DR. BILLY GRAHAM:
God’s Servant, Technological Innovator
CONTENTS
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18 THEDARKOVERLORD AND SATURDAY SOCCER Now there’s “scareware.” Are we raising—or lowering—the technology bar?
DR. BILLY GRAHAM: GOD'S SERVANT, TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATOR
GOING GREEN IN I.T. Green: Spring! St. Patrick’s Day! Save the Earth!
Even now, we have much to learn from Dr. Graham.
22 OVERCOMPLICATING FAMILY TIME God first, family second, work third. What happens when God and work combine in ministry?
5 Reasons Why Your Church Needs to Prioritize Social Media........................................................................10 How You Can Light Up Easter At Your Church..................16 TECH CHECK 03.18................................................................................ 21 My 12 Go to Apps for Worship Leading.................................. 24
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A Word from the editor Ray Hollenbach
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Outreach Inc. 5550 Tech Center Dr. Colorado Springs, CO 80919 (800) 991-6011 Ministry Tech® is a registered trademark of Outreach, Inc. Written materials submitted to Ministry Tech® Magazine become the property of Outreach, Inc. upon receipt and may not necessarily be returned. Ministry Tech® Magazine reserves the right to make any changes to materials submitted for publication that are deemed necessary for editorial purposes. The content of this publication may not be copied in any way, shape or form without the express permission of Outreach, Inc. Views expressed in the articles and reviews printed within are not necessarily the views of the editor, publisher, or employees of Ministry Tech® magazine, or Outreach, Inc. © Copyright 2017 Outreach, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
THE TECHNOLOGICAL IMPERATIVE The great mathematician John von Neumann once said, “Technological possibilities are irresistible to man.“ So what? Who’s John Von Neumann, and why should we care? This is an important issue for those of us who use technology in the church. Most of us agree the church should embrace whatever tools help spread the gospel. We should think deeply about how and why we use these technologies, and also ask ourselves whether technologies will change the way we relate to God or others. Here’s a simple (if trivial) example. Some churches use smoke machines during their praise and worship sets. It allows the tech crew to set the mood with lighting because the smoke reflects the lights. The smoke allows for laser light shows, which can be exciting, maybe even uplifting. In this example, the “worship technology” changes the worship experience. Is that a good change? Why does worship need to change? If churches want to “enhance” worship, fine. But we should also ask significant questions: Do we use smoke and lights because they resemble a rock concert, or because
they are cool, or because it will help draw people closer to God? The important thing is that we are at least asking the question “Why?” Answers will vary from church to church. The worship setting is just one example. Pastors routinely use PowerPoint in preaching, but why? Is it because PowerPoint and projectors are ubiquitous in the business world? Is it because we think our congregation expects us to use what is “standard” in the business world today? Or is it because it will help people draw closer to God and understand the sermon better? The passing of Dr. Billy Graham (an innovator in ministry) this month is an excellent time to stop and consider such questions and perhaps learn from his example. This, too, is part of the mission of MinistryTech.
Ray Hollenbach is the Editor of Ministry Tech magazine. He has previously served as the editor of Outreach’s Better Preaching Update, and as the editor of the Pastor channel at Churchleaders.com. You can reach him at rhollenbach@outreach.com.
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A TRIBUTE by Ray Hollenbach
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DR. BILLY GRAHAM:
God’s Servant, Technological Innovator 4 | MinistryTech.com
he Rev. Billy Graham’s passing was a loss for the church worldwide. Indeed, his death is a loss for those currently beyond the reach of the church, for Dr. Graham’s mission focused on those outside the fold. Over the course of his lifetime Dr. Graham’s Christian commitment was without parallel. His zeal for God and evangelism was inspiring. Billy Graham preached to more people in live audiences than anyone else in history— nearly 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories. Not many people these days would consider Dr. Graham an example of a technological innovator, but from his earliest years his ministry was characterized by a willingness to use whatever technologies were necessary in service of the Gospel. As early as 1946, Dr. Graham employed the methodology of public “crusades,” first developed by Billy Sunday, and adapted it to his generation. He continued to apply technological innovations to his ministry with each passing decade, and he never stopped. The New York Times reported that during the 1957 New York City campaign, Dr. Graham preached to more than 2 million people in over a 100-day period. He preached to them in person, not via the radio or television. This memorable crusade began at Madison Square Garden and eventually moved to Yankee Stadium as God drew tens of thousands of people each night to hear the Gospel. Think of the technical aspects of this one crusade alone. Dr. Graham made the choice to use a secular venue like Madison Square Garden, turning an entertainment arena into a vessel for the gospel. When that vessel was no longer big enough to hold the crowds, he then turned the sports venue into a larger vessel for the gospel.
Dr. Graham’s voice impacted technological innovators in surprising and proactive ways.
