I have never been prouder of the Iron City family than I was yesterday afternoon.  I had the joy of helping Ami M. and six or seven other servant-leaders from ICC distribute and wrap all the toys that we collected over the last few weeks. 

As a part of our Christmas Conspiracy, we partnered with our friends at Faithbridge Community Church to help out their community during the holiday season.  One of the greatest needs that was shared was the very real concerns of parents – many of whom have lost jobs this year - who were afraid that they may not have anything to give to their children this Christmas.  We shared this need with Iron City and they responded in unbelievable fashion, overflowing the collection boxes every week.

In three short weeks, we collected enough toys to fill a Honda Element and to make Christmas morning special for a couple dozen families in McKees Rocks.  In addition, we were able to tangibly demonstrate the love of Jesus to an anxious bunch of parents.  And as I watched grateful parents file in and out of the gift room yesterday I was reminded of this passage:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.   James 1:27 (NIV)

 

I have had the privilege over the last few weeks of inciting a group of people to do some crazy, subversive things.  In fact, we’re all conspiring together to celebrate Christmas differently this year.  Our plan is aggressive, but viable, and the wheels have already been turning to return the JOY of Christmas, the celebration of the Presence of God, to the hearts of people in the Pittsburgh metro area.  What are you doing differently this Christmas?

You can listen to the messages from this series by clicking here.

The Catalytic one and I are cruising down the highway, headed for Reston, VA, this afternoon.

We’ll be attending The Whiteboard Sessions tomorrow. My friend Ben Arment and the gang have put together a conference experience that is bound to be like nothing I’ve seen in the church world.

Ben has asked 8 of the most influential leaders in the church today to each come and share what’s on their heart for 30 minutes apiece. What a concept!

What is most exciting to me is that the speakers weren’t selected because they all think alike, speak alike, dress alike, or agree about everything.

On the contrary, from the looks of it some of these guys may only agree about one thing – the most important thing – that Jesus Christ and His Bride (the Church) are the hope of the world!

Can’t wait to see what God has in store…

Just landed back in good old Pittsburgh. I love flying home at night – we passed right over downtown. Seeing the 3 rivers, Mt. Washington, the skyline, and all of the houselights from above gives me a fresh perspective and a renewed appreciation for the area.

I started a new coaching network with Nelson Searcy in New York City today. It isn’t cheap or easy to get away and get there once a month, but it’s much like the flight in tonight. As a leader, I have to be intentional about making time to look at Iron City Church from a fresh and different perspective.

Thank you God for giving me the opportunity to push away, learn from and with like-minded church leaders, and ultimately to try to see ICC the way You see her – as a force in your hands to redeem people’s lives through Christ for eternity. Help me to lead her to fulfill Your dreams for her.

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!

I got a link this morning to my buddy Shane’s blog to check out a video of the late Rich Mullins.  Rich was a Christian singer and songwriter who died back in the 90’s, but left a legacy of great music. 

I never saw the man in concert (that I know of) or heard him speaking beyond his music, but here’s a great short video if you have about 10 minutes:

http://theravingsofarunningrev.blogspot.com/2008/02/short-sermon-from-rich-mullins.html

I especially love this line:

Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in a beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken.   – Rich Mullins

Yesterday was an historic day for Iron City Church.  Our first two small groups met for the first time last night.  From all reports, they went very well and the groups are on track to fulfill our goal for them:

building relationships and being the church

If you’re an ICC’er (or just someone in the North Hills area) who’s interested in being a part of a small group, click here to sign up and we’ll get you plugged in: www.ironcitychurch.com/groups

I thought Sunday was an amazing day at Iron City Church.  Here are some thoughts from the day:

• Our setup team is un-flipping-believable.  I really think they get smoother and quicker every week.  I also think one of the reasons for that is that I am doing less and less during the setup time, so they can save the time from having to go behind me and fix stuff.
• Amber and TJ (and Dena) got in a car accident this morning about 30 minutes before the service was going to start (see previous post).  It was a rainy day in Pittsburgh and our car’s right rear quarterpanel now has the scars to prove it.  Thankfully, no one was hurt.
• We had a full band on stage this morning.  They really rocked the house with some updated Christmas faves.  I will be stoked when we can gain a little more consistency in this area.  If you play the drums or bass and live in the Pittsburgh area, shoot me an email, let’s talk….
• Jeff and I both announced this morning that the “little box” we put out for the last couple of weeks was filled by our peeps with over $350 worth of gift cards and mass quantities of food that we gave to be distributed through North Hills Community Outreach.  ICC peeps – now that I know what we’re capable of, just wait ’til ‘08!
• Once I got over the shake-up of the car wreck and walking back in just in time for the service, I thought the message went well.  I felt very comfortable and really had a great time sharing this morning.  I wrapped up our Conspiracy series (from Isaiah 9:6-7), talking about Jesus’ role as our Prince of Peace.  Good times.
• For those of you ICCers who have been out of town, be sure to check out the Iron City Church website to download the message MP3’s or you can subscribe to the ICC Message Podcast through iTunes.  Here’s the link: http://www.ironcitychurch.com/downloads.html
• The crowd was low again (weather, illness, and holiday travel largely to blame), but I felt like the mood in the room was great.  The church “conspired” to give a poinsettia to each family in attendance as a gift back for Christmas. 
• I love Christmas, and the “holiday season” in general, but I’m just about ready for our people to get back in town.  Next week is going to be another awesome Sunday with our Catalytic Pastor preaching a message called, “I Wish You An Unhappy New Year.”  Don’t miss it!
• And don’t even get me started on what’s in store for 2008!  The ‘Burgh had better hold on tight . . .
• Merry Christmas!

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.

A few quick observations/lessons from not preaching Sunday:

• Setup went unbelievably smooth by all accounts, in spite of (or because of) me not being there for it
• We had a bunch of people serving in specific areas for the first time (including 2 families that came for setup early)
• My father has about 34 years of preaching experience on me.  It showed on Sunday.  Great job old man!
• We’re trying to create an environment that’s safe and unintimidating for people who want to know more about Jesus.  We’re not quite where I’d like to see us on this front, but we’re getting there…
• We may not have a “full-time” worship leader, but God has sent us two amazing talents in Brandon and Neil
• I know more than ever after Sunday that things are in good hands when my man Jeff is around
• All in all, Sunday was a great reminder that Iron City Church is not about me.  It’s about God’s mission to use men and women who are sold out to transform lives through a relationship with Jesus – whether I’m around for every little detail or not.