Last night our church hosted the "Glory to the Highest" concert tour and it was phenomenal. It was so great to see 1400+ people at our church with their hands lifted in the sky praising God. I saw many of you there and hoped that all of you enjoyed it as much as I did. But, as usual I have a little something I want to bring up and get your input on. So, brace yourself...
Does the name Jonathan (Forever the Sickest Kids Lead singer) ring a bell. Well by the reaction that many of you gave I am assuming you have heard of him. Now, don't get me wrong, I love to see an occasional teeny bopper star with long bleached hair and a small entourage following him around, but honestly? I have never seen any of you react that way about anything...I mean anything. Am I mad, no, not at all cause I could really care less. But, I will say that I do wish that I could see some of us, yes "US", get that excited about something.
I know you are now drawing close to clicking off the page and being frustrated with me for telling you that I think we get all worked up about something that does not deserve our attention, but stick with me, I have a point. I would desire nothing less in my life than to get as excited about Christ as I do about music, bands, TV, movie stars or "Jonathan". I am in no way saying that I think any of these things are bad in and of themselves, but I do think that when we get more excited about "Jonathan" than we do about the fact that 1400+ members of the body were moments before worshiping our Savior together. I don't want to over spiritualize it or tell you that I think we are all heathens for getting excited about "Jonathan" or anything else, but I do want to know what keeps us from pursuing knowing Christ as much as we pursue knowing the latest trend and gossip about a star? Let me know what you think and see you tonight at 6:00!! love you and Jonathan!!
i was very much going to x out of this page when got to the second paragraph, but i understand why you feel the way you do.
ReplyDeletei think the reason i wasn't overly excited about the 1400+ people being there is because i sort of feel like our church is trying to be a wanna-be prestonwood with the coffee bar and zillions of people coming.
but like i went to prestonwood in middle school, and the reason i left was because fbcn (now chase oaks) was a smaller church where i actually felt like everyone in the room/service cared about me and legitmetly (sp?) cared about our church.
now i sort of feel like it's a lot about the number of visitors and everyone is putting so much impact on the new comers that they're sort of forgetting about those of us that have been here forever.
idk, i know this kind of doesn't go along with what you were saying. and i understand, like if we can be so excited about some barely famous guy, why can't we be excited about God like that? but it's the excitement about the numbers that makes me least excited..?
idk if that makes sense..
but that's what i think.
don't be mad at me rocky :)
loveeee, kierstin
Who is jonnythan?
ReplyDeletehey keirstin,
ReplyDeletethank you so much for your input, and i totally understand where you are coming from. i know that sometimes it doe seem like we are getting really big, and that there are tons of people. but, know that when i was writing this i was not referring to the 1400+ as a sign of how great our church is or how big and awesome Chase Oaks it, i was referring to the fact that we were actually in a room with 1400+ believers in Jesus, not chase oakers. the truth is that we are growing and we do focus on a lot of new comers, but honestly i dont think that anyone cares about you any less you or anyone else who has been here for a while. I think god calls us at a certain point in our life to stop eating baby food and eat solid food. sometimes that comes in the form of feeling like no one is feeding you any more but only feeding those who are "new". and honestly, that is what i happening. you are not eating baby food, you are ready to eat solid food, which means you have to learn how to cook, and eat. i know it is kinda scary and lonely at times but that is what d-group is for and why we serve. to learn how to cook and eat spiritual food.
i know it is hard to grow, and it is hard to change and in the last 9 months we have done a lot of both of those. but, always remember that you will always reap way more than you sow and if we will love each other well "love your neighbor as yourself" then i think the growth becomes exciting a little less scary because we become a part of what God is doing because he is using us. I hope this helps make a little more sense of it. love ya and i am not mad at all!!
rocky
i don't know i agree with kierst and i understand rock
ReplyDeletebut io feel like sometimes those of use that have been here for years get alittle put to the side and new people are like the focus and i don't mean new people that walked through the dorr 5 minutes ago i mean more like 9 months ago
but like yeah were a little crazy about a semi famous guy btu it think people were way unexpecting that and sometimes i keep things inside and then something happens and it all comes out i don't know why can't worship and excitement be ever sunday night?! why can we only pully worship wioth philwickham and not ian osborne?! i don't know.. but like i think i was excited about everything but upset because its not the way thigns are i mean after i went to the passion conference i was way crushed that i knew church wasn't like this people are worried whos looking when ther reasing there hands and screaming their lungs out
but i want to say i think some people when they got excited for jonathon like that it was everything coming out at once.. i don't know ...
i love you rock
excuse my typing errors im not a pro with this here keyboard
and im pretty sure my word verifyer box word was derrhia hahahahaa
ReplyDeleteas in doesn't care as in takes for granted as in not like oh he don't care about you but as in i already know you i'll get to ya later
ReplyDeletei can't explain it but kierst is feeling the same
i get what you're sayingggg... but, i still feel like we get over looked sometimes in order to please the new people.
