In the next few weeks I’ll be a dad for the third time. This is kind of a strange thing and, despite the size of my beautiful wife’s belly, it hasn’t sank in quite yet. I keep asking her, “are you sure there is a baby in there?” She keeps saying yes. I’ll trust she knows what she is talking about. We have a number of friends at The Well who have had babies in the last few months and when I look at the size of those kids I realize that it’s been a while since we’ve had an infant in the house. Cole turns 6 this July and Mason came home when he was 10 months (he’s adopted from Guatemala). That whole prospect...Read More →
Archive for April, 2009
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April 29, 2009
Church as Family
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April 25, 2009
Surprised by Scripture
Eugene Peterson is one of those writers who has the uncanny knack to take my deepest struggles with leadership, faith, spirituality and speak at directly at them. One of those books is called Working the Angles. That’s one of those books I read at least once a year. Each time I do, I end up with a knot in my stomach because I am so convicted. I’ve been slowly working through his recent book, Eat This Book and I’m really enjoying it. He writes, “Barth insists that we do not read this book and the subsequent writings that are shaped by it in order to find how how to get God into our lives, get him to participate in our lives. No. We open this...Read More →
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April 23, 2009
Spiritual Formation and the Image of God
This quote comes from the newest book on my shelf… “Christian formation involves awaking from the dream that we are God and remembering our true identity, our ‘beloved-of-God-in-Christ” identity, and then saying yes to the pain associated with the mortification of our false self. Dethroning the false self is a pillar of spiritual direction – and a primary cause for the busyness and anxious swimming that distracts us from enjoying the water…” Gary Moon and David Benner in the book Spiritual Direction and the Care of Souls I’ve spoken with enough Christians about the image of their “selves” to learn that this thought that the authors share here is far too often overlooked. I’ve a believer in the effects of the fall and sin. But...Read More →
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April 22, 2009
My Interview at The Idea Camp
When I was at The Idea Camp in LA I had the privilege of sitting down with Cynthia Ware and talking a bit about our church and our mission. Disclaimer: I’m bad with dates off the top of my head so i don’t know that the years in this interview are totally correct. :) The Idea Camp – Todd Hiestand from The Idea Camp on Vimeo.
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April 21, 2009
Sway by Ori and Rom Brafman
Some of you might know the Ori Brafman from the very good book, The Starfish and the Spider.” Since I loved that book so much I figured I would give this one a try. This did not disappoint. Sway is subtitled “the irresistible pull of irrational behavior.” You could rephrase that as, “why smart people do stupid things.” Not only was this book was as readable as a Malcolm Gladwell book (that’s very readable if you don’t know who Malcolm Gladwell is), but it was extremely helpful and insightful. Telling lots of stories, they gave me some language and perspective to understand why I and other church leaders often make dumb decisions. One thing he writes struck a significant chord with me, “The more meaningful...Read More →
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April 17, 2009
What is the Good News?
JR Woodward, a good friend, fellow church planter and fellow member of the Ecclesia Network has started a great series on is blog called “The Good News”. He has essentially invited a number of authors, theologians, pastors and writers to answer the question “What is the Good News” in 300-500 words. The cool catch is that the short article has to be written as if it were going to be an article in the local newspaper. So far, the entries have been really good. I’m working on forming my response for May 15th. Check out the series introduction here and a full list of contributers here.
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April 16, 2009
343design Redesign
I redesigned my freelance web design portfolio this week. I’m really happy with how it turned out. Take a look: http://www.343design.com. If you know people who are looking for some web work I’d be honored if you sent them my name and site.
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April 15, 2009
Bored in Suburbia?
Today Dave Gibbons wrote a post on the topic of Suburbia. He’s a great voice for this kind of stuff and in his post he addresses something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Boredom in suburbia. He writes, “And [suburban teens] are bored. . . this boredom’s outlet is doing something crazy often with activities that would impact their relationship with God and others. The spirit of adventure intrinsic in many youth is wasted in the lifestyle of the burbs, the American dream.” I think he’s right. My 5 year old is already saying he’s bored way too often. I also think he’s onto something we’ve been thinking through at The Well a bit when he writes, “My sense is that the greatest...Read More →
