What an amazing day yesterday was at ICC!  While we were setting up, Amber (my wife) came up and whispered in my ear that she really felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in the place.  Not being the most discerning soul, I found a little time to get quiet and began to feel that same presence.  We had a few more folks serving for the first time yesterday and had 2 more go through our orientation, to see what goes on and how they can get involved.

Brandon was back leading worship after Neil leading for the last two weeks.  I don’t feel like we miss a beat with either one of them in place.  It was good to be with Brandon again, though.  The music was good and people really seemed to be getting into worshiping a little bit more each week.

It was an historic day in the life of ICC (and me), as I gave up the stage to let our Catalytic Pastor (my dad) share the 4th message in our “Thank God It’s Monday” series: “Confessions of a Workaholic.”  It was equal parts sermon and testimony.  I could tell it was tough for him to talk about it all at times, but his honesty and transparency was refreshingly painful.  I got to experience some of the aftermath of his workaholism growing up and it was emotionally tense for me to process yesterday.  When I scanned the room it was obvious that God was working in people’s hearts about this issue.

We had a grand total of 48 people there yesterday.  That’s our highest attendance yet (not counting Kick-Off Sunday) and we’re seeing some serious buy-in.  People are stepping up to serve, they’re inviting their friends, and just coming on Sunday mornings excited about church!

ON A SIDE NOTE: All three of us pastors were out of town from Wednesday early morning until Saturday around noon and we had our highest attendance yet and God worked in some big ways on Sunday.  I’m trying to figure out how to best accept this fact: 1) We need to take off 3-4 days every week because all this stuff we’re doing isn’t important, or 2) We always have to be mindful (even as we work hard on His behalf) that Jesus builds His church and the gates of hell will not overcome it!

One of the things I’m committed to in planting Iron City Church is that I’m not going to be one of those guys whose only scripture reading on any given week consists of what they have to read for Sunday’s sermon.  That may work for some people, but it leaves me feeling dry after a while.  Anyway, part of my reading for today was Psalm 103.  What an amazing reminder of the nature of God.  Here’s the passage that just grabbed me this morning:

10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
       or repay us according to our iniquities.

 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
       so great is his love for those who fear him;

 12 as far as the east is from the west,
       so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

 13 As a father has compassion on his children,
       so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

 14 for he knows how we are formed,
       he remembers that we are dust.

He doesn’t give us what we deserve (thankfully), He removes our screw-ups from us as far as the east is from the west, and He has compassion on us – I love this part – because he knows how we are formed, that HE made us from the dust.  What an amazing God we serve.  I can’t tell you how many times my mind wanders and I wonder how God could use me after all the junk I’ve done – what a reminder of His mercy and grace!

My Bible reading plan took me through chapter 4 of Philippians this morning.  I didn’t plan it this way, I really hadn’t thought about it until I was reading today, but is there a better chapter for a week like this one with less than 3 days until our Kick-Off Sunday?

Case in point:

• YES PLEASE
• Rid the mind of stinking thinking
• Praying to do better at this
• Amen to this one 
• What an awesome promise (especially to church planters)!

As usual, yea God on the timing thing!

I got to spend part of the last weekend in Mansfield, Ohio, at a USAR Hooters Pro Cup stock car race with my friend Dusty Williams (www.dixieracing.com – www.dustywilliams.com).  I had the privilege of working with Dusty and the race team that his parents own for a number of years before God snatched me up by the neck and called me to help lead His church.

And I must admit that the sound of revving racing engines, the smell of hot asphalt and rubber, and the feeling just before its time to jump off the wall for a pit stop still make my heart beat fast.  I was glad to see that Dusty has a rock solid, dedicated, hard working group of guys preparing and setting up his race car — they have come a long way since I walked away a few years ago.

Unfortunately, in spite of all the hard work, sweat, and money that went into the weekend’s primary goal of making that race car go faster around the track than the other guys’ cars, Dusty dropped out of the event with an engine problem after just 81 of the scheduled 250 laps and finished 35th out of 36 cars.

On the drive home I was reminded of something — in Matthew 16, Jesus promises one HUGE thing to those of us working hard to further His Kingdom through the local church:  “I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, AND THE GATES OF HELL WILL NOT OVERCOME IT!”  It’s our job to keep faithfully crashing the gates of hell to expand His Kingdom, but the job of building His church is out of our hands — Jesus takes that responsibility.

So unlike in racing (and everything else on earth), I don’t have to worry about the outcome of all my labor.  I just have to pray to and trust the One who made this promise, keep on faithfully obeying Him and charging forward.

The strategy we’re employing to start up ICC (monthly services this summer, kickoff weekly services September 16) has been really good in many aspects.  One of those good aspects is that I have a lot of free Sundays to preach at different churches.  I am passionate about church planting and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is what God has created and called me to do.  However, I am also passionate about the Church – new churches, old churches, cutting edge, traditional, modern, post-modern, mega-, micro-, etc. — even though I get frustrated with all of the above sometimes.  The key is being Christ focused and missional.

