Drawing Inspiration from Biographies

Recently I have really been interested in reading biographies. Last month I read The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher by Debby Applegate. For Christmas my sister, Cameron, got me Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. Both of these books are fascinating because they describe in detail people who followed Jesus with reckless abandon during their short lifetimes. Beecher contributed greatly to the abolition of slavery in America, and Bonhoeffer sacrificed his life for the sake of standing up to the tremendous evil of the Nazis during WWII. I have enjoyed reading about these two great men because their lives stand in contrast to the messages of comfort and safety that permeate modern Christianity in America. For some reason many Christians in America have bought into the idea that our lives should be built around comfort, safety, and being nice. That type of thinking drastically reduces the radical message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Instead, Christians should be embracing a risky, dangerous life on the edge that is sold out to doing whatever it takes to advance the Kingdom of God in a world that is set against us and an ememy who wants only to destroy us. We are all born into a world at war, even if it is a war that we cannot always see. Embracing the modern comforts of this world and obsessing over safety for ourselves and our families only leads to us being taken out by the enemy and leading marginalized lives. We only get one shot at this short life. People like Beecher and Bonhoeffer are great examples of how we can live dangerously in the callings that God gives each of us for his mission in this world.

Merry Christmas

I had a great time celebrating the birth of Jesus at the worship services at North Way Oakland today. This is such an exciting time of year for a pastor! Followers of Jesus have the opportunity to reflect on the relationship with our Savior, and people seeking after God seem to be very open to hearing the gospel message. Here in Homewood, we spent a lot of time with our neighbors today celebrating Christmas. We exchanged gifts, and we talked a lot about how we would be spending Christmas Day with our families. I know I am definitely looking forward to sharing Christmas with my girls. We are going to have a lot of fun together this year.

More Progress in the East End

The North Way East End church campus took another big step forward today... the launch team served together during the 9am worship services in Oakland for the third and final time. We have really been able to build a lot of momentum toward the launch over the past three weeks, and I am so thankful to all of our friends at North Way Oakland for their partnership and support. The East End staff has been hired, the ministry center is close to being built out, and now we are shifting a good deal of our attention to the prelaunch services in the East End beginning on January 15th at 10am. This has been quite an adventure so far!

Progress in the East End

I had a great time meeting with the East End staff yesterday at our temporary offices (much thanks to Myles Dental on Highland Ave for hooking us up with the space through launch). We dreamed together about what God is doing in the East End, and we spent a lot of time getting to know one another. It was so exciting to see everyone working together... God has brought some incredible leaders to this church campus. Here are a couple photos of the North Way East End team in action:

Also, I am greatly encouraged by the construction that is happening in the East End ministry center. The studs and drywall are up, and I can tell already that the space is going to be amazing. God will move in many ways through the space that he has provided for us to gather as his church. Construction is on track and should be ready by the end of the month. Here's a photo from a recent walk through:

This is great time to be a part of God's grand adventure in the heart of the city of Pittsburgh. And I know this is just the beginning... big things are underway in th East End!

Dissertation Upate

I haven't written on here for a while, but for good reason... I finished my dissertation first draft! All 194 pages of it! It still needs to go through some editing over the next couple of months, so I'm not ready to reveal it to the world, yet. Still, I'm excited that this big step has come. This has been an incredible challenge, and I'm one step closer to being Dr. McCabe on June 2, 2012.

A Fun Evening in the City

Last night was a great night. The evening started off with a bunch of kids from the neighborhood stopping by to visit us, and they ended up staying for dinner. It's amazing to see how the food that we have at dinner always gets multiplied to feed growing kids from my neighborhood. Last night's meat loaf and mac and cheese went a long way! After dinner, I bumped into four kids I know on my way over to worship and serve at the House of Manna so I invited them to hang out with me. North Way's East End campus had a bunch of volunteers serving at House of Manna, so it was good to be a part of a great relationship building opportunity in Homewood. After House of Manna I took my daughters over to the North Way Oakland Christmas concert. It was absolutely incredible! I am so blessed to be a part of a church that worships the Lord in so many powerful ways. Last night God was honored in many different ways, through service, through feeding hungry people, through gospel music, through Christmas music, and in many other ways. I love the calling that God has given me in the city.

A Big Weekend

This is a big weekend for the North Way East End launch team. On Friday night a group of volunteers are serving at the House of Manna in Homewood. On Saturday, the East End worship team practices together for the first time. On Sunday, East End launch team members will be serving together at the 9am worship service at North Way Oakland. The next few weeks will be fun as we develop new frienships with one another and begin preparing for worship services in the East End in January. This is a great time to be a part of something new at North Way!