I live in Pittsburgh, and this week Pittsburgh has been the focus of a lot of attention. Pittsburgh hosted the G-20 Summit. For 2 days the world turned upside down here. Representatives from dozens of nations came together to meet. While I am not all that interested in what the G20 talked about, or accomplished, it was intriguing to watch the organized chaos of the city. Protestors began gathering throughout the week. Though it should be compared to other G20s, it was still pretty hectic.
On Thursday, I celebrated a birthday. My family wanted to take me out to dinner. We drove down from our home and turned onto Liberty Ave. Liberty was one of the hot spots of the city. Our goal was a small little Mexican restaurant. But instead of finding chips and salsa, we were met by police, troopers, swat teams, busses of soldiers, motorcycles, hummers, trucks, low-flying helicopters, guns, etc. It was a scene straight from a movie. I thought for sure the Joker was going to show up and turn the town upside down.
Needless to say, I didn't get my chips and Salsa. Once we landed in a restaurant (chinese) we were watching CNN and saw scenes of protesting, windows, being broken, arrests, etc. It was interesting because as we were watching we realized, this is just a few blocks away.
Very cool, very stressful.
My mind went to a few different places, one of the was this, "Do we impact our culture and our cities like the G20?" Now I am not talking about throwing bricks, wearing masks, and being an acarchist. But I am talking about impact. for two days, G20 impacted Pittsburgh. Everyone was talking about it, everyone was affected by it. Every retailer, school, public servant, hospitality center was affected by G20.
Could the church ever affect the city like this? It did at one point. Acts 2 tells us about the G20. When Pentecost came upon the disciples, the 120 that had gathered in the upper room spilled into the streets. The whole city was in an uproar.
The church needs to make an impact. Allowing the Spirit to shape us can bring about something bigger than the G20.
Acts 2
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs--we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine. "
On Thursday, I celebrated a birthday. My family wanted to take me out to dinner. We drove down from our home and turned onto Liberty Ave. Liberty was one of the hot spots of the city. Our goal was a small little Mexican restaurant. But instead of finding chips and salsa, we were met by police, troopers, swat teams, busses of soldiers, motorcycles, hummers, trucks, low-flying helicopters, guns, etc. It was a scene straight from a movie. I thought for sure the Joker was going to show up and turn the town upside down.
Needless to say, I didn't get my chips and Salsa. Once we landed in a restaurant (chinese) we were watching CNN and saw scenes of protesting, windows, being broken, arrests, etc. It was interesting because as we were watching we realized, this is just a few blocks away.
Very cool, very stressful.
My mind went to a few different places, one of the was this, "Do we impact our culture and our cities like the G20?" Now I am not talking about throwing bricks, wearing masks, and being an acarchist. But I am talking about impact. for two days, G20 impacted Pittsburgh. Everyone was talking about it, everyone was affected by it. Every retailer, school, public servant, hospitality center was affected by G20.
Could the church ever affect the city like this? It did at one point. Acts 2 tells us about the G20. When Pentecost came upon the disciples, the 120 that had gathered in the upper room spilled into the streets. The whole city was in an uproar.
The church needs to make an impact. Allowing the Spirit to shape us can bring about something bigger than the G20.
Acts 2
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs--we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine. "
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: " 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'
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