Copyright Confusion

Have you ever wanted to use a video clip from “Lord of the Rings” to bring home a point in a sermon? Or maybe you wanted to take those scenic landscape shots from the movie and edit them together as a background for the lyrics from the song "Majesty." In either case, you're most likely wanting to copy from the DVD (or VHS tape) and play it back from your computer — for the sake of convenience.

The misunderstanding about what churches can and cannot do with video clips is immense. However, best course of action is clear: Ask permission, get it and you're covered. Read the complete article by Anthony Coppedge.

Start Building An Award Winning Video Library

Studies show that people remember about 30 percent of what they hear. But amazingly, they remember 70 percent of what they see.

E-ssentials provides high impact video clips that are ideal for use in sermons, worship, or small group meetings. E-ssentials dynamic video series is produced especially for pastors, teachers, and worship leaders. These video illustrations will change the way you look at sermons and shoot you into the next level of communicating.

Each issue of E-ssentials (6 issues each year) contains more than 15 separate, professionally produced video segments. That’s more than 90 separate video clips to choose from every year.For about a dollar per video clip you can begin building your video illustration library on DVD, CD-ROM, or VHS.

Follow this link to view many of the clips and download free sample clips.

Successful Churches Embrace The Master Planning Process To Manage The Complexity Of Growth.

What exactly is a "master plan?" Should your church have one? What is involved in creating a master plan? While many churches are asking these questions, some are now experiencing the benefits of using a master plan to prepare for and accommodate projected growth. To answer these and other questions, and to describe the benefits of this type of planning, Quentin Wagenfield of Your Church, talked with leaders in church design and church growth planning, all with extensive experience in helping churches create master plans. Read the complete article.

William E. James & Associates recommends master planning to churches because it forces you to look backwards and forwards, and also to take a look at what you're actually doing right now.

Four Types of Friends Every Pastor Needs

Without quality, biblical friendships, we are modeling a flawed Christian lifestyle for our church members. Ike Reighard, founding pastor of NorthStar Church in Kennesaw, Georgia, says, "Every pastor needs at least four types of friends: a developer, a designer, a disturber, and a discerner." Read more here.

Visit NorthStar's web site. NorthStar Church began in January 1997 at the Comfort Inn Conference Center on Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw, with 365 people in attendance. By February 1997, growth required that we search for a larger facility. Prayers were answered when North Cobb High School allowed us to meet in their Theatre until the opening of our Compass Centre in November 2000.

NorthStar has been recognized as one of the fastest church starts of any church in America. God has truly done some amazing things during these past few years. We pray that you will find your church family and home here at NorthStar.

Ideas for Preaching on Stewardship

Good stewards are mature worshippers.

Preaching to develop good stewards cannot be done if it does not take into consideration the development of mature worshippers. Giving is an integral part of worship. The validity of a worship experience where giving is not demonstrated is suspect at best. While there are other ways one can express the surrendered life, the tangible expressions of worship include the faithful giving of an offering. Read more.

Practical Ideas for Year-Round Stewardship Promotion

A Stewardship Promotion team should provide leadership for the whole church family during the entire year. Adapt these monthly project suggestions to your congregations needs. Follow this link for practical ideas for year-round stewardship promotion.

GALLUP POLL REVEALS SECRET TO SUCCESSFUL CHURCHES

'Culture of Friendship' Findings Featured in Gallup Survey And New Book
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

In what may be the first research of its kind, a groundbreaking new survey indicates that friendships are the key to church growth and success and could be the factor that leads to invigorating the church in America. "The connections we've discovered between human friendships, spiritual maturity, church satisfaction and even feelings of intimacy with God are absolutely remarkable," pollster George Gallup, Jr., said.

Both Gallup and one of his research specialists, Michael Lindsey, confirmed the groundbreaking nature of the study. "This study asked church members important faith questions that have never been asked before," Gallup said.

"The study also showed that no other demographic variable -- age, sex, marital status, level of education, race and ethnicity, region of the country, or religious tradition -- demonstrated as high a level of satisfaction as variables measuring church-based friendships," Lindsey reported.

"This is the nation's first and most comprehensive examination of the subject, and the church in America ought to heed what people in the pews have to say," Lindsey added. "Deep lasting friendships borne out of faith and nurtured in the church may be the single most effective strategy in reinvigorating the American church today."

