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An Insider's Look At the World of Religious Media...and What's Coming Next! Religious radio and TV has built massive networks, launched global organizations,and generated billions of dollars in donations. It has allowed Christianity to reach more people in this century alone than the rest of history combined. But that impact has come with a price. Sex and money scandals, political controversies, and the prosperity gospel have taken their toll on the perception of Christians in the culture. Religious Media has Alienated a Generation TV evangelists with fake hair and gold furniture, tasteless programming, and hard core fundraising pitches have reached embarrassing levels, and young people today want nothing to do with it. But a New Revolution is Happening in Religious Media. With more than three decades of experience in both faith-based and secular media, Phil Cooke explores what it will take to reach the next generation, before the entire industry experiences total collapse.
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An internationally known writer and speaker, Phil Cooke has actually produced media programming in nearly 50 countries around the world. In the process, has been shot at, survived two military coups, fallen out of a helicopter, and in Africa, been threatened with prison. And during that time - through his company Cooke Pictures in Burbank, California - he's helped some of the largest nonprofit organizations and leaders in the world use the media to tell their story in a changing, disrupted culture.
According to former CNN journalist Paula Zahn, Phil is rare - a working producer in Hollywood with a Ph.D. in Theology. He's appeared on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, and his work has been profiled in the New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal.
His book "Jolt!: Get the Jump on a World That's Constantly Changing," shares his secrets of making today's culture of disruption and change work for you. "One Big Thing: Discovering What You Were Born to Do" helps you find the great purpose and calling for your life. And his newest book: "Unique: Telling Your Story in the Age of Brands and Social Media" is changing the way churches, ministries, and nonprofit organizations share their story with the culture.
He's lectured at universities like Yale, University of California at Berkeley, UCLA, and is an adjunct professor at the King's University in Los Angeles. In addition to writing his blog at philcooke.com, he also blogs for The Huffington Post, and is a contributor to Fast Company, Wired.com, Forbes.com, and Fox News.
I purchased this book and lost some sleep on the first night from turning pages and making notes.
If we really care about reaching beyond the present, and recent past, we have to be willing to change our means of communication. This book is a clear, if blunt, call for needed change.
While not everyone has the freedom to make wholesale changes in the ministry where they are serving - this book should inspire any reader, regardless of their position in the organization's food chain, to begin to ask "why can't we do things differently?"!
To be honest this book is causing me to re-think several areas of ministry. The Word tells us that iron sharpens iron. This book is like flint - it's a hard pill to swallow but it should spark the imagination of anyone who's not dead from the neck up.
Did I agree with every premise, no, but did this book cause me to think, and think hard about future media ministry direction - YES!
Frankly I don't remember the last time I paid full price for a book but I would have paid more than they were asking for this one.
Yes, he takes us to task but in the end Cooke wants us to succeed in reaching the current, and next, generations for Christ. It shows in every page. Thanks for a great read, if not for a good night's sleep . . .
The author, Phil Cooke, in writing this book has "said outloud" what we have all been thinking for years. We are not satisfied, sometimes horrified and often bored silly with the some (not all) of the presentations and some (not all) of the program content of Christian television. Except for two excellently produced shows, I simply do not/cannot watch Christian television. I think this is the beginning of a much overdue, fresh wave of authenticity in Christian television. The author has a clever sense of humor which makes it a very entertaining read. I rated his book only 4 stars because there were instances in which his satirical statements on the church and ministries went a little too far and I felt it was more damaging to the body of Christ than helpful. Otherwise, I was happy to read that "The Emperor Has No Clothes" syndrome is being recognized and that maybe someday soon the original intent of the Gospel may be presented to those who are lost through Christian television.
I have now read all of Phil's books and follow him on twitter and read his RSS feed. He is a great inspiration and has lots of great points.
This book goes where he hasnt in previous books but covers the same topics that make his blog compelling. I love that he talks from both the inside and the outside the Christian TV industry. I think its great that he speaks with passion bred out of a genuine love for the media.
