New Radio toys for Christ

I hope my handful of readers had a good Christmas and will have a great new year. This Christmas I got a Roku HD unit for my Christmas gift. This box allow streaming on most any TV. The TV in question can have a HDMI connection. This cord usually runs from a video item like a Blue-Ray player or a better cable box to your modern flat screen TV or monitor. Some computers have an HDMI out too. This allows the Roku HD to put out in 720p resolution. Most of what it streams is well below that. It can hook to an older screen with the old red, white and yellow cords that carry left and right audio and video. (I did not check that option out.) Once hooked up to power and TV, the box will automatically fire up. (No power switch.) The Roku is about the size of a thick sandwich and can sit by your TV. This box may (and I say may) be the future of TV. You do have to have a good high speed internet connection for this wireless device to work. This box displays various “channels” on your TV. Most people will use it to stream Netflix movies to their TVs. It will show films in 720p witch is an upgrade from a WII at 480p. (Best Netflix machine is probably a Sony Playstation 3 at 1080p) It also is easy to listen to the Pandora web based music service on this box too. With that program you just enter a person, band or type of music you like and it does the rest. Its very easy to use, but just music.

“Scott, Scott stop, what does this have to do with radio or faith?” Lots, As I stated the little box is streaming box. Several channel apps have been developed for radio. The Tune In radio app and Shoutcast (grand daddy of internet radio apps) work great on this little box. You pull up the Tune In channel, punch in call letters like my favorite KSBJ, and it will give you that station and its HD2 NGEN. Other search options are available to find Christians stations.

This device also can pull TV stations if the station has been made an available stream on Roku. For people of faith this is really cool. I found all the TBN TV stations and several more stations on offer. If you like those stations and do not want to pay a satellite bill to get them, this box is perfect for internet users. Air One has its own little channel that makes tuning to their fine Christian rock radio station a breeze. You just punch the channel and play. The artist is displayed while it plays. Many large churches and even some smaller ministries have also used the Roku to stream services live and put up clips. I found my own church sermon streaming on Viemo video channel.

I also found seprate channels for the BBC TV and audio, Fox audio and video clips. Like any internet item it can be used for porn and other media you may not want exposure to. You can control who adds channels with a pass code.

If you go out and buy one of these boxes you will find a very limited channel offering on their website (which you will need to set up an account on.) The fun of this thing is finding “private” channels. The Roku must be based on open source programming. Anyone can get the developers pack put up a channel and stream something. The developer is then responsible for promoting the channel and publishing a simple code so it can be activated from the Roku website. Some of the best Roku channels are private. You can find list and sites on the internet with a simple search. Start with picking channels off the Roku site. Those are “public” channels. Then look for “Private” channels and put in some codes.

This box for a one time fifty dollar payment is a must for internet radio fans. There are some services that want you to subscribe. You simply can choose not to load them. I did find a Christian network as a pay channel. The Roku people wil require a credit card number to hold, in case you charge a channel or buy a game. (Yep games too.) You can get the several versions of a Roku box. Most sites say this verson or an older LT box is fine. The better ones come with some neat upgrades including 1080p. Next time we will look at Windows 8. At first look it is making internet radio easier.

A Christian station in Seattle Washington and Listening to the World to inform your faith

I have been busy with work. The great thing about my job is I can listen to terrestrial radio all night in the car. On a great radio e mail newsletter called RadioInfo.com, I noticed that they mentioned Spirit 105.3 KCMS in Seattle, Washington. The station just got a new programming person Matt Stockman, who was working in Christian radio consulting in Spain, Sweden and Nigeria. Sounds like missions to me. The newsletter is available to anyone who wants it and wants to keep up with the business of radio.

So I tuned in KCMS though the net. They seem to have a great play list and good on air personalities. Their internet signal must be fairly high quality. They are owned by Christa Broadcasting which is a part of Christa ministries. You can find them at www.spirit1053.com If you knock around a little you can also find a internet Christian rock station, a praise station, and a ministry station owned by them too. Personally I just like finding stations that are reaching major markets and Seattle/ Tacoma is a big place. I will be praying for this group of stations as they reach the North West. If you live in their town check out their concert and festival listings.

