BLOG 2024
DECEMBER 2024 | BLOG
Q&A w/ M.King: What Did M.King Learn from 2024?
In this Q&A with M.King, we speak with him about what he learned from 2024 and what he foresees for 2025 for M.King Media.
This year has been a year like none other for you. Tell us, what did you learn from this year that you feel you didn't know when it first started?
M.King: Well, to be honest with you, I don't think it's something I didn't know; I think it's something I just didn't wrap my head around spiritually as much as I did fleshly. It's the whole idea that God makes all things new, right? We love to relish in that; we love to think about that from a wonderful standpoint. But we don't realize that for God to make all things new, He has to get rid of all things old, right? You can't have, you know, water and oil in the same container. And so sometimes God has to allow something to happen for you to have something better.
Another thing that I realized this year is that sometimes when you have something better, He will still allow you to deal with trials and tribulations in order to show you just how good He is. (i.e., my car, my Chevy Spark) So, God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.
With the release of the annual report do you feel the ministry did well during its 11th ministry season?
M.King: All in all, I think the ministry did well. I can't complain about the progress we've made. I think one of the big things is the fact that we do still have goals for M. King Media. And one of the things we're going to have to do this year is make a pretty huge strategic move. Matter of fact, we've already started moving some resources around. But our goal is to expand our audience. And I think the best way to do that is to leave one partnership behind and get into another partnership. But we'll talk more about that in 2025.
With the Christmas season just recently passing us did you do anything special to celebrate?
M.King: Well, I did have to work, but I did try to make sure to talk to Mom a few days before Christmas. I spent a good bit of time focusing on the devotional, which I'm still working on, and also working on our new Christmas channel, which we will debut next year, in the winter of 2025. So, I think I spent quite a bit of time on that one. I also spent some time doing a lot of work as far as security goes
Looking ahead to 2025, do you feel like things are going to get better, change, or improve for your life and the ministry's life?
M.King: You know, if this year has taught me something, I think the one thing it's taught me is that we have to remain in faith. We can't let the trials and tribulations we go through stop us from seeing God's best. And to see God's best, you have to stay in faith, right? It's kind of like with my car, my new car, right? It's been through a lot in the month of October, but November and December haven't been bad months. You know, I don't want to live in the month of October 2024 constantly thinking about all the money that had to be spent. You know, I have to move forward. I have to have faith that God can do exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever ask or think. And the only way that's possible is by just continuing to claim it. So, I'm just claiming that things will get better and improve, not only for my life but for the ministry's life.
NOVEMBER 2024 | BLOG
Q&A w/ M.King: What Does It Mean To Fight The Good Fight?
In this Q&A with M.King, we talk about why he is going through trials and is still full of joy.
This month, you had something unexpected happen again. What happened, and what did you take away from it that has you motivated?
M.King: So this month, my Wi-Fi router pretty much died. So I had to go, gosh, about 2-3 days with no internet. That means no internet in my house. I wasn’t able to work on projects, nothing. It was quite the experience.
Thanks to God, I was able to meditate more on Christian music, and I was able to go to the movies two nights in a row. And definitely, I think I was able to just immerse myself more in the Lord and immerse myself more in different media projects (outside of M.King Media). So it was certainly a time for me to step back from me, but also it was a time for me to deal more with myself because of that quietness. Because I didn't have the internet as a distraction, I had to deal with just a few things that I think I was—I’m not going to say running away from—but I think I was kind of guilty of just sort of using my time on the internet to sort of not focus on as much.
So, looking at the year you’ve had, you have had a lot of stuff happen to you. When it’s all said and done, having this happen caught you off guard. Did you have a different response when you look at everything else you’ve been through all year?
M.King: You know, it’s kind of funny because when you go through so many trials and tribulations in a short amount of time—a year—it changes you, right? I was telling somebody, you know, I’ve been through so much, and things have gotten so low, I can’t get any lower. They’ve gotten so down, I can’t get any downer. You know, all God can do is take me up. So I think that’s what we have to understand sometimes. God has to deconstruct before He can construct. We just want God to build, build, build. Sometimes, God has to tear down to make all things new.
