do agree that One Million social media fans is a lofty goal and the truth is we were not aiming for that number when we started at our organization. Our goal was to provide a good mix of “social” and “media.” We wanted to make sure we were “social” and interacted with our online users while providing “media” through a steady flow of high quality content from our organization. But trust me, this goal is attainable. Later in this book I will give you specifics on “what to post,” “what times to post” and “what types of content” to post. Those specific strategies will help you learn how to build your audience and increase interaction and reach One Million fans.

Another key step in building your social media following is to integrate your social media with your offline marketing. I will discuss this later but here are some examples:

• Adding social media sharing features to your website and allowing people to share with their social media networks. • Adding social media follow icons to your website and high traffic webpages. This allows people to follow your organization from the pages they visit often. • Adding social media to all of your marketing materials (fliers, ads, print publications and anything that your organization puts out). • Have the CEO/Pastor buy in and use social media, as well as employees. Make social media a significant part of the online marketing strategy. • If you have online video, add #hashtags and @twittername to the broadcast so people can communicate with their social network about what they are watching online or on TV.

No organization starts out with a large online following. We all start with a few and have to work our way up…or do we?

For more information on this and other Social Media topics, get your copy or How to Get One Million Social Media Fans today.

Podcasting for Ministry Webinar

I want to invite you to an webinar hosted by my friend and ministry tech expert Chip Dizard that is exclusively for Pastors and ministry leaders who want to start a podcast. In this webinar you will learn his 7 step blueprint for creating, editing, promoting and sustaining your ministry podcast. You will also learn:

• How to create quality graphics for your cover art so your Podcast stands out in the iTunes store even if you have no graphic design experience.
• Why you should submit your podcast to Stitcher, Windows and even Blackberry!
• The best methods for promoting your ministry podcast
• How to edit the audio in your podcast with free and low cost software

If you have been wondering if you should start a podcast this webinar is for you. Or if you feel that your pastor or ministry should create one you should forward this email. I’ve found that pastors and ministries who create podcasts can connect with more people, gain more trust and increase the visibility of their ministry.

Chip’s webinars are free and have only 100 slots open per session, that’s why he told me he is doing it 3 times on Thursday April 24th at 4 p.m EST, 7 p.m. EST and 10 p.m. EST. Yes, that’s three times in one day to make sure you can view it on any time zone!

Click on the link below to claim your spot today.

http://www.chipdizard.com/ichurch

Blessings,

Jason Caston iChurchMethod

P.S. Click on the link and register today as Chip gives you 3 actionable steps that will help you get your podcast in iTunes in one week. Look at this pastor’s podcast Chip help create in iTunes in one week. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/recreation-church-baltimore/id857833475?mt=2

Your Website Should Tell Your Story

On your home page, you should start to tell your story; the story of the church. I mentioned covering some of this on the About Us page and you can certainly put it there but truly, the first image of your church for the new visitor will be your home page. 75% of new visitors say they visit churches online before coming to the actual building. That makes the website and other online channels the most important welcoming ministry for your entire church. Your message to them must be engaging, personal and it must draw them in. A great home page creates interest in the user so that they continue clicking around your site and hopefully decide to come to you church. Three mediums through which to tell your story are text, images and video. Text is important in explaining concepts that images cannot. However, a professional photo of your pastor, or your congregation, or your local ministry working in the community goes a long way to drawing the new visitor in deeper, telling your story. Images are vital into today’s visual world. It allows the user to move faster because they don’t have to read paragraph after paragraph of written text. When I talk about images, I’m talking about photos and/or graphics. I will talk more about video in the multimedia section, but for now let me state that videos are the one of the most engaging form of multimedia. Videos can take text, images and audio, put it all together and create a form of media that can tell your entire church story. Just know that crafting your story to show the user who you are and what you are all about it a must and it should mix text, high quality images and video.

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of "The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online." or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

How to Lead an Innovative Organization

My friend, Greg Atkinson, has written a brand new book that releases worldwide on Tuesday, April 29th, but we are asking as many as will to pre-order it today, April 15th. Greg has been traveling, teaching and researching the subject of innovation in a Biblical context for the past 6 years. The result of his work is his new book entitled  Strange Leadership: 40 Ways to Lead an Innovative Organization.

Greg's friends came up with the idea to have a Strange Leadership Pre-Release Party for him today. Greg will be doing special promotional and pre-release stuff all day today, including an interview and live Google Hangout with Christian Media Magazine Featured Writer Jason Curlee at 11am CST and then Greg will be a guest on the Social Media Podcast with DJ Chuang at 4pm CST.

About the book:
Are you a leader in a Christian organization? Is your church, ministry, or business lacking innovation? Perhaps you're experienced in trying new things and moving in new ways, but you haven't ever tried anything strange. Truly innovative leaders are often considered strange. Don't settle for everyday leadership; immerse yourself in Strange Leadership!

Greg gives 40 different ways the Bible teaches us to be strange leaders. Greg pulls from Scripture to illuminate these concepts and, from the words and writings of other leaders, to drive them home. Strange Leadership is practically an encyclopedia on the subject of innovation.