Now on to another positive thing about radio on the net. English is a great language. The British and the US to some extent have spread it far and wide. With internet radio you can listen to radio that originates in many places in the world that speak English with wonderful accents. You may ask the question why do I want to listen to music and news from Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Britain (really good radio), Ghana, India, Australia, New Zealnd and the Philippines. There are more counties, that is just the ones I know I have listened to. The best way to find out about cultures is to listen to them talk to their own. This can be amazing stuff. As a Christian, I know many of the places I just named need constant prayer. A great way to be aware of what they are doing is to listen in with near perfect sound. I have heard Christian stations in most of these countries. The news from a place can be an eye opener. As a Christian called to minister to the world around us, this is a great way to listen to it. A great starter for a person wishing to expand their horizons is http://www.citifmonline.com/ This is citi fm's website. From their you can listen to this secular station and read news about this African Nation. One of my favorite non US Christian stations is Life FM out of New Zealand. http://www.lifefm.co.nz Their website looks like any Christian radio station out of the US. Their music is pretty upbeat. They also offer a worship stream if you wish. I urge you to listen to the main stream to get the flavor of the place. Another station that I have found is Two Oceans VibeRadio in Johannesburg, South Africa. They are an internet only stations aimed at a local market but available to the world. A few years ago, South Africa decided not to have a bloody revolution by getting rid of rules controlling the lives of the majority of their citizens. This has caused some problems and situations. This station probably a product of the present reality of this fine country at the tip of the world. There url is www.2oceansviberadio.com Another South African secular station is http://www.highveld.co.za Highveld radio. She is a terrestrial that has been around a long time. I just bumped into a fine DAB+ (Australian digital radio) Christian station called Inspire. You can find it at www.inspiredigitalradio.com

How to be a child of God Video by David Howell 

This is a video of an actual illustrated book that is being shared in prisons and rehabs. It really tells how to get saved, and grow in Christ. The artwork is compelling and the narration is beautiful. One could share it with unsaved friends or coworkers. It is about 20 minutes long and you should have a good internet connection as it is a video.

 What to do on churchless Sundays, a discovery and an update.

At this time I am excited to see that 368 people have viewed the page. Today I want to give an update about me, a good radio thing for people away from church on Sunday and a neat accidental discovery I made.

Things are looking up for me and the family as a church has finally expressed an interest in me being their pastor. This blog started when I between churches. This has been a time of relying on the Lord and learning. Your prayers are requested at this time for my career as a pastor to restart. I hope to keep up the blog as radio and faith are really my only two interest.

That post leads me to my next subject. While not pastoring I have been a security guard at a local Wal Mart. I drive a car around the parking lot and I am allowed to listen to the radio. On the occasion of working on a Sunday I decided not to let that totally take me out of worship. At 8AM I tuned in Joel Osteen, of Lakewood on KKDA, 99.1FM “Sunny” in Houston. I think it can be accessed on vtuner.com At 9:30 I tuned in Second Baptist with Ed Young and at 11 I tuned in First Baptist with Greg Matte. These where on KHCB, 105.7 FM, Houston, it can also be accessed through vtuner.com I am not a big fan of Osteen, but he has the largest church in town and is very positive. Ed is a prince of preachers in the US and was speaking on family. Greg Matte always has a good message and is ministering to thousands of young families with dynamic messages. This did not replace church. People are a huge part of church, but I was fed by God's word and in the last two I got to sing with the people as these are full service recordings for folks like me and shut ins. Thank God for old fashioned radio in Houston, Texas.

Next a simple discovery. I was playing with vtuner.com and found Hindi Christian Music at the top of the India listing. The music has a wonderful Hindi influenced sound. Some English is thrown in. The voice station ids are randomly thrown in and a little annoying, but I will trust the developer. Their website can be accessed at www.hindichristianmusic.com It did not do to well when I went to it. It refused my email and only some parts are functional. Who knows, Satan, time, or problems may be happening. It plays very well on a UM Player from vtuner.com and ok from their site. Great music. You may be tempted to swing, sway and worship our God who wants all to be saved.

Please write me and tell me if this stuff is informative or helpful. God Bless

scotttalbert1963@gmail.com.

The land of blessing and Big Questions in Houston

I live in Houston. For years this has been a one contemporary Christian music town. Over thirty years ago KSBJ was born out of the prayers of believers who began to seek outlets for Christian music. Commercial stations had been tried and failed. Christian music does not have a great track record of commercial stations. An exceptions may be KLTY in Dallas. The Christian community in Houston has been blessed with this outlet for many years. (www.ksbj.org) With the advent of online and HD radio, KSBJ proudly introduced NGEN to the public last year. This station plays youth oriented music and plays a lot of music KSBJ does not chose to play. NGEN (www.ngenradio.com) came out about a year ago online and as an HD2 Station last year. Because KSBJ has acquired a new terrestrial (real analog fm station) and some translators (low power fm stations) NGEN is now an HD-2, internet, smart phone and translator station. She is gaining a regular audience spread out around the Houston area.

This story has a real interesting twist now. The guys at EMF (Educational Media Foundation), the owners of the national network KLOVE (www.klove.com) have brought their rock oriented AIR1(www.air1.org) to town on a terrestrial frequency. EMF is huge in the Christian music world. If your town does not have a locally run station, you probably have a klove outlet near by. If that has done well then a AIR1 may also be near by. These stations also do huge internet broadcasting and rank well in listened to hours.

