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The session at the City Reformed decided to give Matt and I each an opportunity to go to one conference this year.
Up until about a month ago I was planning on going to the Gospel Coalition conference.

Its held once every two years, and features pretty much every church guy that I would want to listen to speak.
I was planning on going with some other guys from the area.

Last week I got an email about the Multisite09 conference. Its a smaller and more focused conference, but I’ve heard that it is a great experience and place to network.

So this is my dilemma which conference should I go to? Anyone have any other suggestions?

2009 is here, and the result from last years goals are mixed.

My goals for last year were:
#1 To Read at least 4 Christian Classics. I hoping to read The Coming of the Kingdom, Lectures on Calvinism, Biblical Theology, and maybe Lectures to My Students.
Big Fail. I didn’t read any of these books, thought that didn’t mean I wasted the year.

#2 Go on a sweet vacation with Jo. I think we are looking into renting a cabin on the finger lakes.
Pass. We ended up going to a bed and breakfast, and touring fallingwaters.

#3 Write more each week.
Fail. In the end I didn’t write as much as I had hoped.

#4 Walk and ride my bike more and drive less.
Sorta Fail. Though I did drive less this year, and walk more, I didn’t use my bike as much as I had hoped.

#5 Spend more time in prayer.
Pass and Fail. I prayed more. But who is ever happy about how much they pray?

Here are this years goals.

1. Spend more time getting things done
2. Get to know more of our neighbors
3. Network with more church planters
4. Write on our blog more often
5. Finish as many of my half read books as possible
6. Take more photos
7. Pray more

Over the last month, my wife and I have been traveling between NY, West Virginia, and Indiana. Over these weeks we have been able to examine why people choose to live where they live.
As many of you know I am firmly committed to living in the city of Pittsburgh, and am always encouraging others to love the robo-city. As I have had to be away from the place I love I have had to ask myself why do I care so much about living in Pittsburgh? Why do I live in Pittsburgh, and why do people live anywhere?

At one point the idea of living in the city was seen by most people as a foolish thing to do. After all cities are dangerous, they are polluted and its harder to be a Christian. In recent years, this has begun to change. Gentrification has made it socially acceptable to dwell in cities. While men like Tim Keller, and others, have also encouraged Christians to see the strategic importance of Christians living in and loving cities.

To those who live in the suburbs this might come as a shock, but I have to admit when Christians who live in cities get together, they tend to bad mouth anyone who doesn’t share their passion of the urban context. There is perceived mutual enlightenment among those who live in the city. After all, we have the culture and the community that others wish they had, or should wish they had if they knew what was good for them. Folks in the suburbs might hear this and chuckle, while folks from the country might laugh at both groups and offer up their simple, one with nature life style, as a rebuttal.

Though I think Dr. Keller has many good reasons, why Christians should live in the city, I think the question that all Christians need to be asking themselves is why should I live anywhere? If you have realized your brokenness and sought redemption and reconciliation with God, than you will respond. All Christians are called to live differently, their are called to see their lives as more than simply the pursuit of comfort or safety. More than simply the accumulation of family and happiness. Too often Christians do not examine their own lifestyle choices. It is not enough to send money to missionaries who have been called to a far of place. Though not all people are called to live in some far off place, God calls all Christians to become missionaries, in a broader sense of the word.
All Christians must ask themselves where is God calling me to live?
Is God calling you to live near work so you can be home more often? Is he calling you to live in a smaller home rather than a larger one? Is he calling you to an at-risk neighborhood? Or to one of great affluence?
Let me offer up some simple principles that I have come to accept:
God wants you to love people. Pick a place where you can get to know people. Or find local ways to interact with people that you would not meet otherwise.

You should care more about God and people than about your house. Jack Miller rightly points out that most of us are too worried about scuffed furniture and wear and tear, and not worried enough about caring for people who live around them.

Your trust should be in God not in your choice of neighborhood. Christians need to go beyond buying the smallest house in the best neighborhood. People need to realize that every place is safe when you trust that Christ is on his throne, just consider the Chinese church. If you are worried about living in an “unsafe” place I would challenge you to consider how much you are truly trusting God.

Figure out how to live where God is calling you to live. People need to be loved and they need to learn of the love that died for their sake. People need this in places that are very expensive and, they need this in places that are very poor. This means that folks should choose to live in high priced neighborhoods, and others should chose to live in lower cost neighborhoods. Each brings risks and rewards.

