Last Call for Mother's Day Media

There's still time to sign up and get our free Mother's Day Media pack. Click here to go to the homepage and sign up. Once you've signed up, you will be emailed a link to download the free Mother's Day media. If you'd like to see what you'll get, click here to see our FREE MEDIA page.

We've also got a great Mother's Day Sermon Illustration and Countdown available on the Seasonal Tab of our website. For Mom: A Breakfast Story is our best selling video ever, so we must have done something right with that one. Here's a comment we received about For Mom:

Well done! Way to give Moms a good laugh and recall good memories at the same time.
Michael Yaeger
Temple Baptist Church

We've also got a great Mother's Day Countdown where real women share their answers to the question: What's the worst Mother's Day gift you could get? Hint: Don't buy her a Dieting Cookbook!

Here's wishing you all a very Happy Mother's Day.

Do The Right Thing

Storme blogged the other day about the copyright law podcast done by Creative Synergy Podcast. I listened to the entire podcast (about 1 hour) and it is extremely informative. From my perspective as a long time media volunteer, the issues discussed are very enlightening and somewhat disturbing. Anthony Coppedge and Greg Atkinson invited 2 copyright lawyers and the President of the Church Copyright Administration to discuss this very hot topic in churches. I realized that there were things I did as a part of the media team that were just outright illegal. I knew some of the issues and had the same feeling that Greg and Anthony discuss, but some were new to me.

If you are involved in any form or fashion with a church in media, music, arts, programming etc. then this podcast is an absolute must hear. The way they approach the topic, from Scripture's perspective and then dive into what our country's law says is very encouraging. Basically, we as Christ followers, must be above reproach in regards to all matters, not just ones of convenience or of seemingly "big" sins.

Three big ideas that jumped out to me personally:
1. Stealing is stealing and many churches don't know or don't care that they are infringing upon copyright laws in video/film, music and dramas.
2. YOU are liable for any law that is broken, not the church.
3. 1 Timothy 5:18

If you haven't had the chance to listen to this podcast, I really encourage you to do so. You will be very thankful that you did. Click here to download it now.

Lee

Questions About Copyright and Church?

In the planning and execution of church services, we've all run into questions about copyright. What songs, images, videos can we use? How do we get permission to use songs or images if they are copyrighted? The truth of what you can and can't do with copyrighted material isn't always clear. It's hard to figure out where to look for the right answers. And if you've ever tried to read through the actual copyright laws, you know how hard they can be to understand. I often come away more confused after researching something.

That's why I'm really excited about the latest podcast from CreativeSynergyPodcast.com. This is the fifth podcast put out by Greg Atkinson (Church Video Ideas) and Anthony Coppedge (anthonycoppedge.com). Greg and Anthony have a lot of experience both working in churches and consulting them. And it's awesome to see them sharing that experience through this free resource. For this episode on copyright law, they sat down with three copyright experts. I'll be listening to this soon and I'm really looking forward to learning more about this very important and often confusing issue. Click here to download the podcast now.

New Mother's Day Page and New April Freebies

We've got a whole lot of Mother's Day content up on the Seasonal Tab (click here to see it now). The Sermon Illustrations and the Countdown are some of our best selling videos ever, so we're really excited to have them all available this year at eleven72.com. And don't miss the new Worship Backgrounds and Still Backgrounds (most of them free - read below for details).

In the why did we make it category- We'd like to think For Mom: A Breakfast Story is a great video for setting up Mother's Day. Show the video, let everyone get a kick out of it, and then get up there and welcome everyone to the service and wish all the moms a Happy Mother's Day (this would be a good way to lead into a special portion of your service that honors the moms). Or use it to lead into your sermon and when you come out of it, say something like, "any one have a morning like that?" or "can anyone relate?" Whether you use it to kick off your service, lead into your announcements or get your sermon started, we made it to be a realistic, yet funny/heartwarming way to introduce Mother's Day.