The elephant in the room may be “Is Houston big enough for these two music ministries?” Houston all ready supports KHCB(www.khcb.org) a teaching station that is one of the oldest Christian stations in town. A couple of commercial teaching outlets, and an AFR station, and a few others. Like many Texas towns they are donor money rich and Houston is a huge town.

Now some of my ideas and my ideas alone.

KSBJ is a fine Christians station. She actively ministers in the community she has chosen to call home. She is well know and well respected. She has been about the number 4 station in our markets for years. She has tried to have a presence in this town and on the street for 30 years. She has a huge reach from the Louisiana border to Victoria, this is most the upper Texas Gulf Coast. She has been an internet broadcaster for a long time and has a great signal strength in town and through a newly acquired sister frequency. She does have a tightly controlled play list that makes her attractive to females and older listeners. She will not lose this audience any time soon. She and NGEN do have an absolute stranglehold on concerts in the area. You can try to promote a Christian concert, but she just has the best machinery to do this. I have to think this has built up some folks who are not happy about this. Buddy Holiday wanted a good premium powered station to minister to the town, they have it and will have it as long as God blesses it. To over simplify her sound is to say she is the light rock station of the Christian music world of Houston.

Air1's parent EMF has some positives too. Experience and lots of cash. They have bought a rim shot (Close by station) outlet that can be heard over most of Houston. They play a harder format than KSBJ or their parent KLOVE. Sadly, my experience of KLOVE in Austin and Midland is that they can not be too involved in the community. They headquarters in California. They do a local events calendar and sometimes concert promotions. I would be stunned to see them do much in Houston. Will they stay? Are they testing the water? I just bet we will see a few bumper stickers and that will be that. It does not cost a lot to run a station with a satellite and transmitter and no studios. Their format is comparable to a straight CHR station with rock and very little rap. They do produce good dj driven rock radio. It is very good with djs around the clock.

NGEN is great stuff if you are young and young at heart. She plays rap and some pretty hard rock. She plays little the big sister plays. KSBJ has bent over backward to promote NGEN. NGEN started as an HD2, internet and low power fm station. She has gained some more translator and is being heard by a larger terrestrial audience. (Lets face it, you have not heard of too many single station internet broadcasting giants, but this is changing.) She is gaining folks who listen to her. She is the most youth oriented of the bunch. Think of her as a little sister among a big sister and a new kid in town. She will and can win the youth vote. She has djs most of the time, except on the overnight.

So, is their a pink elephant in the room? Not really, if all concerned just stick to their game. The town can support three stations of varying formats. If one of the three gets greedy, things may change. The scriptures are good here too. In Mark 9:38-41the disciples saw another person ministering in Christ name. They really wanted to stop the competition. Jesus said if they where honoring His name and working with power, leave them alone. In Acts the Jewish church wishes Paul well as he ministered to whole different bunch. Both had a place in God's plan. First Corinthians 3:5-9 is good here too. Let each minister and build up the body. Its all about God, not radio stations. Houston is just a blessed place for Christian Music, just pray for the ministries that are doing it now.

God Loves Rock and Roll

As a child of the late 70s and 80s I grew up with Pop Rock and Album Rock. I quickly gyrated toward the Album Rock crowd. As a youth, I awaited the latest releases of Jethro Tull, ELO, Led Zeppelin and the like. Sadly I also ran with a crowd that emulated some of the behavior. Despite this stupidity, God was not through loving me. During the midst of this time of rebellion in my life, God used Christian Rock to speak to me deeply and in moving ways. In those concerts I felt whole as a young emotional person wanting to know Jesus and express stuff that just did not fit the modern hymnolgy.

I learned names like Larry Norman (I wish we had all been ready.), Petra (The coloring song.), Steve Taylor (So you want to be a clone.), Stryper (To hell with the Devil) Daniel Amos, Servant, Resurrection Band, Degarmo and Key, and many others. This was not just typical Contemporary Christian stuff. This was music that unappolegitically turned up the volume and kept it up. The bands knew they were new wave and sometimes controversial, but they saved this little baptist boy's musical soul. This was where my journey with Christian music started and even at 49 I still like my music a wee bit on the loud side.

This form of Christian music took root on most Christian stations as an after thought on Saturday night, or Rock stations on a Sunday morning. Some Christian Rock stations came and went, but most went.

This form of music helped form my basic view of Christian music and worship all together. Music is 1 percent message. That message is huge and life changing. It is 99 percent culture. In Africa, I have sung the old Anglican Hymns on drums. In Africa, I have used a guitar to sing the latest worship in the bush. In some old church with a median age of 65, I have sung the great hymns with gusto with an organ and piano. In a contemporary setting, I have sung my friend Louie Giglio's Passion music with kids. And in a parking lot in Austin I have heard God praised with Rap lyrics that God was crazy about. Its all about that 1 percent. The music is about us. It's all good. I suspect God loves it all and has some stuff in heaven we are yet to hear and can understand.

