Reflection and Action

Leadership involves both reflection and action. I have a lot to reflect on from what God accomplished through my trip to India. My faith was stretched to the max as I first was not able to go in August, and then as we waited on God's timing to be able to go in September. I learned more about perseverance and waiting on God. My faith was strengthened by my time spent in Trichy and Lonavola. I interacted with so many leaders who are dependent upon God to bring vision and resources. I left India feeling encouraged by everything that God showed me, and inspired to be a better leader in my context in Pittsburgh.

My reflection on India leads me to action in Pittsburgh. God has given me an incredible church family to shepherd at North Way East End. The incredible mentoring activity through LAMP continues in Homewood. God is transforming lives and drawing people closer to him in my city. I'm excited to preach live at East End this coming Sunday. In addition, we have baptisms and a worship night this coming Wednesday night. And, I am really looking forward to teaching Encountering God in the City at North Way East End from October 23rd through November 20th.

God continues to call me to be a leader through serving as a pastor and mentor. When I visit places like India, God changes me through a process of displacement. Taking risks and experiencing God in other cities and other cultures causes me to be a more effective leader in my own context. I'm more inspired than ever to lead a multi-site, muti-ethnic, church that is on mission to reach a diverse part of my city. I'm more excited than ever to participate in God's mission to redeem my neighborhood and my city with the transforming love of Jesus Christ. 

Back from Vacation

I had an incredible vacation with Julie and the girls last week. We adventured together. We spent some amazing quality time with friends and family along our journey to Florida and back. We were all grateful for the rest and relaxation after another intense year of urban ministry, school, and all of the other parts of our lives in Pittsburgh.

Rest is such an important part of leadership and ministry. I never feel bad about getting time away to rest from the grind of urban ministry. The time away allows me to reflect on everything that God is doing in my family and in the ministry that God has called us to in Pittsburgh. Serving in a leadership role in building God's church comes with many responsibilities, but it is also fulfilling to see God work in amazing ways. Having spent a week away from everything, I was thankful to jump back in when I got home.

Things seemed to pick up right where they left off. We have been receiving visitors at our door. We had a great worship service in the East End. There has already been ministry time, mentoring time, and good family time together. I am excited to see what God is going to do through the rest of this summer!

A Few Days Away

I'm heading to my extended family's cottage on Pelee Island, the southernmost point in Canada, for a few days of rest and relaxation. Over the years, Pelee has been an incredible place of relaxation. This summer I've really been able to get my feet back under me after launching a new church and completing the doctorate program. I am enjoying learning about the rhythms of being a pastor in the city, and I know rest is a big part of maintaining myself. I'm sure people sometimes think I have an urban bias because I love the city so much, but I do also really enjoy getting out of the city sometimes to experience a break from everything. I love to enjoy nature as much as anybody else, and for me the only way to catch a brief break is to actually leave the city. Otherwise, people just stop by my house to hang out all of the time. I love that people feel comfortable doing that, but it does present a challenge when trying to clear my head from the intensity of urban ministry. So... it should be a great couple of days off!

Reflecting on a Prayer Journal Entry

Reflection is an important part of leading. Summer time is a great time to reflect because the pace of life slows down a bit and many people take time off to recharge. One of the things I like to do when I reflect is take a look back through my old journals to see what God has done in my life over the years. Recently,  I stumbled upon a journal entry that I made on March 6, 2006. At the time, I did not know anything about LAMP or Homewood or urban ministry or mentoring or a doctorate degree or being a pastor at a church. Even though I didn't know any of the details of what God was going to do, I knew in my heart that God was about to break through in a big way in my life. At the time I was unemployed, I had no health insurance, we were struggling financially, and yet I knew God was somehow orchestrating the situation for his purposes. 

Here's the prayer that I wrote to the Lord on that day over five years ago: "Lord, where will you take me? I want to live for you from my heart. I want to serve you... to impact as many people for you as I possibly can. Help me not to focus on the circumstances or living for this world again. I need to hold you at the center of my life. I know you created me for this time and for your purposes. Please show me. I'm ready! I feel you in my great times and in my pain. You are woven throughout. I want to adventure with you, to experience your beauty and majesty once again. Please watch over my family and protect them for me. Draw them closer to you. Have them experience the journey with me."

God is so faithful! My life since that day has been an amazing adventure, a journey that I would not trade for anything. The journey has not been easy... it's been a challenge. But, I can see that God orchestrated the entire journey! When we choose to give up control of our lives, to embrace the radical message of the gospel of Jesus Christ with reckless abandon, and throw ourselves into God's mission to reach the world, then we get to experience the richness and joy that comes with intimacy with our Creator. We find meaning in life when we sell out to the Lord with everything that is in us. God wants to give us the desires of our hearts when our desires align with his purposes.

A Trip to California

I'm back in California for an urban immersion course in Fresno.  I love it out west!  I flew into the LA area where I have many great memories, and today I'm driving up to Visalia where I lived for six years so that I can visit with some good friends.  Even though I love Pittsburgh and I'm hoping to be there for a long time to invest in that city, it still feels like a big part of my heart is in California.  I spent most of my twenties here, those years that were so formative to the man I am today.  I look back on the good moments, and I even look back on the painful moments as experiences that helped to shape me.

I think that it is important to reflect on our lives... often.  We should not try to live in the past, or recapture those magical things that brought us joy at one point in our lives, because life doesn't work like that.  Every day is a new adventure, and a new opportunity to create new memories and experience the joy in life that God gives us.  Still, reflection encourages us because it allows us to see how God worked through circumstances when at the time we may have had no idea what was going on.  God works things out for his purposes, as long as we are obedient, whether we get the job or not, whether the relationship worked out or not, whether the house worked out or not, whether the church worked out or not, and on and on.  Life is full of seemingly endless possibilities, and we must yield to God every single day if we are to navigate through uncharted waters.  And when we reflect, we get to see how our Creator charted the course for us.  God has our best interests in mind, even if we don't realize it all the time.