CreativePastors Blog & Podcast

Buy The Marriage Mirror or The Creative Marriage and get He Said/She Said Journal Free

The Creative Marriage offers insight into every area of marital life, from intimacy to finances, communication to conflict, and priorities to blended families. The Marriage Mirror, based on the reality that marriage is a reflection of Christ's relationship with the Church, is a foundational book on keeping God at the center of your marriage. Now, buy either of these great books and receive the unique dual-sided He Said, She Said Journal, where husbands and wives can journal together in the same volume.

Body for God Combo

Now get the Body for God Cookbook, Weight Training Workout DVD and Walking with Weights DVD for just $29.99!

Body for God Cookbook

The beauty of the Body for God Cookbook (normally $21.99), by Lisa Young, lies in its simplicity. For years, we have taken the pure foods that God has provided and made their existence in our daily diets complex but less valuable. This assortment of recipes and hints provided will assist each of us in preparing foods which fuel our bodies for God.

Body for God Weight Training Workout

 Pump up your workout routine with this weight training DVD. The Body for God Weight Training Workout DVD (normally $20.00) consists of three interval training segments. The uniqueness of this program is found in its flexibility - you determine the level of intensity.

Walking with Weights

Lisa Young's Walking with Weights (normally $25.00) is a creative and exciting alternative for cardiovascular development. Over the past several years, Lisa has developed a walking program that can help you lose weight, tone up and increase energy. More importantly, it will help you incorporate worship into your daily workout.

C3 DVDs now available for pre-order

Many of you who attended this year's Creative Church Conference have let us know that it was an incredible experience for you and your ministry. Thank you! C3 is always a high point of our year as well. There's something awesome that happens when thousands of church leaders from around the world have the opportunity to get together, share ideas, swap stories, and encourage each other.

If you didn't have a chance to attend this year, we don't want you to miss out! We've just made the C3 2008 Conference DVDs available for pre-order. You'll receive all the general sessions from a great lineup of speakers, as well as the talks that were shared during our C3 Nights events.

And for those of you in children's ministry, don't miss the DVD set from our C3 Kids Conference!

Both of these items will ship in approximately three weeks—a perfect way to get refreshed after Easter!

Outrageous, Contagious Joy Now in Paperback!

Ed's recent book, Outrageous, Contagious Joy, is now available in paperback! Examining Five Great Questions to Help You Discover One Great Life, this book is a helpful resource for anyone looking to move beyond quick fixes and happiness-chasing to the deeper, richer experience of joy that God wants for our lives.

Shopping for a Savior Now Available

Shopping for a Savior is now available on DVD!  Featuring revealing man-on-the-street interviews taped in Times Square,this highly requested Christmas message is a powerful look at the misconceptions so many individuals have about God, Heaven and other aspects of faith.

Series to start the year

We received a call the other day from a pastor who is brand new to his post. We love talking to church leaders who are in the early stages of ministry! It's great to hear their eagerness and share in their enthusiasm as well as being able to help them find just the right resource to fit their needs. He had a question that was too timely not to share:

What would be a good series to kick off 2008?

• Ed just mentioned the other day that ineed2change would a perfect series to start off the new year!
• Fellowship Church began 2007 with the Larger than Life series, which covers fasting, prayer and giving.
• Retro, a series dealing with the fundamentals of faith, is a great choice for setting priorities and getting back to the basics. Don't miss the message on the Sabbath, Leisure Suits You.
• For some people, spending time with family over the holidays re-opens old wounds. Forgiveness, The Real F Word helps in making peace with the past.
• And for those looking to make the most of life in 2008, Life's Too Short is a great series to highlight what's truly important.

There you have it - a hand-picked list of series just right for welcoming in the new year. We'd love to hear what's on your message calendar in 2008!

The Parent Rap

This morning Ed is speaking at Lake Hills Church in Austin, Texas, where Mac Richard, his friend of many years, is the Senior Pastor. He's talking about family, and using one of our favorite sermon highlights to drive home the importance of strong parenting. From the message Parent CEO, here's the Parent Rap:

I'm the parent. I'm legit.
There's no use arguing; you might as well quit.
You can roll your eyes and say it's not fair.
But you're just telling God you really don't care.
So do what I say all of the time,
then your life will have serious rhyme.
All the time, yours and mine, peace of family mind.

Divorce Shockers and Blockers

A Chicago attorney made national news this week with the debut of a billboard featuring images of two scantily clad torsos and the words, "Life's short. Get a divorce." And while many in mainstream America will find that kind of media stunt offensive and over-the-top, the shocking reality is that half of all marriages end in divorce. It's hard to imagine a louder rally cry for the relational revolution needed in our communities. Instead of condemning our culture, we need to contribute to the healing and stregthening  of marriages and families within our reach.

Over the past two weeks of the Doors series, Ed  has been digging deep into the topic of divorce. Last weekend's message included a 20-minute segment with a Christian family therapist, which outlined four predictors of divorce and what we can do to turn those around. Ed is a huge proponent of Christian counseling (for couples and individuals), and interviews like these are a great opportunity to not only bring in an expert opinion, but also provide a non-threatening taste of what the experience is like.

In conjunction with these messages, we've recently rolled out the Creative Covenant Marriage Agreement. Part legal document and part marriage playbook, the C2 package  equips couples with a game plan - an intentional strategy for building, maintaining and protecting a healthy, joy-filled marriage. The goal of this resource is to highlight the covenant commitment of marriage and offer couples strategies to protect and strengthen their relationship.

Crimson Easter Video Now Available

The requests for the Crimson video used in our Easter services last year have been pouring in ever since it was featured during our Creative Church Conference in February. And by popular demand, we've created a resource to help you incorporate this dramatic footage into your Easter services. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• You'll receive two sets of video in the download package. One is the footage used on the center screen and the other contains the graphics from the side screens. (The lovely singer will not appear on your files - she was projected on top of the video during the service.)
• This is a video package and does not include any audio, because copyright restrictions prevent us from offering vocals or music.
• But, click the media preview button and you'll be able to see the full effect of how we integrated the video with music and creative lighting in our Fellowship Church Easter service.

Pastor's Kits - Pronto!

We're always on the lookout for ways to enhance your life in ministry, whether we're developing a new resource based on your requests or simply making it easier for you to get what you need, when you need it. Many of you enjoy the convenience and speed of our downloadable resources, so we're pleased to announce that you now have the option of downloading our Pastor's Kits! Within seconds of placing your order, you can dive into the full package of transcripts, outlines, MP3s, mind maps, service scripts and worship maps for an entire series. And here's an insider tip: Pastor's Kits are a great way to save compared to the price of purchasing all the individual downloads.

Check it out here and let us know if you have further ideas for ways we can make your CreativePastors experience even better!