Live where God is calling you not necessarily where you want to live. “Not my will but your will” ring a bell?

Some might look at where Jo and I live and say: you are less safe, or making less money on your investment. You could get more home for your money, in different area. Our answer is that as far as we can tell God has called us to live in Lawrenceville, and we plan to be their for better or worse until he calls us to move somewhere else.
I hope that all Christians will continue to ask themselves why did we move here? or where is God calling us to live?

-Harvie Conn is the 4th guy in heaven that I am gonna man hug. Jesus, Paul, Augustine and Conn.
Anyone who is interested in the Emergent Church, or thinks that crowd is asking good questions needs to read Conn’s Eternal Word and Changing Worlds.

-No internet at the new office =(
But we are moved in for the most part. The new office is starting to come together, Isaac and Theo stopped by yesterday to break in the new couches, or break them, not sure which one.

-Homecoming this weekend.
Really looking forward to seeing some old friends. I can’t believe Its been 4 years since college.

In the next week or so City Reformed will be moving its offices from Suite 204 at 160 N Craig St. to 3524 Blvd of the Allies.

This is a great move for our church.
We are excited about our new office. Let me give you some of the perks:
-2x the size of our existing office
-A sink (its the simple things that make life so nice)
-a big storage closet, as opposed to a big storage office….
-Much better parking, did I mention it’s free
-better class space
-A chance to make our office look a bit more presentable

Why does getting a new office matter?
Moving to this new space allows us to save money by hosting events in the office that otherwise would have either not taken place, or would have cost us rental money. In our current office we were forced to rent for any event over 20 people, and this caused a dilemma, it was not very wise to invest in furniture if it would not be used, but without furniture the space was less useful, meaning that there was less reason to make it seem presentable. Currently our office is minimally functional. Some people might be thinking that spending money on office furniture is kind of silly, but in reality we are simply trying to make our office reflect our church culture, we want it to be a warn and inviting place where people can get to know each other. In addition if you went to someone’s home and they made you sit on the floor, it might be quaint the first time, but after a while, if they were never finished moving in, you’d start to wonder if this family had some tie to penndot.

What does this mean in the coming weeks?
Most of the people that go to City Reformed have moved in the last few years, so many people understand some of the hassles of moving: packing, transferring services, and trying to find things when you unpack.
With the new office we are going to be moving all of our computers, or library, and all of our paperwork and other stuff to the new office. Much of the furniture in our present office is not owned by us and that means that we will also be purchasing furniture so that when you come into the new office you don’t see Matt or I, sitting on a milk crate in the middle of the floor, typing away at a computer which is sitting on an empty moving box.

This also means that our lines of communication will be hindered for a few days, we are hoping to have much of the move accomplished by sometime next week. Our plan is to have the internet and phones setup next Wednesday, but we might hit some snags. If you send an email next week and we haven’t responded by the end of that week, we would ask that you resend the message.

What does this mean in the long term?
At our church we have three categories of events: small group events (1-20 people), medium size events (20-60 people), and all church events. Our current office was only useful for small group events, so this meant everything was rented for medium events and all church events. Our new space will be able to fill this role of being used for medium sized events.

In the end it’s not about offices with better lighting, or new furniture, it’s about Jesus. Would you pray with us that this new office would be another tool that we can use to extend grace to each other, and to those people who have not yet met Jesus.

Last Saturday my wife, Jo, and a friend of ours went to see “Burn After Reading” the new Coen Brothers film. I would consider myself a decent Coen Brothers fan, I really loved O’ Brother, and the Hudsucker Proxy, and thought that their portrayal of evil in No Country For Old Men was really fascinating, though I can’t say that I have seen every film they have made.

About a month ago I saw a trailer for Burn After Reading, I thought trailer was really interesting, maybe it was because of the elbow song that the trailer utilized or maybe it was really interesting cast, or maybe a bit of both.
–Minor Spoiler Alert—
I have to say that on one level I was entirely disappointed with the film. All but one character was so flawed and warped that they were inaccessible. The one exception was Richard Jenkins’ portrayal of gym manager and ex orthodox priest, Ted Treffon. At the same time after some contemplation I came to appreciate the film, but something that I assume the Coen Brothers did not intend to portray. At a different level the film gave glimpses into how mean and twisted people really are, At one point McDormand’s character is willing to commit treason for a chance to reinvent herself with a tummy tuck. I had a campus Chaplin one time point out the fact that the reason we don’t sin more is not for lack of desire but lack of opportunity, and Burn After Reading shows what happens when people are given the opportunity to sin.