For the Worst Mother's Day Gift Ideas and Mother's Day Countdown videos, we actually surveyed all the real moms and mom's to be we could and came up with this video based on the real answers they gave us. We thought, who better to let us know what moms don't want! The answers are a whole lot of fun. Use this as a stand alone video to give your congregation a laugh and lead into your sermon or announcements and/or use the countdown as a funny way to get your service started by pointing out what not to get mom for Mother's Day.

FREE ALERT :) Don't miss the new free stuff. We're giving away 10 (yes 10, they're somewhat similar, but still 10 freebies, that's good stuff, right?) Mother's Day themed Still Backgrounds and two new Worship Backgrounds. Lee did a great job on these backgrounds and I can't wait for you to check them out. I just can't get enough of the slomo rose petals - they're totally mesmerizing - and the loopable Gerber Daisy Background is just really clean and awesome looking. See it for yourself by clicking here. The freebies are available to email subscribers. If you're not yet a subscriber, click here to sign up on our homepage and we'll email you a link to download the new content. If you are a subscriber, stand by, and you'll get the link in our newsletter that goes out on Wednesday.

Signing off...

Important Dates and Resources for May

I wanted post an update on what's happening around eleven72. First, we're hard at work getting our April round of free still backgrounds and free worship backgrounds ready to post and send out with our next newsletter. Look for that newsletter early next week. If you're not in the know, we give away free stills, backgrounds and other stuff every month to our email subscribers. To sign up, go to our homepage and you'll find the information in the lower right hand part of the page. If you sign up now, you can still get last months free stuff and then the new stuff when the newsletter goes out next week.

The National Day of Prayer is coming up May 3rd. If you've got plans to do a Prayer focused service the weekend before (April 28th-29th), we've got some resources that would work great for you.

Check out our Prayer Volume 1, a bundle of prayer related media pieces that include two Sermon Illustrations, a Countdown, five Still Backgrounds and two moving Worship Backgrounds. This has been a very popular volume for us, in particular, people have really responded well to the Prayer Illustration, which features thoughtful and inspirational quotes on Prayer, as well as original photography by esteemed photographer Joel Salcido. You can get a great deal by purchasing the entire volume, or you can order ala carte and get whatever you need.

Next up, in May, Mother's Day falls on May 13th. We're currently working on some new Mother's Day resources which I'll post about in the next few days. In the mean time, check out our wildly popular Sermon Illustration, For Mom: A Breakfast Story, which is a really honest, funny and heart warming look at some kids who are trying to make Mom's day extra special. While you're looking, don't miss our even more popular Mother's Day Countdown, which is based on an actual survey we took asking Moms the question, what's the worst Mother's Day gift you have either received or can think of (hint: getting her a scale is a really bad idea). The answers we got are hilarious. These two videos have been the most popular seasonal videos we've ever produced. Check them out.

Finally up in May is Memorial Day on May 28th. For those of you having Memorial Day services on May 27th, we're working on a brand new Sermon Illustration just for you. It's going to be a powerful piece that highlights the history of Memorial Day and ties that rich history into our remembering those who have fallen today. I'll be sure to post about that video when it's finished and available. Another great video we have that would work well on Memorial Day is Let Freedom Ring, a thoughtful collection of quotes and scripture that highlights the God centered values and principles our nation was founded on Let Freedom Ring is available as an Illustration and as a Countdown.

Free Easter Worship Backgrounds and Stills

This is a message for all you last minute shoppers :). We're getting a lot of traffic this week from Google folks who are searching for free Easter resources. For those of you who don't know or haven't been here before, our free Easter resources are available by signing up for our email list on the homepage (Click Here to go to there now). And while you're here, please check out our other great Easter videos here in our Seasonal store.

Sign up for our email list and you will receive a link to download two Easter themed loopable worship backgrounds and two awesome Easter themed still backgrounds that would make great backgrounds for your Easter Power Point slides. The free Easter pack is really well done. I have to give props to my partner Lee for that. He's done a great job designing these. We have these media pieces available on other sites for sale this Easter season and they're selling really well. But you can get them for free here! You can check out the whole package by visiting our Free Media page. Then go back to the homepage and sign up!

Once you sign up, we'll send you links to free stuff like this every month. So we really hope you'll sign up.