What's Should You Do?
To find out more about the book and/or to order your copy today, go  HERE. Let's support Greg in his new book project and encourage his ministry to church leaders around the world. There is a free downloadable team discussion guide on the book website. I encourage you to order multiple copies for your whole team and go through it with them. Innovation is possible and you might just find that you don't mind being called a "Strange Leader."

*** I’m proud of Greg's continued work with churches and church leaders and encourage you to connect with him online:

• Follow @StrangeLeader on Twitter HERE.
• Follow @GregAtkinson on Twitter HERE.
• "Like" Greg's author page on Facebook HERE and keep up with his writing, work and ministry to the Church.

Here's what some key leaders are saying about the book:
Innovation is imperative in today's leadership culture. Strange Leadership reminds us all that innovation is about doing a whole new thing, that ultimately flows from God, the Chief Innovator. Thanks Greg for pointing us back to our true source for innovation and inspiration. - Brad Lomenick, President and Key Visionary of Catalyst and Author of The Catalyst Leader

Strange Leadership provides leadership help to teach you how innovation can come about in your life and organization by keeping God at the center and will equip you with practical thoughts to lead with integrity. - Pete Wilson, Senior Pastor of Cross Point Church and Author of Plan B and Let Hope In

To be effective, church leaders must be open to innovation. We have to be willing to allow something new to happen in our churches as we seek God's leading; we have to stay on the cutting edge, so we can be relevant in the world we are trying to reach. One of the best ways to stay innovative is to listen to and learn from those who model biblical innovation every day, like my friend Greg Atkinson. - Nelson Searcy, Founder and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, Author and Founder of ChurchLeaderInsights.com

Because leadership in Jesus' upside-down Kingdom is so different and distinct from the world, it is "strange leadership." In his book, Greg offers practical and helpful thoughts on leading others as one under the rule of God. - Eric Geiger, Author and Vice President LifeWay Christian Resources

Strange Leadership is an engrossing and enchanting collection of probes into the emerging field of innovation studies. It is filled with firecrackers, and sometimes even fireworks. - Leonard Sweet, best-selling author, professor (Drew University, George Fox University), Chief Contributor to sermons.com

It’s not a coincidence that God chose to introduce himself in the first verse of the Bible as a “Creator.”  I believe God puts a far higher value on creativity and innovation than most people believe.  That’s why I’m thrilled with Greg Atkinson’s new book.  It’s a wake up call to the Church and a powerful reminder that change is here whether we’re ready or not, and whether we like it or not.  Leaders – dismiss this book at your peril.  - Phil Cooke, Ph.D. – Filmmaker, Media Consultant, and author of Unique:  Telling Your Story in the Age of Brands and Social Media

Christian Leadership Alliance Conference 2014

I want to let you know about a transformative Christian leadership session I will be teaching at CLA Dallas 2014, April 14 – 16, called The iChurch Method: How to Advance Your Ministry Online.

CLA Dallas 2014 #CLA14 is America’s premier educational conference for Christian leaders. Sponsored by Christian Leadership Alliance (CLA) it features more than 100 practical, biblically-based learning experiences. The theme of the conference is “Kingdom Outcomes,” and keynote speakers include influential Christian thought leaders like Francis Chan, Rich Stearns, Nancy Ortberg, Michael Oh, Tony Evans, Shirley Mullen, Jedd Medefind, Mark Hanlon and more.

By attending CLA Dallas 2014, you’ll be joining leaders from many of America’s most influential Christian ministries, churches and businesses, and will find a great place not only to learn but to build a collaborative network for your kingdom work.

And the best news is that I can offer you a special faculty discount for attending this one-of-a-kind event. You will receive a discount of $100 off the full registration price of either the “Academic,” “Workshop,” or “Academy” learning experience at CLA Dallas 2014 by using my special “CLA_Faculty” registration code when you sign up. The CLA_Faculty discount code applies to either the Academic, Workshop or Academy experiences. It is for new registrants only, and there are no refunds. Register at www.CLAConference.org

Let me know if you have any questions! I hope to see you in Dallas. I know that this event will make a real difference in your life as a Christian leader, and in the organization you serve.

The Future of TV - (Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast and Amazon Fire)

The TV industry is ripe for disruption and it’s holding on for dear life. The traditional content producers (studios) and the cable companies are holding on to that old business model till the last dollar is squeezed out of it. Unfortunately for them, the market is starting to dictate how things will play out and just as the music industry was made to adapt, the television industry will have the same fate. Let me clarify what adapt means, it means television viewing will go from analog delivery to digital media, we will become more immersed in social media connected viewing along with second screens and we will watch what we want to watch, when we want to watch and from any device we want to watch, no more cable bundles and set showtimes.

The best examples of the future of TV is Netflix.com, Hulu.com, Apple’s iTunes and Amazon.com’s Video on Demand. We have the option with these stations to watch whatever we want to watch based on their offerings. Ala Carte channels and not bundles will become how we choose our channels, which is vastly different from our current cable company offerings.