A TRIBUTE In that New York crusade Dr. Graham also understood the power of news coverage, celebrity and social impact. He invited the young civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to pray at the opening of many of those meetings. The message, though unspoken, was clear: Dr. Graham believed in the Civil Rights movement and wanted us to know that the Gospel is an invitation to all people, everywhere. Consider, too, all of the technical details required to sustain such a revival over such a long period of time: It required the work of sound technicians and logistics planning done on-the-fly as God continued to draw people. It required communication, logistics, data collection and analysis. All this took place long before the Internet age. Early in his ministry Dr. Graham launched a state-of-the-art publishing empire that began with Christianity Today Magazine (1956), and a weekly television broadcast on the ABC network (1957). His ministry, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, utilized publishing, broadcasting, websites, social media, databases, financial integrity and accountability, and still maintained the heart of the Gospel in all their endeavors. In the decades that followed, Dr. Graham would use video production techniques, real-time video enlargements (long before we ever thought of the word “streaming”), and increasingly sophisticated technologies to amplify the worship portions of his crusades. Also, in an era before data collection and email, the Billy Graham organization was able to track every decision for Christ and to refer every new believer to a local
church for follow-up. These are remarkable accomplishments, achieved more than 60 years ago. Dr. Graham’s voice impacted technological innovators in surprising and proactive ways. In 1998 he delivered a TED Talk on the limits of technology. Speaking at an early TED conference (Did you know TED Talks existed 20
years ago? Billy Graham did, and he addressed them.), he said, “This is not the first time we’ve had a technological revolution.” He cited the rise of King David, who introduced the Iron Age to Israel roughly a millennium before the birth of Christ. Such technology changed the country in one generation, but then, as now, it was
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A TRIBUTE unable to address the enduring problem of mankind: human evil. “Where does it come from,” Dr. Graham asked those attending the TED conference. “How do we respond? . . . The problem is not technology,” said Dr. Graham. “The problem is the person using it.” Twenty years ago he cautioned the people of Silicon Valley, “Technology projects the myth of control over our mortality.”
Today, a YouTube search reveals surprising connections between Dr. Graham and celebrities. For example, one video of an interview with Woody Allen shows Dr. Graham a skillful—and gracious—communicator, capable of connecting with his infamous host, a live studio audience, the broadcast audience, and now with you and me, who sample such videos online. Along with so many other Christian ministries, MinistryTech Magazine salutes the legacy of Dr. Graham as a servant of Christ and also as a pioneer willing to use whatever tools he had at hand in service of the gospel. May we all learn from his example, and may the Graham family find comfort and peace in his passing. MT 6 | MinistryTech.com
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overcomplicating family time Finding the Faith, Ministry and Family Balance
by Jonathan Smith
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echnology is supposed to make our lives easier. It is supposed to save us time and help us be more effective at our jobs and our ministries. If all of that is true then why are we all so busy? Why is it we all have so little to do and yet so much time? Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it. (Thanks, Mr. Wonka.) There are three priorities in life on which I hope we can all agree. God first, family second, work third. Seems obvious, but what happens when God and work combine in ministry? You could argue that no matter where you work, whether in full-time ministry or not, that you are working on a
mission field. I get that. Regardless of where you work, one thing is sure, we will all be held accountable for our time and how we spend it on the Earth. Whether we spend all our time at work and neglect our family or we spend all our time with our family and neglect our work/ministry, we will be held accountable someday. If the work of ministry takes you away from your family priority then you will not be successful. The reverse is also true. Because of all this busyness, we tend to forget that between God and work is our family. Our families sometimes become pawns used to
force more or less time at work. I personally try to never say that I can’t do something because of my family. My family is a partner in ministry, not a hindrance to it or something I feel the need to constantly work around. My family is from God and part of my ministry. In our struggle to find balance here, we often overcomplicate family time. We try to turn it into a huge production instead of taking advantage of the time we have together and don’t even realize. Here are some ways you can maximize family time and help ensure your family is part of your ministry. March 2018 | 7
GRATITUDE Say thanks. Make sure your family knows you appreciate them and the sacrifices they make. Make sure they are aware that you are aware of their involvement—don’t just assume they get it. I travel a lot, and when our kids were little we would tell them that daddy was gone so he could help
others learn about Jesus. As they’ve gotten older, we’ve explained more and more, but I still want them to know I appreciate their involvement. Since I’ve got the keyboard, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my family. To my wife, Heather, and kids, Eric and Becca: Thank you for serving the Kingdom together.
If the work of ministry takes you away from your family priority then you will not be successful. The reverse is also true. PRIORITY Show your family that they are a priority. The biggest way you can do this is to put your device down. There are times when I have to be on call, so I explain that to my family. I don’t keep checking my phone. We have a no devices at dinner policy, but there are certain situations where I may have to keep my device close. I don’t want my family to think that they are not a priority so when those situations arise we talk about it and I explain the situation. Otherwise, no devices at the table and I do my best to set that example.
FAMILY TIME I don’t understand the notion that we have to plan these large productions for family time. We live together, under the same roof, so all time is family time. For instance, the day I wrote this article I had just returned from traveling a few days. I got home, the kids were home from school, we had dinner together, did some homework and then watched the Olympics. That is family time. We didn’t plan some big party or plan to watch a movie or do 8 | MinistryTech.com
anything special beyond our normal routine. That isn’t to say that we don’t ever plan fun trips or special activities, but we want our kids to know that all of our time together is precious and we want even the routine to be considered time together and time that we can invest in our kids.
