Between Monday and Sunday

I wish you could all meet my mom and dad. My mom e-mailed a note to my wife, my brother Chuck, his wife, and me this morning. It was encouraging and insightful so I asked her if I could post it here (she said yes). Here's what she wrote ... I was praying more intensely than usual for you four this morning. Some of this comes from the difficult day I had yesterday. Yesterday I found myself focusing on all that had to be done during this particular season of the year. The Bible study I did this morning helped me see what was happening. I was studying Matthew 13:1-23 . It hit me that I was like the person who heard the Word and understood it then the worries of this world and seduction of wealth choked the truth of God’s Word and my life became unfruitful . You all have much more on you than I—therefore I am committed to continue to pray that you will focus on Jesus and His Truth and not let the worries of this world and the seduction of wealth choke you . My mother is the co...

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 just uploaded a new PowerPoint template to be used with the Fireproof Your Marriage sermon by Michael Catt. You may access the free Fireproof PowerPoint template here I had fun working on this and hope it's useful for preaching and teaching. I created one for Facing the Giants last year and it had almost 7000 downloads.

I just published a new sermon by Pastor Michael Catt. Michael Catt has been the Senior Pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia since 1989. In that role, he has served as Executive Producer for all three Sherwood Pictures' films: Flywheel , Facing the Giants , and Fireproof . For more information regarding Fireproof Your Life by Michael Catt, visit www.fireproofyourlife.com You may view the sermon Fireproof Your Marriage now You may also visit the LifeWay's Fireproof movie site here

One of the central parts of the new movie, Fireproof (in theaters September 26, 2008 and available on DVD in early 2009) is The Love Dare book that Caleb's father presents him when Caleb's marriage is spinning out of control. When Barbara (my wife) and I went to Albany, Georgia to watch part of the filming of Fireproof , and saw clips of the movie, we both began thinking of ways this amazing film could be used to impact marriages in our church family as well as marriages all over the world. During a break from the filming, Alex Kendrick, Fireproof Producer, and co-writer with his brother Stephen ( Fireproof Director) took us into a side room and asked us what we thought so far. Our questions turned to ministry impact and what resources would be available for pastors and church leaders. Alex felt the same way and shared that this was the vision of the whole team. They hoped that LifeWay would be involved. I am so proud that B & H Publishing Group (a division of LifeWay ...

Excerpted from a BPNews.com article by Michael Foust NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Men who attend religious services regularly are more likely to have happy and stable marriages, more likely to be involved with their children and less likely to divorce, new research says. Additionally, mothers who attend church weekly are half as likely to have children out of wedlock, the study says. The research by the University of Virginia's W. Bradford Wilcox analyzed data from three national surveys: the General Social Survey, the National Survey of Families and Households, and the National Survey of Family Growth. The research also drew partially from data in Wilcox's book, "Soft Patriarchs, New Men: How Christianity Shapes Fathers and Husbands." Read Foust's article in Baptist Press: Christian & Religious Families Happier, Less Likely to Divorce And, read a preview of Soft Patriarchs, New Men at books.google.com or buy Soft Patriarchs at Amazon.com

I read an article this morning in BPNews.net titled, Ky. church confronts danger of moral failure and wanted to let you see the letter that Pastor Todd Brady sent to his church family. I am grateful for his leadership and example for the rest of us ... Dear Church Family: Churches should trust their leaders. Church leaders should live and provide leadership which is worthy of such trust. Shivers went down my spine when I read of the minister in Plano, Texas, who was arrested recently in a sex sting after having solicited a minor online and after having driven three hours to meet with what he thought was a 13 year-old girl. This incident is yet another contribution to the loss of trust and confidence in our society’s church authorities. Eleven years of ministry with students on a college campus cause me to be acutely aware of the dangers of sexual temptation—particularly internet pornography. In light of this latest story from Texas, I am thrilled that the pastoral leadership and staff...

