Between Monday and Sunday

For those of you who are familiar with Essential Church? Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts by Thom and Sam Rainer, I wanted you to know about the new manual, Tools for an Essential Church . It is co-authored by Dan Garland, Thom Rainer, and Sam Rainer. Tools for an Essential Church takes leadership through a detailed step-by-step process to implement a strategy for becoming an "Essential Church." An "Essential Church" is defined as a place members see as an essential part of their lives. The manual is designed to help church leaders and staff develop strategies and processes to lead their churches to be more effective in carrying out their God-given mission. Content provides research and the basic premise of the Rainers’ book Essential Church? Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts and takes leaders through all four phases of the Essential Church model: Simplify, Deepen, Expect, and Multiply . Simplify by implementing the principles of Simple Church Deepen thro...

I was very stoked when Telena brought me our Fireproof Movie Event kit today. We are planning to host a movie event at Gladeville Baptist Church on Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. as part of our Spring Small Groups Launch night. We will have tables set up with representatives from all our Sunday morning Bible study groups, our Wednesday night LifeQuest groups, our Home groups, and Affinity groups. One of the things we're planning to do is offer The Love Dare Bible study in the spring on Wednesdays, Sunday mornings, and in some home groups. Thank you Lord for great tools like these!

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-...

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 found this video to be very helpful. In this video, Brad Waggoner discusses ' The Shape of Faith to Come ' his soon to be released book (October 2008). In The Shape of Faith to Come , research expert Brad J. Waggoner and his team measure the beliefs and actions of 2,500 active Protestant churchgoers from across the country against seven key standards of biblical spiritual formation. You may purchase The Shape of Faith to Come here

In The Shape of Faith to Come , research expert Brad J. Waggoner and his team measure the beliefs and actions of twentyfive hundred active Protestant churchgoers from across the country against seven key standards of biblical spiritual formation: Learning the Truth Obeying God and Denying Self Sharing Faith Serving God and Others Exercising Biblical Faith Building Solid Relationships Seeking God The far-from-predictable findings reveal the current state and potential forecast of spiritual formation in the United States. This book will release in mid-October but I wanted you to have a change glance at the table of contents, and read the introduction and part of the first chapter. Download sample pages here ...

I posted an article yesterday by Dan Garland (Director of Pastoral Ministry and Church Consulting ) as part of his Today's Bivocational Pastor e-newsletter. This excellent article deals with the results from two new studies show that church growth has more to do with internal rather than external factors. He first reviews some of the findings in The American Church Research Project then compares them to the findings in Essential Church? Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts by Thom Rainer and Sam Rainer . Look at these findings and read an overview of how Thom and Sam Rainer evaluate some of these key internal factors in Essential Church. Read What Causes Churches to Grow or Decline?

Just saw a good article on Michael Zigarelli's Christianity 9 to 5 site dealing with the reasons speakers flop. It was a good reminder for me. The article is by Mark Sanborn president of Sanborn & Associates, Inc. and author of The Fred Factor Here are the seven reasons, view the article to read his explanations ... They disregard time The have an unclear purpose The have inadequate preparation They fail to capture attention They appear pompous They are boring They use false endings

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