Articles for tag: Ben Cachiaras

June 7, 2012

Christian Standard

Seven Positive Trends for Megachurches

By Brian Mavis I asked nine authors, academics, megachurch pastors, and missional church planters “What”s next for megachurches?”Â The nine shared enough opinions and insights for several articles, and I will develop those in upcoming issues. Several of the leaders I contacted mentioned some concerns, but this month let”s focus on identifying and distilling seven positive trends.   1. Deeper Discipleship Megachurches are growing less content with measuring attendance alone. David Faust, president of Cincinnati Christian University, said at a megachurch leaders conference he was . . . encouraged to hear a number of megachurch leaders talking about how their plans for the

February 27, 2012

Christian Standard

An “˜Incredible Group” for an Important Mission

By Mark A. Taylor In just under 48 hours each year our contributing editors meet in an annual retreat to consider the future of this magazine. We discuss a wide range of issues””from the lofty (“How should young leaders in our fellowship view it?”) to the specific (“What should a Christian Standard app contain?”). All of it is aimed at improving Christian Standard”s service””its content, its appearance, even its means of distribution. The group suggests topics the church needs to consider and writers who have something to say about them. They critique our past year”s product and react to future

August 31, 2011

Christian Standard

Church Cancels Services, Urges Members to Help Neighbors

In anticipation of this past weekend”s East Coast hurricane, Mountain Christian Church senior pastor Ben Cachiaras asked the congregation to be the church instead of going to church. MCC, located in Joppa, MD, cancelled its weekend services and urged members to participate in “Operation Irene” by helping neighbors with storm cleanup, groceries, child care, and other needs. “Let’s DELUGE our community with acts of love and service during this event,” Cachiaras wrote. “I want to urge you as strongly as I can to think hard about how you can be a light and a friend and a help to others””and

June 1, 2011

Christian Standard

Same-Sex Marriage””What Should We Do?

By Ben Cachiaras Editor”s note: As the Maryland state legislature considered a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, earlier this year, Ben Cachiaras encouraged his congregation, Mountain Christian Church, Joppa, Maryland, to respond in a way that honors Christ. (The bill ultimately died without being passed.) Below is an excerpt from what Ben wrote in March. Christians need to think carefully about this issue. Here are a few incomplete thoughts and observations, offered humbly into the discussion: “¢ The landscape in America has changed. Recent polls confirm what we already know””that a growing number of Americans are prepared to recognize gay

February 22, 2011

Christian Standard

We Have Met the Enemy

By Mark A. Taylor Jim Tune says in “Stake” that the NACC is better, but less necessary, than ever. His rationale resonates with that of Gary Weedman who contributed one of several “viewpoints” on the NACC for our September 21, 2008, issue. The NACC was created in 1927 as a reaction to what was seen as encroachment of liberal theology and of “open membership” practiced by missionaries. . . . The majority of the leaders of the International Convention . . . were seen to be supportive, or at least tolerant, of the theological liberalism and practice of open membership.

October 24, 2010

Christian Standard

The Influence of Just One

By Mike Kilgallin and Clay Perkins One servant in God”s hands can truly make a difference. Consider the story of G.H. “Dean” Cachiaras, a teenage immigrant from Greece who ended up polishing shoes. One day as he polished the shoes of a doctor casually reading a newspaper, the man discovered the boy was from Greece. The doctor lowered the newspaper and spoke to him in his native language, “Young man, what do you plan to do with your life?” The doctor encouraged G.H. to attend his alma mater, Johnson Bible College in Knoxville, Tennessee. The boy enrolled, began studying the

September 29, 2010

Christian Standard

White as Snow? Guilty as Sin?

