Greetings from the communications department of LifeWay Christian Resources!

We are excited to launch this blog as another tool in the ebb and flow of our news distribution and communication efforts.  While our goal is to generate a conversation around and about LifeWay news, we also intend to provide a behind-the-scenes, personal touch that builds (and strengthens) a relationship with our readers.

Thanks for checking us out.  Your comments and feedback are always welcome!  Be sure to follow us also on:

and

Grace and peace,
Micah Carter, for the team

Dr. Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, presents his report to the board of trustees gathered at Ridgecrest for their fall meeting.

We will release a full package of coverage from the two-day trustee meeting, including highlights of Dr. Rainer's presidential report and divisional summaries, after the conclusion of the meeting. Be sure to look for photos from Kent Harville!

LifeWay employee Brian Brown leads worship during the trustee meeting at Ridgecrest. For more photos from Kent Harville, click here.

This week at the fall LifeWay trustee meeting I heard a trustee make this comment: "I'm as overwhelmed as a Mennonite standing in the middle of Circuit City."

I resonate with the statement, since my first trustee meeting was overwhelming too. Let me explain with a couple of thoughts.

I was overwhelmed by the blessing of the Lord upon the ministry and business of LifeWay. Trustees heard reports from each vice president, and although LifeWay faced economic challenges like everyone else, the Lord's blessing was evident to all. I was encouraged especially by Dr. Rainer's report, which expressed so much gratitude to the Lord for blessings LifeWay has seen this year. He also emphasized the hope we have in the Lord as we face another challenging year in 2010.

I was overwhelmed by the excellent facilities of the Ridgecrest Conference Center. Since this is the first time I've ever been to Ridgecrest, I can't tell you what improvements have been made (which is something I heard constantly from long-time visitors to Ridgecrest). I can tell you that I was impressed by everything I saw and by everywhere I went while I was there. Can't wait for my first trip to Glorieta next year!

Yesterday morning when I left Ridgecrest to come back to Nashville, it was raining. And it rained the entire 6 hour drive. Sure, I would've preferred sunny skies for a pleasant drive home, but the rain provoked me to think about God's gracious blessings on LifeWay once again. Just as the Lord blessed those North Carolina mountains with the provision of rain, I pray that he would continue to bless the ministry of LifeWay with the provision of his goodness in the year to come.

 Micah Carter

Hotel Pulitzer is located in the Jordaan district of Amsterdam, Netherlands. My husband (Jonathan) took this photo during our recent vacation to the city, and it is the Photo of the Week in the LifeWay newsroom.

So here's the background: Hotel Pulitzer is not named after the same Pulitzer as the famous journalism award, though I think it is the same family. Wikipedia let me down on this; I can't find any definitive info about the Pulitzer family tree. All I know is the hotel is named for a businessman by the name of Herbert, and the award is named for a publishing magnate by the name of Joseph, and Joseph has a descendant named Herbert. Make sense? Regardless, being in the journalism field, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have dessert and coffee at the aptly named hotel (being in the journalism field, I couldn't afford to stay at said hotel).

Anyway, years ago in Amsterdam property taxes were figured based on the width of the house. Naturally, people did their best to avoid paying higher taxes by building ridiculously tall, skinny homes along Amsterdam's many canals. These became known as canal homes and many are now more than 300 years old and still occupied. 

Along came Herbert Pulitzer in the mid-1900's with the brilliant idea to buy several of these dilapidated canal homes, renovate them into a single building, and open a 5-star eponymous hotel. Voila! Hotel Pulitzer. It consists of 25 separate canal homes combined to form one deceptively large hotel. The photo above is taken from the front entrance of the hotel, looking out to its loading dock on the canal.

Entry by Brooklyn Lowery

My reporting assignment last week was to cover the National Youth Workers Conference held here at LifeWay’s home office. As you would expect, there were a lot of extremely energetic, spiky-hair sporting, flip-flop wearing fellows cruising the halls of the building. Now, before you get offended at my admittedly stereotypically observation, please assess a mental image of your church’s student minister – notice the hair product? More importantly, please realize that I don’t in any way believe that the clothes make the youth minister. I’m just sayin’.

