Transcript [00:00] [Music] [00:04] I will tell you that just maybe three or [00:05] four years ago I didn't know what the [00:07] nrb was I'd never heard of it before [00:09] maybe many of you listening to this show [00:11] don't know what the nrb is well we're [00:13] going to educate you about it because [00:15] the guy who runs the whole darn thing is [00:17] a friend of ours named Troy Miller and [00:19] he invited us a couple of years ago to [00:20] come to it first one I guess it was just [00:22] last year went to the Nashville event [00:24] and they move every year uh this year [00:26] it's in Dallas and I had so much fun and [00:28] it was such an impactful visit in [00:30] Nashville I said can we go back and Troy [00:33] said of course come down and so now [00:34] we're in Dallas for this um now this is [00:36] not I mean it's my second one but it's [00:38] been going on for years now the National [00:40] Religious uh formally it was called [00:42] broadcasters Troy I don't know how you [00:44] how do you refer to it today media [00:46] communicators communicators National [00:48] Religious communicators now you have to [00:50] change the B to a c we do yeah that's [00:52] and that's the amazing thing by the way [00:54] he runs the whole thing Troy Miller is [00:55] the president of the National Religious [00:57] broadcasters but that's um look we've [00:59] all been going through it anybody that's [01:01] been around broadcasting for any amount [01:02] of time knows the media landscape has [01:05] shifted and I've never seen I don't know [01:07] about you but this has got to be the [01:09] biggest Consortium of if you want [01:12] content producers in the world gathered [01:15] here yeah it really is this is the [01:17] largest gathering of Christian content [01:19] producers anywhere in the world and I [01:21] think we'd probably really argue we're [01:24] probably one of the largest that meets [01:25] here so there was we we just broke a [01:27] record we have over 5,300 100 people [01:30] here wow by the end of the week with [01:32] people that'll be rolling in at door we [01:34] probably will be over 5,600 or so that [01:37] are running around here so it's it's a [01:40] it's the one time that all of these [01:42] folks whether you're a podcaster a radio [01:44] broadcaster television uh book publisher [01:48] filmmaker you you name it if you're in [01:50] communicate you're a church and you're [01:51] just you're just casting your service [01:54] you're here because you want to know [01:55] what's going on in this industry and you [01:57] want to know how to reach people for the [01:58] gospel better than you did last year we [02:01] were just talking about the Associated [02:03] Press in court tied up in court with the [02:05] president because he's limited their [02:07] access on Air Force One in the Oval [02:09] Office and I just made the point I think [02:12] gone are the days that we all need to [02:15] get our news from the Associated Press [02:17] to your point oh absolutely I think that [02:19] that this last election cycle I think [02:22] showed that that kind of eras that that [02:24] the mainstream Legacy Media and look [02:27] Chris not all of that is technology a [02:29] lot of that is their own fault yes it's [02:31] really is their own fault I mean the [02:32] propaganda we call the AP we call them [02:34] the American propaganda house right yes [02:36] you know they're not really press [02:38] anymore we've lost journalism in the [02:40] Legacy uh uh media area and people now [02:43] have access to podcast and streams you [02:46] they can get you over the Salem Radio [02:48] Network or they can get you live [02:49] streaming and that's really opened up [02:51] the doors and taken that role away from [02:53] those Legacy Gatekeepers what does the [02:56] nrb uh when you focus specifically [02:58] obviously the core word in it really [02:59] religious broadcasters people of [03:01] different faiths it's not it um [03:03] interestingly people should not I mean [03:05] it's not exclusively Christians that [03:07] attend right I mean there are some folks [03:08] of the Jewish faith I know that's right [03:10] there are some folks of the Jewish faith [03:11] that attend as well we have our Catholic [03:13] brothers and sisters are here as well uh [03:16] that attend and we have a lot of [03:18] conservative media here uh because [03:20] conservative media has found a real home [03:23] and they and they have a real affinity [03:25] for their Christian audience so I that's [03:29] I will tell you that I just my personal [03:31] life in the last few years doing this [03:32] show uh embracing faith I have realized [03:36] is something the audience desperately [03:38] wants and I stupidly for years tried to [03:41] hide under a basket so to speak and I I [03:43] regret it that I spent a number of years [03:45] on the air thinking that the best way to [03:46] appeal to a broad swath is to not talk [03:49] about my own faith and my own testimony [03:51] actually just the opposite yeah it [03:53] really is and last night at our opening [03:55] session we released some research data [03:57] we did with the Bara group and it really [03:59] kind kind of blew us away and one of the [04:01] things that was that that came out of [04:03] that group so we wanted to know who [04:05] consumes religious media and what do [04:07] they think about it 62% almost 2third of [04:12] of Americans that responded consume some [04:15] sort of Christian Media it's some time [04:18] within the within the month uh uh and [04:20] now how about you identify that that's [04:21] really that's a stunning number 63% of [04:24] Americans consume some sort of [04:25] faith-based media in the course of a [04:28] month did you say yeah I think it was in [04:29] the course of a month over the month so [04:31] sometime they're tuning in and listening [04:33] so that could be a that could be a that [04:35] could be a podcast that could be a radio [04:37] program that could be television that [04:39] could be streaming and we specifically [04:41] ask not your pastor's sermon yes so not [04:44] not just your pastor sermon are you [04:46] consuming something else it could be [04:48] going to a Christian film uh all of [04:51] those were in there and the other [04:52] amazing thing about it was that the [04:53] number of people that said when they [04:54] were looking for Christian Media it [04:58] wasn't just that they were trying to [04:59] avoid secular media although that was [05:01] pretty high it was that they were [05:03] actually looking especially amongst [05:05] younger adults they were looking for [05:06] something that was going to be positive [05:09] encouraging and give them hope oh my [05:10] gosh this coincides beautifully with [05:12] what we know about the national politic [05:15] right now um I can't speak to young [05:17] women I'm fascinated with the stat [05:19] though maybe because it's personal to my [05:20] house I have a 20-year-old and a [05:21] 19-year-old son both of whom voted for [05:24] the first time both of whom voted for [05:26] Trump not at my goting or encouragement [05:28] they just did and I noticed as they were [05:30] coming up and they were getting ready to [05:31] vote for the first time they were [05:33] tending and trending a more conservative [05:36] again it's not just cuz Dad is I I don't [05:38] really talk much about politics with [05:40] them they have attended worship with us [05:42] and things like that but what I noticed [05:44] amongst young men Troy was this [05:46] desperate need to get back to basics [05:48] they want truth they want things in [05:51] black and white they're tired of this [05:53] notion that men can be women and women [05:56] can be men and if you're born a male [05:58] you're inherently a bad guy [06:00] young men are trending more conservative [06:03] and more faithful in in Christianity as [06:06] I understand it yeah which goes with [06:07] some other trends that we've seen that [06:09] young men now are the highest the uh [06:12] demographic that are returning to [06:13] churches so that demographic of young [06:16] men going to churches would correlate [06:18] with that as well and again look Society [06:21] for so long has beat them down look just [06:24] be honest I have two sons as well [06:26] they're in their one's 30 and 29 but [06:29] they Society has so for so long beat [06:31] them down and told them they couldn't be [06:33] who they are yes and they they figured [06:35] out as they got through you know [06:37] especially you get through your 20s [06:39] guess what that's that's just not true [06:41] they've been lied to they've been [06:44] manipulated and they and like you said [06:46] there's a real push back how this is [06:49] maybe a a deeper theological question [06:51] than you're prepared to answer as [06:53] president of the National Religious [06:54] broadcasters but I've been intrigued [06:56] with how churches and I actually you [06:58] guys are putting on conferences here [06:59] this is not just a gathering of media [07:01] talking to one another you guys put on [07:03] breakout sessions I'm privileged to be a [07:05] part of a session today as a matter of [07:06] fact talking about the family uh but you [07:10] had a whole seminar yesterday devoted to [07:13] Ai and how AI can be incorporated into [07:17] people's Ministries and things like that [07:19] talk talk a little about that because I [07:21] I think some Churches probably are [07:23] pretty nervous about it yeah well look [07:25] every every technology that's come [07:27] around since the bow and arrow has been [07:29] used for good and for evil right you [07:31] know and so one one of the things we do [07:33] here is really talk about and it's a lot [07:35] of my tech background too so Tech is uh [07:37] we talk about the Innovation that's [07:39] going on in the industry you know and AI [07:41] is a big innovation and it's going to be [07:43] there whe whether we're nervous about it [07:45] or not and look as a Christian we know [07:48] that God controls every domain every [07:50] single domain that's out there God [07:53] controls so there's a lot that AI can do [07:55] for the church there's a lot it can do [07:57] for even local Ministries but let me [07:58] tell you about one cool project there's [08:00] an AI group I was at a seminar last [08:02] summer with a group they're finished [08:04] their language model in the next two to [08:07] three years will have the bible [08:09] translated in every spoken language on [08:13] the planet every