August 2006 – There is a solution to the negative influences of secular media says Al Menconi. It’s called the Full Tilt Media Challenge (FTMC). It could be called a “tune-out, plug-in, grow-up” plan. The San Diego man has been singing that song since 1972. At the time, he was a young teacher discovering how much negativity permeated the secular music his students listened to, even in the Christian high school where he taught

A decade later, he founded Al Menconi Ministries, and since 1982 he has been crisscrossing the U.S., leading seminars and conferences for schools, churches, parent or teen groups and anyone else who’ll listen. Subsequently, more than a million people have been challenged to try the FTMC. 

In an ideal context, Menconi partners with churches, Christian radio stations, Christian schools and/or families in a 30-day FTMC. The project gives participants a chance to experience the positive influence of a strictly Christian music diet, and taking the challenge as a part of a group adds an element of encouragement for participants.

The AFR-Menconi challenge 
AFA/American Family Radio (AFR) is joining Menconi to challenge listeners and supporters to try the FTMC. Menconi Ministries provides the resources to make participating easy and effective. The AFR challenge will focus on the month of September. But Menconi emphasizes that it’s something a family can do on their own at any time they choose. 

“I had a radio station manager contact me after he stumbled across FTMC,” Menconi said. “He tried it and he saw a dramatic change in his life. He was so excited about it that he gave it to his older daughter, who was an adult with a family that was going through spiritual struggles. He challenged her to go through the FTMC, and when she was done, she saw a complete change in her life.”

Menconi said people just don’t understand what a positive impact Christian music, Christian literature, Christian anything can have on our lives. As one Scriptural foundation for his ministry, he cites Colossians 3:2; “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

“What Al has developed is a perfect fit for what we’re trying to do with AFR Christian radio,” said Tim Wildmon, president of AFA/AFR. “We’re excited about the Full Tilt Media Challenge and we hope our supporters will take the challenge. It can only bear positive results.”

The FTMC is based on a simple principle that lifts up the positive impact of listening to Christian music. While Menconi has been teaching this principle for decades, he has now fine-tuned his seminar content into a media package that guides participants easily through the 30-day period.

“We’re in a spiritual war,” said Menconi, “and we really believe the entertainment industry is supplying the majority of the ammunition in that war. If that’s true, this is not a minor issue. It is a major issue.

“The FTMC is asking you to make a stand against negative entertainment for 30 days. We’re going to ask you to turn off negative entertainment that is undermining your faith in Jesus Christ and the joy of your salvation for 30 days and to listen exclusively to Christian music – just for 30 days.”

For the FTMC, Menconi has developed materials to help churches and families make the most of the program. One is a CD compilation of great Christian music. The second, a book titled Full Tilt Media Challenge, is a useful 30-day devotional guide including questions and spaces for interactive study.

While the focus of FTMC is music, Al’s daily devotionals cover the broader range of entertainment media. His devotion for day 2 appears on the facing page. The devotionals include engaging personal stories, Scriptural commentary, practical projects and probing questions.

The AFA-Menconi connection
Menconi is gratified to be partnering with AFA/AFR. He  believes the project will now reach thousands more families with a positive message and a challenge that can change the way they look at media. He also believes it offers AFR radio stations a great opportunity to connect with local churches and listeners.

But Menconi also has a deep, personal appreciation for AFA. He says that as a school teacher in San Diego in the 1980s, he thought he was the Lone Ranger speaking out on these media issues. 

“I thought I was the only one concerned,” Menconi said, “because wherever I went, I didn’t hear anyone else speaking out about the negative influence that much of today’s entertainment was having. Then one day, I came across AFA Journal and Donald Wildmon. 

“I saw him interviewed on TV and I thought, ‘Wow! There’s somebody else who understands the situation.’ And it’s his influence, and his strength of character that gave me the strength to start Al Menconi Ministries. I thank Don Wildmon and AFA for being that positive influence on me.”

Through the years, AFA has often depended on Al Menconi’s information and his insight on media issues. In addition to music, he covers video games, movies, television, parenting and other social issues. 

“It’s really quite remarkable, what Al has done pretty much as a one-man operation,” said AFA founder Don Wildmon. “We appreciate the tremendous impact he has had for good on families across the country.”

“Mom, Dad, we have to do more than simply tell our kids what to think,” Menconi tells parents. “We have to take the time to teach them how to think biblically.” The FTMC is one tool parents can use to do just that. It will help them learn how to set guidelines and how to teach their children to live within those guidelines.

Menconi uses a familiar story of “How to Boil a Frog” to explain how entertainment has desensitized us. You put a frog in comfortable, warm water, then slowly turn up the heat. The frog doesn’t realize the water’s getting too hot until he’s too weak to jump out. Soon, the water is boiling and eventually you boil the frog. 

He urges us to jump out of the water before it’s too late. “Take a stand against negative entertainment for 30 days,” he says. “It can change your walk with the Lord.”  

Are you getting used to sin? By Al Menconi
What would you think of a man who spends his evenings prowling through neighborhoods peeking into bedroom windows, watching couples having sex? What if he shares his voyeuristic exploits with his friends, and claims that his “habit” is simply normal entertainment? Would you consider this perverted?

Think about it. Isn’t that what much of today’s entertainment does? Doesn’t it often put our mind’s eye into somebody’s bedroom so we can watch their sexual activity? Now I’ve never seen a porno movie, but from what I’ve heard, it’s nothing more than a series of sex-scenes strung together for about an hour-and-a-half. Is it less of a porno movie if they show sex-scenes for only a half-hour? Is it less pornographic if it’s cut to fifteen minutes? How about if they just have a couple of sex scenes?

Do you see what I’m getting at? Many of today’s TV shows and movies contain immoral sexual behavior as part of the story line. It may have a legitimate story to tell, but do they include sex scenes to excite the viewer? Are you allowing your mind to “peek into someone’s bedroom?” Are you acting like the pervert we just described?

How does this affect us? Romans 12:1-2 commands us not to be conformed to this world’s morals and values, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. How do we know if we are conforming to the values of this world? One way is to examine our entertainment. Are we entertained by immorality, violence, and profanity? Are we just excusing it away, rationalizing that it’s normal because everyone else watches it too? If so, we are learning to conform to the world’s values. 

I’ve noticed that I have learned to accept more and more immorality in my entertainment. I remember reviewing the movie Superman II and being offended by all the violence and mayhem. I was especially disturbed that Superman had sex with Lois Lane. I was sitting next to a little boy who was laughing and cheering at all the destruction and lusting at the sex scene. At the time, I was wondering what was wrong with his mother to let him watch this. But when I saw the same movie again recently on television, it didn’t bother me. It seemed normal. Like that little boy’s mother, I’d gotten used to it, which is another way of saying that I am learning to conform to the world’s values. 

We can use the acronym CAN to explain this phenomenon. Whatever is Common in the entertainment media is considered Acceptable. And if it is acceptable in society, it must be Normal. Common, Acceptable, Normal. But it is often not acceptable or normal in God’s eyes! I am ashamed to say that it was becoming more acceptable and normal in my life. Has this acceptance of immorality invaded your life, as well?

Reflection: What CAN we do?
• Remember we are in a spiritual war with unseen powers for control of our mind. The battle is for our mind! The sinful mind is hostile to God (Romans 8:7). 
• Resolve not to entertain yourself with the godless values of this world. Don’t let others spoil your faith and joy with their philosophies. (Colossians 2:8).
• Replace the empty philosophies of this world with Christian values through Christian music.
• Verse of the Day: Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things (Colossians 3:2).