Caught Being Good

I love when stories get back to me about people from North Way East End doing random acts of kindness for our neighbors in the city. Following Jesus causes us to do such wonderful things in order to demonstrate God's love in tangible ways. A local business in East Liberty did a turkey give away the Saturday before Thanksgiving. On Sunday morning, when we gather to worship in that area, a woman showed up with her daughter at that local business to get a turkey for their Thanksgiving meal because she couldn't afford one otherwise. She was disappointed when the store clerk informed her that the turkey give away had been held the day before, and that they didn't have any more turkeys. A North Way East End member happened to be standing nearby to welcome people into the church, and they noticed what was going on. They were moved with compassion for the mom and her daughter, so this person decided to buy a turkey for her so that she could have a Thanksgiving meal. I am writing "this person" because I know they won't want any credit for what they did and they wouldn't want me to write their name in this story. These little moments, when we think that nobody is watching, go such a long way in showing love for our neighbors. I am thankful that our church members don't only do these types of things on Sunday mornings... we try to show the love of Jesus in tangible ways throughout the week in all kinds of different places and circumstances. After all, that is what Jesus modeled for us. Sometimes Jesus used words, and sometimes Jesus used works to get his point across to his followers. Loving neighbors remains an important way of life for followers of Jesus.

Growing as a Leader

Even though I have graduate degrees in the field of leadership, I still love to learn about leadership. I'm committed to being a life long learner. Today I had the opportunity to learn and grow in my own leadership from some leaders who have a great deal of experience and expertise. I soaked in what they had to say, and I hope that tomorrow and in the days and months that follow I will be a better man and a better leader because of what I learned today. As a leader, I will never "arrive." I will always be involved in a process of personal transformation so that the people God calls me to lead will also experience transformation.

Here are some things I'm trying to commit to as a young leader:

• Listen well: Whenever I have the opportunity to spend time with other leaders, or with people that God has called me to lead, I think it is very important for me to engage and really hear the message that people are trying to communicate.
• Read: My goal is to read one book every day. I go through a lot of books on all kinds of different subjects and from all kinds of different perspectives. Sometimes I read very fast and even skim through books to catch the main points. If a book is interesting, I'll slow down and work my way through it over a period of weeks or months. Of course, I enjoy reading content that backs up what I believe, but I also like reading books that challenge what I think I may know about the world.
• Be real: There is nothing worse than a fake leader. That is a person who happens to have power, but they don't steward it well. Bad leaders accumulate power for themselves in order to advance their own personal interests. Authentic, or real, leaders accumulate influence and power in order to give it away. They spend themselves on behalf of others with little regard for their own advancement. My goal is to be the same in the streets of Homewood as I am on the executive team in Wexford.
• Take risks: I have litte interest in self preservation. I want to live my life radically sold out to anything that God might call me to do. I'm ready. Even if God asks me to do hard things, I'm ready to go. Leadership is not all about managing circumstances, and it certainly isn't about achieving some sort of balance. Leadership involves taking risks with my own life for the sake of advancing the kingdom of God.

Going "Out There"

I love leading a missional, cross-cultural, urban church because I never know what to expect from one day to the next. I meet all kinds of different people where I serve as a pastor. Every day I intentionally interact with followers of Jesus, and also with people who are not currently following Jesus. I have the opportunity to build relationships with people across races, cultures, classes and neighborhoods. The great thing about God is that the gospel message transcends all of those things. God's love transends manmade boundaries. And, what is most mysterious of all is that as I build relationships with people who are different than me, God is able to transform me in the process. Every interaction becomes a learning experience where I depend on the Holy Spirit for wisdom in all circumstances.

In Geography of Grace, authors Kris Rocke and Joel Van Dyke point out that "Traditionally, the Church approaches mission with the idea that there are many uncoverted people out there who need the good news of Jesus Christ; therefore, it is our responsibility to go to them for their benefit. This might be true, but what else might be happening as we go out there? We discover Jesus. This gives us invigorating freedom to greet Jesus in the name of Jesus and say, 'Hi, it's been so long since we talked. I had no idea you would look this way. Are you hungry? Are you thirsty?' Going outside allows us to see mission as the process of falling on our knees saying, 'Lord, where are you? We went outside the church so that those within the church could live and breathe.' There is no air in the church without this counter-intuitive geography of mission. There is no greater 'outside place' than between two theives on a little hill just outside of Jerusalem."

My prayer is that I will always be a follower of Jesus who is "out there." I love gathering together with my church family to grow in God with one another in authentic Christian community, but I also love mixing it up with people outside the walls of the church. It's where I often feel closest to Jesus.

The Impact of Street Violence

One of the tough things about my job is that I often help young people navigate through the pain of street violence. Yesterday, for instance, my day started out just like any other Sunday in terms of mentally preparing myself for the worship service at North Way East End. When I picked up one of my mentees for church early in the morning, he was really struggling having just heard the news that one of his good friends has just been shot and killed a few hours earlier. There is no pastoral handbook that comes will helping somebody navigate through the violent death of one of their friends. The initial human instinct seems to be to avoid the topic, and to stay as far away from the situation as possible. My calling as a pastor, though, involves engaging in these types of situations. After church, I accompanied my friend to the street where the murder happened so that he could grieve with his friends and talk things through. I spent time in the neighborhood even though police were all over the place... some even had their guns drawn pursuing some suspects. Then, I supported more young people through the pain that they were experiencing. Yesterday was definitely a difficult day, but I am glad that God was able to work through me to meet hurting people right where they are at. As I enter into people's pain, God is able to heal hearts and he is also able to transform my heart. I am praying for an end to the street violence in my neighborhood, but while it still exists I'm committed to doing everything that I can do to possibly make a difference. I believe that God is able to transform hearts and communities, and that God is close to us in the midst of our suffering.

