Some stories are just too crazy to believe. A kid playing on a highway? Seriously? We have to go through this crazy process (which costs over $25000) to adopt a kid that has no home and this woman can just have kids at will. While i am obviously not advocating for it [...]
We found a house in our area that words cannot describe. I have never seen so many Christmas lights on a house in my life. Honestly, I think this puts the Griswald House from National Lampoons Christmas Vacation to shame.
I took this picture with my camera so sorry for the graininess. I [...]
Series: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII
Knowing that it is essential for our faith to work out in how we care about the public affairs of the world, we now move onto a discussion on the nature of church growth and its relation to culture. Of [...]
View all the pictures we received for this update!
We received an update from our adoption agency today! Below is the message they sent with a description of how Carlos is doing. We’re assuming from the description below that he doesn’t sleep in the bath :)
FYI, He’s not home yet! We are praying that [...]
What are the scents that you think of when it comes to this holiday? I usually think of peppermint, potpourri, turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, evergreen trees, etc.
It has been “proven” (by someone somewhere) that smell and memory are closely linked. When we smell certain scents, our mind will often to go a certain time [...]
I’m a big fan of living intentionally and there is currently a big gap between my theory and my practice. This post is a great reminder that a little discipline is very helpful. Thanks for the great challenge “Timothy.”
Melanie and I took our first annual trip up to NYC this week. to experience the commercialized side of the Christmas Holiday. We had a great time. We stayed in an overpriced hotel, had a some great food and enjoyed the time walking around.
In the midst of all of this, it was [...]
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09-18-06 Pa trip -cole rn, originally uploaded by hiestand24.
For some reason, this is perhaps one of my favorite pictures of Cole. Dang, I have an adorable kid.
If you have been reading my blog for a while you know that I have been changing the design little by little for the past few months. I think I finally landed on a semi-final version that I am happy with. Here’s a basic rundown of the changes for those of you who [...]
I had a discussion recently with a few friends in my class at Biblical about old people, art and being missional. We were sharing some different things we were doing in our churches and it came up that The Well (my church) hosts art shows and concerts that are for the local community. [...]
Goodbye Allen Iverson. While I will always be a Bulls fan first, I’ve grown to care about the Sixers for the 10 years I’ve been here. And strange enough, I’m actually going to miss Iverson here…
This morning I preached a sermon in a way I have never done before. We have been going through the book of John and we were scheduled to cover the crucifixion this week. So, instead of preaching a typical sermon, I wrote a story that was laced with scripture, paraphrase, thoughts from me [...]
I am preaching on the crucifixion this weekend at church. This is a challenging thing to do the weekend before Christmas. But, I am really excited about the chance we have to look at the meaning of the cross and, well, the meaning of the whole Christmas story.
In studying for this, I am [...]
Series: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII
Chapter 7 seeks to answer the question how the gospel fits into world history, specifically, the other religions of the world. He answers this question with a lengthy discussion on the doctrine of election. He states that it [...]
As a church that cares about Jesus and seeing others follow Him and find themselves get caught up in His story (instead of the many stories we live instead), we have been trying to think creatively about how to be a little more intentional (yet still incarnational) with our efforts at evangelism (ghasp! the E [...]
The Chicago Bears’ Devin Hester is officially the man. Two returns today for TDs. 6 on the year. New NFL single season record. Oh, have I mentioned he’s a rookie?
(We’re honored to be able to host a seminar on spiritual formation at our church in January with Keith Matthews. You don’t want to miss this event if you are local. Keith is an amazing man and brings some great wisdom to churches like ours)
The Well Presents
The Spiritual Formation Seminar
with Keith Matthews
Spend a day [...]
I learned recently that my dad spent a three day weekend retreat with David Bosch two years before he died. I told my dad, while I would have not been old enough to appreciate it (and i would have likely spent the time playing with my matchbox cars) I am officially mad at him [...]
I was going through some old journals and found this prayer…
Jesus, I believe in you and I believe that you are making all things new, starting with those who you created in your image; us.
I believe you love in ways that I can never comprehend.
I believe for reasons I cannot totally explain. [...]
Series: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII
Sharing the Life of the Son: Mission as Love in Action. If we have seen that in the Father God is making his reign over all creation, we see this reign fully acted out and present in the person of Jesus [...]