Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Multigenerational Worship
I’ve been thinking lately about what it means to have a multi-generational church. And please understand that when I use the term “multi-generational church” I’m talking about having a variety of ages worshipping together in our weekend services. Right now, we offer programming for children through the 4th grade for all of our services, and we include programming for 5th and 6th graders on Sunday mornings at 9:00. Children who are in the 7th grade and above worship together with their families.
From time-to-time I have conversations with people who wonder why we don’t offer programming for 7th and 8th graders or even a separate worship service geared specifically for teenagers like in times past. At the same time, we have parents with children for whom we provide programming who choose to bring them into the main services for a variety of reasons. So what’s the right answer?
I don’t claim to have all the answers or to always be right on every issue, but let me just tell you what I believe about all of this: I believe in the value of multi-generational worship. I believe that there needs to be a place for families to worship together, and I believe that someone who is in the 7th grade and up is not too young to come to the main service. (I actually believe 5th and 6th grade is not too young to come into the main service, either). What happens when families worship together? I can think of a number of things. First, worshipping together creates a living legacy of faith and faithfulness. What impact do you think it has on your children to see you sing, and pray, and study God’s Word? What impact will it have on your children to take the Lord’s Supper alongside you and see how meaningful it is in your life? What kind of memories do you think this will create? Worshipping together as a family can create a living legacy of faith and faithfulness. Second, worshipping together provides opportunities to talk about matters of faith. In Deuteronomy 6, God instructs His people to take His commands and place them upon their hearts. He goes on to tell them to impress them on their children by talking about them when they are sitting at home, walking down the road, when they lie down and when they get up. Worshipping together as a family can provide the specific subject matter for these kinds of conversations. I’m not foolish or arrogant enough to believe that someone who is 12 or 13 is going to listen to and understand every single thing that I say from the pulpit, but I know that they will listen to and understand at least some of the things I say. And let’s not forget that the communication of God’s Word to anyone is more about the Holy Spirit than it is the preacher. Third, worshipping together creates unity in the church. I have serious concerns about what the long-term results are of developing age specific worship venues for every age in the church. Where will end? Today’s teens are tomorrow’s young adult; today’s young adults are tomorrow’s young parents; today’s young parents are tomorrow’s empty-nesters, etc. My concern is that making it your goal to program for every age has the potential to fracture the church and breed spiritual selfishness and immaturity. That might sound like an overreaction, but I’ve seen it happen. There are a lot of things that seem like a good idea in the moment but the long-term ramifications are not what we hoped for.
These are the things that I have been thinking about lately. I understand that not everyone will agree with me, and that’s okay. I don’t even mind if you share your disagreement with me (try to be kind…we all have the same ultimate goal).
Jesus cares,
Pastor Chris
One last thing…thanks for the positive way you responded to my offering appeal after the Memorial Day weekend. Our Memorial Day weekend offering was less than half of what it normally is. The next two weekend offerings were very strong. What a great church family!
From time-to-time I have conversations with people who wonder why we don’t offer programming for 7th and 8th graders or even a separate worship service geared specifically for teenagers like in times past. At the same time, we have parents with children for whom we provide programming who choose to bring them into the main services for a variety of reasons. So what’s the right answer?
