It's as tantalizing as walking into a Baskin and Robbins' ice cream store and trying to decide on just one flavor. Using everything from low-tech to state-of-the-art media, Christians are pulling out all the stops to reach people with the gospel message.

Selecting the appropriate medium to use with a particular person takes discernment. It can be, but usually isn't, as simple as placing a Christian CD, book or tract in someone's hand and saying, "Here, read this--it could change your life." Understanding what various kinds of media can and can't do, and knowing how to use them wisely can make a difference in how effectively you communicate with your audience.

For instance, it's a pretty safe guess that most teens would prefer Christian rock to classic hymns.

The right medium for the right audience will enhance the gospel message; the wrong medium may result in a seeker receiving the wrong impression of the gospel.

A "technogeek" may be willing to play one of the American Tract Society's CD-ROM tracts, whereas the paper version might seem old-fashioned and give him the impression the gospel is out of date.

But don't discount more traditional methods. God is utilizing both old and new methods of communication to bring people to Himself. Here's a report on some of the ways He's doing it and ideas for how you can get involved:

Christian TV has come a long way since the unsophisticated religious programming of the 1960s and '70s. From such heavy-hitters as Christian Broadcasting Network and the Inspirational Network to individual Christian TV stations nationwide, ministry-minded Christian organizations are working hard to match or outdo secular TV programming in production quality and technical advances.

They have to. From infancy on, people are inundated with clever, skillfully rendered video images. It takes a lot to catch the attention of viewers accustomed to watching Friends or ER. However, the sheer number of Christian TV stations in the United States indicates they believe they can do it.

"Over the past 10 years we have seen the number of Christian TV and radio stations grow from 84 in 1988 to a peak of 257 in 1996," said Karl Stoll, National Religious Broadcasting (NRB) director of communications. The NRB estimates 41 million people tune in to a Christian TV or radio broadcast on a daily basis.

Stoll believes Christian TV programming is primarily geared toward teaching believers. But it's also being used as an evangelism tool. "One of the newest developments is PAX-TV and its commitment to Christian-values based programs like Touched by an Angel," Stoll said. "I would like to see more drama-based programs," he added. "Jesus was a storyteller--He spoke in parables to illustrate His points with His audience. In modern times, film and television are the storytellers. We should use these media in more creative ways to deliver the message."

But can evangelistic TV programming compete against slick secular programming such as Everybody Loves Raymond and Dawson's Creek? Dr. Ted Baehr, chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission and publisher of MovieGuide, thinks so.

"Slick doesn't mean something will appeal. Programs with small budgets can do very well," he said. "When I was working with an organization doing a very professional version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on film, we heard about a man in Milwaukee who dressed as a fisherman, had buckets of water thrown on him, and would present the gospel. It was very low-key, but people were converting to Christ."

If you plan to use television as an evangelism medium--or radio or film, for that matter--Baehr emphasizes a need to understand your own limitations and realistically assess your ability to use a particular medium for evangelism. He adds that you need to match your medium to your audience and recognize television's limitations.

Prophecy Partners, founded by brothers Peter and Paul LaLonde, reports that its end-times movie Apocalypse has sold more than 200,000 copies to date. And the company recently completed filming a new end-times video, Revelation, scheduled to release in February.

Some of the best-known end-time videos are Russ Doughten Films' Thief in the Night, A Distant Thunder, Image of the Beast, and The Prodigal Planet. The videos are seeing a resurgence of interest and selling well. Russ Doughten Films estimates 5 million people have received Christ after viewing these movies. For more than eight years, the series captured the top spots on the Christian best-selling video rental lists.

To effectively use evangelistic films, company founder Russ Doughten suggests churches first select a powerful film. Plan the time and place for viewing carefully, providing enough time to effectively advertise it. Enlist Christians to pray for its effectiveness in reaching seekers. Offer a clear invitation for the audience to receive Jesus Christ after the film and train Christians to follow up with new believers, Doughten said.

Intentionally evangelistic films such as Campus Crusade for Christ's JESUS film and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's The Ride have been extremely successful in effectively presenting the gospel.

Visit Campus Crusade's JESUS film web site, www.jesusfilm.org, and you learn that the 1978 movie has been translated into 400 languages, seen by more than 1.2 billion people in the past 20 years, and as a result, more than 57 million people have accepted Christ.

Youth speaker Dawson McAllister of Shepherd Ministries conducted a study with teens, asking them which they'd rather give up for a day, music or water. They over-whelmingly said they'd give up water.

"That shows how powerful music is to kids," said Lee Roberts, who represents Bill Scott, host of ZJAM's Saturday night music program for teens and founder of "Rock Your World With the Truth" youth rallies.

Roberts said ZJAM's syndicated Christian rock format goes out to more than 200 markets a week. The two-hour program blends quality Christian rock with short evangelistic messages and testimonies from kids who have become Christians.

The show is also being "webcast" over the Internet. Teens who log on to www.zjam.com can listen to the latest radio show, chat with other teens, get help from Dawson McAllister's Hopeline, and visit other music websites. Roberts said the ZJAM website gets more than 5,000 e-mail requests a day for its online devotionals.

The crossover of media approaches, combining radio broadcasts with webcasting and concert promotion tie-ins, exemplifies how the mixing of media can be used effectively to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Roberts believes most non-Christian teens mistakenly believe Christian music has nothing to offer them. ZJAM tries to correct this thinking by presenting quality Christian rock on its station, and offering youth rock concerts complete with fog and lights. The "Rock Your World With the Truth" rallies feature Christian rock band Age of Faith. After their concert, Scott gives a 20-minute evangelistic message. Roberts said at least 15 percent of the teen audience attending these rallies make a decision for Christ.