"The most satisfied church members in America worship at places where they feel like they belong, where they are valued and appreciated, and where friendships flourish," Lindsey said. "The data compel church leaders to help these kinds of meaningful relationships to take root and grow.

"The study was commissioned by Group Publishing, Inc., a Loveland, Colorado-based interdenominational church resource company headed by Thom and Joani Schultz. The Schultzes had observed a correlation between those churches that seemed to focus on developing friendships among the members and those that seemed to be experiencing the most growth. Group partnered with Gallup to fund the study and see if these observations could be quantified. The study was released in May on the Gallup Web site and its Tuesday briefing.

"The results not only confirmed our suspicions, but showed the connection was even stronger than we had anticipated," Mr. Schultz said. "Based on the study's findings, Group has developed a new resource to help churches enhance that culture of connectivity -- Friendship First is designed to help get people in small group settings talking and thinking about friendship," he said.

"And that one single activity -- nurturing friendships -- should be the A #1 priority in churches today," Lindsey concluded.

Some of the study's key findings:
-- church friendliness was correlated with both church attendance and volunteerism;
-- members with best friends at church are more satisfied and engaged with their churches;
-- friendships with other church members was a leading reason individuals joined a specific church;
-- and those who worship with a best friend are more likely to say their faith is involved in every area of their lives.

Friendship First was released in June. For a review copy, or a copy of the Gallup study results, or an interview with Michael Lindsey or Thom and Joani Schultz, please contact Melany Ethridge at (214) 912­8934

What It Takes - A Leader In Action

A high-level military leader is in the spotlight in the April issue Leadership Guide, an online magazine published by Leadership Education and Development, Inc.

In a compelling interview, Gen. Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong, commander of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe, defines leadership as "motivating an average work force to achieve extraordinary results," names Abraham Lincoln as the leader who left the "most distinguishing fingerprints" on our country and credits his parents for developing a firm foundation for his life and career. Follow this link to read this article.

Some Interruptions Are Divinely Appointed. Most Are Not

Can you get a grip when juggling your work gets out of hand? Try the four R's!

Dividing your time among the four R's means every leader must learn the art of juggling, and it begins by choosing carefully what you juggle—and when. The best jugglers may toss handkerchiefs, batons, or torches, but they never juggle everything people throw their way. Likewise, healthy leaders learn to juggle selectively.

H. Dale Burke groups all his activities into four major categories. By setting aside time for each one, he can better keep his work balanced with his family and his spiritual life. Fewer things get dropped. He calls the categories his "Four R's":

1. Rest time—focusing on my spiritual and marital health.

2. Results time—focusing on the main things God has for me personally in advancing his mission.

3. Response time—focusing on "stuff," administration and follow up with others who need my input.

4. Refocus time—focusing on evaluating what my priorities should be.

In another article Dale explores the critical distinction between results time and response time. To read this article follow this link.

Cool New Tool To Help You And Your Church

Jason Nyback of Trinty Web Hosting has just created a new video for you that will show you how to use a free tool to save you time in sermon message preparation, keep you updated with world events & news as well as help you to better organize your information.

This tool is free and the technology is growing very fast. Click this link to see a demo of how you and your church can use this great new free tool/technology.

It's Under-the-Radar, But Sunday School Is Changing In Significant Ways

Americans have grown accustomed to change. But children who attend Sunday school these days have an experience similar to that which their grandparents would have had decades ago. In a culture saturated with change, one of the most stable aspects in the religious sphere has been Sunday school – the weekend educational efforts that Protestant churches offer to people outside of worship services.

However, a new study conducted by The Barna Group of Ventura, California shows that while many aspects of Sunday school remain constant, there are significant changes bubbling beneath the surface. Longitudinal research among Protestant pastors, commissioned since 1997 by Gospel Light, has explored how churches prioritize and engage in Sunday school, the usage of curriculum, midweek programming for children, and Vacation Bible School programs (often called VBS). Read more here.

Why Churches Die

"Church would be a whole lot easier if it were not for the members.” That honest assessment introduces a new book titled, “Why Churches Die: Diagnosing Lethal Poisons in the Body of Christ.” Co-authors Mac Brunson and Ergun Caner admit to being surprised when they heard a leading evangelical pastor make the comment as he admitted that he hated pastoring.

“Perhaps this statement is a bit strong,” they add. “Perhaps it is better said that he loved the calling, but the tangential bureaucracy of modern church life drove him crazy,” Brunson and Caner write.

