It has been a busy week trying to get back in the swing of things after Catalyst.  Plus, the weather has been utterly ridiculous around here.  The high one day was about 80 and then a day or two later we’re hitting the high 30’s at night.  Needless to say, my allergies and sinuses are beating the mess out of me. 

It has been nice to have a little cool weather though.  I believe they call this “fall” or “autumn”?  Whatever you call it, it was pretty much a myth in south Georgia.  Fall weather – yet another reason why I’m loving Pittsburgh!

What a week!  It’s been a while since I posted anything, but it’s been a busy week.  First the short week (trying to fit everything into Monday and Tuesday of last week), then Catalyst.  Amazing.  We all go to different conferences for different reasons, but for me, God has used Catalyst as, well, a catalyst in my life.

I first attended back in 2003 and it was my first exposure to such a large group of young(ish) leaders together in one place.  God spoke to me through so many things that year, but especially through Rob Bell’s testimony about finding a healthy life pattern.  At the time I was running my own web design company, working with a local sign company, and working with an auto racing team traveling all over the country.  The question that broke me was, “stop for a second and think about this: where will I be in 5 years if I don’t change something in my routine?  Now what do I need to change?”  The next day I retired from racing and within a month I proposed to Amber (the second best decision of my life, behind committing my life to Christ).  Three months later, I was able to hear and submit to God calling me into vocational ministry.

Then last year I was able to attend again.  This time it wasn’t any one speaker in particular, rather the entire experience, that spoke to me.  I think it was just observing how God was at work in and through so many varied people/groups/areas from all over the country and the world that motivated me to get serious about trying to figure out the next steps for Amber, TJ, and me.  Within two months after Catalyst ended, I had resigned my current position and moved to Pittsburgh.  Another month later, God had confirmed our call to plant Iron City Church and invest our lives in seeing the Pittsburgh metro area transformed with the love of Jesus Christ.

This year, the experience was again refreshing and challenging.  I am not going to list all the things that I heard from everyone.  I had some serious issues trying to get online at Catalyst (not sure if I was the only one), so I was forced to actually sit still and listen and let some of what was being said sink in.  I will say that Francis Chan’s message toward the end of Thursday’s sessions rocked my world.  He broke out some real, honest to goodness, authenticity, and said that it’s entirely possible to grow a massive church and have a “successful” ministry without loving the people you are serving OR loving Jesus like we are called to.  He challenged us to realize that – like Paul and Jeremiah each record in scripture – God selected us to be used for His mission in the world before we were even born.  So much good stuff.  So little time to process. . . .

Wonder what God’s going to do in my life through all this information and inspiration.  Will it provoke some continued transformation?  I like to think so.

Yesterday marked our second weekly service at ICC.  We’re going through a series called “Thank God It’s Monday: Why Going to Work Doesn’t Have to Suck,” and yesterday’s topic was dealing with authority.  Good stuff.  I really enjoyed it and I’m definitely loving the weekly opportunity to preach to this ever-changing flock that God has entrusted/is entrusting to me as a pastor.

We launched ICC with a team of folks made up of locals who we’re trying to connect with (unchurched/dechurched from the North Hills area) AND like-minded believers from other churches who all committed to helping us get started.  After last Sunday’s Kick-Off Service, we sent the vast majority of the latter group back to their church homes.  That meant that yesterday was our real baseline as to where we’re starting on this journey.  And the state of the church is pretty good after week #2.

Our total attendance was 33 for our first weekly service minus the training wheels.  Our systems are still in their infancy, but the people who are stepping up to serve are amazing.  With just our own ICC folks working, setup went smooth, all areas were handled with excellence and grace, and God honored all of that by bringing out 6 first time families.  Each of those families indicated that they enjoyed themselves and most stated that they plan to come back next week. 

Incidently, one of the big reminders I’m getting already is that when you plant a church for people who don’t do church, the weekly church attendance habit is not natural.  We’ll be spending much of this week trying to determine what else we can do to get those fired up first timers back a second, third, and fourth time…

All in all, God is at work!  The atmosphere yesterday was charged, people were challenged (me included), and my prayer is that even as we speak people are being used as agents of life-change in their workplaces, schools, and communities!

I know I’ve been quiet for a while.  Sorry.  I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth or been abducted by aliens — just haven’t made the time to post anything in a while.

I am not the kind of pastor/preacher that uses my position to endorse political candidates (like anyone would listen to me about that anyway), and I don’t think that’s my calling by any means.  So please take this as a disclaimer that the following is not at all such a thing — just an interesting tidbit from the web.

I just saw a video clip of Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s response to a debate question that boldly, intelligently, and respectfully shares where he stands.  The ordained minister from Arkansas breaks down what he believes in an honest and clear fashion that is often absent in the realm of politics.  I guess someone forgot to tell him that politics and religion don’t mix…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-BFEhkIujA

It has been a long, long time since I posted anything to you, mr. blog.  I’ve missed you.  I try to be regular with posting and recording what’s going on, but life keeps getting in the way.  I’m going to keep on trucking though and post as often as I can.