ReplyDeleteand just an examplee, but like i feel like young life is such a huge deal- with their pictures all over, but like we're here all the time, helping with everything, and it's our church, so why don't we have any pictures up?
idk stuff like that botehrs me :/
Let me start out by saying I absolutely loved the concert. One reason I loved it so much was that so many people came to worship God. I mean I saw one of my friends that I hadnt seen since I went to camp this past summer for a month. I loved seeing new faces I have never seen before. I loved how relaxed everyone was on stage and it was more of worship than just a famous person singing. Although I loved everyone singing I loved getting to sing with them and worship God.
ReplyDeleteI do feel sometimes though we all the sudden get more excited to worship God when someone famous is up there singing the songs. I got to go to a concert last night as well and I guess I just got so excited to worship God and cry out his name. But kinda like Rocky said, whey dont we get that excited every time we are worshiping God. Whether were at church, at a concert, at home, or even in the car.
I would have to say when we first moved in and everything was changing I was really upset. I hate change. I dont do well with change. I never have been able to. I had just finally got to know all my pastors and begin a relationship with each and every one of them. Then one by one starting with John changing positions, every thing and pastor changed roles or left the church. I was heartbroken. I remember just crying some days cause I just wanted things to stay the same, after all its my senior year. Now I had to start all over getting to know new pastors. And honestly I figured that because I was only going to be here for one more year that I wasnt going to get to know any of them, I would just kinda be that girl that came every week but didnt really care to know the new pastors.
But, I was proved wrong. Through everything I have become a little more custom to change because when I look at our church a year ago, our youth was very clickish and no one new ever came. Now look at us, we are all getting to know each other. People are enjoying our church so much that they are inviting friends every week, and those people are returning. I feel like God has used this change not only for the community but for me personally. I have really built a relationship with all the new pastors and I dont know what it would be like without them. Yes, sometimes its hard because I feel like we as "regs" get kinda ignored sometimes, but just think about the lives that are changing. ANd D group has helped me so much and I hope it has helped all of you "regs" out there truly see how much God loves you.
So, with all that said (sorry I wrote a book) I think we just have to look at the big picture and be thankful to God that our number of the people who are ultimately going go Heaven, is growing everyday because of what goes down at 201. I love all of yall. I truly do.
love
court
well thanks so much everyone for the comments and yes kierstin i totally understand what you are saying.. and i will do my best to make that part of it change. I would love though if you would help me think of more things like that, that we could do to make the building more our own..
ReplyDeletelove you all
rocky
Personally, I completely agree with this posting. Alot of times I get frustrated when people go completely crazy over famous people. I mean I understand getting excited, but just going completely crazy doesn't make any sense to me. They're just a person, right? Sometimes I feel even stronger about it with regards to people like Phil Whickham because really he is just another believer up there praising his Creator. Is he awesome? ABSOLUTELY! Do I love his music? ABSOLUTELY! Was I completely excited to see him in concert and to meet him? ABSOLUTELY! Did I stand in line to get his autograph? Yep! But just the over the top excitement I don't understand. I agree, Rocky, that the most exciting part of that evening should have been looking around the sanctuary and seeing SO many people honoring our God.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the new people vs. the regulars in our youth group, kinda like Court, when we first moved into our new building, there were a few times when I would think to myself "ok all this stuff for the new people is awesome, but are they forgetting about us? are we being left out just because we've gone here for forever?" But as time went on, I started looking at this youth group over all the years that I have gone to it, and comparing then and now. Don't get me wrong, I have always loved this youth group, but I agree with Court that it used to be extremely clique-ish and inwardly focused. What I see when I look around The Yard now is completely different than that. Just within my own grade, things are SO different. In earlier years, there were extremely different groups, and they didn't really mix. Now, even though of course we cannot all be best friends and share everything with every person we know in the youth group, I feel like there are not as many walls in between groups.
And whenever I find myself thinking that the regulars are being forgotten, I have to sharply remind myself of this. Isn't it worth the regulars not getting 100% of the youth group's attention for a little while if that means someone new who is not a believer gets drawn into a place where they can hear the truth of Christ? Isn't that what our youth group should be about? Maybe when we learn to step aside for a moment, that's when lives are truly touched.