Brunson, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, has served as president of the Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference and president of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention. Caner began his ministry as a youth minister in Vincennes, Ind., and later served as pastor of a church in North Carolina. He now serves as dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Va. Follow this link to read the complete review.

Eminent Domain: Churches 'Targeted by the Bulldozers'

There is disagreement over whether the U.S. Supreme Court's recent eminent domain decision endangers the property rights of churches, synagogues and other religious institutions. Some argue that the First Amendment and existing laws may offer adequate protection, while others worry that the decision will open the door to a political assault on the property of people of faith.

The Supreme Court's Kelo v. New London, could mean that "religious institutions that are, by nature, non-commercial and, by law, tax exempt, would be the first to be targeted by the bulldozers because of their alleged lack of economic contribution to the community," according to Jared Leland, media and legal counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Read the full story.

Money And The Spiritual Life

Our time, energy, intelligence, opportunities, relationships, and resources are all gifts from God that he has entrusted to our care and management. We never really own anything during our brief stay on earth. God just loans it to us while we're here. At the end of your life on earth you will be evaluated and rewarded according to how well you handled what God entrusted to you.

Pastor, we need to help our people understand that God says there is a direct relationship between how I use my money and the quality of my spiritual life! The way we manage God's money can prevent him from doing more in our lives. Can God trust us with spiritual riches? Read the complete article.

Teaching God's Truth About Stewardship

Most ministers have little problem teaching others how to pray, witness, evangelize, worship, become involved in missions, mature spiritually, study God's Word, be a leader dedicated to Christ, and love unconditionally. However, few ministers in America today fully realize that teaching people how to handle money biblically is a crucial part of both discipleship and stewardship. Read more on God's Truth About Stewardship.

Unleashing Generosity In Your Church

Bring your church's entire financial team to this one-day stewardship conference that will give you practical tools and advice to motivate your members to grace-inspired generosity. Mark it on your calendar: Sept. 13 at Calvary Chapel in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Want more information click here.

Sermon Plagiarism - What Is it? Why, How And When To Give Credit

For preachers, using sermon content from others can provoke humor…and guilt. For one thing, we don't always know when to credit other sources. Preaching is like blocking defensive linemen in football: the line between blocking and holding can be as fuzzy as that between research and reliance. Citing sources sounds simple enough, but conscientious preachers run into dilemmas.

At times the need to credit sources is perfectly clear. Tell someone else's story as though it happened to you? Use an entire sermon without giving credit? Craig Brian Larson, editor of PreachingToday.com and Preaching Today audio, offers some excellent insight into this issue. Click here to read Craig's entire article.

Three Steps To Healthier Emerging Generation Churches

To reach the emerging generation, your church must be healthy. Unfortunately, many so-called emerging churches are choosing methods that ultimately will lead to health problems.

Three healthy choices churches can make.

• The emerging church must begin with a burden to reach the unchurched of the next generation.
• Prioritize the purposes evenly.
• Structure your church for effective leadership.

Read more of what Bil Cornelius, founding pastor of Bay Ridge Fellowship, a seven-year-old emerging church in Corpus Christi, Texas, has to say.

Church Communities That Reach The Emerging Generation

GCM is a grassroots Next Generation movement that has spread to 44 U.S. campuses and 23 nations. It exists to create church communities that reach the emerging generation with the message of Jesus Christ, mobilize people in missions, and develop new leaders with passion, vision and a desire to serve God and his church. Read More

Just What Does It Mean To Be An "Emerging" Church

Explore the Internet sites of more than four dozen congregations that are speaking the gospel to today's culture out of 'the genius of heritage and tradition.' Check them out here.

Sharing eternal truth with an ever-emerging culture

In ministry, some things must never change but others must change constantly.

Clearly, God's five purposes for his church -- worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and evangelism -- are non-negotiable. On the other hand, the way or style in which we fulfill these eternal purposes must continually be adjusted and modified because human culture is always changing.

Pastor, the only way to stay relevant is to anchor your ministry to unchanging truths and eternal purposes but be willing to continually adapt how you communicate those truths and purposes. Our message of transformation must never change, while the transformation of our presentation should be continual, adapting to the new languages of our culture.

More from Rick Warren on this subject.