My family is a huge fan of the NPR program Car Talk . So, I am stoked to see that they have an animated program featuring Click & Clack, the Tappet brothers. Here's a summary from the website: Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the didactic duo whose voices grace the NPR airwaves on the ever-popular radio show Car Talk, have moved themselves into the world of animation with the all-new primetime series Click & Clack's As the Wrench Turns . The program takes off from the hit NPR show and follows the on- and off-air escapades of Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers (alter-egos of Tom and Ray Magliozzi) as they try to fix cars, fend off disgruntled customers and seek out increasingly creative ways to goof off. Click & Clack's As the Wrench Turns is set at Car Talk Plaza, a fictional building that houses their radio studio and their famed garage in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. You'll have to check your local station for the schedule. Nashville's WNPT Cha...

We're planning to take part of each of our three morning worship services tomorrow to thank God for our Mother's. This is what I am planning to share before we offer a prayer of thanks and blessing for moms. The book of Proverbs has great wisdom for every one of us. It is the Word of God and the wisdom from God for our lives. When these Proverbs were first written, they were intended as guides for young men who need wisdom and knowledge and training especially when it comes to women. Proverbs 31 is written to young men trying to help them understand the qualities in a woman that are the most valuable and The Message Paraphrase of Proverbs 31:10 says, "A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds." (The Message) But how do we measure the value of a mother? Are you wondering what mom should be paid for her work as mom? Salary.com has valuated the "mom job" of both the Working and Stay-at-Home Moms! Based on a survey of more than 18,000 mother...

In his new song "Love Is Not A Fight," Warren Barfield sings about the importance of staying true to marriage vows. Love is a shelter in the raging storm Love is peace in the middle of a war If we try to leave, may God send His angels to guard the door No, love is not a fight but it's something worth fighting for Click on the Warren Barfield video to view it ...

This is a great blog post by Craig Groeschel ( Pastor of LifeChurch.tv ). His blog is one that I follow very closely. This one was especially true and I think this is a good word for all of us who are teaching/preaching ... Craig Groeschel says, "Everything you say must be true. But everything that is true doesn’t need to be said." Then he lists several examples ( go to his blog post to read all of them ) Here's one example: "If you’re going to tell a story about someone in the church, get their permission first." I think that is true even if you are saying something good about that person. I added the following comment on his blog... This is a great follow up to your “Take Some Risks” post. I’ve been chewing on that and asking the Lord how I can do that more. As far as this post, I’ve been amazed at how much it raises the tension in the congregation if I cross this line of sharing a personal story about a church member - even if it’s positive. I don’t think it...

March 31, 2008 (Ventura, CA) Most Americans get married at some point in their life: just one out of five adults (22%) has never been married. Among those who have said their wedding vows, one out of three have been divorced at least once, according to a new study from The Barna Group . Marriage Is the Norm In addition to finding that four out of every five adults (78%) have been married at least once, the Barna study revealed that an even higher proportion of born again Christians (84%) tie the knot. That eclipses the proportion among people aligned with non-Christian faiths (74%) and among atheists and agnostics (65%). Divorce Is Widespread Among adults who have been married, the study discovered that one-third (33%) have experienced at least one divorce . That means that among all Americans 18 years of age or older, whether they have been married or not, 25% have gone through a marital split. Read the entire report ...

ALBANY, Ga., March 27, 2008 - " Fireproof ," the new action/relationship film from the creators of "Facing the Giants" and "Flywheel," releases this September from Sherwood Pictures and Provident Films. Already the movie is uniting marriage advocates from across the U.S. National groups such as Focus on the Family, Outreach, FamilyLife, The Marriage CoMission, America's Family Coaches, AMFM, Marriage Alive Communications, and MarriageToday endorse the movie and are urging their constituencies to see it. Influencers such as marriage expert Gary Smalley and Bubba Cathy of Chick-fil-A are also working to spread the word. It's no secret that U.S. marriages are in crisis. The U.S. Census Bureau and marriage organizations vary on the stats but agree that nearly half of all weddings lead to divorce—with rates highest in the Bible belt. Some 25 percent of U.S. adults divorce at least once; and given the abundance of poor marriages, many couples skip it out...

