Compassion, Justice, and Advocacy

Tomorrow evening at Encountering God in the City I'll be teaching on the topics of compassion, justice, and advocacy. Followers of Jesus often feel prompted to build relationships with people on the margins of society because Jesus spent so much of his time building those types of relationships. Jesus had compassion on people, so we should have compassion on people.

Compassion is good for Christians, but it is the simplest level of involvement with vulnerable people. We should not spend all of our time being compassionate because we also need to be working toward empowerment. Also, relationships should be done with people, not to or for people. We can cause more harm than good in our relationships when we go about things the wrong way.

None of this is really easy. Relationships can be messy. When we feel called to help people, we may sometimes do harm that is unintentional. We can learn and grow from our mistakes. However, I'll be teaching on these things tomorrow, from a biblical perspective, so that we can feel empowered to make a difference in the lives of others through meaningful, transformational relationships.

Encountering God in the City goes from 6:30-8:30pm on Wednesday, October 30th at the North Way Christian Community - East End campus that is located in the heart of East Liberty at 5941 1/2 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206. Street parking is free after 6pm in East Liberty. We'll have some snacks on hand if you're planning to come straight from work. There is no cost to the course, and it is open to anyone. I hope to see you there!

Encountering God in the City

This coming Wednesday evening I'm excited to kick off a North Way study group called Encountering God in the City. We'll be gathering at the North Way Christian Community - East End campus in the heart of East Liberty (5941 1/2 Penn Avenue). Child care will be provided for families, and the time should go from 6:30-8:30pm. You can register for the course by emailing Dana Hunter at danah@northway.org.

The purpose of this course is to learn more about God's mission to redeem our increasingly urban world. In the first week we'll be developing a theology of the city. In the second week we'll examine the differences between compassion, justice, and advocacy. In the third week we'll focus on urban missions. In the fourth week we'll study incarnational ministry. We'll wrap things up in the fifth week with a closer look at city transformation.

Someone who registered for the class recently asked if this course was based on Dr. Randy White's book called Encounter God in the City. While I highly recommend that book to people, the content of this course is not based on the material in his book. Dr. White directed the doctoral program that I went through at Bakke Graduate University, and he has served as a mentor to me in ministry. However, I'll be covering many broad topics involving urban ministry.

Encountering God in the City is open to anybody in the Pittsburgh area. It is for anyone who is interested in learning more about how to reach our city with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am especially hoping that we'll have a good turnout from all of the North Way multi-site locations throughout the greater Pittsburgh region.

Prepare: Community and Mission

What does it mean to be a part of a church? I'll be teaching on this topic tomorrow at North Way East End, and all week God has been giving me insight on what to share with our congregation. We haven't even officially been a church for two years, but there have been many difficult moments and many incredible break through moments along our journey together. There are some aspects of Christian community that are strengths for us, and some aspects that are still developing.

The common thread throughout our young journey as a church is that the Holy Spirit is bonding us together. We are a community of followers of Jesus Christ who are caring for one another and for our neighbors in Pittsburgh and around the world. We are joyful participants in God's redemptive mission. We are all flawed people, so we sometimes struggle in our relationships with one another. Still, I love our community and I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us in our part of the city of Pittsburgh.

If you're reading this and you're searching for a church home in Pittsburgh, I hope you'll come and check us out some time. We worship at 10am on Sunday mornings in East Liberty at 5941 Penn Avenue. North way East End has incredible worship, solid biblical teaching, a great kids church experience, small groups, and many outreach efforts both locally and globally. God is leading us to be a church that is uniquely urban and cross-cultural. We have a heart for reaching our city.

Looking Back on a Good Week

I had one of those weeks of urban ministry that was intense and rewarding. There is no better feeling than to give my all to God's mission, and then to be able to experience the profound transformation that God brings about in the lives of people that I have grown to love and appreciate. This past week I was able to mentor young men that I've been investing in for eight years, I was able to preach a live sermon with my congregation at East End, I was able to prayer walk the streets of East Liberty, I was able to baptize people and worship for a long time with a passionate group of followers of Jesus at a worship night, and I was able to invest in many relationships in Homewood, the East End, and around the city of Pittsburgh. Every step of the way, I was reminded that I'm completely dependent on God for every single part of the ministry that I have been called to be a part of. God is in complete control, and God's love transcends every situation. There were extremely difficult moments in this past week, and there were joyful break throughs. God was there at every single step of the journey. I'm excited to see what God has in store for this week. I'm starting to really love this whole pastor thing!