I don’t claim to have all the answers or to always be right on every issue, but let me just tell you what I believe about all of this: I believe in the value of multi-generational worship. I believe that there needs to be a place for families to worship together, and I believe that someone who is in the 7th grade and up is not too young to come to the main service. (I actually believe 5th and 6th grade is not too young to come into the main service, either). What happens when families worship together? I can think of a number of things. First, worshipping together creates a living legacy of faith and faithfulness. What impact do you think it has on your children to see you sing, and pray, and study God’s Word? What impact will it have on your children to take the Lord’s Supper alongside you and see how meaningful it is in your life? What kind of memories do you think this will create? Worshipping together as a family can create a living legacy of faith and faithfulness. Second, worshipping together provides opportunities to talk about matters of faith. In Deuteronomy 6, God instructs His people to take His commands and place them upon their hearts. He goes on to tell them to impress them on their children by talking about them when they are sitting at home, walking down the road, when they lie down and when they get up. Worshipping together as a family can provide the specific subject matter for these kinds of conversations. I’m not foolish or arrogant enough to believe that someone who is 12 or 13 is going to listen to and understand every single thing that I say from the pulpit, but I know that they will listen to and understand at least some of the things I say. And let’s not forget that the communication of God’s Word to anyone is more about the Holy Spirit than it is the preacher. Third, worshipping together creates unity in the church. I have serious concerns about what the long-term results are of developing age specific worship venues for every age in the church. Where will end? Today’s teens are tomorrow’s young adult; today’s young adults are tomorrow’s young parents; today’s young parents are tomorrow’s empty-nesters, etc. My concern is that making it your goal to program for every age has the potential to fracture the church and breed spiritual selfishness and immaturity. That might sound like an overreaction, but I’ve seen it happen. There are a lot of things that seem like a good idea in the moment but the long-term ramifications are not what we hoped for.
These are the things that I have been thinking about lately. I understand that not everyone will agree with me, and that’s okay. I don’t even mind if you share your disagreement with me (try to be kind…we all have the same ultimate goal).
Jesus cares,
Pastor Chris
One last thing…thanks for the positive way you responded to my offering appeal after the Memorial Day weekend. Our Memorial Day weekend offering was less than half of what it normally is. The next two weekend offerings were very strong. What a great church family!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Video Blog
Pastor Chris and Worship & Arts Pastor Brian Tabor introduce week 2 of "Change You Can Believe In."
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Celebration
This past weekend we had a tremendous Easter celebration here at Mount Pleasant. I want to thank everyone who worked so hard to make sure we were able to accommodate what turned out to be a record crowd of 4,398. We had five services—three live and two video simulcasts in the Student Ministries Center and still had to use overflow space in the YAC on Sunday morning at 9:00 and 10:45. I’m told that everything went well in the Student Ministries Center and that while the venue itself was a little more casual, those attending were able to engage in and enjoy the worship experience.
I know that I am a little biased, and I apologize if this sounds too boastful, but I don’t think you could have gone anywhere and heard better music than what we had in our services from start to finish. It was powerful! Not just because of the quality, but because it so perfectly captured the heart of everything connected to the Easter story—both the passion of the crucifixion and the celebration of the resurrection. And on a purely personal note, I was so moved each time my daughter Tricia sang that I had to work hard to compose myself for the message. The words of that song and the video images of the crucifixion were very compelling. I hope the entire service blessed you as much as it did me.Normally we would take Monday as a day to recover from a big Easter weekend but not this year as we “hit the ground running” in preparation for this week’s 125th Anniversary Celebration. On Friday, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. our local TBN affiliate [WCLJ-TV42] will air a special Praise the Lord program focused on Mount Pleasant (We taped the program on Wednesday). Later that evening we will host a sold-out concert featuring Christian recording artists Philips, Craig, and Dean. I hope you won’t let anything keep you from being a part of this special weekend service where we honor the past, celebrate the present, and dream about the future of Mount Pleasant.
Finally, I’m very excited about the new sermon series that will begin April 25-26. A Searching Heart, a sermon series answering life’s toughest questions, will take us verse-by-verse through the Old Testament book of Habakkuk and give us a biblical foundation for dealing with difficult questions that often become stumbling blocks to our faith.
I’m very excited about the many good things God is doing in and through the ministry of Mount Pleasant Christian Church!