Set an Example Our kids learn from our example, and they will in this area too. No matter how busy work and ministry get, I want my wife and kids to know they are a priority. I want my kids to see me making my wife a priority as well as making our family a priority. When we have family time, whether special or routine, I want them to see that I’m able to put my device down and not constantly check it. Same is true when we are on a vacation, they need to see that we can step away and change our focus. Use technology as a tool to help. If you have to be on call, use special notifications so that you know based on the vibration or tap on our wrist if you have to take an interruption. If our kids see that our devices and technology constantly take the focus of our attention away from them, then they can become disheartened and sometimes bitter toward the people creating those interruptions. We also try to serve together as a family. That is one of the benefits of serving in ministry. You can do things together as a family and teach your kids that family time doesn’t always have to be about them or doing what they want, it can be about serving others. Oftentimes we complicate our lives trying to serve ourselves as opposed to following the example Jesus set of focusing on serving those around us. Another great way to spend family time is to just learn from your kids. Take advantage of the routine to learn what your kids like and dislike. Have them teach you how they use
technology. I learn a lot, and sometimes am humbled by how much our kids know when they show me things they can do on their devices. I know they appreciate the interest I take in what they like online or what games they like to play or what videos they like to watch. Perhaps the best family time activity is not something special or a large, planned production, but just sitting down on the bed and having them show you a few things. I think you’ll be surprised at what you learn.
God, family and work. It’s beautiful when you think about it and not something we should overcomplicate or dilute in our attempts to make it more than it really needs to be—a focus on loving God by loving others. MT Jonathan Smith is the Director of Technology at Faith Ministries in Lafayette, Indiana. You can reach Jonathan at jsmith@faithlafayette.org and follow him on Twitter @JonathanESmith.
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5 reasons why your church needs to
PRIORITIZE SOCIAL MEDIA What’s the Sweet Spot for Your Social Media Ministry?
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oogle the phrase “church social media” and you’ll be served up over 200 million articles about using social platforms for your ministry. There’s no longer any question about whether your church should be on social media or not, but being on social media isn’t enough. You need to prioritize using it well. If you want to take advantage of all the opportunities social media provides you should start by elevating its importance. Let’s face it: There are a lot of churches and ministries vying for people’s attention out there. If your church is involved—but not invested—in growing its presence and social media skills, you might be wasting the time you are investing. Social media offers so many perks and possibilities; it would be foolhardy not to spend some more time devoted to your social media channels. In fact, it might be a secret weapon for struggling churches, or a great tool to boost your attendance for important holidays. If you can’t justify time spent on social media, I encourage you to consider the following ways your ministry might be missing out.
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1. SOCIAL MEDIA MIGHT BE THE FIRST PLACE PEOPLE FIND YOUR CHURCH Over 46 percent of church planters say that social media is their most effective method of outreach. Think about that for a second: Out of all the possible outreach methods, almost half of today’s church plants are seeing a bigger return for the time they invest into social media than anything else. Social media is not competing with your website for the most visible digital channel; it’s competing with every method churches use to draw attention to themselves. With a thoughtful church strategy for social engagement and some regular money devoted to advertising, you can create an awareness of your ministry and send people to your website where they can learn more. Plus, when you add the Facebook pixel to your site, you can retarget those people Facebook has sent to your website.
2. YOU CAN BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CONGREGATION’S FRIENDS This is the reason you’re on Facebook. When people who already attend your church like and share your Facebook posts, your content is pushed into the feed of their friends and family. When you explain to your congregation that their interaction with your Facebook page is a form of outreach, you can build a strategy around sharing your culture with people who might be open to learning more.
3. FACEBOOK’S GROUPS AND EVENTS RIVAL SOME CHURCH SOCIAL NETWORKS There are some great software solutions out there for churches to use to facilitate digital community. But one thing that’s fantastic about Facebook is the fact that most of your people are already there every day. Using Facebook groups for ministries or studies is an incredibly easy (and free) way to keep everyone together and on the same page. You can create groups for prayer, home groups, Bible studies, classes, or lifestyle groups for people that like to do things like hike or garden. You can
make them as private as you want, and you can invite people outside the church, too. This gives people another level of exposure and interaction with your church. Facebook events are another stellar way to raise awareness for an event. You can invite everyone in the church, and they can invite others, too. All updates and important information can be communicated in the event group. And you can even experiment with ads to promote your event. And, again, the great thing about it is everyone’s already on Facebook. Check out our 10 Facebook Tips for Churches.
4. YOU’RE MEETING PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE Community is in transition. People are building important networks and connections online, and it is becoming a valuable way for people to connect. For instance, did you know that 35 percent of the couples married between 2005 and 2012 met online? Instead of fighting this transition, the church should be embracing its inherent positives and opportunities. We should take advantage of every tool at our disposal to reach people where they are, and there may be no greater tool available than social media.
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35 percent of the couples married between 2005 and 2012 met online. Instead of fighting this transition, the church should be embracing its inherent positives and opportunities. 5. YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS REPRESENT YOUR CHURCH VITALITY When people come to one of your social media platforms and you haven’t updated it in months, it shapes their impression of your church. If you’re going to have a social-media presence it’s important for you to regularly update it. This means that you need to be very particular about the social-media platforms your church adopts. It’s better to have one or two platforms you really excel at than to be on every platform and to do them terribly.
INTEGRATING SOCIAL media WITH YOUR CHURCH APP
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If you already have a church app, you have an intuitive way to integrate social media into your engagement strategy. Since more people are using mobile devices to shop and interact online, an app is a great way to keep people involved, to tell your story, and to share your church’s teaching and content. People can share your content to their social media platforms from your app and you can use your social channels to promote the app. It creates a seamless way to build an audience and expose more people to your church culture. If you don’t have a church app, contact echurch today for a free demo and find out how an app can revolutionize your engagement. MT
video for everyone – without a camera!
