Today, we are often faced with many challenges that inhibit us from attending a church on Sundays. Many churches that I am in communication with are now having a worship service on Sunday evening, that have two main goals. One of those being to allow members/attenders to worship because they are not able to make it on Sunday mornings. Two...to give room for more people to attend on Sundays.

Another option I have noticed here more recently is the advent of streaming the services online. This seems to be a more cost efficient method with the popularity of the Flash video encoding. This allows the video/audio image to be crisp and clean, yet not too bandwidth consuming. Even so, the turnout seems to be good for the services.

Many people have family situations or have to work in this day and age on Sunday. They can still connect with the church via a video stream while also allowing them to worship and be fed spiritually at the same time. This is hopefully another reason that churches allow streaming of their services.

Back in the 80's and 90's, many churches had to pay a lot of money to have their services broadcast on television stations. This was a lot of work and expense. Trust me, I worked at a church doing this. I think with the advent of the internet, it is more feasible for churches to send a live video and audio feed to the online community. This would require about the same amount of money up front to purchase and maintain the systems, but at the same time, internet broadcasting is a much cheaper medium of sharing God's message. Plus, you are not limited to a specific time block. You can stream the entire service because the ministry controls what goes out there.

I "attended" a church stream about a month ago. I was fascinated with how it worked, mainly because this church had a chat room contained within. Viewers could chat with pastors and seek prayer for specific needs that the person had. I thought this was a great asset to add to the streaming service. That way, it makes the viewer feel more connected with the church's broadcast ministry.

I want to hear from you guys. What do you think about online worship services? Do you have any experiences that you would like to share?

Thanks for taking the time to read.
-Ken

Labels: 316 networks, Buckhead Church, Chapel Hill, church, digital, FIrst Orlando, Flash, God, gospel, informative, internet, internet growth, Media, North Point, Orlando, Scott Link, simulcast

As I grow older, the only thing that I regret is not doing something when the time is right. I am sure that many of you can relate.

I received an e-mail from my Grandfather earlier in the week. It was one of his forwards that he blesses me and many others with daily. It was a very interesting story. In a nutshell, it is an elderly lady who begins taking college classes. When asked by one of the younger students why she was going to college, she responded with something to the extent of she had always dreamed of coming to college, so now she is finally doing it. She also said that the one thing that older people regret is dreams they did not follow through with during their life, making it to late to do anything about it now.

It took a couple of days for that to sit in, but this morning that line really spoke to me. I thought on my way to lecture this morning, how many opportunities have I passed up that may be to late to do anything with? How many dreams have I passed up because I was not totally dedicated?

Monday evening I was chatting with a friend of mine. I mentioned to him a dream that I had, that had been developing recently. He was very encouraging with the idea and thought it was great. I have also mentioned this "dream" or vision to other people and they have been very encouraging as well. Sometimes you need that type of support in order for a dream to become a reality.

Through the years, I would like to think that I have not let too many dreams slip away. My move to Orlando was probably the biggest dream that I have had in a very long time, and that was tough, but it has been great since I have been down here studying. Another major dream I had was to serve at a church again. It had been a couple of years since I had done that, but I was able to work through some stuff I was battling with and had lunch with the Media and Communications Pastor at First Baptist Orlando. Every since that day back in early 2008, I have been serving in the broadcast ministry at First Orlando.

Let me encourage you to read this post, and take it to heart. Please, do not let you most cherish dreams of today become a big regret later on in your life, because you were too scared or afraid to pursue them.

-Ken

Labels: application, Buckhead Church, dreams, First Baptist Church Orlando, ministry, no regreats, Orlando, politics, serve

Ending my trip to Atlanta, I enjoyed a great night at church and dinner with the Hurst family. I made the decision to drive back to Florida after that, which would put me back in Orlando at 6am. I tend to prefer to drive at night because there are fewer people on the roads and it brings good time to listen to music, watch movies and think about things.

I left Atlanta at about 11:30pm that evening. Things were fine, I made some phone calls as I drove and talked to a few people before they went to bed, which is what I typically do. My mind was committed to driving all night to arrive at my destination. Every part of me believed that I could do it. It hit me...about in Macon, GA. The fatigue was bearing down on me. It was at that time I began questioning my decision to drive after a long day. My mind was made up to drive and make it back, but I had to respect the fact that my body was exhausted after a long day of worship and fellowship with friends and family. It was then when I called a hotel and made an amendment to my plan to stop and sleep for the night.

I checked in and went right to sleep. I woke up at about 10:15am and continued my trip. I made it back safely. It is now, that I think back upon my trip and wonder if I really could have made the trip safely in that state. Was I really that tired?

Oftentimes in our lives, we over commit to things we want. In friendships / relationships, goals, jobs or projects. Although our intentions are good from the front, sometimes the fatigue sets in and in reality the goal can not be accomplished. But how will you compensate for the change? Will you do the right thing and find a safe medium to solve the problem? Or, perhaps will you continue, even though the warning signs are present and risk making a big mistake and loosing everything or something that is important to you?

Make the right decision. Listen to the warning signs. I will be the first to admit that I am a stubborn person, but trust me, you will be a better person for it. Believe it or not...

-Ken

Labels: Atlanta, committment, decision, drive, fatigue, Orlando, overcommitment, stubborn, tired