David Harms - Airwaves Ministry

David Harms is a radio veteran who has focused his attention on funding ministries through radio and other media, David has founded two companies and currently serves as President of both. i58:10 Media was founded in 1997 and has used radio and other electronic media to raise millions of dollars each year for homeless shelters, pregnancy centers and international ministries such as World Vision, India Partners and Shepherd’s House in Bend. In 2019 David launched a radio network called Worship 24/7 with its flagship signal on 93.7 FM in Bend, but now with signals in Tacoma and Spokane, Washington and Amarillo, TX.  The online streaming of Worship 24/7 has added listeners in over 190 countries and every state … all in less than 4 years.

You can find out more about David at worship247.com and i5810media.com. That’s worship247.com and i5810media.com

Transcript

Unknown Speaker  0:08  
Our mission is to ignite a passion for God through worship. That leads to a life of discipleship evangelism, generosity and service to the poor. So the idea of worship 24/7 The mission is to get people ignited and passionate about God to draw them closer to Jesus in any way we can. Because we believe Jesus is enough.

Narrator  0:33  
Welcome to cascade views a discussion with Central Oregon leaders. Your host is Michael SIPE, founder of 10x catalyst groups and Crosspoint capital community leader and best selling author. The purpose of these discussions is to share the views and insights of local leaders from a variety of community sectors on a range of timely and important regional and state issues. With that now, here's your host, Michael SIPE.

Michael Sipe  1:00  
Thanks for joining us on Caskey views. My name is Michael SIPE, and I'll be your host. My guest today is my friend David harms. David is a radio veteran who's focused his attention on funding ministries, through radio and other media. David has founded two companies currently serves as president of both IFTA 10 media was founded in 1997, and has used radio and other electronic media to raise millions of dollars each year for homeless shelters, pregnancy centers, and International Ministries such as World Vision, India partners, and also Shepards house here in Bend, Oregon. In 2019, David launched a radio network called worship 24/7, with its flagship signal on 93.7 FM in Bend. But now with signals in Tacoma and Spokane, Washington, and Amarillo, Texas, the online streaming of worship 24/7 has added listeners in over 190 countries, and every state all in less than four years, invited David here today to talk about his adventure with worship 27 24/7. So David, welcome to the show.

Unknown Speaker  2:06  
Well, thank you, Michael, always a pleasure to, to talk with you and to share and for the opportunity to talk about worship 24/7, for sure. Excited to be here. Cool. Well, first

Michael Sipe  2:17  
of all, give us a little personal background, like where do you come from originally? Where do you live? Now your family? You know, that sort of thing?

Unknown Speaker  2:25  
Sure. I grew up in western Pennsylvania, pretty functional home, strong faith background in the home that I grew up in. But I would tell you that my faith really took off. Right when I was 17, and was headed off to college and didn't want to mess around with religion if if there was more to it than religion that I was in through it. But if it was just going to be what I'd experienced, then no, I wasn't I wasn't going to play games. And so my faith is a very, very important part of my story. And when I was 17, that's what I like to say is when Jesus became more than a word, it really changed me in my relationship with God, when it did become very personal. And so that launched me off to college, where I studied radio out of college, worked in radio all the way through college to pay my way through college, all in Pennsylvania, and then started working outside of college, in radio, supposedly, the better you get, the bigger your market that you go into. So very quickly out of college, I went into Youngstown, Ohio, and then Cleveland, Detroit, and then moved out here to the west coast into Portland, to become a general manager when I was way too young, looking back on it now. But I became a general manager out here in Portland. But really, my family is a huge part of my story as well. My wife and I live in Portland, Oregon area, we have five daughters, two of them adopted from Ethiopia. So we're a big family. We're a blended family. And it is just one of the joys of my life to watch my kids grow up. So that was a little bit about it. But I've been a radio nerd. From my years in college till now, the last few years, as you said, I've been working to raise money for ministries, using radio and then we launched worship 24/7 Not too long ago. So that's a whole new venture that we're under, but still doing both of those companies and the work that they're doing.

Michael Sipe  4:42  
Well, I want to circle back to something you mentioned early on in the comments, getting started here about your faith journey. So it's obviously important to our topic today today. So just share a little bit more about your faith journey and how that informs Who's what you do in business and in your work today?