Who Says You Need a Studio? by Yvon Prehn
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ideo is a fantastic tool for church communications, and there are so many ways to create them! We often think of very talented people using video cameras and lights, and good-looking people making alternating witty and profound statements—many churches create videos like this. But there are other ways to create videos that don’t involve cameras and gear. Anyone who knows how to use a computer can create them for little to moderate cost. You don’t really need a full-blown production studio to create your church announcements every Sunday, and many churches simply don’t have the money to even try. There are groups out there that will make the videos for you, but in my humble opinion it’s goofy to spend money on things you can do right at home. Church announcements are not exactly the most important part of the church service; to pay for someone to create them with people who don’t even attend your church—well, I don’t understand the value in it. This is especially true when there are numerous video-creation software programs available today that will take your words and images, and (after you upload the parts) will assemble your material into a video with motion, transitions and music. You don’t need
Oscar-winning videos to announce the weekly activities at the church, but videos do capture people’s attention more than someone reading a list from the bulletin. These programs allow you to do a great job with minimal effort. Here are some programs I’ve used to do this. There are new ones appearing all the time that have a template formula: You simply plug in your images and words or use theirs and you can quickly create a video—try some out if you have time. The ones below are listed in level of complexity and difficulty to use. The last two I use frequently in my Effective Church Communications ministry and highly recommend them.
Lumen5 This is a newer site. It’s kind of odd and kind of wonderful. You can do a limited amount of videos for free, so I definitely recommend trying it. The odd part is that it tries to use artificial intelligence to create a video from your website RSS feed and it comes up with some very strange collections of material. However, you can edit these or create your own. The interface is easy to use, and one of the wonderful things about it is that they have thousands (they say millions, but that’s a stretch) of resources—images, videos, sound files—that are free for you to use.
PowToon This is a FUN product! You can use it to create animated videos with cartoon characters and text. It’s a little more complicated than some to use, but much more lively than stock photo images only. I don’t use it a lot, but when you want this style, they are one of the best.
Animoto I love this software! It was created as a way for people to share photographs in video format, but it has evolved into an extremely useful marketing communication tool. You can use it to create announcements, ministry motivation videos and for short inspirational teachings. They have a large variety of templates and you can create the more recently popular square videos with some of them. As with many other programs, you put in your images and text and add a soundtrack (Animoto has lots available) and it then creates your video. Though a number of programs advertise the same process, after trying many of them, I like this program the best and believe it produces the best quality videos. I used it for a video retelling of the story of the Prodigal Son in “Does God Care When We Mess UP.” The images used in this video March 2018 | 13
To fully fulfill the Great Commission
RESOURCES FOR CHURCH COMMUNICATORS Training Templates Strategy Resources Podcast
www.effectivechurchcom.com came from FreeBibleImages.org. This is a fantastic group that I can’t recommend enough. They create and freely share images that any Christian group can use to help communicate the gospel. The models they use for their Bible collections are all from the Middle East (thankfully, no Anglo-Saxon Jesus and disciples) and they have an extensive collection of drawings of Bible stories also.
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You can use their images for ministry purposes free of charge. I would love to have more time to create more with them. I encourage everyone to check out the images for ministry communications. There is a longer article on my website for how I use Animoto to create ministry videos with a couple of additional examples and notes on writing text for videos.
Camtasia This is the software I use to create all of my training videos on the Church Communications Training School site. You can create a training session with PowerPoint, use an inexpensive headset (the Logitech ones are great), go through the presentation, and record it. Camtasia captures both your words and what you are doing on the computer screen. You can jump to software programs, websites, images, whatever you like, and Camtasia captures it all. After you are done capturing everything, you then go into Camtasia and edit, cutting out mistakes you make, shortening pauses, adding things like arrows or zooming in on a word or image. There is more of a learning curve with Camtasia than the other programs, but it’s more than worth it. I’ve also used it to record lessons for my Sunday School classes and to share how to use Christian websites and online Bible Study tools. You can use it for long, detailed lessons or to quickly share “This is a neat website I found that you might find useful in your walk with Jesus.” This has been a short overview, but if you want to create videos for your church (long, short, or in between) and don’t have the time or money for a big investment in cameras, green screens, lights and other equipment, try some of these programs—I think you’ll be pleased at the results! MT Yvon Prehn’s ministry to church communicators now has two parts: http://www. effectivechurchcom.com, now a training, template and resource site, and http://www.yvonprehn. com, a church communication blog.
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HOW YOU CAN LIGHT UP EASTER AT YOUR CHURCH
by Bob Ditmer
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aster is a time for dramatic productions to showcase Christ’s sacrifice and defeat of death. Whether you have a full-blown broadway production planned or something small and intimate, you’ll want the people in the sanctuary to see the message you are delivering. And as we all know, next to Christmas, Easter will be the biggest crowd you can expect all year. Here are some ideas on maximizing your stage lighting to make sure it stands out.