Church Diversity

I've had the opportunity to spend time with Scott Williams this weekend. He is an author and a leader who consults with churches all over the world. He is a big advocate for diversity within the church, and his visit to North Way is timely considering that we have been really leaning into becoming a more diverse community over the past couple of years. As Williams points out in his book, Church Diversity, Sunday morning tends to be the most segregated time of the week for most Americans because churches are often divided along racial lines. Only 7% of American churches are considered to be racially diverse, as evidenced by at least 20% of a congregation being represented by a minority group. Many churches, however, are really starting to wake up to the reality that we need to engage people across racial, cultural, and socioeconomic boundaries in order to remain relevant. That is our goal at North Way East End. We seek to align our hearts with God in terms of bringing the transformational gospel message to all people in our diverse part of the city of Pittsburgh. We have intentionally established leadership teams and worship styles to engage the diverse groups of people in the urban neighborhoods in and around East Liberty. Our church is definitely still a work in progress, but we are making great strides. The vision of a diverse church is becoming a reality thanks to our following the lead of the Holy Spirit. I am excited to see what God is going to do across all North Way campuses as we continue to reach out to the many different kinds of people in Pittsburgh.

A Weekend Away

My life has changed a lot since I graduated from the doctoral program last June. I have much more margin in life, and I am so thankful for that! This weekend is just one example. Julie and I are spending a long weekend away together at Lake Chautauqua in New York at a lake house that some good friends of ours let us use. We dropped the kids off with the grandparents in Ohio and we headed to New York to enjoy some much needed rest and relaxation. We had the opportunity to travel to many different places while I was in the BGU program, but those trips were always centered around my learning experiences and urban immersion. This trip has a sole purpose of simply resting and enjoying spending time together. We're taking a lot of walks, having many discussions about the ministry that God has called us to in Pittsburgh, and we're reading a lot. I've read The Powers That Be, an interesting perspective from Walter Wink about how Christians can utilize nonviolent resistance to bring about personal and community transformation. We're also chipping away at reading Dr. Martin Luther King's autobiography, Love in a Fearful Land by Henri Nouwen, The Sacred Journey by Frederick Buechner, re-reading Geography of Grace by Kris Rocke and Joel Van Dyke, and I'm also working my way through The Journal of Jim Elliot. Good times! I love to just relax and read about things that inform my theology and worldview. It's been a wonderful time away so far.

A Vision Straight from the Streets

Today's guest blogger is Tyran, a seventeen year old from Homewood who I have had the privilege of mentoring for the past seven years. These words are from a school project where he was asked to describe how he sees his future:

"I have thought of what my future will be like beyond high school. My goals are to go to college, major in business and communications. The reason I would like to do this is to be able to start my own business. I would like to give back to my community and help those in need.

I have decided to open a program for young adults and children from the ages of ten to eighteen. I want this community center to be a place where kids can be safe and happy. They need to get involved in activities to keep them off the streets. I would hope to offer some of the following: tutoring, social skills, life skills, arts and crafts, sports, music and more. I realize that I need to do well in school and graduate. One of the first things I should do is get involved in my community in order to support my major. Going to a local child care in my community will help with the idea that I have proposed. It will allow me to see what these centers do and the best way to do this to volunteer or get a paying position within my own community. This way I know if this is the goal I want to pursue.

I have lived in the same community for seventeen years. I have seen friends and relatives struggle to feed their families. I have seen a lot of people I know and love die. They become victims to the street life. Some never had a role model in their life to guide them and to show them what a different life they could have when someone cares. This center would offer that to them. I have witnessed the selling of drugs in my neighborhood and have seen many of my friends getting into trouble with the law to make money. This is not a way to live. Getting your education means you can go as far as you want and change your life.

As you can see, my community is in need of the type of center I would like to open. I want this idea to become a reality."

God Is Doing Something Amazing in the East End

As a pastor, God has given me a calling to a city. God has also called me to advance his mission with people in powerful and powerless places. My calling is to marginalized people and influential people. I build relationships with people across racial, economic, and neighborhood boundaries, and I am always amazed at how God is able to work in those sometimes difficult places. When I was first involved in launching North Way East End last January, God gave me the vision that the church would reflect my calling. North Way East End would reach people in a complex urban environment representative of all of the diversity in our city. We are definitely a work in progress, but God is leading us through an incredible season of impact in the lives of many people in the East End of Pittsburgh. Our little body of believers is growing in relationship with Jesus and also with one another in community.

Just this past Sunday, God did something miraculous with one of the people who happens to attend our church. He was homeless when I first met him last February, and God has taken him on an incredible process of transformation as our church has welcomed him into our community. He rededicated his life to Christ, we walked with him to empower him to get off the streets, and this past Sunday morning he shared with me all about his powerful journey from the streets of East Liberty to being empowered to live a life that serves Christ and serves others. He is in a very good spot in life right now, and it is only through the grace of Jesus Christ and his transforming power. This man of God went from receiving support from Christians when he most desperately needed it to now living a powerful life on fire for Jesus. We will continue to walk with him in authentic Christian community because just as Christ is transforming his life, Christ is also transforming my life and the lives of our entire church community.

I am excited to share that God is moving in profound ways in the lives of people at the church. God's mission to the city of Pittsburgh is also making a tangible difference in the community. God is working through many churches and Christians to impact lives for the kingdom of God. This is all transcending the differences that usually separate us across cultures. God deserves all of the glory for what is going on!