Unknown Speaker  5:05  
Well, I think the the way that I've kind of learned to describe my faith journey, like I said, growing up in a, in a, in a home that faithfully was just part and parcel of our lives. Church every Sunday, periodically, Wednesday's mission, missionaries would come into town, and we'd go see the slideshows. I mean, it was those kinds of things. But the personal side of things was really where Christian music played a big part in my understanding of who Jesus is. Back in the day, you know, there weren't that there wasn't that much Christian music that was a, you know, hymns. But along came, Amy Grant and Keith green, Phil kaigi. You know, some of these contemporary groups that back then were very contemporary. And that just influenced me, I guess, by the music itself, but really just more watching people live out their faith in that way. And so when I did surrender my life to Jesus, that's where the calling came, I think, to use media. Because I loved radio, I loved everything about radio, I love the mystery of radio where you could hear somebody, but you don't see them. The theater of the mind, I love the theater of the mind, where your imagination starts to go. And so that's really where it was. But all along the way, I started doing everything in radio, you can imagine on the air, I was, I did sales, I did production, I became a general manager. So you're operating the whole operation of a radio station. But all along, the thing that really did start to change me was took a mission trip to Senegal, in West Africa. And I saw faith lived out in a way that was not Western, if that makes sense. very raw, where were the people who were missionaries just were giving their lives for the sake of the gospel. And I was humbled by that, because I was in Christian radio thinking that this was amazing. And while it is watching it be lived out on the ground and very hard conditions. Inspired Vietnam actually wanted to, I wanted to become a missionary. But it was very clear. I'm not a missionary in that way, which to this day, I'm still going to ask God that at some point. God, I was willing to go to Africa. Why did you say no, you know, but but really, that that was a real big turning point for me, because what I saw then, by going into the mission field was the need to fund missionaries who are in what I call just boots on the ground. And so using my radio background, using my passion for the Gospel, we started to raise money for homeless shelters. It grew and grew, we employed up to 15 people at a time all doing fundraising using radio and other media. We worked for World Vision and other nonprofits raising anywhere from 12 to $15 million a year for those ministries, and I very much felt that it was certainly good stuff that it was advancing God's kingdom. And then when the idea of starting my own radio network kind of got dropped into my heart I was not looking for it was not something I pursued. I felt like it was something given to me to do. I hope that doesn't sound arrogant, but I just I felt like there was something missing. In the landscape of media, there was an itch that wasn't getting scratched. And so we launched worship 24/7 as an idea, it started online. And then very quickly, we added the signal in Central Oregon 93.7 And then God just took it a pretty big time added a signal in Tacoma. Two years later, Spokane and Amarillo came online, but our online listening has exploded into 190 countries, but also just our name put us on the map with Google. And with Alexa devices and with the app downloads. And there are times of the year like right after Christmas that we get six to 800 downloads of our app through Alexa, just because people get Alexa devices for Christmas and they want to play worship music and our name puts us at the top of the list. So just watching God work in that way, to me has been humbling. And so in my personal faith journey is that as I've gotten older, it's a lot less about me and a lot more about Jesus. So I am excited by what God is doing with this. Welcome want to call it a scrappy little ministry? Which I like? Because we always be scrappy. Exactly. And if you saw our bank accounts, you'd see how much of a faith journey this is. So, but it's been really fun to watch God work through it. Well,

Michael Sipe  10:17  
you bounced over two points as you were talking there. And thank you for all of that. One of them. And I want to circle back to this is to just have you clarify a little bit more about, you know, how you do an online broadcast. But before that, you know, you kind of kind of bounced over Yeah. And then we then we put a station in unbanned. So just give us a little bit about that story.