Four components of lighting design:
1. visibility The first, most obvious use for lighting is visibility. But as you consider where to place the lights keep in mind that they need power. With conventional stage lighting fixtures you need dimmable power and with LED and most intelligent stage lighting fixtures you need power distributed throughout your main auditorium at strategic locations. If the budget allows, future proof the kind of power needed at any given outlet by making it convertible from dimmable to non-dimmable power. You can use ETC dimmer 16 | MinistryTech.com
racks, for example, ETC D20 modules (20 amp dimmers), ETC CC20 modules (constant 20 amp power, not DMX controlled) or ETC R20 modules (20 amp relays, controlling on/off via DMX). You run the power once and have the flexibility of changing what type of power those outlets have at any point in the future by simply sliding in a new module. That being said, LED based fixtures are being used more and more, many churches are going all LED. It will always be cheaper to put in more power and DMX access than you think you’ll need up front than it will be to add it later. This is one area in which it’s pretty important to be forward thinking and go for a little overkill on distribution. If you don’t do it now, you’ll have wished you did later. It’s nearly impossible to think of every use and scenario you’ll need lights for before getting into a building, so planning up front for some extra lighting positions and DMX access will save you a lot of headache, and possibly money down the road. The long and the short of it is if you can hang a light somewhere, be sure to get it at least some power and a DMX feed.
Regarding LED’s, Tim Sherwood from Prairie Lakes Church in Cedar Falls, Iowa shared his Easter LED tape design with Church Stage Design Ideas. “For this set they went back to the LED tape look. Tim was inspired by an Instagram picture from Brightness Blog and went from there. They had taken a break from the LED tape for a couple of sets and Tim decided to break it back out for this one. The two large pieces were simply 1/4″ luan painted flat black and cut to give them the backdrop. The zig zag look was achieved by using 3″wide 1/4″ luan strips painted flat white. They like to lift up the pieces their LED tape is going to hit to help dissipate the beam and make it appear wider. So they cut some wedges from a 2×4 to elevate the white strips. Their LED tape is simply attached to some outside corner trim held in place by packaging tape. Then they added a cross made from 30 vintage squirrell cage bulbs purchased from 1000bulbs.com. In the pictures you can see the DMX decoders they used and the LED tape they purchased. One of the cool things about this set was depending on where you are in the room the main pieces go between a 2d and a 3d feel. All together the set came in around $600. Other lighting on the stage included ETC Selador Vivid R and Robe Robin spots.”
2. selective visibility The second reason is to call attention to an area of the stage where you want the audience to focus, or alternatively drawing attention away from an area of the stage where you don't want the audience to focus. For example, you may not want attendees to focus on a scene change or the band coming on stage. If you’re planning that kind of switching, lighting cues are critical. Chris Huff writing for Church Production points out the danger. “A missed lighting cue causes several problems. First, the lighting change was a planned part of the song. By missing that lighting change, you've altered the feel of the song. Second, if you don't realize you've missed a lighting
change, then the rest of your scenes will not sync up with the song. I've seen the stage lights rapidly flash through several scenes as the operator was trying to find the scene with the pastor's spotlight. Don't be that person.”
3. mood The third reason for using lighting is mood. Creating mood with lighting can be accomplished with intensity, color selection, lighting angles, or a combination of all of the above. Pay particular attention to colors. Reds, blues, and greens convey trust, peace and confidence. In stage lighting, red conveys passion and love and even anger depending on the scene. Blue can have a subdued or calming effect. And what color better represents royalty than purple? Every color has an associated emotion. If you’re looking for help in selecting colors, Brian Gowing, technical director at Fallen Timbers Community Church in Waterville, Ohio, has a suggestion. "Watch live concerts or live videos from other churches. Observe how they light things and what emotion you get from that lighting cue." Gowing makes one other great point, "Get to know the emotional control you have with the color palette and discern how it can help bring the congregation a more intimate connection to the worship experience."
4. modeling The last reason for using lighting is for modeling. Essentially, using lighting for modeling is nothing more than making the subject of the lighting stand out from the background or making the subject more visually interesting. The University of Minnesota Duluth has a web page with several suggestions for modeling with lights that includes diagrams, cross lighting and side lighting. Happy lighting and happy Easter as you shed light on the savior of the world in your Easter program. MT Bob Ditmer has worked in Christian media for more than 20 years including positions with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and Focus on the Family.
March 2018 | 17
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Why Malicious Hackers May Be a Reflection of Our Society by Steven Sundermeier
W
e are a proud soccer family. Our weeknights are filled with our three kids playing and practicing with each other down our basement (and Daddy yelling at them for being too wild), driving them to multiple practices, and excitement-filled games on the weekends. Soccer is a positive outlet for them, and they truly enjoy it, but there is one exception: when my son’s team plays “Luigi’s” team (for the sake of anonymity, that’s not his real name). Luigi is about a head taller, two steps quicker and physically more mature than the rest of the players in the league. They are all the same age, but Luigi is advanced in these areas. These are all great traits and benefits for a young gifted player, but his temper and recklessness make facing Luigi unenjoyable for parents—and dangerous for players. Each game, my wife and I hold our breath, say a prayer and hope nobody gets seriously hurt. I have no idea why our schedules cross so often, but with each passing game against Luigi, the post-game discussion in our car but also amongst many parents often muses over Luigi “sinking to a new low.” This cliché of sinking to a “new low” is not limited to Luigi. Turn on the TV to a cable news station or browse a news media site, and I am sure you will see countless headlines insinuating athletes, politicians or Hollywood have hit a new low. Social
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What if each one of us found a young techie and took him or her under our wing?
