Pittsburgh Project Changes Lives

I have finished my first week of work at the Pittsburgh Project and it has been an adventure!

The Pittsburgh Project is a non-profit community development organization that seeks to change the city so that "Pittsburgh will be called a City of Truth, where once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets each with cane in hand because of age, and where the city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there (adapted from Zechariah 8:4-5)." For 25 years, the Project has been running programs to meet this vision.


I am working as a technical staff member for the Homeowner Services division. Basically, the Pittsburgh Project hosts teams of volunteers all summer long who come to Pittsburgh to help fix houses of elderly or needful citizens of limited means. My job is to be a "craftsman" work leader. I am responsible for guiding and teaching the volunteer teams to safely complete repair projects all around Pittsburgh. I am also responsible for caring for the spiritual needs of the homeowners and team members. 


The reason we do this is because of the moral transformation that occurs in us because we believe in Jesus Christ. The entire Bible includes directives to take care of the poor, needy, orphans, and widows. In Galatians 6:6 Paul directs us to "bear one another's burdens." Because Jesus makes us free from the Law, we are now free to fulfill the law of Christ by bearing one another's burdens. The word for burden here means an experience of something that is particularly oppressive. 


This is more than a "working vacation" for students that makes them feel good about themselves. This is a discipleship opportunity for students to experience living out the law of Christ by bearing the burdens of a homeowner in a practical way. Saving faith in Christ is more than a mere intellectual assent to the truth, it includes a moral transformation that requires putting faith into action. The students and leaders participating in the Pittsburgh Project are doing exactly that. What they do glorifies God.


Here are a few snapshots of students repairing a leaky roof by installing a new layer of shingles.

Students covering the leaky roof.

Reloading the nail gun.

In addition to students, we have college volunteers who get materials and assist with teams. They are invaluable. Here is a shot of one of the best ones on top of the completed roof.

#1 College support staff modeling on the new roof.

I have been driving around in a work van that can only be described as "the beast." This 1 Ton van has been reconstructed from parts of lesser vans.

The BEAST.

It possesses advanced features such as satellite navigation.

See how steep the sites are in this neighborhood.

It feels great to be doing hands on ministry again instead of merely studying all the time. I look forward to an exciting summer with the Pittsburgh Project. Starting in the fall, I will be working as a pastoral intern at the United Presbyterian Church of Freeport, PA. I am looking forward to that experience as well. 

Moving to Facebook

Due to my blatant neglect of the blog (despite my lofty aspirations of keeping up with it). I have decided to use Facebook to keep up with everyone. If you are interested in keeping up with what we are doing, send me a friend request on www.facebook.com. Say hi when you get a chance! I appreciate your patience! It has been a terribly busy year.

NOT Going Private

A number of you responded to an earlier post in which I stated that I was going to take our blog private. Due to some limitations of the blogger software, we could only have a maximum of 100 readers if we were to take the blog private. So, we have decided not to take the blog private.

Baby Zeke Arrives!

Baby Zeke has arrived! Ezekiel David Gordon was born on September 23rd at 6:18pm. He was 20.5 inches long and weighed 7lbs 15oz. He was born via Caesarean section. We thank God that Mom and Zeke are doing well. We have had almost constant help from the grandparents since Zeke was born. This has been very important since I didn't get much time off from school. The entire community at PTS has been extremely supportive. People at have been absolutely fantastic. Here are a few photos...

The excitement of Greek Continues

I am officially 1/2 way through summer intensive Greek! I have completed the final exam for term 1 biblical Greek (aka. Ελληνιστική Κοινή). Today, I began term 2. 


This milestone is a testament to God's grace and supernatural blessing. Great endurance (or ὑπομονή) was needed. Believe me when I say that I do not posses the needed endurance. Moving and getting settled in Pittsburgh has been a difficult time for us as a family. Josiah has been sick. Now that he is mobile, Josiah has discovered how to throw a fit if he does not get what he wants (which is often). Jenny is 8 months pregnant. I have been sick almost the entire time (even now). We have been struggling to figure out how to pay for everything. As Pastor Charles in New Orleans would say, "I'm not complainin', I'm just explainin'."  