Jesus cares,
Pastor Chris
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
3-31-2009
It’s Sunday night and after a great day of worship and a frustrating afternoon of watching my team get pummeled in the NCAA tournament, I find myself reflecting about the previous week. I flew to Tulsa on Tuesday of this past week to meet with both of my brothers and one of my sisters about what the future looks like for my mother now that my younger brother is moving to Savannah, Georgia. The meeting was originally scheduled for Thursday but got postponed until Friday. I left on Tuesday so that I could be at my old church on Wednesday night when they had a “going away” celebration for my brother and so he and I could drive to Springfield, Missouri and play golf with our dad and one of our uncles. It ended up being a very full and emotional four days.
When we met with the woman who runs Regency House, the place where my mother currently lives, she told us that she was convinced my mother has Alzheimer’s. This isn’t a medical diagnosis, but she has spent her entire professional life caring for older people. The woman who comes in a few times a week to help my mother out was also at the meeting, and she agreed with the conclusion. We learned at the meeting that my mother’s situation is worse than we thought and that her actions and inability to live beyond the moment have jeopardized her ability to stay in her current home. I can’t tell you right now what we will be doing about this, but we all understand that some big decisions need to be made in a relatively short period of time. Please keep my brothers, sisters, and me in your prayers.
The thing that I am most thankful for with regard to my mother is that she always took me to church. My mother wasn’t raised in the greatest family environment and made some really poor choices early in her adult life. I never knew my biological father because they divorced when I was very young. When my mother remarried, her second husband adopted my older brother and sister and me, and he is the only father I’ve ever known. They were married for eighteen years and divorced twenty-seven years ago at the exact same time Sandy and I were getting married. In those twenty-seven years, I have probably seen my father less than ten times, but thankfully, that number is on the increase. While I was growing up, my mother never really seemed to have the time or maybe even the inclination to be what I would call a nurturing mother (not the way Sandy has always been with our children). But she took me to church and that church became the nurturing family that I needed and longed for. Maybe you have heard me say it before, but I have long believed that local church saved my life. It was in that church I gave my heart to Christ and discovered God had a plan and purpose for me that was greater than anything I had ever thought or dreamed of before. And it all happened because my mother took me to church. There were plenty of times I didn’t want to go, but that was never an option for me. My mother took me to church.
I’m going to be honest and tell you that I don’t understand why some parents today allow their children to make their own choice about whether or not they attend church, not just weekend services but various children and student ministry activities as well. Those were never an option for my children just like they were never an option for me. I could have looked at my kids and said, “You know they’re good kids, they’re spiritually mature, they get what they need from me,” and then let them make their own choice. But here’s something I always understood about my children. Even though they both were really good kids and had a certain level of spiritual maturity, they were still kids. Over the years I made them do several things they didn’t want to do because I knew it was good for them. I don’t have any regrets about those things today.
I don’t have a perfect mother, but I have one who took me to church. She doesn’t remember today that I was just home for a visit with her, but forty years ago she was able to see past my complaints and excuses and keep me focused on what she knew was best for me. Maybe that was because she didn’t have those opportunities growing up, and she didn’t want me to make the same mistakes she did. All I know for sure is that it was the right thing to do. I’m not a perfect father, but today my children are very active in church. My son is a middle school youth pastor in Grand Prairie, Texas, and my daughter is actively involved as a youth coach and worship leader in our student ministry. I can’t help but believe that one of the reasons why is because I took them to church. Not going was never an option. They didn’t always have dynamic youth pastors, and there were times when the churches I served didn’t even have any other kids their same age. But I always took them to church. Thankfully for Sandy and me, they always wanted to go. But even if they didn’t, I still took them.
There’s no such thing as a perfect church. Mount Pleasant isn’t a perfect church. But we serve a perfect God who accomplishes His purposes through imperfect people. And after all, that’s what the church is, people. So, as I reflect on my mother, my strong admonition to any parent who might take the time to read this incredibly long post is take your children to church. Don’t leave it up to them, don’t make it optional, and don’t let other things get in the way. One day, I promise you, you won’t regret it.