Likewise, as the internet continues to infiltrate every aspect of our lives, we find that we are able to connect from more and more places with faster broadband and mobile connections, thus that gives us the ability to consume more media anytime, anyplace from any internet enabled media device.

Currently, Internet television devices such as the Roku, Google ChromeCast, Amazon Fire TV, Apple tV or Xbox are just getting started in changing our living room experience. But what if in the future the living room TV device watches us, allows us to connect with social media and actually knows us better than any Nielsen device. It will know our watching habits, what our eyes do during commercials, what we talk about during shows as well as our demographics. This will be a goldmine for advertisers and they will monetize this information, which will in turn motivate the content producers which will motivate the cable companies. That is the final piece in helping the content producing studios (and even cable companies) in moving to this future television experience because now the financial benefits are realized.

Now how does the church get involved, well they can now get on Internet TV enabled devices such as Roku or Amazon Fire and establish channels so that when the public continues this migration, they will be used to consuming church media from these devices.

The Amazon Fire is Good and here's why I bought one... (churches, roku, internet tv, gaming)

I received my Amazon Fire on Thursday, which basically reveals that once this device was announced Wednesday, I immediately ordered it and used my Amazon Prime for Next Day Delivery. Now I'm not going to go into all the features, Techcrunch has done a great job of that here:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/02/amazon-media-device/

http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/02/amazon-fire-tv-or-roku-or-chromecast-or-apple-tv/

My thoughts on ordering it quickly were three things:

1. Is this platform open? Can I create an internet tv app for my church like i did on Roku
2. Does it run quickly and smoothly, like the Apple TV and Roku
3. Will other games be as good as this Minecraft game it comes with that I see my daughter playing on the ipad all the time

1. Open Platform One of my first emails upon seeing this new announcement was to my internet TV software vendor to see if our current software that we use for Roku could be distributed to Amazon Fire TV as well. The answer I received today was YES! Thus, the Amazon Fire TV passes my "is it an open platform" test. If you are a developer and want to create an app from scratch there here is the link - https://developer.amazon.com/appsandservices/solutions/devices/fire-tv, for the majority of people that are not, just connect with http://www.streamotor.com/ and get an account setup to submit to multiple Internet TV platforms.

2. How does it operate, is it fast and fluid? The user experience was good, I look at the interface the same way I look at Roku. It's not as easy on the eyes as Apple TV but it's definitely as fluid as Apple TV. It's streamlined like Roku but with better search features and of course the builtin voice search is a killer setup. The backend is connected with the Amazon library as well as your Amazon account so this device can really adapt to you. The common players are all there such as Netflix, Hulu and WatchESPN but noticeably missing are HBOGo and Aereo. The processor inside is 2GB and it shows how much faster (more responsive and quicker loading times) the device is than Roku and Apple TV. The only thing that took a long time was the initial setup, which probably wasn't that long but I am very impatient.

3. How are the games, is it a gaming system? This is what really impressed me, I played a few games including my daughter's favorite, Minecraft (which is way different then the Minecraft I used to play 15 years go). This game ran quite fluidly and if Amazon is setting this device up to be a gaming platform along with a media hub, then THAT'S THE KILLER FEATURE! This device ran quite well, now it won't replace my Xbox One but as a device for my kids to have where they can play games and watch Netflix, Amazon Videos and Hulu, well that's a game changer for me.

Overall, it wouldn't replace my Roku or Apple TV but that's because I'm a tech geek and want ALL MY TOYS to play together but overall it's definitely in the game and here to stay. Now I just need to see how fast the adoption rate is so that I can start to develop an Internet TV channel for my church.

Creating Podcasts of Your Sermons

Getting your sermons onto iTunes as a podcast is fairly easy and affordable, using a popular service called Podbean. Like YouTube for videos, Podbean requires that you create a free account for your organization. Setting up an account with Podbean allows you to select a public channel in the Religion category, include your church logo or photograph of your pastor, describe your ministry and select keywords that will help anyone searching for your content to find you, and even provide contact information.

In this way you can make your podcast accessible on iTunes and also on Podbean, to reach a whole other population of people who may not have ever even been to your church - yet. Like YouTube, this gives you a whole new channel whereby to establish a presence on the Internet, to reach many more people all over the world.

You can provide links to your podcasts on your site; make them available for download at your Web store and more. Podcasts are popular for listening to while driving or doing other activities that are conducive to listening to music or inspirational messages.

Use Sound Bytes to Peak Interest

Consider placing short clips of your latest podcast on the front page of your site, to entice visitors to want to hear more. As audio files, podcasts are much easier to download, upload, and play, whereas a video might take much more time.

Podcasts are a powerful way of getting your message out there. You can even stream podcasts live during the actual sermon, so that those who are unable to make it to your church due to illness or travel can still listen to the sermon, and feel as if they were physically there on site with the rest of the congregation.

Podcasts can be archived, by subject, by date or by speaker, and even sold as collections for those who are looking for uplifting subject matter, or who like to listen to a particular speaker, or who missed a month of sermons and want to catch up. Be sure to take advantage of this valuable technology to get your message out to many more potential parishioners than old-time country preachers ever dreamed possible!

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of "The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online." or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.