Do We Now Need to License Digital Sermons?

 Christianity Today has an article that expounds T.D. Jakes decison to file a lawsuit against a rapper that has referenced a portion of one of his sermons. To quote the justification for this: "The “Holy Ghost” remix by Jeezy featuring Kendrick Lamar was produced without the knowledge or consent of T.D. Jakes, TDJ Enterprises, Dexterity Music, or its associated companies. We are taking the necessary legal actions to stop the unauthorized use of T.D. Jakes’ intellectual property." It will be interesting how the case actually works out in the courts and if it goes in Mr. Jakes favor, this could set a dangerous precedent for DRM and in particular for SermonAudio. I think an important point of reference is that T.D. Jakes does indeed consider his sermons intellectual property and that it's not to be used without some form of royalty to be paid out. This is disturbing as we are instructed not to peddle the Word of God for profit: 2 Cor 2:17: "For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ." I would exhort pastors everywhere if your going to license your digital sermons, please use the GPLV3 since as we have freely received, we should freely give. Hope I don't get sued over this blog post.

Logic 101: Part II – Directions To Our Ideas

“Direction I: Furnish yourselves with a rich variety of ideas; acquaint yourselves with things ancient and modern; things natural, civil, and religious; things domestic and national; things of your native land, and of foreign countries; things present, past, and future; and above all, be well acquainted with God and yourselves;” Logic: The Right Use of Reason in the Inquiry after Truth – Isaac Watts, Page 69.

To be successful with any idea is to have lots of ideas. One word of caution; If you out of blue experience an idea that no one seems to have thought of, you need to find out why first. It could be because someone smarter than you saw problems or potential roadblocks for that specific idea.

When in doubt, always perform through research on your ideas if you are planning on using them to design or build something and thereby to avoid potential roadblocks down the road.

The list below is by no means a comprehensive methodology for generating ideas, but I think it is a good start and as you use the tools and methods suggested you will most likely come up with your own.

How to Generate Ideas

1.Try to find an idea by searching the archives of the forum you are interested in(e.g., history, theology, etc.)

2. Try to find an idea by searching the Web.

3. Try to find an idea by reading a book on the subject.

4. Try to find an idea by reading a FAQ on the subject.

5. Try to find an idea by inspection or experimentation on existing ideas. to see if new ones can be abstracted.

6. Try to find an idea by asking a skilled friend in the area of interest.

Logic 101: Part I – Perceptions & Ideas

For our contemporary readers this most often is addressed in the verb “observation” as to what may be observed in any one or all of the five senses that human beings are capable of. This becomes vitally important in logic because of three reasons:

1. When a proposition is being presented there needs to be a consistent mechanism from which to prove the given premise.

2. If I just say I feel that the sky is blue, this of course is subjective to me and it could only be subjective to me so that you would never be able to confirm the premise that the sky is blue.

3. Finally, without having a consistent understanding of perception and the objects and references associated with it, it would be impossible for human beings to communicate at all.

Let’s take the last point in relation to the english alphabet. If I cannot observer through the sense of my vision that the order of the alphabet follows: A, B, C, etc.., but you can how would I ever be able to form words that you would understand? So it is not just perception that needs consistency, but objective perception so ideas can be understood on common ground between persons.

Check back soon as I will cover the “Nature of Ideas” and how to obtain new ones.