Pastor Chris
When we met with the woman who runs Regency House, the place where my mother currently lives, she told us that she was convinced my mother has Alzheimer’s. This isn’t a medical diagnosis, but she has spent her entire professional life caring for older people. The woman who comes in a few times a week to help my mother out was also at the meeting, and she agreed with the conclusion. We learned at the meeting that my mother’s situation is worse than we thought and that her actions and inability to live beyond the moment have jeopardized her ability to stay in her current home. I can’t tell you right now what we will be doing about this, but we all understand that some big decisions need to be made in a relatively short period of time. Please keep my brothers, sisters, and me in your prayers.
The thing that I am most thankful for with regard to my mother is that she always took me to church. My mother wasn’t raised in the greatest family environment and made some really poor choices early in her adult life. I never knew my biological father because they divorced when I was very young. When my mother remarried, her second husband adopted my older brother and sister and me, and he is the only father I’ve ever known. They were married for eighteen years and divorced twenty-seven years ago at the exact same time Sandy and I were getting married. In those twenty-seven years, I have probably seen my father less than ten times, but thankfully, that number is on the increase. While I was growing up, my mother never really seemed to have the time or maybe even the inclination to be what I would call a nurturing mother (not the way Sandy has always been with our children). But she took me to church and that church became the nurturing family that I needed and longed for. Maybe you have heard me say it before, but I have long believed that local church saved my life. It was in that church I gave my heart to Christ and discovered God had a plan and purpose for me that was greater than anything I had ever thought or dreamed of before. And it all happened because my mother took me to church. There were plenty of times I didn’t want to go, but that was never an option for me. My mother took me to church.
I’m going to be honest and tell you that I don’t understand why some parents today allow their children to make their own choice about whether or not they attend church, not just weekend services but various children and student ministry activities as well. Those were never an option for my children just like they were never an option for me. I could have looked at my kids and said, “You know they’re good kids, they’re spiritually mature, they get what they need from me,” and then let them make their own choice. But here’s something I always understood about my children. Even though they both were really good kids and had a certain level of spiritual maturity, they were still kids. Over the years I made them do several things they didn’t want to do because I knew it was good for them. I don’t have any regrets about those things today.
I don’t have a perfect mother, but I have one who took me to church. She doesn’t remember today that I was just home for a visit with her, but forty years ago she was able to see past my complaints and excuses and keep me focused on what she knew was best for me. Maybe that was because she didn’t have those opportunities growing up, and she didn’t want me to make the same mistakes she did. All I know for sure is that it was the right thing to do. I’m not a perfect father, but today my children are very active in church. My son is a middle school youth pastor in Grand Prairie, Texas, and my daughter is actively involved as a youth coach and worship leader in our student ministry. I can’t help but believe that one of the reasons why is because I took them to church. Not going was never an option. They didn’t always have dynamic youth pastors, and there were times when the churches I served didn’t even have any other kids their same age. But I always took them to church. Thankfully for Sandy and me, they always wanted to go. But even if they didn’t, I still took them.
There’s no such thing as a perfect church. Mount Pleasant isn’t a perfect church. But we serve a perfect God who accomplishes His purposes through imperfect people. And after all, that’s what the church is, people. So, as I reflect on my mother, my strong admonition to any parent who might take the time to read this incredibly long post is take your children to church. Don’t leave it up to them, don’t make it optional, and don’t let other things get in the way. One day, I promise you, you won’t regret it.
Pastor Chris
Friday, March 6, 2009
Family
Recently Sandy and I traveled to Phoenix where I attended a conference and then spent a few extra days together celebrating our 27th wedding anniversary. While we were there, we spent an evening with some friends from Oklahoma. About six months before I moved to Greenwood, I hired Danny Hughes to be my Worship and Arts Pastor. I was very excited to add Danny to my staff and felt bad that I only got a few months with him. After faithfully serving the church in Oklahoma for the past eight years, Danny and his wife Kristi moved to Chandler, Arizona, where he is now the Worship Programming Pastor at the Chandler Christian Church.
