A Vision for Pittsburgh

The idea of moving to and living in Pittsburgh has never been a source of great joy for me. All the places I have lived have possessed a special draw- breathtaking mountains, vibrant culture, travel opportunities, a plethora of incredible music all around etc. In spite of the fact that my handy visitors map makes many lovely claims, I have remained unimpressed and skeptical. Here are a few of the things that Pittsburgh reportedly has to offer:

Pittsburgh is listed in New York magazine's 2007 Winter Travel Guide as a top pick for culture junkies, along with such cities as London and Vienna. (As a former resident of Vienna, I have to say there is simply no comparison.)

Pittsburgh is ranked ...

• among the top 10 romantic spots across the country by MSN.com
• the #1 most livable city in America by Places Rated Almanac
• among the top 10 of the World's Cleanest Cities by Forbes Magazine 
• 9th among the top 10 most literate cities in the United States.

It has been a struggle being here and I am finally starting to settle in. For one thing I have stopped toying with the idea of leaving prematurely and have finally accepted that this is where God has placed me right now. This is a time for me to find what God has for me to soak up here and now. I have also been placed here to minster to and engage with the people of  Pittsburgh. I am done fighting and am finally starting to accept this 2 year lesson on another angle of contentment. I am praying that God would give me eyes to see what he has for me. Below is my vision for Pittsburgh and a one I found on a church website.


My Vision For Pittsburgh


I want to see passion ignited, cold hearts awakened, and love restored for Jesus in the church body and population as a whole. I want to see the transformative power of lives surrendered to and used by Jesus sweep across this city. It is my prayer that historical roots would serve to anchor the church, rather than encumber a vibrant faith-filled, victorious existence. I want to see sound doctrine and truth preached from the pulpits and tongues of brothers and sisters to one another. I want to see crime and unkindness mitigated. I want to see dirt and potholes swept away. I want to see joy and hope on the faces of the poor and homeless. I want to see multitudes of talented university students passionately using their gifts for Christ's glory to minister and bring change. I want to see the large arts community of Pittsburgh transformed from a focus on entertainment and self gain into a vehicle through which God's truth and love is proclaimed.

A Vision For Pittsburgh - by Grace and Peace Church (Pittsburgh, PA)


Pittsburgh is a city at the crossroads. The smoggy steel city that once stood at the source of the Ohio River is a thing of the past. Today Pittsburgh is a vibrant technology-driven city, which other industrial cities are now looking to as an example of civic recovery.
While Pittsburgh has many of the amenities of a larger city, the warm and informal atmosphere found in its local neighborhoods means that Pittsburgh feels much more inviting than many other cities. Lawrenceville and Bloomfield are two such neighborhoods. On a summer night you'll find countless people walking around after dinner at a local restaurant or sitting on their front porch, chatting with each other, sometimes for hours.


Over the last several years Lawrenceville and Bloomfield have experienced dramatic changes. Where fifteen years ago Lawrenceville was known for drugs and prostitution, today

it is a rapidly changing neighborhood which the Washington Post recently dubbed the Brooklyn of the Steel City. It has a vibrant arts scene and a large base of locally owned shops. The redevelopment of its commercial district and the establishment of a new children's hospital have begun to reshape the neighborhood. Similarly, Bloomfield has also redeveloped around a revitalized commercial district and West Penn Hospital, a major regional health provider.Though both neighborhoods are very diverse, each neighborhood could be seen as mainly comprised of working-class residents, with many people working for one of the two major hospitals. About half of the people have completed high school, a little over a quarter have a Bachelors degree, and around one in nine have a Graduate degree. Over 17,000 people live in the 2.5 sq. miles that make up Lawrenceville and Bloomfield.
While this area is densely populated and there is major redevelopment occurring, the spiritual vitality of the area is less evident. There are very few churches present in the community. Even most of the mainline protestant and Catholic churches are absent from Lawrenceville and Bloomfield, or are in the process of consolidating.


