Chris Vacher describes his Good Friday service:

At Compass we do a Good Friday service where we focus squarely on the crucifixion of Christ and what it means for us. Good Friday is a holiday in Canada and most people are able to attend a daytime service. Good Friday becomes an event on the spiritual calendar with a significant amount of anticipation in our own church community as we approach the weekend.

As a worship leader I find the challenge of Good Friday is to keep the focus on the cross. Yes, we live in the reality of the resurrection. Yes, the cross is not the end of the story. Yes, Jesus is alive, hallelujah! Yet the death of Christ is so significant and carries so much weight, bringing the focus of this service to the cross and leaving people there is completely acceptable but also a significant challenge.

Romans 5 speaks so clearly of the importance of the death of Jesus yet we tend to fall into the trap of making it significant but not significant enough. We’ll give it the focus and the attention it deserves but move quickly to celebrating (which we should do!) the resurrection. Good Friday is an invitation to worship God under the weight of the cross, the reality of our own sin and the sacrifice of Jesus. What an opportunity.

Here’s what our Good Friday service looked like: Continue reading.

Matthew Hoskinson on ministry salaries:

It seems awfully unspiritual to talk about pastoral remuneration, especially during the candidating process.

After all, if the Lord wants you to minister somewhere, hasn’t he promised to provide for you? And didn’t George Mueller pray meals to the front door of his orphanage? Why waste time on the temporal?

That’s a good question with a surprisingly simple answer: If you do not provide for your family, you cannot be a pastor.

That’s not my opinion, but the word of God through Paul.

“If someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” (1Tim 3.5)

“If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1Tim 5.8)

Of course we must bear other texts in mind, such as Titus 1.7 (“he must not be .. .greedy for gain”) and 1Timothy 3.3 (“not a lover of money”). These verses may explain our awkwardness in discussing salary packages and benefits. We recognize that we are servants of the Lord and are often amazed that we have the privilege of being pastors.

But our rejection of greediness does not constitute a vow of poverty.

It is true that, if the Lord wants you to minister somewhere, he will provide for you. It is also true that one way the Lord confirms whether he wants you to minister somewhere is whether the provision is adequate for you and your family.

It may be the Lord’s will for you to serve as a pastor for XYZ Church, but it is the Lord’s will for you to provide for your family. If you cannot do the first without accomplishing the second, XYZ Church is not the Lord’s will for you.

Continue reading.

Phil Cooke on the new show “The Moment” for the USA Network:

Our team at Cooke Pictures recently spent a few days in San Jose working with Grace Hill Media shooting a promo for NFL great Kurt Warner’s new show “The Moment” for the USA Network. It’s a program that gives people a second chance at achieving their dream. Whatever it was that derailed their plans, Kurt and his team will help them get a second chance at making it happen. We shot the segments at Cathedral of Faith Church in San Jose because it’s a church that’s become synonymous with giving people second chances. Their food pantry is one of the best in the Bay Area, and provides food for thousands every week. Their charter school is graduating inner city kids who end up in Ivy League colleges and universities, and they have a home makeover program to help those in financial need fix up their houses for free. They even have a remarkable “dental outreach” that does free dentistry (and serious procedures) for those who can’t afford a visit.

As our crew was shooting the USA Network segments with host Kurt Warner and Ken Foreman, pastor of Cathedral of Faith, the thought occurred to me that if every church in America did these types of ministry outreaches – at whatever level they could afford – it would change the culture’s perception of Christianity.

Continue reading.

I have yet to meet anyone who has a full and clear understanding of copyright law. One thing I know for certain is that most people (and this includes churches, schools, businesses, and pretty much everyone) take liberties beyond what the law allows. In a church situation, this can be devastating: not only could you face penalties, but you’ve possibly done damage to your witness and credibility.

It’s not comprehensive (since there are other licenses out there), but Christian Copyright Solutions has posted a guide to the differences between the CCLI and the CCS.

Continue reading.

During tax season many Americans review their 2012 finances, including a look at how much and to whom they donated money last year. In a new poll from the Barna Group, more than half of Americans said they have donated money or items (or both) to a cause they cared about during the last year. And only 13% of Americans say they haven’t donated any money to charity in the past 12 months.

Those highly charitable patterns exist despite the fact that over one-third of Americans (37%) say that though they are financially stable right now, they’re just making ends meet. Another one in four adults say they are struggling to make ends meet (25%). Only one-quarter of adults consider themselves financially secure. On the extreme ends, 4% of adults report having “more than they need,” while 5% say they require financial assistance to make ends meet.

Who Gives?

The vast majority of U.S. adults donated money in 2012 to charities or churches. As might be expected, there is a correlation between how much money people make and how much money they donate. Nearly 7 in 10 American adults (69%) making $60,000 or more of household income say they donated money over the last year, compared with less than half of people (45%) in households making less than $40,000.

About half of adults (51%) donated items they owned to causes they believed in over the last year. Older people—aged 45 or more—are less likely to have donated items (48%) than people who are younger than 45 who donated items at an average of 54%. People making over $60,000 are most likely to donate their time as a volunteer—nearly half of adults (47%) in that income bracket have done so.

Religious Identification and Giving

A person’s religious identification has a lot to do with whether or not they donate to causes they believe in. Evangelicals were far and away the group most likely to donate money, items or time as a volunteer. More than three-quarters of evangelicals (79%) have donated money in the last year, and 65% and 60% of them have donated items or volunteer time, respectively. Additionally, only 1% of evangelicals say they made no charitable donation in the last 12 months. Comparatively, 27% of those with a faith other than Christianity say they made no charitable donation in the last year—a number more than double the national rate (13%). One-fifth of people who claimed no faith said they made no donation over the last year, still noticeably higher than the number for all Americans.

Interestingly, the difference between evangelical Christians and non-evangelical born again Christians was marked. While 79% of evangelicals made a financial donation over the last year, 53% of non-evangelical born agains said the same. The number of non-evangelical born again Christians who didn’t make a donation matches the national average exactly (13%), compared to the only 1% of evangelicals.

Continue reading.