Palm Sunday Resources

If you're looking for media to plug into your Palm Sunday service this weekend, we've got a Palm Sunday Countdown and a Palm Sunday Worship Background that would work great. Count down to the service and then use our background for worship to continue the Palm Sunday theme. You can find both these videos, along with a ton of other Easter resources on our Seasonal page.

And don't forget, if you sign up for our email list on the homepage, you'll be emailed a link to download our free Easter Resource Pack. You'll get our Crosses on Hill Background, Praising Man Background, Jesus on the Cross Still and Jesus on the Hill Still. You can't beat free Power Point Backgrounds and free loopable backgrounds. And they're for Easter! Check it all out on our Free Media page. We give away stuff like this every month. So sign up already :).

End of plug.

Free Easter Worship Backgrounds and Stills

The March Free Media is here! Check out the add on the homepage. You'll notice the ad is now clickable. Click on it and you'll be taken to our new FREE MEDIA page, where you can preview the free downloads each month.

My hat's off to Lee this time. He has really created two awesome backgrounds and stills that are highly usable for Easter. And we're giving them away! We're so pumped about Easter and it makes our hearts glad that we can participate in your services by offering you this media. It's our gift to you because God has given us so much.

We also have other Easter content available on our Seasonal page. Check out Jesus Is and I Will Remember. We've got a Palm Sunday themed background and countdown, as well as some great Sunrise stuff (Sunrise Countdown w/Scripture, Sunrise Countdown and Sunrise Worship Background). Check out the Seasonal page to see them all!

We would really love to hear from any and all of you. Please let us know what you think of our stuff and how you're using it. We want to help share your stories with others and learn from you how to better serve God's church with our gifts.

God Bless,
Storme

Easter Freebies Coming Soon!

Be sure to check your inboxes tomorrow. Our latest newletter is going out complete with a link to the latest free stuff. Among the freebies will be two new worship backgrounds that will work great for Easter. Here's a sneak peak frame grab of one of the motion backgrounds:

If you don't yet subscribe to our list, get thee to the homepage and sign up. If you hurry, you can still get the free stuff from February and then, when the link goes out tomorrow, the free stuff for March. What are you waiting for :).

Free Video Of Your Choice

We'd like to give you the video of your choice...free. Read below and find out how to get your free video.

We're really enjoying this blog and keeping you all up to date on what's happening around eleven72. Toward that end, we wanted to check in with our readers and make sure we're giving you information you can use. So...

We'd like to hear from you. What kinds of articles would you like to see on the blog? What kind of help or tips or information would help you in your ministry? Do you need technical how-tos, information on where to find resources, articles on how to use media?

Please take a few moments, jot down an email and let us know what you would like to see on our blog. Then (here comes the free stuff), we'll send you an email with a code that you can use to download one free piece of media from our store. Any piece of media in our store. You browse. You pick. You download the video you want.

Send us an email about the blog, get a free video. Easy enough, right?

Tell us what you think :): storme@eleven72.com or lee@eleven72.com .

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Free Reminder


If you're just checking out the blog or you don't get over to the homepage much, this is your official free Worship Backgrounds and Stills reminder. We're always giving away something for nothing here at eleven72. Well, almost nothing. If you sign up for our email list on the homepage, you'll get a link to download two absolutely free loopable Worship Backgrounds and four cool urban themed Still Backgrounds (they're the top four photos after the jump). Once you're signed up, you'll get an email from us at least once a month with links to more new free stuff. You can't beat free, right? Click here to jump to the homepage and get your freebies.

And Now For Something Completely Practical (And Free!)

If you work with video and if you have ever had to compress and resize video files for downloading or for distribution on the web, you've had to worry about aspect ratios (the dimensions of the video). One big problem I've had before is when I'm trying to crop a video that was originally 4:3 (standard) to be 16:9 (widescreen), but I can't figure out what the 16:9 dimensions should be. It usually goes something like this for me: "Alright, so if I want the width to be 320 and in 4:3 the height is 240, what would it be in 16:9. 16 times what equals 320??? x times 9 equals what???" And I just start down that road with my questionable math skills and don't always like where I end up.