So this is just what I think...sorry if it makes some people mad...and ditto what Court said, sorry I wrote a novel =)
At the same time though, there are some pictures of us from mexico. And i dont want to completely leave out our community, because it is a big part of our church. But i do think in genereal we could use some more pics cause there is only like 6 up. But what I think would be a cool idea is like the wall that is blank next to the windows like across the wall with the other pictures, maybe do some type of picture thing that changes after each event. like put a bunch of pics up from the last event we did and then change them every so often. that way everyone who walks into the building can see what goes on here at 201 and around the community with high school students. i think this would be a great thing for parents and for adults so they can see what goes on down at 201, and that it is not just a building. Families could then see things during epoch and we could draw more teens in that way. SO idk what this means but I think it would be cool to have something like that...idk just and idea.
ReplyDeletehaha i agree but ruth a novel is fake so are you saying thats untrue? or a story?
ReplyDeletehaha just kidding giving you a hard time.
i agree court put it better than i could. and i understand what your saying too.
Ladies, I have loved reading your posts, and what I love the most is that you are speaking from yur heart, and whether it's a sentence, book, novel or what, that you feel comfortable letting it be heard. That's what designates success in youth groups. That we don't just come to put on a happy face, but you do life together. I know the changes have been hard- our family has been here for 19 years and we've seen a few- I sometimes refer to those of us who have been around as a worn out slipper, not worn out as in tired, or unuseable, but comfortable, reliable...that's what ya'll are to all the other students who are that "new" set of slippers, that sometimes feel when they walk in they are walking with a limp, or a blister or whatever it is, it's when they can put on the worn out slipper and "feel" like they are at home. I am so thankful to all of you, for all you do, for being so faithful not only to our God, but to this youth group, thank you, thank you. There is a purpose as Rocky said in change and growing, sometimes it hurts, but God is faithful to those who run the race. Galations 6:9-10 reminds us that in doing good we are actually serving Him. Bye for now,
ReplyDelete(I guess writing a book runs in the family)
yeah i guess i never really thought of it like you (all of you) said. i never really thought of it big picture-wise and i have to admit, i'm a little needy when it comes to attention, so that's something i'll just have to get over. and like, at the old church or when we first moved, we wre the ONLY people at youth group. the regulars made up the whole thing, so even if we didnt want the attention, we got it just because of our small size. now there are more people, and guests coming to the yard, and it's gonna be hard but i guess we (well, i) need to get used to not being the only ones anymore.
ReplyDeleteidk.
but we do need more pictures of the yard/vibe up on the wall.
i mean, come on, i should be in at least oneeee picture :)
i agree i jus sometimes think about what i can see now instead of steping back
ReplyDeleteand im glad we can all talk about this:)
part of that didn't make sense. what i meant to say was..
ReplyDeleteat the old church or when we first moved, there were so few students that we got all the attention because we were the only ones there. like the 'regulars' made up the whole youth group. and now that there are more people, we just have to get used to not being the only ones.
idk if that makes sense. haha but it does in my head.
lol
yes kierst i fully agree
ReplyDeletei ahevt alked to you about this though
i love you kierst haha
and rocky and court and ruth and mrs parlin:) haha
i love you all too :)
ReplyDeletei'm wayy bummed i won't be at the yard this sunday, but tell me about it when i get back.
have a good christmas!
okay. i agree with all of you on this in different ways. jess, kierst, traci, and i were all at lunch today discussing this. first off, i totally agree with courtney. when everyone started leaving, i was really upset about it and i didnt know what was going to happen. i was so afraid that i would lose some of my friends and that i would not want to go to fbcn (chase oaks) anymore. Like court, i hate change too. but after a while i got over it and got used to the change and i believe rock was really meant to be here. i was gonna mention this in d group but i decided not too haha.
ReplyDeleteAnd with what jess and kierst said, i agree with them. i feel like we are being forgotten sometimes and that we dont matter anymore. im not going to name any exact situations, but there are times when there are brand new people who seem to get all the attention and we have been here for such a long time. it sounds selfish, i know. Also, i think that we focus on numbers a lot. Of course, its great that so many poeple are here to worship, but we could focus on some other important things also. Yeah, its good if tons of people get involved, but do they all come back every sunday and really want to get involved? idk.
So, you have to look at this in two ways. You can say that you dont like all the new people coming, or you can look at it in a way that soo many more people are coming and coming to know christ (i hope that made sense). Also, you could say how much you dont like the new church or the way it is so big (and for me it would be how i dont like that i see a new face i dont know every day), or you could look at it and see how many people it is affecting in a positive way.
And as for the ftsk thing, I can see where rock is coming from. But i would like to know what the difference is between getting excited about jonathan and getting excited about phil wickham. I was soo excited to see phil wickham, and when the forever the sickest kids guy was there, i was excited about that too. I might be interpreting this the wrong way so let me know if i am. Clear it up maybe? idk haha i have just been reading the inputs and i got a little puzzled.
So my input was pretty much all over the place haha sorry about that. And im sorry if some of it made a little bit of no sense at all :)
love yall!