To that end, I am getting to experience more different types of churches during this phase of my life than ever before.  In the month of July I’m preaching every Sunday at a different church in the Pittsburgh metro area.  Additionally, I get the chance to preach at an outreach event for a friend’s church 3 week nights next week.  Normally, the “preacher boy” moniker is reserved for guys much younger than me, but since God called me to preach in my late 20’s I’ll borrow it for this station of life.

I love the process of digging into God’s Word and letting Him guide me in putting together His message for whatever group of people I get to share with.  Please join me in praying that I give God every opportunity to wear me out doing what He’s called me to do for His Kingdom.

I’ve been reading through the Psalms again lately and every once in a while God just uses them to shake me up and smack me around a little bit. 

Today I was shaken by the image that David paints in verse 1 of Psalm 63.  This is how it feels sometimes to me in the midst of spiritual warfare.  In spite of the fact that I have Living Water available, why is it that I feel at times like my soul is thirsty in a dry land? 

The journey of planting Iron City Church is one of faith, one that takes total focus on the God who is providing for my every need and guiding my every step.  When I take my eyes off Him and begin to look at all the question marks, the closed doors, and the daunting tasks is when my soul begins to dry out and thirst.  And if I’m obedient, its that same thirst that draws me back to the source of my hydration.

Thank you God for your Word and for this particular image, painted in words to illustrate how deep my need is for you.

Sunday is our next monthly service and I’m pumped.  I’m pumped because:

• I get to meet and get to know whomever is going to venture out once again to check out this crazy thing called Iron City Church
• I get to hang out with our launch team in full effect, serving like crazy because they’re sold out to be a part of what God’s doing
• I get to hear what the band has been working on for Sunday.  They’ve indicated to me that they are going to bring it this week like never before
• I get to stand up and share the message that God has laid on my heart from His Word.  There is nothing like doing what God has created and called you to do
• I get to see what the devil has been so upset about these last couple of weeks.  He’s been on the attack big time and that’s a good sign to me . . . I know he’s already been beaten and these are just his pathetic efforts to try to keep us from doing what God has already set before us.  Nice try, but we’re keeping our eyes on Jesus and staying focused on the vision He’s given!

If you’re in the Pittsburgh metro area and don’t have a place to go to church on Sunday, get up and come see us - wear what you want, we’ll bring the coffee!  You are definitely in for an awesome day!

One exciting aspect of the way that we’re starting Iron City Church is that I have nearly a month between our services this summer.  Its given me a chance to do a lot of recon (visiting other churches in the area and elsewhere), but its also giving me a chance to preach in a variety of churches.  In the next month I’ll be preaching here, here, and here - not to mention our next monthly service, which is July 15.  I love getting the opportunity to preach and its fun to see how many different types of churches there are in this area.  I’m looking forward to all these other places, but I can’t wait until July 15 to be with the ICC tribe that is beginning to come together….

Yesterday was amazing.  We had 57 people at Iron City Church’s first annual MAN DAY celebration.  Included in that were a bunch of families who are brand new and interested in learning more about ICC.  In honor of man day, the cafe was serving nachos and cocktail weinies.  The place was all decked out with Steelers stuff and Sports Illustrated and I rode the motorcycle out for the welcome time.

As part of our More summer series, the message yesterday was “More Than Stale Religion”.  We read and talked about Philippians 3:1-11 where Paul lays out his “religious” pedigree and then explains how all that stuff is just “skubalon” – crap – compared to the relationship that he now has with Jesus Christ.  Hence our slogan at ICC, “More Jesus, Less Crap!”  In May we looked at how a life of significance in Christ is “more than success.”  Yesterday I shared the life-changing power of a relationship with Christ and how it is “more than stale religion.” 

It was an awesome day and God did His thing in bringing out the folks He wanted there.  Thanks to everyone who was praying for the day and especially thanks to THE ONE who is orchestrating this whole dream called Iron City Church!

I read the last 4 chapters of Job today.  There are 42 chapters in this book of the Bible and through 37 of them God stays silent towards Job and his friends.  They argue back and forth, disputing the reason for the hell on earth that Job is going through, acting as if each of them is the authority.

Then God speaks up. 

And thoroughly puts Job and all his “comforters” in their place (with more than a little bit of sarcasm, I must say).  It reminds me of an office situation where everyone is sitting around in the break room talking about the boss and throwing out gossip and theories and all sorts of accusations about him.  Then they turn around and he’s standing in the doorway….

Good stuff.  As I grow as a follower of Christ, God has had to remind me relatively often that He’s in charge, He knows what He’s doing, and I’m just one of the people He created.  My role is to seek to know Him more, follow His leading with every ounce of my being, and trust that He’s got it all under control - whether it makes sense to me right now or not.  In spite of my growing confidence that He’s got it handled, my prayer today is still: “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.”