So beyond the “look” of the conference, there was a lot of substance. I’m currently floating in that ether between encounters with the youth ministry; I’m 10 years removed from it myself and, being newly married, have several years to go before I’ll have children of my own involved. Still, the conference was good, really good. The focus of the event was helping youth workers strengthen their parent ministries in hopes that the students’ parents will function as their children’s chief spiritual mentors. So while I can’t immediately apply those youth-centric ideas to my life, they did get me thinking.

When I was very young, I attended daycare a few times a week. I remember very little from that experience except for bingo days with some senior adults who came to visit from time to time. This was harmless bingo, the kind where no money is exchanged and a paper cut from the card is the most dangerous element of the game. Anyway, I would sit next to one of the adults (the associate pastor from my church used to come sometimes, and he was my favorite) and “help” him or her mark the card when the numbers were called. I can’t remember winning or losing or really anything about those games except that some senior adult wanted to spend time with me.

What does this have to do with parents and youth ministry, you ask? Perhaps nothing practically, but it does illustrate the long-lasting impression of connections developed between generations. If I remember the moments shared with random senior adults who walked in and out of my life, how much better will a teenager remember the moments shared with his or her parents? It’s exactly the point made by multiple speakers during the conference: Parents have an incredible opportunity to create these “moments” with their kids, and youth ministers have a tremendous responsibility to help those moments occur.

If it mattered to a 4-year-old, it could matter even more to a 14-year-old. By the way, the official, unbiased news article from the event is available on the LifeWay newsroom. No mention of spiky hair in that one, but there are several more photos.

Entry by Brooklyn Lowery

Mike Harland and Ed Stetzer discuss the dynamics of worship, September 2009.  To read the news story, click here.

A few weeks ago I was able to be present during the live debate discussion between Mike Harland and Ed Stezer called Worship: Revelance vs. Reverence. Although the event was pitched as a debate -- assuming that Harland would argue for reverence in worship and Stetzer would argue for relevance -- there was nearly complete agreement on the issue!

Here's their consensus: worship must be both reverent and relevant.

I'm not surprised about their consensus or their reasons for why worship must be "both/and." In a nutshell, worship must be reverent because of the object of our worship -- the Lord. Scripture provides illustration after illustration to demonstrate how sinners behave in the presence of a holy God. Yet at the same time, worship must be relevant because we find ourselves in a particular time and place -- a certain context. I would dare say that anyone reading this blog currently and only sings from the Psalter during worship, but once upon a time this would've been standard in most churches.

I was challenged by both Harland and Stetzer as I listened to the discussion. Harland reminded me that worship must be first and foremost about God -- he is the object of our worship and also our audience. We don't just worship; we worship God. Stetzer challenged me to think about the contextual and missional aspects of music and their relation to worship. I'm still chewing on some of his ideas, but I think he's right that we cannot overlook where we live here and now, our time and place.

Let me conclude with a quote from both Harland and Stetzer that still have me thinking about worship. I hope these thoughts are helpful to you as well:

• Harland: "We need to realize that God has not called us to lead music, he’s called us to lead people. We will never achieve spiritual goals with a musical means."
• Stetzer: "These issues can be resolved when we look first to Scripture, when we put others as more important than ourselves, and we ask the question ‘How can we do what God is calling us to do in this place and in this time?’ Then I think churches will be focused on worshipping in spirit and in truth."

For additional resources, see Seven Words of Worship (Mike Harland and Stan Moser) and Breaking the Missional Code (Ed Stetzer and David Putman).

Entry by Micah Carter

On a recent trip to Russia I had the opportunity to visit Moscow’s Red Square. Throughout the many centuries of Russian history, Red Square has served citizen and government alike, both as a public market place and as the site for official governmental ceremonies, coronations, and displays of military might.

Red Square is home to the Kremlin -- the historic fortified palace complex that has been the home to many of Russia’s early Czars -- that served during the Soviet era as the seat of government for the USSR, and currently, as the official residence of the president of Russia.