As Sandy and I were driving back to our hotel after our dinner together, we talked about how one of the most difficult aspects of ministry is it often takes you so far away from family, friends, and familiarity. Danny and Kristi and their two boys are now living hundreds of miles away from their families, their home towns, and everything that’s familiar. And while they are very excited about being in their new home and church because they know that it’s God’s plan for their lives, that doesn’t mean they don’t feel the emotional pangs of being away.
I know that there are many people right here at Mount Pleasant whose work has taken them away from their families and their homes, but I want to ask you to think for a minute about those on our staff who are a long way from home. I say that because when you are in vocational ministry, your opportunities for travel and vacation can be pretty limited. Think about it. Most people have the freedom each week to take the weekend or even a long weekend and use it to visit family to “go home.” That’s not the case when your every weekend revolves around church services. I’m not saying that as a complaint, just a matter of fact. In a couple of weeks I’ll be traveling to Tulsa to meet with my brothers and sisters to talk about my mom and her living situation. I don’t know what the exact days will be yet, but I do know that it will be easier for my brother and sisters who aren’t in full-time ministry to do this on the weekend. Some people say, “Just take time off during the week.” That sounds good but unless you take the weekend off as well, you don’t really have time off because you’ve still got to do whatever your individual ministry requires you to do to be ready for the weekend.
Why am I writing this? I’m not writing it to whine or complain. I’m writing it to ask you for a favor. In Mark 10:29-30, Jesus said these words to his disciples, I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age. (NIV) What does that mean? It means that God rewards the sacrifices we make for the kingdom. I don’t really think that Sandy and I and our children have had to sacrifice anything significant for the sake of the kingdom…certainly not in comparison to other believers. But I realized a long time ago that when it came to serving Christ, my life did not belong to me. And I have tried to be faithful to follow him wherever he was leading. That led me from Texas to Oklahoma to Indiana. And while this is our home, there is a sense in which it’s not (I hope you don’t misunderstand that). This is not where we grew up. This is not where our family is, etc. And there have been many times when we have missed and longed for our family and friends. There are moments, still, when I wish my children could have grown up around our family and our oldest friends. But I will tell you this that over the years God has given us thousands of people to be our family and friends. Because that’s what God does. I have two earthly brothers, but I have hundreds of spiritual brothers. I have two earthly sisters, but I have hundreds of spiritual sisters. I have many people who have been like a mother and father to me. And it’s made my life rich. It’s made our lives rich.
Here’s what I’m asking you to do. Be a brother or a sister—a father or a mother—maybe even a grandparent to those folks on our staff who are far away from family and home. Be the blessing or reward that God promises to those who are faithful. We’ve got some folks on our staff who have come a long way to be a part of the Mount Pleasant family. What I’m asking you to do is make it your plan to be a family to them.
Jesus cares,
Pastor Chris
As Sandy and I were driving back to our hotel after our dinner together, we talked about how one of the most difficult aspects of ministry is it often takes you so far away from family, friends, and familiarity. Danny and Kristi and their two boys are now living hundreds of miles away from their families, their home towns, and everything that’s familiar. And while they are very excited about being in their new home and church because they know that it’s God’s plan for their lives, that doesn’t mean they don’t feel the emotional pangs of being away.
I know that there are many people right here at Mount Pleasant whose work has taken them away from their families and their homes, but I want to ask you to think for a minute about those on our staff who are a long way from home. I say that because when you are in vocational ministry, your opportunities for travel and vacation can be pretty limited. Think about it. Most people have the freedom each week to take the weekend or even a long weekend and use it to visit family to “go home.” That’s not the case when your every weekend revolves around church services. I’m not saying that as a complaint, just a matter of fact. In a couple of weeks I’ll be traveling to Tulsa to meet with my brothers and sisters to talk about my mom and her living situation. I don’t know what the exact days will be yet, but I do know that it will be easier for my brother and sisters who aren’t in full-time ministry to do this on the weekend. Some people say, “Just take time off during the week.” That sounds good but unless you take the weekend off as well, you don’t really have time off because you’ve still got to do whatever your individual ministry requires you to do to be ready for the weekend.