Unknown Speaker  10:40  
That's a great story. Because, remember, we started we did get a donation to build studios and all the rest. And we are currently headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon, just south of Portland, which is where my company is. And when we wanted to go by a radio station and try this thing out, nobody thought we could do it. Because they're like, we have plenty of Christian radio. Why do we need another one? And I was like, no, no, this is going to be different. This is going to be all worship music. And it was like, Yeah, but I can get that on Spotify or YouTube or these other places. And I said, No, no, it's not like that. It's going to be a community of people that worship God passionately, and then go into a broken world, because my missionary I mindset was still very much in his still very much part of the mix. And, but I couldn't raise any money for it. Because it was like, we were just another radio station, we got plenty of it. And a dear friend of mine wants after I've gotten a little frustrated, because I think I'm a fundraiser, we've raised millions of dollars. And I think I've presented this to some people with money, looking for people that could buy the vision for it. I might have raised $2,000, maybe it was just like we got plenty of it. And then a friend said to me, they got to hear what's in your head. That was smart. That was wise counsel. Because they couldn't picture it. Nobody could hear what I heard, which was a radio station focused on worship, and not announcers. Very simple in its presentation, because we're foolish enough to believe that Jesus is enough. And if we lift him up, he'll he'll change lives will draw people to Himself. And so, with that in mind, we totally retooled our presentation to people who might give and said we're going to start online. But the goal is to grow. But we're going to start there so that people can hear what we're thinking. And that's what we did. We did get a contribution, a donation that allowed us to build studios and get software and all the rest, put an app together, get on Alexa. And so we started that thing. And it's still going to take us a little while for people to hear us to find us. And and then eventually we'll buy a radio station and start this network. Well, here's where the funny story comes in just a short time after we launched online, I get a call from a broker who sells buys and sells radio stations. He said, Hey, I know we've talked about this in the past. But there's a signal that just came for sale in Central Oregon that I think fits what you've been looking for. And I said, Well, I don't really have money yet. But what is it? And he mentioned 93.7 FM. And I said, I said well, that's great. It's a perfect place for us to start. But I still don't have money, how much is it? And he told me the price. And I first thing I said was what's wrong with it. The price was not what I expected. It was far below what I expected. And, and I said well, that's not what I expected. And I said let me let me make a few phone calls. And long story short, I went to my CPA, I went to my financial planner, I went to her lawyer and just went to my CPA first and I said hey, do we have the money for this? He looked at me he goes, No, no, you don't. But and then he kind of gave me some options about how to do it. And sure enough, by November of that year, we we signed on 93.7 FM is our first our first signal of what is now four. And there there are others coming down the pike here as God provides. So the fun part about that one to me is oh, he's like, No, you don't have the money. But let's try something here. And God certainly worked that out. And we're ecstatic to be in Central Oregon. It is really the the launch point for everything else. It's the flagship when I say that everything starts in Central Oregon. For us. That's really where things got underway.

Michael Sipe  14:38  
Well, it's cool story and there's a bunch more stories. As as you and I have hung out for the last few years. It's clearly a bold endeavor. So what are you trying to accomplish? So just summarize the 24/7 mission.

Unknown Speaker  14:54  
Okay, this is where to get the big picture stuff and the vision And of worship 24/7. In other words, what we hope happens as a result of this ministry is that it rallies, a community of believers and people who worship God passionately and take that into a broken world. We look at all the statistics of society today we see that were broken, we see all the issues that are coming up from increased drug use COVID wreaks havoc on mental health, right? All these things happening, and it's a broken world. So what if believers, what if the church, the capital C church? What if we kind of got an army of people to go out and do things in this world? You know, how would that change? How would it change for the gospel? And how would it change society? So our big picture was this community of people who worshiped God and go into a broken world, and you realize how big that is. And then I looked at that, and I went, Well, that's the big picture. But we got to have some practical steps along the way. And so our mission came out of the vision, the mission then became, we need to get people excited. And it's going to be more than entertainment it you know, entertainment is more of a distraction than it is a solution. And so we thought, what if we What if our mission then, and this is literally what our mission statement is, our mission is to ignite a passion for God through worship. That leads to a life of discipleship, evangelism, generosity, and service to the poor. So the idea of worship 24/7, the mission is to get people ignited and passionate about God, to draw them closer to Jesus in any way we can. Because we believe Jesus is enough. And if we can do that, if we if we just ignited them, and got them all excited, then every week, we're gonna have to come back and try to think of something else to get their fire going. But it needs to lead to those other things, discipleship, evangelists, generosity of your life, not just your money, and then serving the poor. So when you get somebody excited about their faith, then there has to be a place for that excitement to go. Because if it's just pursuing one emotional experience to another emotional experience, we're just going to bounce from one place to another. So with worship 24/7, our point is to say, let's get everybody fired up, let's ignite your passion for God, that then leads to these other things. And that will then accomplish the vision, which is to create this community or this army of people that worship God, but go into a world that's broken, taking on things like foster care, checking on things like health care, all these things that we can do. Look out, Michael, you're gonna get me preaching here, the things that we can do, when we look at life as worship, not just something you do on Sunday morning, but if you see your life as a way to give God glory, and to take the talents that he's given you, and to worship Him by putting those into play. In a world that's broken, that's worship. And so that's what we try to do get everybody ignited in their, in their passion for God, worship music that's clearly focused on Jesus as a great tool to do that. And then opportunity to go into a world. And we hope it just gets people fired up enough to pretty soon they're like, You know what, I do feel like God's got something for me, I'm going to walk across the street and talk to my neighbor who's going through a divorce. But it could be something that's simple to start. That that's what we hope to do with both the vision and the mission of worship 24/7.

Michael Sipe  18:48  
Well, like always, you've got me fired up. I'm, I'm easily fired up. But you've definitely got me fired up. So even though we're fired up here, this, this can't just all be like roses. Right? This this, there has to be some challenges that have happened along this explosive growth path. So what are a couple of spiritual lessons that you've learned along the way?