That's where this free Aspect Ratio Calculator from WideOpenDoors.net comes in. It does the math for you, so you can even experiment with different sizes without having to spend time refiguring each aspect ratio. Simply input one of the dimensions into the calculator and hit enter and it calculates the other dimension. So simple and so useful. Get it here!

Digging for Fire




Any Pixes fans out there? I've re-christened the eleven72 blog. It shall henceforth be known as "Catch Fire." We've tasted the fire of God's Spirit here lately and we're really praying that the fire will spread. What I mean by that is that we really desire to tell God's story in a way that will set people on fire for the Lord. That will make people hungry for Him. And so, we hope you "Catch Fire."


Free New Worship Backgrounds and Stills




We've got two new Worship Backgrounds and four new Still Backgrounds that we're offering for free on the homepage. Sign up for our newsletter and you'll get a link to download the free videos and stills. If you're already a subscriber, we'll be sending out a newsletter with a link to the free media early next week. Click here to preview the worship backgrounds (Praising Hands and Powerful Worship) and click here to check out the stills (the top four images - really cool urban black and whites).


Backyard Evangelism and Evangelism Statistics




And speaking of new media, we just released our latest Sermon Illustrations, "Backyard Evangelism" and "Evangelism Statistics." There's also an "Evangelism Statistics Countdown." Be sure to check those out.

Fired Up

Found footage! New freebies coming soon!







We've unearthed and rediscovered some exciting footage that we've shot over the last couple of years and it has inspired us to put together an urban series of stills, loops and who knows what else. I'm getting so excited just looking at the footage that I may just pick up my camera right now, head downtown and start shooting.

We've got all this first-rate footage. And even though we shot it in the past, it's like it's brand new again. Time-lapse footage, protest footage, gritty black and white footage. Some of it was used in a documentary we did, some of it was just because we wanted to capture a past event, and some of it was for this cool little black and white short film we did (shot on 16mm B&W film!). Whatever the reason we shot it, we've got it, and pouring over the footage has given us inspiration to create a whole new set of urban mini-movies, loops and stills.

Right now we're working on a new set of free power point still images and free worship background loops that we'll be serving up to all our email subscribers very soon. If you're not currently on our email list, I encourage you to sign up on our homepage before the new stuff goes up. That way, you'll get the free loops and stills we're offering now and you'll get the new free stuff when we send out our newsletter in the next couple of days.

We're really fired up about giving you resources you can use and we're hoping this new urban themed media will help you fire up the people you serve!

What I'm listening To

More props to Greg Atkinson at Church Video Ideas for continuing to point the way to outstanding resources for all of us doing life in the trenches. His blog turned me on to two great audio assets this week, both of which can be accessed through his post titled Starving Jesus (which is the name of a really good short film by a guy named Blaine Hogan).

Church 2.0 from Wired Parish.com:

Church 2.0 is a six-part podcast seminar for pastors and ministry leaders. The seminar focuses on using technologies such as podcasting, blogging, and social networking sites to fuel effective ministry.

To subscribe to the Church 2.0 podcast for free, follow this link to Church Video Ideas. The free link to the Church 2.0 podcast in the BONUS section of the Starving Jesus post.

Francis Chan's message from Passion '07:

I listened to Chan's message this morning, "Passionately Loving God in A Lukewarm Church," and it changed my life. I know that's a huge thing to say but you've got to hear this message. Chan challenges us on our whether or not we really want God's will for our lives and then he paints a picture from Scripture of what should be the object of our desire. And the picture he paints is so compelling it made me want to drop everything and plunge headlong into the arms of God.

Here's a link to that message available from iTunes.

Free Worship Backgrounds and Still Photos!

Right now, we're offering (for free) two excellent loopable Worship Backgrounds and three high quality Still Photo Backgrounds to all our new newsletter subscribers. Simply go to our homepage (www.eleven72.com) and sign up for our newsletter. You will then receive an email with a link to your free media package! Import them into Media Shout, Easy Worship, PowerPoint, or whatever you use and they're ready to go for your worship services or meetings.