Man it started snowing yesterday about mid-afternoon and went pretty much all night.  There’s a beautiful layer of pure white snow on the ground outside and I love it. 

I spent most of my life in the south where you have pretty much two seasons: hot and too hot.  Then there were a handful of days during the “winter” when you may have to throw on a light jacket.  Amber and I were talking last night about how we love having 4 distinct seasons here.

I especially love the snow.  As a boy in New Jersey I first got to experience it and I can’t get enough.  Even with the headaches it sometimes causes.  Here’s a few reasons why I love the snow:

• It’s pretty
• It doesn’t quite fit into a box (not rain, but not quite ice)
• It’s soft and fluffy (like me)
• It’s kind of unpredictable
• Finally, it reminds me of this great old hymn:
  • Nothing but the Blood (Robert Lowry, 1876)
    What can wash away my sin? nothing but the blood of Jesus;
    what can make me whole again? nothing but the blood of Jesus.
    O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow;
    no other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus.

When it warms up around here I’ll have to deal with the messed up yard, the sloppy driveway, the dirty cars, but I’m thankful every day that thanks to Jesus I don’t have to worry about what’s buried under the snow of my life. 

Have a great day!

I’m currently breaking one of my personal rules: I’m still wrestling with the finishing touches on Sunday’s message.  Normally I like to have it all ready to go by the end of the workday on Thursday, but the short week has me kind of bunched up.  I can’t wait ’til Sunday though – we’re starting our first series of 2008, “TOGETHER”.

This Sunday, instead of talking about my “New Year’s Resolutions” (I don’t really do the resolution thing), I’m going to kick off the new year talking about the Vision of Iron City Church with a message called “The New Year’s ReVolution.”

I am stoked about 2008 and what it’s going to look like for ICC.  If you’re in the Pittsburgh area and interested in hearing what we’re about and where we’re heading as a church, this would be a great series for you to drop by.  We’ll have the coffee ready by 9:45 AM Sunday — DON’T MISS IT!

I know it’s just barely January 3rd (only about 10 minutes left), but I have to post an anniversary thought….

It was exactly one year ago today that God confirmed to me the answer to a question and a season of prayer about the WHERE of church planting. 

In spite of a neat-looking US map with 7 cities (not this one) marked out and nearly 4 months of praying specifically about which of those 7 cities we were supposed to land in, it was 365 days ago that we realized without a doubt that we were exactly where we needed to be — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

The 12 months since then have been filled with many, many questions and struggles, but knowing the answer to the WHERE question has made it all good.  And I’m way more committed to transforming the Pittsburgh metro area with the love of Jesus today than I was last year at this time!

Can’t wait to see what’s in store in the next year!

Isn’t it odd how in the United States we celebrate things in contradictory ways? 

Maybe I’ve just had too much time to think these last couple of weeks, but something seems a little funny to me.  We have a holiday called Memorial Day, designed to honor and remember all those who have died for our freedom and we celebrate it by (for the most part) grilling out and playing outside. 

We have a holiday called Labor Day when just about the entire country takes a day off.

And while New Year’s Day is historically supposed to represent a new start and the freshness of a clean sheet of paper for the next 12 months, most of us are busy sleeping off staying up too late watching what is possibly one of the most anticlimactic celebrations of the year. 

All that being said, January 2 is REALLY New Year’s Day for most of us; the day when we actually start getting things done.  And this morning I woke up to a fresh coat of gleaming white snow on the ground.  It just adds to my feeling of a fresh start and a clean slate to work on my end and pray towards God’s end and see what comes of it.  I’m so excited to see what God does in 2008 and I hope you are too!

God is all about putting things in perspective and teaching me on this church planting journey.  Actually, just on the journey of following Christ He’s constantly teaching me things . . . if I’m listening and looking out for the lessons.

Today I had one of those lessons that I didn’t have to look very hard to find.  I was milling around before church this morning, getting some things in order and – heads up for some pastoral honesty – worrying about HOW SMALL our crowd would be on a rainy, day before Christmas Eve Sunday morning in a 4 month old church.  That was the extent of my worries – how many and which people would be there for the service – until Jeff caught me in the lobby and said “I thought you were already on your way!  Here’s the diaper bag and my keys, take my truck, Amber’s been in an accident!”

Talk about a total shift in focus.

After a few seconds of Jeff briefing me about where they were and what they needed, I jumped in his truck and headed for the scene of the wreck.  No longer were my prayers wrapped around who God would send to ICC for the morning service or how the music would sound or if I’d done enough sermon prep this week.  My wife and son (and another good friend of ours) had been in an accident and that was my total focus.

About halfway to the scene I collected wildly running mind enough to spend a few moments in prayer before I pulled up.  Thankfully, everyone was fine and the car now has a slight “badge of honor,”  but it was a lesson in priorities.  And it was a lesson in something else. 

I was sharing a message this morning about how Jesus serves as our “Prince Of Peace,” and He spent the morning reminding me of how often I fail to allow His peace to reign in my life.  As backwards as it sounds, I really think there are times when I would rather wallow in a pity party or let myself be worked into a frenzy than to live the victorious life I have available in Jesus – a life complete with a peace that “transcends all understanding.”