And, how would God answer that question for you? A new study from the Barna Group got me thinking about my most important relationships. You can read their study results in Americans Identify Their Most Important Relationships. Their study showed that "people’s most important personal relationship is not with God. Family surpassed their Heavenly Father as the key personal connection. However, when asked to identify the most important group or network in their life, colleagues from their church topped the list, mentioned by three out of every ten adults." I hope that if you asked God about my most important relationship He would say, "Craig's most important relationship is with me." I'm afraid some days He might say, "Well, Craig is a little wrapped up in himself and his own little world today." Ouch. It would be very interesting if Barna or LifeWay Research were able to ask God these types of questions: What is captivating the thoughts of your foll...

Barbara and I had a chance to attend part of the filming of this very exciting motion picture that will release this fall. So, I was very excited when Marc Harper with SermonCinema.com called me last Thursday to let me know that the Fireproof website would be live this weekend. We at LifeWay will be providing sermons resources and well as a lot of promotion for this great movie which will bring to light many of the key issues men and women are dealing with in their marriages. In the meantime, become familiar with this new movie from the church staff at Sherwood Baptist Church, Directors Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick and Executive Producers Michael Catt and Jim McBride. Visit fireproofthemovie.com now and watch the trailer and learn more about the film.

I posted an article by Keith Hamilton in the pastors area of lifeway.com about Church Credit Card Use . It was very popular with my readers. One response from a reader was interesting, though. She said, "Aren't Christians supposed to avoid credit cards altogether?" My simple answer is, some Christians should avoid credit cards. Howard Dayton of Crown Financial Ministries is a respected voice in this area and posted an article in Baptist Press that is helpful called Should Christians use credit cards?

I was listening to Rick Warren's podcast this week and was reminded that we as church leaders must be diligent in intentionally protecting ourselves and our leaders from potential moral failure. He spoke with Pastor Ken Baugh ( Coast Hills Church ) and Pastor John Baker (from Saddleback's Celebrate Recovery ministry). If you want to listen to it you can find it here: Moral Failure of a Staff Member Be sure to see the two documents he mentions in the podcast. One is a letter he sent to his congregation after dismissing a staff member for moral failure, What Happens When a Staff Member Falls . The other is the Saddleback Staff Ten Commandments. I preached on this issue several months ago in a more general sense to our congregation. I was applying this to all Christians. I used these two lists: 8 Safeguards Against Getting too Close (Jill Savage) 1. Choose wisely. Avoid unnecessarily spending time with someone of the opposite sex. For instance, if you're looking for a person...

(Ventura, CA) - Researcher and bestselling author George Barna says the current public debate about the implications of the Virginia Tech tragedy is missing the point. "The animated conversations about gun control, campus security, counseling standards, campus communications, drug abuse and mental health funding do not address the core issue raised by this event. This situation is not primarily a challenge to politicians, educators or police. It’s a dramatic wake-up call to parents." Barna indicated that he was sympathetic toward the parents of the college student who murdered 31 classmates and faculty before taking his own life. But he also stated that it sometimes takes a crisis to focus attention on important issues that a society must address. Read the rest of his article at Barna.org

It doesn't surprise me but it does delight me when I see secular people grasping for a biblical solution when their worldly methods have failed. A great example is in a county in China where special investigators are trying to find out how you treat your parents before they will allow you to remain as a government official. The article is found at Reuters Oddly Enough and is called Want a promotion? Treat Mom well . Here's a quote from the article... China's leaders are fretting about how to support its aging population, and worried about slipping moral standards as younger generations rush to take advantage of the booming national economy. Here's a quote from God's Word... Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Exodus 20:12