One of the things I’m thinking about right now is in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, they’re expanding the airport and they’re getting ready to build Concourse B. (2026) Well, to do this, they have to tear down portions of the older Concourse B (1960s) that they left on, which they used as an airline club lounge that they made for people to go in and just enjoy beverages and snacks and whatnot. Well, they have to tear that out and rip a hole there to build something new. And I think that’s what we need to realize is that, as believers, God is not going to always leave everything intact. He’s going to tear things out to put in something new.
So to wrap it up, what do you want people to walk away from with this blog post? What do you want people to leave with?
M.King: You know, I’m thinking about right now Paul when he says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” You know, he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him. He can be content in all situations because he has to go through a lot of situations. He had to go through things we wouldn’t dream of going through to have revelations that we could only dream of having. You get it, right? So I think for me, I’m thankful. Right, just recently, I found out one of my coworkers—so to speak, I don’t necessarily work with her, but she works near our security desk—her house burned down. And it made me think, “You know, I’m thankful for what I have.” Granted, I’ve been through a lot. My car totaled, router died, cell phone died, computer died, transmission died—a lot of stuff has died—but I’m still thankful. It could have been much worse.
OCTOBER 2024 | BLOG
Q&A w/ M.King: A Little Can Go Far
In this Q&A with M. King, we talk with him about October, what caught him completely off guard, and what God did to allow him to turn this unfortunate event into his 7th devotional.
So, October was going to be about a different 7th devotional, but those plans changed when something happened to your car?
M.King: So yeah, the month of October was going to be about a devotional I wanted to write called "He's Coming on a White Horse." Well, I had gotten into that devotional when all of a sudden, I started having problems with my car. My car wouldn't accelerate from an intersection, so after hitting the gas pedal many times, my car would finally go. Well, I ended up having a mechanic look at it, and that total thing cost about $1,000. Well, I ended up learning that there was a special coverage warranty on my specific car because of the transmission, and so right now, I'm getting that transmission replaced. But on top of that, I got to pay another $2,800 to get the timing cover replaced because the timing chain, which has oil in it, is leaking.
Oh wow, so this whole event caught you off guard, and it's been a tough month, huh?
M.King: This month has been one of those months where I'm just thankful that I have a great boss who's willing to take me to work. But it has been a hard month. You know, you just want to get in your car and go somewhere, and you're having to deal with thing after thing after thing. But I'm thankful that the transmission is covered because that could have easily been a $5,000 to $6,000 expense.
It's been challenging because you don't realize just how much you're focused on something or how much you let something drive you (no pun intended) until it's not around. Not having my car has presented difficulties and challenges, but it's been documented in this new devotional coming out.
So, what you're trying to say is that this month has been difficult, but God's hand has been with you, and now we're going to hear about this whole thing in a devotional?
M.King: God has very much been encouraging me the last month to write down everything. This whole thing just happened at the beginning of this month, and it's crazy to think about how downhill everything went because we didn't necessarily know the transmission was going out. God had me documenting the whole journey all the way through, and it's going to be a very interesting devotional, just the insight God has given me through my car, with and without it. And it's funny because you know, having to walk back and forth to Walmart, which is more than a mile away, God just gives you insight into the little things. So for that, I'm very thankful. And even though I've lost some money along the way, money gone is not gone in God's eyes. It's money that is yet to return. I'm going to come through this.
So, for anybody wondering about the new devotional, what is it called, and when will it come out?
M.King: Well, considering all things, this devotional hopefully will come out next month, and it will be called, I think it's going to soon be called 20 or 21 Things God Showed Me Through My Car. And it's going to be a really good book, right? And it's just going to dive into the Word of God and just little things that God told me. So it's going to be part biblical insight, part journal. And I've never done something like this before, but I think it's going to be good, and I think it's going to impact a lot of lives
SEPTEMBER 2024 | BLOG
Q&A w/ M.King: A Little Can Go Far
In this Q&A with M.King, we talk with M.King about the donation that was given to "United Food Bank" and how he believes, as Christians, we've been called to do more in our community by using the little things God has given us.
Just recently, you filmed Motivate 2024. How do you think the event went, and what do you think people gained?
