There has been so much going on lately.  Most of it inside of me.  God is still hard at work (can you call it “hard” if God’s the one doing it?), shaping me into the man He created me to be.

I felt that it was time to break the silence because this post  from Steven Furtick hit me right where I am a lot of the time.  This, incidently, is one of the major areas of my life that God has been re-shaping/re-framing my perspective.

No promises on how often I’ll be posting, but the above is a must read.

God has really been showing me some things in the last few weeks.  I feel like my spiritual life gets so stale from time to time that I need Him to show up and shake me up.  That’s been going on in a big way lately.  I know this is sort of general and ambiguous, but I’ll try to get back to this soon and elaborate a little bit. 

I just thank God that He’s never far away when I’m going through a time like I am coming out of . . . That He’s always there when I come to my senses and focus on Him.

Even as I type this, Jeff and Leslie are in the hospital, awaiting the arrival of little Cadence.  If you’re reading this, please pray for them all to get some rest and for Cadence to come on out.  We’re all waiting to meet you, little one…

She’s not even here yet, but Cadence has been blogging for months now: http://cadenceolivia.wordpress.com/.  Check it out!

It was another awesome weekend around here.  Again (my new theme), it was busy, but good. 

Saturday, we had a baby shower for Jeff & Leslie.  Little Cadence is coming really soon.  Yes, it was a co-ed baby shower and no, it didn’t make me feel weird like I thought it would.  It was pretty cool to just hang out with everyone a little bit.  Feels like there’s been so much going on lately that I haven’t had much “hang out” time.

Then Sunday was amazing.  I’m amazed each and every week by all that the men and women of Iron get done to make things happen at ICC.  The setup (complete with outdoor baptistry and everything) went surprisingly smooth, the Cafe was stocked and staffed, Iron City Kids was running at full speed, and the band set the tone big time.  I wrapped up our “Release” series, and then we moved the service outside and celebrated 4 baptisms!

WOW!  There’s a lot going on around here as God continues to work in a lot of our people to bring about their release from whatever junk is holding them back.  Our numbers are up, the energy level is off the charts, and God is blessing in some unbelievable ways. 

With all this good stuff comes a lot of spiritual warfare, so keep praying for God’s protection and direction as we keep pressing forward to see the Pittsburgh metro area transformed with the love of Jesus!

Man, I’m not one to complain about this very often (because it’s just a part of being a pastor and a christian in general), but I feel like me and my family have been under attack – on a lot of levels – big time these last couple of weeks.

That being said, after the last 2 weeks at Iron City I can’t imagine devoting my life to anything else. We’ve had a couple dozen new people at ICC for our services and a pretty decent number at our vision meeting this afternoon.

I just know that God is working to “release” many of them (and a bunch of us regulars) from the junk that is holding them back. Addictions, destructive habits, and negative attitudes are all in play.

The last two weeks have been great – the music has been kicking, the energy level has been off the charts, our people have been over the top – but I have an intense feeling that we’re entering into one of those “only God” seasons of ministry.

Transforming the Pittsburgh metro area with the love of Jesus… Only God could do that!

Today was awesome on so many levels, but especially because it was one of “those” church planting days (when a lot of key people are out and setup drags and you’re not completely sure that everything is getting done and . . .) AND we pressed through and had a great day!

Dad wrapped up the Heroes series today talking about Moses.  He focused on the fact that Moses — like most of us that God calls to serve him — was a reluctant leader who was full of excuses.  It was a good one.

I was extremely proud of all our people for stepping up and making it happen. I was even more excited because of all the people who have already told me about who they’ve invited or are inviting to Easter Sunday (this week).

I can’t imagine anything else in life besides starting a new church that would get me pumped like I am! Thank you God for letting me be a part of what you’re doing in the world!

I don’t know what it was completely, but today was an amazing day at ICC.  The energy level was sky high, the band knocked it out of the park, and I felt really good kicking off our “Heroes” series with a message about Caleb.  Attendance was up (highest yet at ICC) and it just really seemed like things clicked all day.

In the Heroes series I’m excited because we’re looking back at some of the Old Testament “heroes of the faith” and examining the character attributes that God brought out in them to make an impact on the world.  The tagline is “Ordinary People.  Extraordinary Impact.”  I believe that’s what God wants to do in and through each of us if we’ll allow it.

Today I talked about how Caleb was a man who exhibited “Uncommon Courage” to have faith in God’s promises, to face down giants, to stand in the face of opposition, and to remain faithful through unjust suffering.  I love preaching through the stories of the Bible.  There is something about the narrative that just really connects with me and, in turn, with the people I’m sharing with.

Praise God for an awesome day @ ICC!

One of my great life struggles is the development and maintenance of a healthy routine.  Time management for me has historically been like nailing fruit-flavored gelatin snacks to a wall.  It is an area where I think the devil takes great joy in trying to mess me up.

That being said, I’m working on it again.  I’ve been trying to force myself to go to bed at a regular time, wake up at a regular time, and in doing so seeing my productivity go through the roof (it’s about time).

Then there are nights like last night.  I didn’t get a wink of sleep until about 4:30 this morning.  Not because I was dilly-dallying or catching up on work or watching a great movie — because great ideas just kept flowing into my brain.  God often tends to catch me at bedtime and send me all sorts of amazing thoughts and inspiration. 

So if you see my red eyes this afternoon, note that I wasn’t up all night drinking, but being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18

I know, I know… I’ve been gone from the blog for a while again.  I got sick all over again last Sunday morning.  This time it was a nasty stomach bug.  Wiped me out for a week.  But I’m back now.  And feeling better.

I have had a great day — spent a couple of hours this morning with my friend Bob catching up.  I ran some errands an worked on some of our advertising for Easter Sunday after lunch.  Then I had what can only be called an “uber-productive” meeting with Jeff.

We’ve been working together for about 6 months now and it’s amazing how much we’re still learning each other and working on how to be most productive together.  I think we made some great strides today towards being more efficient AND effective. 

I hate it when someone on my team has to lay the smack down on me, but Jeff was right on today.  He ripped me a new one for my stubbornness in not going to the doctor with this mess either time.  He shared with my how my illness affected everything at ICC and how my pride in not taking care of myself has now resulted in getting half our church sick and hurting the energy dynamic within the church.  It pissed me off a little bit…. because he’s right.

Thank God for honest partners in ministry.  I’m praying that I have learned my lesson.

Well, I normally fall into at least the early adopter category when it comes to new things and ideas. 

Unfortunately, it looks like that applies to illnesses as well. 

Every other person living in my household is currently suffering with some version of the flu mess that I had for a couple of weeks. 

Please pray for their healing and for me to know how to best serve them.  Thanks.