God help me to make a concerted effort to hand over my troubles and worries to you and let the Prince of Peace reign in every area of my life

Man, yesterday was an interesting day.  For the third week in a row, we had some sort of wintery weather issues and yesterday was by far the worst we’ve had.  We had our lowest attendance so far yesterday, but the mood in the place was good.  Beyond that, I was able to spend a little bit of “family time” during the message, discussing some things that I think we all needed to hear.

We finished collecting food items and gift cards for North Hills Community Outreach yesterday and the boxes were overflowing with goodies that will be delivered over to their headquarters in the next day or so.  It’s exciting to be just a few months old as a church and be able to help make a difference for those less fortunate in our community.

After church we all got together at Ami and Billy Moore’s house to eat and watch some of the Steelers game.  Ami and Billy were great hosts and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the game in HD for a change.  It spoiled me to the point that it was hard to come back to the house and my standard def television.  It was also fun to just be able to hang out with some of our folks with no pretense or anything.

This weekend reminds me of one of my favorite descriptions of what I believe the church should be: a FAMILY on a MISSION.  A family in that we love and care deeply about one another (see John 13:34-35).  On a mission together with God to reconnect men and women to himself (see 2 Corinthians 5:16-21).  In my experience this duality is extremely hard for a lot of churches to balance.  Either they’re a strong family with little or no concern for the world around them going to hell, or they’re on a mission without a healthy connection to one another to the point that people fall away from the body.

In terms of Iron City Church, I am praying specifically this week for: more connections to people who are far from God, the health and protection of our church family (we’ve got some people struggling right now), a full house for next Sunday’s conclusion of our Conspiracy series, and a continued buildup of momentum within those who are already committed.

We’re in the middle (exactly in the middle, actually) of a Sunday morning series called “Conspiracy.”  During these 4 weeks we’re exploring the fact that the first Christmas marked a turning point in God’s eternal Conspiracy to change the world by redeeming lives through Jesus.

In addition, we’re “conspiring” with a local organization (North Hills Community Outreach) to help out some folks who are having a hard time during this season of the year.  If you’re in the Pittsburgh metro area and interested, we want YOU to help us out.

We’re collecting GIFT CARDS (under $25) and NON-PERISHABLE FOOD ITEMS this Sunday.  If you can help out, bring your items to North Allegheny Intermediate High School this Sunday @ 10 AM when you come to worship with Iron City Church!  Let’s show off and be the hands and feet of Christ during this Christmas season!

We have had some snow in the last couple of weeks, but today’s high was 61 and it’s been raining all day – go figure!

If I’m honest, the weather around here is a little bit like my attitude sometimes.  Am I the only one that feels that way?  One day it’s sunny and beautiful, I’m feeling confident and solid in who I am and the promises I have in Christ.  Then the winds blow a little bit and next thing you know I feel like the dark clouds have rolled in and there’s no end in sight. 

Has God changed? 
Is there any less of His power available to me?
The answer, of course, is a resounding NO!

Sometimes we all need a reminder of the life-changing power and love of Jesus and the fact that it’s always available.  whether you feel like it or not.

This is especially true in starting Iron City Church.  Church planting is not an easy, overnight process.  God is working on me in a big way lately in this very area: He’s teaching me that the ups and downs of the little day to day wins and losses can’t be my “barometer” as to what’s happening in the grand scheme of things. 

The great thing is that “transforming the Pittsburgh metro area with the love of Jesus” has been part of God’s mission WAAAAY longer than it has been mine!  And now that He’s given me the chance to be a part of it, I plan to guide this ship that He’s building through all sorts of storms and sunny days . . .

Thank you God for the gift of PERSPECTIVE

I’ve developed some friendships since moving to Pittsburgh with a lot of folks from just south in West Virginia.  And I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those WVU Mountaineer fans for completely choking Saturday night!

Because of your sincere concern and Pitt’s best efforts, my LSU Tigers will once again play for the National Championship this January!  Geaux Tigers!

Yesterday afternoon we had a vision meeting for people who have been attending ICC and wanted to hear more about the vision.  It was also a good forum for them to ask questions that have been on their mind.

We held the meeting at the local library and had a total of 11 people there.  We enjoyed some lunch and then had what was probably my favorite part of the whole meeting — everyone got to tell who they are and what brought them to Iron City Church.  Awesome stuff — what a great reminder of why we do what we do!  Most people showed because of the “More Jesus, Less Crap” signs and have stayed because of the authenticity, based on their comments yesterday.

I got to share how we got here (the backstory), where we’re heading (the vision), and what we’re about (our values).  I just love connecting the dots for people.  The meeting went very well and I think most – if not all – of the people that were there are in it for the long haul.  We did have some good, spirited conversation about some of what we do and what we believe, but it was all in good taste and I think we all left on good standing and encouraged.

It is awesome to be so close while God does so much for so many! 

I shared yesterday that it’s my dream that in 5, 10, or 20 years if we were to mention something about closing the doors of Iron City Church, that members and leaders of all the communities of the Pittsburgh metro area would rise up in opposition because we have made and we are making such a difference in the lives of their people that they couldn’t bear to do without us.  Only God can do that — and that’s why I dream it!!!

Thank you God for all you have done, are doing, and are yet to do!