/PRNewswire/ -- How does a church in southern Georgia turn out box-office-hit movies? The secret isn't superior production or top actors but a top-down policy to make revival the first, second, third, and fourth priority.
Michael Catt, senior pastor of Sherwood Church in Albany, shows the roots of that policy as he opens The Power of Surrender: Breaking Through to Revival," number three in his trilogy on God-dependence, from B&H publishing: hitting stores on March 1. "I am a man who begins with the thought of 'What if?'" Catt writes. "What if we were willing to lay hold of the altar and not let go until the Lord blessed us and changed our lives? What if we stopped our conniving and started a concentrated emphasis on seeking Him?"
Sherwood Church senior pastor since 1989, Catt is executive producer of the surprise movie successes FIREPROOF (2008's top-grossing indie film), FACING THE GIANTS (the breakout Christian film of 2006), and FLYWHEEL (now in a re-mastered DVD). The Power of Surrender maintains that surrender is the key to revival and revival is the key to spreading the gospel--by any means.
"I had a roommate in college who didn't like the word surrender when associated with Christian life," Catt writes. "I find it refreshing. It's the awareness of my desperate need for something or someone to lift me out of the miry clay and set my feet on solid rock . . . It's not overstating to say revival is our key to survival."
Catt sees the disciplines of revival lived out in his congregation firsthand. "People are being saved. Members are inviting their lost friends and un-churched neighbors," he says. "Attendance shot up. Why? Revival produces evangelism."
As part of Sherwood Pictures, Catt has appeared in the New York Times, on the 700 Club, the Dr. Phil Show, Glenn Beck, Washington Post, Baptist Press, Leadership Journal, and FamilyLife Today among many other national media. But he's the first to say that filmmaking is not the hallmark of Sherwood's faith in God. Surrender is.
Michael Catt is the think-outside-the-sanctuary leader making good on his church's goal to "change the world from Albany, Georgia." He's also founder of Sherwood's annual ReFRESH revival conference. In 2008, he headed the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors' Conference, representing more than 42,000 churches. He is a prolific author, speaker, conference founder and leader, and pastor to pastors.
B&H Publishing Group is a division of LifeWay Christian Resources, the world's largest provider of Christian products and services, including Bibles, church literature, books, music, audio and video recordings, and church supplies. LifeWay serves 150,000 church customers, shipping more than 61 million units of product a year from a 350,000 square-foot distribution center. From its original core of Bibles, textbooks, and reference titles, B&H has developed into a major publisher of Christian living, fiction, youth, history, academic, reference, and electronic products. B&H is home to bestselling authors Beth Moore, Henry Blackaby, Gary Chapman, Oliver North, Chuck Norris, Vicki Courtney, Dan Miller, and Thom S. Rainer.
The Power of Surrender is appropriate for personal, small-group, or church-wide study.
Release Date: March 1, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0-8054-4869-6
Retail Price: $14.99
Web Site: www.MichaelCattBooks.com
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Showing posts with label albany. Show all posts
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Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sherwood Pictures Announces Fourth Movie: COURAGEOUS
/PRNewswire/ -- Sherwood Church, home of the hit independent movies FLYWHEEL (DVD only), FACING THE GIANTS, and FIREPROOF (2008's top indie film), at its Sunday evening service tonight, announced the theme and title for Sherwood Pictures' fourth movie. Senior Pastor Michael Catt, Executive Pastor Jim McBride, and ministers Stephen and Alex Kendrick--collectively the leadership team of Sherwood Pictures--made the announcement.
"The movie is about fatherhood and the title is one word: COURAGEOUS," Alex Kendrick said, briefly outlining the plot. "Four fathers who are all in law enforcement--who protect and serve together--go through a terrible tragedy," he said. "They begin looking at their role as fathers . . . and they begin challenging one another to fulfill God's intention for fathers."
That single-word title, Pastor Catt said, echoes God's call for men to "rise with courage" in their homes and as leaders. This at a time when 4 of 10 marriages end in divorce* and more than a third of all children live away from their biological fathers.
"The statistics on fatherless children are devastating," McBride said. "And because the family is the building block of society, one important place to rebuild families is through fathers who stay and lead and love."
"God led us," co-writer and producer Stephen Kendrick said to the audience of church members, many of them volunteer crew, cast, or catering in earlier Sherwood movies. "We believe God is calling men to rise up with strength and with leadership in their homes, with their families and with their children."
"For more then a year we've prayed to be sure that we're pursuing God's idea and not our own," Catt said. "With action, drama, and humor, this film will embrace God's promise in the Bible to, turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers."
