We recently had the chance to chat with Shane Hipps, author of The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture (and a FaithVisuals.com consulting editor). We talked about the importance of understanding how electronic media works, Marshall McLuhan's four laws of media, and how the power of visual media can also be used to manipulate. And that's just in this first half! We hope you find Hipps's insights as prophetic as we did—either way, feel free to comment and discuss below.

How can we be better about perceiving the power of media in both our churches and our lives?

Probably the best orientation that I've discovered to help me understand the real power of media was when I read a quote by Marshall McLuhan where he says, "The content of any medium is the juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind." What he's saying is that the medium itself has a power, a bias, and a meaning regardless of what message you put through it. He's challenging the metaphor that ...