M.King: To be honest with you, I think the event went well. I think people were blessed by it, I think God used and will continue to use the event to bless countless lives.
You know, when it comes down to it, this year's event theme was Soar. I talked about Elisha and Gehazi, I talked about how everyone can soar, but there are different things you have to go through to get there, and so at the end of the day, I think people got something out of it, and I think people are going to continue to be blessed by it.
For this year's event, the decision was made to donate to United Food Bank. What brought that on?
M.King: You know in years past we've done Taco Bell. We bought Taco Bell for people. We paid for people's food at Village Inn. We paid for people's food at Chick-fil-A. We bought tons of food and hydration packets for migrants coming into the country. This year I felt led by God to partner with the United Food Bank and donate through them to provide 400 meals. So I think it's funny. It seems like every year we do something involving food, and honestly, it's funny how even God recognizes that, and so this year kind of fits the motif.
You know, when it comes down to our giving, what do you think people need to remember when it comes to being a blessing to others and doing what God is calling them to do with what they have in their hands?
M.King: You know I think people really need to come to the understanding that one giving is not about you I understand that maybe you don't have a lot of money or funds right now but it's tough to comprehend this but that's the best time to give when you think about the widows might she gave out of her little but in God's kingdom she has an abundance when you think about people who lost their children in the Bible they came to the people of God and in their lack they gave everything they had emotionally right and God ended up raising their children from the dead when you think about the woman with the issue of blood right she had given everything but when she came to the Lord that's when she got everything returned to her so a lot of times when you don't have a whole lot you have to understand that the only way you're going to get from God is by giving to God right it's just like in this ministry we have to understand that sometimes we're called to make a giving and not a living and I think we all have to realize that
AUGUST 2024 | BLOG
Q&A w/ M.King: The 11th Ministry Season Comes to an End
In this Q&A with M.King we sit down and talk with M.King about the 11th ministry season what's taking place that he liked, what's taking place that he didn't like, and just what he sees for the 12th ministry season as we move forward into September 2024.
For most of 2023, you celebrated the 10th anniversary of M.King Media it seems that most of this year we've been I would say moving on from that anniversary and preparing for the next decade?
M.King: I never imagined 2023 would be the end of that first decade. It's funny how you look back and don't realize that you're celebrating the end of something. I don't think I ever imagined that this year the 11th ministry season was about changing our perspective and changing our focus. When I say that, I mean we spent, almost half of the ministry season focusing on operations behind the scenes, going from changing up the website and the language of the website to focusing on operations, changing from a more media-centric focus to a more nonprofit-centric focus, and creating a new web look. Right now, we're remodeling our store. Right now, we're looking for ways to reach out to the public and bring them closer to Christ while bringing in more income. It's interesting to see how God has shown us how to remodel the organization to help us move forward, and because of that it doesn't, put less of a fire in me; it puts more of a fire in me.
So now when you look back at the 11th ministry season what are you most proud of, what are you thanking God for behind the scenes?
M.King: You know, honest to goodness, I think when I look back on this ministry season, it's not like the 10th anniversary ministry season. This ministry season is different because I think I am thanking God for the ability to step back. I'm getting to know when to say. At the end of 2023, I started doing "Cross First News" in early winter, and God pushed me to my limit, because of that I didn't make any real media productions for a few months, but during that time God was able to have me step back and free my mind up to focus on the operations, so for that I'm thankful. Believe it or not, I'm very thankful.
So naturally when you look back at this 11th ministry season what's something that happened that you almost wish didn't happen?
M.King: One thing that caught me off guard was the computer blackout at the end of July on the 26th. It was funny because God forewarned me to start saving everything in the cloud and to try to get everything off that computer. While it ended up no longer working and technically went out because of the power button, God still made a way for me to step back and reevaluate things. It doesn't mean that everything went the way I would have hoped.
I'm currently uploading all of our videos into the cloud, and we finally got all our pictures uploaded. I'm having to go back in and redo the lower thirds graphics we had in our video editing software because everything that I thought was saved wasn't saved, in the end, it was something that happened and it was an inconvenience but at the end of the day I'm thankful for it. It gave me perspective and helped me sit back and understand that God is in control and while we got everything back and there was some time I was concerned, it has helped me to sit back and understand that for God to make all things new, all things old have to go.
