Between Monday and Sunday

I had the privilege of seeing Fireproof twice this weekend. On Friday with the department I work in at LifeWay and on Saturday with fifteen couples from the Church I serve bivocationally, Gladeville Baptist Church . I had seen the Fireproof movie several months ago in a screening here at LifeWay but I loved getting to see it again through fresh eyes. I was amazed at how Fireproof affected me emotionally even seeing it for a second and third time. I thank God for Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick who are both great story tellers. I thank God for a Pastor Michael Catt , Executive Pastor Jim McBride , and the Sherwood Baptist Church family who gave so much of themselves to bring glory to God in this film. I received this e-mail newsletter from the Fireproof marketing folks yesterday and rejoiced in the good news ... You made FIREPROOF the No. 4 overall movie in America this past weekend! In fact, if you look at per-screen average (and Hollywood does), you made FIREPROOF the second-...

At www.lifeway.com/jbs you will find an overview of 2009 January Bible Study (JBS), Living in Awe of God: Studies in Exodus , download samples, and get complimentary JBS 2009 leader and learner guides for your preschoolers and children. You will also find a link (bottom right hand corner) to eight sermon manuscripts by Calvin Wittman from selected passages in Exodus. The following sermons correspond with the chapters of the January Bible Study (JBS) 2009: The Forward Movement of God's Plan, Exodus 1 Setbacks in Service, Exodus 4 - 6 The Plagues of Egypt, Exodus 7 - 11 The Exodus from Egypt, Exodus 13 - 14 Walking By Faith in the Wilderness, Exodus 15 - 17 Prepare to Meet Your God, Exodus 19 God Answers Prayer, Exodus 32 Four Essentials of Worship, Exodus 35 Visit lifeway.com/JBS now to access them

The 40/40 Prayer Vigil consists of 40 days of prayer from September 24 to November 2, 2008, culminating in 40 hours of around the clock intercession during the last 3 days of the Vigil. The Vigil focuses first on personal spiritual revival. It then covers an expanding circle of prayer concerns, from the church to the nation. For more information and to download a Free Prayer Guide for either the 40 days or 40 hours are here .

I really enjoyed this interview. I got to be on the set in Georgia when they were filming part of the movie and was so impressed with everyone on the cast. Kirk Cameron was just as you see him in this interview: humble and passionate about God and family. Remember that you can download a free sample of The Love Dare here If you are looking for sermon or teaching ideas to follow up viewings of The Fireproof Movie you can access a free sermon by Michael Catt in LifeWay's Proclaim Online ... Access the free sermon and free PowerPoint now called Fireproof Your Marriage by Michael Catt (Michael is Executive Producer of Fireproof and the Sr. Pastor at Sherwood Baptist Church ) The sermon is adapted from Michael's book Fireproof Your Life . For more information regarding Fireproof Your Life by Michael Catt, visit www.fireproofyourlife.com

I was very surprised a couple of weeks ago when David Schrader, over at bhpublishinggroup.com told me they would be offering 'Essential Church? Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts' by Thom and Sam Rainer as a free download for a limited time. This important book has profoundly impacted the way I view how we are operating in the church I serve, especially as we relate to younger members. On ChurchLeadershipBooks.com you will be asked to enter your e-mail address (which will sign you up for the complimentary "Church Leadership Books" e-newsletter) and you will be able to download a PDF of all 255 pages of 'Essential Church?' The download will only be available for a limited period of time so do it today. Access the complimentary download of 'Essential Church?'

I usually don't post my sermons in Proclaim Online but I wanted to take this opportunity to show you how I do my PowerPoint, Sermon Handouts, and the Sermon Booklet format I use. I've posted a five-sermon series that I preached in June . I have published the sermons on article pages but have also linked to .zip files, which include the full PowerPoint presentations for each sermon, PDF and Word Documents of Sermon Handouts, and a Sermon Booklet. In the PowerPoints, observe how we chose to use specific fonts, font sizes, font colors, and shadows. Also notice the use of bold for words we are stressing in particular scripture references. In the Handouts we matched the PowerPoint graphics and use similar fonts and styles. I print my sermons as a booklet using the "bookfold" option in Microsoft Word and use the "manual duplex" option when printing it. Access everything on our EXTRA sermons page ...

Pastor, in the new book, Essential Church? Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts , Thom and Sam Rainer ask and answer the following question, Is Preaching Still Important? Their answer is "Yes!" Even in today's hyper-techno-driven conversational-wiki-culture, preaching is of the utmost importance. Of the several church-related or pastor-related issues noted by dropouts, preaching came up several times as a critical issue in retaining college students and young adults. Dan Garland, our Director of Pastoral Ministry and Church Consulting pulled together some quotes and research results from "Essential Church?" related to preaching. View the article Is Preaching Still Important Today?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--New research into several questions that often dominate Southern Baptist debates -- from the rise of Calvinism and prevalence of elders in congregations to speaking in tongues and baptism practices -- offers some hard numbers to inform those discussions. The issues in question, and the results uncovered by the survey, show that Southern Baptists have strong opinions in several areas. LifeWay Research , a division of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, conducted the study during the spring among a sample of 778 Southern Baptist pastors. CALVINISM LifeWay Research previously reported a rise in the number of self-identified five-point Calvinists among recent seminary graduates. In the new survey, LifeWay Research asked Southern Baptist pastors if they were "concerned" about this increase, asking them to agree or disagree with the statement, "The rise of Calvinism among recent seminary graduates concerns me." Among So...