PROTECTED WITH PURPOSE media sites are also full of clickbait headlines promoting ever-new “low” articles. Personally, I find the polarization of it disheartening. I began to put serious thought into my work as a cyber security expert, how over the years cybercriminals continue to lower the bar in their criminal activities. I am reminded of the many well-documented accounts of elderly, widows and newlywed couples losing their home or life savings after being swindled by sophisticated online scams. The Nigerian fraudsters hustled hundreds of thousands of dollars from unknowing Americans and sent many of them spiraling into depression. The very nature of ransomware is bad enough (the idea of encrypting user’s data and holding that data captive until a ransom is paid), but what about a recent massive global ransomware cyberattack targeting hospitals: The attack forced several hospitals to shut down, thus putting hundreds of critical care patients at risk. How about cyber-attacks against America's critical infrastructure? (And just because many of these attacks may be successfully thwarted and not made public doesn’t mean they aren’t happening.) Have we already witnessed the lowest of the lows? I am not sure. On January 31, 2018, the FBI with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of the Inspector General released a joint notification titled “Cyber Criminal Group Threatens Schools and Students.” The notification alerted school systems nationwide of an extortion scheme focusing on public school systems. The extortion scheme is affiliated with
TheDarkOverlord. TheDarkOverlord is a group of highly trained hackers who target businesses, governments and (in this case) schools, to steal confidential information and then demand a ransom or risk the leak of their data collection publicly. Per the notification, TheDarkOverlord hackers have been responsible for at least 69 intrusions and the attempted sale of over 100 million records. The
group is infamously known for their large-scale hack of Netflix, and the subsequent leak of the Orange Is the New Black series. Unfortunately, their maliciously focused targets have not only included high-profile companies like Netflix, but they have also shamelessly hit an Indiana cancer charity. In September 2017, TheDarkOverlord group escalated its extortion tactics
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PROTECTED WITH PURPOSE by using the collected data from a hack and then “threatening school shootings through text messages and emails directed at students, staff and local law enforcement officials.” As you can imagine, these threats of violence caused much panic and even lead to a couple of school districts shutting down. Recordings of panicked (and ticked!) parents returning calls to the hackers were made public, leading to additional embarrassment. I apologize, as my heart is heavy. As I am finishing this article to go to print, we as a nation just witnessed another horrific mass school shooting. The unimaginable (and unforgettable) effects that yet another troubled kid’s actions will have on so many families for the rest of their lives is crushing to consider. And yet, here at the forefront of the latest cyber threat tactics, we have a group of cybercriminals looking for a financial payout via threatening school shootings. Have we hit rock bottom yet, folks? I started this article light-hearted talking about our enjoyment of the game of soccer, and our frustrations with an opposing player. Luigi is a decent soccer player. However, because of his God-given advantages (in height, strength and speed), he could be a great player. What we have seen is that his supporting cast doesn’t seem to be influencing him in a positive direction. His mother is very vocal, likes to pick fights with our parents, and most times not only supports but also praises the dirty and dangerous play. We have also seen no indication that his coach is trying to detour his actions. When he loses his temper and he is spiraling out of control on the field, it often ends 20 | MinistryTech.com
when a referee has him removed from the game. In speaking with one of our team player’s dads, he mentioned how he would love to recruit Luigi over to our club. His raw talent is hard to find. But raw it is. He noted that with the right coaching, training and character building, we could build into his character, develop discipline and transform his raw energy into professionalism. He concluded, “[Luigi] would be a real force to reckon with.”
Because I love technology and its positive advancement of our world, I just cannot relate to the insatiable desire that hackers push the malicious envelope. Our data is most certainly critical and valuable to us. When our machines or devices are encrypted or hacked, it is inconvenient, a violation of privacy and time-consuming. But recent revelations about TheDarkOverlord group threatening the safety (or lives!) of our children, our most prized possessions and treasures—well this goes beyond a new low. If scareware threatens and tricks us into clicking the wrong thing, I am not sure what we would term this kind of latest threat by the cyber-thugs. When we face Luigi’s team, I use this relatable situation to help educate my son, and it lends itself to our cyber-topic today as well: Luigi is blessed with athletic gifts, but he needs to learn or be taught how to
use them well. To play hard, but to be civil and demonstrate sportsmanlike conduct. Likewise, because of the advancement of technology for toddlers and even babies, there are so many technologically talented and gifted kids being brought up in our world. We need to be aware of this and be actively building into them, because if we want to raise the (technical) bar in our favor, we need to start teaching our youth how to use their gifts for good and not evil. We need to move them from a reckless, selfish path to one of serving and doing good works, which provides its own rewards. Who doesn’t want a new generation of techie’s that is a real force to reckon with for the good of society? It’s tempting to hear today’s headlines and shake our heads at the world as it goes to the dogs. But we can also take those headlines as a challenge to make a difference. If you are reading this magazine, you are some sort of techie. What if each one of us found a young techie and took him or her under our wing? Yes, it would take some time, and we might have to actually invest in someone other than ourselves. But it might make a difference. It might make the difference, in someone. One less injury on the field of life, or in the classroom, or in the cloud. MT Steven Sundermeier is the owner of Thirtyseven4, LLC, a leading provider of antivirus/security software. With 17 years of experience in the cybersecurity field, he is one of the nation’s leading experts in virus, malware and other threats. Before founding Thirtyseven4 in 2009, Steven worked in a number of roles in the antivirus industry dating back to 1999.
tech check
03.18 a guide to video editing sites and software You don’t need a studio. In fact, you don’t need much besides the video feature on your phone. Recently Lifewire.com rated the 6 Best Free Video Editors available for PC or Mac users. This link-rich article introduces video users to beginner-level software or apps that allow neophyte users to master the basics of video editing—with the need for any special equipment of expensive software.
