Add Video ASAP!

[Roney Smith]

When God called me to ministry in 1996, I also received the vision to get a camcorder to record any sermons given.

My first sermon was videotaped and we still have the Sony camcorder purchased. The prices for camcorders have steeply declined since then which means that you can obtain or surpass the quality we paid for at a cheaper price now.

The morale of the story is that God will give you a vision from eternity far in advance of the infrastructure being built in physical time.

Therefore it is more important that we live, move, and have our being according to God's word versus waiting for perfect conditions or a Christmas list to be fulfilled.

Move with the substance of things hoped for and you will have the evidence of things not seen.

YouTube was not around as well as the rest of the hardware and software that are available today.

But video is one of the most important tools of ministry available today. People have clearly misunderstood both the learning capabilities and televangelism from the moment Oral Roberts and other televangelists went on the air.

People simply learn from what they see. This may be a hard statement for those of us who are into spiritual things to grasp.

The people within the church learn instinctively the same way people outside the church learn. Video is the difference.

Now YouTube is going to offer a brand new means to give you the exposure to spread the Gospel (although it may not be their original intent) and there are tools that you can use to create video on the same quality level as companies based in Hollywood, CA.

Although our main camcorder is almost 12 years old, we are looking to acquire to add new cameras soon.

But more importantly (and it took me some time to comprehend it as well), the software needed to distinguish our video from the everyday stuff seen online to match the professional, high quality stuff produced by award-winning videographers, directors, and production companies is our next planned, purchase.

Apple has a software program called Final Cut Express (FCE) and for the PC, Sony has a software program called Vegas.

We are looking to buy FCE for the added power of the program alone and mobility of our Macbook. Although it took a while to finally get it, Apple's Macs are simply made for creative people who generate original audio, text, and video. Preachers are included as creative people by default.

So create your technology fund versus a building fund and allow the video to build people faster, farther, and deeper than any physical building would ever allow.

Putting a video online can reach people that one would never have seen otherwise. Video instantly surpasses the goals and dreams of our early tape ministry. The costs are lower, the quality is higher, and the speed is faster.

Before I forget to mention it, look for camcorders and cameras that allow for a digital transfer of the video footage via Firewire or USB versus having to make an analog transfer of the video.

An analog transfer typically requires that one sit through the entire length of the video recording versus a speeded up, digital transfer completed in minutes.

This quicker time-frame of digitization is the only reason a new camcorder is being considered. But the software FCE instantly offers the warp-speed advancement of quality to the footage already in hand and footage currently being captured.

I hope and pray that something shared within these words will challenge, motivate, and inspire you to add or upgrade video to your ministerial efforts for the glory of God.

I am still pondering what the new video production effort will be called:) All other purchasing decisions have been narrowed down to reasonable prices that do not require monthly installments!

Peace!