JULY 2024 | BLOG
Q&A w/ M.King: M.King Media Was Temporarily in the Dark
This Q&A with M.King will talk about an unfortunate event in July that left M.King Media temporarily in the dark.
What just recently happened on July 26th that many people won't believe?
M.King: Well, I'll start the day before... July 25th. I found myself coming home from work trying to get on to my laptop, and the power button on my laptop was getting harder and harder to push, and this only happened within two or three days before the 25th. Well Lord and behold, on the 25th, I couldn't turn on my laptop and work on any media. On the 26th of July, which was a Friday, I had to buy a brand new laptop, and that meant our archives with photos and videos were still on the old laptop.
You mean to tell, me that your laptop died and there was no way for you to access projects and things that you had to do?
M.King: So it's funny, how God is because he was putting on my heart to start focusing on moving a lot of the major things over to the cloud, and bless God, we were able to get everything but the photos and videos, and the majority of what we do is photos and videos, so yeah, I didn't have access to a lot of the important stuff that I need.
So for you, how did that make you feel? I'm sure you must have felt a sense of helplessness.
M.King: I feel like helpless is an understatement, not only did I have to hear the fact that they couldn't fix my laptop because of the power button, then I had to go buy a new laptop, so it was a blessing in disguise because I had great people help me, but it was a moment where you're leaning on God, and even after the 26th after I got the laptop, I still had to lean on God because they had to transfer all the photos and videos from the laptop's motherboard into a hard drive so I could have access to it.
So I'm sure you have certainly gone through it trying to make sure projects stay on schedule and everything, so how are things looking now?
M.King: To be honest with you, when you go through the storm and you haven't had a lot of rain and you come out and you smell the air, the air smells clean. All I can say is that God is cleaning things up. He is giving me a fresh new laptop. Crystal-clear pages are loading faster. There are certain websites that I was having trouble with because of the website, It was the old laptop that I was using. So it's been a blessing in disguise, and I'm thankful for it.
JUNE 2024 | BLOG
Q&A w/ M.King: A New Platform For the Future
In this Q&A with M.King, we talk with M.King about God answering his prayer for ministry growth.
So when you prayed for growth, God gave you an answer you didn't see coming?
M.King: You know He did. It's interesting how we don't think about God answering our prayers until we have the answer, but what if God answered your prayer before you knew you needed the answer? For me, this involves running M.King Media daily. I have to keep tabs on many tasks and projects, and lately, I have been falling behind. So what intrigues me is that God directed me to start using a project management platform I heard about in August of 2023 while volunteering at church.
So what's the difference between the old way of tracking projects and the new platform you're using?
M.King: So the old way was me using a notepad to track everything, and for me, it made sense for such a long time, but it's funny how looking back at it now, it didn't give me the same big-picture perspective as the new platform does.
Now, with the new platform, which I'm still learning, I'm able to track different projects, as far as admin, operations, media projects, and even fundraising projects. It lets me see how many days until it's due; the new platform allows me to see all the plates I'm spinning at one time, unlike a notepad pad; and the coolest thing is that on our "project board," I can add different columns to fit my style of planning. It's something I wish I had had years ago.
So as M.King Media begins to move forward what's on the horizon, what is in the works?
M.King: Honestly, at the end of the day, I always saw God allowing me to go full-time into M.King Media by giving me the finances to do so, but little did I know this was the first real and important step in going full-time. I'm excited to see what God is going to do as we continue to embrace his will as he takes us into the next decade and continues to answer our prayers, even if it doesn't look like the answer we were looking for.
MAY 2024 | BLOG
Q&A w/ M.King: 11 Years of M.King Media
In this Q&A with M.King, we talk with M.King about M.King Media marking and celebrating its 11th birthday.
How does it feel to mark the 11th birthday of M.King Media?
M.King: Almost surreal, it's hard to believe that 5 months ago we wrapped up celebrating our 10th Anniversary, and here we are now celebrating our 11th birthday. I guess it goes to show you just how God is, how when you focus on what God is calling you to do and not so focused on meeting deadline after deadline, time can get away from you meeting God's deadlines instead of man-made ones.