Why God Likes Tiny, Unnoticed Efforts at Evangelism

Seemingly unremarkable and ordinary attempts to love others really do get God's attention.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus provides a hidden camera view into God's heart with his comments regarding the final judgment: "When you visited them (prisoners, orphans, and hungry) you visited me–enter into the joy of your reward" (Matthew 25:35-37, NIV). Jesus makes what seemed obvious to him, apparent to his followers by pointing out that it counted to him when they anonymously cared for other human beings and that he noticed it even if they didn't. From Jesus' perspective, seemingly unremarkable and very ordinary attempts to love others really do get his attention.

To read the balance of Jim Henderson article follow this link. Jim leads Off The Map, which presents one-day interactive events on how to reinvent evangelism for ordinary Christians. The event includes an "Interview withThree Lost People," in which three nonChristians from the area talk about why they are not interested in becoming Christians but are (often) open to knowing God. For sample interviews and information on the event, visit www.off-the-map.org.

Leadership Practices of Fast Growing Megachurches

In 1999 Bob Buford sold Buford Television, Inc. to fund the work of the Leadership Network. He also wanted the time to invest myself in its mission, which is connecting the innovative leaders in American Christianity in order to multiply their ideas and practices. That has happened! When we began, there were about 200 megachurches (typically defined as 2,000 attending on a typical weekend). Now, there are ten times that many.

In 1988, Forbes magazine quoted Peter Drucker as saying, “Pastoral megachurches (are) surely the most important social phenomena in American society in the last 30 years.” As usual, Peter was way ahead of the crowd, but the crowd has caught up. A Google search yields the following header: “Results 1-100 of about 1,940,000 English pages over the past six months for Rick Warren.” Wow!

What are the characteristics of the people who lead booming megachurches? Bob compiled the list below. You can read the complete article here or you can buzz through the list by just reading these bold headings.

Leadership Practices of Fast Growing Megachurches
1. An entrepreneurial approach to leadership.
2. Strong leadership, strong management.
3. Preserve the essence. Change the form.
4. They inhabit the Intersection: God, The Culture, TheTools and The Individual
5. User-friendly – Easy access for unchurched people.
6. Purpose Driven – God’s Purposes.
7. Biblically based.
8. It’s about relationships.
9. It’s about the heart, the head, and the Holy Spirit -- Go with reason as far as it will take you, but it’s not enough!
10. Understands market segmentation.
11. The Network is the University of the Future
12. Think globally – Act locally.

Using Rick Warren’s baseball diamond, what’s the state of your faith? Do these practices define a church that would appeal to you? Read Bob's complete article.

Fireworks For The Pastor!

Sunday’s sermon hit a homerun, but where were the fireworks? Ball players get them, now you can too. Enjoy the show. Blast your speakers ... but don't be surprised if the cops show up to see what the shootin's all about! Click here for fireworks!

Time For an Image Alignment

By Dr. John C. Maxwell

When I was fairly young, I was a pretty decent communicator. The upside to that was that I received some great opportunities to speak. The downside, however, was that I was often in over my head at these events.

For example, when I was 33, I was asked to speak at a youth conference at a state university campus. A few aspects of this engagement made me very nervous. For one thing, there would be 14,000 kids in the audience. For another, I had never spoken in such a big arena. And to make matters even worse, I was following a speaker who was much better and much more experienced than I was.

Looking back, it's easy to see how my self-image - how I viewed myself - had a direct bearing upon my effectiveness - or lack thereof - that day. After that experience, I began to understand that leaders must believe in themselves before they can ever hope to believe in their people. I also realized that, as a leader, if I've not bought in to myself, no one else is going to buy in to me either. Follow this link to read the complete article.

6 Vital Implications of Postmodernism for Your Church and Ministry

Postmodernism - It’s a buzz word that has been floating around evangelicalism for over a decade. For many, the mere mention of this word conjures negative emotions. The concept of postmodernity represents a spiritual battle that we see emerging in our churches today - a battle many churches are losing.

Some churches are adopting postmodernism in an attempt to “move with the times,” while others are choosing to ignore the fact that it exists. Neither is an appropriate response because God’s church is called to reach the people who live within culture.Here are several principles that will help guide your church and ministry through the confusion of postmodernism:

• We need to remember that Jesus commanded us to ‘go’ to people in culture.
• We need to engage this culture, not condemn it.
• We need authenticity, not programs.
• We need to focus on postmoderns as people, not the philosophy.
• We need to lift up Christ, not tear down an axiom.
• We need to inspire artistic expression, not hinder creativity.

How we respond to this changing culture will determine our effectiveness in expanding God’s kingdom among the nations. Read the complete article here.