Although much of Christian radio is geared to teens, a solid chunk still belongs to such long-time stalwarts as "The Old-Time Gospel Hour," "The Children's Bible Hour" and gospel music stations. While teens may feel deathly allergic to Southern Gospel music, their elders may feel a similar aversion to Christian funk, ska or alternative bands. But with the wealth of programming available throughout North America, there's a talk or music program suitable to reach everyone with the gospel in almost every market.

KSBJ radio in Houston has had a tremendous impact on the entire Southeast Texas region. But in addition to bringing music, concerts and ministry to their audience, not a month goes by that at least one person isn't led to faith in Christ by a counselor on the station's phone line.

The Internet is an amazing communication tool, said Dale Ficken, religious services director for the Webcast Center at SRT Enterprises Inc., a systems integrator that combines technologies into practical packages for use.

"Never in history have we been able to communicate with families like today," he said. "We can e-mail, send pictures, and visit our relatives' websites. We can download photos and within seconds grandparents have the latest pictures of their grandchildren."

Christian ministries haven't been slow to get the message. Just about any ministry worth its salt has its own website. These sites are getting plenty of activity, Ficken said. At www.goshen.net, a central Christian resource center, more than 2 million users visit the site per month.

And now a new technology is making Web pages look practically antique. More and more Christian ministries, radio programs and stations are tuning in to webcasting, running real-time video or taped material on a website. It may be the hottest technology ever for ministries and churches, for it offers a real bargain in broadcasting. Individuals, small churches and well-established ministries can all afford this new communication tool. It levels the playing field, Ficken said.

Recently, Ficken's company helped the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association set up a live webcast of Graham's Tampa Bay, Florida, crusade. With a click of the mouse, viewers could watch a "real time" Christian concert featuring dc Talk and Jars of Clay, followed by Graham's message. Viewers who made a decision to become Christians as a result of the crusade could follow up by e-mailing a request for more material.

Ficken estimates that between 60 and 80 percent of major mainstream ministries use webcasting. "It's an incredible evangelistic tool," Ficken said. "A ministry's message can reach anyone worldwide who has Internet access. It's also the most cost-effective way to spread the gospel."

Although the medium isn't extremely cheap, it's the deal of the century compared to the cost of a half-hour TV program. Anyone with $20 and a website can place an archived half-hour audiotape on their site for a year. A videotape costs $40 per half-hour. Live broadcasts, because they require more work and bandwidth, cost considerably more.

Ficken would love to see the millions of dollars now budgeted to ministry broadcasts redirected to mission work. "You can do webcasting for pennies on the dollar," he said. "Ministries that spend a million dollars or more a year for broadcasting can put their daily programs on the Web for less than $20,000."

So maybe they aren't fancy and maybe they aren't high-tech. But Christian tracts have an incredible track record, so to speak. According to Tom Friday, vice president of the American Tract Society, about 52 percent of Christians trusted Christ as their Savior through the use of a tract.

The American Tract Society, which Friday describes as the "Cadillac" of tract societies, is the oldest publishing company in the nation and, up until the 1930s, the largest publishing company in the world. Formerly the company published books, Bibles, and tracts. Now it focuses on tracts, selling approximately 30 million a year.

Halloween is the busiest time of year for the company, which sells millions of Halloween tracts a year. The tracts expose the truth of the holiday's pagan origins and give an explanation of placing faith in Christ as Savior.

Friday said parents and children are saved, as parents search their children's bags to examine candy for safety.

The American Tract Society gives its tracts contemporary, four-color covers featuring such people as Princess Diana, Jimmy Stewart and the Three Stooges. One of the most popular with street ministries is a tract featuring a young man with more than 20 body parts pierced. The text explains that we all have been pierced by sin and need Christ to fill the holes sin has left.

Recently, the American Tract Society has taken steps to communicate the same message through 21st century technology, creating CD-ROM "tracts," such as the Mickey Mantle baseball card that gives stats, baseball trivia, and contains a Quick-Time message that Mantle trusted Christ as his Savior three days before he died.

"We've provided these CD-ROM tracts to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and to the North American Mission Board," Friday said. "We also have a virtual reality CD-ROM, 'Steps to Peace With God.' You enter a world and travel a 360-degree path to a great divide. You can't cross it unless you place your faith in God."

Books, music, games, bumper stickers, drama, billboards, mime, speeches, rallies, crusades--the various methods used by Christians to reach the world for Christ are practically endless. It's a tribute to human ingenuity and the Holy Spirit's prompting that people who love God find so many ways to share their faith. Whether it's a Christian wrestling team or a group that evangelizes through wilderness camps, Christians are using anything that comes to mind--and hand--to share the gospel.

Maybe it shouldn't surprise us that so many new and old, low-tech and high-tech evangelism media abound. After all, we have a God who has expressed Himself through many creative and unusual means: a burning bush, the words uttered by a donkey, writing on a wall, dreams and visions, and ultimately, a Child born to a virgin.

Jesus Himself is the ultimate message and ultimate medium. He is not only the Word but the Way to the Father. Our confidence rests in knowing that whatever limited means we use to express the gospel, we can trust Him to carry the message to fruition.

Lynn Waalkes is a writer living in Otis, Kansas. She is the former book editor for the Christian Booksellers Association's CBA Marketplace.