So when you look at M.King Media marking its 11th birthday what's different about this year compared to last year?
M.King: This year I feel like we've been focusing more on the operation side. Last year by May 20th I think we were looking back at what God has done and celebrating what God can do, this year with our 11th ministry season we're focusing on what God can do but, we're putting actions behind words. We've been working more on our website, we've been working more on our website language, we're working on a few projects behind the scenes and I think it's been weird for me because I'm used to just pumping out media media media media media media media but, now God is like "hey let's take a step back and do fewer media and do more behind the scenes upgrades and maintenance so, I kind of think it's almost like a remodel in the works.
So as M.King Media begins to move forward what's on the horizon, what is in the works?
M.King: Well I can tell you for a fact, one of the things we have in the works is we are trying to wrap our head around how to bring in more income. Last year we spent a little over $7,000 running just the base operations of M.King Media and people might say that's not a whole lot of money but, again you have to remember I'm scraping money together to make this stuff happen. When you're doing that as well as trying to pay your bills personally that's a bit much and I'm not a wealthy man by any means.
So to try to increase our donations we are doing 2 projects. The first is updating our store to sell M.King Media branded items, from our logo to our title card, and even specialty stores during Easter and Christmas, we want to truly remodel our store to better fit our mission. The second thing we are doing is launching a photo project called "The Heavens Declare the Glory". The idea behind this project is to sell 24x36 exclusive framed photos that I have taken to people on social media. We'll start on Facebook Marketplace and go from there.
Note: Both projects will start in the Summer of 2024.
APRIL 2024 | BLOG
Q&A w/ M.King: A Better Brand Experience
In this Q&A with M King, we go behind the scenes and talk about what's going on operations-wise. This month we're going to talk about how M.King is studying and doing research to improve the brand that is M.King Media
So, for those who don't quite understand the definition of a brand, can you elaborate on that?
M.King: Well I think first and foremost to understand what a brand is we have to understand that a lot of people think a brand is just a logo right I think one of the things that I've had to learn is that a brand is very much an experience it's not just something that you see when you hit an organization's website it's also something that you see that's kind of behind the scenes right like we're doing Disney and Publix we're studying both of these brands to understand just how they do what they do. We're studying Disney because they are great at storytelling everything, they do all the stories they tell to captivate people. We're studying Publix because they are a brand I grew up with and their slogan for a little over 50 years give or take has always been “Where shopping is a pleasure” and I literally must tell ya I agree with that 100%.
In the end, I wanted to do research into two brands that I felt could help push M.King Media INC. into the next decade and help us become more of what God wants us to be and believe it or not, just because these two organizations are secular doesn't mean they're not applying principles that we can't use.
So one of the brands you mentioned was Disney, can you share with us what you learned doing research?
M.King: One of the things I learned is that Disney is not selling products but selling ideas. When they sell an idea then they sell countless products, for example when Disney talks about their resorts they don't talk about “ ride this ride, ride that ride”, see fireworks they talk about how it's going to make you feel, they show pictures of people laughing and they sell the emotion of being at a Disney Park. So, for me doing M.King Media I think that's something that I've always been challenged with, trying not to sell our media.
As we grow as a nonprofit organization, I need to sell the emotion, the joy of the Lord, the happiness, and the feeling you can overcome. That's what we're trying to bring to the table and promote and get people to see our media, so that's something I learned from Disney.
So, for those out there reading this wondering why this is so important to this nonprofit that just got through marking its 10th anniversary, what would you say to them?
M.King: You know I would say that it's important that we focus on not only what we offer but how we offer it to people. Don't quote me on this, but I think it’s said that people don't focus on what you said but on how you made them feel. I know that can be hard for us as believers because we know the word of God, it's just hard to show it to people and get them to feel the way God wants them to feel.
It's not always about feeling, but it's important to relate to the public and how we can help them feel the way God wants them to feel. Coming out of depression into peace, coming out of financial worry into this feeling of being financially ready. It can be hard for people to understand that God wants them to have success, but I think what we must understand is that godly success is not always money, it's not always about having everything you want. At the end of the day, I think this brand strategy is going to help our ministry project what God wants us to project and that's helping to use our media to prove that just as the heavens declare the glory of the Lord, the creativity God gives us can do the same and influence people in the process.