We have established that it's been tough going, but here is the great news: God is providing in practical and supernatural ways. Practical ways: Doctors have diagnosed Josiah with asthma and provided a treatment that seems to be working; Our parents have been making regular appearances in Pittsburgh to take some of the burden off of us; We were approved for Medicaid and food stamps; Through many different treatments, I am beginning to feel better. Supernatural ways: The new baby is not breech (This runs in Jenny's family. Josiah was breech); Jenny and I have not killed each other and still kind of like each other. I got an "A" in first term greek.


The examples here are clear. Too often I think that I chalk up good fortune to coincidence. But if we really believe that God exists and cares for us, how can we think that anything is really random? I often wonder how much of the Universe can be explained in a systematic fashion, with the origins of the system pointing directly to God. I guess I will have to wait until fall semester to explore this question in more depth. In any life situation that could go either way, I try hard to remind myself that life is not random. I try to thank God for all things.

As my class moves forward into the murky depths of greek, I look forward to doing more bible translation. We are moving through the gospel of John in the Nestle - Aland greek new testament. This is the best part of class.

It's all Greek to Me

Our blog has been on my mind a lot these past months. I sincerely apologize for the lack of effort on my part. I am glad to be posting again.

I am sure you have heard the expression "It's all greek to me". There is a very good reason why this expression exists. Greek is very different from english and the alphabet is full of squiggly doodles. As I am writing this update, I have just finished the midterm exam for the first semester of New Testament Greek. It's very cool to be able to pull the richness of information out of the original texts. The written greek language contains more information than written english. I might blog more about greek later, but for now I want to give a family update.

View Pittsburgh in a larger map

Jenny, Josiah, and I have moved to Mr. Rogers Neighborhood so that we can study at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. The above map shows where the seminary is, and you can play around with it to see more of pittsburgh. (The google earth view shows 3-d buildings). Our move was one of the best moves we have ever made. We rented a 26 foot Penske moving van. Jenny, Josiah, and my mother drove up on a Friday, and my dad and I drove the rental van to Pittsburgh on Saturday. We received lots of help loading from the folks at Deepwood Veterinary Clinic (long story) and some awesome help unloading from our friends in Pittsburgh (as well as a surprise guest helper from Centreville).

As soon as the move was over, Josiah went to the emergency room because he was having trouble breathing. In addition, I went to urgent care for a sinus infection, and Jenny went to urgent care as well. In short, we all got sick soon after arriving. In addition, my summer greek class started a few days after we moved. So we are still in a process of unpacking, getting well, and preparing for baby #2. You can pray for us! I will try to update about Josiah. He has athsma and allergy issues. Our doctors here are getting it under control. We thank God for our parents, who have been periodically visiting/helping us since we moved. Their help has been key.

Over the summer in addition to summer greek, I am putting together a seminary budget for us. Our original plan was that Jenny would work some to generate income while I went to school full time. Our hope was that I could finish in 3 years. Then Jenny became pregnant. Now, we are waiting to see. Our backup plan is a direct loan from uncle sam. We would rather not incur debt to go to school, but we may have to incur some debt to get through year 1. A number of our supporters were asking us about supporting us financially, and we are still working on the best way to handle this one. I will keep you posted about it. In our lives thus far, God has provided for our every need (including finances). We know it will work out just fine.

While here we are checking out some of the local church outfits. Eastminster Church, and the Open Door are two we have visited. We hope to check out more. We would like to worship together with a diverse (both age diverse and ethnically diverse) body of believers. We live in an area that is racially mixed. Going to an all white or all black or all Korean church seems bad for us. We are hoping to find a church outfit that is intentionally diverse bringing all parts of the local community to worship God together. He is worth it!

