The LifeWay Digital Media blog is your connection to our online resources and services. Keep informed on LifeWay’s latest digital releases, meet the personalities of LifeWay, and discover digital trends that effect your ministry.
One of the surprise movie hits of 2008 was "Fireproof." In this movie, the main character is challenged by a book to do different dares each day to help save his marriage; and it works.
Fresh from the movie has come he actual Love Dare book, published by the fine folks over at B&H. In these video conversations, I got to talk with some of the people who had a hand in actually bringing the Love Dare to life.
What really impressed me the most was the conversations I had with John, Andrea and Ricky off of the camera. All of hem have gone through (or are going through) the book and can personally testify to the ways it has strengthened their marriages. I love it when people are just creating a product, but that they have been personally changed by it.
We are proud to announce this week that we have released LifeWay's first ever HD content: The "Because" music video by Jeff Slaughter.
Created for use with 2009's VBS, we've chosen to release the video a bit early for you to enjoy! In part two of our interview with Jeff, we talk about his experience filming the video in Israel, and the way that the trip was a fulfillment of God's blessings for him.
I've had the pleasure of being able to work with Jeff Slaughter at a number of events the past several years through my work with FUGE Camps here at LifeWay. Jeff has, without a doubt, the most passion for leading kids to worship Christ than any other person I've known. He is able to connect with children and not simply teach them words and melodies, but truly helps them build a relationship with God.
When I sat down to talk with him about his experience in Israel filming the "Because" music video (more on that next week), we ended up having a simply incredible conversation about his ministry, how he came to write and lead Children's Worship music, and how he got involved with LifeWay's VBS. Check out this video, and then come back next week for the "Because" music video and his trip to Israel!
I'm proud to announce that we have released the Experiencing God Revised videos (and audio sessions) as downloadable products in our online store. You can purchase them here.
As I was generating these videos, I remembered how influential the message of Experiencing God has been in my own life. So influential, in fact, that parts of it are fundamental aspects of my theology and faith; having this message updated an revised only served to reconnect me with the truths inherit in the message.
As we approached the release of this content I got a chance to sit down with Claude King and talk about his involvement in the resource and how its message has effected lives worldwide.
We're proud to release the videos and music from the first Worship KidStyle as downloadable content! You can check out our offerings for use in your Children's worship service
In the last video about KNOWN, I got to talk with Scott and Jeff about the general student strategy for KNOWN. This time I got to sit down with Rick Prall - the editor - and Mike Wakefield - the product manager. Rick and Mike did a great job of introducing me not only to the KNOWN product, but all of the history, research, and testing that went into the product.
This was my own personal first look at the KNOWN materials and I think you'll hear in my reactions how impressed I am with it. The student team has made some great choices and have developed a truly creative piece that fits with student culture that's out there right now. It really is unlike anything LifeWay has done before and anything else I'm seeing in the student realm.
What I love about the KNOWN team is that they aren't afraid to take risks. It's a small thing, but even moving away from a quarterly student book to a monthly one is a huge change for us. And once you open the book, it's appearant that these guys really nailed it on what a student learner piece should look like.
In this Open Access video, Dale McKleskey talks about the importance of choosing the right title for a product, and some of the processes that we go through to do so. Dale not only hits on the Open Access project's study, Going Beyond, but also some of LifeWay's past studies by Beth Moore.
For the past few weeks, I've gotten to be a part of the planning for a "secret" LifeWay project called Open Access. I'm incredibly excited about the potential that this project has for us, as it is going to do a lot to develop an online community for us. I'm looking forward to the continued movement towards transparency and development of employee personalities here at LifeWay and this is a major step in that direction.
The Open Access line of projects will be products that allow customers to access our materials while we are working on them. Participants who purchase the product will get a rough draft of the study and literally get to see it mere weeks after the author turns it in to us. This will allow the participants to give us feedback about the ideas and concepts in the study, as well as share any personal stories that might be applicable to the study. All of the feedback will be read, and turned to constructive criticism for the author and editors to choose how to implement.
The participants will also be able to communicate with each other via an online forum, so we can see how the group as a whole react to the study and how they interact with each other. LifeWay employees will, of course, interact there as well.
The first product that we're doing with Open Access is a new Priscilla Shirer study... that doesn't even have a name yet! I believe there are meetings next week to finalize the name; hopefully we'll be able to announce it soon.
The Open Access project will have a blog as well, here.
The blog will talk more about the development process than the actual product, and we hope to utilize it to give people a behind-the-scenes look at how a study is crafted here in the offices. As a part of that, I'll get to interview various employees throughout the next few months about what they're working on for the study.
The first of these video conversations is/was with Jennifer McCaman (our project manager) introducing what Open Access is and what we hope to accomplish:
I'll be honest; the point of this interview, from my end, was to promote the upcoming KNOWN resource coming from the student department here at LifeWay. But these guys - even though they're in charge of that launch - didn't care about getting that message out. They wanted to get the message of what they are passionate about (student ministry strategy) out. And so, that's what we talked about.
This was also a learning experience as an interviewer, because I was determined to get at least a mention of the product in at the end, and tried to force a segue and, being the honest guy he is, Jeff called me out on it. He knew what I was doing and was trying to get at, but he did not like the implications of my segue, so he argued about what I had actually said.
It was awesome to interview two people with so much knowledge in their field, and the evident passion they have for equipping the local church with the best possible knowledge, strategies and resources for understanding youth today. This is a must-watch if you are involved in youth ministry.
One of my first real friends here at LifeWay was Darrel Girardier. He was working for Fuge when I started working in the Fuge offices in 2002. I found a peer that I could talk with, brainstorm with, learn from, and look up to.
I first met Neil back then, too, when he came in to help write some of the creative elements for portions of the camp experience.
Now, they're both full-time employees of LifeWay, heading up the creative direction of the kids camps and student camps. These two are both so completely on target with the current trends in culture and marketplace needs for their respective demographics that, if you have any interest in the culture of student from grades 4-12, I highly recommend watching this video. These two are genuine experts in their field that don't get nearly enough time to share their knowledge.
(Seriously, guys - why aren't you speaking at conferences and such?)