Note: M.King Media's brand research project should be done come the summer of 2024
MARCH 2024 | BLOG
Q&A w/ M.King: Lets Meet at the Cross
This Q&A, with M.King talks about his latest animated story being produced Meet Me at the Cross, and goes behind the scenes to tell us the story behind the story.
So what made you want to create an animated story called Meet Me at the Cross?
M.King: You know living in this day and time, where the cross is seldom looked to, I wanted to remind viewers that the cross still has meaning, sometimes (I feel) the best way to convey that is to look at things from a more personable perspective, not a condemning perspective (I.e. you need to do this and that x y z).
So your approach to this story, what were you going for, when you started crafting the narrative for this production?
M.King: When I started crafting this story I wanted to do a more old-timey narrative. During the process, I envisioned a Southern Baptist church (where my grandmother went when I was growing up) and I envisioned a male (or female) going up and simply telling a poem if you will about the good times in life and how the enemy can come against us and how we have to meet at the cross.
So the artwork you created, what was the idea behind that image?
M.King: So with the artwork, one side is a calm cool beach, and the other is a hot active volcano. My idea behind this artwork was to create an image to show the viewer that the cross can either push back the darkness and hold us in the light, or draw us from the darkness into His marvelous light but, through it all the cross is always there.
Note: Meet Me at the Cross will debut in May 2024
FEBRUARY 2024 | BLOG
Q&A w/ M.King: A Media Initiative for St. Patrick's Day
During this Q&A with M.King, we talked with M.King about the media initiative being launched in March to celebrate St Patrick's Day
So this March is St Patrick's Day, this year M King Media is launching a media initiative for people to enjoy a past media project?
M.King: Yes, well as some people may know who've been with our ministry for a while, back in 2021 we did a mini-documentary on St Patrick. For a while it was free and for some time on our website it's been behind a paywall, well for March in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I would like to release it to the public for free, to enjoy and learn about the incredible life and faith that St. Patrick lived out.
So what prompted you to do this special initiative for St. Patrick's Day?
M.King: Well, actually it was 2 things that prompted this media initiative. The 1st was that originally we were going to do this as a way to encourage those going through tough seasons in their walk of faith.
I felt impressed in my heart to do this because I just went through a season where I got in a car accident, spent a month looking for the car I now have, and for some time was dealing with my apartment complex to renew my lease, so all these things together really made me feel like I was under attack.
The 2nd thing was that we were gonna do another mini-documentary until we saw that another faith-based ministry was doing something similar for St Patrick's Day and that helped to inspire us to focus on St. Patrick as well.
Note: St Patrick: Patron Saint of the Irish is a 12-minute and 57-second mini-documentary. It will be free to stream from March 1st to the 17th.
JANUARY 2024 | BLOG
Q&A w/ M.King: Momentum to Move the Mission Forward
In this Q&A we talk with M.King about what was done to kick off 2024 and how it's helping to move M.King Media's mission forward
This year just started as a rough year for you but, it seems like there has been work going on behind the scenes to move the mission forward?
M.King: Well for starters yes the year has started off kind of rough. I unfortunately got in a car accident on the 23rd of January but, bless God I'm healing, it's not terrible terrible horrible pain it's just a little stiffness but, I'm healing. I have also been working on the website and getting it more focused on our cause and pulling the website away from our 10th Anniversary. One of the ways we're doing that is we're changing our video players to YouTube video players and, we're also really trying to get people more interested in what we do and how we do it by changing some website write-ups.
So with all these changes you're making do you feel like it's a noticeable change or do you feel like it's a significant change?
M.King: I feel like it's certainly a significant change because this is us really trying to say "hey we're a non-profit organization this is our cause". Up until now it was us really trying to emulate more streaming services and really trying to focus more on different projects but, I think now it's us trying to say "this is our cause and this is how it connects to the world and this is how you can join us".
Note: To enjoy the changes at M.King Media.com, simply head to the website and look on the homepage and media page.