As this blog is about internet radio, you can guess where I am going. I have some excellent suggestions. I will probably just give you a website then tell you if you can listen to it on www.vtuner.com to keep it simple. I like vtuner because it is big and easy to use. There are other services like tunein radio but I just don't have time to chase listings down. It also taxes an old pc a little more. Most of these stations have apps for Ipods and android phones or tablets too.

My favorite station in this category, is Ngen Radio, out of Houston's KSBJ. Ngen is KSBJs HD-2 station on HD radio. Interestingly enough, areas around Houston get it as a low power terrestrial (non HD) FM. In Houston you have to get it as a HD-2 on an HD radio. (Full blog column later.) This station can be heard at www.ngenradio.com or Vtuner. They play a mix of Christian Rock, Rap and other teen themed Christian music. They are hosted with live Djs from 6am to 10pm central US time. This is a really good public station that is making a difference all over Houston and the world. They will expand terrestrially this Summer.

The next station I want to discuss is Rise FM out of Dallas. This one is an interesting case. She is an HD-2 of an old Dallas station KVIL that's owned by CBS in Dallas. KVIL plays very commercial soft rock. Rise on the other hand plays very loud Christian rock. I have not heard Djs, but the music is awesome. They are at www.tunein.com/radio/1037-HD2-RISE-s67540 Vtuner also carries there signal. Look in USA, Christian Rock and Texas.

Another fine Dallas station comes to mind too. Power FM 98.7 is a terrestrial station that has been in Dallas for decades. They do have Djs and they are a player in a market dominated by a huge commercial Christian station called KLTY. Power FM plays good Christian rock. She is a non profit. You can find this station on www.897powerfm.com They are also on Vtuner.

A really great international outlet is Life Radio out of New Zealand. They are a typical Pacific Asian Christian Rock station. They may occasionally play a secular song. Its ok, its the song's message they are interested in. They play a format heavy in Christian music that is well picked out and hosted by Djs that are young and smart. I have tried to do a feature on this bunch, but they are a little slow getting back to me. They can be found at www.lifefm.co.nz They are also on vtuner. I have had some filter problems with this station, but the Vtuner access is fine.

Probally the biggest player in younger contemporary Christian music is KlOVe's Air1 station chain found around America. They play the mainline stuff on KLOVE and use Air1 to speak to a younger market. This is a well done, good sounding station with Djs. They can be found at www.air1.com and not on vtuner.

Oh yeah, the bible. Pslam 150 has always guided my thoughts on Christian music of any musical type. Read those 6 verses. Two words stick out with me in the NIV text “clash” and “resounding.” This is loud stuff. It woke it's listner up and moved them toward God. Another element strikes me too. No less than 7 instruments are listed. We gotta use a variety of instruments and styles to reach people. Also the text mentions dancing, but I will save that for later.

If you have a comment, or “amen” please write me at scotttalbert1963@gmail.com

Great news for Christian Music

and Rock fans in Houston

and around the world

KSBJ has now served the Houston area for about 30 years. Even in the old days they tried to have a progressive Christian rock show on Saturday nights from 10pm to 12 am called “Rock of Love.” As a young person I needed to hear believers expressing themselves with Rock and Roll. KSBJ itself has always majored on music and simply done a lot of ministry in the Houston area. It is one of the finest public supported stations in the world. It also has a local PPM rating to prove it. (It is always in the top five stations of the town.) As time rolled on, they added some translators in distant towns and a fine internet signal. When HD Radio came about they added a new station called NGEN. This station plays Christian Rock and Rap. It is the station the “Rock of Love” folks dreamed about. That station is also available on the internet and mobile devices. Recently KSBJ acquired a new signal west of town on a new signal. That gives the station two 100,000 watt plus outlets to serve a large part of the Texas Coast. This acquisition also allows engine to be on some old translators that are now in the middle of the new signal. Ngen will broadcasting from several live small translators and HD-2 on terrestrial radio. As of now, she only does this in two smaller close by markets and HD-2. NGEN has also provided an internet stream to vtuner.com This allows NGEN to be tuned in by many more internet listeners and several internet radios that use the site for stations.

Over the past years it has been exciting to see this ministry grow and reach the Upper Texas Gulf Coast and indeed the world. It is a top notch station. It has Djs 24/7 and has people who can pray with callers most of time. They also take prayer request by email and answer those too. They also are a leading promoter of concerts in the area too. NGEN is also coming into its own quicker than was expected. They will be in 5 or more markets terrestrially this July and do well as a station on the internet. Their new WMA internet signal is rock solid if you wish to grab it with vtuner.com You can also get it at their site and with mobile devices.

To get started with these two fine ministries you can go to ksbj.org or ngenradio.com

Scott, If you have questions please write scotttalbert1963@gmail.com