By Darrel Rowland Some 50 years ago Martin Luther King Jr. pierced the church”s soul by pointing out that the most segregated hour in America was 11:00 Sunday morning. Things sure have changed in the five decades since, haven”t they? I mean, we gather at all sorts of hours other than 11 am Sunday these days. But about that other part . . . Let”s just ask ourselves a brutally honest question: Why are Christian churches and churches of Christ among the last bastions of society to remain predominantly white? Once we answer that one, we must tackle an even

September 22, 2010

Christian Standard

2010 NACC: We Can”t Say We Weren”t Warned

By Darrel Rowland First night, first message at this year”s North American Christian Convention, President Ben Cachiaras let us know that the week would be more about “afflicting the comfortable” than comforting the afflicted. Many of us had thought those square pieces of netting on our chairs that opening night at the Indiana Convention Center were some weird Hoosier way to save seats. Instead, they were a visible reminder from Cachiaras of Jesus” radical call to the first disciples to drop their nets and follow him to a place “beyond”””the convention”s theme””and of our need to do the same today.

September 21, 2010

Christian Standard

Special for Many Reasons

By Mark A. Taylor What made the North American Christian Convention this year so special? The question has more than one answer. Certainly, the theme itself struck a chord with many. These were not self-help sermons meant to calm their hearers. Instead, “Disturb me”””President Ben Cachiaras”s prayer for months before the convention””underscored every main session. His vision was not so much to encourage us where we are as to challenge us to go someplace we”ve never been. Listeners resonated with the possibility to be and do something new for God. This substance””both in content and in spirit””permeated the convention. Workshop

August 18, 2010

Christian Standard

Encouraged . . . and Disturbed

  By Mark A. Taylor Holy, holy, holy, All the saints adore thee. I looked down at the floor of the convention hall, almost full with fellow-saints singing the old words, and I thought about Heaven. I glanced down my row at my wife sitting beside Pat Merold who sat beside her husband, Ben. My preacher, Tom Moll, was on the aisle in the bleachers below me; beside him were Allan Dunbar and his wife. Bob Russell was a few rows ahead of them. All around us were people I didn”t know, and they were singing too. The scene made

July 18, 2010

Christian Standard

NACC “˜Beyond”: A Sermon Series and BEYOND

By Ethan Magness In our own congregation, the BEYOND theme has been a channel for change. When we see what has happened here, we have great hope for what God will do through our convention. All of us want to be a part of churches that are moving beyond. We want to be always following Jesus to a place we have never been before. Certainly this desire to move beyond is a central value of Mountain Christian Church, where I serve on staff and where NACC President Ben Cachiaras is senior minister. One of the reasons we are excited to be

July 14, 2010

Christian Standard

Letting Go: The First Step Beyond

By Mark A. Taylor God is here. God is in control. I am not in control. And I don”t want to be. That simple testimony, offered by a middle-aged woman in a church service I visited this summer, has stayed with me through all the weeks since. She spoke of how God washed away her fears about her health and her family. She found peace when she finally decided to quit worrying and just submit her anxieties to him. “The last sentence is the biggest challenge,” someone in my group remarked afterwards. Almost everyone will say that God, or a

March 24, 2010

Christian Standard

Restoration Revolution: Goals to Challenge All of Us

By Mark A. Taylor “What”s not to like when you see the values expressed in Restoration Revolution?” Ben Cachiaras asked the rhetorical question in a February presentation to Cincinnati ministers. Most rhetorical questions go unanswered, but this one deserves a response. My reaction is twofold. First: All of us can agree with the lofty visions cast by those promoting Restoration Revolution, a 10-year project that kicks off at this year”s National Missionary Convention in Lexington, Kentucky, November 18-21. The goals are contained in an easily remembered acrostic: Almighty is an invitation to prayer. Restoration Revolution challenges Christian churches around the world to

February 14, 2010

Christian Standard

NACC: Hmmm . . . Let Us Think

By Rob Kastens Recently I was given a complete original set of The Millennial Harbinger. As I read through the discolored, fragile pages of several issues from the 1800s, I was struck by the discourse and exchange around all sorts of issues. Positions were stated and confronted by Alexander Campbell as he responded to writings published elsewhere and letters he received. This exchange of views through the Harbinger and other publications, in addition to public debates and discussions, helped shape and hone our movement in its early days. In these pages, I found Christians who were committed to Scripture and