spoken language [08:15] remember you know Jesus said take take [08:17] the gospel to all the nations we live in [08:20] the greatest time for communicators the [08:22] greatest time there's no been no time in [08:24] history where the device in your pocket [08:27] can instantly connect you to anybody [08:30] around the world at any time so in in [08:33] your point of view I mean I I share it I [08:35] think and this is probably what you'd [08:36] have people know is you don't have to [08:38] necessarily be afraid of AI it can be [08:40] Wicked and awfully dangerous but you can [08:43] use it as a tool oh yeah it's like any [08:45] other tool it's the people behind it so [08:47] I would rather see pastors and and and [08:51] Bible teachers and professors and [08:53] communicators using AI behind AI than [08:57] some other secular leftist out out there [08:59] behind it just pushing out their [09:01] propaganda my wife and I were just [09:02] talking about this at dinner AI [09:03] specifically talking about writing books [09:06] preparing speeches remarks you know from [09:08] time to time a group will come ask me to [09:09] speak or uh maybe I need to write a [09:12] column I know AI can spit it out I don't [09:15] know if you guys have talked much about [09:16] this the ethics of it all I I I honestly [09:20] I feel guilty when I think about the [09:22] prospect of saying write a 10-minute [09:24] speech for me Ai and it would now maybe [09:27] it wouldn't be great but where do you [09:29] come down on that and by the way let's [09:30] throw sermons in there for pastors huh [09:32] well that's a big one that we're people [09:34] are talking about and struggling with [09:35] because if AI is your sermon generator [09:38] then what does that say about you as a [09:40] pastor how much time are you spending in [09:42] the word how much time are you studying [09:43] or are you just are you just a you know [09:46] uh uh somebody that's giving up and [09:48] giving a speech that somebody else wrote [09:49] you know and and the other thing about [09:51] it so we we're working on that side of [09:53] the ethics of it but also there's the [09:55] intellectual property side of all of [09:57] this so let's just take for example what [09:59] if somebody takes a last last night uh [10:02] Jack hibs gave the opening session [10:03] Pastor out of California what if [10:05] somebody you you know takes all of his [10:07] sermons and then starts kicking out Jack [10:10] Hibbs but they tweak the AI so it has a [10:14] little bit of leftist view or liberal [10:16] view of the scriptures you know yes so [10:18] how does that work and how does that [10:20] come into and and what you know the [10:22] information that these AI engines are [10:24] taking from is really important it's [10:27] it's it's an amazing discussion and I'm [10:29] so glad that you're tackling it that's [10:30] the thing you guys have always got to be [10:31] sort of a little every year you gather I [10:33] suppose there's a new something there's [10:36] a new arrow in the quiver to go off the [10:38] analogy you used off the top here that [10:40] you guys have got to be in front of [10:41] that's right there's something new [10:42] coming out we we it seems like [10:45] technology is moving at light speed and [10:47] sometimes it may be moving faster than [10:49] we can even figure out how it really [10:51] should be applied I always like the line [10:53] from Jurassic Park you guys were so busy [10:55] trying to figure out whether you could [10:56] do it you never stopped to think about [10:58] whether you should do it strong Troy [11:00] Miller if people have not come to the [11:01] nrb before and um you know they're [11:04] listening why should they is is this [11:06] purely for people that are in the [11:08] business of communicating or is this for [11:09] people that consume it too no this is [11:11] for both sides not only people that that [11:14] are in the business and there's a lot of [11:15] folks here and look hey if you come in [11:17] and you're you're an audience listener [11:19] you're probably going to meet or see one [11:20] of your favorite you know personalities [11:23] uh on conservative or Christian radio [11:25] but also for the people who are out [11:26] there last night we talked about another [11:27] stat the average social media user [11:31] reaches over 480 people 480 people wow [11:34] the largest the the average Church in [11:36] America is 150 so you have a chance to [11:39] influence a lot of people in your circle [11:42] and you want to know how to do that [11:43] better we can tell you I Troy I spoke to [11:46] a group of students the other day I said [11:47] you guys have never been in a luckier [11:48] spot when I was your age I had to make [11:51] it onto a radio station or a television [11:53] station you guys have got the world in [11:55] your pocket that's right you can make a [11:56] show right now that's what they do here [11:57] at the nrb Troy you've been a great [11:59] friend and I'm so uh appreciative that [12:01] you introduced me to this and now it's [12:04] someplace I want to be every single year [12:05] so thank you well thank you for being [12:07] with us Troy Miller president of the nrb [12:10] you can follow them by the way at nrb [12:12] CEO