Unknown Speaker  19:12  
Wow. How much time do we have?

Michael Sipe  19:17  
Not that long. Does a couple

Unknown Speaker  19:21  
here. Here's I guess the biggest thing that I've learned out of this process, because you have to understand that I mean, as a whole, we are we're small, a big all these amazing things have happened. But you'd be shocked at how little money we have in the bank, how much we live, month to month to pay whatever obligations we have. And so the lessons I've learned, these are the two let's put them into two words. The first lesson is simply trust. God, you've led us down this road. We've seen you provide in miraculous ways. So we're going to trust that you're going to do it again. And and that then with trust comes the increase of your faith. But so trust would be the first word, it just as totally made you dependent on what God is going to do, because it's so far beyond you that you have to trust. And then the second word that I've used, and this one has come to me in the last few months, especially, is surrender. Just god, you're in charge, you're in control, you're the one that's going to lead, and I'm going to be praying for discernment more than anything, I'm not going to make a plan and ask you to bless it, I'm going to let you reveal to me what you want to do. So I'm going to surrender myself, and my hopes and dreams and agenda, that I'm going to instead pray to discern what you want to do. And God does make things clear. And these amazing things happen, like we've seen, with provision with doors opening, you know, all the signals we use right now are just miraculous stories of God providing for us. And we only pursue them when God opens the door. There's plenty of radio stations for sale. And admittedly, if we had the money, we'd pursue a lot more. But we only pursue as God leads. And so I'd say those things along the way. And I would tell you that if anything comes out of this, spiritually speaking, is your ego goes down the drain. When you realize you're part of something so big, that there's no way you can take credit for it. I would say that the company that I own, the one that raises funds, that's, that's a company I own. And God has provided for my family through that company. But if you looked at it, you could say I built that. I built that God's given me some skill with that I've learned about fundraising, and all these other things that I've got along the way. But when it comes to worship 24/7 This thing has gotten so big, so fast in terms of its input, its influence. There's no way, no way I can take credit for any of that. So we submit, we surrender we serve, and we watch God do what God does. And there there is incredible peace in that, despite the extra gray hairs I tend to get because I like to control things.

Michael Sipe  22:23  
Oh, that's great. I, yeah, well, so what do you you talked about the vision. But you know, as you and actually, it's kind of interesting, because I'm, in our TEDx groups we're working on on a book called The celebration of discipline. I don't know if you've ever heard of it. Yeah, I've read that book. Yeah. fascinating book. And so it talks about spiritual disciplines. And there's a little a little one line Zinger in there that the author kind of goes over and he says, you know, goals are not set. They're revealed. Goals are not set, they're revealed. And and that takes me back to a couple of your comments a little bit earlier about how this is, is an kind of unfolding as God reveals it. And as you as you seek that, but so when I when I asked, What do you think God has ahead for you in the next years? I? I'm not looking for the hubris answer. I'm just looking at like, what do you what do you think is going to happen with this? It's kind of it's pretty exciting. It's explosive. But what do you think God has in store for worship? 24/7. And for, for you, in the Harm's family in the next few years?

Unknown Speaker  23:26  
Well, the good news is, I don't know. That's where the submission and trust comes in. But I can tell you this much. Media is not going away. We are a society that is saturated with media. And we are a bit as a society obsessed with media. You know, I just read a statistic lately, that in 2022, the average length of time that an adult 18 and over has spent with media average is just over 13 hours a day with some kind of media. And so media is not going away. So in my mind, I look at the messages that a predominant amount of the media is presenting, and I look at what's happened in society. And I look at it and I say, there's something wrong with the message. Right? The influence that media has is incredible, but the message that is communicating has taken our society, what I believe to be down a very selfish path. And so for worship 24/7 While we are by no means the, you know, the only place that this could happen, but we certainly believe that if we can present a different message, the attractiveness of a of Jesus, what I call the unsanitized, Jesus, if we can present that clearly and boldly, without judging without arrogance, just the beauty of who Jesus is. I think people will be drawn to that. And I think the platform upon which which we build that will include things like podcasts like this, and other different ways video and events and, and all kinds of things that we can do that I have no shortage of ideas and a way to go there. We're just waiting to see how God wants to move forward financially. Of course, that's a big piece of it. But I think the future is strong. I think media is an incredible platform to shape and influence people. And I want to shape them and influence them to a life of serving and enjoying God for all God is.

Michael Sipe  25:37  
Well, if the mission and vision of worship 24/7, the message of 24/7 is as compelling to our listeners as it is to me, how can they participate? How can we best support you in this?