Focusing on Fatherhood
"We focus on the crucial role of father; it's not just to be a father who loves his kids," said Alex Kendrick, co-writer/director of COURAGEOUS. "It's to be engaged with a purpose--to be a father on purpose."
All four leaders of Sherwood Pictures are husbands and fathers. Pastor Catt has two children; Pastor McBride has four; Stephen Kendrick has four; and Alex Kendrick has six.
More Than a Movie
Sherwood movies entertain as they touch audiences where they live, and they show the means to live more fully through faith in God. FLYWHEEL focused on compromise and business integrity; FACING THE GIANTS on despair and hope; FIREPROOF on a dying marriage rekindled.
With previous Sherwood movies, fans, churches, and organizations across the country (and world) became "partners" in the movie's impact--giving prayer support for production, distribution, and the movies' messages. Ministries and outreaches used the films in creative ways. Churches built series and group studies on the topics; Sunday schools seized the momentum of good entertainment that emphasizes life-changing truths.
"It's been the Bible's story of Jesus multiplying the boy's fish and loaves," Alex Kendrick said. "God has multiplied these movies beyond our wildest dreams."
Principle filming of COURAGEOUS begins March 2010 in Albany. Like the previous three Sherwood films, COURAGEOUS will be marketed by Provident Films.
Sherwood Pictures is a ministry of Sherwood Church of Albany, Georgia, under the leadership of Senior Pastor Michael Catt and Executive Pastor Jim McBride.
To learn more, visit:
-- COURAGEOUS www.CourageoustheMovie.com
-- COURAGEOUS Pressroom (photos) www.CourageoustheMovie.com/pressroom
-- Sherwood Pictures www.SherwoodPictures.com
-- Provident Films www.ProvidentFilms.org
-- Sherwood Baptist Church www.SherwoodBaptist.net
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"The movie is about fatherhood and the title is one word: COURAGEOUS," Alex Kendrick said, briefly outlining the plot. "Four fathers who are all in law enforcement--who protect and serve together--go through a terrible tragedy," he said. "They begin looking at their role as fathers . . . and they begin challenging one another to fulfill God's intention for fathers."
That single-word title, Pastor Catt said, echoes God's call for men to "rise with courage" in their homes and as leaders. This at a time when 4 of 10 marriages end in divorce* and more than a third of all children live away from their biological fathers.
"The statistics on fatherless children are devastating," McBride said. "And because the family is the building block of society, one important place to rebuild families is through fathers who stay and lead and love."
"God led us," co-writer and producer Stephen Kendrick said to the audience of church members, many of them volunteer crew, cast, or catering in earlier Sherwood movies. "We believe God is calling men to rise up with strength and with leadership in their homes, with their families and with their children."
"For more then a year we've prayed to be sure that we're pursuing God's idea and not our own," Catt said. "With action, drama, and humor, this film will embrace God's promise in the Bible to, turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers."
Focusing on Fatherhood
"We focus on the crucial role of father; it's not just to be a father who loves his kids," said Alex Kendrick, co-writer/director of COURAGEOUS. "It's to be engaged with a purpose--to be a father on purpose."
All four leaders of Sherwood Pictures are husbands and fathers. Pastor Catt has two children; Pastor McBride has four; Stephen Kendrick has four; and Alex Kendrick has six.
More Than a Movie
Sherwood movies entertain as they touch audiences where they live, and they show the means to live more fully through faith in God. FLYWHEEL focused on compromise and business integrity; FACING THE GIANTS on despair and hope; FIREPROOF on a dying marriage rekindled.
With previous Sherwood movies, fans, churches, and organizations across the country (and world) became "partners" in the movie's impact--giving prayer support for production, distribution, and the movies' messages. Ministries and outreaches used the films in creative ways. Churches built series and group studies on the topics; Sunday schools seized the momentum of good entertainment that emphasizes life-changing truths.
"It's been the Bible's story of Jesus multiplying the boy's fish and loaves," Alex Kendrick said. "God has multiplied these movies beyond our wildest dreams."
Principle filming of COURAGEOUS begins March 2010 in Albany. Like the previous three Sherwood films, COURAGEOUS will be marketed by Provident Films.
Sherwood Pictures is a ministry of Sherwood Church of Albany, Georgia, under the leadership of Senior Pastor Michael Catt and Executive Pastor Jim McBride.
To learn more, visit:
-- COURAGEOUS www.CourageoustheMovie.com
-- COURAGEOUS Pressroom (photos) www.CourageoustheMovie.com/pressroom
-- Sherwood Pictures www.SherwoodPictures.com
-- Provident Films www.ProvidentFilms.org
-- Sherwood Baptist Church www.SherwoodBaptist.net
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