Here is what bugged me about the film:

* The lack of any one to associate or relate with in the film
* The over the top, and at times caricature-ish, portrayals by McDormand, and Swinton.
* The acceptance that adultery is the accepted standard in marriage
* The fact that the thing that made this movie funny was that fact that everyone lied and cheated on everyone else.
* The wrap up way the film ended, with certain people entirely in the clear, and others dead or ruined. This might be the thing that bugged me the most. People are murdered and exploited but in the end they are cleared. The film would have been much more poetic and thought provoking if it had ended with the interaction between Malkovich and Jenkins. Instead things that could not be should not have been easily wrapped up were, and thus the audience at some level was told to go away seeing the vile events which the film portrays as more acceptance.

Here is what I did like about the film:

* Malkovich as an ex-cia agent in the midst of a mid-life crisis, was probably his most ‘normal’ character, and a few times I did care about what happened to him.
* The un-glamorous and accurate way sexual sin and their consequences are portrayed. A bit with McDormand, but especially when Clooney’s character is himself betrayed.
* The architecture of the film. The Sets were at times better than the characters, which might be why Clooney’s character was obsessed with the grain of hardwood in each location, even the Coen Brothers knew the Georgetown location of the film was the best part of the film

In the end I have come away from the film with a sense of despair, for the film’s characters and for anyone who lives likes them. On the way home our friend told us that she know lots of people who relationships closely matched the film’s.

I grieve the most for McDormand’s character. She is a woman who is unhappy, and not matter what, cannot help but seek to fill the voids in her life. The saddest part is that she fills them fills them with men and a pursuit of reinventing herself, though I have a suspicion that even with the surgery that character would be just as lonely and selfish as before the surgery. I would not recommend this film to most people. But I will say if you believe that everyone is totally twisted, you might at least have some way to deal with the way that humanity is portrayed. In the strictest sense this film has no redemptive theme what so ever, but at some time you see how much you need the light when you have bashed your shins in total darkness.

So I have to admit It would be really cool to see some declaration by one of the Chinese Olympians that they love Jesus.

As many of you who read this blog might know, on September 7th I’m going to be ordained and installed as assistant pastor at City Reformed Church in Pittsburgh. What many people might not know is why this is taking place.
This might come as a shock to some people but I believe that God is real. Even crazier, I believe that he is knowable and that he is interacting with everyone on a daily basis. Most of us don’t like to hear this because we are living like we are the only god. Unfortunately for many people the idea that God exists and can be found isn’t a cheerful one. For me it is.

Because I believe that God exists I try, emphasis on try, to to live my life in light of his existence. One of the ways which I live out this reality is seen in the fact I have sought to hear his “call” on my life. One might be asking “Does God have to dial 1 before he calls someone.” When I say that good has a calling for my life, I am saying that my life is not a series of meaningless. I don’t need to do achieve some goal or reach some self-actualization in order for my life to be meaningful. Its meaningful because God is the one shaping it.
God calls people in many ways and on different levels. He calls people out of the darkness of sin and selfishness into light of his message of grace and reconciliation. He also calls people in a broader sense.

September 7th will be the culmination of a call that God has placed on me for the last four years. My church even uses the language of call to explain my relationship to the church. Let me take a few sentences to explain what goes into a “call” to pastor a church. 1. I percieved that God was calling me to be a pastor, this wasn’t a 11pm-burrito-audible-voice-of-god call, it was more like a deep desire with to serve people full time. I then shared this with the leaders of my church, who agreed that God might be calling me to full-time ministry. I then worked in a church, two churches actually, to affirm for my self and to others that I had the gifts that were needed for ministry (the qualifications can be found in 1 Tim. 3). After this I went back to the leaders in my church, decided that I should be the assistant pastor at our church. After this I interacted with the leaders of other churches and reaffirmed that I thought God was calling me to be a pastor. After many long and beneficial conversations and examinations, they affirmed that I was being called by God to work at City Reformed.

Most people who know me wouldn’t peg me as the pastor type, but to paraphrase one pastor before me: God uses the foolish and imperfect things of the world to stop anyone from boasting in themselves.

Anyone reading this is invited to attended my ordination service, on September 7th at 2pm.

I’m hoping to get back into writing, on this blog. Really the question is what kind of topics should I write about?
Any suggestions?