This helps level the playing field between larger churches, which have staff and equipment readily available, and smaller churches, which may depend on the skillset of an enterprising high school student who attends the church. BONUS: Lifewire also has a site with a video conversion guide, too. n
easter egg hunt from outreach Whether you’re hosting a church, community, or neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt, Outreach, Inc. want people to know about it! We want to help market your Easter Egg Hunt time and location. Your listing will be published on our Easter Egg Hunt listing page for free. You can also advertise your Easter Egg Hunt with this free downloadable Easter egg Hunt flyer and social media graphic. Typical Easter Egg Hunts can be made into events that kids will love with these extra Easter Egg Hunt ideas. Take a look! n
Video training for your Volunteers and Staff At last someone has organized and automated the process of training church staff and church volunteers. The folks at TrainedUp.church have created more than 500 videos addressing most aspects of church operations and ministry, from administration, to leadership, to specific ministries like children, youth, or small groups. Pricing ranges from $49-$249 per month. The beauty of the concept is that these short videos (most are in the 3-5 minute range) are accessible to all members of your team. A church simply names and defines the size of their team, and TrainedUp.church keeps track of who accesses which videos, and when. This tracking and reporting feature is a step above merely recommending that your staff of volunteers watch a video on YouTube—it allows you to track who has completed a video course, and hence determining whether that person is ready for ministry in that area. Several samples are available at their YouTube site. n EDITOR’S NOTE: Who can possibly keep up with all the tech options available these days? TECH CHECK highlights tech news and new gadgets that save you time, energy, money—and keep you from re-inventing the wheel. Have a hot tech tip or news item? Email rhollenbach@outreach.com.
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going green in i.t. by Nick Nicholaou
M
arch is the month of St. Patrick’s Day, whose modern-day associated color is green. When we think ‘green’, we also think of doing things that are friendly to the environment. What are some quick tasks we can do to make IT more ‘green’?
Why the Green Focus? Many in our congregations and ministry constituencies want us to be good stewards—not only of our financial resources, but also in the way we consume resources to accomplish ministry. I live in California, and folks—especially Millennials—esteem homes, businesses, churches, and more as ‘better’ if they’re more environmentally sensitive. There are many in your congregation or ministry constituency that would be all the more pleased with associating with your organization if they knew that there are initiatives underway to help protect the environment. And that makes cost-effective green initiatives a win-win!
green server rooms A common issue we see in server rooms is that they become storage areas for all kinds of things. That happens mostly because team members don’t understand the need to keep the server room clean, cool and secure; many perceive the space as ‘available’ even though it isn’t. Defending the space can be exhausting.
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Clean Up Your Servers (and the Server Room!)
Cost-effective green initiatives are a win-win.
March is a great month to go through the server room and remove anything that shouldn’t be there. In addition to boxes of things others have deposited there, consider what IT-related items are stored there too! Churches and ministries sometimes have a hard time letting go of retired technology that still worked when it was retired, even though they’ll never use it again. “But what if…?” When I visit clients, I often offer to clean out all those old CRT monitors, Pentium computers, keyboards, roller-ball mice and cords that are gathering dust (a fire hazard) and are taking up space. Seriously, if you haven’t used it in a couple of years, it is probably trash. It’s actually good stewardship to let them go! Here are just a couple of reasons why: 1. There are many electronics recyclers that are willing to help, and usually for free! If they’re certified electronics recyclers, you can even trust them to erase hard drives as they do their recycling! And recycling is a good thing. 2. The more things that are stored in a server room, the less cool air is available to absorb the heat exhausted by your servers and other electronic gear. That can contribute to running hotter and consuming more electricity, and cause a shorter life for some equipment. Clean server rooms are always best.
green systems There are a few things worth considering and doing that will help make your IT systems more ‘green’ in general.
1. Virtualize your servers. Virtualization is a software technology that makes it possible to reduce the number of physical servers in your organization. It uses an app called a hypervisor that allows you to install more than one virtual server on each of your physical servers, which we then call hosts. In addition to saving money by not having to purchase a bunch of physical servers, virtualization reduces the amount of electricity consumed because the number of physical servers is smaller. It also helps reduce electricity consumption by reducing the amount of heat in a server room that must be overcome by air conditioning systems because there are fewer electronic devices exhausting heat!
2. Move Servers to The Cloud. In addition to virtualizing your local servers, consider going a step further by determining whether their roles can be moved to a hosted cloud service provider. In recent years my firm has moved many clients, entire group of local servers into our cloud infrastructure, dramatically reducing electrical consumption while also outsourcing the responsibility to maintain those servers. The cloud is a
terrific way to make your systems greener, while also reducing capital expenses.