The short answer is this: I’ve had more family come through town in the last month than I think anyone ever before in the history of the known universe (just a bit of hyperbole).  I love having the folks in town, its just hard to keep any kind of a routine when I’m trying to hang out with them.  Anyone who knows me knows that I struggle enough with keeping a regular routine without any outside forces.

Anyhoo – it was a great time but I was forced to push the blog to the backburner of my priority list for a while.  So bear with me as I try to bring you (and me) up to speed.

I just realized that its been about a week since I posted.  Life has been very good, just busy.  My nephew Jonathan has been in town and then my sister and her other 3 kids joined them here on Thursday night.  Thursday afternoon Amber, Jonathan, and I went kayaking on the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh.  What an awesome experience (and shoulder workout)!  I love this area!

We spent part of the day Friday in Latrobe, PA (home of the Steelers’ training camp).  My two nephews were in a football camp that afternoon and the Steelers had a night practice that evening.  This marks the first training camp I think I’ve been to since I stopped playing football myself.  I’m torn about this: there’s a part of me that really wanted to be down there knocking heads…. but there’s also a part of me that was awfully comfortable sitting on the sidelines watching those guys sweat   While we were there, a newspaper photographer snapped a pretty sweet shot of TJ and the Steelers mascot and put it in the paper Saturday: here’s a link.

I preached at Charleroi Baptist Church (south of the city) yesterday and I’m preaching at Extreme Games in the Park - put on by Living Water Community Church in Latrobe – three nights this week.  I love all of these speaking opportunities, but I’m also ready to be back with my ICC family on August 12th again!

Last night, Amber’s father, stepmom, brother, and sister all came into town for a couple of weeks.  What’s the big deal for all the family in town, you ask???  Tomorrow is TJ’s 1st Birthday!!! 

Lots going on over the last week or so, plus I’ve been feeling pretty rough since last Tuesday night.  I even enjoyed the pleasure of spending the 4th of July on my back sick as a dog (oh joy!). 

I had a number of positive meetings last week and then I got to share the Iron City Church vision with a group of interested folks at North Park on Friday night.  After that meeting we’ve reached 30 people on our launch team (plus a handful of others who have indicated that they’re just about ready to jump).  Then I got to spend some time Sunday with the folks at Monroeville Community Church (our sponsoring church) — always a good time.

For far too long we’ve measured the success of any given church by how many things they’re doing. 

Besides the fact that it looks good to type all of those activities in the bulletin each week and brag to your friends, it gives us a reason for Christians to be at the church building EVERY NIGHT OF THE WEEK – effectively keeping the foot soldiers in the Kingdom of God from having time to do what we’re called to -> be salt & light to a dark and decaying world. 

Iron City Church is (and will always be) about doing a few things with God-honoring, man-inspiring excellence, rather than a whole bunch of things with mediocrity.

Once again, Steven Furtick knocks it out of the park with the following post, about this very same topic: Pastor Steven Furtick » Be Ruth’s Chris, Not Golden Corral

As I pondered a little while ago about whether I was going to post anything today I ran across this post from Steven Furtick.  Thank you bro for bloodying my toes about blogging – and a lot of things. 

I’ve been a creative animal as far back as I can remember.  I think one reason we creative types get labeled as “moody” sometimes is because we all feel like our role in society is to come up with the latest, greatest, and best (insert your medium of choice here – sermon, blog post, web design, song lyric, etc.) that anyone’s ever come up with before.

When that doesn’t come we I struggle with feeling like less than what I could/should be and it tends to effect my attitude. Thankfully, as I continue to grow in my understanding of who I am in Christ, I can embrace the fact that some days will see the creation of finger paintings and others will see the creation of Picasso’s.  I am simply responsible to be a good steward of everything that God has entrusted to me  — and part of that is not skipping out just because I’m not feeling profound.

Pardon my lack of posting the last week or so.  Just had a lot going on and not much interest in blogging – no noble causes or anything, just not into it.

But I’m back.  I had a great meeting today with an advertising guy from one of the local radio stations. I put him on notice of our plan to see the city of Pittsburgh turned upside down in the name of and for the sake of Jesus Christ.  He has some great ideas to help us as we continue to build “brand awareness” in the Pittsburgh “market”.   I thank God for Romans 8:28 and what that means for my varied life/career experience up until now.  It really helps to be able to speak the language of the marketing/advertising world.  None of what I’ve been through is wasted in God’s economy.

Then this afternoon I took off a couple of hours (why I’m working on some things tonight) and went with Amber, TJ, my mom, and my niece Christina to the Pittsburgh Zoo.  It was TJ’s first trip to a zoo and his little eyes were on overload.  If I ever need a reminder of God’s creativity, I just need to take a trip to the zoo.  Leopards, monkeys, elephants, penguins, zebras, polar bears (Pittsburgh’s newest residents), etc. — and I get excited when I come up with nifty sermon title.  Thank you God for YOUR creativity and for creating us in YOUR IMAGE!