Unknown Speaker  25:50  
Well, thank you for that question. I think the biggest thing is, if you're listening in Central Oregon, just listen, listen, and let God open your heart and mind and ears to where he might be asking you to go. I do think in the presence of God, He changes us. So if as you listen, you, you find yourself a little more, you're praying a little more reading your Bible a little more, God will move you in some way. So I guess the first thing to do would be of course, to listen on 93.7 FM, you can always listen online, downloading the app can take it anywhere. I just got a text message today from a good friend of mine who actually lives in South Carolina who listens. And he goes, Oh, by the way, I'm in Bulgaria, and I'm listening to you in Bulgaria. So. So download the app, it's in any app store under worship, 24/7. And then pray, pray, pray and pray some more. That always is going to be the leading edge of anything that we tried to do. And to get more information, that's our website, worship 247 dot com, lots of stuff there as well. But those, those are the best ways to kind of engage and just see where God might be leading it.

Michael Sipe  27:04  
Sure. And you could probably use some financial support along the way too, right?

Unknown Speaker  27:09  
Yes, we could. I don't know if this is appropriate or not to say this, but we have mapped out. I guess the best way to say that we've mapped out a journey of Kingdom investment, for those who are are at the point in their life where they have accumulated wealth, and want to make investments into Kingdom work, but investments that still produce a return on investment. We have a program and a way to do that. To help fund the growth and expansion of worship 24/7 into numerous different places. So if there's anybody listening, where you're in that position, where you're like, I have some money, I want to invest it in ways that yes, I could get some return on it. But I'm really interested in the big picture of using it for God's glory. Please get a hold of me. We can do that. And then of course, anybody. Here's here's a fun statistic. Michael, are you ready for this? So we had last year, believe it or not, we had a budget that we made of $780,000 You know what our biggest gift has ever been in the four year history of worship 24/7 besides the one that God has started, biggest gift ever was 20 grand. Wow. So this is a this is a groundswell of support that comes into 2550 $100 a month, every now and then a $5,000 gift and these kinds of things. It's just a bunch of people who love God, putting their money behind it. And at some point, I do believe God will raise up a couple of people that can take it to the next level, who catch a vision for it. And if anyone listening to this podcast is kind of intrigued by that, please let me know. Your email, which is simply David at worship 24 seven.com.

Michael Sipe  29:02  
Awesome. Well, friend, as we wrap up here, is there any final message that you'd like to share with our listeners?

Unknown Speaker  29:10  
I think the only thing that if there is a testimony attached to this, it's just simply those words that I talked about trust and surrender. I'm still learning it. It is it is a it is a hard thing to surrender your agenda. But at the same time, it is the most rewarding thing I've ever done in my life. And so whatever God's got in front of you, your skill, your ability, your business acumen, whatever it might be, submit it, trust God, he will call you into some pretty amazing things as I'm finding out no matter what kind of business you're in.

Michael Sipe  29:49  
David, it's been great having you on the show. My main takeaway really goes back to that point you you just made, but I had noted it down here from when you said it before and that I issue about trust and submission and, and how, how critical that is for us, particularly in going after big things like you do and and for, for me and my entrepreneurial friends that are taking big swings and trying to advance the gospel in the process that that issue of, of trust and focus and just watching God come through in miraculous ways that in many cases you couldn't even predict, right? Like you couldn't write the story. That's no good. Look at what happened. You could not write a goal statement and say, here are the 16 steps to how this is going to happen. It just unfolds and then we get to make a report and get to have witness and a testimony about that. And, and yours is magnificent. I love it. I love you and your family and appreciate so much all the work that you're doing listen to as an average of 20 747 all the time. And so thanks for your time and your message today. And blessings on the ministry.

Unknown Speaker  31:01  
Michael, thank you and everybody who's made it through this time. hearing me rant and preach a little bit. It is always a pleasure to talk with you. To spend time with you and your support from day one has been so much appreciated, and can't wait to see what God's got in store for the future.

Michael Sipe  31:21  
My guest today has been David Holmes, and you can find out more about David at worship 24 seven.com And I 50 a 10 media.com. That's worship 24 seven.com. Thanks for tuning in.

Narrator  31:35  
Thanks for listening to cascade views with Michael SIPE. To find out more about Mike 10x catalyst groups and to hear additional cascade views episodes visit 10x groups.com. That's 10x groups.com you can secure your own copy of Michael SIPE his best selling book the Avada principle@amazon.com. And finally, please continue to get informed and actively engaged in serving our Central Oregon Community. Your Voice Matters