Back in May my son, Easton, was born, who weighed in at 9lbs 0ozs!

I’ve also spent the last 7 months starting up a new business! I ran in to a few situation in the last year where a number of people began asking to buy my photographs and then asking me if I had considered becoming a pro photographer. So… that’s what I did! I’ve started The Story Photography! Here’s a few of my recent photos for you to enjoy!

If you have been a fan of Chan’s speaking and his previous book, Crazy Love, you will not be disappointed by The Forgotten God.  Chan writes in a real, relateable, style and treats the topic at hand (the Holy Spirit) in an honest fashion.  Some may be intially put off by a book about the Holy Spirit and others may feel like they have a theological “corner on the market” and there is nothing new to learn.  I would strongly encourage both camps to set their intial bias aside for a little while and judge the book after reading it.

Personally, I was greatly encouraged to seek a deeper, more full dependence reliance on the Holy Spirit in my life.  I realized that I can’t follow Jesus quite as well as I could be without getting to know the Holy Spirit better.

A word for youth workers…

What part does the Holy Spirit play in your youth ministry?  Is the Holy Spirit “the forgotten God?”  Is the Holy Spirit focused on more that Jesus or the Father?  Do yourself and your students a favor.  Read this book, do some thinking about your view of the Holy Spirit and go from there.

Check out a sample chapter HERE

• General end of the school year youth ministry stuff
• Speaking in our main services two weeks in a row
• Moving YouthMinBlog.com to a new server home
• Redecorating YouthMinBlog.com
• Starting work with a new website client
• And generally enjoying life!

Don’t worry, I’ll be back real soon!

What have you been up to lately?

_______________________

Ok, raise your hand if you’ve ever actually read that little FBI warning at the beginning of a movie! Well, lucky (and unlucky) for us that little warning has absolutely nothing to do with showing a movie in a youth ministry setting.

Over my years in youth ministry I have moved through the following progression when it comes to the issue of movies and copyrights.

• intentional ignorance on the matter of copyright law
• learning a little about it and then not really caring too much
• taking the copyright issue pretty seriously

About 7 or 8 years ago, when everyone was rocking Napster (the illegal predecessor to napster.com) I began to do some research on the reasons why breaking the music copyright was so bad. Hopefully, all of us are now on board with that issue by now, but that issue got me thinking about other areas of copyright law.

I’ve realized that as a representative of Christ in my community and as a model for my church, I need to “play by the rules” in order to not only live a “life that is above reproach,” but simply so I’m not stealing from others.

On to talking about movies, though…

Common Misconceptions

1. The FBI warning says that I can’t charge money for people to watch the movie so my event is ok.
The FBI warning actually pertains to an individual showing a movie within their home.

2. As long I am using the movie as a church event I am within the copyright laws.
This is a false statement because the only instance in which a movie may be screened, outside of a home, without a license, is in a non-profit educational setting with “face-to-face instruction.”

3. If I make a lesson out of the movie I want to show I will be within the copyright laws.
A non-profit educational setting has previously been specifically defined as a non-profit academic institution. The main activity of a church is not academics.

4. My church has the CVLI license, so we can show movies at any church event that we do.
This license only pertains to a church showing movies “in its facility(ies.)” This means that if you have a current CVLI license, you may show any legally obtained movie in your church property. (See points 1 and 4 on this page at CVLI.com.)

Also, the CVLI license only covers those movies “produced and/or distributed by CVLI affiliated motion picture companies only,” according to point 6. But you may be able to contact the motion picture company and get written permission to show the movie. As the copyright holder, if it is the copyright holder, it can waive its rights and grant a church or ministry permission to show the movie. If you want to do this, do it well in advance, the process is s l o w.

5. I can throw up a sheet, a PA system, and a projector to show the movie in the back yard of the church because I am within the church property.
The CVLI license specifically says that movies can be screened in its facilities. Upon speaking to a representative at CVLI, I pressed for clarification of “in facilities.” The answer that I got was that you would most likely be within the spirit of the agreement if the movie was screened outdoors only if in a secluded area where there was no chance that someone from the general public would see or hear any portion of the movie that was being screened.

6. Since I’m not charging a fee, I am showing the movie inside of my church, and I have the CVLI license, I can advertise my event in any fashion that I want.
In case you missed reading point 4 of the CVLI terms, “No specific titles, or any characters from such titles, or producers’ names will be advertised or publicized to the general public unless authorized by certain producers.”

Much more info on this topic can be found at:

• http://www.cvli.com/about/terms.cfm
• http://www.copyright.gov
• http://www.mplc.org/faq.php

So what should you do!?

• Make sure that your church has a current CVLI license.
• Only show movies at a youth ministry event within your church or at a camp location that has its own license since the license is restricted to a physical location.
• Invite a few students over to your house, where you show a movie inside, with out any advertising of any sort through your church.

It is possible to still do a movie event for the public, you’ll need to procure a license from mplc.org but make sure you follow their guidelines.

I hope this helps clear up some of the movie copyright confusion. Of course, there are a ton of other areas that I could have addressed, but I’m not a copyright lawyer, I’m a youth pastor. So, I am not giving you any legal advice on this matter, just a few tips and pointers. If you have questions about your situation it would be best to chat with your church’s attorney or speak directly with an attorney who specializes in copyright law since this is a very in depth area of law (which you noticed if you checked out copyright.gov).

Simple Student Ministry by Eric Geiger & Jeff Borton has come just in time for many of us!  Although the majority of the info in this book is basic, youth ministry 101 type stuff, it is a reminder that is much needed, at least among many of the youth workers that I interact with.  The basics of a simple student ministry are having clarity, movement, alignment, and focus in the discipleship process.  

The authors move us through

• defining what a simple student ministry is
• achieving clarity in your ministry
• creating movement through the ministry
• ensuring alignment of your programs
• focus on your process

The book also includes a number of real life examples of simple student ministries from a number of settings, including large churches, parachurch ministries, and small churches. 

Do yourself a favor, don’t jump to conclusions about the basic nature of this book and be honest with yourself, is your student ministry really simple?  If it’s not, you need to pick up a few copies of this book and work through it with a few key members of your team.  I already have two extra copies that I’m giving to my jr high directors so we can work through it!