The name Red Square is not derived from the color of the bricks in the square nor from the color red which is often used in defining communism. Rather, the Russian word “Krasnaya” which means either “red” or “beautiful” was first used to describe St. Basil’s Cathedral (pictured above) located at the southeast end of the square. Over the years “Krasnaya” has come to define the entire square.

St. Basil’s, with the nine colorful onion-domed, red brick towers was built between the years of 1555 and 1561 by Ivan the Terrible. It is arguably the most famous, as well as one of the most beautiful and most photographed, structures in all of Russia. As I explored the square, I saw literally hundreds of visitors shooting pictures with everything from digital camcorders to point and shoot cameras to cell phones. 

Here’s some insight into why I took the photo the way I did.

Many non-professional photographers take “picture postcard” style photographs. These are technically very good photos of favorite places or subject matter, great to show family or friends and place in the photo album at home. But, aside from being a pretty picture documenting where one has been, these photos tell little about the place itself or the people who live there.  A professional photographer will do the same, but after taking several “record” shots of a subject, he or she will explore the subject further and attempt to capture the same image in a way that will tell a story or visually comment on the life or culture of the people related to his subject.

This is what I call “slice of life” photojournalism, which documents the common, everyday occurrences that gives viewers a sense of lifestyle and place. 

In this photo of St. Basil’s (above), I included in the foreground a pair of local photographers who had set up shop on the square in front of the cathedral. They had erected a small picture board showing prices and samples of their work, as well as photographs of children, couples, friends, bridal portraits -- all shot in various locations around the square, some with St. Basil’s as a backdrop. On the left, the photographer’s body language indicates mild frustration as he watches tourists with their digital cameras and cell phones snapping away at this historic landmark, ignoring completely the services that he has to offer. His partner’s attitude on the right? He just wants to enjoy the morning newspaper.

Entry by Kent Harville

Check out the "photo of the week" section of LifeWay.com/news for more photos! Click here.

Last weekend my husband, Sam, and I were in Panama City, Fla., for one of LifeWay’s Festival of Marriage events. I was there on assignment and Sam came along since we were already in Florida, having been on vacation in Destin for a few days.

A highlight for us was getting to spend some time with Jerry and Bayne Pounds, one of the couples leading breakout sessions during the FOM. Sam and I have known them for about 30 years. Sam went to seminary with them in New Orleans way back when, and I met them the year after Sam and I were married.

Jerry and Bayne are fantastic! Both of them have their PhDs and both are on faculty/staff at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. They have plenty to do in their professional capacities, but they still make time to do marriage events all over the country because they are so committed to helping couples have healthy marriages. Jerry and Bayne are fun. They model a healthy marriage – full of fun, love and enthusiasm. They love great seafood, too, and are always up for a culinary adventure. Anytime we are with them, it is a time of joy.

They are representative of the caliber of people Mark Satterfield, LifeWay’s marriage leader, enlists for the FOM events. Mark puts together amazing marriage events, due in no small part to the people he brings in.

I have covered FOM events before, and they’re always good events to write about. I love seeing couples that are serious about making their marriages better. An FOM event isn’t about therapy; it’s about commitment. The couples that come are making an investment in each other by getting away together for a few days in a pretty setting. They are spending some quality time together away from kids, families, work and other responsibilities. It’s a time to focus on each other and learn a few skills to take their marriages to a deeper level.

Leaders like Jerry and Bayne, a coordinator like Mark, and couples like the ones at Panama City who are willing to invest in their marriages make me happy to be associated with LifeWay and what we are doing to help marriages. After all, I am a firm believer in marriage. I mentioned Sam and I had spent a few days in Destin … we were celebrating our 29th anniversary.

Posted by Polly House
Editor, Facts & Trends magazine

Jennifer Tramel, communications intern, vlogs about her experience while she covered Collegiate Week in Glorieta, NM.  

Read Jennifer's first person account: First person: Impressions from Collegiate Week

Watch the video: Collegiate Week 2009