Here are some funny quotes to end the post:

"Hell isn't merely paved with good intentions, it is walled and roofed with them." - Aldous Huxley


"Build a man a fire and he will be warm for a day; set him on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life." - John Calvin

Major Update

I have been extremely delinquent on my blogging for the past three months, so this post is a major update post!

Big news: Jenny is pregnant! We expect to have our second child in September of this year. What a blessing. The morning sickness is almost over, we hope. Things are going to get very interesting in the fall! In the mean time, we will anticipate the growth of our family.

Jenny, Josiah and I have visited Gordon-Conwell Seminary, Pittsburgh Seminary, and Princeton Seminary. I found out last month, that I was accepted to all three schools. After a long discernment process, we have chosen Pittsburgh Theological Seminary as the place to go for additional training. Our plan is to live on campus and to begin biblical languages during the summer semester (July). This is extremely important because with the new baby arriving in September, I need to lessen my load a bit to be available at home as much as possible.

I have recently been approved by the session (governing body) of our home church (Centreville Presbyterian Church or CPC for short) to come under care of CPC and begin the inquirer process. The inquirer process is the official process of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. for those who are exploring a possible call to become ordained ministers. This is the first step in a rigorous process that includes discernment, evaluation, and training. This process will coincide and augment the training I will receive in Seminary. The next step in this process is to become approved as an inquirer by our local Presbytery.

Josiah turned one year old on Feb 5th. We were going to have a birthday party for him, but it was cancelled due to the major blizzard that hit the Washington, D.C. area. It was a shock being in New Orleans for two years and coming home to one of the most severe winters on record. Brrrr! Where are the palm trees? We did manage to give Josiah some cake and presents despite the snow.

I have been working full time for Home Depot in the interim to make some money. In addition, I am taking a class called Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. This class is awesome. It's a lot of work, but I am also going to receive graduate credit for this class. If you have ever been curious to know the scope, history, and motivation for the world Christian movement, take this class. If you have ever been interested in missions, take this class. This class will make plain the continuity of the bible (old and new testaments). This class also seeks to educate believers on exactly what God is trying to do in this world. This class is offered all over the U.S.A. Please, take this class. Ok that is the end of my pitch.

Jenny and I are involved in some other activities around Centreville until we leave Centreville for seminary in the summer.  We are volunteering with the high school youth program at Centreville Presbyterian Church. (We really enjoy working with youth.) Jenny is involved in a women's bible study, and I am working with the missions support ministry. We are attempting to limit our involvement so as not to become overloaded but at times this is difficult.

In addition to our volunteer ministry activities, we were asked to preach a sermon for missions month at CPC. Our sermon topic was "God's call to missions" and the overall theme of missions week was "bearing fruit that will last." You can check out a link to the audio for the sermon here. The sermon was preached on 1.31.2010. This entire sermon series featured some amazing speakers that give clear examples of how God uses normal people for His purposes.

Last but not least, we were blessed with help from my parents to purchase a new car. With my full time work schedule, it was clear that we needed a second car. Its a small minivan made by Kia called the Rondo. Our old car has taken some abuse in New Orleans and has high mileage but it still runs. We are going to think very hard about whether or not we want to keep two cars in Seminary or sell one of them. I am thinking we will sell one, but we are going to wait and see.

After a period of uncertainty, God has yet again brought us into a time of purpose and direction. He has sustained us financially and spiritually. We are very grateful to Him for this. It has been hard coming back to Virginia for a number of reasons. Once a person has a significant encounter with the Kingdom of God like we did in New Orleans, one can't help but feel odd. We have gone through so many significant changes in short time. It can be hard to relate to friends and family. The re-integration process is proving to be kind of nasty.

This may be the last public blog post for some time or ever, as it is becoming clear that as "computer savyness" becomes ubiquitous, putting all kinds of public information on the internet is becoming unwise. Do not be surprised if this blog disappears in the not too distant future.

Get a Job

Well, It's time for me to get a job. I am looking at doing some temp work to make some money until we leave for school. My current work options are now over and it's time to beat the streets and find a job.