Why am I writing this? I’m not writing it to whine or complain. I’m writing it to ask you for a favor. In Mark 10:29-30, Jesus said these words to his disciples, I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age. (NIV) What does that mean? It means that God rewards the sacrifices we make for the kingdom. I don’t really think that Sandy and I and our children have had to sacrifice anything significant for the sake of the kingdom…certainly not in comparison to other believers. But I realized a long time ago that when it came to serving Christ, my life did not belong to me. And I have tried to be faithful to follow him wherever he was leading. That led me from Texas to Oklahoma to Indiana. And while this is our home, there is a sense in which it’s not (I hope you don’t misunderstand that). This is not where we grew up. This is not where our family is, etc. And there have been many times when we have missed and longed for our family and friends. There are moments, still, when I wish my children could have grown up around our family and our oldest friends. But I will tell you this that over the years God has given us thousands of people to be our family and friends. Because that’s what God does. I have two earthly brothers, but I have hundreds of spiritual brothers. I have two earthly sisters, but I have hundreds of spiritual sisters. I have many people who have been like a mother and father to me. And it’s made my life rich. It’s made our lives rich.
Here’s what I’m asking you to do. Be a brother or a sister—a father or a mother—maybe even a grandparent to those folks on our staff who are far away from family and home. Be the blessing or reward that God promises to those who are faithful. We’ve got some folks on our staff who have come a long way to be a part of the Mount Pleasant family. What I’m asking you to do is make it your plan to be a family to them.
Jesus cares,
Pastor Chris
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Random Thoughts
Alright, I’m just going to say it (write it). I’m not good at blogging. At least that’s the way I feel since I haven’t written anything in quite awhile. I know it’s the hip thing to do and that almost everyone does it, whether it’s Facebook or My Space or whatever, but I’m just not good at it. I read a few blogs from time to time, and it seems to me that they fall into one of two categories. First, there are the blogs that are updates on “what I did or what I thought today,” and then there are blogs that are personal commentaries on various current events. The truth is my days aren’t all that exciting, I don’t have that many profound thoughts, and I don’t keep up with current events as much as I should. I like to write, but I’m not always creative or witty or insightful. I want to be helpful and encouraging to the people who read my blog, but I don’t like just “grinding” something out. So what am I going to do?
Maybe I’ll take a stab at writing my random thoughts. I’m looking forward to doing a sermon series on Jesus’ seven statements from the cross. I’ve wanted to do that for a long time but never have been able to get the timing down (seven weeks leading up to Easter). What’s really crazy about that is that I have complete control over my preaching calendar. Go figure! I hate carrying 40 lb. bags of salt down to my basement to the water softener. The last time my son was home I went out and bought 10 bags and got him to carry them (I wish he came home more often). I’m so pleased with the direction of our worship and arts ministry under the leadership of Brian Tabor. I’ve never heard the church sing with more passion and enthusiasm. There’s a lot of pressure when your wife’s birthday is Valentine’s Day. Fortunately for me I’ve got the best wife ever (I hope you feel that way about your wife), and she doesn’t put any pressure on me. I’m working from my home while we re-model the church, and it’s very quiet. I love it. I think Jack Bauer is the greatest television character of all time. My younger brother just accepted a ministry position with the Savannah Christian Church in
I’m going to keep writing my blog. I’ll probably experiment from time to time with some different styles and options, but I’m going to keep writing. And I’m going to try and write more regularly. Despite my writing struggles, I’m so thankful to be in the position I’m in where I even have a blog. I love Mount Pleasant Christian Church and no matter how creative or insightful I was feeling, I could never find the right words to express how thankful I am for all of you. I believe the church is in the right place at the right time to live out the vision of changing the world one life, one family, and one opportunity at a time. I hope you feel the same.
Pastor Chris
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