3. Clean Dust from Inside Computers. It’s amazing how much dust accumulates in computers. For those computers that remain on-site (servers, workstations and the like), consider cleaning their cooling fans. Perhaps organize a volunteer work party that goes to each workstation and cleans their insides! Cleaning them out every March as part of your ‘green’ initiative will reduce their electrical consumption and may extend their life because they’ll run cooler! St. Patrick’s Day! What a great time of year to clean up server rooms—or maybe even eliminate them by moving into the cloud! It's a great time to clean the dust from inside your servers and workstations (before the weather begins to warm up). MT Nick Nicholaou is author of Church IT: Strategies and Solutions and is president of MBS, an IT consulting firm specializing in church and ministry computer networks, VoIP and private cloud hosted services. You can reach Nick at nick@mbsinc.com, and may want to check out his firm’s website, www.mbsinc.com, and his blog at ministry-it.blogspot.com.
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my 12 go to apps
for worship leading
Always on My Phone, Always Ready
by Mike O'Brien
I
ncreasingly, I find myself pulling my phone out before, during and after worship gatherings to use apps for worship leaders. Here are 12 helpful apps that I am using consistently in worship ministry.
1. ESV Bible As worship leaders, we need to keep the word of God close to us. The ESV is the version of the Bible my church uses, so I keep this app handy. This particular app is free, well designed and functional. Some traditions might discourage reading from a phone on the stage, but I have found that it’s nice to have an illuminated screen and reading from a device models a great use of technology. Additionally, it models what real life might look like.
2. Strong’s Concordance Every word in the Bible has a foundation outside of English in either Greek or Hebrew. The Strong’s Concordance is one standard for referencing the meaning behind each word. You can click on highlighted text for the original Hebrew or Greek. I find it helpful to reference the original language in both worship songwriting and scripture used in worship services.
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3. Daily Office Lectionary Many Anglican and Episcopal traditions use the Book of Common Prayer to guide their daily devotions. If you are leading worship on a day outside of Sunday, you can open this app to find scriptures that millions of Christians around the world are already reading that day. Many times these scriptures align with themes already recognized in the current Christian calendar (Advent, Lent etc.). For example, if I am leading worship in a small group I might employ the assigned scriptures this way.
4. Sunday Lectionary The Sunday Lectionary app is the service order taken from the Book of Common Prayer. The previous app, Daily Office, is for daily devotion, whereas the Sunday Lectionary is for gathered worship. When planning weekend services, I will often add the Psalm or Gospel readings from the Lectionary.
5. FranPratt.com: Congregational Prayers and Responsive Readings My good friend Fran Pratt keeps an ongoing blog with prayers for
corporate gatherings. Many of these litanies (congregational prayers) are in response to modern day events and can be incredibly helpful in giving the church voice for current events. You can copy and paste these prayers into presentation software so the congregation can respond to the text in bold. NOTE: This is technically not an app, but a shortcut to a website. On the iPhone, you can save a website to the desktop by going to the website and clicking the icon that looks like this.
6. Wunderlist Wunderlist is a popular “to-do list” app that I use to organize sermon notes, song lyric ideas, and make quick reminders. I have folders called “worship song ideas,” “lyric ideas,” and “2018 goals.” Sometimes I just need to make a quick note after talking with a volunteer; this app is super userfriendly and customizable.
7. CCLI Top 100 No longer as relevant as it was 10 years ago, the CCLI top 100 list of most “popular” worship songs as reported by churches MIGHT give you an idea for a song in a pinch. Keep this list handy for reference.
8. Worshipteam.com My favorite administrative tool in my role as a worship leader is worshipteam. com. It is geared for musicians exclusively and works wonderfully for planning sets and finding songs.
9. Planning Center Online Many houses of worship use Planning Center Online to oversee their volunteer systems. Although I prefer worshipteam.com to Planning Center for worship, I keep this app handy when I am a guest in other churches that use this popular system.
on an instrument on a plane you were at the mercy of the flight attendants to allow you to store it in available space. Now there is a law that requires the staff to treat your instrument with the SAME standards as any other piece of luggage. In other words, if there is room for it in the overhead bins they cannot force you to gate check it. I have shown this web link to several airline employees to inform them on this rule. MT
Mike O'Brien holds a B.A. in Music from Kennesaw State University and a Master of Worship Studies from the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies. He has worked as a producer, engineer and mixer at Lucko Sound Studio, and with a collective of 25+ musicians called Poured Out Like Wine. Together, they produced seven albums with over 15 published songs with Vineyard Worship USA. He lives in Atlanta GA with his wife, Susan, and son, Ezekiel. You can reach Mike at vineband@hotmail.com.
10. Boss Tuner The Boss is my favorite tuning app because it looks just like the pedal tuner I have been using for years. It is very basic. Many times you might be handing this app to a newbie violin or mandolin player that does not have his or her own tuner. It’s quick and easy.
11. iMaschine 2 This is a highly customizable beat making app that I use primarily for songwriting. It’s nice to have a beat looping as you craft lyrics and strum chords. You can also use this app to create beats for your drummer to utilize during rehearsal. If a drummer struggles to play with a click, they might do better playing with a more developed beat.
12. U S Department of Transportation Musical Instrument Guidelines If like me, you travel via airplane on occasion, I have found it helpful to have the new law regarding instruments from the FAA handy. It used to be that if you wanted to carry March 2018 | 25
THE LAST WORD
You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. PSALM 65:9-11