The residents of these neighborhoods need a local church that is willing to patiently walk with them as they examine Christ's claims. They need a church that understands that most people have not grown up with a Christian understanding of life. They need a church where they can continually celebrate his grace as they seek to follow him in every part of their lives.

There Is No Lion in the Street and You Are Lazy

 The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside! I shall be slain in the streets!"

Proverbs 22:13

Essentially the verse is calling out the one who makes excuses for laziness and the avoidance of doing what is right or difficult in a timely fashion. The said sluggard has made up a terrifying and dangerous situation that gives excuse for his lack action. Am I calling myself a sluggard? Yes, at times I definitely fall into this trap, but there is much more than mere laziness involved here. When I become overwhelmed I sometimes procrastinate and do everything else in order to avoid what looks like a looming and impossible task. This is a form of making excuses and not trusting in God's promise to see me through what he has laid out for me to do. This can take many forms. One small example that was brought to my attention recently is practicing. The truth that follows is so obvious, but hit me in a new way. I was having a conversation with two friends and one said, "it is obedient to practice- to refine, use and keep up the skills and gifts God has granted you". So often we forget that the daily grind of life is a form of obedience and thus worship. Going to the gym, eating healthily and sleeping is obedient and God glorifying in that we are maintaining the ability of our bodies to carry out God's purposes with the gifts he has given us. The list goes on and on. Find your lions. We all have them.

Below are some pieces I extracted from a sermon given on this verse by Charles Spurgeon in 1882.

 He turns over upon his bed to sleep again; for this is far more comfortable than to be meeting a lion, and falling a prey to his teeth. He means I think that there is a great difficulty—a terrible difficulty, quite too much of a difficulty for him to overcome. He has heard of lion-tamers and lion-killers, but he is not one. He has not the strength and the vigor to attack this dreadful enemy; he will even confess that he has not sufficient courage for such an encounter. The terrible difficulty which he foresees is more than he can face: it is a lion, and he is neither Samson, nor David, nor Daniel, and therefore he had rather leave the monster alone. Are there not many here who say much the same?

Though the promise is, “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet,” they have no heart for the conflict and therefore never win a victory.

Still you halt, because this lion is such a terrible lion that there never was the like of it. In all the woods, in all the forests, never was such a roaring beast as this. So you say, if you are wide awake enough to say as much as that. I tell you that you are trying to make yourself believe a lie, for your difficulties are no greater than many of us have surmounted by God’s grace. Your difficulties are not half as great as were those of Paul, and of those who lived in his day who had to carry their lives in their hands, and seemed every day given over to death for Jesus Christ’s sake, and yet bravely followed their Lord’s will notwithstanding all.

If you had lived in Madagascar years ago, when to be a Christian involved your being hurled down a precipice or being speared, I could see something in the excuse; but in a land like this the persecutions which are endured may be bitter, and the losses which are incurred may be heavy, but they are hardly worth mentioning as compared with the sufferings of the first ages. I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the sufferings of the past times, and much less with the glory that shall be revealed in us. It will not do for you to talk so. It is idle talk; you do not believe it yourself though you whine like a coward, “I shall be slain in the streets.” If you were half a man you would never fear the streets or think it at all probable that a wild beast would pounce upon you there.

My (blog author) personal summary: Even if there legitimately is a lion, this is not an excuse to avoid facing it. Metaphorically, fearing a lion is not trusting God, which is another type of lion.

“Yes, but I have tried,” says one. Oh that is your lion is it? But how did you try? You tried in your own strength; and we do not invite you to do that any more for your strength is perfect weakness. Had you committed yourself to the keeping of Christ you would have another tale to tell and another song to sing, for he is faithful and he keeps those that are in his hand. If that is your lion, God grant that you may never hear it roar again. You are not asked to save yourself, or keep yourself, but to submit yourself to the grace of God, and surely that is able to keep you unto the end.

Life is like an evening; the longer you wait the darker it becomes. Delay bristles with danger, and the best fruit it can possibly bear is regret.

 The real lion after all is sluggishness itself, aversion to the things of God.

The sermon in its entirety can be found here: 

 http://www.biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/1670.htm