February 14, 2010

Christian Standard

NACC: The Week’s Schedule

TUESDAY AFTERNOON, JULY 6 Exhibit Hall Standard Publishing Lunch LOGOS Bible Software Training “The Zone,” Student Area TUESDAY EVENING, JULY 6 Exhibit Hall Evening Main Session with Ben Cachiaras NACC President”s Reception College Fair (for students and parents) WEDNESDAY MORNING, JULY 7 Exhibit Hall Ministers” Networking Breakfast Bible Study Exhibitor Workshops Morning Main Session with Brian Jones Student Main Session with Todd Clark Featured Guest Speaker, Efrem Smith WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, JULY 7 Exhibit Hall Seniors” Luncheon with Ben Merold Workshops Bible Studies WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 7 Exhibit Hall President”s Banquet””Open to All Evening Main Session with Dick Alexander THURSDAY MORNING,

February 14, 2010

Christian Standard

The NACC Is for Students Too!

By Phyllis Fox Youth in Ministry (YiM) is excited to go BEYOND with the North American Christian Convention”s Student Convention in Indianapolis this summer. Our goal is to encourage students to go BEYOND ordinary worship and BEYOND radical discipleship. We have several familiar program elements plus new features that will excite students and their parents. What’s New We are encouraged by the many churches enjoying intergenerational worship, so we are trying something new in the 2010 Student Convention by having the students join the adults for the evening sessions. When students are in high school it is critical that they

February 14, 2010

Christian Standard

NACC: BEYOND

By Ben Cachiaras When visiting Capernaum last summer, I paused on the rocky shoreline looking out at the Sea of Galilee. Knowing it could be the very stretch of beach Jesus walked when he called those first fishermen gave it a surreal sense of being holy ground. What struck me is that Jesus” call to them was abrupt and demanding: “Follow me!” Doing so would mean a life of perpetual movement and adventure, risk and change. It meant dropping familiar nets, leaving cherished family, and abandoning well-worn paths in pursuit of a leader who wanted to take them BEYOND any

February 14, 2010

Christian Standard

NACC: A Blend of the Fresh and Familiar

By Ben Cachiaras Special Guests A trademark of the convention will be great preaching at our main sessions, anchored by some of our movement”s strong speakers, like Brian Jones, Dick Alexander with Mary Kamau, George Ross, and Gene Appel. In addition, we will welcome some special friends as guests; Christian brothers we have invited to share with us, and from whom we can benefit, include Efrem Smith, Francis Chan, Rick Warren, and others. Added to that will be rich worship experiences led by Eric Olson and the team from Mountain Christian Church of Joppa, Mary-land; Bible studies led by John-ny

February 10, 2010

Christian Standard

Interview with Ben Cachiaras

Ben Cachiaras By Brad Dupray As the president of the 2010 North American Christian Convention, Ben Cachiaras has led the planning of a convention that goes “beyond” the ordinary. “What if we didn”t have a North American? What would we wish we did have? What would we need? Let”s plan that convention,” he says. Ben and his wife, Karla, met in the food court of the 1987 North American Christian Convention and this year will be celebrating their 20th year of marriage. For the last 12 years, Ben has served as senior pastor of Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, Maryland.

February 10, 2010

Christian Standard

A New Look at What We Need

By Mark A. Taylor Read carefully, and you”ll see there”s something different about this summer”s North American Christian Convention. President Ben Cachiaras has done more than plan a meeting of substance with excellent content””although he has certainly done that. He has done more than inject some creative and fresh elements into a program that may seem the same from year to year””although this year”s new touches give everyone a reason to attend. No, Ben hasn”t sought to polish an existing template. Instead he”s asked, “Suppose we had no North American Christian Convention? What do we need that a weeklong conference

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